Speaker 1: Good evening everybody, and welcome to another episode of Fire Up.
Speaker 1: I hope you are fired up as we are at
Speaker 1: this late hour tonight. How are you guys tonight.
Speaker 2: I'm good, Ralph, Ralph, You're good, so.
Speaker 3: Doing real well? Thank you. I'm good, thank.
Speaker 1: You, good good good well.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm here, I'm good, thank you.
Speaker 1: I have to say the title says it all. The
Speaker 1: streak for Florida hockey teams continue. This is the sixth
Speaker 1: straight Stanley Cup Finals that Florida hockey team will be
Speaker 1: playing in. The first three were the Lightning, the last
Speaker 1: three have been the Florida Panthers. And with that in Walks, Samir,
Speaker 1: Good evening, sir, good, how are you good?
Speaker 4: Perfect time?
Speaker 1: We just started, We really just started. So my first
Speaker 1: thing we were just gonna quick talk about we were
Speaker 1: gonna is talking about how the streak for Florida hockey
Speaker 1: teams continues because this is the sixth straight Stanley Cup
Speaker 1: Final that will have one of the Florida teams. The
Speaker 1: first three where the Tampa Bay Lightning, and then the
Speaker 1: last three now have been the Florida Panthers. Who would
Speaker 1: have guessed one of the teams from one of the
Speaker 1: warmest cities, warmest states, and we are in the sixth
Speaker 1: time were what I would consider a cold weather sport
Speaker 1: on the ice, any of your any thoughts from.
Speaker 5: Any of you, I mean, I think it just goes
Speaker 5: to show what and this follows for any sport, what
Speaker 5: the right ownership can do, because especially with the Sun
Speaker 5: Belt teams like the Florida teams in Carolina, it shows
Speaker 5: what the right ownership can do. And with that being said,
Speaker 5: and regarding the subject of the success of the Sun
Speaker 5: Belt teams, there's been some chatter around Atlanta potentially getting
Speaker 5: a third try at the NHL. And obviously the Flames
Speaker 5: weren't here very long in the seventies and eighties. They
Speaker 5: went to Calgary. The Thrashers were here for eleven years.
Speaker 5: They only made the Playoff. Swans, their owners in the
Speaker 5: Atlanta Spirit Group could care less about the team. They
Speaker 5: were too busy fighting each other more than they were
Speaker 5: about investing in the team, and attendants was bad team
Speaker 5: one very successful. They end up going to Winnipeg and
Speaker 5: they are now the Jets. So look, I know it's
Speaker 5: a long shot. I know recently the commissioners said they
Speaker 5: weren't looking to expand anytime soon, but I wouldn't rule
Speaker 5: out Atlanta potentially getting a third shot at the NHL.
Speaker 5: And I feel the same way about Arizona. I know
Speaker 5: they just lost their team and they had issues with
Speaker 5: ownership and the arena situation. But I feel like with
Speaker 5: the right ownership group, as you're seeing in these Sun
Speaker 5: belt cities like Tampa, Florid, Miami, the Miami Fort Lauderdale area, Carolina,
Speaker 5: the right ownership can work. So that's my takeaway from it.
Speaker 1: Penn's been in your thoughts.
Speaker 4: It seemed like to me that I don't like them.
Speaker 4: I don't like them, but when you get into the playoffs,
Speaker 4: it's a whole new season. They limped into playoffs, and
Speaker 4: when they played the playoffs, they seem to get hotter
Speaker 4: as that as every series happened. So I thought they're
Speaker 4: gonna I thought the Capital is gonna be at the
Speaker 4: Stanley Cup. I thought they were gonna lose to the
Speaker 4: Florida for the Florida Panthers, and then they just kept going.
Speaker 4: And then Carolina they seemed like they're a fighting team,
Speaker 4: but they fell apart. So like a good goaltender gets
Speaker 4: you where you need to get to. So I give
Speaker 4: credit to the Florida Panthers. Ralph.
Speaker 3: Your thoughts, well, Florida has always been a fighting, pretty
Speaker 3: type of team. The Lightning have all have been in
Speaker 3: the Stanley Cup and have won some. So you know,
Speaker 3: it's no surprise that these two teams, and they have
Speaker 3: good coaches as well, uh you know, some some pretty
Speaker 3: decent coaches that they've managed to have that have been
Speaker 3: able to keep these teams in the hunt every single season.
Speaker 3: And you know, there's times when I've watched the Lightning
Speaker 3: play the Penguins and the Panthers play the Penguins, and
Speaker 3: the Penguins struggle against both of these teams because both
Speaker 3: of these teams are are gritty and or you know,
Speaker 3: and have you know, and been in and out of
Speaker 3: these playoffs and the Stanley Cups. They and they know
Speaker 3: how to win. I mean, you know, you have to
Speaker 3: know how to win. There's a way to do it.
Speaker 3: As far as winning goes, the.
Speaker 1: One thing I will say is it doesn't it doesn't
Speaker 1: matter your regular season record. What matters is getting into
Speaker 1: the playoffs, especially for the NHL, and being hot at
Speaker 1: the right time. The Panthers, they take it to a
Speaker 1: whole new level when I think from the regular season,
Speaker 1: they've been doing really well, and it most definitely matters
Speaker 1: who's between the pipes, because, let's face it, if you
Speaker 1: watched the Panthers series with Carolina, until Carolina made the
Speaker 1: switch and behind the pipes, everybody thought the Panthers could
Speaker 1: sweep them, and they didn't. They lost the game when
Speaker 1: the pipes went to somebody else. But yeah, Burgowski is
Speaker 1: he is a really good goal tender, and he's resurrected
Speaker 1: his career and he's gonna go down as one of
Speaker 1: the best. I would say. Now, still kind of speaking
Speaker 1: of a little bit about hockey, but I found this
Speaker 1: and I thought this was really interesting. The Minnesota Timberwolves
Speaker 1: were eliminated by the Thunder in the Western Conference Final.
Speaker 1: It has now been thirty four years since an MLB, NBA, NFL,
Speaker 1: or NHL team from Minnesota has won a championship. No
Speaker 1: other city has a current drought of more than twenty years,
Speaker 1: So the Minnesota Wild have zero Stanley Cups in their history,
Speaker 1: Minnesota Timberwolves have zero NBA championships, the Minnesota Vikings have
Speaker 1: zero Super Bowls in their team's history, and the Minnesota
Speaker 1: Minnesota Twins the last time they won in the World
Speaker 1: Series came back in nineteen ninety one. What are your
Speaker 1: thoughts about Minnesota and this drought. Who'd like to go first?
Speaker 4: I guess say, well, Gay, go first, go ahead, Smar.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean I guess it shows that as an
Speaker 6: Atlanta sports fan who has endured his own fair share
Speaker 6: of sports pain and getting close and not quite getting there.
Speaker 5: I guess it shows that we're not alone. That's my
Speaker 5: that's my only takeaway from it.
Speaker 1: Mm hmm Okay, Ralph.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, it's hard to come back from a deficit,
Speaker 3: and it's really hard if you are, you know, in
Speaker 3: that hole. I mean, it's not easy. And if it's
Speaker 3: been since nineteen ninety one that they've come back or
Speaker 3: even won a championship more or less, uh, you know,
Speaker 3: this is this is something to what I use what
Speaker 3: somebody used to say to me when they didn't know
Speaker 3: they weren't familiar with something. They used to call it
Speaker 3: genera because they weren't familiar with it. Maybe they're you know,
Speaker 3: they're not familiar with this. This is something that's new
Speaker 3: to them now and it's been a long time. So
Speaker 3: let's see if they can come back and do and
Speaker 3: win and do some and really do something here that
Speaker 3: would be an interest that would be very interesting to
Speaker 3: see that.
Speaker 1: Pens.
Speaker 4: Then your thoughts, The Minnesota Twins have bullpen problems. They
Speaker 4: need to get the bullpen situation fixed. They need to
Speaker 4: get they need to draft players. The Minnesota. Minnesota Timberwolves
Speaker 4: are getting closed. They keep making the playoffs, but they
Speaker 4: just can't find the finishing touch to get to the finals.
Speaker 4: And the Minnesota while they went out and got Mark
Speaker 4: Andre Fleury and then you saw what he did in Pittsburgh,
Speaker 4: but and you saw what he did Las Vegas. Something's
Speaker 4: not right with the Minnesota. While if you get more
Speaker 4: country flory between the pipes and you can't win there,
Speaker 4: there's gotta be something wrong. So I think Minnesota is
Speaker 4: getting closer. They just need these little touch ups to
Speaker 4: get there.
Speaker 1: And my take is, considering I'm from Wisconsin, I don't
Speaker 1: really care if Minnesota wins or not because they're always
Speaker 1: against us. So you know, for me, well, I'll let's
Speaker 1: put it this way. The Twins are an American League team,
Speaker 1: so they don't really go against MI Milwaukee Brewers. But
Speaker 1: obviously the Vikings, playing the same division as the Packers.
Speaker 1: The Vikings can stay in the bottom, that's fine. Where
Speaker 1: the background at the bottom, that's fine with me. Minnesota
Speaker 1: timber will, Yes, they're much improved. I think over the
Speaker 1: last couple of years. Do they have enough to get
Speaker 1: them over the hump? I'm obviously they didn't this year.
Speaker 1: So in the wild have tried, but they just couldn't
Speaker 1: get it done this year either. So, but that no
Speaker 1: other city has had has quite the drought is kind
Speaker 1: of I thought, very interesting. Let's move a little over.
Speaker 1: Since we've talked a little bit about the twins, let's
Speaker 1: let's talk a little bit of I have an interesting
Speaker 1: stat The payroll of the LA Dodgers injured pictures one
Speaker 1: hundred and two million dollars and injured pictures is more
Speaker 1: than the total payroll of six teams, the Guardians, the Rays,
Speaker 1: the Pirates, the Athletics, the Marlins, and the White Sox.
Speaker 1: Thoughts about how much payroll is sitting on the injured
Speaker 1: list with the Dodgers.
Speaker 3: Well, that happens. That happens to the Dodgers every year, Candy.
Speaker 3: You know, it seems like they go out and they
Speaker 3: spend all this money except for last year. Now, Okay,
Speaker 3: but every other time they go out there, they fall
Speaker 3: short of getting to the World Series except for last year. Okay,
Speaker 3: but now we're back to the same cycle with them again,
Speaker 3: that they have all these injured players and all this
Speaker 3: big money out there, and who knows what's going to
Speaker 3: happen this year with them.
Speaker 4: Pensmen, your thoughts, like you're like, your take, I don't care.
Speaker 4: It's just the Dodgers are the Dodgers. Like I'm a
Speaker 4: Yankees fan, but I just They're all you keep hearing.
Speaker 4: You turn on the ESPN and the first thing you
Speaker 4: hear is the Dodgers. This the Dodgers. That Toddy, the
Speaker 4: Toddy that It's like, okay, there's thirty two. Other clubs
Speaker 4: talk about their clubs, but they spend they spend their
Speaker 4: money wisely, but injuries come, so Dodgers want to pay it.
Speaker 1: Smear your thoughts about the injured pay roll of the Dodgers.
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, they'm It just goes to show you how
Speaker 5: good they are as an organization by the fact that
Speaker 5: they've had all these injuries, like even last year, they
Speaker 5: had injuries to their starting pitching last year in the
Speaker 5: postseason and they still won the World series. It goes
Speaker 5: to show you that, you know, not only do they
Speaker 5: spend money, but they're also really good at you know,
Speaker 5: utilizing and developing their talent. That's just what it is.
Speaker 5: It's like they're you know, they're that organization who's there
Speaker 5: just they just do everything miles ahead and better than
Speaker 5: everyone else. From their scouting they're developing, from the way
Speaker 5: they spend money, the way they signed, how theyse the
Speaker 5: you know, the players they sign. You know, I think
Speaker 5: it's easy to point to their payroll and the big
Speaker 5: names like Mookie show Hey and whatnot, But what's not
Speaker 5: talked about enough is how they bring guys in that where,
Speaker 5: you know, kind of tell us to side other teams
Speaker 5: like Chris Taylor, who was just dfaed by them not
Speaker 5: too long ago. He was a like he was a
Speaker 5: key part of their organization for years. Max Munsey was
Speaker 5: cast off by the Athletics and now he's been there
Speaker 5: for a number of years. Same with Justin Turner. He
Speaker 5: was a cast off for what team did you play
Speaker 5: for before the Dodgers? I forgot who bets No, Justin Turner.
Speaker 5: I think it was the Red I mean years years
Speaker 5: before that. Oh so yeah, So like Justin Turner, for example,
Speaker 5: he was at the Orioles and the Mets for a
Speaker 5: number of years, didn't really contribute there. Then then he
Speaker 5: was signed to the Dodgers and he's there for almost
Speaker 5: a decade. He's an All Star with them. So it
Speaker 5: just shows you how much like you know, just shows
Speaker 5: you where they are is in an organization more than anything.
Speaker 1: But it also shows you how much money they have
Speaker 1: to spend. Because if they can have that much money
Speaker 1: on their payroll that's injured and yet they're still fielding
Speaker 1: a team and doing better than some of these other teams,
Speaker 1: that's kind of crazy. I mean, how much money they
Speaker 1: have to spend. We all know that they've spent a
Speaker 1: lot of money though too. I just thought that was
Speaker 1: really surprising that they had so much one hundred and
Speaker 1: two million dollars worth of pitchers sitting on the injured list.
Speaker 4: So some mirror, I think it's the Red Sox because
Speaker 4: I think him and Mooki came to Dodgers almost the
Speaker 4: same time.
Speaker 5: No, Justin Turner, his first year there was twenty fourteen.
Speaker 4: That's it, Okay.
Speaker 5: He was with the Mets and the Orioles from twenty
Speaker 5: nine to twenty thirteen.
Speaker 4: Okay, for some reason, I thought he was playing with
Speaker 4: the Red Sox before he went to So I don't know,
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 1: We're good, Okay, So I have an odd odd one tonight.
Speaker 1: So the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers set a new dollar
Speaker 1: Day hot dog record sell dollar hot dogs that they
Speaker 1: sold in one day, forty one thousand, seven hundred and
Speaker 1: thirty three hot dogs at one game. The capacity of
Speaker 1: the stadium is forty one thousand, nine hundred.
Speaker 4: Total.
Speaker 1: Again, forty one, seven hundred and thirty three.
Speaker 5: That's crazy.
Speaker 3: Well, well, how many how many hot dogs they sell? Again?
Speaker 1: Or they sold forty one thousand, seven hundred and thirty
Speaker 1: three hot dogs where their capacity for seating is only
Speaker 1: forty one thousand, nine hundred. Everybody had at least one.
Speaker 1: And I don't know if the attendance that day was
Speaker 1: forty one nine, but that's their capacity.
Speaker 4: Wow, that's craazy.
Speaker 3: Well, you know what the pirates are doing now, Candy,
Speaker 3: they're having a dollar dog Day. What they do is
Speaker 3: every Thursday when they have businessman specials, you know, at
Speaker 3: one thirty start time, when nobody's at the game, that's
Speaker 3: when they're doing their dollar dog days. Now before they
Speaker 3: did them and you could eat as many as you wanted.
Speaker 3: And then about I think it was three years ago,
Speaker 3: Pensman maybe if you remember this correctly, they ran out
Speaker 3: of buns. Yeah, the year they ran hot dogs, so
Speaker 3: now they then last year they did two hot dogs
Speaker 3: per person. That was all you could get for one dollar.
Speaker 3: And now they're doing it on Thursdays for every time
Speaker 3: there's a businessman special. That's when they're doing them. Because
Speaker 3: they get about four thousand fans or something.
Speaker 4: They actually had to run out and get more buns
Speaker 4: that night.
Speaker 3: More funs. Yeah, I know, I know the director of
Speaker 3: food service over there because I used to work security
Speaker 3: at panc mm hmm yeah, any thoughts, it's not there anymore.
Speaker 4: Doesn't have any thoughts.
Speaker 1: Wow, that's okay, you know that. So it was just
Speaker 1: one of those.
Speaker 3: Candy that's a lot of hot dog in there.
Speaker 1: That is that is a lot of hot dogs?
Speaker 6: Oh my yeah.
Speaker 4: I mean.
Speaker 5: My only thoughts are that, I know the if you
Speaker 5: follow NFL concession pricing for those that do, a lot
Speaker 5: of people don't. The Falcons and Mercedes Benz Stadium have
Speaker 5: kind of flaunted their cheap concession prices compared to the
Speaker 5: rest of the league, and hot and hot dogs are
Speaker 5: relatively cheap. So this past season against the chiefs our
Speaker 5: owner Arthur Blank was inducted into the team's Ring of honor.
Speaker 4: Oh that's that's good for him. That's awesome.
Speaker 5: So I guess in honor of that, they made all
Speaker 5: the hot dogs free that night, and I think by
Speaker 5: the and I think like by the middle of the
Speaker 5: third quarter, apparently they ran out of hot dogs.
Speaker 3: So wow, wow, Well, you know what, I spent more
Speaker 3: time in line, uh, waiting for hot dogs than I
Speaker 3: did watching the game. I'd watch it on a on
Speaker 3: a TV screen because I spent all my time in
Speaker 3: line trying to get hot dogs. I mean, you know
Speaker 3: DNC Park, so when I used to go for a
Speaker 3: dollar dog.
Speaker 4: I have a question for Candy. Okay, do you know
Speaker 4: how the hot dog grace went on Saturday at Andy?
Speaker 1: Oh?
Speaker 3: I do not.
Speaker 4: Okay, you brought it up last Thursday. I don't know
Speaker 4: if you watched it or oh I did?
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I did not. I did not. I I'm
Speaker 1: trying to think, who want which one of the Wieners won?
Speaker 1: I do. I did see that. I did even see
Speaker 1: the winner.
Speaker 4: Let me see, Okay, I wasn't sure if you if
Speaker 4: you did or not, because I saw pilots of it,
Speaker 4: but I didn't see who the winner.
Speaker 3: An Oscar Mayerwhene that was in there. Uh.
Speaker 1: The Slaw Dog wienermobile won the inaugural Wienie five hundred race,
Speaker 1: a two lap competition held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Speaker 1: during what they call carb Day. The race featured six
Speaker 1: Oscar Meyer wienermobiles competing for the win. So, yeah, that
Speaker 1: was I read up about it and they said, what
Speaker 1: did it? I was trying to read to see if
Speaker 1: it told me so. It says, according to each wienermobile
Speaker 1: represented a different regional dog, so it included the Chai
Speaker 1: to the Chai Dog for Midwest, the New York Dog
Speaker 1: for East, the Slaw Dog for Southeast, the SnO Ram
Speaker 1: Dog for Southwest, the Chili Dog for the South, and
Speaker 1: Seattle Dog for the Northwest. Each driver had a custom
Speaker 1: hot dogger racing suit, and the Wiener winner was presented
Speaker 1: with their trophy and a hot dog in the Wieners circle.
Speaker 1: I want to say, let's see fans were able to
Speaker 1: bet on it. Those who got the most points want
Speaker 1: to share of a total cash prize of ten thousand.
Speaker 1: I want to say I read someplace trying to find
Speaker 1: out if they say how fast they went. Oh, I
Speaker 1: thought I had seen that. Let me see if I
Speaker 1: can find any else on it. I thought it was
Speaker 1: so funny though. That's why we brought it up, is that.
Speaker 4: We were talking about hot dogs. That's what made me
Speaker 4: think of it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, no, we talked about it a little bit
Speaker 1: and you know, and that was it's a it. In
Speaker 1: a down to the wire race among the six let's
Speaker 1: see made a dramatic pass of the Wiener Mobile repping
Speaker 1: Chicago at the finish line to win the inaugural WEENI
Speaker 1: five hundred. The margin was about a half a bun. Oh,
Speaker 1: that's kind of funny, but it does not. The Wienerobiles
Speaker 1: have been around since nineteen thirty six as a promotional
Speaker 1: vehicle for Oscar Mayer. Oh. I was just trying to
Speaker 1: figure out if, oh, it did say they jumped into
Speaker 1: the lead. We don't feel slowly picked up speed until
Speaker 1: they reached about sixty five miles per hour, which if
Speaker 1: I'm thinking about, like I know, driving my own car,
Speaker 1: like sixty five doesn't seem that that much. But if
Speaker 1: you're talking about on a racetrack with that big ambia,
Speaker 1: that would be kind of very interesting.
Speaker 4: But and NASCAR's cautioned sixty five miles per hour too, So.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, Uh So I have a question for you guys,
Speaker 1: because I know we like normally talk a lot of NFL,
Speaker 1: and I know two of you are kind of Pittsburgh guys,
Speaker 1: and I know you're waiting for a decision. But my
Speaker 1: question would be, if Aaron Rodgers does decide to retire,
Speaker 1: does it taint him or change your opinion onion? If
Speaker 1: he signs a one day contract with the Packers to
Speaker 1: retire as a Packer or if he doesn't, does it
Speaker 1: matter to you? Does it change your thoughts about him
Speaker 1: at all? And we'll start with you Ralph.
Speaker 3: No, it doesn't. But I will say this, I could
Speaker 3: care less if he comes to Pittsburgh or not. Uh
Speaker 3: you know, I think we can win with Mason Rudolph
Speaker 3: if they can get the running game going and uh
Speaker 3: and get the offensive line up, the speed and the
Speaker 3: defense and you know the line of scrimmage and uh
Speaker 3: you know, uh we have Will Howard. Uh you know,
Speaker 3: I my Sports Corner radio show. We talked about, hey something,
Speaker 3: will Howard just start him and go with him and
Speaker 3: if if he doesn't work out, oh well too bad.
Speaker 3: You had a losing season or you went nine to
Speaker 3: eight again. So you know, mediocre mic at its best.
Speaker 3: So you know, but uh, you know, this stuff waiting
Speaker 3: for him to sign with us or to show up
Speaker 3: for whatever. Uh. You know, I think the Steelers should
Speaker 3: just say forget it and let's go with Mason Rudolph
Speaker 3: or Will Hired or whatever, and let's just move on.
Speaker 3: It's a distraction. It's caught. You know, you got everybody
Speaker 3: out there saying this and that, Oh they spotted him
Speaker 3: in town, and you know he's not there. You know,
Speaker 3: he hasn't been seeing in Pittsburgh. So there are people
Speaker 3: out there with fake news, you know, like Scott says,
Speaker 3: fake news, you know, with that stuff.
Speaker 1: Mm hm.
Speaker 3: So I'm getting a little tired of it. You know,
Speaker 3: I just want the Steelers to move on from it.
Speaker 3: You know, if he if my eyes, if he didn't
Speaker 3: sign by the end of the draft, forget it. So
Speaker 3: you know, so.
Speaker 1: Depends one of your thoughts.
Speaker 4: I'm with Ralph there. It's doesn't change anything. If if
Speaker 4: he comes to Pittsburgh. If he does, Oh, I what
Speaker 4: his wins, That's all I care about. I'm tired of
Speaker 4: winning seasons. I'm tired of this. I just want to
Speaker 4: compete for the Serper. Well I wanted to. I want that.
Speaker 4: But all I heard was this is an all season topic.
Speaker 4: That's all I hear. I keep hearing it's all season topic.
Speaker 4: And I think we can win with Rudolph and the
Speaker 4: way I hear about Will Howard, I think and I
Speaker 4: wanted him to be our quarterback in the draft and
Speaker 4: we got him. So I think he's brings his Ohio
Speaker 4: State performance and gets and we get a LAVE, which
Speaker 4: is a long shot, but if we do get a LAVE,
Speaker 4: I think we'll be all right. But I think he
Speaker 4: should retire as a packer.
Speaker 1: Smear your thoughts.
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, I don't think it's a question he's going
Speaker 5: to retire a packer. I don't think that's a question. Yeah.
Speaker 5: And now regarding Ralph your comments on Mason, Rudolph and
Speaker 5: Will Howard, I know in Pittsburgh, with the fans in
Speaker 5: the media, the expectation is that every year they're competing
Speaker 5: for the super Bowl. And I know a lot of
Speaker 5: Steelers fans have complained about Mike Tomlin, But I mean,
Speaker 5: can you I mean, like, can we can we be
Speaker 5: fair here? Like can you really expect the guy to
Speaker 5: win super Bowls with since Ben retired, Mitchell Trubisky, Kenny Pickett,
Speaker 5: Mason Rudolph. I think Duck Hodges played a couple of
Speaker 5: games justin fields who's been let go by two teams
Speaker 5: now and and a washed up Russell Wilson, Like, who
Speaker 5: realistically is contending for a Super Bowl with that given
Speaker 5: the rest of the quarterbacks that are in the AFC,
Speaker 5: and and and the rest of the and the A
Speaker 5: the other teams in that division, specifically Baltimore and the
Speaker 5: offense they have in Cincinnati.
Speaker 3: Uh well, I mean I will say, and Pensman will
Speaker 3: agree with me on this, Okay, Mike Tomlin has a
Speaker 3: lot of say in what goes on in this in
Speaker 3: this whole situation, Samir, Because what happened was Dan Snyder
Speaker 3: came a Sniffin looking at Mike Tomlin to be his
Speaker 3: general manager and his head coach at one point okay,
Speaker 3: with well the Redskins commanders, whatever you want to call him. Okay,
Speaker 3: this was this was like right around the tail end
Speaker 3: of the time when Dan Snyder had still had the
Speaker 3: team there, he came a sniffin looking for somebody to
Speaker 3: take over like that, and Art Rouiney the second was
Speaker 3: forced his hand, was forced to give Mike Tomlin more power.
Speaker 3: So now Mike Tomlin has more power. Tomlin's part of
Speaker 3: this problem too, because he has a lot of more
Speaker 3: say than everyone thinks in this whole situation. Okay, they
Speaker 3: blew it after Roethlisberger retired. They should have had a
Speaker 3: better game plan. They relied on Kenny Pickett. They took
Speaker 3: Kenny Picket because they didn't want to hear complaining from
Speaker 3: pitt fans if Pickett won somewhere else and won a
Speaker 3: Super Bowl, Oh, why didn't he take the pick guy?
Speaker 3: So not to have the slack from the pit fans,
Speaker 3: they went ahead and drafted him in the first round
Speaker 3: and it backfired, blew up in their face, and they
Speaker 3: got an egg on their face. Okay, they should have
Speaker 3: had a game plan ahead of time. They never did.
Speaker 3: Kevin Kolbert never did, and neither did Mike Tomlin. And
Speaker 3: now we have Omar Kahn, who's the numbers cruncher and
Speaker 3: not a football kind of guy. You know, he handles,
Speaker 3: the salary cap and stuff like that. They only gave
Speaker 3: the GM post because other teams come a sniffing looking
Speaker 3: to sign him to be their GM. So you know
Speaker 3: that's Mike Tomlin is more power than everyone thinks. Okay,
Speaker 3: I just want to let you know that. And he
Speaker 3: had a lot of say in this stuff too, so
Speaker 3: it's not all the front office.
Speaker 5: A lot of it is him too, because I know,
Speaker 5: like the power structure with NFL teams kind of varies.
Speaker 5: I know, a lot of kid like for example, in
Speaker 5: the case of the Falcons in it's only unique to them.
Speaker 5: They' tout this collaboration, you know, way of doing things
Speaker 5: where there's no one guy that makes the final call.
Speaker 5: It's kind of like this, you know, between the head coach,
Speaker 5: the general manager, maybe the owner, maybe the owner's right
Speaker 5: hand man, Rich McKay, Like there's no idea, there's not
Speaker 5: really clear on who's in charge. So I guess in
Speaker 5: Pittsburgh it's the opposite. Tomlin is calling the shots, right.
Speaker 4: You just don't know it all right, You have to study,
Speaker 4: you have to actually study a breath between the lines
Speaker 4: in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1: But I would also say this, you guys complain that
Speaker 1: you've never been to the Super Bowl, but yet you've
Speaker 1: never had a losing season under Tomlin for how many years?
Speaker 1: There are a lot of teams that would love to
Speaker 1: even be in that situation.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, look, as a Falcons fan, I love
Speaker 5: to say my team has gone almost two decades of
Speaker 5: not having a losing season.
Speaker 4: Okay, all right, SamArt, Okay, you rather you rather have
Speaker 4: winning seasons and then not go to the Super Bowl
Speaker 4: and erase that twenty eight to three deva set. You
Speaker 4: rather do that.
Speaker 5: I would rather do that than then have to then
Speaker 5: go through the worst loss in sports history, okay, and
Speaker 5: then losing the division around next year and then go
Speaker 5: seven years about making the playoffs?
Speaker 4: Okay?
Speaker 1: What about what about being at Detroit Lions and was
Speaker 1: the last time they went to the.
Speaker 4: Superow No, That's what I'm saying. Like they went to
Speaker 4: the NFC Champions Gap last year. They had to build up.
Speaker 5: Right, And I bet you before they hired the Campbell
Speaker 5: Holmes regime, I bet you they would be in the
Speaker 5: same boat saying, hey, well, you know, we'd like to
Speaker 5: have a Mike Tomlin.
Speaker 1: You know all these did he even have winning seasons?
Speaker 5: They went winless one year, so.
Speaker 3: Well, maybe maybe if he did go to another team
Speaker 3: he'd have more success. Good for him, you know, maybe
Speaker 3: the Steelers need to get somebody in here. Yeah, you know, Yeah,
Speaker 3: that's what I'm saying. Maybe if he goes somewhere else,
Speaker 3: maybe he'll do better. I don't know.
Speaker 4: We're just we're just tired of winning seasons, have wanted done.
Speaker 3: We just want to go.
Speaker 4: We want to actually see what the AFC Championship game
Speaker 4: in the Super Bowl feels like again.
Speaker 5: Yeah, but but I will think the one complaint I
Speaker 5: would have about Sombling, and I think this is his
Speaker 5: biggest shortcoming, is his coaching tree. Like, yes, I think
Speaker 5: the only coordinator under Somblin that's going on to become
Speaker 5: a head coach was Bruce Ayrians. And wasn't Arians there
Speaker 5: under Cower already?
Speaker 3: Yeah? He was there under Cower, Yes, yes, so and
Speaker 3: then he he he ended up signing or that they
Speaker 3: ended up sign Arians to be his offensive coordinator when
Speaker 3: he took over and Dick Loopo was in charge of
Speaker 3: the defense. And then when it happened was when Dicklobo
Speaker 3: retired or when his contract was up. Uh, they never
Speaker 3: resigned him you know, resigned him to do that because
Speaker 3: Tomlan wanted to control of the defense. So then what
Speaker 3: happened was they ended up signing having Keith Butler, uh,
Speaker 3: you know as the defensive coordinator for many years. So
Speaker 3: there they are big, you know, big.
Speaker 5: Running the offense. Yes, yeah, I don't need to reminians
Speaker 5: on those three.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 4: And Mike Thomas never actually had a winning team. All
Speaker 4: those winning team was Bill Cowards team.
Speaker 5: I know, those earliers, A lot of those were Calary
Speaker 5: hold O holdovers. I mean, I mean they that's some
Speaker 5: talented teams under someone.
Speaker 4: Like like, of course, how you finish it?
Speaker 5: Yeah, Like I know they had that period with the
Speaker 5: Killer Bees when the offense was really good, but the
Speaker 5: defense wasn't good.
Speaker 4: Then before Brown got decked in Cincinnati, he was great, Yeah.
Speaker 5: But of course the defense wasn't good. Like in twenty seventeen.
Speaker 5: I know, like Blake Burtles put like forty five on
Speaker 5: the Steelers in that playoff game, and I don't think
Speaker 5: they've won a playoff game since last time was twenty sixteen. Right,
Speaker 5: they beat the Chiefs.
Speaker 3: Nobody that yeah, how they have right exactly? Yes, yes,
Speaker 3: that's why they're having a debate right now, samiir as
Speaker 3: to whether or not we should resign TJ. Watt, we
Speaker 3: should just let him play out of his contract or
Speaker 3: try to trade him and get a bunch of players,
Speaker 3: because now TJ. Watt has been with this team. You know,
Speaker 3: the consensus here or the consensus in Pittsburgh is the
Speaker 3: fact that maybe we can win with them or we
Speaker 3: can win without them. And you know, but you know,
Speaker 3: if we get to the super Bowl without them, then
Speaker 3: we look like geniuses. If we if we don't get
Speaker 3: to the super Bowl with then we don't look like genius.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 5: So I mean, I don't see that happening. Let's be real,
Speaker 5: because t J. Watt is a is obviously a difference maker.
Speaker 5: Like like I was seeing a stat like somewhere that
Speaker 5: the Steelers defense. I think that like there is a
Speaker 5: difference with and without c J.
Speaker 3: Watt, and there is.
Speaker 5: It's like like that Week one game against the Falcons,
Speaker 5: the one I was at, Like, let's tell you right now,
Speaker 5: the Falcons win that game had it not been for CJ. Watt.
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, I agree with you. He is a difference maker.
Speaker 3: But there's been a lot of times in key games
Speaker 3: that he's late in eight and uh, you know he
Speaker 3: led a rookie offensive lineman William in a couple of games.
Speaker 3: So I mean, you know, Pensman will even tell you that.
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, watch carefully.
Speaker 4: Plus in the last three or four games, he's last
Speaker 4: for the three game ful. Greg gabs he the last
Speaker 4: three four seasons, he's been injured a lot. Yes, he's
Speaker 4: been having his pectatorial he's got surgery, he's been hurting
Speaker 4: his ankle, his knee, his I mean he's starting to
Speaker 4: break down.
Speaker 3: So yeah, he has played hurt though, Pensman. That's one
Speaker 3: thing I will say.
Speaker 4: But you know, like I said, his injury prone is
Speaker 4: starting to come in.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think so we'll see. I'm sorry, Candy wouldn't
Speaker 3: mean that.
Speaker 1: No, that's finely, I that that's the part of the show,
Speaker 1: is the ebbs and flow of us having good conversations that.
Speaker 4: We are and Cole, you can have them if you want,
Speaker 4: if you give us a good, good draft pick or whatever,
Speaker 4: that's fine. The Bucks can have him if you give
Speaker 4: us the right pieces.
Speaker 1: So well, I would say I could even almost see
Speaker 1: him coming. And this is going to surprise you, coming
Speaker 1: to Green Bay, coming back home because he's from Wisconsin. Originally,
Speaker 1: I could see that.
Speaker 3: You know, two first round picks maybe or a first
Speaker 3: round and and some other picks, and uh, load up
Speaker 3: some draft picks and maybe get a couple of key
Speaker 3: player or two. I wouldn't, I would. You know, we
Speaker 3: got some guys in the system now, we're developing Nate
Speaker 3: her or Nick Herber coming. You know, we got drafting.
Speaker 4: So if you gime a Savage, you could have TJ.
Speaker 1: So I hear there's a report out there Dolphin Steelers
Speaker 1: discuss trade for John new Smith. What's your thoughts?
Speaker 7: We got.
Speaker 3: We got too many tight ends?
Speaker 4: No way, no way.
Speaker 5: Yeah. Look I've seen it up from for three years.
Speaker 5: Arthur Smith loves his tight ends. I'm surprise because John
Speaker 5: new Smith has had a lot of it, has had
Speaker 5: a lot of success in Arthur Smith's offense, like for example,
Speaker 5: with the Titans years ago, I believe it was twenty
Speaker 5: he had eight touchdowns and then he went to New England,
Speaker 5: didn't do anything there, comes here to Atlanta that one
Speaker 5: year and has the same number of touchdowns as Kyle Pitts.
Speaker 5: They both had. They both had three touchdowns that year
Speaker 5: and he only had like, for example, twenty twenty three,
Speaker 5: the one year John new Smith was here, Kyle Pitts
Speaker 5: only had three more catches than John new Smith. So
Speaker 5: I know, John new Smith is a guy that Arthur
Speaker 5: Smith loves to utilize. He made the Pro Bowl last
Speaker 5: year about not almost nine hundred yards, eighty eight catches
Speaker 5: and eight touchdowns, by far the best year of his career.
Speaker 5: So we'll see.
Speaker 3: Well we'll see too as well, Samir, because see here's
Speaker 3: the thing. We don't really have a solid second receiver
Speaker 3: yet to backup DK Metcalf. So if Metcalf is being
Speaker 3: double teams, the triple team, we got to get the
Speaker 3: ball to the tight end. And maybe you're right, maybe
Speaker 3: that'll work this year, you know what I mean, you know,
Speaker 3: but we we really don't have it because we traded
Speaker 3: George Pickens, which everyone fighter was gonna be Pickens and Metcalf,
Speaker 3: but you know, we traded George Pickens, and uh, you know, so,
Speaker 3: but who who who steps up? Roman Wilson's been hurt.
Speaker 3: H you know, a bunch of guys. I mean, you know,
Speaker 3: we got some guys who are average, but that's about it.
Speaker 4: They were saying it throughout that rumy Wilson could be
Speaker 4: the number two guy now because Wilson has been stepping
Speaker 4: up in OTAs And there's the dark Southern gentleman in
Speaker 4: the in the dark.
Speaker 3: What's he in the dark room?
Speaker 4: Yeah, Aaron Rodgers, what's going on?
Speaker 8: Well, well, Josh would be happy to know that I'm
Speaker 8: inside my garage, inside my car, too bad, Jos.
Speaker 3: Inside my vehicle.
Speaker 4: Rights, that's praceless.
Speaker 7: Yeah, so we're we're down at a wedding down in Charleston.
Speaker 8: I've got like seven adults in the house staying here
Speaker 8: with me, two kids, a dog, and I never missed
Speaker 8: the opportunity to jump on a show of fire up
Speaker 8: if I can avoid it, and so here I am.
Speaker 1: Plus, you probably wanted to avoid the other seven adults
Speaker 1: right now and talk some sports.
Speaker 8: Right, I'm gonna leave that one. I'm not going to
Speaker 8: fry up the other adults this evening. But yes, you
Speaker 8: could say that I needed a break.
Speaker 3: And that's almost as bad as Pensman's friends staying with
Speaker 3: eight people.
Speaker 4: No, that was hell, that was JD. He said, eight
Speaker 4: o eight people.
Speaker 3: Okay, I didn't catch it.
Speaker 4: No, you're good, JD said, eight people. I didn't know
Speaker 4: about the seventh unless he's counting the eight as a dog.
Speaker 7: Let's get one.
Speaker 8: That's two, four, six, seven eight. I mean it's literally
Speaker 8: like ten people. And now this isn't a normal living arrangement.
Speaker 8: This is just we came down for a wedding. We're
Speaker 8: in beautiful SoCon country down here, Southern conference. We're on
Speaker 8: the I've been on the Citadel campus. I put out
Speaker 8: a tweet earlier that a lot of people are jumping
Speaker 8: on that SoCon campuses are some of the best, most
Speaker 8: beautiful campuses in all the world. And yeah, that this
Speaker 8: is just a this is a few night thing to
Speaker 8: celebrate one of the most beautiful things in the world,
Speaker 8: which is a wedding.
Speaker 1: Awesome, awesome. So I went around the horn, I guess
Speaker 1: around and talked to the other guys and got their opinions.
Speaker 1: My question to you is, does if Aaron Rodgers decides
Speaker 1: to hang it up and retire, does it taint his
Speaker 1: image or anything like that that you think of him
Speaker 1: if he signs a contract with the packers for one
Speaker 1: day to retire as a packer, or if he doesn't
Speaker 1: sign one, your thoughts are opinion on that?
Speaker 7: Overall?
Speaker 8: I think at this point his legacy is already somewhat tainted,
Speaker 8: going from being what we all expected to be a
Speaker 8: Hall of Fame quarterback for the Packers and then going
Speaker 8: to the Jets, where he, for lack of a better word,
Speaker 8: failed miserably. So I almost think at this point if
Speaker 8: he were to sign anywhere else, it could further taint
Speaker 8: his Hall of Fame status. So I think Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 8: would be best serve staying at home. And I mean,
Speaker 8: if he ends up signing back with the Packers to retire,
Speaker 8: that would be all fantastic.
Speaker 7: At the end of the day, but I don't know
Speaker 7: that he is welcome back in that regard.
Speaker 1: Yeah, good thoughts, Good thoughts. Well, we can say it
Speaker 1: is final now. The Knicks did beat the Pacers tonight,
Speaker 1: so they will live to see another game. So the
Speaker 1: Pacers do leave that series three too. Any thoughts on
Speaker 1: that series and we all will start with Samir.
Speaker 5: Well, yeah, I'm not surprised the Knicks won last night.
Speaker 5: I mean, once tonight. I know they haven't been very
Speaker 5: good at the guard in these playoffs. Hasn't been the
Speaker 5: home field advantage that these Knicks fans like it's out
Speaker 5: it as, But they won. They took care of business
Speaker 5: and is going to Game six. Is do believe Indiana
Speaker 5: will close it out there. They've been very good at
Speaker 5: home in the playoffs, so we'll see.
Speaker 1: Pensman and your thoughts.
Speaker 4: Finally, we finally finally beat the Indiana Pacers. JD knows this.
Speaker 4: I We've lost so many one point games. I'm so
Speaker 4: glad that we got to play on the last night
Speaker 4: of Thursday night TNT of the broadcast of that. So
Speaker 4: tonight is the last night on TNT for the NBA.
Speaker 4: So I'm just glad to get I'm just glad the
Speaker 4: next did win tonight, and we'll see what happens Saturday night.
Speaker 4: Fingers Crossed will be at Game seven, hopefully, Ralph.
Speaker 3: Your thoughts, Well, I like to see the Pacers because
Speaker 3: I like the Underdolph, you know, the small guy that
Speaker 3: you know, the team that you wouldn't expect to win.
Speaker 3: You know, the Knicks haven't been in it in so
Speaker 3: long I can't even remember, so, you know, yeah, something
Speaker 3: like that. I guess I don't know, you know, But anyway, uh,
Speaker 3: you know, I'm rooting for the Pacers because it's gonna
Speaker 3: be interesting to see both the w NBA team and
Speaker 3: the NBA team both make headlines and both be able
Speaker 3: to you know, make some hay. It's good for the
Speaker 3: economy there, and it's good for you know, fans of
Speaker 3: both teams.
Speaker 1: So you know, JD your thoughts.
Speaker 8: I said it the other day, regardless of when these
Speaker 8: conference finals are over, the NBA Finals will not start
Speaker 8: until next Thursday, June the fifth, And I had a
Speaker 8: feeling that the Knicks and the Pacers were gonna go
Speaker 8: to a gainst seven and to me, that plays to
Speaker 8: both of their detriment when it comes down to facing Oka.
Speaker 7: See, there's always the argument.
Speaker 8: Of is it better to get some rest versus is
Speaker 8: it better to you know, keep your momentum going, keep
Speaker 8: yourself hot, and you know, not look like you've had
Speaker 8: a few days off. So I think it's going to
Speaker 8: be really interesting to see how long the Pacers next
Speaker 8: series gets stretched out. While OKAC is a already the
Speaker 8: best NBA team and b getting this extra rest going
Speaker 8: into the finals. Yeah, they might be a little bit
Speaker 8: cold or streaky their first game back, but at the
Speaker 8: end of the day, something has to be said for
Speaker 8: a potential seven days of rest compared to your opponents,
Speaker 8: and not only that the Knicks and the Pacers in
Speaker 8: their comebacks, not only will they be physically tired, they're
Speaker 8: going to be mentally drained.
Speaker 1: And they both teams haven't been there for a long time,
Speaker 1: so it it goes to the point where they might
Speaker 1: be drained because it's been a long season and then
Speaker 1: they've gone this far. I still like the Pacers. I
Speaker 1: think they're gonna do it. I think they're gonna do
Speaker 1: it in this in six Yes, and for Christopher, thank you. Yes,
Speaker 1: for all you hockey fans. It is a rematch of
Speaker 1: the Cup from last year. So Edmonton uh managed to
Speaker 1: win tonight six three over the Dallas Stars, so it
Speaker 1: will be a rematch of last year's Stanley Cup Finals,
Speaker 1: and I believe that one starts June fourth, I think
Speaker 1: is what they were saying if the if the series
Speaker 1: ended tonight, So I'm guess we could be seeing, you know,
Speaker 1: the NBA Finals and this Stanley Cup Finals back to
Speaker 1: back starting days. Apart anybody's thoughts about the rematch for
Speaker 1: the Stanley Cupp.
Speaker 8: Well, I just want to say shout out to our
Speaker 8: guy Brian who picked the Dallas Stars. He was all
Speaker 8: in on that pick, and man, I hate to tell you,
Speaker 8: but like most of my predictions, you were wrong too, Brian,
Speaker 8: I love you.
Speaker 7: Sorry about the Dallas Stars losing.
Speaker 1: Anybody else predictions.
Speaker 4: I hope Connor McDavid does get this time. And I
Speaker 4: was gonna say this earlier, but I just want to
Speaker 4: remind the Florida Panthers it is a three peat, so
Speaker 4: you know how teams are with the three peats. So
Speaker 4: I just hope Connor McDavid does get the championship. He
Speaker 4: deserves one. He got gold medal, so we'll see what happens.
Speaker 1: Ralph, your thoughts.
Speaker 3: I would love to see Connor McDavid finally gets Stanley Cupp.
Speaker 3: It would be interesting to see Edmonton in this game.
Speaker 3: They're already up four to one, and uh, you know,
Speaker 3: we'll see what what what they do, and we'll see
Speaker 3: what goes on with the Panthers and they and the
Speaker 3: rest of this and you know, it could be some
Speaker 3: could be a rematch from last year. We'll see see
Speaker 3: what happens and maybe not.
Speaker 5: I don't and then again, yeah, i'd like to see
Speaker 5: economic david get it, and more importantly, or more notably,
Speaker 5: most notably, it'd be good to see Canadian team get it.
Speaker 5: It hasn't happened in over thirty years. Let's see if
Speaker 5: the Oilers do it.
Speaker 8: Mm hmm, yes, yeah, the three Pets interesting and the
Speaker 8: Canada team aspect is very interesting.
Speaker 1: Yep, I agree, I agree. Okay, guys, NBA the last
Speaker 1: time each team reached the NBA Finals. The drought for
Speaker 1: some teams is real. So there are one, two, three, four,
Speaker 1: five teams that have never made the finals. Can you
Speaker 1: guys guess the five teams that have never made the
Speaker 1: NBA Finals.
Speaker 5: I'm gonna say Minnesota, the Atlanta Hawks. Well, since they've
Speaker 5: moved to Atlanta, they haven't.
Speaker 1: Okay, so not one of the five though.
Speaker 5: Okay, I'm gonna say the the Hornets. That's another one. Yes,
Speaker 5: the Pelicans, Yes, let's see some Minnesota, Charlotte, New Orleans.
Speaker 7: What about the Washington Wizards.
Speaker 1: I think nineteen seventy nine they were last and Atlanta
Speaker 1: was last at nineteen sixty one.
Speaker 5: Yeah, so before they moved to Atlanta.
Speaker 4: Extra two thousand, Philly was there, so there they kept
Speaker 4: them out.
Speaker 5: The Nets made it twice in the two thousands, so.
Speaker 7: It's nice, correct, Supersimes?
Speaker 1: Yeah, but who I'm sorry? JD.
Speaker 7: Supersicks.
Speaker 1: No, they actually well no, it's actually a team. Now.
Speaker 3: There I got, I got my five.
Speaker 1: Okay, Ralph, what are your five?
Speaker 3: My five are the Minnesota Timberwolves, Charlotte Hornets, Memphis Grizzlies,
Speaker 3: New Orleans Pelicans, and the Los Angeles Clippers.
Speaker 1: There you go, exactly, Yes, good job, bro, thank you.
Speaker 3: And I don't even follow the NBA that much, hardly
Speaker 3: at all.
Speaker 1: That's okay. The out of the ones that the oldest
Speaker 1: that have been there would be next would be the
Speaker 1: Sacramento Kings, then Atlanta, then the Wizards, and then we
Speaker 1: go Putland back in ninety two, so then Houston in
Speaker 1: ninety five, Utah and ninety eight, the Bulls in ninety eight,
Speaker 1: Nicks and ninety nine, and the rest are all two
Speaker 1: thousand or sooner. So the Pacers last.
Speaker 3: We haven't been a championship in a while.
Speaker 1: The Chicago Bulls ninety eight was last time.
Speaker 3: Yes, the last time they were in something. It was.
Speaker 1: The Pacers are two thousand. The Knicks were ninety nine.
Speaker 1: Let's see, and we said okay and okay, see it
Speaker 1: was twenty twelve, so kind of interesting. Bingo, bingo. I'm
Speaker 1: trying to think where I was gonna go next.
Speaker 2: Oh, I have.
Speaker 1: Absurd but true. Jerry Judy is gonna He's gonna receive
Speaker 1: sixteen million dollars to play in twenty twenty five. That's
Speaker 1: more than all the Packers starting wide receivers and tight
Speaker 1: ends combined.
Speaker 3: Shades.
Speaker 1: Wow, crazy or what? All the Packers starting wide receivers
Speaker 1: and tight ends are scheduled to make fifteen point seven
Speaker 1: to nine million compared to Jerry Judy's making.
Speaker 4: I thought you had breaking news that he was going
Speaker 4: to Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1: Socker.
Speaker 8: Y'all don't need any more wide receivers because you ain't
Speaker 8: got a quarterback that can throw to them.
Speaker 4: It's coming, It's come, It's common. He just hasn't made
Speaker 4: a decision yet.
Speaker 3: Hey, Pensman, I got a better chance to get struck
Speaker 3: by lightning.
Speaker 4: There you go, There you go, there you go.
Speaker 7: But yeah, I mean, isn't that a beautiful thing?
Speaker 4: No?
Speaker 7: You got one one? Well, no, I'm saying one wide.
Speaker 8: Receiver on one team making more than an entire roster
Speaker 8: of wide receivers and tight ends for another one. I
Speaker 8: mean to me, that just screens that Green Bay is
Speaker 8: a well run organization, and they didn't have to overpay people.
Speaker 8: I mean, they they got themselves themselves in a great spot,
Speaker 8: is what that says to me.
Speaker 5: Yeah, what that says to me.
Speaker 1: Is they're hoping and banking that their quarterback does well.
Speaker 1: And because they paid him pretty early, a pretty hefty contract,
Speaker 1: I'm hoping that he proves it and throws to all
Speaker 1: those wide receivers and connect well.
Speaker 8: We talked about that the other day when we talked
Speaker 8: about the top ranked and I said you could, I said,
Speaker 8: Jordan Love will be the next one to see. But
Speaker 8: one of the reasons I said brock Party shouldn't have
Speaker 8: got his money is because he doesn't make those around
Speaker 8: him better. Can Jordan Love be that quarterback to make
Speaker 8: this fifteen million dollar roster of wide receivers and tight ends?
Speaker 8: Can he be the one to make him better? I
Speaker 8: trust Jordan Love more than I do brock Party. I
Speaker 8: don't know about you, guys.
Speaker 5: Yeah, And I think one thing you have to count
Speaker 5: for is that Jordan Love did missing time last year.
Speaker 5: Number one. Number two. Yeah, if Christian Watson who's had
Speaker 5: problems staying healthy, and you've had Romeo Dobbs who's been inconsistent,
Speaker 5: and then and then who's the other receiver the Packers
Speaker 5: have number eleven?
Speaker 8: He makes he makes very little money, so I couldn't
Speaker 8: tell you, Oh, that's funny, that is so funny.
Speaker 5: Oh Jaden Reid. If Jaden has shown flashes, but again
Speaker 5: not enough consistency. So I mean, here's the hope that,
Speaker 5: you know, maybe Matthew Golden can be that next wide
Speaker 5: receiver one one for them first obviously we all know
Speaker 5: first wide receiver the Packers took in the first round
Speaker 5: since two thousand and two. And as a Southern Fried
Speaker 5: gentleman's gentleman said, it just goes to show why the
Speaker 5: Packers are such a model franchise, because it's not like
Speaker 5: the Packers haven't had their fair share of good wide
Speaker 5: receivers over the years. You know, Donald Driver, Greg Jennings,
Speaker 5: Jordan Nelson, DeVante Adams, I believe was what a third
Speaker 5: or a fourth round pick, and then Sterling sharp, Sterling sharp?
Speaker 5: And then now let's see, you know, if Matthew Golden,
Speaker 5: the team's first first round pick in almost twenty five
Speaker 5: years at that position, can be that next good wide
Speaker 5: receiver one. And if Jordan Love can stay healthy, I
Speaker 5: don't see why he can't I mean, I mean he
Speaker 5: I remember he was a really good player at Texas,
Speaker 5: so we'll see what he can.
Speaker 3: Do for them.
Speaker 8: And yeah, I mean, if there's one franchise you can
Speaker 8: trust over the last I don't know what twenty five
Speaker 8: to thirty years. As far as their quarterback plays, the Packers, Yeah,
Speaker 8: I mean they nailed it. Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers behind
Speaker 8: him for a few years. Jordan Love, they got it
Speaker 8: for a still later in the first round, sat behind
Speaker 8: Aaron Rodgers and everybody forgets it always benefits rookie quarterbacks
Speaker 8: if they can sit for a little while.
Speaker 1: So jd I love how you you kind of segued
Speaker 1: that because I have an interesting step. The last time
Speaker 1: each team started a rookie quarterback in an NFL game?
Speaker 1: So let's guess how do I even want to put this? Uh, well,
Speaker 1: let's start with each of your teams. Can you guys
Speaker 1: guess when was the last time your team started a
Speaker 1: rookie quarterback?
Speaker 3: Yes?
Speaker 5: So for me, yes, So for me, it's pretty easy.
Speaker 8: Michael, Yeah, for me it's pretty easy as well. Bryce
Speaker 8: John twenty twenty three.
Speaker 3: I think it was, yeah, two thousand and four.
Speaker 4: Ben Roethlisberger, and then twenty two two, then twenty twenty
Speaker 4: two Kenny Pickett.
Speaker 3: Yeah, kennyt too.
Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, as well as I know, the Steelers have
Speaker 8: started a rookie quarterback way more recently than Ben Roethlisberger.
Speaker 4: I helped you out there be Bennis was.
Speaker 3: One, you know.
Speaker 1: So the Bears started in twenty twenty four, the Broncos
Speaker 1: in twenty four, the Commanders in twenty four, the Saints
Speaker 1: in twenty four, the Falcons and the Patriots all in
Speaker 1: twenty four. In twenty three we had the Vikings, the Browns,
Speaker 1: the Cardinals, the Colts, the Giants, the Panthers, the Raiders,
Speaker 1: the Texans and the Titans. In twenty two it was
Speaker 1: the Steelers, the San Francisco forty nine Ers, the Dolphins,
Speaker 1: and the Ravens. In twenty one it was the Jets
Speaker 1: and the Jaguars. In twenty it was the Eagles, the Bengals,
Speaker 1: the Cowboys and the Chargers. Then in nineteen it was
Speaker 1: the Lions. In eighteen, it was the Buffalo Bills. In seventeen,
Speaker 1: it was the Chiefs. In sixteen it was the Rams,
Speaker 1: fifteen it was the Buccaneers. In twenty twelve it WASWKS
Speaker 1: the Seahawks. Guess when the last time the Green Bay
Speaker 1: Packers started a rookie quarterback?
Speaker 3: Aaron Rogers, Well, guess the year.
Speaker 1: Guess the year.
Speaker 7: I was going to say somewhere in the nineties.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I was going to say somewhere in the late eighties.
Speaker 5: It was it Mkowski.
Speaker 1: It was nineteen eighty seven. Was the last time the
Speaker 1: Packers started a rookie quarterback?
Speaker 8: Why in nineteen eighty seven? Nineteen eighty seven? Defense, that
Speaker 8: was the heck of a year. That was the year
Speaker 8: I was born.
Speaker 7: So y'all stay off of the nineteen eighty seven eight,
Speaker 7: but that is wild yeah, wild.
Speaker 1: Different was the year.
Speaker 3: That was the year I graduated from high school and
Speaker 3: made my evil at the same time.
Speaker 1: So same year, and it was Randy White. Don mccowsey
Speaker 1: was also a member of the team, and he started
Speaker 1: five games. Mkowski was drafted in the tenth round in
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty seven. But it just goes to show you,
Speaker 1: Like JD you were talking about how the Packers they
Speaker 1: draft them and they sit them, They don't normally throw
Speaker 1: them out there like a lot of these other teams do.
Speaker 1: I found that really interesting that the difference between all
Speaker 1: the years, Like, that's just crazy to me. Any topics
Speaker 1: you guys besides my talent. Otherwise, we're gonna get to
Speaker 1: my town. Unless there's a topic you guys are burning
Speaker 1: to talk about.
Speaker 3: I'm ready.
Speaker 1: Okay, my town, let's start with Let's start with Ralph.
Speaker 3: Well, uh, you know, there's a rumor today on the
Speaker 3: on YouTube by one of the podcasts, Steeler Podcasts has
Speaker 3: said that the Steelers signed the Huntley quarterback from Miami,
Speaker 3: which I find very hard to believe because I didn't
Speaker 3: hear anything from my sources. I reached out to them,
Speaker 3: they said no, Uh so, uh that's been squashed and uh,
Speaker 3: you know, so pirates are uh, pirates are off today.
Speaker 3: They play San Diego tomorrow and uh those Penguins were
Speaker 3: still waiting to see what kind of what who their
Speaker 3: head coach is going to be. And we're gonna find
Speaker 3: out what the pitt Panthers are going to do this
Speaker 3: year for football and basketball because both coaches are on
Speaker 3: the walking on eggshells this year, both Jeff Cable and
Speaker 3: At Carducci.
Speaker 1: So okay, JD, what's happening in your tone?
Speaker 7: Oh man, my town?
Speaker 8: I already told you all, I'm down in Charleston, so
Speaker 8: I will say I love the upstate of South Carolina
Speaker 8: way better. I almost got so disrespected last night by
Speaker 8: the humidity in Charleston.
Speaker 7: I almost turned around and went home, that's how bad
Speaker 7: it was. Got out of the car.
Speaker 8: It smacked me in the face and I almost said,
Speaker 8: you know what, humidity and heat, I'm going back to
Speaker 8: the upstate whereas not ninety degrees at eight am or
Speaker 8: nine pm. And so for my town, we're down in Charleston,
Speaker 8: shout out again. Like I said, I alluded to it.
Speaker 8: All of these beautiful Southern Conference venues. Clemson Regional this week,
Speaker 8: I'll be tuned into that top to bottom. That is
Speaker 8: the best NCAA baseball regional as far as talent. You
Speaker 8: got West Virginia a forty plus win team, Kentucky thirty
Speaker 8: something wins in the SEC, great team, and then Clemson
Speaker 8: and you've got USC Upstate who not to brag, I
Speaker 8: played a little baseball for them back in the day.
Speaker 8: So that is the best regional in college baseball. So
Speaker 8: y'all tune in to college baseball and college softball, Women's
Speaker 8: College World Series playoffs for college baseball.
Speaker 7: You won't find anything better.
Speaker 8: And that is what I want people in my town
Speaker 8: and on my Southern Fried Sports and my Bang Bang
Speaker 8: Southern Fried Gang. That's what I want them to know.
Speaker 8: College baseball, college softball, tune in.
Speaker 1: Sameir, what's happening in your town?
Speaker 3: All right?
Speaker 5: So Falcons kicked off OTAs this week. Kirk Cousins was
Speaker 5: not there. That is not a surprise. Kyle Pitts it's
Speaker 5: a big year for him, got in a contract year,
Speaker 5: was not there. He's nursing an injury. Right tackle Kayla
Speaker 5: McGarry was also absent, per reports. Rookie Jaylen Walker has
Speaker 5: stood out. He has received a lot of recognition from
Speaker 5: Raheem Morris and some of his teammates, including Kaden Ellis.
Speaker 5: The Hawks are still in their search for their new
Speaker 5: basketball i mean president of basketball operations. There have been
Speaker 5: recent reports that they may end up not making a
Speaker 5: hire and may just let current general promoted general manager
Speaker 5: owns a sala oversee all basketball operations. And that tells
Speaker 5: me that, you know, there's a good chance that a
Speaker 5: lot of these candidates are don't want the job, which
Speaker 5: is something you definitely don't want to see. But regardless
Speaker 5: of which direction they go. Who they select or promote
Speaker 5: to be this next president of basketball operations is going
Speaker 5: to have a very big say in the direction of
Speaker 5: the franchise. We've been in the plane for four straight years,
Speaker 5: have not won a playoff series since that run of
Speaker 5: the Eastern Conference Finals in twenty twenty one. And you've
Speaker 5: got to make a decision on Trey Young. He is
Speaker 5: entering an opt out year in twenty twenty six, and
Speaker 5: he's made it clear that he wants to stay in Atlanta.
Speaker 5: But at the same time, you know, you've got to
Speaker 5: believe that he wants to win. But you know, I
Speaker 5: have seen, you know, some ideas photed around about the
Speaker 5: Hawks making a big trade for Yiannis and look, you know,
Speaker 5: seeing those graphics and photoshops if Trey Young and Giannis
Speaker 5: together is intriguing, but it's not what they need. You know.
Speaker 5: I look at what Indiana did you get one or
Speaker 5: two guys considered stars, and you've got to put in
Speaker 5: You've got to give them some really good depth pieces
Speaker 5: or guys that are really good at playing their role.
Speaker 5: The Hawks have that foundation with Trey obviously, and if
Speaker 5: he can stay healthy, Jalen Johnson and if he can
Speaker 5: continue to develop Zach or Risha she Dyson Daniels. But
Speaker 5: we need more specifically, we need a center and we
Speaker 5: need a big. We need a guy that's seven foot
Speaker 5: can rebound block shots, because that's what we've been missing
Speaker 5: most through these last four or five years. If you
Speaker 5: ask me now regarding the Braves, they just beat the Phillies.
Speaker 5: They won the second game of the doubleheader today nine
Speaker 5: to three. However, doesn't inspire still doesn't inspire a lot
Speaker 5: of confidence for me in the team as a whole.
Speaker 5: They've lost seven other last eleven. They're ten and a
Speaker 5: half back in the East. They are six games out
Speaker 5: of the wild Card. A lot of concerns around the bullpen,
Speaker 5: specifically recently, Das mel Hernandez Tuesday night walked in a
Speaker 5: run and then today in game one of the doubleheader
Speaker 5: hit Raffee Elmer Shawn, the Phillies backup catcher, to break
Speaker 5: a four to four tie. We end up losing that
Speaker 5: game five to four. I know in the ninth Sean
Speaker 5: Murphy missed a three run home run by a few
Speaker 5: feet and he had a questionable strike three call against
Speaker 5: Steli White with the bases loaded. I thought it was low.
Speaker 5: They did win Game two nine to three to avoid
Speaker 5: the sweep. Got six earned runs off of Zach Wheeler,
Speaker 5: including a two run home run by Ozzie Albis, who
Speaker 5: is currently on a hot streak. He has a fourteen
Speaker 5: game hitting streak and is seven to seventeen since Akunya
Speaker 5: came back last Friday. But as I said earlier, the
Speaker 5: win doesn't really lessen any of the concerns. I think
Speaker 5: twelve or thirteen of their losses consecutively, so their last
Speaker 5: twelve or thirteen losses have come by one or two runs,
Speaker 5: and it just comes down to the fact that they
Speaker 5: haven't been a clutch team. They have not been able
Speaker 5: to come up with big hits when it's mattered, and
Speaker 5: that's the frustrating part. Also another bullpen concern Rice el Iglesias.
Speaker 5: He struggled a lot this season. He's blown three saves
Speaker 5: that era is pushing six, and even tonight in a
Speaker 5: low leverage scenario, came in the game. We were up
Speaker 5: nine to two, a lot of two hits in a run.
Speaker 5: He almost allowed a home running at the end Alex Boom,
Speaker 5: but Michael Harris made a nice catch at the wall
Speaker 5: to end the game. But still, we are headed back
Speaker 5: to Atlanta, We've got a home stretch against Arizona and
Speaker 5: Boston coming up, and just still, there are a lot
Speaker 5: of concerns about this team. The clutch, hitting the bullpen,
Speaker 5: and then your rotation just took another blow.
Speaker 3: A J.
Speaker 5: Smith Shaver was pitched through about two and a half
Speaker 5: innings until he got hit by a comebacker, and then
Speaker 5: he also had a pop in his elbow, which is
Speaker 5: never good news. The worst kiss scenario is looking like
Speaker 5: it might be a Tommy John, which is very unfortunate.
Speaker 5: He was really starting to come into his own. But again,
Speaker 5: just another blow in a season that's been full of them.
Speaker 5: And I know, after a lot of losses, I've seen
Speaker 5: a lot of Braves fans on Twitter saying, you know,
Speaker 5: I think we need to fire a snicker. We need
Speaker 5: to fire Tim Hyers, the hitting coach. I just feel
Speaker 5: like at a certain point you've got to look at
Speaker 5: the players. The players play at the end of the day.
Speaker 5: I mean, a new manager is not going to help
Speaker 5: Mattleson hit with the bases voted. A new manager is
Speaker 5: not going to stop Daves beel Hernandez from walking people
Speaker 5: or stop Ry Silaguasi's from giving up home runs. So
Speaker 5: at the end of the day, it's up to the players.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I blame I blame Alex Santopolos.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, like like, the bullpen has always been
Speaker 5: an early offseason priority for Double A, and for one
Speaker 5: reason or another, you saw joean minn Az go down
Speaker 5: for the season, you saw j Minner leave, and for
Speaker 5: one reason or another, you decided not to address the bullpen.
Speaker 5: And now and we need another outfield bat if you
Speaker 5: ask me. And I like Nick Allen's glove, but we
Speaker 5: can't have a short stop that that that can't get
Speaker 5: it done to the plate. And ultimately, as you said,
Speaker 5: it starts with Alex. People are blaming snit, but number one,
Speaker 5: the players play number two. We still have a lot
Speaker 5: of holes in this roster that weren't addressed in the offseason.
Speaker 1: Okay, Pensman, what's happening in your town?
Speaker 4: Well, I just want to answer this question. If who's
Speaker 4: the Steelers QB one's Rudolph. If if Rogers does sign,
Speaker 4: it will be Rogers. If kirk Cousins does sign that
Speaker 4: somebody are once so bad, it will probably be kirk Cousins.
Speaker 4: But right now, at the current roster, it is going
Speaker 4: to be Mason Rudolph as we speak. So with that,
Speaker 4: what's happening in my town. Mitch Love is a huge
Speaker 4: candidate for the Pittsburgh Penguins. DJ Smith is another one.
Speaker 4: So go through a bunch of interviews, we'll see what happens.
Speaker 4: We'll see who's gonna be the next coach of the
Speaker 4: Pittsburgh Penguins. And that's what's happening.
Speaker 5: In my town.
Speaker 3: Okay, So.
Speaker 1: Obviously we've already talked about the Florida Panthers are in
Speaker 1: the Stanley Cup Finals. That's pretty much the town that
Speaker 1: I currently live. In town that I'm from, obviously, I
Speaker 1: talk a lot about it. Wisconsin. The Brewers are like
Speaker 1: six and a half back of the Cubs. The Cubs
Speaker 1: are having a really good year. Brewers not so much.
Speaker 1: Even though they just took they just swept the series
Speaker 1: against Boston Red Sox, so that was good. But they
Speaker 1: took two of the games went to extra innings and
Speaker 1: they took both of them.
Speaker 4: So but.
Speaker 1: I have to do a shout out today. Wisconsin officially
Speaker 1: became the thirtieth state in the United States on May
Speaker 1: twenty ninth, eighteen forty, So happy birthday to the State
Speaker 1: of Wisconsin Operating. It's one hundred and seventy seventh birthday today,
Speaker 1: and that's what I've got. So I'm gonna quick do
Speaker 1: my station break, which I didn't do earlier, So let
Speaker 1: me quick. Scott, who normally does most, who hosts most
Speaker 1: of our shows on the self Florida Tribune Network, wrote
Speaker 1: a book, Lessons from the Microphone, Tuning into the Enduring
Speaker 1: Wisdom of Visionary Leaders. Talks about his forty plus years
Speaker 1: in the industry and how it has evolved in the industry.
Speaker 1: The picture of him and a young Muhammad Ali and
Speaker 1: him and a young Tamula Sorda. It's available on Amazon,
Speaker 1: Burns and Noble, Kindle, Google, and Apple Books. Go get
Speaker 1: your coffee today, and then there's also a link on
Speaker 1: our website www dot South Florida Tribune dot com. If
Speaker 1: you like to listen to podcasts, you can find us
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts. The red subscribe what in
Speaker 1: that lower right hand corner. Honestly, I don't know why
Speaker 1: you wouldn't have already subscribed to us, But if you
Speaker 1: see it, then click it because that means you have it,
Speaker 1: So do it today and go click everybody's YouTube channel
Speaker 1: that's on here be subscribe to everybody for us. And
Speaker 1: then if you want to advertise or sponsor a show,
Speaker 1: you can call Scott nine five four three oh four
Speaker 1: four nine four one. If you want to be a
Speaker 1: guests on the show, or if you have topic ideas
Speaker 1: that you'd like us to discuss on a show, you
Speaker 1: can always email us at South Florida Tribune at gmail
Speaker 1: dot com. Well, guys, we're gonna go around the horn.
Speaker 1: Let everybody know how they can find you as well.
Speaker 1: My awesome panelists. Tonight, JD will start with you.
Speaker 7: All right, good deal. I gotta I gotta run on
Speaker 7: out of here.
Speaker 8: I don't I think I'm echoing now a little bit,
Speaker 8: my bad, but yeah, I'm gonna run on out.
Speaker 7: Y'all follow me at j D Wyatt Zero's on X.
Speaker 7: You can find me at Southern Sports JD on YouTube.
Speaker 8: Well, welcome any and all conversation, and y'all be blessed,
Speaker 8: not stressed, and just be kind to one another and.
Speaker 7: Don't complain about sports. Let's have fun with it. Good night, everybody,
Speaker 7: enjoy your wedding. Thank you, y'all, have a go and
Speaker 7: be blessed.
Speaker 1: Thanks you too, Samir. How can people find you?
Speaker 5: You can find me on x at atl Underscore Samir
Speaker 5: twenty four to oh one. I post a lot of
Speaker 5: comments here and a lot of my articles on there,
Speaker 5: so that's where you'll be able to find me. In
Speaker 5: My Instagram page is Samir dot sideline net. That's where
Speaker 5: I post a lot of clips of my content as well, and.
Speaker 1: Of course they can always find you here on Thursday nights.
Speaker 5: Yep.
Speaker 1: Awesome, awesome, Ralph. How can people find you?
Speaker 3: YouTube? Facebook, Twitter, X platform Please follow me on Twitter.
Speaker 3: I'd like to get the six hundred by July. I'm
Speaker 3: at three o eight right now. And also don't forget
Speaker 3: to subscribe to my YouTube channel, and don't forget on
Speaker 3: Saturdays nine am the Sports Wrap Show with me, Ralph Williams,
Speaker 3: Scott Morgan, roth Or Candy Ebling and Leo Haggerty from
Speaker 3: amp up Sports. We're on YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, Twitter, X
Speaker 3: platforms and now on kick as well and soon to
Speaker 3: be on your wor Cool network. I am going to
Speaker 3: be getting on the phone with their tech people because
Speaker 3: we're having some issues trying to get me on the
Speaker 3: air here, and I'll be on the phone with their
Speaker 3: tech person tomorrow, so that's coming soon as well. And
Speaker 3: don't forget my radio shows on Saturday as well, eight
Speaker 3: am to nine am, the Ralph Williams Tony Moreno Show
Speaker 3: on twelve fifty am The Answer ninety two point five
Speaker 3: on the FM dial in Pittsburgh, or if you live
Speaker 3: across the country or around the world, you can go
Speaker 3: on twelve fifty the Answer pgh dot com or Google
Speaker 3: school down radio station's USA to where it says twelve
Speaker 3: to fifty am the answer, Push the button the arrow
Speaker 3: and you are on the air to listen to the
Speaker 3: show as well. Also two pm Sports Corner Radio show
Speaker 3: this Saturday. We are going to be talking about what
Speaker 3: can be done in our opinion on what can be
Speaker 3: done to fix the Steelers, the Penguins and the Pirates,
Speaker 3: and the pitt Panthers athletics, the football team and the
Speaker 3: men's basketball team. That's with me, Ralph Williams, Smoking, Jim Fraser,
Speaker 3: Luthor Depri and the Claudio Rosano. That's it for me.
Speaker 3: That's how you can get a hold of me. Please
Speaker 3: subscribe and please follow me on.
Speaker 1: Twitter okay at Pensman. How can people find you?
Speaker 4: You can find me on YouTube at pens with Sports.
Speaker 4: I have eight hundred and seven subscribers. Help me get
Speaker 4: to that thousand mark. We're almost there. I want to
Speaker 4: hit there before football starts because I got a lot
Speaker 4: of Steelers content coming. You can find me on Twitter
Speaker 4: on Pensman Sports, you can keep me on discord at
Speaker 4: Pensman Sports, and you can find me on Twitch at
Speaker 4: Pensman Sports.
Speaker 1: Seven awesome, awesome show. Guys, Thanks for being here. Thanks
Speaker 1: for everybody that was in the chat. We appreciate you
Speaker 1: staying up a little bit later than usual for us.
Speaker 1: We hope you all have a great week and we'll
Speaker 1: see you next time.