B (2:20)

It is.

C (2:21)

Ryan Day is. You say there are 12 teams now when they go to 16, that's four more teams. Okay, okay. You don't want to penalize your good because they're still playing. Because the transfer portal has upended college football.

B (2:33)

Yes, it has.

C (2:34)

Every team, every year, 30, 40, maybe 50 guys come and they go way more than that. Bill Belichick has 70 new players in his first year at Colorado. Deion Sanders had 80 new players. So look, now they're not all transfers.

B (2:47)

Several hundred.

C (2:48)

They're not all transfers. But if you have this one portal opportunity and you are a coach, that's how you recruit next year's team. If you are a player and you don't like the coach or you want more playing time, boom, you go into the portal. So there's chaos there. As long as everybody's under the same umbrella, you can handle it. This is a change to the umbrella.

B (3:09)

Wait till the season's over.

C (3:11)

Look, I understand having one portal window, not two. I understand that. But you have to wait till everybody is either playing or not playing. You cannot penalize teams.

B (3:21)

They're administrative reasons. People don't want to wait. I don't care about them. Let me just say, then we'll go back to something you said that is important. You said whatever number you use, Tony, I'm going to bet you that of Division 1 football players, I'll just go Division 1. I'll bet you more than 60%. I'll go as high as 65% transfer these last two years. That number's about that. So this is important to them.

C (3:45)

I get it. This is the rolling tide of college football. Now, you cannot say that. Oh, there's only four teams left, so the hell with them. You can't say that. No.

B (3:55)

By the way, so we can find this out during the break, right from AI, you know, AI will have some number. They'll offer up a number to see if I'm right about my 60 to 60.

C (4:04)

Oh, good. A correction box. Good. That's what I want.

B (4:07)

Let's move in the meantime to baseball. The Tigers knocked around the Yanks for nine runs in the seventh last night on the way to a 122 win. The Tigers are two and a half games better than the Yanks. Tony, which of these two are you more bullish on? As we now are a week into September, almost 2, and we head down the stretch.

C (4:28)

I am more bullish on the Tigers because I believe the Tigers have been a first place team all season. Though the division they're in this year is not as good as it was last year. But the Yankees are a second place team, maybe a Third place team. If the Red Sox get hot. And that thing you mentioned about the nine runs. Nine runs in a seventh inning against two relievers, I believe, all earned. The relievers did not get a single out.

B (4:50)

They got rocked.

C (4:51)

Since August 1st, the Yankee bullpen has an ERA of.505, whereas in the month of August, the Tigers was.298. I can't be bullish on a team with a.505 ERA in the bullpen. There's too much bullpen stuff in games.

B (5:04)

I'm gonna take you further. I can't be bullish on anybody. There's nobody to be bullish on the entire major leagues. You can start with the.

C (5:11)

Oh, the Dodgers. You know that, I think.

B (5:13)

But you can't. Cause the Dodgers aren't even. We don't even know they're gonna win a division. The Dodgers could be in a wild card situation on the road. Pitching is good, but you know, Toronto, the Yankees, Boston, Detroit, Cleveland, Texas, even is now over.500. And moving on up, Houston, which is lost, you know, seven of ten. Seattle, if I go to the National League, the Cubs, they're three clear. I think they're three clear right now of San Diego for the first wild card spot. But the Reds are still in it. The Mets have a wild card spot. The Padres are going to like to be in it. The Dodgers are not clear of anything. San Francisco and the Giants have a chance. The Phillies are the only team in the top 10 teams right now that has won seven of 10. All the rest of them are somewhere between.

C (5:59)

I'll give you another reason. I'll give you another reason why I'm more bullish on the Tigers. Tarik Skubal, who has a chance to come back two years in a row for Cy Young. And as an outside chance at the Triple Crown two years in a row. The Yankees, Freed and Rodone have had great years, but Scubal's ERA is one full run under theirs. He's the best guy, but yet.

B (6:20)

Yet Detroit doesn't have anything in that division. And Cleveland, which has awakened recently, not gonna catch the Tigers. No. So, you know, I don't know what it means.

C (6:29)

The choice was who you're more bullish on. That's what I said.

B (6:31)

None of them.

C (6:31)

How about let's move to soccer? The U.S. men's National Team beat Japan last night. Two nothing. In one of those friendlies, after a string of disappointing results, the new US Coach, Mauricio Pochettino said, don't criticize my players, criticize me. Here's a Direct quote, criticize me, criticize me. But let the players play free, unquote. It even rhymes. Wilbourne, is that a fair request?

B (6:53)

No, it's a stupid request that falls on deaf ears. Cuz Pochettino has no standing, he has no stature. We're not even sure if he has a team that's worthy of our attention to much less criticism. He's got nothing. He's been around two minutes and he's asking people what to. We'll criticize whatever we damn well please criticize. And he'll live with it. Whether it's him or his. These people are professionals. They're not in high school where you women, when you and I were covering highs. And you don't want to criticize little 14 year old Johnny because he might weep when he got home.

C (7:30)

I didn't. But I know secretly you did.

B (7:31)

I didn't. I regret it to this day, as you know. What is this dude talking about? And I'm sure you agree with this.

C (7:38)

I agree with it. Look, look. This is coaching 101. This is criticize me. I've got a long term contract. Lay off my players.

B (7:44)

How long is his?

C (7:45)

Coaches do this because they know their locker room. They know which guys are fragile in the psyche and they know which guys might crumble if they get too much criticism. I'm sure the guy's a good coach. He's coached in the Premier League, he's coached in League one. He's a good coach in France.

B (7:58)

But in this context he has no standing.

C (8:00)

But here's what matters in the United States when you lose, everybody gets right. The players, the coaches, the gm.

B (8:08)

Yeah.

C (8:09)

These, these friendlies. So what? This is about the World Cup. If you get bounced out of the World cup early, everybody's going down the drain. Because we are one of the hosts of the World Cup. We are hosting the finals. If we don't get to the knockout round or if we get drilled like five, nothing. It's disaster. This is results based. And I understand his sentiment, but it's not gonna go.

B (8:30)

Don't even say it publicly. We're 10 months away from the biggest sporting event in the world.

C (8:36)

In the world.

B (8:37)

And you are like begging yes. What? Come on now. They don't want to hear that.

C (8:42)

Yeah.

B (8:42)

The tone of this whole summer has been not good for that program. It hasn't been. And so now we're criticizing him. Where is it? The star of the team don't play in the friendlies. Do play in the friendlies. We don't even know what he's doing yet. You know they need to write themselves as something other than a friendly let's take a break.

C (9:02)

Coming up, J.J. mcCarthy did something no one has done since Steve Young. And you know what? We're going to ask Steve Young about that.

B (9:09)

We'll also ask him whether he thinks my man Caleb Williams will end up excelling within Ben Johnson's offense.

C (9:15)

I remember when the Yankees were great all the time when I was a kid. They're not great now. Aaron Judge is great. They're not great.

A (9:23)

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C (11:10)

Let's dig into some NFL issues with our great friend and the man I taught all about private equity, hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young. Let us start with this. This is going to be very personal for you. J.J. mcCarthy is the first starting quarterback in the NFL to come back from 10 down in the fourth quarter of his NFL debut. Since you did it in Tampa Bay in 1985, what did you see when you watched J.J. mcCarthy?

D (11:37)

Well, first of all, Tony, thank you for finding the one highlight of my season in Tampa Bay. No, the second highlight was coming back the next year, San Francisco as a quarterback for the 49ers. We played in Tampa and I went out at halftime to receive the 1986 MVP of the two and 14 bucks in front of.

C (11:53)

That's great.

D (11:55)

But J.J. we got to think about J.J. mcCarthy. He's. Look, Sam Darnold was below. I mean, in one season people loved him and the locker room loved him. So he has now to enter as a young, inexperienced quarterback. He goes down to Chicago on opening Monday night under all that pressure and then throw. When he threw the pick six, didn't you all. I mean, I was like, oh, my game over. Yeah, not only game over, but it's like now you've got such a. The hills that you got to climb the filters you got to go through to kind of get there that it's just, you just don't want to start like, like a horse that gets out of the gate and then falls flat on its face, like. And then to see him gather himself after the pick six, gritty and go get it done. There is nothing greater that could happen to a first time quarterback in the NFL than what happened to JJ his team now can point to it, hopefully, you know, if things go sour, then go. But he did it in week one and it was great. And so I just. There's nothing better than what happened to J.J. mcCarthy and for J.J. to get.

B (12:57)

Started the season, not for some of.

C (12:59)

Us, no, not for you, not for Bears fans.

B (13:01)

You know, it's the first time I ever rooted against that hard a Chicago kid. All right, we're going to go to the other side of this though. Steven, I said yesterday, Caleb Williams has to be deprogrammed from the Eber Fluss era. And as a quarterback who had to adjust to a new offensive system a time or two in your life, what does that take to do?

D (13:22)

Michael, you hit me. At the heart of what my passion is for the game today is that so many defensive coordinator, focused head coaches do not understand the position. And more than ever, the quarterback is football. And I, I might people say, oh, that's Steve, that's crap. I'm just, look, I know it's conflated, but it's not that conflated. And so to not Understand the position. You can see the teams that don't understand it and why they're not very good at. So there is a transition and having to learn a new offense is a transition. But then let's also look at Ben Johnson. Just looked it up on Chat GPT. He's never coached a mobile quarterback. And being a mobile quarterback, I was told in 1987, I was telling Tony like I was told by Ray Perkins, I hate scramblers. Like it is unusual in today's game. It's a prototype. If you're going to be a great, innovative offensive coordinator or head coach of quarterbacks, you need to be able to deal with the prototype. This is the prototype. This is Ben Johnson's first chance at that prototype. And I'm telling you, that's a transition that is not simple for coach and quarterback and be able to gain that trust and understanding. And Caleb's trying to understand. The one thing that's so hard today is that I don't know exactly when to go. I want to be a sophisticated passer of the football. I want to be Dan Marino, I want to be Peyton man, I want to be Tom Brady. But I also know that there's free yards out there to go get every game. I don't want to lose them. And that dilemma needs a lot of care and concern. And I wish because I did it and lived it, I kind of wish I could like, they could connect to my brain and I could just give it to them. Because it's very hard for people that don't. If you played quarterback in the NFL 18, 20 years, but never were able to capable of moving around, you would not know what to say, you would not know what to teach. And I think that's unique to the guys today.

B (15:06)

We're old enough to remember when Steve was like the father of that. I mean, after Tarkenton and Starbuck, then they did Steve.

D (15:12)

Well, the grandfather, right?

B (15:14)

Not the grandfather. We won't saddle you with that. Brian Dabal seemed to waffle on Russell Wilson being his starter Week 2. Russell Wilson's been at this a long time. Steve, if you hear your head coach, sort of, what do you do week two, if you're Wilson.

D (15:32)

You gotta become the reason that you win some games. Because, you know, in the background, people are chirping for Jackson dart because it's just the game today. Why is he standing there? Why is he sitting there? We're not gonna lose games. Might as well lose him with Jackson dart. You know, that's out one game. That's how it gets started. And so Russell's been through it. He's a veteran, but he knows perception is 9/10 of the law as well, not possession. I learned in law school, perception is I need to go be a reason. And he's old enough and mature enough and he can figure it out. Go be the reason they win some games and hold onto your job because you know, it's iffy when the coach starts to waffle. You got to get to Wednesday morning and hope that you're not getting benched because it's close. So I would say, Russell, go be the reason. And that's not easy.

C (16:16)

We'll get you out of here on this. And we're doing this question because the quote is so great. Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh said that the hit on Justin Herbert by linebacker Duke Tranquil quote would have killed a lesser man. Okay, that's how big that hit was. All right, let's be honest about that. Unquote. As someone who took big hits in your career, how perilous did that one look to you?

D (16:38)

What is with the love affair between Jim Harbaugh and Justin Herbert? Look, I saw Justin Herbert, Oregon. He came to Stanford, and I got season tickets. There's no more pretty throwing motion other than Andrew Luck in history. I mean, it is a thing of beauty. I remember almost tearing up watching him throw the football. So I understand the love affair, but let's stop. Let's go look at that hit again. He turns his back the court. The linebacker gets a free run.

B (17:04)

Thank you.

D (17:05)

You know, 15 years ago, before the rule changes, his head is. He's leaping from six yards away, knifing into you, like, come on. He has to bring his feet and knock him down. And I'm surprised he didn't try to pick him up. And I'd, like, talk about overreaction, but I understand he's trying to defend his quarterback. I remember the Fridge getting me straight on when I played the Refrigerator Perry for the Bears. He was, how much, Michael? 350.

B (17:30)

Yeah, I mean.

D (17:32)

And he got me straight on, tipped me over, and I thought to myself, oh, this is it. I'm dead.

B (17:38)

I'm gonna die.

D (17:40)

And he took me down and landed on me. And I thought he broke me. Like, I broke, like, my.

C (17:48)

Just.

D (17:48)

And I got up. I'm like, oh, I didn't break. I thought for sure I was dead.

B (17:54)

That is great.

D (17:55)

I'm not trying to control. I'm not a get off my lawn kind of guy. But let's. Let's come on get off the long run. Nobody can hit the quarterback today.

C (18:04)

It's such a pleasure to have you. Thank you so much. Thanks Steve.

B (18:08)

Appreciate it.

D (18:09)

You guys are the best.

C (18:10)

Let's take one last break. Still to come, Wilbon's old neighbor hits.

B (18:14)

Home run number 50 and Fernando Tatis Jr pulls one back again. I gotta remind Steve of when to got hit in the end zone in a playoff game, but Steve was gone by then. He wasn't. He wasn't the quarterback but to got hit. He got crushed by two Packers I think in an NFC title game.

A (18:36)

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C (20:24)

Happy time people. Happy 51st birthday. Ben Wallace, the Hall of Fame center so honored for his defensive and rebounding prowess, was originally signed by the Washington Bullets out of Virginia Union in 1996. His stat line in Washington was anemic. He averaged 1.1 points and 1.7 rebounds coming off the bench in just 34 games. But when Wallace got to Detroit, he flourished. Four different times, Wallace was NBA Defensive Player of the Year. Between 2000 and 2006, Wallace averaged 12.9 rebounds for the Pistons and he was on their 2004 championship team. Wallace was never a scorer, averaging 5.7 points per game through 16 seasons. But the Pistons retired his number three jersey nonetheless.

B (21:09)

They better had. He's the only, only undrafted player to ever make the Basketball hall of Fame in the NBA.

C (21:18)

Is that right?

B (21:18)

That's right. And by the way, how could the Bullets Wizards give up on him, huh? He would have been pretty good with that. Gilbert Arenas, Jameson. I think he would have been playing with those guys.

C (21:27)

Happy anniversary, Pete Sampras. On this day, 35 years ago, Sampras defeated Andre Agassi in the final of the US Open and at 19, became the youngest man to ever win the Open. Along the way, Sampras beat the six seed Thomas Mooster, the three seed Yvonne Lendl, breaking Lendl's streak of eight consecutive US Open finals. Then John McEnroe in the semis and Agassiz in the final. Sampras went on to win 14 majors, the most of any American man in the Open era. Sampras first reached number one in the world in 1993 and over the course of his career held that ranking for a total of 286 weeks. When Sampras retired, his 14 majors was the record, but that has since been surpassed by Federer, Nadal and Djokovic never.

B (22:11)

Got the love he should have gotten because he was in between those two eras. You mentioned Lindell and McEnroe, right? And then you move forward and you get the triplets, who, you know, Joker's the only one left, but he's the best.

C (22:21)

He's the best American I know, but he didn't.

B (22:24)

We didn't know that at the time. Right.

C (22:26)

Well, he was piling.

B (22:27)

Share it with Agassi.

C (22:28)

He was piling up. Wimbledon's in the US what else?

B (22:30)

It does pretty damn good on the golf course.

C (22:32)

That's right. Happy trails. To one home run for Tyler Stephenson, but not a second. The Reds catcher launched one out to right in the fourth inning of last night's game against the Padres. San Diego right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. Tracked it and brought it back on. Yet another spectacular play at the wall. Tatis Jr. Has four such catches in just the last 27 games of Peter Park. And to think that Tatis spent the early part of his career in shortstop. But later in the ninth Stevenson got his revenge hitting a homer to left that proved to be the game winner for the Reds because Tatis don't play left. With the loss, the Padres fell two back of the Dodgers in the NL West. Louisiana beat the Rockies behind a two run homer from Mookie Betts, who's batting.333 over his last 31 games.

B (23:17)

You know why? For many reasons, I cannot root against the Dodgers. I do not ever against the Dodgers. But the Padres are so exciting.

C (23:25)

They're exciting and they hate each other and Tatis. And that matters.

B (23:27)

And you want to see them play each other. But not this year. Not this year.

C (23:30)

One correction. Steve Young did in fact throw that pass to Terrell Terrell Owens when he took that big hit against the packers in 1999. And on omission, Brock Purdy did not practice today. Kyle Shani and said it would be a long shot for him to play Sunday at New Orleans. So Matt Jones will start.

B (23:45)

I have to change my pick.

C (23:47)

Oh, and you have confidence full.

B (23:48)

Yeah.

C (23:48)

Let's go. The big finish.

B (23:49)

Let's do it.

C (23:50)

The Aces beat the sky for their 15th straight, as you predicted. And the Storm took the last playoff spot. Which is the bigger deal?

B (23:56)

The Storm. I mean, the Aces. That was a homecoming game. It was not a real game. The Storm getting in the playoffs. Congratulations. Sauk starter Conley early struck out 11 over five in his major league debut. Gotta be impressed. Very impressed.

C (24:09)

He went to uva. He's a Richmond kid. Yeah, it was very impressive. Cubs starter Kate Horton has a 125 ERA since July 1. You find that significant?

B (24:19)

Yeah, because he's our ace, our stopper. And he's the Rookie of the Year in the National League. Flawless.

C (24:27)

Not the Miz.

B (24:27)

Flawless. No, not the Miz.

C (24:29)

Whoa, hold the. Hold the presses.

B (24:31)

Kyle schwarber hit his 50th of the season last night. It's a big deal.

C (24:36)

He's a monster. He is so, so much better than both of us thought he would be when he first came up. He's a force in baseball. Agency. Anthony Rizzo will retire as a Cub on Saturday at Wrigley Field. You must be excited.

B (24:48)

Yes, I am. If I wasn't gonna be at Northwestern, Oregon, right. I'd be at Wrigley Field to just for Rizzo, huh?

C (24:57)

We are out of time. We will try and do better the next time. Dr. Melissa Lockney. Shout out.

B (25:02)

I'm Mike Wilbon. Same time tomorrow, knuckleheads.

A (25:05)

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