Welcome to the second edition of The Best of Empty the Bench for 2023! This week, hosts Nick Morgasen & Tom Albano will take a look back at the year that was 2023 in sports! We’ll be showcasing some of the funniest, best, and most important clips from the year’s topics discussed on episodes of Empty the Bench during the year!
This will cover the second half of 2023 (July-December). To see Part 1 (January-June), click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfn8v6MkUo8
Topics discussed in this part include:
– The major hazing allegations that took over Northwestern (with special guests Bradley Locker of Inside NU & Zain Bando, co-host of The MMA Outsiders & Northwestern journalism alumnus)
– The ESPN layoffs (with special guest AJ Perez of Front Office Sports)
– Damian Lillard trade rumors, ending with him being traded to Bucks
– Depressed RB market
– Jim Irsay vs. Jonathan Taylor
– Allegations against Wander Franco & Josh Giddey
– James Harden vs. Daryl Morey ending in Harden being traded to Clippers
– Injuries aplenty to NFL QBs
– Juan Soto traded to Yankees
– Shohei Ohtani signs record deal with Dodgers
– AND MORE
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#BestOf2023 #sports #podcast
All right welcome back it’s another edition of beny the bench 2023 Tombo here along with Nick morgon as always let’s get everything out of the way make sure you hit that like button subscribe hit that notification Bell so you get notified of everything here at the EMP the bench Network make
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Our own social medias at n Morganson radio and at Thomas J Albano respectively all right a lot that we got to get into here with the best of empty the bench 2023 because the first half of the year was fun was a little bit but now things
Really kicked off a notch when we started from July yeah this was an interesting second half of the year we had some great interviews along the way um obviously it started in July uh Dame Lillard being traded one of the biggest trades that was announced in the NBA obviously was a Portland
Trailblazer for his whole career and he wasn’t like a waves like a blowing the waves like James Harden is which we’ll get to later on I think Dame just it was time he needed to go to a playoff team that was going to win but nobody nobody expected him to end up in
Milwaukee with gianis no Absolut absolutely not I mean we had this little debate about will he or won’t he and we’ll get into the we’ll get into the fact that he did get traded later on in another segment here on the uh best event to the
Bench but our first clip for at least the July portion is US debating about will he actually be traded to the Miami Heat because there was all that talk about the heat Dame Lillard and his agent obviously throwing out those little hints that they would only accept
The heat Dam lard making those social media comments like there was on Instagram live about joining Miami the Miami music the Miami music right he got the big no no from the NBA well and for people who don’t who don’t 100% understand that in the NBA Circle the
NBA had to get step in because he basically his agent was telling other teams like don’t trade for me I won’t accept it so basically he was cornering the market on purpose which is a no no in the NBA I mean I mean if we want to
Talk about the NBA collusion that’s a whole other debate uh but regardless well we start things off talking about Dame Lillard and will he or won’t be tra Miami Heat and then we get into a couple of other big stories which involves two guests that we had on the show one being
AJ Perez of front off the sports who we’ve had at least like two or three times now on more yeah you would even more yeah uh he’s been a recurring name that’s appeared on on our show for couple years now and we were with him because ESPN had just went through a
Whole big section of layoffs and this is not the first time they had uh 300 layoffs quite a few years ago we covered that story when it broke then they it happened again and we’re not talking about behind the scenes the original 300 was behind the scenes this was actual
Big name tent now what people don’t understand and that’s why I asked AJ the question of is this just a tax write off because that’s essentially what it was all these Talent are getting paid it’s just the earlier they do it the bigger the tax break they get from writing off
Against it Jeff Van Gundy Susie colber Jaylen Gman Kean Johnson well Nick the eclips that we have here are going to focus on well on your end the radio end about it seems like ESPN and radio is hitting the uh well you know what if it wasn’t dead already it’s practically
Dead at this point and then for me on the TV and you know going on something which we learned when we took that course ago when we read that book about ESPN we always mention the book uh you know that content over commentators they don’t care who’s in the booth as long as
They have the content well the one debate I would make is so like a Joe Buck in the NFL Booth might make a difference or um Mike Breen who does even though even though he does the Knicks locally for MSG he does the national test until they got rid of Mark
Jackson and Jeff in Gundy which was a big mistake by the NBA and they replaced it now I like uh uh oh why am I forgetting her name well sudden Burke Doris Burke but I don’t like Doc Rivers in the booth I at all like I don’t want
To hear the like his voice like you can’t it sounds like he’s like he has no voice like it’s kind of nuts but we get into it with AJ Perez TV radio I basically had a nerding out session on top of it um then we get yeah then we get into the whole
Northwestern investigation and when we say investigation I think that’s putting it lightly right yeah I mean all the drama that happened there yeah with the hazing controversy who was hazed you know was it just players or more than players how many did Gerald actually know did he fail to report and all the
The firing that happened and then Pat fiter all making that statement and then he shed the the school right so was just never ending drama with that so we got uh so actually we had a couple I guess I should say because the real person we
Had to guess with was Bradley Locker the co-editor-in-chief of inside and you one of the local Outlets over there atern and by the way like everyone’s going to say that um what is his name Adam ridberg for ESPN or like they broke the story so to speak I I would actually I
Would give Bradley a bunch of credit because he was on the inside of the walls uh following this story like people are not giving him enough credit for the amount of investigative hard work and you know this like I know broadcasting radio you know journalism you know the amount of work that it
Takes to do an investigative story on the journalism side people think it’s just like oh go talk to people interview people write a story no you got to get that all that stuff sourced and confirmed and like that’s a lot of work a lot of work but it it and I think like
He got picked up by a few websites now like that story put him on the map like big time right and then Zan Bando my co-host on the MMA Outsiders as a Northwestern alumnus because he went to grad school there he also joined in to discuss the M yeah
This was a it was a unique story to say the least and we spent I think we spent quite a few weeks because there was so many headlines coming out of it you know there was points where it’s just us talking then us talking with Bradley and then some follow-up stories that was
Just us so Northwestern one of the bigger stories that we had during this year other stories that we kind of talked about in the July and August portion uh did depress running back Market that Zoom call that all the running backs had where shwon Barkley leaving it right uh s but you had
Several running backs who were kind of uh but let let’s just say the running back position in general was starting to fight against uh the NFL we have Dan Snider selling the Washington Commanders H Allelujah by the way even though like we’re all happy about that talk about
The insane return right I think that was a story of the year which we didn’t really have a chance to put on this list owners who spent this much money and made this much money I think we do talk about it in that clip though uh the whole debacle that starts between Jim
Merc and Jonathan Taylor as part of the the Press running back Market by the way people people with glass houses should not throw stones that’s the B the best way I can put Jim Mera uh other quick things just to note the Met deadline the controversy of the Oriol suspending
Their announcer kin Brown for stating facts that that ownership group is a is a joke and that’s why I think they I think Karma came back and got them in the playoffs to be honest uh the start the whole conference realignment where we talked about the end of the Pack 12
And considering uh Nick that as of the day we’re recording this de which is December 27 seconds uh Florida state is now going to be leaving ACC and it’s being reported we don’t know exactly as of yet but there’s a huge lawsuit going down between uh FSU suing
The ACC well we’ll get we’ll get you more of that the New Year considering what we talked about I don’t think we talk about considering what we talked about a couple ago Nick about you know Florida State missing out and the whole idea of the power five and now it’s even
More restrict it’s just going to get worse from here here it’s it’s all about the money but you’re turning you’re basically about to turn college sports I mean we’ve already turned it into professional sports but it’s like nil no what no no no what I’m talking about is that the lower conferences are
Starting to not matter and now that’s stretching even to the lower part of the power conferences it’s like soon it’s like there’s only going to be like two or three conferences at this rate we’re going it’s basically one two and three and everybody else like that’s but that’s been college
Football for years they just didn’t want to admit it to themselves why do you now it’s a reality why do you think the large teams spend money to put crappy teams on their schedule even though it really doesn’t help them with the college committee and the rankings but
They want wins even though they’re paying these teams like $40 million uh the start of the whole James Harden Daryl Mory throw down I mean I shouldn’t even say start this is bad BL that’s been going on for years but it really hit a stride and then of course is
AAR oh that’ll live in infamy forever though that was obviously James Harden in China with was it Nike or Reebok I think it was reuk actually um basically he was talking to a whole group in chy to basically say Daryl m is a liar because he wouldn’t give him the
Contract that he supposedly was promised now we all know how the business works just because you’re promised until you sign your name on the dotted line and you shake hands nothing is official so James Horton’s a baby and then wander Franco this and I don’t know if you
Agree with me or not this got to the level a little bit of Kaepernick when it like the amount of media attention it got I if I can agree only because I feel like wander the coppernick story uh was a little bit more than just the sport and it went over to mainstream
Political news this didn’t get to that level but but the way that it took over social media was even even with a rumor before any of the reports were officially were out by the mainstream media the the news kind of just completely shattered uh X if you
Remember correctly it was was a it was a foreign language post if you remember I forgot if it was a if it was the girl who was reporting or the family I think it was the family reporting that they supposedly okayed it because technically it was
Underage and like once it broke then we saw MLB was not reacting to it right away they didn’t know what to do good old Rob Manfred um and then we finally see Tampa Bay starting to remove the posters but they weren’t saying he was off the team if you remember that right now
Technically he’s not on the restricted list right now but that’s but that’s because the season’s over there is no it’s like the injured list where it goes away once the season ends the assumption is that once spring training gets back up and going he’s gonna go back on the
Restriced list people forget that the Rays bought out all his arbitration years and gave him a large deal people forget that that’s a that yeah and that’s going to be a contract that you know if the worst comes to the worst like uh what was reported which we talk
About wander Franco very unlikely to play be again I have to double check who was the original reporter on that on which story the Franco Story the one very unlikely to play an MLB again oh that was the guy that retweeted the thing that we put out yeah
I’m Hector Gomez Hector Gomez he and he’s huge like in that circle like he broke that story like right away like and he hasn’t played since so obviously he must know something yeah so take a look we’ll come back and we’ll talk about the September and October portion of this best
Of the tribl is trying to bring pieces in they drift scoot Henderson uh they’re now full their roster full of guards which is another problem and now we come to the report from Chris Haynes uh that Damen Lillard is interested in a move to the Heat and Lillard and Trailblazers GM dispute
Report well we’ve heard this for the last three years four years make up your mind please I will not believe Damen Lillard is interested in another team or other team is interest I’m not going to believe any of that you know when I’m going to be you know what I’m going to
Believe that when Damen L is in another uniform because it feels like at this point because I mean it was just not that long ago that Damen Lillard said it seemed gave some sort of indication that he was happy being in Portland and wanted to be a Trailblazer for life I
Mean they have Jimmy Butler they have bio I me they have a good team they have a good team I think Damen lard it’s going to be a fantastic addition but I I but that means there’s going to have to be some trading and I just don’t know
And Lillard himself along with the general manager of the Trailblazers disputed Chris haynes’s report and said uh no that’s not true well no and then the GM doubled down on it saying we’re trying to build a championship around a championship around Lillard you want to know what I thought when I heard That this jym do [ __ ] this team is not going anywhere and the few times that they were the number one seed they got upset once was reported you know a couple weeks ago that that that they’re getting rid of the morning show and that was that was that that that was uh Kean
That was Kellerman and Jay Williams um and uh you know once we heard of those Rumblings there’s yeah it was I mean look at look at back when ESPN Radio launch with Tony Bruno and all his huge host you know back when I was in college
That’s how old I am uh so that so it it was such a beacon back then and it’s kind of you know we saw ESP and magazine go away I think we’re seeing ESP and radio go the same way it’s sad I think uh you know while they’re while their
Podcasts I’m are sure doing well I think ESP and radio I think it’s they’re trying to figure out you know what’s going to work there and I think this the the cost cutting we’ve seen you know have has hit radio um you know and all
Obious a lot of people we don’t you know people don’t know a lot of people behind the scenes production people uh when when shows get canceled as a matter of radio or TV a lot of people in who who work in production also lose their jobs
And so that’s you know that wasn’t part of this 20 on air uh you know Talent list that was let go today but there’s they’ve been doing that for for for a few years now Jeff and gy being like go was like the biggest name early in the
Day and um I didn’t see that one coming that was not one of the names that I that I had uh I I I had heard you know there been there been names thought about for for many weeks uh that’s kind of you know he’s a you know lead analyst
During cover NBA Finals it’s like you know you think that he would uh you know that he be safe but no and he he’s greated his job I think there a lot of the reaction I saw today uh in social media was like jeffan Gundy obviously I
Think people are going have you know said they miss them and I think Steve Young’s up there too as well and it’s just it’s you know people are you know they’re GNA move on with other Talent there’s ESPN still has a deep roster of talent um I think we’re going to see a
Bigger role for mina KES and some others uh Doris Burke on the NBA side you know stepping up I think we we really don’t know how it’s going to shake out but they do still have a deep roster of talent um and I think a lot of some of
The names we we didn’t see today possibly it could have been you know there a lot of behind the scenes renegotiating contracts I I I’ve talked to one uh you know one person who I had on the list and uh and that person was like yeah well you know we’ll see or
I’m trying to renegotiate this was a lot of people who had years left on their needles um you know so that so that’s going to be you know they have to you know eat a lot of that depending on the contract language a lot of you know they
Have to eat a lot of that money I’m sure there’s a bio in some of these contracts as well that you know that that’ll save them money but you’re also losing talent I mean as there’s we see other layoffs where people can’t work for a until their contract’s over you know it’s kind
Of like a it’s almost like a now it’s like I wouldn’t say it’s an accounting gimmick it’s the way corporations work he has responsibility to know what was happening in his program and I believe President schill also said the same thing in in his statement Regarding why
F was fired um and regarding the shre clap the former player that I talked to said that he saw the shre clap by Fitz sh multiple times I believe he said it happened actually frequently um that it was kind of a long slow clap over one’s
Head he the player did say that he was unsure uh I guess how Fitz was using it in terms of whether it was going to signify to a player that he was going to be involved in running but whether or not the player told me he did uh see it
Occur multiple times which again corroborates what um the initial reports were from the daily Northwestern so um again I think I think it’s pretty clear it’s some capacity that Fitzgerald was aware of what was happening whether or not one wants to believe the Shrek clap allegations but the bottom line is that
He again oversaw every single aspect of Northwestern football he had a responsibility to know what was happening in his own locker room even outside of the program and especially for fostering a a workplace environment in which players felt comfortable doing this with one another and I think that’s
The bottom line and I think that’s what some people are failing to understand that even if F Sherl didn’t know he needed to have known we did not hear anything on the media side uh really until the investigation summary was released we had no idea that the
Punishment was going to be two weeks for Fitz Trail nor the conclusions what they were going to be that hazing was found to have occurred in the program but notably that Fitz tril did not know he had an opportunity to know as effectively what Maggie hickey the lead investigator determined and again there
Was radio Silence from the time this investigation started in December we didn’t even know it was occurring until January had no idea the results were going to be announced in in early July and then I think everything really opened in terms of the floodgates when the daily northwestern’s groundbreaking
Story which uh featured a I believe two former players one of whom was The Whistleblower just detailing um again the very graphic and severe nature of these allegations of hazing which you guys kind of outlined already and then I think additional reporting kept coming in we heard from multiple former
Staffers um believe those was Wildcat report talk to multiple former staffers confirming these behaviors had occurred I heard from multiple former players that said that uh they saw these behaviors and one even told me that this was happening as early as the time he was there and he grad in 2007 and then
Of course there was additional reporting which factored in the element of racism which my co-editor and chief igy ding spoke to a player about that um The Daily Northwestern had a story about that and um I think that’s kind of the the timeline and how it was accelerated
Starting on Saturday with the daily Northwestern and then more players certainly felt comfortable um Coming forward and very grateful to those players that were courageous enough to speak up and share their stories because of course it’s not an easy thing to do especially with a coach who was as
Beloved as Fitzgerald grg was hired in May 2021 after another very controversial hiring process involving scandals and and harassment for Mike poisy who was in line to be the next athletic director had been hired and had to step down very shortly thereafter because of his um knowing of and
Basically dismissing of claims of sexual harassment from Northwestern cheerleaders um so that hire was already lied in controversy um and I think in grags two years at the school of course there has been success with women’s sports lacrosse field hockey winning National um but when you consider the fact that
He likely enabled coaches to create as you guys mentioned toxic abusive cultures and not just one sport but two that are very notable football of course being the most prominent and revenue driving it definitely makes one wonder how much grg knew why he was not stepping in or or checking in um with
Players on both sides of the programs involved and apparently according to 670 The Score um when grg conducted at the HR investigation um regarding Jim Foster he did not speak to any players whatsoever and again that it makes one just curious why that was the case because you would figure the players
Would have the most up toate pertinent information about the situation so lots of questions swirling about grg and of course there is a question whether or not he’s going to remain as the ad too Pat’s Fitzgerald originally was not going to be fired he was suspended for
Two weeks unpaid yeah unpaid yes uh the coach said he was quote very discip pointed and was quote not aware of the alleged incidence which again goes goes over to the again why you make the paternal uh argument comparison should say yeah I I I mean there’s a lot of
Problems here one is again that Fitzgerald is going to try to play the victim and say I didn’t know anything now here’s the problem we don’t know what he exactly knows we don’t know not that it matters if he knew anything he should have been fired and if he and by
The way I was talking to some people about this story too because the president needs to be held accountable also oh yeah well do you say that and listen to this okay so first of all this is the other part I was referring to before the university said in the
Executive summary it didn’t find sufficient evidence to conclude that the coaching staff knew about ongoing hazing activity but said quote there had been significant opportunities to discover and Report the Hazen conduct ultimately what it goes down to is which even the president uh Michael shill says in his statement after the firing that
Ultimately Coach Fitzgerald is responsible for what goes on in that program ignorance or not agree but the president needs to be held accountable for not because I guarantee I guarantee these things were going on a lot longer than we knew it’s funny how that works right I mean he buys in and
Then he’s an [ __ ] but he walks away with $6 billion so he’s fined 60 million for the cheerleader sexual harassment SC the largest fine in NFL history by the way yes largest find in NFL history but at the same time I’m still gonna call it some sort of slap because look he gets
Finded he you know that’s like 1% of his net worth it’s not much at this so basically right everything that he has done all the lines he has crossed and you know you harass all these women you basically you know what I’ll just flat
Out use the ter you pimp them out to all your boosters and supporters and look what happens you just get fine $60 million it is the return of two checks Goodell yeah I mean he doesn’t care six billion dollars later he’s uh basically go hide under a rock for the rest of his
Life yeah Roger Gil strikes again I mean he doesn’t care he want I by the way we have to give Roger Goodell some credit yeah because you know what and and and the vote to uh transition from uh Snider to Harris was a unanimous vote I think
At this point I’m willing to take the 60 million doll find and the little slap on the wrist for the sake of he has sold the group and he is out of our heads forever if you look at the running backs it’s like a car crash waiting to happen
Every time they run into the pile like and I hate to say that but it’s true it’s the most uh physically crushing uh position out of everything here’s the thing on one hand I feel bad because you think about the running backs like think about those names that were in the zoom
Call now obviously Christian mcaffry has got his contract so does Nick chub so does Nick chup but you think about the saquan Barkley you think about I know Austin Eckler agreed to certain terms like he got a little extra pay but he’ll it’ll be $2 million of incentives and
Then he gets to be a free agent next season but still you got to feel bad feel like maybe he’s a little underpaid saquan Barkley uh Josh Jacobs like uh Tony per Tony per didn’t get a deal he got to play Under the tag he was happy
To take the tag because he knew that his money and his depressing Market was going to go down my favorite YouTuber in tree before and I think honestly he has a point when and this is something that I mentioned to you in our pre-show meeting part of the problem is the days
The Bel bcow back seem to be over and the days and the day of the pocket passer quarterback is over look at Lamar Jackson we bring up the Giants in bar look at Daniel Jones they guys who scramble out of the pocket and are willing to take the uh abuse yeah take
The abuse and go for it themselves I think the example I used to you was Eli Manning and subed feet like you’re not going to see that anymore if you have a quarterback that’s subed feet and can’t even move a little you’re not going to get drafted out out into the NFL anymore
Because you need guys that can move you mentioned before like Lamar or even Patrick Mahomes can move his feet even that’s not his game but he can do it shut the program down the sports Department department needs to be shut down I don’t understand what these colleges do not understand it’s got to
Go and be shut down this is unbelievable I mean this situation has G like I said gone from bad to worse to horrifying now we’re getting accusations from coaches on top of players we’re getting lawsuits all over the place shut it down and yet shill and Greg are still here yes shill
And Greg I cannot believe that President chill at Northwestern actually had the had the C is to come out and make a statement and say I still support Greg I still support our current athletic director and I am not going to fire so you support hazing and sexual abuse
Allegations is basically what he’s saying you know the volleyballer who’s suing regardless of what the outcome is has a point in that the University’s response to these hazing allegations be it in volleyball or in the football program the baseball that the toxic culture that has been developed at this University
Is just too much basically you are right in saying that maybe it is best for the sake of this program and it’s reputation that there is no 2023 2024 athletic season the problem you’re going to have and Bradley talked talked about this with us a couple weeks ago is that
They’re a big 10 School the Big 10 the NCAA especially with one of their babies in the Big 10 are not going to see a program shut down I understand what they’re trying to do because they want to rebuild their farm system however what baffles me was eppler’s comments to
Max Scherzer where according to Scherzer basically eer told them we’re not even going to look at 2024 we’re going to look at 25 and 26 the kind of return you got especially for all the money that you threw around willing to pay for people into next year like sherzer and
You’re only going to get a few prospects you could just basically go buy the free AG AG with all the money you have you know why they’re punting because even though Cohen has all that money he still has to pay all that money that’s left over from all these contracts so I guess
He’s trying to get the money off the books and that’s why Epler was saying hey we’re punting on at least 24 because we don’t have the room Jim mer let’s put it this way he shouldn’t be throwing stones at glass houses because of his own situation him and his
DUIs and and his he’s not the uh let’s see what’s the best word I can use uh character he’s not the best of character I can’t take anything back that I said last week yeah the running back Market is depressed the days of the
Cowb of the cow are done the days of the of the pocket passing quarterback exclusively are done that being said I feel like the Colts have more to lose without Jan Taylor then the Giants did without saquon Barkley then the um Raiders do ERS do without uh Josh
Jacobs that more than maybe the Chargers do without Austin Eckler because Jonathan Taylor by far is the best player on that Colts team agreed and and it you know like I said this whole Colts team is so young and developing it’s going to take a couple of years for them
As trash as their division is you’re the Colts you need to continue to develop and if you want a fighting shot you really think you have a fighting shot you need a guy like Jonathan Taylor so first of all I don’t think the Colts are
A good team let’s let’s just be real I mean and like anyone who’s is Jonathan would Jonathan Taylor make them a presentable team that could go for a playoff spot yes they would be presentable that’s the word I would use I wouldn’t say that they you have it’s
Like what I would when I always defended Barkley for years is that football is part business and you need that star Jonathan Taylor is that star they’re talking about how it makes their their TV contract because technically I I was reading ACC has a TV contract through
2037 yeah but I think you and I are going to get to the same point and that some of these conferences now how conferences are always in regions and now it’s all scattered all over the United States we’re talking about cross country trips if K Stanford ended up in
The ACC that’s what would happen and you’re GNA put the burden on these students now let me be careful with that because what’s burden on the students with nil when they’re getting paid anyway okay I’m glad you brought that up because here’s the thing and the thing that I’m always concerned about with
These alignments and it was my concern also with Vil’s and pay for these athletes you know we’re always looking at it in the context of football because football is the sport that brings in all the revenue and basketball as well but think about this with football it’s only
One game a week one road trip that you got to make a week what about the baseball and softball team who got to play all over who have road trips you know throughout the months of March and April and May what about you know the soccer teams who have to make some road
Trips I’m like trying to think of all the different sport what about say hockey and the road trip sometimes they’ll have to make I mean they’re not thinking of it that way unfortunately they’re thinking I know but I’m saying like usually when you had to deal with
Like I’ll give you an example with the school that I went to Ryder and the one that we shared with HRA that you know when it’s very cold up here obviously they always played down in the South and around the country in March when the in places where the weather was warmer now
You’re talking about late March early April for those baseball and softball teams when they’re playing within their conferences the opponents they do have to play you know you had the advantage of being in the region now there’s a chance you’ll have to go across the country and back yeah you’re talking
About you know you can say oh but they got the Nils and such you know yeah that’s and that’s good and maybe with the football but what about the guys in the sports that have less Revenue like that’s really unfair on them okay I I’m sure you’ve heard me say this before and
I’m gonna say it again they don’t care all they care about is one thing you and I watched this video 10 times waiting for some kind of dark uh decrepid thing to be said there was not one horrible thing said in what he said because there was nothing there was
Nothing offensive said he was just daating fact and somebody in the Orioles organization whether it be in the front office or good old John Angelos who’s the day-to-day operator of the team or hell maybe even the 90s something year old Peter Angelos said something from said something to J like basically
Somebody had a hisy bit somebody had a temper chance from like a little two-year old and basically got Kevin thrown thrown off of the air and by the way it wasn’t even criticism it was that the last couple years they had struggled a drop and that this year they have done
So much better like I said to the point where now they and the rays are competing for the top spot in the American League East that they managed to close the gap on you know at when the Rays went on that early stretch during the opening season those winning ways we
Said okay nobody’s going to catch the Rays that it’s the division to the win it’s their division to win and now all of a sudden the Orioles have now swooped in and now we got a two team Race he was praising the team and he got to spended
Indefinitely for it I mean this is what I like to call the politics of sports where basically an owner is mad because he doesn’t like what is being said about his team even though he said nothing negative about the team those Graphics are probably made an hour to two hours
In advance if and I agreed with you if you’re going to go after the broadcaster who’s on TV and you’re going to suspend him you got to suspend the color person you got to suspend the the D director the AP the broadcasting truck you might as well suspend everybody on massin if
That’s the case you you might as well just get interns to run your broadcast for a week or something like that people are concerned and by the way everyone should be concerned it doesn’t matter what country you’re in this is morally we talk about this all the time morally
And ethically wrong in every way shape or form I don’t care who you are I don’t care if people are going to say like for older relationships to say age is only a number no it’s not AG is only a number this is a grooming situation this is
Also not the first time this season that we’ve had a controversy involving wander Franco you think back to I think it was June yeah a couple months ago at least when Kevin cash benched him for two games uh supposedly it was due to some sort of management issue anger issue
Yeah supposedly some sort of anger issue locker room issue and basically saying that Wanda Franco needed to basically be a better teammate now granted a locker room issue where you’re bench for a game or two and this are two different completely things it’s apples and oranges I’m just saying that it’s not
The first time this season that wand Franco’s name has popped up and not a good light the poll point to the recent development is it’s now not one allegation there’s a second allegation here so the fact that we’ve got this second allegation now Spurs even more
Question in my opinion is there going to be multiple of these kinds of because nobody had an idea about the second one until the Attorney General came out with that statement on Monday night where is the Rob Manford statement that’s what I want to know again well here’s what I’m
GNA say number one you’re not going to get anything from Rob Manford because this is a negative story what have we talked about when it’s negative on baseball it’s nature League based I really don’t care to be honest Rob manford’s got to respond I’m tired of when these situations happen and we
Don’t hear anything from the commissioner in charge in all fairness MLB the Rays and Franco as you said all agreed that he goes on the restricted list at this point you know the Rays had the roster spot freed up so they were able to make a call up they were able to
Go on with their season and at this point there’s not much we can do because I mean the Rays and League are investigating but part of this because of this legal matter of this because it’s a grooming because it’s a pedophilia kind of situation it’s not
Just these two I mean these two parties the raay and MLB that can do it they also got to work with the authorities the actual Dr authorities Dr us authorities they got to work with everybody and I don’t know Rob manford’s got to make a statement like even like we clown
On Roger Goodell for the punishments he gives at least he makes a statement when something happens in in other words in other words you’re saying manred at least has to come out as the supposed executive face of baseball to say something about it for the sake
Of I don’t know if I can say the Integrity of the game because this is a situation this is a situation that goes past the game uh this goes Way Beyond baseball Way Beyond moral and ethical compound at this point this is the clown in charge needs to make a statement
Because what are you going to do about this and because you didn’t say anything the pr effed up the Kevin cash which I I agree with you partially what you said about Kevin cash but Kevin cash looked like an idiot it’s 100% true why he opted into the contract he was told hey
Make it easier for us take the opting inhouse accept the option we’ll trade you and hopefully we can find a trade partner he wanted to go to the Clippers yeah and there is an update that I actually forgot to post to our social media that actually recently came out
The other day apparently James James Harden is so done with d Mory because originally he his stance over the weekend was Clippers a bust apparently there’s a report that that stance has now softened and at this point it’s anywhere but the Sixers gee I wonder why because if you
Only it hasn’t worked for Dame Damen Lillard so far with the Miami Heat why would you take the same stance it makes no sense and I’m laughing about this because it is so ridiculous with the all stars in the NBA does some of this bad blood stretch
Back to the failed run that the Rockets had in Houston in the 2010s I don’t know if it’s bad blood it’s that James Harden I guess felt hurt or used if that’s the best way to put it because he thought he was going to get a
Max deal which by the way let’s be clear about something James Harden is not worth a max deal at all by any stretch of the imagination by the way none of these guys are worth the money they pay for let’s just be upfront and honest with this whole thing right now okay
So James Harden’s a jerk let’s just put it out there okay we know this he’s requested to be traded what is it the fourth time I think he’s been requested to be traded now so from OKC to Houston from Houston to Brooklyn and Brooklyn to Philadelphia yeah so four times I think
So it’s like it’s the boy who cried wolf oh the the picture on the Instagram post that whatever has been taken down but the thing is it’s being investigated still by the Dominican authorities so we’re still dealing with a very legal and very serious kind of
Situation so let me give you one more they’ve removed all the shrink wrap stuff out of the stadium did you see that yeah and and here’s the thing let’s say in a best case scenario for wander Franco all of this proves to be untrue and he comes back into Major League
Baseball I still think if listen even in that kind of scenario I still think if you’re the raise what you’re doing about removing all this stuff is still a correct thing to do because you don’t know how long he’s going to be absent it it could be he’s back as soon as next
Season it could be as long as he’s never around ever again so you’re in a situation where basically the Rays have to prepare for a worse they have to prepare for future without wander Franco and if somehow he comes back and plays Major League Baseball again then you get
Him again but at this point like the Major League Baseball season is not going to stop just because wander Franco is oh no that that’s not what I’m saying I’m not saying the Major League Baseball season GNA stop and the race season’s not going to stop but you need to cut
Bait you need to cut bait you need to move on you need to avoid this contract because even if he comes back if he comes back and they say okay well he didn’t do whatever it’s it’s a damaged reputation and you don’t want to deal with it now but here’s the thing Nick
And again we talked about this with tatis we talked about this with the Bowers thing if if whatever moral clause or whatever like let’s say none of this holds up you know and you say cut anyway I don’t think the moral cause is going to go in which means you are going to
Have to pay wander Franco still over that decade or so that’s money the rays are gonna have to eat and I don’t know if that you know like if the Rays can’t get out of the contract they’re screwed happy New Year all right now moving on to the
Months of September and October break from the craziness but still some pretty big stories that were going around uh obviously Nick the r The Saga of Mr Reax wait a minute I shouldn’t be r e l a x comes to an end after only about was it
Like four plays almost like about a minute of game time and then he goes down with an Achilles injury basically they said there were people who walked in late to the game and didn’t even see it so like people were like the whole stadium was like depleted and depressed
And like and they said some fans like what’s the problem like oh uh you’re just two minutes too late missing Aaron Rogers tearing his ACL um and or Achilles and and basically just a little update to the story he went on the Pat McAfee show and said I’m not ready gee Aaron
Did you ever think you were coming back did you you’re you’re 38 what 38y old man who got a torn ailles did you really think did you think that you know there was just an easy C cure that you could be immunized from this Achilles St
I mean it is what it is is and he says though that apparently he wants to come back for at least two more years well he’s getting one more with the Jets where he’s gonna get the second one I don’t know he should go back to Green
Bay uh you know but you know what uh he didn’t tear his ACL I had to correct you there but sh Otani tore his UCL and he still got a bag during season but but that’s for the November December segment I mean I don’t get it this guy is is
Like a cat he’s got nine lives he and he just keeps winning and and I still I mean he won the M Nick Nick it’s easy when you’re the first two-way like bve roof it’s easy when you’re good at both hitting and pitching and it’s easy when
You can get some sympathy because you played in MLB’s version of Siberia well yeah and by the way I will still fight that Rookie of the Year battle that we had way back when that Miguel andar who had the doubles record at the time and everyone was like
Well showon is a two-way player and that’s why he should win okay well sh is gonna be like Mike TR he’s just gonna be the the default MVP but I mean he definitely earned it you know what you think about that award he definitely earned it for 2023 winning
That mvp uh yeah he’s insane he’s a sick player right he is sick I think the whole thing was about about that androar situation was that he got hurt in the middle of his pitching so some of that two-way player I guess was a little fragile but that’s because it was also
Something that we hadn’t seen at the time now here we are 2023 you know and he’s coming off of two and a half to three and a half years where he’s delivered as a two-way player right and not it is concerning it is right but that’s the thing it is
Concerning that this is his second UCL well I think I’ve said this too many times I think we both agreed on it the more surgeries you have the odds of you recovering are not is great but apparently he’s recovered from both and he managed to get $700 million so good
On him but I don’t think he’ll be the MVP though this coming year because he doesn’t have the pitching aspect and that’s what everyone is clamoring for the two-way player well we’ll see I mean he could still hit I just hope he doesn’t hurt himself even further trying to be up
Uh couple of basketball headlines oh uh yeah couple of basketball headlines obviously we got the still some stuff about the about James Harden the Clippers continuing to pursue the trade even after the 76 was shut it down Harden returning to see and we talked about and we kind of called it
On for him only to get traded and then the Kevin Porter arrest which was not good yeah that was a bad situation and she almost or I think she actually declined charges if I’m not mistaken right well you’re talking about g g i can never pronounce her
Gik that claiming that Porter never hit her which was you know it’s two separate parts one September October but the story is there that whole thing was a mess and I think the NY because it was in New York I think if I’m not mistaken so the mypd was investigating there were
Some issues with the investigation the NBA I don’t think they did anything or maybe they gave him a small suspension I can’t remember but the NBA has a problem with domestic violence and that used to be an NFL thing now the NBA I think is the new leader in domestic violence well MLB
Also had its issue and that comes up in this segment with Julio Aras getting a a domestic violence arrest and that marked the end of his tenure with the Dodgers and I mean he’s scheduled to be a free agent he technically he is a free agent
Should say I should say but but he ain’t getting another contract I mean it’s not the first rodeo for the Dodgers Trevor Bower I mean well well it’s sick to say but Nick again as of the day we are recording this December 22nd I was just listening to the cave Don record leading
And now that the Yankees have lost down on Yamamoto there are a couple of callers who are saying well do they take a chance and go after Bower and I’m like hell no I don’t care if he’s the next coming of well I don’t want to say that
Cuz I don’t want to put the the Christmas holiday in Vin but uh if he was the next coming of that I still would not take him I don’t care he’s a headache he only takes onee contracts which is kind of strange and it’s gonna be and he’s got the YouTube channel
Which he’s overly obsessed with I I I I would wash my hands to that whole thing things that we discussed uh over these over these couple of months the ESPN Spectrum dispute with Spectrum cutting off you know the very first true weekend of college not week zero but week one
Basically cutting off service at the time that everything was kicking off Joe burrow getting the bag before getting injured but we kind of knew he wasn’t healthy about to sign this bag uh he did recover but then gets hurt again and his season is over just like I was say Aaron
Rogers Joe burrow there were a number of quarterbacks that went down this year with piny this was a brutal year for quarterbacks yeah Joe B was lucky he signed the contract before he got hurt because that would have been the end of any long-term contract that he would
Have gotten the ESPN Spectrum thing is petty ESPN is petty and they and they’ve been Petty through all the layoffs it’s ESPN and uh and Spectrum two very Petty organizations because believe it or not ESPN needs Spectrum it’s not it’s not the opposite they need the networks to
Carry them well well you know the rumor that ESPN might become its own service and go away from TV within a couple of years they will die if they become their own because no one’s gonna pay for it we’re cutting cords we talked about this with AJ I think also that people don’t
Uh people are cutting cords because they don’t want to pay the uh cable fee anymore it’s too expensive well I said this is just going to end up being a reinvention of the wheel and reinvention of cable even if everyone goes off and does their own thing and people don’t
People don’t like to change their watching and viewing habits remember that too I know the Colts uh Taylor think uh the feud between uh Taylor and um oh my God what’s his name Ur finally comes to an end with him signing an extension uh it’s like yay I don’t know I I
Still Ur is a hypocrite Ur is a hypocrite Because he believes he’s the Mighty God of power but Jim mer who had a what was it in uh DUI like 10 years ago didn’t like the anniversary of the DUI come up recently over a couple months ago Rec and and he was asked
About and he was basically saying uh G rich white guy because he’s a rich white guy yeah which by the way like Jim Jim you’re not helping yourself like just like someone’s got to get in Jim’s ear and be like sh stop you’re you’re making it worse uh Billy eper getting suspended
For the whole Phantom I stuff came up the Mets are a mess the and now that they missed out on Yamamoto and you can’t blame Steve Cohen Steve Cohen put the same offer out there because they didn’t get Otani that’s why he didn’t go to the Mets uh the Marlins one of the
Rivals for the Mets uh might be in their own little mess after Kim M and um parted ways good for Kim I actually like Kim Kim was actually in the Yankee organization a long long time ago I know was she was Derek Jeter’s right hand and
Good for Kim ning she will find a job wherever she wants to go and she’s well respected for what she does uh hold on uh Damen Lillard getting traded to the buck we mentioned before comes up we actually have Paul Lombardi from the 3 and D on to have a little
Discussion about that and then probably these story According to some well at least some pop culture uh Outlets when it comes to sports kelc Swift oh boy I this this story is just taking over the world not just in sports and in pop culture and you know what the
NFL is obsessed because they kept showing commercials of her concert series coming out in the movies because the NFL is not desperate enough already with making 17 billion they got to make it 19 billion yep all right uh you know what for them they would want to make
What uh 1989 M million considering that all right I’m gonna shake I’m gonna shake that bad joke off and just give it over to the cliffs themselves we’ll come back for couple of months of uh of empty the benches season for 2023 for all the talk that we had trying
To basically talk about the depressed running back Market the same one where after that Zoom call you saw saquin sign we’re going to talk about Josh Jacobs in a second ending his hold act so what I don’t understand is those comments made by Jim ERS where he’s like oh you know
You know that basically implying I don’t want to take his words you know out of context so basically implying that hey if Jonathan Taylor doesn’t want to play for us we’ll move along I don’t understand how you can say that well they he replaceable he’s replaceable anybody my point is I don’t understand
How you can say that and then go oh we w a first round pick for him like I get it I get the words that I said and that Jonathan Taylor is the best player on that team but to then you but to say right before that he is replacable I
Mean you know there was an offer there supposedly where a couple teams were offering a package wor with second round picks I don’t understand why you don’t do that trade I mean only and I say that only because I understand best player in team Jonathan Taylor for all his value
Maybe you want the first but Nick what have we talked about with taking a running back in the first round it it doesn’t work out because it just doesn’t work you’ll be lucky if you get two and a half three years out of a running back at this point um the whole Jonathan
Taylor thing is ridiculous now Jim meray is the biggest hypocrite of owner I I said it during the stream he’s get he’s running up there with Jerry Jones as being one of the more hypocritical owners in all of the NFL cuz Jim mer will say horrible shitty things and he’s
A big mouth also he should be careful because he should know all about being an [ __ ] with his uh DUIs but my point is Jim mer should just shut his mouth we know he’s got the power because he owns the franchise he makes a decision and
Because you didn’t take him off the pup list now he’s out for four games and you can’t use him anyway so I can’t wait see all the fantasy drafts I’m honestly not surprised that showy otani’s arm has kind of given out just because of how much he has been
Used then the wear and tear and honestly I’m surprised his back is not hurting him for how much he has had to carry this team got the boulder on his back right right the picture of the of a guy carrying a boulder and that’s show Otani carrying the
Angels right it’s crazy I mean like I I just don’t know I don’t understand it’s one of those things where I’m just like I’m befuddled because like there is a code you protect the guy so that when he goes into free agency that he could go
Hit the market is just the Angels saying that all right screw him like we’re not going to get him back we already know that our team stinks and on top of that the consolation prize was that Mike Trout went on the back on the iil also
So this whole team is a joke the aonic thing is a joke the the man was standing to make the largest contract at MLB history and the angels just said we’re going to burn him out for everything we want all the ticket sales we want everything on our side that we don’t
Care if his arm falls off how many times this last couple of months have we heard all the announcers all the analysts everyone say fatigue fatigue the big F word fatigue and no not the curse word the fatigue word have we heard that all in his last couple of starts he’s been
Pulled because he just doesn’t have the energy to pitch cuz he’s being overused and the man has to hit 50 home runs and have an erra I think close to three and it’s still not enough but you know what’s funny this guy has a torn UCL and he’s still
Hitting bombs like this guy is made of something else so here’s the thing because sh Otani is a two is a two-way player because sh Otani is most likely going to be the MVP of the 2023 season even if he never pitches you know another pitch for the rest of the season
Like you are saying like he is go like you’re not going to detract the value of show he Otani when you have a headline like this and everyone is talking about the prices of your products Nick to the point and this is something that I mean
We could bring up later but I think to should bring up now because we have brought it up previously when talking about ESPN all the rumors that potentially by 25 or 26 ESPN could say screw television and what you see with ESPN plus the over-the-top service could be the future of
ESPN here’s the problem and I think I I touched on this when we talked about it a couple weeks ago that people don’t want to pay for everything they’re just not going to but the other thing that’s going to be redistributed now because of this issue with spectrum and ESPN we’ve
Now gotten to a point where we’re just going to say I want this service I want this I’m GNA pay for this I want allart I want to be able to go up to the buffet and choose the choices that I want and I don’t want to pay for stupid things like
Including think about this so you have Amazon for NFL you have peacock you have ESPN plus you have um if you want to go outside of sports Netflix Hulu like it it’s it’s a service game it’s a streaming service game no one and I hate when and maybe we’re just
Old men when it comes to this I like watching TV I like watching TV stop putting everything behind a pay wall I don’t care I just won’t watch I won’t watch it’s stupid I mean but it is also the future but it it is the future though because
More people are turning to streaming and Johnny Johnny monim may mentioned that he fears that television is going to go into the same direction that radio is in right now which absolutely he’s 100% right but when you’re talking about the Ala carts of like I want this I want
This but when you look at the prices and you add everything up Nick you’re paying just as much as you would pay for a normal you know 800,000 channels of people all it is is just Reinventing the wheel yurios is a free agent at the end
Of the year so you know what they can just go we’re done well yeah he’s gonna be gone and so but I’m saying like this is not the Trevor Bower situation where we’re like uh well it’s gonna depend can they get the moral Clause to avoid the
Contract you know can they do that and they still have to end up do they still have to pay it even though you know they had no idea he was going to get arrested because the guarantees and everything in this Cas they can just wash their hands
But I mean Julio rias obviously innocent until proven guilty but the fact that this is a second allegation in a got a right he’s got a record so he may have just uh he may have not just uh played himself out of a new contract he may
Have just uh Ed himself from Major League Baseball with what he’s doing get the banner get the banner because we know this is going to happen so we all know what happens in this situation because Rob Manford is going to do nothing nothing and because we say this
Because Tom we haven’t said it yet but but Rob when are you gonna do something about this when are you gonna handle it he’s not let’s just answer it the question rhetorically would you say administr the administrative list the administrative leave is him doing something second incident you and I were talking about
This incident he got 20 games 20 games for domestic violence hay Players Association you need to shut the [ __ ] up I’m so tired of your nonsense defending these players you defended Franco you defended yurias why are you defending these guys but it’s their job they are Players Association I don’t
Care I don’t care if it was a murder I don’t care if it was slipping on a banana peel I I don’t care even though that would be kind of funny to watch a an athlete slip on a banana peel but my point is that I don’t care it you
Shouldn’t defend guys who are menaces to society and Julio yurias is a menace to society there’s no way he’s 100% tell me he is he is thank you thank you someone finally freaking agrees with me that he they rushed him back on the field and you know what it’s going to impede this
Year and it might impede next year he’s he’s definitely playing through some sort of injury now I give credit to his toughness at the same time you know because he’s kind of because he’s kind of I guess in my opinion hurt you know it it ruined his performance it ruined the performance of
Chambar Chase and T Higgins I mean how is it that Tyler Boyd you know plays just as much I mean now don’t I don’t want to disrespect Tyler Boyd but I just think from the fantasy perspective Tyler Boyd was on people’s Waiver Wires running to grab him at this point
Here’s what I don’t get I think the reason I think I said it to you when we did our pre-show meetings the reason he rushed back he wanted that contract he wanted to make sure he was signed that he was on the dotted line he’s got his long-term deal he’s got his guaranteed
Money CH the Herbert and Herbert and the Chargers blinked first so that opened up the opportunity for burrow but they didn’t want to pass set up these quarterbacks are not worth the money that they’re being paid they’re not I’m sorry Herbert is not worth what he got
Paid Burrow’s not worth what he got paid there’s only one quarterback that’s worth what he got paid and we all know who that is and that is Patrick Mahomes yes absolutely but now but now here’s my question because now we know what Patrick Mahomes is getting paid
Burrow her and all them what’s going to happen when Trevor Lawrence comes up for a contract extension and we were looking at a quote from Adam Silver before that essentially he was saying like oh I I know as much as the public does what do
You mean you know as much as the public does I I guess it’s under really tight wraps with the uh with the police department you’re the commissioner of the freaking sport what do you mean you don’t know more than us as the public well here’s my question Nick since he is
The commissioner of a major organization a public Sports League just to kind of put the wrinkle do you feel like the NYPD has a responsibility to put him in to have him have like first knowledge of everything the commissioner of the sport is responsible for the decision they need to know what’s going
On before it hits the public and they get a PR nightmare because they screw something up in the process of it which by the way Kevin Porter Jr got arrested in New York City and the NBA Board of Governor meeting was going on at that time so congratulations on the most
Ineptitude of timing Mr Porter he Achilles is done and now so is Aaron roders four plays all of less than 10 minutes of field time and Aaron Rodgers that’s his uh 2023 season yeah I I I don’t know how to react by the way the the buzzword that they used after
The interview was reverberated his Achilles reverberated and I was like uh this is not a guitar like it’s it’s it’s an Achilles injury and I was just like oh there goes the season it reminds me of uh the Family Guy was uh episode with Stewie sitting at the mech game yeah and the
Season’s over oh man and I’m just like you don’t have anything to worry about your jets you know they can still do something because once again the starting quarterback for the Jets is the man they’ve tried to get away from with Zach hey can I date your mom Wilson to
Your point of the season is over I don’t necessarily want to believe that only because there is still that Fighting Chance but it’s like what I told you just before we start we started hitting that record button at this point the Jets to have the kind of success that we
Thought they could have had this season it’s going to have to be along the lines of that 20201 Ravens team and 12 13 Ravens team that ws Super Bowls it’s gonna have to be a defense or bus season as you put it well I’ll tell you right
Now any chances of them AFC being at the AFC level for the title is not happening it’s over like that they’re now gonna have to get in probably in a wild card situation now they just don’t have they don’t have the power right which was still a possibility even because of how
Competitive the AFC EAS is it was a possibility before when Aaron Rogers was quarterbacking but like s garter now all of a sudden the pressure to size of a house is now on his back as much as we some of us may want to dump on the story
Because all it’s pop culture destructive this was a lot this story is a lot more enter than the game that was actually played with the Chiefs and bears it was such a blowout that box changed the game at Halftime well they removed the game off the Affiliates but yes my point is
That it was 41 nothing at one point and Yo Gaba Gabbert was in the game well Mahomes got hurt which I’m sure everyone was breathing a sigh of collective relief that he wasn’t hurt because that’s pretty much end of that would be the end of their season if he
Was hurt but oh man that would change the whole season for the NFL on a dime but you see Taylor Swift in in the suite apparently drinking away and eating and and like screaming and she probably knows nothing about football to be honest well you know what now now
That all the swifties are catching on I mean Travis Kel’s jersey numbers went up dramatically think about all the bank he’s making now I mean he was already going to be making bank before and now G gee I wonder why the jersey sales went up you want to take a guess oh my
Wonder um but now that apparently now that the swifties are all of a sudden more of them are involved in football you’re seeing all these so you’re seeing a couple of social media posts that it’s like explaining the rules of football so now we’re going to get more people into
Football which I mean good for the game you know what though this is going to be a terrible hot take but you know what I have to say to the Swifty fans you need to shut the [ __ ] up oh you didn’t even give me time to do the danger on from Hot fine I’ll say it again hey swifties you know what you need to do you need to shut the [ __ ] up I I’m so tired of this because oh my God Taylor Swift was Arrowhead Stadium oh my God Dove Clayman reported that Taylor was going to be at MetLife
Stadium for Monday night football Sunday Night Football I mean Sunday Night Football whatever it was absolutely crazy just because I didn’t I just always going to picture Damen Lillard as a Portland Trailblazer I feel like I was in denial too with his with his uh trade demands that I really couldn’t picture
Him on another team but I think that this is a really good fit it was a very interesting trade though on the Trailblazers part I thought that they didn’t get like almost anything back they ended up getting one first round pick back uh Rudy goar would ended up costing the Timberwolves five first
Round picks so when you want to compare the two of those uh it makes it a lot more interesting but man this was this was absolutely crazy I was shocked and you know I didn’t I didn’t even know that the Bucks were in the race you know
We had been hearing the rumors about the Heat we had been hearing the rumors about the Raptors over the last couple of days that they were like on like the one yard line or something like that within a trade uh but it’s the buck coming out of nowhere and it’s
Insane well let’s go to the other part of this equation if you had to take the temperature of Miami Heat fans right about now how do you on a scale of one to 10 one being cold and 10 being Miami Heat hot how hot would you say that
Miami fans are right about now oh they’re easily a 15 probably that I mean I think Jimmy Butler’s reaction and Tyler Hero’s reactions kind of spoke for themselves I mean Jimmy Butler kind of went on the mic and was saying that like the buuck should I think he was saying
It jokingly but like there was a little bit of sore loser in it the way that he was he was saying it kind of went on Twitter and was just like the Bucks need to be uh need to be looked at for tampering oh please and then Tyler hero
Responded back and he was and he like agreed with uh with Jimmy Butler I you know I assume that it was a joke I assume that it was like Jimmy Butler’s attempt to trying to be funny throughout the entire situation but like not the first time from Jimmy either exactly but
And here’s my response Jimmy I forgot to laugh that was so funny here’s my favorite part of this story already Nick the practice of placing players on the I with fake injuries is a long accepted but ethically murky part of baseball according to sources teams will ask players often struggling On The Fringe
Of a roster to accept an i placement even when capable of playing sourc said the player gains the benefit of service time a Major League salary and retaining a spot on the team’s 40-man roster while the team retains the player amid a potential 26-man roster crunch he got to
The second paragraph and he said the quiet part out loud we have seen this before not just with the New York teams this is they pass in said it this is a common practice that’s often accepted although it’s like it’s supposed to be very sh Hush Hush but everyone seems to
Know about it is my question here is is Major League Baseball is where’s it where’s my banner here whenever I need it there go rob Manfred is he in Major League Baseball using Billy eper like is this going to be setting an example or sort of a Crackdown into that SoCal Phantom aisle
People see I think this is wrong because the issue you’re running into now is so you exposed Billy Epler as the Mets GM saying that he was using this as a phantom injured list yeah excuse me that I’m so choked up over this uh that
You’re going to call him you got to call everybody else out now you can’t just call him out you you you can make an example of him if you want but now you got to go call every other GM every other person executive who’s done this
You got to call them out which means basically we’re going to be left with no general managers in baseball he’s fat he fat he fat he fat he fat I mean this story speaks for itself really I mean Clipper’s trying to pursue Harden from the 76ers I’m the 76ers the
They’re pretty much going to ask for a king’s Ransom if I’m the Clippers I basically say you have nobody left and if you really want them off the team you will take three t0s of a dollar and call it a day now if on the Clippers I don’t understand why you want
Them at all you’re already dealing with your own headache in Kawai and Paul George why would you want to deal with a third headache someone answer this for me cuz I don’t know why would you want James Harden no idea whatsoever James Harden is such a joke like I I I think I’ve
Used most overrated player in the NBA I’ve said it a thousand times and we and you and I have seen a lot of overrated players in in our Nicks and Nets over the years Kyrie Irving KD we’ve seen some pretty uh overrated players come through this town
But yeah it’s James hard actually showed up to Camp looking fat looking fat we need another star we just need another star to go with Kawai and with PG-13 and all the they don’t play already so you’re gonna add another guy who doesn’t give a [ __ ] I was gonna
Say Ka a Kawai PG13 James Harden big three might be one of the worst big threes I’ve ever seen it’s it’s it’s all ego it’s all injury and it’s all players who think about themselves great Trio and it’s all load management even though the NBA is cracking down on that there’s
A couple of different sounds I could really play for this here well one is because yes he got paid uh two I would say oh brother this guy stinks for Jim ERS for ERS and then the third and final one I would play is why the [ __ ] you lying why you always
Ly oh my God fuy now you’re probably wondering why I hit that sound effect for the third because Jim m is a liar a big fat liar because or or is they say in or is they say in that one Family Guy episode hey everybody he’s a big phony he’s a big
Fat phony yes because Jim mer said like you just said well he’s never coming back here I’ll find any essentially two bit running back to put in the place of Jonathan Taylor really then why didn’t you let him sit out all season Jim Jim why’d you let him come back why’d you pay
Him go ahead go ahead Jim I’m waiting I’m waiting for a response that’s right you don’t have a response no no no what’s gonna happen is he’s going to try and say something and then you’re going to take the micop shut the [ __ ] up so this is uh I can’t never
Pronounce her name Kaiser g gondik a former WNBA player I think was the okay yeah was dating quote he never balled his fists up and hit me that’s so now we’re getting into semantics whether he hit you or not well this there’s more is that what’s what
Was being reported that he did like it was well I don’t know if you remember from the story so like he did as supposedly either the brother made the the threats on social media which Tom and I came out and said that that was wrong you could be angry behind the
Scenes if your sister is getting hit but don’t make threats on social media that’s the last thing you want to do the other quote that uh she said and he definitely didn’t punch me in the face numerous times that is a lie I don’t have any injuries to support
That why would you say that after all the popm circumstance that came out from it why yeah that’s not adding up to me at all there’s something that’s missing that that now doesn’t mean make a lot of sense in all of this so it says Porter was arrested after the alleged attack
Initially charged with uh multiple felonies including assault and strangulation however Manhattan prosecutors dropped one of the assault charges Monday after acknowledging Porter did not fracture uh gandre X’s neck vertebrae during the incident uh Porter still faces charges of second deegree strangulation and third degree assault to which he is pleaded not
Guilty so but so technically she this is kind of semantics then because saying he didn’t hit me still you know doesn’t take that strangulation out if you really want to go technical here and it it says a police spokesperson said shortly after the alleged attack that officers were
Informed grix sustained a laceration to the right side of her face and was complaining about pain to her neck and she was transported to the hospital value all right I’m confused now this was a mutual option just so people understand her contract situation she had an option and the Marlins had an
Option the Marlins picked up the option Kim a declined her option to come back so she’s gone now there was a lot of quotes that came out on Twitter that her and Bruce Sherman who is the official owner of the Marlins um they don’t see the S eye to
Eye of the shape of the organization now who’s Bruce Sherman Bruce Sherman knows nothing about baseball at all he’s a businessman he’s a businessman yeah so why would you disagree with someone who’s really turned tables as a the first female GM in the sport took a playoff team in the
Marlins and now you’re just gonna let her walk Scott fre by so are we gonna have another fire sale with the Marlins I it’s a good question I don’t look at what she did with that team you know you had the batting champion this year in a rias I mean that that trade
Which actually work out great for both teams the Aras for Lopez trade was worked out great for Miami uh they’ve had some other great pieces in there I think JZ chism’s been a very you know I know he was hurt this year but Jazz chism’s a very solid ball player they’ve
Got some some pieces there and again you talk about you know them being a pretty a good team in that NL East that had three formidable opponents in it going into the year and I just you know what when I first heard this and then I like
You Nick you know I tried following all the sides to this it makes me think that the Marlins are going to be doing something they’re going to kind of blow this up again so the story comes out that Harden is back with the Sixers ahead of the Thursday
Opener but the Sixers said that’s okay you stay home and that was kind of a misconception which Shams sham shiria put out there and now the reports now that W had confirm on top ad ask vbn say oh well he has to stay back at the facilities and get going because he basically
Refused to come to camp and refused to be at training camp this is this is an endless Saga it’s really what it is and I I I really don’t know what to say and he’s got to ramp it up the only reason he’s on the court is because he
Wants the money wants to be traded wants to be traed he he’s going to play in order to to get traded um so not surprised that I’m not surprised that this Saga ends with Harden just playing for the Sixers anyway um I don’t think Shams to the point of that you were
Going on Nick about the uh the Tweet the reports I don’t think Shams meant to you know deceive anybody yeah mislead anybody I think that it was just a matter of the information that he had or the way he worded it I don’t think he was trying to do anything like that but
It does go to show the importance of wording the Tweet or but again if he didn’t have the information if he wasn’t sure why you know unless he should have been more clar of that like I don’t know why he’s saying that I mean I I said
This to Tom before we started Shams and W are in The Insider business like people are watching those two guys whether it’s for gambling purposes whether it’s for news purpos whether it’s for Fantasy Purp purposes I feel bad for the people who have James Harden and fantasy right now um they want to
Know that the news is accurate and people are gonna say well Nick that’s not misle yeah it is it’s misleading because the the two sides are arguing and when you say that he’s not gon to be on the trip that looks bad Happy New Year all right last two months of 20123
Some of our most recent episodes to look back uh Clippers of course make the acquisition for Harden so you know what I guess we ended uh the September October Clips on a good point of James Harden we saying oh he’s only returning to get traded because guess what how we
Start November December he gets traded to the Clippers and I had referred to it as probably the worst big three I had ever laid my eyes on uh yes but at the same time they’re now making us eat uh our words because they’re now playing good basketball which I did not expect
Yeah well you know what let’s see when the second half of the season comes I still don’t think they’re GNA go anywhere I because that just sounds James Harden and playoffs doesn’t sound like it ends too well including that horrible game where they went 0 for 28
From three-point land when he was with the Rockets but yeah um NFL halfway checkpoint where we talked about the jet Jets Bill seasons and showed some concerns for the bills considering the way they were playing now they picked up the pace a little bit but as of the time
We’re recording this because we’re recording this right before the week 16 matchup start up you know they’re still on the outside looking in technically they’re like eight and six with like five other teams and they would still miss the playoffs as of if the season ended right now well what did they say
Like 26 or 27 teams are still technically in the playoff race right before well technically right before week 16 that’s probably gone way down uh once this airs no but it’s still an insane amount of teams at the time like the bills they’re defensive line got smacked Big Time
Injuries Josh Allen didn’t look great he was throwing a lot of picks a lot of touchdowns a lot of picks they beat the Cowboys as of late which was a big win for them and it looks like they kind of found it a little bit again but since
Their dline is not healthy they’re not going to beat those big teams ahead of them I just don’t think playoff is a different monster we also have speaking of uh NFL injuries we again we talked about the Joe burrow injury which ended up getting its own investigation the Bengals ended
Up cleared from that but it still was uh noteworthy seen him at the with the sling on put the sling on him or the wrap on him whatever it was and Deshawn Watson he was another quarterback that went down with injury and the fact of
The matter is and we talk about this on football Friday you know with Dorian Thompson PJ Walker and now Joe the Browns have still played great even without him there and without Nick chub as well yeah the Browns have been I don’t know if you would say they’re the
Story of the year when it comes to the NFL just it’s remarkable what they’ve done defensively and now flacko uh taking over and then well they kind of were playing quarterback musical chairs the past couple of games right but but it’s amazing with those three quarterbacks they’ve done just what they
Could have done if not even more than Watson at the helm so trct and you and think was you and Johnny talk about it man it’s still not only is it an outlier it’s a it’s a really bad blemish it’s an albatross is the word I would use when
It comes to his ego off the field of this contract it’s it’s not good and uh and you still claim that you live rent for uh yeah because he has not unblocked me a couple of years I mean I could see the account for some reason but it says
I’m blocked yeah Deshawn you will never be a top five quarterback so you can block me all you want it’s not going to make you a better player hold on one second I have a response to this but I need the soundboard here fired shots fired thanks
That that contract is always GNA be an albatross he will never be able to live up to it uh we also had Jim harbar getting suspended which I think you and Johnny talked about too uh the whole you know it’s it’s almost like the Spy gate with
Bich yeah and now we’re seeing that Harbaugh is rumored to be taking an NFL job possibly the the Chargers or the Bears or even though he just signed a contract with Michigan if I’m not mistaken yeah so that’s gonna go if that’s gonna go anywhere especially considering that Michigan uh is going to
Be playing on New Year’s taking on Alabama as part of the uh final four for the play playoffs yeah and obviously you had the controversy with the four teams and now FSU was suing the ACC and uh the college football playoff committee and it’s a giant mess and it’s all back to one
Thing the money so that’s all it is and unfortunately Alabama shouldn’t have been in but you knew they weren’t going to let that conference not have a team well they if they didn’t let Alabama in after Alabama beat Georgia there wouldn’t been in SEC School enough before you knew they
Weren’t going to let that happen but that’s the pro that sentence right there is the problem with the college football committee they can’t live without an SEC you can you just choose not to and now we’re GNA see that as uh they expand it to 12 teams next year oh so they would
Have made it if it was a TW then you’re going to run into Team 13 and 14 now are going to become a controversy it’s like March Madness well well what did I say uh the week after well whatever my return episode was you know what’s funny
The system that we grew up Nick where you just pick the two teams this year that would right this year the least controversy because Michigan was undefeated and Washington was undefeated that would have been it yeah you’re you’re talking about the BCS computer system yeah it would have been Michigan
And Washington championship game and I you know what I would have been very satisfied with that yeah I think they’re trying too hard by having a committee where they vote for the teams and I said this to you when we did the episode and
I said it to Johnny and I said it to Nick D also what’s the point of having wins and losses if you’re just going to rank the wins and the losses and they went undefeated I will never understand this FSU went undefeated and they didn’t
Make it well you know what you know what the Lakers are putting up an inseason tournament champions Banner so Florida put up an undefeated uh banner and a Champions Banner if they beat Georgia in their bowl game H don’t even get me started the Lakers raising a ban for the inseason
Tournament uh and then how many do we have left because I have one more tidbit to add to this also okay so let me quickly go through we mentioned bellich we mentioned the charger job well the it seems like the bills I mean let me start
It again it seems like Bill bellich and the Pats might be parting ways at the end of the season there was smoke but now you know with the reports from NBC Sport Boston now it’s turning into a little bit of fire that there might be some truth to that uh Draymond Green
Speaking of the NBA Draymond Green getting suspended indefinitely and now looks like at least three weeks officially after he under goes all this counseling so that’s a they officially call that the I word the indefinitely word which is not a word you hear very often um yeah that situation is not good
Uh the Warriors just resigned him this past off season to a $100 million deal stupid by the way um they there was no Market they were competing and negotiating against themselves they should have told Draymond all right go out and get the best deal you want you
You find it you you got it um well that’s not the only NBA controversy that came up this past month Josh as well another situation like wander Francos yeah the whole thing with Josh get and getting back on the court and being cheered being cheered really sometimes a fan team
Allegiance just makes you know just makes you know what’s crazy in the NBA when these allegations happen to anybody they play right away in any other sport they they’re forced to sit out uh and then we got of course a couple of baseball headlines that ended with the their off with their offseason
Underway let’s talk about where sh Otani will land and he signs that massive record deal uh with the Dodgers about that’s $700 million 10 years 680 million of that deferred and then the Yankees going and trading for guano by the way for quick math for people who aren’t
Math Majors 97% of that contract is deferred yep uh for sh Otani so just keep that in mind that he’s making $2 million a year for 10 years and then 68 million a year for 10 years and of course Nick with all that deferred money that opened the door for
The Dodgers to land Yamamoto because it seems like according tolb Network on a report at least the day we’re recording is the day that Yamamoto signed um apparently Yamamoto was intrigued by the Dodgers as much as he was courting the two New York teams once the Otani deal
Came in all of a sudden his eyes went towards there because he wanted to play with Otani he wanted to play with a fellow Japanese player you know what like the dodg the Dodgers are going to be the team to beat for the next at least five to six years let’s see them
Have some postseason success and not choking the postseason obviously absolutely 100% that they got to go to the playoffs I said to you before we started that there’s a giant boulder on the Dodgers back and everyone is GNA be pulling the the bullseye on the Dodgers back because
Everyone’s going to want to beat them because they spent over a billion dollars let me say that again over a million dollar hold on yeah it’s like a lottery Victory um One More Story I’d like to add also going back to the NBA because we were talking about this because this
Is just how do we end the year without talking about this the Detroit Pistons just I know I know it’s technically not a clip because we never had a chance to really talk about it but keep on five straight losses sell the team chant they’ve got two wins this whole season
As of the time we’re recording this and also as of the time we’re recording this there was a bet on the DraftKings sports book for not winning a game the rest of the year plus 10,000 which means if you bet a dollar you win a 100 if you bet a
100 you win 10,000 like well I don’t think that’s gonna happen you know what’s funny Nick I was just talking to a friend about this uh the other day you think back to the 2000s and you got the Tigers who you know were in the uh World Series in 2006
And they had a pretty we thought there maybe a pretty good chance at winning that World Series the 2008 the Red Wings were hockey Gods going to back-to-back Stanley Cups winning one of them obviously the Lions ended up going 0 and 16 and you know it’s like after that 0
And 16 after that World Series loss and after the Red Wings lost the Stanley Cup of penguins in 09 it’s like after that and actually keep keep forgetting we’re talking about the Pistons 04 the first time I ever really got the experience of the Pistons them pulling off the
Greatest upset of Shaq and Kobe and the final year of that Lakers Dynasty and after that like once we get to the 2010s that City it nose die Team complete nose dive now the Lions have started to turn things around the Tigers we thought would have a good young team but it
Seems like nothing’s played out the Red Wings are in rebuild mode and the Pistons my God it’s been 20 years think about it I’m thinking I’m I’m seeing it’s like nine-year-old me has seeing them pull off that it’s like wow there’s a chance that this piston team could be
The next big thing and well you only need to watch the collapse series from secret base that episode on the Pistons to see where that’s gone I mean people forget uh Rip Hamilton Chanty bips Ben Wallace Rasheed Wallace which was a heck of a forsome on a team and they had a great
Bench and it was just incredible team and people forget Detroit was the bad boys team way back when also in the 90s not anymore um but I just don’t see them winning double digit games this year they’re so bad do you so this is going to be Charlotte cats level bad God I
Haven’t heard the Charlotte Bobcats because they’re not even called that anymore um but like it’s been a long time but yes they’re that bad they are terrible or as Charles likes to say t b l terrible terrible all right but you know what’s not terrible looking at these uh
Last clips of some of our more recent episodes that closed out 2023 take a look happy New Year James Harden will always be overrated he’s never going to win a title I’m I’m willing to and I know he still got years on his career I’m willing to stamp it
And we can you know how they say like uh put a mark on this on an episode I’m willing to say that he’s never gonna win an NBA title so I’m actually I’m actually not going to challenge that because Nick here is my question and I think I’ve
Questioned this in the reports when uh the previous reports about the Clippers being interested in the 76ers first of all I mean somehow they managed to make it work where they didn’t have to trade either Kawai or PG-13 but let’s think about this Nick you’ve got kawhai Leonard who has been Mr
Injury Mr load management for couple of Seasons now and by his words uh towards Adam Silver and the new rules being implemented he’s basically implying that if he’s not 100% he’ll continue to do it basically kind of hinting there is a chance maybe he will continue load
Management even with the new rules that say you have to provide an actual almost and this is gonna sound stupid like a doctor’s note in a sense saying I can’t play um but so there’s that no no no hold on because there’s him there’s Paul George Who if I can be really honest
With you Nick his star has kind of faded for me he’s kind of faded in the background in this Los Angeles team yeah Paul George who was with the Pacers for most of his career had really good teams they made a lot of runs to the playoffs including
Against minets which they had really good series against gets traded to OKC does nothing there then ends up in La as a free agent in the offseason because that’s where he’s from lot of players going to LA because that’s where they’re from excuse me also I know he was I know
He was an All-Star this season but popularity contest okay the allstar becoming an All-Star is a fact simile I could care less about okay so you’re a 10 time allar big deal did you win a title just to look around it unfortunately my divisional Realm of the
AFC um well be thank Nick Nick I I let’s start with something positive be thankful you are not the Patriots that’s a good point I can’t uh dispute that you’re right Patriots 2 and seven the Jets are 500 at this point four and four uh I believe
They are four and four four and four okay uh they I say they had their bye already yeah yeah week seven they had their bye so uh four and four obviously the loss of chargers was pretty bad but you know what Nick look it goes back to
What I said the Chargers can be a good team the Chargers could be one of the top teams in the AFC if they want well I say if they wanted to I say if it wasn’t for a certain somebody at the head coaching position um right but you can’t
Blame everything on the coach I mean the guy’s gotta play too yeah okay so maybe some things haven’t gone well with the uh with the charters but I want to say something else though because the bills even though they’ve had a lot of injuries they’ve been a massive
Disappointment to me so far oh agree you know say what you want Nick about your jets I think even at even with the Jets behind the bills and the standings I I think the bills are the biggest disappointment of this NFL season I mean but let’s be fair they’ve had a lot of
Major injuries including Josh Allen at times too being hurt right but but granted Nick you know let let’s compare this Bills and Jets team because the defense Nick for as bad for as much as they L up against the Chargers they still are a top team in
The they still are a top defense in the NFL can I give you a stat quickly from the Monday Night Football game they lost by three touchdowns and they didn’t even give up 200 yards 190 yards total and they lost by three touchdowns that’s that’s caliber defense
As far as the suspension though here’s just what I don’t get now I feel in some ways they didn’t go after the university hard enough because first of off it should not be on the on the on the players on the you can’t you can’t B the
Players here at all but what you could do though is either come down hard harder on the head coach because what you only did was suspend him for three games for the second time this year by the way but he’s allowed to be at the practices throughout the week see that
Made no sense to me whatsoever if you’re going to suspend somebody they’re suspended there’s no in between either they’re not allowed to be there they’re suspended no walkthroughs even though with technology today anyone can do anything off the field but there shouldn’t be allowed to be part of the
Playbook or the strategy at all gone suspended and by the way second time like you just said being suspended three games yeah now the first one I think was a little bit overzealous if I really had to uh have an opinion on it I think it
Had to do with uh paying for a meal for a for a thing that’s always been oh but come on I I always you’re coming up from that absolutely but I think the other thing with the suspension too is it needed to be harsher on the University you know if
You go after and we’re not even talking about money but you talk about like recruiting you talk about that kind of stuff if you go hard if you go down hard on that that’s more of an impact than saying suspending hard ball for three games when he can still be at the
Practices through throughout the week it’s $230 million wasted let’s just be real here it’s a fully guaranteed contract that people don’t realize that this is now going to affect going forward contracts for quarterbacks because who’s going to want to give a guarant fully guaranteed cont
First of all have we ever seen a fully guaranteed quarterback contract before not like this I you want to see Joe Burrow’s contract but that’s not fully guaranteed lot of it is but not all of it I just never heard a fully guaranteed contract over $200 million the basically
The Browns just flushed $230 million down the toilet yeah and Texans seem to have gotten the best out of that because now look go with the situation they’re in and they got multiple first round picks on top of that too and look at Stout I mean like he looks great can the Browns
Still make the playoffs without Watson and right now I think that takes a hit now their defense is going to keep them in these games but you know a true test I think is going to be coming up this Sunday when they when they take on the
Steelers I mean I hate to make this comparison because I don’t like they’re the Jets now well that’s it’s funny you say that because that is actually what I would compare them to right now both teams great defensively but offensively quarterbacks a major question and that brings up another factor into all this
Too Kevin stefansky comes out on Wednesday and they announced that they are going to Dorian Thompson Robinson the fifth round to start and not PJ Walker I thought that what I saw that I could not believe I when I heard and read that they were going to DTR over PJ Walker yeah
Stefansky has been very questionable in coaching decisions and I just feel like he’s made some boneheaded decisions with this team like their defense it the the reason I said It reminds me of the Jets Cleveland has a really really good defense like I
I don’t know if this is a hot take but I would say better than the Jets actually yeah I I I agree with you I think that they’re the best defense in the National Football League that’s how are I think Garrett is a defensive player of the
Year I think he’s one of my guys up there I mean I would put him up there I would put uh Crosby from the Raiders I would put TJ watt from Pittsburgh in that discussion but yeah know miles Garrett’s definitely got to be discussed and the Browns will definitely have a
Chance to win games here no matter who they’re playing because of that defense but now without Watson I mean this was interesting I’m sure like me you were on Twitter or X whatever you want to call it and you saw a video of him in a brace walking into the facility and you
Probably were saying huh the Bengals need to be fined for this I mean this is a clear I mean they have to disclose these injuries and they clearly were covering it up um the the spread was three and a half if this knowledge was public the
Spread would have been a lot bigger um I didn’t bet this game on an app or anything but I do I am in a football pool and I was winning that pool I was in first place the the reason I’m not in first place anymore is because I had the
Bengals DraftKings by the way has been really good about this with injuries like and also the bejan Robinson thing when he was sick DraftKings has been really good about integrity like giving bets back too yeah FanDuel not so much at least from what I’ve heard like Fel
Just said screw you we’re taking your money I think this would have been like six or seven I think if at least I mean if we had known he was injured um but teams are like like I said they’re required to disclose all injury the injury list yeah I mean gambling is the
Biggest reason they have to is one of the biggest reasons they have to do that because otherwise how can betting odds accurately be made if a team is covering up an injury and also what about the individuals like if you put bets on burrow yeah that too I mean how can you
How can you fairly make a prop bet on Joe burrow not knowing he was injured we were essentially defrauded into betting these games not by the betting companies or anything but right by the NFL in fact it’s a bad look for the NBA they already have the bad look from
John barant with the guns and now they have to deal with an inappropriate relationship now let me point out the stupidity people are trying to claim in this story which is oh well Oklahoma City has a 16 uh age 16 consent shut up it doesn’t only involve Oklahoma right it involves California
Because and you’re going to love this one they were in nightclubs together and we all know who the the Big Man In Charge is not going to do anything he’s just gonna sit there on his throne yes it’s an Adam Silver well we can’t say it’s an Adam Silver’s slip up
Technically yet because he hasn’t done anything going to be it’s going to be an Adam Silver slip up because now listen here’s what I’m going to say about this and I think I have used this kind of viewpoint and reasoning when it comes to stories like this where you got
Inappropriate relationships or you got sexual misconduct or the dreaded for four-letter RW you know I understand the the anxiety I understand the trepidation about talking to others authorities police about the matter the problem here is essentially what you are kind of trying to say is that by not cooperating with the authorities number
One they can’t do anything about it obviously but number two now instead of Josh giddy getting punished because of an actual legal matter which this still is a legal matter but as you kind of alluded to what you’re what they’re basically going to be doing in terms of disciplining him
Is I want to say slap on the WR it’s either one slap on the wrist or two you’re GNA Force as I just told you before we started recording that you’re going to force the Oklahoma City Thunder’s hand because as you just kind of said after what we saw with the John
Morant case do you really expect that this guy is going to do anything in my opinion this is not a good deal at all it’s not a good deal they they traded Michael King who I think was one of their next upand coming Stars adab Bullpen could have been a starter too by
The way I think he actually was a starter they need help with pitching this does not solve the pitching crisis that’s going on with the Yankees Nick what team did you watch last season because as far as I’m as far as I could tell it was was the hitting that needed
The issues and I think I know what you’re going to say about the bullpen and everything with the towards the end of last season I think the problem with that is because they expended the bullpen so much if he goes into free agency and he gets and the deal is so
Ridiculous that the Yankees basically have to say sign there’s the door then this deal is gets an F I will agree with that however I think what you’ve done now is I have expressed my concerns about what happens if Co Ops out this may be a really bad take but I
Think what this deal does even if Cole opts out stto is your main priority now especially because Nick and this is the other thing I should have gone on before I don’t think they do this deal unless they think Yamamoto is in the bag and as of right now Yamamoto and the Yankees
Are scheduled to have them meeting on Monday I don’t think it’s much a question of how much I think that’s going to play a part of but I think the big question right now is where I think that’s what everyone is speculating at this point and I think that’s what
Everyone is waiting on baited breath including some of these remaining free agents out there including Cody Bellinger I think we’re waiting on this what is going to happen with Shani how much money is he gonna get as one but also where is he going to land you got
Some teams that are in play Nick we’ve got the Dodgers we have the Giants we have uh the angels of course and apparently we now have the Blue Jays too who have been exploring possible options now I have said from the beginning Nick that I think the Dodgers Otani are
Perfect match unfortunately there’s been some controversy this week because obviously we I don’t know if we talked about otani’s request that everything has to stay quiet on the down low which I don’t blame him you don’t want everything getting leaked unfortunately Dave Roberts opened his mouth during a recent press conference and admitted
That the two sides have been in talks oani is gonna go where Otani is gonna want to go Otani is gonna go to want to to a place Nick where he’s gonna get a lot of money and I think Nick as much as money is going to play a big role in
This and maybe the primary role I think after six years of suffering on the Angels losing at the angels I think being on a playoff team or a contender is also going to play somewhat of a role in here I agree I I think that I think
It’s going to be somewhere West Coast I think you could throw away all the East Coast teams like you’re hearing the Blue Jays and all these rumors you you could cancel those out that’s not gonna happen here’s the thing about the Blue Jays Nick you know we talk about they they
Have mentioned I think on MLB Network that what’s good about the Blue Jays the Rogers Center is it’s a dome so he doesn’t have to worry about his workout rout routines and everything getting screwed up the problem is when we talk about Contender Nick how many years have
We been saying it’s a blue jay’s time it’s a blue jay’s time and they just continue to underperform and Nick weren’t we not just talking about like last month all these rumors that Vlad Jr and bashet were going to get shipped we’ve debated about this on football
Friday we have debated about this on the show we about this off camera in our own little conversations outside of the podcast um but now it’s like where there’s smoke there’s fire and it’s becoming more and more again I don’t want to say clear because I don’t want to say that this is
Actually happening but the inevitability comes stronger and stronger that this seems to you wouldn’t think be it because why would Bill bich want to go out on a season like this but it appears to be a almost a reality now yeah I mean I said this to you before we started
That 20 Seasons 20 plus Seasons six rings a ton of playoff runs a Dynasty uh him and Tom Brady he doesn’t have to prove himself anymore he won six rings that’s more than enough to prove to a fan base that you did everything you needed the only reason he lasted as
Long as he did is because of the six rings and because of the playoff runs otherwise he wouldn’t be here anymore you’re right and this is and I’ll be honest this is a firable kind of season we have seen head coaches fired for these kind of Seasons but as you kind of
Alluded to you know he’s won Super Bowls he and Tom Brady now we can have this debate again about would Bill belich have had the same kind of success if have Tom Brady but the point is he is one of the most winningest coaches in NFL history he is one of the most
Successful head coaches in NFL history I watched the video quite a few times some of his like aggressiveness is sometimes just flailing arms and it looks worse than it does again it’s a little tough with this one it does look like he flails his arms because he’s
Trying to create space but because of his reputation he’s not gonna win yeah no I Nick wasn’t it just last season there was a whole off thec Court conflict within the Warriors a whole off between him and P that was before he got traded to the Wizards that’s right yeah
Um yeah but Jordan Paul was being a jerk too not that I’m saying that Draymond Green is warranted but as you kind of alluded Draymond Green has had a reputation at Pap and that’s the problem that he’s got such a shitty reputation when it comes to the league that anything he does
Going forward is going to either be F or suspended now on top of it if you’re reading if you’re watching on the video right now it says indefinitely this is a strategy that has been used by the Dodgers before and right now done yeah they’ve done it with mooki
They’ve done it yeah and they’ve done it with all their stars and it pays off for them because they have more money that they can go out and spend now let’s be careful it doesn’t mean that it’s not on their cap and it’s not on their books
It’s just pushed much further out into the future yeah it’s going to be be a hard time for the Dodgers once the $68 million a year actually kicks in but as you kind of alluded to Otani is doing this and they’re doing this as a means
Of trying to get other stars I mean right now the Dodgers are in just as advanced talks as the Yankees about Yamamoto and by the way they’re talking about Yamamoto with 300 million plus at like the beginning of this negotiating period I mean I and I heard that they
Had their meeting I think at the beginning of uh earlier this week at the beginning and apparently Freeman and Bets and Otani were all at that meeting oops Yeah that’s why I was like I was so confident that the Yankees were gonna get I’m like now after this I
Don’t know about that now by the way if that happens we’re talking about a billion dollars being spent by the Dodgers in the offseason a billion billion dollars yeah that’s going to do it for 2023 our year is officially over and I’ll do it uh I’ll do it just like I did
For when the actual episode starting to uh was officially over for us so here to tell you that next week one week from today January 4th 3 p p.m. Eastern noon Pacific as always is the return of empty to bench as we kick off our 202 24 season yeah this is going to
Be crazy we’re back um the football season is what a month from ending essentially uh football Friday has continued through the break obviously we’re going to head into the playoffs uh we’ll take you all the way through our Super Bowl special which usually we put out the day
Before um and just we and we’ll keep rolling all the way into March we’ll have a March Madness special we have quite a few people who want to do a bracket special so we’ll go through that as well and then we’ll roll back into baseball season and then we’ll be back
Into the summer months so a lot to look forward to can’t wait for it so make sure to tune in next week January 4 3 pm Eastern noon Pacific we’ll see you there but for now let’s put a row on 2023 you hit that like button subscribe hit that
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Sure to follow Nick and I across Ed morgon radio Thomas Albano and that is officially a wrap that is that so holy cow yeah anything you want us uh anything else you want to say before I wrap it up uh just uh Happy New Year hopefully everyone stays safe and uh
Yeah we’ll see you in 2024 when the madness starts all over again happy 202 poor people we Nick I’m Tom we’ll see you next week take care everyone happy New Year
