Softy & Dick 6-26 Hour 3: Hawks-49ers, Julio #s, Biggins, Beniers

In the third hour, Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain debate if the gap between the 49ers and Seahawks has closed, discuss concerns over Julio Rodriguez, play Pick Your Putz, talk about UW recruiting with Greg Biggins, then chat with NHL Rookie of the Year Matty Beniers.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
We have actually a couple of seriousquestions to ask here. Are you serious
with that question? You want togo for the radio show? Now go
ahead, right, you go first, Well, beauty, before I think
the I think one of the biggestquestions of the Seattle sports scene in twenty
twenty three is this question I'm aboutto ask serious. It's the question that

(00:21):
Ladanian Tomlinson answered, And I'll askthe question. Then we'll let We'll let
television analysts Ladanian Tomlinson give your auntand give his answer, and we'll see
if you agree with it. Thequestion is simply this, how much has
the gap closed between the San Franciscoforty nine Ers and the Seattle Seahawks Coming
into this season, LT, youhave lost two straight defensive coordinators two years

(00:42):
in a row, obviously, RobertSalo and Demico Ryans. Now you bringing
Steve Wilkes, who hasn't been beena part of that organization, hasn't really
come up like Demko Rise and RobertSalo working together. So now that defense
has to learn a new defense.They have to learn the community Kay in
a different way. I just haveto believe when you've had that must turnover,

(01:03):
particularly on your best unit, youhave to take a step back.
And if you take a step back, remember those games last year with Seattle.
They worked close. They you know, up until the playoff game,
the first two games were closed.I think Seattle has gotten better this draft.
Now it's Seattle. Can I reallysay at the end of the day
that they're completely better this San FranciscoAbsolutely not. I'm just saying I believe

(01:27):
San Francisco has come back to thePowell a little bit and maybe Seattle ends
up being the winner of that division. Okay, So what's the what's the
what's the question and what's the questionis we all agree whether we all agree
there's a gap. There was agap last year between San Francisco that was

(01:48):
that was clear. Now we candisagree on exactly how big it was.
You thought it was gigantic. Ithought it was large, but not all
right immense, Okay, but weboth agree that there was a sizeable game.
Well, you've you've kind of comeoff that a little bit because we
had that debate. I remember wherewe were at Jimmy's. I agree with
LT that you guys were talking tome about how the gap between the Niners
and Seahawks wasn't as big as peoplethought because the Hawks were leading at halftime

(02:12):
or by one of those three games. I thought the two of those three
games were very competitive. When yougo into the half of two of the
three games, one year ahead andone you were, I mean you were
right there until that stupid fumble inthe late touchdown before the first half ended
in Seattle. I mean you wereplaying punch for punch with San Francisco,
and two of those games in thefirst half. The problem is there's two
halves. That's true. That's theproblem. That's true, and that's where
the gap. Last of all,the Thursday night game they lost twenty one

(02:34):
thirteen. It was twenty one tosix with two minutes to go. In
the games right offense did not.That is the second half of the playoff
game, they got destroyed and lostby twenty points. I understand. So
there was a big ass gap.Got a question. You would disagree with
LT because he I don't think LTknows where he's talking about that. I
think he got it wrong. Okay, all right, yes, but I
do agree with him that the gapis closed. That part. I agree

(02:57):
with the question. There's two gaps. There's last year's gap, and there's
this gap. So last year's gapwas four games, right, it was
thirteen and four to nine and eight. You've got San Francisco this year,
let's see, almost back to back. You only have one game in between.
We're gonna know a lot about bothof these teams by week number twelve
when they when they face each other. So my question to you simply is,

(03:21):
is the division legitimately gonna be upin the air when Seattle plays San
Francisco in Week number twelve. Ithink it will be. I also think
it's a two team race and it'snot close. I think this is gonna
be a bloodbath for Arizona and forthe Rams. I think they're screwed.
But certain about the Rams. I'mcertain about Arizona. Yeah. I I
look at Matt Stafford last year andI thought he looked like he was sixty

(03:43):
years old. He might be Okay, he might be. I think they're
done. I think I think Ithink the Rams are done. I think
the Cardinals are done. Uh,you Maze will not even play football.
Let me ask you this. Theyshould go three and one at minimum against
the Rams and Cardinals. Your goal. You can't expect to go four and
oh you can expre with the Niners, you go four and two in the
way, why did you why whenyou looked at Matthew Stafford last year and

(04:08):
throw a ball and see he wasdone? And then you don't look at
Aaron Rodgers and say the same thing, because Aaron Rodgers was just a he
was an absolute me yeah quarterback lastyeah, partly because I thought Stafford actually
had better talent around him than AaronRodgers did last year or the Packers.
And I think Aaron Rodgers didn't givea damn Well, I don't know,
I mean, unless matt Stafford doesn'tgive a damn and I don't know him

(04:30):
that well. I don't know Rodgersthat well either, but I know that
Aaron Rodgers seems to be the kindof diva baby that would say the hell
with it and things aren't going hisway, as in his behavior shown that
over the last maybe decade or so. And you know what I look.
I mean, I also don't thinkthat Rodgers is that great either. I
think both of them are kind ofon the twilight of their career. But
I'm more concerned about the Rams becausethey're in the damn division. If the

(04:51):
If the New York Jets were inthe division with the Seahawks, I would
say, hey, great deal.I love it what they gave up to
get to get Aaron. I thinkthat Aaron Rodgers will make the Jets better
than they were because they're being He'sbeing compared to turred sandwiches of quarterbacks.
I mean, he's being compared tocarcasses. Dick, a guy with a

(05:12):
beating heart is better than what theJets have had a quarterback. So does
he make the Jets better? Ithink he does. But the Jets did
not make that deal to get better. They made that deal to win a
super Bowl. And he's not gonnado that in New York, especially in
that conference. There's no way thatAaron Rodgers can pull that off. Okay,
I'm telling you, if he pullsthat off, I will shave your
face into the back of my headif Aaron Rodgers gets the Jets to a

(05:35):
super Bowl. Now back to theNiners for a second. Here's who they
lost, by the way over theoffseason. They lost Mike McGlinchey, their
right tackle. They lost Jimmy Ward, they lost Emmanuel Moseley, they lost
Jimmy Garoppolo, who I still think, when healthy, is their best quarterback
on their football. They lost SampsonEbucam, their big defensive end. They

(05:57):
lost a lot of guys off thatteam, and the Hawks I thought got
better. So while I disagree withyou on where the gap was a year
ago between the Hawks and Niners,I thought there was a giant canyon between
the Hawks and Niners a year ago. Yeah, I agree with you that
that gap has closed significantly. Thething that the thing that bothers me a
little bit is the schedule for SanFrancisco prior to when they play Seattle.
Those games include Tampa Bay, Arizonahome against the Giants, Rams at Cleveland.

(06:27):
Is that a tough game? Shouldn'tbe for San Francisco at Minnesota shouldn't
be for San Francisco. They dohave a couple of tough ones they've got.
I like the game before the secondmatchup, they got to go to
Philadelphia. That's I'm talking about theones before they ever. I'm trying to
figure out what their record and whatour rod is gonna be. Okay,
well let's do it at Pittsburgh.For the Niners, I mean, I

(06:49):
think they lose that game at theRams that should be a win. At
home against the Giants should be awin. Cardinals should be away. Cardinals
in San Francis, Cowboys in SanFrancisco. That's five, that's four one
at the Browns they won't win bothfour and two. Yeah, at Minnesota
when five and two Bengals at homeis going to be hard. They could

(07:09):
be five and three at Jacksonville.Good Jacksonville team. That's five and four.
I mean, all of a sudden, we're talking about the difference between
five and five or six and four, right, So can the Hawks stay
within striking absolutely? Yes they can, Yes, yes, I think I
absolutely agree that the gap has closedbetween these two teams. So then maybe
we should put a little I mean, look at the Shekels. You can

(07:31):
put on the sale. Better quarterbackthan San Francisco two, by the way,
better the Hawks may. The Hawksmay have the best quarterback in the
NFC West. And if you're rightand Stafford is done, I think he
has done. I agree with youpartly. By the way, the Geno
Smith thing is not about just GenoSmith. It's about who he's competing with,
because you're talking about Brock Purdy,Matt Stafford at eighty years old and

(07:56):
busting arm and the end of hiscareer likely. And Kylie Murray. Okay,
so all of a sudden you've gonefrom I mean, just think of
the quarterbacks that you used to havein this division and what you have now.
So Gino Smith absolutely could be theshiniest turd of the group. And
he's not a turd. I'm theguy played like a top two or three
quarterback of the NFC year ago.I do think the Hawks have the best

(08:18):
quarterback right now. You know whoelse thinks the Seahawks have closed the gap?
Who's at Vegas? Vegas? Youknow what? Seahawks are to win
the division? Five to one,two to one, wow, two to
one in Vegas. They've got betterodds to win their division than the Baltimore
Ravens have to win their division.What are the Niners to win the division?
Minus one sixty five? I wouldnot touch that? All right,

(08:41):
I got one for you here,Okay, I got a serious question question.
My serious question is courtesy of ourfriends at Sunday Night Football on NBC
and their Twitter account at SNF onNBC. They put this out yesterday,
not including quarterbacks. Who was thebest player from the Seahawks of the twenty
first century, not including quarterbacks.Okay, going back to the year two

(09:01):
thousand, year two thousand, bestplayer of the twenty first century, not
including quarterbacks, here are the finalists. So the question is do they have
the finalist right? And if theydon't, who should be on this list?
Sean Alexander, Marshawn Lynch, WalterJones, Bobby Wagner, Richard Sherman,

(09:24):
Earl Thomas, and Cam Chancellor arethe finest of the best player of
the twentieth century, not including quarterbacks. Do they have the right eight guys
there on that list? So theentire legion of Boom, for the most
part, is there. The bestlinebacker is there, the best offensive lineman

(09:45):
is there, and the two toprunning backs are there. There's no Locket,
right, there's no Baldwin. I'mtrying to think of who else would
even be on the list. Ithink those two guys, I mean,
I guess you could say Steve Hutchinson, but he well played here for five
years. I think the answer isfairly easy. Actually, the best player,
yes, Well to me, it'sthe third guy, yes, yeah,

(10:07):
Walter Jones, Right, Walter Jonesis a better left tackle than any
of the Super Bowl Seahawks were attheir position. Right, Walter Jones is
seen by some as the best lefttackle ever to play, and by everybody,
he's seen as the top five lefttackle ever to play. I don't
think any of the Legion of Boomguys are seen as the best five players
in the history of their position.In NFL's history, Bobby Wagner could be

(10:28):
a Bobby Wagner. There's some middlelinebackers, yeah, but he's got Bobby.
I think he's got the second mostFirst Team All Pros in the history
of the NFL YEA at middle linebacker. So I do think Bobby Wagner's top
five. He'd be number two.But Walter Jones is Some people say the
greatest of all time. As yousaid, I guess some people may say

(10:48):
Bobby's the greatest of all time,but you don't hear that as much from
Bobby as you do for Walter.But I do think Bobby is a top
five middle linebacker in the history offootball. Marshawan and Sean will be lucky
if they make the Hall of Fame. Sherman's gonna make the Hall of Fame.
I think Cam's gonna have a shotto make the Hall of Fame.
Earl's gonna have a shot to makethe Hall of Fame. But I think
in the end, the question is, if Russell Wilson could have been included,

(11:11):
would you take anybody off this listfor Russell Wilson? Would you take
Sean off the list for Russell Wilson? Probably probably right because he did win
the MVP, and Russell Wilson nevergot a vote for the MVP when he
was in Seattle, and Sean wonthe damn thing. The question is with
Alexander, and I gotta be honestwith you. I think he takes way
too much crap. I really do. I've I've always thought that he takes

(11:35):
way too much heat. I getthe fact that he played behind the best
offensive line in the history of theNFL. I get the fact that he
played behind two Hall of famers,and Walter Jones and Steve Hutchinson. But
you're basically telling me then, ifyou're not gonna give Sean any credit at
all, then you were never givingany running back credit who played behind that
line, right, Yes, ifyou don't give a guy that ran for
eighteen hundred yards and won the MVPand scored a hundred touchdowns in his career,

(11:56):
by the way, which is likeforty more or than any other Seahawk
running back of all time. Ifyou're not going to give Sean credit,
then you're never ever going to giveany running back credit because they played behind
two Hall of famers. If you'regonna give Emmett Smith credit, you have
to give Sean Alexander credit. Mygod, I think Emmett Smith starting five
offensive linemen are all in the Hallof Fame. Yeah, I mean,

(12:18):
the dude had Michael Irvan and hehad dude had six foot holes every time
he touched the ball. Now,he's a great running back. I'm not
saying he's not a great running back. He's a Hall of Fame running back.
But he also had the benefit ofmaybe the best run blocking offensive line
in the history of the game.I just thought he takes way too much
heat. I know a lot ofpeople thought he was soft all that stuff.
I mean the injury in the Washingtongame, that he came back against

(12:41):
Caroline and killed it two weeks lateror a week later, I mean,
I get it. You know,he wasn't he wasn't Marshawn as far as
style right, that wasn't his game. But he was unbelievable at sniffing out
holes. He was unbelievable of beingin the exact right spot at the exact
right time. A lot of itwas because of the offensive line. But
you know what, let me askyou a question. Outside of maybe a

(13:01):
Barry Sanders right who's kind of afreak of nature, and maybe Walter Payton,
I don't know what running back isnot dependent on his offensive line.
Is there any one position in footballthat's more dependent on the other that are
running back in the offensive line?Yeah, I think there are a few
guys that are just so good andthey have just such unbelievable vision that they
make holes when holes aren't there.But yeah, one of those guys like

(13:24):
Marshawn Lynch who sometimes can just carrytacklers with you and make seven yard carries
out of two yard carries. Butyeah, I get your point. The
thing that the irony to me aboutSean Alexander, and I'm with you,
I am, I am you couldtake too much heat. I am much.
I am very much on your sidethat Sean Alexander took too much heat,
and people remember him for some reason, they remember him for the last
two years more than they remember himfor the first five years, right,

(13:46):
you know, which is odd becauseI can't think of any other Seahawk that
people do that for it. Wealways remember these guys for their best years,
right, But for some reason,nobody remembers two thousand and five Shan
Lexander. They remember like two thousandand seven, two thousand and eight Sean
Alexander. But with the irony forme about Sean Alexander is the fact that
the guy did protect himself late inhis career to extend his career and he

(14:07):
still fell off anyway, that's myiron He's like, dude, you could
have just hit the hole and stillended up with the same amount of carries
as you ended up, and youprobably would have had a better yards per
carry. But he's more takes moreheat than He's got twenty seven hundred more
yards than the next best player,and that was Chris Warren. He's got
forty two more touchdowns. Wow,that the next best player and that was

(14:31):
Marshawn lynch Okay, and he's gotfour hundred more attempts than the next best
guy, and that was Kurt Warner, and he played in one hundred and
twenty games, and the yards percarry go to yrs. It's about the
same as Marshawn, isn't it?As I recall Marshaw point three and four
point three exactly. He fumbled alot more. But I just again,
I mean, the guy scored onehundred damn touchdowns. He's one of the

(14:54):
best running backs in the history ofSeattle football, and he's a borderline Hall
of Famer. Went again. Ithink if you you don't give him credit
for playing behind Walter and Hutch,than anybody who got that job was gonna
be belittled. Anybody I would say. I would go so far as to
say that Sean Alexander amongst Seattle sportsfans, is the most underrated superstar of
this city's ever heavn Kyle Seeger,Stop stop it. Kyle Seeger's top five?

(15:18):
Why why he's top five in everyoffensive category in Mariner history, every
single one, And yet comparing SeanAlexander to Kyle just I'm not comparing anybody.
I'm just saying that if you're tellingme there's an underappreciated guy, and
I would not compare Sean to Kyle, because Sean won the MVP and Kyle
never came close to that. Butif you're telling me that Kyle Seeger is

(15:39):
also underappreciated, I would say Iagree with that. Look at where he
ran appreciated. Yes, he's underappreciatedby you. You hate the guy,
if you Jackson. If Dick sawKyle Seeger on the side of the road
in the middle of the night,running out of gas, he'd drive right
by him. You know you would. All Right, five twenty we're gonna
break a lot more to get toon a busy Monday night. Greg Biggins

(16:00):
is going to join us from twofour seven Sports by the way, coming
up at six pm. A veryvery busy day for the wolf signal with
Kiln d Borre. He's been wolfinglike a madman, dude, He's got
to relax. A man of hisage needs to calm down a little bit
and take it easy and get somerest. Buddy, Tell you seriously,
come on callin. I want youaround for a long time. You're you're
you're doing way too much heavy liftingtoday. Uh, they've been getting commits

(16:23):
right and fricking left. We'll updateyou on that We'll play pick your Pots
at five forty five and talk someHusky football with Greg Biggins at six.
Right here on ninety three three KJRFM, tell Google election of playing Nutti three
three KJR on I Heart Radio.The up is free and it's your ticket
to clel sports Leader. Now backto suff the ending on sports Radio Nutty

(16:45):
three point three JJR FM. Alright, boys, the girls back here at
the Emerald Queen Casino. It justcontinues for you dumb football. Another one,
breaking news from our friend Greg BigginsCarl Spad California. Oh that's the

(17:06):
old one. Now I'm losing tracknow that was from an hour ago.
That was so fifty five minutes ago. Breaking news from Greg Biggins at a
Towanda, California quarterback to Marcus Davishas committed to Washington. They now have
a quarterback in their twenty twenty fourclass. This is now the fifth commitment
of the day for you dub.They had a very very busy day to

(17:32):
day. De Marcus Davis. HopeI'm getting his name right? Is it
DeMarcus or Marcus Americus or Americus?From Wrenchio Kucamonga three star quarterback number forty
five quarterback in the country. Lookslike it offers from a lot of schools
on the West coast. Arizona,Oregon State byu Brnnesota has committed to play
football for Ryan grub and coach Dubar. Six four a Buck ninety three star

(17:55):
quarterback from California is the latest verbalcommitment then for U dub So that means
on the day and I'm gonna tryto get these all right. I apologize.
I don't know if I ever rememberfive verbal commitments in one day.
I can't. Defensive end Ratumana BulaBallavo has committed to Washington. Omar Khan,
defensive lineman from Texas commits to Washington. Kamori house linebacker from Saint John

(18:19):
Bosco, that's Keith Price's old highschool, by the way, has committed
to Utah. But Noah Carter edrusher from Arizona. So if there's ever
been a day to get Greg Bigginson the air tonight at six pm,
it's tonight. He'll tell us whothese guys are. Well, I want
to ask him too, is thisis this usual for schools to get halls
in one day like this? Becausethis is two years in a row that

(18:41):
Calin de Bore has done this right, and I just I guess I don't
see it from other schools. WhatI've seen from other schools is like early
signings. They're beaten Washington. Likeyou said, it was fourteen to one
Oregon to Washington just four days ago. And I haven't seen other schools bring
in four or five six recruits inone day. Well, I'd like to
know why this weekend versus last weekend? Are there just bigger names coming in

(19:04):
this weekend? I think that's partof it, by the way, Dick,
that there were just some bigger namescoming in this weekend versus last weekend.
Was it the weather? Did theNL money shoot up? I mean,
honestly, right, I got noidea what's the difference between this weekend
and last weekend? So Greg Bigginswill joining us coming up six pm the
night and talk about a big dayfor you Dub football. I think that's

(19:25):
nine and now total commits for youDub including the guys that got over the
weekend and the guys they had thatwere locked in last Friday. All right,
Mariners tonight against the Nationals. LuisCastillo is back on the mound,
I'm gonna give you a little preview, by the way, guys for picked
your puts, coming up a fiveforty five. I'm taking the MS tonight
minus the one and a half againstthe Nationals because I just think that Luis

(19:47):
Castillo is freaking do and this isthe lineup that he should be dominating tonight
against Washington. This is a bad, bad baseball team. They're three thousand
miles away from home. Luis Castillois one of the guys who he has
been nails at T Mobile parks sincethey picked him up. So if they
don't get to win the night andCastillo gets racked around Dick a little bit,
I think there's a little cause forconcern there with this guy. Oh

(20:08):
if he gets racked around by Washington, I think there's quite a bit of
cost for a concern. We justgotta look for his command, right is
he is. He's spotting his fastball, which he hasn't really done. There's
been way too I mean ten,This is crazy. He has ten walks
in his last two outings. Inthe month of May he had eight,
in the month of June he hadseven, and he has ten in the

(20:30):
last two outings. So hopefully hecan get that squared away. But yeah,
you don't see very many teams withunder five hundred records like the Mariners
do minus two sixty five to wina baseball game, right, that is
a massive favorite to win baseball gametonight. And I would just play the
run line here at the Ameral QueenCasino. I think a run and a
half is fair. I mean,if they're gonna win, they should win.

(20:52):
Yeah, I mean, somehow,some way they lose and you're buried.
You're you're giving up almost three toone for God's six. So I'm
gonna give you a preview that that'smy play tonight. I'm Jackson on me.
But I'd probably go with some baseballgame that everybody's ever heard of.
That's kind of way. That's theright versus taking the minus two sixty five
years In a game like this,you gotta take the run. Well,
we talked earlier in the show aboutJulio Rodriguez and there were two different conversations.

(21:15):
And I'll be totally honest with you, man, when we had Brent
Thompson on the air, who's thedad of the kid that Julio gave the
baseball too? With the game onSaturday and Camden Yards in Baltimore. I
kind of felt almost a little badthat we're having this great conversation about what
a great dude Julio is, andin the first hour of the radio show
we were giving us some bagging uppers. Well, but I mean, is

(21:37):
it really bagging on a guy likenobody's It's not personal with him. We
all think he's a great dude.But the numbers are the numbers. I
mean, last year he hit twoeighty three with an eight twenty OPS on
the road. Now he's hitting twooh eight with a six thirty four OPS
in late and close situations which baseBall Reference I believe, what was the

(22:00):
I want to get the proper theproper definition of that Baseball Reference definds late
and close situations and he played appearancefrom the seventh thing on in which the
batting team is either in a tiegame, ahead by one, or has
the potential tying run on deck.Last year, in those situations, he
was hitting two eighty nine with aneight ninety OPS. Okay, now he's

(22:23):
hitting a buck fifty six with afive h seven OPS with one home run
in one RBI in those situations.So all the people out there who wake
up thinking, God, is itjust me? Or does Julio look like
he's not coming through in the clutch, He's not. It's not just you.
He hasn't been doing it, Andso I don't think that this is

(22:44):
bagging on the guy. I'm desperatefor the guy to turn it around,
and so is he. I'm surehe is. He's floated around the lineup.
He's had struggling hitters around him.That has absolutely been a part of
it. Last year he had hothitters down the stretch around him when he
was getting hot, and that hasn'thappened as of yet. But what what
bothers me is that I've heard froma lot of people and our and our

(23:08):
guy over here, what's his name? That Thomas him not Thomas friend Joel,
Yes, Joel is one of manypeople that have either come up to
me or have texted me and said, so, how long do we have
to say that Julio Rodriguez is asuperstar? Like? Is he a superstar?

(23:30):
Now? There are people that thinkthat he's already been overhyped and he's
not gonna reach what everybody thought JulioRodriguez is gonna reach, and I just
I think that's totally unfair. He'stwenty one, twenty two, he has
maybe seven hundred and fifty at batsin his career, and he played at

(23:52):
an all star level for probably fouror five hundred of them. Yeah,
I mean that's that's pretty unfair tosay that he's not a superstar or not
gonna be a superstar, because Isee everything in this guy that screams superstar
other than a bad stretch of playthat everybody's gonna have. Well, he's
he's had a bad stretch. Thedifference between him having bad stretches and other

(24:15):
stars having bad stretches is he doesn'thave all the data to back it up.
He's got one year of baseball.So if Julio Rodriguez had five awesome
years and was having a rough startto twenty twenty three, okay, whatever,
it's gonna happen. But I dothink that there are some folks,
and I don't blame them for feelingthis way. I agree with you.
I think in the end he's gonnabe fine. I think he's a stud

(24:37):
in. The better talent they getaround, and the better player he'll be,
he'll figure things out. He's gonnabe just fine. But I understand
why some people are nervous. Imean, they give the guy this fat
contract which really pays off if heperforms. So I love the way the
contract was written. By the way, somebody actually asked, I don't know
who it was, but somebody asked, either Depoto or Stanton if they liked

(25:03):
the way that the Julio contract waswritten. I'm like, are you kidding
me? Of course they like theway. It's because if he's not performing,
they're saving about a quarter billion dollarson the entire thing. So it's
written phenomenal from a Mariner perspective.But I understand how people kind of tend
to get a little bit concerned thatafter one year of baseball they gave this
guy a big guys contract. I'mnot really one of them, because I

(25:26):
don't care about contracts. Yes,we've had this conversation a million damn time.
If Julio Rodriguez doesn't work out,it's baseball. In five years from
now, the money he's making isgonna be peanuts. They'll be fine.
The game's revenues are going up exponentially. Franchise values are growing like They're on
crack every single day, like frickinggremlins. For God's sakes, It's unbelievable.

(25:48):
So I'm not worried about that atall. What I'm worried about is
Julio Rodriguez feeling the pressure of thecontract and Julio Rodriguez feeling the pressure of
being at are and what happens whenhe gets into a rut? Can he
climb out of it? He's theface of the franchise, right, this
guy right now, there's a lotof pressure on Julio and a lot of
expectations and responsibility now on Julio,And maybe responsibility, Dick is the better

(26:15):
word than pressure, because I'm notsure if he feels the pressure or not.
But there's a lot more responsibility onhim now than there was at this
time a year ago. And I'mjust curious to see how he handles that.
That's all. And I remember ifit was Booney or was Suza that
said the pressure to make the AllStar Game in Seattle might be getting to
him, right, And they mightbe right right, and we might see

(26:37):
him after the All Star break,whether he makes the All Star team or
not. Maybe we might he seehim heat up because that pressure is no
longer there. But let's not haveshort term memory on Huli rod Reese.
And I'm talking to those that arethat texts me and say to me,
well, how long do we haveto say Julio Rodriguez is an All Star?
He's no good anymore. Julio Driguez, you love to play the game.
How big is the gap between firstand second? It's the same as

(26:59):
the gap between second and eighth orwhatever the gap in votes for the for
the All Rookie team last year,the gap between Julio at first and Adlott
Ruschman at second was the same gapas Adlee Ruschman to everyone else. That's
how much. He won the Rookieof the Year by a landslide last year
in the American League. And hehad twenty five home runs in his first

(27:22):
year. He had almost eighty RBIsin his first year. He had what
an eight fifty ops in his firstyear of major league baseball as a nineteen
slash twenty year old. I mean, that's that's unbelievable. I mean,
you can't ask for much more thanJulio has given you in his six nine
months of baseball. Thus, farif you're if you're breaking it down into
thirds, and this is the thirdthird. The third third has not been

(27:45):
great. Correct. Okay, he'sgot seventy four games, he got seven
twenty ops, so he's already struckout ninety times. I mean, the
guy's on pace to strike out likeover two hundred times, which it would
blow away yesterday last year's numbers.So he's got to get that under contry.
Still on pace for twenty six homeruns and like, But that's not
why you signed him. That's true. You signed him for a to be

(28:06):
a thirty five hundred guy hitting twoeighty with an eight eighty nine hundred plus
ops, if not better. Buthe compares faila Berty Griffy through Griffy's He
does, he does. He actuallyhas better numbers than Griffy in some ways.
But he's also got a long timeto go before he gets to where
Ken Griffey's junior was. I don'tknow. Look, I can see both
sides of this. I mean,I'm not as concerned as others, but

(28:27):
I can also understand why somebody wouldsay, hey man, I'm a little
bit freaked out about this. Hehas not gotten out of the gates fast
and the difference. The biggest differencebetween Julio now and Julio last year is
the expectations now that are on himthat were not there a year ago.
The question is, did they jumpthe gun too early on Julio. I
don't think they did. You mean, contract was yes, I don't think

(28:48):
they did. But somebody may wantto see that in four or five years
from now, and again if itdoesn't work out. Whatever, there's no
cap. You know, I'm nevergonna be concerned about that. All right,
five nine, let's get a break, a little pick your puts.
We need one caller right now attwo eight six ninety five ninety five.
Dick's gotta bet for you. Jackson'sgot a bet for you. I gotta
bet for you. It's your jobto come on the show at two eight

(29:11):
six ninety five ninety five. Wouldtake one caller and that person will pick
which puts he wants to roll with. If that bet is right and you're
a winner, you'll win one hundreddollars to the Emeral Queen Casino and tickets
for the Keith Sweat Show coming upin July. Courtesy of the Emerald Queen.
One caller right now at two eightsix ninety five ninety five to play
pick your puts. Coming up onninety three three KJRFM, Tell Google or

(29:34):
election to play Nutty three three KJRon iHeart Radio. The f is free
and it's your ticket to CML SportsLeader. Now back to up the endig
on Sports Radio Nutty three point threeJJR FM. All right, we got
some breaking news to report here onthe radio show before we get to pick
your puts, So we'll give youa chance to win a hundred bucks to

(29:56):
the Emerald Queen tickets for the KeithSweat Show on the eighth of July.
Breaking news from the National Hockey League. Maddie Beniers is your Calder Memorial Trophy
winner as the NHL time Rookie.How about that? And you know what,
we should have had two of them, Tarik Woman and Maddie Beneers should
have been back to back Rookies ofthe Year. Well we would have three

(30:18):
and row with Julio. That's right, Julio, Tarik, Maddie Beniers,
each Yi Rosazuki Kazi, Hiro Sasaki, Kyle Lewis al Davis I believe was
on that list as well. KyleLewis Kie of the Year in a sixty
game. See let's hope that hehas fifty. I believe it was.
Was it fifty or sixty? Thoughtit was fifty. I don't remember.
I try to. I want tojust put that season away. Let's hope

(30:42):
that Maddie Beniers has a better careerthan Kyle Lewis. By the way,
we're gonna try and see if wecan get Maddie Beneers on the radio show
tonight. Before it's all said done, Greg Biggins from two four seven Sports
will join us next segment. Butright now, Jackson on the radio show,
it is time for the fast thisgrowing game show on Monday's five segments.

(31:04):
This show I'm KJR Radio because nobodyelse would do this. It's time
for pick your puts, Hi,It's lard from them with Queen and it
is time to pick your puts withand Dick. Alright, pick your putts
with Softie and Dick. Every Mondayat five from the Emerald Queen. We
give you a bet and it's yourjob as a contestant to pick which bet

(31:26):
you want to roll with. Ifyour bet comes through and you're a winner,
then you won one hundred hours tothe Emerald Queen Casino and tickets for
an upcoming show. All right,we got Jim in Woodenville with us on
the radio show. Jimmy, howare you pal? You're good? You
sound thrilled to be on this segment. By the way, I gotta be
honest with you. No, I'mready. I'm ready because this is not

(31:48):
just tickets for any show. Thisis tickets for Keith Sweat. Chim is
relax. I know he is sittingI know he is sitting on a chair
right now outside sipping on a Martinius. He might be sipping on that.
I know you're a big Keith Sweatfan, Jim. Don't you try and
deny it? All right? Soyou know how pick your puts works?
Yes, all right, here wego, Jackson, start us off.

(32:09):
What do you got there, bigboy? Until further notice, I'm making
the same pick every single week.And that is the under in the Sounders
game. Outstanding Defensively, they haveten shutouts on the year. The MLS
record for a single goalkeeper is sixteen, so Fries closing in on that.
And then offensively, no Christian rolledon no Jordan Morris, and it seems
like the motors out of the carunder two and a half Sounders versus Houston,

(32:31):
Jackson? Are they gonna start tohave the over under of Sounders games
at a half? When's that match? Is that tomorrow? By the way,
when the match Saturday? It's Saturday? So you want the under?
What is it again? Two anda half? Under two and a half
and the Sounders Dynamo game. Jim, you're a big Dynamo fan. I
know that as well. In thegame on Saturday, Jackson says, low

(32:52):
scoring game under two and a halfgoal scored in the Sounders Dynamo game.
All right, that's puts number one, Dick. What do you got?
All right? I gotta make upfor the awful Tommy Fleetwood pick last year
last week. So I'm going backto golf, and I've got a guy
that has only played in elevated eventsor majors in the last two months,
and he has competed very favorably.Twenty fourth in the Travelers last week,

(33:15):
tenth in the US Open, thirtiethof Memorials, sixteenth in the Charles Swab
The last time Austin Eckrote competed ina lower lower event without all the big
names. He got second in theByron Nelson on May the fourteenth. This
is one of those events Rocket MortgageDetroit Golf Club. There's only about six

(33:37):
or seven big name players instead offorty. I like Austin eckrote top twenty.
All he needs is a top twenty. Hell, he got tenth at
the US Open. He just needsa top twenty this week plus two hundred.
His name is what Austin? Whothe hell is? Austin Ever wrote?
Sometime you gotta dake Jim. Youknow who Jim? Have you heard
of Austin Eck rote? Before?You know that name? Oh? I

(34:00):
am not. You're making that nameup. That's not a real persons on
your board right there, Austin Eckwrote, GM ticket top twenty at the
Rocket Mortgage opened in Detroit this weekend. All he's got to do, Jim
is due top twenty and you're awinner. All right. Here's my game.
I like the Mariners and the runline today against the Washington Nationals.
Jimmy, and I'll tell you thatI was right with my last pick of

(34:22):
the under seven and a half inthe Marinery Yankee game last Tuesday. Luis
Costillo's on the mound today against theNationals. I think the Mariners are gonna
blow these guys apart at T MobilePark tonight. So give me the Mariners
minus the one and a half.They're gonna win by two tonight, jim
for you to cash that ticket.And by the way, would you like
to know, Jimmy, what LuisCostillo's lifetime numbers against the Washington Nationals are?

(34:46):
Say you'd like to know? Saysay say tell me, softy,
what are Luis Costillo's numbers against theNationals? Kill me, softy? What
are the numbers? He's oh andfive for the four? Oh right,
he he's like a fifteenth but pregnant, gal, he's way overdue. Jimmy
was gonna take your pick, andnow he's like oh and five with a

(35:08):
four a one era and six startslifetime against That's amazing. By the way,
well they were good. Fake thatcomes to an end tonight. All
right, So you got the undertwo and a half of the Sounder game.
You got Dick's pick of what's hisname against that Rosston ecro top twenty
this weekend, and my pick ofthe Mariners minus the one and a half
tonight against the Nationals. Which puts? Do you want to pick Jimmy?

(35:31):
Well, you know what I know. Jackson came through last week with his
under and Bleetwood didn't even make thecut. That's right, Jim, Hey,
Jim, Jim say that again?Will Ye Sleetwood did not make the
cut. That's right? All right? What do you want? So?

(35:55):
I'm so I'm going with I'm gonnago with with Yeah, I love it.
I love it. Ride or die, baby, Ride or die with
Luis Castillo. All right, Jim, you're the man. Good luck,
We're got a hole. Get y'alltaken care of. If Jim, if
the Mariners can cover the one anda half tonight, Jim wins one hundred
bucks to the MRA Queen and ticketsfor the Keith Sweatshow Hey, ridiculous day

(36:17):
for you Dub. Five verbal commitsat Washington. Greg Biggins from two four
seven Sports will break it all downnext on ninety three three KJRFM. Let's
get to it, man, Amassive day for you, Dub football recruiting
and a guy that we gotta geton. When things are going well for
you, Dub. When they're goingpoorly for you, Dub, we just
ignore it. But when things aregoing great for you, Dub, we

(36:37):
want to bask in the glow.And by the way, Keilandbor we'll join
us on the radio show at fiveo'clock tomorrow. Greg Biggins from two four
seventh Sports is with us on theair. Greg, what number is bigger
the amount of runs the Angels scoredyesterday or the amount of commits that Calen
Deboor got this afternoon. Okay,that was just an ouch from you right

(37:00):
there. I'm gonna get my guyBrendan Huffman to fill in for me.
I'n't think great day, great dayfor the dogs. You know, I'm
gonna killing the boor fan. Ilove the staff, Courtney and Morgan,
the whole guys that were there soawesome. John, you mentioned five today,
but if you talk, you knowit's just going from the weekend.
Uh, the official visions couldn't havegotte any better, you know, throwing

(37:20):
in Justice Williams, throwing Jason Robinson, throw in Becker de Graff with the
five guys today. I'll tell youwhat, man, they really elevated themselves
and in about twenty four or fortyhour period, and uh, I like
it. I like when thinking oftrending right now for them, Greg,
what's the difference between this weekend andlast weekend? Because they had a bunch
of recruits in last weekend and wedidn't see the same sort of haul.

(37:42):
You know, it's so weird.I've been asking a few times. You
can never really predict it, youknow. I think it was like a
perfect store and this was the final, thank god, the final weekend in
June, right, So I thinka lot of guys are kind of maybe
holding off and they didn't want tomake any decisions until they got that last
trip in, which was this pastweekend. So I think that that played
the big part. You know.I think a lot of these guys where
you dumb leans going ended that visit. That's why you saw so many of

(38:05):
these guys commit on the trip.A lot of guys that went public today
they actually committed during their trip.I just kind of wanted to wait and
go home and make sure it wasn'tan emotional decision, slept on it and
decided to commit today. But almostall in those guys kind of gave what
we call like a soft MR ballover the weekend, And like I said,
I wish there was a formula andI'm sure you'd said it was you
dumb. They would probably try toreplicate that every weekend, right, But

(38:28):
you know, all you can dois kind of say, hey, great
job this past weekend. And youknow there's still a couple of players.
Peyton Waters, there's a safety Ireally liked, probably the top player in
the LA City area. He trippedthis past weekend. He's going to announced
on Thursday. I think they're rightthere, probably in this top two and
maybe a few other guys as well. So um, you know, and
they kind of needed this, Andyou know, I'm a big packie Forinale
guy. He was the long commitment, one of the top I'm with to

(38:50):
linement out West. He was theyou know, kind of the one guy
you look at their class and said, that's it, just one guy.
All of a sudden, now yougot nine. So you feel a lot
better if you're a Husky fan.Yeah. Eight last sweet Greg Biggins two
four seven sports is with us andmaybe easy to say, well, Jason
Robinson, the fourth star from PollyWide receiver number sixty two in the country,
would be the biggest star of thehull. But what about the other

(39:12):
guys Kamori House, the linebacker,Noah Carter, edge rusher, Justice Williams,
the other wide receiver, the quarterbackin Americas, Davis from Rancho Kucamonga.
Who who's the star? Who's thetop tier guy in this group that
fans should be fired up about?You know, I wanted to hear you
say, you know Rachamana, andI wanted to see if you can pronounce
the last names. Hang on it, hang on, hang on for it.

(39:36):
Rachamana Ba ba Lavo looks great tome, good enough. I just
we just call himna. We justcalled him Mona for sure. Hey,
you know, thanks, we're talkingabout him though. I mean, this
is a super intriguing kid. I'vebeen playing football for a couple of years.
Please. Kind of a smallish schoolfootball, maybe just a level up
from Etenan football, but high ceiling, high outside guy. And that's why

(39:58):
I see with a lot of theseguys there, the high ceiling guys.
You know, I'm a big CamariHouse. I mean, he was a
take for Texas and he visited theretwo weeks ago and and they absolutely loved
him. One of him. He'sprobably maybe the fastest linebacker out West He's
a legit four or five guy.Everyone claims to be a four or five
guy. He's a legit four orfive guy. A little undersize, six
feet six one maybe on a goodday, big hitter, plays with a

(40:20):
mean stree, plays with an edge. Comes from a wedding program. So
I like Camari House again, highupside. Justice Williams for me, Um
Dick get a chance to see hima lot this offseason. But you know,
a big six four kid. Youguys probably remember his dad, Roland
Williams played for the Raiders back inthe day, so he loved the gene
pool with Justice Williams already talked aboutJason Robinson probably the best pure route runner
again, a little undersize, aboutfive five eleven, about one forty one

(40:45):
forty five, probably more quick thanfast. Not a not a top end
burner, but that first ten tofifteen yards, great initial burst, great
change direction, really good after thecatch. Really Natty with those hands,
plays the chip on his shoulder,always compete. Um And I could say
I love all these guys, Ireally do. I think they're football players.
They're not just guys with you know, with maybe a lot of fake

(41:06):
offers. These are legitimate football playersthat produce, and uh, I think
they all can be really good atthe college level as well. And Greg
another recruit from Texas. So marknwhy has Klin Moore been so successful over
the last two years in Texas?You know, they obviously have some ties
and I'm trying to think back.You know, obviously the way it works

(41:27):
is it might not just be Klin. Maybe it could be somebody on the
staff who's got some ties in Texas. And once you get one or two
guys, then uh, you know, you're able to kind of build I
don't want to call it a pipeline. It's hobably exaggerates it a little bit,
but you know, all it takesis maybe one guy and then you
kind of see, right, Imean, I think Washing is a pretty
easy sell, right. It's ait's a fun program with the staff that
that's very aggressive if you're it's afun offense. It's a defense that has

(41:50):
some really good defensive coaches. SoI think it's a it's an easy salem.
And obviously you throw in Seattle.It's a big metropolitan city. You
don't have very good baseball, um, you don't have basketball. But if
you overlooked that foffe right then,you know, shot across the word Wow,
you deserve Hey, you deserve thatone. That was me. Wait
a minute, Wait a minute,time out. I thought you were a

(42:13):
big Angels fan, are you not. Yeah, that's why he took the
shot, throwing it back. He'snot a shot. They scored like twenty
five runs in the game yesterday.I'm trying to compliment you. What are
you talking about two days That wastwo days ago. I'm not sorry.
Yesterday you scored three runs the stories. So there's the lack there's the lack

(42:35):
of communication. Well I was.I mean, if I was being a
real jerk, I would say,what's more disappointing? Man? Uh?
The Angels never making the playoffs forshowhyo Toddy and Mike Trout, or the
Huskies only have no kidding? Okaynow hey, uh the quarterback the Americus
Davis. Uh tell us about thiskid? I like him? So,

(42:58):
uh, everyone kind of player compsfor me. You know last year's revelation
when a guy named Aiden Childs,who actually you dev went on. I
ended up signing with Oregon State andhe was kind of one of the stars
of the All American ball late developer. I see the kind of the same
thing with Davis Long. You know, six four, big arm kid put
up big numbers last year, andI saw him probably four or five times

(43:19):
this offseason, where every time Isaw him, he I locked him a
little bit more. With quarterbacks somuch, it's not just your physical tools,
it's you know, it's the game. You can kind of see the
game start to slow down for themwhen they start to get it right.
It's it's a processing game. Itdoesn't matter how far you can throw it.
It's where you go with the football. You got two and a half
seconds to do something good with it, and you got to be able to
be smart and poised and accurate andbe able to do something in the play

(43:43):
breaks down, which it often does. And I see that with Davis.
You know, I think he's aguy who's just scratching the surface. Much
like Aiden Child's last year. Ithink Davis is he's not even close.
A lot of quarterbacks, you know, we see a lot of guys that
have been trained since they came outof the womb, and they're already paid
as a sophomore in high school,and they're not gonna get any better.
Davis has got that athletic small forwardtype basketball body sixty four, he's long,

(44:07):
he's got a lot of room togrow that physical tools are there.
Mentally, he's smart, he workshard. He's a great kid off the
field. So this is a guynot close to peaking. You're not going
to see the best of him probablytwo or three years from now. So
I think he sets up really wellbehind Austin Mack, who you know,
we all love a lot. AustinMac if he stayed in the twenty four

(44:29):
class, probably be a top three, top four quarterback in this year's group.
As you know, he reclassified totwenty three. But you get Mac
last year, now you'd bring inDavis after him. That's a really good
one two punch. Greg Biggins joiningus from two four seventy. Greg,
this may be a silly reason tosign with the school, but I've heard
about kids signing because of cool jerseys, so maybe it's not a silly reason

(44:52):
that they signed with the school.The Huskies had seventy five degree perfect weather
all weekend long last weekend it wasfifty five and raining. Does that matter
at all in recruiting? You know, I'd like to think it wouldn't right.
And honestly, if you're in Washington, do you want a kid who's
gonna go to your school or notgo to your school because it was a

(45:14):
little bit cold. You know whatI'm saying now now saying that, I
think the visit experience definitely does helpyou win a recruiting battle. So you
know, I say that to saythis, You know, every little thing
when you're in a recruiting battle.We're talking. Guy finds a girl that
he falls in love with and hegoes to that school because of that.
I mean, I've seen it alland say have you, So does whether

(45:35):
play a huge role? I mean, I think most of these kids are
kind of realistic to understand that,you know, going to Seattle, although
it has a lot of great things, it's not going to be confused with
Hawaii. But you know, Ithink, shoot, it doesn't hurt to
have great weather. It helps thewhole vision experience. But the photoshoots looks
awesome, right, you saw those, you know, in the middle of
Husky Stadium. So I don't thinkit hurt. But at the end of
the day, I don't think it'sgonna be what's gonna push a kid over

(45:58):
the top, and I don't thinkStabor wants a kid to come because of
that either. Yep, all right, Greg, before you go, Greg
Biggins with us on the radio show. The Michael Pennock's success that he had
a year ago with Ryan Grubb,is that really resonating across high school football?
Do quarterbacks and do wide receivers thinkof Washington now is a place where
they can go and put up videogame numbers and go to the NFL thousand

(46:22):
percent. You know, when Italked to Jason Robinson, Justice Williams on
Saturday or Sunday, I forgot whatday it was, and then just talking
to Davis today, I mean thefirst thing they say is, yeah,
that offense. You know, Iwant to play in that offense. And
they talk about how man, yousee how many balls they caught last year,
you know Roman Jalen Davis first thinghe said today was you know,
and I love that offense. It'slike a quarterback stream to be able to

(46:43):
and and Davis was saying, hey, it's not just all air radish.
They will run the ball. Yougotta be balanced. But yeah, every
quarterback receiver that you talked to,you you dub should not have an issue
getting on the phone with any skillplayer wide receiver, tight end, or
quarter back right now, because Imean, you can see it. Everybody
sells, hey, come here andwe're gonna do this, but you actually

(47:05):
saw it. And I've been youknow, I'm a I'm a Southern California
guy, so I've been watching kidin Dubar at Fristo State and see what
he's been doing for years. Ithought that was a phenomenal hire and so
I've been seeing him do it fora long long time. I wasn't shocked
to see him have such success stillin the football. He's a great football
coach. I think every kid offensivewhy skill wise, man, they got

(47:25):
to be very excited about the possibilityof getting recruited by Washington for sure.
Greg. How much do you thinkthe new Pac ten slash eleven, slash
twelve, whatever the heck it's goingto be in the future, will suffer
overall in recruiting because the conference justisn't as desirable for the big time recruits
to play in. That's a greatquestion, um, because I really don't

(47:51):
know how to answer, Owen,because I such a hypothetical. I think
Washington and Oregon are the two schoolsthat are going to be fine no matter
what. I obviously throw Stanford inStanford is such a unique brand, but
I mean it never really affected neardame, right, not not being affiliated
with a with a power conference,even a school like b y U.
Again, I know it's different.You get to every LGS kid that's their
number one school. But I thinkwhen you have a strong brand, like

(48:15):
could you'd like an Oregon hopefully Ican. I can mention the Ducks on
your show. I think they're gonnabe fine no matter what, even if
the conference as a whole takes ahit. And you know, I'll be
hon if I'll throw it out there. Some of my kids I've talked to,
there is some negative recruiting going on. You know, when I say,
hey, what do you think aboutthis school? Blah blah blah,
you know, he about Washington?You have. The only negative is I
don't know what conference they're gonna bein. I don't know if it's gonna

(48:37):
be a Power five conference deal.I don't know if they're gonna be going
to the Big ten or not.I don't you know, there's just so
many unknowns, so that is somethingthat kids are asking questions about. All
Right, I want more for you, Greg, Greg biggints two for seven
sports dot Com. When Showhyo Tanysigns with the Mariners, will you move
up to Seattle Um Bay Mariner seasontickets? Dude, Honestly, I'd rather

(48:58):
haven't be them than the Dodgers.But but but not not not by much.
That would tell you be my mysecond worst nightmare behind because I have
so many Manner fans who are,as you know, so obnoxious on my
timeline, I would anywhere but theDodgers or Seattle. God bless you guys.
Though he's he is so freaking goodman like, he is so good
like it's been a it's such adisappointment that we can't resign him. I

(49:21):
say, Trey Trout and Keith Otani, like, can't we do that?
But too much baseball talk. Iget it. But if you guys do
good, you get him, man, you're gonna love it. You'll be
it'll be a treat. Man.He's special, for sure. I love
it. Greg, You're the man, great stuff. Appreciate the inside as
always, and we'll talk down theroad, all right. Greg Biggins from
two four seventh Sports dot Com.We got a few minutes here before the

(49:42):
break. I believe that the winnerof the Calder Trophy is going to be
calling the show in a matter ofseconds. Really, Mattie Beniers who just
won the Rookie of the Year inthe NHL. So Jackson felts when the
rookie of the Year calls the radioshow, let us know, we'll get
him on the air. But ifwe had to, and one of the
questions I was gonna ask Greg ishow many of these four star guys excuse

(50:04):
me, three star guys, Dickthat you dub has brought in will become
four star guys by signing day.So we'll see. All right, let's
get to it. Joining us rightnow, we can officially say it the
rookie of the Year in the NationalHockey League. Here it comes every two
on one, somebody there's crossing.Maddie b puts the track in back up

(50:27):
by three. I love it well. Joining us right now on the radio
show, we can now call himthe rookie of the Year in the National
Hockey League. Mattie bener has withus right now on the radio show.
Mattie Bee, how are your powerwhat's going on. I'm good, I'm
good, just having some fun atthe awards. I love it. Well,

(50:47):
first of all, give us yourreaction, man. I know a
lot of people thought this was goingto happen, but you can never take
anything for granted, never assume anything. Your reaction, my friend, to
being named the Rookie of the Yearin the National Hockey League. Pal,
Yeah, I'll just you know,beon excited and you know so thankful and
honored to receive that trophy. Um, so it's it's it's been a been

(51:10):
an absolutely such a fun night andyou know so thankful for so many people
that have helped me get here.So it's been great. Well, congratulations
Mattie. Let's go back to thebeginning of the season, because you had
a cup of coffee more than acup of coffee with the with the kracking
last year. What were your goalsindividually going into this season and how well
did you accomplish them? Yeah,I mean I think I didn't put too

(51:36):
many goals in my head for thisseason. I think that obviously this you
know, this trophy joison the backof your head, but I think that
it was more just trying to helpthe teams anyway I can so um,
you know, I think the moreyou worry about the team success, the
more individual success. Uh you knowyou you end up having. So uh
yeah, that was that was aboutit. Well, Maddie you mentioned it

(51:58):
and Dick mentioned it right there.You had ten games with the crack of
a year ago last year at theend of the season. How much did
that kind of prep you a littlebit? How how valuable were those ten
games for you last year? Youthink, yeah, they were, they
were huge. Uh, you know, getting a taste of, um,
you know, playing in the NHLwas was awesome and you know, you

(52:19):
you you know, get a feelof how that is, get a little
bit more comfortable, It gets someconfidence and you can you know, run
and run into next year. Sothat was that was really good for me,
especially coming into this year and obviouslylast year, you don't have a
lot of pressure on you, rightyou're getting there and they're kind of protecting
a little bit on the lines.You had no protection. This year.
It's like you're out there, man, You're you're right out there. You're
a starter. You're on the firstline. So how big of an adjustment

(52:42):
that was that and how long didit take you to adjust to being,
hey, one of the big timeplayers on this cracking team in year number
two? Yeah, I mean,um, you know, I think it
helps a lot when you're playing playingwith such great players, you know,
mainly playing with uh you know,I really almost the entire year in mccamp
so um and we really clear togetherand those guys were were huge and a

(53:05):
lot of my success. So whenyou're playing with great players, that make
it a lot easier to play playagainst great players. Well, the Rookie
of the Year in the NHL,Matti Beniers is one of us. And
I can think of a lot ofgreat places to be to celebrate when you
were in a trophy and an awardlike this, But being in Nashville is
a hell of a pretty and togo parties. So, I mean,
it's it's getting late, it's aboutnine fifteen at night. But how do
you celebrate the Rookie of the Yearin Nashville tonight? Pal, I don't

(53:31):
know, we'll see. I thinkI think I would be having to you
know, hang out with the family, um family and friends and uh,
you know some of the some ofthe guys probably owen um, you know,
some of the Seattle Cracking Crew.So um, yeah, well we'll
see it. But definitely a goodspot to be celebrating something, no doubt,

(53:51):
no doubt. We'll let me.You know, what are you?
Are you twenty one yet? Bythe way, how old are you?
No? No, not twenty oneyet. Okay, well then somebody's gonna
have to get some stuff back tothe hotel for you. Pal. But
Mattie, but years with, Isaid, Mattie, before you go,
give us a take on the waythe season ended, what you guys learned,
and what you got to do totake the next step next season.
Yeah, I mean there was obviouslynot not the ending we wanted, but

(54:15):
it was a it was a greatjourney and um, you know, getting
the playoffs or for me, myfirst playoffs, but uh, you know,
as a team getting there and youknow, winning the first series and
you know, we we we didhave, you know, some good success.
So I think we can build onthat and uh, you know,
learn from learn from some mixt mistakesin the second series, and uh,
you know, just hopefully keep thatrole next season with hopefully another playoffs.

(54:37):
Hey, why did Dave Hackstall deserveCoach of the Year award. Yeah,
I mean he was. He wasawesome for us all year. Um.
You know, I've talked about itin a few a few times. It's
just you know, his demeanor inthe locker room. You know, his
his ability to to lead a room, uh you know as a coach and
a person. Um. And youknow, also able ability to keep it

(54:59):
late when he went when you know, the time calls to be late.
So um, he was awesome leadingus all year and the way he structured
our our team was awesome. Soyou know, big, big thanks to
him. And you know a lotof our successfuls was due to him.
All right, man, listen,congratulations, great stuff. We appreciate you
doing this. Congratulations on the Rookieof the Year. But you know what's

(55:20):
next after winning the Rookie of theYear, the Heart Trophy. Baby,
go get it, no pressure,just go get it. And you know
what, grab a Stanley Cup whileyou're at it too. That sounds good
to us. Hey, listen,great job. I know you will.
Congratulations and we'll talk soon, allright, buddy, Yeah sounds good.
Thanks a lot