The Sports Thing Podcast - Holmberg, Hellestrae And Nash - Episode 9 - 10-03-25

Summary

Podcast Summary: Holmberg's Morning Sickness – The Sports Thing Podcast

Episode 9 – October 3, 2025
Host: John Holmberg
Guests: Dale Hellestrae, Dave Nash
Theme: Evolving Traditions in Sports: From Baseball's Playoff Formats to Modern NFL Dynamics and Cultural Controversies

---

Episode Overview

This episode dives into the ongoing evolution of major American sports, focusing heavily on baseball's playoff structure, the balance between tradition and entertainment, and the rising complexities in the NFL—especially around coaching, player attitudes, and league controversies. The hosts, known for their irreverence and candid banter, mix in stories from personal experience with insightful commentary on current sports issues.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Bathroom Banter and Human Behavior

[02:12–07:15]

• Opening tangent: John Holmberg discusses the merits of sitting down to pee, citing cleanliness and age.
  • "I sit to pee, and I'm not ashamed of that... it's cleaner." (Holmberg, 02:42)
• Humor and generational differences are on display as Holmberg, Hellestrae, and Nash riff about aging, personal hygiene, and the quirks of manhood.

---

2. The Evolution of Baseball Playoffs

[08:18–18:27]

• Old Playoff Format: Holmberg reminisces about being a baseball purist, preferring the old system where only division winners made the playoffs.
  • "As a baseball purist, I'm like, that's how this is supposed to go." (Holmberg, 09:14)
• Expansion's Impact: Discussion of Bud Selig's wild card addition and later expansions, acknowledging it brought excitement and fairness.
• Playoff Series Length: Nash advocates for longer series (best of 5 instead of best of 3), preferring a shorter season with more meaningful playoffs.
• Weather Concerns: Playoff games in adverse conditions (snow outs) are critiqued as “not what the boys of summer are supposed to do.”

---

3. Baseball's Struggle with Modernity

[18:27–23:02]

• Immediacy vs. Tradition: Nash and Holmberg agree modern fans lack patience for long games.
  • "The pitch clock was one of the best things they brought in." (Nash, 17:52)
• Media’s Influence: Holmberg says ESPN's Baseball Tonight made fans crave condensed highlights, accelerating the “give it to me now” mentality.
• Statistics & Purism: They debate the relevance of old records as the game changes; Nash says, "Baseball is entertainment, and nine inning games that last four and a half hours—that’s not entertainment." (Nash, 19:37)

---

4. Alternative Formats: Tournaments and First-Half Winners

[25:03–26:13]

• PCL Model: Hellestrae shares how Pacific Coast League once split the year into two, rewarding first-half winners with playoff spots. All agree MLB could benefit from similar models.
  • "I'd love baseball to adapt... I'd love it to adapt." (Holmberg, 25:12)
• Comparison to NBA In-Season Tournament: They critique the NBA’s attempt, noting that stakes are unclear and fans aren’t engaged by awards with little end-of-year relevance.

---

5. Comparing Baseball Eras and Generational Superstars

[29:11–34:41]

• Shohei Ohtani's Uniqueness: Holmberg argues Ohtani might be the greatest ever, given his dominance as a hitter and pitcher, and laments that MLB hasn’t showcased him enough.
  • "We're watching maybe the greatest player to ever walk on a baseball field." (Holmberg, 29:33)
• Babe Ruth as Pioneer: Nash reminds listeners that Ruth “hit more home runs than entire teams,” but context matters—baseballs, bats, and coaching philosophies were different.
• Today vs. Then: Discussions of how rule changes and player specialization affect records and our appreciation of unique talents.

---

6. Market Dynamics: Payroll and Playoff Success

[36:27–36:50]

• Dale highlights that 10 of the 12 highest-paying MLB teams reached the playoffs—fueling debates about money’s role in modern sports.

---

7. NFL Focus: Coaching, Overvalued Positions, and Team Dynamics

[37:04–54:37]

• Micah Parsons & the Cowboys: Debate over Jerry Jones’ decisions, value per dollar for star players, and the myth of a single player transforming a whole defense.
  • "Am I paying you $40 plus million a year to get a sack? That's very questionable." (Hellestrae, 37:39)
• Wide Receiver "Divas": The crew discusses high-priced receivers, their reliance on the rest of the team for success, and inconsistent effort. Nash: “The receiver... needs all ten guys on his side for an opportunity.”
• Coaching Philosophies: Debate over how much difference coaches make, with heated discussion about Jonathan Gannon (Cardinals)—Holmberg defending him as a coach who “can take nothing and make it good,” while Nash disagrees.
  • "You don't think Jonathan Gannon is a quality coach?" (Holmberg, 50:38)
  • "No." (Nash, 50:41)
• The 80/20 Rule: Nash applies it to NFL coaches, praising Sean McVay as a defining “20 percenter.”

---

8. Modern Sports Controversies & Cultural Commentary

[56:21–60:49]

• Travis Hunter & Social Campaigns: Nash applauds Travis Hunter for not wearing LGBTQ pride armbands, framing it as taking a stand against “woke ideology.”
  • "You can't change your sexes. Whatever you're born, you're born." (Nash, 56:43)
  • "If you disagree, then that's okay, too. Discussion is okay. As much as I'd like to think otherwise, there's still freedom in this country—free speech." (Nash, 60:03)
• NFL & Ideological Displays: Hosts debate the NFL and other leagues “forcing” players into social stances via uniforms and media pressure.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On sitting to pee:
  • "I sit to pee, and I'm not ashamed of that... it's cleaner." (Holmberg, 02:42)
• On baseball’s wild card era:
  • "That was the best move baseball's made." (Holmberg, 10:19)
• On pitch clocks and modern patience:
  • "The pitch clock was one of the best things they brought in." (Nash, 17:52)
• On generational stars:
  • "We're watching maybe the greatest player to ever walk on a baseball field." (Holmberg on Ohtani, 29:33)
• On Shohei Ohtani:
  • "He's the best pitcher and the best hitter in baseball. That's crazy." (Holmberg, 33:41)
• On NFL coach value:
  • "There are three or four coaches who separate themselves." (Hellestrae, 53:02)
• On current culture wars in sports:
  • "You can say stuff that I absolutely hate. That's your right." (Holmberg, 60:29)

---

Timestamps for Key Sections

• Sit or Stand: Human Behavior & Age – [02:12–07:15]
• Baseball’s Playoff Reform – [08:18–18:27]
• Pace of Play, Purists, and Change – [18:27–23:02]
• MLB Tournament Proposals – [25:03–26:13]
• Ohtani vs. Ruth, Greatness Debated – [29:11–34:41]
• Payrolls & Playoff Trends – [36:27–36:50]
• NFL: Coaching, Player Attitudes, Team Success – [37:04–54:37]
• Controversy & Culture: Pride in Sports – [56:21–60:49]

---

Overall Tone & Takeaways

Blending irreverence, nostalgia, and sharp critique, the episode is a wry but insightful commentary on the intersection of sports tradition, modern entertainment demands, and America’s current cultural flashpoints. Both baseball and the NFL are depicted as institutions wrestling with change whether from inside (rule tweaks, coaching moves) or outside (fan impatience, social controversy). The chemistry between hosts and guests—alternately ribbing and earnest—keeps the show engaging for sports fans and casual listeners alike.

Transcript

[A]

It's John Holmberg here, shilling away from my [e-mail]. here we go. It's going to be hot from here until Halloween. That AC unit of yours is on for the next five months, non stop. That means if your AC unit is 10 or older, it ain't going to last much longer. Proactive, that's what you need to be. Get that AC unit replaced. New AC unit.com inspects that order. Then the best pros in the business install that system and it is a done deal. You're going to save thousands of dollars. They've changed the game. New AC unit.com save thousands. Save time. Buy online at newac unit.com it's John Holmer here from the morning sickness. And it's time to talk about TVs Doug Hopkins of my home group and doughhopkins.com Sometimes Doug Hopkins can be a savior for people in bad situations. Doug's there to help and the process will go fast. Cash offer for your home as is. No matter the circumstances and a straight offer, the deal's done. Doug doesn't change that offer or cancel because of contingencies or any other reason and he'll back it up with a $5,000 guarantee. You can start the process online at doughhopkins.com or grab that phone and sing along.

[B]

Call Doug Hopkins.

[A]

1-800-Sale now.

[B]

Hey, Byron, I was looking at mmpguns.com's website. You have everything and the prices are incredible.

[C]

Yes, sir. Mmpguns.com has over 400,000 products for sale daily. Everything from firearms, ammunition, accessories, optics, clothing, decoys and more. The best part is if you see it on our website, it's in stock and ready to ship.

[A]

Wait, there's no backorders?

[C]

Nope. We work with all our distributors, so what you see on our site is what's actually available. We ship all over the country, so we're not just for Arizonans anymore. If the firearm you want is legal in your state, we can get it to a dealer for you to pick up.

[B]

Sounds simple. That's why I always go to mmpguns.com this is thing.

[A]

Well, dumb and dumber, figure out the chairs. Let's just get started. Welcome to the Sports Thing podcast, otherwise known as the John Holmberg Podcast for the ages. With permanent guest Dale Hellestray and the rest. This is the Sports Thing. My name is John Holmberg. I am the host of the wildly successful homework's morning sickness on 98 KUPD. 25 years of quality radio at your Doorstep each and every day. Across from me is a couple of morons on all of those.

[D]

Shit. Can't deny it.

[A]

Three time world champion with the Dallas Cowboys, Dale Hellasre is here. And local madman. Insane person ideas. Sure, I guess you could call him that. Dave Nash joins us as well as the podcast begins. Before we get going, gentlemen, just to begin, I. Just before the show started, I. I had to go to the bathroom. And I point this out and I try to make this a. A regular thought in my head. That happens quite a bit. I'm prepared.

[D]

Is this while you're in the bathroom.

[A]

Or on the bathroom? Yeah, I do a lot of good thinking in that.

[D]

Okay.

[A]

And I sit to pee. And I'm. I'm not ashamed of that. I'm a sit to pee guy. No, I'm not. And here's why not.

[B]

Surprised.

[A]

So why is that surprising? Now tell me your theory on that. Sit to pee.

[B]

It's easy. You sit down, your dress won't get in the way.

[A]

See? And I think it's that I'm more manly than the person afraid of sitting to pee. Because I know it's cleaner. When I was 18, 19 years old, my mom went into my bathroom. I had white tile in the bathroom. And she said, I'm done cleaning this thing until you figure out what you're doing. So she made me clean my own bathroom. Like clean it, not just straighten it up. You know, like mom clean.

[D]

Right.

[A]

And when I went in there and realized what was going on with how I was using the toilet, it was going everywhere, man. I was controlling what I thought was controlled, not controlled. Started sitting down. Because the middle of the night, when you're tired, you can't. You're not even. You two sit down to pee in the middle of the night. Pee. Don't lie to me about that. Nobody's doing that. Then I realized how easy it was to clean the bathroom when you're already in there. You know what I mean? You don't have to take shots and everything else. Plus, now I'm 53 years old and you guys know this much older men than I, through appearance, at least. I'm not sure your ages, but if I worked at the local carnival, I'm definitely guessing. I'm the youngest at about 45. And I don't know why dad's never told you this. You don't know. When you're done peeing, you pack everything back up and the next thing you know, you're walking down the hall and you've got the Aleutian Islands on the leg of your pants.

[B]

That's people that are unhealthy, mister.

[A]

No, it is not.

[B]

No, I know when I'm done, it's dribbles.

[A]

I, I know when I'm done and then there's dribbles. That's, that's an age thing. When I was younger, it, it was over. You shook it, it went away. You're older, you shake it and then a, a couple more drops come out.

[D]

I will go with you on the fact that I have a five year old grandson who a mess. I mean, it's for, for, for about 10 seconds. It is a fire hose. And then when he's done, he's done in a sort of way. But now the only difference is in an office, at your business, whatever, there's usually a urinal to do your business.

[A]

I happen to have my own personal bathroom in my office. Does not have a urinal, by the way.

[D]

I went in there last week and I rearranged things. You didn't notice things were rearranged?

[A]

What, what in there did you notice?

[D]

Well, I did the Hitler picture. Yeah, but I also moved some of your stuff in there.

[A]

I have a Hitler picture in my private bathroom because then I'll know if somebody used it because they'll, they can't come out of there and not say, why is there a picture of Hitler in your bathroom? And then I'll know. You broke the rules.

[D]

Right, And I broke the rules and I moved. I didn't go to the bathroom in there, but I just boot stuff.

[A]

You didn't rearrange it. The Hitler picture was right where.

[D]

Oh, I didn't touch it.

[B]

He rearranged it. Then I went in there and I rearranged it. Probably back to where it was.

[A]

That's fine. I appreciate that that didn't work out. We got to work that better. We have to at least tell your 5 year old grandson, hey, take, take this from a sage old man that when you're 45, you're not, you gotta stand over that urinal or that toilet for a couple, few 10 seconds longer than you used to. It just starts happening.

[D]

Well, the thing is, and it's a stark reminder because this happened last week, he goes, does his business in a urinal. And I mean, as soon as he stops, boom, he turns towards me and.

[A]

I'm like, whoa, whoa, it's done.

[D]

You're done.

[A]

That thing is clamped off.

[D]

Yes.

[A]

I think I just loosened up over the years like a change purse. And the elastic's no good.

[B]

I still think it's a health issue.

[A]

You don't dribble at all.

[B]

Maybe for past meth use. I'm not really sure.

[A]

You don't dribble at all, Dave Nash. You're telling me you are a man well facing his 60s.

[B]

Before I leave, I might stand there, as you said, for 10 seconds or more.

[A]

Exactly. A little.

[B]

Hang there a little longer than you used to. I'm not in a hurry to run out of the bathroom. It's not like life is that important that I gotta. I gotta high tail it out of the bathroom.

[A]

We got a five year old that says different about. It's over. Let's go do something else.

[D]

Yes.

[A]

And we don't do that anymore. Why? We've learned our lesson. Walking back to the table at the steakhouse in our khaki pants going, oh boy. I needed to stand there for just a little while longer.

[B]

So it's. Do I need to notice when you're wearing.

[A]

I don't wear khakis. There's a reason why it's a thing. Anyway, I just wanted to point that out as I just had that dilemma as I sat in the bathroom.

[B]

Is this the sports thing where the pizza.

[A]

It's just a human interest. It's a human interest.

[D]

Okay.

[A]

And I highly recommend sitting to pee. It's cleaner, it's easier, there's no fuss, no muss, nothing. Anyway, so that's a different deal.

[B]

And you call me the maniac.

[A]

That's not a maniac. That's a respectful human being.

[D]

It's things that make people question you.

[A]

What's questionable about that?

[D]

But we only got an hour to talk about Dale.

[A]

Quality, thoughtful human behavior. Think about the next guy.

[D]

Do you ever think you're probably the only guy who does that?

[A]

No. Trust me. Tons of dudes sit to pee. Tons of dudes sit to pee. I don't care what their orientation is because I know that's your next thought. It doesn't matter. They're cleaner. And what do we first think of with what you're accusing me of here? Those people are cleaner. It's a clean bathroom. When you go into a gay guy's house. That's all I'm saying.

[B]

I'm taking notes. And right now that's on the one side of the ledger.

[A]

I'm just saying don't go to adding.

[B]

Things to that side of the ledger.

[A]

If a woman stood up to pee, you wouldn't say, oh my God, she just thinks she's crazy. Yeah, as right.

[B]

Why on the other Side of the ladder.

[A]

No, no, I'm making my point. Bingo. No, it's not. It's because it would spray all over the place. They're not thinking of the next guy. We're not that different.

[D]

And you don't ever think about anybody else. John.

[A]

Exactly, Dale. So this is the moment you have to go. You know what? He is pretty awesome.

[B]

John's very careful about his piss.

[A]

And that's it. Thank you, Dave.

[B]

Now you're off to everything else.

[A]

Well, that and food. I'm not getting involved in your food. That's yours. You keep that. Let's get right to sport. For God's sakes, will you boys focus? It is time now for us to talk about sports. And I am fascinated right now. We'll get to NFL a little bit, but man, oh, man, I can say this. And Dave, you played semi pro. Triple A. Did you get to triple A?

[B]

Semi.

[A]

I think you played semi pro. It's not really the pros. It's a version of professional baseball. Like the WNB leagues is professional. I think the WNBA is technically professional basketball, but I totally agree with that. Yeah, so. So is AAA College anyway. College isn't pro football. And they're paying them, too.

[B]

That's a good point. Yeah.

[A]

Thank you. So you were a triple. It's still an accomplishment. It's just not the big one.

[B]

Anyway, anywho.

[A]

So my point being you played ball. When did you stop?

[B]

89.

[A]

89. So back in the day when it was like four divisions, there was a winner division, and those two faced off in the NLCS or ALCS. And that was it.

[B]

That was it.

[A]

Winners of each division, which I was a huge fan of.

[D]

No winner league play.

[A]

No gargantuan fan of the idea that you win it. There is no second place. This is not a thing we toy with. There are divisions. You win your division, you have earned the right to play in the championship series. And I loved it. As a baseball purist, I'm like, that's how this is supposed to go. I didn't realize until they changed it in the mid-90s when Bud Selig added the wild card round that we had been missing out on divisional races. And he changed it because the team that you were on the farm system for, the Giants, won 103 games one year and didn't make the playoffs.

[B]

It's happened to. Which is a number of different teams.

[A]

Unreal when you think about it. So you think, look, we're not even getting the two best teams to go in in the League finals. Because the team that I believe the Braves played that year, it only won like 88. So the next best team was clearly in that division.

[D]

Right.

[A]

Still won 103 games. So they changed it. Much to my chagrin. A couple years later I'm like, that was the best move baseball's made. Few years later they change it again. I'm like, wow, what are they doing? This crotchety old man in me, just like, ah, you can't. The pureness of baseball. What are they doing? They made it better.

[B]

You are full. A full complete man showing how, how much you're wrong. Usually that's another thing on the led now long again.

[A]

Did you. Back when they changed it the first time embrace that?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

No kidding. I, I didn't mean.

[B]

Come on, what is there 30 teams? 32. However, whenever they changed at the time there were 28. Okay. And, and, and only four teams made it.

[A]

It was. That was fascinating.

[B]

In every other sport, football, you have almost half the teams make the playoffs. In hockey, there was a time you. 70 or 80% of the teams made the playoffs, which I'm actually, you know, more, More teams in the playoffs.

[A]

Yeah. Better. The disparity in hockey was a lot less. Occasionally you get that runaway team.

[B]

But I think there was a time there's 21 teams and 16 made it.

[A]

Yeah, but usually hockey was one of those things where it was like the best team was only like seven or eight games better than the worst. So it was helpful. In baseball you'd have those runaways for like The Braves in 83 had a 21 game lead in May.

[D]

Right.

[A]

Like they, they jumped out. So in Detroit, same year, 84, they had like a. They started 27 and two or something like that. It was insane.

[B]

35 and five.

[A]

That's right. They were 35 and you were a Detroit guy. I mean they were ridiculous and nobody could catch them.

[B]

They had to think about that and where they were. They finished up. They finished up kind of after that. Start a 500 team for the year.

[A]

They didn't need to. Such a dominant. Yeah, 30 over 500. And that's in May. Like you got through April pretty much undefeated. And you roll through most of May and you're like, this is going to be easy. All we have to do is maintain.

[B]

And how many, how many World Series did that team win?

[A]

One. One. Amazing. It's. And that's a weird thing about the 80s in baseball, there was not really a dominant team until the late 80s when the A's and the. It was. And The Cubs pop up in 84. They were horrible in 85 and that was a loaded team. Detroit one of the best baseball teams I've ever seen. Incredible. The 83 Braves amazing gone and they had Dale Murphy and Horner and all those dudes. But.

[B]

But I love Murphy. Midnight hit and the. The Cinderella slipper turned into a pumpkin. Did they went from a two or three time MVP to couldn't hit. He was hitting around the Mendoza.

[A]

Yeah. I don't know what happened but then. Then the steroids showed up.

[B]

Midnight.

[A]

Well it was midnight. Yeah. The perfect Del Murphy happened but then the steroids showed up. The whole game changed. But I was a big proponent of keeping it the same way. I was really wrong. What's going on in baseball right now is fantastic. This week the playoffs started Tuesday. Four games a day. You're getting such competitive play. It is meaningful each pitch.

[B]

I still would rather see the first round be a three best three out of five.

[A]

Oh you want to see a five.

[B]

Game series instead of the three. I know it's a race. I know it's. I know it's just to see who gets the next round. Those teams just got in so okay, you got a chance but 3 out of 5 you couple more games. I would rather see the season shrink down and have more playoffs at the end.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And you have to shrink down the season because you can't play till December.

[A]

That's my.

[B]

Hard to play baseball in the snow. Two more ground balls don't tend to get through the infield that way.

[A]

Two more things I wanted to bring up especially with you is that we play all summer to find a champion and we play the championship games in whether they didn't even touch all year it changed. And baseball in cold weather. I mean in Wrigley the wind blows in in the spring and in. In the fall and in the. It's a different place. So then you start playing games in October and late October. We've had snow outs. I mean that's not what the boys of summer are supposed to do.

[B]

I don't remember having any snow outs.

[A]

Snow outs. Colorado, Colorado and the Red Sox had multiple snow outs. I remember when the Rays played the Phillies that one year they had the one inning game seven because it snowed out the night before and they had to finish that last inning and they went up and pitched 10 pitches televised it. And the Phillies had this weird. I guess we win kind of like. All right. It was the strangest thing I've ever seen.

[D]

The other thing I want to ask Dave, because when you start talking about three out of five, the one sport that I think too much rests hurts you. Baseball. You take 10 days off to play best three out of five. Does that do a disservice to the teams that actually earned their way in?

[B]

I would agree with that. I think time off is a bad thing.

[A]

Terrible. Especially if you rate like what Seattle did, which is race to the finish to earn a top two seed. And now they're going to sit for a week.

[D]

Right.

[A]

Again, go back to that Red Sox race series. Remember, the Red Sox had won 15 in a row and got through the playoffs so fast they had to wait for the National League to get done and they had a bunch of. They had. Or it was it the Red Sox. Yeah, it was the Red Sox. And they had to wait for Colorado to finish up. They had like 10 days. They didn't play a game and it got real sloppy.

[B]

So I would agree. That's where I wouldn't. I would like to see the team, all the teams be playing right away.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

So the one seed plays a lower seed, that's probably not going to have as good a chance to beat them. But that it all be playing.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Now here's them missing the first round.

[A]

Would you consider yourself a purist of the game as far as statistics?

[B]

You are not puristas in regards to.

[A]

As far as this is how the game's always been.

[B]

No.

[A]

So statistically based, it's hard to monkey around with all this stuff and then still compare it to the days of, you know, Honus Wagner and.

[B]

Yeah. In the days of honest Wagner, the only thing going on was baseball.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And boxing and horse racing.

[A]

That's very true.

[B]

Those were the sports of America.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

What do you know about horse racing now?

[A]

Not three. Three races a year.

[B]

Yeah, that's it.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

And boxing gone.

[A]

Yeah. Well, basically I had a theory that boxing was run by the mob and. And made it entertaining because it was basically the first WWE because there were Italian champions in every division. And then the mob stopped running boxing and we. We don't see that anymore. Suddenly they can't fight like they used to. It's a very strange tie. But. But it also had a lot to do with the revenue that was coming in to make it interesting. It was a big sport and it was. And first sport Everly ever that heavily encouraged the populace to gamble. Horse racing too, right?

[B]

Exactly.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

And I mean the reason the National League, or was it the American League started is because the National League was so mired in gambling Problems that Bill White just said, I'm just going to leave and start my own league. This, this isn't fair anymore. So back in the day, but again, we still run the stats.

[B]

Bill White or Bill Johnson.

[A]

Or Bill Johnson. I said Bill Johnson was the Big Apple. Right. He said the restaurants downtown.

[B]

Well, I mean there was the American League. There used to be a president way back in 1900, whatever, they split off.

[A]

But they split it off. So I always think, oh, can we still compare Babe Ruth to this? And now I've changed my tune completely to say, how about this? Why do we, instead of shrinking the season, just make it tournament based all year, just like they do in soccer and have played four week tournaments for that. And then the winner of that tournament gets a slot in the playoffs later for that.

[B]

Wouldn't that be great for that?

[A]

And then you just get rid of everything by the end of September and you've got, everything's established, there's no standings. It's like, how did you do in these tournaments?

[B]

Yeah, I'm for that. Where you started with this conversation was the fact that as a purist, listen, baseball, back then there was nothing else going on. So now we have turned into society of immediacy now.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And a nine inning game where pitchers would walk around the mound for 30 seconds before they threw their next pitch. And games were lasting four and a half hours. Who has four and a half hour time to go sit there and watch people walk around the mound?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Just made no sense. The pitch clock was one of the best things they brought in. And I also like the fact that they brought in the extra inning rule, putting a guy in second. You can't have games going on 18, 19 innings. People have a life, they have to go to work and they're not just going to sit there hour after hour and watch guys not be able to score in extra innings. Just get on with it.

[A]

The idea of the baseball purist has to also die for baseball to survive the modern era. Because I completely agree, if you can get something. You know what I think ruined baseball was a show called Baseball Tonight on espn because it would take a four and a half hour game and you could watch the whole thing essentially in about six minutes. And it was more entertaining because the guys giving you the highlights were a blast.

[D]

Right.

[A]

So suddenly it's like, I don't have to sit through the whole thing. I'm getting the best version of it. Home runs, great plays, the strikeouts, pitches, stats, all of it. And I'm getting in seven minutes and that was the beginning of the give it to me now society, which is back then, that's like slow crawl compared to where we are now. So baseball, in order to survive, I think you have to, and I'm guilty of this, you have to be the first person to sit back and say this purist stuff is over.

[B]

Well, you know, the big argument back when I was playing was you can't change the game because the records will be changed. And I was thinking, listen, I'm not going there to watch a record. I'm not going there because I want to see stats. I want to be entertained. Baseball's an entertainment category. And nine inning games that last four and a half hours, that's not entertainment.

[A]

But let's say this. Devil's advocate. I completely agree with you. But devil's advocate is when records were about to be broken, the sport was never bigger. Agree. So it's hard to say let's abandon these records and try something new.

[B]

Change new. New. You're going to be. New records. Listen, you know back back in the 1900s when pitchers pitched.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Every other day basically there were pitchers pitched 400 innings.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So. So are we disappointed that a pitcher nowadays is never going to break the record for innings pitched?

[A]

Have you ever looked into Cy Young's numbers? Yeah. 525 wins. Do you know what that means? You have to win 25 games a year for 25 years.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. It's unheard of.

[B]

So should we not watch baseball because there's not going to be a pitcher come close to breaking Cy Young.

[A]

It's not even an option.

[D]

I don't know if 300 is going to be attainable anymore.

[A]

They won't even finish no hitters anymore. I mean it's like we got to sit them down at 105 pitches fall apart. It's John Holmberg here chilling away from my [e-mail] if your AC unit is 10 years old or more, you can start thinking about replacing it because of the Arizona climate. Like clockwork. We're right on top of that, seeing our first signs of losing our cool, cool air. New acunit.com also has the connections with all the major carriers so they get the best deals and they back it all with a 100 guarantee right now. Use Holmberg as a promo code and they'll knock off another 400 bucks from your already great price promo code. Holmberg, do it now. Save thousands. Save time. Buy [e-mail] It's John Holmberg here from the Morning sickness. And it's time to talk about TVs Doug Hopkins of my home group and doughns.com I tell you about the house down the street from me that has had a for sale sign in the yard for three months now. In fact it's the fourth different sign. They've got a new realtor all the time. I do know this though. They wouldn't be dealing with all this stress if they'd just called TVs Doug Hopkins because he's more than a guy buying your house. He makes an offer for your house cash as is. You don't have to do anything. The deal is over. So all you got to do is start the process online@doug hopkins.com or sing Hopkins 1, 800 now a lot of.

[D]

Things with baseball, obviously it's Dave's sport. The one thing I do know from a kind of insiders perspective, number one, it seems like it's the most. It's been the most hardcore of sticking.

[A]

To the old timers and losing a young audience first. They were the first ones that didn't.

[D]

Adapt because football, NFL and every year there's changes and people will be an uproar. Oh well maybe that did work okay. Or whatever. And they'll change something back. Baseball, it was like pulling teeth to try and get something changed.

[A]

Well, baseball's average age of their audience for a little while was in the high 50s. I don't know if that's still the same. I bet you probably is 60 now. It's the average age of the viewer is guys who were essentially where I was going down that road of like I want the game to be the way it was when I was younger. And that's dumb. Football's brilliant. They'll, they'll. The bad bunny super bowl halftime show is a perfect example of what football's doing. The 50 year old white guy's gonna go, what bad. What's Bad Bunny? Where's Metallica? Where's this? Where's the things I love? And they're like we don't care. We've got you.

[D]

And guess what?

[A]

You're not going.

[D]

And guess what they've adopted the Jerry Jones way of doing business is they want you talking about them.

[A]

Absolutely.

[D]

They got, they got something going on every part of the year. Always that draws your attention to the National Football League.

[A]

The best one ever was professional wrestling. They would abandon their entire blueprint every 10 years and listen to their fans scream and yell it's not the same. It's not the same. And they would Always go, oh, we're going to go pg, Right. And it all was so much fun. It was like, no, what they were doing was you're 40 now, right. You're getting along in the tooth for the buying dollar. We've got a group of 17 year olds that we have not locked in yet or 13 year olds. And we need them for the next 10 years to start liking us because their buying power is coming our way.

[D]

Right.

[A]

Yours is going away. Theirs is coming. Which one do you want? The one coming at you or one walking away from you? And NFL's doing the same thing and they do it so successfully that it's gotten bigger. You and I, dale, are what, 10 years apart? I don't know. We're not going anywhere.

[D]

No.

[A]

The NFL can make us mad. The Kaepernick right, are yelling whatever they. We're not going anywhere.

[D]

Right.

[A]

We're going to watch on Sunday and they're going to go try to get the bad bunny fan for the Super Bowl. And they realize that there's a billion people watching. Half of them only watch just that game. So let's see if we can make them think we're their friends.

[D]

Right.

[A]

It's brilliant. And baseball has been horrible.

[D]

Well, because. And again, just certain things. Like you. Okay, put the. I remember when they proposed putting the run on second base in extra innings.

[A]

I hated it.

[D]

Everybody hated it.

[A]

Hated it.

[D]

Everybody had. And then the pitch clock. Oh, you can't have a pitch clock.

[A]

I hate it.

[D]

And now it is. It's two and a half hour game and there's not a whole lot of standing around.

[B]

No.

[D]

And that's what I think drove. Drove the younger crowd away. Nobody wants to sit there and wants to pitch or pick his. Yeah.

[A]

I want to sit and watch guys flip their wristbands every. Every. Did you play in the pcl? I did not know. You didn't get to Pacific Coast. You were in Giants farm system.

[B]

No, I know. No, I didn't. I never made it to Triple A.

[A]

Oh, I thought you trip. Oh. So I've been saying semi pro. I've been overdoing. No, but the PCL had a great thing for years where you won the first half of the season, the second half of the season. That's what we had and it was magnificent.

[B]

And then you would play, you would.

[A]

Play off for the championship because it couldn't get too far gone.

[B]

Right.

[A]

You know, by the time July rolled around, it started over.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

So there could be a team that's like, okay, we got to reset we got to reshuffle. This is the second part of the thing and that's fantastic. I'd love baseball to adapt. I don't see that happening, but I'd love it to adapt. But what I am watching in this playoffs and what I'm seeing friends who. We don't talk about baseball that much but I'm now getting texts. Are you watching this? Is this. The tournaments are interesting. People like the best playing the best. And if tournaments can happen, like, you know, look, baseball's a crazy long year. The Orioles weren't very good this year. But they had a little streak there for a minute. They could have won one of those tournaments accidentally and snuck into this little. This little round robin thing I've got in my head.

[B]

You just made the great point of first half winner.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Gets into. They could do that in the major leagues right now.

[A]

It would make it wildly interesting going into July.

[B]

Correct.

[A]

Rather than the dog days. You've got something to play. Basketball's trying it and I don't necessarily care for it. But that in season tournament.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

It's. It's weird. It's. I don't think it's put together well.

[D]

Because it's not that. That's not have any effect on the end of the season.

[A]

Exactly. It's like the ultimate goal is not to win the Emirates Cup.

[D]

Million dollars is right out between your players.

[A]

Right. And it just seems like they're rubbing it into the fans. It's like they're going to make more money from this tournament. That means nothing to any of us.

[B]

I've talked Dale many times on this and maybe our shows in regards to fact. He's a big basketball guy. I'm not. Because short. Because they have. They can't. They can't play a whole game. I mean.

[A]

Oh yeah. Well, the. The prima donna attitude in basketball is kind of wrecked again.

[B]

I mean, what is it where you sit?

[D]

You got the rest. You got the.

[A]

Yeah. No, it's not basketball season. We're not even thinking about it.

[B]

Sorry. My bad for you bringing up. But the point is.

[A]

I know what you're saying.

[B]

The point is these guys sitting around growing up me. You'd go to the playground. You'd play for two, three hours straight.

[D]

No. These guys would play AAU tournaments in high school.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

And they'd play six games on a weekend.

[A]

Yes.

[D]

And now. And now they need a rest day. If they've got three games in a week and I can't.

[A]

Management.

[D]

There it is.

[A]

Load management used to be something you shouldn't search on Google.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

That would be, like, a terrible result. And now it's a totally different thing.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Don't get me started on the NBA, because I think they've gone down the road of trying to adapt and doing all the wrong things. And I don't like the. The cup in the middle of the season. Still interesting. But you've got a lot of talent in the NBA right now, like a ton of it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And they have not utilized that well. The. The ratings have been fairly bad for the last few years. They went uptick here and there, but it hasn't been good. And you remember when it was at its peak, you only had, like, each team had one guy. Right. Now you're looking at, like, that. That team in Oklahoma City is about as entertaining as it is to watch basketball. That's a fun team. But basketball's problem to me is that they're still addicted to ratings. First, they don't have everybody. Anybody goes to super bowl, you're watching most anybody. I mean, baseball suffers from being regional a little bit. Basketball is wildly drilled by that. So when you.

[D]

Their.

[A]

Their biggest fear was having Oklahoma City and Indiana in the finals. And there it was. And you got a good finals, but nobody cared.

[D]

Right.

[A]

Nobody watched it. Super Bowl, Carolina can play Jacksonville, and everybody's going to watch this.

[D]

Right.

[A]

And so, yeah, they've got a lot of adapting to do, too. I want to get back to baseball for two seconds because the playoffs are so good. Sorry. No, you're good. Shohei Ohtani is. I remember. I don't know, it was like 1999. It was like 2002 or three. I remember going on the air and saying, I'm going to get called crazy for this. But I saw some stats on Kurt Warner at the time where he was completing 88% of his passes. His quarterback rating was like a 108 for his career. It was absurd numbers. And I'm like, is it too early to start whispering? Not only hall of Fame, but maybe best of all time? And now he. He started a little later, so he fell off faster.

[D]

Right.

[A]

But I'm feeling that same way with Shohei Ohtani. Nobody got to watch him with the Angels. I don't know that baseball's done a very good job of showing us Babe Ruth before he was Babe Ruth, pitching and hitting and doing it at a level that you just can't even imagine. We're watching maybe the greatest player to ever walk on a baseball field.

[B]

Correct.

[A]

And I don't know how much of it has to do with the fact that he's Japanese, that people are, you know, dismiss that. This dude is unreal. First game of the series, two home runs. I mean, he's. He is a monster on the baseball field.

[B]

We. Everything in our society is. Whatever's happening now is the best ever.

[A]

But isn't it arguable?

[B]

It's arguable. But. But the thing. Don't forget about what Babe ruth did in 19. Either 1919 or 1920. He hit more home runs than whole teams did.

[A]

Yeah, 60. Yeah.

[B]

Well, no, it wasn't that year. He hit 60 in. In 1927. But in. In. In 20, I think he hit like 50 or 54.

[A]

He was up there.

[B]

And. And that. That was more than an entire team.

[A]

The White Sox won the World Series in 1919. Yeah, well, in that one that. I don't know if that was the Black Sox year or not.

[B]

Yes, it was.

[A]

But the. They had 19 home runs as a team.

[B]

Okay. As a team, Babe Ruth had more than entire teams. And before he started doing that, he had the record for most scoreless innings pitched in a World Series. So. So let's not dismiss what Babe Ruth.

[A]

Did completely, but also, let's go back to that as well as comp. And that. Which is what's fun about baseball, which is why I'm a purist, is that these. These today versus then arguments are so great. Babe Ruth also was one of the first guys that came along and said, home runs are awesome. They were outs when baseball started. And for years it was like, let's keep the ball in play and keep people moving. You can't hit those all the time. This is a waste of time trying to do that. And Babe Ruth was like, I'm strong enough to do this as often as possible. It's a run every time. Most guys that tried to hit home runs hit one and struck out 44 times. It wasn't good. So it wasn't a favorable thing that was coached or tried. Plus, the baseball was made of mush. And it was a totally different animal. This dude used a bat that was 50 ounces. Nobody can figure that out still. And the ball just did different stuff from him pitching. Different animal. That guy might have been the best pitcher to ever walk the earth. I don't know. He was pretty good, but I mean, his numbers back that up.

[B]

His numbers were he probably won double the amount of games he lost. That's a Hall of Fame pitcher.

[A]

But it was Steph Curry type stuff going, what's this dude up to? It's like, no, we can't shoot threes 30 times a game. That's against everything the game stands for. Until he started hitting them. And every kid watching was like, that's better than what I've been seeing. So now, 10 years later, everybody's doing what Steph Curry did. That's exactly what happened in baseball. Babe Ruth would hit home runs, and everybody's like, home run chicks dig the long ball, right? And they just went after it. And now it got coached and everything else. So in a way, it was a little different when Babe Ruth hit home runs because he was the only guy doing it.

[B]

But it quickly changed, though. There were guys that, that were already that were hitting over 50 home runs within. Within 10 years, but it was discouraged.

[A]

Home runs weren't like, let's go out and get a home run. Let's get the ball in. Play was more important than home runs. Home runs happened. Okay, that's fine. Nobody intentionally was up there. As a mad hacker, you'd get a few guys, but it was rare. Now the team, now every team had to have two. And home runs were encouraged. So coaching changed. Everything else was a little different. You still, you know, by the 20s, people are like, home runs are pretty good. And then he proved it. By then, the Yankees became dominant.

[D]

And why?

[A]

They had the only team that could have four guys hit 20 or more home runs a season.

[D]

Right.

[A]

So it changed the game a little. Shohei Ohtani, though, I'm watching him and I'm like, man, this is a different beast. This is just a different beast. You're not looking at him, comparing him to anybody right now. I don't. 55 home runs, 50 stolen beasts. Then he goes out and he's got an ERA under two and they're not even using him right yet. It's insane what we're watching.

[B]

I'm not sure there aren't other guys that could have done it or potentially could have done it in the past, but because he was doing in Japan, now he's able to come over here and do it now. It's harder to do, obviously, but it shows the great skill. But. But generally guys that are talented. I mean, we've had pitchers turn into hitters.

[A]

Rick and Keel. Yeah, there you go.

[B]

Who? But he couldn't find the plate.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And he became a center fielder.

[A]

Great ass. And not a bad. I think everybody's athletic enough to. They get to a certain point. You probably do both fairly well, but not be the best at.

[B]

Correct.

[A]

So he's the best pitcher and the best hitter in baseball. That's crazy.

[B]

He is better.

[A]

Well, I mean, I mean, you get.

[B]

Arguments dribble over in Detroit.

[A]

Incredible. Paul Skein's probably. Yeah.

[D]

Yes.

[A]

But he's in the argument.

[B]

He's in the. He's in the top echelon for the.

[A]

Doubt about that and the mvp.

[B]

So no, I won't argue that point and that. And that's totally true. And there are other, like, I don't want to say. Other people could do what he do. Other people could play both positions, but not nearly as well as him. So that's what does make him so unique and so great. Yeah. And we probably in our lifetime won't see again. Dale won't even see it because he won't be here more than a couple years.

[A]

He won't even see it in the next five or six years.

[B]

He won't see the next year.

[A]

So Dale and you say he won't see it.

[D]

Yeah. I've got money.

[A]

Yeah. The bet still lives on.

[D]

Who's going to.

[A]

Who's going to the funeral. We'll keep you up to date on that.

[B]

Hey, who do you. Who you bet?

[A]

Not for baseball. No. Oh, for you too. Oh, I was going to say. Yeah, I don't care. I think you're both probably going to die at the same time. Like, you'll get. You'll be like, what was it? Thomas Jefferson and. And John Adams died on the same day. And the last words was, Jefferson lives on. And it turned out he just died like half an hour later. Yeah. So it's one of those deals like you two. You two will be like, I'll be standing at Dale's bedside or probably on a golf course. And he's like, dale, wake up. I'm not picking you up. I'd be like, at least Nash lives on. And then I'll be like, oh, actually you'd be surprised. I just got a scower.

[B]

I'll be swearing if he beats me. I'm like, that fat bastard.

[A]

I hope I don't have to waste a whole week going to two funerals. Crying out loud. Who do you think wins the. The series? Who's advancing? Who do you got?

[B]

Well, I like Detroit. I like Detroit.

[A]

Fell apart, though.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. Well, actually, think about this.

[A]

Team game lead.

[B]

Yeah, but it was a wake up call. And then. And even yesterday losing. They. They left 15 guys on base. Yeah, that's. You know what? That won't happen again.

[A]

Shouldn't know. If it does, you're definitely not moving on.

[B]

Right?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But. But I like to talk.

[A]

I like Toronto. Nobody knows about them.

[B]

Oh, you talking about getting the whole series? I'm just talking about this series.

[A]

Oh, no, no. Who do you like? Toronto or in the American League? I like Toronto. It's a tough one. Everybody's a game apart. Yeah, that's a good one. It's just. It's tough to choose because, I mean, I think this is the most arguable that everybody in the playoffs in the American League has a shot. National League. The Reds have already been bounced and they deserved it. They weren't good, but from here on out, I can't tell you who's going to win.

[B]

You know, I said Detroit. I might even stick with that for the fact that Scribble is the best pitcher in baseball.

[A]

So good.

[B]

Along with Skins.

[A]

And day one was so good.

[B]

And so that's, that's, that's a win you can count on.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Another. Another conversation. Have on down the line since we've talked so much. Baseball is, you know, 10 of the 12 highest paying teams are the teams of in the playoffs.

[A]

Is that right?

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

I didn't know that at all. Who were the two? The Mets didn't make it. I know that.

[D]

The mess they make. And they were number two.

[A]

Yeah, they were one of.

[B]

And they should have made it.

[A]

Oh, ridiculous.

[B]

They should have made.

[A]

I didn't realize that. I didn't realize that had happened. Oh, boy.

[D]

That's another thing to talk about.

[A]

We'll get to that after we get closer to the series. Now let's get to what we're really here for, which is the NFL, because we got Dale in front of us. A lot going on in the league this week, Dale. We talked about this on the wildly successful homeworks morning sickness at 98kUpd.

[D]

We also talked about on the main.

[A]

Event with Steve, that wildly successful morning sickness. Anyway, you talked about it on your show, too. You warmed up to get it ready, Ready for an audience.

[D]

I was ready.

[A]

I see what it is. It's like when comedians go and test the material out in front of three or four people and then bring it to the stage. I got you. Well, totally agree with you, by the way. So we get into this thing 40 40, the Micah Parsons Cowboys game. We talked about it last week on the show. I said, does Dallas have any spirit in them that would stand up for Jerry Jones and say, hey, let's show a little backbone here? We're more than just this guy. I think I might be proven right.

[B]

They did. You were.

[D]

Yeah. No, there's no doubt about. And again, there's a bunch of different ways to look at this. Number one, did Jerry make the right decision? Am I paying you 40 plus million dollars a year to get a. Get a sack? That's very questionable. Another tackle and he wasn't constantly harassing Dak Prescott. Green bay gives up 40 points. Is this guy worth $40 million? But it also begets the. It costs us our bet on. On your show.

[A]

Yeah, that's true because.

[D]

And then that brought up the whole tie thing. Yeah. An overtime situation.

[A]

Ties are the worst.

[D]

Yes.

[A]

But you liked what you saw from your Cowboys because what you saw was a coach that, that somehow or another got into these guys head and say nobody's counting on you winning. Everybody thinks you're a five win team because one dude's playing for the team we're playing tonight. Show them you're more than that. And Micah Parsons is not going to destroy us. We'll have a game plan for that. And if the rest of the packers beat us, that's fine. It wasn't pretty. As far as like defensive structure. Ibrahe shouldn't be happy with himself. But that offense beat that dreaded Packer defense and that's two weeks in a row. The packers coming off a loss to the Browns.

[D]

Right.

[A]

That was their answer.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

They looked bad.

[D]

Well, the thing is, you can look at it now. Dallas, Dallas offenses score points this year. They've already scored 42 times, you know, in the first four games. So they're going to score points. But at some point you got to play some defense. Yeah. And in Green Bay the same way. I mean last week they lost A Cleveland, what, 10 to 3?

[A]

Yes. Or 10 to 13 or so 1310. That was 1310.

[D]

Late touchdown or something. But the defense for Dallas is gonna be their downfall. But I don't think it's a Micah Parsons away from being a respected defense.

[A]

No. And I have to wonder where the packers because everybody just, they just shoved the packers in the super bowl after Micah Parsons got there. Well, this is all they needed. And I'm like, I don't know. Well, here's some questions. At receiver. Even though they seem pretty good, this team is a little light on the run. The Cowboys made him look silly.

[B]

If, if anyone's listening out there and hates me. I'll give you some. I'll give you some sunshine that you can enjoy. I bet both the Cowboys over their win total.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And the packers over their win total.

[A]

Which Cowboys had to be six, seven.

[B]

It was seven. And the packers are seven and a half, packers ten half.

[A]

Oh, wow.

[B]

I lost both ways. Neither. That was the. Anything could have happened. Except that.

[A]

Yeah, that does mess you up. Oh, that's going to hurt at the end of the year. Oh.

[B]

As both of those win totals come up one win shy. I can't wait for that.

[D]

Half a win shy.

[B]

Yeah, I can't wait for that. That'll be fantastic.

[A]

Worse.

[D]

But the other thing I want to point out and John, you and I, maybe Dave and I have talked about this. Here's Michael part is making over $40 million a year and he's basically a part time player. I mean he plays probably three out of every five snaps and that might be high because you know, you know you can run at him. Yep. And. And so they take him out in all this run situations. It just reminds me so much of when Jerry traded for Rocket Ismail and Joey Galloway. Two unbelievably talented wide receivers. Yeah. But they were two plays on, two plays off. Two plays on, two plays off. Whereas Michael Irvin was every play.

[A]

Yeah. You said that when Rocket Ishmael showed up to the, to the. Was it Rocket that would occasionally tap his helmet and get off?

[D]

Oh, yeah. In a two minute drill. Yeah.

[A]

And yeah. In the most crucial times. Yeah.

[D]

And Michael's loses his mind. This is why you're getting paid. Yeah.

[A]

This is what, this is. The reason we have you is to be clutch right now. And that's the. You know when we talked about it last week with Marvin Harrison Jr. Who continued his woes and then turned it on when he felt like it. And a guy like George Pickens who is no longer in Pittsburgh for the very reason you watched last week is that that is not a consistent version of George Pickens.

[D]

Right.

[A]

What you saw him do against the packers was what he's capable of, but for some reason sometimes just doesn't show up to the.

[D]

Guess what they're talking about in Dallas this week.

[A]

Signing him and putting 40 million on him.

[D]

Yes.

[A]

Which is why, which is why the Steelers said we're not going to pay him.

[D]

Right.

[A]

We got DK now for 35. That's a five year number one.

[D]

Right.

[A]

Let's get something in return. And, and you know, let's just throw the baby out for a minute and if he goes on and does great things, we covered that base. I don't give $40 million to receivers.

[D]

No.

[A]

I just don't. There's a lot of them.

[B]

Hey, Byron, I heard you have something new to announce from MMP Guns Brett.

[C]

I sure do. It's MMP Guns Customs MMP Guns is creating some amazing firearms. We offer polishing, plating, bluing, custom laser engraving, laser stippling, cerakoting and performance upgrades. We do everything in house with our master trained craftsmen. You can select our designs or make up your own.

[B]

Well, can you do this to my gun?

[C]

We can do it to nearly any firearm. Doesn't matter where you live, you can ship it to us or we already have completed firearms in inventory with no weight.

[A]

Well, there you have it.

[B]

MMP Guns on the northeast corner of 12th street and Indian School or online@mmp guns customs.com.

[A]

Hey, what's up? It's Mo and my friends at the University of Advancing Technology has been ranked the number one best college for computer science for not one, but two years in a row. Which makes total sense because UAT are always on the lookout for those who don't just embrace technology, they live it. From advancing computer science and robotics to cybersecurity, gaming, and artificial intelligence, UAT is where innovation thrives. So if you're ready to lead the next tech revolution, visit UAT Edu Mo. And don't just study tech. Live it.

[D]

We talked about it on your show. Yeah. The fact that the receiver who is now the diva of every football team. Yeah. Is the only player on the field who needs all 10 guys on his side of the ball to do their job for you to have an opportunity to catch the ball. Yeah. Only guy I can have a successful play as a right tackle by blocking my guy.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Right guard. All the offensive linemen. But the wide receiver needs offensive line to block quarterback to make the right read and. And him get open for something for just to catch a football.

[A]

Which is why it's frustrating knowing that. And every receiver does know that. That they take place off that they don't involve themselves in run plays because they know it doesn't really matter if they fool a guy.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Or they'll, you know, they'll loaf through.

[D]

A moment, get in the way of somebody.

[A]

Get in the way. I mean, DK Metcalf scored a touchdown last week against the Vikings that Calvin Austin, the number two receiver, turned his head and just was running and like, who can I hit? Like he. And he cleared it up. Just gave him another five steps before the dude he was blocking got free and tackled DK in the end zone. It was like, it's perfect. And DK at the end said it wouldn't happen without the other guy. Receivers that just kind of go, oh, he's got it. They're far. They're all over the league, and it's frustrating. So you watch that kind of stuff and you're like, this has to. This has to drive people nuts. And coaches have to be crazy. Coaches, though, also, I think.

[B]

A lot.

[A]

Overrated isn't fair. But there's an awful lot of media love that goes into these guys. And I'm watching this happen in Cleveland because defansky's the smartest guy that's ever coached a football team in his life. He's amazing. He's unbelievable. But he didn't see that Joe Flacco was better than Dylan Gabriel until week three when he's like that. Let's try this. There's an awful lot of noodles against the wall. What we were watching in Minnesota with JJ McCarthy coming out of camp and that genius coach, he's got the magic touch. He made Sam Darnold worth something. And we give too much credit for Sam Darnold walking in there being the dumbest guy in the world and then suddenly getting it. There is something to the coaches and players being on the same page, but JJ McCarthy and Sam Darnold probably aren't that much different. So he's just flipping a coin or he's got an owner telling him, we're going with J.J. right. You see it with that. You're seeing it over in New York with Jackson Dart, and you're like, how. How much of the coach, like everybody wants to make them the next Vince Lombardi. And these dudes are just guessing a lot. Player. Do you see that?

[D]

The thing to me as I'm going, obviously when you're in the locker room as a player, you know who the better quarterback is. You're out there every day at practice. Yeah. And guys stand out and other guys don't. But the one caveat I would have would be like in New York with Jackson dart, maybe you just didn't feel he's ready the first couple games of the year. And you were hoping Russell get through four or five games and then you're going to get the rookie going after that. Obviously in Minnesota, it's just one of those adages in football that do you throw the rookie to the wolves on an okay to below average team and. And some coaches say, hey, we're gonna throw Troy man out there. He's gonna kill 15 games and get killed. But we think he's strong enough mentally come back. Whereas a couple quarterbacks in Houston, when they first came on the scene, ruined their careers because they got sacked 72 car, whatever. Oh my God. 70 sacks and he was never the same.

[A]

David Carr was horrified of football after two years and he was a good quarterback. Beat the Cowboys in game one in 2000. What two. The very first game they ever played to beat the Cowboys in Houston. It was like, this kid's going to be amazing. Then he got hit a thousand times and he couldn't stand still. I always look at that like as a player, when you're on the practice field, you're in camp and whatever, you guys probably get blinded by it too. When your QB1 is a lot better than QB2, you've got to sit and think, man, this guy's league's better than this other. But you don't know that QB2 is any good at all. So it makes these guys look better. So JJ McCarthy in Minnesota, use an example and this just an example. It may not be. There's no facts behind it at all. May have just looked so good compared to what they had behind him that everybody thought, oh my God, if these two are both pro quarterbacks, right? Guys leaps. He's. He's ahead of the game so much it's ridiculous. And then you get him in a real game and you realize our QB1 might be a QB2. Everywhere else he's just better than our QB2.

[D]

There is ways to go about that. The JJ situation, Minnesota, I heard players come out and talk about how impressed they were.

[A]

Incredible.

[D]

It's hard to. It's hard to fool players. A lot of times you could. You like we had Steve Walsh and Troy Aikman. You just knew, you know, And Jimmy was trying to sell Steve Walsh. No, he ended up having a couple decent years in New Orleans, but he wasn't Troy Aikman. And so it's hard to fool players. But as I look at that situation in Minnesota, boy, it's going to be fascinating to see if they can get themselves out of this mess.

[A]

Yeah, it's. I look at that. I see Cleveland, I see everything else. And you said the thing about Dion's kid, Shador, who is now now known as Dion's kid and he's jackassing around as the QB3 and Cleveland Browns are going to Cleveland Brown every year and they did it again. And somebody stuck a mic in front of Sanders face and said, how do you feel about this? And what he do, Dale?

[D]

Yeah, he. I don't know if you saw this.

[B]

I heard about it.

[D]

Yeah, he just, he. He mouthed it. He didn't say anything, but he made no Noise made. No noise.

[A]

Mouthed out words.

[D]

Yeah. Because you're like, you're turning it up, going, what is. Is the microphone bad? And then you realize, oh, no, he's just being an idiot.

[A]

And the reason why is because the Browns went out and got two young quarterbacks, two rookies on the same team that are pretty even. Give Flacco the job and let these two figure it out in camp. So you're watching during practice, one's getting more than the other. There's a. They created internal turmoil themselves and now they've got this going on. And that. That lands directly to me on the.

[D]

Head coach or the organization? I don't know.

[A]

Well, the organization put him in that spot. But the coach has to sit back and say, you're a practice squad quarterback. I don't care what your last name is.

[D]

Right.

[A]

And you're not in the mix for starter. So don't get in the way of this team.

[D]

Unless they saw enough to say, you know what? We can't make that definition.

[A]

Okay, then don't put. Then go out and say, Shador is in the mix to start. We're going to give it another week. Dylan was the next guy up. That was made clear. It's a mess.

[D]

And that's amazing because if Andy Reid would do that same thing, you'd go, well, he obviously knows what he's doing.

[A]

Well, he also has. Andy Reid has a track record that shows it. But Kevin Stefanski is like, oh, he's the greatest thing in the world.

[D]

Right.

[A]

He's such a smart coach and so many fans. Like, I wish we had that kind of. You don't have that. You just learned that the dude might have gotten lucky for a little bit with an awful lot of high, you know, high blue chip talent that started to flee and now he doesn't know and now he can't coach average. That's why Mike Tomlin is what he is. He coaches average to good in a big way. And I think Jonathan Gannon does it here in Arizona. I think that Sean McVay has taken guys that are bad on other teams. Kevin Dotson, for an offensive lineman that couldn't get his feet right and made him an all pro.

[B]

The fact that you mentioned Jonathan gannon and Sean McVay in the same sentence.

[A]

Yeah. That bothers you.

[B]

You're. You're fined. You're actually fine.

[A]

You don't think Jonathan Gannon is a quality coach?

[B]

No.

[A]

You don't?

[D]

No.

[A]

In what way?

[B]

I don't know. It's more of a wait and see what. What makes you cream your pants over Jonathan Gannon?

[A]

Zero talent on defense. The ability of a team to show me that they're competitive is all. To me, you get a bunch of guys who are just a bad coach. That team goes one win last year, fights like crazy. What you saw was a team get on the field and go, we know we're outmatched and we're going to give you a run.

[B]

I'm. Listen, I didn't play like Dale played. But. But I understand, you know, I playing growing up and could have played in college and whatever. I understand this, that on defense, you need guys that are hungry. Yeah, I want to hit and talent. I mean, these guys aren't any smaller, any slower, any this, any that. It's not like they don't have talent on defense, so you need to coach them up. Okay, but what's the record right now? Two and two. What were they last year? Under 500 team. I. I'm. And with people saying Kyler Murray is one of the, you know, they have weapons. I'm not saying he's a bad coach.

[A]

I think that's what he said.

[D]

Dale, it's got to sound that way.

[B]

I'm saying don't, don't. Sean McVeigh. I'm saying, all I said was his head and shoulder.

[A]

I didn't compare them as far as who's better. I said, you've got coaches that can take nothing and make it good. Sean McVeigh can make it better than Jonathan Gannon up to this point. But Jonathan Gannon has taken a lot of bad players, put them on a team and said, let's compete. And they're competing. But that doesn't happen a lot. You got a lot of coaches watch.

[B]

The game against the Seahawks, the first.

[A]

Three quarters, it was a mess. It was a mess. But that doesn't necessarily mean it's always the coach. I'm saying eventually talent will win out, but that dude's got a bunch of guys who aren't better than the team across from them. The game went to overtime, for God's sakes. So whatever just happened on that field with the Seahawks and Cardinals last week, there was a team that was outmatched from the beginning that managed to not play for three quarters and still end up competitive.

[D]

I'm going to say this to end this argument. Were you two knuckleheads? There are three or four coaches who separate themselves. He's one of them. Andy Reid's one of them. You can come up with a couple other. We Do a deep dive, and then there's probably six, seven, eight coaches who are really good.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

But they're not down.

[A]

I put Gannon. Yeah. Yeah. I didn't compare him saying he's as good as I'm saying. He has that unique skill to take average and start making it competitive.

[B]

All right, so here's the new rule now. Whenever you say Sean McVeigh's name in this podcast, you. There's a period at the end of the sentence.

[A]

I'll tell you this.

[B]

Then you can start with someone else.

[A]

Sean McVeigh. Watch this. Fourth. Currently fourth best coach in the NFL.

[D]

Are you gonna tell you're trying to put Tomlin ahead of him?

[A]

I would put Tomlin ahead of him because his record for a longer period of time has proven that he is what he is. Now Tom's got a huge problem right now that he can't get it to the next level. I put Sean Payton there. I think that dude is a remarkable coach, considering what he's. Oh, my God.

[B]

We talked about this before. The 8020 rule. I don't know what the name of it is. The 8020 rule. 20. 20% of your workforce, your team, your whatever, they. They carry 80% of the weight, the talent, etc, and the 80% have 20%. Sean McVeigh's a 20 percenter. As simple as that.

[A]

You.

[B]

There's. There's 8020 rule in everything.

[A]

Why are you so loud when we're agreeing?

[B]

Usually everyone says, I get louder. When I'm wrong.

[A]

He just starts yelling at you're like, I think we just agreed.

[D]

Yeah, you just said what I agree.

[A]

At your wedding when they said, do you take this woman to be like, of course I do.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Why would I be here otherwise?

[D]

I'm standing.

[A]

I'm standing right here. Right. I clearly.

[D]

I love this.

[A]

Well, Jesus, what's with the grilling? I didn't hire you to be my biographer. All right, well, that was a fast hour, boys. There you go. Jonathan Gannon is a good coach.

[B]

He hasn't had a chance to win.

[A]

A percenter, not a 20 percenter. I think he's got to realize. I think he's got the chance.

[B]

This guy got hired from Philadelphia to the Cardinals because he's a defensive wizard. And the last game he coached for the Eagles, they gave up a hundred thousand yards in the Super Bowl.

[A]

I don't think that's accurate.

[D]

But the Cardinals, 90,000.

[A]

They were in the super bowl, man.

[D]

They're in the Super Bowl. And also, the Cardinals tampered with him. So he must have been special.

[A]

He's special. I think he's. I think he's got the potential to be a really, really good coach. Maybe not here.

[D]

Yeah, we'll. We'll see.

[A]

Maybe not here. This. I think he can.

[B]

He's really good, but maybe.

[A]

I'll tell you this. There's a certain thing that this place will destroy. Men that are probably pretty good at it. And he took an absolute dumpster fire and made it respectable. At the very least, I think there's a chance that that can go to the next level if he gets the right help. But I'm not saying he's Sean McVeigh yet. Calm down, you love.

[B]

Thank you. Okay. All right, that's it.

[A]

The music's playing. We're done here. I don't know about that. It is the end of this sports thing. The John Holberg podcast. Sportscast, I call it, with permanent guest Dale Hellstrey and the rest.

[D]

It's everything you call it. I call it this.

[A]

I got a load of names.

[D]

You're gonna be. You're gonna be a part time guest.

[A]

We'll never make it.

[D]

And all of a sudden.

[A]

So you agree with me.

[D]

It sounds like it's pretty good. All right, well, I'll be the permanent host.

[A]

No, permanent guest. I am the host. It's. My name's on it, for God's sake. Starting last week, it is time now for us, Dale to step away. Me to step away and leave five minutes for the most insane person in the world. Make it snappy, Dave Nash, give us something.

[B]

Yeah, I don't know if I have five minutes, but I'll do something real quick.

[A]

Just give us a headline.

[B]

And this is sports related.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Travis Hunter came out, said he's not wearing the. The LBGQ TV bands. Oh, yeah, he's not doing that. That's what people need to do. They need to step up and need to actually take a stand in regards to that. I'll just say this. I mean, this is. This is simple science. You can't change your sexes. Whatever. You're born, you're born.

[A]

Here we go.

[B]

If you're. If you. If you're a man, you're. You're. And you want to be a woman, then you're a man dressed as a woman or you can't change your sex. And honestly, me as a person, I don't care what you do. You want to dress up like a dog, a furry or whatever, you think you're a fire truck, Go ahead, dress like a fire truck. I don't care. It doesn't bother me. That's your life. Do your thing. And I think most people feel that way. But don't go around saying you can change your sex, you can be a woman, and then you know what, you can change back and be a man again. It's not forever. I mean, it's just all nonsense. And thank goodness that some people like Travis Hunters coming out and saying it's just, just woke ideology that we're not, we're not. I'm not going to put up with.

[A]

I find it funny that the NFL would put people in that position to say do this or not. It's their own employees that they're going to make target for. You know, I'm fine with whatever. I don't care.

[B]

Right.

[A]

But you wear your LGBT thing. Good. Good for you. If you don't want to, you shouldn't be punished for it. But the NFL is not punishing them. The general population or the media is going to come after them. And it's not fair because the media.

[B]

Is again, because as I've said in this portion of the podcast, it's a propaganda machine that's against us as Americans.

[A]

But knowing that, why would the NFL want to put their employees.

[B]

Because they're against it. Because it's the ultra, ultra rich and they are people, the forces behind the NFL. That's a lot of money there. Probably a lot of those people feel that way. That again, in regards to this whole change your sex thing.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

When you do that, when you start messing around with your, your hormones, guess what? You can't have kids.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

If you're a man, you want to be a woman, you're probably not gonna be able to get your hormones back to the point where you're actually gonna produce sperm and have, have kids as a man. And you're certainly gonna have, aren't gonna have a kid as a woman because you're not a woman. You don't have ovaries, you don't have any of that.

[A]

None of the baby making material.

[B]

So as we said before, they want to depopulate. What's a great way.

[A]

There we go. That's what this is about.

[B]

What's a great way to start to depopulate? Have everyone change their sex.

[A]

Well, wouldn't, it just, wouldn't just flip flop into gender roles. You could still have sex.

[B]

Not if you start cutting off parts.

[A]

That's true. Well, maybe not.

[B]

Sorry.

[A]

You figure something out. But no, I'm with you on that. I do believe that it Is a thing where, look, do your own personal thing. Why does that creep into our sports? Why is it something your employer's like, all right, everybody's going to wear a band whether you like it or not. And if you don't, we're going to call the media and they're going to question you on whether or not you're a bigot. It's setting people up. And you are allowed to.

[D]

You're.

[A]

You are allowed completely to believe that you're not necessarily a fan of that.

[B]

It's an agenda. Yeah, they're part of the agenda.

[A]

And the agenda is to control the population. Shrink it way down.

[B]

Shrink the population, depopulate, Ruin America. So they bring in a one world government.

[A]

And it all starts with Travis Hunter wearing that band.

[B]

Well, it doesn't start. But I tell you what, what it. What it is, is a good sign that people are actually starting to step up and say, listen, enough of this nonsense. Enough's enough.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And. And you can't be afraid to stand up and say those things which you believe.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And. And, and if you disagree, then that's okay, too. Discussion is okay.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

As. As. As much as I'd like to think otherwise, there's is still some freedom in this country. This country, the first first Amendment, free speech.

[A]

And they're trying to do away with things that I can't stand. That's free speech. You can say stuff that I absolutely hate.

[B]

No doubt about it.

[A]

Right to do.

[B]

No doubt about it.

[A]

There are repercussions when you go too far if it's at your work.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But you had a right to say it. What happens after that, there's also a right to happen. Can happen. It can be bad, it can be good. Doesn't matter. I'm with you on that one. I didn't know they were making them wear those. Yeah.

[B]

And he said I'm out.

[A]

Yeah, good.

[D]

Right.

[A]

I'm fine with that.

[B]

Bingo.

[A]

Whatever. There it is, Dave. Now, quick, the weirdest man in the world finishing up the last five minutes for Dale Hellestray. For Dave Nash. My name is John Holberg. This is the sports thing, closing her up once again.