August 2, 2024 • 20 mins
Jerry Brewer, legendary writer with The Washington Post, joins Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain from the Olympic Games in Paris to talk about covering Simone Biles today, the games overall, international feelings about the United States, and some Mariners.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's time for our weekly conversation with award winning Washington
Post columnist Jerry Brewer, brought to you by Northwest Handling Systems.
From forklifts to pellot jashers conveyors to loading dock equipment,
we sell, rent and service all your warehouse he needs.
Request a quote today at NWHS dot com or give
us a call at four two five two five five
(00:21):
zero five hundred. Now with Jerry Brewer, here's SOFTI indick.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
All right, boys and girls, big thanks for our friend
Eric at Northwest Handling Systems forklifts to palette racks. They
take care of all your warehouse needs on WHS dot com.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
I wonder if Eric ran into Jerry over there. He's
into there, Yeah, man, I love it.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Anthony bay Rudy is out there also, all of our
spot just got them all together, man. Jerry Brewer joining
us from Paris right now. We were a little bit
concerned that maybe you'd fallen asleep and you were going
to answer your phone, but answering the friggin' bell like
a champ. Jerry Brewer in Paris with us on the show.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
How are you, man?
Speaker 4 (00:59):
I'm good? How can you guys like doubt me like this.
Speaker 5 (01:02):
That was me, manmzing I know I raised my hand.
I just thought, you know, one week is it's one
thing to do with the first day that you're there.
You kind of still on Seattle time. But after working
as hard as I know you've worked for a week,
you might forget about it.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Stuff going on, Jerry. I apologize, Jerry.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Just so you know I had I had you coming
on at plus minus one eighty, No at plus one twenty.
I bet the minus one eighty and clean house. So
you know I had confidence in you the whole time.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
Man, that that's what I'm talking about.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
You're my guy. That's right, baby. Never forget you.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
Never forget what Simon Bile was tonight. And so I
had to write and I was on a I was
on a subway when when Jackson finally got a hold of.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Me, got you. Well, I'll tell you what.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
I was lucky enough to stand next to her in
person about three or four years ago on radio wrote
the Super Bowl, and I didn't realize how actually.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Small she is until you see her in person.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
But the all this maybe Olympian has become maybe in
some ways the greatest Olympian. Talk about some own biles
and what she's meant for her sport and what she's
meant for this country in your mind.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
Man, Yeah, she's a four foot eight wonder and I
love the kind of arc of her three Olympic journey
in twenty sixteen in Rio. I was there and she
was just otherworldly. And then we saw what happened with
this twisties where she couldn't identity, you know, she couldn't
(02:31):
get her body and sync with her mind when she
was in mid air. And then she admitted to having
mental health struggles and the most dominant athlete, one of
the most dominant athletes on the planet, said enough, I
can't do it. And then to come back here at
twenty seven, which is like, I mean, we're impressed with
when Tom Brady won the Super Bowl in his forties.
(02:52):
I think like winning an Olympic gold medal and gymnastics
and modern gymnastics at age twenty seven, that almost feels
like winning a Super Bowl like forty eight or fifty
years old. Remarkable achievement. And today it wasn't about her
just intimidating the field like a young tiger and everyone
(03:12):
cowering and her showing how great she is, she had
to grind, and there was a Brazilian challenger, Andre Dae
who won the silver at the last Olympics, and then
Sunny Lee the American who won gold, and Voles place
(03:32):
place third, And it was just a tremendous competition. Not
of perfection, not one that was about artistry and how
pretty and regal that sport can look, but it was
about toughness and I don't think we associate that often
with gymnastics, but that was about as gritty an effort
as I've seen anyone give. And just the last thing. Guys,
(03:55):
you should have been in that arena tonight and Jeth
Curry Kad were there, and all kinds of celebrities were there,
and it felt like everyone felt like the stress. They
really wanted to see Simone do well. Now, not everybody
was there wanting her to win, but they wanted her
(04:17):
to succeed. They wanted her to push the sport forward,
and she did and it was remarkable. Like I think
it's maybe one of the top ten memories I've had
in the last twenty years in sports.
Speaker 5 (04:33):
Wow, Jerry, it seems to me like the Olympics are back.
I mean, you got twelve point seven million viewers for
the women's gymnastics yesterday, and that was in the eleven
am to two pm time slot on a weekday in
the United States. I mean that beats out every NBA
Final game, beats out the first day of the NFL Draft.
(04:56):
Why does it seem like the Olympics are back? Is
it because huzza faces like Simone Biles and Katie Ladecci
and people that we know, or is just something inherently
about the Olympics that is grabbed the attention of American
public now more so than it has the last really
twenty years or so.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Yeah, I think it's a combination of a couple of things. Dick,
the superstar talent, you know, the very best American men's
and women's basketball players. And then you have great tennis superstars,
legends Novak Djokovic and Rafael and Adahl and today was
the last match of Andy Murray's career. And then you
(05:40):
get into the Ladekis and Simone Biles and track and
field hasn't even started. Guys, and track and field maybe
the premier event at these Olympics. Like, there's just so
much star talent, a lot of them Americans, so many
possibilities of records being broken and just great duels being had.
It's really just going to light up the show. And
(06:03):
then we haven't even gotten into the US woe's national
team in soccer and some of those other things as well.
So you've got the star power. I think you also
have this. The Olympics are in Europe now, and they've
been in Asia in the last three games if you
want to count the Winter Games as well, and the
(06:23):
time zone differences, I think it felt extremely remote to
people the fact that the Beijing Winter Games and the
Tokyo Summer Games were stayed during the pandemic and there
were no fans there. Really it just was not enjoyable.
So I think like people are able to have a breakout.
I also think the time difference works in our favor,
(06:45):
right like some own Biles. That's a six fifteen start here,
that's nine to fifteen in the morning in our time
zone and right afternoons in the Eastern time zone. So
I think that's played a role as well. That has
just been accessible in her see more things live.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Yeah, well, Jerry Brewer is live with us in Paris
at the Olympics and Jerry is funny if you if
you live on social media, social media will tell you
what the biggest stories are, right, Twitter will tell you
what the biggest stories are and what people are angry
about and thinking about. And I don't know how much
you know about this story from today, and I'm sure
I'm butchering the name, but Amani Kleff is a Algerian
(07:29):
boxer women's boxer that fought an Italian today, Angela Karini,
who quit forty six seconds into the round. Apparently she
said it was because she broke her nose and was
in pain and just couldn't keep going. Others have said
that this is a transgender athlete, that it's unfair that
a man is in the ring with a woman, and
it turns out that this gal was actually born a female,
(07:50):
and that there's been a lot of maybe mistruths that
are printed out there. I don't even know what to
believe anymore, but this has spawned this big commentary today
that already just feels like it's getting bigger and bigger
as the weeks go by, about biological men who transition
competing against women in sports. And this feels like a
conversation that is not going to go away.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
It's probably not going to go away. And it's not
one that I feel like we can have in the
heat of the moment during the Olympics when two boxers
face each other. Who we had no idea who these
two boxers were to begin with, right, and then now
all of a sudden, like it becomes the issue that
you're willing to damn near die for. I mean, I
think that's pretty ludicrous, But like I do think that
(08:38):
when we get past that part and you start considering
the nuances of what we're talking about, and the nuances
of you know, sex being inherent and gender being something
that is fluid, right, and how you deal with this
concept of gender fluidity and transgenderism is different. And then say,
(09:00):
like intersexuality, which is remember the castas Domnia, the runner
who is female is a little bit of boat, right,
but she's got like these male traits as well, and uh,
she's been banned from from competing. Uh, there's a lot
of stuff to deal with, and a lot of stuff
(09:21):
that uh people our age, like we're all around the
same age, Like we never heard of this stuff. Now
imagine people twenty years older than us, and how they
feel and then imagine, like my kids, who you know,
under understand in a in a very empathetic manner some
(09:41):
of these things and and get on us as parents
about respecting other kids pronouns and those sort of things.
There's a lot of there's a lot lumped in there,
and they're not all the same, right, non binaries different
than transgender, which is different than intersexuality and so on
(10:03):
and so forth, which is different than say, just a
female who you know has a higher testosterone, but is
a level that is a female like. And how how
we handle this? I'm not sure what the answer is,
but I think right now just all of the disingenuous
(10:23):
griping isn't going to solve it.
Speaker 5 (10:27):
Jerry, what have you learned about what international media and
the international fans think about America and American athletes being
over there?
Speaker 4 (10:37):
Well, there's no I mean, I feel like with certain
things that have gone on in the country, that we
have lost some of our appeal is like this superpower,
and that there may be this fear that we're sliding.
But you come over here and you remember, are you
recognize and can appreciate that our standing is still pretty strong. Uh,
(11:01):
there's still just a reverence for some of our athletes,
and a respect and a curiosity about the United States obviously,
like people people are wondering, you know, how much our
nation can change from presidential elections to presidential elections nowadays,
and that's a concern on some people's minds. But I
(11:22):
think that people there's almost a sense that that people
people are that we're humbled to the point where they
don't see us as much as an arrogant Americans. There's
still plenty of the arrogant American Roman around Paris, but
(11:42):
I feel like now that we have a little drama
and some problems that are on an international scale, it
feels like we're just like the rest of the world.
So there's a lot of different things going on there.
But yeah, still there's still I think think that people
think more highly of us than we think of ourselves
(12:03):
on our worst day, let's put it that way.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Interesting, Well, Jerry Brewers with us. He's in Paris courtesy
of Northwest Handling Systems. And I can imagine you walking
to the chans of these in Paris just thinking about
Maritor Baseball. Right, You're in this beautiful town, beautiful romantic city.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
Why would he put that on his brain?
Speaker 2 (12:20):
And you're thinking about the Mariners and the trade deadline.
They went out and got Randy a Rose Arena, they
got Justin Turner, they got two relievers. George Kirby, by
the way, in his last twelve starts as a one
point nine to six era and the Ms are six
and six and those twelve starts and have more offensive
problems in Boston. So did they do enough of the
deadline to kind of maybe make you feel like, all right,
(12:42):
they're greatly improved to a point now where they can
go out and win this thing and take the West.
Speaker 4 (12:49):
Well, I didn't see any superstar hitters that felt like
they were highly available, So I think they did the
best they could at the trade deadline. And I know
this is one of your things, Softy, and I'm there
with you that you can't pin your hopes on like
if we're good enough through eighty games, then we'll make
a trade that puts us over the top. You need
to do a better job of like every avenue of
(13:10):
team building that you have, particularly in the off season.
And uh yeah, I'm I'm underwhelmed by by the moves
they made, But I don't think it was, you know,
a front office failure. I think that was just what
the market was. And you know, at least you get
a guy and Justin Turner who isn't going to be
afraid of the stage. You know what, we'll see what
(13:33):
he's going to be first base and maybe d h
we'll see how he adjusts to that when he's you know,
been dominantly a third baseman throughout his career. Although I
mean you're two weeks away from like just moving him
over to third. Like just nobody on this DM team
who's not not expendable in that way. So I like that.
(13:54):
I think a rose arena. You know, if you get
the player that he's been the last fifty games or so,
that can help. You can't wait to see him in
the same line up with Julio and now let's just
let's hope they get right. But guys, I wasn't looking
forward to another playoff race that's gonna come down to
the last day and you're hoping, you're hoping you can
(14:17):
get eighty eight, eighty nine, maybe ninety wins if you
get hot, really hot. I hate that that sort of
low hanging we're going to either try to win the
division because the division is down, or we're going to
try to just slip in in the on the last train,
on the last booth, right, and so like that's I
(14:41):
don't want to be a downer, And you know, I
hope they I hope they can have a really good August.
But yeah, like I'm just kind of tired of of
this cycle, but still respecting that that everything that they're
hoping to play for it is still it's still achievable.
(15:02):
But yeah, like I there hasn't been like one, maybe
like a couple of weeks this year when I've been
following them, and I follow them daily along with the
nass as well and the Baltimore Orioles, but there's only
been a couple of weeks where I felt like, oh,
I could see that team not just making the playoffs
but in advancing, and at this point in the year,
(15:24):
you should be seeing more signs.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
No, I think that's fair.
Speaker 5 (15:28):
I do think and I've been as negative as anybody
about this team, particularly about the Sergeant Doom, But yeah,
but I do think though that if you weather this
storm without Julio, and you know, you get road blazed
back who's actually been as good a hitters they've had
on this team over the last month and you get
JP back at the end of August that I look
at what you could put on paper for a lineup
(15:50):
in September and October, and to me, it actually resembles
what you had the last couple of years, which that's
all you'd need, Jerry. I mean those teams were twelfth
to eighteenth and run scored. I mean that's all you need.
So could you could just see this, you know, being
pasted together by September where their offense is at least passable,
(16:11):
because passable probably is good enough to win this division.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
I don't know, Dick. I mean, do you want your
meat low burnt or do you want a cold?
Speaker 5 (16:21):
Right?
Speaker 3 (16:22):
That's like.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
I feel like we're choosing a lesser of evil and
that that still buzzs. Yeah. I can squint my eye
and see a scenario if everybody now it comes back
healthy but also in rhythm, that that you could do something.
But again, like I'm trying to look beyond just like
what it takes to get in, and I'm thinking about
(16:48):
what it takes to like get really people really excited,
which is being able to advance at least around and
this is one of those teams that they can't advance around.
They could advance the right like if the rotation is clicking,
but I think more likely than not, we're going to
see a lot of two to one and three to
two and three to one and one to nothing critical games,
(17:11):
and maybe they get those and get in, or maybe
they don't, and we're left looking here again at the
same problem. And I'm tired of you know, I'm also
I'm tired of hearing about how you can win playoff
series or you can win a World series without a
(17:32):
high payroll. Well, I mean yeah, like in theory, yes,
if you build it right, but in practicality with what
this team is, have they ever shown an acumen that
they're going to be able to do it that way?
If ever, there's a team where you need to throw
a little bit of money at it to give yourself
more margin for error, it's this one. And no, money
(17:56):
doesn't solve all problems. It's got to be money plus
gets scouting and getting the right guys at the right time,
not just the guys who are going to make you know,
one hundred million, two hundred million dollars on contracts. But
I just I think there's just a lot there, and
we're just we're stuck in the cycle where it's like, okay,
your independent race, it's the end of the year is
(18:18):
coming here. There's something to be excited about because they're
in it. So let's go ahead and be excited and
let's worry about this other stuff later. But I think
it's important to continue to keep that energy, right, Like,
you can't have George Kirby pitching at a cy young
level and you being barely able to be five hundred
(18:39):
in those games, right, Like, I mean, it's just it's ridiculous.
It's it's just like a better version of what Felix
Hernandez was going through. Right, And so you know, again,
like I need evidence that you're not going to constantly
be building eighty six win teams with ninety wins and
(19:00):
ceilings right, Like, I don't care about how high your
floor is. I want to see you get that ceiling up.
And so let's deal with this for one more year.
But like I mean, the the off season is it's
going to be just a huge test for what this
franchise wants to do with the run. Because they've done
(19:24):
they've done some of the hard work in this run,
but finishing the team as an art and right now
they have been inartistic about it.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
No question.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
Speaking of being tired, it's one in the am.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
Well done, Jerry, well done, Get some rest. When do
you come home?
Speaker 4 (19:40):
By the way, I won't be back until the nineteenth wow,
because the game. The games don't end until the eleven
and then the family. I'm meeting the family in London
and we're going to spend a week in London.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
I love it, all right, Well tell you what, you
can take that week off with the family.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Will allow that. But before the games are over, we'll
have you on. We'll talk in a week from Paris. Man.
Enjoy it out there, buddy, Thank you.
Speaker 4 (20:09):
All right, take it easy, all right.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Jerry Brewer with us on the radio show. He got
me really thinking about some Mariner topics. Man, my brain's
churning here now. And one of one thing, guys that
just popped into my head for this group for the
Depoto service, Logan Gilbert, George Kirby whatever, Julio Hollander group
was the playoff run two years ago, the apex of it.
And I'll explain what I'm talking about next on ninety
(20:32):
three three KJRFM
It's time for our weekly conversation with award winning Washington
Post columnist Jerry Brewer, brought to you by Northwest Handling Systems.
From forklifts to pellot jashers conveyors to loading dock equipment,
we sell, rent and service all your warehouse he needs.
Request a quote today at NWHS dot com or give
us a call at four two five two five five
(00:21):
zero five hundred. Now with Jerry Brewer, here's SOFTI indick.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
All right, boys and girls, big thanks for our friend
Eric at Northwest Handling Systems forklifts to palette racks. They
take care of all your warehouse needs on WHS dot com.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
I wonder if Eric ran into Jerry over there. He's
into there, Yeah, man, I love it.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Anthony bay Rudy is out there also, all of our
spot just got them all together, man. Jerry Brewer joining
us from Paris right now. We were a little bit
concerned that maybe you'd fallen asleep and you were going
to answer your phone, but answering the friggin' bell like
a champ. Jerry Brewer in Paris with us on the show.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
How are you, man?
Speaker 4 (00:59):
I'm good? How can you guys like doubt me like this.
Speaker 5 (01:02):
That was me, manmzing I know I raised my hand.
I just thought, you know, one week is it's one
thing to do with the first day that you're there.
You kind of still on Seattle time. But after working
as hard as I know you've worked for a week,
you might forget about it.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Stuff going on, Jerry. I apologize, Jerry.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Just so you know I had I had you coming
on at plus minus one eighty, No at plus one twenty.
I bet the minus one eighty and clean house. So
you know I had confidence in you the whole time.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
Man, that that's what I'm talking about.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
You're my guy. That's right, baby. Never forget you.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
Never forget what Simon Bile was tonight. And so I
had to write and I was on a I was
on a subway when when Jackson finally got a hold of.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Me, got you. Well, I'll tell you what.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
I was lucky enough to stand next to her in
person about three or four years ago on radio wrote
the Super Bowl, and I didn't realize how actually.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Small she is until you see her in person.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
But the all this maybe Olympian has become maybe in
some ways the greatest Olympian. Talk about some own biles
and what she's meant for her sport and what she's
meant for this country in your mind.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
Man, Yeah, she's a four foot eight wonder and I
love the kind of arc of her three Olympic journey
in twenty sixteen in Rio. I was there and she
was just otherworldly. And then we saw what happened with
this twisties where she couldn't identity, you know, she couldn't
(02:31):
get her body and sync with her mind when she
was in mid air. And then she admitted to having
mental health struggles and the most dominant athlete, one of
the most dominant athletes on the planet, said enough, I
can't do it. And then to come back here at
twenty seven, which is like, I mean, we're impressed with
when Tom Brady won the Super Bowl in his forties.
(02:52):
I think like winning an Olympic gold medal and gymnastics
and modern gymnastics at age twenty seven, that almost feels
like winning a Super Bowl like forty eight or fifty
years old. Remarkable achievement. And today it wasn't about her
just intimidating the field like a young tiger and everyone
(03:12):
cowering and her showing how great she is, she had
to grind, and there was a Brazilian challenger, Andre Dae
who won the silver at the last Olympics, and then
Sunny Lee the American who won gold, and Voles place
(03:32):
place third, And it was just a tremendous competition. Not
of perfection, not one that was about artistry and how
pretty and regal that sport can look, but it was
about toughness and I don't think we associate that often
with gymnastics, but that was about as gritty an effort
as I've seen anyone give. And just the last thing. Guys,
(03:55):
you should have been in that arena tonight and Jeth
Curry Kad were there, and all kinds of celebrities were there,
and it felt like everyone felt like the stress. They
really wanted to see Simone do well. Now, not everybody
was there wanting her to win, but they wanted her
(04:17):
to succeed. They wanted her to push the sport forward,
and she did and it was remarkable. Like I think
it's maybe one of the top ten memories I've had
in the last twenty years in sports.
Speaker 5 (04:33):
Wow, Jerry, it seems to me like the Olympics are back.
I mean, you got twelve point seven million viewers for
the women's gymnastics yesterday, and that was in the eleven
am to two pm time slot on a weekday in
the United States. I mean that beats out every NBA
Final game, beats out the first day of the NFL Draft.
(04:56):
Why does it seem like the Olympics are back? Is
it because huzza faces like Simone Biles and Katie Ladecci
and people that we know, or is just something inherently
about the Olympics that is grabbed the attention of American
public now more so than it has the last really
twenty years or so.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Yeah, I think it's a combination of a couple of things. Dick,
the superstar talent, you know, the very best American men's
and women's basketball players. And then you have great tennis superstars,
legends Novak Djokovic and Rafael and Adahl and today was
the last match of Andy Murray's career. And then you
(05:40):
get into the Ladekis and Simone Biles and track and
field hasn't even started. Guys, and track and field maybe
the premier event at these Olympics. Like, there's just so
much star talent, a lot of them Americans, so many
possibilities of records being broken and just great duels being had.
It's really just going to light up the show. And
(06:03):
then we haven't even gotten into the US woe's national
team in soccer and some of those other things as well.
So you've got the star power. I think you also
have this. The Olympics are in Europe now, and they've
been in Asia in the last three games if you
want to count the Winter Games as well, and the
(06:23):
time zone differences, I think it felt extremely remote to
people the fact that the Beijing Winter Games and the
Tokyo Summer Games were stayed during the pandemic and there
were no fans there. Really it just was not enjoyable.
So I think like people are able to have a breakout.
I also think the time difference works in our favor,
(06:45):
right like some own Biles. That's a six fifteen start here,
that's nine to fifteen in the morning in our time
zone and right afternoons in the Eastern time zone. So
I think that's played a role as well. That has
just been accessible in her see more things live.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Yeah, well, Jerry Brewer is live with us in Paris
at the Olympics and Jerry is funny if you if
you live on social media, social media will tell you
what the biggest stories are, right, Twitter will tell you
what the biggest stories are and what people are angry
about and thinking about. And I don't know how much
you know about this story from today, and I'm sure
I'm butchering the name, but Amani Kleff is a Algerian
(07:29):
boxer women's boxer that fought an Italian today, Angela Karini,
who quit forty six seconds into the round. Apparently she
said it was because she broke her nose and was
in pain and just couldn't keep going. Others have said
that this is a transgender athlete, that it's unfair that
a man is in the ring with a woman, and
it turns out that this gal was actually born a female,
(07:50):
and that there's been a lot of maybe mistruths that
are printed out there. I don't even know what to
believe anymore, but this has spawned this big commentary today
that already just feels like it's getting bigger and bigger
as the weeks go by, about biological men who transition
competing against women in sports. And this feels like a
conversation that is not going to go away.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
It's probably not going to go away. And it's not
one that I feel like we can have in the
heat of the moment during the Olympics when two boxers
face each other. Who we had no idea who these
two boxers were to begin with, right, and then now
all of a sudden, like it becomes the issue that
you're willing to damn near die for. I mean, I
think that's pretty ludicrous, But like I do think that
(08:38):
when we get past that part and you start considering
the nuances of what we're talking about, and the nuances
of you know, sex being inherent and gender being something
that is fluid, right, and how you deal with this
concept of gender fluidity and transgenderism is different. And then say,
(09:00):
like intersexuality, which is remember the castas Domnia, the runner
who is female is a little bit of boat, right,
but she's got like these male traits as well, and uh,
she's been banned from from competing. Uh, there's a lot
of stuff to deal with, and a lot of stuff
(09:21):
that uh people our age, like we're all around the
same age, Like we never heard of this stuff. Now
imagine people twenty years older than us, and how they
feel and then imagine, like my kids, who you know,
under understand in a in a very empathetic manner some
(09:41):
of these things and and get on us as parents
about respecting other kids pronouns and those sort of things.
There's a lot of there's a lot lumped in there,
and they're not all the same, right, non binaries different
than transgender, which is different than intersexuality and so on
(10:03):
and so forth, which is different than say, just a
female who you know has a higher testosterone, but is
a level that is a female like. And how how
we handle this? I'm not sure what the answer is,
but I think right now just all of the disingenuous
(10:23):
griping isn't going to solve it.
Speaker 5 (10:27):
Jerry, what have you learned about what international media and
the international fans think about America and American athletes being
over there?
Speaker 4 (10:37):
Well, there's no I mean, I feel like with certain
things that have gone on in the country, that we
have lost some of our appeal is like this superpower,
and that there may be this fear that we're sliding.
But you come over here and you remember, are you
recognize and can appreciate that our standing is still pretty strong. Uh,
(11:01):
there's still just a reverence for some of our athletes,
and a respect and a curiosity about the United States obviously,
like people people are wondering, you know, how much our
nation can change from presidential elections to presidential elections nowadays,
and that's a concern on some people's minds. But I
(11:22):
think that people there's almost a sense that that people
people are that we're humbled to the point where they
don't see us as much as an arrogant Americans. There's
still plenty of the arrogant American Roman around Paris, but
(11:42):
I feel like now that we have a little drama
and some problems that are on an international scale, it
feels like we're just like the rest of the world.
So there's a lot of different things going on there.
But yeah, still there's still I think think that people
think more highly of us than we think of ourselves
(12:03):
on our worst day, let's put it that way.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Interesting, Well, Jerry Brewers with us. He's in Paris courtesy
of Northwest Handling Systems. And I can imagine you walking
to the chans of these in Paris just thinking about
Maritor Baseball. Right, You're in this beautiful town, beautiful romantic city.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
Why would he put that on his brain?
Speaker 2 (12:20):
And you're thinking about the Mariners and the trade deadline.
They went out and got Randy a Rose Arena, they
got Justin Turner, they got two relievers. George Kirby, by
the way, in his last twelve starts as a one
point nine to six era and the Ms are six
and six and those twelve starts and have more offensive
problems in Boston. So did they do enough of the
deadline to kind of maybe make you feel like, all right,
(12:42):
they're greatly improved to a point now where they can
go out and win this thing and take the West.
Speaker 4 (12:49):
Well, I didn't see any superstar hitters that felt like
they were highly available, So I think they did the
best they could at the trade deadline. And I know
this is one of your things, Softy, and I'm there
with you that you can't pin your hopes on like
if we're good enough through eighty games, then we'll make
a trade that puts us over the top. You need
to do a better job of like every avenue of
(13:10):
team building that you have, particularly in the off season.
And uh yeah, I'm I'm underwhelmed by by the moves
they made, But I don't think it was, you know,
a front office failure. I think that was just what
the market was. And you know, at least you get
a guy and Justin Turner who isn't going to be
afraid of the stage. You know what, we'll see what
(13:33):
he's going to be first base and maybe d h
we'll see how he adjusts to that when he's you know,
been dominantly a third baseman throughout his career. Although I
mean you're two weeks away from like just moving him
over to third. Like just nobody on this DM team
who's not not expendable in that way. So I like that.
(13:54):
I think a rose arena. You know, if you get
the player that he's been the last fifty games or so,
that can help. You can't wait to see him in
the same line up with Julio and now let's just
let's hope they get right. But guys, I wasn't looking
forward to another playoff race that's gonna come down to
the last day and you're hoping, you're hoping you can
(14:17):
get eighty eight, eighty nine, maybe ninety wins if you
get hot, really hot. I hate that that sort of
low hanging we're going to either try to win the
division because the division is down, or we're going to
try to just slip in in the on the last train,
on the last booth, right, and so like that's I
(14:41):
don't want to be a downer, And you know, I
hope they I hope they can have a really good August.
But yeah, like I'm just kind of tired of of
this cycle, but still respecting that that everything that they're
hoping to play for it is still it's still achievable.
(15:02):
But yeah, like I there hasn't been like one, maybe
like a couple of weeks this year when I've been
following them, and I follow them daily along with the
nass as well and the Baltimore Orioles, but there's only
been a couple of weeks where I felt like, oh,
I could see that team not just making the playoffs
but in advancing, and at this point in the year,
(15:24):
you should be seeing more signs.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
No, I think that's fair.
Speaker 5 (15:28):
I do think and I've been as negative as anybody
about this team, particularly about the Sergeant Doom, But yeah,
but I do think though that if you weather this
storm without Julio, and you know, you get road blazed
back who's actually been as good a hitters they've had
on this team over the last month and you get
JP back at the end of August that I look
at what you could put on paper for a lineup
(15:50):
in September and October, and to me, it actually resembles
what you had the last couple of years, which that's
all you'd need, Jerry. I mean those teams were twelfth
to eighteenth and run scored. I mean that's all you need.
So could you could just see this, you know, being
pasted together by September where their offense is at least passable,
(16:11):
because passable probably is good enough to win this division.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
I don't know, Dick. I mean, do you want your
meat low burnt or do you want a cold?
Speaker 5 (16:21):
Right?
Speaker 3 (16:22):
That's like.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
I feel like we're choosing a lesser of evil and
that that still buzzs. Yeah. I can squint my eye
and see a scenario if everybody now it comes back
healthy but also in rhythm, that that you could do something.
But again, like I'm trying to look beyond just like
what it takes to get in, and I'm thinking about
(16:48):
what it takes to like get really people really excited,
which is being able to advance at least around and
this is one of those teams that they can't advance around.
They could advance the right like if the rotation is clicking,
but I think more likely than not, we're going to
see a lot of two to one and three to
two and three to one and one to nothing critical games,
(17:11):
and maybe they get those and get in, or maybe
they don't, and we're left looking here again at the
same problem. And I'm tired of you know, I'm also
I'm tired of hearing about how you can win playoff
series or you can win a World series without a
(17:32):
high payroll. Well, I mean yeah, like in theory, yes,
if you build it right, but in practicality with what
this team is, have they ever shown an acumen that
they're going to be able to do it that way?
If ever, there's a team where you need to throw
a little bit of money at it to give yourself
more margin for error, it's this one. And no, money
(17:56):
doesn't solve all problems. It's got to be money plus
gets scouting and getting the right guys at the right time,
not just the guys who are going to make you know,
one hundred million, two hundred million dollars on contracts. But
I just I think there's just a lot there, and
we're just we're stuck in the cycle where it's like, okay,
your independent race, it's the end of the year is
(18:18):
coming here. There's something to be excited about because they're
in it. So let's go ahead and be excited and
let's worry about this other stuff later. But I think
it's important to continue to keep that energy, right, Like,
you can't have George Kirby pitching at a cy young
level and you being barely able to be five hundred
(18:39):
in those games, right, Like, I mean, it's just it's ridiculous.
It's it's just like a better version of what Felix
Hernandez was going through. Right, And so you know, again,
like I need evidence that you're not going to constantly
be building eighty six win teams with ninety wins and
(19:00):
ceilings right, Like, I don't care about how high your
floor is. I want to see you get that ceiling up.
And so let's deal with this for one more year.
But like I mean, the the off season is it's
going to be just a huge test for what this
franchise wants to do with the run. Because they've done
(19:24):
they've done some of the hard work in this run,
but finishing the team as an art and right now
they have been inartistic about it.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
No question.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
Speaking of being tired, it's one in the am.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
Well done, Jerry, well done, Get some rest. When do
you come home?
Speaker 4 (19:40):
By the way, I won't be back until the nineteenth wow,
because the game. The games don't end until the eleven
and then the family. I'm meeting the family in London
and we're going to spend a week in London.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
I love it, all right, Well tell you what, you
can take that week off with the family.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Will allow that. But before the games are over, we'll
have you on. We'll talk in a week from Paris. Man.
Enjoy it out there, buddy, Thank you.
Speaker 4 (20:09):
All right, take it easy, all right.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Jerry Brewer with us on the radio show. He got
me really thinking about some Mariner topics. Man, my brain's
churning here now. And one of one thing, guys that
just popped into my head for this group for the
Depoto service, Logan Gilbert, George Kirby whatever, Julio Hollander group
was the playoff run two years ago, the apex of it.
And I'll explain what I'm talking about next on ninety
(20:32):
three three KJRFM
Popular Podcasts
1. Stuff You Missed in History Class
Join Holly and Tracy as they bring you the greatest and strangest Stuff You Missed In History Class in this podcast by iHeartRadio.
2. Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
3. Crime Junkie
If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people.