Speaker 1: All right, let's go, let's get a drivetime Thursday afternoon,
Speaker 1: nine minutes past the hour of two o'clock. We had
Speaker 1: some rain and some cold temperatures this morning here in
Speaker 1: Salt Lake City, Utah, but the sun is shining. It's
Speaker 1: about sixty eight degrees and it's turned into a lovely
Speaker 1: afternoon on this Thursday afternoon edition of the program. And
Speaker 1: as it is every single day, it is good to
Speaker 1: have you along for the ride.
Speaker 2: Spent checkets behind the mic.
Speaker 1: That's Porter Larson producing the program, booking the program today
Speaker 1: behind the glass.
Speaker 2: The NFL Draft begins in three hours, forty nine.
Speaker 1: Minutes and fifty seven seconds, and of course we are
Speaker 1: your home of the NFL Draft here in the market,
Speaker 1: so stay tuned. Right after we say good night, about
Speaker 1: six o'clock tonight, you will hear the NFL drafts right
Speaker 1: here on a ESPN seven hundred.
Speaker 2: So excited to get into it.
Speaker 1: It's a really fun day for football fans during the
Speaker 1: off season, one of the most exciting days. We'll dig
Speaker 1: into all the latest rumors. Should Or Sanders potentially falling
Speaker 1: to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Ward your overwhelming favorite to be
Speaker 1: the number one pick of the NFL Draft to Tennessee
Speaker 1: is Jackson Dart QB two on some draft boards. Former
Speaker 1: local high school product here in the state of Utah,
Speaker 1: so a lot to get to on the show. We'll
Speaker 1: get you ready for the draft tonight and we'll talk
Speaker 1: about it from.
Speaker 2: The local perspective angle.
Speaker 1: Jalen Royals, the wide receiver from Utah State, seems to
Speaker 1: be the player that played his college football here with
Speaker 1: the best chance of going either in the well not
Speaker 1: in the first round, but maybe a second round or
Speaker 1: of day two pick.
Speaker 2: We'll have to see, but we'll.
Speaker 1: Talk about the potential of Junior Tafunu, Karenne Reed, Tyler Battie,
Speaker 1: kayleb Btn, Jacob Robinson, Brant Keithy, Caleb Loner, Mackai Bernard.
Speaker 1: I think that's kind of the list, maybe seven or
Speaker 1: eight players that played their college football here, either drafted, undrafted,
Speaker 1: free agent. We'll get into it on the show. Get
Speaker 1: you ready for tonight's draft, excited for it. The NBA
Speaker 1: playoffs continue to be a lot of fun one and
Speaker 1: the officials are letting them play the lowest free throw
Speaker 1: rate in the playoffs that we've seen. I think I
Speaker 1: read today in twelve years, so points of emphasis for officiating.
Speaker 1: Let them play, let them play through contact, let them
Speaker 1: play through physicality. As a child of the nineties Nicks,
Speaker 1: I like it. If you're a fan of the Golden
Speaker 1: State Warriors, you probably do not. I thought Houston simply
Speaker 1: just pushed them around last night, tom and Thompson getting
Speaker 1: a lot of flat for that play where he up
Speaker 1: ended Jimmy Butler.
Speaker 2: And that's the crazy thing about the playoffs, man.
Speaker 1: The crazy thing about the NBA playoffs is in an
Speaker 1: absolute instant, everything changes, and if Jimmy Butler has compromised
Speaker 1: the rest of the way, Golden State cannot beat Houston.
Speaker 2: I'm ready to say that. So it's a fun game.
Speaker 1: Last night in Houston, I realized that I really hate
Speaker 1: the Houston Rockets. I'll tell you why a little bit later,
Speaker 1: not just this iteration. I'm not a big fan of theirs,
Speaker 1: but not a big fan of the organization. Dovivan Mitchell
Speaker 1: another thirty piece last night. As the Cavs held off
Speaker 1: the heat, they now zero lead. I do think the
Speaker 1: physical play it act actually benefits Cleveland as well. It
Speaker 1: definitely benefits Boston. We didn't even need Jason Tatum to
Speaker 1: take care of Orlando last night. Kind of a sneaky
Speaker 1: close game, though. Tonight we get a triple header tonight.
Speaker 1: It's a fun night to watch sports if you are
Speaker 1: a sports fan, and if you listen to the show
Speaker 1: you probably are. I think that's kind of a safe
Speaker 1: bet to make. The Knicks and the Pistons move that
Speaker 1: series to Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan, where it's
Speaker 1: tied up a one game apiece after Kate Cunningham went
Speaker 1: off at the Garden to tie it up that one.
Speaker 1: Do we care about the Grizzlies and Thunder, I don't know.
Speaker 1: Maybe Memphis can stay within twenty Tonight it is at
Speaker 1: the Grindhouse, the FedEx form in Memphis, Tennessee, and the
Speaker 1: Nuggets will try to bounce back in Inglewood at the
Speaker 1: into A Dome as they take on the LA Clippers.
Speaker 1: That series deadlock to one game a piece. For Jazz fans,
Speaker 1: we are inching closer and closer to Draft lottery Day.
Speaker 2: That is the next day of interest for Jazz fans.
Speaker 1: As for the third straight year, no spring basketball here
Speaker 1: in Salt Lake City. A lot of conversations about what
Speaker 1: the Jazz will do predicated upon where they will draft,
Speaker 1: and so we'll get into some of that on the show.
Speaker 3: Today.
Speaker 1: We'll continue to get to know some of these young
Speaker 1: prospects and fingers cross fourteen percent chance to land Cooper
Speaker 1: flag here.
Speaker 2: In Salt Lake. So we'll do some jazz basketball on
Speaker 2: the show.
Speaker 1: The Transfer Portal giveth the Transfer Portal, take it away
Speaker 1: BYU get to commit former Highland High linebacker who is
Speaker 1: a Oregon Duck.
Speaker 2: He commits now he's headed down to play for colonies.
Speaker 1: To take the latest on the University of Utah, the
Speaker 1: latest on mentally ill people throwing their feces at each
Speaker 1: other online with basless accusations, breaking news.
Speaker 2: Everybody is quote unquote tampering.
Speaker 1: Everybody is trying to talk to players that are in
Speaker 1: the transfer portal, and yes some players that.
Speaker 2: Are not because there are no rules.
Speaker 1: And if there are no rules, your job as a
Speaker 1: head coach or and administrators to do everything you can
Speaker 1: to get as much talent in your program as possible.
Speaker 1: So we'll get the latest on the college football Transfer Portal.
Speaker 1: College Hoops Transfer Portal continues to stay open. Alex Jensen
Speaker 1: on the ground now allocating his full time and energy
Speaker 1: to his job here as Utah's basketball coach after Dallas
Speaker 1: lost in the play in so time to get to
Speaker 1: the primary transfer window in Major League Soccer is coming
Speaker 1: gone and RSL fans not too pleased about the additions
Speaker 1: that RSL made. One edition is official Willie Goles. That's
Speaker 1: where we nicknamed him yesterday. Now he has to score goals.
Speaker 1: And I am told that there is one more player.
Speaker 1: Even though the transfer window closed yesterday, there is one
Speaker 1: more player on the way. And as soon as I
Speaker 1: get the ability to bring that announcement to you, we'll
Speaker 1: do it. So a lot to do on the program today.
Speaker 1: Good guest list right out of the gates. One of
Speaker 1: the best football players that has ever played at the
Speaker 1: University of Utah. He's entering his sixth year as an
Speaker 1: NFL running back, this time with the Cincinnati Bengals. Zach
Speaker 1: Moss will stop by today. I always enjoying my conversations
Speaker 1: with Zach. He was at the Forever twenty two game
Speaker 1: last Saturday. I had a chance to catch up with him.
Speaker 1: So we'll bringing Zach today. Dave Checkets, Yeah, I know
Speaker 1: pretty well, he'll stop by. Excited to have my dad,
Speaker 1: Dave and studio. An excited an announcement. He's got a
Speaker 1: new project with the Eccles family that we're going to
Speaker 1: talk about and talk about what's next for him and
Speaker 1: what he will hope to accomplish with these great partners
Speaker 1: of his, and we'll do a little a little bit.
Speaker 2: Of everything he is.
Speaker 1: He'll let you know he went to both Utah and BYU,
Speaker 1: so he has no allegiance, even though I don't believe him.
Speaker 1: So we'll talk a little bit of everything with my
Speaker 1: dad today. It's been a long time since he's been
Speaker 1: in studio. Excited to catch up with him.
Speaker 2: Andy B.
Speaker 1: Larson from the Salt Lake Tribune. It covers the Utah
Speaker 1: Jazz does a data column for the trip. We'll do
Speaker 1: some playoffs with Andy. We'll do some jazz basketball with Andy.
Speaker 2: Andy.
Speaker 1: We'll be co hosting this radio show tomorrow with that
Speaker 1: young man Porter Larson. As I'll be out of town
Speaker 1: just for Friday. I'll be back on Monday, so we'll
Speaker 1: bring it Andy Today. Excited to catch up with Mike
Speaker 1: m NFL Draft covers with bykem from the NFL Network.
Speaker 1: The head coach over Al Saal Lake, Pablo Mascuetti penny
Speaker 1: for Pablo's thoughts today. I'm gonna do my best to
Speaker 1: balance the whole, like, hey, let's be positive about your
Speaker 1: group and like, hey, how do you feel about not
Speaker 1: having like a good striker on your roster? Conversation today,
Speaker 1: and then we'll do a little sports court with our
Speaker 1: friends from Handy and Handy as we are wont to
Speaker 1: do every Thursday on the radio show. So Zach Moss,
Speaker 1: Dave Check, It's Andy Larson, Mike Yam, Pablo Mascuoretti, Me
Speaker 1: Spence checkets all of you, the great listeners, and that guy.
Speaker 1: The only thing you're missing from the wardrobe today are
Speaker 1: the is the cigarette pack rolled up in your T shirt?
Speaker 4: Me?
Speaker 1: You got the long hair, you got the Levi's T
Speaker 1: shirt that's fits.
Speaker 2: This medium looking good. You look like an old school like.
Speaker 1: You look like your distant relative Jesse James. That's not
Speaker 1: Butch Cassidy. There you go at this point. It's your stick.
Speaker 1: But how's how's your Thursday?
Speaker 5: Thursday's gone well, Thursday's gone well. Unintentional, it's a large
Speaker 5: I'm just like almost two hundred pounds at the.
Speaker 6: Moment, are you really yeah? Which is a development?
Speaker 3: Is it?
Speaker 5: Poking season, more of like the two years of breakfast
Speaker 5: burritos and whatnot. It was kind of intentional though, I
Speaker 5: was running and not you know, putting on any weights. OK,
Speaker 5: so it's all good. But yeah, Thursday's gone well. Looking
Speaker 5: forward to hosting the show with Andy tomorrow. Looking forward
Speaker 5: to seeing Big Dave here in studio today. I'm sure
Speaker 5: plenty to discuss with him, plenty to catch up on
Speaker 5: with the developments here in the market, and with the
Speaker 5: soccer club and NBA playoffs.
Speaker 6: Of course, just a side note today.
Speaker 3: I know.
Speaker 1: But it's been fun. Last night was fun. Tonight it's
Speaker 1: going to be fun. I'm excited to see what the
Speaker 1: Knicks can do in Detroit. But we've got a lot
Speaker 1: to do on the show, so let's get to it.
Speaker 1: Our first guest will be the great Zach Moss. But
Speaker 1: before we get the Zach, courtesy of our good friends,
Speaker 1: you're good friends too at Prize Picks, it is time
Speaker 1: now for your opening tip.
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Speaker 7: number one sports talk now into the studios of ESPN
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Speaker 1: on any games. All Right, NFL draft is tonight. When
Speaker 1: we say good night at six o'clock, it will be
Speaker 1: time for the NFL Draft. You can hear it on
Speaker 1: our radio station. So kind of attack this from a
Speaker 1: couple of different angles. The overwhelming favorite in Vegas to
Speaker 1: be off the board number one is cam Ward. Of course,
Speaker 1: the Tennessee Titans, with a number one overall pick Will
Speaker 1: Levis has never really fully lived up to the potential
Speaker 1: they thought that he had. It's interesting listening to a
Speaker 1: lot of draft experts break this stuff down. What were
Speaker 1: there five or six quarterbacks picked last year in the
Speaker 1: top like twelve or thirteen, And according to what most
Speaker 1: people believe, cam would not have even been among the
Speaker 1: top five or six. So like five or six prospects
Speaker 1: last year Jayden Daniels, Bo Nicks, JJ McCarthy, etc. All
Speaker 1: with better grades than cam Ward and was making me
Speaker 1: think about the Utah Jazz this year because the Tennessee
Speaker 1: Titans simply have bad luck. It's not the right year
Speaker 1: to have the number one overall pick, and you know,
Speaker 1: it is kind of part of the game. Of course,
Speaker 1: you would always want the number one overall pick, but
Speaker 1: also part of having success in that area is having
Speaker 1: the number one pick during the right draft cycle, like
Speaker 1: the Spurs did years ago with David Robinson and Tim Duncan,
Speaker 1: and of course more serendipitous luck for them as they
Speaker 1: have Victor women Yama. And if the Jazz are able
Speaker 1: to grab number one overall this year, it is the
Speaker 1: right year.
Speaker 2: To have it.
Speaker 1: As most people believe, Cooper Flag is a franchise changing piece,
Speaker 1: so not a lot of intrigue at one, and I
Speaker 1: don't think there's a lot of intrigue at too, although
Speaker 1: certain people disagree.
Speaker 2: It feels like Cleveland is going to go Travis Hunter now.
Speaker 1: Adam Schefter has reported earlier today Cleveland is also interested
Speaker 1: in trading back in to the first round. Laid in
Speaker 1: the first round to try to grab shud Or Sanders
Speaker 1: to pair him with Travis Hunter. Of course, those two
Speaker 1: playing together in college for a number of years. But
Speaker 1: the shud Or Sanders compversation continues to be really, really
Speaker 1: interesting because the Vegas ods right now have him sliding
Speaker 1: all the way to the Steelers at number twenty one,
Speaker 1: where Pittsburgh is clearly going to have to find a
Speaker 1: quarterback after they decided to dance with you. The dude
Speaker 1: that is more interested in sitting in a cave in silence,
Speaker 1: taking ayahuaskin talking to butterflies than he is playing quarterback.
Speaker 2: Sir Aaron Rodgers continues to kind of string them along.
Speaker 1: It feels like they have to take a quarterback, and
Speaker 1: it's interesting to consider the way NFL teams have approached
Speaker 1: taking quarterbacks over the past ten years. Not a lot
Speaker 1: of teams go quarterback in the second round because if
Speaker 1: you've identified your guy, you want to take him as
Speaker 1: soon as possible. Side note, by the way, there are
Speaker 1: rumors that Jackson Dart has emerged as QB two on
Speaker 1: a lot of teams draft boards behind cam Ward and
Speaker 1: not Shudor Sanders. So if Shador slides past Pittsburgh, the
Speaker 1: rumors are the Browns are going to try to trade
Speaker 1: back into the first round. What Field Yates is talking
Speaker 1: about is the Commanders at twenty nine, where maybe the
Speaker 1: steae Des trade back in at twenty nine and grab
Speaker 1: shaud Or Sanders to pair him next to Travis Hunter.
Speaker 1: But only six quarterbacks have been taken in the second
Speaker 1: round in the past ten years. Thirty five quarterbacks have
Speaker 1: been taken in the first round. So if you know
Speaker 1: that you have your guy, you use the pick in
Speaker 1: the first round on him. I don't really know why
Speaker 1: Shudor has sliden. I mean, if you remember, I would
Speaker 1: say halfway through the college football season, chad Or was
Speaker 1: being talked about as one of the Heisman Trophy favorites,
Speaker 1: and now, of course that went to his teammate Travis Hunter,
Speaker 1: and he was talked about by a lot of very
Speaker 1: smart football people as a guy that could go number
Speaker 1: one overall. And now we're sitting here on draft Day
Speaker 1: and we might have the story of the draft, which
Speaker 1: is shoud Or Sanders sliding all the way down to
Speaker 1: the late first round. I can't really pinpoint why. I'm
Speaker 1: not really sure, but we'll kind of see how that goes.
Speaker 1: So again, no intrigue at the top. The overwhelming favorite
Speaker 1: in Vegas to be taken by Tennessee as cam Ward
Speaker 1: Travis Hunter appears to be the pick at two.
Speaker 2: What did the Giants do at three?
Speaker 1: Even some conversations on NFL Live earlier today, the Giants
Speaker 1: really like Jackson Dart. Now, I can't imagine Jackson Dart
Speaker 1: going off the board of three. But here's the thing.
Speaker 1: If you have found your quarterback, it doesn't matter where
Speaker 1: you grab him. You just got to go get him.
Speaker 1: And the Giants have placeholders right now in that spot
Speaker 1: with Jameis Winston, of course Russell Wilson. So if they
Speaker 1: think Jackson Dart is the guy, I don't have a
Speaker 1: problem with them taking him at three, because this is
Speaker 1: a league where if you don't have a quarterback, you
Speaker 1: might as well not even kick off. The other interesting
Speaker 1: storyline going on right now is Ashton Genty. Of course,
Speaker 1: Utah State knows Ashton Genty well out of the Mountain
Speaker 1: West Conference, who a lot of people believe is one
Speaker 1: of the best running back prospects to come along in years,
Speaker 1: and the Raiders apparently are high on him. Now, remember
Speaker 1: the Raiders hired Pete Carroll. He's their head coach now
Speaker 1: and Pete Carroll's teams always usc Seattle in the NFL.
Speaker 1: They've always had a great running back and the Raiders
Speaker 1: do not have one. They let Josh Jacobs go to
Speaker 1: Green Bay and he had a really good year for
Speaker 1: them last year. But what does Jacksonville do at five?
Speaker 1: Does Jacksonville grab Ashton Genty? Do the Raiders want him
Speaker 1: enough to trade up and grab him? Kind of an
Speaker 1: interesting side story. Now from a local standpoint, at least
Speaker 1: everything I've read, Jalen Royal is the speedy wide receiver
Speaker 1: from Utah State, has the highest grade of any local prospect,
Speaker 1: maybe a Day two guy.
Speaker 2: I don't think we're going to hear his name tonight.
Speaker 1: But on the BYU side, Tyler Baddie a great defensive
Speaker 1: end and a pass rusher. They probably will be drafted
Speaker 1: mid round. There's the Caleb atn kid, the offensive lineman.
Speaker 1: A lot of mock drafts have him four, five, six
Speaker 1: as far as mid round pick. And then Jacob Robinson
Speaker 1: from the secondary who was a real ballhawk for j Hill.
Speaker 1: On the Utah side, Junior Tafuna mid round guy Karene
Speaker 1: Reid who continues to try to get healthy. Those are
Speaker 1: probably if any youth players are going to be drafted
Speaker 1: as probably those two. Mackai Bernard is out there. I
Speaker 1: know Caleb Lohner has been intriguing to a lot of
Speaker 1: teams as well. Four touch down passes. All four of
Speaker 1: his receptions last year for the Utes were touchdowns. Of course,
Speaker 1: really made a name for himself as a dynamic basketball prospect,
Speaker 1: played at Utah BYU Baylor, then came back to Utah
Speaker 1: and tried his hand at football.
Speaker 2: And then of course there's bran Keithy.
Speaker 1: Once upon a time, bran Keithy was the better tight
Speaker 1: end draft prospect before before Dalkon King Kid kind of
Speaker 1: burst on the scene and took the thunder from him.
Speaker 2: And of course brand needs to get healthy as well.
Speaker 1: It's not a year where a lot of local players
Speaker 1: are expecting to be drafted very high at all, but hopefully,
Speaker 1: whether it's undrafted where they can pick their spot or
Speaker 1: drafted late, hopefully some of our local players will see.
Speaker 2: And hear their names called.
Speaker 1: Our next guest knows what this day is like for
Speaker 1: these young men waiting to hear their name called one
Speaker 1: of the best players that we've ever had in state
Speaker 1: from the University of Utah, entering his sixth season in
Speaker 1: the NFL with Cincinnati. Friend of the show Zach Moss
Speaker 1: on a draft day Thursday, Zach, Happy, Thursday, Man, how
Speaker 1: you doing good?
Speaker 8: Good man?
Speaker 2: Well, I appreciate your time.
Speaker 1: I want you to take us back to your draft
Speaker 1: day and tell us what that was like. What did
Speaker 1: you do, who were you with, and how did you
Speaker 1: handle the emotions of a day that change your life?
Speaker 2: Zach?
Speaker 9: Yeah, it was a.
Speaker 10: Great day, man. Honestly, you know, my year was different
Speaker 10: during COVID, so didn't get an opportunity to do, you know,
Speaker 10: a bigger thing and stuff like that, but still was
Speaker 10: surrounded by loved ones and things of that nature. But
Speaker 10: you know, in the day, no matter what, you know,
Speaker 10: just hearing your name called flash across TV and things
Speaker 10: of that nature something you definitely never forget for sure.
Speaker 1: When did you know that it was going to be Buffalo?
Speaker 1: When were you told that the Bills were taking you
Speaker 1: in the third round.
Speaker 10: Of literally probably two three minutes before you know, came
Speaker 10: up on a TV and things like that. They called
Speaker 10: me and let me know that they were going to
Speaker 10: select me there in the third round. With their pick
Speaker 10: and stuff like that. It was crazy because I didn't
Speaker 10: know where I was going to go. I didn't even
Speaker 10: really have Buffalo on my radar. Like I said, it
Speaker 10: was COVID, so you know, all the top thirty visits
Speaker 10: and all these different things that you have to go
Speaker 10: do as traftees. I didn't get a chance of doing
Speaker 10: any of that. So it was literally just up in
Speaker 10: the air and seeing who was wanted to select meet
Speaker 10: whenever they did.
Speaker 2: Wow, just a couple of minutes before.
Speaker 1: So now I've got to know what the emotions were
Speaker 1: like when you heard your name. Like we you know,
Speaker 1: all of us at some point, if you're in the
Speaker 1: business or if you're listening to sports talk radio, there's
Speaker 1: a chance that most everybody dreamed of doing what you
Speaker 1: still do to this day and having a moment like
Speaker 1: hearing your name called during the NFL Draft.
Speaker 2: What was that moment like for you, Zach?
Speaker 10: You know, it was definitely surreal to some degree. You know,
Speaker 10: I think I've always worked, you know, pretty hard to
Speaker 10: put myself in it to give myself an opportunity to
Speaker 10: be able to hear my name called. So you know,
Speaker 10: when I did hear it called, it was. It was
Speaker 10: definitely surreal, but you know, it felt like a good
Speaker 10: moment of validation of all the work I've done and
Speaker 10: you know, the things I had to overcome and all
Speaker 10: those different type of things. So just hearing my name
Speaker 10: was like a validation in that moment, Like I didn't
Speaker 10: get really emotional and things like that because I moved,
Speaker 10: was still a lot of work to do. Six years later,
Speaker 10: I'm still trying to do that work to you know,
Speaker 10: do the things I really want to do in life.
Speaker 2: And you continue to do it.
Speaker 1: And there was some news that broke a couple of
Speaker 1: days ago that you and the Bengals agreed to terms
Speaker 1: where you've restructured your deal a little bit. So tell
Speaker 1: us what that process has been like. And also, most importantly, Zach,
Speaker 1: I probably buried the lead. You're not supposed to do
Speaker 1: that in this business. How are you doing. How is
Speaker 1: your health?
Speaker 8: I'm doing good, man, Just you know, taking the day
Speaker 8: by day and you know, just doing the best I
Speaker 8: can do to be ready for another year in the
Speaker 8: league and.
Speaker 10: Things like that. But yeah, research the deil to come
Speaker 10: back to Cincinnati. You know, got a lot of good
Speaker 10: people there, and we got a really good team, so
Speaker 10: decided to be a part of that process again with
Speaker 10: those type of people.
Speaker 1: What do you guys, Let's talk about the Bengals for
Speaker 1: a moment, because last year was it was just strange.
Speaker 1: You know, you ended the season on a wild run
Speaker 1: because there and you know this, there is so much
Speaker 1: talent in your locker room and so ultimately when you
Speaker 1: start out the season, you're not winning football games. And
Speaker 1: you know a lot of this it is another defensive
Speaker 1: side of the ball because you obviously have Burrow, you
Speaker 1: get those two wide receivers back, and you've got a
Speaker 1: great running back room. You know, obviously you among the
Speaker 1: three backs that will be running and blocking for the
Speaker 1: Bengals coming up this year. But how would you articulate
Speaker 1: how last year went and what are you guys hoping
Speaker 1: to accomplish this year?
Speaker 10: Yeah, last year it was tough, man, I think us
Speaker 10: being so young on the deeper side of the bar,
Speaker 10: it was just one of those years where it felt
Speaker 10: like no matter what you kind of did right, uh,
Speaker 10: something always kind of went wrong. And playing in that
Speaker 10: division AFC north Man, you've got to be ready to
Speaker 10: go each and every week. It's a it's a real
Speaker 10: tough physical division. I mean you factor in the weather
Speaker 10: into those cities and stuff like that as well, and
Speaker 10: you know, it was it was just a hard year.
Speaker 10: We got a lot of good quarterbacks in that division
Speaker 10: as well. But I think it's a good learning curve.
Speaker 10: I mean, you saw a lot of guys have you know,
Speaker 10: great individual years, which was nice and crazy to see.
Speaker 10: I mean you got to see I got to see
Speaker 10: Borough play at a high level, chase at the high level,
Speaker 10: and things of that nature. So I think, you know,
Speaker 10: everyone coming back, uh, you know and getting another year
Speaker 10: on our belt. Uh, with those guys, you know, there's
Speaker 10: gonna be a lot of interesting things that's gonna be
Speaker 10: able to happen for us this season. That just didn't
Speaker 10: go out way last year. You know, sometimes you don't
Speaker 10: get the ball to spend your way, and you know
Speaker 10: we we dealt with that a lot last year. But
Speaker 10: I think the way we competed throughout that year, you know,
Speaker 10: there was never gains where we just laid it down,
Speaker 10: always competitive as a team. So that's that's huge, right
Speaker 10: when you're thinking about it, when you look back at
Speaker 10: that year and finish it out, finish it out strong.
Speaker 10: So definitely looking forward to getting that cohesiveness together this
Speaker 10: season and you know, give him our best shot again.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna ask you kind of a little bit of
Speaker 1: a fanboy question, which I never do, but I you know,
Speaker 1: you hear a lot of people talk about the best
Speaker 1: wide receivers in the NFL, and there's a lot of
Speaker 1: Justin Jefferson. There's a lot of Tyreek when he's healthy.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of aj Brown I. I I think
Speaker 1: it's I think it's Jamar I think it's Jamar j.
Speaker 1: I've got to know what it's like. And look, you're
Speaker 1: a top man athlete yourself, so I'm sure you never
Speaker 1: in awe of any of your peers.
Speaker 2: But he seems to be a unicorns unicorn. He seems
Speaker 2: to be one of one.
Speaker 1: What's it what's it like to watch him day to
Speaker 1: day do what he does?
Speaker 10: Yeah, he's different, man, Honestly, I think you know I was.
Speaker 10: I was telling people like, he didn't even play during
Speaker 10: the preseason, and he didn't do anything in training camp,
Speaker 10: and he didn't do anything in the offseason program.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 10: Uh. Usually, you know, when you see guys go out
Speaker 10: there and perform at the level they do, they've done
Speaker 10: a training camp which gets them in tune and with
Speaker 10: the playbook, you know, his quarterback and all those different
Speaker 10: type of things. I mean, the guy didn't even have
Speaker 10: to do any of that to go out there and
Speaker 10: have the type of season he did. When he thought
Speaker 10: about the triple Crown, it was it was crazy to see.
Speaker 10: I played with a lot of really good receivers and
Speaker 10: you know, a guy like Diggs our first year in Buffalo,
Speaker 10: him having a career year and stuff like that, and
Speaker 10: to see what Jamar does. You know, the way he
Speaker 10: does it is so nonchalant, it's not like it's not
Speaker 10: even really trying. And to see him straight up so
Speaker 10: many defenses, and like I said, planning that division, you
Speaker 10: kind of almost respect it even more just because you're
Speaker 10: going against top defenses. We can and weak out, and
Speaker 10: we had to really good schedule this season when it
Speaker 10: comes to the terms of who we played and the
Speaker 10: guys that he had to mind up in front of
Speaker 10: and things like that. So I mean, like you said,
Speaker 10: he's a unicorns in the corn when you think about
Speaker 10: just the fact that demand didn't even do training camp
Speaker 10: and just went out there and just ball, which is
Speaker 10: crazy to see.
Speaker 1: Additionally, a lot of debates about who the best quarterback
Speaker 1: is in pro football, and of course fifteen in Kansas
Speaker 1: City probably continues to hold that Moniker, But I don't
Speaker 1: know where you put Joe. But there aren't a lot
Speaker 1: of quarterbacks i'd want ahead of Joe Burrow. And look, Zach,
Speaker 1: as you know, in this game at any level, but
Speaker 1: especially in pro football, if you don't have one of
Speaker 1: the elite dudes under center, you might as well not
Speaker 1: even kick off. But having Joe Burrow under center, that's
Speaker 1: got to give you the belief in that organization that
Speaker 1: you have a shot to do anything possible as special
Speaker 1: as any other team in this year this year with
Speaker 1: him under center?
Speaker 2: Is that is that accurate to say?
Speaker 10: Yeah? Absolutely. I mean you're talking about one of the
Speaker 10: best receivers in the league, I mean quarterbacks in the league.
Speaker 10: Sidney stepped in and this season coming off of a
Speaker 10: risk injury and leading the league and yards and touchdowns,
Speaker 10: which which is just crazy. You know, it's throwing risk
Speaker 10: at that and to be able to come back from
Speaker 10: that and look as seemless as he did, that was
Speaker 10: really special to see that from him. But uh, you know,
Speaker 10: I think you have a guy like that, like you said,
Speaker 10: if you don't have one of those top guys in
Speaker 10: this league, which he is, it's gonna be really really
Speaker 10: hard to win a lot of games. And fortunately I've
Speaker 10: been able to play with, you know, two guys that
Speaker 10: are really really good at what they do. So that's
Speaker 10: that's been just a blessing, just being able to play
Speaker 10: with guys who play the game at a high level
Speaker 10: of future Hall of famers.
Speaker 2: So you were at the Forever twenty two game.
Speaker 1: It was fun to see you hanging out with Devin
Speaker 1: and Mackay and a bunch and Britain Covey in town
Speaker 1: as well. How connected do you stay to the program,
Speaker 1: Zach and what was it like to be up there
Speaker 1: for the spring game last Saturday.
Speaker 10: Yeah, I'm always around, man. I think I try to,
Speaker 10: you know, be in tune with those guys as much
Speaker 10: as I can be, and you know, find being back
Speaker 10: because I was only being able to be back last
Speaker 10: year one time for a home game, which I hadn't
Speaker 10: been too long since I left, you know, so that
Speaker 10: was really cool. Then being out there this past weekend,
Speaker 10: that was also cool just to see, you know, the
Speaker 10: football and being in the stadium again and stuff like
Speaker 10: that and seeing the coaches do what they do best.
Speaker 10: But I try to say interlock with the school as
Speaker 10: much as I can. And I live here now, so
Speaker 10: you know, I think anytime I'm able just to be
Speaker 10: around the game for one and then be around you know,
Speaker 10: people with familiar faces that I know in the program
Speaker 10: that has helped me tremendously. I think it's always a
Speaker 10: good thing for sure.
Speaker 1: Last year was a year that nobody was expecting, certainly
Speaker 1: nobody in the media and I know nobody in the
Speaker 1: locker room know. The standards up there are very, very
Speaker 1: high and have been for quite some time. What would
Speaker 1: you say to youth fans tuning in today your belief
Speaker 1: that a bounce back year two in the Big twelve
Speaker 1: as possible.
Speaker 10: Yeah, I mean they've They've done it right within the
Speaker 10: sense of you know, I think the quarterbacks are going
Speaker 10: to be really, really good. When you add a dual
Speaker 10: threat quarterback like that, it's gonna make it real hard
Speaker 10: and it helps to the running game tremendously, which is
Speaker 10: gonna beautiful for the new running back also that they have,
Speaker 10: so that's nice. And the solid defense that that we
Speaker 10: play over there at Utah, you know, with coach Scalley
Speaker 10: and coach Wade leading the way over that side, when
Speaker 10: you add a dual threat quarterback, a really good running
Speaker 10: back as well that's come in as well, you're gonna
Speaker 10: be able to control the ball and play the style
Speaker 10: that they want to. And I think, you know, like
Speaker 10: I said, I think the quarterback is gonna be really
Speaker 10: just I've seen what he was able to do. I
Speaker 10: think it's at New Mexico State, so excited to see
Speaker 10: what he can do with these guys and the coach staff,
Speaker 10: and I think obviously bringing on it's always a coordinator
Speaker 10: from his last school as well, and keeps that similiarity there,
Speaker 10: it should be a pretty seamless transition for him. Hopefully,
Speaker 10: you know, these guys can put it together and you
Speaker 10: know injus a part of the game. Hopefully that you know,
Speaker 10: they don't get hit with that buzz again for sure.
Speaker 1: So you've gone on to have a really good pro
Speaker 1: football career, and of course we all cheer for you
Speaker 1: to play as long as you possibly can, and so
Speaker 1: somebody like you when you look when you look at
Speaker 1: nil and transfer portal, it probably doesn't sting as much
Speaker 1: because you've achieved success. I mean, I'm sure you would
Speaker 1: have liked to make money when you're in college, as
Speaker 1: all of us would have liked. I'm not alluding to
Speaker 1: anything other than that. But as somebody who was an athlete,
Speaker 1: very good athlete, good football player prior to NIL and
Speaker 1: the transfer portal and follows the sport and follows the program,
Speaker 1: how do you think those two those two things have
Speaker 1: changed the sport the most of.
Speaker 10: It, man, I think that's the biggest thing. It's like,
Speaker 10: you know, you used to not saying that it's not there,
Speaker 10: but it's definitely saying a way a bit in the
Speaker 10: sense of, you know, you used to want to care about,
Speaker 10: you know, the logo on the side of your helmet,
Speaker 10: you know, and putting on for your school and things
Speaker 10: of that nature. Wanting to be all the you know,
Speaker 10: being alumni at school and things like that when you graduate.
Speaker 10: I think, now, if you can't fault the kids to
Speaker 10: some degree, you know, when you talk about the money
Speaker 10: and setting yourself up for the future, you know, because
Speaker 10: there's only so many guys that can go to the
Speaker 10: NFL for one coming out of college. You know, if
Speaker 10: I broke down the numbers on that, it's just Obviously
Speaker 10: a lot of people know it's crazy on how many
Speaker 10: people play college football, college sports period and aren't able
Speaker 10: to make it to that pro level. Even if you
Speaker 10: are able to make it to that pro level, the
Speaker 10: chances of you, you know, having a full career and
Speaker 10: things of that nature, it's already hard when you think
Speaker 10: about that type of stuff. So you know, obviously them
Speaker 10: taking advantage of the n I L it is a
Speaker 10: good thing. I think hopefully, you know, we can they
Speaker 10: can just get a cap on it and you know,
Speaker 10: really control it the best that they can, so they think,
Speaker 10: you know that the schools don't lose as much, and
Speaker 10: you know, the people with the biggest pocketbooks don't just
Speaker 10: throw money at these kids, and you know, they just
Speaker 10: jump school to school and don't really build that brotherhood
Speaker 10: that they are going to you know, really love and
Speaker 10: depend on it at some point. So I think that's
Speaker 10: the biggest thing.
Speaker 1: Do you pay attention at all to any of the
Speaker 1: back and forth between Utah and b y U fans
Speaker 1: complaining about the other teams poaching their players?
Speaker 2: Do you pay attention at at all that?
Speaker 10: I don't pay attention to it. It does pop up
Speaker 10: on my social media here and there, just like because
Speaker 10: I'm just so into you know, with the school and
Speaker 10: different accounts and things like that. But it's crazy, for sure,
Speaker 10: but it is you know, a big part of it,
Speaker 10: which you can't really, like I said, be upset at
Speaker 10: the kids for wanting to take advantage of that. But
Speaker 10: it does destroy the loyalty part of it where you
Speaker 10: can just jump schools and go different places and do
Speaker 10: different things and it's not much to think about behind it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and like you said, you can't blame the players
Speaker 1: and look, Zach, the bottom line here, love it or
Speaker 1: hate it, college football has become very transactional, right and
Speaker 1: so the only way to handle these ebbs and flows
Speaker 1: is to remove your emotion. But as you know, it's
Speaker 1: hard to ask fans to remove their emotions.
Speaker 10: You know. Yeah, yeah, I mean it's the human element
Speaker 10: to all of it. So yeah, it's gonna be hard. Absolutely,
Speaker 10: Like I said, hopefully you know, it's double. They can
Speaker 10: figure out a way to make it more, you know,
Speaker 10: even around all the schools. That way, you know, it
Speaker 10: doesn't love you don't lose the integrity of the college
Speaker 10: support game, which I think is you know, has been
Speaker 10: so great for so long for a reason, and it's
Speaker 10: definitely time for the athletes to get paid, but there's
Speaker 10: always better ways to do a lot of different things
Speaker 10: in life.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well said one more thing in this space, and then,
Speaker 1: ironically enough, I get to ask you about a former
Speaker 1: teammate of yours at Utah who's going through the draft process.
Speaker 1: So we'll get there in a moment. Like I said,
Speaker 1: you've gone onto the NFL. You know, you've had a
Speaker 1: really good career and you'll continue to. But I wonder
Speaker 1: through conversations that you have with with ex teammates at
Speaker 1: Utah who didn't have an opportunity to go make money
Speaker 1: playing pro football, do you feel like there's resentment?
Speaker 2: Do you feel like there's bitterness?
Speaker 1: Do you feel like there's anger that they were not
Speaker 1: able to play and benefit off of their name, image
Speaker 1: and likeness while they were playing at college college football Utah?
Speaker 4: Uh?
Speaker 10: You know, I think you definitely are going to have
Speaker 10: those emotions to some degree, And I think that's fair
Speaker 10: when thinking about putting your body on the line the
Speaker 10: way you do, and you know, and all that type
Speaker 10: of stuff. So I think that's fair to have those emotions,
Speaker 10: and I'm sure some guys do I know I've had them,
Speaker 10: even though I've been able to go in the NFL
Speaker 10: and do some things in that in that realm and
Speaker 10: things like that as well. But you know, I think
Speaker 10: long lasting wise, I don't think so. But you know,
Speaker 10: it's like I said, it's fair to have that because
Speaker 10: it is something that would have been great to a
Speaker 10: lot of guys. Because it's just like I said, it
Speaker 10: sets you up at at a certain age twenty one,
Speaker 10: twenty two years old with X amount of dollars, right,
Speaker 10: you do it correctly and things like that. It's a
Speaker 10: big blessing financially to take care of yourself and even
Speaker 10: people you love, depending on you know, however much you
Speaker 10: made or whatever. But it is what it is. You know,
Speaker 10: it just wasn't the timing didn't didn't work out, and
Speaker 10: that's you know, obviously that's fair in the sense of,
Speaker 10: you know, you just were born a little too early
Speaker 10: and that's when he decided to do it.
Speaker 2: But yeah, no, it's a good perspective, all right.
Speaker 1: The twenty nineteen Utah football team, in my estimation, is
Speaker 1: as talented, was as talented, is as talented as any
Speaker 1: team that we've ever had in the state. I believe that,
Speaker 1: and I think that includes two thousand and four. In
Speaker 1: two thousand and eight, the undefeated teams and you played
Speaker 1: with Brandt Keithy and Bran Keithy. Of course, prior to
Speaker 1: Dalton King, Kid was thought to be the better NFL
Speaker 1: tight end prospect because back before brand had his injury issues,
Speaker 1: he was really dynamic. Uh, he's going through the process
Speaker 1: and I don't know that he'll be drafted and hopefully
Speaker 1: he can just get healthy and somebody gives him a look.
Speaker 1: But what sort of NFL player do you think bran
Speaker 1: Keithy could make.
Speaker 10: You know, like you said, he's very dynamic when he
Speaker 10: was healthy. I think that's the main thing, is getting
Speaker 10: into the NFL for one and being able to stay healthy.
Speaker 10: He's guy who can do it a lot of different things.
Speaker 10: And you know, in NFL is about you know, sticking around.
Speaker 10: You know, it's really hard to stick around that league.
Speaker 10: So you know, him being the athlete that he is
Speaker 10: at especially at that position, I think, you know, you
Speaker 10: don't always just have to catch passes. It's the more
Speaker 10: you can do in NFL. It's what allows you to
Speaker 10: have a really good career and have the longevities you
Speaker 10: might want. So, you know, I think going in with
Speaker 10: an open mind, maybe it's not fifty catches you know,
Speaker 10: a year or anymore or something like that. Maybe it's
Speaker 10: special teams and different things of that nature, especially when
Speaker 10: you've been able to be a player who's had the
Speaker 10: type of career he's had in a sense of production
Speaker 10: in college. So I think that's the biggest thing for him.
Speaker 10: It's just you know, hey, it's you know, not drafted
Speaker 10: or or drafted. You know, it doesn't matter when you
Speaker 10: get in. It's just getting in and staying. And that's
Speaker 10: the biggest thing because it's a lot of guys that
Speaker 10: go early rounds that don't play for a long time,
Speaker 10: and there's guys that do played for a long time
Speaker 10: that didn't go draft, that went undrafted. So I think
Speaker 10: once you get past that, and then just being healthy
Speaker 10: and you know, being available, and then you know, having
Speaker 10: that flexibility which he has athletic wise for sure, and
Speaker 10: then just going out there and taking advantage of each
Speaker 10: and every day.
Speaker 1: Before I said, you lose Bengals are at seventeen and
Speaker 1: throughout the course of the draft, what are you hoping
Speaker 1: that your current team adds, So you guys can take
Speaker 1: another step.
Speaker 10: Man, I think you know you need that to those
Speaker 10: guys for sure. I always do ever really think about it.
Speaker 10: But you know they know best in the sense of
Speaker 10: what the team needs in that moment in time right
Speaker 10: for us to go out and compete at a high level.
Speaker 10: So you know, whatever whoever they choose, man, we're going
Speaker 10: to open our doors and you know, invite them in
Speaker 10: and make sure he's comfortable and you know, ready to
Speaker 10: work and get this thing back on track and put
Speaker 10: Bangals back on top where we were just a few
Speaker 10: years ago.
Speaker 1: All right, man, besides working out, besides rehabbing and getting healthy.
Speaker 1: What's the Zach Moss offseason? You're gonna get some trips in.
Speaker 1: You swing a golf club. What do you like to
Speaker 1: do in your downtown.
Speaker 10: Well, I got another little kid on the way girl. Yeah,
Speaker 10: So I'm chilling, man, getting ready for that, and you know,
Speaker 10: get excited for that. And that's the main thing right now.
Speaker 10: That's what I'm up to.
Speaker 3: All right man.
Speaker 1: Well that's the good stuff. Congratulations on that. You know
Speaker 1: that you always have a home here, so stay healthy
Speaker 1: and be well.
Speaker 10: Okay, absolutely, my man, appreciate you having me on all.
Speaker 1: Right, Zach Moss truly one of the best football players
Speaker 1: we've ever ever had in State. I talked about that
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen team all the time. Unfortunately it didn't end
Speaker 1: the way that we all thought it could. But when
Speaker 1: you look at that roster top to bottom, and I
Speaker 1: think Zach was the best player on the team. I
Speaker 1: know he's running back and a bunch of other good
Speaker 1: players on both sides of the ball. Pack twelve Offensive
Speaker 1: Player of the Year that year, First Team All Packed, twelve,
Speaker 1: third round draft pick from Buffalo entering in his sixth
Speaker 1: season in the NFL. That's wild to think about that,
Speaker 1: our guy Zach has been doing this five years and
Speaker 1: he's entering his sixth year. It seems like he was
Speaker 1: just here like yesterday.
Speaker 5: It is crazy. Time certainly flies. As he mentioned, he
Speaker 5: was part of the COVID year draft class. Everything since then,
Speaker 5: timing wise, feels a little blurry, so maybe that's part
Speaker 5: of it. But yeah, man, one of the best players
Speaker 5: in the program's history. You mentioned it, the state's history
Speaker 5: as far as what they did at at the college level,
Speaker 5: and to go in and now keep doing it at
Speaker 5: the NFL level. Proud of Zach can love seeing it
Speaker 5: as it continues to grow. Got to get healthy, Yes,
Speaker 5: you're sure in Cincinnati, that's that's the story this year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Zach had a neck injury.
Speaker 1: It limited him to I think eight games, yeah, eight
Speaker 1: games last year. But he's in that running back room.
Speaker 1: Chase Brown, they brought in Sumiji Perin right. I think
Speaker 1: it's those three at the moment. Yeah, in the running
Speaker 1: back room. So only wishing good things for our guys.
Speaker 1: Zach appreciate his time today. We'll get back to some
Speaker 1: draft stuff. He'll forget after we say good night. Right
Speaker 1: about six o'clock, we'll launch into our NFL Draft coverage.
Speaker 1: We are your home for the NFL Draft here in
Speaker 1: this market, so no reason for you to go anywhere.
Speaker 1: Zach stops Spot today courtesy of our friends at IFA
Speaker 1: Country Stores. Any drive to the basket begins with the
Speaker 1: first step on the court. That's the ultimate power move
Speaker 1: IFA Step one crabgrass Preventer and their lawn food that's
Speaker 1: the first choice to give your yard the healthy green
Speaker 1: look you admire.
Speaker 2: The neighbors will be green with envy.
Speaker 1: Shop IFA online at IFA dot co op er stop
Speaker 1: by one of their neighborhood stores today. You know, if
Speaker 1: I can't even convince my father to roll in a
Speaker 1: studio on time, then I might need to find another
Speaker 1: line of work. So that's where we're at. We're in
Speaker 1: a bit of a holding pattern. Usually these are for
Speaker 1: guests that you know, you book and you're not sure
Speaker 1: what the deal is. So we're gonna bring in my
Speaker 1: dad coming up in a little bit, Dave check. It's
Speaker 1: a a new project for him, a new partnership with
Speaker 1: the Eccles family that we're going to talk about. Really
Speaker 1: exciting things, happy for him. They've been working on this
Speaker 1: for quite some time. We do have Andy Larson from
Speaker 1: the Solid Tribune coming up a little bit. Mike am
Speaker 1: from the NFL Network will stop by. Pablo MASTERONENI the
Speaker 1: head coach of RSL. So we just had Zach Moss
Speaker 1: on and Porter. We've talked about this before, but every
Speaker 1: time I pull up the roster for the Utah football
Speaker 1: team from twenty nineteen, you just shake your head and
Speaker 1: you know, again, it didn't end the way that we
Speaker 1: all thought it could. It's kind of wild that I
Speaker 1: can ask Zach Moss about Brand Keithy that they played together,
Speaker 1: right of course Brand had the medical year.
Speaker 2: The COVID year allowed some more eligibility.
Speaker 1: But I mean, we could just we could talk about
Speaker 1: so many of these players, of course, Zach and Julian Blackman,
Speaker 1: Tyler Huntley, the aforementioned Brand, Keithy Bradley, and I I'm
Speaker 1: sure I'm forgetting a bunch that every time we have
Speaker 1: this topic, whether it's Zach hopping on the show, we
Speaker 1: talk about some of the best football teams we've ever
Speaker 1: had in the state. I know that they didn't finish undefeated,
Speaker 1: let go four or eight, and I know they never
Speaker 1: won a conference championship because of the injuries at the end.
Speaker 1: But man for man, on paper, it's hard to find
Speaker 1: a roster for either Utah or BYU that matches up
Speaker 1: with twenty nineteen.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, you look on the defensive side of
Speaker 5: the ball spent specifically Devin Lloyd, Francis Bernard, Terrell Burgess,
Speaker 5: Julian Blackman, Javelin Gidry, Mika Defu, Bradley, and I John Pennasini,
Speaker 5: Jalen Johnson, Lecky FO two. Josh Nurse was on that team.
Speaker 5: Huatiputu Tao. There were twelve or thirteen guys that ended
Speaker 5: up not on an NFL roster but getting mini camp
Speaker 5: invites or at least spending some time on an NFL roster.
Speaker 5: Oh and also Tyler Huntley, Zach Moss, Britton Covey, Matt Gay,
Speaker 5: bran Keathy.
Speaker 6: As you mentioned, McKay Bernard.
Speaker 5: It's a twenty nineteen team that, by the end of
Speaker 5: their careers could have eighteen guys that spent time in
Speaker 5: the NFL.
Speaker 6: Pretty remarkable.
Speaker 1: It's wild so that lost to Oregon Pac twelve Championship game,
Speaker 1: then of course Texas Alamo the Alamo Bowl. But I
Speaker 1: appreciate Zach Moss hopping on today our NFL draft coverage.
Speaker 2: We'll be in at six o'clock.
Speaker 1: We are your home with the NFL in this market,
Speaker 1: so stay tuned for that.
Speaker 2: All right, we did it, You did, miss Neil Young,
Speaker 2: old man?
Speaker 1: Oh no, no, really, you know what, Porter's Let's fire
Speaker 1: that back up because I know that would put him
Speaker 1: in the right frame of mind. I was debating which
Speaker 1: songs to play for you today, and I landed on
Speaker 1: Neil Young, which I figured you'd appreciate.
Speaker 2: Hi Dad, what is hi?
Speaker 3: Son?
Speaker 11: But what is the right frame of mind to go on?
Speaker 11: Your son's radio show.
Speaker 3: Exactly.
Speaker 1: It's an excellent question. You should do this for a living.
Speaker 1: That's a good question. I mean, just put you in
Speaker 1: a good mood because you are a Neil Young fan.
Speaker 3: I am. I love that song too, great song. How
Speaker 3: you doing, I'm doing great.
Speaker 11: I just came last night from three days in Nashville
Speaker 11: at the World Congress of Sport, and it was just
Speaker 11: amazing to see so many people haven't seen in a
Speaker 11: long time, owners and presidents and and people that have
Speaker 11: the commissioners that have been around sport and uh and
Speaker 11: and I I was.
Speaker 3: I was.
Speaker 11: I was privileged enough to be to be given an
Speaker 11: honor there. I was honored as a I think they
Speaker 11: call it these sports champions, pioneers and innovators.
Speaker 3: Pioneers and innovators.
Speaker 1: And you were rightly honored for that, Okay, it was.
Speaker 1: It was a it was a just reward that you've
Speaker 1: earn't It was a great, great honor.
Speaker 11: Well, thank you for that. I it was. It was
Speaker 11: very nicely done.
Speaker 3: I have a.
Speaker 11: Beautiful statue at to go in my to go in
Speaker 11: my study. And then, as you you know, your youngest
Speaker 11: sibling was also given a chance there by her agents
Speaker 11: CIA was doing, was sponsoring the whole thing, so they
Speaker 11: arranged for her to speak after Adam Silver spoke. I mean,
Speaker 11: here's Lily check its Shimbashi going up on the stage
Speaker 11: to talk about her business and about especially about engaging
Speaker 11: women as fans of your team and what a positive
Speaker 11: thing that is. And then they asked me to introduce her.
Speaker 11: So the whole thing was fun. It was really fun.
Speaker 1: Tremendously impressed with Lil's former friend of the program. When
Speaker 1: she first started sports at sports Ish, we had her
Speaker 1: on almost on a weekly basis.
Speaker 6: Right, So does she even want to anymore?
Speaker 2: Now she's too.
Speaker 1: Big for us, she doesn't even return our calls, but
Speaker 1: really really proud of her and what she's built. And
Speaker 1: you know what's funny, I've had multiple people over the
Speaker 1: past few months somehow find out that we're related Lily
Speaker 1: and I because her last their maiden, her married name
Speaker 1: is Shimbashi, and you know, so if you just see
Speaker 1: Lily Shimbashi, and I've had direct messages from women that
Speaker 1: I went to school with like, wait, Lily is your sister.
Speaker 2: We love we love what she's doing.
Speaker 1: So people haven't even really made the connection, and it's
Speaker 1: it's got to make you a proud dad to see
Speaker 1: what she's built because she's worked real hard at it.
Speaker 11: It does, and I'm not sure it's for better for worse.
Speaker 11: But her agents represented and Wreck and they basically were
Speaker 11: sold on the fact that she had to start going
Speaker 11: by Lily check its shimbashi. And I said to her husband,
Speaker 11: I said, look, this was not me. I did not
Speaker 11: I did not say this needed to be a hyphenated
Speaker 11: name or anything else. But I have noticed that that's
Speaker 11: what Sports Business Journal calls her now and.
Speaker 3: And to the extent if.
Speaker 11: It helps her at all in this industry of ours,
Speaker 11: I'm all for it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, for sure, and I'm so proud of her,
Speaker 1: you know, watching those videos of her on stage just
Speaker 1: owned it. You know, she stepped up and did a
Speaker 1: really good job. So exciting news broke last week. And
Speaker 1: you've been working on this for a while now with
Speaker 1: the Eccles family, who of course sports business royalty in
Speaker 1: our state, and often say Spence Ecles does not receive
Speaker 1: the credit he deserves for a myriad of things. I mean,
Speaker 1: his name is on building, his name is on a
Speaker 1: bunch of buildings at the U. But take us through
Speaker 1: this process, your new partnership with the Eccles family, and
Speaker 1: what should the community know about what's coming up next.
Speaker 11: Okay, So it was twenty twenty one when your mom
Speaker 11: and I returned from England after three years serving as
Speaker 11: mission leaders there, and it was just one of the
Speaker 11: great experiences of my life. Seven hundred volunteers, fifty four countries,
Speaker 11: COVID language.
Speaker 2: You were COVID mission presidents.
Speaker 11: Yes, so we had twenty months without COVID and sixteen
Speaker 11: months with. But I came home exhausted because there wasn't
Speaker 11: a single week that it wasn't like working ninety hour weeks.
Speaker 11: Just that's what's necessary to do that job. And so
Speaker 11: I'm glad that they're calling younger and younger guys and
Speaker 11: women to do that. But anyway, when I came home,
Speaker 11: I knew a couple of things. One, I wanted to
Speaker 11: work with my sons. Two, I wanted to work with
Speaker 11: my daughters. I wanted to I didn't want to jump
Speaker 11: into the industry right away. It's now been three and
Speaker 11: a half years since we've been home, and earlier this
Speaker 11: year I started to think that I'd like the last
Speaker 11: chapter of my career the last ten years, because I
Speaker 11: think I'll work another ten years, but I'd like the
Speaker 11: last ten years to be in a situation where I
Speaker 11: have a significant sports fund and ken invested in the
Speaker 11: many opportunities that I just uncover literally weekly that are good,
Speaker 11: good places to invest our industry. Even during COVID when
Speaker 11: the rest of the world was in financial crisis, sports
Speaker 11: sports continued to grow seven percent a year during COVID.
Speaker 11: During COVID when the you know, the financial crisis of
Speaker 11: COVID and everything that stopped, but sports continued to grow.
Speaker 11: And so this is an industry I've been in for
Speaker 11: a long time. And so it became about identifying who
Speaker 11: would I like to do this with, because I felt
Speaker 11: like the firm that I founded in New York has
Speaker 11: a lot of really good people, but it's lacking the
Speaker 11: kind of investment expertise that it would take to both
Speaker 11: raise a large fund and to invest a large fund.
Speaker 11: And I was out here actually in Deer Valley, and
Speaker 11: it was a it was a conference put on by
Speaker 11: a private equity fund, and you came up and interviewed me.
Speaker 11: When we talked about sports and collegiate sports and where
Speaker 11: to invest in sports.
Speaker 2: Got Rick new heisl on the panels right.
Speaker 3: That was fun.
Speaker 11: And then the next night Mitt Romney came up and spoke,
Speaker 11: and I've you know, I've known Mit since my days
Speaker 11: in Boston and Bane a million years ago, but I've
Speaker 11: never seen him so relaxed as he was that night
Speaker 11: he came up and spoke. He you know, he has
Speaker 11: a lot of concerns about our country, but we'll leave
Speaker 11: that alone. Could We could go for hours on that,
Speaker 11: because I'm right with him on his views. But anyway,
Speaker 11: at the end of it, a lot of people ask
Speaker 11: him questions, and one question was where will you invest now?
Speaker 11: What are you going to do? He said he was
Speaker 11: moving to Florida. He wanted Anne to ride horses. I'm
Speaker 11: not going to share anything that I don't think he
Speaker 11: would want shared. But he when he talked about how
Speaker 11: he was going to invent, he said, I'm no longer
Speaker 11: looking at internal rates of return. I'm not looking for
Speaker 11: track records. I'm looking for people that I trust. I
Speaker 11: want to do things with people that I trust. And
Speaker 11: you have to understand when I came to Salt Lake
Speaker 11: in nineteen eighty three to try to save the Utah
Speaker 11: Jazz and turn it around, My one friend in town
Speaker 11: consistently was the president Heir Security Bank and the chairman,
Speaker 11: Spencer Eccles, who's now ninety years old. He's still skis.
Speaker 11: I see him up at the Ute Games. I see
Speaker 11: him at the Jazz Games, and every time I see him,
Speaker 11: we go back to the old days and we talk about, Hey, Suspence,
Speaker 11: if you hadn't done that eight million dollar loan when
Speaker 11: no one else would help us, and we weren't making
Speaker 11: payroll and we were losing a fortune. We were drawing
Speaker 11: six thousand people a night, and no one told me,
Speaker 11: not even David Stern, that this club was on the
Speaker 11: verge of bankruptcy. But it was Spencer Eccles who understood
Speaker 11: that if Salt Lake lost the Jazz, we would we
Speaker 11: would go a long time before we ever got another
Speaker 11: NBA team. And I think he pushed his board into
Speaker 11: making a loan that no one else would because Larry
Speaker 11: Miller was the borrower. Larry Miller owned exactly two dealerships.
Speaker 11: Larry Miller didn't have the net worth to borrow that money.
Speaker 11: But but, but Spencer was so impressed with the things
Speaker 11: we were starting to do with the team and with
Speaker 11: Larry's earnest desire to keep it here. He found a
Speaker 11: kindred soul. He made the loan, we paid off the debt.
Speaker 11: We put two million dollars into the bank. I remember
Speaker 11: that day thinking, oh my gosh, the heavens have opened up.
Speaker 2: And today that's pennies. But back then he needed it.
Speaker 11: Yeah, yeah, And that's on the heels of in eighty
Speaker 11: four drafting Stockton and eighty five drafting Malone. Everybody thought
Speaker 11: we had a future suddenly, and all we needed was
Speaker 11: the right capital. And it was Spencer Eccles that made
Speaker 11: it all happen. So with that in mind, and thinking
Speaker 11: about what Mit said that it was going to be
Speaker 11: totally about who your partners are, I went to Spence
Speaker 11: Spencer P. Eckles, his son, who I'm really good friends with.
Speaker 11: I met Randall Corels, who is the chairman and former
Speaker 11: vice chair of the Federal Reserve, enormously qualified Davis Polk,
Speaker 11: one of the America's premier law firms, thirty year lawyer.
Speaker 11: These two gentlemen sat down with me, listened to my
Speaker 11: dream about finishing by investing a billion dollars or more
Speaker 11: in sports, and the conversations went really very quick, quickly
Speaker 11: and already we have places we can invest. There's a
Speaker 11: lot of work to do to finish up all of
Speaker 11: the administrative side of a fund. But the one thing
Speaker 11: when I go to sleep at night now is I
Speaker 11: know I've got the best partners I could ever ask for. Yeah,
Speaker 11: these they run a great firm. They're very successful in
Speaker 11: their own right. They didn't need to do this, but
Speaker 11: they're excited about it because you know what the Ecchos
Speaker 11: family has meant to the University of Utah, to Southern Utah, STA,
Speaker 11: they're all over the place. That's why I said my
Speaker 11: quote and the press release is you know they brought
Speaker 11: the way. They were instrumental and getting the Winter Olympics
Speaker 11: here and financing so much of that. They were key
Speaker 11: in keeping the jazz here, and they've built great collegiate
Speaker 11: programs across the state. So now to pursue this fund
Speaker 11: with them, I couldn't be happier. I couldn't be more
Speaker 11: optimistic about the things we're going to do. And I'm
Speaker 11: all And since the press release, my phone has just
Speaker 11: blown up from people all over the world that I've
Speaker 11: done business with in the past, in Japan and in
Speaker 11: certainly in London, in Germany and France, and I'm going
Speaker 11: to be over there next week and start the process
Speaker 11: of creating a real flow of deals coming to us.
Speaker 1: So certainly, and I had a chance to see Spence
Speaker 1: up at the Utah spring football game. He sat with
Speaker 1: Ron McBride and shook his hand. He's still skis as
Speaker 1: your reference, just turned nine years old. And certainly with
Speaker 1: a fund as large as this and the goals you
Speaker 1: have that are as big as they are, only time
Speaker 1: will tell what the execution looks like and what you
Speaker 1: invest in. And if it's teams here in state, if
Speaker 1: it's teams across the landscape of the country, or maybe
Speaker 1: you do some international deals a those things will manifest
Speaker 1: themselves when they do. It's not going to happen tomorrow,
Speaker 1: but I'm sure people are curious if you have any
Speaker 1: tangible plans with one point two billion, which is the
Speaker 1: goal we do.
Speaker 11: So we love teams, but we will probably not be
Speaker 11: buying any majority piece of a teams where we determine
Speaker 11: how to run things. But I do think we'll get
Speaker 11: involved because that's what I've done. Sure, so we'll get
Speaker 11: involved with teams where they're in good markets, they have
Speaker 11: excellent operators and they work hard. This is the this
Speaker 11: is the eCos value that is going to run through
Speaker 11: our organization. How are they doing in the community, and
Speaker 11: are they caring about the community, and are they making
Speaker 11: a difference in the community. So that will be on
Speaker 11: the team side. We'll look for media assets during this
Speaker 11: transition from cord cutting and cable and satellite into streaming
Speaker 11: and what happens and direct to the consumer, which ESPN
Speaker 11: is now doing. As all of this happens, there's going
Speaker 11: to be a tremendous capitalization of media assets. We want
Speaker 11: to be in the middle of that. I've spent my
Speaker 11: life running MSG network, buying companies like Gravity Media, so
Speaker 11: I'm very, very keen to do some things in sports media.
Speaker 11: There are startup leagues that I think are interesting. The
Speaker 11: three on three unrivaled thing I think is very interesting.
Speaker 3: There's startup volleyball.
Speaker 11: There's so many places to invest, and I don't think
Speaker 11: we'll have one hundred by any stretch investments. It's more
Speaker 11: likely that will take significant positions in sports assets that
Speaker 11: have value and will continue to accrue value.
Speaker 3: We can make a difference.
Speaker 2: So over the course of your career.
Speaker 1: One of the things that I've always found interesting is
Speaker 1: excuse me. When you were here, you work with Larry Right,
Speaker 1: and then you go to New York and after a
Speaker 1: stint with David starting in the League office, you land
Speaker 1: with the Knicks in Madison Square Garden where you work
Speaker 1: with a lot of different owners or four different owners.
Speaker 1: And the first three I think you really enjoyed working for,
Speaker 1: and the last one was probably a little a little
Speaker 1: sticky from time to time. And Jim Dolan still owns
Speaker 1: the New York Knicks and also the New York Rangers
Speaker 1: and Moonlights playing the kazoo for his band.
Speaker 2: That's a true thing.
Speaker 1: You also spent some time working with Jerry Jones, So
Speaker 1: you've had a bunch of interesting relationships and synergies with
Speaker 1: a lot of different owners with a lot of different styles.
Speaker 2: My question to you is what makes a great owner?
Speaker 11: Well, that's a great So that's a wonderful question. I
Speaker 11: think the great owner are people who create a culture
Speaker 11: not of winning, but of championships, and that means they
Speaker 11: create a culture of high levels of trust and high
Speaker 11: levels of expectations. If you if you watched the Whole
Speaker 11: family and the way that they have owned the San
Speaker 11: Antonio Spurs. They've got the same general manager. And sadly,
Speaker 11: you know, Greg Popovich looks like he may not be
Speaker 11: able to push on much longer. He's not in good health.
Speaker 11: And I just feel so bad. But but look at
Speaker 11: the years they've had for championships, the teams, and and
Speaker 11: they have done it right. And it's by the way,
Speaker 11: both Larry and I knew this when we came in.
Speaker 11: When when when I brought Larry in, we started to
Speaker 11: talk about the teams that had really done well, and
Speaker 11: we could see that they had very little turnover in
Speaker 11: coaches and general managers, very little turnover at all, very
Speaker 11: little turnover in owners. That's why Larry, when frank Leyden
Speaker 11: stepped aside and we put Jerry Sloan, you know, I
Speaker 11: mean Jerry Sloan coached here for twenty three years, yes so,
Speaker 11: and had a great, amazing history, you know, making the
Speaker 11: playoffs pretty much all the time. It was just a
Speaker 11: regular thing. So good owners take a back seat, They
Speaker 11: step back. They hire really great people, they show them
Speaker 11: a tremendous amount of respect and trust, but they also
Speaker 11: want them to know that, you know, there are expectations
Speaker 11: here to win, not a free ride. We're here to win,
Speaker 11: and we're here to win all the time, and we're
Speaker 11: you know, this is not the place to debate whether
Speaker 11: losing to try to get you know, the first pick
Speaker 11: in the draft is a good strategy for me. I
Speaker 11: could never live that strategy. And I'm very much like
Speaker 11: building the pat Riley you know, my he just keeps
Speaker 11: somehow squirting in and getting in the playoffs and competing.
Speaker 11: Even even after the Jimmy Butler trade here they are
Speaker 11: still in the playoffs. And that's the kind of culture
Speaker 11: that I respect. Mickey Harrison and I have had our differences,
Speaker 11: certainly when he stole a pat from us, yep, But
Speaker 11: I give him a lot of credit. Pat's been down
Speaker 11: there twenty years. He's had you know, the same people
Speaker 11: around and and they're very that's a very successful franchise.
Speaker 11: So what's a great owner? I think an owner is
Speaker 11: someone who hires really smart, really good people, shows them
Speaker 11: a high level of respect and trust, does not try
Speaker 11: to do the job for them or get involved, and
Speaker 11: and it steps back and establishes that kind of culture
Speaker 11: and rewards the people that win for him.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I always I often think of the pat Riley line.
Speaker 1: I think a lot of a lot of pat Riley lines.
Speaker 1: But in the NBA, there are two things. There's winning
Speaker 1: and there's misery, right right and so and look, unfortunately,
Speaker 1: the incentive structure and pro basketball mostly rewards winners, but
Speaker 1: if you're not in that small group, it also rewards
Speaker 1: if you lose. And that's a complicated thing because it's
Speaker 1: hard to find that cornerstone, transcendent piece when you're building
Speaker 1: a team in Salt Lake City. If you don't get
Speaker 1: it through the draft and so you know, if you
Speaker 1: can get number one in Cooper Flag, the pain's worth it.
Speaker 1: But if you can't, you're spinning your wheels for a while.
Speaker 1: But we have an interesting dynamic in our market because
Speaker 1: there's new ownership with the Jazz with Ryan Smith and
Speaker 1: SEG Group. But there's also new ownership out in Sandy
Speaker 1: at the Soccer Club now the soccer club that you founded.
Speaker 1: And it's wild to think that we're twenty plus years
Speaker 1: later and now this is the fourth ownership group of RSL.
Speaker 1: So Jason christ is back with the club. John Kimball,
Speaker 1: after spending some time with the Jazz, has been running
Speaker 1: the club now for I think five years. Matty Raider's back.
Speaker 1: Shout out Trey, we need to say, and Trey's back.
Speaker 1: A lot of the old guard is back at RSL
Speaker 1: and people that you know very well. The Millers and
Speaker 1: Miller Sports Entertainment has taken over the controlling ownership stake
Speaker 1: of the club.
Speaker 2: The Blitzer group.
Speaker 1: Maintains their portion, and Ryan and Ashley Smith and the
Speaker 1: SEG Group will focus on their project downtown.
Speaker 2: I know you, doctor Steve quite a bit.
Speaker 1: You also are helping them bring Major League Baseball here,
Speaker 1: which fingers crossed. I hope that happens. But how have
Speaker 1: you digested this whole story? And what would you say
Speaker 1: to RSL fans about how do you think the Millers
Speaker 1: are going to handle this well?
Speaker 11: Steve was nice enough to invite me out for that announcement.
Speaker 11: I just couldn't make it. There was no way it
Speaker 11: could be here. But look, Salt Lake owes a giant
Speaker 11: debt of gratitude to David Blitzer. Yes, because he came
Speaker 11: in stabilized the whole situation there, put John Kimball in
Speaker 11: permanently as president, and John's you know, RSL runs deeply
Speaker 11: in John's Bloody was first employee, maybe other than you
Speaker 11: I don't. I think it was right around the same
Speaker 11: time that both of you. I think we give it
Speaker 11: to John, Okay, I think we'll get that, that's right.
Speaker 11: So so John is an extraordinary guy. And now, and
Speaker 11: you know, Dave Blitzer also let run within the organization
Speaker 11: a lot of people who understand what it was like
Speaker 11: in the early days to fight through and create a
Speaker 11: championship team in two thousand and nine in a brand
Speaker 11: new venue and all that it took to get there.
Speaker 11: So Tony Beltran, for instance, is in the organization, Hamas
Speaker 11: and Nolove, these these guys that played for us, and
Speaker 11: then to bring Jason back was just a brilliant move.
Speaker 11: So so I'm I'm very optimistic about what's happening there.
Speaker 11: I want to be helpful to them if I can.
Speaker 11: Time will tell whether that works for them. But but
Speaker 11: the Miller family were tremendous stewarts for the Utah Jazz
Speaker 11: for many years. I said that my speech at the
Speaker 11: Utah Sports Hall of Fame.
Speaker 3: I said to g she was sitting right there.
Speaker 11: I said, Gail, you guys have been the best stewards
Speaker 11: the Jazz could ever have. Have lent permanence, have built
Speaker 11: a building and then redone it and made it beautiful.
Speaker 11: Now Ryan's going to do even more with it with hockey.
Speaker 11: So and not only that, but Utah has become like
Speaker 11: one of the most desirable sports markets in the world
Speaker 11: with the success of the college teams and the Big
Speaker 11: Twelve and even the success of weaber stayed in Utah
Speaker 11: State and and you know, there's a there's a level
Speaker 11: of excellence here in athletics. I hope the Jazz can
Speaker 11: can get the guys they need to get back back
Speaker 11: at it over a long period of time. I know
Speaker 11: that's what they want. And I love you know how
Speaker 11: I feel about Danny Ainge and one of my dearest friends.
Speaker 11: So so look, there's a lot of great things happening
Speaker 11: here with this fund. Will we have an opportunity to
Speaker 11: invest here? I think we may if we get a
Speaker 11: baseball team, for sure, But even more than that, you
Speaker 11: know what's next and where are their opportunities. And I've
Speaker 11: built stadiums of you know, I've bought television properties. This
Speaker 11: gives me a chance literally around the world, but in
Speaker 11: Salt Lake, if it so happens to really get back
Speaker 11: back in the game.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's tremendously exciting and like you, my
Speaker 1: phone has also blown up from a lot of people
Speaker 1: wondering what this looks like and very excited for the
Speaker 1: possibilities of I will not call the final chapter of
Speaker 1: your career. From as your oldest son, I view you
Speaker 1: working for another thirty years. Okay, so I'm not going
Speaker 1: to do the ten year timeline, but I know you've
Speaker 1: got to go. I'm gonna ask you one more question.
Speaker 3: I'm good to buy time time wise.
Speaker 2: Okay, Okay, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: B YU needs a new athletic director, Tom Homo after
Speaker 1: twenty years of stepping aside, and he has done a
Speaker 1: tremendous job. Yes, traversing through independence, I mean that. When
Speaker 1: I found out that that was going to be their path,
Speaker 1: I went, okay, let's see how this goes.
Speaker 2: Utah gets the PAC twelve invite BYU.
Speaker 1: I think, out of necessity, did what they had to do,
Speaker 1: and they found their landing spot in the Big twelve.
Speaker 1: And it feels like everything down there is in a
Speaker 1: really good spot. Nil has changed the game. Kevin Young,
Speaker 1: former NBA assistant, had a really good first year Sweet
Speaker 1: sixteen team. They've got Gary Parrish put him as his
Speaker 1: number five team in the country. Next year, Kladney had
Speaker 1: a really good year two in the Big twelve, and
Speaker 1: they appear to have a good team coming back. As
Speaker 1: you like to remind me, you went to both schools,
Speaker 1: so I know you don't have any allegiance one way
Speaker 1: or the other. But people are wondering whether or not
Speaker 1: you have been contacted to potentially be the athletic director BYU.
Speaker 2: Any insight there.
Speaker 11: The insight is absolutely not. I no contact about that
Speaker 11: at all, and I'm not surprised, actually, I think they're
Speaker 11: probably I don't know what they're thinking. I am on
Speaker 11: the President's Leadership Council down at BYU and have been
Speaker 11: for a long time and have great respect for Shane
Speaker 11: and for Keith Shane Reese, the president, Keith Workink, who
Speaker 11: is over the athletic department, among other things, great great people.
Speaker 3: I love Tom Homo.
Speaker 11: And and Chad Lewis and Brian Santiago. Those guys down
Speaker 11: there are great.
Speaker 3: And that is I did.
Speaker 11: Wear that uniform, so he did, so I kind of
Speaker 11: have always cheered for them. But what Taylor Randall has
Speaker 11: done and and the Utah Athletic Department and coaches and
Speaker 11: everything else and their plans, which I know something about,
Speaker 11: are are just off the charts. They are progressive, they
Speaker 11: are smart, they are they are engaging the community in
Speaker 11: a way that I don't think has happened before. And
Speaker 11: you know, I don't, I don't know. It's their football
Speaker 11: team had the first tough year, and it seems like forever.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that Kyle spoiled everybody. The standards are sky high.
Speaker 1: When I was in school, there are five six wins
Speaker 1: Bowl Game.
Speaker 2: Love it. You know, it's different now, it's different now.
Speaker 11: I know for him to be coming to the end
Speaker 11: is actually that's going to be a hard thing because
Speaker 11: he has been a tremendous influence in the state. So
Speaker 11: but but Spencer, when I step back and look at
Speaker 11: how the state is as opposed to the mid eighties
Speaker 11: when I was here trying to save the jazz, it
Speaker 11: is vibrant. The economy is number one in the country,
Speaker 11: the population is young and energetic, and there's there's really
Speaker 11: nothing to derail it other than you know, petty jealousies
Speaker 11: or you know, I mean, there's nothing better than a
Speaker 11: good rivalry. But let it be a good rivalry and
Speaker 11: be glad that we have all this excellent. I mean
Speaker 11: the by U basketball team and they I mean when
Speaker 11: when when their coach, when when Mark Pope left and
Speaker 11: went to Kentucky. That was a really pivotal time. They
Speaker 11: reacted quickly and got Kevin. Then Utah went and got
Speaker 11: you know, really a great young coach who played there.
Speaker 11: I mean, these are all the right things, all the
Speaker 11: right steps. They're they're doing great things, and it is
Speaker 11: a it's a terrific time to be in the state.
Speaker 11: And and one of the one of the blessings of
Speaker 11: this partnership with the Eccles is I think I'm I'm
Speaker 11: going to be here more. I think Mom and I
Speaker 11: will be more in Utah than we have been. I
Speaker 11: don't think we'll move from Connecticut, but but we'll be
Speaker 11: here more, and we'll be bothering you more, you know,
Speaker 11: asking you if there's an empty bedroom upstairs.
Speaker 1: There is there always is, uh but no, it's it's
Speaker 1: all exciting and I think you should feel really uh
Speaker 1: juiced about the potential with this partnership. So we'll set
Speaker 1: you loose, though I appreciate you stopping by, and yeah,
Speaker 1: all the insight, I wanted to give you the space
Speaker 1: to express other because everyone's asking me what, so, what's
Speaker 1: the deal? And so I figured i'd give you the
Speaker 1: space to kind of unpack it. So, but I know
Speaker 1: you're busy and I'll see you soon, Okay.
Speaker 3: Can I say one last thing?
Speaker 2: You can say as many things as you'd like.
Speaker 11: Can I say, I'm really proud of you and how
Speaker 11: long they've done this show and how important you are
Speaker 11: to people in this community. They tell me this all
Speaker 11: the time. Everybody wants to know what you're thinking about
Speaker 11: every item, and I'm really proud of the way you've
Speaker 11: handled everything.
Speaker 1: No, I appreciate it, and I think it depends on
Speaker 1: who you ask, whether or not they're a fan. But
Speaker 1: that's okay. It's a phenomenal coup. It's a great way
Speaker 1: to make a living, but it's it's kept me around
Speaker 1: the things that I've always loved.
Speaker 11: You know that, No, listen, you're not going to make
Speaker 11: everybody happy. And if you were making everybody happy, you
Speaker 11: wouldn't have this job, because even if they disagree with
Speaker 11: you all the time, they still want to know what
Speaker 11: is he you think?
Speaker 1: Part of Gold just doesn't feel like the right song
Speaker 1: for our next guest.
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna laugh Andy's got a heart of gold.
Speaker 2: Do you think Andy has a heart of gold?
Speaker 6: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Andy Larson, Salt Lake Tribune, Andy accurate statement, heart of gold?
Speaker 2: Would you concur I come.
Speaker 12: On the show every week the kind out of the
Speaker 12: kindness of my heart, even helping you out tomorrow, and
Speaker 12: I get.
Speaker 4: This from you.
Speaker 1: That's fair, Now, that's fair, Irish sin Andy, you have
Speaker 1: a heart of gold.
Speaker 2: The guilt trip worked, my friend. Happy Thursday? How you doing?
Speaker 12: I was good before then, I'm but yeah, I'm good.
Speaker 10: How about you?
Speaker 3: Oh?
Speaker 2: Come on?
Speaker 1: You know that I'm teasing you. It's a little good
Speaker 1: fun banter back and forth. Uh do you want to
Speaker 1: start with your anger at the lack of additions made
Speaker 1: by our local soccer club?
Speaker 12: And you know what's sure?
Speaker 10: Why not?
Speaker 12: Look you can't. It's just a It's terrible what you've
Speaker 12: done to the Sam, to Diego, Luna, to Mecca and Nelly,
Speaker 12: to the other good players on this roster to only
Speaker 12: have one designated player on it. I mean, you learned
Speaker 12: about Chico Arongo's misdiscretions ten months ago. Now you sold
Speaker 12: Gomez for eleven million dollars eight months ago. Now to
Speaker 12: only sign Willie Gotta who I like as an addition actually,
Speaker 12: but for five hundred thousand dollars not a designated player.
Speaker 12: Oh and by the way, you're actually only designated player
Speaker 12: on the roster. Isn't actually even very good at the
Speaker 12: MLS level in the year that you've made the Concacash
Speaker 12: Champions League for the first time in a decade. Is
Speaker 12: dis horrible, I mean, it's it's horrible. I think David
Speaker 12: Blitter should be a villain in local fans' mind. I'm
Speaker 12: disappointed in the Miller group for getting nothing done. I'm
Speaker 12: disappointed in the Miller group for not trying to get
Speaker 12: more done over the last month and months plus since
Speaker 12: it's been clear that they're going to buy the team.
Speaker 12: And yeah, just you know, I just feel really bad
Speaker 12: for the Diego Lunas and the Mecanelli's and the other players,
Speaker 12: you know, even Pablo masroonies of the world, because they
Speaker 12: have not been supported with adequate talent on this rostra
Speaker 12: to really compete.
Speaker 1: Williegata known around here as Willy Goals. He's the addition.
Speaker 1: Don't know much about him, but what does that do
Speaker 1: for you?
Speaker 12: Honestly, Like, you know, for a cheap signing, I think
Speaker 12: it is a really good chief signing. I guess, you know,
Speaker 12: a trade, but whatever, you know, five hundred thousand dollars
Speaker 12: a game plus maybe three hundred and fifty thousand next year.
Speaker 12: If he sticks around and has always had really good
Speaker 12: like kind of underlying numbers right where, gets himself in
Speaker 12: really good positions and as a result, has a lot
Speaker 12: of straws and chances on goal, has been kind of
Speaker 12: up and down at finishing them, and you know, which
Speaker 12: is what ends up having answer if you look at
Speaker 12: kind of socker analytics over the long term, is that
Speaker 12: those kind of even out. So it's a player is
Speaker 12: kind of bad at finishing earlier on his career. You
Speaker 12: may see that as a sign of potential because they
Speaker 12: usually do figure that out and start to finish at
Speaker 12: kind of the league average or above rate, or you know,
Speaker 12: kind of try to find some consistency. And so, you know,
Speaker 12: I think given that, I think Williagotta is a significant
Speaker 12: upgrade over every striker at RSL has right now and
Speaker 12: be a nice addition for the team that you know
Speaker 12: will make them better. It's just not you know, he's
Speaker 12: not one of the fifteen best strikers in MS right now.
Speaker 12: So as a result, you know, you just don't have
Speaker 12: the kind of attacking talent that the actual teams at
Speaker 12: the top two, including some small market franchises by the way,
Speaker 12: like Columbus and Cincinnati and Nashville, and you know, teams
Speaker 12: that are the same size as Salt Lake as a market,
Speaker 12: are going after significantly better players than RSL.
Speaker 10: Is right now.
Speaker 2: They're able to get Johnny Russell across the line. What
Speaker 2: does that do for you?
Speaker 12: Yeah, he's thirty five and was kind of washed for
Speaker 12: a really bad Kansas City team. He might be better
Speaker 12: than Tyler Wolfs though, So hey, you know, I you know,
Speaker 12: I don't hate it. It gives you another depth option.
Speaker 12: But and this team really does lack depth right now.
Speaker 12: But it's it doesn't change the upside of the team
Speaker 12: at all.
Speaker 1: Does it feel like one more thing here, because I
Speaker 1: talked to a ck about this yesterday, does it feel
Speaker 1: like this is now potentially a lost season for RSL?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 12: I mean, look, the summer transfer window is with eight
Speaker 12: games left in the season, so you can miss the
Speaker 12: playoffs based on what happens over the next you know,
Speaker 12: the first twenty five games of the year. So yeah,
Speaker 12: I mean there's absolutely that potential. And you look at
Speaker 12: what's happened in the last few games, and you know
Speaker 12: what happened last week in losing that game. You know,
Speaker 12: I know it's it was a bad red card and
Speaker 12: you know, I am very angry at the referee. But
Speaker 12: like in the end, just rfl lack of attacking quality
Speaker 12: showed again and as it has time and time again
Speaker 12: early on in the season, and it's just that's a
Speaker 12: waste of opportunity for this team to be cheaped out
Speaker 12: on as much as they have. But over the last
Speaker 12: ten months.
Speaker 2: Is it I actually wanted to ask you one thing.
Speaker 1: Is there any sort of space to allow a little
Speaker 1: bit of I guess I'll say grace. It sounds really
Speaker 1: cheesy as a result to what happened with the Bosanique deal,
Speaker 1: because apparently Robert Bosaniqu from Boa Vista was done and
Speaker 1: then I didn't know any of this, but Boavista sounds
Speaker 1: like doing business with your second cousin. It probably is
Speaker 1: not up to business acumen as far as the way
Speaker 1: that they operate. I don't know much about this, but
Speaker 1: he was set to be the second DP and then
Speaker 1: apparently this Portuguese club caused issues.
Speaker 2: What's your take on that.
Speaker 12: Yeah, first of all, I mean I did not love
Speaker 12: that as a DP Sanning just because his record in
Speaker 12: Portsbowl this year has not been very good, right Like,
Speaker 12: he scored four goals in twenty nine games.
Speaker 4: That's not great.
Speaker 12: It certainly did have a better season the season prior though,
Speaker 12: and of course aren't no perfect players. Look the it
Speaker 12: sounds like the reason that it didn't go to you know,
Speaker 12: because Boavis to ask for more and kept kind of
Speaker 12: changing the terms of the negotiation. And I totally get that.
Speaker 12: So a, you know, do something before the season so
Speaker 12: that you don't have to wait ten games into the year.
Speaker 12: The second, most importantly, it was still going to be
Speaker 12: a relatively cheap DP, right Like, this was going to
Speaker 12: be a designated player that RSL could buy down with
Speaker 12: TAM and open up a DP slot for somebody else
Speaker 12: later on down the road. Well, I think that's like
Speaker 12: the right thing to do. It ultimately, is not the
Speaker 12: designated player of the of the quality of a Chiito
Speaker 12: Aroango or Carlos sandrascomes kind of a like for like replacement.
Speaker 12: You're talking about a tammable DP that you know, again
Speaker 12: you can buy down it's just not the same level
Speaker 12: of player that RSL sold in the last ten months.
Speaker 12: So yes, that would have been you know, look, I understand,
Speaker 12: and you're were negotiating with a weird club it doesn't
Speaker 12: pay money, and was desperate and was uh yeah, you
Speaker 12: know it was problematic. They're just even in ambition. It
Speaker 12: just wasn't up to par with what you lost earlier
Speaker 12: on in the year.
Speaker 2: All of that is fair, and I share in your disappointments.
Speaker 1: And now I guess we'll see what Pablo can do
Speaker 1: with the cast of characters that he has.
Speaker 2: It is disposal. But let's move on now and do
Speaker 2: a little NBA.
Speaker 1: So Andy, after it was pretty clear that Oklahoma City
Speaker 1: was the class of the West, I would ask you
Speaker 1: and my other NBA guests, who are the other teams
Speaker 1: that we should be paying attention to? Who keeps Smart
Speaker 1: Dagnal up at night? Is does anybody have a chance?
Speaker 1: I mean, did we overthink this is Oklahoma City just
Speaker 1: that good?
Speaker 12: I think some people did overthink that, Like I certainly
Speaker 12: saw them as the Western Conference favorites. And when you
Speaker 12: win a conference by that many games and show, you know,
Speaker 12: have the best point differential of any team in the
Speaker 12: last few years, Like, yeah, I think you have to
Speaker 12: be considered the favorites, and I think they are considered
Speaker 12: the favorites and have shown it's certainly in the first
Speaker 12: two games that they're just you know, capable of blowing
Speaker 12: out teams. I don't think like if they done deal yet,
Speaker 12: you know, I think that it's totally possible that like
Speaker 12: a Lakers give them problems Denver even Minnesota, like, but
Speaker 12: I do think that ultimately, like this is you know,
Speaker 12: the thunder should be considered the favorites, and rightfully so
Speaker 12: it's kind of funny, like I understand why the NBA
Speaker 12: is putting them on national TV tonight and putting the
Speaker 12: Nuggets and Clippers on NBA TV. You know, you want
Speaker 12: to market the team that's going to be in the
Speaker 12: finals down the road so you get great finals ratings.
Speaker 12: But I totally expect them to beat the Grizzlies by
Speaker 12: you know, double digits tonight and it should be a
Speaker 12: really really great game. I'll getting the Clippers one. Why,
Speaker 12: I you know, probably rather watch instead.
Speaker 1: Weird jazz related question to this, I mean, and look,
Speaker 1: Sam Pressy might be the best of what he does
Speaker 1: in the world and maybe he's been the best of
Speaker 1: what he does for quite some time. But you know,
Speaker 1: oftentimes you'll hear jazz fans, as you know, talk about, oh, well,
Speaker 1: the Lakers got Luca, they're gonna be great again, the
Speaker 1: Celtics or this the heat or that or whatever. Is
Speaker 1: there any sort of positive spin that we can put
Speaker 1: on the fact that Sam Presty has built the Juggernaut
Speaker 1: in a city like Oklahoma City juxtaposed to what the
Speaker 1: Jazz are trying to do in a city like Salt Lake.
Speaker 9: Yeah.
Speaker 12: Look, I mean I think it's clear that the draft
Speaker 12: is a really incredibly viable way to build teams, right Like,
Speaker 12: I don't think you need a free agent superstar. I
Speaker 12: don't think you need to like win. I obviously they
Speaker 12: got say in a trade, but I think you've got
Speaker 12: him earlier enough in his career that it was just
Speaker 12: kind of a flyer on a on a rookie with potential.
Speaker 12: So yeah, look, I think it's totally possible. And you
Speaker 12: look at Denver winning the title and kind of look
Speaker 12: at it in the same way and what Cleveland's done
Speaker 12: up there. Right, Like, small markets to a reasonable degree,
Speaker 12: are are the best teams in the NBA this season,
Speaker 12: and so yeah, I think you can have total optimism that,
Speaker 12: like you know that the Jazz past could work. I
Speaker 12: don't think that there is a ceiling on the Jazz's
Speaker 12: path at all.
Speaker 1: Outline a blueprint for the Jazz to follow over the
Speaker 1: next whatever timeframe you want to before you believe that
Speaker 1: they can be competing. Because here's the thing, man, Like
Speaker 1: I'm watching these games, and obviously, for what you and
Speaker 1: I do for a living, I always try to bring
Speaker 1: it back to some sort of local prism. And the
Speaker 1: fact of the matter is, this is not breaking news
Speaker 1: when it comes to any of these top teams in
Speaker 1: the West. The Jazz are a marathon away, a marathon away,
Speaker 1: and they're not one Cooper flag away.
Speaker 2: They're not one or two pieces away.
Speaker 1: What does the path back to legitimate consistent competitiveness in
Speaker 1: the West look like from the Andy Larson viewpoint for
Speaker 1: the Utah.
Speaker 12: Jazz, Yeah, I mean they are eight out of ten
Speaker 12: players away. They are you know, four out of five
Speaker 12: of a starting lineup away. They are as far away
Speaker 12: as it can be. Obviously, they are the worst team
Speaker 12: in the NBA. I think ultimately you look at the
Speaker 12: path and it's you know, you hope for good luck
Speaker 12: and get a star in this year's lottery, and I
Speaker 12: think the best chances of that are are Cooper Flag
Speaker 12: and Dylan Harper. And then if if that does work out,
Speaker 12: then you probably still need even a second star and
Speaker 12: next year's draft, and that's an A J. De bonsa
Speaker 12: Darren Peterson, a Cam Boozer or someone like that. I mean,
Speaker 12: you're looking at you need multiple all stars to be
Speaker 12: the best team in the league, right, like to actually
Speaker 12: win an NBA title, And and you know, certainly the
Speaker 12: Jazz had that five years ago. We're the number one team,
Speaker 12: didn't make it through the playoffs due to various weaknesses
Speaker 12: and injuries and blah blah blah. But nevertheless, like you
Speaker 12: just need that top level talent and then you need
Speaker 12: the role players around them. And I you know, while
Speaker 12: I think it's possible to be optimistic on the Jazz
Speaker 12: is youth turning out to be good roles, I think
Speaker 12: it's very hard to believe that they become kind of
Speaker 12: the star level players that actually drive the drive the
Speaker 12: boat a little bit. So yeah, I mean you're you're
Speaker 12: talking multiple drafts and then you're also talking time for
Speaker 12: those guys to develop kind of recognizing that, like, hey,
Speaker 12: you know, say Gildeth Alexander wasn't an MVP level candidate
Speaker 12: on day one, you know, and neither it's Cooper Blaguna be.
Speaker 12: It took him three, four or five years. It's going
Speaker 12: to sick Cooper that amount of time. It's probably gonna
Speaker 12: take aj De Bouncer or whoever that amount of time.
Speaker 12: So really you're looking at a window you hope three four, five,
Speaker 12: six years down the road.
Speaker 2: All right, let's hone in on.
Speaker 1: Well, we'll just stick with the top two and let's
Speaker 1: just be hopeful and optimistic and positive that the Jazz
Speaker 1: don't fall further than two. Now, the Pistons, who are
Speaker 1: back in the postseason and an interesting case study, but
Speaker 1: they have Kate, and Kate is really really special. They
Speaker 1: were the worst team in the league last year. They
Speaker 1: had the best chance in the number one pick and
Speaker 1: they fell to five. Now that's the Jazz floor. They
Speaker 1: can't fall past five. Here's what I'll ask you for
Speaker 1: Jazz fans that are really curious, is there one comp
Speaker 1: for Cooper that you like more than the rest? Like,
Speaker 1: if it is Cooper Flag, what sort of players should
Speaker 1: Jazz fans expect.
Speaker 12: I don't hate the core. I kind of a like
Speaker 12: poor Man's peak Kawhi if you will, where like I
Speaker 12: don't expect him to be that difference making on offense
Speaker 12: or defense, but I kind of expect him to be
Speaker 12: such a good all around player that you know, he's
Speaker 12: a no doubt or star, no doubt or all star
Speaker 12: every year. You know, kind of maybe in like the
Speaker 12: Paul George realm of impact. You know, just can do
Speaker 12: everything right. Like he's at six to eight. He's does
Speaker 12: defend really well. He's both on ball and help. He
Speaker 12: can shoot, he can He's kind of developed a pretty
Speaker 12: impressive mid range game, got better getting all the way
Speaker 12: to the rim this year, got better getting fal this year,
Speaker 12: and then was one of the youngest players in college
Speaker 12: basketball this year as well, and may have been its
Speaker 12: best player at eighteen years of age. So look, I
Speaker 12: think he is absolutely the real deal. I think you
Speaker 12: can maybe question, like, hey, you know, does he have
Speaker 12: number one, uber two, best player in the in the
Speaker 12: NBA kind of potential, But heck, I wouldn't have thought
Speaker 12: that about Shay gild As, Alexander or Nikola Yokis. Certainly
Speaker 12: when they were drafted either. And I do think you
Speaker 12: have to look at Cooper's rate of development in his
Speaker 12: career and kind of his work ethic and what everyone
Speaker 12: says about him as real plus is like this kid
Speaker 12: could be really, really great. I think kind of no
Speaker 12: doubter is as a franchise piece, a franchise superstar, you know,
Speaker 12: kind of moving forward could absolutely make all the difference.
Speaker 1: All right, let's move over to Dylan Dylan Harper, who
Speaker 1: at the start of the year it was kind of
Speaker 1: a conversation, well, it was a conversation about whether or
Speaker 1: not this draft was the Cooper flag draft, and it
Speaker 1: clearly is. And now it feels like Dylan has moved
Speaker 1: into the consensus number two. Just kind of same question
Speaker 1: for jazz fans aren't familiar. Is there a comp out there?
Speaker 3: You like?
Speaker 2: What sort of player is he?
Speaker 12: Yeah, I kind of a James Harden isn't the right comp.
Speaker 12: You know, he may want to even go further back
Speaker 12: in the nineties and two thousands for a comp for him,
Speaker 12: but you're you're looking at like a six five, really
Speaker 12: talented scoring guard who also makes all the right decisions
Speaker 12: on offense. Kind of the most eye popping part of
Speaker 12: his statistical profile is how he finishes at the rim,
Speaker 12: where he I believe he was seventy seventy two percent
Speaker 12: last year on and on shot that the rim, like
Speaker 12: layups like that is incredibly elite for college competition, would
Speaker 12: be incredibly elite in the NBA. Just finishes so well
Speaker 12: around the around the basket, but has the other parts
Speaker 12: of his game too, you know, can shoot at from
Speaker 12: the outside again, can pass, can defend well, is is
Speaker 12: you know, there aren't a lot of weaknesses. You know,
Speaker 12: maybe isn't the best athlete in the world, and so
Speaker 12: that's why you know he's He's not you know, Michael Jordan,
Speaker 12: Anthony Edwards, so on and so forth, but he's he's
Speaker 12: a really good, smart player who I think, yeah, probably
Speaker 12: has kind of again that's kind of level of All
Speaker 12: star upside with maybe less of a higher stealing than
Speaker 12: Cooper Flag does, just with the size limitations and you know,
Speaker 12: kind of output production that he showed in his freshman
Speaker 12: year wasn't where Cooper was at an older age too,
Speaker 12: But just looks like a really good player and even
Speaker 12: his floor, you know, is kind of a no doubt
Speaker 12: starter in the league.
Speaker 1: I think Andy you truly have a heart of gold
Speaker 1: for our listeners that will be tuned in tomorrow for
Speaker 1: four hours in the afternoon.
Speaker 2: Do you care to give us a little tease.
Speaker 12: Yeah, We've got fellow Beat writer Sarah Todd joining us,
Speaker 12: so we'll talk some jazz and NBA too. That's always fun.
Speaker 12: Sarah and I always after we finished writing at the
Speaker 12: end of jazz games end up talking for like half
Speaker 12: hour to an hour just in the Jazzes media room
Speaker 12: about what's going on. So we may do a little
Speaker 12: bit of that on on the air tomorrow.
Speaker 10: We've got Zach.
Speaker 12: Harper as well. Used to host a radio show with
Speaker 12: him here in Salt Lake on this very radio station,
Speaker 12: so that'll be a cool reunions. We've got Paul Pugmyer
Speaker 12: golf wise, and I believe we've got one other special
Speaker 12: extra guest that I'm not announcing yet because I don't
Speaker 12: think we've booked him yet. But well, we'll have a
Speaker 12: lot of fun tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker 1: Well, thank you, my friend, not just for filling in tomorrow,
Speaker 1: but for stopping by and dealing with a little banter
Speaker 1: back and forth. So I have a great show tomorrow.
Speaker 1: We got to get out and swing your golf club soon. Okay,
Speaker 1: thanks many Larson will.
Speaker 2: Be on the program with that guy.
Speaker 1: Order Larson, Is he leaving a guest out that you'd
Speaker 1: like to throw out there today?
Speaker 6: Kyle van Noy? What?
Speaker 1: Oh?
Speaker 2: Here we go again?
Speaker 1: This was Fence is out of town? Is Eric Weddell
Speaker 1: written Covey stopping by tomorrow? Here we go again.
Speaker 5: You just spoke for twenty minutes to the number one
Speaker 5: running back in program history.
Speaker 1: You know what, I realized you booked Zach today to
Speaker 1: ease the news that you're bringing Van Noy on tomorrow
Speaker 1: when I'm out of town.
Speaker 5: I actually, just to be clear, didn't even book Kyle,
Speaker 5: and our sales guy, Austin Rich did for a sales tournament.
Speaker 1: So you know what, I will be okay, because I'm
Speaker 1: going to Black Desert to play in Kyle's golf tournament.
Speaker 2: Here you can interview Kyle. I'm gonna play in his
Speaker 2: golf turn.
Speaker 5: And we're gonna set you up with Patrick Manning to
Speaker 5: get your tea times.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Otherwise, yeah, we please send me a cell phone number whenever. Okay,
Speaker 2: thank you.
Speaker 1: I can connect you so tomorrow Porter Larson and Andy Larson,
Speaker 1: Larson and Larson.
Speaker 2: Why didn't that dawn on me until just now? That's
Speaker 2: really weird.
Speaker 5: Funny thing is we have very old like Mormon ancestry
Speaker 5: back to Central Utah.
Speaker 2: Not related, very interesting.
Speaker 1: I think if you have LDS lineage, you just keep
Speaker 1: going back. At some point you're related.
Speaker 5: Which coincidentally I asked John Kimball about that yesterday. He
Speaker 5: and I are not like distant cousins at all. We're
Speaker 5: actually fairly closely related.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, that sounds about right.
Speaker 1: So Porter and Andy tomorrow NFL Draft one hour, fifty
Speaker 1: five minutes and fifty six seconds away. Special thanks to
Speaker 1: Zach Moss. You tah great for hopping on. Let's do
Speaker 1: more draft now. He is a busy man, but he
Speaker 1: is a good guy. So Michael yam is carving out
Speaker 1: some time on a Thursday.
Speaker 2: Mike, how you doing, man?
Speaker 4: Doing awesome? Man. Always appreciate the invite and glad we
Speaker 4: could make this work.
Speaker 1: No, I appreciate it, so I know. I know you're busy,
Speaker 1: So let's just jump right to it. Is there any intrigue,
Speaker 1: got one, any at all?
Speaker 4: None at all, none at all? And I think, by
Speaker 4: the way, any of the intrigue that would have been
Speaker 4: there from a Tennessee perspective got completely squashed after the
Speaker 4: Colorado pro day when that thing was done and it
Speaker 4: became abundantly clear that they weren't even going to bring
Speaker 4: in Sanders for a private workout and they canceled that.
Speaker 4: All eyes clearly on cam Ward. Yeah, no, no, no, no
Speaker 4: intrigue there, And I think barely any intrigue, to be
Speaker 4: honest with you at two because not that I'm like
Speaker 4: jumping ahead on the questions that I think you might
Speaker 4: be asking, but I think Cleveland is probably wrong with
Speaker 4: Travis Hunter.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it feels that's the case that a lot of
Speaker 1: people are pontificated on the possibility of Cleveland wanting to
Speaker 1: add should or next to track a Hunter. But before
Speaker 1: we get to that possibility, why do you think it
Speaker 1: feels like Shador is falling at one point?
Speaker 3: Mike?
Speaker 1: Like, like mid season in college football, Shadar was talked
Speaker 1: about as a Heisman potential and a guy that could
Speaker 1: be drafted number one overall.
Speaker 2: Why do you think he's falling down draft boards?
Speaker 4: I couldn't agree with you more in terms of the perception,
Speaker 4: couldn't agree more on what we saw during the college
Speaker 4: football season. I remember on a Monday night, I was
Speaker 4: working with Maurice Jones Drew. We were doing a postgame
Speaker 4: show after Monday Night football, and I turned to him
Speaker 4: and I don't even know how we got on the
Speaker 4: subject of quarterbacks, but you know how it goes. Sometimes
Speaker 4: in the middle of the season, you start peeking ahead
Speaker 4: and in a lot of ways. You know, the Super
Speaker 4: Bowl is the Super Bowl, but the NFL Draft, let's
Speaker 4: be real here, man, three days of complete fun and
Speaker 4: everyone in the entire country who's a football fan is
Speaker 4: invested for three straight days. So of course in the
Speaker 4: middle of the season you start thinking about those top guys.
Speaker 4: And I turned to MJD and I was like, Hey,
Speaker 4: what do you think about Shador Is he going to
Speaker 4: be that first quarterback taking off the board? And it
Speaker 4: felt like it was a two man race between cam
Speaker 4: Ore and Sanders And he said, yeah, there's no question
Speaker 4: he can be in that mix. And I said, well,
Speaker 4: what do you.
Speaker 10: Like about him?
Speaker 4: And he said, I like the fact that he knows
Speaker 4: how to make plays while running for his life, because
Speaker 4: the reality is whoever drafts him towards the top might
Speaker 4: not have a great offensive line. It might not have
Speaker 4: a ton of weapons, but he's clearly a winner. You
Speaker 4: see the turnaround that see you as made with primes
Speaker 4: since he took over, and which the door under centered.
Speaker 4: Now there's playmakers like Travis Hunter that were there. Why
Speaker 4: he's fallen, I don't entirely know. I think part of
Speaker 4: this could be. And this is just speculation, Spence, and
Speaker 4: you've been around sports your entire life, and you get this.
Speaker 4: I don't. I think people sometimes say stuff through agents,
Speaker 4: through media insiders, so that their prerogative is the one
Speaker 4: that's discussed. And maybe it's a little bit of a
Speaker 4: smoke screen. But if you said to me, and I've
Speaker 4: seen some mocks where it's Shador, you know going you
Speaker 4: know in the twenties, maybe it's you know, Pittsburgh, Maybe
Speaker 4: it's another team that's that's in the mix there, I
Speaker 4: don't see that happen. I think there's such a premium
Speaker 4: at that spot that I don't think he should or
Speaker 4: Sanders falls outside of the top ten. I just I
Speaker 4: don't see that. And I think you're going to see
Speaker 4: a team potentially you can move up. Carolina at eight
Speaker 4: to me is a really intriguing spot because we know
Speaker 4: that New Orleans might be looking for a quarterback at nine.
Speaker 4: I think the Panthers and that position in particular could
Speaker 4: be where you see a trade go down for a
Speaker 4: team that's looking for a quarterback and maybe it's Sanders.
Speaker 1: Outside of the fact that it's just the Jets and
Speaker 1: they don't do anything correct, why wouldn't the Jets take
Speaker 1: a look at him?
Speaker 4: It's a great call. I think they feel like, if
Speaker 4: I'm Aaron Glenn and I just take over this team,
Speaker 4: you got your quarterback in Justin Fields, who, by the way,
Speaker 4: showed that he can be a really talented starting quarterback
Speaker 4: any flash now. I know Devil's advocate would say, well, Mike,
Speaker 4: he lost his starting jobs. Russell Wilson, kudos to Mike
Speaker 4: Tomlin for being able to pull the stringings on that one,
Speaker 4: because I think it's a colonus. If I'm being honest,
Speaker 4: like the Steelers are playing some good football, I think
Speaker 4: that the Jets go, you know what, we got QB
Speaker 4: one and we are deficient in some other needs, Like
Speaker 4: I still think offensive line is a place that we
Speaker 4: go and just knowing that it's a defensive minded coach
Speaker 4: like I wouldn't be shocked to like, you know, guy
Speaker 4: like Jaylen Walker is available. Just knowing the personality of
Speaker 4: an Aaron Glenn, I wouldn't be surprised that they went
Speaker 4: in that direction. I just think there's too many needs
Speaker 4: right now for Gangreine to think about a quarterback. And
Speaker 4: to be fair, I don't know if this group is
Speaker 4: what we saw last year. You know, I don't think
Speaker 4: you see six quarterbacks taking A lot of mock drafts
Speaker 4: on NFL dot Com will show you three, with Jackson
Speaker 4: Dart being that third guy. I'm under the belief and Spence,
Speaker 4: I don't know if you feel this way. I think
Speaker 4: you see four quarterbacks taken. I'm a huge fan of
Speaker 4: Jalen Milroe. I think a team trades up to grab
Speaker 4: him at the end of the first round.
Speaker 1: Interesting with Jackson Dart, who played his high school football
Speaker 1: about twenty miles south of here, I've heard some people
Speaker 1: surmise that he could be QB two behind cam Ward.
Speaker 2: Are you understanding potentially the same thing.
Speaker 4: I absolutely think there's a world that exists where that
Speaker 4: is the case.
Speaker 12: Now.
Speaker 4: I saw a fair amount of Jackson Dart number one
Speaker 4: when he was that sc and more specifically a time
Speaker 4: at all this, which is really where all the hype
Speaker 4: as centered. Now he's thrown video game numbers up there.
Speaker 4: He's got an absolute cannon for an arm I remember
Speaker 4: when I was working for the CW, you know, ole
Speaker 4: this point matched up against some some ACC squads, so
Speaker 4: I got a first hand, you know, account to really
Speaker 4: pay closer attention to a couple of those games. He's
Speaker 4: got moxie. There's a little bit of that. I wouldn't
Speaker 4: use a foul word, but a little you in him,
Speaker 4: you know, like he doesn't he's not He's gonna. He's
Speaker 4: gonna make sure that his presence is felt, and I
Speaker 4: like that in a QB one. I think my hesitation
Speaker 4: is I've seen quarterbacks put up video game type numbers
Speaker 4: when Lane Kippin is their offensive coordinator, so I think
Speaker 4: sometimes those numbers are a little skewed. Now I think
Speaker 4: Jackson Dart could go in the first round. I think
Speaker 4: it could be the second quarterback taken off the board.
Speaker 4: I candidly would be surprised if that is the case,
Speaker 4: though I still think it's in my order of cam
Speaker 4: wardsha Door Sanders, then Jackson Dart, and maybe I'm on
Speaker 4: the outside of this and the minority. But you know,
Speaker 4: people have talked about Tyler shuck. I think some of
Speaker 4: the injury concerns are a real thing. I think the
Speaker 4: fact that I think he's like twenty five, maybe even
Speaker 4: twenty six, the guys like in football college terms, like
Speaker 4: he's basically like ready to clock social security. Has been
Speaker 4: playing for so long because of some of these injuries.
Speaker 4: But he did ball out at the Senior Bowl. I
Speaker 4: know there's a ton of buzz about him. I just
Speaker 4: look at the intangibles and those traits from Jell and Milroe,
Speaker 4: and I just see so much potential there that it
Speaker 4: would be I would be hard pressed to pass on
Speaker 4: him if I needed a quarterback and thought I could
Speaker 4: take him at the end around number one.
Speaker 1: Let me go back to the Browns at two because
Speaker 1: I find it interesting. And Andrew Berry there GM said
Speaker 1: we viewed Travis Hunter primarily as a wide receiver and everything.
Speaker 1: Every time Travis has a chance to talk, he says
Speaker 1: he wants to play on both sides of the ball.
Speaker 1: It's one thing to do in college, it's another thing
Speaker 1: to do in the NFL. But it feels if anybody
Speaker 1: can it might be this dude. Because he's very unique.
Speaker 1: How do you think the Browns use him totally?
Speaker 10: Totally?
Speaker 4: I do think it's on the offensive side, and I
Speaker 4: won't say it's exclusively. I think most teams would look
Speaker 4: at him as more of a wide receiver than the
Speaker 4: dB look in terms of the paychecks and the direction
Speaker 4: that goes. If I'm Travis Hunter, I'd rather be paid
Speaker 4: as a wide receiver. But I think you hit the
Speaker 4: nail on the head like that is a big ass. Now,
Speaker 4: it was a big ass from prime. The amount of
Speaker 4: refs that he saw and see you on both sides
Speaker 4: is truly remarkable. It's my first year Spence to get
Speaker 4: a Heisman vote. Had it not been for as you, yeah,
Speaker 4: it was pretty cool man for it. Had it not
Speaker 4: been for as unique as season as it was for
Speaker 4: Travis Hunter, I thought GENTI you know, I really thought
Speaker 4: long and hard. It was way tougher than I thought.
Speaker 4: But Travis did things like we just don't really see
Speaker 4: in college football. Do I think he's got the potential? Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 4: you play on both sides. I do get worried about
Speaker 4: the frame though, and the physical punishment with all those
Speaker 4: reps that that might become in his way. I still
Speaker 4: think if the Browns take them, they're in more of
Speaker 4: a need of a playmaker and an offensive weapon. That's
Speaker 4: why I think you see him mostly on the offensive side.
Speaker 2: Over to Shador one more time.
Speaker 1: You know, I was thinking about this through through the
Speaker 1: perspective of well, for Shador, I mean, he's Dion's son,
Speaker 1: so the nil, you know, the monetary factor of nil
Speaker 1: doesn't necessarily play into whether or not shoudor needs to
Speaker 1: get a paycheck right away. But there's just there's so
Speaker 1: much data and so many examples of really talented players
Speaker 1: landing with the wrong organizations like my Jets.
Speaker 2: So if you're Shadoor, I don't know that.
Speaker 1: I mean, maybe your ego wants to be a top
Speaker 1: ten pick, but wouldn't you rather fall later on in
Speaker 1: the first round just to get to the right organization
Speaker 1: as opposed to wanting to be drafted highly by a
Speaker 1: team that might not be a good good spot for you.
Speaker 4: I couldn't agree with you more. I think the more
Speaker 4: you talk to guys who played in the league, they
Speaker 4: will tell you that where you end up matters in
Speaker 4: some instances more than anything else. Who's your offensive coordinator,
Speaker 4: who is your head coach? Are they more on the
Speaker 4: offensive side, defensive side? All of these factors, who's your
Speaker 4: play caller situationally? That could make or break an entire career.
Speaker 4: And to me, it's that's what it's about. It's there's
Speaker 4: the ego that's involved with being a high draft pick.
Speaker 4: I get that, but the fit is the most meaningful
Speaker 4: thing when it comes to these players. I you know,
Speaker 4: and this is like a different category spense, but I
Speaker 4: just you know. I was down in New Orleans back
Speaker 4: in February for the HBCU Legacy Bowl, and I met
Speaker 4: a kid who I thought had like this remarkable story.
Speaker 4: Actually wrote the piece on him and it's on HBCU
Speaker 4: game day And sorry to like take that plug, but
Speaker 4: I only bring this up because the two of us
Speaker 4: had this conversation. He's a wide receiver who's six four,
Speaker 4: two twenty and looks like he has the physical tools
Speaker 4: to play in the NFL. Do I think he gets
Speaker 4: drafted over the next three days, Like, I don't know
Speaker 4: if that's the case. And I said that to him,
Speaker 4: I go, I don't know if you want to be drafted,
Speaker 4: because you're not gonna He's not a guy that's going
Speaker 4: to be you know, a Day one or a Day
Speaker 4: two player. So if you're a Day three guy, like
Speaker 4: a sixth round pick, you might be kind of screwed.
Speaker 4: Man Like, then you're locked in on a team who
Speaker 4: just saw your trades, maybe don't have a ton about
Speaker 4: you and and you must might not be a fit
Speaker 4: for what that team wants to do. You might be
Speaker 4: in a much better situation as an undrafted free agent
Speaker 4: to go and find the coach who sees what you
Speaker 4: can do. Hell, and I'll take it back to like
Speaker 4: Veron McKinley, you had a great career at Oregon, who
Speaker 4: I just talked to you the other week, who's hoping
Speaker 4: to get an opportunity and invite into a camp. And
Speaker 4: Verron when he was about to get drafted, like, he
Speaker 4: said the same thing to me. He's like, hey, man, like,
Speaker 4: I might be better off just getting you know, not
Speaker 4: being drafted, not hearing my name call, and then finding
Speaker 4: you know, a defensive fit. That that really makes a
Speaker 4: whole lot of sense for me. And that worked out
Speaker 4: well for him. He's had some good stops and I
Speaker 4: think he wants another one. But I think from a
Speaker 4: shad or standers standpoint, I agree with your assessment one
Speaker 4: hundred percent.
Speaker 1: Before I saw you lose, because I know you got
Speaker 1: to get to a just quick question. There have been
Speaker 1: zero trades made, you know, involved first round picks, and
Speaker 1: the draft is right around the corner. Quiet night ahead,
Speaker 1: busy night ahead.
Speaker 4: What do you think I still look, I think there's
Speaker 4: going to be trades. Do I think it's chaoff? Absolutely not.
Speaker 4: I wouldn't be surprised. And you know, I'm a Giants fan.
Speaker 4: There's something in my mind that says they're either going
Speaker 4: to trade down, which tells you about the comfort a
Speaker 4: guy like Joe Shane, their general manager, has. The directive
Speaker 4: is win right now, which is why I'm not totally
Speaker 4: convinced they'll trade out of that third overall pick. I
Speaker 4: feel like they take Abjuel Carter and he's a monster,
Speaker 4: and it puts them in a position to keep their jobs.
Speaker 4: And I think that's why it gets dicey with front
Speaker 4: office guys and head coaches who are involved in some
Speaker 4: of these decisions when there's a directive and you feel
Speaker 4: like you're kind of on a hot seat, like you're
Speaker 4: looking for duce who can help you right now, maybe
Speaker 4: not a project or you know, a guy that might
Speaker 4: be two years away from really reaching that ceiling. So
Speaker 4: if that's one of those spots that I'm looking at,
Speaker 4: and as I made reference to, I think at eight
Speaker 4: the Panther, I think they could be in a potential
Speaker 4: spot to move out.
Speaker 1: Mike, you are the man. I appreciate the time. We'll
Speaker 1: set you loose and enjoy. Enjoy what's a really fun
Speaker 1: few day process.
Speaker 4: Okay, yeah, yeah, always appreciate it.
Speaker 7: Man.
Speaker 4: Enjoy tonight.
Speaker 2: The great Mike Eam formerly the PAC twelve network.
Speaker 1: That's how we got to know Mike and now he's
Speaker 1: with our friends at the NFL Network. He is on
Speaker 1: Twitter at Mike Underscore Yam is where you find him
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Speaker 1: it better since day one. We'll take a break from
Speaker 1: the football and the basketball to do a little soccer.
Speaker 1: As the head coach over Al saw Lake, Pablo Master
Speaker 1: joinning a Thursday afternoon.
Speaker 2: Pablo, Happy Thursday, Buddy, how are we doing?
Speaker 9: Happy Thursday? Bud yourself.
Speaker 2: I'm good. I'm good. I'm good. Let's see here, buddy.
Speaker 1: All right, So you and I have talked over the
Speaker 1: past few months, prior to the close of the transfer
Speaker 1: window yesterday about the potential additions that you guys would
Speaker 1: make to bolster what I think needs to be bolstered.
Speaker 1: As far as what you guys are doing in the attack,
Speaker 1: it's not a secret. You've been very honest about it.
Speaker 1: So what are your thoughts on what you've been able
Speaker 1: to do and also maybe more poignantly what you were
Speaker 1: unable to do now that the transfer window is coming gone.
Speaker 9: Yeah, I think the first and foremost is obviously getting
Speaker 9: someone in with a group that has a track record
Speaker 9: of scoring goals, you know, And I think we're able
Speaker 9: to achieve that with Willy. I think he's a player
Speaker 9: that you know, that has scored uh quite a few
Speaker 9: goals in limited playing time, So this will be a
Speaker 9: new kind of position for him where he's actually be
Speaker 9: leading the front line, you know. I think in Kansas
Speaker 9: City he was more of a guy that would come
Speaker 9: in when needed. So this is a great opportunity for him.
Speaker 9: But it's great for us as well, because he's a
Speaker 9: guy that's, you know, last year hit the back of
Speaker 9: the net ten times, you know, with more playing time
Speaker 9: with with the team that is creating a lot of
Speaker 9: chances in front of goal, but hasn't been finishing. You know.
Speaker 9: I think it's it's it's a it's a great situation
Speaker 9: for both us and and for Willy to to thrive.
Speaker 9: And you know, I expect that we'll sign one more
Speaker 9: free agent that has uh, you know, yet to be confirmed,
Speaker 9: and and then you know, and and I feel like
Speaker 9: these two players, again one is a potential, but bring
Speaker 9: bring a level of experience to the group and experience
Speaker 9: doing what we need given that we're relatively young team.
Speaker 9: I think the most important thing for for for players
Speaker 9: is having an experience so that they can learn on
Speaker 9: the fly, and and and also bolster our communication and
Speaker 9: the decisions made in those final third areas, which are
Speaker 9: very tight spaces, and often it takes years to really
Speaker 9: refine those skills. So I think, you know, we did
Speaker 9: a good job and and and now we've got to
Speaker 9: get them up to speed with our group and and
Speaker 9: keep moving forward.
Speaker 1: If I say the name of the player who is
Speaker 1: potentially on his way into this microphone, are you even
Speaker 1: allowed to comment on it?
Speaker 9: That's a great question. You know, I didn't get with
Speaker 9: Trey before we talk, but yeah, you know what, the
Speaker 9: documents might be signed, it might be over the line,
Speaker 9: but I still think it's a bit premature, just in case.
Speaker 9: I hate I hate to do that to everyone.
Speaker 2: Spence, Okay, fair enough, But after I get.
Speaker 9: Off, just just mentioned after I get off, how.
Speaker 1: About I just ask you, how about I just ask
Speaker 1: you this whether or not he's playing for you or
Speaker 1: you know what, I'm not gonna do that.
Speaker 2: I'm not going to put you in a bad spot.
Speaker 1: After you get off, I will say the name of
Speaker 1: the microphone so people know who it is. But you're
Speaker 1: my guy, so I'm not going to put you in
Speaker 1: a bad spot. But i will ask you this.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 1: So Robert Bosanique, striker who was playing for a Portuguese club.
Speaker 1: Everybody who I talked to, both with the club and
Speaker 1: outside of the club, believed that it was sign sealed
Speaker 1: and delivered, that it was essentially done. And look, as
Speaker 1: I discussed often and then you and I have discussed this.
Speaker 2: I've talked to Kurt about this as well.
Speaker 1: Soccer when it comes to dealing with some of these
Speaker 1: clubs internationally, it is wild the stories you hear about
Speaker 1: things that actually go down. So can you shed some
Speaker 1: light on what happened with Bosanique and his club Boa
Speaker 1: Vista and why this deal did not get across the line?
Speaker 9: Yeah? And you know, we've been talking for probably you know,
Speaker 9: the last month about you know, bringing in player, and
Speaker 9: I said, there's so many things that have to align
Speaker 9: in order to get these things over the line, and
Speaker 9: this is one of those situations. And this is this
Speaker 9: was over the top where you know, I think you know,
Speaker 9: the deal was essentially agreed to and in the eleventh
Speaker 9: hour literally uh, the players here on the ground great
Speaker 9: to meet him like an unbelievable young man, and then
Speaker 9: the stipulations changed from the club that he was coming from.
Speaker 9: So like there's there's just nothing that you can do.
Speaker 9: I mean, you just got to sit there and just
Speaker 9: just laugh at how crazy the world is and go
Speaker 9: all right, well, it's not meant to be right. And
Speaker 9: so I always talk about the universe and things happened
Speaker 9: as they should, because if they didn't happen, then then
Speaker 9: then it you know, if it wasn't meant to happen,
Speaker 9: I guess it wouldn't happen right, things would change. But
Speaker 9: we did everything on our end to make sure that
Speaker 9: we got this thing across and and it didn't. But
Speaker 9: you know, I think it's a good opportunity as well
Speaker 9: to you know, be grateful that, you know, Kurt front
Speaker 9: office ownership was real nimble and we were able to
Speaker 9: pivot quick and get another great striker and Willie got up.
Speaker 9: So that's that's the extent of it. It was the
Speaker 9: eleventh hour, you know, and this is more common than
Speaker 9: it should be in soccer, especially when dealing with foreign clubs.
Speaker 9: But I think in the end we got a great player,
Speaker 9: a great goalscorer, and also a great person as well.
Speaker 2: All right, Pablo, good news here.
Speaker 1: I just received a text message from somebody who's tuned
Speaker 1: into our interview and he has given me full permission
Speaker 1: to ask you about your second edition.
Speaker 2: That is all but done. And his name is Johnny Russell.
Speaker 1: Johnny was a good player for Sporting KC for quite
Speaker 1: some time. He has not been with any club for
Speaker 1: a few months. I believe he's thirty five years old.
Speaker 1: So now that we are in the clear, free and clear,
Speaker 1: let's talk about the second edition. We already discussed Willie
Speaker 1: and I do want to get back to Willy in
Speaker 1: a moment, but Johnny Russell across the line now, and
Speaker 1: he's going to be in addition to what what does
Speaker 1: he do for your club?
Speaker 9: Well one, you know, I think he's been a guy
Speaker 9: that has been a thorn in our side as far
Speaker 9: as you know, playing against he's the left of the
Speaker 9: player that plays off to the right side, and when
Speaker 9: you have an opposite winger, when you have a left
Speaker 9: pot and winger on the right side. They can literally
Speaker 9: go both directions and that makes it very difficult for
Speaker 9: for an outside back or a defender that's marking him
Speaker 9: because he can go inside on his left or he
Speaker 9: can kind of cross his body and go down the
Speaker 9: line with his right. And so you always want to
Speaker 9: overplay the left because you've left footed. Last second he
Speaker 9: chops you. He's driving to the goal without any kind
Speaker 9: of pressure right. And so I think the biggest area
Speaker 9: where we've struggled right there. You know, if you divide
Speaker 9: the field and three third in thirds, you have to
Speaker 9: build third, the middle third and the attacking third. Attacking
Speaker 9: third is very difficult to break down. And it's where
Speaker 9: we've had our Biggert struggles to score goals because you
Speaker 9: have to have you have to have this X factor
Speaker 9: about you, right, you have to have, you know, the
Speaker 9: the Andres Gomez factor, which one v onees are critical
Speaker 9: in matt phase because if you can beat if you
Speaker 9: can get past your defender in one v one, that
Speaker 9: means someone else is going to be open because the
Speaker 9: defense comes over to the ball. So this is what
Speaker 9: Johnny Russell brings. He brings an incredible one vwuntability, he
Speaker 9: scores goals, and the other part too, is he brings
Speaker 9: a wealth of experience and experience in the locker rooms
Speaker 9: as a mentor, and not necessarily that he's got to
Speaker 9: take the guys up to dinner every night. But you
Speaker 9: don't play till your thirty four thirty five at a
Speaker 9: good level if you haven't done all the little things right,
Speaker 9: So that that's really exciting. And again he's been a captain,
Speaker 9: you know, he's a captain at s CAC for many years.
Speaker 9: And I just feel like we need more voices in
Speaker 9: our locker room, right. I think, like I said, we're
Speaker 9: a really young group and the voice that I consistently
Speaker 9: hear is rop right, but he's in the goal. So
Speaker 9: who's you know, who's going to be that voice of experience,
Speaker 9: having been there, having done that bring belief to the group.
Speaker 9: And I think Johnny Russell is a guy that can
Speaker 9: bring tremendous value to our attacking group, but really to
Speaker 9: the whole team in the locker room.
Speaker 1: Forty goals for Johnny according to what I'm seeing over
Speaker 1: one hundred and thirteen games for Sporting Case.
Speaker 2: So we've got Johnny Russell.
Speaker 1: We have williagatta, what is the plan to implement them?
Speaker 1: What and when can we expect to see them either
Speaker 1: in the eleven or the eighteen And how does that
Speaker 1: look with the rest of the group that you already
Speaker 1: have in place.
Speaker 9: Yeah, great question. With Willy again, he's got about ninety
Speaker 9: plus minutes in these nine games so far, right, so
Speaker 9: it's it's not a whole lot of minutes. You know,
Speaker 9: he came, he came in this morning, was able to
Speaker 9: train with us, you know. And it's pretty bizarre too.
Speaker 9: You know, yesterday at nin o'clock I get on a
Speaker 9: zoom call with him and he had no idea.
Speaker 8: What was going on.
Speaker 9: So he literally finds out yesterday at nine am, nine
Speaker 9: am this morning training with a whole new team. And
Speaker 9: I'm like, this is just it's this Azarro world, right,
Speaker 9: how things happen so quickly. But I think with really
Speaker 9: it's really just kind of getting him on the field.
Speaker 9: So the expectation is that, you know, he'll be in
Speaker 9: the twenty for for for the weekend, and then we'll
Speaker 9: at some point see the field and then just we're
Speaker 9: just still getting to know, you know, how much he's done.
Speaker 9: He had an injury in preseason that he battled through.
Speaker 9: So he's again he's not ninety minutes fit. But I
Speaker 9: want to make sure that I, you know, integrate him
Speaker 9: into the group as quickly as possible, and if it
Speaker 9: means starting him the uh you know, the following week
Speaker 9: and he plays sixty just to get those minutes up.
Speaker 9: You know, this is a guy that we're going to
Speaker 9: have to really lean on to take the lion's share
Speaker 9: of minutes up front. And then Johnny has been you know,
Speaker 9: after last season, he had a he had a surgery,
Speaker 9: uh and hasn't and has been recovering. He's been doing
Speaker 9: a lot of work on his own, so hasn't had
Speaker 9: any kind of team training, and you know, just going
Speaker 9: off experience with training on my own, it's one thing
Speaker 9: when you're just running to run. It's another thing when
Speaker 9: you're running and you have someone chasing you and you
Speaker 9: have to get the balld and you have to do
Speaker 9: three or four repetitive sprint actions. So I think with him,
Speaker 9: if we can finalize the paperwork, I want to bring
Speaker 9: them with the group of San Diego, probably not in
Speaker 9: the twenty for this weekend, but but again we'll have
Speaker 9: to sit down with our with our fitness coach and
Speaker 9: make sure that we bring them bring them both in
Speaker 9: a way that we're not so excited about it that
Speaker 9: we put put them in situations that has long term
Speaker 9: ratifications as far as getting another injury because we're so
Speaker 9: so it's I think it's exciting, it's it's a wonderful
Speaker 9: thing to have both these guys in with the group.
Speaker 9: But I think each one of them will have their
Speaker 9: own individualized plan as to how we integrate them into
Speaker 9: the group.
Speaker 2: Have you spoken with Johnny yet?
Speaker 1: Have you given them an idea of how you foresee
Speaker 1: him fitting in?
Speaker 9: Yeah, he came into town last week sometime. I don't
Speaker 9: even remember what date is anymore, but uh, we had
Speaker 9: a nice dinner, talked a little bit about expectations, you know,
Speaker 9: coming into our group, told them a little bit about
Speaker 9: what our group needs. But again, just really said to
Speaker 9: him is like when you walk into the locker room,
Speaker 9: you're with your experience, You're going to get a feel
Speaker 9: of of of you know, how your voice could be
Speaker 9: utilized to make our team better. And again just a
Speaker 9: real humble down to earth. You know he's got some
Speaker 9: casts with Scotland. You know he's scored a goal every
Speaker 9: three games in our league. So like a guy that
Speaker 9: has everything and and and you know, I think it
Speaker 9: will take some time to get to a new club.
Speaker 9: You know, he's been in Casey for quite some time
Speaker 9: and that transition might be a little bit strange for him.
Speaker 9: But but again, just just a top notch character, a
Speaker 9: real humble person, and and just a real quality player.
Speaker 9: So I'm really excited to get to know both of
Speaker 9: these guys and to see how they can, you know,
Speaker 9: how quickly they can integrate into the group, because I think,
Speaker 9: you know, now is the time.
Speaker 1: Okay, all right, last question here, and you handle this however,
Speaker 1: You on Pops, and I know that you are a
Speaker 1: the universe brings you exactly what you need in the moment,
Speaker 1: and I like that approach.
Speaker 2: It's a good way to live life.
Speaker 1: But I think from what I read, you're the only
Speaker 1: team in MLS with one designated player.
Speaker 2: And I know best laid plans. Like I said, I
Speaker 2: get it.
Speaker 1: The way I do this job is having experience in
Speaker 1: front offices. I know the complications, so I understand it.
Speaker 1: I try to bring that perspective to the show. But
Speaker 1: I don't feel like they gave you enough. That's just
Speaker 1: my opinion. Do you feel like your front office did
Speaker 1: enough to give you the tools you need to have
Speaker 1: a good year even with a start that hasn't been
Speaker 1: what we were all hoping.
Speaker 9: Yeah, well against Bence. You know, I think every year
Speaker 9: is going to be different. And you know, there's there's
Speaker 9: teams that spend a ton of money on players that
Speaker 9: that are kind of in the same situation that we are.
Speaker 9: So no two teams operate the same, No two situations
Speaker 9: are the same. You can get to the same place
Speaker 9: do with different things. So the way I like to
Speaker 9: look at it is really assessing the last couple of games,
Speaker 9: right Nashville and Toronto in particular, and I think we've
Speaker 9: made some really good strides. You know, early in the season,
Speaker 9: we gave up a lot of goals. In these last
Speaker 9: two games, you know, there's been a few goals, a
Speaker 9: couple of goals, and you know, from a tactical perspective
Speaker 9: and a positional play perspective, I think the guys did
Speaker 9: a really really good job and we were really nabbed
Speaker 9: by two decisions and you know, one in the ninety
Speaker 9: minute against Nashville and then one early on against Toronto.
Speaker 9: And so when I look at the way we want
Speaker 9: to play, and I look at like, you know, how
Speaker 9: we build from the back, how we control the game
Speaker 9: with our possession, how many shots we take a game,
Speaker 9: then I'm saying, okay, those three check off right. One
Speaker 9: was an away game, one was a home game, and
Speaker 9: I'm going those three were doing a really good job.
Speaker 9: And the truth is, like, where we're struggling the most
Speaker 9: over the course of these in eight goals in nine games,
Speaker 9: is really that that final product and that final piece.
Speaker 9: And I feel like when you bring in a striker
Speaker 9: of Willie's capabilities and you have a guy like Johnny
Speaker 9: Russell coming in, I think that helps the issue that
Speaker 9: we have. Now, you know another you know, obviously we
Speaker 9: wanted a little bit more experience in the back in
Speaker 9: this window and it just didn't manifest. But I believe
Speaker 9: that with the you know, the the decisions that we're
Speaker 9: making in the back that are costing us goals, and
Speaker 9: some of them by younger players, you've got to learn
Speaker 9: from those decisions. And there's got to be this emphasis
Speaker 9: and this urgency to get over that. And so again
Speaker 9: we're not I'm not going to change the philosophy of
Speaker 9: the club. You know, we have to develop our players,
Speaker 9: and so by adding some experience to our team in
Speaker 9: the front, how does that affect the experience in the back,
Speaker 9: And does that bring a bit more belief to the
Speaker 9: guys in the back knowing that, hey, we have guys
Speaker 9: that can put the ball in the back of the net,
Speaker 9: so we can be a little bit play a little
Speaker 9: bit more free. So, you know, we'll see how it
Speaker 9: all shakes out. But I think the moves that we
Speaker 9: made in this window were exactly the pieces that or
Speaker 9: the you know, the the tactical pieces that we needed
Speaker 9: to confront and deal with, and you know, and I
Speaker 9: think we did that. So, like I said, the integration
Speaker 9: will be important, and getting these guys on the field
Speaker 9: and doing their thing, well, we'll hopefully change the whole
Speaker 9: dynamic of our group.
Speaker 2: Okay, so let's move over here.
Speaker 1: I honestly in so, I'm watching the match last week
Speaker 1: on television, and when the play happened in real time,
Speaker 1: I noticed, out of the corner of my eye, like
Speaker 1: Diego is standing over that dude. Did he make contact
Speaker 1: with him? Is he rubbing it in? Is this something
Speaker 1: that's really egregious? And then the ref pulls read and
Speaker 1: then I watched the replant.
Speaker 2: Go, you have got to be kidding me, like it
Speaker 2: was that bad.
Speaker 1: And so when Trey and John told me that you
Speaker 1: guys were appealing the red card, my initial reaction was, well,
Speaker 1: best of luck, because typically Pablo, in any sport, the
Speaker 1: governing body wants to detect its officials and they go
Speaker 1: out on a limb and they take it all the
Speaker 1: way to the point where even something as obvious is
Speaker 1: rarely overturned. So give me your thought when that went down,
Speaker 1: when Diego was shown red and then the process that
Speaker 1: led to it actually being rescinded and he'll be able
Speaker 1: to play coming up on Saturday.
Speaker 9: Yeah, it was. It was crazy because again we have
Speaker 9: the camera view on our fence as well, so we
Speaker 9: can go through it and watch and some backgrounds to it.
Speaker 9: You know, Diego was trying to get the referee to
Speaker 9: speed up the game. You know, they were taking a
Speaker 9: ton of time on these goalkicks, and so I don't
Speaker 9: know if that was an influence on whether or not
Speaker 9: he looked over and just saw Diego pulling his speed
Speaker 9: out of the guy's legs, but he must have thought
Speaker 9: it was egregious, right, and so he gives them the
Speaker 9: red card, and then I think there's an ego play
Speaker 9: as well. So referees are like every other human being.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 9: It's when you're standing in front of twenty thousand home
Speaker 9: fans and everyone's booing you because the decision was wrong,
Speaker 9: it's hard to go back to the monitor and admit
Speaker 9: that you were wrong. And so I think that's the
Speaker 9: first thing, right. I think the most important thing is
Speaker 9: the same to be of the game and doing what's
Speaker 9: best of the game, and the and the same same
Speaker 9: thing happened in Nashville where there was a red card
Speaker 9: and uh, there was a red card v a R
Speaker 9: and the referee didn't call it in real in real time,
Speaker 9: so when he was summoned to the v R, he
Speaker 9: looked at it and said, no, it's not a red card.
Speaker 9: And then afterwards we get a we get a comment
Speaker 9: from the league saying that moving forward, the league would
Speaker 9: like to like to see a red card on that play.
Speaker 9: So along with what I've been saying about the last
Speaker 9: two games, there's been two huge moments in games that
Speaker 9: have completely affected our agility to get the results. And
Speaker 9: that's why always talk about good performances, because at the
Speaker 9: end of the day of these these these margins are
Speaker 9: so thin, and when the impact is the referee not
Speaker 9: doing what is by law, the right decision, it's gonna
Speaker 9: it's it's it's you're you're fighting uphill battle. So you know,
Speaker 9: hopefully's a learning experience for the referee, But for us,
Speaker 9: what I saw was a group of guys that, even
Speaker 9: with a man down, continued to fight and had some
Speaker 9: opportunities to maybe nick a you know, nick a goal
Speaker 9: here or there. So you know, credit to the guys,
Speaker 9: but you know, too often in the last few games
Speaker 9: that we've been let down by some officiating, and.
Speaker 2: That's where I wanted to go next.
Speaker 1: And I'll set you loose in a bit, but look,
Speaker 1: I've been around this stuff my entire life. You've been
Speaker 1: around it forever too, and I'm I'm of the belief
Speaker 1: and maybe this is just me having to believe this
Speaker 1: way that at some point the calls do even out.
Speaker 1: And so I'm not one that blames the rest for
Speaker 1: this this or blames the rest for that. But I
Speaker 1: thought Alex Catronas after the match out, you know, he
Speaker 1: he he, He did a pretty good job of articulating
Speaker 1: what I perceived to be a string of games where calls,
Speaker 1: Pablo have directly cost you points, like directly penalty kicks, Okay,
Speaker 1: Nashville Dallas red card, you know, the red card at
Speaker 1: home against pe Ol Dallas like, and I could keep going.
Speaker 1: I feel like there have been five or six really
Speaker 1: punitive calls that have cost you points. And when I
Speaker 1: get issues with officials is when they make calls that
Speaker 1: directly affect the outcome of games, because then you're affecting
Speaker 1: livelihoods and there are real things at stake.
Speaker 2: So what is fair to.
Speaker 1: Say about how hard done you guys have seen to
Speaker 1: have been as of late with the.
Speaker 9: Officials against I'm sorry I cut out, so.
Speaker 1: I'll ask a much shorter version of that long, blabbering question.
Speaker 1: What's fair to say about this string of games over
Speaker 1: the past five or six where you guys have been
Speaker 1: on the wrong side of some really egregious calls.
Speaker 9: Yeah, no, again, I think it's a part of sport.
Speaker 9: And like you said, I think you would like to
Speaker 9: believe that in the longer run, that the calls are
Speaker 9: going to go our way and and not are calls
Speaker 9: like favoritism are calls like the calls should be what
Speaker 9: they what they are, right, and and and again, I
Speaker 9: think it's really easy for you know, for myself, and
Speaker 9: and and this is situation where where it's been tough
Speaker 9: getting results to really throw it on the referees. And
Speaker 9: I feel like if I start doing that, then the
Speaker 9: players start stop doing what they have done well in
Speaker 9: the last two games, which is played extremely well and
Speaker 9: just come up short at the end because of because
Speaker 9: of the decisions made by others. But but our focus
Speaker 9: is going to be and again we have another wonderful
Speaker 9: opportunity this weekend to continue playing in a great way,
Speaker 9: creating goal scoring opportunities, denying quality chances you know, against us,
Speaker 9: but come away with victorious if the game is even
Speaker 9: steven as far as officiating is concerned. So I'm optimistic.
Speaker 9: I feel like, you know, you know, you can only
Speaker 9: have so many bad calls before the league starts saying, hey, guys,
Speaker 9: do we got to clean this up right? This has
Speaker 9: got to be a fair playing field. And then keep
Speaker 9: playing the way we are and then adding you know,
Speaker 9: two key players to our attack. Uh, you know, I
Speaker 9: think we're we're we're in a good way.
Speaker 2: All right, last thing.
Speaker 10: Diego.
Speaker 1: San Diego is an expansion side, but they're playing some
Speaker 1: really really good soccer and you should know, Pobs, I'm
Speaker 1: going to be there, all right, So little extra added pressure,
Speaker 1: little extra added pressure.
Speaker 2: Your guys going to be in the stand.
Speaker 1: So tell me about the challenge on Saturday, and what
Speaker 1: do you guys need to do to come away as
Speaker 1: a result.
Speaker 9: Yeah, you know, I think you know, one of the
Speaker 9: things that we experienced when we first played them is
Speaker 9: we were we were a little bit open defensively trying
Speaker 9: to get after the ball. They're a very technical team. Again,
Speaker 9: they they they've got a good deal of experience and
Speaker 9: real savviness about them when they play and they're looking
Speaker 9: for a little they're they're looking for defense defenses to
Speaker 9: jump to, then penetrate centrally and then really go to
Speaker 9: the house. And they did a really good job of
Speaker 9: that against us. So in these last couple of games,
Speaker 9: we've been really fine tuning our defense. I feel like
Speaker 9: we have a good setup against them going into the weekend,
Speaker 9: and and in front of goal we've been sharper as
Speaker 9: as the week's pass. So, you know, I feel like
Speaker 9: these guys are these guys are really good. And but
Speaker 9: like I've been telling the guys last two games, I'd
Speaker 9: put us up with anyone in the league. And I
Speaker 9: know that's a crazy thing to say, but that's the
Speaker 9: kind of belief I have in this group. Belief I
Speaker 9: havn't our coaches and the way we've prepared and and
Speaker 9: I think you're you're you're coming to a great game, Spence,
Speaker 9: because I think this is a game where, you know,
Speaker 9: hopefully we break this night and put together a fantastic performance,
Speaker 9: hopefully without any kind of referee uh uh decision that
Speaker 9: affects it. You know, we come away with the three points.
Speaker 1: If it is tied or you are down at halftime,
Speaker 1: do I have your permission to break into the locker
Speaker 1: room and give a rousing speech.
Speaker 9: Let's go, Spa, let's get let's get tray on that
Speaker 9: to get the uh. Make sure you have all the
Speaker 9: necessary accreditations to get in the locker room. I would
Speaker 9: love that the players would love to hear your voice there.
Speaker 2: I'm sure they would not.
Speaker 1: Okay, brother, thanks for the time, travel safe and I'll
Speaker 1: see you this weekend.
Speaker 9: Thanks Bud, appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Ablom mash Jouni Ras RSL head coach Rsel makes two
Speaker 1: additions we can actually say it out loud, Willia Gatta
Speaker 1: from Sporting k C and Johnny Russell formally from Sporting KC.
Speaker 2: He'll be on his way and hopefully we'll see him soon.
Speaker 1: It is time the NFL Draft come joy coming up.
Speaker 1: On the other side, it is the ESPN coverage does
Speaker 1: not appear to be any intrigue at the top.
Speaker 2: Or cam Ward is expected to go number one.
Speaker 1: Most people believe Travis Hunter will be off the board
Speaker 1: to two. And then what do the New York Giants do.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of intel and odds and Vegas. The
Speaker 1: Jackson dart Our local product here who played his college
Speaker 1: excuse me, his high school ball about twenty miles south
Speaker 1: has moved up to QB two for a lot of people,
Speaker 1: and should or Sanders is slipping, but only Tom will tell.
Speaker 1: So let's get out of here. Let's make some space
Speaker 1: now for the NFL Draft. It's a big night for
Speaker 1: you football fans, and we got you covered.
Speaker 2: Porter, I'm out.
Speaker 1: That's it, it's over. I'm done again. Yeah, I'm done.
Speaker 1: I'm done at least for tomorrow. So tomorrow, please give
Speaker 1: Porter and Andy Larson your attention. So before we say
Speaker 1: good night, Porter in time for the NFL Draft, to
Speaker 1: what comes our listener's way out of Friday edition of
Speaker 1: the program.
Speaker 5: Yeah, as you mentioned, Andy Larson and I will be
Speaker 5: out at Tim Dally Dealership out of one oh seventh South.
Speaker 5: So wait way Outie House and Sandy come say hi
Speaker 5: and say what's up. Zach Harper, we'll stop by to
Speaker 5: talk some NBA. Sarah Todd will stop by to talk
Speaker 5: some Utah jazz, Paul Pugmeyer with our PGA Tour leaderboard update,
Speaker 5: Kyle van Noy to talk some NFL drafts. So really,
Speaker 5: between the NBA playoffs, Jazz offseason, and the NFL Draft,
Speaker 5: we're gonna be pretty full on a Friday, but we'll
Speaker 5: save some space to talk some golf, talk a little soccer,
Speaker 5: and uh some offseason college hoops and whatnot from there
Speaker 5: as well.
Speaker 1: There we go, fun time a year, Porter and Andy
Speaker 1: have you covered tomorrow. I'll be back on Monday for
Speaker 1: a Monday edition of the show. Special thank you today
Speaker 1: to Zach Moss, to Dave check Its, Dandy Larson, Mike
Speaker 1: Ham and Pablo Master joining for any of the sound
Speaker 1: you may have missed from the program today. Check out
Speaker 1: the website. It's ESPN seven hundred sports dot com. Make
Speaker 1: sure to download our mobile app and take us on
Speaker 1: the go. Then check out our podcast page, which is
Speaker 1: called The Drive with Spence. Check its available wherever you
Speaker 1: get your show. Subscribe, rate reviews, Sanda sings in the comments.
Speaker 1: Give us all the stars for Porter. I'm Spence saying tonight,
Speaker 1: get Porter and Andy your attention tomorrow and I'll talk
Speaker 1: to you guys on Monday.
Speaker 2: Be yourself to get to each other.
Speaker 1: Catch all the action right here on ESPN seven hundred
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Speaker 1: of Utah's ESPN Radio network.