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- [00:00]
Commercial Narrator
Gatorade is the number one proven electrolyte blend designed to hydrate better than water.
- [00:07]
Frank Isola
So you can lose more sweat and raise your game.
- [00:13]
Pablo Torre
Gatorade.
- [00:14]
Frank Isola
Is it in you? Part of the interruption, but. I'm Frank Isola. It's a Friday in late August. You know what that means.
- [00:23]
Pablo Torre
I'm Pablo Torre. B team. Back to this.
- [00:30]
Frank Isola
Hey, listen, I know you've become a big shot, but that is some place you got. Look at that house. Look at that backyard. Good for you, Paul.
- [00:38]
Pablo Torre
That's right, look. Second stringer. But look at the clubhouse right behind me. I may or may not be in a certain part of eastern. I'm out east, Frank, as they say.
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Frank Isola
I think I see Tony and Mike behind you out there somewhere. Pretty good. Welcome to pti. Mike and Tony have the day off, so I'm joined by my great friend, the host of the podcast, Pablo Torre finds out, Mr. Pablo Torres. I like it.
- [01:10]
Pablo Torre
I like it.
- [01:10]
Frank Isola
You know what? Let's go, Pablo. Let's start with another solid preseason performance from Russell Wilson's backup. First round rookie Jackson Dart went 6 for 12 for 81 yards in last night's preseason finale against the Patriots. Now, that doesn't sound special, but Dart had five passes dropped and Giants coach Brian Dabel said, quote, he knows he's got a lot of things to work on, but he's made progress every day and I'm glad we drafted him. I'm glad you're here. Pablo, how should starter Russell Wilson be feeling right about now?
- [01:46]
Pablo Torre
I like how they're starting us off with a topic about backups. This is good. All topics today will be about backups. I think Russell Wilson should be feeling like what he himself had done when he was a rookie. Russell Wilson with the Seahawks. Frank, keep in mind, right, third rounder Matt Flynn is the guy that they signed to be the starter, and Russell Wilson killed it in the preseason and he got the job. And Matt Flynn, of course, became Matt Flynn. So to me, the thing about Russell Wilson and the Giants was always, this is a bridge quarterback. This is our version of Sam Darnold in Minnesota. We get the rookie, we get the middle class. Now, bridge guy. And the question is just when do we bring in the rookie? Because you know that's going to happen. That's the goal. Turns out Jackson Dart is making Russell Wilson feel like, you know, the younger version of himself, but in the bad way.
- [02:35]
Frank Isola
Yeah, you know, it's a good history lesson you gave. I'll give another one if you go back to 2004 with this very Giants team that a rookie quarterback. Now, granted, he was drafted number one. That's Eli Manning. Kurt Warner was the starter. And the Giants started out by winning with Kurt Warner five of their first seven games. But eventually they were going to go to Eli Manning. Now, Eli did not have the preseason that Jackson Dart is having. And the one thing about Russell Wilson, who's had a great life, seems like a lovely guy, lovely family, the whole thing. He has spent most of the spring sitting courtside at basketball games almost as much as Pablo Torre has been doing. So he's been living it up in New York, but his life is about to become miserable. From this standpoint, the schedule is really difficult. Look at The Giants first three games at Washington, at Dallas, and then the Week 3, their home opener against the Chiefs. So Russell Wilson, I think, is going to start all those games. You know how it works. Pablo, he has a couple of three and outs and the crowd is going to start chanting for Jackson Dart. He's eventually going to play Jackson Dart. He's eventually going to start maybe week four against the Chargers. This is not. Unless he's lights out, I don't think it's going to be a very pleasant experience for Russell Wilson.
- [03:48]
Pablo Torre
No, it's funny to that point that Jackson Dart, like one of the bits of feedback Day Ball had for him was like, hey, you got to slide. He doesn't really know how to protect himself yet. And I think that is part of the story with him. You don't actually want to throw him out there in week one. If you're totally invested in him as the future, you want to protect him and also you want to set him up to succeed. So the question of expectations to me is always the key one, right? If you want to get the crowd to be on your side as the front office, you want Russell Wilson to go out there to start maybe struggling those first set of really hard games. And then week four, you let the crowd demand. They demand the rookie, they demand the. The agent of change. And then you're set up where Russell Wilson actually, you're not the villain and neither is the front office. It's just the move they got to make.
- [04:34]
Frank Isola
All right, but how. But what about this? Jaden Daniels started right away. It came one win from going to the Super Bowl. Now, Mahomes, it took a year. So it's never one size fits all. So Giant fans, the front office ownership might be thinking, well, hang on a second. Jayden Daniels did it last year. Why can't Jackson Dart do the same Thing, Right.
- [04:54]
Pablo Torre
Right. Well, look, that is a rhetorical question. I believe that should make anybody who had any sense of who Jackson Dart is very happy because that's not even a thought experiment anybody engaged in when they took Jackson Dart as aforementioned. But I want to move on, Frank, to a quarterback in this case who has no doubt about his status because Joe Burrow of the Bengals tells Albert Breer of si, quote, I'm not sure I would say anyone is playing the position better than I am right now, end quote. So is that how you see it, Frank?
- [05:23]
Frank Isola
You know what? I think you definitely can make the case. Look what he did last year. First in passing yards, first in touchdown passes, third in quarterback rating. It kind of has a little Dan Marino to it, because Dan Marino for the longest time was the best quarterback. Let's remember we're talking about AFC where you have Lamar Jackson, you have Josh Allen, and then of course, you have the king, Patrick Mahomes. So I do agree, when you look at the numbers and the stats, certainly the problem is the team that he plays for doesn't do enough defensively for him to get the wins. He went to his super bowl his second year, but look what's happened the last two years. He had to be lights out, and they were 9 and 8. I got a stat for you. Last year, they scored 472 points. Only five teams scored more than that. They allowed 434. Only five teams allowed more than that. So, yes, he's a terrific player, but he's kind of stuck in this damn Marina thing where you're not going to outscore everybody. At some point, they have to improve defensively.
- [06:23]
Pablo Torre
Yeah. It's funny, when I was listening to you talk about Russell Wilson sitting courtside, right? Every starting quarterback, when they're presented with this question, it's a psychology test, because the right answer, the only right answer you want your starting quarterback to say is, yes, it's me. I'm the greatest. I should have this job forever until I one day decide I don't want to do this anymore. And so Joe Burrow, on that level, he has the right answer. Congratulations to him on passing the test. The reality of it, though, to go even sort of bigger picture here, is that Joe Burrow is also increasingly rare. He is a true pocket passer. Frank.
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Frank Isola
Yeah.
- [07:00]
Pablo Torre
Among all of the great quarterbacks in the NFL. And so when you, when you, when you name the guys, right? Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, those guys do it with their legs. Joe Burrow, who is twice the Comeback player of the year. You know, his legs are the thing that basically need to be protected. And so for me, he's also saying, as a true quarterback, and you know this from basketball, right. What is a pure point guard, a true quarterback, someone who distributes and doesn't necessarily run around like that. He's saying, who does it better than me? And on that level, over 70% completion, I believe 4,700 yards. Yeah. As a pure passer, I believe he probably is the best in the NFL.
- [07:39]
Frank Isola
You know, it's a litmus test for the Cincinnati Bengals, because you look at what you know, the Ravens are always good, and Lamar Jackson is always great. Same thing with Josh Allen. The Bills have done a terrific job building a team around them. And of course, the Chiefs, they realize our offense is lights out. We got to get better defensively. And look at all the years Tom Brady was the best quarterback in the NFL forever. The Patriots had a full team. So, yes, Burrow has all the weapons. Offensively, they're going to score points. But it's been proven, Pablo, time and time again he could be the best. Just like for the longest time, Daniel was.
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Pablo Torre
It's the thing. To your point, right. What Joe Burrow is also saying, if you're going to inject him with truth serum, is, I can't do better than I'm doing. So who's going to help me out? You know, and that's defense. That question has always been about the defense, and he needs the help. And I don't think they're going to get him the help. But in the meantime, he's not going to be the problem.
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Frank Isola
Now, you're 100% right about that. All right. And now to a college coach that Pablo has spent some time covering. You know, I'm talking about North Carolina's Bill Belichick. Bill Belichick tells Ben Bolin of the Boston Globe, quote, I enjoy it. I've always wanted to be in college football. There's no owner. There's no owner's son. Pablo, how does Belichick sound to you?
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Pablo Torre
Frank, you know how he sounds. He sounds like a guy who's litigating a breakup in public after decades of not touching it in public. That's what's happening here we talked about just a second ago, truth serum. What do you say when someone makes you tell the truth? Belichick is doing that with the help of the aforementioned eluded Jordan Hudson, who, of course, I've been reporting on, on my show in ways that are just rare and different. It's not the same Belichick. One of the reasons he's saying this is because, of course, Bob Kraft came out and said hiring Belichick when he did to coach the Patriots was, quote, a risk, a big risk. And Belichick and his camp, they object to that. And Belichick now is fighting for his honor while he's at North Carolina getting paid more money than any public employee in the state of North Carolina. And he's still stuck in the past. That is what's happening here in that quote, specifically.
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Frank Isola
Yeah, and I think what happens, too, with Bill Belichick, I think that documentary that the Patriots had where they really made him out to be the bad guy. And these things, a lot of times, they never end well. It didn't end well with Tom Brady in New England. It didn't end well with Bill Belichick. But that doesn't take away from the success that they've had. And I think Robert Kraft and his son, I think this happens with a lot of owners, a lot of people in the front office. Everyone wants credit. We've kind of saw that with, you know, Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson in Chicago ownership. The front office wanted some of the credit. But here's the thing. The guy was there for nearly a quarter of a century. The success, there's no debating it. But now look what's happened the last three years. Three. Three straight losing seasons. And by the way, now you're onto your third coach in three years. So I think with Bill Belichick, I think it bothers him that on the way out, the way that he was talked about, I think that documentary bothered. Forget about what's going on now in North Carolina. He's looking back at his time at New England Patriots saying, maybe I should have been treated a little bit better on the way out.
- [10:48]
Pablo Torre
Oh, and the documentary you referenced, the Apple TV plus documentary. Part of what sticks in Belichick's craw, according to all the reporting I've done, is that he realized all too late that Bob Kraft was a key voice, not just in the documentary, but behind it, in terms of the story they were gonna tell. Belichick felt blindsided by that. Yeah, but I wanna now bring it college point because I. Look, what I agree with you about in. In total is Belichick is the greatest NFL coach of all time in the football context. He is a genius. What he is testing now is life afterwards. Life after a sport in which he was kicked out because they didn't want him to be in charge anymore. Didn't trust, I am told, his ability to pick the people around him. And now here's Belichick. And he doesn't have an owner and an owner's son, but he has a chancellor, he has a board of trustees. Frank, you know, Carolina is a basketball school. The whole thing about what's happening here is an experiment in which Belichick brings football. What does that mean? What does it cost them? How do they look? And so far, it looks quite petty.
- [11:51]
Frank Isola
Yeah, Michael Jordan University. It's still a basketball school, 100%. All right, let's take a break. But coming up, the Red Sox, the first of four from the Yankees, who's got more riding on the next three?
- [12:04]
Pablo Torre
And they play tomorrow. So are the Ravens or Commanders poised for a bigger regular season?
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Frank Isola
So you are aware that Belichick is at North Carolina, right? That he got the job?
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Pablo Torre
I am. I told this. Sources close to the situation tell me.
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Frank Isola
You'Ve been all over that story. Good job on that.
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Pablo Torre
Well, I've been watching some footage. I've been grinding film.
- [12:27]
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- [13:22]
Pablo Torre
Get in the zone.
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Frank Isola
AutoZone.
- [13:24]
Commercial Narrator
Brad's Day is off to a slow start, so he heads to AutoZone where batteries are as low as 89.9. Sammy, a local autozoner, tests his battery for free. Looks like he just needs a charge. And Sammy does that for free, too. In no time at all, Brad is back on the road, ready to finish the day strong. Free battery testing and charging at every store. No hassles, just help.
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Pablo Torre
Get in the zone.
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Commercial Narrator
Auto zone restrictions apply.
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Frank Isola
It is time for the battle of the backups and toss up. What's first? Toss up. Which team is the rest of their series more important to the Red Sox or the Yankees? All right, so the Red Sox have demolished the Yankees all season long. Last night they beat them. How about the Rookie, Roman Anthony? Two run, home run. He had three RBIs. Overall, I like Ian O' Connor in the athletic. My buddy, he had Roman Empire 1, Evil Empire 0. Except, of course, the Yankees are really no longer because they don't really dominate like they once did. How about this from the Yankees, though? That revamped pitching staff of theirs. Nine walks and they had four errors. Tossing the ball all over the field. So it was an ugly loss. And you know, the Yankees had done well recently. Seven of eight. But those wins came against the Twins. They came against the Cardinals and the Rays. So they're getting wins. But they're beating up on the also rans of Major League Baseball. Tonight, it's more important for the Yankees, and tonight's going to be big. Max Freed is starting for them. That's the guy. You know, the Yankees, I think, will make the wild card their first game. Max Freed is going to start his last three starts. Pablo. 15 innings, 15 on runs, 24 hits. He's given up. They need. The Yankees need to be better. Max Freed needs to be better.
- [15:15]
Pablo Torre
Yeah, it's the Yankees to me. And I know the Red Sox are technically in more dire need of wins because they're beneath the Yankees in the standings, but to me, this is always about expectations. Frank. I grew up a Yankee fan. I remain a Yankee fan. I am the type of Yankee fan who went on StubHub for game five of the World Series and was there for literally the worst inning, the worst defensive inning, if not the worst inning in general, of Major League Baseball history. And when I watch a game like what happened last night, it is the errors. To me, yeah, it's not just Luke Weaver who gives me ptsd, because, yes, that's the guy who lost the game, too. It's the errors, it's the sloppiness, it's the fact that you could throw all of this money, all of these names, and yes, we need Max Freed to be a real ace, but it's the fact that this was a season that was supposed to make up for not merely that horrific inning, but also the fact that the Yankees are due a World Series. The Yankees are actively expecting a World Series. And now I believe this is the sixth time I fired Aaron Boone in my brain. Like, it just. It's bad, Frank. And so, yes, the Yankees need this more because the fan base demands it more at this point.
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Frank Isola
Yeah, Yankees 4 and 13 against the Red Sox and the Blue Jays this year. All right, what's next? Toss up. They play their preseason finale against each other tomorrow. Which team are you more bullish on this season, The Ravens or the commanders? It's interesting. ESPN's Ben Zolak, he ranked the the most watchable teams. And you and I, by the way, I think we ranked 10th in this whole thing. But all 32 teams, he ranked the Commanders 1 and the Ravens 2. I'm more bullish on the Ravens just because the Ravens do it every year. The Commanders last season, unbelievable year. You love their quarterback. You just wonder if they might take a step back. And they did win a game with that great Hail Mary against the Bears, which destroyed their season. They had 19 scoring drives last year. In the fourth quarter, their team allowed 20. So they're always playing in close games. So I wonder about them. We might see a little bit of a drop from the Commanders this year.
- [17:27]
Pablo Torre
Yeah, us stat nerds, Frank, call that drop a regression to the mean. That's what we call it. I like that sports analytics conference where Frank Isola, there's a poster that says, do not serve this man. Do not serve this caveman. Only math nerd allowed. The reason I agree with you, though, about the Commanders is fundamentally that, man, the expectations just changed again. What's the story here? Expectations. The Commanders were a shocking success story. Not just because of the way they won those games, maybe being the best television show in general, as Ben Zolak put it, but like they're a team that really did overachieve, and they had in Jaden Daniels, the messianic figure who enabled it. Now, the thing about the Ravens, though, is that once you get through the regular season and it's the postseason, guess who has a giant question mark hanging over his head. Yeah, Lamar Jackson. Right. So I think Lamar, by the way, give him all the MVPs, that guy might deserve them all. But the question of what happens when the pressure gets really, really high. You know, this is the legend of why I'm a. Why I'm a Yankee fan. Honestly, it's when the pressure gets really, really tough, you get better. Not happening in the Bronx. Not happening for Lamar Jackson in Baltimore. That is a big question that makes me think the Ravens actually need that even more.
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Frank Isola
Yeah, and you. And you make your bones in the NFL with those fourth quarter drives. You do it on the road. Lamar Jackson did it last year against the Bills in that playoff game. And then of course, poor Mark Andrews dropped the two point conversion which could have changed everything. But everyone looks like, oh, Lamar Jackson. Look what happened. You didn't win again last year. I'll give you a stat which the average person understands. 41 touchdowns, four interceptions last year for Lamar Jackson. He was amazing. All right, that's it. Let's take one last break. But still to come, is the SEC Smart dead a ninth conference game?
- [19:18]
Pablo Torre
Even Frank can do that math. And Jerry Jones expresses his frustration toward Micah Parsons.
- [19:24]
Frank Isola
Agent Jerry Jones is in the news.
- [19:26]
Pablo Torre
Frank, you're. Of course he is. Because we're in the 90s. Frank, you're 90.
- [19:32]
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- [20:34]
Frank Isola
It's a Friday. Happy time. Happy 24th birthday, LaMelo Ball. The Charlotte Hornets star averaged 25 points per game last season, but missed the end of the campaign for surgeries on his wrist and ankle. He also appeared to have some work done on his feet. Pictures purported to show his feet adorned with flaming hot Cheetos ink, like he's trying to copy from Pablo Torre. But false tattoo artists later fessed up to trolling everyone with fake photos. Look at that.
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Pablo Torre
Frank. You may think that I'm the young guy with weird tattoos. Lamelo Ball is now a veteran. That's how old you are. You've now gotten old enough to see him become an NBA vet. Congratulations to you.
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Frank Isola
And I got another birthday in a week. Happy anniversary, Wes Littleton. On this day 18 years ago, the Rangers reliever recorded what might have been the most absurd save in baseball history. That's saying something, because there's a lot of them Littleton pitched three shutout innings and a 33 Texas win over Baltimore. The rule says that pitching the final three innings of a win earns you a save no matter the score. Littleton told the New York Times that his teammates razzed him. Quote, they were calling me a vulture, saying this had to be one of the cheapest saves ever.
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Pablo Torre
Which is an insult to vultures. Vultures are far more dignified than just taking like a baby bird having a save regurgitated into its mouth in a 33 win. Whatever. This was an insult to vultures.
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Frank Isola
Look at the words he's throwing out. Happy trails. To an eight game schedule for the sec. The conference has voted to expand to a nine game conference schedule starting next season. Each school will play three annual opponents and the remaining six will rotate. This decision comes after the College Football Playoff committee announced that it's increasing expectations for strength of schedule. Submit 10 coaches had recently been carping about how unfair it was that they had to play nine conference games. And the leadership had floated the idea, get this, of an 18 to 2018 playoff. Come on now.
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Pablo Torre
Frank. To quote Tony Korniser quoting Don Ohmyer, the answer to all of your questions is money.
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Frank Isola
Yep.
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Pablo Torre
And so it is again.
- [22:40]
Frank Isola
No errors today, believe it or not. So let's go to the big finish. Jerry Jones in the news told Michael Irvin that Micah Parsons agent told the Cowboys to stick their offer up there. Lee, your thoughts?
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Pablo Torre
My favorite part was Jerry. Jerry told Michael Irvin, who told apparently everybody else, which is to say that Jerry is still producing the television show that is his football team. Scotty Scheffler meanwhile, is five back of the lead through two rounds of the Tour Championship. Is that a big deal to you?
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Frank Isola
He'll be fine there at minus 13. He's at minus 8. He'll eventually catch up. ESPN reports that Malik Beasley is no longer the target of the federal gambling investigation. Your thoughts?
- [23:23]
Pablo Torre
My thoughts are that this story is not close to over. My show continues to investigate it. Actually, I think there's a lot more to come. 22nd ranked Iowa State versus number 17 Kansas State in Dublin on Saturday. Frank, who you got?
- [23:36]
Frank Isola
I got number 17 Kansas State. I got three Guinness. Last one four preseason games tonight. I know you're all over this. What intrigues you?
- [23:45]
Pablo Torre
The sound that I'm going to hear from across the country. That is Mina Kimes watching four preseason games in one night. You got that right.
- [23:52]
Frank Isola
We're out of time. Thanks for watching. I'm Frank Isola.
- [23:56]
Pablo Torre
And I'm Pablo Torre. Pablo Torre finds out is the podcast I keep on promoting. But for now, your sports center, you.
- [24:02]
Frank Isola
Got to keep promoting that place where you live.
- [24:07]
Adam Rogers
This episode is brought to you by FX's alien Earth, the official podcast. Each week, host Adam Rogers is joined by guests, including the show's creator, cast and crew in this exclusive companion podcast. They will explore story elements, deep dive into character motivations, and offer an episode by episode, behind the scenes breakdown of each terrifying chapter in this new series. Search FX's alien Earth wherever you listen to podcasts.