WEBVTT

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Greta City. Welcome, Welcome to
another Space City Saturday on Sports Talk seven

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ninety Dan Matthews Live and Local h
Town breakdown of the world that matters to

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you, the Houston sports world,
all these great Houston fans here. We

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love you all. So finish up
on that to do list, flute up

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the cooler, because you can't drink
in talk sports all day if you don't

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start now. This is Space City
Saturdaysay, here's seven nineties Dan Matthews Sports

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Talks seven nineties Space City Saturday.
Doesn't it seem like I just talked to

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you not too long ago? What
was it, Josh C? Josh C

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behind the glass today? It was
like twelve hours. I was gonna say,

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yeah, it just seemed like I
went home, took a nap,

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and got right back up here.
But who am I talking to? I

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mean, you know, a quick
turnaround on a back to back for you.

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I mean, everybody's looking to the
rockets of saying tomorrow night. You

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know, they play the Lakers.
Then they got to get on an airplane,

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which they're getting on a charter jet. I mean, you know,

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it's a little bit of different travel
accommodations. They're not, you know,

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having enough schlep like you know,
me and you and the common folk have

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to of going through TSA and doing
all of that, and then the d

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planing and the people from the back
of the plane who feel like they've got

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to get off the plane so quickly
as Doug Pike exits stage rights. Always

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good to hang out with Doug,
But no, you know, it's just

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one of those things that sometimes the
job just calls for you to be able

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to pull some shorter hours. So
Josh c. You are putting in yeoman's

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work, no doubt about it.
But always great to be able to catch

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up with all of you right here
on these couple of hours. Last week,

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if you caught this show, you
know, it's one of those things

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I've told you before. Show of
honesty here, that's what we are.

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We are the show of honesty.
And last week the show was in the

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can if you will. And for
those of you that don't know radio parlances,

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that's it was a recorded show because
well I was getting engaged, so

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appreciate all the well wishes from that. Appreciate everybody reaching out to congratulate to

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me and my beautiful fiance Megan as
we are excited about the next phase of

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our life. But today I am
live. I am right here, and

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that means you can hop in as
well if you would like to. Always

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love it when you jump in the
car at some one three two one two

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five seven ninety Texans obviously going to
be part of the conversation today. Also

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to the Rockets last night, I
get that the ending was pretty disappointing.

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I get that, trust me,
it was. It was not fun to

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see them go cold from the field
there and then also to the ending especially

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was not very fun, especially for
who was the one that did the Rockets

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in because you know, it's not
only that. And then I think as

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we get into that conversation as well, I'm going to call out a guy

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who probably should know better, Sam
Amy. If you saw his tweets on

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Twitter, It's like, come on, man, you know better than this,

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and you are better than this than
to do something like that. You've

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been covering the league long enough to
know what the issue was with James Harden

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and the Rockets. So anyway,
we will jump into that as well.

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It is a college football Saturday,
and as I've said before, look,

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I get it, and for those
of you that know me. Here's the

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thing that cracks me up is you
know, whenever I bring this up,

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it immediately is either met on Twitter
or maybe even a phone call or something

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like I remembered once you know Josh, as those of you might know,

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I am in Josh's spot during the
week with the A team and a guy

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called in once and says, hey, I know you're not from around here,

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and I am stopped him. I
said, whoa, whoa, whoa,

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whoa, whoa. Before you even
continue, I said, I just

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haven't been here for the last ten
years. First twenty seven years of my

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life, I was from here,
born and raised Saint Luke's Hospital right there

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in the med center Buddy, and
grew up in bel Air, went to

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Saint Thomas High School. Eagle fight
never dies, by the way, too.

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Congrats to coach McGuire and the undefeated
Saint Thomas Eagles. They are continuing

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on down the path in the TAPS
State playoffs as they take down Bishop Lynch

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last night. Always great to beat
those guys from Dallas. That is always

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a lot of fun. So congrats
again to coach McGuire and the crew over

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there. At forty five hundred memorial. There's a special place. Eagle fight

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never dies. Men of Saint Thomas
stand for all to see, honor,

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truth and understanding. Our model will
always be these days. We spend together

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well, cherish till we die,
and the world must know that we are

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the Men of Saint Thomas High.
So I'm sure all the Jebbi's out there

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and all the Saint Pias Panthers and
everybody as such probably like a right,

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I'm gonna go listen to somebody else
now. Now you know what, Hey,

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you're still welcome here. I like
you. I don't love you.

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I like you, all right,
there's a major difference there. But also

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to you know, where I was
going with this was it's a college football

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Saturday. And look, you know
it's funny. I was talking with my

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dad about this this morning because he
was like, oh, what are you

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going to talk about on the show. You're gonna talk some college football?

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Said yeah, we're gonna sprinkle it
in. But I mean, we're a

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pro town here, and we're especially
a pro town when the team off Kirby

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is good and the team off Kirby
is good, So don't worry that is

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going to be a good amount of
the show. I know when the Astros

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were in season, I had put
percentages to how much Astros talk we were

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going to have, and I think
as low as I got during the season

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was like seventy five percent Astros.
Well, in this case right here,

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less than twenty five percent today because
there will be some Astros conversation, and

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there is also going to be the
conversation that Joe Espota had with TK Todd

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Kallis and also spar Steve Sparks as
part of astroline. If you're able to

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catch that on Thursday night, you
heard the conversation. If you did not,

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bottom of next hour is when you're
going to get a little bit of

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that conversation with the new skipper of
the Stros, Joe Espada. And uh

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you know, also too, like
I said, some college football conversation coming

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up here in less than ten minutes, my good buddy Mark Passwaters from Aggie

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Yell dot com. He is going
to hop in. And also too,

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you know, I do want to
get into a little bit of the Michigan

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stuff because I have said from the
beginning, this is a case study of

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the alternate universe of what happened to
the Astros. If it were somebody else,

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and I'm talking about the blue bloods
out there, and it's one of

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those things that when it happened in
twenty twenty, the Drellic article, the

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Ken Rosenthal, all of those different
types of things, And of course,

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when the news broke and immediately,
as we do as a society, we

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pick narrative. We run with the
narrative. We look around to make sure

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a crowd is around us, just
so they can see just how you know,

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outwardly just disgusted we are by people. And it's so easy just to

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fit into that crowd, right,
because crowds are easy. If you're part

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of it, nobody's gonna turn on
you. If you're against the crowd,

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then you know, you got to
be John Snow, you got to be

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the gift on on social media,
pulling out the sword when when everybody on

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the horseback is coming at you.
That's the way Astros fans have been.

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But again, I think this is
a case study for what would have happened

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if indeed it were say the Yankees, are the Dodgers, or the Red

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Sox or the Cubs or anybody else
that's universally supposedly loved by you know,

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the national crowd out there, because
you know, if you're a Johnny come

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lately, you know, everybody wants
to see you drop off so they can

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say, all right, you know
you've had your fun, that's enough,

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get out of here, and you
know you go go away, or explain

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why our legacy teams aren't as good
anymore. Exactly. That's a huge part

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of it. Good point by you, Josh Gosh see again, but also

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too, I mean, you know
the agg he's looking for a head coach,

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you know, and I know too
that especially right now with just the

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way the season has gone for the
UH Cougars. I thought something interesting was

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said yesterday by a D. Chris
Pesman that our good buddy Adam Wexler was

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able to get from the groundbreaking ceremony
that they had over there at UH yesterday

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for the new Memorial Herman Football Complex, which man, I mean the renderings

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of that thing, it looks awesome. But I just you know, I

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have I have a question that his
audio I think is going to play into

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and I think a lot of Cougar
fans want to ask of Chris Peesman and

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renew Kature and the leadership over there
at U of age about the program that

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probably should matter the most over there
off Colin Boulevard. So we'll touch on

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that a little bit too. As
the show goes along, tons of CJ.

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Stroud talk that's gonna happen, get
into a little bit of Rockets talk

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as well. Like I said,
you know, I know last night was

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pretty frustrating, pretty annoying. I
mean, especially to the way that it

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was running along there. I mean, you know, even in the closing

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minutes of the fourth quarter, where
you're just kind of like, all right,

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seven straight, this is gonna be
awesome, like seven to three,

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Yes, let's go. And then, of course, like I said,

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the offense started to falter a little
bit, started to have Kawhi Leonard and

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others start to make some shots for
LA. It was frustrating. It was

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annoying. But you know it's also
too I think there was something that I

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saw in that game that really encourages
me for the immediate future of this team.

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Because I've said it numerous times on
social media, this team's exciting to

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watch. They're fun to watch.
That's not the take. The take is

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I even think that better things are
ahead in the immediate future. For this

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team, because I think the team
we're watching right now, when we turn

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to February March, when you're trying
to make that push to at least make

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the play in tournament, maybe be
one of the top six teams that don't

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have to battle it out for those
final two spots. I think this team

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is squarely in that spot. And
just like we're kind of surprised of what

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Demiko Ryans and the crew over off
Kirby you are doing right now, I

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think the same thing could be said
about Emaadoka and other Rockets right now in

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what they've been able to do.
So we will touch on all of that,

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but as we get into the conversation, like I said, we will

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talk a little bit about the Texas
A ANDDOM coaches search, because coming up

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next we'll get a glimpse of what
could be ahead for the Aggies in said

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search. For a man from a
man in the know. His name is

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Mark Passwaters. He writes for the
arrival site that covers the Aggies aggiel dot

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com. He's gonna join us right
here Space City Saturday as we roll along

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until noon right here on your home
of the Astros and the Rockets Sports Talk

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seven to ninety. Space City Saturday
continues on Sports Talk seven nineties. It

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is indeed Space City Saturday. Dan
Matthews here with you until noon and with

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an eleven am kickoff coming up,
this man needs to get back to work,

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so let's bring him right in.
He is Mark Passwaters. Aggiel dot

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Com is where you can find his
work. Mark. Great to talk with

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you, buddy, I mean,
I know we've hung out off the air,

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but it's nice to finally have you
on the air with me here as

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come back to the city. Yeah. Absolutely, I'm glad that you're back,

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and it's good to hear your voice
somewhere in this area. You go,

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Yeah, for sure. Man,
it's always great to be able to

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catch up with you, and especially
too, I mean, you know,

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for people like you, for those
here in the area who don't necessarily follow

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the nuts and bolts of college football. Mark, I mean you can tell

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people as well as anybody, these
are the best times for sites like yours,

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right. I mean it's either the
team is really good or if they're

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going through a coaching search. That's
when it seems like everybody is, hey,

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what's happened with the program over there? That's not wrong, right,

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Oh no, I mean you take
a look at the numbers they hit.

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Totals they skyrocketed six days ago.
I mean you could sit there and if

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you put the word coaching search in
a thread, I mean you could say

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it's delayed due to bad weather,
and you'll get five thousand kits I mean

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within a couple of hours. So
yeah, I mean for us, it's

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you know, certainly a lot more
of a lot more activity. But conversely,

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it also means very long nights.
Yeah, no doubt about it,

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especially too. I mean, you
know, flight aware, you got to

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do all that kind of stuff,
talk to agents, talk to coaching search

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people. I mean, there's all
those different types of elements at play.

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You can follow Mark on Twitter at
MBP Rivals is where you can find Mark.

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And let's just go ahead and start
just with the initial of what we

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know. I mean, what do
we know? I know that there was

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a report a couple of days ago
Jeff Trailer from UTSA. They've reached out

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to him, they talked with him. What else do you know in terms

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of where they are with search?
Well, anybody who thinks it's just happened

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to Trailer and Milco are just play
wrong. I think the trailer might actually

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be doing it himself a bit of
a disservice because his side won't stop talking

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about his interest in the job and
what's going on with you know, they've

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talked to him and this and that
and the other thing. I think that

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might be counterproductive for them. But
I can tell you right now, A

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and M has talked to quite a
number of people, just going from coordinators

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to coaches that had their teams either
in the CFP or on the cusp of

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it. I mean, it's been
a very wide search and there have been

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names that have been mentioned that you
would not believe, because frankly, I

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don't believe them. But you know, this thing is moving at a rapid

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rate because they wanted to, because
they want somebody in place before the sent

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er fourth. But I don't think
that they've really narrowed it down. They

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had one guy they really wanted that
was Dan Lannington Morgan, and that,

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you know, thanks to Nike's just
not feasible. So outside of that,

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it's just a real wide net that
they have cast. And it's a distinct

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difference from twenty seventeen when we knew
it was Jimbo Fisher in early November.

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Yeah, and you know, and
for those of you that don't know,

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again, you know, December fourth, that's the portal opens. If I'm

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not mistaken, right, Mark,
That's that's when that right, Yeah,

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Okay, so the portal opens.
And then of course close to Christmas that's

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the early signing period. So you
want somebody in place to be able to

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try to keep together a class as
much as possible. I mean, because

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that is the true signing day.
Now if anybody's signing in Februs where it's

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mostly just clean up or guys that
were trying to get their boards in order

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to be able to come and play
at said school at that time. So

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that's definitely what makes all of this
so timely. You know. Here's the

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other thing as well, is the
question becomes money. And you know,

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from anybody that's talked about this coaching
search and the buyout with Jimbo and everything

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of the such, I've been told
money is no issue. Is that necessarily

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going to play out? I mean, could they be in the market to

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say, I mean, you know
this morning I saw Lane Kiffin thrown out

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on college game day. I mean, and you would have to believe that

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he's going to say, if I'm
leaving Ole miss, I got to be

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making the Jimbo money. You need
to be paying me about nine and a

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half nine million dollars to be able
to come over there. Well, you

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know, for starters, if A
and M ends up hiring Lane Kiffin,

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it's because they struck out on a
lot of guys because you know, simply

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put, Aggie's hate his guts,
so you know, he's not really what

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I would consider a top run candidate. But yeah, I think you're right.

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Money. Originally this was supposed to
be, Oh, they'll end up

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with Trailer, They'll end up with
Elco because you know, they've got to

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pay the buy out and therefore they're
going cheap. No, there are people

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out there who have you know,
quite a few digits to their last name

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before the decimal point, who are
willing to kind of check to buy someone

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out if that's the right guy.
And you know, I think that if

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they find someone that they think is
just head and shoulders above everyone else,

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and this is something that ross Bjork
said after the press conference on Sunday,

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if they find the guy and they
have to pay a premium to do it,

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then they're going to do it.
And I think they that message got

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out a little bit more than people
realize, because certainly there have been some

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names that, having had their representatives
inquire, that would absolutely blow your mind.

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Well, I mean, and that
actually leads into my next question here

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Mark again, Mark passwatersaggieyel dot com. You can find him on Twitter at

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MBP rivals is I mean, everybody
I've talked with about this job says,

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look, I mean transfer portal.
Assuming that doesn't play out, which you

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have to believe, there will be
quite a few guys that hop into the

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portal just because of the uncertainty of
what's ahead for the next head coach.

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But also too, the schedule next
year is another thing that I think probably

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makes this job attractive for somebody out
there. Am I wrong? Oh?

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No, I think that it's a
very favorable schedule. You have to you

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open with Notre Dame, which is
no walk in the park, clearly,

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But you have Alabama at A and
M. You have LSU at A and

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M, you have Ole miss at
A and M. You know, all

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the big name opponents or the ones
that you would consider to be big name

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opponents, including Texas are all playing
at A and M, So that certainly

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makes things a lot more favorable than
you know, even say this year where

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you had to go on the road
and play some of these guys. Actually,

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I think I got it wrong.
Alabama would be at Tuscaloosa. Guy.

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Outside of that, you're going to
have the name, the big name

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programs are going to becoming cute,
and you know in the SEC we can

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see that. I mean, you
know, look at Tennessee is a great

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test case. You play them at
Rocky Top. They're a totally different team

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than when they go on the road. You know, they're very they're very

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good when they're at home. They're
very bad when they're on the road.

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So it can you know, the
home field advantage shouldn't be overlooked when it

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comes to a schedule and when you
go out there and have what should be

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a veteran team, if they can
get the right guy in there to stop

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you know, problems with the portal, then they should be in pretty darn

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good shape for next year. A
couple more for Mark Passwaters join us here

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on Space City Saturday. Dan Matthews
hanging out with you all until noon and

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let's just take you know, go
back to the beginning of all of this.

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I mean with Jimbo. You know, I know that me and you

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had talked about a little bit off
air, and you know, of course

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there was the report that you know, they want to try to get him

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through next season. I mean,
you know, we've talked about the timing

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of all of this. But what
was finally the breaking point, like what

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finally got those in charge and those
with the money to say, yeah,

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uh this this isn't working. We
got to move. I think it was

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two things. One A j Ross
Byork went to him and said, Okay,

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what are your plans for the off
season and going into twenty twenty four

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didn't light the answer he got And
I think that was because Jimbo just was

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not a big advocate of the portal. He wanted to do make incremental changes,

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you know, let's say, for
lack of a better term, he

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wanted to make changes around the edges. But he really wanted to go and

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get his guys through recruiting. But
that in this day and age, that

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means that you're perpetually young. It's
just one of those unavoidable aspects of it.

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That was Part one. Part two
was ye lost Elane gipp and again,

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and that is you know, that
is just a no no. You

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know, people hate him. He
relishes mocking Jimbo. He relishes mocking a

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and m and to lose to him
is just it's brutal. So I think

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that was probably and the way that
it happened, it was probably just Pecuteri

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group and I mean the final one
for you here, Mark. I mean,

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and this is more in the media
because it was pretty well known that

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Jimbo was not the warmest when it
came to, you know, meeting with

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the press. I mean, I
know, I don't know if you know

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Mike Craven of Dave Campbell's Texas Football, but he threw out on Twitter the

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other day that Jimbo would continuously blow
off that magazine in terms of you know,

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being part of the preseason you know
publication that they put out every single

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year, which being in this state, just seems beyond mind blowingly dumb to

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do that, especially when you factor
in the legacy that that publication has.

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I mean, did that feed into
it as well, where he just kind

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of came off as I have all
the answers, you're all the dumb ones.

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I don't have to talk to you. Yeah, it's interesting because the

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folks that covered him on a day
to day basis, like me, the

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guys from the Chronigle, Techaggs,
you know, the Brian Collins station,

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you're actually pretty good with us.
I mean, you would not consider him

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to be access friendly for lack of
a better term, but you know,

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he sit there and talk to you
about regular stuff when the camera was off,

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you know, any time. I
mean, especially if you wanted to

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talk baseball, he was there.
But he also one of those guys where

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you could see this not just with
things like Dave Campbell or things like the

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Texas High School Football Coaches Association,
but you can see it, you know,

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just with his offense, for lack
of a better example, if he

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didn't want to do it, you
a wasn't going to do it, and

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that obstinacy I think, you know, and he just goes beyond dealing with

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the media. The obstinacy of not
changing the offense, the obstinacy of not

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hiring a special teams coach. Those
things directly impacted his job standing. You

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know, you take a look at
it, especially at special teams. He

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had five kicks blocked three kicks return
for touchdowns. The last play of the

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Old miss game was a block kick
you lost. The first play of the

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00:22:48.920 --> 00:22:52.839
Mississippi Stick Game was a kickoff return
for a touchdown. And he would not

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hire a special teams coach. So
I think those are just examples of a

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guy who, did you talk to
him one on one, is a very

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nice, very personal guy if you
talk to Timbo, But if you talk

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to coach Fisher, then he could
be very opposite, you know, and

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just very stuck in his ways,
and if he'd want to do it,

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he just wasn't going to do it. Yeah, I mean, sometimes you

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can't help people get out of their
own way, and it kind of sounds

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like that towards the end. Is
what got him Mark Passwaters again aggieyel dot

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00:23:23.480 --> 00:23:30.559
com. Find him on Twitter at
MBP Rivals is how you can find him.

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00:23:30.240 --> 00:23:33.200
Mark. Appreciate it, buddy.
In addition to keeping an eye on

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00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:37.680
a coaching search, I know you're
a huge ASTROS guy, so I'm sure

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00:23:37.680 --> 00:23:41.720
you're probably waiting to see a trade
or to come through the old notifications there

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00:23:41.759 --> 00:23:45.960
to see who they've gotten this offseason. So you know, we know that

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00:23:47.000 --> 00:23:49.480
you're listening to the station as well, so we'll keep you updated there and

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00:23:49.720 --> 00:23:53.240
it's always great to catch up with
you, buddy. All right, Pat,

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00:23:53.279 --> 00:23:56.000
thanks man, I appreciate you having
me on. You're the man Mark

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00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:59.559
Passwaters again, and I mean,
you know, I just think there's a

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lot of different things at play here
with the coaching search for A and M.

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And you know something that I said
on Twitter the other day that I

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actually want to get into just a
little bit when we come back. We

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will do that in addition to talking
about the flowers we've all been waiting for

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00:24:15.799 --> 00:24:21.160
here in Houston. Boy, they're
here and they smell great. I'll explain

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00:24:21.200 --> 00:24:25.559
that a little bit more next as
well, as we continue on until noon.

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Right here, this is Space City
Saturday. I'm Dan Matthews here on

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00:24:27.960 --> 00:24:34.039
your Home of the Astros and the
Rockets Sports Talk seven ninety. It's Space

348
00:24:34.079 --> 00:24:42.359
City Saturday on Sports Talk seven ninety. Yeah, we're big timers around here

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00:24:42.759 --> 00:24:47.839
on Sports Talk seven ninety. I
sold it well, I really think I

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00:24:47.880 --> 00:24:52.880
did. Dan Matthews here, Josh
c over there, as we continue on

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00:24:53.039 --> 00:24:57.400
here on your Home of the Astros
and the Rockets, Sports Talk seven ninety.

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00:24:57.720 --> 00:25:02.559
And you know, a couple of
other names to consider for the A

353
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and M coach's search. Just saw
a report a few seconds ago. Bud

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00:25:06.119 --> 00:25:10.599
Kilmer from West Canaan High School,
or as well, you could add Eric

355
00:25:10.640 --> 00:25:14.119
Taylor from Dylan High School. You
know, I mean, hey, both

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00:25:14.319 --> 00:25:17.960
outstanding high school coaches in their own
right. Kilmer, though, I mean

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rumors of a little bit of a
locker room mutiny before the end of the

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00:25:22.640 --> 00:25:26.759
game. And star quarterback Lance Harbor
who went down with the torn acl He

359
00:25:27.160 --> 00:25:30.920
was the acting head coach at the
end of that game. That Jonathan Moxon

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and Tweeter and Billy Bob with the
oop to you, they were able to

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win that at the end of the
game. For those of you you have

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00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:41.759
no idea what I'm talking about.
It's a joke, all right. They'd

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be some flashy names. They'd be
some very flashy names. I mean Kilmer,

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he's a little rough around the edges. Maybe that's what the Aggies need.

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And Eric Taylor. I think sometimes
Coach Taylor tries to be you know,

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edgy and tries to be the disciplinarian, but in his own way,

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his tough love is good love.
You know. It really worked out for

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00:26:00.319 --> 00:26:07.880
Tim Riggins and for for you know, for Landry and I'm trying to think

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Matt Sarason. There you go.
It was only when J. D.

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McCoy came in that things got ruined
there for the Dylan Panthers. But no,

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00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:18.839
of course, of course, for
those of you who don't know what

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I'm talking about, those are the
coaches from Varsity Blues and also to coach

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00:26:22.200 --> 00:26:27.759
Eric Taylor from the TV show Friday
Night Lights, not the Billy Bob Thornton

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00:26:29.559 --> 00:26:33.599
characterization of what was the film adaptation
of the book Friday Night Lights, of

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00:26:33.599 --> 00:26:41.799
course about the Odessa permean Panthers,
as that of course was made into a

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00:26:41.799 --> 00:26:45.359
film that Billy Bob Thornton played,
I believe was it Gary Gaines? Was

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he the coach there? I'm sure
some of somebody out there can probably tell

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00:26:48.119 --> 00:26:49.599
me on Gaines, sound right.
I don't know about the first name.

379
00:26:49.960 --> 00:26:53.880
Yeah, I mean it was Billy
Bob Thornton that played them. But anyway,

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00:26:53.960 --> 00:26:57.079
whatever, it doesn't matter. But
you know, just to kind of

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00:26:57.079 --> 00:27:02.480
put a bow on it before we
get into my flowers topic here, that

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00:27:02.519 --> 00:27:04.440
will make sense here in just a
second. I threw it on Twitter the

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00:27:04.480 --> 00:27:08.359
other night, which, by the
way follow me on Twitter at Dan Matthews

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00:27:08.759 --> 00:27:15.200
Hou Josh. I mean, in
addition to stellar playlists for astros broadcasts,

385
00:27:15.359 --> 00:27:18.960
what else can people find from you
on the Twitter sphere with your handle?

386
00:27:18.960 --> 00:27:22.799
Please? Probably me just reacting to
sports. It's about all I do on

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00:27:22.839 --> 00:27:26.359
there anymore. Okay, Yeah,
and we can find you at JTS six

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00:27:26.519 --> 00:27:30.440
nine three. There you go,
Josh c find my man. Follow them.

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00:27:30.559 --> 00:27:34.599
You will not be disappointed. But
with the Aggies, I mean,

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00:27:34.640 --> 00:27:37.200
you know, I threw this out
where I said, don't you know,

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00:27:37.720 --> 00:27:41.440
don't don't get caught up in the
name brand here, and I think that

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00:27:41.440 --> 00:27:45.759
that's been something that going back to
when they moved off of rc SLOCOM and

393
00:27:45.799 --> 00:27:49.839
brought in Dennis FRANCIONI, that's when
it really kind of got going for them

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00:27:51.279 --> 00:27:53.920
in this direction where they took kind
of a detour away from it. And

395
00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:59.240
look, I use the example of
everybody hated the Mike Sherman higher at the

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00:27:59.279 --> 00:28:02.359
time because it was like, wait
a minute, hadn't coached college in years.

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I think at the time the Aggies, which believe Greg Byrne or not

398
00:28:06.960 --> 00:28:11.319
Greg Burn, trying to remember which
ad was the ad at the time,

399
00:28:11.359 --> 00:28:15.079
it's Greg Burn's Dad was the AD
at the time, but he hired Mike

400
00:28:15.119 --> 00:28:17.680
Sherman, and I think that what
they were kind of trying to channel,

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00:28:17.720 --> 00:28:22.799
because here's the thing too in coaching
searches that I think some people pay attention

402
00:28:22.839 --> 00:28:27.480
to and maybe others won't pay as
close attention to, is that everybody tries

403
00:28:27.519 --> 00:28:32.160
to find the next guy. And
at the time when A and M was

404
00:28:32.240 --> 00:28:37.079
hiring, they were hiring during the
impressive USC run. So I think that

405
00:28:37.119 --> 00:28:41.119
a lot of people out there during
the time were saying, all right,

406
00:28:41.400 --> 00:28:47.440
who are NFL coaches that had college
ties? And Pete Carroll was that guy

407
00:28:47.960 --> 00:28:51.000
because Pete Carroll going to college.
When he got hired at USC, it

408
00:28:51.079 --> 00:28:52.839
was, oh, come on,
man, a guy who flamed out in

409
00:28:52.880 --> 00:28:56.480
the NFL with the Patriots and then
you know, I think he barely even

410
00:28:56.559 --> 00:29:02.559
had the job with the Jets before
or they moved on to somebody else.

411
00:29:03.039 --> 00:29:04.920
I think what was it wasn't that
Belichick, I guess was there for a

412
00:29:04.960 --> 00:29:08.240
little bit, but that's besides the
point. So that I think was kind

413
00:29:08.240 --> 00:29:11.880
of what they were going for of
saying, hey, look a guy with

414
00:29:11.079 --> 00:29:15.960
NFL experience, a guy with NFL
success. When he was with the packers,

415
00:29:15.319 --> 00:29:18.759
he can recruit, he can develop, he can do all of those

416
00:29:18.759 --> 00:29:22.519
different types of things because kind of
like what Notre Dame did with Charlie Weiss.

417
00:29:22.680 --> 00:29:26.079
And I'm trying to think al grow
I guess was another guy too as

418
00:29:26.119 --> 00:29:30.599
well. I know that Chan Gaily
had had some success at Georgia Tech as

419
00:29:30.599 --> 00:29:34.880
well. I mean getting Calvin Johnson
and that crew of players to come through

420
00:29:34.920 --> 00:29:37.680
the flats there in midtown Atlanta to
play for Georgia Tech. And then of

421
00:29:37.759 --> 00:29:42.400
course Paul Johnson took over and they
went to a BCS Bowl game during his

422
00:29:42.680 --> 00:29:45.279
time as the head coach there.
So that was kind of the trend at

423
00:29:45.279 --> 00:29:51.720
the time. Now it's more of
let's find the next Kirby Smart, and

424
00:29:51.759 --> 00:29:56.279
that's why you heard from Mark Passwaters
there, of trying to find the next

425
00:29:56.359 --> 00:30:00.720
up and comer. I have talked
about it numerous times, and I've been

426
00:30:00.759 --> 00:30:03.039
shut down at every single turn whenever
I bring this guy up. As I've

427
00:30:03.079 --> 00:30:07.200
said, I would think long and
hard about Glenn Schuman, the co defensive

428
00:30:07.200 --> 00:30:14.519
coordinator at Georgia because of these reasons, outstanding recruiter, his positions that he

429
00:30:14.640 --> 00:30:19.319
coaches, his position singular in this
case is inside linebackers. And if you've

430
00:30:19.319 --> 00:30:22.799
paid attention to that Georgia defense these
last few years, who's been a really

431
00:30:22.799 --> 00:30:26.839
good group in that Georgia defense inside
linebackers. You got a bunch of them

432
00:30:26.839 --> 00:30:32.039
in the NFL right now, Na
Kobe Dean before him, Rokwan Smith,

433
00:30:32.480 --> 00:30:36.359
the guys that are there right now, Smile London and Jamon Doumas, Pop

434
00:30:36.440 --> 00:30:40.359
Johnson, They're gonna be NFL players. Channing Tendall, I mean he has

435
00:30:40.400 --> 00:30:45.200
had a ton of players from that
group go to the NFL and make meaningful

436
00:30:45.279 --> 00:30:48.079
contributions in the NFL. I mean, Rokwan Smith's one of the best inside

437
00:30:48.079 --> 00:30:53.160
linebackers in the game right now.
And also too, he's got Texas Ties

438
00:30:53.440 --> 00:30:56.319
DFW. That's where he went to
high school. I believe he went to

439
00:30:56.400 --> 00:31:00.119
high school in Plano. If any
of Glenn's family is listening out there,

440
00:31:00.160 --> 00:31:04.039
I apologize for getting that wrong,
but he's from here. He recruits the

441
00:31:04.160 --> 00:31:08.359
area. Georgia since Kirby Smart took
over, really started to focus on the

442
00:31:08.359 --> 00:31:11.559
lone Star state and have started to
get a lot of really good players,

443
00:31:11.680 --> 00:31:17.400
especially players from here in the area
that they've gotten and are still getting.

444
00:31:17.920 --> 00:31:19.440
This is a class that they have
for twenty twenty four is going to have

445
00:31:19.519 --> 00:31:23.720
a ton of guys here from this
area. So what I'm getting at is

446
00:31:23.920 --> 00:31:27.799
if A and EM is looking for
their next coach because they want their next

447
00:31:27.799 --> 00:31:30.839
coach to be able to come in
and take the program to the next level.

448
00:31:30.880 --> 00:31:34.680
That's a given. We already know
that that's baked in. But I

449
00:31:34.720 --> 00:31:40.480
think that probably more than anything is
they want sustained success, and I think

450
00:31:40.519 --> 00:31:42.319
a guy like that can deliver that
to you because he's learned from one of

451
00:31:42.359 --> 00:31:45.960
the best. As a matter of
fact, he's learned from two of the

452
00:31:45.960 --> 00:31:51.519
best because he was an analyst as
a student at Alabama with Nick Saban and

453
00:31:51.640 --> 00:31:55.359
Kirby Smart and oh, by the
way, there are coaches meetings, and

454
00:31:55.519 --> 00:31:59.680
Nick Saban would have almost kind of
individual coaches meetings because you know how much

455
00:31:59.680 --> 00:32:04.160
of a defensive stalwart he is that
he definitely wanted to be involved in the

456
00:32:04.160 --> 00:32:07.599
defensive game plan. With Kirby Smart, you know who would be in on

457
00:32:07.640 --> 00:32:10.400
those small meetings. Glenn Schuman would
be in on those small meetings. That

458
00:32:10.559 --> 00:32:15.759
shows you the trust that both of
those guys had in this guy. And

459
00:32:15.799 --> 00:32:17.480
at twenty six years old, he
was hired on as one of the first

460
00:32:17.519 --> 00:32:22.799
full time on field assistants by Kirby
Smart when he took over the job in

461
00:32:22.839 --> 00:32:25.119
twenty sixteen, I mean twenty six
years old. We're thinking, what is

462
00:32:25.119 --> 00:32:29.480
this guy really gonna do? Oh, that's what he's gonna do. Okay,

463
00:32:30.200 --> 00:32:31.319
And some people will look at his
age and say, ah, too

464
00:32:31.359 --> 00:32:35.960
young. Follow that out the window. That's ridiculous. If you know the

465
00:32:36.000 --> 00:32:37.880
game, you know the game.
If you can lead players, you can

466
00:32:37.960 --> 00:32:42.759
lead players. He's proven that he
has both of those qualities and again that

467
00:32:42.839 --> 00:32:46.960
he's an outstanding recruiter and somebody that
has a very bright future in this game.

468
00:32:47.079 --> 00:32:52.200
So you could do a lot worse. And you know, it's been

469
00:32:52.240 --> 00:32:55.759
again where I think that the Aggies. For the longest time I thought about

470
00:32:55.759 --> 00:33:00.680
this example last night, the Aggies
have been the sucker who walks into the

471
00:33:00.680 --> 00:33:04.880
casino. Let's all kind of you
know, get in that mindset right now,

472
00:33:05.440 --> 00:33:07.160
we walk through the doors. If
it's Vegas, you don't have to

473
00:33:07.160 --> 00:33:10.400
show your ID. But if you're
in Louisiana or anybody else, you gotta

474
00:33:10.440 --> 00:33:14.400
go buy the security stand right there. You gotta pull the ID out,

475
00:33:14.440 --> 00:33:16.400
you gotta show it to them.
Make sure it's not a fake. Maybe

476
00:33:16.400 --> 00:33:19.759
they got to scan it. All
of those different types of things. What's

477
00:33:19.759 --> 00:33:22.720
the first thing you see when you
walk into a casino, the big spinning

478
00:33:22.720 --> 00:33:29.319
wheel with the cash on it.
That is the largest suckers game to play.

479
00:33:30.480 --> 00:33:32.359
And of course the aggies have been
going to the big spinning wheel with

480
00:33:32.400 --> 00:33:36.359
the cash on it for the longest
time of thinking, oh man, look

481
00:33:36.400 --> 00:33:37.920
at that. I mean, they're
just begging me to take money. No,

482
00:33:38.920 --> 00:33:43.880
they're begging you to think that you
can take the money, which for

483
00:33:43.920 --> 00:33:45.640
the most part, any of us
that go into a casino, we all

484
00:33:45.640 --> 00:33:47.880
think we're gonna be winners. I
mean, you're not going in there if

485
00:33:47.880 --> 00:33:51.960
you don't think you're gonna win.
And most of us don't win. That's

486
00:33:52.000 --> 00:33:55.599
why the buildings, not only in
Vegas are huge, but also in Tunica

487
00:33:55.920 --> 00:34:00.519
like Charles wherever else. That's why
those builds buildings are so huge and they're

488
00:34:00.519 --> 00:34:05.400
so nice, is because people like
us go in there. But then after

489
00:34:05.440 --> 00:34:07.440
that too, they lose a little
bit of money over there. Then they

490
00:34:07.480 --> 00:34:10.159
go over to the blackjack table and
they bust out over at the blackjack table.

491
00:34:10.320 --> 00:34:14.679
Doesn't work out, so then you
have to do the dreaded go to

492
00:34:14.760 --> 00:34:17.559
the ATM, which I got to
tell people all the time. The number

493
00:34:17.599 --> 00:34:23.639
one rule one visit to the ATM
on the entire trip one. That's what

494
00:34:23.679 --> 00:34:27.360
you're allowed. That's what you should
be allowed. Don't be Clark Griswold in

495
00:34:27.440 --> 00:34:31.760
Vegas vacation year. If you are
tapped out on the cash, go back

496
00:34:31.800 --> 00:34:36.280
once. But always have a plan
there, folks. And that's been the

497
00:34:36.320 --> 00:34:39.440
Aggies. That's been what they've been. They've been walking into the casino thinking,

498
00:34:39.480 --> 00:34:43.760
man, I'm gonna take this place
for everything that's worth. I'm gonna

499
00:34:43.760 --> 00:34:45.960
absolutely be able to run away with
this thing, and they haven't been able

500
00:34:46.000 --> 00:34:52.440
to. And now they're going back
to the ATM again. And in this

501
00:34:52.559 --> 00:34:55.679
case right here, you better hope
that this bankroll is the right one because

502
00:34:55.880 --> 00:35:00.000
you have been stuck in this position
where you've been able to take a couple

503
00:35:00.039 --> 00:35:07.880
of steps forward over the last twenty
plus years of when RC Slocum was finally

504
00:35:07.880 --> 00:35:10.719
shown the door there in College Station. I mean, maybe you had a

505
00:35:10.760 --> 00:35:14.719
decent enough year. You beat Texas
a couple of years in a row.

506
00:35:14.800 --> 00:35:17.960
The second year, I remember,
immediately after that game, Dennis Rancioni at

507
00:35:19.000 --> 00:35:21.639
the podium saying, yeah, that
was my final game coach here at Texas

508
00:35:21.679 --> 00:35:24.960
A and M. And then you
went with Mike Sherman. Then you went

509
00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:29.280
with Kevin Someone. It looked like
with Kevin Someone, I mean, you

510
00:35:29.320 --> 00:35:32.960
thought the Johnny Manziel year, that's
it. We're taking off. We are

511
00:35:34.079 --> 00:35:37.559
ahead of schedule. Now we are
good. Next year is gonna be amazing.

512
00:35:38.079 --> 00:35:44.239
The following year was a mitigated disaster
that was probably baked in for the

513
00:35:44.280 --> 00:35:47.320
offseason that we saw with Johnny Manziel
getting kicked out of the Manning Passing Academy

514
00:35:47.800 --> 00:35:51.760
and just everything else. I mean, you know him hammered, drunk,

515
00:35:52.280 --> 00:35:57.159
slamming a bottle of champagne on an
inflatable swan in some pool somewhere. I

516
00:35:57.199 --> 00:36:00.000
mean, all of those different types
of things, and you bring in Jimbo

517
00:36:00.079 --> 00:36:04.960
Fisher and you're thinking yourself, especially
after the COVID twenty twenty season, all

518
00:36:05.039 --> 00:36:07.920
right, we got this thing.
I mean, look at these recruiting classes

519
00:36:08.079 --> 00:36:10.239
and then you had people coming at
them and saying, oh, yeah,

520
00:36:10.320 --> 00:36:14.880
you bought all those players, and
these players have not necessarily fit well,

521
00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:17.559
some of them have left. It's
just not been good. And I mean

522
00:36:17.840 --> 00:36:20.960
when Jimbo got there, they were
like, oh, we got one of

523
00:36:21.039 --> 00:36:22.760
the few national championship winning coaches that's
out there. We're gonna we're on the

524
00:36:22.800 --> 00:36:25.920
right track. Jimbo was about to
get run out of Florida State. It

525
00:36:27.039 --> 00:36:30.840
was very on edge of him being
fired. Josh, thank you very much,

526
00:36:30.960 --> 00:36:34.840
because that's the thing too that I
think the fools play again walking into

527
00:36:34.840 --> 00:36:37.519
the casino, that people were just
so blinded of. He won a national

528
00:36:37.559 --> 00:36:42.920
championship in twenty thirteen, what did
he do after that? He was,

529
00:36:43.480 --> 00:36:47.079
by that standard, pedestrian at best. It never got any better. After

530
00:36:47.159 --> 00:36:52.119
Jamis Winston fell backwards and somehow lost
the ball up in the air for an

531
00:36:52.159 --> 00:36:55.880
Oregon player to be able to catch
it and run it back for a touchdown

532
00:36:55.920 --> 00:37:00.119
at the Rose Bowl. It never
really got back on track. They had

533
00:37:00.480 --> 00:37:02.960
nine and three seasons. I mean, remember the one year they played in

534
00:37:02.960 --> 00:37:06.880
the Chick fil A Peach Bowl against
Tom Herman and U of H. I

535
00:37:06.880 --> 00:37:09.880
mean, but for the most part
they were a pretty pedestrian program, and

536
00:37:09.960 --> 00:37:13.840
it was Hey, this guy's winning
with a lot of really good talent,

537
00:37:13.960 --> 00:37:17.760
Jamis Winston, Kelvin Benjamin as well
as Dalvin Cook. At the time,

538
00:37:17.840 --> 00:37:24.280
Devonte Freeman, but after that it
never really got better. So I would

539
00:37:24.280 --> 00:37:30.760
just say focus on the coach in
terms of what their overall body of work

540
00:37:30.800 --> 00:37:32.719
has been, because that's the other
thing as well. Oh he's not good

541
00:37:32.800 --> 00:37:37.199
enough to coach here? The hell
are you to say that he's not good

542
00:37:37.280 --> 00:37:39.119
enough to coach here? I mean
that, seriously, is my question to

543
00:37:39.159 --> 00:37:42.280
you, Aggie's and you're welcome the
way in as well if we want to

544
00:37:42.280 --> 00:37:45.480
continue this conversation at seven one three
two one two five seven ninety, because

545
00:37:45.480 --> 00:37:50.400
what I've seen, you don't have
the standards that you think you have there

546
00:37:50.440 --> 00:37:53.159
in College Station right now, at
least, I think I would give it

547
00:37:53.159 --> 00:37:58.880
to somebody to be able to recalibrate
those expectations and be able to put this

548
00:37:58.920 --> 00:38:04.239
program back on track. And I
would kind of hope in a way that

549
00:38:04.280 --> 00:38:07.400
the hire is a little underwhelming for
some people, because those are the guys

550
00:38:07.400 --> 00:38:12.800
that necessarily do well. Me and
Josh we were talking about this yesterday of

551
00:38:12.960 --> 00:38:15.519
you know, my buddy Dave bar
two of College Football Matrix follow him on

552
00:38:15.519 --> 00:38:20.440
Twitter at CFB Matrix. It's the
time of year two when Dave's very busy

553
00:38:20.480 --> 00:38:24.920
because ads do count on him for
his analytical work. But aside from Saban

554
00:38:25.639 --> 00:38:30.719
and aside from urban Meyer, the
home run HighRes have not worked out because

555
00:38:30.719 --> 00:38:36.559
the expectations are already so built in
they're almost too tough to meet. And

556
00:38:36.880 --> 00:38:43.159
Josh to your point as well,
they gave him a blank national championship trophy

557
00:38:43.400 --> 00:38:47.320
in college station, which I'm not
kidding. Go back and look it up

558
00:38:47.360 --> 00:38:51.000
for those of you that don't know
what I'm talking about. They gave Jimbo

559
00:38:51.079 --> 00:38:58.519
Fisher a blank national championship trophy to
just put in the year that didn't necessarily

560
00:38:58.559 --> 00:39:01.960
get reached, didn't a right the
Flowers conversation. We're gonna do that next

561
00:39:02.119 --> 00:39:06.800
because we will get into that as
I just ran a little bit longer on

562
00:39:07.199 --> 00:39:09.280
the Aggie conversation here, So we'll
do that to close out the ten o'clock

563
00:39:09.320 --> 00:39:14.159
cour Then once we get to eleven, I'm gonna lose Josh because Josh is

564
00:39:14.159 --> 00:39:21.239
gonna be deeply enthralled with that huge
Alabama Chattanooga matchup today. As you know,

565
00:39:21.239 --> 00:39:22.559
it's gonna be a tough one there
in TuS Lewis. Oh Man,

566
00:39:22.639 --> 00:39:25.199
we'll see really nervous. Yeah,
I was gonna say, I mean,

567
00:39:25.239 --> 00:39:29.800
you know, Crimson Tides playoff hopes
really on the line there. But the

568
00:39:29.800 --> 00:39:32.079
eleven o'clock games in college football about
to get going. The Aggie's that we've

569
00:39:32.119 --> 00:39:37.760
been talking about taking on Abilene Christian
and everybody else to get going here on

570
00:39:37.920 --> 00:39:43.559
a college football Saturday. But we
will get into some Texans conversation and much

571
00:39:43.559 --> 00:39:47.880
more here as the show rolls along
until or until noon. Dan Matthews here,

572
00:39:47.960 --> 00:39:58.119
Space City Saturday on Sports Talk seven
ninety Space City Saturday on Sports Talk

573
00:39:58.159 --> 00:40:06.320
seven ninety. Oh, we'll play
Josh. We'll play Josh. See.

574
00:40:06.400 --> 00:40:09.199
I'm telling you, folks, I
mean, in addition to running a great

575
00:40:09.400 --> 00:40:15.239
ASTROS broadcast, my man right here, I mean Josh. For those that

576
00:40:15.320 --> 00:40:17.920
don't know, I mean, you
do the playlist for rejoins over on the

577
00:40:17.960 --> 00:40:22.719
ASTROS Radio network. I mean,
and it's a thing too, Like if

578
00:40:22.760 --> 00:40:24.960
you don't have the playlist posted,
like, people get at you pretty quick,

579
00:40:25.039 --> 00:40:28.639
right, They're like, Yo,
where's the music dude? Oh yeah.

580
00:40:28.679 --> 00:40:30.000
And then half the time if I
try and think of something, I

581
00:40:30.039 --> 00:40:34.800
have to legitimately get in early and
start going through make sure it's all clean,

582
00:40:34.840 --> 00:40:37.039
if it's not insists all that.
Yeah, it's a process. It

583
00:40:37.119 --> 00:40:42.679
is it is, but well played
there, especially with the topic talking about

584
00:40:42.760 --> 00:40:50.199
the flowers folks are CJ. Shroud
and the Texans because CJ is who we

585
00:40:50.280 --> 00:40:52.639
have wished for. And by the
way, Dan Matthews here with you if

586
00:40:52.639 --> 00:40:55.360
you just tuning in Space City Saturday
when you're home of the Astros and Rockets

587
00:40:55.360 --> 00:41:00.599
Sports Talk seven ninety. Because we
we thought we got our flowers a few

588
00:41:00.639 --> 00:41:05.840
years ago when Deshaun Watson took over
as the quarterback of the Texans. Boy

589
00:41:06.079 --> 00:41:10.719
did we learn pretty quickly that was
not the case. And when the Texans

590
00:41:10.800 --> 00:41:15.079
drafted c J. Stroud there was
probably the same reaction that I think a

591
00:41:15.079 --> 00:41:19.480
lot of people had. It was
almost kind of like the reaction that people

592
00:41:19.519 --> 00:41:23.280
had had to JJ Watt. Now
was it outward booing at the draft party

593
00:41:23.440 --> 00:41:27.440
like it was? And you know
who you are out there, Ryan Moon,

594
00:41:27.480 --> 00:41:30.719
if you're out there, good buddy
of mine. He was on the

595
00:41:30.159 --> 00:41:37.119
ABC thirteen story about when the Texans
drafted JJ Watt. So you know,

596
00:41:37.639 --> 00:41:39.960
we always remind him of that.
We always find that video and especially to

597
00:41:40.320 --> 00:41:46.719
my good buddy Tony played it the
weekend that they retired JJ Watt. He

598
00:41:46.800 --> 00:41:51.119
goes, Hey Moon, remember this
so there you go, Buddy, shout

599
00:41:51.119 --> 00:41:54.000
out for you. But I mean
I think that probably it was a well

600
00:41:54.079 --> 00:41:58.719
we lost out on Bryce Young,
all right, I guess we'll see.

601
00:41:58.760 --> 00:42:00.599
I mean, he did some good
thing at Ohio State. Probably his best

602
00:42:00.599 --> 00:42:05.119
game was the final game he played
there, so you know he's got that

603
00:42:05.239 --> 00:42:07.880
going for him. I don't think
any of us saw this coming. I

604
00:42:07.920 --> 00:42:12.239
mean, I think if nothing else, we were worried that what Carolina is

605
00:42:12.280 --> 00:42:16.920
going through right now with Bryce Young
was going to be him patchwork offensive line,

606
00:42:17.239 --> 00:42:22.159
Larrymy Tunsel out for a good amount
of the time. You've got Kenyon

607
00:42:22.199 --> 00:42:24.559
Green done for the year. I
mean, how is this thing gonna look?

608
00:42:24.599 --> 00:42:29.079
And you're putting a rookie quarterback back
there, and then also too on

609
00:42:29.159 --> 00:42:32.239
top of it all, I mean, this receivers group, Nico Collins,

610
00:42:32.280 --> 00:42:36.639
You're really expecting much out of that
guy. I mean, the selling point

611
00:42:36.719 --> 00:42:40.559
for possible offensive success this year was, hey, we signed Dalton Schultz.

612
00:42:40.679 --> 00:42:45.039
Oh you signed Dalton Schultz. That's
great, that's awesome. That's really gonna

613
00:42:45.039 --> 00:42:50.320
be great for this team. And
he is somebody that at the beginning of

614
00:42:50.400 --> 00:42:54.280
the season he really was kind of
a non factor and lately it's been Dalton

615
00:42:54.320 --> 00:42:59.519
Schultz really starting to become even more
a part of this offense. But I

616
00:42:59.559 --> 00:43:04.760
mean you throw all of that in
along with a very mediocre running attack,

617
00:43:04.800 --> 00:43:09.000
which again that has been the part
of the Texans offense that has been really

618
00:43:09.079 --> 00:43:15.840
kind of stemied by not the greatest
offensive line play at times. But it's

619
00:43:15.880 --> 00:43:19.679
also to the awareness of CJ.
Stroud. We've played the audio numerous times

620
00:43:19.679 --> 00:43:22.519
from him, and I go back
to that game he had against Jacksonville and

621
00:43:22.559 --> 00:43:27.000
I think that that was the time
for me where I said, this guy's

622
00:43:27.000 --> 00:43:30.480
going to be okay. This guy
is going to be okay if he is

623
00:43:30.519 --> 00:43:36.559
already having that much awareness to be
able to show what he can do on

624
00:43:36.599 --> 00:43:39.320
the field, but also know what
he can do in terms of being able

625
00:43:39.360 --> 00:43:42.960
to help out this offense. Where
he talked about, Hey, those guys

626
00:43:43.039 --> 00:43:45.519
up front, they helped me out
the offensive line, so I want to

627
00:43:45.519 --> 00:43:46.920
help them out. I want to
get the ball out fast. I want

628
00:43:46.920 --> 00:43:51.159
to make sure I'm not holding on
to the football here. So then everybody

629
00:43:51.159 --> 00:43:54.199
starts to say, gosh, this
offensive line terrible. See sacked again,

630
00:43:55.079 --> 00:43:59.239
And he's been a guy that's you
know, I mentioned JJ Watt, he

631
00:43:59.280 --> 00:44:01.000
talked about all the Pack McAfee show. He said, as quickly as he

632
00:44:01.039 --> 00:44:06.199
gets the football out, that's a
defensive players nightmare because you see him lined

633
00:44:06.239 --> 00:44:08.920
up, maybe you're able to bull
rush the right or left tackle and you're

634
00:44:08.920 --> 00:44:12.480
getting close and you're like, yeah, I'm gonna get him. Oh god,

635
00:44:12.519 --> 00:44:15.360
he got rid of the football.
I gotta peel off. I can't

636
00:44:15.440 --> 00:44:19.360
hit him. If I do,
that's fifteen yards. And that's been something

637
00:44:19.400 --> 00:44:22.760
that as a rookie to be able
to have that type of awareness and to

638
00:44:22.960 --> 00:44:28.119
not only have that, but it's
also too off the field seemingly being able

639
00:44:28.159 --> 00:44:30.840
to get it. I mean where
he's talked to Texans fans of you deserve

640
00:44:30.880 --> 00:44:35.559
to feel special, you deserve to
feel great. And then on top of

641
00:44:35.599 --> 00:44:37.440
it all, you had the Tom
Brady the other day where they made a

642
00:44:37.480 --> 00:44:42.679
bet, of course, about Michigan
and Ohio State, where Brady said,

643
00:44:42.679 --> 00:44:45.719
I'll tell you what Ohio State wins, you get one of my Super Bowl

644
00:44:45.800 --> 00:44:51.440
rings, and CJ. Stroud went
complete, I forget who the quarterback was

645
00:44:51.480 --> 00:44:52.599
in the movie Draft Day. And
some of you out there might be like,

646
00:44:52.800 --> 00:44:55.559
come on, man, you're really
making a Draft Day example. But

647
00:44:55.639 --> 00:44:59.639
remember it was the one hundred dollars
bill at the end of the press at

648
00:44:59.639 --> 00:45:05.159
the of the playbook, and he
said, keep it for when we win

649
00:45:05.199 --> 00:45:07.360
a super Bowl or something like that, to really kind of show like,

650
00:45:07.400 --> 00:45:13.159
hey, I read the playbook.
And he told Tom Brady that exact thing.

651
00:45:13.320 --> 00:45:15.559
He said, you know what,
I appreciate the gesture, but keep

652
00:45:15.559 --> 00:45:19.039
your ring. I want to win
one of my own. This guy's for

653
00:45:19.119 --> 00:45:22.039
real, man, and I think
that it's only going to get better because

654
00:45:22.079 --> 00:45:25.840
these next couple of years are going
to be great for this team in terms

655
00:45:25.880 --> 00:45:30.199
of being able to add pieces around
him. This is now where you can

656
00:45:30.239 --> 00:45:34.440
strike while the iron's hot if you're
the Texans, in terms of building up

657
00:45:34.440 --> 00:45:37.239
this roster because you've got a rookie
quarterback and for the next couple of years

658
00:45:37.239 --> 00:45:44.159
you don't have to worry about that
extension and having that part of your salary

659
00:45:44.199 --> 00:45:46.440
cap eaten up by the quarterback.
And that's the time when you go out

660
00:45:46.480 --> 00:45:50.400
and get the toys. But for
right now, I mean the way that

661
00:45:50.440 --> 00:45:52.199
the playoff picture is looking for the
Texans. We'll talk about this a little

662
00:45:52.199 --> 00:45:57.360
bit more in the eleven o'clock hour. I mean, Joe Burrow injury now

663
00:45:57.719 --> 00:46:02.280
Deshaun Watson going down. Suddenly,
the path to get to January football for

664
00:46:02.320 --> 00:46:07.519
this team is becoming much more clear. And remember it goes back to last

665
00:46:07.559 --> 00:46:12.559
week what I said this team was
hoping going into that win against Cincinnati.

666
00:46:12.800 --> 00:46:15.159
I said, if they win that
game, they could believe that the playoffs

667
00:46:15.199 --> 00:46:20.440
are definitely a foot. And folks, the playoffs are definitely a foot.

668
00:46:20.760 --> 00:46:22.760
All right, let's flip it over
to the eleven o'clock hour. We'll get

669
00:46:22.800 --> 00:46:28.440
into some astros talk because coming up
next, if moves are made, it'll

670
00:46:28.440 --> 00:46:30.760
be of a different variety for the
Astros. I'll explain next right here,

671
00:46:31.079 --> 00:46:35.199
Space City Saturday on your home of
the Astros in the Rockets, Sports Talk

672
00:46:35.280 --> 00:46:55.119
seven ninety graded Graded City. Welcome
to another Space City Saturday on Sports Talk

673
00:46:55.199 --> 00:47:01.239
seven ninety Dan Matthews Live and local
h Town breakdown of the world that matters

674
00:47:01.280 --> 00:47:07.239
to you, Houston Sports World.
All these great Houston fans here, we

675
00:47:07.360 --> 00:47:12.840
love you all. So finish up
on that to do list. Flute up

676
00:47:12.880 --> 00:47:16.599
the jeweler, because you can't drink
in talk sports all day if you don't

677
00:47:16.599 --> 00:47:23.800
start. Now. This is Face
City Saturday. It's insane. Here's seven

678
00:47:23.920 --> 00:47:30.119
nineties Dan Matthews. Everything that voice
guy just said is true. I mean,

679
00:47:30.280 --> 00:47:35.400
settling, it's a college football Saturday. But Dan, it's not that

680
00:47:35.480 --> 00:47:37.800
great of a college football slate.
All right. I don't know who you

681
00:47:37.920 --> 00:47:40.800
are who just walked into this room
and just said that, but that is

682
00:47:40.840 --> 00:47:45.840
incredibly not true. There is no
chance that could ever be true. There's

683
00:47:45.880 --> 00:47:50.679
a T shirt company and they actually
sent me a shirt. So for this

684
00:47:50.800 --> 00:47:53.599
example right now, I apologize for
not getting the name rights, although I

685
00:47:53.679 --> 00:47:58.880
probably just saved myself from a Plugola, Paola, all those different types of

686
00:47:58.880 --> 00:48:02.480
things. But they have a shirt
that they would make in every school's colors.

687
00:48:02.960 --> 00:48:07.000
You only get so many Saturdays.
And that's the thing. Me and

688
00:48:07.079 --> 00:48:09.599
Josh C were talking before the show, and you know, I said,

689
00:48:09.639 --> 00:48:12.920
Hey, you know the people out
there that's not that great of a college

690
00:48:12.920 --> 00:48:15.840
football Saturday, Well, you know
what, you can be begging it for

691
00:48:15.960 --> 00:48:20.880
saturdays like this when we hit February
in March and it's oh, okay,

692
00:48:20.960 --> 00:48:23.880
you know, maybe they're at college
basketball on today. I guess you know,

693
00:48:23.920 --> 00:48:27.760
they're on the West coast swing of
the PGA tour. I can watch

694
00:48:27.840 --> 00:48:30.519
that, oh, spring training baseball, I can watch that, which,

695
00:48:30.559 --> 00:48:32.079
of course you can listen to as
well right here on your home of the

696
00:48:32.079 --> 00:48:37.480
Astro Sports Talk seven ninety. But
look, folks, when these Saturdays are

697
00:48:37.519 --> 00:48:43.159
gone and we have to wait during
the vast abyss in wasteland that is the

698
00:48:43.199 --> 00:48:47.119
college football offseason, which now with
the transfer portal and everything else, has

699
00:48:47.599 --> 00:48:54.000
kind of shortened a little bit,
but still it's one of those things that

700
00:48:54.719 --> 00:48:59.639
once it hits September, you're in
God's country that in that regard, and

701
00:48:59.679 --> 00:49:02.719
then once you get to December and
January, the reality starts to weigh in

702
00:49:04.280 --> 00:49:07.840
and we'll actually be the center of
the college football world at the end of

703
00:49:07.960 --> 00:49:10.480
the season, where it'll be great. The build up is always awesome,

704
00:49:12.000 --> 00:49:15.440
and then if you cover the game
or you're there, and if you're a

705
00:49:15.440 --> 00:49:19.000
fan and your team wins, you're
just basking in the glory of hey,

706
00:49:19.000 --> 00:49:22.599
we just won the national title.
But then shortly thereafter, it's kind of

707
00:49:22.000 --> 00:49:25.320
you know, as the clock strikes
midnight for December twenty sixth, oh,

708
00:49:25.400 --> 00:49:29.519
it's a day after Christmas, I
have to wait an entire year to get

709
00:49:29.519 --> 00:49:32.559
this feeling yet again. And I'm
telling you that's the way it is in

710
00:49:32.800 --> 00:49:36.880
college football. So at this point
of the season. This late in the

711
00:49:36.920 --> 00:49:38.800
season, it always gets kind of
crazy, especially rivalry games. Even if

712
00:49:38.800 --> 00:49:43.559
it's not the main one, people
are still don't like each other. I

713
00:49:43.599 --> 00:49:46.800
can almost guarantee that there's going to
be either un upset or a game where

714
00:49:46.840 --> 00:49:51.000
a very very good team struggles to
get out of the road, you know,

715
00:49:51.079 --> 00:49:53.159
tough road environment. Yeah, no, all of those things true.

716
00:49:53.159 --> 00:49:57.920
By the way, too, we've
got Pat McAfee with his shirt off on

717
00:49:58.360 --> 00:50:04.679
College Game Day College Football Saturday now
has fully commenced. As we'll have a

718
00:50:04.800 --> 00:50:09.639
college football action here for you as
well on seven ninety tonight. I believe

719
00:50:09.679 --> 00:50:14.320
that we're gonna have the LSU game
over here, and I think the Texas

720
00:50:14.400 --> 00:50:16.719
game gonna be on kPr C.
I'll look that up here in just a

721
00:50:16.840 --> 00:50:21.400
second. I believe it's Kate tr
H And then you have Ages on KPRC.

722
00:50:21.599 --> 00:50:22.679
Okay, yeah, yeah, so
there you go. So, as

723
00:50:22.719 --> 00:50:25.599
a matter of fact, shortly after
I get off the air with you all,

724
00:50:25.960 --> 00:50:30.960
I will be heading over to td
ECU. You are right, sir,

725
00:50:30.239 --> 00:50:36.519
as we will have those games coming
up for you here on our family

726
00:50:36.800 --> 00:50:42.679
of stations at iHeart Houston. All
right, So coming up here in a

727
00:50:42.719 --> 00:50:45.960
little over twenty minutes, so we're
gonna hear Joe Aspota's visit on Astro Line

728
00:50:46.000 --> 00:50:51.480
with Todd Kallis and Steve Sparks.
But the Astros now in the rest of

729
00:50:51.519 --> 00:50:57.840
baseball are in the free agency period, trades are starting to become effect.

730
00:50:58.440 --> 00:51:00.760
I mean, my god, you
know it seems like the Braves have traded

731
00:51:00.760 --> 00:51:06.960
almost their entire roster at this point
as they have freed up much of their

732
00:51:06.960 --> 00:51:12.079
forty man roster. The Braves now
have thirty active players on their forty man

733
00:51:12.239 --> 00:51:15.559
rosters, so a lot of room
to be able to build on that part

734
00:51:15.719 --> 00:51:22.639
of their team. But as now
we look at what is ahead for the

735
00:51:22.679 --> 00:51:25.639
Astros, Dana Brown kind of gave
us a little bit of a glimpse of

736
00:51:25.679 --> 00:51:30.480
what could be ahead for this team. And I want you to listen very

737
00:51:30.480 --> 00:51:34.519
closely to some phrasing because it's going
to come back to what I said a

738
00:51:34.519 --> 00:51:37.440
couple of weeks ago when I was
on with you guys talking about what could

739
00:51:37.440 --> 00:51:42.679
be ahead for the Astros as they
build up this roster heading into the twenty

740
00:51:42.719 --> 00:51:45.280
twenty four season, as he was
on with the Sean Salisbury Show, and

741
00:51:45.320 --> 00:51:51.679
he used a particular word when talking
about how they're going to approach the offseason.

742
00:51:52.039 --> 00:51:54.920
We're going to be creative, right
and so if here's an opportunity to

743
00:51:55.039 --> 00:52:00.000
go get that other starter and really
strengthen that rotation, we're gonna do it.

744
00:52:00.119 --> 00:52:05.360
We're having meetings every day right now, trying to get creative. Okay,

745
00:52:05.679 --> 00:52:07.719
what can we do here? What
can we do here? Can we

746
00:52:07.760 --> 00:52:13.639
make a trade here? We're anticipating
something happening, right, and so we're

747
00:52:13.719 --> 00:52:16.719
ready to go. We're you know, we're we've got hands up where we're

748
00:52:16.719 --> 00:52:20.280
on fire. I mean, I
wouldn't say that, Dan, but you

749
00:52:20.280 --> 00:52:23.960
know we're on fire, looking trying
to get that next move, knowing that

750
00:52:24.000 --> 00:52:30.559
we came one game short. All
right. So there you hear that word

751
00:52:30.760 --> 00:52:35.679
creative. And I get back to
again the example, because let's be honest

752
00:52:35.679 --> 00:52:38.519
here, we don't know what Diana
Brown is as an executive in terms of

753
00:52:39.239 --> 00:52:45.360
trades, free agent signings. How
do they handle such situations, Like for

754
00:52:45.519 --> 00:52:47.559
free agent signings, when you get
that done right off the bat, you're

755
00:52:47.599 --> 00:52:51.320
signing somebody that's a free agent and
you sign them for the amount of time

756
00:52:51.320 --> 00:52:54.480
that you want to sign them for. And we saw that last off season

757
00:52:54.519 --> 00:52:58.480
with Josea Bray you and with a
guy that was a free agent in your

758
00:52:58.480 --> 00:53:01.719
own organization and Rob fiel Montero.
I know that that probably brings up some

759
00:53:01.800 --> 00:53:07.679
bad memories and some you know,
feelings from Astro fans that you're really not

760
00:53:07.880 --> 00:53:14.559
a huge fan of having. But
the phrase that he used was something that

761
00:53:14.639 --> 00:53:19.920
again I go back to my experience
working in Atlanta of something that Alexanthopolis would

762
00:53:20.000 --> 00:53:24.360
use. Alexanthopolis, just like the
flagship station here of the Astros that I

763
00:53:24.400 --> 00:53:28.800
work at Sports Talk seven ninety I
worked for the flagship station of the Braves

764
00:53:29.039 --> 00:53:31.679
there in Atlanta, so we would
have Alex on quite a bit. He

765
00:53:31.760 --> 00:53:37.280
used to always use the word flexibility. He was really huge on the word

766
00:53:37.440 --> 00:53:39.280
flexibility. You know, we want
to be flexible. We want to be

767
00:53:39.320 --> 00:53:43.400
flexible, We want to be able
to, you know, make some moves,

768
00:53:43.519 --> 00:53:45.440
leave ourselves some money. So if
we want to add at the trade

769
00:53:45.480 --> 00:53:49.719
deadline, we can do that,
which the Braves have done for the better

770
00:53:49.760 --> 00:53:53.400
part of the last few years that
Alexanthopolis has been the chief executive over there

771
00:53:53.440 --> 00:53:58.679
in Atlanta. And I think that
Dana is probably going to be chipping off

772
00:53:58.719 --> 00:54:01.079
of that tree because again to kind
of set the table for all of this.

773
00:54:01.679 --> 00:54:06.840
The Braves have not necessarily been a
huge player in free agency. Their

774
00:54:06.840 --> 00:54:10.800
free agent signings have been one year
one with an option, and you go

775
00:54:10.880 --> 00:54:14.400
from there. I mean, it
goes back to the twenty nineteen season.

776
00:54:14.400 --> 00:54:17.519
They bring in Josh Donaldson one year
deal. Donaldson then goes to the Minnesota

777
00:54:17.559 --> 00:54:21.599
Twins, gets a nice, huge
deal. The Braves said, hey,

778
00:54:21.679 --> 00:54:23.719
it's time for Austin Reiley to take
over that spot, and he did and

779
00:54:23.760 --> 00:54:29.280
he's been the everyday third baseman ever
since. And it also gets back to

780
00:54:29.800 --> 00:54:34.440
how well are you developing, how
well are you situated to be able to

781
00:54:35.079 --> 00:54:38.000
say when it comes to that time, Hey, Josh Donaldson, it's been

782
00:54:38.039 --> 00:54:43.320
great, but find success somewhere else, and they were able to do that.

783
00:54:43.719 --> 00:54:46.880
This passed offseason for the Braves.
The same deal Braves fans across the

784
00:54:46.920 --> 00:54:52.920
board where we signed Dansby Swanson,
bring back Dansby Swanson. The Braves said,

785
00:54:52.280 --> 00:54:55.840
look, we'll do our best,
but if somebody else wants to come

786
00:54:55.880 --> 00:55:00.679
in and offer him a ton of
money, then we going to be comfortable

787
00:55:00.800 --> 00:55:07.719
enough going with either Von Grissom or
going with Orlando Arcia at shortstop and they

788
00:55:07.719 --> 00:55:10.079
were rewarded in terms of Arcia.
He was an All Star this year and

789
00:55:10.119 --> 00:55:15.440
they signed him to an extension and
they allowed for Dansby Swanson to get the

790
00:55:15.519 --> 00:55:21.199
bag from the Chicago Cubs, and
the Astros are kind of facing that same

791
00:55:21.239 --> 00:55:24.440
situation right now. This is an
off season that they're heading into where you

792
00:55:24.440 --> 00:55:28.679
know, you had the Bob Nightingale
report the other day of you know,

793
00:55:28.760 --> 00:55:32.159
there's extensions of foot I mean for
not only Kyle Tucker, the one that

794
00:55:32.199 --> 00:55:37.360
people are focused on the most because
he's heading into his second year of arbitration.

795
00:55:37.679 --> 00:55:40.320
He's got one more year than he
hits full on free agency. In

796
00:55:40.360 --> 00:55:44.920
the thought process, which I'm very
much in this camp, is that if

797
00:55:44.960 --> 00:55:47.880
you don't get something done this offseason, then you're going to be entering into

798
00:55:47.920 --> 00:55:52.440
a territory where I believe Scott Boris
is his agent, It doesn't matter,

799
00:55:52.920 --> 00:55:55.719
but where his agent is going to
tell him, look, just stick and

800
00:55:55.760 --> 00:56:00.719
stay and wait until free agency,
because that's where you're paying is going to

801
00:56:00.760 --> 00:56:06.320
be your best opportunity is right now
to be able to lock him down because

802
00:56:06.480 --> 00:56:09.840
you probably don't have as high of
a price tag as you would have at

803
00:56:09.840 --> 00:56:14.400
that time where his agent would tell
him, hey, just wait it out.

804
00:56:14.719 --> 00:56:19.360
You'll get the eight year deal from
somebody else to twenty whatever it is,

805
00:56:19.800 --> 00:56:22.239
You'll be able to get that from
somebody else. And the Braves went

806
00:56:22.280 --> 00:56:25.920
through that with Freddie Freeman, and
when it got to a point where they

807
00:56:25.960 --> 00:56:30.480
said, we're not going to be
in a situation where oh man, now

808
00:56:30.519 --> 00:56:34.199
we have to go find a third
baseman, go get Anthony Rizzo. Now,

809
00:56:34.320 --> 00:56:37.199
the Braves as soon as the lockout
ended, said, look, we

810
00:56:37.239 --> 00:56:42.039
don't want to enter and play that
game. So let's call the Oakland A's

811
00:56:42.079 --> 00:56:45.360
and let's get Matt Olson. And
what I think is going to be interesting

812
00:56:45.360 --> 00:56:49.079
from the creativity side of all of
this with Dana Brown is I would expect

813
00:56:49.840 --> 00:56:53.119
if a huge trade has made this
offseason, that's going to already be built

814
00:56:53.159 --> 00:56:58.559
in with them talking to the representation
of said players and saying, let's talk

815
00:56:58.599 --> 00:57:01.840
extension. Because I think that Dana
does want to live in that world where

816
00:57:01.920 --> 00:57:07.400
if we're making trades, I want
controllability. I want to be able to

817
00:57:07.559 --> 00:57:10.639
know that we're not bringing in a
guy and hoping that we can keep him.

818
00:57:12.000 --> 00:57:15.679
That if we're spending a lot of
capital, we know we're going to

819
00:57:15.760 --> 00:57:17.519
keep them, and I think that
that's going to be a part of all

820
00:57:17.559 --> 00:57:22.599
of this as well. Is that
again, I know there's tons of free

821
00:57:22.599 --> 00:57:24.599
agents out there. People have said, oh, Aaron Nola, Oh yeah,

822
00:57:24.639 --> 00:57:29.880
no, he's definitely he's definitely a
great fit here. That would be

823
00:57:29.880 --> 00:57:31.960
free agency, and I just don't
see them going that route. I think

824
00:57:32.000 --> 00:57:36.280
that if they are going to bring
in somebody, you're looking at the trade

825
00:57:36.320 --> 00:57:38.199
market. And another thing to also
keep in mind as well. I know

826
00:57:38.440 --> 00:57:43.320
Inosarus had retweeted this on Twitter the
other day. I can't remember who had

827
00:57:43.320 --> 00:57:46.960
the report, but they were talking
about teams that are dealing with the regional

828
00:57:47.000 --> 00:57:52.159
sports network deals with Bally Sports,
Diamond Sports Group, and of course they're

829
00:57:52.199 --> 00:57:55.400
bankruptcy. We've already seen some teams
have to be rescued by Major League Baseball

830
00:57:55.400 --> 00:57:59.280
for their TV deals. I believe
it was the Diamondbacks from the Padres,

831
00:58:00.079 --> 00:58:04.360
so a lot of those organizations.
And their point was Chris Antonetti, who

832
00:58:04.440 --> 00:58:08.440
is the GM for the Cleveland Guardians, talking about why they dfade Cal Quantrill

833
00:58:08.519 --> 00:58:12.679
the other day, and he was
like, there's uncertainty with the cable deal.

834
00:58:13.079 --> 00:58:15.360
That is a huge part of what
goes into the revenue of these teams,

835
00:58:15.760 --> 00:58:19.079
and I think that you're going to
see teams that are in that position

836
00:58:19.159 --> 00:58:22.079
right now. We already have heard
from the Minnesota Twins they're gonna shed salary

837
00:58:22.760 --> 00:58:27.199
is because they're not sure of what
the future looks like. And that probably

838
00:58:27.239 --> 00:58:30.920
means that in that same vein that
Sonny Gray is somewhere else next year,

839
00:58:30.960 --> 00:58:34.119
which I think a lot of people
expected to be the case. So that's

840
00:58:34.159 --> 00:58:37.840
another thing as well as there are
a lot of players on teams that are

841
00:58:37.840 --> 00:58:42.320
in that situation right now. Corbyn
Burns seems like that rep that that relationship

842
00:58:42.400 --> 00:58:46.440
in Milwaukee has been frayed. You
know, same deal with Tyler Glass.

843
00:58:46.440 --> 00:58:50.960
Now in Tampa, there's thought that
probably they believe they're not gonna be able

844
00:58:51.000 --> 00:58:53.679
to keep him. And Tampa has
been a team that has been notorious for

845
00:58:53.719 --> 00:58:57.320
winning trades. I said it the
other day on the A team. I

846
00:58:57.320 --> 00:59:00.239
said, if the Tampa bay Rays
call you and say, hey, we

847
00:59:00.239 --> 00:59:04.840
want to make a trade, you
can have Tyler Glasnow I look long and

848
00:59:04.920 --> 00:59:07.960
hard about making that deal because if
they're asking about somebody in your farm system,

849
00:59:08.480 --> 00:59:13.559
chances are their scouting department has seen
something in them. Because I mean

850
00:59:13.679 --> 00:59:15.719
let's go back to the Chris Archer
deal years ago. That's how Tyler Glass

851
00:59:15.760 --> 00:59:20.639
now is there is you know,
they make the trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates

852
00:59:20.639 --> 00:59:22.239
and people are thinking, all right, hey, you know you aren't going

853
00:59:22.280 --> 00:59:28.039
to resign them. That's fine.
He moves on. Boy, Tampa won

854
00:59:28.079 --> 00:59:30.800
that deal hand over fist. I
think Austin Meadows was part of that deal.

855
00:59:31.320 --> 00:59:35.280
I mean, it was an outstanding
deal for Tampa to be able to

856
00:59:35.320 --> 00:59:38.239
make. So again, I'm telling
you right now, if you're expecting a

857
00:59:38.320 --> 00:59:43.320
huge deal this offseason, it's going
to come from the trade variety. And

858
00:59:43.320 --> 00:59:46.440
then I would expect that in addition, because again I go back to the

859
00:59:46.440 --> 00:59:50.840
Matt Olsen deal. The first thing
when I was at that press conference that

860
00:59:51.039 --> 00:59:55.119
Alexanthopolis said was it wasn't hey,
we're here to announce the acquisition. He

861
00:59:55.159 --> 00:59:59.760
immediately said, we're pleased to announce
that Matt has agreed to a long term

862
00:59:59.760 --> 01:00:02.400
EXCE extension. And I think that
probably you'd be hearing Dana saying the same

863
01:00:02.440 --> 01:00:07.280
thing. Whoever they get of you
know, maybe a quick mention of hey,

864
01:00:07.280 --> 01:00:09.320
we're here to announce the acquisition,
and also too, so and so

865
01:00:09.400 --> 01:00:14.480
has agreed to a long term extension. I think that's probably what you're looking

866
01:00:14.519 --> 01:00:17.760
at, that same playbook being played
out here in Houston, and we'll see

867
01:00:17.960 --> 01:00:22.920
how it all shakes out as the
offseason rolls along. All right, coming

868
01:00:22.960 --> 01:00:24.599
up next, let's get in some
Rockets conversation. We will do that,

869
01:00:24.639 --> 01:00:29.639
then we will dip back into the
Astros conversation coming up bottom of this hour.

870
01:00:29.719 --> 01:00:34.199
Because last night I think the Rockets
proved even more that they are who

871
01:00:34.199 --> 01:00:37.280
we hoped they were. We'll talk
about that right here Space City Saturday.

872
01:00:37.320 --> 01:00:40.599
I'm Dan Matthews. I'm your home
of the Astros in the Rockets Sports Talk

873
01:00:40.639 --> 01:00:47.880
seven ninety. We now return to
Space City Saturday. Sports Talk seven ninety.

874
01:00:52.480 --> 01:00:57.079
Yeah, if we come around every
Saturday, Space City Saturday. Right

875
01:00:57.079 --> 01:01:01.280
here, Sports Talk seven ninety,
your home of the and the Rockets.

876
01:01:01.559 --> 01:01:06.440
As it's a college football Saturday.
We've been talking a little bit of that,

877
01:01:06.559 --> 01:01:08.840
just got into some Astros conversation.
We'll do that here in about ten

878
01:01:08.880 --> 01:01:15.840
minutes when we let you hear the
conversation that new Astros manager Joe spot Ahead

879
01:01:15.880 --> 01:01:23.360
with Todd Kellis and also with Steve
Sparks. See signor love Sparky. I

880
01:01:23.360 --> 01:01:27.880
mean how can you not love Sparky. He's the best. That's That's one

881
01:01:27.920 --> 01:01:32.400
of those things, you know,
It's it's a huge thing in radio listened

882
01:01:32.519 --> 01:01:37.400
to sports if I even set that
up right. But you know, we

883
01:01:37.519 --> 01:01:42.039
draw such connections to the broadcasters and
this is a huge thing too. You

884
01:01:42.039 --> 01:01:45.840
know that an SEC country where I
was. I mean, you know,

885
01:01:45.920 --> 01:01:50.199
people and SEC Network did a really
good piece on it a few years ago

886
01:01:50.239 --> 01:01:54.199
as part of their SEC storied of
you know, just the connection that fan

887
01:01:54.280 --> 01:01:59.519
bases have with their radio teams.
I mean, Josh, I know you're

888
01:01:59.519 --> 01:02:05.960
an Alabama Crimson Todd guy. He's
still there, Eli Gold touchdown Alabama any

889
01:02:06.000 --> 01:02:07.800
time I'm around my dad and I'll
be able to scores a touchdown at least

890
01:02:07.840 --> 01:02:12.199
one point in the game. Is
touchdern awa bla. There he is,

891
01:02:12.960 --> 01:02:16.159
He's got and I love it too. How you know. The college part

892
01:02:16.199 --> 01:02:22.320
of it as well, is we
is so much in the conversation of their

893
01:02:22.440 --> 01:02:25.360
calls and it's always the best.
But I mean, you know, especially

894
01:02:25.480 --> 01:02:30.480
here too. I mean we've gotten
to really love and enjoy Robert Ford and

895
01:02:30.559 --> 01:02:34.599
Steve Sparks as well. That's gonna
be the interesting thing too. I wonder

896
01:02:34.639 --> 01:02:38.039
if Joe spot is going to continue
the thank you Robert Ford that Dusty would

897
01:02:38.039 --> 01:02:40.719
do. I always love that at
the end of it. It was always

898
01:02:40.760 --> 01:02:45.599
fun. They had a good working
relationship. But we will let you hear

899
01:02:45.719 --> 01:02:50.840
from Todd Kallis and Steve Sparks with
Joe Spotta here coming up in just a

900
01:02:51.000 --> 01:02:57.079
few minutes. Last night, the
Rockets they lose to the La Clippers out

901
01:02:57.199 --> 01:03:01.360
in La one oh six one hundred. It was a fourth quarter that got

902
01:03:01.400 --> 01:03:06.320
away from them a little bit as
the Rockets went cold, getting outscored there

903
01:03:06.840 --> 01:03:10.639
in the fourth and final period at
twenty seven, at twenty three, as

904
01:03:12.159 --> 01:03:15.559
they dropped to at six and four
on the season. But all I could

905
01:03:15.599 --> 01:03:20.280
think about watching that game last night
was they're here. They're good. And

906
01:03:20.400 --> 01:03:22.280
I know I threw it out the
other day on social media after they beat

907
01:03:22.320 --> 01:03:27.559
the Denver Nuggets because that was a
win for them, that I said,

908
01:03:28.599 --> 01:03:30.360
that shows you this team is for
real. If they were able to go

909
01:03:30.480 --> 01:03:36.199
toe to toe and not only go
toe to toe. You see sometimes that

910
01:03:36.360 --> 01:03:42.320
teams when they're in a situation like
that, that the situation is too large

911
01:03:42.320 --> 01:03:45.199
for them, that they faltered down
the stretch. And this was a team

912
01:03:45.679 --> 01:03:49.599
that when it started to look like, uh oh, this is starting to

913
01:03:49.639 --> 01:03:51.960
get away from them. I mean, what josh, they were up by

914
01:03:52.079 --> 01:03:53.800
like ten with like a minute and
a half to go, and you have

915
01:03:54.239 --> 01:03:59.639
the Jokis three pointer. I think
that it got within like three and about

916
01:03:59.719 --> 01:04:02.599
a minute min a half of hill
right, and I think Reggie Jackson made

917
01:04:02.639 --> 01:04:06.519
a three, and you're just like, oh boy, this is starting to

918
01:04:06.559 --> 01:04:10.880
get a little hairy. But then
you get the inbound pass that's stolen by

919
01:04:11.159 --> 01:04:16.000
jay Sean Tate, and then of
course two you get the huge free throws

920
01:04:16.039 --> 01:04:20.519
made at least one made by Fred
van Vliet there at the end of the

921
01:04:20.599 --> 01:04:25.400
game, and also to Jeff Green
able to knock down some huge shots.

922
01:04:25.679 --> 01:04:30.320
And while last night did not necessarily
go their way, there was never a

923
01:04:30.519 --> 01:04:35.199
time during that game that I looked
and said overmatched. Just not going to

924
01:04:35.320 --> 01:04:39.159
be their night for them, and
not only not going to be their night,

925
01:04:39.280 --> 01:04:42.599
but they ain't ready for this.
Is even at a loss. I

926
01:04:42.679 --> 01:04:45.400
watched that team and I said,
they're built for this. They're good,

927
01:04:45.119 --> 01:04:48.280
and they're even better part of all
of it, folks, They're going to

928
01:04:48.320 --> 01:04:53.480
get better. Like if you think
that this is a finished product, right

929
01:04:53.519 --> 01:04:58.239
now with this team, You're incredibly
wrong. Jalen Green still has not played

930
01:04:58.239 --> 01:05:01.119
a ton of NBA basketball teams.
He's got good experience, but he's not

931
01:05:01.239 --> 01:05:05.639
played a ton. And you see
the promise in him. I mean,

932
01:05:05.719 --> 01:05:09.000
you saw some of the plays that
he was able to make last night.

933
01:05:09.480 --> 01:05:14.000
And Alprin Shingoon. The world is
starting to know about Alprin Shingoon. And

934
01:05:14.199 --> 01:05:16.559
I was talking with somebody the other
day about him going up against Jokich,

935
01:05:17.000 --> 01:05:20.760
and I said, he held his
own against Jokich, Like even to the

936
01:05:20.840 --> 01:05:26.039
point now where kind of like the
national heads are starting to talk about c.

937
01:05:26.280 --> 01:05:30.079
J. Stroud, You're starting to
get kind of similar, kind of

938
01:05:30.159 --> 01:05:34.960
similar rhetoric coming out about Alprin Shingoon
and what he's been able to do.

939
01:05:35.000 --> 01:05:39.719
And we saw good things out of
him these last few years. But last

940
01:05:39.800 --> 01:05:42.840
night, twenty three points for him. I mentioned Jalen Green, twenty points

941
01:05:42.880 --> 01:05:46.360
out of him, nineteen from Fred
Van Vlietz. But it wasn't the greatest

942
01:05:46.360 --> 01:05:49.639
shooting night for the Rockets, and
they were still in position to be able

943
01:05:49.719 --> 01:05:53.960
to try to win that game.
They finished up shooting forty three point two

944
01:05:54.000 --> 01:05:57.639
percent from the field. They were
ten of thirty one from three. They

945
01:05:57.719 --> 01:06:01.159
went really cold there in the second
third quarter from three, and you started

946
01:06:01.199 --> 01:06:04.480
to have some Van Vliet makes.
You started to have I think even Dylan

947
01:06:04.519 --> 01:06:08.559
Brooks might have even had one as
well. I mean you had the poster

948
01:06:08.719 --> 01:06:13.400
dunks from Alprin, Shingoon and Tarry
Easton. I mean what Tarry Easton has

949
01:06:13.440 --> 01:06:15.480
meant off the bench this year for
this team. That's another part of it

950
01:06:15.559 --> 01:06:20.760
as well. Is that a good
NBA team? Yes, they're starting five,

951
01:06:20.960 --> 01:06:25.800
It's fantastic. How good is your
bench? And the Rockets right now

952
01:06:25.840 --> 01:06:30.679
have been pretty much rolling a bench
of four guys off the bench, a

953
01:06:30.719 --> 01:06:35.400
pretty tight rotation of nine, although
Jacques Landeal able to get a little bit

954
01:06:35.639 --> 01:06:40.639
more extra time out there last night
seven minutes from him. But that's the

955
01:06:40.719 --> 01:06:44.039
other part of it as well,
is it shows you the offseason moves that

956
01:06:44.199 --> 01:06:48.159
rape Elstone was able to make with
probably the direction of Ima Udoka of saying

957
01:06:48.480 --> 01:06:51.519
these are the type of guys that
I want on this team. When I

958
01:06:51.719 --> 01:06:56.880
saw the signings of Van Vliet and
Dylan Brooks this offseason, I said,

959
01:06:57.039 --> 01:07:01.440
oh yeah, I know what type
of guys that Hemadoka wants for this team.

960
01:07:02.039 --> 01:07:05.039
He wants guys with some edge to
him. He wants dogs, that's

961
01:07:05.079 --> 01:07:09.719
it. He wants guys that'll get
into you. And teams that we've seen

962
01:07:09.760 --> 01:07:13.679
win the NBA title these last few
years, they've had those guys. I

963
01:07:13.760 --> 01:07:16.480
mean, you know, the Miami
Heat have been a team known for toughness,

964
01:07:16.840 --> 01:07:20.360
for grit, for a team that
will lock you down defensively, and

965
01:07:20.440 --> 01:07:24.199
when you play them, you feel
it. I mean, you know,

966
01:07:24.280 --> 01:07:29.159
the Milwaukee Bucks when they won that
NBA title, they were another team that

967
01:07:29.280 --> 01:07:32.039
showed that to you with Pat Connaton
and the crew. Because everybody focuses on

968
01:07:32.159 --> 01:07:36.760
Jonnas and uh and and for right
reasons that people focus on Giannis because he's

969
01:07:36.800 --> 01:07:40.920
one of the best players in the
NBA. But that's how you win down

970
01:07:40.960 --> 01:07:45.079
the stretch is toughness wins. And
that's what he Mayodoka said. He said,

971
01:07:45.119 --> 01:07:48.440
I want toughness. I want guys
that show these young guys how to

972
01:07:48.559 --> 01:07:53.599
play in this league. And one
of the hardest things to do in the

973
01:07:53.760 --> 01:07:58.920
NBA is to be able to convince
a group of young guys, hey,

974
01:07:59.599 --> 01:08:05.000
toughness defense, that's what good complimentary
basketball is. And I think that's come

975
01:08:05.079 --> 01:08:09.800
from ima Udoka. I mean,
if you heard my conversation with Tarry Easton

976
01:08:09.880 --> 01:08:13.719
last night on Rockets launch Pad.
I mean, you know, it's been

977
01:08:13.800 --> 01:08:17.640
something that's just been a benchmark for
this team. And I'm not talking about

978
01:08:17.640 --> 01:08:20.800
this team being able to compete for
Lario O'Brien Trophy this season. If they

979
01:08:20.880 --> 01:08:26.680
did, boy wouldn't that be awesome. But in terms of thinking that this

980
01:08:26.880 --> 01:08:30.560
team is going to be mired in
the same slump that they've been these last

981
01:08:30.600 --> 01:08:34.119
few years, you are blind if
you think that that's the case with this

982
01:08:34.199 --> 01:08:38.239
team. It's a playoff basketball team
right now. I truly believe it.

983
01:08:38.720 --> 01:08:44.279
At worst, it's a play in
playoff basketball team. And probably honestly too,

984
01:08:44.439 --> 01:08:45.600
I know some people, if they
were in the play in tournament would

985
01:08:45.600 --> 01:08:51.479
probably say that's disappointing. Disappointing based
off what have you been watching the last

986
01:08:51.479 --> 01:08:55.319
few years of this team. You've
put in like forty games over six years

987
01:08:55.319 --> 01:08:59.560
exactly, and the fact that you'd
be able to make that jump and to

988
01:08:59.640 --> 01:09:02.359
be able to give this young group
a chance to be able to play late

989
01:09:02.439 --> 01:09:08.279
April early May basketball to know oh, this is what this is. Oh

990
01:09:08.560 --> 01:09:11.239
that's what it takes to be able
to get to that next point, the

991
01:09:11.319 --> 01:09:14.840
Rockets are on that path, and
all of a sudden, for not only

992
01:09:15.000 --> 01:09:18.600
them, but also to the Texans, we thought, yeah, you know,

993
01:09:19.239 --> 01:09:20.920
I mean, you know, it's
kind of like all was talking about

994
01:09:20.920 --> 01:09:25.279
the end of the college football season, just you know, the reality starts

995
01:09:25.319 --> 01:09:28.000
to set in. That's the off
season. And it was kind of that

996
01:09:28.039 --> 01:09:31.159
way with the Astros when they lost
to the Rangers. It was, you

997
01:09:31.239 --> 01:09:34.840
know, all right, it's you
know, until February when pitchers and catchers

998
01:09:34.920 --> 01:09:39.479
meet. Boy, all of a
sudden, it's now, all right,

999
01:09:39.560 --> 01:09:42.680
pitchers and catchers. That'll be cool. But I got stuff to watch in

1000
01:09:42.760 --> 01:09:45.920
the meantime, and in this case
for us, we got stuff to listen

1001
01:09:45.960 --> 01:09:48.720
to in the meantime because this Rockets
team, they are exciting, They are

1002
01:09:48.880 --> 01:09:53.399
fun. Matt Thomas on the call, always love MT on the call,

1003
01:09:53.800 --> 01:09:58.760
and of course to Adam Clinton and
Adam Wexler here either back in studio or

1004
01:09:58.760 --> 01:10:02.159
over at Toyota Center, basketball is
fun again. Me and claim were talking

1005
01:10:02.159 --> 01:10:05.079
about this last night, is that
it's fun to watch the team. And

1006
01:10:05.159 --> 01:10:10.399
it's not just because oh they're actually
have a winning record right now. I

1007
01:10:10.479 --> 01:10:14.199
mean last year it felt like Jalen
Green out for and Shagun who your cornerstones.

1008
01:10:15.479 --> 01:10:17.359
They would have moments of good defense, but it was never consistent.

1009
01:10:17.479 --> 01:10:20.600
Now it seems like consistent efforts.
So even when the shots aren't falling,

1010
01:10:21.079 --> 01:10:24.479
you see something You're like, all
right, I can appreciate that. I

1011
01:10:24.520 --> 01:10:28.039
appreciate their hustle. I appreciate them
trying to make the right play each time.

1012
01:10:28.399 --> 01:10:30.479
And honestly, last night, I'm
not one to do the whole ref

1013
01:10:30.560 --> 01:10:35.479
thing, but they had a turnover
with I think fifty seconds left, maybe

1014
01:10:35.880 --> 01:10:39.720
Jalen Green got hacked the hell out
of it and didn't get a call,

1015
01:10:40.039 --> 01:10:43.520
and an all game it just felt
like every little touch the Rockets died,

1016
01:10:44.079 --> 01:10:45.520
Clippers would get the foul call and
it was a foul, but then on

1017
01:10:45.600 --> 01:10:48.000
the other it didn't seem to go
that way. It's just like that's the

1018
01:10:48.039 --> 01:10:51.399
type of things. If your toughness
you keep going through that, you don't

1019
01:10:51.479 --> 01:10:56.399
just start whining and shut down and
complaining. And that's it. They kept

1020
01:10:56.439 --> 01:11:00.359
fighting even through all the you know, adversity. I'll put it to deal

1021
01:11:00.399 --> 01:11:02.199
with. They play that game later
on the season, they're winning that game.

1022
01:11:02.640 --> 01:11:05.199
I truly because I saw a team
also too. I mean, they

1023
01:11:05.239 --> 01:11:10.079
had the camera shot of Shingoon coming
off the floor. Just you could tell

1024
01:11:10.279 --> 01:11:14.439
just disappointed of for a young team
like this. You let that burn.

1025
01:11:14.720 --> 01:11:16.279
You say, all right, look, next time we're in this situation,

1026
01:11:16.399 --> 01:11:20.159
we're winning that game. And I
think that's the mentality this team has no

1027
01:11:20.359 --> 01:11:24.640
doubt about it. All right,
Coming up next, your new Astros major

1028
01:11:24.760 --> 01:11:28.680
Joe Aspota. He speaks, You're
gonna hear from him right here, Space

1029
01:11:28.720 --> 01:11:36.840
City Saturday on Sports Talk seven ninety. Space City Saturday continues fine, Sports

1030
01:11:36.920 --> 01:11:44.600
Talk seven ninety. All right,
so we'll get the conversation with Joe Aspota

1031
01:11:44.640 --> 01:11:48.239
started up here in just a second. Dan Matthews here, Space City Saturday.

1032
01:11:48.279 --> 01:11:51.159
You're home of the astros in the
Rockets, Sports Talks seven ninety.

1033
01:11:51.800 --> 01:11:58.199
A little programming notes for not only
us here on Sports Talks seven to ninety.

1034
01:11:58.359 --> 01:12:02.279
But you're looking for the Cougar game
today football in that case, not

1035
01:12:02.359 --> 01:12:06.800
basketball. Football. You'll be able
to find the UH Cougar is taking on

1036
01:12:08.039 --> 01:12:13.319
Oklahoma State over on KPRC nine fifty. That's gonna start at two as it's

1037
01:12:13.359 --> 01:12:15.840
gonna be Matt Thomas on the call. You didn't hear that wrong, Matt

1038
01:12:16.199 --> 01:12:20.399
coming back from La to call the
game, then heading back out there for

1039
01:12:20.880 --> 01:12:26.359
the Rockets and Lakers tomorrow night.
Psycho yep, I mean, he is

1040
01:12:26.399 --> 01:12:28.800
a man who puts in his work, There's no doubt about it. So

1041
01:12:29.720 --> 01:12:33.880
Matt and David Klingler on the call
of the Cougars today. Coming up at

1042
01:12:33.920 --> 01:12:38.880
five right here on Sports Talk seven
ninety, you are going to get LSU

1043
01:12:39.239 --> 01:12:44.680
taking on Georgia State, and over
on news radio seven to forty ktrh that

1044
01:12:44.840 --> 01:12:49.600
is where the University of Texas game
against Iowa State is going to be found.

1045
01:12:49.680 --> 01:12:54.760
All right, Let's get to the
conversation that our new Astros manager Joe

1046
01:12:54.880 --> 01:13:00.319
Spota had on Astro Line with Todd
Kallis and Steve Sparks. It's been it's

1047
01:13:00.399 --> 01:13:04.560
been an awesome ride, I can't
complain. And and just getting through the

1048
01:13:04.600 --> 01:13:10.079
finished line and getting the opportunity to
be the next managers for these incredible franchise

1049
01:13:10.159 --> 01:13:15.520
and and you know, being able
to lead this great team for for you

1050
01:13:15.560 --> 01:13:18.520
know, for for this season.
It's just a special moment and I'm grateful,

1051
01:13:19.319 --> 01:13:24.319
joyful, there's so much, so
many emotions going through my my my

1052
01:13:24.479 --> 01:13:27.039
head and and but it's just a
great moment for me and my family,

1053
01:13:27.720 --> 01:13:30.279
Joe. We we see a lot
of guys and they're great coaches, and

1054
01:13:30.399 --> 01:13:34.720
we see you out on the field
and you're coaching. It looks like that's

1055
01:13:34.720 --> 01:13:38.760
where your heart is. As a
manager, do you think you have to

1056
01:13:38.920 --> 01:13:42.800
change what you do best or you're
just going to be a delegator, you

1057
01:13:42.880 --> 01:13:45.319
know, that's who I am.
I'm gonna be me. I think when

1058
01:13:45.399 --> 01:13:48.640
you transition from being a player to
being a coach, you become a server.

1059
01:13:49.279 --> 01:13:54.039
And I'm here to serve our players, right. My job is to

1060
01:13:54.199 --> 01:13:58.319
make sure that the process is a
solid process, the information gets to the

1061
01:13:58.359 --> 01:14:01.520
players. Let's prepare our players to
be the best versus on himself every time

1062
01:14:01.560 --> 01:14:05.319
to step on the field. That's
who I am. That has worked for

1063
01:14:05.399 --> 01:14:11.319
me through the years, and I
intend to be the same type of bench

1064
01:14:11.399 --> 01:14:14.319
coach that was be the same you
know, same style as a manager.

1065
01:14:14.439 --> 01:14:16.800
Yeah, that's an interesting question and
concept though, because you do put in

1066
01:14:17.039 --> 01:14:19.479
so many hours to help you.
You know, a few years ago,

1067
01:14:19.560 --> 01:14:23.720
Carlos care wins a Platinum Glove and
then he leaves and Jeremy Peney wins the

1068
01:14:23.760 --> 01:14:27.039
Gold Glove his rookie year. Last
year, Mauricio Dubon or this year,

1069
01:14:27.079 --> 01:14:30.840
Marcia Dubon, you are Omar Lopez
others putting a lot of time into that.

1070
01:14:31.399 --> 01:14:34.840
With your role now as a manager, is that still going to be

1071
01:14:34.920 --> 01:14:38.840
the same. Do you have that
same amount of time to dedicate to the

1072
01:14:38.920 --> 01:14:43.439
infield. No. I will delegate
those responsibilities, for sure, but I

1073
01:14:43.520 --> 01:14:47.760
will work closely with whoever we tap
to be the the infield coach. But

1074
01:14:47.920 --> 01:14:53.119
our players know the culture, they
know how important defense is for us as

1075
01:14:53.159 --> 01:14:57.760
in an organization. Pitcheon and defense
allow us to be allow us to help

1076
01:14:57.840 --> 01:15:02.000
us through these great run right.
So whoever I tap to do that job,

1077
01:15:02.720 --> 01:15:05.520
I will delegate responsibilities and I'll keep
an eye on it. Of course,

1078
01:15:05.600 --> 01:15:09.840
I can't completely like go oh,
but I will. I will definitely

1079
01:15:09.840 --> 01:15:12.680
will trust that person to do the
job, Joe. Every time that the

1080
01:15:12.800 --> 01:15:15.319
Astros play another team, it seems
like we get a sense of what their

1081
01:15:15.439 --> 01:15:18.680
identity is, whether it's sloppy or
not. That you know, a lot

1082
01:15:18.720 --> 01:15:21.439
of teams are known for their speed. What do you want your team to

1083
01:15:21.520 --> 01:15:26.079
be known for? I want us
to be a good baseball team. And

1084
01:15:26.159 --> 01:15:30.039
what I mean with is let's just
go back to doing the little things in

1085
01:15:30.159 --> 01:15:33.680
a big league game that matters the
most. I think those little things that

1086
01:15:33.720 --> 01:15:39.520
at time we miss and we lack
off during the season, meaning running the

1087
01:15:39.560 --> 01:15:45.600
bas is smart right, our pitching, executing pitches, holding base runners,

1088
01:15:45.640 --> 01:15:48.840
so stre things that we have done
well in the past. Offensively, you

1089
01:15:48.920 --> 01:15:55.279
know, staying in the zone right, that that passing the baton you know,

1090
01:15:55.880 --> 01:15:59.279
kind of attitude. Those are the
things that I have made us a

1091
01:15:59.359 --> 01:16:02.920
successful team. And there was time
through the season where you saw it,

1092
01:16:03.720 --> 01:16:06.760
but then you didn't see them for
a couple of days. So now it's

1093
01:16:06.800 --> 01:16:12.560
about discipline, consistency, how we
prepare our guys right, our messaging.

1094
01:16:12.920 --> 01:16:15.079
We got to make sure that we
are on point, we stay on our

1095
01:16:15.159 --> 01:16:19.920
guys and and I think that's a
few things that we lacked on last year.

1096
01:16:19.960 --> 01:16:21.680
And I want to, you know, we start. I'm want to

1097
01:16:21.680 --> 01:16:27.279
start working on those things tonight through
communication. Right. We can't wait to

1098
01:16:27.319 --> 01:16:30.479
spring training to work on these things. It starts, it starts right now.

1099
01:16:30.159 --> 01:16:34.560
You had a lot of opportunities,
uh with interviews for other managerial jobs.

1100
01:16:34.600 --> 01:16:39.239
How much did those processes help you
this time around? And do you

1101
01:16:39.319 --> 01:16:44.159
feel as prepared and that this was
your time? Yes, I do feel

1102
01:16:44.319 --> 01:16:46.680
I feel prepared that this is my
time and I'll look at it this way,

1103
01:16:47.640 --> 01:16:51.119
tik. You know, for me
is there's a lot of times where

1104
01:16:51.960 --> 01:16:59.199
we want to get to the finish
line and and and sometimes God is saying

1105
01:16:59.319 --> 01:17:03.000
hold on you not You're not ready
yet. Right, there's still things that

1106
01:17:03.119 --> 01:17:06.439
you need to learn. I need
you to be next to Dusty for four

1107
01:17:06.479 --> 01:17:13.239
more years. You know, you're
still not a finished product. So it's

1108
01:17:13.439 --> 01:17:16.880
the attitude that you have while you
wait that once you get that opportunity,

1109
01:17:17.000 --> 01:17:24.279
he makes it so much greater.
And I'm just ecstatic to the fact that

1110
01:17:24.399 --> 01:17:30.039
he's here with this team, this
city, this fans and every one of

1111
01:17:30.079 --> 01:17:32.760
you. Joe, what did you
learn from Dusty Baker? And how will

1112
01:17:32.840 --> 01:17:38.000
you differentiate from uh? Maybe the
way he managed you know what? I

1113
01:17:38.159 --> 01:17:43.680
learned a ton from Dusty. I
had front row seats to a Hall of

1114
01:17:43.760 --> 01:17:48.840
Fame manager, got to go to
the World Series with him twice. This

1115
01:17:49.079 --> 01:17:55.319
guy was brought in in a very
tough situation and the way he handled it.

1116
01:17:55.720 --> 01:17:58.760
I taped my hat to him.
I thought that he was the right

1117
01:17:58.800 --> 01:18:01.199
guy for the job, and he
did a great job. And I'm just

1118
01:18:01.319 --> 01:18:05.960
happy that I got to experience that. You know, the way he just

1119
01:18:06.119 --> 01:18:13.439
connected with players, how much he
cares about winning, and how he allows

1120
01:18:13.479 --> 01:18:16.800
us to do our job as coaches. I value that immensely. I'm always

1121
01:18:16.840 --> 01:18:21.000
be grateful for Dussy for for letting
me do that. Last five years.

1122
01:18:21.159 --> 01:18:25.600
The worst season the Houston ass have
had is getting the game seven of the

1123
01:18:25.640 --> 01:18:30.520
ALCS. It's remarkable, right,
and Dana Brown became the third general manager

1124
01:18:30.600 --> 01:18:33.279
during this incredible run. You now
become the third manager during this incredible run.

1125
01:18:33.560 --> 01:18:39.079
Expectations are way up there, do
you do you kind of enjoy that

1126
01:18:39.239 --> 01:18:43.600
challenge? Absolutely? Absolutely? The
bar is said really high. You know,

1127
01:18:44.119 --> 01:18:46.920
Jim says it all the time,
and he has equipped us. He

1128
01:18:47.079 --> 01:18:50.119
has done everything his power to give
us all the tools needed for us to

1129
01:18:50.199 --> 01:18:54.760
have a winning product on the baseball
field. And as a manager, that's

1130
01:18:54.800 --> 01:18:58.119
all you could ask for. Now. My job is to use those tools

1131
01:18:58.960 --> 01:19:01.920
and deliver the you know, the
work on the baseball field, Motivate our

1132
01:19:01.960 --> 01:19:06.399
players, get our players ready to
play. But you know, this is

1133
01:19:06.479 --> 01:19:11.039
the place you this is the place
you come to win. Uh, this

1134
01:19:11.279 --> 01:19:15.880
is where you want to win.
Our guys love to win, our fans

1135
01:19:15.960 --> 01:19:18.680
expect us to win. Our community
wants the best out of us, and

1136
01:19:19.239 --> 01:19:23.880
my job is to do everything in
my power to help this team win.

1137
01:19:24.520 --> 01:19:29.399
You know, Joe, Whenever I've
talked to managers about what the most challenging

1138
01:19:29.520 --> 01:19:32.119
part of a manager's job is,
they'll usually say one of two things.

1139
01:19:32.199 --> 01:19:35.399
Dealing with the media is one of
them, and the other is to run

1140
01:19:35.439 --> 01:19:40.680
a really efficient bullpen. Uh,
what do you feel like might be your

1141
01:19:40.720 --> 01:19:43.199
biggest challenge? You know what?
Those two are up there? For me,

1142
01:19:43.960 --> 01:19:48.279
I think there is there is that
that that's true to that for me

1143
01:19:48.560 --> 01:19:56.279
is very important is communication. It's
it's being outside of your office, you

1144
01:19:56.359 --> 01:19:59.960
know, interating with your players.
You gotta you gotta talk to this guy.

1145
01:20:00.199 --> 01:20:01.960
You got to let them know your
thought process, right, you know,

1146
01:20:02.239 --> 01:20:05.319
once you do your work in the
office, go out there and talk

1147
01:20:05.399 --> 01:20:08.760
to the guys. What is it
that I'm thinking? This is why,

1148
01:20:09.199 --> 01:20:11.680
This is why I decided to go
that way, even though if it's an

1149
01:20:12.039 --> 01:20:15.479
uncomfortable communication, uncomfortable conversation, but
you need to have it with players,

1150
01:20:15.920 --> 01:20:20.239
especially with a winning team like you. You got it. You have to

1151
01:20:20.560 --> 01:20:26.279
break those balls and get out there
and make yourself available to the players.

1152
01:20:27.199 --> 01:20:31.159
And I think that is very important. For you, for us to maintain

1153
01:20:31.199 --> 01:20:34.720
our success. It's just letting everyone
know, this is your role, this

1154
01:20:34.920 --> 01:20:38.960
is what we expect from you,
and I'm going to give you every opportunity

1155
01:20:39.000 --> 01:20:42.880
for you to be the best you
can be. And with that communication line,

1156
01:20:42.960 --> 01:20:45.199
how much have you heard in this
process and now that it's become official,

1157
01:20:45.239 --> 01:20:47.640
how much have you heard from your
guys in the last few days.

1158
01:20:47.760 --> 01:20:55.159
I have over two hundred and something
text messages and I got to call them

1159
01:20:55.279 --> 01:21:00.319
back. Some of our players,
you know, I know Hosey is going

1160
01:21:00.359 --> 01:21:02.479
to Venezuela here in the next few
days, so my plan is to meet

1161
01:21:02.560 --> 01:21:06.560
him on my way out of here
and sit down with him and you know,

1162
01:21:08.000 --> 01:21:11.199
kind of talk about what you know, our future before he goes to

1163
01:21:11.279 --> 01:21:14.439
Venezuela. Is going to be there
for for for a few weeks. So

1164
01:21:15.760 --> 01:21:19.199
but yeah, connecting, let's talk
about spring training, our goals, our

1165
01:21:19.319 --> 01:21:23.840
plan. You know, I got
a message from your air Diaz. I

1166
01:21:23.880 --> 01:21:28.399
got to call him to I'm excited
about seeing him play every day. So

1167
01:21:29.479 --> 01:21:31.359
you know, there's so many things
that I uh that I got to do,

1168
01:21:31.479 --> 01:21:35.319
but I'm just gonna start with enjoying
this moment with my family, with

1169
01:21:35.479 --> 01:21:40.000
your family. And you talked in
the press conference when you were introduced,

1170
01:21:40.560 --> 01:21:43.720
Joe, and you get a little
emotional when you talk about your mom and

1171
01:21:43.840 --> 01:21:45.880
your girls. I mean, they're
a part of it. They are they

1172
01:21:45.920 --> 01:21:49.359
are they they They're in this.
They're in it with us, you know.

1173
01:21:49.600 --> 01:21:57.079
They they I come home and I'm
tired, and and they're in They're

1174
01:21:57.119 --> 01:22:00.600
in bed, right and I get
up at six thirty you take them to

1175
01:22:00.640 --> 01:22:02.279
school even though I'm tired, I'm
sleeping. I want to sleep, but

1176
01:22:02.760 --> 01:22:06.840
I have to get out of that
bed and walk home to school that I

1177
01:22:08.000 --> 01:22:13.680
need to make that sacrifice because they're
making U sacrifices for me. So they

1178
01:22:14.399 --> 01:22:16.560
Today is about them, Tomorrow's about
them, every day is about them.

1179
01:22:16.600 --> 01:22:19.680
But I'm really gonna make sure that
take time and get to hang out with

1180
01:22:19.720 --> 01:22:24.840
them and my parents. All right, Good stuff from Joe Aspota with TK

1181
01:22:25.239 --> 01:22:29.079
and Sparky over on astro line.
If you miss any of that Sports Talk

1182
01:22:29.119 --> 01:22:32.279
seven ninety dot com a good place
to be able to catch that conversation.

1183
01:22:32.840 --> 01:22:36.399
All right, Coming up next,
one last thoughts on the Texans, maybe

1184
01:22:36.439 --> 01:22:40.680
even get into a little bit of
the Michigan stuff here for just a second.

1185
01:22:40.840 --> 01:22:45.760
But on the local side college wise, is this local organization showing that

1186
01:22:45.840 --> 01:22:49.600
they're serious? Well, they did
something yesterday that would show you. But

1187
01:22:49.800 --> 01:22:54.800
how serious are they? We will
touch on that as we close out this

1188
01:22:55.199 --> 01:22:59.159
edition of a Space City Saturday on
your home with the Astros in the Rockets.

1189
01:22:59.199 --> 01:23:05.720
Sports Talk seven Welcome back to Space
City Saturday on Sports Talk seven ninety.

1190
01:23:11.279 --> 01:23:16.039
Sports Talk seven ninety. Dann Matthews
here for another few minutes. As

1191
01:23:16.279 --> 01:23:20.039
so, we just heard from jo
Aspota there. If you missed that conversation

1192
01:23:20.159 --> 01:23:25.600
as part of Astroline which we had
here on the station on Thursday night,

1193
01:23:25.680 --> 01:23:30.119
Sports Talk seven ninety dot com is
your place to be able to catch that

1194
01:23:30.279 --> 01:23:35.039
full conversation with TK and Sparky from
the show the day that Jospota was named

1195
01:23:35.039 --> 01:23:39.800
the manager you of Aged Football.
As I mentioned, they're gonna be over

1196
01:23:40.039 --> 01:23:45.039
on KPRC nine point fifty today two
o'clock is the coverage starting of them against

1197
01:23:45.079 --> 01:23:51.439
Oklahoma State and a lot of people
right now wondering what is the immediate future

1198
01:23:51.680 --> 01:23:55.199
of the program, and I think
I'm going to try to clear that up

1199
01:23:55.239 --> 01:23:58.920
for you here in just a second, because yesterday you of H having a

1200
01:23:58.960 --> 01:24:01.960
press conference ground breaking for their new
Memorial Herman football facility that they're going to

1201
01:24:02.000 --> 01:24:10.439
have meeting rooms, also new locker
room, I believe, also new weight

1202
01:24:10.560 --> 01:24:13.800
room, all of that kind of
stuff, recruiting lounge, all the things

1203
01:24:13.840 --> 01:24:17.079
that you see that are added to
football stadiums to be able to further the

1204
01:24:17.359 --> 01:24:23.239
improvement of the stadium and also to
the nice things for programs, because that's

1205
01:24:23.279 --> 01:24:27.800
the newest arms race is being able
to have your standalone, own nice football

1206
01:24:27.880 --> 01:24:30.279
facility, to be able to show
off to recruits and be able to have

1207
01:24:30.520 --> 01:24:33.920
your players in the program take pride
in and say yeah, it's here.

1208
01:24:34.119 --> 01:24:39.239
So that to me shows me that
the leadership over at u of H is

1209
01:24:39.319 --> 01:24:45.199
serious about making what should be their
most successful program having their best chances to

1210
01:24:45.279 --> 01:24:48.279
succeed. Then the next elem meet
in the equation is Dana Holgerson. And

1211
01:24:48.399 --> 01:24:51.199
I know that that is a cuss
word for Cougar fans out there right now,

1212
01:24:51.840 --> 01:24:56.399
because a lot of people want to
see Dana Holgerson moved along. They've

1213
01:24:56.479 --> 01:25:00.239
had enough. They just don't think
that he is going to be the guy

1214
01:25:00.319 --> 01:25:03.119
that leads them to success for this
program. I talked about it earlier on

1215
01:25:03.359 --> 01:25:06.399
in the season after they lost to
TCU. How I thought it was pretty

1216
01:25:06.479 --> 01:25:10.640
ridiculous his line that he had about, hey, we're in the Big twelve

1217
01:25:10.760 --> 01:25:14.119
now it's Power five football. Takes
time to build this up. And my

1218
01:25:14.199 --> 01:25:16.199
response was, you've been there five
years. What you been doing? I

1219
01:25:16.279 --> 01:25:19.600
mean, you couldn't recruit guys to
get them ready for this, to say,

1220
01:25:19.920 --> 01:25:24.880
hey, stick around next year or
the year after that, we're playing

1221
01:25:25.279 --> 01:25:27.720
in Power five football and you're going
to be a part of that. You're

1222
01:25:27.720 --> 01:25:30.520
going to be a huge part of
this. I mean that's recruiting, that's

1223
01:25:30.560 --> 01:25:32.319
development, that's all of those things
to be able to get to that point.

1224
01:25:33.199 --> 01:25:36.760
And for people who think, oh, this has to be the end

1225
01:25:36.800 --> 01:25:40.199
for Dana, right, I mean
this just isn't working. It's time to

1226
01:25:40.279 --> 01:25:43.720
move on. I want to play
this piece of audio that our own Adam

1227
01:25:43.760 --> 01:25:47.840
Wesler was able to get yesterday from
koug's athletic director Chris Pesman, who had

1228
01:25:48.079 --> 01:25:51.720
this to say about the stay of
the football program. One thing I'm positive

1229
01:25:51.760 --> 01:25:55.840
of having been at a lot of
places, now in the Big twelve,

1230
01:25:57.159 --> 01:26:00.880
we're a lot closer being really good
than the other. There's nothing out there

1231
01:26:01.039 --> 01:26:05.800
seeing teams compete, seeing their physicality, seeing the way they play that makes

1232
01:26:05.840 --> 01:26:09.119
me say, oh my god,
what are we going to do? We're

1233
01:26:09.159 --> 01:26:11.960
okay, we got a chance to
compete and win. I'm more convinced now

1234
01:26:12.039 --> 01:26:15.199
than I ever have been, having
been through the league now kind of once,

1235
01:26:15.720 --> 01:26:18.800
that we can compete at a really
high level. This is important to

1236
01:26:19.079 --> 01:26:23.520
giving us the ability to do that. But I know that, and I

1237
01:26:23.760 --> 01:26:28.399
don't say that lightly. I know
we're it's all here for us, And

1238
01:26:28.640 --> 01:26:31.199
I mean that goes along with I
believe for Tita was quoted yesterday as well

1239
01:26:31.439 --> 01:26:36.800
talking about expectations of the first year
in the Big Twelve, and you know

1240
01:26:36.920 --> 01:26:43.680
how he thinks they have met to
us set expectations. But in this case

1241
01:26:43.800 --> 01:26:48.600
right here, what hearing that tells
me Dana Holgerson ain't going anywhere, and

1242
01:26:48.840 --> 01:26:53.880
he's going to have an opportunity to
be able to pay off on those words

1243
01:26:53.920 --> 01:26:56.119
that he said of Hey, it
takes time to be able to build this

1244
01:26:56.199 --> 01:26:58.600
thing up, and they're saying,
all right, we're gonna give you that

1245
01:26:58.720 --> 01:27:01.239
time. And I think that it
has at least bought himself another year and

1246
01:27:01.319 --> 01:27:06.119
an opportunity to be able to do
said thing for the U of H football

1247
01:27:06.199 --> 01:27:11.159
program. But I mean as a
fan base as a whole, and I've

1248
01:27:11.199 --> 01:27:15.479
got a family full of Cougars Coog
fans. I guess I need to be

1249
01:27:15.560 --> 01:27:20.239
able to make sure it's a good
correction there, because let's make sure it's

1250
01:27:20.279 --> 01:27:25.079
in it's in context here. But
I got a family full of kog fans,

1251
01:27:25.720 --> 01:27:28.720
and the fan base right now,
at least the tenor that I see

1252
01:27:29.319 --> 01:27:32.000
and I hear, it's apathy.
That ain't good to have from your fan

1253
01:27:32.079 --> 01:27:36.600
base. You want either excitement or
you want hope for the future, and

1254
01:27:38.199 --> 01:27:41.000
I guess it's up to Dana to
be able to deliver on the hope for

1255
01:27:41.039 --> 01:27:45.960
the future because as of right now, I just don't see it because the

1256
01:27:45.039 --> 01:27:50.079
recruiting has been pedestrian at best.
The development we've seen guys go the league,

1257
01:27:50.399 --> 01:27:55.760
so that's been I guess good.
But in terms of thinking there's going

1258
01:27:55.800 --> 01:28:00.600
to be this remarkable jump in the
Big twelve to be able to not only

1259
01:28:01.000 --> 01:28:04.880
win the league but put yourself in
position to make the College Football Playoff.

1260
01:28:04.880 --> 01:28:09.600
And now it's gonna help to with
the new expanded field to twelve in the

1261
01:28:09.640 --> 01:28:14.159
College Football Playoff. But I just
haven't seen anything that necessarily leads me to

1262
01:28:14.199 --> 01:28:16.720
believe that that's a foot And I
don't know. I mean kind of like

1263
01:28:16.760 --> 01:28:21.720
what we talked about earlier with Mark
Passwaters Avaggiyel dot com of what you know

1264
01:28:21.880 --> 01:28:26.359
Jimbo Fisher delivered to ross By Orke
of what the future of A and M

1265
01:28:26.439 --> 01:28:30.720
football was. Maybe Dana has been
able to deliver that to Chris Pesman and

1266
01:28:30.760 --> 01:28:34.479
renew couture over at University of Houston. Because that's the question for me that

1267
01:28:34.560 --> 01:28:39.840
I want to ask, is how
serious are you about winning? Because I

1268
01:28:39.960 --> 01:28:44.000
think that the current guy that's there
isn't the guy that that's going to deliver

1269
01:28:44.079 --> 01:28:46.800
that for you. And I understand
too as well. You know, there's

1270
01:28:46.880 --> 01:28:51.199
money involved, there's all those different
types of things of trying to build up

1271
01:28:51.279 --> 01:28:56.600
and and you know, you know, try to pay for what's ahead for

1272
01:28:56.680 --> 01:29:00.399
them in terms of being able to
try to pete for all of those things.

1273
01:29:01.119 --> 01:29:05.439
But I don't know, we'll see. Texans tomorrow is a huge one.

1274
01:29:05.760 --> 01:29:09.359
I think that this is one.
You know, they've proven this year

1275
01:29:09.439 --> 01:29:12.880
that bad teams have been a bugaboo
for them. I think you got to

1276
01:29:12.920 --> 01:29:15.960
have that one tomorrow in order to
be able to calm some of those concerns

1277
01:29:15.359 --> 01:29:18.359
that's gonna do it for Space City
Saturday. I'm Dan Matthews. It's been

1278
01:29:18.359 --> 01:29:21.239
a lot of fun hanging out with
you thanks to Josh C. Enjoy the

1279
01:29:21.239 --> 01:29:25.880
college football Saturday. We will talk
to you next Saturday.