Blue Jackets Bob McElligott and MAGA McCoy

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, away we go here. It is hump day
and welcome to the show. Mark Blazer, Maga McCoy is
joining me.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
What's up? Brother? Uh?

Speaker 3 (00:10):
Oh right, I'm here? Wait, oh there there I am.
I'm sorry. I'm sitting in your chair?

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Are you I am? Oh? Well that's good. Someone needs
to sit in.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
And I guess when I'm all the way two thousand
miles away, I guess.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
So.

Speaker 3 (00:22):
Oh I love this. Actually this is kind of cool.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
Yeah, I didn't. I don't know if I actually told you,
But let's bring him in. He's radio voice for the
Columbus Blue Jackets. Bob mcgalligan, our buddy is joining us
right now. And I didn't know if I told you,
uh McCoy that I was bringing he was going to
be on with us today.

Speaker 3 (00:39):
Well, you know, Zach just gave me the rundown for
the show and I saw his name here, so I'm excited.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
Yeah. Uh, Bob mcgalligan joining us, Bob.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
How are you?

Speaker 4 (00:49):
Man? Well, I'm good Vegas Golden Knights are here and
you're in Vegas makes me even better.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
Yeah, it's it's flip flopped, isn't it.

Speaker 4 (00:58):
So?

Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yeah, just back from a long road trip. For you.

Speaker 1 (01:02):
I know, the Jackets only ended up winning one of
the games of the four while you were on the road.
But other than that, how was your road trip? I
mean you see these places every year, multiple times and
so on. Does it ever get I mean, does it
ever get to arduis or do you do you ever
think to yourself, man, I'd never want to see this
city again.

Speaker 4 (01:22):
Well, it's funny you ask on this trip because my
youngest son is on spring break and he had never
been to New York City, so he came with me
for the weekend. And I have never seen as much
of New York as I did this year in the
sixteen years I've been traveling with Blue Jacket because he

(01:43):
came with an agenda. He wanted to sight see, and
I think we did it all were We went to
Mass at Saint Patrick Cathedral. We walked through Times Square
on a Saturday night, which is an adventure within itself.

Speaker 2 (01:59):
WHOA.

Speaker 4 (02:00):
We had dinner in Little Italy. We went out to
Ellis Island in the Statue of Liberty. On the day
off Monday. We went to the observation tower at the
World Trade Center and I've got the step chart on
my phone to prove all of it to be true.

Speaker 2 (02:16):
How many was that?

Speaker 4 (02:17):
By the way, it was a good eighteen nineteen thousand
a days.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
We's yeah, that's a bit of huffin for sure.

Speaker 4 (02:26):
Man boy, Hey giving up beer for lent. I got
my fingers crossed.

Speaker 1 (02:31):
There you go that, You go, Oh, I can tighten
the belt one more loop.

Speaker 2 (02:35):
That's good. That's a great thing.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
Before we get started with the Jackets and everything that
happened on the road trip and what they got coming up.
You know, I thought to myself, Oh, I got two
Steeler fans on the phone or on the on the
air with me today, and so I gotta ask. I
mean this, Aaron Rodgers crap. I don't know where you
guys come down on any of this. And then you
see all the memes where you know, Roethlisberger they're showing it.

(03:00):
I'm going, so you're saying you need a quarterback. I mean,
it's the dumbest thing right now. I don't I don't know.
I am so confused as to what they're doing. It
does not feel like solid Pittsburgh Steelers to me.

Speaker 4 (03:14):
Go ahead, Michael, you can take this one.

Speaker 3 (03:15):
First, all right, Well, I will tell you this I have.
I'm not following it as closely necessarily as as you
might be marked. But I don't what are their options?
Because you know, Justin Field signed with the who do
you sign with? He signed with the Jets, right.

Speaker 2 (03:32):
Yeah, he went to the Jets exactly good.

Speaker 3 (03:35):
Lord, he thought, never mind, I'll wax philosophic on the
Jets at a later date. But you know, what are
their options?

Speaker 2 (03:43):
Really?

Speaker 3 (03:43):
Is? Is Russell sticking around at this point? I mean,
is I don't even know where we stand on this stuff.
I'm so far behind, I'm so out of football right now. However,
I will tell you this. It doesn't sound like a
good match to me.

Speaker 1 (03:56):
No, no, And I know you got thoughts mcgueligot, I
know you.

Speaker 4 (04:01):
Well, it's just look Justin Fields. I don't know if
that was the answer or not. But when what he
starts the first six yeah, and went four and two,
and then as soon as Russell Wilson was ready, they
just plucked them on the sidelines and basically said, you know,
thanks for being here. I don't think they handled that
situation exactly the right way that they should have agreed,

(04:22):
but look, it's the NFL, and the only way you're
getting a franchise quarterback is by being in the top
what probably top five? Right, So here's my thing. As
you said, Mark, it's not the Steelers way. The Steelers
way is now long gone. Look at some of the
stuff that they did. They signed Metcalf over the weekend.

(04:43):
They never used to do this kind of stuff. It
was always draft and developed, and they feel they have
to do things differently to compete in today's NFL. And
I'm not disagreeing with that at all. But let me
just tell you this. You could have a coach that
has never had a losing record, but that doesn't mean
that you're a good team because you're not getting that
next franchise quarterback until you stinked and then you can

(05:04):
draft one as they did with Ben Roethlisberger, as they
did with Terry Bradshaw years before. I told my oldest
son when Roethlisberger was getting along in the tooth, I said,
you better enjoy every last minute of this because when
Terry Bradshaw was done, it went about twenty years before
they had the next guy. So, uh, it is what
it is. But look, it's is this the right match? No?

(05:26):
I don't think so. They had one old guy in
Russ Wilson last year. They might have another old guy
in Aaron Rodgers.

Speaker 3 (05:32):
Didn't I hear Sam Darnold's name being tossed?

Speaker 1 (05:34):
Yeah, but that's that's not gonna Yeah, that's not gonna
happen either. He's forty one, he's he's an achille, he's
recovered from an achill. He I don't understand what they're doing.
Why are they even looking at him? It is a
It is a head scratcher. And then I saw Mason
Rudolph is going to be probably back in a Steeler
uniform backing him up, and I just this is this

(05:55):
retread crap that they're doing is making.

Speaker 2 (05:58):
Me nuts right now.

Speaker 1 (05:59):
And look, if we're gonna be in the wilderness, let's
be in the wilderness with a guy who is developing
and getting hopefully not what happened to Justin Fields. Let's
face it, he was in Chicago running for his life
year after year, every snap, and the guy is damaged.

Speaker 2 (06:16):
Look at him, he's a specimen.

Speaker 1 (06:17):
We saw what he did with the Buckeyes, and I
get it, it's way different from college to NFL, but
we saw what he is capable of and You're right, Bob.
They did plunk him on the sideline, and every once
in a while on a third and two or three
he would come in and get it for us cold,
I might dad. And yet you know, he goes four
and two like you pointed out, and the guy doesn't

(06:38):
get any more reps, and then they deal him are
you kidding me? And then he's get good for him
getting I think thirty million guaranteed with the Jets, and
I hope that it's finally a payday for him. I
don't know about his money up until this whole situation,
now that it's played out. But man, we are so
lost right now, and we're going to be in the
wilderness for a lot longer. I hope it's not twenty
years again before we get our next Roethlisberger.

Speaker 2 (07:00):
To your point, Bob, Well.

Speaker 4 (07:02):
It could be worse. You could have Deshaun Watson.

Speaker 3 (07:04):
It could be worse. We could be Cleveland.

Speaker 2 (07:07):
Kenny Pickett's going there.

Speaker 4 (07:09):
Well started in Cleveland. That'll be great. That'd be good
for four interceptions every time they go ahead the head.

Speaker 1 (07:17):
You can't make this up, man, And you know what,
how about Miles Garrett? Just on a side note, that guy.
I mean, it's the cash in of all cash in.
The guy's going I went out, I went out and
to go here's a blank check, and he goes, all right,
I'm staying.

Speaker 2 (07:29):
I love it. I'm the brown I am the Browns.
This is great.

Speaker 1 (07:32):
He's he's traded any chance at the super Bowl for
all that money. I don't know, would you do that?
I might, I don't know, but you got a guy.

Speaker 2 (07:40):
He's very special.

Speaker 4 (07:41):
It's the NFL. You get the guaranteed money, and then
you get like they can jettison guys. It's you know,
baseball and hockey. You sign those contracts. Those guys are
they're locked in. They're guaranteed contracts, and you're you're gonna
play them out. In football, there's quote unquote guaranteed money
right that the contract can be seven years and you
get the money up front and after two years, if
you stink the cash, they get somebody else. Right.

Speaker 1 (08:04):
So onto the Blue Jackets yesterday on this trip. Yeah,
well we have to a little bit at least. Look
I didn't. I was literally sitting at win Sportsbook watching
the Jackets yesterday and then I ended up having dinner
with some friends and I wasn't able to finish watching.
When I finished the end of the first period it

(08:26):
was three to nothing. We were getting our butts kicked.
And then I ended up seeing the final which we
bounced back a little bit there. And I don't know
was the score indicative of how bad the jet because
the first period I couldn't get over it. It was
bizarre again, especially coming off that Rangers win. And I
don't know, Bob, your thoughts on this. I mean, the

(08:47):
road trip was clearly we were looking, you know, McCoy
and I were talking, if we get two and two
on this road trip, this would be fantastic. But man,
these are four unbelievably good teams that they played.

Speaker 2 (09:00):
Out really three three okay, yeah, okay.

Speaker 4 (09:03):
Rangers and they might come in here and win on Saturday,
and then you could tell me I was wrong. But
I'm going to tell you right now, the Rangers are
not very good. The Devils were desperate. The Devil's played desperate.
They came out and they took it to the Blue
Jackets right away. They set the tone, they set the pace.
Blue Jackets weren't ready for it. There was another bad start.

(09:24):
We talked about this a lot we haven't talked about
it as much as we have in years past, but
this is a theme that comes up every so often,
and it was up last night. They were not good
in the first period. You're down three to nothing, overcomeable
lead in the NHL today. I'll give you that. You
get two in the second period, and you make a
mistake and give up one late in the second period,

(09:45):
but it was the one twenty six seconds into the
third period that made it five to two, that was
the backbreaker and was the killer, and that just cannot happen.
So you had the first period. In the third period,
you came out flat at the start.

Speaker 3 (09:57):
Of it, in a cush you the game, can I
just can I just add here there is a bright
spot and Bobby can tell me if you agree. If
anybody was wondering, Adam Fantilli.

Speaker 2 (10:09):
Is the real deal.

Speaker 3 (10:10):
What a pass he made last night to Marchenko on
that second goal.

Speaker 2 (10:13):
I mean, this guy is.

Speaker 3 (10:15):
He is everything that we thought he would be and more.
At least he's trending that way.

Speaker 4 (10:20):
He's trending that way. Yeah, I mean, he's been really good.
There's no doubt he's been really good, and especially as
a lady as a patrick against the Rangers on Sunday
and you mentioned that great pass, and it was a
great pass. And look, let's be completely honest about this.
He's no dummy either.

Speaker 2 (10:35):
True.

Speaker 4 (10:36):
Sean Monaghan will be coming back into this lineup, and
then there's going to be a choice as to who's
going to play between Cerl Marchenko and Dimitri Ronkov. Are
they going to leave Adam van Tilli there? Are they
going to go back to what worked all the way
up until January when he got injured, when Sean Monahan
was playing there. Because if that happens, then what's Adam
Fantilli's role going to be? So you know, there's a

(10:57):
lot of competition coming and there are a lot of
questions have to be answered, and guys are going to
have to be on top of their game. And you
know that's I think that helps. I don't think that
that's full of driving him. I think he's finally just
getting Yeah, he's finally become comfortable in his own skin
in the NHL and he knows what he has to
do and now he's just kind of thriving in it.
But again, there are all those things that are going

(11:18):
on too, and everybody knows it.

Speaker 2 (11:20):
He doesn't think. I think it was the beard that
helped him.

Speaker 3 (11:24):
Quite frankly, he doesn't strike me as a guy who
necessarily needs any of that external motivation, as a lot
of that comes from within.

Speaker 4 (11:35):
No, it does. But I think even when I listened
to him talk on Saturday, you know, after the game
at the beginning of the year, I don't think he
was questioning himself. But you know, he was playing third line,
and he wasn't scoring, and he was checking, and and
that had to be very frustrating for him because he
is the player that you see right now. He's not

(11:55):
that player, but he was trying to figure out how
to go back to being the player that he is
right now. I give him. I give him all the
credit in the world actually, because you know, he's still
twenty years old and you're asking him to figure it
out on a big stage and be a really big
part of the team. Probably you know, you're you're asking
him for a lot very early in his career. But

(12:17):
he's handled it really well, and he's been he has
been fantastic. So he is, he is trending. You know,
I'm you know, you know me, I'm not second year
and not even you know, he didn't even finish his
first year because he got injured. So there's a long
long way to go in his NHL career. But it
is a future really bright for Adam Fantilly, absolutely, and

(12:38):
is it bright right now tending to get brighter every
day plays for sure.

Speaker 2 (12:43):
Yeah. What I like about who's going to go where?

Speaker 1 (12:46):
Kind of to your question or your your point with that,
I like that coach Evison is the one who's going
to be behind this because this guy clearly has a
handle on who to put with whom and where, and
it's it is a it is a different team we
have watched this year, and I don't know clearly at
that level we talk about there's very similar talent at

(13:07):
a lot of the sports levels, and certainly there are
elite athletes within each sport, but you got guys who
are arguably similar talents that are going against each other,
and then it comes down to who's where in the
scheming and the gaming and all of that. And that's
that's the thing that I'm really excited about moving forward
with coach Everson. He's he seems like he is an

(13:28):
answer to prayer.

Speaker 4 (13:28):
I'll just say it, man, Well, I'll tell you if
you would have said to me at any point in
the last couple of weeks, you know, I think what
a good second line would be Boo Jenner playing with
Ken Johnson and Matthew Olivier. I would have laughed you
out of the building. I don't know what you've been
drinking or what you're on, but you gotta go. I'm

(13:50):
not I don't even want to hear this. And I
would have been dead wrong because Matthew Olivier has thrived
in a couple of games on that line, and he
thought he had two goals on Sunday in New York.
After the game they went and they took one away,
gave the kent Johnson, and so last night he just
went out and got too that nobody could dispute. So yeah,

(14:11):
it's yeah, sometimes you got to find the chemistry. Sometimes
you got to make the chemistry. And they've done a
good job of that. And again there's there's a lot
of stuff coming here because now you've lost the game.
They went on Sunday to keep the same lineup. But
now there's pressure on guys because Christian Fisher is there.
He hasn't played a game. Yet they're going to want
to get him in. That means somebody's coming out. Who's

(14:33):
coming out? Nobody wants to come out. It's going to
be a good competition.

Speaker 1 (14:36):
Yeah, well, I love I think he's back to Olivia.
He's energized, no question about that. With his deal and
all of those nineteen million dollars.

Speaker 4 (14:46):
The show like two times a week at least, could.

Speaker 1 (14:50):
We get multiple Flapjacks on a Ferris Wheel out.

Speaker 4 (14:54):
You know, I'd go on with Elliott in the morning.
I'd come on with you in the afternoon. You go
on with George if he asked me to.

Speaker 2 (15:06):
Jack Ferris Wheel. I love it so good.

Speaker 1 (15:10):
All right, he's radio voice, Yes, radio voice for the
Columbus Blue Jackets. Tomorrow night Jackets back on whole ice,
and we got the Golden Knights in town. So the
good teams continue one after another that the Jackets are
having to battle.

Speaker 2 (15:25):
But we'll be cheering and watching and so on.

Speaker 1 (15:28):
But Bob, thanks for jumping on today, brother, appreciate you.

Speaker 4 (15:30):
You'm gonna figure out which the city got the better deal.
We got the Golden Knights in Vegas, as.

Speaker 1 (15:34):
You Yeah, definitely Vegas has the better deal.

Speaker 2 (15:37):
With me being here for sure, all right, goodbye, goodbye,