May 8, 2025 • 29 mins
In the second hour, Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain hear from Matt Entz, the Head Coach at Fresno State and Grey Zabel’s former coach at North Dakota, who discussed the new Seahawks guard at length in an interview yesterday, then the guys react to the conversation and talk about the NBA on NBC using AI to bring back a late announcer.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, we spoke yesterday. Matt Ens is the new
(00:03):
head coach at Fresno State. He was on Lincoln Riley's
staff at USC a year ago, but the previous stop
for him was in Fargo, North Dakota, all right, and
where he was the head coach for Greys Abel, the
eighteenth pick in the NFL draft. He knew presumably starting
left guard for the Seattle Seahawks, or if he's not starting,
there's a problem problem. Had a chance to catch up
(00:24):
with coach Ens yesterday. Talked about what he saw in
him when he was in high school. How did he
maybe think one day he would be a special player,
How does he fit in the NFL? What are his
challenges going to be in the National Football League? How
come North Dakota State keeps churning out all these fantastic
offensive linemen. Here's our conversation with a new Fresno and
(00:46):
former North Dakota State head coach, matt Ends about Greys Abel.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Appreciate you guys having me on today.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Well, we appreciate you doing this.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
We talked to the North Dakota State offensive coordinator you
know very well last week on the radio show and
thought it'd be a good story to get you to
swing by and talk about the highest drafted interior offensive
lineman by the Seahawks coach since they took Steve Hutchinson
in two thousand and one.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
And that turned out pretty good. That guy made the
Hall of Fame.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
So go back to your early days with Grey's abel
recruiting him, bringing him to North Dakota State and what
stood out to him when he was an eighteen year
old high school senior that made you think this kid
may have a future.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Well, you know, the first thing, you know, when we
first started recruit Gray, it was limited. We had the
opportunities get him on campus during the spring, and then
all of a sudden COVID hit and so a lot
of our recruiting of Gray was via zoom, via telephone,
him sending videos of him and his brothers working out.
(01:54):
So it was by no means typical eight poo goal
of a normal recruiting path. But you know, the things
that we noticed right off the bat was one, how
hard he played and and and it was any sport
that he participated in, the energy and the effort that
he gave towards it. Excellent high school basketball player. Uh,
(02:15):
tremendous baseball player. I remember we we had the opportunity
to kind of get a peak of him during some
legion baseball and you know he was pitching, uh, doing
a little bit everything for his team. And yeah, just
we we had great value in guys that were multi
sport players. We knew that the ceiling was was was
(02:36):
extremely high. We didn't know where it was. And Gray
was wired like a like a Bison, tough, hard nosed kid,
great family, great great character, uh and and was a
guy that was willing to work and put the put
the effort in when he came in. You know, he
played force uh. And then initial twenty twenty season kind
of out of necessity a little bit uh during the
(02:58):
during that COVID year, started a handful of games, then
got injured and was out. But we saw at that
point that this guy was way above the curve. Just
his understanding of football, his ability to absorb things and
to retain information was on a different level. And then
you know, they're the coaching staff, the strength staff, nutrition staff,
(03:19):
all did a tremendous job and pouring into him. But
you know, at the end of the day, the thing
that separates guys from guys who can make it in
the NFL and guys who don't. Is Gray was willing
to do the unrequired. He was watching a ton of films,
staying after workouts, getting out the electra working. Was always
a guy after practice that went back over to the
(03:40):
O line area and worked on a fundamental maybe something
that he didn't like, footwork, hand placement, pad level, whatever
it might be. Was always a professional and the way
he approached his games well.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Matt Ends is now the head coach at Fresno State.
He coached Gray's abel for four years at Dakota State.
So if I have my timeline right, and if I'm
wrong about this, please correct me. You you left after
the twenty three year to go to USC, and now
you're a Frisno State obviously, so Gray Gray stayed behind,
(04:16):
and there was a lot of reports that he had
a lot of nil offers to leave North Dakota State
after you took off to go to USC. I mean,
I'm sure, I'm sure you maybe spoke to him about
joining you in LA and but he stayed. Did that
surprise you that he stuck it out and turned down
all those lucrative offers to stay One more year in Fargo.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
It does not based on you know, when you get
to know the individual. Like like I said, we had
a relationship based football program there at North Dakota State,
and it didn't I had that whole process of opportunities
started towards the end of the regular season of the
twenty three season, and so Gray and I had numerous
(05:00):
conversations about people reaching out, going through his high school coach,
going through other you know, means to connect with him.
Six figure you know, numbers that were getting thrown around
that were, you know, at the time and still this day, astronomical.
But you know, I think the thing that I remember
talking to Gray about the most at that time was
(05:24):
he was at a place that still appreciated development, that
there was still plenty of things for him to continue
to improve on. The real money for a guy like
him was going to be at the next level. Two
of his best friends had been recently drafted, one in
the second round, one in the fourth round. So it
wasn't like, you know, for Gray, going somewhere else wasn't
(05:44):
necessarily going to make him more attractive. Uh, maybe it
was going to give him some more dollars in his pocket.
Now but at the end of the day, Gray, it's
not going to make you a better player because you
change color jersey. And and I think at the end
of that Gray and his family appreciated how he'd been
treated at North Dakota State, the coaching staff, our administration.
(06:08):
He was going to stay where he'd been developed. And
it doesn't happen enough these days. You know. Again here
at Fresno State, we consider ourselves a premier developmental program
and we want guys that want to finish here. But
it's getting harder and harder to hang on to guys
for five years.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
So matt ends again with us.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Current head coach at Fresno State was Greys Abel's head
coach for four years in Fargo, North Dakota. And I'm
looking at his recruiting profile when he was in high school.
I believe he came out of Pierre, South Dakota, if
I if I have that correct, and so here peer
South Pier Thank you Peer South Dakota. So I don't
(06:47):
know if this is insulting or not, and if it is,
I don't mean it that way at all. But do
you think that maybe Grey's Abel was under recruited because
he played high school football in South Dakota. And if
this kid grew up been Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, California, whatever,
there may have been a lot more eyeballs on him.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Oh, of course, of course, you know that's that's that's
part of it. But I was also part of our
our recruiting philosophy was let's make sure that we look
under every rock and under every tree to find guys
that that can fit intoto what we're looking for. And
you know, Gray was a big long athlete in high
school that needed time in the weight room to continue
(07:27):
to develop. But you're, you're, you're exactly right. He You know, Pier,
South Dakota is not on any you know, it's it's
off the beaten path a little bit. It's not a
trip that you make. But I will say this, a
couple of years after Gray left to go to North
Dakota State, the starting quarterback at Peer now is the
(07:48):
backup at Ohio State. So it's not too far off
the beaten path anymore.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Yeah, he brought a lot of attention, no doubt, to
to Pier South Dakota.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
I I learned how to pronounce.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Peer South Dakota because we're talking about grays Abel, So
matt Ens again, the head coach at Fresno State, was
grey's Abel's coach for four years in Fargo. And you
mentioned the other offensive lineman. We've got another one, Jalen Sundal,
who was with the Seahawks obviously as a backup. You know,
Cody Mock, I believe has started thirty four games for
the Buccaneers the last couple of years, that entire twenty
(08:21):
twenty one twenty twenty two. I think as well, offensive line,
either in training camp or now in the NFL.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
What were you doing there? Like, what were you putting.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
In the water out there that turned North Dakota State
into an offensive line pipeline for the NFL.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Well, that was something that had been started that There's
been a lot of history of onlinemen coming through there.
But I think at the end of the day, it
comes down to what you're looking for and recruiting and
some of the things that we valued. You know at
NBSU we still continue to value character, toughness. If you've
(08:59):
ever watched India su play, you know there's a level
of physicality that's required to play there, and so identifying
the right guys with the right that are wired the
right way was always going to be critical. And then
you know, we wanted self motivated, intrinsically motivated young men,
guys that were we were never going to be satisfied,
(09:21):
guys that always wanted to continue to get better. And
when you talk about like that that online group from
twenty one and twenty two, uh, they were all very
similar wired guys. And then the last thing is a
lot of them were small town kids that were that
were three four three, you know, two three sport athletes
that were only scratching the surface of of what they
(09:43):
could become. I remember Cody Mouk was, you know, a
six five and fifteen pound, you know, choaking wet coming
out of high school and and he left three fifteen.
And Cordel Vohlsen, who is a starting right guard for
the Bengals right now saying, you know, was two hundred
(10:03):
and fifty pounds coming out of nine man football in
the middle of North Dakota. Or you know Jalen Sundell,
you know Maryville, Missouri, extremely talented and athletic family. He
just hadn't grown into anything yet. And so you know,
at NDSU, we continue to emphasize the weight room and
and growth and development. And that's why you saw these guys,
(10:25):
you know, year three, year four, year five really have
their success.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Uh, coach, before you go, I'm just curious about how
you think his transition to the NFL will look like.
I mean, obviously are now in in in Fresno, but
I'm certain you're gonna have a great relationship with Gray's
Abel for a long time for the rest of your
life and mentor him and and and be there for
him to support him in the NFL. Uh answer this question,
(10:51):
finish this sentence. I guess, Uh, Gray's Abel will have
a successful long career in the National Football League.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
If blank fill in the blank, farm.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
He stays, if he stays.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
Healthy, that's it. That's it.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
That's it.
Speaker 4 (11:06):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
That that that that's that's what. That's what I know
of of who he is as a person, his desire
to continue to push himself. And and you're talking about
as as intelligent and smart an offensive lineman as I've
been around. Wow, he he knows, he knows football, and
so it's gonna be it's gonna be fun. And uh,
you know, one of these days, uh him and I
(11:28):
we we we talked the night of his draft. I
think right before he was about ready to dive into
those bush lights. But I'm sure at some point him
and I will have to him and I'll have one together. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
He seems like a good dude and the kind of
guy you want to have a beer with. Man, no doubt. Huh.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Oh, he's if you could have you, if you could
have five of him on the offensive line, it might
be the best old line in the NFL.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Well, just because of the way he's the way he's
wired like that. I mean, he is a he's a
he's a country kid that loves football. He's going to
be a great teammate. He's going to be a great
addition to the locker room. He'll he just he understands
the secrets in the dirt and he's going to be
willing to put some sweat into his into his his product.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
Well, you played a lot of tackle right at North
Dakota State in the last year and now he's a
full time guard. Just give us a quick thought on
that transition for him and how easy or difficult you
think that'll be.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Well, I think there will be some growing h I
don't want to say pains, but you know, opportunity for him.
Of course. Man, in the NFL, there's gonna be some
freaks that are going to line up across from you physically,
and you know, from a twitch standpoint, you know people
hands are going to be on you a lot. Faster
blocks happen, Quicker pass sets have to be a little
bit faster, you know, as an interior lineman. And so
(12:49):
it'll be fun to see his development, especially you know,
as he stays, takes another step up, and you know
the game is going to move faster, and you know
how quickly he can transition will be how quickly he
has us.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Matt, great stuff, man, I appreciate the visit, keep in touch,
best of luck with the Bulldogs this year, and thanks
again for doing this.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Man, well, I appreciate it. You make sure when you
see Gray and you see Jalen, please tell them hello.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
Yeah, does does Gray have a nickname?
Speaker 1 (13:16):
By the way, that would be like embarrassing if I
pulled it out and told him and like whatever.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't think of
one right off the top of my head right now. Now,
you know, it's funny, So I'm gonna tell you a
quick story here. This type of kid he is. I
don't know where he got it from, but he found
a picture that was at one of the local establishments
of me, and all of a sudden, before I knew
it was at his house. And on Christmas Eve they
(13:41):
had a big party at the house and I got
a text about four three in the morning of all
these old linemen surrounding a picture of myself. And so
I don't know if I should take that as a
as a sign of respect or if I should be
concerned about that. But that's just the type of guys
he was with, and the type of people he led
was the just fun group they'll be associated with. Now.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
I love it all, right, man, great stuff, Thanks again
for doing this. Looking forward to watching Gray here for
a long time, and you're obviously a huge part of
him getting here with the eighteenth pick overall, So congrats
on that. Best of luck in Fresno. We'll talk soon. Man, God,
I appreciate you.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
It's really hard to kind of place expectations on a guy,
because there's two kind of lenses that I'm kind of
looking through right now, Dick. One is the Seahawks Lens,
and the other is the NFL Lens Seahawks. Lens says, well,
they just drafted the second highest drafted Garden team history, right, Okay,
bet it'd be a stud.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
Right yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
But then you compare it to what other teams who
have maybe had a habit like you always like to say,
the Seahawks don't draft interior offensive lineman very high, at
least not under John Schneider and Pete Carroll.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
And this is the highest they've ever drafted.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Hutchinson was seventeenth under Holmgren back in two thousand and one.
But there's been teams before that have taken guards in
the top ten, top fifteen.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
So I don't know.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
I mean, you heard the coach right there say what's
the one thing keeping him from being a star? And
he says, if he's healthy, he's gonna be a star.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
End the story. Just he's gotta stay healthy. Period. That's it.
That's all. That's how much this guy believes in this.
I mean, I just have.
Speaker 5 (15:15):
Modest expectations, which is solidify what has been a hole,
and just I just don't want it to be a
hole anymore.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
That's really the only expectations. I don't care.
Speaker 5 (15:23):
I mean, it'd be great to say, way, we got
a six time All Pro on our hands, like Steve
Hudginson or whatever. But I don't worry about that. I
think more than Devin Witherspoon because he went so high.
That was the one where I was like, you better
be an all Pro man. You went five, that's right,
you know, you didn't go eighteen. So I think going
eighteen is a lot different because you just want a
guy at eighteen that's just gonna fill the role for.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
Eight to ten years.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
So this was and looking at an article that was written,
Oh god, this is twelve years ago.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
Forget that this twelve year old.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Well, Devin, it does give you some context about what
teams did in the previous decades. So between two z
thousand and two thousand and nine, there were six guards
in the first round, nineteen ninety to ninety nine there
were thirteen, eighty to eighty nine there were nineteen, and
then the seventies there were fifteen.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
So you know, I mean, it's like, you know, one.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Every year and a half for every half a year
you're taking a guard. But I'm with you and that
I just think I'm kind of looking at Gray's Abel.
The way I look at the Mariners offense, Like I
asked Larry yesterday, can we now say, hey, these guys
may not finish third in baseball and run score like
they're projected to be right now, but can we say
(16:35):
that the days of them being an absolute disaster are over?
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Right?
Speaker 3 (16:39):
With this offense?
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Can we say that they're done holding the team back,
They're done being a dumpster fire? And he said he
thinks so. And the hope with Gray's Abel is the
same thing. He may not be a All Pro, he
may not be a Hall of Famer, because those expectations
are stupid, right to have those kinds of expectations on
a guy, especially a guy that was playing FCS football
for the last five years. But can we at least
(17:01):
get to a point where the absolute train wreck, which
is what you're saying that left guard will now come
down us?
Speaker 5 (17:08):
I mean, it's it, and I think and when it
comes to the Mariners, I mean, I don't think it's
necessarily the talent that is guaranteed to be as good.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
I think it's just the approach. I think it's the mentality.
Speaker 5 (17:18):
I think it's the belief that is what's going to
be so much different this year than it has been
in years past.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
Let's come back and talk about that a little bit,
because I was doing some number crunching there, which means
just going on the internet for like thirty seconds, and
I want to come back and talk about why this
might be more sustainable because of the approach. And then,
by the way, you may know that the NBA on
NBC is coming back. NBC is getting the NBA back.
Have you heard what they're doing? By the way, with
their production for the broadcasts, it is a little cool
(17:48):
but also a little.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
Bit creepy at the same time.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
We'll get to that coming up on ninety three to
three KJRFM.
Speaker 6 (17:54):
What casting live from the R and R Foundation Specialist
Broadcast Studio. How back to Softie and Dig powered by
Emerald Queen Casino, the Betty and Capital of the Northwest
on Sports Radio ninety three point three kJ r FM.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
All right, this is a good little tease for Kevin
Collaboro joining us at five o'clock tonight in the radio show,
talks some NBA playoff basketball with Casey with that. Yes, well,
Mark James is talking a lot of NBA playoff basketball.
He's just crapping on Lebron James in the process. Did
you hear that segment today?
Speaker 5 (18:27):
By the way, Yeah, but Lebron's not even in the playoffs,
so right now does he continue to crap on them
because he hates Lebron?
Speaker 1 (18:33):
I mean, let's just cut through it. He hates his guts.
I mean, there's no other explanation. Yea, But there are
people could not stand Lebron jas he's worse than Petros,
and Petros thinks the guys a schmuck.
Speaker 5 (18:45):
But there are people you don't like in sports, but
you would rip them at the appropriate time. And I
don't think like a week and a half after Lebron
left the playoffs is appropriate time.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
I mean, how long?
Speaker 1 (18:55):
How long until we stopped busting Oregon's balls about getting
smacked by Ohio State in the Rose bawl that went
on for a couple of weeks, right, I'm just saying
that when you really got to burn up your butt
for something, you know, sometimes it comes out at weird times.
Speaker 5 (19:11):
I don't know, but I still haven't gotten the explanation
of why.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
Put him on the air.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
I mean, he's I mean, there's there's there's three people
that I know that absolutely despise Lebron.
Speaker 5 (19:24):
James, you know who all three of them are. Okay,
I don't even think he despises.
Speaker 6 (19:32):
You know.
Speaker 5 (19:32):
Have you had the conversation off the air about Lebron
with you? Yeah, he doesn't like Hugh, but on the
air he hasn't been.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
I would say he's not killing him like Mark does
because he's not here every day. Right if he were,
if Hugh Millan, and I'm not saying he'd be wrong
to do it, that's his prerogative.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
It's his it's his right.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
If he were here every day hosting a four hour
radio show and any topic of Lebron came up, he
would go off on him the way Mark James is.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
I was just three guys. I know those three can't
stand the guy.
Speaker 7 (19:59):
It's just weird for me to have that much hate
for something that isn't a rival. Like, yes, I hate
various sports teams, their organizations, the people involved with him
because they are interesting, but like I don't generally hate.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
Okay, let's do this.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Then, let's let's put it to the text line four nine,
four to five one for next segment. Is it weird
how much Mark James can't stand Lebron James question and
shares it in public. All right, Forida, Petros hates his
guts and he works in LA But I think at
least that's the difference.
Speaker 5 (20:29):
The difference is I don't think Petros lets his disdain
for Lebron James cloud his judgment on how great a player?
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Right? Well?
Speaker 3 (20:37):
Is that what I mean?
Speaker 8 (20:37):
Hey?
Speaker 3 (20:38):
Go Mark, I heard it today.
Speaker 5 (20:40):
He was in the fourth quarter of this game in
twenty twenty four and a broad terrible.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
I mean, he can't stand the guy. It is unbelievable
how much he hates his guy. Find someone that you
hate more than Mark James hates Lebron James. He might
be the biggest Lebron James hater and walk on the
face of the earth. Uh So, Casey will join us
at five. But have you heard what the NBA on
NB is doing. They're bringing back the trademark song you've
got You just have the song standing.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
By by the way, Okay, so let me let me
just explain this.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
So they're they're they're bringing back round Ball Rock, which
was written by John Tesh. You think about you know,
the right back in the nineties. You hear that song
and you think, man, I'm about to watch an event, right,
like a freaking event. And Jackson, you don't remember this
because you weren't even born but thirty years ago. Sonics
in the conference finals, Sonics in the NBA Finals, second round, whatever,
(21:31):
Nbcason town Snapper, Jones, Bill Walton, Marv Albert, you know
whoever Bob Kass is. That's a big damn deal. Weather's great,
it's May, it's early June. Everyone's fired up for sonic basketball.
You're sitting up all night because you can't sleep, your
stomachs and nots. It's phenomenal. I want that back and
it will come back very soon. So the NBA is
going back to NBC this coming fall. Is that correct?
(21:53):
So this November? People always wont will they bring back
the song? Well, yes they are. They're bringing back the song.
You know the voice of the guy made of the name.
The name is Jim Fagan, who died in twenty seventeen.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
This is the NBA on NBC. Or this guy right here.
Speaker 8 (22:12):
This is the NBA on NBC, nineteen ninety six NBA Finals.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Okay, so you know that voice, Well he's dead, he
died eight years ago. So how do you bring him
back if he's dead AI Artificial intelligence. You tell me
if this sounds anything like what you just heard.
Speaker 4 (22:40):
The NBA on NBC is bad. I'll see you this
October for the NBA season tip off.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
You can kind of spot the difference.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Oh, I can totally spot right, because we just heard
the guy's voice. But somebody just randomly watching on TV
who wasn't just comparing it to the actual voice from
thirty years ago may not know the difference.
Speaker 3 (23:09):
Do we find that a little creepy?
Speaker 7 (23:10):
By the way, big time, big time creepy. Well, it's
the first time they've done it for a dead guy.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Right.
Speaker 5 (23:15):
They did it for al Michaels in the Olympics, right, correct? Correct?
Al Michaels did the you know, the voice work for
a lot of a lot of stuff in the Olympics
and just got paid for not working.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Which was kind of weird. Like the guys alive, just
have him voice it?
Speaker 3 (23:28):
He didn't want to. What do we do? You'd rather
get paid to have a computer do it?
Speaker 5 (23:32):
Don't you get paid to stay home and have a
computer voice your show through.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
The entire show four hours? Yes? I would love that.
It's sort of like.
Speaker 7 (23:42):
Radio Bruce willis great movie. It's Pandora's Box with a E.
I mean, like, at what point is AI going to
I mean, I don't think AI could do what the
three of us are doing right now.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
One day.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
It will be maybe one day, but.
Speaker 7 (23:55):
Like the creative topics and the opinions that you guys have,
that's gonna be really tough for AI. But calling a
sporting event and doing like a Michael's play by play
call of just what's going on in front of it?
Speaker 3 (24:08):
Yes, that is AIPOD person of all.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
I am one to think that there's room for a
little bit of nostalgia, but I also think all good
things must come to an end, and that voice of
that guy, he's gone, like somebody else should slide into
that chair and become the voice of the next generation
of the NBA on NBC. That's number one. Number two,
I hope that his family's getting something out of this.
They are right, they are good agreement. And then number three,
(24:34):
I do wonder if people find this a little bit
odd and creepy at the same time, because, like you said,
where does it end? I mean, are we gonna wake
up in twenty years from now and flip on a
Westwood One Monday night radio broadcast, and here Jack Buck
call the game, even though he's been dead for forty years.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
At that point, it's not right. This is Pandora's box
that's being opened here. I absolutely think what you just
said will happen. I think in twenty third.
Speaker 5 (25:01):
The family of Keith Jackson will be contacted and said, hey,
would you be okay if Keith Jackson called the Ohio
State Michigan that's right?
Speaker 3 (25:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (25:12):
And they did. Keith Jackson AI calling. I can absolutely
see that happening.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Urban Meyer sons coaching Ohio State, Bob Robbie Meyer, and
there it goes, Robbie Meser, son of Urban, here's.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
The Buckeyes to a national title. Is that gonna happen? Yes?
Speaker 7 (25:28):
Because right now you can play Madden, you can play
college football video games. And what happens is guys like
Charles Davis and Brandon Godden they go into a booth
and they record a billion different phrases of scores of players,
et cetera. Well, if you can just have AI take
a voice and just type into the computer, have the
voice say this this this the time, it takes the money,
It takes to bring Charles and Brandon whoever else out
(25:51):
to record those things cost gone and with that you're jobs.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
You're done. I mean, this is honestly going to take over.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
And this is a it's a bigger conversation, right than
just the sports thing. But like imagine like the voice
of Jack Buck. When did Jack Buck die, like fifteen
years ago whatever, it was the voice of Jack Buck
calling like a seahawk game this fall right, Darnold to
come for two? And the conversion is good. I mean
it's like, come on, what is this fucking end?
Speaker 3 (26:19):
Dude?
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Where's it? Like, there's there's a billboard. I showed you
that picture of that billboard down in Sodo. Yes, you
probably see it driving into work. It's on your right hand. Yeah, yeah,
it says stop hiring people. Yeah, exactly what the hell?
I saw you tweet that out.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
Like some poor bastard can't get a freaking job. But
he looks up and see like thanks all.
Speaker 5 (26:37):
The Jacka's point, there is a lot of stuff AI
is not going to be able to do, and I
think this is exactly what we're talking about. When you
think of the sports broadcasting jobs the most I mean literally,
the script that the more script that it is, yeah,
the easier it will be for AI to replace the
lot of play by players. You know, there's more let's
say it. Well, if you if you just look at this,
I've done them all right, if you just look at
(26:58):
the stepping stones. The scripted is like your TV sports
you know. As much as we love those guys, I
mean they're they script out everything that they say, right,
I've done it before, Like I write the script and
then I read the script.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
That play by play will never be repair.
Speaker 5 (27:13):
That's the most scripted, and then play by play is
probably the second most because you can just program in,
have the computer look at what the guys are doing out.
Speaker 3 (27:23):
The least scripted is what we're doing right now.
Speaker 5 (27:26):
Because I don't even have any idea what I'm going
to say in three seconds anybody else, I.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
Don't think that's that's what I was going to say.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
I don't think that we can dismiss anything when it
comes to this stuff, to be totally honest with you, nothing,
just an idiot. I don't think we can dismiss anything.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
Dick missed this when he was gone. I'm just an idiot.
Speaker 5 (27:47):
Oh, Jess, it's just for a second, I thought it
was Genus, Like, did you have gena?
Speaker 1 (27:51):
There is no way I would play that if it
was he are you kidding me? I'd be sleeping sounded like.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
Idiot.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
I just think again, Just to circle back, if you
saw the movie Surrogates, Jackson knows the movie I'm talking
about with Bruce willis basically what happens is everybody stays
home and you plug your brain into a machine, and
an android that looks like you leaves the house yep,
and goes and lives your life for you, so you're
never worried about getting disease, car crash, getting robbed, nothing,
(28:24):
You don't do anything. You stay home and you get
fat and you plug into a machine.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
Not kind of like what wally but in the real world. Rightah.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
Yeah, it's actually a really good movie. Very very creepy,
but very good movie. So I don't know, I just
heard this yesterday. I'm like, man, that's kind of doesn't
really sound I mean, it sounds kind of like the guy,
but if you know what the dude sounded like, it's
obviously fake. And I just wonder if NBC just needs
to ditch it and just hey, let's start something new.
Speaker 3 (28:52):
Man, that was thirty years ago.
Speaker 5 (28:53):
The inflection's got to be there, though, it's got to
be this is the NBA on NBC, and that I
didn't really the.
Speaker 4 (28:59):
NBA on NBC.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
Now give us the fake one that was Oh wow, geez.
See that's my point though, if you haven't heard the
other one, it's harder to differentiate.
Speaker 5 (29:10):
You know, maybe they're just gonna do it for one
year kind of nostalgia, bring it back, and then after
that they'll let it go.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Yeah, I mean, can we get an Ai Bill Walton
yelling at Snapper Jones on TV telling him how dummy
is on the broadcast?
Speaker 3 (29:22):
Why the worst game I've ever seen? Well, you're you're
not even watching the game. We'll get Chuck Paula to
do it. So here's back to back. These are the
back to back, no interruption. Here is the.
Speaker 4 (29:33):
NBA on NBC. The NBA on NBC is bad.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
I mean, it sounds like a younger version of the right,
like a year younger version of the guy. All Right,
we're gonna break textimonials and then Kevin Callaboro. Maybe one
day we'll hear an Ai Collaboro voice. Yeah, we'll last him.
Speaker 3 (29:50):
What he thinks about this at five On ninety three
three k j R F M
All right, we spoke yesterday. Matt Ens is the new
(00:03):
head coach at Fresno State. He was on Lincoln Riley's
staff at USC a year ago, but the previous stop
for him was in Fargo, North Dakota, all right, and
where he was the head coach for Greys Abel, the
eighteenth pick in the NFL draft. He knew presumably starting
left guard for the Seattle Seahawks, or if he's not starting,
there's a problem problem. Had a chance to catch up
(00:24):
with coach Ens yesterday. Talked about what he saw in
him when he was in high school. How did he
maybe think one day he would be a special player,
How does he fit in the NFL? What are his
challenges going to be in the National Football League? How
come North Dakota State keeps churning out all these fantastic
offensive linemen. Here's our conversation with a new Fresno and
(00:46):
former North Dakota State head coach, matt Ends about Greys Abel.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Appreciate you guys having me on today.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Well, we appreciate you doing this.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
We talked to the North Dakota State offensive coordinator you
know very well last week on the radio show and
thought it'd be a good story to get you to
swing by and talk about the highest drafted interior offensive
lineman by the Seahawks coach since they took Steve Hutchinson
in two thousand and one.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
And that turned out pretty good. That guy made the
Hall of Fame.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
So go back to your early days with Grey's abel
recruiting him, bringing him to North Dakota State and what
stood out to him when he was an eighteen year
old high school senior that made you think this kid
may have a future.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Well, you know, the first thing, you know, when we
first started recruit Gray, it was limited. We had the
opportunities get him on campus during the spring, and then
all of a sudden COVID hit and so a lot
of our recruiting of Gray was via zoom, via telephone,
him sending videos of him and his brothers working out.
(01:54):
So it was by no means typical eight poo goal
of a normal recruiting path. But you know, the things
that we noticed right off the bat was one, how
hard he played and and and it was any sport
that he participated in, the energy and the effort that
he gave towards it. Excellent high school basketball player. Uh,
(02:15):
tremendous baseball player. I remember we we had the opportunity
to kind of get a peak of him during some
legion baseball and you know he was pitching, uh, doing
a little bit everything for his team. And yeah, just
we we had great value in guys that were multi
sport players. We knew that the ceiling was was was
(02:36):
extremely high. We didn't know where it was. And Gray
was wired like a like a Bison, tough, hard nosed kid,
great family, great great character, uh and and was a
guy that was willing to work and put the put
the effort in when he came in. You know, he
played force uh. And then initial twenty twenty season kind
of out of necessity a little bit uh during the
(02:58):
during that COVID year, started a handful of games, then
got injured and was out. But we saw at that
point that this guy was way above the curve. Just
his understanding of football, his ability to absorb things and
to retain information was on a different level. And then
you know, they're the coaching staff, the strength staff, nutrition staff,
(03:19):
all did a tremendous job and pouring into him. But
you know, at the end of the day, the thing
that separates guys from guys who can make it in
the NFL and guys who don't. Is Gray was willing
to do the unrequired. He was watching a ton of films,
staying after workouts, getting out the electra working. Was always
a guy after practice that went back over to the
(03:40):
O line area and worked on a fundamental maybe something
that he didn't like, footwork, hand placement, pad level, whatever
it might be. Was always a professional and the way
he approached his games well.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Matt Ends is now the head coach at Fresno State.
He coached Gray's abel for four years at Dakota State.
So if I have my timeline right, and if I'm
wrong about this, please correct me. You you left after
the twenty three year to go to USC, and now
you're a Frisno State obviously, so Gray Gray stayed behind,
(04:16):
and there was a lot of reports that he had
a lot of nil offers to leave North Dakota State
after you took off to go to USC. I mean,
I'm sure, I'm sure you maybe spoke to him about
joining you in LA and but he stayed. Did that
surprise you that he stuck it out and turned down
all those lucrative offers to stay One more year in Fargo.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
It does not based on you know, when you get
to know the individual. Like like I said, we had
a relationship based football program there at North Dakota State,
and it didn't I had that whole process of opportunities
started towards the end of the regular season of the
twenty three season, and so Gray and I had numerous
(05:00):
conversations about people reaching out, going through his high school coach,
going through other you know, means to connect with him.
Six figure you know, numbers that were getting thrown around
that were, you know, at the time and still this day, astronomical.
But you know, I think the thing that I remember
talking to Gray about the most at that time was
(05:24):
he was at a place that still appreciated development, that
there was still plenty of things for him to continue
to improve on. The real money for a guy like
him was going to be at the next level. Two
of his best friends had been recently drafted, one in
the second round, one in the fourth round. So it
wasn't like, you know, for Gray, going somewhere else wasn't
(05:44):
necessarily going to make him more attractive. Uh, maybe it
was going to give him some more dollars in his pocket.
Now but at the end of the day, Gray, it's
not going to make you a better player because you
change color jersey. And and I think at the end
of that Gray and his family appreciated how he'd been
treated at North Dakota State, the coaching staff, our administration.
(06:08):
He was going to stay where he'd been developed. And
it doesn't happen enough these days. You know. Again here
at Fresno State, we consider ourselves a premier developmental program
and we want guys that want to finish here. But
it's getting harder and harder to hang on to guys
for five years.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
So matt ends again with us.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Current head coach at Fresno State was Greys Abel's head
coach for four years in Fargo, North Dakota. And I'm
looking at his recruiting profile when he was in high school.
I believe he came out of Pierre, South Dakota, if
I if I have that correct, and so here peer
South Pier Thank you Peer South Dakota. So I don't
(06:47):
know if this is insulting or not, and if it is,
I don't mean it that way at all. But do
you think that maybe Grey's Abel was under recruited because
he played high school football in South Dakota. And if
this kid grew up been Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, California, whatever,
there may have been a lot more eyeballs on him.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Oh, of course, of course, you know that's that's that's
part of it. But I was also part of our
our recruiting philosophy was let's make sure that we look
under every rock and under every tree to find guys
that that can fit intoto what we're looking for. And
you know, Gray was a big long athlete in high
school that needed time in the weight room to continue
(07:27):
to develop. But you're, you're, you're exactly right. He You know, Pier,
South Dakota is not on any you know, it's it's
off the beaten path a little bit. It's not a
trip that you make. But I will say this, a
couple of years after Gray left to go to North
Dakota State, the starting quarterback at Peer now is the
(07:48):
backup at Ohio State. So it's not too far off
the beaten path anymore.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Yeah, he brought a lot of attention, no doubt, to
to Pier South Dakota.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
I I learned how to pronounce.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Peer South Dakota because we're talking about grays Abel, So
matt Ens again, the head coach at Fresno State, was
grey's Abel's coach for four years in Fargo. And you
mentioned the other offensive lineman. We've got another one, Jalen Sundal,
who was with the Seahawks obviously as a backup. You know,
Cody Mock, I believe has started thirty four games for
the Buccaneers the last couple of years, that entire twenty
(08:21):
twenty one twenty twenty two. I think as well, offensive line,
either in training camp or now in the NFL.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
What were you doing there? Like, what were you putting.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
In the water out there that turned North Dakota State
into an offensive line pipeline for the NFL.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Well, that was something that had been started that There's
been a lot of history of onlinemen coming through there.
But I think at the end of the day, it
comes down to what you're looking for and recruiting and
some of the things that we valued. You know at
NBSU we still continue to value character, toughness. If you've
(08:59):
ever watched India su play, you know there's a level
of physicality that's required to play there, and so identifying
the right guys with the right that are wired the
right way was always going to be critical. And then
you know, we wanted self motivated, intrinsically motivated young men,
guys that were we were never going to be satisfied,
(09:21):
guys that always wanted to continue to get better. And
when you talk about like that that online group from
twenty one and twenty two, uh, they were all very
similar wired guys. And then the last thing is a
lot of them were small town kids that were that
were three four three, you know, two three sport athletes
that were only scratching the surface of of what they
(09:43):
could become. I remember Cody Mouk was, you know, a
six five and fifteen pound, you know, choaking wet coming
out of high school and and he left three fifteen.
And Cordel Vohlsen, who is a starting right guard for
the Bengals right now saying, you know, was two hundred
(10:03):
and fifty pounds coming out of nine man football in
the middle of North Dakota. Or you know Jalen Sundell,
you know Maryville, Missouri, extremely talented and athletic family. He
just hadn't grown into anything yet. And so you know,
at NDSU, we continue to emphasize the weight room and
and growth and development. And that's why you saw these guys,
(10:25):
you know, year three, year four, year five really have
their success.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Uh, coach, before you go, I'm just curious about how
you think his transition to the NFL will look like.
I mean, obviously are now in in in Fresno, but
I'm certain you're gonna have a great relationship with Gray's
Abel for a long time for the rest of your
life and mentor him and and and be there for
him to support him in the NFL. Uh answer this question,
(10:51):
finish this sentence. I guess, Uh, Gray's Abel will have
a successful long career in the National Football League.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
If blank fill in the blank, farm.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
He stays, if he stays.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
Healthy, that's it. That's it.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
That's it.
Speaker 4 (11:06):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
That that that that's that's what. That's what I know
of of who he is as a person, his desire
to continue to push himself. And and you're talking about
as as intelligent and smart an offensive lineman as I've
been around. Wow, he he knows, he knows football, and
so it's gonna be it's gonna be fun. And uh,
you know, one of these days, uh him and I
(11:28):
we we we talked the night of his draft. I
think right before he was about ready to dive into
those bush lights. But I'm sure at some point him
and I will have to him and I'll have one together. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
He seems like a good dude and the kind of
guy you want to have a beer with. Man, no doubt. Huh.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Oh, he's if you could have you, if you could
have five of him on the offensive line, it might
be the best old line in the NFL.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Well, just because of the way he's the way he's
wired like that. I mean, he is a he's a
he's a country kid that loves football. He's going to
be a great teammate. He's going to be a great
addition to the locker room. He'll he just he understands
the secrets in the dirt and he's going to be
willing to put some sweat into his into his his product.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
Well, you played a lot of tackle right at North
Dakota State in the last year and now he's a
full time guard. Just give us a quick thought on
that transition for him and how easy or difficult you
think that'll be.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Well, I think there will be some growing h I
don't want to say pains, but you know, opportunity for him.
Of course. Man, in the NFL, there's gonna be some
freaks that are going to line up across from you physically,
and you know, from a twitch standpoint, you know people
hands are going to be on you a lot. Faster
blocks happen, Quicker pass sets have to be a little
bit faster, you know, as an interior lineman. And so
(12:49):
it'll be fun to see his development, especially you know,
as he stays, takes another step up, and you know
the game is going to move faster, and you know
how quickly he can transition will be how quickly he
has us.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Matt, great stuff, man, I appreciate the visit, keep in touch,
best of luck with the Bulldogs this year, and thanks
again for doing this.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Man, well, I appreciate it. You make sure when you
see Gray and you see Jalen, please tell them hello.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
Yeah, does does Gray have a nickname?
Speaker 1 (13:16):
By the way, that would be like embarrassing if I
pulled it out and told him and like whatever.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't think of
one right off the top of my head right now. Now,
you know, it's funny, So I'm gonna tell you a
quick story here. This type of kid he is. I
don't know where he got it from, but he found
a picture that was at one of the local establishments
of me, and all of a sudden, before I knew
it was at his house. And on Christmas Eve they
(13:41):
had a big party at the house and I got
a text about four three in the morning of all
these old linemen surrounding a picture of myself. And so
I don't know if I should take that as a
as a sign of respect or if I should be
concerned about that. But that's just the type of guys
he was with, and the type of people he led
was the just fun group they'll be associated with. Now.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
I love it all, right, man, great stuff, Thanks again
for doing this. Looking forward to watching Gray here for
a long time, and you're obviously a huge part of
him getting here with the eighteenth pick overall, So congrats
on that. Best of luck in Fresno. We'll talk soon. Man, God,
I appreciate you.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
It's really hard to kind of place expectations on a guy,
because there's two kind of lenses that I'm kind of
looking through right now, Dick. One is the Seahawks Lens,
and the other is the NFL Lens Seahawks. Lens says, well,
they just drafted the second highest drafted Garden team history, right, Okay,
bet it'd be a stud.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
Right yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
But then you compare it to what other teams who
have maybe had a habit like you always like to say,
the Seahawks don't draft interior offensive lineman very high, at
least not under John Schneider and Pete Carroll.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
And this is the highest they've ever drafted.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Hutchinson was seventeenth under Holmgren back in two thousand and one.
But there's been teams before that have taken guards in
the top ten, top fifteen.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
So I don't know.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
I mean, you heard the coach right there say what's
the one thing keeping him from being a star? And
he says, if he's healthy, he's gonna be a star.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
End the story. Just he's gotta stay healthy. Period. That's it.
That's all. That's how much this guy believes in this.
I mean, I just have.
Speaker 5 (15:15):
Modest expectations, which is solidify what has been a hole,
and just I just don't want it to be a
hole anymore.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
That's really the only expectations. I don't care.
Speaker 5 (15:23):
I mean, it'd be great to say, way, we got
a six time All Pro on our hands, like Steve
Hudginson or whatever. But I don't worry about that. I
think more than Devin Witherspoon because he went so high.
That was the one where I was like, you better
be an all Pro man. You went five, that's right,
you know, you didn't go eighteen. So I think going
eighteen is a lot different because you just want a
guy at eighteen that's just gonna fill the role for.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
Eight to ten years.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
So this was and looking at an article that was written,
Oh god, this is twelve years ago.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
Forget that this twelve year old.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Well, Devin, it does give you some context about what
teams did in the previous decades. So between two z
thousand and two thousand and nine, there were six guards
in the first round, nineteen ninety to ninety nine there
were thirteen, eighty to eighty nine there were nineteen, and
then the seventies there were fifteen.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
So you know, I mean, it's like, you know, one.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Every year and a half for every half a year
you're taking a guard. But I'm with you and that
I just think I'm kind of looking at Gray's Abel.
The way I look at the Mariners offense, Like I
asked Larry yesterday, can we now say, hey, these guys
may not finish third in baseball and run score like
they're projected to be right now, but can we say
(16:35):
that the days of them being an absolute disaster are over?
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Right?
Speaker 3 (16:39):
With this offense?
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Can we say that they're done holding the team back,
They're done being a dumpster fire? And he said he
thinks so. And the hope with Gray's Abel is the
same thing. He may not be a All Pro, he
may not be a Hall of Famer, because those expectations
are stupid, right to have those kinds of expectations on
a guy, especially a guy that was playing FCS football
for the last five years. But can we at least
(17:01):
get to a point where the absolute train wreck, which
is what you're saying that left guard will now come
down us?
Speaker 5 (17:08):
I mean, it's it, and I think and when it
comes to the Mariners, I mean, I don't think it's
necessarily the talent that is guaranteed to be as good.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
I think it's just the approach. I think it's the mentality.
Speaker 5 (17:18):
I think it's the belief that is what's going to
be so much different this year than it has been
in years past.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
Let's come back and talk about that a little bit,
because I was doing some number crunching there, which means
just going on the internet for like thirty seconds, and
I want to come back and talk about why this
might be more sustainable because of the approach. And then,
by the way, you may know that the NBA on
NBC is coming back. NBC is getting the NBA back.
Have you heard what they're doing? By the way, with
their production for the broadcasts, it is a little cool
(17:48):
but also a little.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
Bit creepy at the same time.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
We'll get to that coming up on ninety three to
three KJRFM.
Speaker 6 (17:54):
What casting live from the R and R Foundation Specialist
Broadcast Studio. How back to Softie and Dig powered by
Emerald Queen Casino, the Betty and Capital of the Northwest
on Sports Radio ninety three point three kJ r FM.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
All right, this is a good little tease for Kevin
Collaboro joining us at five o'clock tonight in the radio show,
talks some NBA playoff basketball with Casey with that. Yes, well,
Mark James is talking a lot of NBA playoff basketball.
He's just crapping on Lebron James in the process. Did
you hear that segment today?
Speaker 5 (18:27):
By the way, Yeah, but Lebron's not even in the playoffs,
so right now does he continue to crap on them
because he hates Lebron?
Speaker 1 (18:33):
I mean, let's just cut through it. He hates his guts.
I mean, there's no other explanation. Yea, But there are
people could not stand Lebron jas he's worse than Petros,
and Petros thinks the guys a schmuck.
Speaker 5 (18:45):
But there are people you don't like in sports, but
you would rip them at the appropriate time. And I
don't think like a week and a half after Lebron
left the playoffs is appropriate time.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
I mean, how long?
Speaker 1 (18:55):
How long until we stopped busting Oregon's balls about getting
smacked by Ohio State in the Rose bawl that went
on for a couple of weeks, right, I'm just saying
that when you really got to burn up your butt
for something, you know, sometimes it comes out at weird times.
Speaker 5 (19:11):
I don't know, but I still haven't gotten the explanation
of why.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
Put him on the air.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
I mean, he's I mean, there's there's there's three people
that I know that absolutely despise Lebron.
Speaker 5 (19:24):
James, you know who all three of them are. Okay,
I don't even think he despises.
Speaker 6 (19:32):
You know.
Speaker 5 (19:32):
Have you had the conversation off the air about Lebron
with you? Yeah, he doesn't like Hugh, but on the
air he hasn't been.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
I would say he's not killing him like Mark does
because he's not here every day. Right if he were,
if Hugh Millan, and I'm not saying he'd be wrong
to do it, that's his prerogative.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
It's his it's his right.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
If he were here every day hosting a four hour
radio show and any topic of Lebron came up, he
would go off on him the way Mark James is.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
I was just three guys. I know those three can't
stand the guy.
Speaker 7 (19:59):
It's just weird for me to have that much hate
for something that isn't a rival. Like, yes, I hate
various sports teams, their organizations, the people involved with him
because they are interesting, but like I don't generally hate.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
Okay, let's do this.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Then, let's let's put it to the text line four nine,
four to five one for next segment. Is it weird
how much Mark James can't stand Lebron James question and
shares it in public. All right, Forida, Petros hates his
guts and he works in LA But I think at
least that's the difference.
Speaker 5 (20:29):
The difference is I don't think Petros lets his disdain
for Lebron James cloud his judgment on how great a player?
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Right? Well?
Speaker 3 (20:37):
Is that what I mean?
Speaker 8 (20:37):
Hey?
Speaker 3 (20:38):
Go Mark, I heard it today.
Speaker 5 (20:40):
He was in the fourth quarter of this game in
twenty twenty four and a broad terrible.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
I mean, he can't stand the guy. It is unbelievable
how much he hates his guy. Find someone that you
hate more than Mark James hates Lebron James. He might
be the biggest Lebron James hater and walk on the
face of the earth. Uh So, Casey will join us
at five. But have you heard what the NBA on
NB is doing. They're bringing back the trademark song you've
got You just have the song standing.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
By by the way, Okay, so let me let me
just explain this.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
So they're they're they're bringing back round Ball Rock, which
was written by John Tesh. You think about you know,
the right back in the nineties. You hear that song
and you think, man, I'm about to watch an event, right,
like a freaking event. And Jackson, you don't remember this
because you weren't even born but thirty years ago. Sonics
in the conference finals, Sonics in the NBA Finals, second round, whatever,
(21:31):
Nbcason town Snapper, Jones, Bill Walton, Marv Albert, you know
whoever Bob Kass is. That's a big damn deal. Weather's great,
it's May, it's early June. Everyone's fired up for sonic basketball.
You're sitting up all night because you can't sleep, your
stomachs and nots. It's phenomenal. I want that back and
it will come back very soon. So the NBA is
going back to NBC this coming fall. Is that correct?
(21:53):
So this November? People always wont will they bring back
the song? Well, yes they are. They're bringing back the song.
You know the voice of the guy made of the name.
The name is Jim Fagan, who died in twenty seventeen.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
This is the NBA on NBC. Or this guy right here.
Speaker 8 (22:12):
This is the NBA on NBC, nineteen ninety six NBA Finals.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Okay, so you know that voice, Well he's dead, he
died eight years ago. So how do you bring him
back if he's dead AI Artificial intelligence. You tell me
if this sounds anything like what you just heard.
Speaker 4 (22:40):
The NBA on NBC is bad. I'll see you this
October for the NBA season tip off.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
You can kind of spot the difference.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Oh, I can totally spot right, because we just heard
the guy's voice. But somebody just randomly watching on TV
who wasn't just comparing it to the actual voice from
thirty years ago may not know the difference.
Speaker 3 (23:09):
Do we find that a little creepy?
Speaker 7 (23:10):
By the way, big time, big time creepy. Well, it's
the first time they've done it for a dead guy.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Right.
Speaker 5 (23:15):
They did it for al Michaels in the Olympics, right, correct? Correct?
Al Michaels did the you know, the voice work for
a lot of a lot of stuff in the Olympics
and just got paid for not working.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Which was kind of weird. Like the guys alive, just
have him voice it?
Speaker 3 (23:28):
He didn't want to. What do we do? You'd rather
get paid to have a computer do it?
Speaker 5 (23:32):
Don't you get paid to stay home and have a
computer voice your show through.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
The entire show four hours? Yes? I would love that.
It's sort of like.
Speaker 7 (23:42):
Radio Bruce willis great movie. It's Pandora's Box with a E.
I mean, like, at what point is AI going to
I mean, I don't think AI could do what the
three of us are doing right now.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
One day.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
It will be maybe one day, but.
Speaker 7 (23:55):
Like the creative topics and the opinions that you guys have,
that's gonna be really tough for AI. But calling a
sporting event and doing like a Michael's play by play
call of just what's going on in front of it?
Speaker 3 (24:08):
Yes, that is AIPOD person of all.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
I am one to think that there's room for a
little bit of nostalgia, but I also think all good
things must come to an end, and that voice of
that guy, he's gone, like somebody else should slide into
that chair and become the voice of the next generation
of the NBA on NBC. That's number one. Number two,
I hope that his family's getting something out of this.
They are right, they are good agreement. And then number three,
(24:34):
I do wonder if people find this a little bit
odd and creepy at the same time, because, like you said,
where does it end? I mean, are we gonna wake
up in twenty years from now and flip on a
Westwood One Monday night radio broadcast, and here Jack Buck
call the game, even though he's been dead for forty years.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
At that point, it's not right. This is Pandora's box
that's being opened here. I absolutely think what you just
said will happen. I think in twenty third.
Speaker 5 (25:01):
The family of Keith Jackson will be contacted and said, hey,
would you be okay if Keith Jackson called the Ohio
State Michigan that's right?
Speaker 3 (25:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (25:12):
And they did. Keith Jackson AI calling. I can absolutely
see that happening.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Urban Meyer sons coaching Ohio State, Bob Robbie Meyer, and
there it goes, Robbie Meser, son of Urban, here's.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
The Buckeyes to a national title. Is that gonna happen? Yes?
Speaker 7 (25:28):
Because right now you can play Madden, you can play
college football video games. And what happens is guys like
Charles Davis and Brandon Godden they go into a booth
and they record a billion different phrases of scores of players,
et cetera. Well, if you can just have AI take
a voice and just type into the computer, have the
voice say this this this the time, it takes the money,
It takes to bring Charles and Brandon whoever else out
(25:51):
to record those things cost gone and with that you're jobs.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
You're done. I mean, this is honestly going to take over.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
And this is a it's a bigger conversation, right than
just the sports thing. But like imagine like the voice
of Jack Buck. When did Jack Buck die, like fifteen
years ago whatever, it was the voice of Jack Buck
calling like a seahawk game this fall right, Darnold to
come for two? And the conversion is good. I mean
it's like, come on, what is this fucking end?
Speaker 3 (26:19):
Dude?
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Where's it? Like, there's there's a billboard. I showed you
that picture of that billboard down in Sodo. Yes, you
probably see it driving into work. It's on your right hand. Yeah, yeah,
it says stop hiring people. Yeah, exactly what the hell?
I saw you tweet that out.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
Like some poor bastard can't get a freaking job. But
he looks up and see like thanks all.
Speaker 5 (26:37):
The Jacka's point, there is a lot of stuff AI
is not going to be able to do, and I
think this is exactly what we're talking about. When you
think of the sports broadcasting jobs the most I mean literally,
the script that the more script that it is, yeah,
the easier it will be for AI to replace the
lot of play by players. You know, there's more let's
say it. Well, if you if you just look at this,
I've done them all right, if you just look at
(26:58):
the stepping stones. The scripted is like your TV sports
you know. As much as we love those guys, I
mean they're they script out everything that they say, right,
I've done it before, Like I write the script and
then I read the script.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
That play by play will never be repair.
Speaker 5 (27:13):
That's the most scripted, and then play by play is
probably the second most because you can just program in,
have the computer look at what the guys are doing out.
Speaker 3 (27:23):
The least scripted is what we're doing right now.
Speaker 5 (27:26):
Because I don't even have any idea what I'm going
to say in three seconds anybody else, I.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
Don't think that's that's what I was going to say.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
I don't think that we can dismiss anything when it
comes to this stuff, to be totally honest with you, nothing,
just an idiot. I don't think we can dismiss anything.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
Dick missed this when he was gone. I'm just an idiot.
Speaker 5 (27:47):
Oh, Jess, it's just for a second, I thought it
was Genus, Like, did you have gena?
Speaker 1 (27:51):
There is no way I would play that if it
was he are you kidding me? I'd be sleeping sounded like.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
Idiot.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
I just think again, Just to circle back, if you
saw the movie Surrogates, Jackson knows the movie I'm talking
about with Bruce willis basically what happens is everybody stays
home and you plug your brain into a machine, and
an android that looks like you leaves the house yep,
and goes and lives your life for you, so you're
never worried about getting disease, car crash, getting robbed, nothing,
(28:24):
You don't do anything. You stay home and you get
fat and you plug into a machine.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
Not kind of like what wally but in the real world. Rightah.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
Yeah, it's actually a really good movie. Very very creepy,
but very good movie. So I don't know, I just
heard this yesterday. I'm like, man, that's kind of doesn't
really sound I mean, it sounds kind of like the guy,
but if you know what the dude sounded like, it's
obviously fake. And I just wonder if NBC just needs
to ditch it and just hey, let's start something new.
Speaker 3 (28:52):
Man, that was thirty years ago.
Speaker 5 (28:53):
The inflection's got to be there, though, it's got to
be this is the NBA on NBC, and that I
didn't really the.
Speaker 4 (28:59):
NBA on NBC.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
Now give us the fake one that was Oh wow, geez.
See that's my point though, if you haven't heard the
other one, it's harder to differentiate.
Speaker 5 (29:10):
You know, maybe they're just gonna do it for one
year kind of nostalgia, bring it back, and then after
that they'll let it go.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Yeah, I mean, can we get an Ai Bill Walton
yelling at Snapper Jones on TV telling him how dummy
is on the broadcast?
Speaker 3 (29:22):
Why the worst game I've ever seen? Well, you're you're
not even watching the game. We'll get Chuck Paula to
do it. So here's back to back. These are the
back to back, no interruption. Here is the.
Speaker 4 (29:33):
NBA on NBC. The NBA on NBC is bad.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
I mean, it sounds like a younger version of the right,
like a year younger version of the guy. All Right,
we're gonna break textimonials and then Kevin Callaboro. Maybe one
day we'll hear an Ai Collaboro voice. Yeah, we'll last him.
Speaker 3 (29:50):
What he thinks about this at five On ninety three
three k j R F M
Dave 'Softy' Mahler and Dick Fain News
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