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Payne & Pendergast
HOUR 4 - Is Stroud the NFL’s Biggest X-Factor? + Assessing Texans Ceiling/Floor in 2026
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- [00:00]
IXL Announcer
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- [01:14]
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Seth Payne
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And then have all your friends buy essential oils. Are you more of a geranium or lavender fan? Don't look her in the eyes.
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Luke Morrow
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Seth Payne
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- [01:45]
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- [02:15]
Luke Morrow
Is CJ Shroud the biggest X factor not only for the Texans, but in the entire NFL? This season it's Payne and Pendergast. I'm Luke Morrow in for Sean alongside Seth Payne. 713-572-4610 to text the show, let us know what you think about Stroud. Is the X Factor biggest in the league? Also get in on the YouTube and Twitch chats as well, is CJ Stroud not only the biggest X factor X factor for the Texans, but does that make him the biggest in the entire league? Fox Sports put out. Actually, they put out an article where they listed the top X factor for every team in the NFL. And I just happened to stumble upon this now. But, Seth, before we have some audio, too, from Kevin Clark, does it feel like Stroud with everything? Fox Sports actually put David Montgomery as the biggest X factor for the Texans. Does it feel like Stroud's that biggest X factor?
- [03:10]
Reggie Figgy
I know.
- [03:11]
Seth Payne
You know what it is. I don't think you're allowed to call a quarterback an X factor because it's almost just already baked into the things that really matter is like, yeah, you got to have competent quarterback play, ideally really good quarterback play for your best chance to win a Super Bowl.
- [03:29]
Luke Morrow
I.
- [03:29]
Seth Payne
And I think that there's so many things that factor into whether he is that guy or not this year, I kind of look at it as the X factor is okay, what's the thing that most helps CJ Stroud? And then you can evaluate your quarterback. So for me, the X factor would just be whether the offensive line is actually substantially improved.
- [03:50]
Luke Morrow
Okay.
- [03:50]
Seth Payne
And like, so if, if Stroud, if Stroud plays his best football but they still can't run the football, it's not going to look that much different than last year if it just won't, you know. So if Stroud plays good football but they can't pass protect, it's going to be your ceiling might be like what the Chargers were last year with a horrible offensive line or C.J. stroud for the last couple of years with a horrible offensive line. So that's where I think that without overthinking it, CJ Will have a better year if they actually can confidently run the football, if they actually have good offensive line play throughout. And so much of that just comes down to the additions they made and the growth of the younger guys. So for. Maybe that's too vague for it to be an X factor, but just simply the performance of the offensive line is the biggest question mark for me because it's a bunch of new moving pieces, and it's never as simple as just throwing a bunch of new guys in there. I think David Montgomery, as long as he stays, stays healthy and has a good offensive lineman in front of him, he'll be just fine. But we just don't know about how good that offensive line is going to be.
- [04:56]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, certainly. Okay, so offensive line for you. Fox Sports says David Montgomery is the biggest X factor for the Texans. But Kevin Clark, now part of espn, says not only is CJ Shroud the biggest X factor for the Texans, but apparently for the entire NFL this year.
- [05:12]
Kevin Clark
I don't think it's an overstatement, guys, to say that he's the biggest X factor in the league, because we just saw the Seattle Seahawks ride above average quarterback play, okay? And an elite defense to a Super bowl, okay? The Texans defense is just as good, and CJ Stroud has the capability to be a lot better than Sam Darnold. So if C.J. stroud regains that form, we're talking about a Super Bowl. He was the first player in history last year to have five interceptions and five fumbles in one single postseason. Hit it in two games. Yeah, that's like Babe Ruth won 54 games, you know, hitting home runs and all that stuff, but with turnovers, okay? And the reason usually the guys don't get more than that is they don't win a playoff game. He won playoff games because of that defense. Take a step forward.
- [06:00]
Seth Payne
It's Super Bowl, Super Bowl. That's all you have to do. C.J. stroud, no pressure. Yeah, that's. That's the thing that I worry about with CJ Going into the regular season is that, look, going to the playoffs. Going into the playoffs, I would have told you, CJ Takes care of the football. Coming out of the Steelers game, I was continuing to say, hey, C.J. stroud takes care of the football. Don't worry about that. That was a blip in the radar. There's some issues with the center, communication, all that. I made all kinds of excuses for him or I didn't make excuses, but I said, that's going to be a blip on the radar. And you don't have to worry about C.J. stroud going in and throwing four interceptions in the first half of a playoff game. You certainly don't have to worry about that. And lo and behold, that's exactly what happened. That, like, the amount of pressure on CJ Stroud has not changed one bit since those playoffs. And it's actually. It's increased way more than it ever was before, because they were. People would make excuses for CJ Stroud outside of Houston going into those playoffs and that and would credit him with doing some of the smarter game management style things well as well. And all that kind of just flew out the window. So I think in the first few games of the regular season, it'll feel like the most pressure that's ever been on CJ Stroud and I just hope that he handles it really well.
- [07:16]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, certainly. I mean, that's, that's, that is the biggest story to watch. Yeah. I think when it comes to like X factor for the entire league, obviously, as Kevin Clark laid out, like, the Texans feel like they swing on, well, the offense, but it always comes back to the quarterback. Whereas Clark mentioned in that clip, like, if C.J. shroud plays well enough, it could be a Super bowl team. If he doesn't play well enough well, then this could be a team that if he plays like he did in the playoffs last year, obviously they won't go very far at all. But it just seems like there's a larger variance for the Texans based off of simply the quarterback and the offense's performance.
- [07:49]
Seth Payne
What is. Oh, my gosh. All right. Just, just as a thought exercise, let's say, as it tends to happen in every single, every single good quarterback has some bad games. But man, week, Week one has to be good. Like they. I can't handle for my own mental health, I can't handle a bad offensive performance against the Bills in week one at home. A team that you've, A team that you've just really. I mean, you've made their quarterback look like the worst version of Josh Allen every time he's come to Houston. But they've got a new defensive coordinator, they're going to be super blitz heavy. The offensive line like last year got off to a really slow start in terms of picking up blitzes and all of that. It's a big test for a team that doesn't have a good defense on paper, the Buffalo Bills, there's some things they're going to do that can present some challenges. That, man, if they haven't, if they spend all OTAs in training camp bragging about how good their pre snap operation is and all that, like, it's going to get tested in week one. And that'll be, I promise you. Now, if the Texans throttle the Bills defensively, I will act like they just won the Super Bowl. And if they, but if the Texans get throttled by the Bills defense, I am going to go into a deep, deep depression and I will lash out aggressively.
- [09:06]
Luke Morrow
That's an interesting thought. An interesting question of, as you said, like, it's, it's, it's vital. It's very important. Shroud gets off to a good start or the offense. But we say the offense. We're especially talking about the quarterback and C.J. stroud, because that's who it always comes back to when you look at the opening slate. How good or bad is that for the offense to try to get off on good footing? You have the Bills like you said, then you have the Bengals, then you have the Colts, then you have the Cowboys who made a bunch of changes to their defense. Those are the first four games. Do you feel like that's set up for a smooth landing for the offense or is that a tough way to start the year?
- [09:41]
Seth Payne
Yeah, so much of it depends on like all of these changes that these teams have made that had bad defenses. I mean, the Bills defense wasn't bad, but they've taken, they're not what they used to be, but you have a new, you've got a new defensive coordinator. They're kind of still, they're still like trying to figure out exactly where the pass rush and is going to come from and what they're going to do in their secondary. But that's a relatively soft opening. The Bengals will get really interesting because the Bengals were horrendous defense, but they've got six new starters that they brought in via free agency, three of them on the defensive line. And the types of guys that the Texans have struggled against, big, strong, physical, tough defensive linemen like Dexter Lawrence, that'll be, that'll be the first real physical battle and test for the, for, for that offensive line, especially on the interior offensive line. So I think we'll, we'll get a feel for whether the off season improvements made a difference. But then you know the, you've got the Colts and then the Cowboys are another one that was a really bad defense but they spent aggressively in trying to fix it and drafted, drafted Caleb Downs that by, by week four we'll know whether they're actually an improved defense or if it's just a slightly improved. But it's, I like, you know, more teams than not, more times than not teams that spend aggressively on defense will, they'll get a bump just by having better talent on the field. But it's not always a guarantee that all of a sudden it's a formidable defense.
- [11:14]
Luke Morrow
I do think it's interesting that the Texans face three or all, all three of their divisional foes in the first six games of the season. Now, Stroud has always put up good numbers statistically, historically against all three of those teams. In fact, some of his best quarterback ratings are against those teams. But you know, the old cliche is like division opponents always know you the best. And so to have that many early on I do think is interesting where you get the Colts in week three The Titans week five, the Jaguars, Week six. You get them early. And again, you know, those are the teams that know you better than, than a team that you might not have played in a few years and you could try to catch off guard.
- [11:51]
Seth Payne
You know, one thing, one thing that I worried about when the schedule first came out was the fact that, you know, the Texans, the, you know, in practice they're going against the Texans 43 all the time. And then they get into the regular season and the first couple teams they play run a 3 4, which doesn't matter as much as it used to, but it does matter in some of the fronts that they'll see. And there's some mental work that goes into it. The good thing is that The Texans all three of their preseason games are against opponents who run a 3 4. So they'll have a lot more in game, especially the young offensive linemen. They'll have a lot more reps at close to full speed, seeing those different looks and fronts where it won't be as much of an adjustment, hopefully mentally early on.
- [12:32]
Luke Morrow
So is Stroud the biggest X factor, not only for the Texans, but the entire NFL?
- [12:36]
Reggie Figgy
Let us know.
- [12:36]
Luke Morrow
713-572-4-610. You know, I know on in the Loop, which is obviously coming up here after us top of the hour. They've been following along with this top 100 list.
- [12:48]
Seth Payne
Yeah.
- [12:48]
Luke Morrow
And we get two new names every day. We already got one of the names today, which was J.C. horn, and Panthers cornerback was just named the 76th best player in the NFL. We're going to get number 75 at the top of the hour, I believe, which is obviously when we'll be getting off the air. But part of the whole thing with this top 100 list is waiting to see where is CJ Stroud going to land. Is he going to be in the top 100? And we got another quarterback yesterday in Baker Mayfield who made it into the top 80. And that's after, I believe, Brock Purdy, I think, was the other quarterback. We've had two quarterbacks in the top 100. The problem I have with the top 100 is we have to wait till a hundred names come out so I can compare. It's hard to say, like, oh, Baker Mayfield is ranked 78th. Well, I don't know how many quarterbacks they put ahead of him. Like, I don't know where that puts him or who's even ahead of him. So I need to see the whole list before I really form the opinions.
- [13:42]
Seth Payne
This is where I'm I'm 99% confident that CJ Stroud made this list for a couple of reasons. One is that in 2025, CJ Stroud was ranked ahead of Baker Mayfield in the top 100. I can't remember, was he in the 30s, 39th.
- [13:58]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, sure.
- [13:58]
Seth Payne
So Baker Mayfield was 50th. He dropped to 77th last year. Those two guys had somewhat similar seasons. Like, CJ won some statistical categories. Baker Mayfield won some statistical categories. You know, Baker Mayfield played the whole year. But the second thing that makes me confident it's CJ Stroud is, is in the top 100, is that they don't. They vote on these between Thanksgiving and the end of the season. That's where like most of the voters, most of the players who vote turn their ballots in sometimes towards the end of the season. So the playoffs didn't factor into this at all. And I don't think that it's not like cj. CJ was playing largely the same way he did. Well, like statistically and everything, similar to what he did in 2024, where he did make the top 100 or the. In 2025 going into. Yeah. So I think that, I think that he's going to be on it and people debate it. It'll be one of the most hotly debated ones when it comes out. But this was all voted on before the playoffs.
- [14:59]
Reggie Figgy
Yeah.
- [14:59]
Luke Morrow
Which would be a huge, obviously a huge help for Shroud. And I'm surprised by what you said. I didn't think to go and look at last year, but I thought when I saw Baker there and I was thinking, I'm not telling you that I would put Baker higher than Shroud or I think Baker is better than Shroud, but. But I am a big Baker Mayfield fan and when I saw he was only, whatever, 78th, whatever he came in as yesterday, I thought, oh, man, I don't know, maybe Stroud really did get punished as much as. As Baker.
- [15:23]
Seth Payne
I think he'll end up because, you know, when people were voting on it in the 2024, during the 2024 season, which would become the 2025 list, that was on. That was still on the heels of CJ's rookie season where there was so much buzz about him. So I think that CJ will still make the list, but he's probably going to be closer to make Baker Mayfield this time around than he was last time around. But like, as far as you know, CJ was on a better team. Baker Mayfield played 17 games and CJ only played 13. And a quarter 13 and a half. But they had, you know, CJ ended up with 3,041 yards passing. Baker had 3,700. But like CJ projected out to 3,600 or so. Like touch that CJ. Like a lot of the numbers were relatively simple. CJ similar. I think Baker had a better year, but CJ's got better PR in general. He's on a better football team.
- [16:15]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, yeah. And I know people have. Texans fans have texted the show and the station and whatnot but they, they will reference Baker. A lot of that guy that has that quote unquote like dog in him that will find a way to lead you to victory where.
- [16:29]
Priceline Announcer
Yeah, yeah.
- [16:30]
Luke Morrow
Feel like Stroud can be lacking that at times and.
- [16:33]
Seth Payne
Yeah, no, it is a whole different. Whole different. Just feel about both those guys and how they operate.
- [16:38]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, for sure.
- [16:40]
Seth Payne
Biggest thing. I mean Baker had a boatload of. He was. Well, he had. It's hard to look at the cumulatives. Go ahead. Yeah.
- [16:46]
Luke Morrow
And Baker also, he dealt with injuries last year. I. He started off at an MVP level and then cratered second half of the year as he was trying to play through like a shoulder issue. So that, that certainly hurt the numbers. Pro Football Focus also ranked their top 32 quarterback C.J. shroud for those interested, wound up 17th on their list. So bottom half of that's where.
- [17:05]
Seth Payne
That's where I expected. I think their, their QB grade tends to run a little bit different than like the other QBRs and you know, pass rating and all that. And it seems like that's where he was for most of last season and at the end was like right around 17th or 18th in their grades.
- [17:22]
Luke Morrow
Yeah. They said here if they include the playoffs, which obviously we know is a disaster for Stroud, he would have a 62 passing grade for PFF, which would actually put him 3 34th among 43 quarterbacks last year. So not great when you factor in the playoffs.
- [17:36]
Seth Payne
I don't. Yeah. I don't know. Like how would. I dunno. How would Geno Smith have done in the playoffs And I don't last year if he had made the playoffs. That's not, that's really not. That's not fair at all actually. I'm not trying to stick up for him overly. I don't the to even throw that in there. Like hey, when he played against a couple of really good teams at the end of the year who were playing for it all, he wasn't. It would have knocked him down below guys that didn't even make the playoffs. I reject, I reject that paragraph.
- [18:06]
Luke Morrow
Hey always take PFFs grades with a grain of salt. And lastly, I disagree with you texter who said Lamar Jackson doesn't perform well in the playoffs doesn't get punished. Lamar certainly gets punished for his lack of playoff success or victories, but he also never had the back to back games like Stroud had this past postseason.
- [18:23]
Seth Payne
Well, he also, like Lamar Jackson has also been screwed over by Zay Flowers and his tight end. Yeah, yeah, the Mark Andrews drop and everything. It's not like Lamar Jackson doesn't play well in the playoffs. He just doesn't have the record that which and again, before Anybody brings up CJ's playoff wins and how incredible it is, he has as many playoffs as Mark Sanchez playoff victories as Mark Sanchez did. So it's not good contest. And I give CJ more credit for his playoff victories than I give Mark Sanchez for his. But if we're just, if we're just going to add up playoff wins, we can find any number of either awesome or horrible quarterbacks where it just proves it doesn't matter.
- [19:01]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, it's true.
- [19:02]
Seth Payne
I mean as far as like actually evaluating a guy's entire career, right?
- [19:06]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, it's true. Also, I believe there's been a defensive touchdown in all of Stroud's playoff wins and no defensive touchdowns in all of his losses. So you can draw, you know, some parallels there too. Coming up, the NFL actually released their 2026 Texans preview last night and they seem to be pretty high on our Texans. We'll talk about that next.
- [19:25]
IXL Announcer
Payne and Pendergast Testing season is right around the corner and this is when confidence really matters. When kids take time to review key concepts and strengthen their skills before assessments, it can make all the difference. IXL helps reinforce what they're learning right now, so they walk into every test feeling prepared, capable and confident. IXL is an award winning online learning platform that helps kids truly understand what they're learning, whether they're building math confidence, strengthening reading and writing skills, or reviewing science concepts. Designed for students from Pre K through 12th grade, IXL delivers personalized, interactive practice that adapts to your child's level and pace. It's an easy, effective way to support learning as the school year heads into its final stretch. Studies show kids who use IXL score higher on tests proven in all 50 states. IXL is used in 96 of the top 100 school districts in the US make an impact on your child's learning. Get IXL now and listeners can get an exclusive 20% off IXL membership when they sign up today at ixllearning.com audio Visit ixllearning.com audio to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price.
- [20:42]
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- [21:12]
Luke Morrow
Gone south has been a podcast about crime in the American south.
- [21:16]
Seth Payne
But for our new season we we're widening the lens.
- [21:19]
Luke Morrow
Follow and listen to Gone South Season 5, available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your shows.
- [21:28]
Oregon Lottery Announcer
Oregon Parks make an Oregon Summer. But what makes an Oregon park? Well, Oregon Lottery Gameplay helps no matter the game Megabucks, video lottery or keno funds from lottery games help support parks projects across the state, ensuring they stay safe, accessible and open for all. In fact, Discover State Park Scratches are in stores now. It's the perfect way to put a little bit of Oregon's parks in your pocket. The Oregon Lottery Together we do good things. Must be 18 or older to play Lottery games are based on chance and should be played for entertainment only.
- [21:57]
Luke Morrow
The NFL put out their 2026 Texans preview. What do they expect or think from the Texans this year? We'll talk about it here on Payne and Pendergast. I'm Luke Morrow, in for Sean alongside Seth Payne. 713-572-4610 is the tax line. You can also reach us in the YouTube and Twitch chats as well. First off, I think it's weird that the NFL these are on the NFL's official YouTube accounts. I think it's weird that the NFL even puts out these videos where they're predicting every game, win, loss and what they think the records are going to be for each team in the league. That feels like, I don't know, too close to home or something. Like you're the league, you're the NFL. Should you be predicting what each team, what, how each game's going to go?
- [22:43]
Seth Payne
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's weird. I know exactly what you're talking about. I can't put my finger on why I would have an objection to it other than it does. It just feels a little bit like the, they're not supposed to be doing that. They're supposed to be the ones that are in charge of, you know, just keeping everything running appropriately. Appropriately and everything. And as well, remember Adam Schefter told us the NFL, despite their relationships with their gambling sponsors, want nothing to do with gambling. Yes.
- [23:10]
PNC Bank Announcer
Yeah.
- [23:10]
Luke Morrow
Which is.
- [23:11]
Seth Payne
We know that Adam Schefter, they want nothing to do with gambling at all except for all of the money that they can make by bringing it in. Yes.
- [23:17]
Luke Morrow
Yeah. That's my other issue with this video, which again you can find on YouTube, is they open it up by talking about what they're over under is in Vegas. And then at the end of the video when they go through every game on the schedule, win, loss, they have the other teams over under next to all their teams and they reference again, Texans over unders nine and a half. Like there's gambling stuff filled in the entire video.
- [23:40]
Seth Payne
You know what it feels like? It feels like the sports book telling you which bets to make. Yeah, that's like, oh, this is where I should put my money. Okay, thank you, thank you, thank you, Mr. Casino Owner. I didn't realize you were going to be so helpful.
- [23:53]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, it's true. Which again, going back to like Schefter is the whole conflict of interest where they're partnered or involved with gambling companies, sportsbooks, and then they're putting out certain news. It's, it's just, it's, it's, it's a whole thing. Now.
- [24:07]
Seth Payne
The. But they're so, so since they're bullish on the Texans in this preview, then I think the NFL and the powers that be are trying to sabotage the Texans somehow this year. They're going to make a bunch of money on people taking the over on the Texas.
- [24:21]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, that's right.
- [24:21]
Seth Payne
Yeah.
- [24:22]
Luke Morrow
Somebody said. Are you suggesting the NFL is scripted? No, I'm not going to go that far with those conspiracy.
- [24:26]
Seth Payne
Well, no, no. That is though where I, I do think they need to be more careful sometimes. And if like I, I think the NFL at first thought a lot of the NFL scripted NFL fixes games or whatever. Like they figured. Okay. Yeah, it's just normal conspiracy theory stuff. I think things have reached a tipping point in terms of a. The scandals and then be just perception and conspiracy theories just being so omnipresent everywhere online that you got to be a little bit more careful about it even though you think it might be ridiculous. Like. No, take it whenever you can take an extra step further away from the situation to try to not any add Any fuel to the fire, right? Here they are.
- [25:04]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, exactly. It's like, you know, if your significant other thinks you have something going on with another person, you probably shouldn't be hanging out with them. Even if you're innocent, you know, you gotta distance yourself as much as possible.
- [25:15]
Seth Payne
She'll get over it.
- [25:15]
Luke Morrow
What are we having?
- [25:17]
Seth Payne
Debbie and I have a special kind of relationship. That's what you're referring to? Okay, just stay out of my personal life, Luke Morrow.
- [25:26]
Luke Morrow
You got it. The video is 12 and a half minutes long. You go find it on. On YouTube. But for the purposes of this conversation, the most important stuff is really in the final minute. If you skip ahead to about 1140, 1145 of the video, that's where it breaks down what they truly think is going to transpire this year. They have the Texans, the NFL. This is the NFL. They have the Texans at 13 and 4 this year starting the season. Let me count these seven and. Oh, and then also being. Let me try to do this math. 12 and 2, right? Would that be. Yeah, 12 and 2. Before losing back to back games of the Eagles and the packers there towards the end of the season and finishing
- [26:07]
Seth Payne
until that last part there, I was like, no, your math's way off.
- [26:10]
Luke Morrow
Throwing a lot of numbers, trying to figure out the math as we go.
- [26:13]
Seth Payne
Okay, so this is the thing about predicting a 13 and 4 record. It's not as bold as it sounds initially when you figure if all they did was go through and go by the Vegas win totals, they want nothing to do with gambling. But if they did, or the Vegas line on each of these games, not the win totals, they're favored in 13 of their games, you know, and then the. How the beginning of the season might go compared to the end of the game. So the only game in the first part of the season that they're underdogs is against the Bills in week one. And I feel really good about the Texans winning that game. But then it's. It's. It's Eagles, Ravens and Packers are the teams that they're underdogs to. That's where. Especially with some of the games on the road in cold weather like the. It's a. It's a brutal second half of the season in terms of some of the real genuine tests you'll. Based on what we know of these teams right now, there's going to be some brutal kind of gauntlet. Figure out who you are as a football team late in the year.
- [27:09]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, they only have them losing Chargers right after the buy. Then Losing to the Ravens. And then like I said, those two games in the final three weeks, Eagles and Packers, those are the only four losses. And Seth, if you are correct that they're mostly going off of the favorites or the betting lines and that's how all, you know, that's what all the degenerates, the degenerate gambles, gamblers do of like, oh yeah, the Bills are favored. Of course they're going to win the game. Let me bet the Bills.
- [27:35]
Seth Payne
I went through when I went through and did my, you know, trying to be as objective as possible. I came up with 12 wins. But that's also known. Like there are a few games in there where the Texans are favored, but if it comes to, you know, are you going to split games with Jacksonville, most likely, etc. Etc. The big thing, the big, the big benefit about playing in London is that the Jags just flat out lose that home game. Yeah, it's a, it operates much more like a neutral site field when you're over there, even though it's technically their home game. But they lose genuine home field advantage versus the Texans. So for anything you might want to complain about with this schedule, I like the way it all laid out. I know we're not doing a schedule release reaction right now, but I was out, I was out that day, so.
- [28:18]
Luke Morrow
Oh, okay. Yeah. Hey, bring the takes back. I mean we sort of are, we are talking about the, you know, the, at least the NFL predicted game by
- [28:25]
Seth Payne
game 13 wins though. But then, you know, some people ask, okay, well how are they. How come if they're favoring all these games, like why are they only. Why is it a nine and a half win total right now? It's really hard to win 13 games in the NFL. It's just everything is. Bill O'Brien Love to say it's an eight and eight league and even the really good teams, sometimes just by luck of the draw, you can play really well and get. Win 13 games one year and then win nine games the next.
- [28:55]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, hey, I love a home underdog, especially in divisional games. So, you know, the favorites don't always win. Of course, as we know. It's why it's what it's part of what makes the NFL so great is that parody. They have the floor set at 7 and 10. Like worst case scenario for the Texans this year they still win seven games. It does feel like with the Miko Ryan's and with this defense that this is a team or right now a franchises they're currently constructed that don't seem like they could ever bottom out. They're never going to be, you know, they're never going to be bad. They might not be as good as we think, but they're never going to be a bad team. So the NFL is in their preview, they put the floor at seven wins as worst case scenario.
- [29:33]
Seth Payne
The thing I would worry about if we're going to be just a genuinely horrific season and the Texans were a huge disappointment, I don't worry about the defense at all. I worry about the offense not just taking a step forward, but if they actually took a step backwards. They're facing a lot of teams that right now they might be favored over, but that if those teams did improve their defense, like the Bengals, the Bengals improved their defense and the Texans offense is still struggling. You know, that easily takes a game that you're favored to win right now and changes completely if the offense can't get out of their own way. So there's teams like I'm still not going to like. While the Browns would be another one that I would be a little bit nervous about. Just in that if their defense is playing as well as they have in recent years and the offense is even worse than it was last year, is struggling more than it was last year, a lot of those gimme wins all of a sudden become, you know, hotly contested contests if even if it's a bad team but has a good defense.
- [30:31]
Luke Morrow
By the way, I was just looking at the other teams in the conference. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Oh my goodness. Those really. They're really high on the AFC south overall. This one is crazy. One, two. I have to make sure I'm doing The math correct. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 losses. Okay, so if in case you're curious, well, what did the NFL put for the rest of the division? For their predictions, they have the Colts at 10 and 7, they have the Titans at 10 and 7, and they have the Jaguars at 13 and 4, just like the Texans.
- [31:02]
Seth Payne
Okay. When you go through and right now there's a lot of these articles right now this time of year about, okay, which team's most likely to go from worst to first, etc. I do think that the Titans are one of the teams, one of the bad teams that I'd be least surprised if they, if they made a sudden turnaround. I'm not predicting that they will because I still, I think they've got a lot of issues to figure out on offense, but I think their defense is probably going to be a lot better. Immediately. And if, if Cam Ward ends up just surging in his second season and looking like a guy who might really become somebody, then I think they can be a, they can be a viable team a lot faster than it might feel.
- [31:41]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, I think I've made the case the Titans could be the Patriot. I'm not going to pick them to win the afc, but they just check all the boxes of last year Patriots. So I do think they'll be improved. I think the Colts will take a step back and I think the Jags will take a step back. So also, by the way, somebody has to lose some games. If the NFL truly is predicting that every team in this division is going to win at least 10 games, then I don't know how seriously I could take any of these prediction videos that they released last night because some teams have to lose at some point.
- [32:10]
Seth Payne
That's true. Yeah. Because with the Titans, they didn't go by that the winter whether they're favored or not in each of these games.
- [32:17]
Luke Morrow
True. Yeah. So anyways, hey, coming up, we'll catch up to the fellows of in the Loop. And by the way, that video is on YouTube. You can go check it out for yourself. It's a 13 minute breakdown on the Texans for 2026. It has the breakdown of each game, what they expect them to win and lose. You go find it for yourself. But very bullish on the AFC South. Coming up, we'll catch up with the fellows of in the Loop, find out what the question of the day is. But we do have the audio of the Telemundo play by play call of the Messi goal from yesterday. So we'll get to that. Plus other audio of an incredible talent that a kid has related to the sports world. And we have to get to that next as well. It's Payne and Pender.
- [32:55]
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- [34:11]
Priceline Announcer
Evening.
- [34:12]
Luke Morrow
Buyer's remorse. Buy a new car. I'll be moving in. Let's get started.
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IXL Announcer
Sorry, I think there's been a mistake. I bought it from Carvana.
- [34:21]
Seth Payne
You what?
- [34:22]
IXL Announcer
Yeah, great price. I even have seven days to love it or return it. So there's no, no, no Buyer's remorse. More like Buyers rejoice.
- [34:30]
Seth Payne
I guess I'll let myself out.
- [34:33]
Luke Morrow
Congratulations.
- [34:34]
Seth Payne
I mean it.
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IXL Announcer
Buyers rejoice. Buy your car today on Carvana. Limitations and exclusions may apply. See our seven day return policy@carvana.com it
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Priceline Announcer
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I'll come back up for you.
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Priceline Announcer
Really?
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Seth Payne
I gotta have another one.
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- [36:11]
Luke Morrow
Wrapping up a Wednesday here. Payne and Pendergast. I'm Luke Morrow, in for Sean Alongside Seth Payne. We'll catch up with the fellows from in the Loop here in just a few moments. But before we do so, we got some audio we got to get to, plus some Astros talk if we have the time to sneak that all in. Uh, we referenced earlier about people watching the World cup, preferring to watch the World cup on Telemundo than the standard American broadcast. And somebody on the text line said, you gotta hear the goal call on Telemundo from yesterday's match where Argentina pulled off this great comeback against Egypt. Tom Brady said it was better than a 28 to 3 comeback. So, anyways, our great producer Ben went and found the audio. So here it is. Here's how it sounded the goal on the Telemundo broadcast yesterday. Let's see if we think this sounds better than what would be a normal American call.
- [37:15]
Seth Payne
O. Argentino. That's awesome.
- [38:15]
Luke Morrow
That's pretty great.
- [38:16]
Seth Payne
I didn't know if he was going to be able to sustain or do anything after, like, the third or fourth goal because it sounded like his voice was leaving.
- [38:22]
Luke Morrow
Right.
- [38:23]
Seth Payne
You know, the. The part about that. That's always amazing with a soccer goal, calls with a. You know, when it's a home broadcaster or whatever, I. I never doubt that the emotion is real. You know, there might be. If I were, you know, like, somebody in the throes of passion sometimes. You might wonder whether they're faking it or not. I never had those guys always feel like they are 100% genuine in that, like. Like how raw their emotion is there. And I just don't know if you. I don't know if you can pull that off in an American broadcast, like an American English broadcast. I know what. And why not, like, Veranda? Vandermeer will get really damn emotional in a good way, but it's always going to be tempered and pulled back a little bit compared to what you hear in soccer.
- [39:07]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, it's a good question. I don't know. I do think.
- [39:10]
Seth Payne
I don't want Vandermeer trying to do that.
- [39:11]
Luke Morrow
No, right. I think it wouldn't sound good. And yet that call was. That call was great. And it almost sounded like. It almost sound like Ben just, you know, took the same piece, kept copy, copy and pasting him saying, goal, until eventually his voice was going out and he was still going for it. It's a great call.
- [39:28]
Seth Payne
I was. I was thinking about. I was thinking about trying to pick a country to learn the language and just. And become, like, the NFL expert in that. One of the NFL experts Like the pundits in that. But I'd have to speak it really, really well. Like, I wouldn't want to just go on and have a translator or something, but be the, you know, the former NFL player that's talking about the NFL in Brazil who's got incredible Portuguese. Like, you would have thought that this guy could speak Portuguese the way he is.
- [39:55]
Amica Insurance Announcer
Right.
- [39:55]
Seth Payne
But every time I get on an app or something, like, every year, I'll see, like, all right, let's see if. Let's see if technology has made Babel make me feel smarter or something. And I always get. I always get hung up somewhere and I quit. I. It's a. I make a real hard and honest effort at it for like, three days, and then I quit.
- [40:12]
Luke Morrow
Yeah. You know, I took. I took five years of Spanish and I still can't. Can't speak it. I wish. I wish I knew a second language.
- [40:17]
Seth Payne
But I bet if you actually committed yourself to it because you had exposure to it when you were younger, that you could probably pick it up pretty well. I just don't think. I was never. I never spent that. I took however much French I had to take, and that was it.
- [40:31]
Luke Morrow
Yeah.
- [40:31]
Seth Payne
I don't know if I like. I think I might be past the age where I could actually get really good at speaking a foreign language.
- [40:36]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, I hear you. They always say that. Yeah.
- [40:37]
Seth Payne
That it's easy to learn it when you're in your. By the time you're in your early 20s. It's never going to be natural. Yeah.
- [40:43]
Luke Morrow
It's just.
- [40:43]
Seth Payne
They say that, but people go to these immersive language schools and everything and seem to get pretty good at it.
- [40:49]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, it's true. I do think, obviously it can be done. It could be harder. I've always been interested by the people that are like a Spanish major in college or like, make it their whole educational. Like, I don't. What do you do with that then? Are they learning more than just the language or do they spend all four
- [41:05]
Seth Payne
years, Spanish major in college then? Yeah. If you're going to do anything with your degree, you're either going to be a Spanish teacher or a translator. Right. Or no. You know what? I guess think about Jeff Luno. Like, Jeff Luno and his ability to scout the Latin American prospects and find those, you know, those edges that they did have. I mean, like, him growing up in Mexico City had to have something to do with that. Why? He just read the Latin American market differently than a lot of American baseball scouts would. So that just by virtue of Being somebody who's genuinely bilingual, if you go into business or anything else, you've got a. You've got a big leg up. If you got a come. If you're going to work for a company that does a lot of business in South America or something, and you speak fluent Spanish, that's a, That's a. That's a big item on your resume.
- [41:52]
Luke Morrow
It's true. That's why I felt like such an idiot when I did work in baseball. And I was like, man, I took five years of Spanish, but I know certain words and phrases, but I'm not fluent. And then you have these guys that, you know, only speak Spanish and we're going back and forth on my phone using typing in on Google Translate. And yeah, by clicking the audio and it makes the conversation 10 times slower. And I was like, man, I should have just paid more attention in high school.
- [42:15]
Seth Payne
What were you doing? So were you always on the broadcasting side of the minor league baseball teams? Okay, yeah. So it wasn't like you were. You weren't responsible for, you know, getting them to their host families or anything?
- [42:24]
Luke Morrow
Well, you'd be surprised. You know, it's like all hands on deck. Yeah. So I would pick guys up from the airport and I would drive guys to the hotel or whatever it was. So, yeah, I was the liaison as, like, that broadcaster. You're the liaison between the front office and the team. So any, like, issues that they did have that extended outside of the clubhouse usually did fall on me. So, yeah, I dealt with them quite a bit.
- [42:47]
Seth Payne
But that's tough, too, because every Latin American country has a different accent and different.
- [42:51]
Reggie Figgy
Right.
- [42:52]
Seth Payne
You know, like different words, situations and everything. Yeah. Sort of like all of a sudden drop in and you could be. You could speak, like, European Spanish perfectly. But if you have to go and all of a sudden talk to 10 people from 10 different Latin American countries, it's probably. It's going to be way more difficult.
- [43:07]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, that's true. That's a good point.
- [43:08]
Seth Payne
And that's what they teach you in school, at least where we grew up, is like, oh, this is clearly in case you ever decide to travel to Madrid. I want to. They do they, like, I would like in this down here, do they teach more of a. Like a North American version of Spanish? I don't want to learn that. I don't want to learn the Queen Spanish. I want to learn like, the stuff I can actually use with people that I'm interacting with.
- [43:31]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, that's a good question. Because, like, you know, I come from an Italian family in the Northeast. And that's like its own dialect, is like the New Yorker, New Jersey Italian, which. It's not real Italian, but that's just how you grow up, like, speaking. And so, you know, that's like its own thing. And I imagine if you were to take Italian classes or just know Italian people elsewhere in the country, they might be speaking more natural Italian than, you know, what we've done with the language. I love the text coming in, though, about that call on Telemundo. Somebody said, I feel like I need a cigarette after that.
- [44:00]
Seth Payne
Yeah, that's what I'm saying. But then how do you know they're not faking it? You know, he might be doing that for every soccer game out there.
- [44:07]
Luke Morrow
It's true.
- [44:07]
Seth Payne
The peewee soccer game. Fakers.
- [44:13]
Luke Morrow
We do have to get to this piece of audio. We haven't gotten to it all morning. Oh, yeah. One of the nerdiest things about me talking about broadcasting is I went to this very camp. I went to a broad sports broadcasting camp growing up. I know the folks over there. Actually, the video came from one of my friends, Adam Giardino.
- [44:29]
Seth Payne
Play by play camps.
- [44:30]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, Play by play camps. I've tried to help out. They've never taken me up on the offer since, but I've tried to help, like, hey, because they do a camp, they actually come to Dallas. That's the closest they get to Houston. I'll be like, hey, I'll come help work with you guys for the week and do it anyways. They've never taken me up on the offer.
- [44:45]
Seth Payne
But the worst kind of rejection. I hate that.
- [44:47]
Luke Morrow
I'm trying to help.
- [44:48]
Seth Payne
Hey, I just want to help out. Like, no, we don't need you at the food kitchen, sir.
- [44:51]
Reggie Figgy
Exactly.
- [44:52]
Seth Payne
What's wrong with me? I can ladle. Yeah.
- [44:55]
Luke Morrow
So there's a sports play by play broadcasting camp, although they focus on a lot more than play by play. But a sports broadcasting camp for kids. It's for kids, like, up to 16 or 18 years old, whatever it is. And this video's gone viral where there's one camper this year at the camp. They're currently in New Jersey, I believe. So a camper from New Jersey who they found out at this camp, has this remarkable skill that you can pick any NFL team in any season from 2009, and he can recite their schedule and outcomes. That's true.
- [45:27]
Seth Payne
The schedule and the outcome of the games.
- [45:30]
Luke Morrow
Right. So here.
- [45:31]
Seth Payne
Here he is. It's the 2013 Oakland Raiders, and where we pick up it was week two versus a team that we remember.
- [45:40]
Oregon Lottery Announcer
Week two, they lost to the Texans.
- [45:44]
Seth Payne
Week three. Okay, hold up. Give me a sec.
- [45:48]
Kevin Clark
Okay.
- [45:48]
Seth Payne
No, no, I'm not forgetting.
- [45:50]
Oregon Lottery Announcer
I just need to remind myself.
- [45:53]
Seth Payne
Oh, they watched the Pats
- [45:57]
Oregon Lottery Announcer
before they lost to the Dolphin team logo. Five had the bottom five.
- [46:06]
Luke Morrow
Six.
- [46:07]
Oregon Lottery Announcer
Oh, we think they lost in the Charger.
- [46:08]
PNC Bank Announcer
Yeah.
- [46:12]
Luke Morrow
Seven.
- [46:13]
Jen Hatmaker
Oh, we.
- [46:13]
Amica Insurance Announcer
Seven.
- [46:14]
Oregon Lottery Announcer
They lost at the Cardinal.
- [46:17]
Seth Payne
Yeah. And he can do that for any team from 2009.
- [46:21]
PNC Bank Announcer
Yeah.
- [46:21]
Seth Payne
Till last year.
- [46:22]
Luke Morrow
And for those that think, like it might be a setup or something, you could go watch the videos. They have one camper randomly pick a year. They have another camper randomly pick a team and then he just goes through it. And they're fact checking on the computer to make sure he's right.
- [46:34]
Seth Payne
They've got the big projection up behind them on the screen. Yeah. Like they got the pro football reference game log up there. It's. It's pretty cool. So the kids can all. Yeah, no, I don't think Pablo Torre is going to be taking this kid down. I don't think, like there's going to be a big, long investigative journalism piece where probably Tory. Pablo. Tory digs in and figures out whether Kyle is lying or not. You can tell by listening to him that that's the kid. That's the kid that knows all the stats. Like, yeah, you had that kid in your high school. That was. That's exactly what he sounded like, you know, for sure. Yeah, like that's, that's his deal. He's probably not going to be doing play by play or anything, but he's the guy that sits next to the play by play guy that can bring up anything and everything about this game and all its stats.
- [47:19]
Luke Morrow
That's true. Yeah. He's going to be the, the stat guy for like Joe Buck, giving him all the interesting tidbits on the fly.
- [47:25]
Seth Payne
I'm just happy that those kids still exist because I didn't. You and I were talking the other day about how we feel like Chat GPT is making us or AI is making us dumber.
- [47:34]
Luke Morrow
Yeah.
- [47:34]
Seth Payne
Because there's just so many things. The way Google made us dumber before that. Because instead of just sitting around and really trying to remember something, you just look it up. So like the kids that used to just memorize all the box scores and everything and knew all the stats of, of their baseball team off the top of their head on any given day, I didn't know. I didn't know if those guys were still out there. And at least this kid Kyle, he's out there.
- [47:55]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, I'm glad. I can't match, I can't match that kid. I'm not even close. But there was a period that the NFL team I grew up following, I could give you their schedule and results for, you know, just about every season over or throughout my lifetime.
- [48:11]
Seth Payne
Really.
- [48:11]
Luke Morrow
Yeah. And I always kind of remember like where I was when I was watching the game too. They just stick in my memory.
- [48:16]
Seth Payne
So my brother use any kind of a technique for that or did you just remember it? No, just remember how that season.
- [48:22]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, just remembering. So my brothers would always tease me and they would bring it up and try to quiz me and I was always really good at that with the team that I followed, but I could never do other teams. Like, he's got every team in the league for the last 20 or not 20, last 17 years. It's. It really is remarkable.
- [48:39]
Seth Payne
He's probably like one of the few remaining guys that has a physical copy of the Baseball Almanac.
- [48:44]
Luke Morrow
Oh, I love Baseball Almanac. I used to just sit on the floor and read that all day.
- [48:48]
Seth Payne
Sit there and read it. Yeah. Well, that's the other thing is that you used to sit on the floor and read the Baseball Almanac because there were limited options.
- [48:54]
Luke Morrow
Yeah.
- [48:55]
Seth Payne
You know, like in where now you can go watch. If you're a sports minded individual, you can go watch highlights on YouTube for the same amount of time spent hard at work doing the important things, remembering meaningless stats, meaningless games from decades ago.
- [49:09]
Luke Morrow
Yeah. Now you can just ask ChatGPT. But back then I actually had to read it in the book, all the different stats. What Larry walker hit in 1993.
- [49:17]
Seth Payne
Didn't ESPN used to give its prospective employees a really tough sports trivia test?
- [49:22]
Luke Morrow
Right.
- [49:23]
Seth Payne
Did they? Like what? And it was like, it was a lot. You had to be almost like you had to be one of those classic sports nerds to. Unless you're on the, you know, like broadcast side of things. Right. Like an on air person or even for them. Did they give everybody.
- [49:35]
Luke Morrow
I think they did for the.
- [49:36]
Seth Payne
Everybody.
- [49:37]
Luke Morrow
I don't know if they still do because the on air folks now, like it's, it's so different.
- [49:40]
PNC Bank Announcer
Yeah.
- [49:41]
Seth Payne
No, no, no. Yeah.
- [49:41]
Luke Morrow
Requirements.
- [49:42]
Seth Payne
Yeah. They got a lot of. Yeah, yeah. But yeah, definitely not Kyle.
- [49:46]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, no, they're not Kyle. They're not Howie Schwab or whatever his first name was. None of those guys. Crosstalk sponsored by DNM Auto Leasing as we welcome in the fellas from in the Loop. John Lopez out again today. So Brandon Scott's back with us alongside Reggie, I assume Figgy. Figgy's here.
- [50:01]
Seth Payne
Yeah.
- [50:01]
Luke Morrow
Awesome.
- [50:01]
PNC Bank Announcer
So that kid's got to have an eidetic memory, right?
- [50:05]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, I would imagine so.
- [50:06]
PNC Bank Announcer
What an eidetic, which I guess is the technical term of what we would call a photographic memory.
- [50:12]
Seth Payne
Well, you know, I looked into this Reginald, and a lot of these memory experts, what they have is a memory palace where they, they kind of attach certain things and list to, they might have an imagination of their home and they have places they put everything so that as they're remembering stuff, it's like they're walking through their house and everything's placed on a shelf or in a spot in the sequence in order they need to remember it. They've got all these different types of techniques like that, that it's, these are like these memory people who are obviously super smart will tell you you don't have to be smart that, that smart to do it. But it's false modesty.
- [50:49]
PNC Bank Announcer
Yeah, that's the thing. Because I like to believe that there is some level of mutation or superpower that's happening. Otherwise I get into my, my immigrant upbringing where it's like that person doesn't have two heads. Why can't you do that? And I do it to myself instead of my mother in this instance and I'm like, well if that kid is just normal like the rest of us, then why the hell do I have so much problems remembering things, you know?
- [51:11]
Seth Payne
Yeah. Oh yeah. Well if you need to feel better about it, just go to the replies in that original post where there's, there's no shortage of people, you know, pointing out all the reasons why they're still better than that kid, you know. Yeah, it's very important that they point out why they're still better than that 12 year old. Just because I can't do that doesn't mean that. Yeah, it's very uplifting.
- [51:32]
Reggie Figgy
Memory was just not ever going to be my gift as a kid, as an adult, like so I just, there's no point in me ever comparison comparing myself to that. It's just not going to happen. I will say though, my son, my 11 year old son Kyle, I could just imagine being mortified right now when he heard Luke Morrow say he used to read the baseball Almanac back in the day. So because these kids do have a lot of options, they don't have to be sitting around, read no almanac or reading anything if you're just being honest about it. And so he's got chat GPT he's got the PS3. He's got the phone and the tablet and all of these things to distract him. The idea of reading a baseball almanac. We've lost recipes. The kids don't know struggle. They don't know what it's really like to not have a whole lot to do and to be limited in it builds character.
- [52:19]
PNC Bank Announcer
Like, the reason why I like NASCAR is because I remember being in my grandmother's house when she had no cable and there was nothing to do with grandma's house, so I sat in front of that TV on a Saturday, or it might have been a Sunday, when nothing going but this nascar. I'm a watch these cars go left.
- [52:32]
Reggie Figgy
Yeah. You got four channels. So it's either like some kind of divorce court, Jerry Springer, NASCAR soap opera. You don't have a whole lot to choose from here.
- [52:43]
Seth Payne
Yeah. You know what this whole conversation, though, is doing for me? I'm thinking, like, okay, for all of the. For all the people that are worried about how smartphones are going to ruin kids and everything. Yeah. Because not like back in the day when we are edifying ourselves with NASCAR and reading the Guinness Book of World Records and everything, like, all those really important things, these kids are missing out on knowing who had the longest fingernails in the world. Yeah, I resent that.
- [53:08]
Reggie Figgy
I think that they are.
- [53:10]
PNC Bank Announcer
You do a good job. I really do appreciate, whenever you're on these airwaves, trying to demystify the, oh, man, these kids don't got it like us. You know, we are losing recipes because literally every generation does this in one shape or form. Like, I can think back to, you know, written histories of folks being like, oh, man, these kids aren't reading anymore.
- [53:27]
Luke Morrow
They're.
- [53:28]
PNC Bank Announcer
They're. They're reading their books too much instead of doing these other things right. Like, there's always been some. Some level of the kids, something's not wrong with you, or something not right with them.
- [53:36]
Seth Payne
Rap the difference.
- [53:37]
Reggie Figgy
More right than they were.
- [53:39]
Seth Payne
If you go back far enough. There are a lot of people that were really upset about the printing press. Yes. And it wasn't just the Roman Catholic Church. It was like, there were a lot of people that were worried that because people now had books, they wouldn't have to actually remember things. And there's. I mean, there is some truth to that, but by and large, I would have to argue that books have been a good thing for society. I'll go out on that limb.
- [53:59]
PNC Bank Announcer
And thusly, so is the PS3, as you said?
- [54:02]
IXL Announcer
Yes.
- [54:02]
Seth Payne
Yeah.
- [54:03]
Kevin Clark
Books.
- [54:03]
Reggie Figgy
Until they became A extinct.
- [54:05]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, yeah. I put the baseball almanac right there at the PS3. No doubt. You're listening to K I L T A M K I L T F M H, Duke Houston and Odyssey Sports Station. Question of the day.
- [54:16]
PNC Bank Announcer
I don't know if you guys saw this, but one Justin James Watt is going to be a shark on Shark Tank coming up this fall. And so that got us thinking. What's your. What would be your pitch to shark J.J. watt?
- [54:29]
Seth Payne
Well, wait, real quick. Is he a shark? So does that mean he's one of the people that are deciding to invest or is he pitching a product?
- [54:35]
PNC Bank Announcer
No, he is Shark. He going to be the person that is sitting here listening to your pitches and deciding whether to invest, which I thought about, and I was like, is he. This got to be the TV portion of this. Is he investing his own money in these things?
- [54:47]
Reggie Figgy
Oh, no way. He's just there to tell you you're an idiot or not.
- [54:49]
PNC Bank Announcer
Okay, Right.
- [54:50]
Reggie Figgy
For entertainment.
- [54:51]
Priceline Announcer
Which is.
- [54:51]
PNC Bank Announcer
Which kind of might not be the right situation for him because he just seems too nice. Like, I feel like he's gonna get got by somebody that's like. It seems like a nice story. I don't know if I should invest in this, but I want to be positive and uplifting.
- [55:01]
Reggie Figgy
He's been rich enough rich long enough to have been. Somebody has peddled some kind of ridiculous cockamamie business plan to him before.
- [55:08]
PNC Bank Announcer
Cause I feel like we do this a lot with. We do this a lot with. With athletes where we go, oh, you gonna have cousins coming out with business plans. Does that happen with all of our people in the locker rooms? I guess so. To say.
- [55:19]
Reggie Figgy
Yeah. I mean, Seth, this has happened to you, I'm sure, like somebody has thrown a ridiculous business plan probably multiple times.
- [55:25]
Seth Payne
Yeah. Usually it ends with, send me your business plan. And they're like, huh, I thought you were just gonna give me some money.
- [55:35]
PNC Bank Announcer
Have you ever gotten somebody who did send you the business plan?
- [55:38]
Seth Payne
Yeah, yeah, I've had that. The people that send me business plans, I declined to. I declined to invest with them, but they ended up doing just fine.
- [55:45]
PNC Bank Announcer
Okay, good.
- [55:46]
Seth Payne
The greatest gift they got was the gift of self reliance. That's what I told them.
- [55:50]
PNC Bank Announcer
That is. That is somebody who has had to tell people no. A good amount.
- [55:53]
Priceline Announcer
Right.
- [55:54]
PNC Bank Announcer
That was a really good sell on that. No, Seth, I gotta admit, it made me feel good about you saying no.
- [55:59]
Seth Payne
My. The one that I would totally pitch to JJ is my TSA style pre screening app for hitchhikers where hitchhikers and People who pick up hitchhikers can just scan the other person's face and see that, okay, they've, they've cleared security. I can safely assume that this guy's not a serial killer and that it'll. It'll be good for America. That's. See the pitches. You gotta make some way to make it look better for society. But yeah, like, young people will be able to travel and learn more about America and people can have conversations the way they used to as strangers who might share divergent religious or political beliefs or whatever. But it's good for America if you have this. If people are just more willing to safely pick up a hitchhiker.
- [56:45]
Reggie Figgy
Did the polarization of America diminish the hitchhiker? Like, I don't. Do we still hitchhike?
- [56:50]
PNC Bank Announcer
I think that we know.
- [56:51]
Seth Payne
I think, I think hitchhiking crime shows. Yeah. People realizing that serial killers were a thing was. I think that was the biggest thing.
- [56:59]
Reggie Figgy
Fair enough. Yeah.
- [57:00]
PNC Bank Announcer
We just became a lot more untrusting of our neighbors.
- [57:03]
Luke Morrow
Yeah. Yeah. We said you shouldn't pick up a stranger in your car anymore, but you should pay a stranger to get in there.
- [57:10]
PNC Bank Announcer
Correct.
- [57:10]
Reggie Figgy
Right.
- [57:11]
Seth Payne
Because they're pre screened. We're led to believe.
- [57:16]
Priceline Announcer
Wait.
- [57:16]
Reggie Figgy
So damn financially motivated not to kill you.
- [57:18]
PNC Bank Announcer
You. Wait, hold on.
- [57:19]
Reggie Figgy
They can't get. They can't get the next ride if they kill you.
- [57:22]
PNC Bank Announcer
So did Seth kind of horrible rating. Did Seth kind of just pitch Uber? Is that what we just realized?
- [57:27]
Seth Payne
Well, no, it's. It would take down Uber. You wouldn't be. I don't know how you make money off of it. Okay, you sell advertising.
- [57:32]
Reggie Figgy
No, don't say that. Don't say that, Seth.
- [57:34]
PNC Bank Announcer
Don't say.
- [57:35]
Reggie Figgy
Don't tell J.J. that. Leave that.
- [57:37]
Luke Morrow
Yeah. For that.
- [57:38]
Seth Payne
Hey, listen, this. The thing about these tech and these app companies, they don't care actually about how you make money at first. They just want to see that you can build up a subscriber.
- [57:45]
PNC Bank Announcer
That's right.
- [57:45]
Seth Payne
That's. They figure out how to monetize the
- [57:47]
PNC Bank Announcer
data is the important part.
- [57:49]
Seth Payne
Yeah, fair enough.
- [57:49]
Reggie Figgy
Fair enough.
- [57:50]
Luke Morrow
Yeah. I feel like, I always feel like I have an invention and then you realize it's. It already exists.
- [57:55]
PNC Bank Announcer
Yes. Like how the tech bros in Silicon Valley constantly remake things like the bus.
- [58:00]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, right.
- [58:01]
Seth Payne
Yeah. Or the, or the nutrition. The protein shake.
- [58:04]
IXL Announcer
Yes.
- [58:05]
Luke Morrow
Yeah. So. So it probably already exists, but an app that tells you where the closest public bathroom is public, that is.
- [58:12]
PNC Bank Announcer
No, that one's a banger. I, I refuse to say anything negative about that. How often are you out and about. And you're like, let me find a McDonald's. Because I feel like I. That's the only place where I. Yes. I feel like an app where you know exactly where you can. You can find your next restroom. Never leave me.
- [58:27]
Reggie Figgy
But not just the restroom. Like, it has to be rated with cleanliness 100. Like, you got to know what quality of restroom and kind of depending on what your desperation level is, depending on what you settle for. Like, you know what? I think I can wait another mile and a half.
- [58:39]
Luke Morrow
Yeah.
- [58:40]
Reggie Figgy
If I need.
- [58:40]
PNC Bank Announcer
I think this works. I think it's a good one, man.
- [58:42]
Luke Morrow
Jj, we're coming for you. Especially now we're driving home from, you know, from school with the kid in the backseat. And when they got it, when they got to use the bathroom, it's a struggle to try to find something quick.
- [58:52]
Seth Payne
When they got to go, they gotta go.
- [58:53]
Luke Morrow
Oh, yeah. And especially Houston traffic. You're trying to find something. Okay, so. Crosstalk Sponsored by DNM Auto Leasing. Seth, pleasure as always. We'll do it again tomorrow.
- [59:04]
Seth Payne
Yes, we certainly will.
- [59:05]
Luke Morrow
And the fellows promise.
- [59:07]
Seth Payne
Don't worry, I'll be there.
- [59:08]
Luke Morrow
That's right. And we didn't add anybody to your list this time of.
- [59:10]
Seth Payne
Of following up with people I need to avenge. Okay, I'll have a list for that tomorrow. Nice people I need to seek vengeance against.
- [59:18]
PNC Bank Announcer
I would like you to timestamp that because I want to be there.
- [59:20]
Luke Morrow
Perfect. We're done for the day. We'll be back tomorrow, but our time is done.
- [59:24]
Amica Insurance Announcer
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Oregon Lottery Announcer
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Priceline Announcer
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Amica Insurance Announcer
At Ameca Insurance, we know it's not just what's inside your home that matters, it's who you share it with. That's why we work even harder to protect it. And as a mutual insurance company, we're built for our customers. We prioritize your needs and are here for you when you need us. Amica Empathy is our best policy. Visit amica.com and get a quote. Today.