← The Pat McAfee Show
The Pat McAfee Show
PMS 2.0 1434 - BA Day with Bruce Arians, MNF Doubleheader Recap, NBA Opening Night with Steve Nash, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, Darius Butler, & AJ Hawk
02:57:02
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- [00:01]
A
Hello beautiful people and welcome to our humble abode. The Thunderdome on this BA Day, October 21, 2025. This program begins right now. Football is two games false start on me. I found your way to. I jumped to start. That's on me. Ladies and gentlemen, 47 year football coach. Our coach B.A. is your Super bowl champion coach B.A. we appreciate the hell out of you traveling up here every single week. The toxic tables here at Bost Connor and at Ty Schmidt. I see the Celtics had on con man. The NBA tips off its regular season today. And guess what? We have Steve Nash joining us. Wow. In about 15 minutes or so. And then we have a 37 minute and 37 second conversation with the NBA Commissioner Adam Silver that we recorded earlier this morning. Because he's in the middle of traveling for opening tip. There's no way he knew he was signing up for a 40 minute conversation with us. Certainly it was basically a state of the NBA. We'll run that in a third hour. Although we will run clips of that over the next couple hours. We appreciate him joining us so much. And then obviously there's a lot of ball talk about it last night. Hey, two Monday night football matchups. How you doing? Keep it moving. The Buccaneers taking on the Lions. What? Let's get a prime time matchup that we could see maybe in the playoffs. This is maybe a team that maybe goes on a run of Wednesday Super Bowl. This is a Monday Night Football treat. This is a Monday night Football joint starting at 7 o' clock a little bit earlier than usual. That's because we got a nightcap at 10pm and we'll see how many people survive that one watching this doubleheader. And it's certainly great. But how about this Buccaneers Lions game coming down to former teammate of ours, nine year NFL vet Darius J. Butler, defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions, Kelvin Shep Dog shepherd leading the boys with a lot of injuries to a massive night against one of the most explosive and electrifying offenses in all of NFL on prime time.
- [01:51]
B
Debo, absolutely. Shep Dog was getting a lot of love, which he should be just grit. You had questions about how they would respond. This team losing your offensive coordinator, losing your defensive coordinator, both of those guys going to be head coaches and Shep Dog did his thing, man. You got a bunch of injured guys out there. Arthur Millette stepped dealt with that unbelievable interception. Not everybody up here agrees that it was an interception. I think it was an interception and a great play on reviews. Kind of one of the game changing moments in this game. Bucks hung around. They hung around in the first half. I thought this was still come down to the wire, but the Lions ended up getting it done. Jir Gibbs, he is phenomenal on the offensive side of the ball. I mean, we got, it's kind of a resurgence of like running backs. We got obviously Bijan Jameer, cmac, all these guys. Jonathan Taylor doing his thing, but he is unbelievable. Sonic in the Sonic and Knuckles getting the ball, broke away early, had a big time run, was big time in the air as well as the receiver, which he does week in and week out. Montgomery didn't have that big of an impact, but this guy right here, you can ride number zero, Jared Goff, still slinging it, taking care of the ball, making plays down the field. St. Brown broke the game open early with a big time touchdown. So the stars showed up for the Detroit Lions. It was a lot of talk about who wouldn't be there, but when these guys showed up at home and they showed out, we were all kind of surprised about the spread going into this game. Six and a half points. But they showed us kind of early that why, why they put it there and why they'll be there at the end of the road.
- [03:12]
A
Yeah, six, seven points was a spreader. So six, seven points was Ford Field. Real home field advantage. Felt like, honestly, with what happened to that Buccaneers offense, it felt like the defense was hunting. And obviously you just mentioned it there. The conversation was about who wasn't there. Jack Campbell is awesome. Yeah, this guy's great. Whiteside learned about him last night because they showed him. This guy's undrafted last year or whatever, comes in, makes some massive plays for him. There's a bunch of players just all over the place that Detroit Lions seemed that we're kind of introduced to. And on the offensive side, Jameer Gibbs is so fast. This guy's unbelievable. The number 0 looks so cool.
- [03:47]
C
Sick.
- [03:47]
A
Like I, I was kind of on the fence about adding zero into it. And then you see a guy running 35 miles an hour on Monday Night Football and it's like, wait a minute, I think I like the number zero. Now let's talk about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers side of this entire thing. Obviously we thought it was a big spread because how much we respect the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Mike Evans was back. Mike Evans gets hurt in the game last night. They said something about his collarbone. He's going to be out. So that breaks the streak. That has been an incredible run of 1000 yards receiving going and going. He breaks his collarbone, gets a concussion. He leaves which is obviously not fun. But Baker Mayfield playing this team was ready to roll, it felt like for a playoff push throughout the beginning of the season, they're getting healthier as opposed to getting, you know, more decimated with injuries like they were at the beginning of the year. Coach B.A. obviously you won a Super bowl down there. You're still very close to that place. What are the thoughts on Tampa Bay Buccaneers after last night and how do you. You think they come out of that game thinking?
- [04:39]
D
I think they're all disappointed that Mike got hurt. You know, that that streak means so much to everybody in that organization and. And Mike means so much to the organization. Was a hell of a play and he caught it and then obviously broke his collarbone. But, yeah, for me, playing in Detroit without your right tackle, that's bad news. And Aiden Hutchinson was eating it up. He's a beast then. Now you're stuck in what I call bupnug. You're all blocked up, nowhere to go. Chip it with this guy. You chip with that guy. They're double teaming everybody, those other three guys. All right, so it's like, that's bad business. And Aiden Hutchinson was the real deal.
- [05:15]
A
Tampa Bay has been able to win with some injuries throughout early in the year. And we're calling them the Last Playboys. And we thought there was a chance maybe Tampa Bay does some. Baker may make Baker Mayfield magic towards the end of this potential game because that's how they've been. Do you think they just ran into a really good team? So, like, getting by maybe not possible. Like Lions. How do you view them after last night? This is a team that, you know, we'll talk to Shregs in the third hour. He was out there in Seattle last night. He was doing a hard time out there.
- [05:39]
E
Sure.
- [05:40]
A
He was traveling. I don't think so. I think he has zero hours of sleep coming in this season. He was like, I think the Detroit Lions, two new coordinators, you know, a lot of new things. I think they're going to miss the playoffs is what he said. That was like his aggressive take. Super duper take. I think he was even saying it was a little bit extra in that entire thing. But can you talk about what they've been able to do with two new coordinators that maybe should get talked about more or what is a heightened responsibility that everybody has now with two new coordinators? What are your thoughts on Dan Campbell being able to this ship still go?
- [06:08]
D
He obviously got the right guys. You know, they're. They're not missing a Beat on offense. I thought Jared had a little tough game. Buck's defense kept a minute for a while and. But Kelvin. Kelvin does a great job with that defense.
- [06:21]
A
Shepherd.
- [06:22]
D
Shepherd. Shep. What he losing all your DBs but still being able to play, man. But it wasn't just traditional, man. They were double, double single. And with that pass rush, for a quarterback to figure out who the hell is the single, that's hard. That's hard. And then when you lose your checkdowns because they're chipping and barely ever getting out, it's a bad recipe.
- [06:41]
B
Then the money down too. We always talk about the money down. Red area Bucs were 4 for 16 on third down. So that's not a recipe to win a game regardless of who you're playing. But especially a talented team like this. You mentioned it. Defense definitely kept him in it. Dean got a pick right before the half to kind of set up that field goal. So it was only what, an eight point game I think going into the half where it felt like it could have been a 28 point game. But yeah, the Lions shut that down door in the second half.
- [07:05]
A
Hembo Stat here about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense. Baker dropped back to pass on 83% of his plays yesterday, which is highest in the game as Bucks career. Tampa is currently 0 and 10 whenever he drops back at 70% or higher. So Kelvin Shepard literally did exactly what I assume his game plan was in its entirety. Got to be able to run the rock down there. This Detroit Lions team though. Special. What, what are the. What's the offense coordinator's name? Foxy Johnny Morton. Okay, so Johnny Mo and Shep Dog got the team rolling up there. And MC DC's neck looks like it's bigger and stronger than it's ever been. I think you were even a little bit worried at the begin of the season on what was going to happen. Now you guys are all the way back to full confidence in this Detroit Lions 100%. After week one, I thought it was a disaster. I thought everything everyone was saying was correct. New OC was going to stink. New DC was going to stink and we weren't going to be able to recover. All of that is put to bed now. We're five and two. We're going to the bye week. We're going to get healthier. This team looks awesome. We can win the Super Bowl. I'm fired up for it. I'm happy for you Detroit folks.
- [08:01]
D
Thank you.
- [08:02]
A
And the refs kind of helped us out last night and I appreciate that. Thanks for bringing it up. I'm happy you brought it up. Squeaky wheel gets the oil. Didn't we hear a lot of Detroit people saying, oh, woe is Detroit? Obviously, in Kansas City, they're gonna get calls over lowly Detroit. Nobody wants Detroit to win. What did he say after a second look? Is that what he. Is that what Hussey said? Hussey, veteran ref. We are all fans of Hussey. Now, there was obviously some situations in both games last night that we are not fans of and cannot be happening. But Hussey's been around a long time. Hussey good on the mic, too. This guy very comfortable, very confident. So whenever he goes over to mcdc and mcdc says, we'd like to challenge the completion of the catch, you hear Hussey make that announcement. Okay, so Hussie says Detroit is challenging the completion of the catch. And it's like, whoa, he didn't make a mistake. Like, that's not like a new ref saying that. That is certainly because there's options now. Do you want to challenge a spot? Do you want to challenge? If it was a catch, what do you want? Mcdc says that clearly to Hussey. So Hussey goes and looks. He comes back. Yeah, it was a catch. Yeah. Everybody saw it was a catch that was never really in question. Goes onto the field, and then he says this after getting on the field, after a second look, it is determined that the receiver was actually short of the line again. Okay.
- [09:20]
F
Hell, yeah.
- [09:20]
A
Okay. Yeah. You hear Foxy and his family going crazy there, but this is now multiple weeks where, like, New York has gotten involved and did things. Now, ba. I think we got to the bottom of what actually happened here. So mcdc challenges completion of a catch. Hussie goes, takes a look. He has the ears to New York. They're going through it all. They say it is a completion of a catch. He goes back out there, bang. Then he's called back over to the thing, and that's. Is that replay assist you think at that moment taking over?
- [09:50]
D
How.
- [09:50]
A
How do you. What do you think? What happened when you challenge the play?
- [09:52]
D
The entire play goes under review. All right? So not just was it a catch, the spot does come in because the entire. Now, you can't throw a flag onto the field if there was a penalty, but you can pick one up. But this. This, to me, was egregious because it was like a first down.
- [10:09]
A
Oh, wait a minute, Wait a minute. I went back and took a look.
- [10:12]
D
When you look at. For me, on Television that was way too close to overturn. I mean, it was like, you couldn't overturn this. No one ever wins a spot challenge. When you, hey, I'm challenging a spot, you lose.
- [10:25]
A
Yeah. Especially if it's like, inches. Now, the only thing they seemingly did have, which I appreciate, is a camera right down the line. Was that the pylon you think that was on the sideline there, or is that a camera that's just sitting there? How did they get it right down the line, seemingly? If we could have this for every game, let's certainly do that. But to your point, B.A. it's like his fingernails are there or what is not there. Now, granted, I would like to let it be known as a person that picked the Lions in my bet. As I was watching that and I heard him say, I didn't complete the catch. I'm like, no, Dan, Kevin, I don't think he. I don't think he made it. This is the first time we got a camera right down the damn line there. So things seemingly going to Detroit Lions way. Even got New York looking after him. I'm just happy they're getting it right. Way to go. Oh, that's all you care about. The refs are getting right. That's all 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 looks if you need to just get it right. Okay. So after a second look, if that was for the Chiefs, let's say, I wonder what the storylines would be this morning if there was a second look. So let's just make sure we document that. They did it for the Detroit Lions, the team that. I think we all can agree on, that the NFL has not wanted to win the most over the last 40 years. Correct.
- [11:32]
D
Okay.
- [11:33]
A
Them and the Browns.
- [11:34]
E
Yes.
- [11:34]
A
They're kind of. There's a reason we say Detroit versus everybody, and it's usually because everyone's against us. Okay. We'll also toss Raiders in there, but.
- [11:41]
B
Yeah, NFL's always had the Raiders. Allegedly.
- [11:43]
A
Yeah. Allegedly. Alleged. All these things are alleged. Common theme amongst those teams. They stink. Is that what you're saying? I don't want to be the one to say it, but, yeah, thank you for saying it. The steam, the teams that stink always think the NFL is out to get them. I understand. And now welcome to a new world. Detroit, you're now the Chiefs. You're getting calls. Here we go.
- [12:01]
D
Wow.
- [12:01]
A
Detroit must be nice. A lot better on this side, boys. It feels. Now, on that note, we would not like to hear from your fans ever again about any other team maybe getting special treatment because they dropped a wolf. Took a second look on us on a primetime game. Now let's go to the second game of the night. Okay. There was another ref situation that happened we'll certainly get to in a moment about a player ref going over there and protecting the money. Protecting the guy that is maybe on top of everything. This Seattle Seahawks team, good. This Houston Texans team, bad game, lot of flags. Tough to stay up for D. But you watched the game. I tried. When I woke up, I tried, sure. Even last night I tried my absolute best to watch this. Yeah. Last night. I tried last night. I'm old. Put me to bed. Okay. I go to sleep this morning. I wake up early. Okay. I wake up early. Catch up on all this stuff from the night before. You know that old Skip Bayless commercial that they had for Fox Sports one where he woke up early, he was on his bike and he had all his tv. Catching up to everything. Okay. I'm not at that stage yet.
- [13:00]
E
But you're close.
- [13:02]
A
I am about to get there. You know, I'm moving live in these things that are happening the night before. The next morning, it's going crazy. I couldn't make it through this one. I just couldn't do it. The, the enhanced stats on this, 22 accepted penalties. Okay. Five turnovers, four for 29 on third down. And it ended at 1:30am Obviously there was some situational awareness that took, but there was just a lot of things that happened in that game tough to watch. So I'd like to let the Seattle Seahawks fans know that my east coast buys did do me in in a game that you guys dominated and made another team look very bad. And it maybe even made the, the whole ref operation be bad. I didn't watch it in its entirety. Just know massive respect for what you guys got going on. Obviously watch through the highlights, watch a 30 minute recap of it all. Didn't get to see every single snap. But this Seahawks team, very good. McDonald, very good. And this wide receiver, okay, Jackson, Smith and Jigba, what did he have at the Rose Bowl?
- [13:57]
B
15 catches for 347 yards.
- [14:00]
A
We should have known then, I guess what we're knowing now, this one, this is, this is a one once in a lifetime type operation happening with Jackson, Smith and Jigba and Darnold right now.
- [14:08]
B
Yeah. In Ohio State, you know, they've kind of been known as one of the wide receiver. Used them and probably lsu and everybody in that Ohio State kind of family has always said, hey, this guy has been the one he's the one that's kind of the cream of the crop. And he's been unbelievable. He's been the best receiver in football this season. His connection with Sam Darnold. There were questions about with Sam Donald, kind of a one hit wonder in Minnesota. Would it work in Seattle? Moving on from Geno and he's been tremendous in his Clint Kubiak offense. Came into this game leading the league and play action passes. And there's some numbers, I don't know if we have it, the numbers with him throwing specifically to JSN that are unbelievable. But he, he broke the game open. They jumped out to a 140 lead against the Houston Texans. Here we go right here. Sam Donald throwing to Jackson, Smith and jigba this season. 14 explosive. That's first. 36 first downs, 819 yards, 41.3 EPA. We all know what that means. But yeah, leading the league and all those numbers, we can turn on the tape. I don't care what you know or don't know about football. You know, 11 is special. He's been special in that offense. Just Sam Donald, how he's operating at offense in general. I only expect him to continue to get better. We'll see how they use those, those backs. The Houston defense, the Houston defense is unbelievable. And they scored a touchdown. Will Anderson had a strip sack that ended up being a touchdown. That, that Houston defense. Unbelievable. Stingley Jr. Had a pick late. But the offense and I gotta ask BA Here, I don't know what the hell is going on with the offense. We all saw CJ Stroud and kind of Bobby Slowik take the NFL by storm. But since then it's just been a shit show. And I was battling, I was battling. Stay up. But I want to say early in that fourth quarter, yep. I said, okay, I know how this one's going to end. And I shut it down just like the Seattle defense has. And C.J. stroud has struggled against Mike McDonald every time he faced, I believe 03 now against this defense. But they're tremendous on the front end and then the back end as well. But BA what, what are you seeing from this Houston office?
- [16:01]
D
Yeah, I mean ever since the rookie year when he was fantastic and then they changed coordinators. They get rid of Laramie Tuns, so they get rid of mixing. That's a lot. You start not replacing those guys with top tier players, especially your left tackle and he's. The sacks are coming, the pressures are coming. That sophomore slump has turned into a junior slump. And don't Know what happened between Bobby Slowik and everybody? But they were rolling, and then all of a sudden, boom. And they changed coordinators. But it's hard to watch that offense right now.
- [16:34]
A
Yes, that was the main reason. Yeah. And it's like the Seattle Seahawks defense might be a part of it. Obviously, they're very good defense, and we got massive respect for him. But just CJ Stroud, I think we might have been his loudest fans, biggest fans for his rookie year, although everybody was behind him. But we were very loud because once we saw him play football in college one time, we're like, this is the one. This is the one. And we were very loud about that. So we felt. Classic journalists, we felt obligated to make sure everybody knew that what we thought was right, you know, so we started going big, big, big, big, big on that. Then he has that rookie campaign that he had, and it's like, this guy is actually the one. We're the smartest people on earth. We should be consulting people on who's the right people to take and who's the right person to lead your team. And then all of a sudden, last year happens. A lot of injuries, a lot of change. Then this year starts happening. It's like, wait a minute. How do we. How do we go from this place where the Houston Texans were dominating the AFC south and it was going to happen for the next 10 years to now here we are thinking that was. That was tough to watch as a football team. And I don't know how we got here legit. We like the Miko as a coach, right?
- [17:35]
B
Yeah.
- [17:35]
A
Like the Sario as the gm. Right now you talk about some of the moves that have been made. It's like maybe he thought higher of some people that he had on the team than they actually had, and. Or maybe it's just not working out. I don't. I don't know. This Houston Texans team is nowhere near what we thought they were going to be. J.J. watt thought he was going to be able to come on the show every week and talk shit about the Houston Texans for the next 10 years. Certainly that is exactly what he thought. Nico gets hurt last night. He's obviously an incredible talent, but I don't know what happened to Houston Texans. This is kind of befuddling. I. I think is the proper word to kind of use it, but maybe the Seattle Seahawks in primetime were just that damn good. We also got to hold that into consideration.
- [18:09]
C
And like, the offensive line thing, like, so many people on the Internet are blaming. Blaming kitsario like, this guy needs help on the outside. This guy needs a better O line. Like, Tunsil is one of those trades. You might not know for a couple years whether or not that's great, but it's not as if Washington's undefeated and they're playing really well. And then when you think about the guys he did get on the outside, he drafted two wide receivers, both who were definitely up there when, you know, considering what people thought they were going to be. The two Iowa State guys. And then Christian Kirk and Christian Kirk got released. Casario made a call, said, no, no, no, we're going to give you a pick for Christian Kirk. And that's how they got him. So it's not as if Casario is to blame. It's more so. Just like the first. Maybe not first case study, but we talk about, like, how good Josh Allen got, you know, going over through the years. Like, he is the guy that everyone emulates. As in, like, hey, if your rookie quarterback isn't great, he could still be great. Look at Josh Allen. And CJ Stroud, at least for me, is the first. Like, hey, if your quarterback, his rookie year is good, don't, you know, hang your hat on him because he might slowly but surely look worse. And we're talking about the old line, but then we're running clips, and he's got a clean pocket, and he's throwing balls that aren't typically CJ Stroud balls. Like the one down the sideline when it was 27:13 or 27:12 with, like six minutes left right there. That's a clean pocket. And he throws a pretty good ball. And then the defense is just a great play. And then you look at the. The touchdown or the attempt on the goal line, too. And he throws a pass that in years past, even maybe his rookie year, he makes. He makes that throw and it gets deflected. It's just. He's just not playing as well. And maybe there is a real regression that happened with him, but I don't know shit about that because, like, in an NFL building, I'm not sure what quarterbacks do when they're great rookies and then continue to get better.
- [19:52]
A
Yeah, Jaden Daniels, I guess, would be the next person that we're going to continue to monitor. Feels like him and Cliff Kingsbury still got it. But once again, that's the same OC they get rid of Bobby Slowik after having all the success. Now are they going to be able to find that magic back for CJ Stroud? We all hope so. Obviously and you know, because it's the Indianapolis Colts division now, but we'd like the Houston Texans to not be ass because we love that city and obviously what they have going on there was a situation in that game. Before we wrap this up and pivot to the NBA, Nate Jones, I believe is his name. The official from last night that potentially saved Jackson, Smith and Jigba and the Seattle Seahawks from getting into an all out brawl with Amico Ryan's who's Houston Texans on the sideline while we're sitting on the bench, he comes flying in. Wow. Whoa boys. I got stripes on. Can you hit me? Can't hit me. Can you hear me?
- [20:34]
D
Everybody relax.
- [20:35]
A
Can always gonna be hitting me now. This is like whenever you're exiting in an airplane, you know, do you go, do you go front towards or do you go back towards the decision? You know, and he made the decision here. He's going front towards.
- [20:47]
C
Okay.
- [20:47]
A
He's getting in there, you know, maybe make sure he can protect it. I think if he would have turned that thing and did this one too, I think we have the same outcome. But I appreciate him going right into like kind of a nurturing situation. This guy's got no helmet, he's on the other team sideline. Holy shit. This could escalate very quickly. He's an ex player. Shout out to him. X player is a. We appreciate the hell out of him getting in there and saving a good situation. That's good reffing. Okay, we got a spot like that because there is some ass reffing happening out there. And him former player being a ref made us revisit this thought. The NFL needs to just create an academy of some sort for ex players to be able to become officials. So in the NFL they have, in the NFLPA they have something called the broadcast boot camp, okay. Where guys that are in the NFL are allowed to apply and then they go to this broadcast boot camp and then there's network executives from every single different network and you basically they get to learn what a potential job could be. You also get to showcase if you could be good in front of them. Now I got turned down to that thing three times. I think I'm the only person on TV out of the NFL that did not go through the broadcast boot camp. Never, never was allowed in. Thank you so much. I appreciate you. Thank God I didn't get invited. Now on that note, it has helped out a lot of ex players. It has given a lot of ex players a lot of incredible opportunities. We need to do something similar for officiating. And I think the NFL could do big baby face play here if they get ex NFL players to find a purpose now. And they're probably going to be. But also we can get a full time ref set up. And I'm not saying all refs have to be players, but I think we should try to get a little funnel of people that understand the game that aren't soft, that aren't going to, you know, miss context of plays and stuff. And I think we can kind of set precedent for other leagues to do this with their players as well. You know, it just feels like it's an easy thing to do. But what do I know? You know, I don't know. You could probably get these guys to move to a place, go to the academy, do year round training, have them go to spring practice, have them go to training camp, have them do all that shit. And then obviously once they get to the level in which you're comfortable with them, you put them in him. Do some college games, have them do some preseason games, have them do practices, do this entire thing. I think you can set up like a, a feeding ground almost for ex players to give back to the game and hopefully make our game better. But what the do I know? Honestly ba I, I don't know. I assume you've been talking about the refs for a long time.
- [22:57]
D
We brought this idea up a long time ago and it comes back to the union. They got to join the union to ever get on the field.
- [23:02]
A
The refs union.
- [23:03]
D
The refs union and the refs union run the whole thing. Sam. Hopefully that contract comes up soon and we can break it and hopefully we can get this in place so that we replace them with quality people rather than the scabs.
- [23:16]
A
Also May 2026 I guess is the NFL ref union deal is up. So if you have any ideas, I'll certainly do that. We appreciate all the refs of the past that have certainly laid the groundwork to get us to where we are. Refs are a very important part of the game. Need to be full time and also we need better access for players. Get in there and get back. Tough job, tough job. And so if a guy wants to do it, yeah, we should allow him to potentially want to do. Not a lot of people want to be coaches a lot of time brother. Not a lot of people in earth want to be refs. But if people want to, there should be an easier way to kind of get them in there. And maybe we got another.
- [23:45]
E
Yeah, exactly.
- [23:46]
C
Nate.
- [23:46]
A
Jones of the future. That saves the situation happening after the game. Now let's talk about the NBA. Huge day for the NBA. Congrats to them tonight on NBC. At 7:30 you got Houston at Oklahoma City and then at 10:00 clock you got the warriors at the Lakers. Now the lakers are without LeBron for a little bit because he's got a sciatica. Joining us now, co host of the Mind the Game podcast and also senior advisor, I believe for The Phoenix Sun, NMBA hall of Famer, multiple time MVP, 18 year vet, ladies and gentlemen, Canadian Steve Nash.
- [24:21]
F
What's up everybody?
- [24:22]
A
Hey, sorry you had to catch the tail end of me saying that we need full time refs over here. Do you have any answers for the NFL? We need to figure it out.
- [24:29]
F
Well, I thought the front toward or back toward was an important topic this morning. Like that's a, that's a tricky area of debate here. Like I'm not, you know, I don't know, like what I would choose stuff.
- [24:39]
A
So have you ever on a sideline, maybe on a bench because things are tight there, you know, on your guys's NBA benches, they're tight. Have you ever had to do the oops, Scoozy, scoozy, scoozy. You ever have to do that? Did you do butt down? Did you do face down? What was your move, Steve? I don't know what's Canadian?
- [24:53]
F
I tried to go neutral, you know, neutral, right. Between not front or back. Just how can I, you know, weave my way through here? Definitely, yeah. Front, back.
- [25:01]
A
It's kind of get thin, get thin, get thin. I understand what you're saying. Congrats on another season starting. You're also doing coverage for Amazon, I believe.
- [25:08]
F
Let's go.
- [25:08]
C
Yeah.
- [25:10]
F
Thank you.
- [25:10]
B
Excited?
- [25:11]
A
Yeah. What does that entail? What does that mean? And what has been happening to lead up to this moment? To launch off with Amazon.
- [25:17]
F
Yep. So Amazon Prime's NBA coverage starts Friday night. We have the Celtics and the Knicks. Lakers T Wolves will be in studio from la, the great Taylor Rooks, my buddy Dirk Nowitzki, Blake Griffin, Adonis Haslam and myself will be in studio for those two games. Pre game, halftime, post game. Great crew, super fun to work with, had rehearsals, we've had seminars, we've done a little bit of prep and everyone's just excited. For me, it's fun because we get to hang, you know, like just watching games together, talking about the game, being together, great chemistry. I think we can really develop a fun show and I'm excited to kind of get into your world a little bit, Pat.
- [25:55]
A
Yeah. Well, you've been in our world and we know that if you were to get into anything that we do, you will dominate it. We watch you do a lot of things in here.
- [26:02]
C
Oh, yeah.
- [26:02]
A
And you were great at all of them, including House. And I mean, that was. That was an incredible feat as well. But speaking of our world, the media world, you know, for us, it feels like we're back in the locker room here. Like, I. I think if you were to ask D. Bud or AJ or any of the guys that come through this show, Coach McCarthy, B.A. even a little bit, we have like a sense of community. We all love ball. When they say retired players, you know, kind of transition into real life, they miss that feeling. We have that. I'm excited for you to have that. But do you also appreciate the fact that the NBA right now has so many of the ex goes, I mean, yourself included now being a part of it, being a part of the coverage that's good for the game ultimately. Do you agree with that?
- [26:37]
F
I think it's great. You know, I think people are going to be a little uncomfortable to start because now all of a sudden we have, you know, we have two new. Two new rights holders in Amazon and NBC. We got obviously ABC and espn. So there's going to be way more games than ever on national tv, which I think is positive. You're going to have way more talent, former players. I think it's going to be a really interesting landscape, but it's going to take a minute for people to kind of change their hab.
- [27:03]
D
Know.
- [27:03]
F
What nights are we on?
- [27:04]
C
Prime.
- [27:04]
F
What nights are we on? Espn. What nights are we on? NBC? But overall, it's going to be a big win when everyone kind of figures it out and realizes we got a lot of great ex players talking about the game, sharing their experiences and highlighting what a great league it is right now.
- [27:16]
A
A lot of games. We had a full conversation with Adam Silver that we'll be airing in about an hour and a half or so earlier this morning and just talking about negotiating and kind of transitioning into this new media rights deal with streaming and social and obviously still having linear games. I think it's great for the NBA. Also great for the NBA. I think the style of play. What have you seen by the style of play seemingly last year that's going to carry into this year that maybe is different than five years ago or 10 years ago. If you had to get. If you had to describe.
- [27:42]
F
Yeah, for sure. You know, I think we have this kind of debate. I think, you know, start of last year, ratings were down. People were complaining about too many threes. You know, by the end of the year, the ratings have never been higher. The playoffs were exceptional. You know, we had, as everyone complained, no offense to your home team, but there was two, you know, smaller markets. It was unbelievable basketball, unbelievable series. The whole entire playoffs just had an incredible viewership. I think the game's in an incredible place. I think you do see some teams, some of the poorer teams, perhaps, they take a lot of threes. They take a lot of poor threes where they don't touch the paint, they don't create good looks because the variance of shooting threes.
- [28:21]
A
Oh, no, poor. That's what he's talking about.
- [28:24]
F
The way they play the game, the way they defend together, the way they move the ball, touch the paint, get threes. You know, I think that's what makes this game so beautiful. Because. Because it's kind of become, instead of like, being super predictable, dribble down, throw it in the post, run a set. Now it's kind of more jazz. We're reading and reacting. We're trying to create. Knock the first domino down, swing the ball. Someone attacks a closeout now. So now we're playing basketball together and how to read and react, rather than. It's just going into the post of this guy and, you know, nine guys are standing and looking at him. So I think the game's in a great pace, Great place with the pace, the spot space. The good teams are defending together on a string because you have to defend more space now.
- [29:04]
G
Right.
- [29:04]
F
Guys are shooting from farther out. We're playing quicker in transition. So you got to get back. You got to cover guys in a lot more space. Makes rotations longer. Teams are making decisions. Should they get it in the gaps, make take away the paint, then that opens up the backline rotation. So I love the evolution of the game. I love where it's going. I think it's a lot of fun to see how coaches and teams and players continually adapt to try to get an advantage.
- [29:25]
A
Yeah. I love listening to you talk about basketball, brother. I think you know it a little bit. Yeah. You should maybe. You should maybe stick to it, I think. Yes. I'm a soccer player, though, too. Right. Good soccer player.
- [29:34]
F
Love me some soccer. Growing up, my dad. My mom and dad are from the uk. Grew up playing soccer. Still watch a ton of soccer. Still play once a week. I know you got some soccer skills, Pat.
- [29:44]
A
Yeah. You turned us down for tst, remember? He was supposed to be on. Oh, yeah, you're supposed to be on a team. You're supposed to be on Concave, Steve.
- [29:49]
F
You're supposed to be on five kids.
- [29:51]
G
Pat.
- [29:51]
F
Five kids. I can't just fly across the country, you know, for a little soccer tourney.
- [29:56]
A
Not just good at soccer and basketball. Five kids. Delivery man. Okay, D, Bud has a question for you.
- [30:06]
B
Hey, Steve, the NBA landscape has kind of changed now. Not as many super teams as we would call it, coupled with a couple stars like the Lakers, the Mavs. But what was it like for you? I know as a player you had to do it, especially those sons Day with stat and the Matrix, those superstars. But like you were head coach of the Brooklyn Nets when they had James Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. What's the toughest challenge when it comes to managing, like multiple, I guess, alphas on the same squad. Squat.
- [30:33]
F
Well, clearly, you know, when players are. They built, you know, there's ego is good and bad, right. And that you need an ego to get to the top, but you need to obviously have it in balance when you have three guys that have made it to the top, that demand a lot of it from themselves. Yeah, at times it can be difficult. You expect that, though. But I think our biggest problem in Brooklyn and is why the game is changing a little bit is that we were always injured. You know, of our three stars, they played 16 games together in over two years. So I think because of situations like that, we're seeing the league go away from three stars and go to more depth, like getting guys 6, 7, 8, 9 who can make threes defend their position or multiple positions can make a play when, you know, when they get a closeout, they can drive the ball and make the next pass. So for me, I think the three star thing, if you don't grow it at home through the draft and build your team that way, I think teams are a lot more reluctant to try to go pick off three free agent superstars because you need depth. And if one gets injured, you know, everyone else in your roster is, is, is such a, you know, don't want to be mean, but is, is a way down in quality. So now you got guys stepping up, having to play roles maybe they're not necessarily able to do so. It can put a lot of strain on the team. So I think we're seeing a lot of teams. You saw it in the playoffs. You saw how deep the Pacers went. Shout out to Rick Carlisle and Lloyd Pierce. I think they, they, they gave guys an opportunity to develop and play that maybe a lot of coaches wouldn't have given that much rope to. And in the end of the day, those guys took him to game seven, and they had a chance to win, especially if Tyrese didn't get hurt. So growing your depth, developing players, getting a deeper bench has become really much more important nowadays than trying to pick off three stars.
- [32:13]
A
So it's a team sport. That's crazy. The hell I didn't know that. I didn't know basketball was a team sport.
- [32:18]
F
We may have forgot for a moment, but it's back to being a team sport.
- [32:21]
A
Okay. Okay. I'm happy. We all did forget that for a moment. It felt like that whenever it was being talked about and maybe even watching it. But to your point, we went deep on the roster, and the New York Knicks just refused to do so for so long. So back to back years, we just kind of ran them out of the entire playoff. That's basically what we did. I mean, we ran you guys out of the gym, got Tibbs fired, didn't play his bench. Now Tibbs, great work over there. That's a tough place to coach.
- [32:45]
E
Yeah.
- [32:45]
C
Helping out Boston now.
- [32:46]
A
Yeah, especially. Exactly. So tough stuff over there.
- [32:48]
B
Eastern Conference finals, right?
- [32:50]
A
Yeah.
- [32:50]
B
New York Knicks. And they fire.
- [32:53]
A
Yeah, but the big one. Yeah, Big bad Tyrese Halliburton's howling out there. He's doing some gardening in Madison Square Garden, brother.
- [33:00]
B
That makes sense.
- [33:01]
A
Yeah, and also it does make sense, especially for just sports in general. Like, okay, this guy's good, but not great. So let's get out of here, because we might be ass, but it's better than where we are now in the Eastern Conference finals. You talked about Tyrese getting hurt in Game 7. Let's just make sure we understand. Whenever we're on a microphone talking about stuff, we talk about facts. If Tyrese wouldn't have got hurt. He had 45 points that night. It's going to be a triple double, and the Pacers are going to win the title. And Tyrese goes down as one of the greatest players in the history of basketball because of playoff run. Just so you know, Steve, we saw what was going to happen. Okay? Just as you know, on that note about talking about games and players. Go ahead, con man.
- [33:39]
C
Yeah, Steve, loved how you said basketball is like jazz. My goat, Michael Scott views the game the same way. When you're commentating for these games, you know, during the pre show, the. The one, you know, we all know is the TNT show. And, I mean, we see it shaq and Chuck do not hold back. They will bury anybody and anybody to their face and also will admit when they're wrong. Have you thought about that? How you're going to approach talking about these superstars, most of whom, you know, you've worked with and you have been one in the NBA when you were playing, how do you kind of approach that aspect of it when Kevin Durant or James Harden or Kyrie Irving, who, who, you know, they gave great answers about the Brooklyn Nets debacle on starting five, but have you really thought about how you're going to talk about those types of players when things aren't going too well for them?
- [34:27]
F
I'm going to kill them, honestly. You know, like, you brought up Chuck and Shaq and I mean, I think the biggest thing you guys would know this. You got to be yourself, I think on tv. And the audience is only going to want to hear from you if they feel like you're authentic. So we're going to all have to find our voice, find that chemistry. You know, that show has been gold, been entertainment. And you know, for us, you know, we're going to probably take a slightly different direction just because of the personalities. You know, I think, you know, maybe part of us will be more analytical, you know, breaking down the game a little more. But like ud, you don't just has them. He is a straight shooter, you know, he's going to. He's going to give it to you exactly how he sees it, you know, bg, obviously, Blake Griffin, a super smart player, but also super funny. So, you know, Dirk barely speaks English. So I will figure it out. You know, we'll figure it out as we go.
- [35:18]
A
Just the whole time. That'd be incredible. Can you speak German?
- [35:23]
F
I know a couple cuss words. That's about it.
- [35:25]
C
So.
- [35:25]
A
E. Gross. Beer, Bitter. Okay, we know that one. One big. One big beer, please. Let's see. Donka. Of course that means thank you. Dark. That's anytime you get a non English. Who vas do this man was born in Germany.
- [35:42]
B
What is this?
- [35:43]
A
Vas is dos.
- [35:44]
B
Close enough. My dad speaks German.
- [35:48]
A
Yeah, I think that's. Yeah.
- [35:50]
C
Nailed it.
- [35:51]
G
See?
- [35:51]
A
Yeah.
- [35:51]
C
What's no, I think.
- [35:52]
A
Yeah. Nine. Ah, nine is. No, I think as we're getting through. Sorry. Steve. Do this on your show. They're gonna love that. Now, we are very pumped for you to be on television because I think you're gonna be fair. But also the way you talk about the game is different than just like branding and shit like that. You actually talk about some Substance, which leads to this. Go ahead, Ty.
- [36:11]
E
Yeah, Steve, as a guy who is from Canada and then, you know, played in the United States in college and then obviously in the NBA. The NBA. When you look at guys like Wemby and I guess SGA to some degree, too, and like, much, you know, similar to you, he played at Kentucky, so he kind of gets it. But are you surprised that we're having as many of these international guys come in and kind of just take over the league right away? It doesn't seem like. I mean, I feel like when I was watching a long time ago, like, there was a period of time there where it was kind of you and Dirk carrying that international torch. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. But he. I mean, he was, you know, not sustained like Steve and Dirk. And it seems like several of these guys are, you know, I mean, what. What do we have, five international players in the top 10 of the NBA right now? Like, does that surprise you how good these guys are and how quickly they're this good in their careers?
- [37:02]
F
Give you your. To further your point, I think his last seven MVPs have been international players. So it's. It's a global game. I think that's the bottom line is the game's grown around the world. The leagues become more popular, the league inspires the next generation. And then we also got to take our hat off to places around the world that develop talent. You know, like, the European countries do an incredible job teaching guys the game of basketball. You know, I think we do more of a volume job. We got a lot of people playing. Obviously, there's some great coaches, but AAU basketball, take it or leave it, some of it, you know, it's not all great. Whereas they have a club system in Europe that really hones in on funding fundamentals. It's not all just roll the balls out and play. Now, I don't want to be unkind to all those great coaches there are across the country, but the system doesn't allow for as much coaching as it does playing and marketing players to get college scholarships or nil deals or whatever it may be, or to. Or to fund an AAU program. So the system's just set up different. So I think that's one of the factors. Lot of talent in the United States, a lot of people love the game, a lot of great coaches. But the system, I don't. I don't think is as efficient as a small club in Slovenia or Croatia or Spain. That's really honing in on details, teaching the game and giving Guys, an opportunity to really develop.
- [38:20]
A
They're all smacking the wood, huh? Is that what you're saying? They're smacking the wood.
- [38:22]
F
Bopping the wood, Getting down. Smacking the wood.
- [38:25]
A
Playing D. Yeah, they're bopping that wood there. Yeah. Bopping wood. You guys love bopping wood in basketball, don't you? That's kind of a part of it, especially international.
- [38:33]
F
I'm going to stay out of that one. But is good.
- [38:36]
A
I'm talking about, you know, fundamentally sound.
- [38:39]
E
Bop in the wood.
- [38:40]
A
Bop in the wood. You know what I mean? You know what I'm talking about? That's what you're saying these guys are doing bopping wood all the time. Not just some of the time. You know, there's a different level of bopping at different places. And that type of fundamentally strong bop is better than just half ass bopping all the time.
- [38:55]
C
Celtics preach. You got to eat wood if you want to win games.
- [38:58]
E
Yeah.
- [38:59]
A
Missoula is all about not just bopping, but we're eating.
- [39:01]
C
Exactly.
- [39:02]
A
Getting out there. It's. It's a. Relax. It's about the wood, bro. You know that, Steve. Basketball, all about the wood.
- [39:08]
F
Learn something new every day.
- [39:10]
A
You're the expert. You get on tv. We shouldn't be teaching you that. This is a wood thing.
- [39:14]
F
I'm not. I stay out of that. At that wood zone.
- [39:18]
A
It's good play. Yeah.
- [39:19]
C
You don't play anymore.
- [39:20]
A
Yeah, he used to bop the wood.
- [39:22]
C
Yeah.
- [39:22]
E
So good.
- [39:23]
A
King of the wood. Yeah. You used to be all over that wood. Dancing on the wood. You know what I mean? He's dancing on half.
- [39:28]
E
Dancing.
- [39:28]
A
Yeah. It looks so smooth.
- [39:30]
C
Oh, yeah.
- [39:30]
A
Yeah. You remember, every once in a while we get a cool little steep Nash kick of balls on wood. Now we got balls on wood. You know what I mean? That is. That's what we're here for. All right, Steve, Coach Ba, our coach, has a question for you.
- [39:43]
D
Yeah, Steve, I'm being a big Suns fan myself. Being out in the desert for five years. What's it look like for our sons this year?
- [39:50]
A
Good question.
- [39:51]
F
Well, it's a great question, coach. You know, I think the first thing we want, we would say is it's a cultural reset. You know, they swung for the fences the last few years. Didn't really, really, you know, get far in the playoffs. Decided to kind of reset the organization. So they have a rookie coach, they have a rookie gm and trying to really just create an environment where players feel like they can get better, they can develop an identity, and also just, you know, without assets, you know, the Suns don't have their own draft pick for years. Right now you got to develop some players in house and you're going to develop a style of play and try to be better than the sum of your players. So it's been really exciting to see Jordan Ott, our first year coach here. He's created an environment where all the players are working hard, they're competing, they're combative, but they feel like they have an opportunity and a path to get better. So that's all you can do at this stage or arc of development. And I think for the Suns right now, they're controlling the controllables and I think win, lose or draw, it's going to be a team you're going to be proud of watching and they're going to surprise you a little bit because they're going to be super competitive. They're going to share the ball, they're going to play hard, and I think the Valley will really enjoy watching them play.
- [41:01]
A
I love that city.
- [41:01]
H
Great.
- [41:02]
A
I love that city over there.
- [41:03]
C
So nice.
- [41:04]
A
That place is so beautiful.
- [41:05]
C
I mean, the arena.
- [41:06]
A
The arena, so beautiful. I mean, everything about that place is awesome. I hope both the football team and basketball team get very good before my wife and I and family move out there. Sure. That is what we are. That is what we were hoping for before we let you go and we appreciate you stopping by. I'm going to put you on the spot here, Kevin. Put you on the spot. TV wow. We're doing it. Rushmore on X dropped this morning. Our fourth episode and this week was Dunkers. And Shaquille o', Neal, Reggie Miller, Ari Emanuel and Ben Persky put together their Rushmore of Dunkers. Each person individually put together their top four Dunkers of all time to start the conversation. Then they have to come together to get a final four. Here's Reggie Miller's Rushmore of Dunkers. First thoughts, as you look at this, any obvious omissions that you would put in there? And. And how do you feel about the four that Reggie brought into the convo?
- [41:57]
F
I actually really like that. I would have had Vince, MJ and Dominique in there. Zach, though, super worthy. I mean, crazy speed off the floor, incredible dunker. I like Reggie's Rushmore. What do you think?
- [42:16]
A
I don't know. I'm not the person that should be given any. LeBron. LeBron. Okay, I'm gonna say LeBron obviously can has some of the biggest ones. He's very strong. I think Kenyon Martin's name Was mentioned.
- [42:30]
E
Power dunker.
- [42:30]
C
I mean, Shaq. Shaq himself.
- [42:32]
A
Shaquille o' Neal is on the show, and I'm not sure, you know, how that whole conversation went with him, especially Reggie going, you've broke how many backboards? Don't care. Okay. You don't make my list here. We got the human highlight reel here, brother. April, you want. So who would have been your fourth? You. You don't have to give a fourth, actually. You're not on the show. Don't feel obligated.
- [42:49]
F
Yeah, that's a good. That's a good question. I didn't do my prep work on the Rushmore Dunkers this morning, but I. I mean, Zach's great. Lebron's a great call. Lebron, like, in transition was, you know, just a train. Like, there was no getting back that. Back in the bottle. You're just getting dunked on. So that's amazing. It kind of. Dunking's different, right? Like, it's a mix of things like Shaq. Shaq and dunk on the whole team.
- [43:11]
A
Team.
- [43:11]
F
But he's also bigger than the whole team. So you have. Sometimes it's like, less impressive, even though he just did something that no one else can do. Whereas, like, Zach Levine.
- [43:20]
E
Bango.
- [43:21]
F
Yeah. Spud Webb. So I think it's like, you know, Nate Robinson. Like, it depends. You're talking to in game dunkers. You're talking guys that, like, surprise you talking. You know, maybe we value bigs like Shaq, who were unbelievable just getting offensive rebounds and punching on someone. So I also give a little shout in game dunker to my guy. I'm Amari Stoudemire, My pick and roll partner. He definitely caught some bodies when we played together. Incredible hands, incredible feet. Could take off and I mean, what a pick and roll partner for me. Or in transition. You just throw it anywhere he's going to go get it and put it down.
- [43:53]
A
You guys were fun to watch out there.
- [43:54]
C
I remember those.
- [43:55]
A
The highlights were obviously epic. I don't know if I was watching the games live. Go ahead, B.A.
- [43:59]
D
Where'S Dr. J?
- [44:00]
A
Okay. So the king of the man invented it.
- [44:04]
C
I mean, if anything, Steve's partner in crime, you know, going forward, Boston Celtics lost legend Blake Griffin would be. Would be one that should be on there.
- [44:12]
A
Yeah. Cuz like, he jumped over a Kia. Yeah, we watched him jump over a. When he was doing it. That's why the show is wild, because there's. Everybody's making an argument for who they think and they start telling stories. It's like A great history lesson of dunking this entire episode available now on X. And Steve, I think you. I thought you did an incredible job with buying the game podcast and going to continue to do that. I think you're gonna do incredible with Amazon, man. We're pumped you're in the sports media world. We're thankful for that.
- [44:41]
F
Thank you. I really appreciate it, Pat. That's nice of you to say.
- [44:44]
D
All right.
- [44:45]
F
Good seeing you guys. Hey, by the way, just seeing the studio, I feel good. I have my best shooting performance in over a decade in there.
- [44:50]
E
Boom.
- [44:51]
C
I'm kind of.
- [44:51]
F
I'm kind of sad.
- [44:52]
E
You didn't.
- [44:52]
F
You didn't roll the tape, though.
- [44:54]
A
Well, I don't think we had it on film. We only had pictures. We only had pictures of this, Steve.
- [44:58]
F
It's a studio, Pat, like the camera.
- [45:02]
A
What are we doing? You're right. You're right. You're 100% that right. You. Even from the warm ups. From the warm ups.
- [45:08]
C
Just, ah, three bottles of wine.
- [45:10]
A
Yes. Yeah, probably two and a half. Three bottles of wine.
- [45:12]
C
Yep.
- [45:12]
A
Do this. Ah, I don't know. I haven't shot splash from like three feet. Okay, let's back up six feet. I don't know. Splash. Okay. Eight feet. Boom. One more. Yep, I'm pretty good, I think. Go to the corner. Splash, splash, splash, splash, splash, splash, splash, splash, splash, splash, splash, splash. Let's go. Play defense. Okay, now we're playing defense underneath.
- [45:34]
B
No miss.
- [45:35]
A
No miss.
- [45:35]
E
None.
- [45:36]
A
Didn't hit the rim. Splash, splash, splash, splash, splash, splash, splash, splash, splash.
- [45:41]
F
Dude, it was the quickest lines in the dome.
- [45:43]
A
And what's that?
- [45:44]
F
Great sight lines. Great sight lines in the dome.
- [45:46]
A
You felt good in there, huh? Felt short.
- [45:48]
F
Felt good.
- [45:49]
A
The hoop looked very big to you. I mean, it was unbelievable. You and Tyrese both tyrese, I guess.
- [45:55]
E
Yeah.
- [45:55]
A
Sight lines is all that matters. You got. Guys are. You guys are pretty good at what you do.
- [45:58]
E
Two time MVP.
- [45:59]
A
Yeah. All right. 18 year NBA event, right? I remember when I learned that on camera. You're the best. Ladies and gentlemen, Steve Nash. Unbelievable. So guy was pretty boozed up.
- [46:11]
C
Yeah.
- [46:11]
B
We have his warmup on film at least. Yeah. I need to watch that dude.
- [46:14]
A
He three feet away.
- [46:15]
B
Boom.
- [46:16]
A
Just swish this the whole time. Whole time.
- [46:20]
B
Typical.
- [46:21]
A
I don't know. Swish. He still has yet to touch that rim. He has still had yet to touch that rim in his entire time. And being here. He was here for five hours. I was here for five hours. It was outrageous. Whenever I say that and just how cool he was. We're thankful he came on. I learned he was an 18 year NBA vet when I was sitting down with him for something for Dazn up in Canada. Dazn was launching something in Canada and they asked me and Marshawn lynch and Steve Nash to go up there and do some stuff. So I was about to interview Steve Nash. So I like did some research quickly on my phone about Steve. I knew of Steve Nash. Obviously I didn't know all the the intel. And I'm sitting right next to him, I go, 18 years in the NBA. And he goes, yeah. Holy fuck. I just keep scrolling, nothing else. And it's all caught on camera. And Steve just sits there, looks at me for like two seconds and he just looks back ahead and like drinks his water as I'm continuing to scroll. He could have hated us immediately and instead he went the opposite way. We're very thankful. He's good. He loves the game. Oh yeah, he loves the game. There it is. Yeah. Holy shit.
- [47:23]
B
That's the exact guy has no idea.
- [47:25]
A
No idea. Yeah, I had no idea. And then I learned quickly. And then what we've learned since then is a guy loves ball. I like what sports are doing right now. A lot of coaches, a lot of players. Not saying there isn't a spot for the people that go through a journalism machinery class and everything like that. I'm saying that's very important for sports. I'm never going to take that away from sports. It is vital to have people who did not play the sport talk about the sport. Not only for the good of the sport, the growth of the sport, but for to keep the sport in check too, I think from people that are kind of outside objective. Yeah, I think it's good thing. I think it's a good thing, not a bad thing. But more players and coaches talking about sports I think is great for the fans. And the NBA is. I mean they got everybody rolling in over there. That's good for the league, I think.
- [48:05]
D
Ba I think it's fantastic. Yeah, the same thing with the NFL. The more real smart talking heads that know what they're talking about, it's better for everybody. And same with the Major league Baseball. You know when, when you got a rod, Big papi and those guys on there. That's a hell of a show.
- [48:20]
E
Yeah.
- [48:20]
A
Okay, so let's talk about baseball. Last night, huge night in the baseball. Wow. What? So last night we should have been talking about. There was a double header. Monday Night Football.
- [48:27]
E
Yeah, exactly.
- [48:28]
A
So I don't know what we're supposed to do here. Honestly, I don't know what we're supposed to do here. Huge night in baseball last night. It was a game seven last night in baseball.
- [48:34]
E
Yeah, game seven. And, you know, for two teams that both, you know, Toronto hasn't been to a World Series in a really, really long time time. Seattle has never been to a World Series. So, I mean, you know, just all the drama was already there. And boy, did the game deliver. Start in the top of the fifth inning and big dumper kind of get a season of a lot of signature moments. This was definitely his most signature to this point. He hits a solo homer to take the mariners lead to 3:1. And if you're a Blue Jays fan, you're thinking, oh, boy, here we go. The season's about to go down the pooper. But then in the bottom of the seventh, with two guys on right at after a pitching change, George Springer pull. He gets a sinker right down the middle. And it was absolute bedlam in Toronto.
- [49:21]
A
The one pitch high fly ball left field arose Arena. What is. That's awesome. One more time, please. Can we get back to the beginning of that sound? You can imagine the one pitch high fly ball left field.
- [49:38]
E
No doubt.
- [49:39]
A
Arena watches it go. Who's on the photo?
- [49:48]
E
It was John Smoltz and then Joe Davis, I believe.
- [49:53]
A
What a call. What a moment. This guy went to Yukon. Yukon has a baseball team or he started playing baseball after he went to Yukon.
- [49:59]
B
Oh, disrespectful Yukon legend. You know, Yukon baseball was just in the thing with jig last year. Don't.
- [50:05]
E
That's respect. They were close to the thing with jig. They were.
- [50:08]
B
This is George Springer's thing, though, in the postseason, right?
- [50:10]
E
Yeah. So that homer gives him 23 for his career. He is tied for third all time for the most postseason homers. So, yeah, he's. He's a bit of a Mr. October. A lot of people will say, hey, this guy was on the Astros. He cheated. But he has since been remorseful about that. And yeah, anytime they needed a guy to do something, he answered the bell. And then this is the bottom of the ninth. Jeff Hoffman, Julio Rodriguez at the plate with a full count. He strikes out on a slider low and away. And the Blue Jays are going to their first world series since 1990. Just, I mean, incredible game, like the drama in that. And I, as someone who, like Blue Jays beat the Yankees. They're in the Yankees division. I definitely didn't want to see them win because the Mariners had never been there you know, we. We talked to Cal Raleigh a couple times this year and followed him throughout the season. But, man, that is just incredible, because you could. Like, Toronto is. And maybe a Gump is a better question for Gump. I don't know about Canada as a whole, but, like, Toronto is so invested in the Blue Jays. Like, they will. I mean, hearing that place, you could hear a pin drop in there when they went down 3, 1. And it's kind of like, hey, we had the best record in the American League this year, and it's all going to be for not. Who knows if we'll ever get the opportunity to get back to this place. And then, boom. One swing of the bat, and it's like, Toronto. Toronto's ready to riot.
- [51:28]
A
Gumpy, is that Canada's team up there, the Blue Jays?
- [51:31]
F
Absolutely. They all love them out there. Rogers owns the Blue Jays, the Maple Leafs, the Raptors.
- [51:37]
A
Oh, they need it. Yeah, they certainly need it. Of money. Yeah, lots of money. And they need it. He also. There was a photo, I think you showed me, of Vladi as an. With an Expos jersey on, I think, whenever he was a boy.
- [51:49]
D
Yeah. When he's a kid, his dad played for the Expos, and it's a great picture of him with his helmet up in the air as a young baseball player, and then with his helmet up in the air as a Blue Jay champion.
- [51:59]
A
What a time. You're a big baseball guy, huh?
- [52:01]
D
I love it. I. I just wanted to see the best drama. The dumper was on deck.
- [52:05]
E
I know.
- [52:05]
A
Take that down pitch and let the dumper come up. What happened?
- [52:09]
E
Yeah, so, yeah, the big dumper was on deck in that situation, but Julio Rodriguez was 2 for 4, you know, in this game. Like, he. He has been nails for them. But that. Yeah, a lot of people are saying, man, if you could just find a way to kind of get on base, work a walk there, then you're going to bring up Big Dumper, who earlier in the game, after he hit his solo homer, they intentionally walked him with no one on base. And you're thinking in, like, a situation like that, like, they got a pitch. Yeah, you kind of have to, because if. If they put somebody on, then you know, a single wins the game. So, like, we. We potentially would have got Big Dumper.
- [52:41]
A
For all the marbles.
- [52:42]
E
So it's tough.
- [52:43]
C
Someone released or not someone. It was on the Internet of, like, the pitches in the last at bat, and none of them were strikes. They. They were all balls. And he. He just swung three times that whole.
- [52:55]
E
Inning, the two batters before him, like.
- [52:57]
A
Nobody was swinging at what they should have been swinging at. Oh, the Dumper could have had a chance to save the city in the bottom of the night, man.
- [53:04]
E
Could have two.
- [53:05]
A
One person on. Yep, that's World Series kind of stuff. I. I mean, that is. That's what Dumper dreams of. Yeah, but I mean, that's what I dream of. As baseball fan. I was. I must fell asleep right before that all happened. I didn't get a chance to see the ending there. But boy, baseball, huge night in a game seven would be great on a Tuesday.
- [53:23]
E
Well, you know, we'll get that for the World Series.
- [53:25]
A
Would be great on a Tuesday. Tuesday would be great if that was happening tonight, if we knew that was happening.
- [53:30]
E
Very true. In hindsight though, like, boy, do I feel bad for you if you were like a Seattle resident and you decided to watch the Seahawks game instead of that, because that game sucked and this game was awesome. So, like, you know, you'll have more Seahawks games that could have been, you know, the end of it. But just for context, the. The Blue Jays, their Preseason win total, 79 and a half. The Dodgers, 105 and a half. So, like, the Blue. The Blue Jays are. We're not expected to be here at all. So if you really want like the. The underdog against like the, you know, the, the big bad superpower, that's exactly what we're going to get with the World Series.
- [54:03]
A
And David Roberts said, let's win four more games and make everybody hate us or something.
- [54:07]
E
Then Shohei, you know, in their closeout game, had the greatest game in the history of baseball. So we'll see. You know, something's got to give is show.
- [54:13]
A
Hey, just going to do that four more straight times. Let's just put them in there. Four straight times. This is. Let Shohei have a show. Hey. Night. And just let's go ahead and win the World Series.
- [54:19]
E
At this point, I'm with it. You know, know, hey, four games left. If, if you burned three years off this guy's career because you let him throw four nights in a row and give him the opportunity to hit 12 homers and 12 at bats, we need to see.
- [54:31]
A
Sounds like there's a little bit of mockery in that answer.
- [54:33]
E
Not at all. I love. I love. Shays also thought they were getting Shohei.
- [54:37]
A
When he went to the Dodgers too. So there is a little bit of beef. Well, I want to let you know, bad news for the Blue Jays because he is everything they thought he was.
- [54:45]
E
Going Without a doubt. And he was never going to Toronto. I hate to break it to him, but he is.
- [54:49]
A
Is special.
- [54:50]
E
Yeah.
- [54:50]
A
This guy is unbelievable.
- [54:51]
C
They. They released that the $750 million contract was made back in one year for merch and ticket sales and everything for the Dodgers. But you said best performance in baseball. Is that the greatest single game in just the history of sports. When it comes to 10 strikeouts, three for three.
- [55:07]
A
I think it's definitely on the Rushmore. If there was to be a Rushmore, I don't know who else I saw. What A guy scored 100 some points in a game.
- [55:13]
C
No, that's not real.
- [55:14]
A
What that?
- [55:15]
B
Yeah, that was a Lesley in high school halftime. One hundred and a half.
- [55:19]
C
Oh yeah. Reg sister as well.
- [55:21]
A
What do you say?
- [55:22]
D
Will Chamberlain scored 100.
- [55:23]
A
You saw it?
- [55:24]
D
Well, it was. And it was in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
- [55:27]
C
That's what they said.
- [55:28]
B
Should ask Steve. He's.
- [55:29]
A
Were you there?
- [55:30]
D
No.
- [55:31]
C
Was anybody?
- [55:33]
D
There was a bunch of folks there. But yeah, we'll scored 100.
- [55:35]
A
Really? Are we 100?
- [55:37]
I
Sure.
- [55:37]
D
I'm pretty sure.
- [55:38]
A
I will put you as a vote for yes.
- [55:39]
C
Okay.
- [55:40]
A
Con man, you already said no. That didn't happen.
- [55:43]
C
Absolutely not.
- [55:43]
A
Ty.
- [55:44]
E
I'm gonna say yes.
- [55:45]
A
Debut. No.
- [55:46]
I
No.
- [55:47]
A
Okay.
- [55:47]
C
And Ty. Ty's yes also comes with the asterisk that he believes we went to the moon.
- [55:51]
B
Correct.
- [55:51]
A
So we have.
- [55:53]
C
We did.
- [55:54]
B
We're all. We're all kind of consistent up here.
- [55:56]
A
With how we feel about this. Yeah, a little open minded. Vers. Yeah, no, I believe it. Type conversation. On that note. I wish he did. I hope he did. Come on people. Hershey would lie. But if we're talking about they are good people up there, you know, I think their park is far inferior to Kennywood. But that's neither a conversation we need to have.
- [56:14]
D
No.
- [56:15]
A
Is there any.
- [56:16]
C
Tell them Bruce. Tell them Bruce.
- [56:18]
D
I got my first kiss.
- [56:19]
A
That heard you.
- [56:20]
H
Yeah.
- [56:20]
E
Boom.
- [56:21]
A
That was back when it was good. Kennywood has evolved. Okay. Kennywood is the best. Long time ago, brother. Long time ago, brother. What is another one? What would be another one? Is there some game seven hockey where's like four goals?
- [56:34]
E
Well, what was it? The guy would have to score a hattrick and have 40 saves in the net.
- [56:39]
A
Football, you have to throw three touchdowns and then also have 20 tackles.
- [56:43]
C
Yeah, and a pig six.
- [56:44]
A
Like I don't know how you do it. That's game seven too. And then scoreless through seven. Ten strikeouts, three dong shots. And everybody was hoping that what you would do. And you go out there and do it that guy's a machine. This Marshawn beast mode Lynch Prize Pick is making sports season even more fun on Prize Picks. Whether you a football fan, a basketball fan, it always feels feel good to be right. And right now, new users get $50 instantly in lineups. When you play your first $5, the app is simple to use. Pick two or more players, pick more or less on their stat projections, anything from touchdown to threes. And if you right, you can win big mix and match players from any sport on Prague picks. America's number one daily fantasy sports app, Prize Picks is available in 40 plus states including California, Texas, Florida and Georgia. Most importantly, all the transactions on the app are fast, safe and secure. Download the Prize Picks app today and use code TPMS to get 50 instantly in site credits after you play your first $5.
- [57:49]
B
That's code TPMS to get $50 in.
- [57:51]
A
Site credits after you play your 1st $5. Prize picks. It's good to be right.
- [57:55]
G
Must be present in certain states.
- [57:56]
A
Visit prizepix.com for restrictions and details. Hey fans, welcome back to Fansville's cheers and tears. Oh, okay, so like everybody deals with losing, right? To a rival and a last second field goal, whatever. It's fine. I'm totally fine. But I cope with losing with an ice cold Dr. Pepper. Mmm, those 23 flavors are like so delicious. They totally wash away the pain of your college football team taking a big fat L. College football. It's a pepper thing.
- [58:33]
C
Football.
- [58:34]
D
Hey.
- [58:36]
F
Yes.
- [58:37]
A
See that? I got a little laid off the ball that time because I was so excited to get to Cadence. Ladies and gentlemen, that's 47 year football coach, multiple time super bowl champion, Bruce Arians is joining us. NBA nine year NFL vet Darius J. Butler is here. The toxic tables here at Boston. Connor and that Ty Schmidt. And joining us live from an attic in Ohio is the man who's a college football national champion, super bowl champion, Rider cup winner, ladies and gentlemen, A.J.
- [58:57]
C
Hawke. Yeah. Hawker.
- [58:59]
A
Hawker. Let's talk about what you've seen from the Detroit Lions defense last night. Listen, we got four or five guys out, okay? This is kind of becoming the thing for the Lions. Last year they had like 14 of their starters. Somehow out on the defensive side they still rallied to the number one overall seed in the nfc. They lose both their coordinators. Peter Schrager who will be joining us in about 10 minutes or so before the season said there's chances. Lionstein doesn't even make playoffs this year. Well, prime time against Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Baker Mayfield is Maybe on an MVP run, they show up and show out up there at Ford Field. What's your takeaway about this Detroit Lions team, A.J. hawk?
- [59:35]
H
Yeah, I mean, the defense and what Kelvin shepherd was able to do, that's the thing. Like when you lose, when you lose one DB in the back end, it's tough because you, you, you're working together so much throughout OTAs and camp and everything. But when you have multiple guys, younger guys or less experienced guys in there together and to be able to match up like they, they were like on third downs, you see them chasing, chasing guys all across the field, field here, and all these highlights, you're playing like, it's just, it's pretty impressive. See, that's his own zone drop right there, obviously, as I'm talking.
- [60:02]
B
But mixing it up.
- [60:04]
H
Yeah, I think it's just, it. It's unbelievable that they would do it for four straight quarters. That's the thing. You can sometimes hold up for a while, but it all. It's, you know, it's a collaborative effort. Obviously. The front four did a great job of that. If they weren't getting the quarterback down, they were pressuring them, making them feel uncomfortable.
- [60:18]
A
Yeah. The Detroit Lions have taken on the attitude of Dane Campbell. What's his record in primetime games 13.
- [60:24]
C
And three under MCDC with the Lions.
- [60:27]
A
Isn't that a completely, vastly different world in reality for Detroit Lions fans? Foxy, this must be really nice. 100%. And it just changes everything about the Lions. People in Michigan now, kids, adults, everyone wears Lions gear. And I think it's because when you're watching them on national tv, people enjoy watching this brand of football. They love mcdc. They love the Jared Goff story. So it's changed everything. I was mentioning this to you earlier this morning. The Colts are so good right now. The nation needs to see them. The Colts need to get on national tv. That's a big deal, especially for a team like the Lions, who have been so shitty for so long. It's changed everything. They talk about a national appeal that getting on primetime TV gets, but also like fans that are maybe on the outskirts locally, like, who have checked out on the team for a little bit. It's like, oh, shit, we're on primetime, then get a huge win, all of a sudden you're reback invested. Primetime games tell the story of your teams. They showcase your. Your team. They're very important. The Colts, I'll tell you what, we got a couple 4 o' clock games this year, and that's awesome. I'm pretty excited about that. But last year was 1 o' clock across the board. Brother didn't even have a Thursday night. I thought everybody had a Thursday night. The Colts didn't even get.
- [61:30]
H
You had to thought you had to have a Thursday night.
- [61:32]
A
No, no. First year they didn't. The Colts didn't have one. I'll tell you that. In Dan Campbell's first year, we had all one o' clock games. Yeah, it is a. It is a different world whenever you're doing that and then you're on prime time making magic happen. It's especially whenever you lose both your coordinators coming into the year. Tell me about mcdc. Bruce Arians, tell me about his style and why you think it works up there even though they have new coordinators and new pieces. Because he's real.
- [61:54]
D
He's real. He keeps it straight. He didn't pull any punches and. And those guys know what he expects from them and they deliver. He's got a great rapport. I really think he's a younger Bill Cower and reminds me a lot of Bill and his. He's. He's fire. He's into it. He obviously loves it and. And his players play that way.
- [62:14]
A
How about his neck? B.A. you know, we talk about neck and cowards jaw. Yes, that's.
- [62:19]
D
That's a combination.
- [62:20]
A
That would be quite a tag team there. I couldn't even imagine you'd be able to actually chop wood if you had Cowers jaw on that neck right there. AJ we always talk about Braves obviously being able to handle himself in a league wide head coach battle. Mcdc is only getting bigger. Is that what we're all seeing?
- [62:39]
H
Yeah, it sure feels like it.
- [62:41]
A
I mean.
- [62:41]
H
Yeah, you're right. Look at his neck as his neck and traps his shoulder, his back. I mean this dude is. He's a great representation of what the NFL could be. I guess or I guess what the NFL is. There's I guess, man, think about him and some other coaches around the league. Other. Other head coaches when they stand next to each other.
- [62:55]
A
Yeah, I couldn't even remember. It was. It was Rabes and Harbaugh right when the Titans and Ravens were about to fight and Harbaugh and Braves were talking to each other. And then immediately the interview Internet goes, john, John, you don't want any piece of that. Then the convo immediately goes to. Would Vrabes have a problem with anybody?
- [63:14]
D
Basically.
- [63:15]
A
And in Brave's mind, I assume he's always going to have to think, no, he would not have any problem with Anybody? Mcdc feels very comfortable as well. BA I think you would have been.
- [63:22]
B
A great talker if you had to put brackets with head coaches. Dan Campbell's definitely one seed.
- [63:28]
C
And if there were two sides of the bracket, Brave will be the one side, one seed on the other side.
- [63:33]
A
Okay, but let's say there isn't two sides of the bracket. You're saying one seed is mcdc, one overall All Pro.
- [63:39]
B
Yeah, I probably go mcdc.
- [63:41]
D
Probably.
- [63:42]
F
Hell yeah.
- [63:42]
A
Okay. Because I've heard similar stories about MCDC. Maybe two SIGs.
- [63:47]
D
Oh, yeah.
- [63:48]
A
Charles. Oh, yeah.
- [63:49]
C
They.
- [63:49]
H
Yeah, he. Yeah, he's a dude. We know that back in the day.
- [63:53]
A
Not now, obviously. Demo Ryan is certainly.
- [63:55]
C
Throw him in there. Mike McDonald's, who would be a sneaky.
- [64:00]
B
Little guy that you think would just.
- [64:02]
A
Yeah. McDaniel would not bite.
- [64:05]
E
Not ankles.
- [64:06]
A
Take the. Your ass, too. He gets your ass real quick. McDaniel will come out and then some little right hand will come across. Yeah.
- [64:13]
C
Not. Not little. But not. Not that little. But now that we've seen him in action. Gannon's got a hook on him now.
- [64:19]
A
Oh, yeah.
- [64:20]
C
He chop and a chop.
- [64:22]
A
He's got a backhand and a forehand now that we've seen it. Expensive, too. He's got a valuable chop. That's a six figure chop and slap that guy's got.
- [64:30]
C
He doesn't even care about that.
- [64:32]
A
He actually chops that to the side.
- [64:34]
C
Exactly.
- [64:35]
A
I don't care.
- [64:35]
C
Yeah, whatever.
- [64:36]
A
Out of power.
- [64:36]
C
I do this to the.
- [64:37]
A
Sean McVeigh. Definitely fiery in there.
- [64:39]
E
Yeah.
- [64:40]
A
I think he's a survivor no matter what. Like if it's a brawl till death. I think McVeigh's around long.
- [64:44]
E
Yeah, you better.
- [64:46]
H
You better put Pete away early because Pete's never stopping.
- [64:48]
C
We know that.
- [64:49]
A
Yeah. But with the way the Raiders look right now, I don't know if Pete's even walking into that thing. You boys, you know, you boys can have. Have you heard the reports, man? We haven't heard from a long time. Good to see. Actually, Trey Wingo reported that the Dallas Cowboys have inquired about trade for Max Crosby potentially, which obviously Trey Wingo used to work at espn. I think he does have sources of some sort. Might still have them. Good to see you, Trey. Good to see you. Trey out there doing it. The Spotrak immediately puts together a bunch of numbers for if he was to be traded. What it would cost when it would cost it. Two years of guaranteed money out of the Spoetra track, folks. First year and second year, then everything else not guaranteed. Basically. The offsetting money comes in March 2nd of next year as the guarantees. Yeah, here's the. Here's the entire thing. Crosby's 29 million, 2027 salary becomes guaranteed next March, making it a two and a half year, 80 million dollar contract. For practical purposes, 20.3 guaranteed, 30 million guaranteed in 2026. So first three years, potentially fully guaranteed there. That price, though, for a maximum Crosby, makes you wonder, well, if you're going to pay that the. Max, could you have. Could you have paid something to Michael? But we're not even going to get into that road. But now that everybody kind of knows what the numbers are exactly for Max, and Trey Wingo is reporting that people are interested in potentially trading for him. Does that mean more people also probably interested behind the scenes, BA if they understand that maybe Max is available at this point.
- [66:17]
D
Yeah, if he's out there, somebody shopping and when you hear that stuff. So there'll be a lot of folks that want to get in on Max Crosby. I promise you that.
- [66:24]
A
What makes Max different, obviously his motor. Is that everything?
- [66:26]
D
Yeah, I think when you think of Jared Allen and those, he's all those guys wrapped in one. I mean, he's relentless. And does he have the biggest, strongest looking body? No, but, man, he's powerful. But his motor is unbelievable.
- [66:39]
A
He's also a menace. It feels like he would be a great cowboy.
- [66:42]
H
He has unbelievable hands. Watch. I'm sorry to interrupt. Like, I. I love watching Max. You watch like you could have three different defenders at different levels get to him. And he does such a good job. He doesn't. He's never looking at his blocker. He's always looking at the quarterback, wherever the ball is. And he's just so good, flipping his hips, flipping his shoulders, his hands. Like, he never lets guys get a good shot on him. And he can also, though, you have to be able to bull rush as well. So Max definitely has the power, but it just. He's so fluid with his hands and just relentless.
- [67:06]
D
He.
- [67:07]
H
He just doesn't let anybody block him. Like, it's really fun to watch.
- [67:09]
A
He actually fights in the offseason. Right. Like, he does a lot of hand work, obviously, MIT work, cardio work. He has a battery and energy that I don't think anybody else has in the entire league. Obviously, he's works on his technique. His work ethic is tremendous. His tats look very cool. We got to see him live whenever the Raiders played against Colts. He looks so cool. He would be a cool cowboy. That would be a very cool Condor The Cowboy. That would be a very cool cowboy. And Jerry Jones goes, this guy's available. Remember I said, hey, I got these picks now. You never know what's gonna happen. People never think I'll bring in another pass rusher.
- [67:42]
D
Same.
- [67:42]
A
A little bit older maybe. Actually, this guy, he's already been paid. This guy's a little bit older. Nobody would expect cheaper, too. Nobody would expect me to give up a couple. First for that boom. Then Magic man does it again. Look at the land man pulling this thing off. Max Crosby now is getting to the quarterback and Dallas Cowboys all the way back. We get MVP Dak. Everybody's calling me a big dumb dipshit. MVP Dak. Prescott. Now we got the Condor playing for the Cowboys. And don't look now is Heber flu is excited. Jerry Jones has a chance to really do something sweet here. And then he has a chance to walk his ex right out to those cameras. Probably big tucking, had to bring him in, what I say. And then he gets a chance to flex, which is why I think this is possible. That's the only reason why I think it's possible, is because Jerry Jones will take a victory lap if he's able to accomplish this. And Max Crosby, I think we know exactly who he is now. He got hurt, I believe.
- [68:27]
C
Yeah, I think he had a groin. He didn't finish the game versus Chiefs.
- [68:29]
A
So we don't know his health status. But he's a guy that we know is going to be productive.
- [68:33]
B
Yes.
- [68:33]
A
Like all the time. So that would be a home run type signing for anybody but Jerry Jones. Definitely. With everything that took place in the offseason.
- [68:39]
B
Yeah. And AJ Talked about his. His hands like his being. He plays well against the run, the pass, and usually guys who have that type of effort down in and down out, we kind of like to put him in that bucket of like, oh, he's just a lunch pail guy. He's going short to work. But he has high end, like elite pass rushing traits as well. And he's going to elevate anybody on that, on that defense. I don't care if you run his own coverage. If you run a man coverage, having a guy like that, that doesn't come off the field, I mean, that's going to boost the. That entire roster.
- [69:06]
E
I mean, it's just got classic Jerry written all over it. If they do get him, he's going to say, well, that was part of. That was the plan all along. What are you talking about?
- [69:13]
A
You think? I thought the Raiders were going to.
- [69:14]
E
Be good yeah, that. That Michael's a bird. That's why we got him out of here. Max Crosby, he's a cowboy. So we're going to. But ultimately, like, this just makes them good. Look good, right? Because, like, we had Chef Dion yesterday and. And asked him about that, and he was like, this has always been the answer from the Raiders as people reach out about him. And it's no, we're not trading them. We're not doing that. So, like, they can put the.
- [69:35]
D
Hey.
- [69:36]
E
Sources tell me that the. The Cowboys are snooping around in Vegas. They. They want. Like, that doesn't mean anything because if the.
- [69:43]
A
You're talking about Trey Wingo's report.
- [69:45]
E
That is exactly what I'm talking about. You know, I mean, it's a. It's a nice phrasing because it does.
- [69:49]
A
You know, you're talking about wing.
- [69:50]
D
Go.
- [69:51]
H
I mean, what's it going to take to get them? That's the question.
- [69:54]
A
Like they're talking about Trey Wingo.
- [69:57]
E
Yes. Yes, I am.
- [69:59]
A
Really?
- [69:59]
E
You know what? Yeah, I just. Wow. I. I get it.
- [70:02]
A
Trey Wingo.
- [70:03]
E
It's out there. I get it.
- [70:05]
B
Bringing it.
- [70:06]
E
I mean, it means nothing.
- [70:07]
A
Trey Wingo gets a little chirpy, doesn't he?
- [70:09]
C
Yeah.
- [70:09]
B
I'm a big.
- [70:10]
C
Trey Wingo is full of guy. That's me.
- [70:13]
A
Is that you?
- [70:13]
C
Yeah, I'm. I'm a big. Sorry, I should have done the full sentence. I'm a big. Trey Wingo is full of guy. But I. I do know people like him.
- [70:21]
A
Yeah. And he did. Do they. He did the. He did have a long sports media, so we assume he has inside information at different places. Joining us now is a guy who has a lot of inside information. Ladies and gentlemen, friend of the program, a man who's an Emmy award winner, and he's fresh off Red eye out of Seattle. Run on no sleep. Ladies and gentlemen, Peter Schrager. Schrags. How you doing, buddy?
- [70:46]
I
I'm doing great. It wasn't just a red eye, Pat. Red eye with a connection in Minneapolis.
- [70:51]
A
Yeah, two red eyes. We like two red eyes. Yeah.
- [70:55]
I
If I can just tell you last night was the latest an NFL game has ever ended. I think I did the latest post game interview ever in the history of sports. I did this thing at 1:30 Eastern. Me and Sam Darnold, basically.
- [71:08]
A
Darnold.
- [71:08]
I
I'm like, all right. Up and down game. I'm like, I'm not even listening to what you're saying. I got to get to the airport. It was great, though. Darnold played well. The Seahawks, the elements, the. Everything was awesome. And then I run. Run like I've never ran before. And I'm not A.J.
- [71:25]
E
Hawk.
- [71:25]
I
I am not a runner, okay? I run to the trucks and I'm like, where are we going?
- [71:29]
G
Let's go.
- [71:30]
I
And they're like, well, we gotta wait for Orlovsky. Like, okay, well, I have a flight that takes off in about 30 minutes. Well, we gotta wait for Dan. Orlovsky just called the game. Did a great job, by the way. Comes downstairs like straigs, we're good, bro. We're gonna be fine. I'm like, no, no. If we miss this flight, I miss my kids. Flag football game tomorrow. I don't get to go on McAfee and. Or like, like, bro, we're good. Coolest customer. He just called the game. He's feeling himself. We get in the car, our guy Steel is driving. We got Jeff, define the producer. In the back, we got Credence Clearwater Revival blasting, okay? CCR blasting. We pull up to the Seattle airport, run to the gate, little line, tsa. Who knows what's going on in that world right now? We get through tsa, we get through security, we are the last ones on the plane. Orlovsky didn't break a sweat. I was a complete drenched mess. It's just our lives. We made the fight.
- [72:26]
A
We made the fight. There we go.
- [72:27]
C
Hell yeah.
- [72:28]
A
And that's Dana. That's quarterback. You know, that's Dano being a quarterback. Everybody mocks him because the 11 yard end zone thing, but you know, he. He's got a lot of the qualities of a quarterback, you know, like, hey, let's not get. Hey, whoa, whoa. This ain't helping us right now, okay? What you're doing right now, that was it. Not helping any of us right now. We kind of got to go ahead and do this now. Dana, he didn't book that flight. He had no backup plan. And he also had no idea about what was happening. Probably in that moment. Ignorance is bliss. Let's talk about you making a flight and also doing our show. We appreciate that. That game. What were you talking with Sam Darnold about? Were you talking about how their team was able to turn over so quickly whenever they kick Pete Carroll out the door, they paint over the walls. McDonald's taken out of the Baltimore Ravens defense. They're basically turning the page. DK Metcalf. See you later. We don't want you on the team anymore. Lock it. See you later. We don't want you on team anymore. Gino. See you Later. We don't want you on the team anymore. Brand new Seattle Seahawks, and they've turned the page here pretty quickly into a great team. Is that your takeaway from last night or the Houston Texans?
- [73:25]
I
Shite.
- [73:26]
A
And I love how explosive Jackson, Smith and Jigba is able to one step and dunk that thing as if he's seven foot tall. Yeah.
- [73:33]
I
Let's start with the former the Seattle Seahawks because. And there I am on the sideline in that beautiful blazer. If you see on the near sideline. I talked to John Schneider, who's a GM for a long time before the game, and Schneider is really the one constant. He's been there since 2010 and it's been through not only the Pete era, but the Russ era. And now we're changing guards and now it's Mike McDonald and Sam Darnold. Pat, Sam Darnold's only 28 years old. He's only 28 years old. He started with the jets at 21. And I thought it was fascinating talking to Sam for a while during the production meeting call. He's engaged. He just bought his first house of his life. He's always been a transient guy, renting a New York, renting in Carolina, renting in San Francisco, renting in Minnesota. And he's like, and I'm finally feeling the love that I'm wanted. And it's almost like sometimes it takes guys this long. And Darnold is so in control, is absolutely the leader of this team. And yesterday he and Jackson, Smith and Jigba looked as good as he looked with Justin Jefferson last year. It's unbelievable, the connection. They had eight catches, I think 153 yards, maybe something less than that. But every time that JSN was getting open, Sam had an eye on him and would hit him. And the two of them have this great connection. And he's like this guy, not a diva, not a give me the ball, just does everything right. And the two of them are on the same exact wavelength. I loved watching these two connect and I loved watching Mike McDonald. This. That's like very even keeled guy who is a defensive first coach, putting the ball in Sam's hands and saying, sam Darnold, you lead us there. Our defense will do the rest. And oh boy, did they.
- [75:08]
A
Yeah, I think Sam Darnold, with his little revenge tour here, that I'm a good player. Buying his first house is crazy to think about at the age of 28. Feeling the love is crazy. The fact that Minnesota just let him out of the Building also crazy. Every single week that continues. Jackson, Smith and Jigba, one of those Ohio State wide receivers. You can't be a diva in there because there's another guy right behind you that's willing to take a spot. Go ahead, A.J.
- [75:30]
H
Yeah, shriggs. What was the atmosphere like? Honestly, on TV, I couldn't really, you know, the game was, you know, it was. It was a slog at times. But what was it? What was the atmosphere? And also, though, about that Seattle Seahawks defense, can you talk about them a little bit? I think they, they obviously are up under the radar for what they're doing.
- [75:46]
I
J.J. watt and I were texting Humble brag during the game. I'm over there on the sidelines and he's like, I'm sorry, bro, I gotta turn it off. I can't keep my eyelids open. I'm like. I felt like I was watching Bruce Springsteen in a small New Jersey bar in the Jersey Shore. Like the Stone pony in the 70s. If you're watching this game, you're one of the Die Hards. You're one of the earliest, and that's fine. What you missed was an atmosphere that was completely deflated at about the 10 minute mark of the second quarter because George Springer hits this home run and it basically eliminates the Seattle Mariners from their first ever trip to the World Series. While that's happening, everyone's checking it on their phones in the crowd. They have it up on the big screen. It's a heartbreaker. And then the Seahawks defense is basically like, all right, not only do we have to carry our offense at times.
- [76:37]
A
We'Re going to carry this entire city.
- [76:38]
I
Sports fans on our back because they start showing up and it's. It's Leonard Williams, obviously, who's in his 11th year and is still as dominant as every was. DeMarcus Lawrence is everywhere. NWOSU is everywhere. And you're looking around, you're like, oh, my gosh. They play with their, their, you know, on fire. And here was the deal. It was interesting there. This one should have been a safety. I don't want to say that Mike McDonald lost his mind on this one. They called that forward progress. There was a third and short rule.
- [77:07]
A
And there's a third and short and.
- [77:08]
I
A fourth and short. And the Texans decided. Nick Cayley, the offensive coordinator, said, let's run it both times. The Seattle defense just closed the door. You know, Seattle turned the ball over four times yesterday. They also had a field goal blocked. It didn't seem to hurt them. They were up the Entire time. It's because that defense did not let the Texans do anything on offense.
- [77:27]
A
Yeah. And not doing anything on offense. The Texans. Interesting story, brother. I mean. I mean, it's an interesting story. Just from a couple years back to what we were crowning them. You talk about James, J.J. watt. J.J. watt a couple years ago was like, we got the future. We got 10 years of greatness down here in Houston. They make some moves, they get rid of some people, they lose. Bobby Slowik as the oc They've looked like a very different team. After talking to them and getting to learn about them, what is their thoughts on where they stand right now?
- [77:51]
I
Yeah, we met with CJ Stroud, we met with d' Amico Ryan's Nick Kaylee and Will Anderson in person and Matt Burke, the defensive coordinator in person late Sunday night. So it's like you really get a feel for where they're at and they're hopeful that these young wide receivers. Receivers can step up. I know D. But mentioned earlier that they have the two wide. The two wide receivers from Iowa State that they drafted. And the hope is that, like, maybe.
- [78:16]
D
They'Ll play a role.
- [78:16]
I
Well, they have to play a role now. You're out there and it's Dalton Schultz and Nico Collins, basically the only guys that are established players at the wide receiver or tight end position and the running back spot. Nick Chubb used to be one of the better running backs in the league. He hasn't really done that this year, and it would. Marks is a nice, complimentary player, but, like, without Joe Mixon's leadership out there with Nico Collins hurt, it just didn't feel like they had the weapons. And then you get to the offensive line and it's so young. It's a lot on C.J. stroud, and he's not, you know, he doesn't get no blame in this thing.
- [78:49]
A
He.
- [78:49]
I
He had some passes that maybe that were, you know, on him, but for the most part, you're looking at this offense and you're like, wow, that was a really lopsided situation. That defense in Seattle, that offense in Houston, it might still be enough to win the AFC south and challenge the Colts. We'll shut up. It's not.
- [79:05]
A
It's not too late. It's not too late.
- [79:06]
I
It's not too early to say that the.
- [79:07]
A
Yeah. Two red eyes. You had two red eyes last night. I understand. I understand. Who's in the AFC South? Oh, yeah. The best team in the afc. Yeah. Oh, I forgot about that. I understand. I. I respect where you at because they have been running the AFC south for a long time.
- [79:20]
E
They have.
- [79:20]
A
And then it gets CJ Stroud and it's like they're only going to get better. And then it kind of. It's kind of.
- [79:25]
I
Stroud's won playoff games the last two years. Right. They've gone to the final four of the divi of the conference the last year. So you're like we're going to to take the next step. They move on from Slowik, which I thought was interesting. Nick Kaley comes from the McVeigh Tree, also had eight years with Belichick, so it's like he's going to mesh those two systems. I just didn't get a feel for them last night on offense that they have the, the firepower to compete with a Kansas City, you know, an Indianapolis right now. And of course you go up and down the board of all these AFC teams that are airing it out.
- [79:52]
A
All right, Trace, you're saying right now you're saying a lot of things. I don't have to go back to your Lions. Take after what happened. We'll just skip that entire thing. Okay. And the Dolphins and we won't talk about that. Okay.
- [80:00]
I
So Dolphins was bad.
- [80:01]
A
Yeah. You had a lot of good ones. Those rigs. We're out here live in real time. It's going to happen to us all. But you talk about the Texans defense, here's some Hembo stats. Below is a non comprehensive list of statistics in which the Texans defense leads the NFL. Points per game Points for drive drive score QBR allowed EPA per play Pass EPA which we know EPA matters when you're talking about that. But the Texans defense is real and that is certainly something that d' Amico Ryan's probably has a lot of of pride in. If the offense can get rolling, they get healthy, maybe get some more weapons, maybe. The Houston Texans are all the way back. But welcome to Danny Dimes AFC South. Now Danny Dimes obviously in the Colts on an incredible run right now and to continue for the rest of the season. D but has a question for you. Shra.
- [80:45]
B
Yes. On that note, with the Texans, that defense, that is a reason to be optimistic. It's not just a complete show. You do have one of the best defense in the league, so hopefully they can figure it out. But Shriggs, at this point in the season, what team do you see that can maybe aside from the teams that are already hot, that came out of the gate hot, that can kind of get hot and make a run down the stretch?
- [81:05]
I
Yeah, look you look at the records right now and it's like there's so many good teams. I think someone posted that in the nfc, you know, everyone, there's nine teams that are, you know, half a game apart. You look at the 49ers right now, they're leading the NFC West. If the playoffs were today, they'd be the 2 seed and that's with everyone injured. So you pick it now. They the team that really intrigued me last week and I could easily say The Patriots, they're 5 2. I thought the Bengals found some magic on Thursday night and suddenly it's like if Flacco can throw the ball 23 times to Jamar Chase and complete it 16 times and get six receptions to T. Higgins and they have an offense. That was the plan all along. They were going to outscore you. That's what they did against Pittsburgh. Suddenly you look at the Bengals, they're just three and four. Do we know when Burrows come coming back? Do we know if Burrow is coming back? It might have been just a flash in the pan. But I will promise you this. That trade, they give up a 5th round pick and basically they're paying an extra million dollars here that the Browns don't have to pay to get Joe Flacco. That was not a white flag by any means. That trade for the Bengals was essentially them telling the rest of the league, no, no, no, no, we're not quitting. We see this isn't working and the season's going down the drains and we're swirling around like we've got some fight in us. I thought that might have been the most impressive win of the week. And it happened all the way back on Thursday night. But Flacco suddenly gave life to this team and that's the strength of their team. Higgins and Chase, that's who they pay the money to. So if you're wondering, well, what about the offensive line of the defensive line, it's not a priority as far as getting those guys their balls. And guess what? That's what they did. They outscored the Steelers and they were able to make that very high priced Steelers defense look very mediocre.
- [82:41]
A
You can hear a tone all the way in Hammer dad sign saying, I know, I know. Yep, there it is. Yep, there he is. Absolutely feeling that as you're saying it. And also think about T. Higgins doing that slide at the end of the game so they can go for the game winning field goal. That's a testament to their culture, I think. You know, you talk about them Saying this isn't a white flag. We understand it's not working. We want to keep going. T. Higgins getting paid all that money, having an opportunity to go ahead and maybe hit an incentive, maybe get another touchdown, especially fourth quarter game winning touchdown, potentially against Pittsburgh Steelers. Instead, he slides. I think that it says a lot about the culture they have inside the that building. I'm a fan as well. Now, there was a game that happened on Sunday that has only happened one other time since the 1970s merger and it obviously happened to the New York Giants team, but it happened for the Denver Broncos team. So Denver Broncos, good on you.
- [83:31]
C
That's right.
- [83:31]
A
Good on you. Denver Broncos. That's an incredible display of resiliency and getting back into it. And I don't know if anybody's ever put 33 points up like that in a quarter after looking like such ass the first three quarters. And the answer is no, they haven't. Now, on the flip side of that, have we lost the moxie? Ty has a question for you.
- [83:49]
E
Yeah, Shrigs? What is the temperature? What are the vibes around the Giants right now? Obviously a couple weeks ago, hey, this team's going to the playoffs. You know, we, we might have a Hall of Fame quarterback. And then they have arguably the worst collapse in the history of the NFL. Is everyone still very high on the Giants with Sco and you know, Jackson Dart? And are we thinking, thinking, hey, Dable is going to be safe, he's going to be around. He showed enough the last couple of weeks with Jackson Dart that everything's going to be okay and we're kind of just playing with house money for the rest of the year.
- [84:19]
I
No, Giants fans are depressed. They are completely, you know, you know, in misery form. And knowing my Giants fan friends and knowing people in the New York City area, not only do you have this terrible jets team right now, you have a Giants team that for 55 minutes looked like they were going to go win the super bowl on Sunday and then come completely, you know, gave up everything in the final 10 minutes of this game. It was a historic loss.
- [84:42]
G
This is a team that was good.
- [84:43]
I
Enough to beat the 40 Chargers a couple weeks ago. They were good enough to be up with the Cowboys by, you know, with 13 seconds left, they were good enough to beat the defending super bowl champion. So you think, all right, he got a shot. But then you lose to Spencer Rattler and the Saints and then you lose in this fashion and you wonder, well, what's missing here? They're young, but that's not an excuse up and down the roster. You could say, well, this guy played well, but this guy didn't play well. In the moments that mattered. Then the coaching questions, it's game management. And then at the end, the defense completely giving up 33 points in the fourth quarter of a game that you had them shut out the first three quarters is so inexplicable that I think a lot of Giants fans and even the journalists covering the team are still numb, trying to piece it together.
- [85:30]
A
Together now journalists are numb. You know, that's deep. You know, that is.
- [85:36]
B
Show some grit.
- [85:37]
A
No, they are. They're just. They're shell shocked.
- [85:39]
F
Yeah.
- [85:40]
A
By this journalist. Yeah. It is a quagmire. They're flabbergasted, I believe, by. By the entirety of it, are they not, Ty? What. What are some other predicaments that these journos feel?
- [85:51]
E
Gobsmack? Oh, gosh, maybe you know, right at the top of the list there. Bamboozled, maybe.
- [85:58]
A
Oh, really?
- [85:59]
G
Yeah.
- [85:59]
A
By the Broncos or by their own team there?
- [86:00]
C
Well, it's.
- [86:01]
E
It's actually one of those very rare double bamboozles. You're, you know, you're bamboozled by the Broncos coming back and also bamboozled by your own team who, you know, just at the. At the most important moment, once again, has. Has failed you.
- [86:14]
A
Okay. So do you think they're going to be okay after all the bamboozling and the obviously quagmire and gobsmacking this that's been happening to all the local journalists around the Giants?
- [86:23]
E
Well, it's very interesting because, you know, you got the super bowl championship coming in, and they're going to be red ashed after getting beat, you know, by the Giants just a couple weeks ago. So, in my opinion, you know, d. The. The Bamboozled needs to turn into the Bamboozler. He needs to. He needs to find a way to bamboozle that Philadelphia defense and stymie them once again. And I. I think that's what they're trying to do.
- [86:44]
A
Okay, so he's a good word, too. Yeah, he's a good word. We got journalism over here. Look, that was Ty Pete right there. That. That was an actual journalist, the authority in it all. But you're saying that everybody kind of gobshmacked, if you will, by the loss to the Giant, to the Broncos, which is a good thing, not a bad thing, I think. Well, they also. They gob.
- [87:01]
I
Smacked, whatever. Like, then there's questions. Well, Graham Gano got hurt in, like.
- [87:05]
A
The second week of the season.
- [87:06]
I
You Bring up, you sign young way coup. You're thinking he's going to be the kicker. Then they had, you know, the Irish kid who's number 99. I don't, I, I can't get his name right now. And he missed Jude, Jude McAtonney. He's missed three extra points.
- [87:22]
A
And you're like, should he be kicking.
- [87:23]
I
For an NFL team right now? I don't know. Maybe there should have been another option there. I would imagine a move will be made or that the no is healthy to play Sunday. You can't trot out that same situation. But like there's these little things that like, yes, we love dart and scatter. Boo. And we love the fact that this team responded when Malik neighbors went down and still found a way to win games. But like should, should they be 4 and 2 or 5 and 1? Based on what I just rattled off, like the Saints game, they had five turnovers and five straight possessions against the Cowboys, they were in that same deep prevent defense when they're just head tracking stuff.
- [87:59]
A
Brian Burns really pumped up.
- [88:01]
I
Not happy.
- [88:02]
A
Not happy at all. Yeah, it sounds like a lot of people not happy. And Makatomi, this is life as a kicker, brother. You're going to be okay. I like that he owned it, took accountability for it. And I also appreciate the fact that the Irish lads now, you know, because the international pathway. I saw McQuaid. McQuaid said he's getting some terrible things said about him. It's like, yeah, this is the world of a kicker now. That is the. I don't like it. I want to let somebody should have been a little bit more transparent with the Irish lad saying, hey, you miss a couple of these, they're going to fucking kill you. People get real mean, real mean.
- [88:32]
D
Don't go out for dinner.
- [88:34]
A
You should see these Irish NFL reporters talking about it. They're like, the things they are saying.
- [88:39]
E
70500 km away from his family.
- [88:42]
A
Lads, take it easy on me.
- [88:44]
E
They are.
- [88:45]
A
They're like, he's. They're saying mean things. This guy. It's like, yeah, that it. My daughter will never be a kicker in the NFL or in college. Well, you know, amen. Won't let her.
- [88:55]
C
Okay.
- [88:55]
A
No chance. I think back, whenever we're at the game, I'll watch like a kicker jog out or even a punter jog out. I'm like, yeah, right, dude. Thank God. I don't have to do that anymore. I, I have no idea, idea how that was a chapter of my life. Cuz that McAtomy guy. Such a good story for the NFL.
- [89:10]
C
Yeah, incredible.
- [89:11]
A
Got an Irish. Holy hell.
- [89:13]
I
This is big on the pathway program which they've been promoting so hard everywhere.
- [89:17]
A
Like this is awesome. 33 yard extra point. That's no big deal. And then you just hit it a little bit thin and all of a sudden that thing goes to right and then it's like, get this Irish bastard out of our city. It's like, that's the opposite side of the coin, mate. That's the, that's the other side, lad. They're tough enough for it though. Bounce back, lad. But that's not going to be the first. You know there's going to be a lot of. I think, I think the, the international influence in sport, our sport is going to come through ball kicking sports. So like I, it's been a lot of punters obviously because Australia and Jamie Scottish, which comes from rugby as well. But I think as the soccer players come over, I think there is going to be a little bit of an adjustment to like, hey, these people are expecting you to shut up, make these kicks and if you don't. Yeah, it is, it is game set master. There's only 32 jobs ba.
- [90:07]
D
Yeah, my son had one of those.
- [90:09]
A
I know what you're talking about.
- [90:10]
D
He was in NFL, sure.
- [90:12]
A
For a couple years. Jake was a kicker, right?
- [90:13]
D
Yeah. And kick for Buffalo in Atlanta.
- [90:15]
A
And you thought to yourself every time he went out there, please God make it.
- [90:19]
H
That's nightmare as a parent. That's my worst nightmare as a parent is having my kids.
- [90:22]
D
It was hard in high school, it.
- [90:23]
A
Was hard college and just my mom, my mom in college, there's no way she enjoyed any of the games. Not a single one. I'd go onto the field and it's like this. And I ended up being the all time leading scorer and I still get death threats because of the situation that happened one bad night. Obviously your entire everything is talked about, but every time I want on the field for everything a punt, my mom, please hit a good one, please hit a good one. Then every single field goal, please snap. Good hold, good block, good ball. Go through the uprights, please. And then she'll hear the reaction. Then it's thank God. And it's like she did that. Like when I went to punter, I think she was like, thank God this one is a lot easier.
- [90:58]
B
Tough cuz it's, I mean sports is sports, but it's certain sports and certain moments we're like, okay, all right, your turn. Everybody's looking like golf, like okay, your turn, Your turn, everybody. And it's just Pat.
- [91:09]
I
I'll never forget in Seattle, a wild card round game, Vikings versus Seahawks. I'm the reporter. It's zero degrees out there. Blair Walsh, who had an amazing season, misses that little chippy. I'm the one at the locker. And Blair Walsh has 10 of us, you know, slob journalists with a microphone in his face. And he's had to answer, it is this world class athlete. But it's like that. That's the job. It's a real burden. And even last night, Kiami Firebarn, who's one of the best kickers in football, at the end there, there's a situation where there's 2 minutes, 4 seconds, seconds left. If he kicks it straight out of bounds, the Texans get the ball with a timeout or the. That is a timeout. And they can stop him before the 2 minute warning or if he blasts it through the end zone, they save a timeout, also kicks it into the end zone. D', Amico Ryan's look like he's ready.
- [91:55]
E
To lose his mind.
- [91:56]
I
Like, what are you doing? It's, it's. There's so many thin lines and there's little grace from the fans when it comes to kickers.
- [92:02]
A
Yeah, very little. Especially. We just saw a guy almost break his neck hitting each other. And then you come trotting out here. That's cute. Make the kick, dude. Okay. These guys, and obviously you got to know these kickers feel terrible, okay, because they got to walk into that locker room like everything you guys are saying in support of the other players, those actual other players are in the locker room where he's headed, you know? So it is like you got to look these people in the eye that are sacrificing their bodies for the betterment of everything, and you just trot it out there and just ruined it for everybody. And then you got to be like, so sorry, sorry, lads.
- [92:31]
C
I.
- [92:32]
A
Sorry, lads. And it's tough. They need to start telling these international kids, like, the actual reality of this entire thing. Because McAtomny, I think he'll be strong enough to bounce back, but that's the real life of being a kicker. Now let's move forward. Let's talk about teams that could potentially go and win super bowl. And then we got bye weeks happening already. Go ahead, con man.
- [92:50]
C
Yeah, Shriggs. The Bills are on a buy, so no one's really talking about them anymore. And it feels like everyone's low on them because of their loss in New England, in primetime. But there's still another team that is very good. Even as a Patriots fan, I can foresee a massive Bills run in them winning the AFC East. But right now times seem to be tough. What do you think about Buffalo's chances this year? Do you think it is one of those terrible situations, it's going to be a bad season, or do you think they'll figure it out and eventually go on and, you know, make a run at the Super Bowl? And with that being said too, is there ever a chance that they don't win 10 games and they stay with me, McDermott forever.
- [93:30]
I
Yeah, I mean that I did their last game, their Monday night game against the Falcons where they look like a shell of themselves because of all the injuries. And you get down there in big time moments on third and one and Joe Brady's calling a end around to Elijah Moore and you're like, well, what does that call? And then you look on the field and it's Elijah Moore. Shavers, you know, no. Dalton Kincaid, no. Josh Palmer, he was hurt. And you're like, wait a second, is this, is this the team that we thought was the class of the afc? Or is this team going to have to fight and crawl for everything and just put all on Josh's shoulders? I do think there's too much experience, there's too much history and there's too much talent at that quarterback spot for this team to just fade away. So to me, I have the Bills winning Super bowl this year. I have not changed that pick. I still think the Bills win the super bowl this year and I think it is Josh Allen's time. The buy could not have come at a more perfect time for Buffalo and they're going to come back healthier and I would not be surprised if they come back scorched earth.
- [94:27]
A
What were the records of the teams coming to buy this week?
- [94:30]
C
0 and 2 this week. 4 and 2 on the season now.
- [94:32]
A
Okay, so because they're 40 the first week of buys coming back and then this week they were 0 and 2. Texans, one of those teams, and then now we got the Bills, now we're in by season here, it would suck to be that first week like the Steelers were. I mean, that, that too. Especially with how old that team is. And I don't want to, you know, call them old, but you got a lot of old heads out there. So that being like week five and still having 13 more weeks on the other, that sucks. That, that absolutely sucks for them. Right now is when you get into the time where if it's a buy. It's like, we'll deal with it. This is a reasonable. Too late's not good either.
- [95:01]
B
Nope.
- [95:02]
A
Because then you can work your ass out of contention and not be able to catch up.
- [95:05]
I
I'm curious. Ravens out of the buy is what. Is what I'm fascinated by. Because that was. Well, everyone is. We're all like, oh, yeah, there come the Ravens. But they have been terrible, terrible football team. So why is it. Here comes the Ravens.
- [95:20]
C
Lamar miss yesterday, right? I think Lamar. They're saying Lamar's hamstring still not good.
- [95:24]
A
Because, wait, I thought Lamar was going to play coming out of the buy, which is why Lamar still and AFC north still favorites. Everything like that. We're all saying, wait, hold the phone.
- [95:31]
C
Early in the week, but yeah, yesterday, Monday.
- [95:33]
A
Monday, though. Yeah, Monday. Not a lot happening.
- [95:36]
B
But still.
- [95:37]
I
No, we'll see. I and I and I. You know, I was on get up, I think that Friday morning after the Steelers lost, and I think we all kind of agreed, like, well, here come the Ravens. And when everyone's saying something, it's like, here comes the Ravens.
- [95:48]
A
Why?
- [95:49]
I
I don't. Why? So they'll all get healthy and we'll see, but they need to actually win these games.
- [95:54]
A
Got to watch your tone, Shreks. You got to watch your tone, okay? With your wise.
- [95:58]
D
Okay.
- [95:59]
H
Your dog will be coming for you. Coming for you.
- [96:01]
A
Chuck Pagano. Say hey, Shrek. You know why? Because we're fucking playing football. All right? Take a nap, brother. We appreciate your coverage and your commitment to the game. You're the man.
- [96:10]
G
You are the best.
- [96:11]
I
And Sean the Rain Man Kemp belong songs on that.
- [96:14]
A
Thank you, gang.
- [96:15]
I
Rushmore, the power dunker. Let's go.
- [96:17]
A
He might be on the final rush at Rushmore on X. Available now. You're the best. Ladies and gentlemen, Peter Schrader. Yes. From Shrag's age to one of our favorite sex. You know, we got good sex on this show.
- [96:31]
H
Great sex.
- [96:32]
C
Yeah, we have good sex.
- [96:34]
A
It's all about that good sex. Yeah, that good sex. Hey, what's next? Next? That good. Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for BS or no BS With BA we will make statements of fact that have been said around the NFL and BA Will tell us if it's BS or if it's no BS let's start with the first one. Pittsburgh is a lock to win the AFC North. Obviously. This is fresh off a Thursday night loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. They are a lock to win the AFC North. Aaron Rodgers, our quarterback. They got T.J. watt. Out there. D.K. metcalf, Cam Hayward, Fr Moose Mount Washington and Mike Tomlin. He always has a winning record, and they still have a winning record and have done some special things. Feel like they would say they're ahead of schedule. On the offensive side, with Artie Smith and Aaron kind of finding their groove, Pittsburgh is a lock to win the AFC North. Is that BS or no bsba?
- [97:32]
D
I think that's total bs yeah. Cuz Mike T's worst nightmare, Joe Flacco went to Cincinnati, okay? He was.
- [97:42]
A
He was absolutely right ripping Andrew Barry's ass for that one.
- [97:45]
D
Because Joe Flacco now has a winning record against Mike Tomlin. And that's all Jamar Chase and T. Higgins needed was 33 targets and. And a running game. All of a sudden, the offensive line can block for Cincinnati. They couldn't block two weeks ago.
- [97:58]
A
Isn't that interesting?
- [97:59]
D
It's crazy. All of a sudden, now they're blocking TJ Watt, High Smith, those guys that got close to him and Joe just lit him up. Lit him up. And he did. Joe did so many good veteran moves, like for. For Jamar to get, what, 26 targets. A lot of those were running plays right here. And boom, he's just. Hey, you're one of one Y. We just call that whatever. The run was X hot. All right, Run a slant. Run a. If they're off of you, I'm just going to throw it to you. And he's going to get 5, 6, 8, 10 every time.
- [98:29]
A
And Joe Flacco veteran knows when to do that, when not to do that.
- [98:32]
D
Every single time. Loaded box. Boom. He's one on one. They had a little hand say, don't run a slant or just off coverage. I was throwing it to you. The little single bubble screen.
- [98:40]
A
And he's what they're. For 10 days. That's only going to get better.
- [98:43]
D
He's what Crazy numbers for the. He's. Connor, you got the numbers.
- [98:48]
C
Yeah, he's got like 60 for 92.
- [98:51]
A
For 561 yards, five touchdowns, no interceptions. And it has only been sacked three times in two games. Two games.
- [98:57]
D
That's crazy. We've been there 10 days now. That's just going to get better.
- [99:00]
A
On that note, Joe Flacco going to the Cincinnati Bengals is enough for them to win the AFC North. Are the Cincinnati Bengals now your favorite to win the AFC North? Because the statement was the Pittsburgh Steelers are a lock to win the AFC North. And you said that's. Then you went straight to a Joe Flacco highlight package. Are you saying the Cincinnati Bengals are you to ready north favorites?
- [99:21]
D
I'm not saying they're favorites, but they're a game back and they have the tiebreaker now on the Steelers. So it's just a matter of Steelers better stay ahead of the Bengals because the Bengals ain't going nowhere. They're just going to get better.
- [99:31]
A
So you're saying it's not a lock, brother. And we're just saying no locks.
- [99:34]
D
There ain't no locks in this business.
- [99:35]
A
Let's go to Hammer D. Tone, how's it feel to hear that it's thinking that you guys are a lock to win the AFC north with how that season started.
- [99:43]
E
Yeah, it's tough because it'd be stupid of me to argue with a Super bowl winning head coach. You know, it's. That would be tough. But you know, Joe has always turned.
- [99:53]
A
Back into a pumpkin.
- [99:54]
E
He does always have these flashes, but since the.
- [99:57]
A
Since the 2015 season, which was 10.
- [99:59]
E
Years ago, his record is horrendous. So I'm not worried about the Bengals. I think Steelers will be fine.
- [100:05]
A
Okay, that's Pittsburgh Steelers super fan to dig straight.
- [100:08]
B
NBA on the Bengals.
- [100:09]
A
I know it's a. It's getting a lot. Hey, Joe Flocko, you ain't sneaking in any games anymore. Flat go's ready for year 19, year 20. You're not sneaking in there. Joe Flacco, too. Just having this aura about him of confidence and moxie. I think that helps everybody.
- [100:24]
H
AJ I told you he didn't sweat during the game. I feel like he didn't sweat. Just catch.
- [100:28]
A
Oh.
- [100:28]
H
Just so I just make it look easy.
- [100:30]
G
Like he.
- [100:31]
H
I don't know. You got to show young kids that might have like happy feet in the pocket or, you know, are like just too amped up. Show him, Joe, and be like, I don't know how you get this demeanor obviously through reps, but man, just very impressive. We will see though, I guess if he can keep it up.
- [100:44]
A
Can't say this enough. On the post game interview with Nightcap, which Thursday Night Football does a great job with all of that, Joe Flacco said he had no idea what the plays were. There's multiple plays where he had no idea what was going on and they still did what they did. Obviously, Cincinnati Bengals have a chance. Let's go to the next BS or no BS With BA D Bugs.
- [101:02]
B
Yeah, talk about another team that ain't sneaking up on anybody. The Chiefs are the super bowl favorites and they should be BS or no BS Coach.
- [101:09]
D
I think that's Total bs.
- [101:12]
A
What are you talking about? We saw brand new Chiefs, the third.
- [101:15]
D
Place in their division. They're two games behind Chargers and the Broncos. They got to come back and beat a bunch of folks in their own division to get to get to where they want to go. Now can they? Sure. But if they stay healthy, I just don't think there's any. Any way that there's a lot. Their third place. They're going to fight a long way just to get to the top.
- [101:31]
A
Okay, so let's talk about whenever you see them start to play, be good again though, like when they start putting it together. Rasheed Rice obviously comes back. Added weapon for Patrick Mahomes. Patrick Mahomes looks like two years ago. Patrick Mahomes. As opposed to whenever they turn to the conservative run game. Let's not turn the ball over. Let's let our defense do our thing. Kansas City Chiefs, they've been able to win in a variety of different ways throughout this dynasty. Now it looks like showtime. Patrick Mahomes is all the way back. Sportsbooks got excited as soon as they saw a glimpse of it. He's the favorite for the mvp. And then as soon as they saw it, they go, yep, they're the favorites to win the Super Bowl. In your eyes, you're saying, not so fast, Jack. This is going to be a tough road in that AFC west, which Bo Nix is in there and only getting better and better each week.
- [102:09]
D
Yeah, I mean, if the Chargers can get some guys back, I mean, they've been decimated with injuries and, you know, they. They beat him pretty good and Denver beat them. So it's going to be. It's going to be a dog fight in the AFC west, just like a couple other divisions. But I mean, beating the Raiders by 33 to nothing does. That doesn't impress me at all.
- [102:27]
A
What?
- [102:28]
D
Beating the. Beating Lions the way they beat the Lions, that's that impressive. Okay, that's different. Okay. Now you beat a hell of a football team at your place. Now go on the road and do it.
- [102:37]
A
Okay, so you said, not so fast, my friend. To the Kansas City Chiefs. Even though all of us have fallen in love completely. Let's go to the next BS or no BS With BA Tie.
- [102:46]
E
Yeah, Coach, after last night, a lot of people are saying, hey, is this the Texans offense is in trouble? Is that BS or no BS that's.
- [102:54]
A
No BS this one felt like a layup.
- [102:56]
E
A little bit.
- [102:56]
A
This is a little bit of a layup.
- [102:58]
D
I mean, I don't know what happened to C.J.
- [103:00]
A
Stroud.
- [103:00]
D
I mean, he was the odds on favor to be the MVP for the.
- [103:04]
A
Next 10 years after his rookie year.
- [103:06]
D
And with Bobby Slowik and everything they were doing offensively. And all of a sudden now they Obviously Ms. Larry McTunel, they Ms. Joe Mixon. Guys that were leaders and great players. They haven't replaced them with great players. And with Nico getting hurt, I don't know who the hell he's going to throw the ball to. And they can't run it. They can't run it. And that's the other thing Cincinnati did. Chase Brown had 100, 120 yards rushing. All of a sudden they couldn't get 50 two weeks ago. Now they get 100 yard rusher. That changes everything for a quarterback.
- [103:36]
A
It's crazy what a quarterback can do. AJ Are you completely out on the Houston Texans? Because I tried to watch that game both last night and this morning. That's been my new thing and it was just ugly. It was hard. And I want to, for. I want to say sorry to the Seattle Seahawks. I hope they forgive me because they put on a dominant performance, but nobody in the east coast was up for it. So once again, Seattle Seahawks are kind of getting overlooked or slept on actually in this entire thing. But they, the Houston Texans have not looked great. AJ To BA Point.
- [104:04]
H
Yeah. With how BA Lays it out. Yeah. It makes you. Makes it pretty easy to, I guess to. To be out on the Texans. The only thing that keeps me in though, that defense. I think that defense can play at a high level all year. And if your offense can find something, I don't know what that might be. You still have a chance as long as your defense is still playing a high level.
- [104:19]
A
Yeah. Start running a ball. Classic. Run the ball. Let's go to the last BS or no BS With BA Con man.
- [104:25]
C
Yeah. BA Some people think the AFC West, AFC south, maybe even the NFC West. But is the. Excuse me. The NFC north is the best division in football. Is that BS or no BS sba.
- [104:38]
D
That's no BS Right now would be the west. If the Arizona Cardinals could figure out how to win a game at the end. They've lost five one score games, three on the last play of the game. Then everybody in that division would have a winning record like the north does. The Vikings are a little shaky ground right now at 3 and 3 and. But everybody in that division right now got shot to play go to playoffs. And if the Cardinals could get it going because they're so close, so close each week, then I say the Word. West is the toughest division.
- [105:05]
A
We all love Phoenix, Arizona. Okay. We just talk. Steve Nash, he's part of the thing. We. We compliment.
- [105:10]
C
Incredible place.
- [105:10]
A
We love. We love Arizona as a whole. That Cardinals team, I don't know, man. Just feels like one of those things where. Yep. I just don't think they're going to be good. And I don't like that. I think that. But it's just kind of becoming synonymous. And you talk about the last play of the game and five games are not able to finish it. Look at the rest of that. Five and two. Five and two. Five and two. Two and five. I guess we shouldn't just rule out the Cardinal. And for being bad, maybe they're in an incredible division, you know.
- [105:34]
C
Yeah.
- [105:35]
A
Eight of their games are true against three teams that could potentially, you know, go on and win the whole damn super bowl out there in the NFC West. Little cannibalism potentially in the NFC West. And then the fact that the NFC north now is what it is is obviously a spectacular testament to what the Lions have been able to do. Ben Johnson is doing with the Chicago Chicago Bears and obviously KOC trying to figure it out whenever they got quarterback questions.
- [105:59]
C
Yeah. But to your point, just about the Cardinals, like you have that thought towards them and maybe it's because the Patriots played the Saints. Like, I feel better about the Saints than I do about the Arizona Cardinals. In this, in the Saints, there's really not too much you can look at and be like, they're great. But Rattler is. Is kind of. Is kind of electric and like Kelly Moe. I personally had no faith in Kelly Moe. But then you watch them play and it's like, oh, shit. They're actually like playing their fucking asses off. And I'm not saying the Cardinals aren't doing that. They are. They're in all these games. It's just they don't.
- [106:31]
A
The Saints really coming into the season, nobody had any high hopes for him. You're saying they're playing their balls off still for them, for Kelly Mo, which is good to establish the culture. I think they also have some salary cap stuff. So I think it was like a projected couple year thing for the Saints. So them being 1 and 6, not a surprise. The Cardinals having Kyler, paying Kyler and then having another year with Marvin Harrison Jr. And everything like that. It's like, at what point are they going to. You know, at what point is all the plans going to be the.
- [106:54]
E
Well, that, that's. That's the biggest thing because like it's pretty evident after the last two weeks. I mean like the, the Cardinals gave the Colts everything they could, like everything on the road. Damn near beat them. And then Kobe and then they look great against the Packers. So it's not. This is like, I mean, if you've watched the games, you, Jacobe Brissette has made them look like 10 times better of a team than when Kyler is playing. And like that, that's not good when he's supposed to be your franchise quarterback. So like, if they do want to win these games, like, it's tough to. They probably will go back to Kyler. But clearly Jacobe has been the, the better guy for them this year.
- [107:27]
A
I'm a fan of Kyler Murray. Okay. Anybody that's that athletic and that successful in sports, I am a fan of the amount of time that he has had to commit to sports throughout his life. To be a top 10 pick in baseball and a top 10 pick obviously in football is incredibly impressive. But at this point it's sort. I'm sorry, I want like what his baseball career been a lot better than the football careers. Right. I'm not saying that it can't be. Still, he's still young man, he still got a lot of opportunity and everything like that. But it is, it's crazy to think that always, like, what if. I wonder if he does that ever. AJ I wonder if he ever does that.
- [107:59]
H
Remember the whole hoopla when he was coming out, like when he was getting drafted, like the whole baseball situation. He wouldn't really answer it, but yeah, he was. Was He a top 10 pick? I know he's first round pick.
- [108:07]
E
He was a top 10 pick.
- [108:08]
B
Nice. Nicer.
- [108:09]
E
Yeah. And baseball and actually, actually like if, if he wouldn't have got drafted by the A's who are, you know, like parentally, just like kind of a shitty franchise. Like if it would have been one of these teams who has a massive payroll, like, I wonder if that decision might have been muddied a little bit more.
- [108:23]
A
Yeah. Because he's got a hose, right?
- [108:25]
E
Yes.
- [108:25]
A
This guy's got an absolute hose.
- [108:27]
E
He's a great hitter too.
- [108:28]
A
Yeah. I heard he can hit the curveball. Yeah, he can see it in there.
- [108:31]
E
He can also hit the fastball.
- [108:32]
B
Yeah. Only player ever drafted first round in both. And we know all these great athletes that's come through and been able to. Able to be drafted, like, obviously. And it'll always be the what if. Even Deion Sanders, first battle hall of Famer, greatest cornerback ever. He always talks about what If I would have committed to baseball. I like baseball more. Jordan, the greatest basketball player ever retired and went and played baseball. So it'll definitely always be the what if. But I feel like it's always the what if or it's always something. With Arizona we talking about being in these games and even if you just look at that division as a whole, like everybody in that division kind of could you. They have excuses like San Fran, they're injured. Most of their. A lot of their top tier players, including their starting quarterback hurt. New head coach, new quarterback, new. A bunch of things in Seattle, Louisiana. Coming into last year, nobody had them on the radar to go as far as they did. But every year these coaches and these teams, they find a way to win. And we always say in the NFL you are what your record is. You know, it's a one possession league. We know that. It's a lot of games that come close to it. Will that quarterback and team marriage happen? We all remember the contract and the language that was in college contract that made a big stink about it. I think they changed it, but it's always going to be that what if. I'm very interested to see how it plays out. But I think we all can kind of see what's coming down the track.
- [109:46]
D
Yeah. Because I mean they took Seattle and San Francisco to the last play of the game and lose on a kick and it's just really one bounce of the ball and they could be four and three.
- [109:55]
B
Yeah.
- [109:56]
D
And in the hunt. And so they're not a bad football team. And I do agree they're playing better with Jacoby. I mean Jacoby is. He knows where he's going. He's lighting it up and I don't know where they go when color gets healthy.
- [110:09]
A
Oh, that seemed like pretty deep. They paid him a lot of money. Jacoby's great leader. When Jacoby was a backup quarterback here for the Indianapolis Colts, I think he was one calling team meetings. I think he comes from the Parcells tuna tree of leadership and everything like that. We are big fans of Jacoby around here. I was trying to get the mvp. You were. But for the Indianapolis Colts now I don't think, you know, he's necessarily winning one of BA's game balls. Okay, we started this seg last week. Who are your two game ball award winners? BA from week seven of the NFL football season.
- [110:40]
D
Well, the first one for me is a no brainer. That's Joe Flacco.
- [110:42]
E
I love.
- [110:43]
C
Yes.
- [110:43]
E
Yeah.
- [110:44]
A
What he did in that game on.
- [110:45]
D
Thursday night and again only been there 10 days not knowing half the down plays and. And just lighten up. What is a great defense in the Steelers and to have 33 targets to those two guys is amazing.
- [110:58]
A
I think. What else is amazing? BA coach for the Steelers for a long time. Hear the way he's talking about them. Tomlin, obviously. Steelers long time. You hear the way he's talking about. The only people that aren't talking about Joe Flacco like this are people that didn't have to play his ass two times a year. It was really, really important. Right, right.
- [111:13]
D
Because he can still spin it, man. And then NFC is Christian McHale. I mean, boy, there's a hell of an argument right now who the best back in the NFL is. We talked about Bijan a lot last week and we saw Jamar Gibbs last night, but man, Christian McCaffrey, he never goes away. I mean, 63% of their offense was him.
- [111:29]
A
Yes. That was a record for the year, actually. Most by one player on a team. For any of the teams this year he's on pace to have I think like 1200, both rushing and receiving. This is exactly what they were missing last year when Christian McCaffrey got hurt four, four days before the game, game started. What do you think, Christian? Can he continue this? Can this be a year long thing for Christian McAffrey?
- [111:50]
D
Yeah, as long as those guys up front stay healthy. Now they got Kiddo back, who's one of the best blocking tight ends and receiving tight ends and, and Jersey, all those guys, if they just stay healthy, they can start getting a couple wide receivers back. All right. M. Jones is carrying them right now, playing his ass off.
- [112:04]
A
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
- [112:04]
E
All right.
- [112:05]
D
But Brock Pry will be back soon. Okay.
- [112:07]
A
Okay. Do you think that's a big potential?
- [112:12]
D
No, I think, I think they're sold on Brock.
- [112:14]
A
200 million or something like that.
- [112:16]
D
Yeah, it's. That's a lot of cash.
- [112:17]
A
That is a lot of cash. Good thing that Max getting them wins though. And obviously when Brock Pie comes back, we'll be excited to see him. But that is an interesting situation brewing.
- [112:25]
C
Yeah. On the.
- [112:26]
A
Which is a good one, by the way. Not a bad.
- [112:27]
D
I got to give John lynch credit, man. He's had a hell of a backup quarterback for the two last two or three years. You know, went got Sam. They've always got a guy that's either number one pick or first round pick as the backup.
- [112:38]
A
He's franchise quarterback maker out there. John lynch, you know, like Saban would have coaches come into his tree. They'd get a head coaching gig, obviously. Baker Mayfield's turning offensive coordinators into head coaches. Might do that again this year. And then John lynch, you come in as a backup quarterback. Kyle Shannon coming as a backup quarterback. You're going to go take over a franchise after this. You're welcome. Congratulations. That's a beautiful thing to be having over there.
- [112:58]
C
Yeah, incredible. And having CMC to kind of wrap the whole thing together is even better. Kittle said Shanahan told the entire team. Team like, hey, the game plan is Christian McCaffrey. This is going to be a Christian McCaffrey game. Like, what does that mean when you're a head coach telling your team something like that?
- [113:11]
D
It's five star game, baby.
- [113:13]
B
Yep.
- [113:14]
D
And the five stars, he's getting the rock every way we can get it to him. And they are. They're. They're struggling at wide receiver, you know, and having KD back help. But, man, he put on a show in this game. It's fun to watch.
- [113:27]
C
They haven't been able to run the ball all year, really, till this game.
- [113:30]
D
Is that kiddo makes a big. When you can block the edge, it just changes the whole running game whatsoever if you're stuck between the tackles and they can condense you all day long. But when you can block the edge, stretch it and hit the middle, that's hard to defend.
- [113:44]
A
The five star game is one of ba speeches. You know, there's five stars, there's the other guys, okay. Sometimes the five stars kind of counter each other. Okay? This ain't about the five stars. They're all going to kind of counteract each other. You other guys going to have to win this game.
- [113:58]
B
Okay?
- [113:58]
A
That is the speech. And then whenever it's a five star game, it's like, hey, our guys are better than their guys. Our guys got to go win the game. Pretty simple strategy and motive. And the message gets through very clear to the team. It's like, all right, these are the guys. We'll continue digitally. We have an entire conversation with the state of the NBA with commissioner Adam Silver, and also more breakdown of the news. That's A.J. i'm Pat. We'll see you tomorrow. Goodbye. I think it was off like half a second, second. And on that note, I feel like we really hit a home run there. It did. We were covering something. Not just me. We were covering something there until about 17 seconds before the hard out. That was great work by. Yeah, you're a TV host.
- [114:35]
E
You are.
- [114:36]
A
Do you know that? You're a TV host out here? Brother, you're killing it. Absolutely crushing. We're giving out game balls to people.
- [114:42]
D
Love it, bro. You. How about this?
- [114:44]
A
Joe Flacco?
- [114:45]
E
It's the best thing ever.
- [114:47]
A
It really is.
- [114:48]
E
Yeah.
- [114:48]
A
We are fans of Joe Flacco.
- [114:49]
I
Yes.
- [114:50]
C
Oh, yeah.
- [114:50]
A
So, like, we obviously love everything that's happening. Let's go to hammer down time. Tone, whenever Joe Flacco gets traded, the Cincinnati Bengals, your immediate reaction was to tie to stop being so dramatic. It's not the Sunday game that's the problem. It's the Thursday game that is going to be the problem. That was certainly the case for the Pittsburgh Steelers. But as Pittsburgh Steelers fans, you don't have the same fear that it sounds like Steelers coaches have of the big bad Joe Flacco coming in and doing his thing and he AFC North.
- [115:18]
E
No, because, I mean, I've watched him turn the ball over a million times to the Steelers in the playoffs and.
- [115:23]
C
And he.
- [115:24]
H
He never had Jamar and T, though.
- [115:25]
B
He never.
- [115:26]
H
He was never thrown at Jamar and.
- [115:27]
A
T. I didn't know that.
- [115:28]
E
That's a good point.
- [115:28]
A
I. I just.
- [115:29]
E
I just realized that.
- [115:31]
A
So, yeah, I am worried then. Sounds like he's a little bitter, but.
- [115:36]
H
Yeah, I think he might be.
- [115:38]
A
A lot of errors headed up there at Andrew Barry, man, what the are you doing? And Andrew Berry's like, that's why I did it. Pittsburgh's up in arms. Sorry about it.
- [115:46]
D
A rather screw the Browns than help the Bengals. This. Excuse me, the Steelers. The Browns are all about the Steelers. All right. It ain't got nothing to do. Bengals there are buddies. They're down.
- [115:58]
A
They're down the road down there.
- [115:59]
D
Hey, let's help them. The Steelers.
- [116:01]
A
Okay, that does feel like that was kind of the move.
- [116:03]
C
Oh, yeah.
- [116:04]
A
And it started with paying Miles Garrett $40 million. Starts with paying a quarterback $230 million, then trading a starter in the division just to try to take down the. It does feel like there is a little bit of a. From ownership down the Andrew Barrett. Hey, if you want to. If it grinds the gears a little bit, the Pittsburgh Steelers, we're okay with that. That is okay. And once again, that's great for football. Cities are doing that to each other. We love everything that's AFC north football, literally, in a nutshell.
- [116:31]
C
Yeah. Another great kind of in this, you know, conversation when it comes to quarter quarterbacks like this. I mean, Andy Dalton going for the Panthers at home against Buffalo after he. Andy Dalton got Buffalo into the playoffs all those years ago by beating the Ravens. And not to Mention Brandon Bean. And most of their front office comes from Carolina. Like the older quarterback, like Joe Flacco, Aaron Rodgers and Andy Dalton are starting football games in 2025 next week. Like that is insane to think about.
- [117:01]
A
It's a great time to be alive.
- [117:06]
G
You ever show up late to the game and your friends already saved your.
- [117:08]
B
Seat, your drink, even a plate that's.
- [117:11]
G
Looking out, that's having your back. And that's exactly what AT&T does with the AT T guarantee.
- [117:17]
A
They know staying connected matters.
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G
That's why AT&T has connectivity you depend on. Guaranteed.
- [117:24]
A
Or they'll proactively make it right.
- [117:26]
G
Just like that friend who takes care.
- [117:28]
A
Of things before you even ask. AT&T connecting changes everything. Terms and conditions apply.
- [117:34]
G
Visit att.comguarantee for details.
- [117:37]
E
This is Kevin Clark for Manscaped. Fellas, it's time to step up your grooming game.
- [117:43]
A
All right? I do this show three times a week.
- [117:46]
E
Every single time, I have to take.
- [117:49]
A
Grooming very, very seriously.
- [117:51]
E
Look back in the archives, guys. Look back and see the awful mustache I was trying to trot out last spring. I hate it. The other day I recirculated an interview with Drake May. I wanted to CGI it. I wanted to CGI the mustache out.
- [118:07]
A
I wanted to AI it. I couldn't.
- [118:09]
E
The mustache was there. And now I've got a nice little stubble, perfect length. Gonna have this for the rest of my life. Okay?
- [118:18]
A
Very, very, very important. It's a part of confidence. It's a part of looking good. It's a part of being on TV.
- [118:25]
I
Manscaped just leveled up with the lawnmower.
- [118:28]
E
5 and the chairman. Plus two powerhouses built for unmatched precision, comfort and control.
- [118:34]
A
Whether you're cleaning up before a night out, preparing for a big meeting, or.
- [118:37]
E
Getting ready for game day, Manscaped has.
- [118:39]
A
The tools to help you look and feel your absolute best. These aren't your old school clippers.
- [118:44]
E
They're engineered for modern men who take.
- [118:46]
A
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- [118:48]
E
So upgrade your grooming gear and experience a difference. And now you can find Manscape products at your local Walmart.
- [118:58]
A
Hello, beautiful people, and welcome back to our humble abode, the Thunderdome. On this BA day, October 21, 2025, power three of the program begins now.
- [119:11]
E
Football.
- [119:12]
A
That's 47 year football coach. BA obviously with a great cadence there. That's A.J.
- [119:18]
E
Hawk.
- [119:19]
A
You know, we haven't talked about it, so I think now is a good time to talk about it. AJ's hair looks cool.
- [119:26]
E
It does.
- [119:27]
A
AJ, your hair looks Cool. Have you figured out what you're going to do? Is this what you're going to do with it going forward? Because you used to be scalp to straight back then you changed your face completely with a whole new. We're growing this thing out. Thought maybe you're going back to draft talker. Going back to all time leading tackler for the pack. Hackers, Hawker. Long hair. Then you start shaping a little bit. We want to let you know we think it looks very good. You should be incredibly confident with what's going on on your head right now.
- [119:51]
H
Oh, thank you. Yeah, I don't know. Who knows? I haven't put much thought until I just get a little, little low fade now and we'll see what happens. Who knows?
- [119:57]
A
I like that age got barber. You got a routine. You go low fade, shave the face up a little bit. I'll live your life.
- [120:05]
D
Yeah, of course.
- [120:06]
H
I, I mean you, you. I know you've been shaving your face lately. That's a thing now a new thing for you. Do you actually use like a razor like old, like like our dads used to do back in the day?
- [120:13]
A
No, I got that metal. The foil okay. Yeah, yeah, the, the zero foil.
- [120:19]
F
Yeah.
- [120:19]
H
I use hair. I just use hair clippers on mine.
- [120:21]
A
I used to use the hair clippers just straight across. Yeah, yeah, so I used to do that but it was always like little stabby. This one gets it down to like your baby's babies. Fresh, you know, smooth in there. Could do it in the shower too. Take that thing into the shower. Goes like that. Tough to get some spots as a new, new shaver. Not really. This is very difficult here. It's kind of. I don't know how you guys do it. I'm gonna be honest. I still yet to accomplish it. Every once in a while there'll be like a 7pm shadow. Not even a 5 o'. Clock. Shatter both my jaws. Then I start thinking to myself, wait, does it actually give me a little bit more of a jawline in my shading myself shadows? Yeah, by adding the shadow. So then I started telling myself don't even worry about shaving it. And then I started looking like an asshole. So it's a whole move. It's a whole new world for me doing the shaving. But I am, I'm enjoying the process. I do like it. I mean never doing it before it like kind of gives. Once I become a fat ass again. Post holidays probably won't see you see the beard be back. But right now it's been Nice to have a little baby face the talks tables here at Boss of Connor at Tyschmitt. Con man basketball starts this season. Good luck to your Celtics and good luck to all the boys trying to go ahead and get to the top of the Commissioners cup first and then to the NBA. Tyson at the end of the season.
- [121:30]
C
Yeah, it'll be cool for the other teams. I think for both of us, both the Pacers and the Celtics. It's a little bit of we'll see what happens type season. But like Kevin Durant on the Rockets, I am pumped to see what that's all about tonight. I think that'll be pretty sweet. And then, you know, the other one with Jimmy Butler. Jimmy Butler full season with Golden State tonight. It'll kind of be the start of their new era with those guys. It'll be a good season.
- [121:51]
A
There's the odds on favorite, the Oklahoma City Thunder. Who are the reigning champions or the favorites to do again. They paid everybody that was on their team. They're all back. And obviously Oklahoma City has proven, proven to be an incredible home court advantage as well with the way they got it going, plus 200 to win the championship. Cavs plus 650. Nugs, Knicks, Rockets, Lakers, Clippers, Timberwolves, Orlando, Magic in the warriors round out the top 10. And the Celtics still sitting there pretty because they got Missoula and they just put on a clinic against the media, the coaches.
- [122:20]
C
Yeah, if you're gonna bet on them, it's kind of a cash out situation. You can get them at really good odds there. Missoula and James Jalen Brown will help him, you know, win a bunch of games. Then Tatum will come back and those odds will change drastically. So you should bet on it and then cash out of it.
- [122:32]
A
Yeah, they're talking about Tatum coming back. Crazy because the initial reports like, he's done, he's done. He's done, he's done. And he's like, I never said that.
- [122:38]
C
Yeah, exactly.
- [122:39]
B
Wild.
- [122:40]
A
It's crazy.
- [122:40]
H
How many, how many months would the playoffs be?
- [122:42]
D
Sorry?
- [122:42]
H
How many months would the playoffs be from post surgery?
- [122:45]
C
From post surgery? Yeah, it'd be. Yeah, 10, 11 months, I think.
- [122:48]
B
All right.
- [122:48]
A
I think was the number I saw was 10 months because I'm watching it obviously, because Tyrese is like two months behind. So, like, what we, you know, like daughter's two years old. When out and about, you see a kid and the kid's like 3 years old. I've always asked, like, hey, how old is your child here? Three. Okay. So I'm watching. Okay, so that's where she's headed to, you know, because there's, like, little steps in that whole thing. Same thing with Tyrese and Tatum. I'll see something. A video come out of Tatum. I'm like, okay, immediately call Tyrese. Hey, are we working on getting it stained? Landing, dunking like Tatum is able to do right now? He's like, yeah, I'm moving, you know, so he's probably chasing that as well. I assume they're in constant contact, but it's crazy with the Achilles that it's still just assumed like, hey, you're going to be out for a long time. And I think the worst part of it is you can move a little bit, and that's like a part of the problem. Like, no, you really can't. And we're seeing Aaron kind of come back from now, like, two years later. Kevin Durant was able to bounce back quick, I think is what everybody kind of hopes for, especially as a older player, superstar player, and he continued that. That level. The Achilles is difficult, though. I think it's a tough one, obviously.
- [123:51]
B
Absolutely. Especially for these big guys who got to run on hardwood for however many games a year. But with those odds, I'm surprised the Mavericks are so low with. We know Kyrie's, you know, he. He'll be. Won't be starting off the season healthy, but number one pick, you got Anthony Davis there. You got some depth. And are they behind the Boston Celtics?
- [124:09]
C
Yeah.
- [124:10]
B
Am I saying that correct?
- [124:11]
A
Longer odds than the Celtics. Surprising to me once again. Missoula will take Cooper flag, and, I mean, he'll break his back and choke him out of here.
- [124:20]
C
Yeah.
- [124:20]
B
Jalen Brown.
- [124:21]
C
He said if him and Jalen Brown were getting a fight, who would win? He'd say, oh, I don't know, because we both die. Because I'm not dying alone.
- [124:26]
A
Okay.
- [124:27]
B
He'd be one see NBA coaches, I think, for sure.
- [124:31]
G
Oh, yeah.
- [124:31]
A
Interesting. Carlisle has real killer vibes, though.
- [124:35]
E
Yes, he does go.
- [124:36]
A
Yeah. Like, he. He would pretend kind of the McDonald feel.
- [124:39]
C
Sure.
- [124:40]
A
Missoula's out there. JJ Redick.
- [124:43]
D
Who. Yeah.
- [124:44]
B
Bit of a dog.
- [124:45]
A
JJ Redick will fight till death. I think if we had to put.
- [124:48]
E
A. I'm guessing Coach Spo is just very scrappy.
- [124:51]
C
Yeah.
- [124:52]
A
No team of USA coach, so I would hope that he would be willing to go to a day. You know, I think we're good. We don't give enough credit to the toughness of basketball players. Let's not get crazy. Okay. Let's not get it let's not outdo ourselves here, but I think there is a little bit more to that league than just a bunch of divas that don't work hard. And I'm thankful for this season to get going and maybe the Pacers are able to figure it out. Obviously Coach BA is here. There's some news coming out of the NFL world because the owners are having their meetings right now, which I don't think we knew about. We should have been on top of that. We apologize. Woody Johnson was asked about the state of the jets and the state of his head coach, Aaron Glenn, in his first year here. And obviously, as you recall, Aaron Rodgers this past offseason flew from Los Angeles to New Jersey to meet with the new head coach and gm and the way he tells the story is that thing ended before it even started. Aaron Glenn said, we're going a different direction. Basically kicked him out of the building. And Aaron said, what the fuck I fly out of here for? He could have told me this on the phone. Now Aaron Glenn, obviously after a rough start with the New York jets, is getting a lot of heat, a lot of conversation. Woody Johnson was tasked with asking some questions or answering some questions. Here's what he had to say. From Tom Rock at Newsday Sports.
- [126:00]
F
What's your confidence level in Aaron to turn it around?
- [126:05]
D
It looks like he's turning around parts of it. You know, it's hard when you have a quarterback with, you know, with a rating that we've got, you know, I mean, he has the ability, but something just is not jiving. But if you look at any head.
- [126:21]
G
Coach of the quarterback like that, you're.
- [126:22]
D
Going to see similar results.
- [126:23]
A
If you go across the league, you.
- [126:26]
D
Have to play consistently with, you know, at that position and, and that's what we're going to try to do for the remainder of the season. So what gives you hope then? I just think defense, special teams are doing better. Defense is pretty good and we can.
- [126:46]
A
Just complete a pass.
- [126:48]
D
It would look good. You know, we got a complete surprise. You got to convince them that you can do something. Otherwise it's hard to have, you know, have a game that you could win.
- [126:59]
E
What do you say to the fans who've lost hope?
- [127:01]
A
I mean, I know it's really. So yeah. What do you want this guy to do? Our quarterback stinks is kind of what.
- [127:10]
H
Would he real vote of confidence there for the QB? Man, that's tough.
- [127:12]
A
Paid him 20 million a year. You got to be to able, able to just complete a pass, you know, like that. Is something you got to be able to give confidence to the coaches in calling it. And we appreciate that in real time being reported from the owner's meetings. But yeah, I appreciate the fact that Woody Johnson's like, you guys think Aaron Glenn's a problem? Fucking look at the quarterback that I paid $20 million a year after we kicked Aaron Rogers out of here. That's an interesting dilemma, but I think it is the truth that we're all kind of seeing with this jets team. But it's tough coming from ownership is probably how Justin Fields this feeling.
- [127:41]
H
Yeah, I, I guess. What were expectations for the jets coming into this year? Like, okay, somehow if they would have, if they had won one or two games so far this year, would we be okay? And people wouldn't be questioning his job or what?
- [127:51]
A
Paid Garrett Wilson, paid Justin Fields 20 million, paid sauce Gardner have a good defense. Aaron Glenn's coming in, we assume, with a brand new mindset for the entire building. They were obviously very focused on turning that place around and trying to become, become a contender and a winner. And then it's just same old jets stuff, I think is what jets fans would say. But I would like to say, okay, even though Aaron Rodgers Tuesday was something that we were very lucky to be a part of, we didn't mind Aaron Glenn moving on from Aaron Rodgers. We didn't mind the decision to kind of go ahead and have your own team. So I think it's going to take a couple years, obviously to have to change a culture at a place, but I think everybody was hoping that they'd be able to do it quicker. What are your thoughts on what Woody Johnson said there about the reality of the Jetsey?
- [128:34]
D
It's, it's going to be hard to go in that locker room right now as the owner and, and look at your quarterback, if he's still the quarterback. I would think they're going with Tyrod Taylor the rest of the year. Yeah, I mean, after that. After that for sure. Tyrod just about beat the Bucs a couple weeks ago down in Tampa. Last second field goal when the Bucs win. The jets are close, they're getting closer. And I like what he said. Defense, special teams, they're doing a better job, but they gotta let Tyrod go the rest of the year.
- [129:01]
A
Rap Sheet reported another quote coming from Woody. I do believe in Aaron. If I were a player, I'd respond to him. There's no bs, there's no agendas. Aaron Glenn's trying to bring a whole new culture to the Jets. How do you feel about what just happened there?
- [129:13]
B
I mean, that was tough to hear, to hear that from, like, everything BA Said it'd be tough. I mean, it's the. He's still owning the team, so he's not going anywhere. But speaking on your quarterback like that, the guy you just paid, that's rough. But to you guys, point, the defense have given up, what, 13 points back to back week. So that's something to build on. And defense, at some point, that's going to wear. The bad offense is going to wear on your defense as well. So they got to figure it out offensively. And this. It's been a show in New York for a long, long time. I don't know who was recording this kid, but somebody caught this poor kid walking out of a Jets game, and he was like, man, I was born in this. I'll be a Jets fan for the rest of my life. But it's Is. Is horrible. And that's been the state of the jets for a long, long time. So it'll take some time to figure it out. But at this point, what's today's day? October 21st. I still believe in Aaron Glenn. I'll give him some time.
- [130:01]
A
Me, too. Me too. Aju yeah, you got the guy.
- [130:05]
H
You got to have at least a season and an offseason, figure things out. Yeah, that was sick.
- [130:11]
A
We need a little bit more of those. Yeah. You know, but we've seen this team, this organization. Organization sucked the soul out of somebody. Robert Sala didn't smile for five years, okay. And he was the guy that was all over the field for the San Francisco 49ers, and he's back. So I like seeing that from Aaron Glenn, but he knew what he was signing up for. He took the New York jets coaching job.
- [130:30]
E
Yeah, exactly.
- [130:31]
C
Okay.
- [130:31]
A
He knew exactly what he was signing up for, you would assume. And Tyrod Taylor, much like Joe Flacco, he'll do it. And there's a reason why he's still in the league right now. Like, everybody talks about these older players. Oh, why they have these older. Because these are good at football, like. And they also know a lot about it. So if the jets are able to somehow maintain on the offensive side and their defense and special teams are able to do some Aaron Glenn steals, some wins, goes into the off season, everything's on the up and up. Let's find our quarterback for the future. Let's go ahead and do this, and the jets fans will all be all the way back. Michael Cole. Yeah. We got our Culture back. We're a tough team. You see Aaron Glenn, that's. And then I. I fear you're right. Then I fear that next year comes, and then all of a sudden it'll be some new that they'll figure out. And that's what jets fans fear as well. There's just always some new that's going to come down from the clouds and rain on the New York Jets. Success is how jets fans feel. That's going to be a tough culture to change, brother. That's gonna be a tough culture.
- [131:28]
H
Really change. It takes. It takes some time. I'm wondering, how's Greenie doing? Is Greeny all right? Like, have we checked on him lately with the Jet? He just completely just give up?
- [131:35]
E
I think he's backed it in.
- [131:36]
C
Yeah.
- [131:36]
F
This is normal.
- [131:37]
C
This is normal. Just.
- [131:38]
A
Could you imagine him listening to that Woody Johnson quote there for the first time?
- [131:42]
C
Yeah.
- [131:42]
A
Do we have to say that? I don't know if we have to say that. You know, like, there's some things we probably don't have to say publicly, but I guess that's one of them that we just need to let fly is the ownership of the New York jets, which a lot of people have brought into question. People said ownership is part of the problem, and we're not going to say that this particular answer is part of the problem. But we do know you're not hearing other owners throw the quarterback back under the bus in most situations.
- [132:03]
E
Certainly not.
- [132:04]
A
So that's certainly an outlier.
- [132:06]
C
Yeah. And that's the thing about when they signed Fields. It wasn't like, oh, this is stupid. Like, Fields won a bunch of games for the Steelers last year, so you kind of thought that they were going to go with the running offense, drain the clock, and then, you know, it turns out they're trying to throw it and they can. And, you know, maybe this is an MCDC umbrella type thing.
- [132:21]
A
They.
- [132:21]
C
Any really, really poopy organization you go to, it's going to take some time. Ben Johnson will be the outlier. Cause, you know, that setup was kind of perfect for him.
- [132:29]
E
We also probably should have known when multiple people came on the show and they said that the jets formula for winning every game was like, they got to win 1310 every single week. Like, they got to play from ahead. They're. If they're down by 10 points, they're going to be screwed because they can't, you know, throw the ball the way that they're going to want. It's like, the NFL's not like that. We had teams scoring 30 to 40 points every week, so it wasn't exactly a stroke of confidence going into the season. But it's New York, so you know, know people get excited.
- [132:56]
A
How's Greeny feeling? Well, we have some tweets from him during games. For the second consecutive week, Aaron Glenn chose to let the half end without attempting Hail Mary. Well, the team that didn't score a touchdown in either game, it's inexcusable. Hashtag Jets. Seems like Green. He's already on his way out of this whole thing. And Woody Johnson's reading his tweets. I agree, man, but what. What do you want him to do? The guy can't complete a pass. The guy can't. You think we're gonna need a hail Mary? Every throw is a hail Mary. We're running bubble screams and we're calling them Hail Marys. Over there with John Justin Fields. Good luck to the jets and Justin Fields. Don't worry about it. He's paying you check with cash.
- [133:26]
B
When's the last time jets have been like good, sustained. I know.
- [133:29]
C
Rex.
- [133:30]
A
September 11, 2023.
- [133:34]
E
Yes.
- [133:35]
A
First four games or four plays. Do you remember that?
- [133:39]
B
I do.
- [133:40]
A
The entrance.
- [133:41]
B
That was sweet.
- [133:42]
A
They were good.
- [133:43]
C
Yeah, yeah, it was Fitz Magic, 2015. Brandon Marshall, Eric Decker. That was the last time. I think they won 10 games or nine games. And it was Todd Bulls, I think.
- [133:52]
A
How about you? During your 47 years of coaching, 27 in the NFL, how many of those decades were the jets like good.
- [134:00]
D
Two at least.
- [134:01]
A
Do you remember like a.
- [134:04]
B
Curtis Martin.
- [134:07]
H
Had a little run.
- [134:07]
D
Curtis Martin, all those guys and Vinnie.
- [134:09]
C
Rex Ryan.
- [134:12]
D
Yeah, we played him in the championship game in Pittsburgh.
- [134:15]
A
Yeah, we played Doug.
- [134:16]
D
Dougie o' Brien missed that field goal.
- [134:19]
A
Oh, yeah.
- [134:20]
D
Who it was Herm Edwards. Yeah.
- [134:22]
A
Who who missed the field goal?
- [134:23]
D
Doug o'.
- [134:23]
A
Brien.
- [134:23]
D
Doug Bryan.
- [134:24]
A
I don't remember him.
- [134:25]
D
He was kicker for the Saints and was up at the at jets and it was like 10 below zero and. And we end up winning that game.
- [134:33]
A
Rex Ryan had them rolling.
- [134:36]
F
I think that was Herm.
- [134:37]
D
I think her was head coach that year. So her midwards.
- [134:40]
A
So you need somebody that's pretty, you know, feels like have to take on that entire thing. You talk about Herm, obviously very.
- [134:48]
D
What would that why you play the game, baby?
- [134:50]
A
Extrovert. I think he's a good extrovert. Rex Ryan, obviously big time extra. Aaron Glenn has a lot of dog mentalities. Feels like that might be the style of coach that you need to be able to win at the Jets. That Rex Ryan run was fun. That was a fun time.
- [135:04]
B
That was ground and brown, ground and brown pounding defense. They had a great defense week in and week. That was the year actually as a PA that was second year with 14 and 13. They can't wait that moment. It came into New England one and then went to the AFC Championship. But you know that was a few years and then you talked about Curtis Martin in that era back then. But like as far as like sustained, you know the Giants, you know they had, they have a run now where it's been a show. But we all can remember when the Giants and won a couple Super Bowls, didn't their things like the jets, man, it's been a long, long time.
- [135:35]
A
On that note, Nick mangled pulling for you, brother. I know we shouldn't like expect updates all the time. I think next update could come in like November, I think is what he said for the next month or so he has to go through dialysis. I think we'll get a heads up in November. We're obviously. Hey Nick, we love you, dude. We absolutely love you. And I think from this all there's going to be incredible awareness of like what organ donors or donor, being a donor can do for other people's lives. Obviously Nick, but many others that are currently waiting for anything in the hospital. So we love you, Nick. Nick was a great thing for the Jets.
- [136:13]
E
Yeah.
- [136:13]
B
Oh yeah.
- [136:14]
C
He was the leader. That was the only player for a while for New England. It's like, well, the jets suck, but they do have Nick Mangold. And then when Sanchez and you know, Chris Ivory and those boys started running and going to those AFC championships. Yeah, Fanica.
- [136:28]
A
Yeah, I forgot about Fanuca. Yeah, Woody. Well, yeah, Damian Woody, right, was also on that team. Here's how you can help Nick Mangold. You can scan that QR code or go to columbiasurgery.org kidney transplant. Sign up at the link and then you'll get some tests to see what your blood type is and then they'll let you know who you can help, whether it's Nick Mangold or many others that are looking for anything type of help and just kind of waiting literally for somebody to help them save their lives. Nick Mangle is one of those people with typo blood. There are many others as well. Hopefully that story will inspire people to give back. Now before we run the Adam Silver conversation, which is great, we have to do some sort of giveaway, don't we? Do we have to do some sort of giveaway?
- [137:11]
H
AJ Is BA going to Putt again, cuz. I mean we. That was a flawless performance.
- [137:16]
A
I don't know if we should have ba do anything after the four putts ever again. You know, it's kind of difficult for this to target.
- [137:20]
C
Yeah. First day of NBA, we could have the bone problem maybe. Or one of D bone and butt to maybe shoot one of the U ball shots.
- [137:28]
A
Okay. Yeah.
- [137:29]
H
Bone and butt team. Yeah, put them out.
- [137:31]
A
Yeah, Bone and butt team. When was the last time you guys played with bone and butt? When did you guys.
- [137:36]
B
Last week? Wednesday was. We didn't play. Yes. You guys, you know, duck the smoke yesterday.
- [137:41]
A
Yeah. Had some things to figure out. Got to lock up right now. A lot of business. T bound, throwing a U ball is.
- [137:47]
D
The right way to do this.
- [137:47]
F
Hell yeah.
- [137:48]
B
Ball.
- [137:48]
A
Hey, D bound, will you please step out here to the U ball court in the middle of the Thunderdome. You. Your presence is a necessity at this point for a giveaway. Now, Debone is a champion of U ball in the past. He is not currently the champion. That championship basketball obviously resides right here on my desk.
- [138:07]
B
Down there.
- [138:08]
A
Down left, right there. It is a bedazzled ball which absolutely fantastic. Shout out to the NBA sending it. Boom. Right there.
- [138:16]
D
Boom.
- [138:16]
A
That is a bedazzled ball that is perfect for the U ball title. Actually that would be a U ball if it wouldn't shatter if we were to shoot it.
- [138:23]
E
Correct.
- [138:23]
A
Somebody took a lot of time on that. We are very grateful for the NBA sending that to us. Is currently me and Foxy's. You okay?
- [138:30]
B
So as it's worn, it'll move?
- [138:33]
A
Yeah, it'll move. Yeah, it'll move.
- [138:34]
F
Nice.
- [138:35]
A
Probably not though, like, because me and Foxy kind fit of figured out. Would Debone have it figured out? Will he be able to win 25 people $500? Coach, will you please give Debone a D3 national champion offensive lineman. Little maybe words of encouragement before he attempts the impossible, which is make one U ball shot from the opposite free throw line. Go ahead, coach.
- [138:54]
D
Okay. Now, brother, we had this opportunity not long ago. Never know you didn't get that opportun pot opportunity. Make the best of it, my man.
- [139:03]
C
Boom.
- [139:03]
A
We only have right now, debone. 25 people could win breath and let it all. Let it fly. Take a deep breath says coach.
- [139:09]
H
Shoot any of them.
- [139:11]
A
What's that?
- [139:11]
C
Nope.
- [139:11]
A
No, he throws.
- [139:12]
H
He only throws them. That's okay.
- [139:14]
A
Foot's not on the line.
- [139:16]
C
Jesus Christ.
- [139:17]
A
Why don't you?
- [139:24]
G
That's my partner.
- [139:25]
A
Count it, count it, count it. 25 winners of $500. All you got to do is repost, post that miracle.
- [139:33]
E
Wow. Go buy a lottery ticket right now.
- [139:36]
C
Yeah.
- [139:36]
A
Say something nice to somebody and put the easiest way to pay you. Debone. That was spectacular. Wow. If you're playing against me and Foxy, the champs, we would have batted that or dunked that so quick. But for the people, you stepped up and made it happen. Coach BA what an incredible speech. What a way to motivate that guy.
- [139:52]
D
Wow.
- [139:53]
B
Wow.
- [139:53]
A
What a shot. What a bounce. What a day. Congrats to Debone. Congrats to the 25 random winners and. And also shout out to the NBA launching in beautiful fashion.
- [140:00]
B
Yeah.
- [140:01]
A
A.J. you're the man. We appreciate the hell out of you boys in the back. Great work, Coach B.A. we love you. We'll see you next week. Thank you for joining us. And here is a state of the NBA conversation with the commissioner of the NBA, Adam Silver. Hey, congratulations. Another NBA season tipping off today.
- [140:17]
G
Thank you. Thank you very much.
- [140:19]
A
How do you feel? Obviously, we got some new media rights deals going on. We got some. A younger generation of stars about to take over the league potentially. What are your thoughts as you embark on another journey to an NBA championship here?
- [140:31]
G
I'm feeling great. I mean, as you said, it's an interesting blend of old and new just beginning on the media side. NBC's back, of course. It's been 23 years since we were there on their air on. For your viewers who saw the Today show this morning, they had John Tesh on. They brought back Round Ball Rock. That's, that's wonderful. And with Round Ball Rock came Michael Jordan. So he's going to be on tonight's NBC telecast being interviewed by Mike Tico. So. But on, maybe more importantly, on the basketball side, you know, as I said, we got, you know, Oklahoma City thinks, you know, they're going to be right back there this year. But of course, we've had seven different champions over the last seven years. So, you know, people always ask me this question, is that what you want, a different champion every year? And I, I said, no, you know, we just want, we want the best competition. We want a system where everybody has a fair shot. But if, you know, great GMs like Sam Presti can put together an organization that can win multiple championships, you know, great. You know, so. But you got Wemby back in San Antonio, you got Cooper Flag in Dallas, you got Jalen Brunson, who's I think going to be right up there competing for an MVP this year in New York. So you Know, and sorry about the Pacers.
- [141:43]
A
Yeah, okay.
- [141:44]
G
They're to going to fight their way through it. But. But Tyrese, I mean, you know, it was heartbreaking, obviously, to see him go down in game seven, but, you know, he and I have been texting back and forth. He's going to be right back there.
- [141:54]
A
I think that's the thing about you that we respect, especially from the NFL world and understanding what the commissioner's job is and how it's not an easy one. Now, the NBA's relationship with the commissioner is clearly different than maybe the NFL, but it does feel like you really care about ball and the players. The fact that you're texting with Tyrese, obviously, we're thankful for Jason Tatum, also, another mega star that's going to be out missing a lot. But whenever you talk about Cooper Flag and Jalen Brunson and all these stars, Ant, let alone Ant who's a mega star in Wemby, and then you got Kevin Durant, then you got the OG still kind of around Booker, and then LeBron James out for a little bit. How do you kind of view. You talk about a transition era, but as a commissioner, obviously you would like the next generation to kind of take the next big step. Is that kind of goals for the season as you lay them out from a league, it's like, all right, we'd like our young stars kind of do their thing. It's in their hands potentially in the next couple years. Let's see what we have going forward. Is that something that the league thinks about or you think about?
- [142:52]
G
Absolutely. By the way, I should say, you know, I'm a Duke guy. So with Jayson Tatum, you know, in his spare time now, as he's recovering from his injury, he's been named, like, I forget the exact title, but he's got a Duke basketball title now, so he's helping recruit and run the program down there. So, I mean, these guys are keeping busy in college, even when they're not on the floor. But to answer your question, in terms of old new, I mean, look at Luka. I mean, I don't know if you guys have seen sort of his transformed body. You know, he completely retrained himself, you know, over the. In the off season, you know, you know, he was obviously upset with the trade, but I think he's using it as motivation now to show everybody that he's working one of the greatest in the game and wants to be viewed as one of the greatest ever. You know, at the same time, like, then having him play with LeBron, who, you know, he's out just for maybe a few weeks now, but no doubt has one of the greatest work ethics ever. I mean, I'm always saying to the younger players, it's a combination. Part of it is, you know, your God given talent. Part of it is, you know, the training and coaching. You get the mentorship to be put in that position. But once you're in the league, the really great ones and you know, from have these incredible work ethics. I think people don't understand like how hard a player like LeBron works to be able. He's about to be 41, to play at that level for that long. So yeah, you know, they're going to get dinged up along the way. He's got a little injury now, but I'm hoping for a much younger player like Luka. He realizes that there's a lot more to it than just having that talent. That in that experience that you see what a guy like LeBron is actually. And by the way, you know, over some of these Olympic teams I've been with around, over the years, when these stars come together, I mean, I can remember in 2008 in China, like when some of the younger players were getting an opportunity to see Kobe's work ethic, you know, where they were meeting in the morning and Kobe was coming back from like a 5:30am you know, training session, you know, and he was coming in with towels wrapped around him and guys were like rubbing the sleep out of their eyes and they're like, where's he coming from? You know, and I. And like that matters. And when guys see what it takes to be, you know, truly great, you know, and I think we've all had that experience that, you know, you sort of, whether it's in sports or whether it's in business, you know, when you start meeting other mentors, you say, well, that's what they do, you know, and you realize that so much of it is you have to have good luck, you have to have good health and certain talent, but that it ultimately comes down to that work ethic. And it's something that for, you know, the NBA, the wnba, it's what we try to teach all the younger players, I mean, broadly, you know, in all our programs that, you know, a minuscule percentage of players are going to be fortunate, as you were, to play at the highest level, you know, whether in top college programs or top program pro programs. But like that, that rub off of those, those values that come from sports, it's truly remarkable.
- [145:45]
A
Yeah, Sports help people in everyday life. I think you have to be a team sport person to do anything. Like my daughter, obviously she's a dog and I can't wait to watch her. But she's gonna play team sports because she's gonna learn a lot of things through that that she's gonna carry into her life. I agree with that. And I think after watching the NBA more and also getting to know a lot of these NBA guys, there used to be, I think, kind of a narrative about the NBA players being soft. You know, these guys are soft because there was, you know, they're, they're resting some games, they're not resting some games. And then you meet these guys that are at the top and it's like, these are dogs through and through. And you go back through the history of the game. I mean, you guys got them on NBC's coverage. Give me, give me the basketball. Give me the dunk it. Yeah, we can't wait for that. Obviously with MJ being back. But that mamba mentality you talk about. And then I can echo that sentiment about like, I had Adam Vittieri, okay? I had Adam Vittieri literally on the same team. It's like, hey, what does this guy do? And I'm just going to try to do that. The NBA does feel like a family whenever it comes to that type of thing. And I think you guys are in a great spot just from what I've witnessed and the people that I've gotten a chance to chat about. And your league's a fun league to be a fan of at this exact moment, especially with all the different media, broadcast partners and also you leaning into the digital side of things, which I respect and appreciate because you guys are a digital league. You guys take over the Internet. On that note, Rushmore on X Dunkers is available now. Have you seen this? Shaq and Reggie Miller put up their Mount Rushmore's of Dunkers throughout the history of the game. We'll send it over to you to get your opinion on it. It is a fantastic convo about the history of basketball, basically, and rim rocking. So I like where your league's at. I assume you do as well. Now. The world that we're in is a little bit different than maybe 15, 20 years ago, especially with all eyes on the money side of things during these games. Go ahead, Debutch.
- [147:30]
B
Yeah, Adam, with the huge growth of the game and obviously growth of sports betting as well, I can't wait to put a 12 game team parlay together tonight. But how do you Balance, I guess, protecting, I know, sorry, protecting the integrity of the game. And like, how do you balance that with the growth and obviously the relationships that you have with these sports betting partners?
- [147:51]
G
You know, interestingly enough, I think in the modern digital era, the choice is between legalized sports betting or illegal sports betting, not do you want sports betting or not. And so ultimately our view has been that since we know there's going to be enormous betting on sports out there, there always has been lots of illegal betting when I was younger, but it was much more difficult before the Internet. You'd have to meet someone on the corner or there were betting slips, things like that, or you had an old school bookie. Of course now you can just bet on your phone. So on one hand, with this regulated structure of legalized betting, we can monitor it in ways that were unimaginable years ago, that if there's any aberrational behavior, people betting large numbers who hadn't historically done so, just opening an account to place bets or even the GEO targeting, we know exactly from where the bet are being placed. Very specifically, if you're in an arena and place a bet, we know you're in the arena. In many cases, we know where in the arena you are when you place that bet. So sort of analogized to a stock market where there's, you know, of course there's a legal framework, but there's lines that make activity illegal, like insider trading, for example. And so you have potentially the equivalent in sports where somebody may have insider information. It may, it could be a player and the worst case scenario is a player who's trying to impact their own performance for a bet. Or it may be people around a player and it may be unintentional on the part of a player, but somebody who's around the player knows that the player isn't feeling well or isn't going to play, even though that hasn't been announced yet. So, you know, we have a framework, a structure in place to monitor to prevent those kinds of things happening. So that there is, the information is available to potential betters so that it's a level playing field in terms of placing those bets. But there's no question it introduces a whole new set of issues. One of the issues you see in arenas, and I hear from players and coaches on this are fans, I mean, who are yelling out about, you know, especially when it's a prop bet.
- [150:06]
A
My parlay. Yeah, yeah. Oh yeah, yeah.
- [150:09]
G
You know, but it's often the case that, you know, your team wins and a Player scores, you know, 25 points, but the fan better had bet that the player was going to score 28 points or 30 points or whatever else. So I would say one thing. We sent a memo out to our teams recently and we made it clear in conversations with them that we want to see strict enforcement. I mean, we have to protect the competitors. You know, we want to protect the environment in the arena of people getting out of hand. I mean, but, but as I said, we accept betting is legal in roughly 35 states now in the United States. It's unlikely to go away. I think probably there should be more regulation. Frankly, it may be surprising to hear from me. I wish there was federal legislation rather than state by state. I think you got to monitor the amount of promotion, the amount of advertising around it. And also we've pulled back. It's not completely in our control, but we've asked some of our partners to pull back some of the prop bets, especially when they're on two way players, guys who don't have the same stake in the competition, where it's too easy to manipulate something which seems otherwise small and inconsequential to the overall score. Maybe a couple rebounds that some player, you know, gets or whatever. So, you know, we're trying to put in place and learning as we go and working with the, with the betting companies, some, some additional control to prevent sort of some of that manipulation.
- [151:38]
A
I think that's really good defense, getting rid of like kind of smaller obscure bets. Like, hey, do we really need this to even be a potential distraction, one and a half rebuild or a potential setup? Like, I, I, I respect that you're trying to figure out and navigate this as it's happening in real time. Do you feel the, and you said you wanted it to be strict on the fans in the environments. Very intimate, Very, very intimate. The NBA. I mean, there's been a couple times where I felt like I was sitting on a bench, you know, and it's like, now, granted, I loved it. I enjoyed being there. Let's go boys. Let's kind of do our thing. Give me a microphone. Maybe not, let's, let's not do that. Maybe I just sit here and talk to the, to the group here. John Mellencamp's going to be pissed. But there is a very intimate relationship between the NBA and its fans. I think in the arenas that's a part of the allure, I think. Hey, come watch these 6 foot 8, 6 foot 9 tall guys run back and forth. Dunk it, bring the kids out. You Even maybe get a high five as they're jogging through the thing. And on the flip side of that, when it's not a family or a little kid and somebody that's pissed off about the amount of turnovers you had, and instead we got a win, but should be happier to mean, I can see how that could get a little loud. And there's been, you know, NBA and players and fans interactions before. I don't know how it doesn't happen more often. Okay. Just strictly because Bruce. I've seen Bruce at an NBA game and he's a problem. He's a New York Knicks fan and he's a good shit talker, and he is very okay doing it right to TJ McConnell's face. And they're like three feet away. In real life, TJ McConnell potentially knocked Bruce Brown out, especially with his punchable looking face. But instead of TJ talks back and they keep it moving. It's a beautiful part of your sport. I'm happy to see that you want to keep it a safe thing for everybody. And when it comes to the gambling, do you feel like you have to set a precedent now with this? Because, like, to the players, obviously, do you feel like we got to kind of make sure we nip this in the butt before it gets big or are like, you all just kind of riding the wave together to see what fits this situation best, even?
- [153:33]
G
Well, you know, we deal obviously, case by case when anything comes up. But I think we've made it clear to our players, and I think Andre Iguodala, who's head of the player association, you know, former All Star champion himself, knows that there's nothing more important than the integrity of the competition. So for if a player steps over the line, I mean, there have been players, I think, as you know, who've been banned from the game because of betting. We have, you know, we, you know, we monitor really closely. There's signs and everything. Locker room, you know, we. We have continuing education throughout the year. Just so guys know that, you know, it's a really bright line. Because the problem with all those prop bets is that I always worry, you know, they're. I'm sure there are players who would never, ever think they would want to manipulate the ultimate outcome of the game. They wouldn't want to do that to their teammates. They wouldn't want to do it to themselves, but are thinking, oh, what's the difference if, you know, I've won fewer, more rebounder, whatever else? So that's why, you know, we've Made it clear there's, there's very strict enforcement that anything you do around betting, you know, just, just the mere betting on a game, even if it had nothing to do with your particular performance, you know, will result in a suspension, you know, and possibly the end of your career. So, you know, again, we live in an environment of legalized sports betting. And by the way, not just in the United States, but the NBA is a global league. I mean, remember when sports betting was legalized in the United States, it was already, for decades had been widely legal throughout Europe. You know, with, you know, in the old days, it's all moved to the Internet now. But in the old days, you know, you could go to a soccer game in England and they had betting windows, you know, like at a horse track, and there were betting parlors throughout London. Again, most of the action is now online. But that's actually a, a good thing that's online because when people aren't using cash, you have to identify yourself to the betting company. You're putting in a credit card. And again, so if there's something unusual that's happening or if somebody is, and there's a whole separate issue about problem gambling, so let's remove sort of your regular activity among participants in the game. But then there's people clearly who get sucked in and are betting too much money and, or betting over their means. And so there's also ways to monitor those things and to cut those people off if they, if the betting company detects that there's an issue.
- [155:50]
A
Yeah, we had some friends that had that happen to them from Sportsbook. Looking at you again, Bruce. Look at you again, Bruce. And we like that, you know, got him out of a potential spiral, though. I agree that it has gotten to a much better place in the gambling world. But for you guys to have to navigate it, we're appreciative of the amount of thought that you put into it, because the integrity of the game, everything. Because what are we betting? What are we watching? If we don't, you know, you don't think that's a big deal.
- [156:13]
G
And oddly enough, I mean, even the bettors want to be ensured that their contenders behind the data, because if they think it's not a level playing field or somebody has information they don't, they won't bet your sport.
- [156:26]
A
Yeah, they're on the take. Listen, if they're going to be on the take, I would like to know that they're on the take so we can do that because then they feel like they're getting Bamboozled. We appreciate the amount of work that you're putting into that to play defense and also make sure that the NBA will continue to be a sport that we can all, you know, definitely know what's going on wherever we place our wagers on. Now you brought up. You're up there in the gambling culture, but let's talk about the basketball world that's starting to brew over there in Europe. Love what you're doing with the All Star Game format. USA versus the world, basically. Maybe this will entice people to care a little bit. Is the hope is that coming? Because we all know that it's not just the NBA. Every. The NHL figured it out with the four nations. The NHL figured out with four nations, but they were having problems too there for a few years. Baseball obviously has the Home Run Derby. They were going back and forth with like home field advantage in the playoffs. They kind of got rid of that. The NFL had a problem for a while. It was bad football. It was bad, bad football. Now they try to make it a festival. So these All Star Games and festivities aren't the easiest things to nail. Okay, you guys saw what the NHL did and thought maybe we'll take a hack at that. Saw what the Olympics were for the entire world. We'll try to pull on that, maybe find what guys care about. Is that how we got to this point and what is your expectation for it?
- [157:40]
G
Yeah, Pat, exactly. I mean, we try to learn from everybody else. There's no question that what the NHL did in terms of the four nations was incredibly successful. And then, in addition, the All Star Game is moving to NBC this year, and our All Star Game falls smack in the middle of the Winter Olympics. So we want to take advantage of the fact that you have this global international competition, you know, where the country is focused on, you know, on usa, USA and taking on other countries. So we're going to move to a Ryder cup type format, again, like taking from golf as well as hockey. And because we have an imbalance in the league of international players to US players, it's roughly 30% of the players are born outside the United States. We got to play with the format a little bit. I think where we'll likely end up is, you know, around Robin, where you have two USA teams and one international team. And then they'll play each other in a round robin.
- [158:37]
A
USA vs USA in the finals would be great. I would be celebrating.
- [158:42]
G
I think the guys will be motivated because of the Olympic atmosphere. They'll be in the middle of. Because of wanting to play for their country. So. And in addition, I would just say on behalf of the players, I mean last year we were hoping for more. I mean I think the format didn't quite work, but the players care and I don't know what. There's something about NBA All Star Game and even as I I was in Europe for a bunch of things this summer doing some other stuff for the NBA and I was amazed how much fans came up to me and said, you know, great, Oklahoma City won, Finals were incredible, you got to fix the All Star. And I think it seems to me to take on disproportionate interest and I think when we've had bad All Stars, I think maybe a little different from other leagues. It seems to linger longer in this league that, you know, sort of you referenced it that it becomes a proxy for how much the players care or their investment in. And it seems very unfair to them in ways because sometimes there's just a larger conspiracy that includes all the teams who don't want their guys to go out and get injured in what seems to be an exhibition game to a lot of people. But I think that the younger generation of NBA players are understanding that All Star is really meaningful and it's not necessarily needs to be played at the level of the Finals, but we also don't want to see guys going out there not playing defense and sort of just sort of like bombing away three point shots the whole game. I mean, and I think there's a happy medium there and I'm encouraged this year, as I said, like Andrea Guadal at the Players association has been great, terrific individual conversations with players. We're like, we get it. You know, we're going to be in LA this year. It's going to be a big stage. So again I'm hoping we can bring back that tradition.
- [160:21]
A
I think there's going to be great tradition and I'm outsider looking into your world. Dream Team was so big for basketball because a lot of people watch basketball for the first time saw the stars, they were like the Beatles, right? If that documentary is right. Whenever they come to town, I think the allstar game provides similar opportunity. It's where all the stars are. Some people are maybe only watching that first time, really getting to see people. I think that is why it is such big interest because you guys have such a limited amount of people that can be so good at your sport. And there's only a couple times that we see them all together. Olympics certainly when we see them all together, we Love it. We all love it. KD takes over again. Steph takes over a game. LeBron takes over a game. It's like, here we go. These are all the greats doing everything. Tyrese Haliburton's holding it down, holding it down over there in the entirety. And then whenever we get the All Stars, same thing. We see everybody, and then it's just kind of like what it is. So I think that's potentially why your fans are a little bit more passionate about the All Star Game than maybe the NFL, like, Pro Bowl. I mean, nobody cares about.
- [161:15]
E
It stinks.
- [161:16]
A
Nobody cares about the. So it's good that people care, I think. But what you. What you're saying is it's a tough thing to get right. Maybe this will be the right answer on the Internet.
- [161:24]
G
To your point. It would be a worse problem if nobody cared.
- [161:26]
A
Bingo. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think it's a good thing. But also, figure it out, Adam.
- [161:30]
E
Fix it.
- [161:30]
A
Figure it out. Need to figure it out. This thing that can only hurt people for the future as they're trying to win an actual championship, and there's a lot of money on the line. Other people are getting arrest. The best players don't get arrest. Go ahead. And nobody's dunking. Don't want to hurt themselves. Just, Adam, figure it out. Please make it great.
- [161:45]
D
Okay?
- [161:46]
A
We need that thing to be amazing. Now, you talk about the international team and how great they have got. I'll tell you, I wanted the USA versus USA final. I'm thinking that's probably not going to happen, because what's going on overseas with this sport is obviously incredible. Go ahead, con man.
- [162:01]
C
Yeah, commence. You just said it. 30% of the players in the NBA are international. But, I mean, if you look at the MVPs, damn near 100% of the MVPs are international now, because it has.
- [162:11]
G
I think, our last seven.
- [162:12]
C
Yeah, the last seven of them. There it is. I thought there was another number there, but the NBA International is huge. NBA Europe is going to be massive. How did you kind of, you know, decide to launch it this year or next year or whenever it's launching? And then is there any worry that some of these international players are going to leave the NBA to go to NBA Europe, whether that be, you know, 10 years into their career or even just towards the end? Because you think of guys like Dirk Nowitzki, who, you know, might have gone back to Germany for a year or two, and then you think of all the international players and how much they love their home countries. Giannis with Greece, Jokic, Luca. There's a ton of them. SGA's, Canadian. I don't know if he falls into that category, but still, you know what I'm saying? Is that ever a thought with the NBA Europe? And how excited are you for that launch as a whole?
- [163:07]
G
Yeah, well, so a few things there. I mean, I think if some of those international players decided to either end their career or prolong their career a bit by playing in Europe, I think that would be fantastic. I think for the foreseeable future, the NBA is so big, is so global, the pay is so high, I think it's highly unlikely that any of these players would choose to forego the NBA and to play in Europe. And I think that's kind of the case right now. I mean, the quality of European basketball is off the charts right now. It's just not commercially successful. And so to your question, why now? I think that you're seeing enormous interest, maybe, you know, clearly unprecedented in live premium sports right now. It's being reflected in all the sports. I mean, it's as if, other than, you know, honestly, shows like yours around sports that people want to consume live or near live, because you're talking about such top issues or the live games themselves, they've separated themselves from everything else, certainly on traditional television. And now people are watching more streaming than traditional broadcast and cable. And by the way, you were mentioning before that, Pat, I mean, you were a pioneer there. I mean, to have a show that's simulcast on ESPN and YouTube and then to then take portions of it and then make those available on social media, it's not that different than what the NBA has become. There's. There's sort of the live aspect of it, and then there's the sort of highlights and other aspects of it that people will watch after the fact. But in terms of Europe, I think we're at the point now where there is just. There's a huge opportunity, both in the quality of the game in Europe, as we're all talking about. You know, 15% of our league now is European, and they represent some of the very best players. There's enormous interest in the game there. You know, our number is something like over 250 million basketball fans in Europe. It's the number or two sport after soccer. And on top of that, there's an opportunity to build an arena infrastructure in Europe. Like even when we were all in Paris for the Olympics, the building there, they did some upgrades for the Olympics, but it doesn't have the sort of amenities that, you know, you see in Indianapolis or you see in our NBA cities where there's a lot of areas for pregame meals, big halftime celebrations, you know, fancy suites, the whole thing. And the great thing about arenas, really different from stadiums is that the top arenas are used 250, 300 days a year. So it's sort of a separate economic engine for communities. And again, just like you see in Indianapolis, then you can build around it. You have commercial space, retail, residential. We saw it in Milwaukee with the new development there. You saw it in El. You're seeing it all around the country. They're talking about that in San Antonio right now, moving their arena to downtown. So a combination of all these factors are coming together. I think we're not all the way there yet. We're working at the league office on what the right model is. But there's certainly no lack of interest in potential owners. I'm hearing from a lot of well known, wealthy European families who are interested, American families, institutions, who would like to see this happen. So if you look at the gap right now, I mean, soccer is, you know, head and shoulders more popular than any other sport in Europe right now. But basketball follows like, let's say this far behind. But the economic gap is like this. I think I just went out of the picture.
- [166:31]
A
Yeah.
- [166:33]
G
And so, you know, right now, the teams and even some of those well known soccer brands in Europe, Europe like Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, they field basketball teams, very competitive basketball teams. In fact, you know, Luka Doncic started his career at Real Madrid, but it's just an. It's a yearly investment or loss. It's not, there's no chance they have of making money on those programs. And it's not just about making money at the end of the day, you know, it's the way market economies work. If you can generate money, you reinvest it. You reinvest it in your facilities and your players, in your marketing and making the enterprises that much bigger. So, you know, as I said, I mean, we're probably a couple of years away from being able to launch something in Europe, but we're spending a lot of time on it.
- [167:14]
A
We're really lucky for the NBA here in Indiana. Obviously, we just explained it. Ty's about to ask a question about that here in a matter of moments. Actually, not just here, but many other places. The fact that you're investing in towns and cities over in Europe for the good of your sport, I respect that. I really do. I respect and appreciate that. And also you talk about the Arenas. We're talking about building stadiums in the NFL. You need a lot of space to do that. Arena's a little bit different. Ballgame. I'm not saying you don't need a lot of space, but the footprint, obviously, much smaller in these towns. And if you can get those things up, bring the city around. I don't like what's going on with American basketball's future. Okay. I don't like.
- [167:48]
G
And Pat, I'll just say the other issue with stadiums. It's hard to fill them for whatever the NFL represents with preseason, I don't know, 10 or whatever it is, you know, maybe you get a Super bowl occasionally.
- [168:00]
A
You better watch me talk about.
- [168:02]
G
There's only so many acts these days. There's only so many Taylor Swifts and Beyonce's or whatever else who can truly fill a stadium, you know, and then some of the roof stadiums, you know, they can, they can bring in some corporate, you know, you know, big sales, you know, organizations coming in and a few other things like that. But arena business is very different. As I said, like a. Arenas, because of smaller. They're obviously roofed facilities.
- [168:27]
D
You.
- [168:27]
G
You can. In many of these buildings, it's like 300 dates a year. They're active.
- [168:32]
A
That's good business, brother. And it's what, 16, 17,000, 13,000. 16,000. 17,000, yeah.
- [168:39]
G
You know, I, you know, 17, 18,000.
- [168:40]
A
That's a huge audience, though. Like, whenever you talk about stadium, everybody's like selling out stadiums. And you mentioned Taylor Swift, obviously, she has records all around the world for help. How many stadium tickets she's been able to sell. Beyonce obviously does as well. Morgan Wallen, filling up stadiums all over the place. Luke Combs, Zach Bryan. But you're right, this is just a. Chris Brown can fill up a stadium. You're only talking about a few people. I think Kevin Hart did two stadiums. I think he did a stadium as a comedian one time. I think Chappelle might have as well. But then you talk about arenas. It's like arenas is a stage that a lot of people can get to. And that's a great payday for these athletes if you sell out an arena. And also it's a great setup like this Gainbridge fieldhouse down here, the green rooms. Great setup, beautiful. You got food everywhere. Easy walk, easy access for the crowd.
- [169:26]
E
Not a bad seat in there.
- [169:27]
G
The modern arenas are spectacular. I mean, I think they, they. It's a recognition. It's the entertainment business. So you go to a game and part of the whole ambiance of the Event is, you know, what are the suites? Like, what are the concourses? You know, what kind of retail do they have? Like think, you know, when I was a kid, certainly it was a hot dog and a pretzel. Now the food selections off the charts. You know, local specialties, you know, you know, the whole everything you could, you can imagine. And I think that, you know, and in our league, as each new arena comes online, they keep upping the bar just now in terms of wanting to be part of the festivities there. And the issue is in the NBA, it's a recognition that roughly half the teams are gonna be under 500 in any given season. Not every game is gonna light it on fire. So part of you're going for the experience. And one thing we're seeing change in the arenas is that people want the communal experience, I think more than historically where you'd get go to a game, you'd sit in a seat, you'd sort of talk to the person on your left, talk to the person on your right. Now if you look what's happening in the arenas, they're creating more common spaces, you know, more mini suites, more lounges, sort of overseeing the court kind of in a way like a sports bar. But instead of having screens up, you're in a sports bar and big windows are opened up to the court. So you can, you know, singles can go, you can use it to meet, you can use it to entertain. But you know, rather than being locked in one spot for two and a half hours at a game, you can be talking to 20 different people. And I mean, I enjoy doing that at games when I'm in, you know, in sort of one of those areas or in a suite or something. Not just, you know, because there's food and stuff up there, but it's an opportunity to talk to a lot of people.
- [171:18]
A
Yeah, a lot of people come to your guys games. I'll tell you what, I appreciate the fact that you're talking about streaming in the future, of trailblazing for, you know, rights and deals and everything. Now you're talking about the live event experience, Talk about the arena experience versus stadium experience. I'll tell you what, Adam Silver, under that bald head, you got a pretty good little brain in there, buddy. You got a pretty good little brain in there playing defense against the Gobling or the potential of that. Now, I just mentioned about how Indiana has obviously been very appreciative of what your league has done for us, more specifically over the last few months. That was amazing. Ty has a question for you, yeah.
- [171:49]
E
Commish, you mentioned, you know, Indiana and the Pacers and Milwaukee and obviously Oklahoma City winning it all last year. But when we got the Finals matchup initially, the only conversation is all this is going to be the lowest rated finals of all time. No one's going to watch this. Is it good for the league when small market teams around the league make deep runs into the playoffs? Especially because it sounds like the linear number or like the television numbers really aren't the end all be all anymore.
- [172:18]
G
Well, so first of all, in terms of those predictions, Oklahoma City, Indiana ended up having more viewers than Dallas Celtics before. And the reason was because the competition was better. And at the end of the day, we're largely. If markets the size of Indianapolis and Oklahoma City are considered small markets, we're a league of small markets. On the other hand, and as the mayor of Oklahoma City, David Holt pointed out last year, Oklahoma City and Indianapolis are larger than roughly 90% of the cities in the United States. So by really any standard for most of your listeners or viewers, they live in smaller cities and towns than Indianapolis and Oklahoma City. So again, from the league standpoint, you know, I've said this before, the goal is to be more NFL. Like, from the, that standpoint, if the, you know, the, the Steelers, you know, are playing the Browns or whatever, nobody is saying, you know, it's, it's a matchup or, or Green Bay, if Steelers are playing Green Bay in the super bowl, like, nobody's ever saying it's a small market Super Bowl. And when in our league, you know, we still carry that title go or, or that headline going in, it's small market. The goal for, for me is to make it, it's about the two best teams playing in the finals. And frankly, in this world now, digital media, I mean, look, from your standpoint, like you're broadcasting from Indianapolis and I've been to your house, so like right outside the city, like, it's irrelevant, right? Like nobody's gonna suggest that you would be more popular if you were in Chicago instead of, I mean, it's almost a ridiculous point. And I think in a digital world, you know, Giannis in Milwaukee, you know, winning the mvp, winning a championship, talking to a global audience of billions, which the NBA has, you know, as I've said before, if you went down the road to Chicago, I don't know, an hour and a half drive or whatever it was, and there's a million more people in a world where we're reaching billions of people, it's immaterial. And I think like again, hats off to Oklahoma City. I not saying there are some advantages to being in certain markets over others, but I think just like the NFL, the players ultimately realize in a cap system they're going to make their money based on the quality of their play wherever they go. And even in terms of commercial endorsement deals, those are going to come not from the market they're in, but from winning. And so they want to put themselves in winning situations as well. So, you know, it's, I think, I think we've really evolved the league over the last decade or so or longer to where market size is less relevant. One more interesting statistic. So for the first 65 years of the NBA, three teams won 60% of the championships. And as we've talked about, so now the last 15 years, it's been 11 different teams and seven different teams over the last seven years. So it's like, and it's not a close call and, and people say, well, don't you miss those dynasties again? You know, as I've said, if Oklahoma City goes on to win two more championships in a row, I'm not going to say no. I wish there were other teams that were winning. I think that's great. But they're doing it with a level playing field. You know, it's not, they're not doing it because they're outspending every other team in the league. And I think that's the way it should be. And so, you know, let whatever happens with the competition, but I don't think having a few teams dominate the competition year after year is good for the league long term because fans in those other cities don't think their teams have a legitimate shot. And we want, like this is about hope. We want teams, you know, we want fans of every team, regardless of market size, to believe if I have a well managed team and you know, and the luck falls our way and the players are remaining good health, that we got a shot to be there. And you got to believe, believe it. You can't. You know, it's not any given Sunday, it's a different sport. You know, a single player can have such an outsized impact. We have to be realistic about that. But we also want every, every city to think they got that same shot at getting that superstar.
- [176:23]
A
Hell yeah. I love everything you just said. And the Packers Steelers reference is such a good metaphor because they're playing on Sunday Night Football. Yeah, okay, that's coming up this weekend. And nobody's like, you know, two small markets, Pittsburgh, the watch this. Nobody saying that at all. I mean. And also afc, NFC there. And you said in the super bowl pretty good, pretty good at. I mean you are, you know, you. I don't even know if you knew that that was a home run there. But people that know ball would say Silver actually not bad there. If you would have won with Steelers, Brown, super bowl, everybody would said Adam Silver's a different.
- [176:52]
G
No, you see I, I checked myself back.
- [176:56]
A
You moved a little bit. That was good. All right. Have an incredible season. Thank you so much for the time and we'll see you again soon, man. Are you moving to Christmas Eve? When's that happening? Are you moving to Christmas Eve?
- [177:09]
G
We're on Christmas. Yeah. No, we, we need Eve.
- [177:12]
A
We need you to move to Eve.
- [177:13]
G
Oh, no, no. Oh, I'm sorry. No, no, not. We're not on Christmas Eve. That's been a traditional day off in the NBA.
- [177:18]
A
I understand that.
- [177:20]
G
It's a trade off. Right. Guys are home Christmas Eve don't play on. And they're not playing on Christmas.
- [177:25]
A
Don't you think maybe listen.
- [177:26]
G
And they are playing on. Wait, I'm confusing me. The Christmas Eve has been a traditional day off and we do play on Christmas.
- [177:32]
A
I understand.
- [177:32]
G
And, and, and the NFL has, has joined us competition to my point, Christmas Eve, I don't know. I'm not. No plan to do it at the moment.
- [177:43]
A
Okay, I respect that. I respect that. I do. I appreciate you. Ladies and gentlemen, commissioner of the NBA, friend of the program. You're the greatest dude. Ladies and gentlemen, Adam Silver. Yeah, talk about stepping. It's time to level up your game.
- [177:58]
B
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E
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G
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B
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G
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D
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B
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- [178:23]
A
A 20 year old soldier goes missing from a U.S. army base. How can she go missing on a military base? That's too ridiculous. What would come to light is horrifying.
- [178:35]
D
And ignites a movement that sparks a.
- [178:38]
A
Reckoning in the US Military. Listen to Vanished what happened to Vanessa? A new series from ABC Audio in 2020. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.