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A
Race the rudders.
B
Raise the sails. Raise the sails.
C
Captain, an unidentified ship is approaching. Over.
B
Roger, wait. Is that an enterprise sales solution?
C
Reach sales professionals, not professional sailors. With LinkedIn ads, you can target the right people by industry, job title and more. Start converting your B2B audience today. Spend $250 on your first campaign and get a free $250 credit for the next one. Get started today@LinkedIn.com campaign terms and conditions apply.
B
This is the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.
C
That sounds like heaven to me.
B
Listen live weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8:80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app, and your smart speakers back.
C
Approaching 401 in the big city. Don Han in Rosenberg till 6:30. Fraud alert Friday at 4:30, 4:45. Alex Monaco from MSG Networks get you set for your betting weekend. Before we get back to the busy phone calls, guys, we talk about needing wins to save your job. Like they might bring in Jackson Dart to save Shane and Dabel's job. Right? But I was wondering, isn't part of saving your job doing your job? And what I mean by that is, all right, you might end up losing your job because you didn't win the allotment of games, but when you're looking for another job down the road and they look at your resume, say you're Joe Shane and they say, all right, these are the guys you drafted. Hmm. That last year in New York, you had a really bad offense and Jackson Dart could have played and you didn't play him. And now I'm looking at Jackson Dart actually doing some nice things for the 26 giants. You know, that was a good job by you that you didn't panic, you did the right thing. It might have cost you your job in real time, but you know what? Overall, we want a general manager that we know has got the best interests of our players. We want a general manager that doesn't make decisions to save his job. Same for Dable, right? All right, Dable wins three games and then he gets fired and he's looking for another job someplace. And an owner goes, you know, I like the way you handle that in New York, you could have very easily thrown the kid to the wolves to save your job, and you didn't. You did what was right by the kid. You did what was right by the organization. They didn't see it. We do. We're going to hire you.
B
You know, is that part of the.
C
Process too when you're making decisions, or is it all just in, in the real time moment of saving your current job.
B
I think it's damned if you do and damned if you don't. Because what happens is that you'll also get the people that say, well, you had Dart on the bench. You left him there. You left him there to rot. You didn't even play. You didn't know what you had in him. You had no idea what you had. Like, that's the thing is. It really is that damned if you do and damned if you don't. Which means with a. With a lot of things, which includes. Which we'll get to the Volpe story, which my whole perspective on the Volpe thing flipped. I know we'll get to it. There's information out there now that has changed everything about that. But it's the same type of thing. It's. It's understanding that I know more than I'm telling the media. I know more than I'm letting everybody know about. And that's what I'd base my decision on, which is why with Woody Johnson and in the past with the Jets, a lot of their decisions were based on, we want to keep people happy, we want to keep the players happy, we want to keep the media happy, we want to keep fans happy. That's no way to run an organization. You've got to know in your heart of hearts what's the best thing for us right now. And it's not to force this kid out there. Or maybe it's, it's, we got to put this kid out there because he's going to give us a lift. And it's what the Eagles did with Jalen. Hurts is as bad as it looked to take a guy that was in, in Wentz, that was your. Your top pick and he was a. A quarterback that could have been an mvp. There was a point you just had to say, hurts is just better for our team right now. As bad as it's going to look. Same thing as what Seattle did all those years ago. And Russ just was the better guy. We just gave this guy a boatload of money, but this guy's better, even though he was a fourth round pick. That's when you know more than everybody else does. And what I worry about is organizations that may not know what they're doing and they base everything on what's going to make everybody happy.
C
Right? Well, yeah, that's foolish. But you're right. It could age poorly for you either way.
B
Right.
C
But I just think a good organization, a good owner is going to look and say, I think you did the right thing not playing him. In front of that offensive line, the way things were going. I'm just saying I think part of doing your job is doing the right thing. We always judge it on wins and ultimately that's the case. But right now the Giants aren't going to win a lot of games. We know that. All right, Bill Parcell's in a time machine. 46 year old bill Parcells is not getting this team to the playoffs. All right? There's a lot of things that are wrong, they play a lot better. I, in my opinion. But I don't think that, you know, it's just not going to happen. So do the right thing, especially for Shane, because Shane's gonna, it's all part of the process, right? Like if Dable's like, we gotta play him, we gotta play him. I gotta save my job. That's what Shane's like. No, no, no. That's not how we do things here. We can't do that. You're gonna get the kid killed. You know, so it's probably more of a Shane thing than a Dable thing. But considering that they probably do everything collectively and collaboratively anyway.
A
But isn't it that Don, we don't, we don't know if at any point their, their collaboration ends. You know what I mean? We won't, we won't know unless it, it could be a very quiet thing where it's like, hey, hey Joe, by the way, we know, we know, we know Dave's is your guy, but you're our guy. We're not so sure about Dave's. Well guess what? That's the end of Daves and Joe. That's, that's how that goes. You know that, that's, this is a dog eat dog world. That could change things immediately the second.
B
That happens in front of those bullets.
C
No, if I had to bet, if you're telling me that only one is going to go, it's going to be Dable, I think Shane's got the better chance of staying.
A
Well, if you look, if you look around at some of the young pieces they've added and I understand the jury's still out on Thibodeau, right? But if you look around, there are a few pieces there that you could feel really good about what Shane was able to do, particularly if the dart thing works out. Now, the dart thing in particular, trading back into the first round, if they go get him late in the first round as they did and he turns out to be the guy, plus they delivered Abdul Carter, plus everything else they've done over the last couple years, Malik, neighbors, maybe a generational offensive talent. You, if they did all those things, how could you be mad at Shane? That. That's probably enough. That's probably enough boxes to check.
B
Yeah. Look what you've done with the draft in the last couple of years. That's, that's the one stain on his ledger is the fact that the Saquon Barkley thing blew up in his face.
C
Yeah.
B
But everything else you could, you could argue that he is re structured the roster and they're clearly not done. But still he has restructured the roster so far that it is getting better and it's heading in, in the right direction. But there's still so much with the quarterback's the hardest part to get. And the feeling is at least the hope is that you got him.
C
And I still think the way he screwed up the Barkley thing was being so emphatic that Philadelphia wasn't interested. Now I still see the logic in letting him go. I do. I know it didn't age well, but going, going back to the Hard Knocks where he's on record saying Philadelphia is not interested, that makes him look really bad.
A
Well, and also he had a little bit of. Yeah, that whole situation was probably his worst moment. He had a little bit of a smugness on Hard Knocks about it too. Well, he was, he was just a little cold.
C
Yeah.
A
And I, and I always said this, Don, you know, I really think it was an. It was a smart. Intellectually, it was smart. I get it. Business career decision wise, it was not that smart because you jumped out on a limb for something that your owner didn't want to do. If you'd gotten it wrong with the owner, it's much safer than the opposite.
B
But doesn't it show, at least he's got a set on him?
A
It does.
B
I believe in this as much as I'll bite the bullet. You, you, everybody be mad at me. But, but a couple of years from now, you'll look back and say, you know what? That was the right move.
A
You're not wrong about that.
B
You know, like that that's, it's hard to do. But in that moment, you're like, trust. You're going to see this is going to age well for me. Maybe it not. Maybe early on it'll look bad, but you'll see it'll age well. And that's what's got to work out.
C
Now.
B
It's got.
C
I would, I would rather have a general manager be cold hearted than to have, have a heart, you know, and make. Make poor decisions based on his heart instead of his head. But I do think with certain players you do have to massage the fan base a little bit. If he, if he had had it, if he handled it with a little bit more tact, that maybe it still would have. It still would have sucked him going to fill. Listen, there's not. You're not going to get up from that. No, but it was, but being so.
B
Cold about it, it was an ugly back and forth, wasn't it? Some of the comments he made, it was, you know, you could feel it like you knew the divorce was coming. Saquon wanted to stay and Joe made it just abundantly clear with his comments he had zero interest in keeping them.
C
Yeah, it's. It definitely didn't turn out the way anybody wanted it. Let's go to Jose in Midtown. You're on ESPN New York. What's up, Jose?
D
Hey, fellow, good afternoon.
C
What's up?
D
How y' all doing? Good to hear from you. So real quick, to my jumping right to my point, I actually think that dart and you know the points I'm going to bring up because I know the situations were different darts. I think he should sit for a majority of the season, if not the whole season. And here's why I believe this. I'm going to show my age a little bit. Growing up, we didn't have quarterback starting right away. Now I'm going to do a quick history. Aaron Rodgers and I know the packers were already win team and he had a Hall of Fame quarterback in front of him. But he sat the first three years of his of his career. And Pat Mahomes that pretty much the first year of his career other than the last game when he played for Alex.
B
You know, Jose, it's something that Tom Brady has said this. You know, Tom Brady has tried to tell people like why do we rush these guys? And now, you know, Peter knows it better than anybody. There are times it works right away. There are times it just hits and you go, I mean, yeah, it's proved.
D
That it does work. Well, you know our situation like people.
B
But it doesn't always work. You know, it doesn't always work.
C
Yeah, well, there's a couple of things. Who's your starting quarterback? Alex Smith was a starting quarterback in Kansas City. He had won playoff games. He had been there a while. It's a different set of circumstances. We don't know if Russell Wilson can survive next week. All right. He's 36 years old. He looks like he's at the tail End of his career. You're talking about. Mahomes was drafted 10th. Eli, who came in midway through, he was drafted essentially first overall. You're talking about a quarterback that was drafted 24th overall. Giants had to trade back into the first round to get him. If you're ready, you're ready. If you're not, you're not. Jaden Daniels was the second overall pick in the draft. He was ready. Clearly he was ready. Zach Wilson wasn't ready. Right? So I don't know when. When you become ready, some guys are ready right out of the box, right? You got guys in radio. I swear to God, Bob Washoes and an Ian Eagle came out of the womb with a microphone in their hand. They could have. They could have did play by play at five. All right. I finally got my first TV gig doing play by play of 57. Everybody's on their own schedule, right? So when you're ready, you're ready. So. But the one thing I could tell you is I'm going to err on him not being ready because 23 other teams didn't want him because they didn't think he was that guy or they didn't think, or they were in a different situation than the Giants were in. If he was ready, guys, he would have. He would have been picked. He wouldn't have been there at 20, 24. He would have been gone. Doesn't that factor in. What? Because of one yo. Yo. Preseason that changes everything. When he's not playing against number two, we're not playing against number one. Playing in meaningless games, getting chased by guys that were cut the day after.
B
It's unfortunate, but it's. It's a real thing. We get caught up in a lot of preseason stuff and hype and we don't realize it's a lot of these guys. It's not. It's too soon. But there's going to come a point, sooner probably rather than later, especially if. If the game in Dallas goes poorly and that offense looks bad again, there'll be no denying it. Like, they'll have to do something, and then you'll have to see whether they really do put him out there for his debut on a Monday night. Monday night against the defending champs, or not the defending champs, but the dynasty team, the Kansas City Chiefs.
C
They might be 0 and 2 and.
B
Breathing fire or 0 and 2 and leaking oil. Like you don't know. So. So it's. It's a lot of things to consider. But against Dallas right now, no time for change. We could have a Different conversation, though, Monday morning.
C
Yeah, but you also have Jameis Winston there too, so that has to factor into it. Paul disagrees a little bit with the gm. He's from Sarasota. You're on ESPN New York. What's up, Paul?
D
Hey, guys.
C
How are you?
B
Good.
D
Thanks for taking my call. I was just going to say that you guys are saying about maybe keeping Shane letting Daves go based on a few players he's acquired the last couple of years. And I just. I think if it keeps continuing to go the way it looked last week and all of last year with the abject disaster of an offensive line that he's put together in four years, I just don't think having a few players pan out, even if dart looks the park, is enough to keep him going. He's brought in like 10 offensive linemen and not one of them is it.
B
You know, Paul, one thing I'll say is, is that around the entire league, that's. That's always an issue. It's the hardest thing to do. It's like building a bullpen in baseball. It's just you. You bring in a couple of names, guys with resumes, and you put them out there and then it just doesn't work out or they get hurt. It is. It is so maddening. And it's the hardest thing to do.
C
No.
B
So I'm not making excuses because Paul, you're right. You're absolutely right. But in fairness, guys, if he does hit on the quarterback, there's no way he loses his job. If by the end of the season, dart plays and shows you enough flash or shows you enough, that makes you say, okay, the Giants got something here. No chance he loses his job.
C
And what I'd ask everybody is why is the offensive line failing? They've addressed it. Free agency, addressed it via the draft. Not just Shane, Gettleman before him, Reese before that. Can't click. Can't make it work. Did you always draft the wrong player or did you not coach him up?
B
It's gotta be one or the other.
C
You know, so it's one of the. Any and you as an owner, John Mara has to make the decision. Is this a coaching issue or personnel issue? Isn't that what Woody said?
B
Right. D. Wood played offensive line.
C
Yeah.
B
D. Wood said, what do you do? What are you coaching them? It can only be the players.
C
He said it's half the players, half the coach. So which half is failing? The offensive line? The players? Or is it the coaching? And I think the one constant theme is can we all agree that the previous three coaches all didn't work and all weren't good. Right. None of them went on to anything.
A
That is a safe. That's. That is safe.
C
All right, so. And the offensive line was awful all those years, so I'm kind of leaning towards that. Hey, I'm not saying that they have five Anthony Munoz's on the line and the coaches screwed them up, but I'm also leaning towards, you probably could have a lot better offensive line if you coached them and you came up with plays and made it work. I remember the jets lost one of the best guards in the NFL going into week one against one of the best defensive players in Watt. And at least last year, a real good defensive team. They scored 32 points. Did they get crippled that they fall? Because, you know, if they. If Fields is running for his life, guys, what we say, well, you know, Farah Tucker was out. Give him a, you know, cut him some slack.
B
That's a good point.
C
They figured out a way, right? They created place to work around it.
B
Yeah, yeah.
C
That's what football's about. Throw your hands up. Like, all my guys are hurt.
B
Yeah, I was worried about that. That was a big concern because again, AVT is the best. The best run blocker, and they lost him. But yet they ran all over. The Steelers ran all over.
C
So what does that mean?
A
It's literally, by the way, that is the story throughout the NFL every week, the entire season, doesn't it feel like that?
B
And the minute one team has an injury to the line, it's like the whole thing falls apart.
A
Except for the ones who end up being good teams, because you may know things, too. They. Exactly. And then we're not paying attention. You realize, oh, they're local, they're low. Their local fans all realize they've patched all these things together and they keep on rolling. By the way, we don't know what those teams are going to be yet. We're only going to see over the next several weeks who's going to be dealing with it.
C
We're all desensitized to injuries in the NFL, right? Matter of fact, they're a pain in the neck. They go to another commercial, guy's getting dragged off the field, don't know who he is. Do you realize that, what, 75% of the time the guy they're dragging off the field is a lineman, Right? And then when the team falls apart and they say it, oh, like, well, they have the offensive line. You know how many times the offensive line gets dragged off the field and the team continues to march and score touchdowns and then it never gets brought up. You know why? Because they, that team can figure out a way to survive after they lose a couple of guys. It's the bad teams that can't. Oh, Thomas is out. Of course. They only scored six points. Peter. Andrew Thomas was out. Well, Farrah Tucker was out. Ranked the 17th best guard in the NFL and it scored 32 points.
A
Speaking of which, the commander's defensive end Dietrich Wise is out for the year. It's a torn quad.
B
Oh my goodness. So you see, so you just, you.
A
Just like you're playing a game. He's a guy they went and got out to try to beef things up and they get got him from New England, I believe, like, all right, here we go. Second game done. Now are you gonna. And the fact is real teams, if you're going to be one fit, you figure out a way to plug someone else and keep going. That's just how it's gonna gotta be.
B
The good teams do and sometimes this.
C
Isn'T baseball where you might survive no injuries. Guys are gonna get hurt every single, every week.
B
Everybody's got him. It's a man. Oliver was just practicing on Wednesday. Somebody stepped on his ankle. Now he's out Sunday for the bill. He made the biggest play of the game against the Ravens.
A
I saw someone make the comment though last night. I can't remember who was shrags or who it was, but someone made the point. It's the Thursday night games though, guys. It's. It feels like it's worse than any other night of the week. It really does. Like you feel like on Thursdays, for whatever reason they miss out on that extra day or two of rest. It does seem like you always see more stoppages for injuries on Thursday nights.
C
Third Thursday is just.
B
Good point.
A
It's brutal, man. It's.
B
I, I get enough Peter and I'm not trying to be funny. I'm dead serious. Are you feeling though two, this is now two weeks in, a little bit of that. What people say is sophomore jinx there for Jaden, for the team. You know that first year where you're that the it team and you made this run and it's just great and then everything broke your way. And it's what Barnwell said about how many of those one score games did you win and that's not a typical trend and it's that step back season that as much as you want to say what do you mean this team's going to Take a step forward. You realize that there's so many things that happen that are completely out of your control and it has to do with injuries. I mean Eckler and then wise. Like, like it's just, it's tough in. And you're already.
C
I know.
B
Sense of like, ah, here we go. Now it doesn't mean you can't still get in a nine win season and still make the playoffs and, and get healthy by the end of the year and do something but man, it changes your perspective.
A
I'll say this, I'll say this. I'm not, I'm certainly not freaking out at all. Football seasons are super long and like I said earlier, as long as I see that the kid is. Carries himself like the guy. Like as someone who's rooted for a team who never had the guy. And this is what, let's be honest, the local fans are dealing with now.
B
Yep.
A
When you, when you find someone you believe is the guy, it makes you feel a lot better about all the other scary things that happen in football because you feel like as long as week to week they have the guy. Now if God forbid, when he got dinged a couple times yesterday, you know, if God forbid those things, then, then you feel indifferent. But unfortunately, and I don't mean this to say I don't care about Austin Eckler or Dietrich Wise.
C
You do.
A
No, I'm not, I'm not freaked out. But could it be a longer year? Yeah. Guys, I got news for you. It is hard to end up being what the Bills or Ravens or Eagles are where single year you're just good. That, that takes, that's going to take a few years to figure it out.
B
Think about how many years now in this run with Lamar. How many times did we get to week 10, 11, 12 where there was always a critical injury to that team. Two years ago was Andrews, I think. Right. Three years before that. Was it the running back, was it Dobbins? Who was it that he had a great year and all of a sudden, boom, he's out. There was always somebody that got hurt for them late in the season that, that felt like it took. It just took the rug out from under them. So they, but if you look through.
A
It, the bank but there. But Bengal Bengals, you know that too. But if you, if you look at this team by year, like man, in 2021, the Ravens had a down year. They had an 8 and 9 year. Besides that, you're talking about 12 and 5, 13 and 4, 10 and 7, 8 and 9, 11 and 514 and 210 double digits.
B
It's every year crazy.
A
It's just what they do.
B
Can you imagine in New York, double digit wins over a course of every year. I mean, when was the last time the job. I can't, I don't think the jets ever. Have the giants ever gone 4 years double digit wins in a row. I mean, the Cowboys just were doing it, you know, that's, that's the thing. Like I don't think they've that kind of sustained success.
C
Yeah, trying to find that consistency is almost impossible. Possible. Peter and Bayonne, you're on ESPN New York.
B
What's up, Peter?
D
Hey.
C
Hey, Don, how are you? What's up, buddy?
D
Thank you for the call. Appreciate it. Don Han and Peter, big fans, first time. Listen, I just wanted to just go with, with Saquon Barkley and, and, and, and how, you know, age will, will, will tell us if, if, if he's.
C
It was a bad signing or not or the Giants not signing him.
D
I think that argument is done just because it's this. For the Giants not signing. I'm not a Giants fan, I'm a Jets fan. But for the Giants not signing them, at the very least it would prevent them from winning a Super Bowl. So my thing is, you know, age will tell if Saquon's contract would, you know, would have been, you know, aged well or not. I just don't find it hard to believe that, you know, Giants did not do the right thing there. And, and it's just hard to just, it's just part, you know, but, but.
C
I, I don't, I don't think you sign someone to keep him from going someplace else. Like if the Giants sign him, okay, they got Saquon, maybe they win a couple more games last year. They've got a weapon. How is it going to help them for six years and did basically nothing. Yeah, they went to a playoffs, they won a playoff game, they got absolutely crucified in the game against Philadelphia. He had been banged up. Running backs usually don't last beyond the age of 28, 29 years old. So yeah, they sign him, the Eagles. Although I still have a feeling the Eagles still would have been really good, but maybe they don't win the Super Bowl. But is that a reason to keep a player when you're not ready to take advantage of the skills of that player?
D
Yankees do it and Red Sox do it all the time. Well, because those teams each other's players.
C
Because those teams are making decisions because they believe they're in a position to win. The Yankees get Johnny Damon because they think they can win with Johnny Damon. Guess what? They won with Johnny Damon. They went and got Roger Clemens. And guess what? They won with Roger Clemens. They won with Wade Boggs. All right, so yeah, you feel good as a Giant fan. The Eagles would not have beaten the Chiefs and would not have won a Super Bowl. You'd have Saquon Barkley. Your team would be more entertaining. You'd win a couple more games and then he would eventually retire. And what did it end up meaning at the end of the day, again, I'm not knocking it, guys, but what would it have looked like? What would last year have looked like?
D
What?
C
Saquon Barkley. If you think you'd have rushed for 2,000 yards.
B
No.
C
You're stoned.
B
No. All right. That's the part that you, you look at it and say, at least you'd have him, but you'd be mad that you have him wasting all this money on this guy. Like, you know, we're not in a place where we should spend a lot of money on a running back. You have to do this.
C
Stung.
B
So it's nothing. There was no winning that one at all. Don, can you. There was one time in franchise history the Giants were double digit winners in three straight seasons. Can you name the years?
C
Well, that would have been. Well, no. 84, they won nine games and it.
B
Was a stretch of five out of six.
C
80, 80.
A
The 86. 91. That range.
C
No, because 87 was the. Was. They didn't win double digits because of the strikeout. And 88. They won 89. 90. Yeah, so that's so 80. 88. They won 10, missed the playoffs. 89. They won 12. 90, they won. They won 13 a lot. So those.
A
There we go.
C
Those are the three in a row.
B
You nailed it.
C
Yeah.
B
And it's true. They were six and nine in that. In the strike year. They. So they went five out of six years in the one year that wasn't. Was again the 87 season. But they had a losing record. But yeah, that's it in franchise history. That's your. That's the best stretch they've ever had in double digit wins. 30 something years ago.
A
We've got fraud alert Friday.
C
You got people calling me out already on the phone.
B
Oh, boy.
C
Questioning the judge. That's kind of contempt, right? I could, I could. You could spend a night in jail, but you know, we don't have a jail here, so take advantage of it. 1-800-919-3776 fraud alert Friday 1 we've got Alex Monaco at 4:45 from MSG talks and betting Ian at 6. Don Han and Rosenberg till 6:30. Then it's Mets Rangers on ESPN New York.
A
All right guys, I got an ad brought to you by BetterHelp. I mean listen, we turn to some funny places for support, but not everyone's a therapist. Not everyone's the person you should talk to. Find your right match with BetterHelp BetterHelp therapists work according to a strict code of conduct. They're fully licensed in the US and BetterHelp does the initial matching work for you so you can focus on your three therapy goals. Alright, Short questionnaire helps identify your needs and preferences and their 10 plus years of experience and industry leading match fulfillment rate means they typically get it right the first time. With over 30,000 therapists, BetterHelp is the world's largest online therapy platform having served over 5 million people globally. It's convenient too. You can join a session with a therapist, the click of a button helping you fit therapy into your busy life. Plus switch therapist at any time. Find the one with better help. Our listeners get 10% off their first month@betterhelp.com timeout. That's betterhelp.com timeout if you've shopped online.
E
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C
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A
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C
Like a good neighbor. State Farm is there.
B
Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.
A
I didn't listen to anything you just said.
B
Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. Did you or someone you know participate in fraudulent fan behavior?
C
I'm a fraud with a capital F.
B
Is your friend a fraud?
A
I have been a complete and utter fraud.
B
Are you a fraud?
C
What is fraud?
B
Let's ask Tom McGregor.
C
Screw. Go scratch yourself.
A
Oh, yeah, baby. It's fraud Friday. On this Friday, September 12th, on Don Hahn and Rosenberg. You want to participate? Dhrespnmail.com youm send your message. I will deliver said message to the fraud arbiter, the man, the judge, the legend himself, Donald Marco legreca and Judge legreco will rule either you are fraud or nah. Now, today's fraud Alert Friday. We'll also have another message from our very own Alan Hahn.
C
That's right.
A
As someone approached him in life. So we'll get to that as well. But I'll start with an email. Judge, you ready?
C
Yes, I'm very much ready.
A
Just want to make sure. Okay. All right, here we go.
D
I was.
C
Let's see.
A
Sometimes people send an email and that the color the email is not there. Anyways, so I was born in New York and lived in Queens till I was 12. Lifelong New York sports fan. Giants, Yanks, Rangers, Knicks. Shortly after my 12th birthday, we moved to just outside of Atlanta, Georgia. This is where I really grew up. I have a small circle of friends who are salt of the earth guys and I love them and they love Atlanta sports. Lots of pain. I have a deep Affinity for the Braves, Hawks and Falcons, even the Thrashers back in the day. Been to dozens of each team's daughter games. I root hard for them when they're playing anyone other than my main squeezes. Is this fraudulent behavior? This has been heavily debated amongst my friends. Thank you, Matt S in Orlando.
C
I'm gonna say no fraud.
A
Wow.
C
And here's why I, I'm surprised. Now, listen, he's a Yankee. If you're a Met fan, all of a sudden he's rooting for the Braves. That kind of doesn't hit right. But as a Yankee fan, you played the Braves twice in the World Series and beat him.
B
So.
C
No, no worries there. I mean, Knicks, Hawks, maybe a little awkward a couple of years ago in the first round, but not a known rival of the team. So. Yeah, you were in Atlanta. You go to games you enjoy. I kind of root. But my first teams.
B
Can I approach the bench?
C
Sure. Alan.
B
Well, you said that I wrote with your eye rolled. If you don't want me to approach.
A
Well, he was still delivering his.
C
He was Alamante.
B
No, because you, you discussed Knicks Hawks like it was like this dismissive thing. You can't possibly root for Trae Young.
C
Yeah.
B
And say you're a Knicks fan. You can't do that. Well, that alone, that alone would suggest to me that that feels fraudulent. Ask any Knick fan who's the. There's very few players that still get that get chanted about in the building.
A
So that is true even when he's not playing.
B
I would stop right, right there. Now you may.
C
I, I, I'd like to, I'd like to talk to him about it because up until that moment, there was no rivalry between no. The Knicks and the Hawks.
B
Nothing there.
C
So I don't know, maybe, maybe he would agree with you. Thrashers are gone, Braves, Falcons. There's nothing really there. Nothing with either of the locals. So I, I get what you're saying, but overall, if he still isn't, I, I would like to ask a little, little bit more about the Trae Young thing, but other than that, I'm still going to say no fraud. He's in Atlanta. He's stuck there. He's got friends that are fans of the Atlanta. He likes to go. But he did say he still did not give up on his teams. He still roots for his teams against those Atlanta teams. So I'm going to say no fraud.
B
Okay. As long as he's not right. And that's it. I think we put him on probationary fraud.
A
This is very Interesting though. It's an interesting thing to remember that Don has some forgiveness about, like, if you've legitimately lived in two different places, having a bit of an affinity for. For local teams, it is interesting. Just remember this. Okay, now, next message. Born in 78, grew up a Yankee fan through the 80s and 90s, went to college in 96. All right, this person's a year older than me. College opened up my world. I didn't consciously dismiss sports, but never thought about them. Every night I either thought about school or social life. College was so good for me and my social life. It's all I cared about. One weekend in October 1996, me and my friend group were walking from one party to another when we heard an explosion of cheers from a house we were walking past. I said, what was that? And the friend answered, I think the Yankees just won the World Series. It shocked me that I was so unaware of the moment, but I quickly appreciated the fact that I was with my friends bouncing through parties rather than being in my fandom. This continued through college. 96 to 2000. Great timing, buddy, by the way. That's like how I was out of wrestling at that time. Really great. Look, my life was so great that I never cared about sports at all. Sunday morning, spooning with a blonde beauty or sports, Come on.
C
Yeah, it's all made up, by the way.
A
Yeah, blonde beauty every time.
C
Yeah, right.
A
Morning turned into afternoon, which turned into marriage and kids and we're both now 47. Oh, I guess it was one blonde beauty.
C
Okay, I thought he was saying routine.
A
Like a different one every week. Right? So I didn't care about the Yankees 96, 98 or 99 titles. But graduation in May 2000, then moving back home. I loved the Subway Series and relished that one because I was back with my high school Mets fans to watch it all together. I've been a die hard sports fan for almost my teams my whole life. Except those four years of college. I was okay. Missing championships. Am I a fraud? Because better things in life took me away for four years. For the record, I sleep well at night because I met my wife during those four years and now two children exist. If I were a bigger Yankee fan back then, those girls disappear from time. Love the show. Bill from Rochester.
C
Now here's what's interesting about it, because on the surface, it is fraudulent behavior, right? Just to just walk away from your teams. But he did walk away from something pretty good. I mean, it was the best Yankee years, right, Ms. 96, 98, 99. Like, there's a lot he missed there. But still he. Circumstances like what happened with you with wrestling take you away from your fandom and then life kind of brings you back to it. Right. So if he had left, if he.
A
Had left a bad team and come back when they were good, that would have been harder to deal with.
C
He's only a fraud if he really considers himself a Die Hard fan. Because he's not a Die Hard fan. Because a Die Hard fan wouldn't walk away for four years seeing the Yankees celebrate a champion you didn't even know they were playing. And now all of a sudden you get back to business.
A
By the way, craziest thing about that story though, Don, is that that was his first year of college.
C
Yeah.
A
So he took it, took one year, he got to college, and by the time the World Series rolled around, he went, what Yankees? Who. What's happening? That's.
B
That is amazing. Be disconnected. But you know what? This, this sounds like the story that Robin Williams tells in Goodwill hunting about how he had tickets.
A
Oh, about a girl. You had to see about a girl.
B
Right. And you know, Fisk hits one.
A
You. You missed it.
B
What is. You missed, right?
A
You missed Fisk.
B
How? Yeah, had to see about a girl.
A
You're going to make me get upset.
C
So I'm going to say I'm going to rule no fraud just because I don't. It doesn't sound like he's really a Die Hard. And listen, he met his wife, he left. What if, what if you get called to war? What if you're overseas? That's a decision that he made in his life.
B
I think he's just a bigger fan of something else.
D
Hello.
C
Well said, Alan Hahn. But if he's claiming to be a Die Hard, I never know. But it doesn't sound like that's the case, so.
A
All right, Al, let's. I do have more, but let's go to you.
B
Okay, well, this is. All right, so Ryan sent me this message and it's about his nine year old son, Kenny. So he said, before this season, NFL season, my 9 year old son Kenny told me he was no longer a Jets fan. He said, I'm a lifelong jets fan who was cursed by my Uncle Stephen and was actively getting my son into watching football and the jets since he was young. But now we have YouTube TV where he can watch any game that's on. And Kenny's a fantasy football champion in a father son league that he started. So he's more interested in watching the star players than the jets lose each week. This is, by the way, Ryan's words. He said, it's hard for me to blame Kenny for wanting out and wasting multiple quarterback jerseys since he's been alive. And the massive disappointment of the Rodgers era. After being so excited two seasons in a row, he's currently undecided between two teams. This is now where it gets interesting. The two teams that he's deciding between, the Bills and the Giants. He said the Bills are New York's only team, end quote. And he likes the potential of Jackson Dart. And he has cousins and friends who are all Giants fans. So as a father, do I try to convince him to stick it out with the jets or do I let him go knowing the jets will end up in certain heartbreak? It's too late for me, he said, but is it too late for Kenny? Does this make me a fraud as a Jets fan, but not a fraud as a father? Is Kenny a fraud flopping teams at 9 years old? He said, I think he might be actually making a smart decision. So he said, what would you do in this situation? And he said, thank you. Big fan of the show.
C
All right, well, it's two different questions there. First, we'll address the fraud issue. Yes, your son would be a fraud if he flipped. I've said, and I'm going through it now, my son is going to be eight in less than three months. You got to declare by eight. And if he's nine, he, he declared. Now he wants to undeclare and pick another team. And, oh, by the way, he's going to pick the Giants. The jets are boring. What do you think the Giants are going to be? The jets lose. What do you think the Giants have been doing lately? Bills at least make sense because they win. But I don't get it. No, if he, if he flips teams, he's a fraud. Now, what should you do as a father? No, you're not a fraud for being a good father. Let him make his own decision. You don't want to force this. You want it to be natural. You don't want it to be a Jeff fan because you forced. Forced him to be a Jet fan because you know what's going to end up happening, guys? Something worse than him being a fraud is him not loving football anymore. Because that's what's going to happen. If you make him stay a Jet fan and jets continue to lose, he'll just say, I'm not going to watch the sport anymore. Wouldn't that hurt more? I mean, I got a son who might become an Eagle fan. I told you the story. He's going to become an Eagle fan. Dude, I'd rather him be an Eagle fan than not be a football fan.
A
Oh, it's tough though.
C
It's very tough. It's a lesser of two evils. But I as a father, you gotta let him make up his own mind, man.
A
That's the topic.
B
That's a. We gotta carry, you know, we gotta.
A
You know what?
B
Now we gotta pray rather him be an Eagles fit a Giants fan. Saying I'd rather him be an Eagles fan than not a fan of.
A
I'm telling you right now, I would rather Maya never watch a down of football then become an Eagles fan.
C
Well, I gotta tell you, we'll get into this.
B
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C
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B
The Don Han and Rosenberg podcast.
A
I didn't listen to anything you just said.
B
Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.
C
Alex Monaco does a great job on the MSG networks and watching. Get somebody on. Talk about the betting angle of Week 2 in the NFL is also a big fight. So let's get into it. Alex Donhan and Rosenberg, welcome to the show, man. How you doing, gentlemen?
D
Thanks for having me. Happy Friday. We're off a W against Peter's commanders. I hate to kill the flow off of that, but we gotta do what we gotta do. Alan knows it's all business.
C
It was the obvious pick. We all picked it as our best bet. Except Peter, because Peter's a Commander's fan, he couldn't do it. When you bet with your heart instead of your head, what do you do, Alex? You lose.
D
Yeah. You, you're not eating on Ubereats, that's for sure. That's what we're living over here.
B
Here's the problem. Here's what I'm fighting now because now I'm feeling like Peter for a minute. And I'm looking at Jets, Bills and I'm looking at six and a half and I'm no Ed Oliver. That Bill's run defense gave up 240 yards on the ground last week to the race. Like I'm. I'm fighting it because I hate betting with my heart. I hate believing in my team. I hate betting my team. Alex, am I crazy to think that the jets can cover? I'm not saying win, but I think they can cover. Agree or disagree, Alex?
D
Not only am I on your boys this week with the points and the only shopping I do ahead of time is line shopping. So I grabbed the Plus 7, which is a huge trend for this particular spot because home dogs the seven or more 18 and two against the spread in the first nine games of the regular season dating back to 2022. Huge, huge trend there. As you mentioned, edge out. But let's just factor in a little bit of human element here. Prime time slot all time comeback for Buffalo and they got a look ahead. Short week on Thursday. You would say week two. Little early for a scheduling thought for the bio rhythms with the boys. But over the last 10 years, teams down 14 plus coming back the following game and have to play on the road just 23, 39 against the spread. So as long as your boy Aaron Glenn again just sticks to week one, we have to lean the Jets. The only thing I'll throw out there, that's a little scary. The field team doesn't score 20 points. He's never won a football game. He's owing 22. So that key number like getting the 20 points need to get there. But I love, I love it. You're also seeing it go down and start money coming the other way here. I just love the spot for your boys at home.
C
Wow. And what about tough spot for the Giants? Never win in Dallas. Dak never loses to the Giants. I got it at five and a half. I don't know what you have it at right now, but where you think.
D
In there it's going down. I caught you guys last hour. I mean, Allen Adon, no one's ever beaten the giants 14 straight here in this, in this divisional dance. 13 is the official number. I mean, look, conventional wisdom would say take the Cowboys, it's now down to four and a half. You saw the injury news. I mean, look, I'm a San Diego Kid, 11 years in the daily meditation. I hate to call Russell the guy to back in a low spot using the mind, but this Giants defense, a top 10 defense, gentlemen, all year. They are a top 10 competent defense that will keep them in games not going to win the ball game. I think they got a shot to cover here. No one in the world likes them. We got to realize the betting public was horrific. Week 1, 3 and 13 against the spread on teams that closed as favorites. It's a Vegas feasting again. Week two. I got to take the dog on the road with the points. I'm going both New York teams. What could go wrong?
A
Nothing. Absolutely kidding me.
B
Comfortable? Yeah. Sleep comfortable with that one.
A
Yeah. Who's ever. Who's ever worrying about that heading into a Sunday, that's all we do is.
B
Win here in New York.
A
Now is there. Is there anything out there? Because I'm excited to talk to you about the boxing a bit, which I think is getting a really getting short shrift this week. But before that, any outside of the New York stuff, anything else you absolutely love on Sunday?
D
Are we getting the nice California shout out here? The in and out combo? Number one one of Mahomes off a loss and a home underdog. I mean, this is a dream spot if you like the Chiefs in the super bowl rematch. Now, super bowl rematch is the following year. They do lean historically, the Eagles, but this Chiefs team, extra rest at home off of an AFC west game they should have quite frankly had. Mahomes is 21 and four off a loss. There's seven and three covering in that spot. When it's less than six, he's 11 and four as an underdog all time. We are getting a perfect combo. And if Dallas can shred that D at home on a celebratory banner night on the road, Snickers, hangry, Andy Reid, Club Nolan smile in post Brazil. I mean we're a long way removed from the Kelsey Swift engagement. It's time to win the game, boys. I like it. I think it's a statement win. We're also on the sharp side. If you can grab the Chiefs with the point and a half.
B
I'm curious if you feel like the if it's still 11 and a half. The Ravens in Cleveland, if that's a cover or if that's the Ravens revenge. They blew what should have been a big easy win. Like I that number tempts me even though it's a ridiculously high number. What do you say?
D
It's a ridiculously high number. We've only seen 20 teams since 03 closed as a double digit favorite in their own division in the first two games of the season. Mind you, those teams are 8 and 12 against the spread favorites of 11 or more 5 and 3. This is one of those spots. Lamar, he's closed as a double digit favorite 16 times. He's 15:1 and he's 10:6 covering. I mean 4 and 1 is a big favorite versus the AFC north covering by literally 11.9 points. Not to bog you down with too much numbers, this could be one of those spots here because I was on the Browns at home and a plug the schnoz spot week one. Are they really covering two weeks in a row? This again is a no smile Harbaugh practice. I gotta swallow points. It's gross. But you know, if it's 14 nothing in the first first quarter. Were crying on the cul de sac. Father of three quarterback and Joe Flacco.
A
All right, let's get to it. What I think is the underrated moment of this weekend, Alex, it's crazy, man. All anyone says is boxing's dead. I want boxing. Then all we do is spend our time talking about sort of ludicrous exhibition fights. This weekend the two best fighters of this generation are matching up in Vegas, Canelo and Crawford. It seems like no one's talking about it because neither's acting like a complete buffoon. Terence Crawford is a slight dog plus 150. I'm seeing in that range first of all, your general thoughts on the fight and what you like.
C
Bet wise.
D
This is a fascinating matchup. I'm talking a real expert over here. But I'm sitting here racking my head over where the value is because as you mentioned, Canelo's, you land juice on him but then you're getting plus money for a guy that's 41 and oh, 31k. I'm dying for a spot here. I can co sign on, but you're laying -370 for it to go the Seabiscuit distance. It's really when you go durability and power in Canelo, you got fight pace and Stamina with Crawford. Two guys in their mid to late 30s. 11 to 1 is a draw. And I would throw back to you guys because famous draws, if we're going over throughout the years in a title bout, I mean, who else did Alvarez? Triple G has a great spot. A controversial round one between their trilogy and we're getting 11. 1. I can't sit here and say I love crawford with the plus money, but I'm not going to co sign on. Minus 180. Minus 185 on Canelo getting 11 from such a distance, gentleman. So 11 to one at a time. Controversial draw. If there's a sport to go with something controversial, I got a floor with.
A
I see the fun in that because you could throw a little money on it. It's 11 to 1. My. My feeling is, and maybe this is novice stuff, when you see maybe the best fighter on earth and in my opinion, a guy who's still a little bit more prime than Canelo, I'm taking Crawford at plus money. I love the idea of betting someone that good at plus money. And I think Canelo and has lost one tiny half step. I feel you, Eileen Crawford, but either way, for this to be a. I mean, a free fight. Guys, if you have Netflix tomorrow night and just. I'm amazed at the lack of conversation.
C
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Episode Date: September 12, 2025
Hour 2 Theme:
This episode centers on the constant push-and-pull of leadership decisions in New York sports—especially around the Giants’ future, quarterback decisions, and the job security of GM Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll. The crew also holds their popular “Fraud Friday,” judging fan behavior, and welcomes betting expert Alex Monaco for his insight on the NFL and upcoming fights.
(Begins at 29:30)
Write-in and call-in cases are presented before “Judge La Greca,” who rules if the behavior is “fraudulent fan” conduct.
(Starts 42:23)
Jets (+7) vs. Bills
Giants (+4.5) at Cowboys
Chiefs vs. Eagles (Super Bowl Rematch)
Ravens (-11.5) vs. Browns
Boxing: Canelo vs. Crawford
Lively and irreverent, the trio banter as both insiders and diehard fans: passionate, occasionally argumentative, but always anchored in genuine love for New York sports. Fraud Friday invites self-deprecation and playful policing of fan culture, while Monaco’s insider betting angles give a sharp, strategic edge to the episode’s second half.