Hour 3: NY Football Woes & Pro Picks

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Don, Hahn & Rosenberg

Episode: Hour 3: NY Football Woes & Pro Picks
Date: December 19, 2025
Hosts: Don La Greca, Alan Hahn, (Peter Rosenberg absent)

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Overview

This episode tackles the deep malaise in New York football as the Jets and Giants face another late season with little on the line, dissecting the unique fan psychology of wanting draft picks but also player progress. Don and Alan weave through stats, historical context, personal anecdotes, and humor while previewing NFL Week 16 and making their competitive pro picks. The show also features some memorable conversations on sports fandom (including with callers) and the surprising prominence of sports mascots.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. New York Football’s Rock Bottom

• Absence of Relevance: Don and Allen lament that, deep into December, New York football (Jets & Giants) barely merits discussion—a stark contrast with traditional Fridays in past seasons ([00:39]-[01:56]).
  • Don: “Isn’t it crazy week after week…we didn’t even mention the Giants two hours into a Friday show…how sad is it that it’s December 19th and…there is really no local football to talk about.” ([00:39])
• Disinterest in Matchups: Neither hosts nor fans are compelled by the upcoming Jets-Saints or Giants-Vikings games.
  • Allen: “Who the hell wants to talk about Jets, Saints and Giants, Vikings…It’s the same week after week.” ([01:56])

2. Jets and Giants: Analysis & Hopelessness

• Jets Defensive Coaching: Allen wonders if the recent firing of their defensive coordinator will change anything, especially as they face not a potent offense but a beatable Saints team. He is looking for “baby steps”—basic improvements like forcing turnovers, showing effort ([02:51]).
  • Allen: “Can the jets hold a team under twenty? Show me something. How about get an interception…Can that happen against a rookie quarterback?” ([03:07])
• Giants & Jackson Dart’s Dilemma: The internal conflict of rooting for rookie QB Jackson Dart’s development vs. higher draft picks. Don argues winning (and the confidence of a young QB) is more valuable than draft position ([03:40]-[06:10]).
  • Don: "Having Jackson Dart be the next franchise quarterback to me is more important than the first pick…I just don’t want Jackson Dart to be a loser.” ([05:34])
  • Allen: “When I see the quarterback, it’s killing him to lose. That tells me that he’s got that kind of stuff about him…” ([06:26])
• Losing Erodes the Team: Don compares persistent losing to rot, referencing "Bruce Almighty" and a metaphorical erosion of spirit ([07:18]-[08:27]).
  • Don: “That’s what I feel like losing does to an organization, just erodes everything…it becomes very, very disease, the organization with it all.” ([07:47])

3. Historical Context of NY Sports Futility

• Jets & Giants Historic Lowlights: Allen cites both teams’ frequency of 12-loss seasons (five apiece over a decade—“most in the NFL”) as emblematic of their failures ([08:44]).
  • Allen: “That to me is the most telling stat about the condition of New York football…” ([09:13])
• Relating to Other Sports: The hosts compare this to rare seasons of mutual Yankees/Mets futility, noting even when both were “bad,” it wasn’t as dire as now ([09:39]-[12:37]).
  • Don: “That to me is the equivalent of two baseball teams losing 100 games.” ([12:39])

4. Statistical Futility - Giants’ Run Defense

• Worst Ever: Anthony Pusick drops a shocking stat: Giants are surrendering 5.6 yards per rush—on pace for worst run defense in 75 years ([12:42]).
  • Anthony Pusick: “They could have the worst run defense that we’ve ever seen in football.” ([12:49])

5. Nostalgia, History & Sports Culture

• Old School Sports Oddities: Don and Allen riff about forgotten sports franchises, odd naming traditions, lack of playoffs “back in the day,” and other quirks from sports history, often with tongue-in-cheek humor ([13:12]-[14:35]).

6. Fandom and Family Traditions

• The “Fandom Age Rule”: A caller asks Don about the household rule that kids must “declare” their sports allegiances by age 8 ([14:49]). Don clarifies that his son Marco will formally choose his baseball team by opening day ([15:34]-[19:29]).
  • Don: “He is going to have to declare by opening day what team he’s rooting for.” ([16:09])
• Personal Stories: Both hosts share how they bond with their kids over breaking sports news and highlights, showing the generational ties that sports create ([17:46]-[19:29]).

7. Mascots: From Party Trick to Celebrity

• Amused discussion about the rise in status of team mascots—especially how the Devils’ mascot “NJ” (and others, like Gritty) are integrated into team events, treated (bizarrely) as near-celebrities, even joining in game celebrations ([20:19]-[23:29]).
  • Don: “The way they get treated, their availability, the access that they have is almost a player level…Them going on the field…is not considered that crazy.” ([21:04])
  • Allen on the Seahawks Mascot: “If you were on that team, like, get the hell out of here. What are you doing? Like, why are you making this about you?” ([20:58])

8. Pro Picks & Internal Competition

• Standings Recap: Don proudly details current standings for their picks contest: He's in first place, Allen trying to catch up, and Peter absent/falling behind ([27:47]-[28:47]).
• Strategy & Picks: The hosts banter over pick strategies for NFL week 16, sharing their logic and a bit of game theory to outmaneuver each other ([29:16]-[33:51]).
  • Don: “I’m actually above .500 including my win last night. Allen, I am 24 and 22…” ([27:47])
  • Allen, strategizing: “We know we’re probably gonna have to start, you know, going forward on fourth down a couple of times. We’re gonna take some shots.” ([29:00])
• Peter’s Absence & Rules Enforcement: The crew debates how to handle Peter’s tardiness for picks: Do they let him submit late? Give him default picks? Key moment of internal show management ([34:04]-[37:58]).
  • Don: “If we do not have Don La Greca announcer or Anthony Pusick announcing his picks by then, then he goes 0-3…” ([35:24])
  • Allen: “No, I’m not helping him. No chance.” ([36:49])

9. Calls from Listeners

• Quarterbacks Jets Could've Had: A caller laments that the Jets could have had Trevor Lawrence, and asks about power rankings/lamenting missed QB opportunities ([40:42]-[43:02]). Don argues the Jets’ dysfunction would have stunted any prospect’s growth: “You screw up a quarterback, you screw up a quarterback…” ([41:21])
• Rooting in the College Playoff: Another caller asks if it’s okay to root for non-rival teams once your team is eliminated—Don gives a warm, inclusive answer ([43:13]-[45:38]).
  • Don: “Of course you’re allowed to root for other teams that are not rivals when your team's been eliminated, right? ...If you start buying a jersey...now that’s fraudulent.” ([44:04])

10. Rules, Refereeing, and Fan Frustration

• Controversial Call Discussion: Caller brings up confusion about a Rams game ruling after a possible blown whistle on a two-point conversion. Don and Anthony debate league protocol—Don is firm that blown whistles should end plays, regardless. ([45:38]-[48:27])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Don, on NY Football’s Sad State:
  “How sad is it that it’s December 19th and…there is really no local football to talk about. Nobody cares about Giants, Vikings. Nobody cares about jets and Saints.” ([00:51])
• Allen, on Losing’s Psychological Toll:
  "When I see the quarterback, it’s killing him to lose. That tells me that he’s got that kind of stuff about him…” ([06:26])
• Don, on Franchise QBs vs. Tanking:
  “Having Jackson Dart be the next franchise quarterback to me is more important than the first pick. I want to see the Giants win…I just don’t want Jackson Dart to be a loser.” ([05:34])
• Anthony Pusick, on Giants' Defensive Futility:
  “They could have the worst run defense that we’ve ever seen in football.” ([12:49])
• Allen, on Mascots Joining Players:
  “If you were on that team, like, get the hell out of here. What are you doing? Like, why are you making this about you?” ([20:58])
• Don, on Fandom Traditions:
  “He is going to have to declare by opening day what team he’s rooting for.” ([16:09])
• Don, on Jets’ Prospects:
  “You screw up a quarterback, you screw up a quarterback, and certainly Trevor Lawrence looks like a quarterback you can screw up because Jacksonville has done that…” ([41:21])
• Don, on When It’s Okay to Pick a Temporary Team:
  “If you start buying a jersey and start rooting for that team beyond the season, now that’s fraudulent.” ([44:04])
• Allen, on Internal Competition:
  “We know we’re probably gonna have to start…going forward on fourth down a couple of times. We’re gonna take some shots.” ([29:00])

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Timestamps of Important Segments

• NY Football Relevance Lament: [00:39]-[01:56]
• Jets Defensive Hopelessness: [02:51]-[03:25]
• Giants’ QB Dilemma & Tanking Issue: [03:40]-[06:10]
• Losing vs. Franchise Erosion (Bruce Almighty reference): [07:18]-[08:27]
• Historic Taste of Futility (Jets/Giants/MLB): [08:44]-[12:37]
• Giants’ Historically Bad Run Defense: [12:42]-[13:12]
• Sports Nostalgia / Weird History: [13:12]-[14:35]
• Declaring Team Fandom by Age 8: [14:49]-[19:29]
• Mascot as Star Segment: [20:19]-[23:29]
• Pro Picks & Standings: [27:47]-[33:51]
• Peter’s Picks Absence/How To Handle: [34:04]-[37:58]
• Listener Call: Jets’ QB History & Power Rankings: [40:42]-[43:02]
• Listener Call: College Playoff Fandom Rules: [43:13]-[45:38]
• Listener Call: Rams Lateral/Ref Rules Debate: [45:38]-[48:27]

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Tone & Style

The hosts strike a balance between commiserating with listeners, providing sharp analysis, playful banter, and warm storytelling. Humor and nostalgia serve as comfort for the dismal state of their teams, while the latter half’s call-in segments and pro picks reveal their enduring love for the games, quirks and all.

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Transcript

[Don Hahn]

So good, so good, so good.

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[Allen]

This is the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Don Hahn]

That sounds like heaven to me.

[Allen]

Listen live weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 80, ESPN, the ESPN New Year New York app, and your smart.

[Don Hahn]

Speakers, Don Hahn and Rosenberg. 501 in the Big city.

[Allen]

Damn right.

[Don Hahn]

Again, you're ready for week 16 in the NFL. And it shows how simpatico Allen and I are. I was just getting my tie on, getting ready for the game.

[Allen]

Yep.

[Don Hahn]

And I was thinking, what am I, what are we going to do at 5? You know, Alan and I are not in the same state. I'm in Utah right now.

[Allen]

Not even in the same time zone.

[Don Hahn]

For the Devils and the Mammoth. And Allen's at the Garden getting ready for Knicks and Sixers. And I said, you know what? I think I want to talk about the fact that isn't it crazy week after week, day after day here? Fridays are always very sacrosanct in a sense that you talked football and you talked to jets and Giants and even in years that wasn't great. There'd be some angle, something to talk about with the two local teams. And like, we didn't even mention the Giants two hours into a Friday show. The only thing we talked about the jets was in relation to the game last night because Sam Darnold played in it. That, like, how sad is it that it's December 19th and we're doing a show in New York and there is really no local football to talk about. Nobody cares about Giants, Vikings. Nobody cares about jets and Saints. And then I find out when I sit back down that you were saying the same thing to Anthony. Turn the break. Like, how sad that is.

[Allen]

Yeah. Literally saying, it's amazing we've gone this far on a football Friday and we have yet to mention Jets, Saints and Giants, Vikings. And then as I said that, I'm like, who the hell wants to talk about Jets, Saints and Giants, Vikings. But to be like, what are we going to say? Like, it's the same week after week. Jackson dart, you know, can he show you something? Make sure he doesn't get hurt, blah, blah, blah. Like, the coaches have to prove themselves. The only thing I will say that I think out of either one of these games, that is important quotes, air quotes, important because Aaron Glenn Just fired his defensive coordinator. The jets had two awful defensive performances. Now it's the Saints, right? It's Tyler Schuck. Like, we're not talking about. They're not going up against, you know, the greatest show on turf, but still, you're on the road. A team that, that's playing a lot better of late. In the Saints, can your defense now show effort and make tackles and just give me something where I'm like, all right, Aaron Glenn got control of this team. The defense played better because they got rid of the DC that no one seemed to like.

[Don Hahn]

Right.

[Allen]

That's. I'm curious, can the jets hold a team under 20? You know, like, can they do, like, I'm looking for baby steps at this point. Win. Forget I'm thinking about wins. You know, show me something. How about get an interception, Maybe get your first pick of the season. Can that happen against a rookie quarterback? That'd be nice.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, but that's, that's, that's nice in theory, but I don't think anybody is going to judge the decision to let go of Wilkes on this game against the Saints.

[Allen]

No, but it's.

[Don Hahn]

It is what it is, but it doesn't hurt. But Dart.

[Allen]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

Is something right.

[Allen]

All right.

[Don Hahn]

Everybody seems to be sold, us included, that this kid's got a shot to be the next great quarterback of the New York Giants.

[Allen]

I agree.

[Don Hahn]

Yet I see. I'm not stupid. I see how much better it puts the Giants in to lose out, get the first overall pick. Even if they're not going to trade Dart for that little reindeer game we played with Cincinnati and Joe Burrow there. They can. They need talent. They need picks. Having the first overall pick is better than having the second overall pick, pick or third overall pick. I get that. But you want your franchise quarterback or the guy who thinks could be the franchise quarterback to play well. So you explain a world to me where you're rooting for. For Jackson Dart to play well, but at the same time, you're rooting for the Giants to lose. That's. That's a weird. That's a weird headspace to be in. Plus, and Anthony pointed this out to me, all right, because I'm not watching Hard Knocks on a bet because the Giants are awful. I don't need to be reminded of that. And I have no interest in hearing from Sirianni and what's going on in Dallas and all that stuff, but he pointed out to me, and I saw it elsewhere, of how, you know, Dart's taking these losses. Tough, man. I Mean he wants to win. He's sickened by the way they played against the Commanders and. And lost that game. He's sick by the pick that he threw that iced the game for Washington. So how do we live in a world where this is our franchise quarterback and we want him to learn how to win, we want him to play well, but then the team to lose? I would rather lose out on the first overall pick to see my quarterback grow and learn and gain confidence and win some games here and get this stink off of him. Because when you're the quarterback of a team, no matter how well you play, whether it's right or wrong, the results are attached to you. And he can go out there and throw for 350 yards and four touchdowns, but if the Giants lose the game and he throws the pick at the end of the game to solidify the win, as you're pumping your fist saying we're one step closer to the first overall pick, you might have done some emotional damage to your young quarterback who's going to get sick of losing and maybe have this stick to him. So you know what? Having Jackson Dart be the next franchise quarterback to me is more important than the first pick. I want to see the Giants win and the same with the jets, so I get the value. I'm not dumb. But I just don't want Jackson Dart to be a loser. I don't want him to lose his confidence as the Giants strive to get the first overall pick in the draft. Am I wrong to think that.

[Allen]

No, you're not. Look, they've lost eight in a row. Like you can understand. Like you need to see something successful. I agree with you. When it comes to dart, you can see him wear it. That's what I like about him.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, but that like a lot of.

[Allen]

Quarterbacks that are like young quarterbacks in their first year or going through it like this, eventually it just starts to get your head spinning and. And you just reach a point where you're just trying to get through it and the wins and losses don't even affect you because you're just trying to get through it. I think that's more damaging. I think it's better. When I see the quarterback, it's killing him to lose. That tells me that he's got that kind of stuff about him, that the end result does matter. Even if we have no chance to win, it still pisses me off that we lost. That's what you want. I want him to have that because you want that to drive him going forward. Where Wins and losses matter. He's a competitor. He's not somebody just trying to hang on and survive and I'll worry about winning next year. No, once you start doing that then you're going to get used to losing. Jackson Dart someone that doesn't want to get used to losing.

[Don Hahn]

I don't know if we can find it. Maybe we can find it for the next break. Okay, but, but you know the movie Bruce Almighty with Jim Carrey?

[Allen]

Yeah, of course.

[Don Hahn]

And he's on the, he's on the boat by the Niagara Falls. I forget the name of what was called. And it's his big moment live. He's on live TV and that's when he learns that he's not going to be anchored and he has the meltdown on TV and he's going.

[Allen]

It erode, eroding.

[Don Hahn]

And that's what I feel like losing does to an organization, just erodes everything because that's what they work for. There's not a quarterback that is saying, planning to throw for 350 yards and four touchdowns. There's nothing a defender that's planning and working all week to have 10 tackles. They're all working for one thing and that is to eventually win the game. And when you keep losing it just even though they're going to blow it up and I'm really starting to feel it's gaining traction that Shane's not coming back now what they end up doing at the end of the day and listen, another reason to root for them to lose for people is going to be yeah, just let's get Shane out of here. I get that.

[Allen]

Right, right.

[Don Hahn]

But. And even though a new regime is coming in here, you just don't want the losing. It does erode. It becomes very, very disease the organization with it all.

[Allen]

But listen to this.

[Don Hahn]

God, I'm so, it's, I'm so disgusted. This is. Well, here's such a fun time of year and it's not.

[Allen]

And here's all you need to know. This, this is everything that you need to know when it comes to New York football and why we have reached that point where we're all just so disgusted with coming up with things to talk about that have to do with games. If the jets lose this game, that would be their fifth 12 loss season in the last 10 years. So that'd be tied with the Giants for the most in the NFL.

[Don Hahn]

And now those were in 16 game seasons.

[Allen]

Right. But like that's all you need to know. There's no like that to me is the Most telling stat about the condition of New York football is that the jets will have 512 lost seasons if they lose this game in the last 10 years. And that's tied for the most. And the other team that has that same record is the other football team in New York when was. Man, that's pathetic.

[Don Hahn]

I'm just trying to think the last time in any other sport that all that both teams or all teams. When you think of the three in hockey, we're all God awful, like historically bad. Has there ever been a time where the Yankees and Mets were both historically bad? Because this is the equivalent of 100 loss season in Major League Baseball.

[Allen]

1990. Both met Yankees terrible in 1990.

[Don Hahn]

But the Mets, they were bad. The Mets weren't. I don't think the Mets were bad. I think they finished in second to the Pirates in 90. If I'm not mistaken. Then after 90, is it 91 then am I thinking of maybe 91?

[Allen]

Because I know that Dallas Green and Stump Merrill, like yeah, that was. Yeah, there was 192 somewhere in the early 90s. They were both God awful.

[Don Hahn]

Well, let's, you know, we could probably look it up.

[Allen]

Yeah, you can look it up.

[Don Hahn]

But no but because I never had.

[Allen]

It with the hockey teams. There was always one good one.

[Don Hahn]

The reason I jumped because I just. 1990, to me that was like the last chance. Then it started to fall apart after 1990, okay. Where the Mets just weren't any good anymore. And then the Yankees, they were good by 93. So there might have been that 91, 92 those seasons where maybe they were both bad, but historically bad. Alan, I got, I got, I got to look up historically bad because I'm just punching it up here.

[Allen]

Yeah, I'm on it.

[Don Hahn]

Two things at once. So what you look at the. You host. I got the Mets.

[Allen]

Well, I'm looking at the whole league.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, that's how it does an IMDb. So the Yankees. So the Yankees. God, I hate IMDb when it comes to crap like this, you know, I.

[Allen]

Just want the damn standings, for God's sake. I got it, I got it, I got it. I'm ahead of you. The Yankees that year were 71 and 91.

[Don Hahn]

Okay?

[Allen]

God. And in the east division that put them 1, 2, 3, 4, 5th place, believe it or not, there were two worst teams. Baltimore and Cleveland. The Mets, what year? This is 91. The Mets were 77 and 84, second to last place in the East.

[Don Hahn]

Okay, but that's still not quite as bad. And then, and then 92, the Mets were 72 and 90, which, that's pretty bad. That's. And the. And The Yankees in 92 were 78 and 86.

[Allen]

There you go, Bucks.

[Don Hahn]

First year.

[Allen]

So that, that's, that's the one you'll.

[Don Hahn]

Look at as, you know, not. Not so. So first of all, we're going back to the early 90s.

[Allen]

Yeah. It's a long time.

[Don Hahn]

More than half of our audience doesn't either wasn't alive like our producer Anthony Pusick, or don't have any memory of that. And still those records that we're mentioning, 10 games under 500 is not what the jets and Giants are going to be. Jets and Giant. I mean the jets have three wins, the Giants have two. Right. So the Giants, I think will be. Beat the Raiders. They're gonna be a three win team again. They're gonna have the exact same record they had last year. And the jets are gonna finish probably even if they win another game, are still gonna have a worse record than they had last. They'd be a four win team.

[Allen]

Oh yeah.

[Don Hahn]

That to me is the equivalent of two baseball teams losing 100 games.

[Anthony Pusick]

You guys know that the Giants could have the worst run defense ever.

[Allen]

Yes. Like a real thing.

[Anthony Pusick]

They have. They're currently giving up 5.6 yards per rush. Yeah, that's the worst in the last 75 years. You have to go back to the New York Yanks. No, not the baseball team, apparently. Allegedly. There was a football team there was called the Yanks. They gave up 5.63. They're not that far away. No, they could have the worst run defense that we've ever seen in football.

[Don Hahn]

There was a time in football even post leather helmets. Like I said, we were at war, so we didn't care. Let's put the goal posts at the goal line. Line.

[Allen]

Sure. Run right into it.

[Don Hahn]

Let's not, let's not even have any logos on our helmets.

[Allen]

We're still trying to purge the population.

[Don Hahn]

Right. And what they also did was. What do you want to call it? I don't know, what's the baseball team called? We'll just call them that.

[Allen]

Oh, there was a lot of that going on.

[Don Hahn]

A lot of that going on in sports, period.

[Allen]

No, they were just. Yeah, we were doing a lot of stealing nicknames again.

[Don Hahn]

I'm telling you, I would. I wish you were talking about a 30 for 30 with the Islander dynasty. There should be a 30 for 30. The era of sports where no, no one, even people in sports didn't care. They actually didn't care. Uniform colors, logos, names. Didn't even try the NFL. I got to give you the exact date. There was actually. I might have brought this up a few other times. There was actually a time in the NFL where they just awarded the champion with the best record in regular season. Didn't even think to play playoffs.

[Allen]

No, no, playoffs didn't because that's when they valued a regular season. Well, why do we need playoffs? We just had a regular season.

[Don Hahn]

Right. We just.

[Allen]

Champion is the team with the best record. That's the way it's most.

[Don Hahn]

They play. They play 10 games. It's like here, here's 10 games.

[Allen]

There you go.

[Don Hahn]

You know, whoever finishes the most wins will give you a trophy.

[Allen]

Yeah, it sounds.

[Don Hahn]

Why don't we have a play? I'll now know. Because you know why?

[Allen]

Because that'll cost us too much money.

[Don Hahn]

That would take an effort.

[Allen]

And, and by the way, it's getting cold in October. Nobody's going to come to these games. Let's just shut the league down.

[Don Hahn]

That's right. We're shutting down. We don't have holidays to get.

[Allen]

We don't have light, we don't have heat. We just want to go home. It's a long season.

[Don Hahn]

Got tons of calls to get to 1-800-919-3776. Anthony in Jersey City has a very interesting question. Anthony, go for it.

[Anthony Pusick]

Hey.

[Caller]

Hey, guys. Hey, Don and Allen. How you doing?

[Allen]

Good.

[Don Hahn]

What's up?

[Caller]

So if I'm not mistaken, I believe I've heard in the past, Don, you've said that 8 years old is the threshold for when you must stake your fandom.

[Allen]

Right. Unless you're right.

[Don Hahn]

That's correct.

[Allen]

And it.

[Caller]

And also if I'm not mistaken, I think like last week or two weeks ago, the Twins had their eighth birthday. Happy birthday. That put Marco right at the age. And I know in the past he's had some fraudulent like behavior, you know, liking our judge, liking the met.

[Don Hahn]

Right.

[Caller]

I was wondering if, you know, now he's at that age, has he put his flag in the ground for, for one of the teams, Yankees are messed or. How you feeling about that?

[Don Hahn]

Well, the way, the way I looked at it is, and I could understand people thinking this, that he would have to declare on his birthday. Well, that's tough to do when we're already in the hockey season, we're already in the football season, already in the basketball season, although he doesn't seem to be as into the NBA. But when. What are you going to do?

[Allen]

All right, you got to get him to watch Brunson once.

[Don Hahn]

Well, I'm, I'm. And I don't get. But listen, he's been to hockey games, baseball games.

[Allen]

I get it. All right? I got to get him a jersey. I'm all right.

[Don Hahn]

But, but in the middle of this, so, so what happens now? He's turned 8 years old and, and I'm not being sexist, Jalen's not interested in sports. So this is just a Marco thing.

[Allen]

Is that all right?

[Don Hahn]

First up is going to be baseball. That's going to be the first new season with him as 8 year. An 8 year old. He is going to have to declare by opening day what team he's rooting for.

[Allen]

I thought he said.

[Caller]

Okay, well, that is.

[Don Hahn]

Well, here's the thing. It did seem like he, he did when we, I sent that video out with him getting excited that that judge struck out and ended the game. But I still, I still, I have still seen some back and forth.

[Allen]

See, Alonzo didn't resign. Now he's a little upset.

[Don Hahn]

No, but I'm going to tell you.

[Allen]

Polar bear.

[Don Hahn]

But I'm going to tell you that Mets didn't go to the playoffs. Yankees did. So there was a reason to root for the Yankees. But he was. Do you realize the guy that hurt him the most was, was Diaz.

[Allen]

Because of Timmy Trumpets?

[Don Hahn]

No, I just think he liked Diaz. And you know, I think when you're a young kid and he, that, that Philly series, remember when he was flexing his muscles, the strike like that, that's something that resonates, you know, with him. He liked Alonzo too. He was mad because I was away, so I didn't get to tell him in real time. And he was mad that I didn't tell him. So that makes me think he'll be a Met fan because he's actually feeling the losses.

[Allen]

So guys, can you see where like some guy comes up to him, some kid comes up to him, he goes, you know, the Mets don't have Diaz anymore. And he's like. What do you mean? He's like, yeah, he, he signed with the, with the Dodgers. No, he didn't. Yeah, he did. Well, your dad does radio. He doesn't know that. And now, and now, now he's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Dad, you didn't tell me this. I look bad now I gotta, I.

[Don Hahn]

Gotta get into, into the habit because you got to tell them one of the toughest things. Well, so many tough things when you lose your dad. The thing I miss the most is that whenever something happened in sports, we. He's the first person that I would reach out to. As a matter of fact, after he died, there would be times I'd reach for the phone, realizing that, you know, he was gone. I can't call him. I want to get to that. I got to get to that point with Marco. Right. That the first thing I got to do all that, you know, DSM of the Dodgers call him, you know, now it's a little. He doesn't have a phone and he's.

[Allen]

Yeah, you can't text him.

[Don Hahn]

Like, like get to that point.

[Allen]

But that's the thing.

[Don Hahn]

When you see connection, that's gonna be first.

[Allen]

When you like my thing. I used to do this with Zach all the time. That when he was a little kid and he was so into hockey. And he also was a Mets fan. And anytime there was something that would happen if I. The minute he woke up, I'd always tell him, oh, did you hear about this? Yeah. Like, he got him. Like, he woke him up, got him talking. He got him in a good mood. So I. We always do that stuff. Now he sends me. He likes to be sarcastically send me breaking news because he knows I already know. So he'll always like, did you see this?

[Don Hahn]

Knowing that you saw it?

[Allen]

Like, like, no, I had no idea that happened. Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

I, I. The one thing I do like is that, like, when we have breakfast together, he will. He'll be like, dad, punch up greatest goals of 2020.

[Allen]

Yeah, yeah.

[Don Hahn]

And I'll just go to YouTube and he'll just watch them and questions. So just to see all this, because we didn't have that. We were kids. Right. You know, it was just basically dad who won last night.

[Allen]

We had Warner Wolf and a newspaper.

[Don Hahn]

That's it. And you were lucky to get that. And. And so now it's cool that he's able to catch up. So to answer the caller's question, he will have to declare first up will be baseball.

[Allen]

Wow.

[Don Hahn]

And then by next football and then hockey season. But I think it's Devils. I mean, he's. He's GQ's and stuff. So he's.

[Allen]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

That. Those are things that he's gonna remember for the rest of his life.

[Allen]

Absolutely.

[Kevin Clark]

Cool.

[Allen]

So N.J. devil. Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

That was a big deal.

[Allen]

He's got all that going on. First name basis.

[Don Hahn]

You know, Nancy laughed at this. We had to arrange to get the mascot to come to them on his birthday, which is not a problem.

[Allen]

Okay.

[Don Hahn]

But every time I'd make contact, like, they would say, we'll check NJ schedule. Like they, they, they refer to him as nj.

[Allen]

But it's a real person, right?

[Don Hahn]

Like they don't say the person, the actual person's name in the guy, by the way, or the mascot or, you know, we'll get, we'll get the Devil's mascot over. No, we'll get N.J. over there.

[Allen]

Donnie, I've been meaning to bring this up to you since I saw it and I can't believe I waited, but that just sparked something in me that it's like I wanted to tell Don about this because I figured you might blow a gasket and I hate to do it late in the segment, but what the hell, it's a Friday. Did you see when the. When Seattle scored the two point conversion to win in overtime, did you see the dopey Bird run into the celebr? The players are gathered together and the dopey Seahawk, he's in the middle, he's trying to get in with the guys. He's patting them. If you were on that team, like, get the hell out of here. What are you doing? Like, why are you making this about you?

[Don Hahn]

Go, go.

[Allen]

Run by fans. Dance in front of fans. Why are you trying to jump in the huddle of the players?

[Don Hahn]

But you see it happen, especially in college. It's ridiculous, but it is. Or you'll see like him collapse it back if the field goal's missed or something. I'm telling you, it's so dumb. Like being around. I haven't been around a ton of tea because we don't have a ton of mascots. Like the Navy. Knicks don't have a mascot. Rangers don't have a mascot. Yeah, but the Devil's got J. Devil. I dealt with the Islanders with Sparky. Sparky, Sparky. Yeah, they are player Jace. I'm being serious. Like the way they get treated, their availability, the access that they have is almost a player level. I'm sure there's a line, but them going on the field or the ice to celebrate with within the organization is not considered that crazy. It's crazy to me, Don.

[Allen]

When. When Anthony Bavillier scored the overtime goal The Force Game 7 against Tampa, Sparky didn't run onto the ice and join the. The crowd of players celebrating. That was the weirdest thing I've ever seen.

[Don Hahn]

Well, it just might have been like all of a sudden this is getting his, getting his skates on.

[Allen]

But there's all these players that are like. Because that's a big win for. That's huge Win what? A comeback. All that stuff. Players are all running onto the field to gather together and then there's this guy in a bird suit trying to get.

[Don Hahn]

I know what I'm telling you. They get out of it. They are treated as celebrities. They are. And I just thought it was a lag. Every conversation in email and in personal NJ referred to as NJ because it's.

[Allen]

We'll check his schedule. He's got a schedule.

[Don Hahn]

What section are they in again? So we get NJ over there, we'll have NJ come and see the kids, take pictures.

[Allen]

Yeah, we'll escort him over. No touch. Don't touch his pitchfork though.

[Don Hahn]

And then after it's like, so. So NJ got there, right? Everything was good with nj. Everything was good.

[Allen]

Yeah. You want to leave? You want to leave? You want to leave? You want to leave A review, five stars.

[Don Hahn]

I'm just telling you we're to the point point now that if, if they can't get Gritty's contract done in Philly, it might, it might make the news cycle. It might. There's some, there's some mascots that I'm. I can't even imagine back in the day how the Philly Fanatic and San Diego Chicken were treated when they were like the gold standard.

[Allen]

Yeah, well, the, the San Diego Chicken still never made sense to me. But it was very popular.

[Don Hahn]

No.

[Allen]

Don't know why, but it was.

[Don Hahn]

There was a lot going on there.

[Allen]

I was more happier when Morgana showed up. That's a mascot. You want a mascot for sports.

[Don Hahn]

That. Speaking of, you know, running on the field, slow motion or maybe, you know, bouncing might have been a better way to describe it. Our picks usually at 5:45, but we're going to have them at 5:30 today because Alan's got to leave early to do Knicks and the Sixers. So we got that. We're taking up until 6:30 and then it'll be Knicks in the Sixers right here on ESPN New York. But what I need to do, and I, I'm sorry, I did not do it when I should have because I was just so caught up in the mascot conversation. There's a lot of reasons why I forgot this read, but there's also a lot of reasons why people buy at Ramsey Mazda. It's their selection, it's their customer service, and it's their savings during the more to move you event. Lisa New 2025 CX 52.5s select with all wheel drive for 199 for 36 months. Start shopping now at Ramsey Mazda.com choose wisely. Choose Ramsey Mazda. Call 833-853-2970 for lease details. Finn SN 385912 MSRP $32,795 0 Security deposit ends 1 2, 26 hey, Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. You know, one of the perks about having four kids that you know about is actually getting a direct line to.

[Allen]

The big man up north.

[Don Hahn]

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[Allen]

Guys.

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[Allen]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Don Hahn]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Allen]

Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.

[Don Hahn]

What's the game called? Football.

[Allen]

These are the Don Hahn and Rosenberg pro picks. Dance football.

[Don Hahn]

Very proud. Not only am I in first place, but at least now I'm not like the the Seahawks back when they won a division. It's seven and nine. What was that in 2010? Something like that. I'm actually above.500 including my win last night. Allen, I am 24 and 22, so I'm two games above.500 with 48 points. I'm in first place. Allen's in second. He is 19 and 26 with a game in hand. 37 points. So he's right now 11 points back with a game in hand. And then Peter Rosenberg, who as of this second still is not chimed in with his picks is 14 and 31. He's got 28 points. So he's nine points out of not having to dress like a clown.

[Allen]

But I am 11 points back of you.

[Don Hahn]

You're 11 points back of me, but again, I got a three point play last night. So we came into the week with you only only being eight points behind. But now I got my three.

[Allen]

It's slipping away, Donnie. It's slipping away. I gotta start taking chances.

[Don Hahn]

16, 17, 18. So you got three weeks left in the regular season.

[Allen]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

Wild card round, divisional round, championship round, Super Bowl.

[Allen]

No, it's doable.

[Don Hahn]

Still seven weeks.

[Allen]

Oh no, we're not, we're not giving up. We, we.

[Don Hahn]

No no, no, we haven't given up.

[Allen]

You know, we know we're probably gonna have to start, you know, going forward on fourth down a couple of times. We're gonna take some shots. You know, we understand we gotta be a little more aggressive than we've been lately. But we do, we do see an opportunity. There is a window there for us to make a comeback. It starts this week.

[Don Hahn]

We will see now because I just do my due diligence and didn't even think I made three picks. And then I realized I don't have to make three picks. I won last night so I had to eliminate one of them. I don't know.

[Allen]

Anthony, by the way, can you remind me, I haven't heard yet. Did Don win last night?

[Anthony Pusick]

Don absolutely covered last night.

[Allen]

I haven't heard that yet. Today.

[Don Hahn]

3. 3.

[Allen]

3.33.

[Don Hahn]

So I'm gonna start with my one point play. I like the Patriots to bounce back on the road in Baltimore. Ravens are a mess. And the Ravens are favored by three.

[Allen]

Three.

[Don Hahn]

Listen, I know the Patriots lost they lot. They showed a lot of good things especially offensively in that game. Plus Baltimore 1 and 5 against the spread this season when they take on a team with a winning record. So I am going to gladly take those three points and take the Patriots as my one point play and my two point play because Alan, I don't know if you realized I won with my three point play last night. The Lions are home against the Steelers. And the Steelers have really shown something since they booed Tomlin and chanted for him to be fired. They're now taking a stranglehold on the division. But we know, we know how good Detroit is after a loss. But against the spread after a loss. Now that listen, they're favored by seven, so it's a hefty number, but they are home. They're 111 in their last 12 games after a loss against the spread. So I'm gonna take the Detroit Lions, my two point play favored by seven. So the Patriots getting three is my one point point play and the Lions favored by seven will be my two, two, two point play. One, two, three point play.

[Allen]

Okay, you just, you just made me have to make an adjustment. Oh, no, we are.

[Don Hahn]

At least tell us what I think I want to know.

[Allen]

I'm not changing my games, I'm changing my point strategy because I have to at least be able to benefit. Because you and I, we share a brain, Don. We are so sympatico, we're so money, we don't even know it so my now one point play, because you're not taking it. And it's the only one of the three that I picked that you're not. We've picked the same games, basically, except for this one. Green Bay is going to miss Michael Parsons.

[Don Hahn]

Oh, big time.

[Allen]

They have owned the division. They have owned the Bears. They have. It's their daddy. They have been their daddy. As Aaron Rodgers once said, I own you.

[Don Hahn]

I'm your daddy.

[Allen]

Yeah, but not anymore. This now is where the Bears, who are all it is, is one and a half.

[Don Hahn]

So this, this is our time.

[Allen]

Yeah, this is. Ben Johnson's very smart. He could take advantage of a defense that is compromised because they're the one player on that team that has the highest percentage of pressures on the quarterback. So they have nobody else that can do it. So now of course for Caleb Williams, it's an opportunity. They also can run the ball very well and so I think they'll take advantage. I think it's time and that's where you're going to see. Ben Johnson used to, used to joke about how he liked to beat lafleur and then never could as a head coach. But Ben, this is now his opportunity to do such. So give me the Bears. I'll lay the one and a half for my one point play on a Saturday night. My two point play now upgraded, although I didn't want to trust it. But because you did it, I have to do it to get the extra point in case we both win. And that is, I am with you, the Patriots. I will, I will take the three points. Baltimore sucks at home. It's a Sunday night game. They suck on primetime games. Meanwhile, New England has been very good on primetime games as well. And the turnover factor for the Ravens has been a major problem. Including Lamar Jackson, who is not the same. He's had interceptions in three straight weeks. They've had 10 turnovers in the last five weeks. So this is where Vrabel gets right after blowing a 21 nothing lead. His team gets the win on the road. Give me that. And for my three point game, it is just like you as well. I believe in the detois. Lyon. It's Sunday, it's against Pittsburgh, but we know they are 150 after losses. They just don't go on losing streaks. They're very good at bouncing back and this is an opportunity at home to bounce back again. I trust they will buy a touchdown. So give me the Lions and give me one from way downtown. Three point range.

[Don Hahn]

All right. I like what you did there. Good strategy with the points because if we were both right, you still gain ground.

[Allen]

Two extras, right?

[Don Hahn]

Two extra points which you're going to desperately need here. Now this would usually be the spot in which Peter would make his picks.

[Allen]

Okay, what are his picks? Go.

[Don Hahn]

Anthony Pusick, who does his due diligence as a terrific producer, reached out to Peter, I believe over two hours ago to tell him that 5:30 we were going to be making our picks. And it is right now approaching 5:39. And where do we stand with Peter's picks?

[Anthony Pusick]

Eggs. We have eggs. Now there's a couple ways we can go about this. I sent the spreads the same way I sent to you guys at 8:30. I got no response when I said we're doing the pix. 530 gave me a thumbs up. I texted him when we were going to break saying it's up next. I received nothing. Should we cold, cold call him?

[Allen]

No. Should we give him a time limit or tell you what, 5:39 and 18 seconds, we give him to 5, 4.

[Anthony Pusick]

Well, no, here's the thing. There's multiple things we could do. All right, End of segment, end of.

[Allen]

Show.

[Anthony Pusick]

Or when this segment's over, we're done.

[Don Hahn]

I think, I think the. Well, the two things we should bat around since we usually do it at 5:45 and then maybe even though he got your text, he's still kind of thinking I've got till six to send them. I say we give him till six.

[Anthony Pusick]

Okay.

[Don Hahn]

If you want to be generous and say let's give him to the end of the show, that they have to be aired in the body of the show. They can't be sent via tweet after the show. You can all agree on that, correct?

[Anthony Pusick]

Yes.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, that he has until I sign off at whatever. That's going to be 625. Whatever. If we do not have Don Legreca announcer or Anthony Pusick announcing his picks by then, then he goes, oh, and three, it's probably not going to matter anyways, but terrible. Or, or do we really want to be Mother Teresa here and say we just make pick. You know, just take the top three favorites and say those are Peters.

[Anthony Pusick]

I gotta tell you though, don't. I gotta tell you the, the. This is not a new thing though. You guys tend to go on vacation, whether it's this iteration of the show or another iteration of the show during the holidays. And there are at least one or two weeks where I have to text you guys asking for your pick selections. And here we are well, here's.

[Don Hahn]

Here's what. Here's what I'll say. All right, in closing, I guess on this is that if we didn't hear back from him. All right, listen, you're on vacation. Sometimes time gets away from you. I get it. But he responded with a thumbs up.

[Allen]

Yep.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah. So to me, sorry if he had not responded. All right, maybe he doesn't have. Have coverage or he's in the middle of something and I'm more than willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. All I can give him is either 6 or 625. My vote is end of show.

[Anthony Pusick]

Or this could be fun. But we just pick for him.

[Allen]

No, no, no, no.

[Don Hahn]

Because then. Because then he could win. He can go three and.

[Allen]

Oh, I'm helping him. I'm not helping him. No chance.

[Don Hahn]

And Allen should be the only one to answer that, because I think the. Allen's the only one that could be affected by this.

[Anthony Pusick]

That's true, too.

[Allen]

Oh, wow, look at Don.

[Anthony Pusick]

Well, do you know that he won.

[Allen]

His three point play yesterday, by the way, Did Don. I don't know. Did Don win that?

[Don Hahn]

Well, because of getting the three point play last night. I mean, I've got. I don't. It's not really. I got a 20 point lead on him. Alan. Yeah, the kid can't pick.

[Caller]

No.

[Don Hahn]

So I'm sorry, I'm not one to hang on the rim, but I mean, do the math. We're in the victory formation. As far as Peter catching me. All right. And now that he looks like he's. He's basically.

[Allen]

You're running out the clock.

[Don Hahn]

40 minutes away from not even making picks this week. Yeah, but I think it's more. You want to give him to the.

[Allen]

End of the show. All right, all right. So. So EOs. End of show.

[Don Hahn]

End of show.

[Allen]

That's what he's got.

[Anthony Pusick]

Should I tell him that he has till the end?

[Don Hahn]

No, no, I'm.

[Anthony Pusick]

I'm not going to either.

[Allen]

If he doesn't do it, he doesn't do it. That's on him. Then he gets eggs across the board and then he falls behind even more.

[Don Hahn]

All right, Allen, I know you got a scoot for the Knicks and the Sixers.

[Allen]

Have a great weekend.

[Don Hahn]

Everybody have a phenomenal weekend. And I know that traditionally this upcoming week, everybody's gone. No, no, no. Allen and I will be on Monday.

[Allen]

Absolutely.

[Don Hahn]

To recap all the weekend of football and everything else that's going on. So, Alan, I'll talk to you on Monday. Have a great weekend.

[Allen]

You Got it brother. Safe travels.

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[Allen]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg Podcast.

[Don Hahn]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Allen]

Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. Hey everybody, it's the Don Show.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

It never ends.

[Allen]

Those are facts. The Don show starring only Don. Good for me, it's the Don show starting now. Tweet that. Hey Don.

[Don Hahn]

Oh man, I wasn't expecting that. I got a big smile over that. I thought that was pretty cool. Haven't heard that in a while. Don show your call up until ENN at 6 and then we'll hand it off to the Knicks and the Sixers over at the garden. 1-800-919-3776. Let's talk to Jay Scott in Daytona Beach. You're on ESPN New York. What's up Jay Scott?

[Caller]

Hey boys, how you doing?

[Don Hahn]

Good, how are you?

[Caller]

Most excellent. You guys were speaking about the quarterback situation earlier. So Sam Darnold won pretty big game last week if Trevor Lawrence goes out and beats the Broncos. I'm just interested in what is the power rankings and Yalls quarterback list with Dan Barnold, Trevor Lawrence doing their thing and how bad of a rip.

[Allen]

Does.

[Caller]

It feel that the jets could have had both of those guys Well, I.

[Don Hahn]

Guess they could have had him if they didn't win against the Rams that year. So I'm not going to kill them for trying to win a football game. It wasn't like they. They passed on Lawrence or had Lawrence and got rid of him the way they did with Sam Darnold. It's been. It's been rough for Trevor Lawrence, okay. He's been an okay quarterback. He's been better than okay at times, parlayed into a big contract. It's gone to the playoffs. It's got a really good team this year with a 9 and 4, beat the Broncos, which is going to be a tall ask. But now you're talking about being 10 and 4 and, you know, maybe winning the south and, you know, different situation. I mean, Trevor Lawrence right now, I'd say is a better and more consistent quarterback than Sam Darnold's been, but I think they're very comparable. But the conversation we had earlier, J. Scott, is if Trevor Lawrence was drafted by the Giants, would it have gone any different than Sam Darnold? You know, considering that he never lived up to the camp, miss that he was coming out of the draft from Clemson, I gotta figure they would have failed him the same way they failed Sam Darnold, the same way that they failed, in a way, Mark Sanchez, the only one I won't say they failed on as far as they're. The reason why he didn't pan out was Wilson. I think Wilson was just a bad pick. But the other guys, they have failed. I think they failed them by not being able to develop a quarterback. But I'm not going to get into the whole tanking situation. They should have lost to the Rams that year. I don't think it would have turned out any differently than it turned out with Sam Donald. You screw up a quarterback, you screw up a quarterback, and certainly Trevor Lawrence looks like a quarterback you can screw up because Jacksonville has done that because he hasn't lived up to expectations. Now, where is Griffin? In Connecticut been. We haven't heard from you in a good week and a half. What's going on? Everything all right at home?

[Caller]

Yeah, I just been. I have like a little cold or something, so I've been coughing and really, I'm good. I just been lifting to you guys. I just didn't feel like talking on the radio with.

[Don Hahn]

Well, feel better.

[Caller]

Cold that I had, so.

[Anthony Pusick]

All right.

[Caller]

But I'm good. I have a question, Don.

[Don Hahn]

Yes.

[Caller]

With the college football playoffs starting tonight, is it okay? You know, I'm an LSU fan. But right now, LSU is not in it because of though Brian Kelly did not work out. And we all know that that thing. If I root, but I'm not like gonna cheer for them, be all excited for them, but hope that Indiana or Texas Tech win because they're not in the sec, they've never won before. It would be nice to have New Blood win, but if you don't think it's fine, then I. Then I won't do it. I'm just wondering what your opinion is.

[Don Hahn]

No, of course you're allowed to root for other teams that are not rivals when your team's been eliminated, right? You're a Saints fan. But I'm sure there's going to be some teams you'd rather see win the super bowl than others, right? You're going to root for in the NFL. Of course my Giants are out of it, but I'd love to see the Seahawks win a Super bowl for Sam Darnold. I'd love to see the Bills finally win their first Super Bowl. I don't think there's any wrong when your team's been eliminated that you decide that I'm going to go root for somebody else to get me through the postseason. Now you start buying a jersey and start rooting for that team beyond the season. Now, then that, then. Now you're picking up another team. Now that's fraudulent. But come on, we all have to have some rooting interest. I mean, I love sports, you know that. But if there's a game and I don't have a rooting interest, I mean, I'll watch it because it's fun to watch sports, but it's a lot more fun to watch when you've got a rooting interest, whether it's a bet on the game or you need it for your. Your office pool, or there's a player you like, or there's a team that you've always had an affection for, you got to have a rooting interest. And for me, I look for storylines. I think. I think Sam Darnold winning a Super bowl would be unbelievable. I think the Bills finally getting off the Schneider would be great. The Lions, if they could get into the postseason, I'd be rooting for them, too. But I'm not room for the. The Eagles in the postseason, I can tell you that. I got really, with their history, I got no love for the 49ers. But, you know, with no dog in the fight, you know, there's nothing wrong with creating a dog. Danny, on Long island, you're on ESPN New York. What's up, Danny?

[Caller]

Afternoon, Donald. I just want to wish you and your children and your wife a Merry Christmas. I'm not sure what your work schedule is next week.

[Don Hahn]

I will be in Monday. But just in case you can't get through whatever, I appreciate it. Merry Christmas to you too.

[Caller]

And you know, quite a nice weekend of NFL football we have here. I enjoy, I enjoy the game over. My team's not playing because watching my team, any team, what I'm rooting for, it's like a root canal. Like that game last night without a dog in it was just a tremendous game. I got a question. You know, I'm watching that game. I think they got screwed on that two point conversion. Because if you want to play the side referee, which is female referee, she hand signaled deflected pass and they blew the whistle. So Pete, he didn't pick up the ball like it was a continuation of the play. You know, he was picking up the ball just handed to the referee and there wasn't a care in the world that there was anything illegal. And then when they came back from the commercial, the announcers were talking about it. I'm thinking, are the people in New York also watching a live feed of the game where they could say, oh, listen to what they're saying. We didn't, we didn't catch that. Because if you blow, if you blow the play dead or the referee called it a deflected forward pass, why would I run after the ball? It's almost, it's almost unfair.

[Don Hahn]

Well, the play, the play should be dead if the whistle is blown, period. That's the way it is in every sport. You follow hockey, right? I mean, if they inadvertently blow the whistle, even the pucks loose, they're going to call the play dead because I'm going to stop playing. I never, I was in the air at the time. I had to go back and review it. I don't, I don't really know what the complete explanation was. I don't know, Anthony. They issued a statement on it after the fact. But I thought Allen earlier explained it pretty well. It's like, hey, you know, it's, it's, it was considered a lateral. That's a live ball. But if the whistle blow, if I'm on the field and I hear they say play to the whistle. That's always what every coach tells you, play to the whistle. What the assumption is is that when the whistle is blown, the play's dead.

[Anthony Pusick]

They were all over it pretty quickly on Amazon Rules.

[Allen]

Expert.

[Anthony Pusick]

I think it was Taryn McCauley. I forget who is their rules expert. He was kind of all over it. He explained that this is probably a live ball. This is going to be a two point conversion. And shortly after they, they announced it, a two point conversion. I hadn't, I was shocked. Everybody else seemed kind of surprised, but yeah, but, but.

[Don Hahn]

So I guess there is nothing as inadvertent whistle. The fact that the whistle blows is irrelevant. It should be relevant even if it's mistakenly blown. It doesn't matter to me because players are going to stop playing. You don't know how that play would have developed had the whistle not blown. Maybe the Rams would have been able to defend it better, maybe they wouldn't have. But the fact is is that my argument would be I heard a whistle, I stopped playing. I certainly would have gotten the penalty. If I hit somebody after a whistle and the whistle was blown the right way, you would still throw a flag, right? And the thing with why did you hit him? You heard a whistle, you hit him. So I don't, I don't like that. I don't like that explanation at all.

[Allen]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast. I don't want to know how the sausage is made, man. I just want to know. It's good. Hear more of Don Allen and Peter Weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app, and your smart speakers.

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