Peter Rosenberg (3:22)

I don't know if I'm going to be able to play is the only issue. But you know.

Don Hahn (3:26)

Well, Peter, the objective is not to win. The objective is to just show up.

Peter Rosenberg (3:32)

You know, But I like to get out there and.

Don Hahn (3:34)

No, I know, but listen, you. My knees are shot. You see, I walk around like a cripple. But I'm going out there.

Peter Rosenberg (3:41)

I don't know if that's the.

Don Hahn (3:42)

But listen, that's me, you know, but if. Listen, don't not go because you can't run.

Peter Rosenberg (3:48)

No, no. I said I don't know if I'm able to play.

Don Hahn (3:50)

No, but I want you to be there.

Peter Rosenberg (3:52)

Of course. And I have, I have family. I'm going to tell you the truth. I have my parents and brother and niece and nephew visiting next weekend and I'm going to make the trip from Long island and I'm coming to New Jersey and I will be there. And if I can swing the bat, I will. If not, I will just hang with the people.

Don Hahn (4:14)

Yes, because I don't think they come to see our abilities on the softball field. I think they come to just hang and be a part of the whole thing. And for people that might be new to the show, my buddy Mark Sasso died of cancer back in 2008 and we've been doing this ever since then. First we built a playground at St Anthony School where we went to grammar school. We accomplished that. Now it's scholarships for kids in the Hawthorne area. So swing by. Should be a lot of fun. I am really looking forward to it. I've been told that through there's gonna be food for us. That's Gonna be provided by Artie in Farallon. He's. He's reached out to me and he's gonna make sure that we're fed during it. So if. Just come, Peter, just for the meal.

Peter Rosenberg (4:57)

Oh, come on.

Don Hahn (4:58)

I'm in just for the free, because Artie's the best.

Peter Rosenberg (5:01)

So you had me at free, so.

Don Hahn (5:04)

Just wanted to take that opportunity because again, I'm gonna be away next week, but if you guys will have me, I'll try to pop on to promote it as we get closer and closer. But we're. We're getting close to being a week out here a week from tomorrow, so we're looking forward to that. But, you know, I was thinking about this, Peter, during the break as football starting, and we opened the show with just. Nobody wants to think outside the box anymore. And watching that game last night, even though I completely understood why Mendoza went to Rodgers, it was the thing to do. But I just feel the theme around this Mets collapse is not getting any length out of your starting pitchers. And Senga is supposed to be your ace. And I really. It would have showed me something if he had stuck with him in that sixth inning, even if it didn't work. Just to say, hey, I believe in my guy, get out of it. If you believe in the fallacy of the predetermined outcome, the Mets scored two in the sixth, and maybe he could have been the winning pitcher. And you're just looking for something because sometimes you just gotta break from it. And I was thinking from football, right? What was the theme all last year around the NFL season when it came to the Giants and the Eagles, and that was Saquon Barkley and how it was the right thing to do for the Giants, in my opinion, to let Saquon go where they were as a team. And you don't pay running backs, and that's the rule, right? You don't pay safeties, you don't pay running backs, you don't draft safeties and running backs high because your plan is not to pay them like that. Just. At least that's the way it is now. Maybe it's starting to change, But. But that seems to be the rule. But Philadelphia, they looked at their team and said, we're going to buck that trend because we think he could be a difference maker for us. So maybe it doesn't make a lot of sense to a lot of other teams, but for us, it makes perfect sense because we don't have a quarterback to go out there and throw for 4,000 yards and 40 touchdowns. But the way we built this team, I think getting a running back like Saquon Barkley is going to be the perfect accent to what we're trying to do. So we're going to buck the trend and we're going to give them a contract. And guess what? They win a Super Bowl. And that shows you that every everything in sports, there's ways to go about it, things you do and things you don't do. But every once in a while, you got to analyze in real time and say, I know this isn't necessarily the thing to do, but it feels right for us. It feels like it's right for that moment. The Yankee game the other night against the twins, they lose 4 1, but it's a 11 tie. And the way the Yankees played that out was just a typical analytical, let's go with the guys that are in the lanes for the relief pitchers. And instead of maybe having a sense of urgency, everybody that night lost. The Guardians lost, The Mariners lost, The Red Sox lost, The Blue Jays lost. I feel like this game is a little bit more important than it was maybe at first pitch, you know, the game was delayed and we got a chance to look at the out of town scoreboard and everybody chasing us and everybody we're chasing lost. So maybe I'm going to change gears a little, Peter, and say, you know what? I'm going to treat this as more of a must win than I would have in circumstances.

Peter Rosenberg (8:09)

Not only is it more a must win, but Don, in a weird way, it's less risk too, right? You're looking around going, well, these teams aren't gaining on us either. Right now we don't worry about let's.

Don Hahn (8:18)

Take a shot, but instead of just having your face in the notebook and it's just this, the way we do things. You know, we opened the show with just talking about how you got. Sometimes you got to let emotion in and sometimes you just got to go with your gut just a little bit. Just think outside the box. Challenge these players, make these players go a little bit farther than they're supposed to. That's what sports is about, right? All these guys are able to do things we can't fathom we can't do. That's why we watch sports, because we can't. We can't run that fast, we can't jump that high, we can't hit the ball that far, we can't throw it that hard. So we worship these people because they do what we can't do. And within the game, it's also let me try to do even more than I'm supposed to do at times in certain situations. And the analytic world doesn't allow that to happen. And I think sometimes you just gotta break from the norm and you just gotta do it a little bit differently. And I think that's the difference, Peter, from being very good to great. That's the difference from almost getting there to, to actually getting there. If the Eagles played it the way everybody else plays it, we don't pay running backs, we don't do that, we don't set the market, then maybe they don't win the Super Bowl. The good, maybe they would have gotten there, they gotten there a couple of years ago, right? But it wouldn't have gotten them over the top. It worked for them and for the Giants didn't work for them. So they decided to do what they had to do. So everybody just staying in the same lane, Peter, just in life, right? Think of all the things that you've accomplished. If you, if you played it down the middle, if you played it safe, if you played it the way everybody played it, maybe you wouldn't have done all the great things that you've done in your life, right? It just, you think back that I decided, I went with my gut, I decided to go in a different direction and maybe some of those things failed you. Well, ultimately, maybe it ends up working.

Peter Rosenberg (10:08)

Out and maybe there were more risks to take that I didn't take, that I, you know, because I'm fairly risk averse myself. I understand these analytic managers in that way. But I mean, nothing ventured, nothing gained. And right now they're just not seeing a lot of gains again. The Yankees subject gets more complicated because of last year. So they can always lean into last year, Don, and go, well, how'd it work out for us? If we didn't have one freakish bad inning, we would have been back in the world series down 3, 2. That they can, they can convince themselves. But we know that's not the full picture.

Don Hahn (10:49)

And sometimes it's taking an honest assessment and saying, you know what? We aren't good enough. It wasn't just the bad inning. We just weren't as good as the Dodgers. And that allows you to self scout and become better. I just think it's a safety net, Peter. You know, play it, if you play it safe, then you can, you can look yourself in the mirror and say, I did the right thing. I didn't want to fall in my face. But the true greatness comes from, I'm going to challenge myself, I'm going to go outside my comfort zone, and if you fail, it stinks. But at least you could say, all right, listen, it didn't work out, but at least I challenged myself. At least I just didn't go down with the ship like everybody else does, doing it the same damn way. And that's the biggest complaint we get about Mets and Yankees, is it seems like it's the same thing every year. Like, Peter's sick of us talking about baseball. And I don't blame him because it's the same conversation, the same thing over and over again. Why doesn't it change? And that's why we're sitting here in New York and bereft of a champion super bowl of the Giants.

Peter Rosenberg (11:59)

But this subject specifically is what makes baseball, in some ways, a more brutal conversation in this market. Now the baseball nerds can all get mad at me. And it's the fun thing to say. Peter hates baseball. You don't get it, but. Or if you're in a true moment of reflection, you could say, I'm not going to lie. Seeing how the same two teams are like Groundhog Day, and particularly the Yankees, although the Mets are now falling into it a bit themselves, but particularly the way the Yankees do things. Groundhogs Day every year, same conversations. Judge is great. Injury is a problem. Start out great, fall off. Can they still make it? They're not going to change. The way that these teams are managed and handled lends itself to being especially boring. Like the analytics part, Don makes it worse. Listen, if they were losing games but taking shots, you might be disappointed. Don't. But at least you don't just feel bored. Like there's no soul. There's no. There's no. You know, we always talked about how, like, analytics don't measure heartbeat. And a game has a heartbeat. The way the Yankees kind of operate, Don, none of it feels like much of a heartbeat.

Don Hahn (13:16)

Robots, it's. It's like the Jetsons, you know, I don't know how much you watch the Jensens. Jetsons.

Peter Rosenberg (13:20)

It was a. I prefer the Jensens.

Don Hahn (13:23)

Well, the Jetsons was a futuristic Flintstones, basically for Back of the.

Caller/Guest (13:26)

Wait, are you.

Peter Rosenberg (13:27)

Wait, are you. Are you doing that for me or for the people?

Don Hahn (13:31)

For the people.

Peter Rosenberg (13:32)

Okay. You thought you knew. I knew what, the Jets?

Don Hahn (13:34)

No, I know. You know.

Peter Rosenberg (13:36)

Okay. But they were kids out there. I guess there are kids who may not know the football.

Don Hahn (13:40)

Like, they would watch sports, and the sports were played by robots.

Caller/Guest (13:43)

Right.

Don Hahn (13:44)

That. That's kind of what it feels like. Now, it's all. They're all programmed a certain way. My pitchers only throw 100 pitches, and my players only play, you know, play, you know, nine out of every 10 days. And this one does that, and that one's programmed to do this, and that's. That just takes the fun. I wouldn't want to watch a sport that's played by robots. I want to watch it played by human beings. That's what makes it so much fun. And then succeeding and failing in real time, that's what it's supposed to be all about. But also, I don't want to forget when I was talking about the sasso. Chris Canty is. Is going to make a return. Whoa. Chris Canty is going to be there. Scott Farrell is going to be there as well. So I don't want to forget anybody because, you know, people get sensitive. But so, along with Greg, there's a.

Peter Rosenberg (14:31)

Chance Maya makes an appearance at the game.

Don Hahn (14:33)

Who's that?

Peter Rosenberg (14:34)

There's a chance Maya makes an appearance.

Don Hahn (14:37)

Is Maya ready to throw out the first pitch?

Peter Rosenberg (14:41)

I don't think she's ready to throw out the first match.

Don Hahn (14:43)

Okay. Do you think at some point she will be?

Peter Rosenberg (14:47)

At some point. I can see that. I'll tell you what she's very capable of doing. Grabbing you or slapping your face.

Don Hahn (14:55)

Okay, then. There's certain people that I want Maya to be held by on Saturday the 23rd.

Peter Rosenberg (15:03)

By the way, the other day, Maya. Maya slapped our sweet babysitter so hard.

Don Hahn (15:10)

Oh, no, Don.

Peter Rosenberg (15:12)

It sounded like. And Natalie and I. She's grabbed our faces. She's pulled my glasses off, Don. Twice in a row. It sounded like this. I mean, it was a. I was like. It was insane. She let it, Don. It was like a wrestling slap.

Don Hahn (15:31)

Or like that slapping that league that they have.

Peter Rosenberg (15:34)

Oh, power slap. You want to send Maya straight to power slap is what you're saying.

Don Hahn (15:38)

Sounds like it, right? That's what you want to go to? Power slap?

Peter Rosenberg (15:42)

You know what? I can say safely that if my parents, presumably when Maya is, like, an older adult, my parents probably will not be around for all of that. And I can say with certainty that if 25 years from now, I mean, listen, maybe my mom will be 102, but if they're in heaven and they find out that my daughter is doing power slap, my parents will get reincarnated as rottweilers and bite my face off till I'm dead.

Don Hahn (16:19)

Yeah. And rightly so.

Peter Rosenberg (16:21)

Nothing would. It would literally be the epitome of destruction of my family. What happened to Maya, she does a power slap now.

Don Hahn (16:30)

Oh, God, no. We don't want that. But the fact that she's that good at it at seven months tells you to be.

Peter Rosenberg (16:35)

But has anybody out there had that experience where, like, you hand your baby to someone and then they slap the living hell out of him? It's embarrassing. I felt really bad. Our babysitter, so sweet. And Maya loves her. It was just happens. Obviously. She's not. She doesn't know what she's doing.

Don Hahn (16:51)

No, but she.

Peter Rosenberg (16:53)

I try to. When she gets too handsy, I try to. We try to avoid saying no. Like, she's so young. I don't want to be just going, no, no, no. So we try to make a sound. We have, like, a no sound.

Don Hahn (17:05)

Okay.

Peter Rosenberg (17:07)

And try to, like, push her away. She doesn't get it. No, she doesn't get.

Don Hahn (17:11)

No.

Peter Rosenberg (17:11)

She doesn't get anything. No offense.

Don Hahn (17:14)

Now when she's 17 and she's doing that, I would think you'd have a conversation.

Peter Rosenberg (17:17)

Well, listen, I Hope when she's 17, she still has that slap potential and knows when you use it.

Don Hahn (17:23)

Well, yeah, when it's necessary. But, you know, if that's the way she's gonna be greeting people, she's not gonna have very many friends.

Peter Rosenberg (17:29)

Peter's daughter's always slapping people. Really? She's six months. No, no, no. She's 16.

Don Hahn (17:34)

Yeah, she's 60. She's knocking people unconscious. It's really awkward. 1-800-9193776. Let's go to Mike and Hawthorne. You're on ESPN, New York. What's up, Mike?

Caller/Guest (17:43)

Hey, guys. How are you? Hey, Peter. This is the first time I'm talking to you since the baby. Congratulations, man. That's. That's. That's good stuff. My. My niece just had her third daughter today, so it's a good relationship, man. That's my daughter and my daughter. To your. Your daughter slapping people. My daughter used to bite her cousin Patrick every time he saw him. It's hilarious. But that's. That's neither here nor there. She stopped doing it, like, three years ago. Like three years ago. She's 32 now, so it's. Okay. Okay, good.

Peter Rosenberg (18:12)

All right, good.

Caller/Guest (18:13)

But, yeah. But I just wanted to. To call and. And thank Don again. We were. We're very good friends with the Sassos, and it's. It's a really good town. Town get together. And, Peter, I hope you do go. I'll. I'll get out of my way to come over and introduce myself personally and show you around. The, the Wagwa Field. But, Don, this has come a long way from our first game down at Franklin Field, I'll tell you that. And I just wanted to say thank you from all of us, all the people from the borough who look up to this day and really miss the Sassof. Miss Sass very much, but are always thankful of this day and it's going to be, going to be a lot of fun. And again, congratulations to you, Don and Peter, congratulations. And Donald, I'll see you next Saturday. Take care.

Don Hahn (18:57)

I'm looking forward to it. Mike, thank you so much. You know how much that town means to me. My mom still there. It'll be good to get her out and to be down there and to see Anna Marie, Mark's widow, and the different families that I like literally don't get a chance to see. But the once a year that we do the Sasso stuff. So really looking forward to it. Just come out because it's a great cause. But, you know, again, Greg Buttle, great. Unfortunately, Marty Lyons can't go. He's got other commitments. Same with Ken Danico, but some new faces. Chris Canty going to be there. Chris Carlin. So just a lot of, a lot of people. It's always a lot of fun. So hopefully everybody's okay. And if Peter can't play, we can have him coach in one of the, you know, one of the baselines or something.

Peter Rosenberg (19:40)

There's a chance that if I, if Natalie comes with me, I'd say there's a chance she would want to take one of my bats for me.

Don Hahn (19:47)

And what we can do, maybe get some of the listeners to run for.

Peter Rosenberg (19:50)

You, you know, which is what an unfortunate and interesting ironic turn of events when, you know, the thing I was best at my baseball career was running for others.

Don Hahn (19:59)

But that was quite a few years ago. So times do change dramatically. 1-800-919-3776. Dave and Queen John ESPN New York hi, Dave, guys.

Caller/Guest (20:11)

Thanks. Yeah, I'm in a bar watching Panama and Caribbean. And if you put it on the espn, it's pretty good. The Panama catcher, he actually crouches. And they got some style in this game. But I'm listening to you guys. Thanks. And what I'm really calling for is this. We're gonna call Carlin Cartlidge. Carlin, Peter. Okay. We're gonna call him Cartilage Carlin. Okay. Because he tore his cartilage. Yeah. Okay. That's his new one.

Peter Rosenberg (20:42)

I know where you're going.

Caller/Guest (20:43)

We love Devil. Yeah, yeah. But you don't know where I'm going. Peter, you're Paris, Peter. Paris.

Peter Rosenberg (20:50)

Oh, Paris Peter. He's gallivanting in Paris, eating his freedom fries.

Caller/Guest (20:57)

Yeah. Yes. But that's the name today. And well done. Enjoyable show. Great stuff with Griffin. Well, you guys are doing a great show. Good tandem today, and thanks, man, but I really called. Thank you, guys. Yeah. And if I see him. Blondies. I went to the blondies in the 90s. Early 90s, Peter. And I did. I scored over there. I know you go your wife and everything, but I'll buy you a beer anonymously if I see you there. And I haven't been a while, but I will go there because you brought it up, because I've been meaning to get up to the Upper west side, but this is why I really called. This is. It is. Yeah. Like, he's a fraud. Peter Lonzo. He's a. He is the record holder for the Mets, but he. But he's a fraud baseball signer of a. When you break a record, okay, because by him writing down, down goes Daryl. Okay, that's. He's right. Daryl went down. But the thing is, to put that on a baseball, of all things, after Darryl's been nothing but a pro, which Darrell's always been a pro. He's had his problems off the field, but he's a baseball pro. Darrell's going to follow him on. To follow to break the franchise record. And for. For Peter Lonzo to put down, goes Darryl on the ball. He's a fraudulent ball signer. When you break a record because, like, Derek Jeter didn't sign the ball when he broke Lou Garrick, down goes the iron horse. You know what I mean? You know, if you pass down Doc Emmerich one day, Don, you're not gonna write down goes Doc Emory when.

Don Hahn (22:27)

Okay, I didn't bring this up. I had saw it. It was. Down goes Straw, by the way, was what was written on the ball, not down goes Darrell. And I saw it, and I didn't know all the context behind it. I do know that Daryl was following it. He was in the building leading up to the home run. I don't know this for a fact. Maybe Anthony can find it out. I have to think that Strawberry was. Was. Was in on it or knew about it. Like, I don't think he meant any disrespect in that way. I know in an interview he said he didn't have an issue with it. I.

Peter Rosenberg (23:02)

And by the way, aren't the. Aren't they probably pretty cool at this Point. I feel like Darryl's been around a good amount.

Don Hahn (23:07)

Yeah. So I think you only would do that if you know the guy and you're having some fun. Like, you're not. Like, Jeter's not going to do that. The Lou Gehrig. He's not. He's not with us anymore. There's no relationship there. But Strawberry's been around. Strawberry was following the Home Run tour when he was going. I. Again, I don't know for a fact. You just heard Anthony say that he's. Well, he said it in my ear, went on the air with it, that he didn't have a problem with it. I have to assume that it was just kind of tongue in cheek and they kind of knew each other. I don't think he meant any disrespect by it at all. Pete doesn't have that. He's not that kind of.

Peter Rosenberg (23:45)

You know what it is, though, you know? So here's the thing. He didn't mean any disrespect by it. It's the exact kind of thing that you get from the guy who, as Don would put it, in the middle of a cool pool party, he runs out on the diving board, screams cannonball, and goes flying into the pool. He just. I don't. You know, Pete's not the most socially cool dude, so he might not realize that that's like. It's like trying a little too hard. But not in a bad way. No, I just think he's not like that suave to be fair.

Don Hahn (24:15)

Without context, it's going to be taken the wrong way. And that's the precise reason why you don't do it. Because not everybody's going to be in on the joke. They're going to see the ball and go, that's disrespectful to Darryl Strawberry. Not everybody's in on it. If everybody's in on, it's a different story again. I think there is, honestly, down, like, down goes. Darryl's different than down goes Straw. Like, Straw was his nickname. I just. I really don't. Just knowing him, even from the distance, doesn't seem like he's a disrespectful guy. He gets it. But to Peter's point, that's kind of what we love about Pete, that he sometimes is a little awkward. Like. Like the other thing. Because he was the one that started the. Let's go F. Mets, Right? So LG fm hashtag, remember? And I remember Michael going, like, why would he use the swear? Because that's Pete. He doesn't think about that. There might be people that are offended by it. He only thinks about the people that think that's going to be cool. But there's also something kind of cool about like not worrying about what everybody thinks. The only person has to worry about is Darryl and Darryl didn't seem to have a problem with it. So how silly would you be as a Met fan having a problem with it when the guy whose name is Strawberry didn't have a problem with it?

Peter Rosenberg (25:29)

He's obviously goofing to say and to say down goes straw. It's a, it's, it's a reference to down goes Frazier. Yes, he's using his nickname. It's all silly. I. Listen, stop.

Don Hahn (25:40)

But, but to be honest, I wouldn't do it because I'd be afraid of the percentage of people that would take it the wrong way. Like, it's not necessary. He didn't have to put it on there. But again, ball. I think this is about anything. Like he didn't even think anybody was going to say it or think about it.

Peter Rosenberg (25:56)

I think we could all agree. I think we could all agree this is a good time to play my polar bear sound effects. I think that's the only way to really put a bow on anything related to Pete Alonso from now on. Might take time. It'll be worth it. Here it comes. See? See Doc, I told you.

Don Hahn (26:17)

Still contend it's the seal that the polar bear is.

Peter Rosenberg (26:23)

Feasting on.

Don Hahn (26:24)

But I again, I get it. You made it your own. And I think it do the best I can. It really works. 1-800-919-3776 Just an hour left of the week, so let's climb aboard. ENN at 6, it's Don on Rosenberg till 6:30. Then it's Mets Mariners right here on ESPN New York.

Peter Rosenberg (26:41)

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Peter Rosenberg (31:07)

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast. I didn't listen to anything you just said.

Don Hahn (31:12)

Catch the show on demand whenever you want.

Peter Rosenberg (31:14)

Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. Oh, I know what he's doing here.

Don Hahn (31:21)

What's he doing?

Peter Rosenberg (31:23)

It is Nipsey Hussle. The great Nipsey Hussle. It is Nipsey's birthday. I don't know how old. Not sure how old Nipsey would have been.

Don Hahn (31:36)

He turns 92.

Peter Rosenberg (31:40)

He was. He was born in 85, so it would have been 40.

Caller/Guest (31:47)

Wow.

Don Hahn (31:49)

So how old was he when he died?

Peter Rosenberg (31:51)

He died in 19. So he's 34, 33 now.

Don Hahn (31:57)

Cool.

Peter Rosenberg (31:57)

What a cool guy.

Don Hahn (31:59)

I don't know if you've seen this, Peter, actually. Theater of the Mind. I know you saw it because we talked about it in our meeting, but the sports misery index, ESPN's got this thing. You go to ESPN.com you could find it. And what it does is it measures your misery as a fan. So you put in just the professional sports teams of all the different leagues. Even the WNBA is in there, North American Soccer League, mls, everything. All right? And you just put it in and it'll tell you what your misery rate is. So if I were to play it.

Peter Rosenberg (32:45)

What are you putting in here? Here we Go.

Don Hahn (32:47)

I would put in. First of all, it gives you, like, before we get started in general, how do you feel about your teams today? So let's play with Peter.

Peter Rosenberg (32:56)

Okay.

Don Hahn (32:57)

So, Peter, how would you feel of the teams that you root for, of the four major sports, letting everybody know what they are? Everybody knows about the commanders, but also the Penguins, the Celtics, and the Baltimore Orioles would be your teams. So of those four teams combined, how would you feel?

Peter Rosenberg (33:14)

Don't forget lsu.

Don Hahn (33:16)

Woeful. Flailing. Meh. Pleasant. Or elated. The higher the score, the more woeful you feel.

Peter Rosenberg (33:23)

How would I feel about all of it?

Don Hahn (33:25)

All of it combined.

Peter Rosenberg (33:27)

See, again, it's hard because the Commanders weighs so heavily.

Don Hahn (33:30)

Sure. But that's okay. It's part of it, I guess.

Peter Rosenberg (33:32)

And then. And then the Celtics have been generally very good, and the Penguins, you know, a few years removed now from anything great, but it's okay. And then the Orioles are. The Orioles. I would say I feel pleasant.

Don Hahn (33:45)

Okay, so I knew that. So I put it in ahead of time. And you fall at 51, which is meh.

Peter Rosenberg (33:55)

Less than pleasant is what you're saying.

Don Hahn (33:57)

And ma' am is feeling somewhat ambivalent. You find yourself looking up at your rivals.

Peter Rosenberg (34:07)

Well, that has certainly happened. Yes.

Don Hahn (34:09)

Again, it's the current iteration. Right. So Celtics just came off a losing Tatum. You're going into a season where you're not expected to do anything. Pittsburgh hasn't made the playoffs in the last two years, so you're certainly looking up there. All right. The Orioles, miserable season after being a playoff team the last couple, but failing early in the year, certainly looking up at the Yankees, looking up at the Blue Jays, and even the. Even the Commanders. Right. You're. You're elated about the Commanders, but you're still looking up at the Eagles.

Caller/Guest (34:36)

Right.

Don Hahn (34:36)

That's a rival you lost to in the conference final. So meh, I think is probably somewhat inaccurate because you're so invested in the commanders compared to the championship appearance is.

Peter Rosenberg (34:48)

So great if you haven't had one.

Don Hahn (34:50)

So why don't we play it with Jacob? I don't think Jacob gets enough love on this show. All right.

Peter Rosenberg (34:56)

I like the sound of it.

Caller/Guest (34:57)

No, not.

Peter Rosenberg (34:57)

Certainly not this week.

Don Hahn (35:00)

So, Jacob, of the teams that you root for, how would you feel ahead of time? Woeful, Flailing. Meh. Meh. Pleasant or elated?

Peter Rosenberg (35:11)

What's muh.

Don Hahn (35:12)

Muh. That's if it's down. If it's down in Mississippi, it's meh. Otherwise, it's meh. I'm about I'm woeful.

Caller/Guest (35:23)

I mean with the next last four.

Don Hahn (35:25)

Or five years have been pretty good, but it's been pretty horrible all around. All right, so you'll say. Okay, so let's put it in there and now. All right, so your teams would be the Knicks, the Mets and the jets. And you've been a fan of those teams for 15 plus years, correct? That's correct. And so the Mets and the Jets. This is not going to be good, guys.

Peter Rosenberg (35:55)

Well, no, you would think not just based on who the teams are.

Don Hahn (35:59)

Okay. So going to see the results. Calculating, calculating, calculating. You are woeful, just like I thought. So they got 90 know you a 91 rating has. Is your misery rating and you are woeful. Now what would happen if you added the Liberty to that too? Fairly, fairly new. Less than five years. So you. So you're. Oh, you're big on the Liberty. I.

Peter Rosenberg (36:30)

We didn't say big. But they're there.

Don Hahn (36:32)

Dead there. Yes. Okay, so I didn't know that. This is all. This is almost as revealing as the. The LSU for. For Griff.

Peter Rosenberg (36:45)

It makes a little more sense.

Don Hahn (36:48)

At least. Yeah, mine's in state. And what teams do you. What's your favorite team of all those teams? Knicks. Definitely Knicks. All right, so that's not bad. That's what kind of makes this a little bogus in the sense that like with Peter there's. There's one with a bullet. Throwing the Liberty. Think of it. Throwing the Liberty in. You went from a 91 to a 71. You're now just flailing. I mean that's better than Wolf Will out there because the Liberty just came off a championship. So that helps.

Peter Rosenberg (37:21)

How would it not improve him a ton? He's also got a title.

Don Hahn (37:24)

So check it out. I mean I don't know if you need to have a statistical value on how you Don.

Peter Rosenberg (37:31)

What would have happened if you'd included the Liberty for me? I mean I'm a Liberty fan. I went to the final for God's sake.

Don Hahn (37:36)

Well, you're. You would. You would. You were meh.

Caller/Guest (37:40)

Right.

Peter Rosenberg (37:40)

What would that do for me though? If I can.

Don Hahn (37:42)

That would be something. So let's take.

Peter Rosenberg (37:45)

I could get to something good.

Don Hahn (37:47)

All right. So you had the commanders. You could add all Peter secondary teams too, like the Knicks and the Islanders. Yeah, I'm sure the Devils will give him something now that he works with Don. It's weird because when I put all those teams in, you know what comes up. It's not even a category.

Peter Rosenberg (38:00)

Fraud. Weird.

Don Hahn (38:05)

Crashed Your computer.

Peter Rosenberg (38:08)

Don't forget LSU for me.

Don Hahn (38:10)

And now. Now I got a point.

Peter Rosenberg (38:12)

I get my teams from Griff.

Don Hahn (38:14)

Let's see. Put all the teams in.

Peter Rosenberg (38:17)

Don's typing it into his TI82 it.

Don Hahn (38:20)

Where'd I have you as meh? Yeah, you're still meh. I don't love the descriptions. You went from a 51 down to a 49, so you only approved by two.

Peter Rosenberg (38:30)

Anthony's right. Though the descriptions could be better. Their word choices aren't like, awesome, like mess.

Don Hahn (38:36)

Saying that you're looking up at your rivals.

Caller/Guest (38:40)

I kind of thought that I was shocking.

Don Hahn (38:42)

I know pleasant based on the way that everything was described. Because I do root for a Yankee team that makes the playoffs every year. I'm not rooting for the Colorado Rockies. The Rangers have been good up until last year. The Giants have been a problem for a while, but again, I think you're looking at. Again, I don't know how they do. Sounds like they're more real time than like, history fair. So. So the Yankees right now are meh. Yeah, they're all kind of meh. The Rangers missed the playoffs and the Giants are disgusting. Are ma. Now, if you want to go over the history, you know, I guess what it does, but it does ask you how long you've been a fan of that team. So I don't know, it's something fun. You know, if you're down to checkers, you can now throw this in and buy yourself a day. See what I'm saying there? See what I did there, Peter, when I'm trying to round the show off? You see what I did?

Peter Rosenberg (39:37)

I see what you did. This is what you do, Don.

Don Hahn (39:42)

Let's go to JJ in North Carolina. You're on ESPN New York. What's up, jj?

Peter Rosenberg (39:46)

Come on, jj. Here we go.

Don Hahn (39:47)

Show me something.

Caller/Guest (39:48)

Hey, guys. How you doing?

Don Hahn (39:50)

Oh, man.

Caller/Guest (39:51)

That's it. You're.

Don Hahn (39:51)

You're drunk already. It's amazing.

Peter Rosenberg (39:54)

Why'd you go right to drunk?

Don Hahn (39:56)

Because I just. Am I wrong?

Caller/Guest (39:59)

No, no, no. I've been. No, I've been fine. I haven't drank. I haven't drank in like seven, like six or so months or something. I've been trying to just chill out.

Don Hahn (40:06)

Oh, cool.

Peter Rosenberg (40:09)

A joke from Don. Then it all of a sudden sounds much more serious, but keep going.

Don Hahn (40:14)

I didn't. I didn't realize. You got a chip today. Go ahead.

Caller/Guest (40:17)

I have. Oh, God. This is Friday radio. I haven't called a while. Don, I wanted to wish you congratulations on the radio gig. I haven't called since then. I mean the, the TV gig with the Devils. And Peter, hopefully that, hopefully that PT goes well with your knee. I've been through PT already for a lot of stuff and it's pain, but you'll get through it.

Peter Rosenberg (40:44)

Thank you.

Caller/Guest (40:46)

Also, Peter, I wanted to contact you about something, just something small. I wanted your opinion on something. I've emailed your Rosenberg wrestling email if that was the best way to contact you. But just throwing that out there.

Peter Rosenberg (40:58)

No, no, that's not an ideal one. I can have, I can have Anthony give you a better address.

Caller/Guest (41:02)

Okay. Sorry. Yeah, I didn't, I didn't know what the best, the best one was, but I appreciate that. The Justin Fields I wanted to mention because you guys bring up Justin Fields, football season's coming around and being a huge Bears fan, I don't think it was much so that the Bears like didn't like him and moved on from him because he was bad. I think it was more so that they just had the number one overall pick from that Carolina trade and Williams coming out of college was supposed to be like Trevor Lawrence like and we'll see if he is. But I don't think it was. I think it was more so that. Than what Justin Field was bad. If you remember, he like led the league in rushing as QBs and he was really good. It's just a matter of developing his pass IQ and his, and his, you know, his reading and stuff. But I think a good comparison will be what the jets would try to run is how like the Jalen Hurts kind of offense he can throw when you need to. He's not going to be a top, you know, five QB in the league, but they're going to run the run, run it a lot with Breeze hall and he's going to Field is going to run when he has to and make the plays when he needs to. Hopefully they can be Eagles kind of offense like that. I think they can go a long way if their offensive line holds up.

Don Hahn (42:11)

Well, I, I, but I don't think it's, I, I don't think it's sustainable, Peter, to kind of do it that way. Like that might be the way to do it this year is your truck. But at some point you're going to find out if this kid can play. He's 26 years old now. If you get Justin Fields at 34 and this is what he is, well then I guess you try to make it work. But at 26, maybe he could be more than just that. And the only way to find that out is to develop his arm and see if he can be more of a pocket quarterback. Instead of just saying, this is a guy that's going to run the football. We're going to kind of figure it out on the ground and just try to get by with that and win as many games as we can. Okay, fine. In Aaron Glenn's first year. But if you're going to bring him back, if you're going to give him a contract, you're going to have to find out if there's more to him than just that. They brought him here hoping that he can eventually develop into becoming a franchise quarterback. How do you do that? If you don't let him throw the football?

Peter Rosenberg (43:09)

It's it. I'm with you 100%, Don. I have no clue. And this is, by the way, some of the thrills that you can get this coming season when it comes to just football, Don, we have no idea what in God's name is going to happen.

Don Hahn (43:22)

But the 3.3yards on a cloud of dust. Listen, you do what you got to do, all right? Kind of like when Miami had Chad Pennington running the wildcat like, you do what you got to do to win games. But I think because of his age, they brought him in to see if there's something more than just.

Peter Rosenberg (43:38)

But that's the thing. That's the thing, though. They. It's a complete mystery, I think, to fans what Fields could be. I wonder. And of course, we would never find this out. We couldn't even find out, Don, if he had. If he had food poisoning tonight, we. They wouldn't tell us. Well, I wonder within the organization right now if they think there's like a bit of a ceiling there. We're really going to see some things, and they're going to open it up. I'm very curious because, I mean, essentially, we haven't gotten to see them open up anything in years. I mean, Don, everything last year with Rogers was underneath. There was nothing like. That's why the Rogers stats are so misleading. He got to almost 4,000 yards. Donnie never threw the ball past 20 yards.

Don Hahn (44:16)

No.

Peter Rosenberg (44:16)

So it'll be interesting to see avoiding.

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Peter Rosenberg (45:16)

Thanks for listening to the Don Han and Rosenberg podcast. I didn't listen to anything you just said.

Don Hahn (45:21)

Catch this show on demand whenever you want.

Peter Rosenberg (45:23)

Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.

Don Hahn (45:29)

Summer Breeze, you use one today. It's hot, it's humid. I was out there playing wiffle ball with the kids and when that breeze came, it felt really good. But enjoy it, man, because soon we complain about how cold it is. 1-800-919-377-6, Enns coming up at 6. But right now let's go to Muhammad on Long Island. You're on ESPN New York. What's up man?

Caller/Guest (45:51)

What's going on man? Thanks. Taking my call, Don. Peter, Appreciate it, man. What's up you guys? First of all, first of all, I want to say this. You guys can't let the, you guys can't let the. The take with it. Marcus goes to madness. Y' all can't let that segment go. You know, Ped Smeeds, I still get a good chuckle out of that. So yeah, there's no way I can let that.

Peter Rosenberg (46:09)

No, we're bringing Drop Madness back. Enough is enough.

Caller/Guest (46:11)

Yeah, I need that, man. But I heard that talking about the Justin Field and the jets and I just wanted to say, you know, when Lamar Jackson came out, nobody dawns him as one of the best throwers of the football. But you know, they created a nice offense in Baltimore which allowed them to him to utilize his leg and then throw when he needs to. And over the years they got him more weapons and more targets. So I would just hope. I was a little worried with the defensive minded coach but I just hope that we, if we want Justin Fields to be here for a couple years that we could, you know, find a way to put an offense around him that lets him use his legs. That's like one of the last callers said he was, you know, one of the leading rushes in the league at a quarterback spot. So hopefully we could get a offense that allows him to use his legs like that and pass when he needs to to not so complicated. Reads the same way Lamar Jackson's office was when he first came into the league his first few years. So thanks for taking my call guys. I just wanted to get your thoughts on that.

Don Hahn (47:03)

No, I. As much as Jackson runs, as much as Josh Allen runs and how elusive Mahomes can be ultimately in my opinion, the difference maker at quarterback. The teams that win, you win with the arm of the quarterback. And when I saw the jets not be able to draft a quarterback this year where they were selecting and having Rodgers gone and you know, Tyrod Taylor not the future of the team, Peter. When I saw them get Justin Fields, I saw the contract in Fields age, I said this is almost like a draft pick adjacent. So let's see what he can do. So you're, listen, you want to win games and all that, but at some point you want to see if this kid can be a franchise quarterback. And the only way to be a franchise quarterback, in my opinion is to have an arm. And he was drafted to be that quarterback. And let's see if he now has found the right place. He's on a third team here. Maybe this is the right place. Ultimately. We'll see.

Peter Rosenberg (48:00)

I've always said I think there is something there. I just. It's.

Don Hahn (48:04)

It.

Peter Rosenberg (48:04)

Is this the team that can bring it out? Certainly if you're a betting man, you have to choose. Gun to your head, you probably go with no, but, but who knows, man? Let's see.

Don Hahn (48:13)

Let's say, I mean the jets don't have a history of developing quarterbacks, but this is a new regime and maybe things will turn around with, with Muji and with Glenn at the helm. Let's go to Artie in Brooklyn. You're on ESPN New York. What's up, Artie?

Caller/Guest (48:29)

Hey guys, thanks for taking a call. Can you hear me?

Don Hahn (48:30)

Oh, sure.

Caller/Guest (48:32)

All right. So when the jets got Fields, they gave him a two year contract, right?

Don Hahn (48:39)

Yes, I think they did.

Caller/Guest (48:41)

Yeah. So I mean they obviously and they gave them pretty good money. They didn't bring them in here just to say, all right, just hold for it. They actually took a chance. They got it for two years. And if he was a number one pick, if he's not a first, you know, if he's not a franchise guy, then next year, you know, they're gonna, they're gonna go out and get a quarterback. They also made the decision this year not just to pay Rogers, so they use that 36 million to make the team as good as it possibly and surround Fields the way they are. So if. Is Jalen Hurts a top five quarterback? No, but he's a Super bowl champion quarterback. And I'm not saying that they're going to win the super bowl this year or. The question is, can you win the super bowl with Justin Fields? From what you saw with Chicago and Pittsburgh, I say yes. What do you guys say? All right. Thanks for taking a call.

Don Hahn (49:41)

Well, I mean, I don't know how you can say yes when there hasn't been that kind of success. I mean, I know he did have a winning record in Pittsburgh before they played, pulled the plug. But listen, Jalen Hurts showed you almost immediately that there was a lot of ability. Now that's a really good football team where the Bears and the Steelers at the level, talent wise as Philadelphia.

Caller/Guest (50:00)

No.

Don Hahn (50:01)

So no, I can't say, Peter, I've seen a championship quarterback, but I think the way that they did this contract, what was it, two years, $40 million. So it's $20 million a year and it's easy to get out of if it ends up falling flat on his face, no harm, no foul. You cut him next year, no big deal. And if he ends up having a great year, you can always visit the contract next year if you want. I thought it was worth a chance, but to say that I've. That this is the future Jalen Hurts or that, you know, Mar Jackson, I can't say I've seen that, but I. What I've seen, I've liked.

Peter Rosenberg (50:34)

Could he be. Could he be a Super bowl winning quarterback in the way that we saw quarterbacks in the 80s and 90s? I think Fields could be that. Does that make sense? I could see in those days, you know what I mean? Could it be.

Don Hahn (50:56)

What are you saying? Could it be a Randall Cunningham?

Peter Rosenberg (51:01)

No, no, no, that's not what I mean. Could he be. Could he be a good game manager who's capable of getting you a Super Bowl? I'm not going to say Dilford don't. We're not going to go Dilfer. But you know, there were teams that got it done with Doug Williams. You know, Mark Ripon's no Hall of Famer. He had a great year with the.

Don Hahn (51:21)

Right team around Johnson. Yeah, I know, I know, I know.

Peter Rosenberg (51:24)

Yes, but, but we haven't seen enough of him so far to say that he could be a top guy in this version of what it is to be a great NFL quarterback.

Don Hahn (51:32)

But what, what, what you're asking is, is Jalen Hurts not an Elite quarterback, but a kid that knows how to win. And you accentuate his talents by having a lot of talent around him. Now, Philadelphia is probably one of, if not the most talented teams in football right up and down the roster. So that's what you're going to have to do to compensate for not having elite quarterback. That's a really, that's, that's, that's a lot of heavy lifting. Right? There's a, there's a lot to do there, a lot of creativity. I don't know if Muji can do that. We'll see. But, but they did save them some money, as already pointed out. Clearly we're not bringing Rodgers back and they can utilize free agency. And as much as I think people believe the jets are going to have a good year, if they don't, they will draft high and hopefully Mujee knows what he's doing and they'll be able to continue to stockpile talent and that's gonna have to do. But I believe that the jets are thinking at 26, he doesn't have to be a game manager. That with the right tutelage that maybe he can be. Can he become what Baker Mayfield became A failed first round pick that found his groove later in his career, found the right team and is now thrown for 4,500 yards and 40 touchdowns. That's what the jets are hoping for. That, that's the high end. That's the ceiling. The ceiling's the roof. But anything better, anything close to that, I think the jets would sign for. But it takes a while.

Peter Rosenberg (52:57)

I regularly drop. The ceiling is the roof in life. And I feel sad that I'm the only one who ever knows what I'm talking about.

Don Hahn (53:03)

Well, that's on them because it's only Michael Jordan.

Peter Rosenberg (53:06)

I know, but it's funny, I don't know how big this ceiling is beyond us.

Don Hahn (53:10)

I think we stumbled upon it and ran with it. I don't know if other people have, but I think it's.

Peter Rosenberg (53:17)

I don't know if the casual sports fan out there knows that Michael Jordan famously, while he was giving an insane hall of Fame speech in which he was going after people, still like a maniac, he also dropped the ceiling as the roof. I don't know if they know that.

Don Hahn (53:33)

Well, it was still, it's still fun and we get it. And I guess that's the most important thing. We also get enn. That's coming up next here on Don Hahn and Rosenberg on ESPN New York.

Peter Rosenberg (53:43)

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Don Hahn (54:49)

Sausage is made, man. I just want to know. It's good. Hear more of Don, Alan and Peter.

Peter Rosenberg (54:53)

Weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8.

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