Ep. 75 - Sam Amico interview, Best sports stories of 2020, Browns-Ravens, "Take Em to Church" & more

Featuring an interview with Sam Amico from FortyEightMinutes.com, Best sports stories of 2020, Browns-Ravens, "Take Em to Church" & more

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
This it's the FCB Radio Network,Real Talk worldwide online at FCB radio dot
Com, into your own down,Welcome off and necessary roughness. This is

(00:30):
Erica Rodriguez with Garbs Infinite and cJ Cob. You guys, Hello,
c J. How was your week? An? My week was fantastic,
all right? Uh yeah, Igot no complaints. I had no complaints.
I didn't have to get any kindof guff from Garbs or Darbo for
the most part. Uh So I'mgood. I'm good. You know,

(00:53):
blood pressures down at materials, socholesterol way down. What did you eat?
Regular cheerios and one hundred nights huntingup fool but you know regular oats

(01:15):
felt disrespect. How was your week? Then? It was good overall.
You know, I can't complain.You know, I'm feeling festive. I
got you know, I got myuh my crying Jordan mean Christmas sweater on
right now, so you know I'mfeeling festive. I got I got sweaters

(01:36):
for like every day of the week. The goal is to eventually like build
up to two started things giving andjust go all the way through, you
know what I mean, to theNew Year. But uh, you know
it's baby steps. You know,I can't complain trying to stay up in
the style. Huh, you knowwhat, trying to spark, trying to
start the fat and you know what, Erica, how was I don't think

(01:57):
we ever asked how because week winyOh see j My week was fabulous,
well fabulous, fabulous, Um,thank you for asking it was. I
don't know everything was great about it. But let's talk. Let's talk about
the Browns and the Ravens real quick. So, Garbs, I know that

(02:20):
you are a Browns fan, justlike CJ is a Jaguars fan. Yes,
so the Browns lost against the Ravens. How do you think the Browns
could have redeemed themselves? So forstarters, let's just put this out here,
is that, first off, thatwas probably one of the best games
I've watched this year. Number twois that, yes, we caught an

(02:46):
l which sucks, and it wasdefinitely a winnable game. Uh, just
that, you know, we definitelycould have we definitely could have pulled away
with that. But the point thatneeds to be highlighted about that game is
that the team didn't give up.So that team right there is completely different
than the team even last year.Or the year before. Is that these

(03:08):
guys actually have a fight in themto where they're they're trying to figure out
a way to actually get that wuh and to score. I mean,
you look at you look at ourrunning game. You look at now Baker
has has kind of came into hisown and more comfortable, uh spreading the
ball around and all that. Ijust think that this team right here actually

(03:31):
has uh some ability to to togo further than other teams that we've had,
uh since the return. All right, but I actually agree with you
they do have a newfound fighting spiritthis last few games. Um, what
do you think about that? SejYeah? You know, yeah, you

(03:53):
know what? Now the dog poundis actually full of dogs up there in
Cleveland. Uh, this this team, I can't even usually if the Browns
had lost because guards and everybody herelet's give me so much crap about the
Jaguars less than stellar record, Iwould be all over it. But after

(04:15):
watching that game, I cannot,I cannot, in good conscious and good
faith, I had to go consultthe good Reverend about this. I could
not, you know, get onthe Browns because they played a great game.
Other than the interception, they playeda really good game. And I
agree with you guards. That wasone of the best games at least of
this season to watch. And evenwith Lamar pulling a vintage Paul Pierce,

(04:40):
you know, cramp cramped up,cramped out. But you know what,
here we go. I'm back outhere wheeling and dealing of Yeah, that
that team has has completely turned around. Uh and here's here's the big thing
I want you to notice about thisteam is the distractions have quieted. You
don't hear too much about you know, Baker's commercials or distractions off the field

(05:04):
or anybody getting into trouble. Thisteam, it seems they have a new
focus, a new new mindset aboutthem. Uh. And they have been
playing really well thus far. Anduh yeah, I can't. I can't
make fun of you to day Garden. I can make funt of you for
the sweater. The sweaters ugly,it's terrible, it's spectacular. What do

(05:26):
you mean the Browns are? Are? They impressed me with that game,
even though they lost, they impressedme. Uh so, yeah, kudos
to them. Let's let's see ifthey can keep it up. You know,
let's definitely see if they keep itup. I think that you know,
coming up into the next uh coupleof weeks, I think that these
next two are definitely winnable. UhSo, you know, it's it's gonna

(05:51):
be an interesting remainder of this theregular season. Like, I do think
that this team has the ability toyou know, to win. I mean,
they have the ability to run outthe win out. They after what
I saw against the Ravens, theyhave the ability to win the rest of
their schedule and be a serious threatgoing into the playoffs. You know.

(06:13):
Differently, let me ask you guyssomething. So the Brons have been kind
of like the little brother of theaf AFC North, right, So what
is it going to take for themto beat the Steelers? In the Ravens,
I think that, you know,for starters, I mean, you
know, they played a really greatgame overall. Um, you know,

(06:35):
on the other side, there's Lamarand you know, he's a special talent
and he just has certain abilities thatare very very difficult to contain. And
that's what he showed when he cameback. I don't know if that was
the run that he was doing wasnot necessarily I have a cramped run,

(06:59):
you know what I mean, Andthat was where I had a visit.
I don't think that it was acramp, run bro. I think that
was that was a mother business.He had the handle. Oh, he
had a very important call on callwaiting line number two. Take the kids

(07:24):
to the pool. Mister Hankey hadto come and pay him a visit.
You know, he had to takeso he had to take the Browns to
the bowl. Dario Daria, whatdo you have to say? What's your
what's your input in this conversation inthe background. I know you have something
to say. Oh, Man,well yeah I can, just because Garbs

(07:47):
said exactly what I was thinking,what half of America is probably thinking.
Nobody thought things. He had acrap, a cramp, everybody think.
Yet I tried. I tried tostole him out. Man, I tried
to stop. I will say.I will say this though, there's one
point about one of the games comingup that neither one of you mentioned.

(08:09):
One of those games is against MissRodriguez football team over there. Yes,
glad, you know that. Sowe get to so we get to get
on her, right, wait forthe group the group text is gonna be
let So, so, Erica,how are you feeling about your giants?

(08:35):
I've decided. I can't wait tosee the day that they're going to come
and just redeem themselves and just showout, show up, and show out.
I'm just exciting. I still havefaith. I have faith in my
giants, just like CJ got faithin his Jaguards. I meant, you
see the little side late with youright now. It's kind of hard for

(09:09):
Erica to relate to CJ, becauseI mean, the Giants they do have
a better record than the jam.Oh man, I'm sick, okay,
I was just I'm just look Jabs, y'all just throwing him out. I
see, I chilled, chill.I didn't even do I didn't even throw
the jab that wouldn't meet though,jas and and and hit him with the
Nate Robinson real quick? Oh mygod, have you know shame, sir?

(09:33):
See you know shame. I chilledthis week. I chilled this week.
I didn't even I didn't even doanything right. So leave Nate alone.
Let him get his rest, allright, still slept rest on him.
He's still there regardless. You didn'thave to bring the Jaguars, you

(10:01):
see it. But I'm glad youdid. You know why, because the
Jaguars we're playing the long game.Baby, it's the it's not it's not
a sprint, it's a marathon.Okay, So the Browns are sown them.
That's why they have such a greatfan. Yeah. So the Browns

(10:22):
are playing Texas hold him, andthe Jaguars are playing I declare War fifty
two card pick up. You laughnow, But in a year to come,
at some point the Jaguars will rise. There's no specific because you laugh

(10:45):
now. But by twenty five,can you imagine our fan experience in God,
I don't know, some of thembe coming in with little canes and
you know, their little voice boxes, hopefully gentleman until seven years old.

(11:07):
Giants, that's all I have tosay. I'm done. Giant's gonna go
somewhere. Don't hate that, right, We're gonna your Mica is gonna be
dropped. And this is not thisis how you do me. You do

(11:31):
nothing. That's all love. No, no, no, I don't want
this kind of love. You gothere, all right, can't you see
I'm standing here, I'm talking here, and you over here coming up in
my space. You this way home, you this way. Just real quick,
I just had to say that thatis quite possibly the worst New York

(11:52):
accent, disrespect, don't even soundlike your rope are. We're going to
take a quick break. We'll beright back you guys, stay tuned because
we have an amazing interview with aspecial guest. So just make sure you
meet me right here. Necessary roughnesssoon. Hi. I'm Kiara Davis,

(12:18):
host of Just Listen to Yourself.Do you love hot chocolate, fake snow
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(12:43):
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(13:05):
Show. Listen on the iHeart Radioapp or wherever you get your podcast today.
That's the Outlaws Radio Show. Thisis roughness. Welcome back you guys.

(13:31):
As I said, we have aspecial guest for you. We have
Sam Amiko Daria. Send it toyou so you can go ahead and open
that conversation. Yes, yes,welcome to the show. Sam. How
are you doing, sirs? I'mdoing very well. Um, believe it
or not. Another NBA season isalmost here. So I've gotten a lot
busier the last couple of weeks.But that's a good thing. How I

(13:54):
mean, isn't that crazy that itfeels like the NBA's the season did just
it just ended and now we're rightback in great job, let's go again.
Yeah. Uh, you know youtalk about the Lakers and the heat
at seventy two days, uh,from from the end of last season to
the start of this regular season,and yeah, just it just really came

(14:20):
up fast. And I think they'redoing the right thing, you know,
to to get it started sooner ratherthan later. Um, but it really
does. It feels like it's beenthree weeks and the Lakers won the title
and and and now here we areright right right, so um before like
we're gonna we're gonna get into somesome CALVS stuff and some general NBA stuff

(14:41):
as well, but first, telleverybody about your website. It used to
be known as amiko hoops dot net. It has a new name. Now
tell everybody about the new website.Well, Uh, to make a long
story even longer, it was itwas a miko hoops dot net. And
uh I gave that up the fourteensixteen hour days working on that to to

(15:03):
go to SI for a year,and they made me shut it down understandably
so and then um, I,uh, while I was working at SI
for the year, Uh, somebodyelse gobbled up the name. So uh,
if you call them a miko hoopsdot net, now I believe it's
a it's it might be an Asianwebsite of some sort of. I think

(15:26):
it might pan right, Yeah,they're trying to they're trying to hold it
and then sell it back, right. Yeah. So we basically I just
basically, uh, I got laidoff at SI, and then I we
renamed it, renamed what amco hoopsdot net used to be. It's just
now called forty eight minutes dot com. Um, and I have one other

(15:48):
guy working, so we we basicallycover the whole league. You know.
I try to do uh calves columnafter every game doesn't always work out that
way, but but probably about eightyson of the games, I'll have a
post on the calves and then wedo the rest of the league two.
So yeah, Now it's called fortyeight Minutes dot Com, which is good
because, honestly, there's an Amicohoops dot com, there's an Amico Hoops

(16:12):
dot Net, there's an Amico HoopsNews, and I don't own any of
them. So I thought, youknow what, we're going to get away
from the Amico part of it,and uh, come up with a different
name. And my oldest I havethree boys. The oldest one suggested M
forty eight minutes so and the otherthe other one was cool and the other

(16:33):
one's for so he doesn't really care. But um, so I went with
I went with that, and it's, um you know, it's it's a
lot of fun. I have alot of fun doing it and certainly not
getting rich. So we'll do itfor fun and and it keeps you,
keeps me, m keeps me writingabout basketball, which is what I always
wanted to do my whole life.Absolutely so, so make sure you guys

(16:56):
go go check out the website.Speaking of which I had honor of writing
a column on it a couple ofweeks ago. Appreciate that. Sam and
we were talking about the Cavaliers andjust the whole philosophy of this tanking versus
not tanking, and you know,retooling versus rebuilding. Talk a little bit

(17:19):
about your philosophy as to what teamsand teams in general, but the Calves
in particular, the direction that youthink they should be going, and also
just kind of the examples of someof the other teams that I've tried the
perpetual rebuild approach and it didn't gotoo well. Yeah. Well, and
that's basically Frankly, your column waseverything I wanted to say but couldn't so

(17:45):
not appreciated, which is which isvery true, you know, I mean
the general point I feel, let'slet's put it this way, and in
fifty years last year the Calves celebratedtheir fiftieth anniversary without Lebron James on the
team. Without him on the roster, they've won, They've they've gotten out
of the first round. I thinkI counted four times in fifty years without

(18:07):
Lebron on the team, So twoof those. One of those was the
miracle rich Field season and and twoof those happened in the it happened in
the nineties. So, um,it's been a it's been a long time,
and it's been a you know,a hard road without Lebron in the
history of the franchise. So Ithink at some point, you know again,

(18:33):
and one thing you said Drvo inthe column is that you have to
think about more than just building ateam. You're building a business. And
you know this is a business.You want people in the door, you
want people talking about your team,and you know, nerds, nerds like
us are probably going to talk aboutthe team regardless. But but there's only

(18:55):
like twenty of us, you know, and everybody else. What's the first
thing they say after Cavs game?Did they win? No? You know,
and that's that's bad for business.So you know, at some point
you have to take that next stepand say we're going to just try to
win. And you know, youdo that primarily with veteran players. Yes,
you can get younger guys uh tohelp you and to build for the

(19:18):
future, but at some point youneed to say, you know, we're
going to quit playing the lottery,um and and try to try to start
winning some games. Any you knowwhat, anybody can say we're gonna stink.
Anybody can do that. We're goingto build a roster that stinks so
that we can be good in fiveyears. Any anybody in any sport can
say that. It's it's the easiestthing to do. You know, we're

(19:41):
going to try to get lucky inthe lottery and and and build around young
people, and because of that,we're going to be bad for five years.
But um, you know, anybodycan play that GM role, the
role of uh, let's say likea Miami Heat that that says we're never
gonna We're never going to tank onpurpose. Maybe we'll be bad because we
just don't have the talent, butthe calves, you know, you don't.

(20:06):
It's good. I think it's okayto tank for a year or two
and try to play the lottery.But at some point you have to say,
we can't keep doing this because we'regonna totally lose our fan base,
We're gonna totally lose business. Andyou know, some of these teams have
been doing to The Sacramento Kings havebeen doing it for fifteen years, the
Minnesota the Timberwolves have been doing itfor twelve years. I mean, at

(20:27):
what point? And because of that, when you lose all the time,
there's very little shot at stability.It's not a place people want to go
play if they're free agents. It'snot a place that people want to play
if you trade for them, becauseit's like, well, this team just
they're fine with being bad. Youdon't want a front office that is okay

(20:48):
with being bad or is even tryingto be bad on a regular basis,
because once you get into that,sometimes you never get out. You know,
the Calves got lucky because they gota once in a generation player in
two thousand and three and Lebron Jamesand the other thing two guys is you
know what, then you end updeveloping people for other teams. You develop

(21:12):
a guy for four years, hiscontracts up, he's tired of losing,
he gets good, he wants togo play for a winner. You know.
So I just think at some pointyou have to say, look,
we had if you're the Cavs,we had three draft picks first round picks
last year, got another one thisyear, and you know, another lottery

(21:34):
pick top five pick this year.At what point are we going to stop
with this and say we have totake some step forward. Otherwise you know,
it's just going to become a longterm bad situation. And you know,
in order to do that, that'swhen you have to be a GM
and do your work, and you'vegot to go out and get some veteran

(21:56):
players. You've got to be willingto give up some draft picks, You've
got to be willing to take somerisks, and you know, that's that's
really the only way you do it. You don't do it by by just
saying, Okay, we hope towin the next Lebron James and the lottery,
because guess what, Lebron James comesaround once every twenty years. So
at some point you have to say, not only do we want to we

(22:18):
want to start winning, but wewant to build more than anything, we
want to build a winning culture,not a culture that just accepts losing hoping
to get the next next high draftpick. Right, we're talking with Sam
Miko from forty eight minutes dot com. Make sure you guys go check out
the website garbs infinite. Now youhave the questions are ready. Yeah,

(22:38):
it was kind of a comment question. But to go along with what you
said, is that there's also noguarantee that you know, who's drafted in
that lottery is actually going to panout and be spectacular as you want or
need them to be. Well,that's exactly it. It's it's you know,

(23:00):
okay, let's say, look,the Cavs finished with what the second
worst record in the league last year, and where did they draft fifth?
You know, the year before that, where did they draft fifth when you
wanted one of two guys, whetheryou wanted Zion Williamson and Morant And you
end up again with a fifth pickand you end up with with Garland and
you know the jury is going tostill be out on him, understandably,

(23:22):
so he didn't play that many collegegames and is still getting used to the
pro game. But you know you'vedone that enough to the point where you've
you've won nineteen games two years ina row, and you didn't end up
with anybody that you really wanted rightaway now, you know, I mean,
o'cora looks like a nice player,Isaac o'cora, who they got this

(23:42):
year. But again you're selling himto the masses when in reality, you
know you wanted Wiseman or Anthony Edwardsor or maybe even LaMelo ball. You
know, those are the guys thatare going to move merchant I sell tickets
and and and supposedly win you somemore games. So, um yeah,

(24:06):
you're you're exactly right. And theother thing too, I mean the two
of the top what three players inthe league right now in Janisanta, the
Koumpo and and and Kawhi Leonard bothof them went fifteenth, you know,
so, I mean it's not reallyabout getting the number one pick. It's
about making the best of the pickthat you get. And at some point

(24:27):
you've you've you've just got to takethat approach and hope that you get a
little lucky a little later. Right, right, So where do you think
the Calves are right now? Obviously, you know rebuild. That's another thing
about rebuilding. It doesn't really workwell if you don't draft properly. Um
So, the Calves are brought ina lot of young talent, a lot

(24:48):
of a lot of nice pieces.I think a lot of there's some intrigue
with a lot of these young players. Um where do you think the Calves
are in their rebuild? How doyou think the last couple of drafts have
been? What do you think thedirection of the Cavaliers is right now.
Well, it's a it's a reallyinteresting makeup of the roster um. You

(25:11):
just have so many different variables.You talk about the backcourt, Okay,
Sexton is a guy who can putthe ball in the basket. He is
going to play hard on every possession. I mean, the guy is I
like Sexton. I know that.You know, some fans are kind of
like, well, he just shootstoo much. But he puts the ball
on the hoop and that's the nameof the game. So you know,

(25:34):
you have you have that kind ofguy, and every team needs that kind
of guy. So they're already setthere with him on that. Now you
also look at the rest of thebackcourt, with with Kevin Porter Jr.
Who showed flashes of great upside lastyear. At the shooting guard spot,
you've got Garland and again the jurythe jury is still out. He's he's

(25:56):
a kid who can can score alittle bit. He's got a nice shot,
and I just think with him,it's just a matter of adjusting to
the NBA game, as is thecase with so many rookies. But it's
it's just interesting because I mean,both those guys Sexton and Garland are probably
what six foot six foot one ona good day, and that's your starting

(26:17):
backcourt. And then you have PorterJunior who can start, who looks like
he's got starting level talent. SoI mean, those are your big three
in your backcourt, and they're all, you know, I think Sexton's the
oldest at what twenty one twenty twoyears old, So they're just so young
back there. And then now youhave a Quaro it's small forward, you're

(26:40):
you're hoping that he's better, youknow, can beat out Jedty Osman,
who's very up and down. Sothat's a really young bunch right there.
Okay, Now all of a sudden, you go to the front court and
you have your you know, oldestplayer in Kevin Love, who is coming
off a pretty decent year. Butyou know, he's he's moving further and

(27:04):
further away from the basket and he'sjust you know, he's just getting up
there in NBA years. And now, you know, so you have him,
you have Larry NaNs Jr. Who'swho's a very nice utility player,
can play all three front court spots. Really an unsung guy on this team.
He could play you know, guyslike Larry Nance Junior could play on

(27:26):
any team and be as productive ashe is in Cleveland. He's just one
of those guys that will fit anywherebecause he's uh. He knows what he
does well. So the biggest,the biggest obviously X factor and probably the
most talented guy is Andre Drummond,who who you know, clogs the middle
is uh still, even though he'san All Star a couple of years ago,

(27:49):
I think is pretty underrated. Healters shots, he gets a lot
of rebounds. He led the leaguein rebounding last season. Um can score.
If they get him the ball,they should. They should get him
the ball more often, I think. But now, okay, his contracts,
you know, situation is unresolved.He has an expiring contract. He's

(28:11):
got a large twenty eight million he'searning this year. It's coming off the
books. What are you gonna dowith him? Are you? You know?
If you can't get it doesn't soundlike they've gone anywhere with extension talks.
So what you're gonna do? You'regonna trade him? And then if
you trade him, what are yougoing to get back? It's just there's
a lot of while there's a lotof intrigue with this current roster. There's

(28:33):
a lot of mystery. It's like, what's going to happen. Where these
guys going to be in a year? Where are they going to be in
six months? Is the roster gonnalook totally different? Our Garland and Sexton
not going to be able to playtogether? Is is Drummond? You know?
Are they going to let him?Is he just gonna walk at the
end of the season because they couldn'tmake a trade, or are they going
to be able to sign in anextension. There's there's just for for a

(28:53):
team that really kind of retooled lastyear, was undergoing rebuilding process last year,
you know they could be doing itagain next season because you just don't
know. You just don't there's justso many unknowns. And right, frankly,
I don't think Kobe Altman right nowhas any answers. I think it's

(29:15):
just let's roll out the ball,let's get these guys to play and and
see what happens. And yeah,that's that's not necessarily where you want to
be, right yere three after Lebronas well, Right right, we're talking
about uh CJ. Go ahead,sir, you got a question. Yeah,

(29:36):
So I just want to comment,uh kind of jump on that comment.
It's an interesting way of looking atit. When you said you're developing
guys uh in a tanking culture forother teams. I think that was a
great That was a great comment rightthere, because you know, you tank
for so long, guys get tiredof that and by that time they've developed
into people who want to win andthey want to leave. Uh. But

(29:57):
my my question is because I'm youknow, me being a former player.
Uh, of course there's a differentsport in the Arena Football League. But
as a player, tanking never cameacross my mind. I never would willingly
go out there and put a badproduct of myself on film and on the

(30:18):
field. Uh. So, doyou do you really think, uh that
tanking is real? I know everybodythinks it is, but I just wanted
to hear your opinion on do youthink tanking is real? And if so,
how do how do teams in frontoffices and coaches even get players to
kind of go along with it oreven if they do go along with it.

(30:38):
Well, I think it's really Iwould agree with you, and just
talking to the players, uh inthe locker room and stuff. There's there's
never any you know what I'm notI'm not going to put my best foot
forward. Everybody's out there trying towin. Um. What frustrates players,
I think I know, at leastfrom what they say, is sometimes the

(31:00):
front office or the I never thecoaching staff, but sometimes the front office.
We'll put them in almost impossible positions. We're playing too well. So
you know, Joe schmol who's beenscoring twenty a game, he's going to
have a hurt finger and we're gonnawe're gonna see him this game, you
know, hold of milage or whatever. Um. So I I there is

(31:23):
definitely that. That's an excellent point. There's there's frustration sometimes with you know,
the players and coaches are always puttingtheir best foot forward, but um,
you know, sometimes sometimes the frontoffice isn't. So you know,
the players will see that and thatleads to frustration, and that too can
lead to to somebody wanting out like, well, we're trying to win games

(31:47):
here and you're you're making it almostimpossible by by either sitting guys or you
know, trading people. Um,and it's it's tough, you know.
And it was Byron Scott you knowwhen he was here, and it was
early in the Kyrie Irving era,and he was the one who told me

(32:07):
just off the record, we werejust shooting the breeze and he said,
you know what, anybody can sayit we're gonna be good in five years.
How about winning some games, youknow, let's win some games.
And guess what it ended up gettingfiring Scott fired, even though he didn't
do a bad job. It wasjust it was just okay, he's lost
for four years now or three yearsor however long it was, and we're

(32:30):
going to make a change, becauseguess what, when you lose, it
breeds, you know, malcontent,and it makes makes everybody miserable. There's
there's never any shortage of drama whenyou're losing. Regardless of what the plan
is, there's always going to bedrama. I give I get. I'll

(32:50):
tell you what, guys. Igive JB. Bickerstaff a ton of credit.
He I thought Larry Drew did anice job with this team, and
when they let him go, I'mlike, well, what are they going
to do now? And then youknow they had to make a big splashy
higher with bee Line and that thatwas didn't work at all, and I
think Bickerstaff has kind of come inand settled everybody. He's kind of settled

(33:15):
the locker room. There's never anydrama. He's cool, calm and collected.
He'll get on you if you're aplayer. He'll get on you if
if, if the need calls forit. But you can just see this
guy has been around the NBA,has been in these situations, and they
they really kind of overachieved in theeleven games that he coached them last year,

(33:36):
and I think they're doing that now. You see that in the preseason.
What you want from a team that'snot supposed to be good is for
them to always play hard and showa sense of togetherness. And I will
say that, you know, thetwo games that I watched calf in the
preseason, even though they didn't haveeverybody, they're at least doing that much.
So, um, it's it's there'sI can't remember who it was,

(34:00):
but somebody one of the coaches toldme once there's there's no degree. You
know, there's no winning when you'rewhen you're when you're tanking or losing on
purpose. It's only degrees of losing. How bad is it going to get
so, you know, where itonly degrees of losing. I think my

(34:22):
wife feels like that sometimes with metoo, But I I gotta tell you,
I think that you know, they'reat a kind of a crossroads now
where it's we're gonna try to We'regonna we're gonna try to win as much
as possible and let the chips fallwhere they may, because going the other

(34:42):
way hasn't worked out very well forthem either. They're not you know,
they're not getting top one, two, three picks, they're getting five and
below. So, um, beinteresting to see how they how that impacts
them this season. Right, we'retalking about Sam Miko. We have a
couple of minutes left. Um,I want to switch gears a little bit,
and I want to get your opinionon the James Harden situation. Now,

(35:06):
obviously we've seen players do this morefrequently where even when they're still in
the contract, you know, tryingto force their way out, you know,
trying to force their way to atrade to their preferred destination. James
has a couple of years left onhis deal, doesn't he Yes, he
does, right, so yeah,so so what is your thoughts about that?

(35:28):
Situation and about now players who havemultiple years left on their deals,
you know, trying to do thesame sort of thing. Well, first
of all, it's kind of interestingthat he wants a trade to start with.
I'll tell you this. I gotto fess up, I don't really
have like because I've covered the leagueso long, I don't look at the

(35:50):
guys like, oh, that's myfavorite player or whatever. But I'm probably
in the minority and that I lovewatching James Harden play. I really do.
I know. He's he's an automaticbucket. He gets and people don't
really pay much attention to this,but he racks up the assists. He's
he's constantly a threat. Now thatsaid, he's a very ball dominant player.

(36:15):
We know that. So, youknow, first we heard the talk
of him went to go play withKyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, and I'm
thinking, why, you know,I mean, I could, I can
understand it all. That's right.That's what I'm saying, is I.
I You're just he's he's just avery ball dominant player, and I think
the way he plays really only hecan't be on one of those super teams

(36:37):
with with two other stars. Ithink it's got to be him and role
players who fit him, you know, and I think so, I mean
my thoughts aside um, it doesn'tyou know, it's not going to be
an easy move for them if heif he really wants traded, and he
wants traded to a contender. Ijust don't know, you know, not

(36:59):
too many contents are going to wantto break up their team to bring in
a ball dominant guy. It's justit's just as great as he is and
as much, you know, asmany tickets as he's gonna sell. I
don't know that he's going to findhimself in a better situation if he were
to get traded, because again,you know, the Milwaukee Bucks don't funt

(37:21):
him. The Nets aren't going togive the Rockets what the Rockets want for
him. And I'm with you,CJ. I don't think it would work
anyway. I just think that there'dbe too many, you know, too
many guys looking to score, sotoo many chefs in the kitchen, that's
right, I mean, And inall honesty, he's probably the biggest chef
in the league. I mean,he's a guy that's gonna take a lot

(37:44):
of shots and needs a lot ofshots and needs the ball a lot to
be productive. Now, you know, if you're the Nets and you think,
okay, we would be better withJames Harden than Kyrie Irving, then
maybe you would make that trade.But then again, you run the risk
taking off to Rant because that's thewhole reason he went to the Brooklyn because
of Kyrie. So, um,you know, there's just a there's a

(38:07):
lot, a lot of risk thereif you're a contender and you take on
James Harden as great as he is, and it's a it's going to be
a tough situation for Houston too,because you know, what do you do
with a guy who has made itpretty clearly once out? Which is which

(38:27):
is weird because I think this teamwith him would be better than last year
with Wall a healthy Wall and Cousinslooks like he's you know, healthy,
and maybe you have something there,So I don't know, I don't know.
You know, that's that's one ofthose times where I'm like, well,
I'm glad I'm just a writer andnot a GM because something big h

(38:50):
You know, you just you haveto hope that you can talk him into
to to saying, look, thisis gonna work. Give it a shot,
see how it goes. And bythe way, why the heck do
you want traded? What what's soterrible about about John wall de Marcus Cousins
and some of these other guys wehave here, right, he may not
be wouldn't be able to get intoa better situation. Of course, Houston

(39:12):
has given up a lot for Jamesanyway too. I mean they've they've done
everything in their power to make Jameshappy. So I don't I don't see
I don't see why he would wantto leave a place that is trying to
make you the happiest you can be. But yeah, maybe maybe it's the
beard talking. Maybe the beard isbrain now, the beard is in control

(39:37):
now it's not the right right.Well, you know, too many stars
today, I think suffer from chronicdissatisfaction where it's no matter where they are,
they want to be somewhere else,you know, and and that that
can be that can be difficult.Um, it doesn't seem like the lower

(39:57):
level I shouldn't say the lower levelplayers, but the guys who aren't the
you know, top ten players inthe league, the guys who fall outside
of that range, seemed to befairly content with their situations. It's just
um. For whatever reason, intoday's NBA, the players players just really
the top players, just really.I mean Kawhi Leonard won a championship,

(40:21):
Toronto had left. You know whatmore I need to know? Lebron James
went to eight straight finals and wentto the other conference. You know.
So, I don't know. I'mglad for free agency, and I'm glad
that those that that the top guyshave an opportunity to move where they want.
But I just think it's gotten tothe point where it's like, wow,

(40:44):
are you guys never happy anywhere?I mean, Kyrie demanded a trade,
went to the Celtics and wanted out. I'm like, I just don't
get it. You know that stillpuzzles me to this day. Still Yeah,
yeah, all right, Sam,Let everybody know how to follow you

(41:04):
on social media. Give the linkto the website one more time and all
that good stuff. You can followme on Twitter just at Amico Hoops,
Amico Hoops, and you better reallylove basketball if you follow me on there,
because I probably tweet like twelve timesa day. Links to the website
and the websites forty eight minutes,dot Com and That's about it. Other

(41:29):
than that, you can hear meon various radio stations and podcasts. Probably
talking way too long, but Iam thank you so much for covering of
the show. Spend us some timewith us. We definitely appreciate it,
sir. All right, guys,well, thanks for having me and I'll
be happy to come back anytime.And you know, next time I'll try

(41:53):
to wear a better, better shirt. You know, I was expecting what
you guys head on tonight, Sowe'll be right back. We're going on
a quick quick break. Meet usright back here. Necessary roughness. Hi,

(42:14):
I'm Kia Davis, host of JustListen to Yourself. Do you love
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(42:38):
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(43:00):
Oh man, here we go againof yelling at three am. You my
enemy, another friend energy, Ilet you take it then to make it
even Stephen on the weekend, you'regonna buy me things just to get arranged
where you disturb my balance, that'sthe thing. So is it worth it?
It's Aaron Leik here. Check outmy new single worth it, And
don't forget to follow me everywhere onall social media platforms and streaming platforms to

(43:22):
hear my new music right when itdrops, because say, we deserve this,
you know, So it's it worthit. I really wanted sometimes this.
It's necessary roughness. Thanks for joiningus once again. This is necessary

(43:43):
roughness. So, gentlemen, wewant to get a little bit of a
little bit of your insight, yourpersonal insight. I want to know what
was your favorite for sports story ofthe year of twenty twenty, so cej
We're gonna start with you. Huh. This want to be easier and short.
The Jaguars winning the game? Yes, lord, why were your favorite?

(44:07):
I mean, we know you're you'rebecause of one top fan because at
that point I thought things were lookingup. We're off to a good start.
I feel you. I've been throughzero in sixteen. I've been through
the zero in sixteen, so Iunderstand. So I got two. So
first for starters, I'm going tosay that the return of sports was probably

(44:34):
my one of my favorite moments becauseif you remember, we didn't have sports
for quite some time. We werewatching Dodgeball on ESPN, so cornhole.
So let's just be happy that wehave them back, you know what I
mean. There's been other issues,but you know, I'm happy that we
had it back. So that wasone of my moments. And then second

(44:57):
moment actually is recently, uh andjust tying it all in, is that
the tribe announced that they are changingtheir name. So I think that that
is one of my favorite moments aswell, because from my perspective, you
know, if there's a group ofpeople that you know, feel offended by
a name, by a team bylogo, then you know that should be

(45:21):
actually taken seriously. And you know, thankfully they decided that yes, this
is in fact an issue, sothey're making that the they're making the steps
to change it. Now what theychange or too, I don't know.
I was just about to ask youguards because one the number one name,

(45:44):
the top one that they voted onwas the Spider, and I believe the
second one was the Guardians or no, the Buckeyes. I like the Guardians.
But there was another recent story thatjust came out that you know that
I guess the mlbuh like trademark areCleveland Citizens. But you know, I

(46:04):
like that was done through a search. I don't know I heard about it.
I haven't like actually went into fulldetail. I just saw it like
right before we started doing the show, So I don't know. I'm not
really too big on the Citizens orthe Spiders. I like the Guardians a
lot, but ultimately, at theend of the day, I'm Team Cleveland.
Whatever they choose, I'm still gonnabe rooting for the Cleveland team.

(46:29):
That's just how to get down.If the Vanderbilt kicker Sarah Fuller, I
would say that was really cool thisyear to see her be able to score
and make history and n Cuba football. Really I mean that was that was
a big moment. I think alot of people might have looked over that,

(46:51):
but for her to do a kickoffand score, I think it was
was it the fieldcore extra point?We remember she scored either way, she
scored first woman to score in thePower five conference. That's big. So
there's so many more stories that wecan actually go through, but you know,

(47:13):
of course we didn't. We don'thave a lot of time. Right.
Um, I'm gonna jump in realquick because we gotta get ready to
go to church. So we gottaput what's your favorite story? So well,
my favorite story, and then andthen I'm gonna make another point here,
but my favorite story is obviously theresurgence of the Browns period. I
mean that this Browns fans have earnedthis there. They have been long suffering

(47:39):
and loyal. They deserve this,so I'm happy for it. Now.
As far as the the citizens uhnow Guards and I we we disagree on
on them changing the name. Um, I don't think it's a good move
for a number of reasons, mainlybecause when they pull actual Native Americans on

(48:02):
this issue, every poll that I'veever seen shows that they don't care about
it. So that is something thatkind of gives me pause. But however,
if they're going to change the name, do not be the Guard,
don't don't be the citizens, don'tbe the Spiders like I'd rather be the
Guardians or the suggestion that I thatI've seen on social media um for a

(48:28):
few months back when this first cameup, is we had a Negro League
team that was named the Cleveland Buckeyes. So if the Indians are going to
change their name, why not bethe buck Eyes. That's that's my Buckeyes
are the Guardians, but no citizensand no spiders. That's whack that may
be. I think the Buckeyes cameout number two when they didn't when they

(48:50):
cast a vote go ahead. No, you said that that could be a
come I'm sure they could work thatout. Yeah, but you know,
as we know, they're not reallyinto spending a lot of money. So
so the Cleveland type fist it is, you know, work it out normally

(49:15):
when you say, oh, itcan work it out, well, that
means Cleveland, Cleveland frugals. Iget my cap to your your superior debate
point on that one. Yeah,I gave you that one. All right,

(49:40):
Erica, it is that time.Are you talking about taking it to
church? Let's take its a typesea is all you jingle bells? Jingle
bells, put your money in theplates. Oh what fun it is for
you to pay your ties to day. Thank you, thank you. I

(50:00):
learned that one from Donnie Hathaway.Hathaway, Hathaway doesn't matter high. Yes,
a man, a man and aman all praises to the most High.
And the birthday guy coming up herein a few days. And of
course, praise be to you forjoining us here today. I am the
honorable Reverend Doctor. I'll be goodand I welcome you to this little lot

(50:22):
of mine. Say Nicholas, you'retied Archbishop of the Gingerbread House on the
left Polar Express Christmas on thirty fourthStreet, a Christmas story house and tabernacle
of eggnog, apple cider and sexyleg lambs. Temple of all I want
for Christmas is not to hear anotherMariah carries all AT want for Christmas two

(50:42):
hundred times a day. Church ofGod, good Faith and Love incorporated.
Yes, Church, I have returnedafter a quote unquote self imposed hiatus due
to a very persistent and aggressive federaltax auditor and building code inspector who asked
way too many questions. But nowI am back of heiden I mean hiatus.
Church. You know I would beremissed if I did not speak to

(51:06):
you before we head off into thenew year. Now, I know twenty
twenty has been a year of strugglefor all of us, but it's been
a down right of business year forthe likes of the New York Jets and
yes, Church are beloved and proudJacksonville Jaguars. These two teams are in
the heated ass and ass battle forthe number one draft pick. I say
ass and asked because the number onepick would not want to be on the

(51:27):
business end of either one of thesetwo sickly looking teams. And speaking of
ass, well, brother Jamarius Hardoniusor James Harden as most of you know
him, see, I like tocall him by his pick lastitutionalized name,
but y'all don't knew about that.Look it up. But I digress.
Other Houston Rockets, please bring youand your beer to the front of the
sanctuary, because you, sir,as we say in the African American community,

(51:50):
have been showing your ass. Church. I apologize for being so or
abrupt and blunt with you, butover these past few weeks, James has
been running them up from making theteam flight late, asking from mandatory days
off, parting with the little baby. Excuse me, I mean the rapp
apostle, little baby, and showingup late to meetings and publicly stacking up
on trade destinations. Now we allknow he's a great player, even a

(52:14):
transcendent player, but he might aswell be translucent the way he disappears in
the playoffs when his Rockets need himthe most. No, Houston, you
enable this type of behavior by lettinghim get whatever he wants. You gave
James all the power. Let's lookhere at the past dealings you made to
make the Beard happy. You gaveup draft picks for Chris Paul, who

(52:36):
is now gone. You trade awaykey players to get Russell Westville, and
he's gone after one season. Yougave all these guys big contracts, and
now you're strapped for cash. Let'snot forget when you still had a young
its Dwight Howard, and you letJames run him out of town too.
And now James Harden is running aroundhere showing up late, amen, not

(52:58):
in great shape, and to gettested for COVID at least eight that kind
of rhyme, Little baby, goahead, put me on the track real
quick times. Good lord, brother, just do like every spoiled child that
doesn't get their way on the basketballcourt and take your ball and go your
ass home, because at this point, much like in Apollo thirteen, Houston,

(53:19):
we have a problem. Deacon Guardsare deaconess Erica. Please close and
lock the sanctuary doors. As wetake up our thirteen fourteen through the twenty
fifth collections for Christmas Miracles and theover under on how many shots James Harden
would take the season, and aswe head into the new year, remember
to keep me in your hearts andin your wallets. And of course,
no matter how crazy this world mayget, you never have to worry about

(53:42):
me, because I'll be good.Hallelujah, Thank you, rabbit, thank
you. All Right, you guys, let's tell everybody what your last words
are, right, and also don'tforget to tell them what you're how to
reach you on your social media's garbs. Go ahead and start, yes,
follow me at Guard's infinite everywhere youknow j rbs infinite. You know,

(54:06):
I want to definitely thank all thelisteners who check this out, who are
riding with us or are rolling withus. We look forward to giving you
more content in the new year,and hope you have a safe and happy
holiday season. See yes, that'sright. I will say this, jack
wise, we are on the rise. We played the long game, the

(54:27):
long game. Uh, follow meon I G. King Cops seventy,
Facebook, CJ Twitter at King Copsseventy A man. Look, twenty twenty
has been a rough year for alot of people. A lot of people
have gone through some hard times,hard struggles. But those struggles we go
through prepare us and mold us fora prosperous future. So just keep that

(54:52):
in mind, keep hope alive,everybody, Just keep grinding, keep shining.
Love y'all, Thank y'all for listening. We'll see you in the new
year. Go brown Sorrio, goahead and tell the talk to the people.
Yeah. So, first of all, salute to y'all. What job
will done? Um, great jobthis year twenty twenty, looking for for

(55:15):
bigger and better things as we moveinto the new year. Just wanna thank
everybody who's been listening, everybody whowas support who definitely appreciated. So Mary
Christmas and happy New Year to everybodyyou guys. With that being said,
this is necessary roughness. Keep yourhead up, Happy holidays, Happy New

(55:36):
Year's, and come join us whenwe returned. This is necessary roughness,
much love, you don't do good. What is that? Distributed by FCD Radio Network