HOUR 2 - Will Stroud Even Make the Top 100? + Acknowledge Me + Pugilism in Vegas

Summary

Payne & Pendergast — HOUR 2: "Will Stroud Even Make the Top 100? + Acknowledge Me + Pugilism in Vegas"
Date: July 13, 2026
Hosts: Seth Payne & Sean Pendergast
Producer: Ben Gary
Podcast: Audacy

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into Houston sports’ hottest topics, with spirited debates about C.J. Stroud’s spot in the NFL Top 100, acknowledgement of standout local athletes (from Jordan Alvarez to Bruce Thornton), and some colorful conversation about boxing, both sanctioned and not, in Las Vegas. Hosts Seth Payne and Sean Pendergast mix analysis, stats, stories, and playful banter, keeping it real for Houston sports fans.

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Segment-by-Segment Breakdown

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1. Opening Banter & Summer Travel (01:30–03:54)

• Trip Recap: Sean shares details about his recent family road trip, successfully visiting every contiguous US state and relying on ChatGPT as a driving tour guide.
• Tech on the Road: Sean and Seth discuss ChatGPT’s usefulness for spontaneous travel advice and trivia.
• Memorable moment:
  “You don’t realize until you actually have somebody that can answer all the questions with you. That is ChatGPT. You don’t realize how many times you’re driving—boy, I wonder this, I wonder that... It was like having a tour guide.” — Pendergast (03:05)
• Quirky banter: Seth jokes about accidentally talking more to his AI assistant than his wife.

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2. Main Topic: C.J. Stroud’s NFL Top 100 Uncertainty (04:17–10:47)

Context:

• NFL Top 100 rankings are rolling out; Stroud, after a mixed sophomore campaign, isn’t a lock to appear.
• Other QBs (Bryce Young, Brock Purdy, Baker Mayfield, Jordan Love) are already listed—questioning Stroud’s standing.

Key Discussion Points:

• Voting Timing: Recognition that ballots are submitted before the playoffs—so Stroud’s late-season and playoff struggles “don’t count.”

  “The ballots are submitted before the playoffs. The vast majority of ballots are Thanksgiving through January 1st.” — Seth (05:50)

• Comparisons: Debate whether Stroud deserves to rank above Baker Mayfield or Jordan Love, given stats and reputation.
• Insight:
  • C.J.’s standing compared to Jordan Love and Mayfield means a possible mid-list slot.
  • Peers may penalize team performance on QBs (“...that collapse the Buccaneers had...that gets put on the quarterback.” — Pendergast, 07:19)
• Quote:
  “I know you probably had to watch him week to week to see the progress he made within Nick Caylee’s offense. And then you just had this playoff…collapse really in both games, but really bad in the New England game." — Pendergast (08:08)
• Takeaways:
  • Playoff performance didn’t affect this year’s list; regular season is what counts.
  • There’s optimism Stroud will still make it, albeit lower than before.

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3. Proving Year & Future QB Options for the Texans (10:56–17:48)

Featuring media recaps & guest takes:

• Cameron Wolf on KILT 610 (summarized):
  The team could consider Baker Mayfield if Stroud fails, highlighting how teams pivot quicker on QBs now.

  “I think this is absolutely a prove it year for C.J...They’ve told you through your actions, we are not ready to pay you top of the market money yet. And so go show us.” — (12:05)

• Debate:
  • Should the Texans wait out Stroud or consider vet QBs like Mayfield or Darnold if things go south?
  • Organizations shouldn’t rush megadeals; waiting (like the Cowboys with Dak or Ravens with Lamar) can work.
  • Playoff performance is a major inflection point for Stroud’s future.
• Memorable moment:
  “If he has an improved regular season, but then just completely…just falls apart in the playoffs, then I’d be done with him.” — Seth (16:40)

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4. Playoff Legacy: How Much Do Postseason Wins Matter? (17:19–20:13)

• Discussion on Stroud:
  • Playoff wins/records aren’t a slam dunk for “QB of the future”—they parse Stroud’s playoff history, noting his losses sucked, his best wins came with caveats.

    “Like, Mark Sanchez won three playoff games in his first couple years.” — Seth (17:48) “He’s played six playoff games—he wasn’t good in at least four of them.” — Pendergast (18:47)

• Comparison: Peyton Manning’s early playoff woes get invoked as a context for patience.

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5. Segment: Acknowledge Me — Recognizing Houston’s Sports Standouts (22:13–36:30)

A. Yordan Alvarez’s Historic Run (23:13–24:24)

• Yordan’s resume: AL MVP favorite, in line for a Triple Crown.
• Notable stat:
  “Jordan Alvarez had the second most home runs in Globe Life Field among any players in baseball, including the players that play all of their home games there.” — Pendergast (23:35)
• Context: Astros’ mediocrity doesn’t preclude Yordan’s MVP odds, especially after Aaron Judge injury.

B. Justin Verlander’s Retirement (24:20–28:07)

• Legacy: Called the best pitcher in Astros history, even over Oswalt and Nolan Ryan, by the numbers.
  “Of the 23 pitchers, starting pitchers in Astros history that have thrown 800 innings or more, he’s the only one with an ERA below three.” — Pendergast (26:31)
• Cultural mark: Verlander’s acquisition was the pivot to the Astros’ golden era.

C. Rockets Rookie Bruce Thornton’s Debut (28:07–30:51)

• Thornton’s summer league: 27 pts in his debut, breaking team rookie record.
• Clip: Thornton credits his work ethic and his teammates (“I get all glory to God—being a two-way player, offense and defense.” — Thornton, 29:32)
• Comparison to Reed Sheppard:
  Early hype doesn’t always translate—be cautious.

D. Stefon Diggs’ "Best No. 2 WR" Assertion (31:49–33:40)

• Clip: Diggs asserts, “There’s no better wide receiver 2 than me” and questions if any No. 2 makes more than him.
• Reaction: Seth notes Diggs is “always something” drama-wise, which may impact his demand as he ages.

E. Texans’ First-Rounder Keelan Rutledge’s Hard Journey (33:40–35:34)

• Feature: Shoutout to Jonathan Alexander’s piece on Rutledge overcoming a tough upbringing and dangerous car accident.
  “If you want to go play for the Texans and you haven’t gotten in a devastating car accident, I don’t even know what you’re doing.” — Seth (34:56)
• Theme: Overcoming adversity is a beloved scout cliché, but Seth notes sometimes it’s just luck.

F. Listener Acknowledgement (36:10–36:31)

• Larry Zhang: Loyal listener and survivor of tough family times gets birthday wishes and on-air love.
  “She told me our show Payne & Pendergast was the first thing to make him laugh after his dad suffered a stroke.” — Pendergast (36:14)

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6. Pugilism in Vegas: Fights, Sanctioned and Not (37:37–49:35)

A. Conor McGregor’s Quick KO Loss (39:37–43:15)

• Event: McGregor gets TKO’d by Max Holloway 1:09 into comeback, possible pre-existing injury debated.
• Mockery:
  • “It was a sad look. The sad state of affairs.” — Seth (43:01)
  • Max Holloway to ref: “I told the ref, stop the fight. He doesn’t want to fight.” — Holloway (43:19)
• Meme moment:
  • Comparing McGregor’s flop to Aaron Rodgers’ brief Jets debut:
    “The funny thing is the memes that have come out of this, like Aaron Rodgers running out with the American flag moments before his season ended. Four snaps in.” — Pendergast (44:02)

B. Bam Adebayo vs. Tyler Herro: Real-Life Haymaker (44:19–49:13)

• Incident: Bam (at Vegas AAU event) coldcocks Herro for DMs questioning whether Bam deserved his contract.
• Take:
  “I support him standing on business … maybe wait and not do it in front of the kids AAU team.” — Seth (46:21)
• Lesson: Never DM opinions about teammates to randoms; screenshots will leak and get you punched.
• Anecdote: Seth points out, “Just don’t mess with a guy named Bam,” referencing the origin of the nickname (49:09).

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Notable Quotes / Memorable Moments

• On the NFL Top 100 ballot gap:
  “Playoff failures, playoff disasters, playoff mass murders, basically, might as well have been… they’re not factored in.” — Seth (06:02)

• On Stroud’s legacy:
  “The biggest thing that holds me back a little bit… okay, if he fell apart completely in the playoffs, then I’d be done with him.” — Seth (16:40)

• On messages & fights:
  “Just don’t mess with a guy named Bam… he was given the name Bam because of something physical.” — Pendergast (48:49)

• On being careful with digital criticism:
  “Texting has made me a slightly better person… I try to be as polite as possible about it, even if that person’s—I might be talking about a third party.” — Seth (50:09)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:30 – Travel banter and ChatGPT on the road
• 04:17 – C.J. Stroud’s Top 100 case
• 10:56 – Future of Texans QB room; prove-it season for Stroud
• 17:19 – Playoff wins & QB evaluations (Peyton Manning comparison)
• 22:13 – “Acknowledge Me”: Local athletes recognized
  • 23:13 – Yordan Alvarez
  • 24:20 – Justin Verlander
  • 28:07 – Bruce Thornton
  • 31:49 – Stefon Diggs
  • 33:40 – Keelan Rutledge
  • 36:10 – Listener Larry Zhang
• 37:37 – Pugilism in Vegas (McGregor KO & Bam/Herro altercation)
• 43:19 – Max Holloway’s quote after McGregor win

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Tone & Style

The show balances sharp, informed analysis (“That’s one of the dumbest precedents in sport over the past decade.. teams kowtowing to their quarterbacks…” — Seth, 15:59) and lots of playful, sometimes irreverent local flavor (“If you want to go play for the Texans and you haven’t gotten in a devastating car accident, I don’t even know what you’re doing.” — Seth, 34:56).

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Takeaways for Houston Sports Fans

• Stroud’s fate in the Top 100 points to bigger questions about his future and the Texans’ approach.
• Astros’ greats, new Rockets, and even dedicated listeners all get their due in a feel-good segment.
• The Vegas fight discussion turns into a teachable moment about sports pride—and online caution.
• The show’s blend of sports analysis, storytelling, and good-natured ribbing continues to be a staple for Houston sports radio.

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For sports fans looking for a sharp, humorous, and honest breakdown of Houston’s biggest stories—with a side of life lessons—this episode delivers.

Transcript

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[Seth]

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[Pendergast]

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[Seth]

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[Pendergast]

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[Seth]

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[Pendergast]

Pain and Pender Gast with you on a on a Monday? Somebody asked Sam asked on the text page real quick. Well, first of all, we have a few people that we have at least one person set that lives in Montana. Yeah, which is where I was on vacation and I said I was 80 2. Is 83 1. Too bad. They're like, that's western Montana, eastern Montana. Buck 10 today, 110 degrees.

[Seth]

You can throw all your dry heat theories out the window. When it's 110, roll that window right back up, you're going to die.

[Pendergast]

Someone said, Sean, how do you and Amy pick your towns and destinations and plan your trips? Really appreciate it if you could tell me that that's from Sam. We have been going, we've been trying to check off states. That's all we've been doing. You know, we've been trying to go to all 50 states. So that's we, we plan different road trips based on checking off states. And I'm happy to report that we've, we've hit the whole continental US Now. Montana, Montana was the, the last one

[Seth]

you've hit the contiguous states.

[Pendergast]

Yes.

[Seth]

Not the continental. Yeah. Because Alaska's on the continent.

[Pendergast]

Oh, okay. Okay. Yeah. The 48 contiguous states.

[Seth]

I think that's the way it works.

[Pendergast]

That's okay. It sounds logical to me.

[Seth]

It's the only time, kind of like the only time you ever hear the. You hear the word confluence is when they're talking about the Steelers stadium. Likewise, contiguous. You never hear that word other than the contiguous.

[Pendergast]

Yes. Yes. So. But that's. That's how we do it. We're just. We've just been doing that. I told you this during the break. But you know what was really helpful on this trip for us? ChatGPT.

[Seth]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Pendergast]

When you're on the road.

[Seth]

Yeah.

[Pendergast]

You don't realize until you actually have somebody that can answer all the questions with you. That is chat GPT. You don't realize how many times you're driving. You go, boy, I wonder this, I wonder that. What is that thing over there? What is that all about?

[Seth]

Yeah. You're like, I had no idea that Mark Twain lived here, apparently. What's. What's the deal with that? And I'll tell you all about all the, like, yeah. When and where somebody lived there or anything.

[Pendergast]

It was like having a tour guide. It was great.

[Seth]

You know what? You know what I like it for a lot is when I'm driving, a lot of times I just put it in conversation mode and say, hey, I'm. I'm driving. Like, I'm driving to Texarkana on 59. Where's a good place where I could, you know, sit. Sit out and eat outside and everything? He'll tell me, like, well, there's a rest area with picnic tables here. It's incredible. Yeah.

[Sports Analyst]

Yeah.

[Pendergast]

And it's right.

[Seth]

Yeah. Without having to look like. Without having to try to search on Google Maps or anything.

[Pendergast]

It's really, really cool. Now, do you keep it in conversation mode when you're in the Brandy?

[Seth]

I do. And then I forget that I'm in conversation mode, and I'll just make an offhand remark to Brandy, and chat will be like. We're like, that's a great point, Seth. And I look at Brandy, who didn't even acknowledge what I said, and it's like, yeah.

[Pacific Life / Oregon Lottery Announcer]

Huh?

[Seth]

See, Just wait. Just wait until I can put this guy into a sex spot. Yeah, it's over.

[Pendergast]

It's over. Okay, so the NFL's top 100 is continuing here over the next several days. Therehere we are, 30 players into the top 100 as of Friday. I am Seth, I am starting to get the feeling that C.J. stroud might not make the top 100. Now let me be clear. He, he in his two eligible off season so far, yeah, C.J. stroud has been 20th, which is after his rookie year, 39th after his season last year. And now the question is, and when you and I were kind of previewing the NFL top 100 or I was making my predictions as to which Texans would be in and out, I said, I don't know, man. CJ feels like a coin flip. And then they revealed the first few players and Bryce Young was 98th. And I said, okay, well, CJ's better than Bry. Even with the year CJ had, even with that bad playoff game, CJ Stroud, his has got to have a better cachet with his fellow players than Bryce Young at 98. And then Brock Purdy pops up at 85. And I'm like, all right, well, I mean Purdy, Purdy's, Purdy's probably had a better last few years. And CJ's been to a Super bowl, you know.

[Seth]

Yeah.

[Pendergast]

And then so I'm like, okay, there's maybe 50, 50, you know, Brock Purdy may still suffer from that seventh round label that he's got. And Baker Mayfield pops up while I'm on vacation at 77. And then on Friday, Jordan Love pops up at 72. I don't know. What do you think the chances are that CJ's peers think he's better than Jordan Love and Baker Mayfield?

[Seth]

This is what you need to know. It's that the ballots are submitted before the playoffs. The vast majority of ballots are Thanksgiving through January 1st.

[Pendergast]

I know this.

[Seth]

Yeah, I double checked this and I'm pretty positive that's the way that it's done. So it's largely voted on in November and December. So playoff failures, playoff disasters, playoff mass murders, basically might as well have been.

[Sports Analyst]

They're.

[Seth]

They're not factored in. So I think that that's where I would go back to. Hey, you know what? CJ was ranked ahead of Baker Mayfield last year. Both of them had pretty mediocre seasons. Baker started off a lot faster, but I think CJ still got better. Either just either cachet or just reputation or just maybe because he's for whatever reason amongst players to the year before. Last year CJ was ahead of Baker Mayfield. Baker ended up dropping about 20 spots this year. I think there's a good chance that CJ is, he drops a certain amount too. But CJ had the same year last year that he really had in 2024, like statistically looking at it, etc.

[Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth]

You know, so I think that, I think he's still in it and I think people will be PO'd and they'll talk about, and they'll, you know, Baker. Statistically, in a lot of ways, Baker had a better year last year, partly just because he was healthy the whole year, but I think, I think CJ is still going to make it.

[Pendergast]

I think Baker is hurt by the collapse that the Buccaneers as a team had over the second half of last season. Those, those, even if it's not deserved to be put on the quarterback. That gets put on the quarterback.

[Seth]

Well, no, and think about even though cj, look, the box score doesn't look good for the Chiefs game, but CJ's performance in the fourth quarter, it was really impressive coming off that Chiefs game last year. And that was right around the time when people were starting to either submit their ballots or thinking about it and everything. The Texans were on what would end up being an 11 game winning streak and in for all those reasons. I think that, and I still think just as, just as it is with a lot of the people who watch film and the hardcore analysts and everything, they're kind of waiting and seeing, they still believe in cj, but they just got to see it, you know, they got to see it for sure. I think that's how a lot of NFL players.

[Pendergast]

That's, that's interesting. Okay, so good. I'm, I'm glad you point that out that the ballots were submitted before the playoffs because this is the, the part that was getting really interesting to me was that we're starting to get into the 60s and then the 50s in this top 100 and we're starting to get into like the 60s are a spot where, you know, CJ had an okay regular season. Statistically, it was just okay. I know you probably had to watch him week to week to see the progress that he made within Nick Caylee's offense and things like that. And then you just had this playoff just collapse really in both games, but really bad in the New England game. But if that's what was getting interesting to me, like before you pointed out that the ballots were submitted before the playoffs, I was thinking the playoffs that they were submitted after everything was over these ballots, because the, the, you know, the poll itself doesn't come out till this dead time of year that we're in. I'm like, man, we're getting into an area here where we don't know if he's in the top 100. If he is, that's an area like the 60s for a season. The season C.J. had in the regular season, that's like total exoneration for that New England game. If the New England game were to have counted towards.

[Seth]

Right.

[Pendergast]

Or if he's not in the top 100 at all, that's the more interesting one, because then that's the league saying, well, this is who he is. Yeah, this is who he is.

[Seth]

Yeah, I'd like the idea. It would be cool if they didn't do it until February and just really base it on all of that stuff. Yeah, the. The other thing, too, about some of the players that are already in him. You got to remember, too, with Brock Purdy. Brock Purdy had just started playing football again in November.

[Pendergast]

So he was injured. That's right. The Texans didn't even face him in that.

[Seth]

Yeah. Yeah. So Brock Purdy had two games before his injury and then ended up starting, I think, mid November, I think was when he came back.

[Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth]

So, like, again, back when people start submitting their ballots around Thanksgiving Day and everything, and if they're looking at stats or whatever, Brock Purdy's not really necessarily front and center in anybody's mind.

[Pendergast]

Nope. So, okay, so the fact that.

[Seth]

I mean, the fact that Bryce Young is on here.

[Pendergast]

CJ's got to be on here.

[Seth]

Yeah. Yeah. Like. No, Bryce. Bryce Young is the 98th quarterback on here, and he didn't start doing anything of note until the second half of the season. Yeah, I just. Yeah, I know that. I'm not saying it's correct or anything. No. And people are going to make a big old hoopla about this, but the Baker Mayfield and Jordan Love dynamic. Baker Mayfield at 77. Jordan Love is at 72. It feels like C.J. and Jordan Love, as well as the packers and the Texans, have kind of orbited each other in terms of how people are evaluating these guys early in their career. I think that he ends up being somewhere close to Jordan.

[Pendergast]

My handicap has completely changed with you saying that the ballots don't come in until. Until they do.

[Ad Voice]

They.

[Seth]

They're in before.

[Pendergast]

I'm sorry. Yeah, In.

[Sports Analyst]

In.

[Pendergast]

Before the playoffs. Yeah, that. That completely changes the. The handicap on that. This was from yesterday afternoon. We've got Weekend radio going on on Sports Radio 6 10. Zach Yelb and Luke Morrow were on Sports Radio 610 yesterday after Luke, who did last week with you, Seth, and Zach Gelb, who a lot of you probably know from CBS Sports Radio. You and I have gone on Zach's show. He's not a cbs. Sports radio obviously doesn't exist anymore, but. And Zach is doing his own thing now, but he did some Sunday radio on Sports Radio 610 yesterday. Talking a little Houston, they had Cameron Wolf on who I know you guys played the audio last week of Cameron Wolf saying that the Texans are a Super bowl contender. Right? Cameron Wolf of the NFL Network. Yeah, he was on with the guys yesterday speaking of Baker Mayfield and C.J. stroud. And Zach asked Cameron Wolf, hey, if things don't go well for CJ this year and a Baker Mayfield hits free agency or if he's available, let's say maybe they franchise him and trade him. Tampa Bay, could the Texans look to Baker Mayfield in 2027?

[Sports Analyst]

Why not? I absolutely. I think as much as I think CJ can fix this, I think that this is absolutely a prove it year for CJ I think that the pressure's on. I think they've told you through your actions we are not ready to pay you a top of the market money yet. And so go show us. And yes, you're right. If it doesn't happen, then they got to look at other options and they're a win now team. They've already paid a lot of their defensive cornerstones that defense is championship ready. The way they built this roster, they're ready to win. So yes, if it's not tj I don't see them just sort of band aiding it around. I think they go get a real guy and maybe that's Baker, maybe that's someone else. But we have seen teams quickly pivot off their young quarterback if it doesn't work. You know, Minnesota is an example of that. Even Seattle, they felt like, you know, they made the swap from Gino to Sam and it worked out for them. So I think the days of just waiting five or six years to figure out if your quarterback is the guy

[Pendergast]

or not or over. I like the way he framed that, Seth, is that, that I can't envision this being a team that goes into 2027 with one of those draft one of like the six quarterbacks who everybody sees as first rounders coming out of college this year because the Texans wouldn't be in a position to take the best of the best of that crew. I just can't see this being a team that goes into 2027 with even, even a first round quarterback. They feel good about long term as the quarterback for this team.

[Seth]

Yeah, I think the. And that's where The. That's where the whole contract negotiation and everything gets interesting because, I mean, there's. There's part of me whenever somebody says, like, yeah, maybe they decide to go with a guy like Sam Darnold or Baker Mayfield, that. My immediate thought is, yeah, imagine if the Browns had let Baker Mayfield stick around, or if the jets had actually done something to support Sam Darnold in his time. And if you had operated that way, going back to guys like Eli Manning, who. Who had a. Eli had a much slower start to his NFL career than C.J. stroud did, you just kind of figure out a way to make it work around those guys and support them like they do. I like, that all sounds good. And I would say that, like, CJ's shown enough promise that I can't. I can't sit here as an organization and say, we're making the right decision. If our solution is to take a guy like Sam Darnold or Baker Mayfield, who was discarded by a bad organization earlier in their career, but now we

[Pendergast]

have him, Baker's fifth team, if he were to.

[Seth]

Right, right, right. Like, okay, why not? How about we be the team that actually holds on to a guy like Baker Mayfield or Sam Darnold and figures out how to get the most out of him? The only dicey part of that is, is there any tension to an extreme degree or to. To a debt, like, to a harmful degree, about the contract negotiation and all of that? And that's when I say, you know what? I'm not. Look, the Ravens and the Cowboys haven't won a Super bowl or anything, or even many playoff games in the case of. So. Except that as far as how is their relationship with Dak Prescott? How is their relationship with Lamar Jackson? Those two organizations pushed it out to the extreme edge of when they had to give them a contract. Those guys are still there, and they're still playing really good football. So it's not. I think sometimes people worry and organizations start to worry, like, oh, oh, dear. Oh, our quarterback's going to be upset or disgruntled, whatever. Shall we do? You deal with it. You deal with it. You know, so I'm. I don't. I don't want to, like, honestly think about the irony of that. Like, well, CJ hasn't really turned into what we want.

[Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth]

So let's go out and go get a guy who was discarded by a team who didn't think Baker was a good enough.

[Pendergast]

It's a really good point. It's a really good point. So what would you Say, what would you say the chance that you. So you think there's a chance cj, there's a scenario in which CJ plays for the Texans on the fifth year option in 2027?

[Seth]

Yeah, yeah, I think there's. I think it's very, very possible. I think it's one of the dumbest, One of the dumbest precedents in sport over the past decade has been teams kowtowing to their quarterbacks and feeling like they need to treat them like precious little divas and give them a huge contract after their third or fourth season.

[Pendergast]

Just because it is an interesting needle to thread, though. And I'm thinking of the other, the other direction, which is, okay, what if CJ's underwhelming again? What if he has a bad playoff performance in 2026?

[Seth]

If he has a bad playoff performance, that's. Then in that, that becomes. That's where I. Flipping immediately. And especially, like, let's say he has a more. Let's say he has an improved regular season this year.

[Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth]

But then just completely. Just falls apart in the playoffs. Then I'd be done with him. You'd be done. Like, I don't have to think about it at that point.

[Commercial Announcer]

Yeah.

[Pendergast]

That's why I think it's a, It's a, It's a really interesting conversation. It's a very difficult needle to thread. If CJ has an underwhelming 2026, you know, like, like I'm trying to picture that. Like, okay, he has an underwhelming regular season. Maybe they lose in the playoffs, in the divisional round again. But it's not really CJ's fault. It's something else. He doesn't throw four interceptions in that game. Then maybe it's a scenario where they say, you know, we're still. We're just not ready to. We're just not ready to pay you. You know, we're just not ready to give you what you think you might be worth. Then it's, it's really interesting.

[Seth]

I think the, the one thing that I don't. It's. It's tough because there's people that I agree with, but then they start citing like, that CJ's got these playoff victories. I don't, I don't buy into that. Like, it's. I, I do buy into it when it's. When I'll say that, look, CJ's had good performances in the playoffs, but like, action, like, because he's won three, three playoff games, that's some kind of a, A mark. Of a true champion or something. There's, like, Mark Sanchez won three playoff games in his first couple years.

[Pendergast]

Let's break it down. He's three and three in the playoffs. He. He wasn't great in any of the three losses, obviously. Maybe he was. You know, that Kansas City game they lost in the playoffs. He was good for three quarters. Then the wall caved in on him. Not. Not totally his fault, but he didn't do anything in the three losses. Where I go, boy, he fought valiantly. And he, you know, he. You know, he. He was. Certainly wasn't the reason. You know, like, the three losses. Of the three losses, the three wins. He was outstanding his rookie year against Cleveland against the team that just whacked them three weeks before that. But the Charger. The Charger game looks better in the box score than it really was. He was terrible for, like, almost two quarters and then had that play to Xavier Hutchinson.

[Seth]

Yeah.

[Pendergast]

That actually started with him fumbling the football.

[Seth]

Yeah.

[Pendergast]

And. And then that kind of broke the dam, and he was great after that.

[Seth]

And then the snap in a playoff game and then.

[Pendergast]

And then the Steeler game. He wasn't good in the steel. Like, he's played six playoff games. He wasn't good in. In at least four of them. Four and a half. So I'm with you on that.

[Seth]

It's the one thing that holds me back a little bit from. Like I just said, okay, if he. If he fell apart completely in the playoffs, then I'd be done with them. I mean, the. The biggest example of a guy that had. This guy had much better regular seasons early in his career, but was horrendous in the playoffs is Peyton Manning. It took forever for him to even win. He was in. His was his seventh year in the league by the time he won a playoff. And some of those. Some of those performances you go through, I mean, he was 14 for 31 versus the jets in. In 2003. He was 17 for 32 against the Dolphins in. In. In the year 2000, his fourth year.

[Pendergast]

I can't name one guy on either of those teams. The jets and the Dolphins on their defense.

[Seth]

Well, my first tendency. My first thought with the Colts was, like, part of the issues of the playoffs early on was that the defense was awful. Yeah. Or they were kind of built there. They were built for the regular season. But these are. This is Peyton Manning's first three playoff games in his career, which were. They were all losses. So this is in three separate years against. Against Tennessee, he went 19 for 42 that's, that's a 45 completion percentage. His next bout in the playoffs, he was 17 for 32, a 53% completion percentage, and a loss to the the Dolphins. That was in overtime, though. Yeah. And then he went 14 for 31 against the Jets. He was ridiculously bad his first three times in the playoffs.

[Commercial Announcer]

A morning walk, some bird watching.

[Pendergast]

It's another easy Sunday.

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[Pendergast]

Hey, this is Richard Deitch, the host of the sports media podcast. If you're interested in what's happening with all the places where you consume sports, the sports media podcast has you covered. I've been turning down interviews all week. Hoda Kapi reached out. Oprah, George Stephanopoulos. So I said no.

[Seth]

I was booked on the Deitch podcast

[Pendergast]

before the Taylor Swift phenomenon. I must live up to my responsibility.

[Commercial Announcer]

Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

[Pendergast]

All right, let's get to acknowledge me acknowledging big performances from over the weekend from last week. We will. I will say a name and Ben Gary, our producer, will hit that sounder and. And on and on we go. We'll give people their. Their accolades here in a segment we call Acknowledge Me, Jordan Alvarez. It's an easy one. We're going to acknowledge Jordan practically every week between now and the rest of the season. He goes into the All Star break, Seth, as what seems to be the runaway leader for the American League mvp. He's right in the mix for the first Triple Crown award since Miguel Cabrera led the American League in batting average, home runs and RBIs back in 2012. Yordon, at least as of yesterday, going into yesterday, led the league in home runs, RBI is he was second to Yandy Diaz in, in batting average. So we need something bad to happen to Yandy Diaz or he needs to fall back. My favorite Yordon stat from over the weekend on the broadcast of yesterday's game is that in 28 plate appearances going into yesterday, Jordan Alvarez had the second most home runs in Globe Life Field among any players in baseball, including the players that play all of their home games there. Jock Peterson, number one with 10. Jordan Alvarez, number two with seven. He's got more home runs in the Rangers Stadium than all of the Rangers except Jock Peterson. Right now.

[Seth]

The Rangers should be embarrassed even though they won the series two to one. Yeah. No. I think the biggest thing about Jordan in the MVP race is that at the very least, the Astros are in the playoff mix. And yes, they might be a mediocre team, but there have been plenty of precedence of guys winning the MVP on mediocre teams right here in this division with Mike Trout. But the, the fact that they're within reach, I think really, really helps out a lot. As long as they. As long as they can maintain this depressing level of play, that's. At the very least, Jordan can be the mvp.

[Sports Analyst]

He can.

[Pendergast]

Aaron Judge getting hurt really helped because Judge feels like that.

[Commercial Announcer]

Judge.

[Pendergast]

Judge is like the Shohei of the American League, like Shohei Ohtani, as long as he's healthy, is going to be the leader, the front runner for the National League MVP every year, it would seem similarly, Aaron Judge, as long as he's healthy and he's hitting 60 home runs every year, is going to be the front runner for the American League mvp. So I'm with you. The dynamic in the American League, where pretty much every team except for two or three of them are mediocre or bad, and the fact that Aaron Judge is hurt both help Yordan out and Jordan and what he's doing, he's not just having a great year, he's having a potentially historic type of year. Yeah, he's having one of those years where people Chandler Rome had an outstanding article by Jordan Alvarez last week that I'm guessing you guys talked about where just it interviews his teammates and people he goes against it interview Mauricio Dubon, who of course was sort of his, you know, kind of his playmate here in Houston in the dugout after home runs. I mean he's a guy that, that, that teammates and opponents alike talk about as one of the best hitters they've ever seen, not just the best one in the American League this year. So Jordan gets acknowledged Justin Verlander we are acknowledging Justin Verlander because he announced last week that he's going to be retiring. But I, and I know it happened last week, but I think it fits this segment. I would say, Seth, my opinion, I think he's the best pitcher in Astros history. I know a lot of longtime Astro fans will want to debate that. Guys, maybe Roger Clemens from the early 2000s. Roy Oswalt certainly is in that conversation. I know Nolan Ryan's going to get a lot of love for a lot of reasons, but Justin Verlander, of the 23 pitchers, starting pitchers in Astros history that have thrown 800 innings or more, he's the only one with an ERA below three. He is the leader in least amount of hits per nine innings, least amount of walks per nine innings. His whip, walks, hits per innings pitched is under one. The next closest one is 1.14. These are big differences in my opinion. He's the best one in my opinion. And by the way, his three fully

[Seth]

healthy, that's all with his tenure with

[Pendergast]

the Astro with the Astros.

[Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Pendergast]

These are just Astros stats. Yes. His three full seasons where he was healthy from beginning to end and an Astro from beginning to end because obviously two of the seasons he came here partway through the season in 17 and 23, he was the Cy Young winner twice in the runner up the other time. Like he's just, he's, I, I'll put that up against anybody else.

[Seth]

He's the best. And then I think the other part of it too is just the, the fact that he was, he was the move that sparked the, the genuine entrance entry, entry into the golden era.

[Pendergast]

Absolutely.

[Seth]

You know, like, I think the biggest thing aside from the Hurricane, the fact that the Astros had kind of been, I don't want to say scuttling, but not looking like a world championship caliber team right up until then either. There were so many things that just pivoted when they signed him and obviously led to so many things afterwards. And I also like there's a part of him too that the nice thing about him announcing this now is that you started there's an appreciation for Justin Verlander as kind of one of the last of his kind that all right there's like the 300. The 300 win pitcher is done dead and gone. It's funny that a guy that has 266 wins is the guy that they're choosing to highlight the 300 win pitchers because it's just, it's not going to happen again. The guy that would have had the best shot at it is now retiring and he's just, he's a, he's a throwback player in a lot of way.

[Pendergast]

Yep. The 300 win club is, is closed. Not, not in our lifetime at least. It's not happening. Bruce Thornton Rockets rookie point guard Seth set a rookie summer league Rocket rookie summer league record in scoring in a win over Denver in his first summer league game. 27 points three of eight from three. And then a follow up game against Toronto at 17 points three for six from three. It's interesting. Done is his last. I can't remember his first name. Rockets assistant Done is the guy who's coaching their summer league team and I was reading an article and he was saying yeah, I probably will.

[Seth]

Done.

[Pendergast]

Well done. Thank you. He's like I probably kept Bruce in there for way more minutes than I thought I would, but I just couldn't take him off the court. I just, I had to have him out there. He's a bowling ball out there, man. And he's. It's interesting because the. Well, let's hear, let's hear from Bruce Thornton first and then we'll share some thoughts. Productive day for you.

[Commercial Announcer]

What do you think?

[Pendergast]

You showed I can, I can compete, I can hoop even though I'm undersized.

[Seth]

I give everything I got. I'm from forever Georgia. That's how we play.

[Pendergast]

I just put it out here and

[Seth]

display what I can do being a

[Pendergast]

two way player, offense and defense.

[Seth]

What do you think the biggest thing

[Pendergast]

that you learned today in this small sample? You better be in shape.

[Ad Voice]

24 seconds go by fast.

[Seth]

But my teammates and coach that helped

[Pendergast]

me throughout this week be in the best position I can.

[Seth]

They, my teammates helped me so much, man.

[Pendergast]

I give, I get all.

[Ad Voice]

Glory to God.

[Seth]

What's it out about working with this group today?

[Pendergast]

Man, it's fun, man. Everybody willing to pass the ball, everybody willing to win at a high level.

[Seth]

You know we got our guys on

[Pendergast]

the sidelines man, it just, it's just a blessing to be in the position. I'm so glad to be in.

[Seth]

Houston Rockets.

[Commercial Announcer]

Thank you.

[Pendergast]

So that was, that was Bruce Thornton following, following that game. I think what's interesting about this is the last time that we had this sort of relationship with a rookie in the rookie league.

[Seth]

Reed Shepherd.

[Pendergast]

Reed shepherd.

[Seth]

Two years ago, he was tearing it up, man.

[Pendergast]

Reed shepherd at one point in the summer was the favorite for rookie of the year.

[Seth]

Yeah. Because teams started paying attention to him.

[Pendergast]

Yeah. Well, then he just didn't play, you know, like he was on a, he was on a team that had a lot of vets, you know.

[Seth]

Yeah. Oh. Oh, yeah. No, but in the, in the rookie league, though, finish up. The rookie league didn't end up all that impressive either. They started paying attention to him.

[Pendergast]

That's right.

[Seth]

And it got a lot more difficult. But yeah, when he was just this, this is a little dude running around there. At first he was just lighting it

[Pendergast]

up, popping threes and doing his thing. Yeah, they were. Oh yeah, they were making Steph Curry comparisons. Like, look at him in the mid range. Look at the crossover. Fun fact. And I think this is why they traded up to get him. Bruce Thornton is, he's nine months older than Reed shepherd right now. Not nine months older than Reed shepherd. When Reed was, you know, Reed's age when he was in the rookie, like right now. And that's because he was, you know, he played 136 games of college basketball.

[Seth]

Yeah.

[Pendergast]

The all time leading scorer at Ohio State.

[Seth]

I said, I said rookie league. Sorry, I'm stuck. And I'm thinking about the Astros and which, which pitcher is about to get sent.

[Pendergast]

Oh, summer. Summer league is, Summer league is kind of rookie league though. It's the same thing. So, so that was good to see. Bruce Thornton. We'll see, you know, we'll see how much he contributes. They've done things for the, you know, they get Fred Van Vliet back. They signed Marcus Smart. Probably not a ton of minutes available for a rookie, but it was nice to see him do well over the weekend. Stefan Diggs, one of the stranger flexes from over the weekend. I want to take a listen to this in print. This looks like a weird flex. Now listening to the audio, does this look like, sound like a weird flex? Here is Stefan Diggs in a video that popped up on his YouTube stream saying there's no better wide receiver 2 than me in the NFL. Opportunities aside, people might say it might be like what, seven? That's like Real one.

[Sports Analyst]

Right.

[Pendergast]

My opinion, I could compete with anybody. But take those as your ones. Right, Right. You can't name a number. Too bad there's not a number two on a team. Like, let's presumably give people the credit to just say, okay, you want to take the number one spot away. Name your number two receiver right now.

[Sports Analyst]

Right.

[Pendergast]

And tell me how much he makes. And then my last question is, is he better than me?

[Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Pendergast]

Okay, tell me how much he makes is a weird one, because a lot of number two. Like, well, Jayden Higgins makes 2 million a year because he's on a rookie deal, right?

[Seth]

Well, no, but I think it's. He's basically saying that, like, he should be on a team somewhere the. The end. Okay. Like, okay, how much are these guys making? There's probably guys like Devonte Smith or somebody else that. That I should be, you know, I could. I should be making that amount of money. Yeah.

[Pendergast]

That.

[Seth]

It shouldn't be that big a deal. I shouldn't be out here.

[Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth]

Well, he is also suing and being countersued by a former employee yet again. That I just. The problem with Stefan Diggs is that he's just. It's always something with him. I mean, that's. He's at that point where there is always something going on. There was something going on in his personal life when he was in Houston. He had two women accusing him of this or that. And whether he settles with people out of court or whether he's found not guilty in a court of law, it's just. It's always something. And as he gets older, it's going to be harder and harder for teams to want to deal with the. The. The circus that comes along with him. To a certain degree.

[Pendergast]

Yes. Totally agree. He was also good last year. Right?

[Seth]

I know that's right. No, that's the thing. He is still. I'm not saying he's washed up or anything, but it's. There are a lot of teams out there right now that are probably saying, like, yeah, we'd love to have Stefan Diggs, but we've got these other two young guys. Let's see how it goes.

[Pendergast]

Yep.

[Seth]

Let's see how. Let's see how some of these younger guys develop, and then we'll figure out whether we're in the Stef. Yeah.

[Pendergast]

Yep. No, that's fair. That's fair. I want to acknowledge Jonathan Alexander, the Chronicle, and Keelan Rutledge of the Houston Texans there. I don't know if you saw this piece, Seth. Jonathan Alexander had an Amazing article about Keelan Rutledge that I highly recommend anybody about his. I think a lot of people know about the accident that he was in really in between Middle Tennessee State and going to Georgia Tech. He was literally leaving Georgia Tech after a visit there to transfer there. He was leaving to go to Clemson to visit Clemson and flipped his truck in the rain. You know, some car cut him off and he flipped his truck. He almost lost his foot because of an infection from some surgeries that he had. I didn't realize too, though. I mean, it's a really insightful and interesting article. Like Keelan Rutledge's upbringing was not the greatest as well. His dad left him when he was really young, bounced from house to house. You know, his girlfriend and now wife, maybe fiance. Wife, I'm not sure is really like his savior in a lot of ways. They met in high school and she really helped get him focused and take care of him. It's, it's. I'm, I'm only bringing it up and acknowledge me because I go out of your way to find the article. It's a really good article about the Texans first round pick.

[Seth]

I'll tell you one thing about the Texans, is that if you're an offensive lineman who was in a really bad car wreck, they want you.

[Pendergast]

Yes.

[Seth]

That was Drew Scruggs calling card. If you haven't, if you want to go play for the Texans and you haven't gotten in a devastating car accident, I don't even know what you're doing. Yeah, that, that's out there in the bad weather. I like, I always, I'm always intrigued by this because teams love guys who have overcome adversity. But like, some of that's just dumb luck. Like, I'm sorry, I've never been in a devastating car crash they had to come back from.

[Pendergast]

But that's sort of my point about this article is I only knew about the car wreck. I didn't know the tough upbringing that he had.

[Seth]

Yeah, yeah.

[Pendergast]

That part of it is like he's. That's not the only thing that's. That he's had to overcome. Yeah, It's a really good article. Go out of your way to find it. I will say that. All right, Last one.

[Seth]

He found his foot though, right?

[Pendergast]

They found. Yeah. They know he never lost it to begin with. Yeah, it was down. He's like, oh, yeah, it's still there. Needs a lot of work. It's still there and it works. Larry Zhang. Who's Larry Zhang? He's a loyal listener his girlfriend Mary Grace hit me up on Instagram. Seth. And we're. We're happy to do this. It was his birthday last Saturday. Loyal listener has a birthday last Saturday, Larry. She told me that our show pain and Pendergast was the first thing to make him laugh after his dad suffered a stroke a year and a half ago. Oh, the show is a big part of his life. He loves Payne and Pendergast. He loves the station. And so therefore, we love Larry. And he gets an acknowledge me. Give him another one, Ben. It's his birthday, by God, and his

[Seth]

dad's got a good shot of playing offensive line for the Texans.

[Pendergast]

He's adversity. I double checked. Dad's doing better. Dad's doing better.

[Seth]

So.

[Pendergast]

So that's good to hear as well. So, Larry, we appreciate your. Appreciate your listenership. Happy birthday. And Mary Grace, we appreciate you reaching out. We'll acknowledge Mary Grace too, while we're at it. There we go. And his dad, that's. We're done, Ben. That's all Ben's like. Does he have any other family members we need to acknowledge? Probably, but those are the only ones I know of. Larry, thank you for listening to the show, man. We appreciate that. All right, that was acknowledge me. All right. Pugilism in Vegas over the weekend. One scheduled, one unscheduled, one sanctioned, one unsanctioned. The unsanctioned one was way more exciting than the sanctioned one. We will hit that coming up next.

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[Ad Voice]

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[Seth]

Lemonade.

[Pacific Life / Oregon Lottery Announcer]

Fresh squeezed lemonade.

[Pendergast]

Lemonade. Oh, nuts.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Seth]

not reaching the right customers?

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[Seth]

Whoa, hey. One at a time.

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[Pendergast]

That's digitallocalads.com okay, people, line starts here. All right. Pugilism in Vegas over the weekend. Sanctioned and unsanctioned. The sanctioned. The sanctioned was Conor McGregor getting TKO'd a minute nine into his fight with Max Holloway. Conor McGregor's return to the octagon after, after a five year absence ends in a little over a minute when he injures his knee. Now, there's some conjecture out there as to whether he was damaged goods walking into the Octagon. A lot of sleuthing and zaprudering going on with his walk to the ring and taking off his shoes and whatnot.

[Seth]

There was footage of him warming up where he looked just fine. I think the people that thought he, he either injured his knee or showed that his knee was injured right beforehand when he was taking his shoes off. I can't, I can't. I can't get into that just because I don't like if I, if there hadn't been the injury afterwards, if I just watched that in isolation, there's no part of me that would have thought like, oh yeah, look, clearly his leg is injured.

[Pendergast]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, same.

[Seth]

Did any medical doctors weigh in on that?

[Pendergast]

No. There was him Taking his shoes off and him stumbling a little bit is the closest I saw to anybody finding some sort of evidence.

[Seth]

But even that part is like, yeah, he stumbled a little bit, regained his balance, and he didn't put his right foot down because the shoe was still there. Yeah, I didn't think anything of that.

[Pendergast]

Yeah, same, same. So. So, yeah, it was that. So that was Conor McGregor, and that was the sanctioned. The funny thing about the weekend was the fact that Bam Adebayo, also in Vegas at the summer league, went over and walloped Tyler Hero when the two were having a conversation, presumably about some things that Tyler Hero DM to somebody and wound up getting outed over talking about Bam out of bayou. Know, maybe Bam's not that good. Maybe he's not worth his contract. Bam out of bio. Solution to that was to walk over to Tyler Hero and wallop him in front of Tyler Heroes AAU team at some AAU tournament going on in Vegas. So the funny meme. And we'll. We'll circle Back to Conor McGregor here in a second because there's some fun audio that comes with that. But the. The. The funny meme or the funny Internet theme that was rolling around yesterday, Seth, was punches landed in Vegas. Bam out of bio 1. Conor McGregor 0.

[Seth]

Was it that bad?

[Pendergast]

Yeah, it was a minute nine. That was the beauty part of it. I'm not a huge UFC guy, so I didn't see the fight live. I actually. Amy and I were flying home, I think maybe when it was going live, I can't remember. But we didn't see it live. But we saw the reaction to it the next day, and. And I. I'm like, okay. I only saw the reaction. I thought he got his ass kicked or something like that. You know, it turned out he was injured, and they said a minute nine. I'm like, okay, well, I can go rewatch this whole fight. Yeah, a minute nine. Which I did. And so, yeah, it was. It was. It was a tough watch. It was. He got injured, and then Max Holloway just took advantage of it and was wailing. That was his opponent and is wailing on him. And apparently Max Holloway is telling the referee as he's beating the snot out of Conor McGregor, like, hey, do you want to stop this thing?

[Seth]

Yeah, it's clear that he can. It looked like that one portion of it where this is the first time I'm watching it in its entirety that I've. That I watched, like, little clips of it.

[Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth]

So the one minute that it takes to watch it when he Was on his back, and it looked like, like a. Like a toddler might kick at his mother or something. And he doesn't want to have his diaper changed. It was like. It was a sad look. The sad state of affairs.

[Pendergast]

This was Holloway after the match, saying, I was telling the referee to stop the fight.

[Sports Analyst]

I told the ref, stop the fight.

[Pendergast]

He does.

[Sports Analyst]

He doesn't want to fight.

[Pendergast]

I was like, bro, his demeanor is right.

[Sports Analyst]

And he.

[Pendergast]

Then he said, fight the first time. So I was like, okay, stand up. So I backed up.

[Sports Analyst]

He stand up.

[Pendergast]

And then he tried to do this hop step where he hopped forward, hopped back, and then he did it again. And then when he went back, he just kind of grabbed his. Grabbed his leg, you know, and he screamed.

[Sports Analyst]

He's.

[Commercial Announcer]

Ah.

[Pendergast]

And I was on the riff.

[Sports Analyst]

Come on, bro.

[Pendergast]

Like, what, you want me to keep it? Like, this guy got his. He bragged his kids to.

[Sports Analyst]

To the fight. You know what I mean?

[Pendergast]

Like, I ain't trying to beat up a wounded dog. Yeah. He brought his kids. The man's got a family.

[Seth]

If his family wasn't there.

[Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth]

I just kept going to weld away.

[Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth]

So I would have. I would have started crying, but I wouldn't have stopped punching him. But these kids were there.

[Pendergast]

The funny thing is the memes that have come out of this, like, Aaron Rodgers running out with the American flag moments before his season ended. Four snaps in. You know, Conor McGregor running into UFC. Yeah.

[Seth]

Aaron Rodgers running out with his flag.

[Sports Analyst]

1.

[Seth]

I love when that shows. Yes. For anybody who doesn't know the backstory, they must be so confused. No, those were the four snaps he played. That was right before he played four snaps for the Jets.

[Pendergast]

Running out with the flag before his jets debut, and it was over before it started.

[Seth]

So supposedly Max. Max Crosby said that he. He knew for a fact that Conor McGregor wasn't injured beforehand.

[Pendergast]

Oh, he was not. Okay, okay, okay. Yeah.

[Seth]

That's on his sources.

[Pendergast]

Well, now. And obviously, the. You know, the. The whole thing is the payday, you know, like.

[Seth]

Right.

[Pendergast]

He just wants to get in the ring, so he gets $30 million or whatever.

[Seth]

Just. Yeah. Like, you know, who knows. Who knows what you might shoot yourself up with to appear like you're not injured and can warm up and everything.

[Pendergast]

That would be.

[Seth]

Just to be sure you get out there.

[Pendergast]

That's true. That is true. The interesting thing to me is, like, okay, he. Conor McGregor, got embarrassed out there, right? Like, it was. It was complete embarrassment. Now he can blame it on an injury. So maybe that's that factors in. 30 million is a lot of money. 30 million is way above the threshold for me that I would say yes to. You know, to go out and get completely embarrassed like that. I just wonder what the number it was for, Con, like, if it was this was a five million dollar payday, would he have been like, no, my knee.

[Seth]

The funniest thing though, too is because, like, he's doing that hop step kick. Yeah. Which is like, exactly what, what, what you envision. It looks exactly the way it happens when people who envision doing that despite not actually being good MMA fighters.

[Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth]

Try something like that.

[Pendergast]

Yes.

[Seth]

You're like, oh, in my mind, I'm just gonna take a hop step and go up and kick him in the face. But what in reality happens is you fall flat on your face and then you get your ass beat. Conor McGregor is. He. Is all of us.

[Pendergast]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Seth]

Except for the off outside the Octagon. Yeah.

[Pendergast]

There's some stuff. There's some stuff. What did you think of Bam Adebayou walking over and punching his former teammate in the mouth at an AAU tournament?

[Seth]

I support him standing on business. I don't know. I don't know what Tyler Harrow said or texted or whatever. I would say just, you know, maybe. Maybe wait and not do it in front of the kids AAU team.

[Pendergast]

But yeah, my biggest thing I come away with on something like this is like, why, if you're Tyler Herro.

[Seth]

Yeah.

[Pendergast]

Or if you're Kevin Durant for that matter, why on earth are you DMing with randos with just random people, like, opinion, like your opinions on teammates or former teammates or friends or whatever it may be.

[Seth]

So what happens? So, Tyler. Hi. Tyler Harrow is DMing people about Bam? Yeah.

[Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth]

So, like, Rand, like, not his. There were just people kind of like a. Like a Kevin Durant type of situation where he's interacting with all these people.

[Pendergast]

I'll read. This is the paragraph in the. In the athletic art. It's one paragraph at the very end, and I'm surprised. Like, the article about this punch, it gets like two sentences at the end of the article. I'm like, I need a little more. But this is what the article had. Following the trade of Hero to the Bucks for Giannis, a fan leaked a series of screenshots of direct messages that appeared to come from an Instagram account connected to Hero. In those alleged direct messages, Hero appeared to question Adebayo's game and whether or not he was worthy of. Of the contracts he had signed with the Heat.

[Seth]

Yeah, that's pretty big.

[Pendergast]

That's a pretty big slap. What I've learned is that is it pointing out that some guy may not be worth what he's getting paid is a big, big point of contention with these guys.

[Seth]

You know what the. You know what this reminds me of is back when Brady got deposed in the Deflategate scenario, remember one of his texts was to one of his buddies. Yeah. About how. Look, the, the debate about me versus Peyton is over.

[Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth]

That is like, that's ancient history or whatever. And why didn't Peyton Manning go punch Tom Brady? I like why. Yeah, like if you're gonna, if you're gonna. No, I think he's a coward. I think he's yellow.

[Pendergast]

Oh, he should have be Tom Brady.

[Seth]

Tom Brady should have, you know, go defend your honor, Peyton Manning.

[Pendergast]

This is the other thing to just. Big lesson. Just don't mess with a guy named Bam. You know what I mean? Like, it's like, I'm guessing he's got that. I'm guessing that's not his given name. I'm guessing he was given the name Bam because of something physical. So that would be the other lesson in all this. My favorite thing about the Brady. You bring up the Brady thing was when he destroyed his phone as if they couldn't go get the text messages from the cloud or somewhere else, you know?

[Seth]

Yeah. He was hammer to his phone. Bam. Adebayo. According to the AI overview, which is about 50. 50. He earned the nickname Bam Bam as a baby when he was watching the Flintstones and playfully flipped over a coffee table mimicking the character furniture over as an infant.

[Pendergast]

You know, you don't mess with that guy.

[Seth]

It was, it turns out it was a 300 pound coffee.

[Pendergast]

Right.

[Seth]

That he marveled over at the age

[Pendergast]

of three for a marble coffee table. It was really just a big rectangular slab of marble in the middle of the room. Yeah, you just don't mess with a guy named Bam. All right, so, yeah, so the sanctioned. I would say if I, if we didn't get to watch the Bam out of bio versus Tyler Hero. That sounds more compelling than the minute nine I watched of Conor McGregor getting his ass kicked.

[Seth]

That's it, man. I just, I'm so careful. I don't even text. I don't text really nasty stuff about other people, even to my friends and relatives. Yeah, because I don't like, for one, try not to say nasty things about. Nasty about people or whatever. But two, I like, I don't need there to be a text record of any of this. Yeah, this is the kind of stuff that gets screen grabbed and sent around and everything, man. So you especially don't do it with random people on the Internet?

[Pendergast]

No, no, that's. That's always my biggest takeaway. Why are you texting? Why are you dming like private things to random people?

[Seth]

I do think that texting has made me a slightly better person in some regards though. I do, I think, I think more about if I'm going to criticize somebody and like, let's say I have to do it for some reason, like, it's a fair criticism. I. And I'm texting it. I try to be as polite as possible about it, even if that person's. I might be talking about a third party, you know, But I'm kind of like, well, look, we're not getting this out of it and everything. Like, I don't. Because if it were ever to float back to the person, I don't want it to look like it's mean or anything. But I feel like that's kind of filtered back over into the way I conduct myself in non tech situations. I think I'm a little bit more careful about delivering a criticism or what have you.

[Pendergast]

Yeah, you need to lose that. That was more fun when you were unhinged.

[Seth]

That's a classic. Well, I try to operate more like, okay, am I willing to say this to that person's face? Would I and everything and operate by that dynamic.

[Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth]

And the Internet tends to be a horrible place for operating.

[Pendergast]

Fair. Yeah, fair. All right. Going into the 8 o' clock hour here. Okay. Speaking of memes on the Internet, this new TikTok trend now has a Texans. The new TikTok trend where people are, quote, preparing to discuss a fictional Netflix documentary. I think this would actually be a really good, real documentary. Right. We'll tell you who.

[Seth]

There's one big obstacle to it. I'll let you know.

[Pendergast]

Okay. One big obstacle to my real documentary that I want. That's coming up next.

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[Pendergast]

Hey, it's Jen Hatmaker.

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