The Mo Egger Radio Show with Chad Brendel -- 7/17/26

00:00:15
Speaker 1: Here we go Friday in the Queens City. My lagger show is still not my lagger MoES back on Monday. You're almost done with me. Thank you for choosing me. It's your Western hiding once again on the Ones and twes Little pizza party Friday. Oh yes, how was your Saint Francis Apez? Good as always? That place is awesome, one of the best pies in the city. Place is awesome. What is it? Would you say? Top three for you? I agree, top three, top three. I don't know that it's three. I don't think it is either. It's fighting for the top spot. We'll put it that. It's definitely fighting. Not ready to declare it, but it's fighting for that top spot. It's like in a in a bare knuckle brawl. I think off the top of my head, I haven't had like, I haven't had uh Tavola Taviola. Yeah, I haven't had that one. I would go, I've got a soft spot drew for uh for Adriatico's m hm. Also strong the sauce. I love this little spice to the sauce. I don't give out their secret.
00:01:42
Speaker 2: You you you brought that, you brought that in one day when I was working in the evening and I ought you offered me one of the last few slices of it, and I took it.
00:01:50
Speaker 1: But I was like, dang, that is that's got that's got a little kick to it, sky a little a little punch to it. I love that. And then I'm I'm really big on the uh Sopra set of Hot Honey at Camper USA in Northern Kentucky. Yeah, that's excellent.
00:02:03
Speaker 2: And then Saint Francis is right up there.
00:02:08
Speaker 1: It's good stuff. Happy Friday. Yeah, Happy Friday, Pizza party Friday. That's uh. You know. Austin had it for the first time. He was also impressed the best. I'm not a crust guy. I generally don't. I don't like the dowe soft, chewy crust. I'm with you on this. The crusty, crunchy crust from Saint Francis is. I eat the crust every time. It's a big difference. Yeah, I'm I'm with you one hundred percent on the crust. Like I generally will will lean towards places that don't have a crust. Yeah, like they go edge to edge with the toppings. But Saint Francis, you get the you get the char the big bubble and the char h good stuff. That's talking pizza. We've been talking food all week because it's All Star week, and you know what else where are you gonna go? What else you gonna where are you gonna go? You're gonna go get a good pizza and then we're gonna talk about it on the radio. There we go. Red's back in action tonight in Colorado. Just check the Twitter machine and we do not have a lineup yet. We do have a transaction. Dane Meyers activated from the ten day injured list, Ivan Johnson optioned to Triple A Louisville Drew. I haven't seen have we gotten an official announcement that Key Brian Hayes is back and Matt McLain is on the injured list.
00:03:30
Speaker 2: I believe that came before the All Star break. Okay, I'm almost positive on that. I will I will check that.
00:03:36
Speaker 1: I scrolled back and looked before the All Star break all the way back to the last game on the Reds official account, and there was no announcement of that. So here, so here we go.
00:03:48
Speaker 2: On July tenth night, Red's Place, Second Basement. Matt McLain on the ten day injured list retroactive to July eighth, with a left calf strain, and on that same day, Reds activated third basement key Brian Hayes from the ten day injured list.
00:04:01
Speaker 1: Somehow I missed that completely. It's all good.
00:04:04
Speaker 2: You're missing a Reds transaction. There's nothing wrong with that. With the way this season's gone, right and on. Obviously, we weren't really throwing a parade in the streets with the triumphant return of ke Brian Hayes.
00:04:16
Speaker 1: You're you're taking one of the weakest bats in Major League Baseball and replacing.
00:04:21
Speaker 2: It with the weakest bat with the weakest bat in Major League Baseball.
00:04:24
Speaker 3: Ye.
00:04:25
Speaker 1: Look, they're they're both good defenders. I guess we'll, uh, we'll give them that.
00:04:30
Speaker 2: But yeah, if they weren't right, well, yeah, then they wouldn't they they wouldn't be major League Baseball players.
00:04:37
Speaker 1: My goodness.
00:04:38
Speaker 2: Uh.
00:04:39
Speaker 1: Brady Singer on the mound tonight for the Reds the Rockies. Uh, going with Gabriel Hughes. Gabriel Hughes has two games this year. He started once. Uh, He's gone nine innings an e R of three, no record. Young guy twenty twenty two draft. Was the tenth pick in the twenty twenty two draft by the Rockies out of noted baseball power Gonzaga from Anchorage, Alaska. Yeah, how about that? From Anchorage, Alaska to Gonzaga to the big League to the big leagues.
00:05:24
Speaker 2: I gotta imagine the list of Major League Baseball players from Alaska. It's got to be pretty short. Let's ask the the Google machine players. While he did that, he appeared against the Dodgers on July eighth. He started that game, He went six innings, gave up three earned runs. He made his debut against the Giants on July third, in a fifteen to three win for the Rockies. He went three innings, gave up two hits, no earned runs, and that one he walked about our instruction out about her. In his start against the Dodgers, he's struck out seven and walked to So that kind of gives you an idea of where he is at as he goes on to face the Cincinnati Reds here this evening.
00:06:12
Speaker 1: Can you guess the most famous Major League player born in Alaska? I wouldn't even know where to begin with that. Chad Brundle. There's really only I mean there's guys that have you know, had some success and bounced around. Sean Chakhone Chacone for the Rocky Yankees Pirates Astros. He was an All Star in two thousand and five. But really, there's only one that made a big name for himself in Major League Baseball and it's one of the worst people in sports history.
00:06:44
Speaker 2: Oh no, Kurt Chilling. Ah really yeah?
00:06:49
Speaker 1: How about that? Born in Anchorage, Alaska. I can't imagine he grew up there. This is the thing that gets you. Chad Bentz, who pitched for the Expos and Marlins. He played with one arm. He was He's the other Abbot. Josh Abbott had one arm and Chad Bentz only had one arm. He is the only Big leaguer in history to have actually graduated from an Alaskan high school. Mm hmm, So there you go. There we go. Gabriel Hughes second career big league start tonight against the Reds. He is it'll be his third major league baseball appearance. We do not have a lineup from either team.
00:07:41
Speaker 2: Looking forward to Gabriel Hughes looking like prime Pedro Martinez tonight.
00:07:46
Speaker 1: Yeah. The the thing that usually gets the Reds. The most is the left the first time they see a lefty or a young lefty, but there have also been some young righties that have come in. If this guy's a high strikeout guy, you know he could set a career best for strikeouts that could last a long time.
00:08:05
Speaker 2: Well, he got seven against the Dodgers. Yeah, so in six innings? WHOA, that's not nothing.
00:08:11
Speaker 1: Are we going? What nine and a half will set the over under? It feels a little high. It does feel a little high. But this is the Reds and their bats have been asleep for a couple of days, that's true. And when will we uh? How about eight and a half? Would would you go? I think eight and a half would be the line?
00:08:28
Speaker 2: Okay, I think let's see what the Let see what the odds makers.
00:08:33
Speaker 1: So you could get you can? You can't half.
00:08:36
Speaker 2: You can't even bet Gabriel Hughes eight plus strikeouts? Wow, you can. The highest you could bet is seven plus strikeouts, and you can get that at plus four twenty.
00:08:45
Speaker 1: Might have to look into that watch he'll have two probably. But the good news is I don't think I'm back here until like the tenth of August, So whatever I say today doesn't matter right in one ear and out the other for everybody here doesn't matter. I can say anything I want. I mean, just just an The over under tonight is twelve in a Major League Baseball game. Now it's in Colorado, so you're gonna have that inflation. But it's fair. Look, anytime you can get the last place team in the NL West against the last place team in the NL Central to start off the second half of the season, catch the fever? What over under on? People? The over under on?
00:09:24
Speaker 2: I'll say this though, Denver, they draw pretty good crowds on the weekends.
00:09:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think.
00:09:28
Speaker 2: I think their tickets are pretty affordable. It's a good it's a fun ballpark to go to. You see a lot of action when you go out there, so I think the crowd. I think the crowd will be pretty pretty decent there tonight. I'm gonna go out and say that you're gonna go, what fifteen thousand? It's probably a pretty good It's probably a pretty good number. Cowboy sums up what it's like playing at coors Field pretty well. Here coors Field International Airport balls are taking flight every fifteen to thirty seconds between six nine forty each night.
00:10:01
Speaker 1: Make sure you got a ticket. That's funny. That's funny. So we do have a couple of Reds topics that I want to get to today with the second half upon us. One. What am I? What am I rooting for? Here? What am I? Because? I hate Drew? I hate being the root for your team to fail. Guy agreed, I hate that, but sometimes it's what you have to do. Yeah, Like imagine, Drew, imagine, let's rewind to late twenty sixteen, and it, for all intents and purposes, is kind of a foregone conclusion that Tommy Tubberville is going to get a fifth year at Cincinnati. Things had fallen apart at that point. The the roster was not connected there, there was a very limited talent on that roster and things were bad. But it looked like they were going to give him another year just for contract purposes, because it was expensive to buy him out. You went and hired a name coach. He's going to have a big buyout attached to his name. And then next thing you know, walking off the field, the infamous go to hell get a job and that switched everything, Drew, that changed everything. Tommy Tuberville is going to come back, and then Tommy Tubberville was not coming back, and they fired Tommy Tubberville and they hired Luke Fickle, and the trajectory of the University of Cincinnati athletics department skyrocketed. So sometimes losing can be a good thing. I don't know that the Reds know what the hell they're doing, so I don't know that if losing and firing Nick Crawl really solves much of anything. But I think we've seen enough from Nick Kral, haven't we. I certainly have what more do we need to see to know that Nick Kral isn't the guy? But as a fan, that puts you in an untenable position of do I want to root for my team to win because I love my team and I'm always going to root for them to win, or does knowing that if this thing bottoms out, you might get change in the front office overturn that.
00:12:36
Speaker 2: I think where I reside on this currently is I do not want the Reds to come out firing out of the break here. I know you and you and Tony kind of talked about it at the end of a Sincy three sixty today, But them going like seven and two on this nine game road trip, like right out of the break, and then all of a sudden trying to talk themselves into a false sense of being back into it. I'm not asking them to go two and seven, just go like five and four or four and five. Just kind of keep it where it's at, do the right thing, sell off the pieces, and then once we get beyond the trade the trade deadline, I just want to see, you know, younger players start getting opportunities, and maybe we find some things as we move forward. I'd like to see Hector Rodriguez get a call up eventually and see what you have in him. I think a season like this where you're trying to drum up any interest that you can, I think calling up a player like that and seeing what he has for the back end of the second half where you're not going to be playing too much meaningful baseball, is a good opportunity to see what that looks like.
00:13:36
Speaker 1: So what you're saying is for the start of this second half, you want to eliminate the peaks and valleys pretty much. You don't want seven and two, you don't want two and seven. No peaks and valleys, and let's just just keep just keep it at that center line, so the decision is clear. Drew Castellini says, no peaks in valleys.
00:14:01
Speaker 4: I don't.
00:14:01
Speaker 2: And then because I'm the same way though, I hate rooting for my teams to lose.
00:14:06
Speaker 1: I don't want to.
00:14:07
Speaker 2: I don't want to do that, and and again, and I'm not even again. I'm not asking them to. I don't want them to lose ninety eight games. I don't I don't want that. And the baseball it's one thing with like, oh well, lottery odds. The baseball draft is such a crapshoot anyway that if you have the correct people in your front office, you should be able to find a good player in the first in the top ten. And the Reds app to the Red's credit, they have gotten a lot of pretty good players in the first round the last several years. Yeah, Chase Burns and salth Stewart chief among them.
00:14:39
Speaker 1: They also have I mean Hunter Green was one, right and Chase Burns was two in the MLB draft.
00:14:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, but you get you pick south Stewart. I believe salth Stewart was like twenty third something like that.
00:14:55
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, what the Royals are the worst team in baseball the only two teams well, the Reds are tied with the Giants. Now the Reds have forty three wins. The Giants and the Mets have forty one. The Angels and the Royals both Yeah, thirty eight. I was just looking at the Rockies. The Rockies thirty nine at the National League. Yep So they're the fourth worst right now. They're the fourth worst team in the National League. And that was with going nine over in April.
00:15:34
Speaker 2: Yep So, I believe they have the worst record in baseball since beginning.
00:15:38
Speaker 1: Since they do, we'll see if they can change that. The other question is, do you are Hunter Green and uh Ellie da la Cruz untouchable?
00:15:50
Speaker 2: I would say no, but I would have to be absolutely blown away by the.
00:15:53
Speaker 1: Offer, and even then with the control you still have the like it would have to like, Okay, we're gonna give you Paul Skins, Like, okay, fine, I'll take Paul Skins, like.
00:16:05
Speaker 2: It would take a like Wan Soto to the Padres level. Yeah, offer for me to move off of either of those two. So what we're gonna get to those two things? I don't have really anything.
00:16:15
Speaker 1: Bengal. I think we've exhausted the Bengals stuff all week, trying to not talk about the Reds. That's true.
00:16:21
Speaker 2: And yeah, they report to camp here soon, so you'll have well, the station will have plenty of time to discuss Bengals once they get up and going here today.
00:16:30
Speaker 1: So if if you the listener, have anything Bengals, a Bengals topic you would like me to address, I will be glad to do so. But in terms of coming up with the Bengals topic for today, like I we have, we have beaten that horse to death.
00:16:47
Speaker 2: I've given the Bengals three different records on this radio station by going through their schedule.
00:16:51
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's probably about right. So uh, we'll talk some World Cup Mike de coursi is uh is in New York City, so going to try to catch up with him today. He's covering the World Cup, so we're going to try to get to him with that, and then j C. French Cincinnati Bearcats QB one will join us at four thirty. Let's take a break more after this. Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.
00:17:14
Speaker 5: Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic from the uc Hell traffic c.
00:17:23
Speaker 1: Quick little touch of goo here as we try to get Mike de Coursei, the Hall of Famer covering the World Cup Finals. You know him for basketball. Also a big soccer guy. Also has a story on the salary cap potentially coming to Major League Baseball that was out this week. So real quick US opened Lucas Herbert in the Clubhouse with the league eight under sixty two today. A pair of sixty two's today from Lucas Herbert, Sam burn or Sam Burns, Bryson.
00:17:55
Speaker 2: Bertie seventeen and eighteen to get in at seven. We will have a lot more on this in our number two. We'll open up our number two with some US Open talk. But yeah, it's been exciting so far.
00:18:10
Speaker 1: Usually the scores are kind of low in the British Open because the weather's bad. It looks delightful in Southport, England. Let's take a break, mic to course after this. Sinceati's ESPN fifteen.
00:18:21
Speaker 5: Thirty, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic.
00:18:27
Speaker 1: From the UC Health Traffic Sunday. There we go, Let's get right back to it. Sincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty The Mulager Show hosted by once again not Mullager, Chad Brendel, Bearcat journal dot Com. Let's get to our first guest of the day. We generally talked to him in the late fall through the winter. We talked about brackets and bubbles and hot seats and things of that nature. But right now, my good friend and Hall of Famer from the Sporting News, Mike de Coursey is on the World Cup beat and we have an exciting World Cup final on Sunday. I thought we'd get to Mike and get some thoughts. Mike, how's life in the big city as you get ready for the final? Hot?
00:19:19
Speaker 4: Warm?
00:19:20
Speaker 3: And there's a lot of conversation.
00:19:22
Speaker 4: About the smoke.
00:19:23
Speaker 6: But it was much worse for me when I left Pittsburgh than it has been since I arrived here in New York City.
00:19:30
Speaker 4: I have not noticed as much.
00:19:32
Speaker 6: So unless there's more coming, I don't think it's as problematic relative to the final as some are suggested.
00:19:41
Speaker 1: Are you back in Pittsburgh now?
00:19:43
Speaker 4: No, I'm New York.
00:19:46
Speaker 1: No, I mean I at home base. Are you? Oh?
00:19:48
Speaker 4: Yeah, I thought you. I thought you knew it now I didn't.
00:19:51
Speaker 1: Know that you're back in Pittsburgh. Congratulations to you missed you missed the news.
00:19:54
Speaker 6: Yes, I've been back for since April of twenty four.
00:19:58
Speaker 1: Oh, wow, I don't know. I thought you were still in India. I was gonna come visit you, but I god, I didn't. What's your level excitement to cover this World Cup? With two world class teams what I think everyone now firmly believes is the greatest player of all time against a Spain team that's defense has been incredible, it should be an exciting Sunday.
00:20:24
Speaker 7: Oh.
00:20:24
Speaker 6: I'm thrilled to be here. I'm very excited about being there on Sunday.
00:20:31
Speaker 4: I just can't wait to see it.
00:20:32
Speaker 6: I would have probably if you say, okay, these are the four semi finalists, who do you want to see in the final? I probably would have gone France England. But to see Messi in what will almost certainly be his final World Cup game, he keeps surprising.
00:20:47
Speaker 4: As we try to say for sure. I wrote a cool.
00:20:51
Speaker 6: Story about Messi in advance of the England game.
00:20:57
Speaker 4: Ten years ago.
00:20:58
Speaker 6: I was here in at MetLife Stadium for the final of the Copa America Centcenario, the hundredth anniversary of that tournament. They brought it to the US so they can make more money of it. Out of it, it doesn't work that way, and they brought it here and so the final was at midlife and it was I believe zero zero after regulation and they went to penalties and Messi skied his penalty over the bar, and when it was done, he said, that's it. I'm not playing. I'm done with the national team. Four finals in a row. I can't take it anymore. In so many words, that's what he said. And so I was there for his retirement and now I'm going to be there for the World Cup final in which he placed ten years later.
00:21:44
Speaker 1: It's incredible. I think I saw two World Cups ago. When they lost, he was coming off the pitch and somebody said, like, this is probably it. We've probably seen the last of Messi. And then they come back, they win the last World Cup and they're in the finals again for this one. What do they have to do to beat Spain, because it feels like Argentina feels like they've they've been a little bit disorganized for like seventy minutes of every match and then all of a sudden they snap in and and and get the job done. But that against this Spain defense, like I would advise being better for ninety minutes than they have. Then, Yeah, I.
00:22:21
Speaker 6: Think that that would be really helpful if they would find a goal early. If they could find a way to get a goal relatively early in the first half hour or so, I think it could change the nature of the game. What's happened in several of their games, and most notably in the England game, was that after the opposition got ahead. It happened to a lesser extent against Egypt, but it really happening against England was that the game got compressed.
00:22:47
Speaker 3: And that's like, as I said in the column of the off.
00:22:51
Speaker 6: The England Argentina game, like you you want to be in a free thro shooting contest with Steph Curry. I mean, you think you're going to win the right and if you don't make MESSI run. I mean, because that's the one thing he's never done well, and he does it less well at thirty nine than he did at twenty nine. He's never been a He's always been smart about here's where I need to be, even though I don't want to run a lot. So I'm going to be here and then when I need to be there, I'll be there. But I'm not going to run all over the place just to look like I'm active, and so then you give him a compressed game where he's just basically, like I said, he's at a carnival trying to make foul shots and.
00:23:33
Speaker 3: He's gonna make some.
00:23:34
Speaker 6: He's going to find a way, and he hit two beautiful passes against England. England was on The amazing thing was on the first of the two Argentina goals. England was completely consumed with defending the six yard box. No headers from there, none there, So they were like there were like seven defenders.
00:23:55
Speaker 4: Maybe eight, all within that area, and there.
00:23:58
Speaker 6: Was nobody at the top of the box deal with Enzo Fernandez, even though the only reason there had been a corner kicked in the first place was because Zenzo had just fired from thirty five yards and nearly ripped the back of the goal off.
00:24:10
Speaker 7: So they completely filed that away and.
00:24:12
Speaker 4: Said, oh no, we can't let any headers go in.
00:24:15
Speaker 6: And then they give up that shot, and then five, six, seven minutes later they give up a header. So it was it was an abysmable performance down the stretch by England, a more abysmal performance by their coach because they forgot who they were playing.
00:24:30
Speaker 1: Where does that messy crosser for the second goal rank on best passage. I mean, it was like there was a magnet in the forehead that he sent the ball to. It was what six defenders had flew over right into the center of a forehead for the for the goal.
00:24:47
Speaker 6: Yeah, and Latara Martinez site, I think he's like my tight and he still got up between those two guys who are both well over six foot and both great athletes, and he and he still got it right over them, in between them, and Martinez was able to score it.
00:25:01
Speaker 4: And he did it with his right foot.
00:25:02
Speaker 6: And Messi is famously left footed, and I think he eats with his left foot, and yet he put that. You know, I think that the defenders were worried about him turning back into his left foot and they left his right foot open.
00:25:14
Speaker 4: He said, you don't think I can do this.
00:25:16
Speaker 6: I can do this, and he put it right on the money Spain.
00:25:20
Speaker 1: What's that? I mean? Is it just they are that good defensively that that they're gonna find a way and they've given up one goal the entire tournament, which is just wild to me.
00:25:32
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think.
00:25:33
Speaker 6: Their defense is excellent, but I think it's more so it's it's almost like if you try to change it in the metaphor to football, it's like they have a great running game, so you never get the ball.
00:25:46
Speaker 4: That's why you don't score.
00:25:47
Speaker 6: The defense may be wonderful, but it never really comes to that because you don't ever get the ball away from them because they keep running up and down the field, and that's what Spain does. They keep the ball so cam Comfortablie and and and teams aren't able to uh to get it away from them, and they aren't overly aggressive trying to create chances.
00:26:09
Speaker 4: They're really very.
00:26:10
Speaker 6: Judicious about that because the possession matters more to them and when they when they get the opportunity, like the Laminium All play that I wrote about after the semi final between Spain and France. Lamina mal is the best young talent in world soccer. But he's not having a great tournament because he's not healthy.
00:26:30
Speaker 4: It's obvious he's not healthy.
00:26:32
Speaker 6: And yet there was one moment when the left back for Spain, Kukarea, sent across well over everybody to the opposite side of the goal and France's left back Lucas Digne fields it and it and it looked like he had all the time in the world to cope with it. And it comes into little high so he decides to head it headed down to himself and then clear it with his left foot, and by the time the ball lands there is Lamina Maul right there like no one saw it coming, and certainly Denie didn't see it coming. And because he's right there, as Dinie goes to kick, he kicks La Me and Jamal and I wish I were there to ask him this question. But I think he executed the run inside the box because he knew that if if what happened seemed you know, what seemed likely to happen, if he got there in time, was going to happen, then it would be a penalty and not just a free kick from outside the area. And it was a penalty, and there goes Spain up one nothing and that's all they needed.
00:27:30
Speaker 1: Who do you have as your favorite on Sunday?
00:27:34
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think Spain, although I wouldn't rely on me because I said France before the Spain game, so but I think that they just they just they're so comprehensively good. That the keeper has been on top of his game and they have another one behind him that's outstanding as well. Their defense is young but really gifted. The midfield's the best in the world, and there's a play like Lamina Mal who can really.
00:28:02
Speaker 4: Make things happen.
00:28:03
Speaker 6: I was listening to a national talk show about soccer earlier when they asked someone who covers Spain regularly whether this team was better than the team that won the Euros in twenty twenty four, and I don't think it is, because Nico Williams and Lamina Mal were completely healthy for that and it was you know, they had so they had like two elite wide receivers going and touchdown makers, and those.
00:28:29
Speaker 3: Guys like Nico's hurt and is barely playing now.
00:28:32
Speaker 6: And I mentioned before Lamina Mal is playing but playing.
00:28:36
Speaker 4: Below what he's capable of.
00:28:38
Speaker 6: So it's not as good a team, but they're playing in a bigger tournament and they found a way by emphasizing that possession to be to be as successful as they have.
00:28:50
Speaker 1: Last thing on soccer, do you is the the third place game necessary?
00:28:56
Speaker 4: No? No, it's it's pointless.
00:28:58
Speaker 6: It's another check for for FIFA, and I'm sure that it I'm sure it gets some ratings as well, but not huge. I just think that if you're England and you put everything you did into that Argentina game.
00:29:14
Speaker 4: Your heartbroken, do you really want to go through this again?
00:29:17
Speaker 6: And they can put out a completely revised lineup if they want and play a bunch of guys who haven't really gotten any run and that you know.
00:29:25
Speaker 3: But so if you're doing that, then what's the point?
00:29:28
Speaker 6: I mean? We saw when the US played a meaningless third group game. They had already won the group.
00:29:33
Speaker 4: Group D with their first two victories.
00:29:36
Speaker 6: They put eleven ten or either ten or eleven new guys onto the field in that third game against Turkey A and they didn't win, and it didn't matter if they want, and it's the same tomorrow.
00:29:50
Speaker 1: Major League Baseball really quick. You have long been a proponent for the salary cap. Everyone kind of feels like we are going to lose, if not a whole season, a large chunk of a season in twenty twenty seven, do we come out of it with a salary cap? And why should we come out of it with a salary cap?
00:30:09
Speaker 6: Well, first, if you go and lose like a significant portion or all of twenty twenty seven and you don't get a salary cap, and it's all wasted, just as ninety four was wasted. It was a little early in the salary cap revolution, so I understand why they weren't.
00:30:25
Speaker 4: Quite able to pull it off.
00:30:27
Speaker 6: But if you go for this now, you got to go all the way and one of the things that they need to do even more of.
00:30:35
Speaker 4: And I know this is offensive.
00:30:37
Speaker 6: To the MLBPA, but you got to tell the players what a terrible deal they're getting. I looked at up the other day, and I think I'm right about this. I think Illy Dale Cruz is making eight hundred grand.
00:30:49
Speaker 3: I mean, it's ridiculous, it's preposterous. Heep be making five million dollars minimum.
00:30:54
Speaker 6: If you at the poor agent keep be making five million dollars a year in any other major pro sports, and I'm talking hockey included, and certainly NBA and NFL. With his ability, he'd probably be making much more than that. But I'm trying to be conservative, and and here you are. You're able to have that player play at that level for eight hundred grand. The owners are trying to do the players of favor in a sense, because there are all these teams that can't afford to pay more than they are now when I like when people say, well, they're just cheap. And here's my point about about the whole cheap concept, Like there's not a store out there turning out baseball players. There's not like some manufacturer turning out baseball players. If there were, then you could call them cheap because they could what baseball players are like art masterpieces. Like you can go into a you know, a nice gift shop and buy painting or like a reproduction of a Van Go or something, and it's like eighty bucks or whatever.
00:31:57
Speaker 4: It's framed. You can do that, and.
00:31:59
Speaker 3: They make a lot of them, so you can do that.
00:32:01
Speaker 6: But that's but if you want the original, it's like fifty million dollars or one hundred or whatever. And my point is that, like there's only one Otani and there's only one Elie, and when Eli gets to the end of all this control stuff, he'll get the Reds won't be able to afford him for the simple reason that not that they don't want him, but that if they say, I don't know, let's say the numbers three hundred and fifty million dollars. If the Red states here, ELI will give you three hundred and fifty million dollars.
00:32:32
Speaker 4: Well, the Dodgers will just laugh and say, wow, we'll.
00:32:34
Speaker 3: Give you three sixty or three seventy or three eighty or whatever.
00:32:37
Speaker 4: Because they can do it.
00:32:38
Speaker 6: Because the Dodgers are basically paying under what they make in television money for their salary base, whereas the Pirates and the Reds and the Brewers are paying four and five times as much in terms of their local television revenues for their salary base. It's it's not even remotely competitive. It's the laughable thing is when you hear people like Scott Morris or the executive director of the Players Association telling you that baseball has better parody than other sports and the weight and I just laughed because the executive director of the Players Association is complaining about the number of dynasties that there were in the NFL. Look the cap, they have all these dynasties and then they and then.
00:33:29
Speaker 3: He also called it enforced mediocrity.
00:33:31
Speaker 4: I'm like, well, wait a second, which is it.
00:33:33
Speaker 1: I can't be.
00:33:33
Speaker 4: Both of those.
00:33:36
Speaker 6: And while he was calling the so without using the Kandasy Chiefs as evidence, he was just referring to other leagues. But he was basically holding out the Chiefs as evidence or the Patriots, And while he was doing that, he was completely ignoring the fact that the.
00:33:50
Speaker 3: Dodgers have won three the last six World Series.
00:33:52
Speaker 6: I mean, come on, I mean, the Dodgers have been in the NLCS seven times in the last ten years.
00:33:58
Speaker 4: If you add up all of the.
00:34:02
Speaker 6: Outside the top fifteen market teams in Major League Baseball, everybody below sixteen below, they tie the Dodgers themselves over the last ten years. I think it's eighteen percent of conference finalists, or in the case of baseball league finalists in the last ten years, eighteen percent from outside the top fifteen markets.
00:34:28
Speaker 4: And in football in the NFL it's fifty eight percent.
00:34:31
Speaker 3: Wow, I mean, that's not come on, It's not even remotely close.
00:34:34
Speaker 6: But they still try to claim that there's more competitive balance in baseball.
00:34:38
Speaker 3: They are lying there.
00:34:40
Speaker 4: They are I don't like to use the word life.
00:34:43
Speaker 3: They are massaging the facts to try to convince you of something that is.
00:34:48
Speaker 1: Not true, working against their own best interest, which is crazy to me. I have one college sports question, and it's it's kind of I've got my ten foil hat on Mike. Is the NCUBA trying to lose this war against the Class of twenty twenty two and the five for five things so that they can garner more favor with Congress that they can't win in court. Because ruling the twenty twenty two class ineligible when they are inside the rules of eligibility for everyone else always felt like just an absolute boneheaded decision by the NC DOUBLEA. Unless there's an ulterior motive.
00:35:29
Speaker 6: Well, I think it was just hard to It was hard to administer the inclusion of that correp class.
00:35:34
Speaker 1: Well, you just wait until next year.
00:35:37
Speaker 3: Well I'm trying.
00:35:39
Speaker 6: I'm trying to think of why it had to happen when it did. I mean, if you waited until next year, if you did it in September, I think you'd have issues with the class beyond that because.
00:35:51
Speaker 1: Well, I mean, you wait until January or like December or January of this year, so that you don't do it in time to give these players a chance to go over it.
00:36:01
Speaker 6: Now, you might have a point. I don't understand the whole five year concept. I don't like it. I know a lot of people who do what I do, or do what I.
00:36:11
Speaker 1: Used to do, or I'm almost.
00:36:13
Speaker 6: Uh that have that have endorsed it. I don't believe that it's just to say I don't care that you tore your eat me up on my watch. You don't get that year back. I don't believe that's just. And I also don't believe anybody needs five years in college athletics, uh, just to do it.
00:36:35
Speaker 4: I don't think that's necessary.
00:36:37
Speaker 3: I don't think that's productive for.
00:36:39
Speaker 6: The athletes as a group because it does limit the possibilities for everyone. So I'm not a fan of it on any level other than it's uniform. And look, there are a lot of different you could have said, four years in one medical.
00:36:54
Speaker 4: Red shirt year, what's all of that?
00:36:57
Speaker 6: Whatever you did somebody who was gonna challenge it, But four years and one medical hardship year would be would have been a much more reasonable deal than five to play five.
00:37:08
Speaker 4: I don't like anything about it.
00:37:10
Speaker 1: Well, I'm sure we'll get to more of that, uh in the coming months, because there are going to be cases decided here very soon that could change the face of college basketball coming up this next season. Mike, have a great time in New York. Enjoy the World Cup Final, and I hope you get to see a classic.
00:37:29
Speaker 4: I hope so too, Chad.
00:37:30
Speaker 6: And even though that's the last official act for the Sporting News, you call, I'll.
00:37:35
Speaker 1: Answer, Hey, there's always a spot a Bearcat Journal for you too, if you want to go back to covering the Bearcats. That's a I think that's a no.
00:37:42
Speaker 6: Wow, Hey, that's that is not you know, you guys do a great job at Bearcat Journal, and you know I'm a fan.
00:37:50
Speaker 1: I know. Thanks Mike, I appreciate it. You have a great time in New York.
00:37:53
Speaker 4: Take care of check.
00:37:54
Speaker 1: There you go, Mike de Courseesportingnews dot Com. His final act as a Hall of Fame journalist comes on Sunday in the World Cup Finals. Take a break. It's pretty remarkable. It's amazing. I've been reading Mike and I to follow him my whole life, and now he's been a mentor for many, many years. For me, it's been mentor week. Here. I should add Vogel on and then it would have completed the trifecta. Let's take a break hour number two right after this Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen.
00:38:23
Speaker 5: Thirty, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic from the years P fifteen thirty.
00:38:47
Speaker 1: Here we go, our number two the Mowagger Show, not Mowagger Chad Brandelberg at Journal dot Com.
00:38:53
Speaker 2: My final day of the week. It's been great, Thank.
00:39:05
Speaker 1: You for choosing me. We have hit an absolute blast this week. One more guest today, JC French quarterback number one going into camp for the Cincinnati Bearcats, joins us in about twenty five thirty minutes. So looking forward to talking to Jc. But until then we have plenty to get to, including we appear to have a situation.
00:39:29
Speaker 2: We have a situation. Things are happening at Royal Birkdale at the moment.
00:39:33
Speaker 1: Let's go out now, not in Southport, England, but here in the Death Star and Kenwood, Ohio. We'll go to Drew Western Heidi golf expert extraordinaire to explain what's going on with Bryson d Schambeau on the course.
00:39:54
Speaker 2: All right, So Bryson d Shambeau finishes his round today with a four under. He birdies the seventeenth hole in the eighteenth hole to go to seven under for the tournament. However, after his round concluded, the RNA requested him to go to the fifth hole, where he was way off the fairway in a lot of deep grass. And they were going to discuss whether he improved his lie on the fifth hole. So the RNA and Bryson and his caddy spend it looks to be about fifteen minutes or so at this spot where he hit his shot, and Bryson is just losing his mind. He seems upset. He's losing his mind, seems upset. The screenshots that are coming out of this are just absolute content gold as Bryson usually is. Bryson's a content king. He does not look happy. He looks very upset. He was very demonstrative towards the officials while all this was going on. He gets on the cart to go back to the clubhouse. He looks very, very upset. So it is looking like it has not been officially announced yet, but I think we are going to have a two stroke penalty on our hands for Bryson, which will drop him from solo second to tied for eighth.
00:41:14
Speaker 1: Now this is a rumor, But did Bryson say you won't play anymore?
00:41:20
Speaker 2: So there was somelip reading going on. They obviously didn't have microphones.
00:41:24
Speaker 1: Why not if there's cameras, why aren't there microphone?
00:41:27
Speaker 2: I'm with you, I'm with you one hundred percent. There. There have been requests put out for John Boy to get on the scene for the lip reading, calls from the No Laying Up podcast saying John Boy, you are in all caps needed for this one right now. So obviously we will continue to monitor this situation watch this space. But if you have a chance and you just want something funny to look at for about ten minutes, just go back and find the full sequence of Bryson and the rules officials try to work through this entire situation. This would be massive, It would it changes the entire complexion of the tournament. Bryson right now is seven under Yeah, he is second, one back of the lead. He would have been in the final group tomorrow. If he gets penalized, he is not in the final group tomorrow. That is huge. So yeah, this is a big moment and it'll be interesting to see the fallout of what all happens. I will continue to dig as we move along here. Some other notable things a pair of sixty two's today from Lucas Herbert and Sam Burns. I believe the USA showed two of Sam Burns's shots today, which is about par for the course for them. When it comes to broadcasting golf. I did see a recap. They did a recap after he was done, or when he was on eighteen or he was done. They did a recap of all his great shots from the day. Yeah, and it felt like, huh, that would have been nice to follow because two of his shots.
00:42:59
Speaker 1: It looked like he was It's incredible. Playing sixty two has got to be near. It is the best rounds ever at the British Open.
00:43:06
Speaker 2: Right, it is a tie for the best round ever at a major, not just the Open. There were a pair of sixty twos at Los Angeles Country Club in the US Open back in the I want to say, twenty twenty three or twenty twenty two, and a pair of sixty twos today as well. So yeah, and Sam Burns isn't just some schmuck like He is well known within the golf circle, like golf World. He is a pretty major player for the United States. He finished solo second at the United States Open last month, which is crazy. And I don't want to bog us down with golf coverage takes you can, we'll take that offline. But Alex Fitzpatrick is the low Fitzpatrick. This week his brother Matt missed the cut. Alex is at four under Scotti Scheffler another sixty eight today, just couldn't really find it with the putter, but he's hitting the crap out of the golf ball with his irons. He's going to be involved as we go through the weekend as well well, So go around from Rory today. Rory's kind of back into the thick of things, so it should be an extremely fun weekend. And obviously this entire situation is going to have a lot of attention to it as we move on into the weekend.
00:44:14
Speaker 1: Is Lucas Herbert a bear? If you're of a certain age, you remember Bobby a bar and when you see that spelling, you see a bear instead of Herbert. I do this with Justin Herbert all the time. But is he a schmuck because he missed a putt for sixty one?
00:44:32
Speaker 2: Didn't he He missed about a four footer for a sixty one? He plays on live, so it's hard to really gauge where he's at. He shot a twenty eight on his first nine, it's pretty good. That's getting it done. And then he so he was let's see here, he was six hundred. He was eight under in his first twelve holes and then he made one birdie on sixteen and then he bogied eighteen to shoot sixty two today. So that's pretty good. Great round from him. Is he gonna win?
00:45:03
Speaker 1: I don't think so.
00:45:05
Speaker 2: Jackson super backed up his good round yesterday with a one hunder par to stay involved in the golf tournament. Cam Young as well is involved. So it's gonna be a great weekend. It looks great out there, The course is playing awesome, even if there are some low scores out there. That's the nice thing about the British Open is what the weather gives you. That kind of determines what kind of tournament you're gonna get. So some low scores out there today and it should be a tremendous weekend.
00:45:32
Speaker 1: I can't wait. Does it feel wrong that it's not cold and windy and damp and crappy at the British Open.
00:45:40
Speaker 2: No, because you get that more times than not when you watch it. Yeah, every once in a while, it's nice to just have a baked out like Son. One of the best British Open Sundays was Phil Mickelson versus Hendrik Stenson.
00:45:55
Speaker 1: It was.
00:45:56
Speaker 2: I forget the course that they were playing at, but they it was those two and nobody else. They just had an all time duel on Sunday. The ground, the fairway was brown. It was just firm and fast and everyone. I don't want this every year, but every once in a while it's nice to change it up a little bit, so I'm good with it.
00:46:15
Speaker 1: Speaking of Europe, we just talked to Mike de Corsi, who is live on scene in h I think they're in New York today, but they're actually playing in East Rutherford for the World Cup third place game is tomorrow. That's somewhere else right, that's in Miami. I think it's Miami. That's in Miami, but the World Cup finale is in East Rutherford on Sunday. It feels like this is I know. Spain has been probably the most dominant team. France got a lot of the publicity because they scored a ton of goals in this and they made the final in the last two World Cups as well. Yeah, so France had the momentum, but Spain was the number one team coming in. As Mike mentioned, now that they played great defense. They don't give you possession of the ball if you're not his running game analogy was a really really good one. Yeah, if you're Spain, do you just say, don't let Messi touch it, play keep away, let's find a goal and let's get out of here.
00:47:29
Speaker 2: As World Cup champions, I think you do what's gotten you there if you're them, And that's the thing Mike touched on it. But their game is kind of that. Possess the ball, don't let Messi get his foot on it, don't let him create, don't let him create something out of nothing. Don't put your defense in a bad position. It might be a year zero game until the eighty fifth minute. That's kind of what I want people to That's the thing about how Spain plays. They're not the most exciting team to watch. They really aren't. They don't like France. Is the far or I'm willing to bet if England and France, you know, if this wasn't like a third place game, quote unquote, if this were the two semi finals, let's let's say that, Yeah, and England and France in the semis, the England France game would be far more entertaining than the Spain and Argentina game.
00:48:18
Speaker 1: Yeah, because Spain is a lot of like long passes from you know, the the defense all the way up to the midfield, and then move it back, and then move it across, and then move it back every once in a while. Like it's a lot of you know, bleeding clock the run game. Just three Mike nailed it. Three yards and a cloud of dust. That's that's, that's why Mike's in the Hall of Fame.
00:48:43
Speaker 2: Right, He's really good at nailed nailed it. It's like it's a great running game. It's a great way to put it.
00:48:49
Speaker 1: I don't know if it's as good as my baseball is twitch analogy from yesterday. But you know, I'll give it to Mike. He's earned it. He's earned it. He's he's much better at this than I am, or a lot of people. You know, Mike, Mike's amazing. But but everybody's gonna be watching to seem mess he do something.
00:49:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, And that's the thing. Argentina could still like it's messy. You can't count him out because all he needs is one All he needs is one moment and before you know it, it could be one nothing Argentina. And if Argentina can get the lead early or you know, score first, not necessarily even early, just score first. Make Spain kind of chase the game, something they haven't had to do all tournament. That's where I think Argentina could really, really really shine.
00:49:38
Speaker 1: And Spain is young. Yeah. I meant to ask Mike this, but we we time kind of got away and I wanted to get a couple other things in there. But Spain like this might be a World Cup early Yeah, then then what people thought from Spain And here they are. But they're trying to stop the inevitable, which is which is if it feels like MESSI because this has been talked about ad nauseum and in soccer circles over the past month. Like Argentina hasn't played great, they haven't been clean, No, they haven't controlled matches, but they've found a way. And in America we give that the team of destiny yep logo rate you know label moniker Moniker Are are we talking team of destiny with Argentina.
00:50:30
Speaker 2: Well, they'd be going on their second consecutive World Cup of being the team of destiny because I talked about it yesterday. But they exclusively play heart stopping bangers in the knockout rounds and they find a way to win. So I've obviously Spain is the favorite. Spain is favored. I actually, if I were betting this game, I kind of like betting on a drawl in it going to extra time. So it'll be uh, it'll be a fun watch. Sunday's sneaky, gonna be a great sports day. Got the Open, the Open Championship in the morning and into the early afternoon, and then this game kicks off at three and then after that, you know, if you got some time to kill on Sunday evenion, I don't know, maybe go see The Odyssey or something. That's that's my plan.
00:51:13
Speaker 1: I've heard great things about The Odyssey. Are you a movie guy? Uh?
00:51:17
Speaker 2: Not a like I enjoy going to the movies. I'm not a centophile or anything like that, but I I enjoyed. I've been looking forward to this movie since the cast was announced.
00:51:27
Speaker 1: Now, Tony, it's a jock, right football player?
00:51:32
Speaker 2: Uh.
00:51:32
Speaker 1: I asked if he had read the Odyssey, the Iliad, the Odyssey, you know, and Uh, unequivocally no. Do you remember reading these books or that they're I guess they're called poems? Like like the designation is actually poem I think on the Odyssey. But do you remember reading these collections of stories when you were young?
00:51:58
Speaker 2: I do remember, I do remember, and pieces of it. I remember doing it. I couldn't rattle it off word for word for you right now, but I've always been fascinated by you know, that that culture and that mythos or whatever you want to call it as well. So I'm looking forward to it. I I can't wait. I've seen nothing but good things about it, So yeah, I'm going to see it on on Sunday night, and uh, it should be should be awesome.
00:52:22
Speaker 1: There's actually I think I think if you're going to see one at the movies, it would it would definitely be The Odyssey.
00:52:28
Speaker 2: But I've become much more selective about what I go see in theaters because of how expensive the movie going experience has become. So when there's a movie out that I really want to go and see in the theater, I will. And this has been on that list for a few months now. Now is the invite on your list? So I've heard great things about this movie I've heard. Is it one that I'll see in theaters? Probably not, But as soon as that becomes available to rent on Amazon or comes to a streaming service you can. I will sit down on my couch and give that one a watch. You'll you'll netflix and chill that one. Probably. I don't know that I have to see that in the theater. Correct that this is a movie. Just the scale and the shooting of it. It's Nolan, who I love. Uh, this feels like one. You got to see it in the theater. I saw the I think the last movie I saw in theaters was I saw The F one movie last year in theaters, and that was an awesome theater going experience. It was a good movie. I mean what it didn't blow me away or like the plot line itself didn't blow me away or anything, but seeing it in the theater and the sound and the cars and how fast you just it just felt fast. And that's why I like, I want to go to the movie theater to see a movie.
00:53:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, let's take a break. We're still waiting on a lineup from the Reds for today eight to forty first pitch tonight, Like, look, guys, you've been off for a week. Can we get a lineup? Yeah? No kidding.
00:53:58
Speaker 2: I got to set my fantasy baseball lineup for tonight. Let's get this coming on show on the road. We'll keep an eye on that.
00:54:04
Speaker 1: Jay Z. French in ten to fifteen minutes or so, QB one for the Cincinnati Bearcats as we go into camp, Draw'll let you you ask me some questions on the Bearcats football team if you'd like when we come back. All right, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.
00:54:18
Speaker 5: Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.
00:54:21
Speaker 1: Traffic from the UC Health keep it rolling, Hour number two, Drew, Do we have a decision? Do we have a ruling from Southport, England?
00:54:44
Speaker 2: We do not have a ruling yet, but from Kevin van Volkenberg of the Fried Egg. Bryson just walked past a big group of media on his way to scoring. Wasn't sure we'd see him again, so he tossed out the question of Bryson, are you playing tomorrow? Bryson smiled a little, said nothing, and kept walking. So interesting situation going on. Will continue to monitor from here.
00:55:09
Speaker 1: We got J. C. French QB one for the Cincinnati Bearcuts coming up here in about ten minutes. Yes, we do. Any any questions you wanna to know about UC football right now? I'm interested in Zion Johnson.
00:55:22
Speaker 2: What what what? What's his projection? Is he going to be the starting running back this year?
00:55:26
Speaker 6: Uh?
00:55:27
Speaker 1: What kind of what do you project out for Zion? I love Zion Johnson. I was actually a big proponent of Zion Johnson last year. I was a crowded backfield last year throughout the season. But uh, you saw at the end there were some injuries that started to add up. There were a couple guys in front of him. But Zion Johnson at the end of the year jumped into that starting role at the Liberty Bowl, and I think he is He's got that mix of he's got some power to him, but he's fast. If he gets behind the defense, he's gonna go the distance. So I love his potential. The thing he's gonna have to show to me is can he stay clean? Can he stay healthy? Because he has in the limited time that we've seen him on the field, it feels like he gets dinged up a lot. Nothing serious, but an ankle or a you know, somebody gets him and leaves a bruise on the thigh and he's hobbled or that. That's gonna be my big thing for me is if you're gonna be running back one, you got to carry a load, a heavy workload. And he's in a really talented running back room. So you know, if you go out there and you get dinged up in camp, or you get dinged up in week one or two and you miss a couple of weeks, somebody can claim your spot pretty quickly. I love the potential and the upside if he stays healthy, which has been a task and is you know, he's a true sophomore. We don't have a ton of evidence, but I've just seen him in that yellow jersey, had practice enough that it makes me a little hesitant. Yeah. So JV.
00:57:10
Speaker 2: Gibson comes in from Oklahoma, obviously didn't get a whole lot of playing time there last.
00:57:15
Speaker 1: Year, but he had hurt in camp.
00:57:16
Speaker 2: Yeah, so eighteen receptions for one and ninety nine yards for an eleven point one average, as well as the Malachi Henry. So you have two transfer wide receivers. What are you looking for out of the two new wide receivers to connect with JC Fringe.
00:57:32
Speaker 1: That's an interesting wide receiver room. There's more than those two. Those two kind of had the highest ranking transfer ranking, so I can see why everybody focuses on this too. I think JV Gibson's going to be wide receiver one. I thought he had a really good camp Spring camp showed he has that potential to make some plays down the field, but also to run the routes like you can't just and I think cincinnat He's got caught up in this a little bit. The last couple of years. They've gotten that big outside guy. But that big outside guy is just a down the field thread and not a guy that's gonna gonna run all the routes and be a threat on you know, first and second down. I think JV Gibson has that. He was supposed to be a really important piece at Oklahoma last year, had an injury at camp and kind of saw his path to success stunted last year because of the injury, it took him a while to get back. So I really like Javi Gibson. Malachi Henry, I think I will be a quality like opposite number two guy. And really I think the interesting thing for them is I think they can be super dynamic in the slot. Cole Woodford, Isaiah Johnson, both of those guys. Cyrus Allen was the slot guy. Last year he was more of like an NFL slot guy. Yeah, I compare the slot position.
00:59:03
Speaker 2: Uh.
00:59:04
Speaker 1: The other night on on one of our shows to this drew big on analogies lately. What they had last year was like like playing Madden, Like what you do with your slot receiver in Madden. What they'll have this year is more like college football twenty seven. Yeah, where they're gonna move them around. They're gonna be in the orbit motions. You're gonna see some jet sweeps, You're gonna you're gonna see a lot of different things to get the ball in the hands of those two guys in space. And I think that's really exciting.
00:59:32
Speaker 2: So from the look of things, a lot of new a lot of new faces on the defense this year, almost all new faces the defense on the defense this year.
00:59:39
Speaker 1: Are they still going to be running.
00:59:41
Speaker 2: That that three four, that three you know three five that we saw a lot from last year.
00:59:47
Speaker 1: No, so, uh, Tyson bite is out. They brought in Nate Woody, who was the defensive coordinator at Army. They run what's called the East Coast three four, which is a very similar defense to what Texas Tech ran last year. The inventor the originator of the East Coast three to four defense is you guessed did Nate Woodie. This is his defense. He has known ciderfield for a long time. There are quite a few variations of this out there, but it's about creating more pressure, creating more havoc, getting up the field, trying to turn teams over a little bit more, trying to get after the quarterback a little bit more. Where last year they did a lot of rush three, drop eight and teams just methodically picked it apart. So if they can find you an edge rusher, and I think Mark west Parker is going to be the most likely guy. If they can find an edge rusher that really consistently gets after the quarterback, I think you've got a chance to be much better on defense. And they're also a lot bigger at defensive back like last year it felt like, and both of those guys were, and not to take away because I think both were, but they're both five to nine and it's just really hard at this level to succeed with five to nine quarterback cornerbacks. This year, the secondary looks much more like a power five secondary, So that'll be the big thing.
01:01:14
Speaker 2: The one last one before we throw it to break and get to JC. Do you think we'll see Steven Russknak kicking on Sundays down the line.
01:01:24
Speaker 1: I think he has the talent too. I think it's just really hard to get a job kicking in the NFL. Those guys hold on, especially now the way that you know you can. You can keep your leg strong and keep that job for much longer than maybe we saw in the past. I think he has the talent too, But those jobs, it's just like punter, you know. You see, He's had a couple of great punters over the last ten years. They haven't made it to the NFL because the jobs just don't open. So I think it's possible, but man, that's a that's a tough gig to get all right, Let's take break JC French QB one joined us next. Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.
01:02:06
Speaker 5: Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic.
01:02:17
Speaker 1: Welcome back, rolling on hour number two. A little wet out there in the Queen City right now, but it doesn't look like it's going to be anything too too substantial. It's a little thunderstorm rolling through. Let's get back out to the phone lines. Let's get back out to our second guest of the day, QB One for the Cincinnati Bearcats transfer in this season and big expectations on the table. Let's talk to JC French. Jc, how the heck are you this Friday afternoon?
01:02:52
Speaker 8: Oh man, I'm doing a phen I appreciate you having.
01:02:54
Speaker 1: Me on, no problem, appreciate you joining us. Thanks to Zach Stipe for putting this together. See for those that that haven't heard from you yet.
01:03:03
Speaker 2: From from those that are unfamiliar, how would what what?
01:03:07
Speaker 1: What would you give your scouting report? What would you say if you were game planning for J C. French? What what would be the strengths and weaknesses?
01:03:16
Speaker 8: Yeah, I think some of my strengths would definitely be decision making in the R P O game and you know, being able to stretch the ball down vertically. I feel like I have a quick release so I can get the ball out fast and tight windows and you know, I feel like that is something that we want to do in the Cincinnati offense.
01:03:36
Speaker 1: And that we're going to be pretty good at.
01:03:38
Speaker 8: And you know, obviously having a line in front of me helps a lot, being able to get through uh full field progression. So I think that in my game is also going to level up this this next coming year. And yeah, I'm very excited for it.
01:03:53
Speaker 1: But what would you say going into camp? If if there was one thing you'd say, you're you're you're fine tuning, uh, going into this season? What would that be?
01:04:04
Speaker 8: Yeah, you know, there's obviously stuff you're in a fine tune every off season. I think something for me is limiting turnovers. You know, I think you when you when the quarterback lin its turnovers, it gives their team the best chance to win win games. And I know this, this Big twelve is very competitive and I'm gonna have to play at my best every week so we can eventually come out on top.
01:04:29
Speaker 1: How was the springs you know, progression for you? And it felt like early maybe you were from practice, It felt like you were you were maybe feeling your way around, getting getting to know everything, getting adjusted. But man, by the time when you got into two week four week week three week four of spring, it seemed like you started to catch a rhythm and really caught fire towards the end of camp.
01:04:52
Speaker 8: Yeah, the first couple of weeks, you know, just figuring things out, still learning the playbook, getting comfortable on that. But you know when when often started to click, like midway through spring, you know, it just felt it just felt naturally out there. You know, I think all the guys started really buying in and gelling together, and I thought we had a great really middle to end the spring. It is very confident by all the guys, not just me, and I think, you know, having all the whole line starting five back, you know it's gonna be even better.
01:05:26
Speaker 1: Was there anything in particular that that started to click or that started to make things easier in your grasp of this offense or was it just getting used to a new wide receiver room, a new new system, new you know, new terminology all that stuff.
01:05:42
Speaker 8: Yeah, I think you know, building relationships with receivers and you know, getting chemistry down. I think that played a big part in it, you know, as well as just watching film and getting comfortable with you know, the offense overall. You know, it's it's it's pretty It's simple like in terms of you know, just literally just watching film and watching last year's games and kind of understanding the concepts and really trying to hone in on the details. So I think, you know, during that spring period, I really emphasized on understanding what we're really trying to do and what we're really trying to attack against said concept, and I.
01:06:18
Speaker 7: Think that helped me a lot.
01:06:20
Speaker 1: You transferred once after your freshman year at Memphis as you were headed to Georgia Southern. Is there anything that you took from that experience and related it to this experience going from Georgia Southern to Cincinnati.
01:06:37
Speaker 8: Yeah, I really, you know, obviously I got a lot older and more mature since I transferred from George Southern, or from Memphis to George Southern and then George Southern here. You know, I really just wanted to be open. I really get to know the guys and be down there, you know, because this is my last year and I want to take advantage of it as well as you become really good friends with these guys and have lifelong relationships. I think that was very important. With day and age that kind of gets swept under the rug and you know, really just be a boughtend team. You know, I think when everybody's bought in and you know, hangs out outside of football, you know, teams more connected, and you know, we need connection those year to get through this dolling of a schedule we have, and I think we're doing a great job of that so far.
01:07:25
Speaker 1: How excited are you to get to play behind this line with with the best guard in college football and Evan teng Gestall, one of the best tackles in Joe Cotton, a beast in Taran Taio moving over to center. Did did you did you look at that at any point in time? Although I know you know Joe was injured during the spring, but look at it and go, man, it's gonna be nice to be protected in this capacity as a as a senior. Yeah.
01:07:51
Speaker 8: Absolutely, you know. I could feel the complete difference, you know, at this level with all the guys in front of me during spring. I was like, these jokers are different now, and it just brings that extra.
01:08:05
Speaker 1: Level of confidence.
01:08:06
Speaker 8: You know, you have a quarterback when you know the guys up front are going to get their job done, you know every single time. And you know not only on the field but off the field.
01:08:15
Speaker 1: They're they're great dudes too.
01:08:16
Speaker 8: I love hanging out with their seeing one of them, I'd say they're some of my closest friends on the team. You know that they're trying to recruit me during the portal process and that went a long way. So you know, I'm really excited for these guys and they're getting all the recognition they deserve, and I think they're still for a for a big year.
01:08:36
Speaker 1: It's it's all new to you, but almost an entirely new wide receiver room at Cincinnati this year. What can you tell us about those pass catchers and and your excitement to uh to spread the ball around to those guys that we're.
01:08:51
Speaker 8: Deep in that position. You know, I'm really excited about the receiver room because they all work so hard and they'll push each other to get better and and what I love about them that there's no falloff in production. You know, I think we got we got a really deep room, a bunch of guys that can play, and you know, I think they're they're gonna have a big year based off the way that they work and that they carry themselves around a facility. You know, they hold themselves in a high regard. I think that's really important for a receiver room. There's competition and confidence and you know they all have that. So I think, you know they're gonna have great years and we're all really excited to see.
01:09:29
Speaker 1: What they can do. I know people will look at your rushing statistics and see you only on paper rush for three hundred and fifteen yards. I'm sure you're quick to point out that they take out sack numbers on those rushing yards, so you were a lot better than three point fifteen. What could they expect for JC? If Jac French is a runner in an offense that there is a lot of RPO and a lot of opportunity to make some plays with your legs.
01:09:54
Speaker 8: For sure. That's something you know that I've been growing every single year, just try to get more of. Let I try to move better. You know, I feel like I took that next step and being able to you know, be more of a runner as well, you know, as what I was throwing obviously, but you know, I just add that to my game because when quarterbacks can run them through, they're dangerous. And you know, I think I give all credit to the strength staff and coach Nico for you know, working working us out pretty hard and you know, getting our bodies right for the season. So you know, I think that's definitely something in my game that's gonna level up a little bit this year. And you know, I'm gonna try to see how it all shakes out, especially running them behind that road line like you said, and you know, just just toys for a great year.
01:10:42
Speaker 1: When you're gonna run, do you just find Evan and say get behind him. He's gonna take me where I need to go?
01:10:49
Speaker 8: Yes, yes, for sure.
01:10:52
Speaker 1: Sure. You started twenty six games at Georgia Southern. How does that experience help you because you're moving up level, You're you're playing in the Big twelve. You're you're going to be facing you know, some some really good defenses, a couple of the better defensive units in the country. How do you use those twenty six starts to your advantage to to adjust to this level.
01:11:16
Speaker 8: Yeah. During my career, you know, I played on some big stages, but obviously, you know, being into Big twelve is very competitive. You know, there's some really good defenses in this league. And I think it's just you know, I think this opportunity that I'm giving, I'm so thankful for and it just makes me want to work that much harder. And you know, with the with the twenty six starts under my belt, you know, it just gives me that, you know, I feel like edge a little bit because you know, I have I've seen a lot of defenses. I've seen you know, games, whether they're going really good or really bad. You know, I feel like I've been in all those positions and you know, just have that experience.
01:11:55
Speaker 7: In my back pocket.
01:11:57
Speaker 8: You know, it's gonna be huge and obviously, uh, films, you know, film film SEID is gonna be a big thing for me this year because it's a bunch of teams that I haven't played. You know, I'm really excited to you know, see what this league has to offer and obviously go against all the other great teams and great defenses. Every think he's gonna pose a great challenge for us that we're all ready for.
01:12:19
Speaker 1: When uh, when you get down to it, when when this the chips are on the table. Uh, what does this defense look like to you? What did your You may be you may be able to give the best scouting report of anybody because you've seen them a bunch of times. The fan base hasn't seen this defense yet. Yep.
01:12:39
Speaker 8: Yeah, it's it's a whole new defensive system. And I really think our defensive guys I bought in, you know that they're continuing to learn their scheme as well, and it really starting to show how confident they're getting in it. You know, so we go against them every day, and you know, I feel like we all compete at a really high level. I give a lot of credit to J. T. Thompson's man, he's a he's a dog. I think he's gonna have a huge year. He's very smart. And I'm really excited to see that defense play with live bullets, because man, there there's something else to go against every single day, and I'm excited to see.
01:13:15
Speaker 1: What they can do.
01:13:16
Speaker 2: J C.
01:13:17
Speaker 1: I appreciate it, and uh, just realite excited for uh, for an entire camp at the new indoor practice facility. It's uh, it's quite the facility, isn't it. Oh man, it's unbelievable.
01:13:30
Speaker 8: I mean it's definitely one of the top of the country and has every single modality recovery anything we can. We can obviously just sleep there and you know, wake up and go out of practice.
01:13:41
Speaker 1: It's not everything. Are you a cryo chamber or a float tank guy?
01:13:47
Speaker 8: I'm a float tank guy. I like I like I like cryo in the morning to like wake me up a little bit. And you know, obviously the float tank to you know, rest my mind.
01:13:57
Speaker 1: There you go, body and all that appreciate it. Jac thanks a lot man, thanks for joining us, and uh, we'll see in a couple of weeks when camp gets started.
01:14:06
Speaker 8: Yes, I appreciate it. Good one.
01:14:07
Speaker 1: There you go. J. C. French QB one Cincinnati Bearcats camp not too far away. I think I might miss the start of camp, Drewe could be in the Bahamas, right, Yeah, I would be in the Bahamas. I just like saying it. I've never been. I'm more of a Jamaica guy when I've gone to the Caribbean. This will be my first Bohemian experience. Is it the Caribbean or Caribbean? Sure, whichever one, I don't care. Dealer's choice. Yeah, you can call it whatever you want to call it. Before we get to break here, it is official. Bryson Shambo has been given a two stroke penalty. Did he flip out?
01:14:45
Speaker 7: Uh?
01:14:45
Speaker 1: He didn't look too happy when he was leaving the scoring tent.
01:14:48
Speaker 7: Uh.
01:14:48
Speaker 2: And there's an angle coming out that you know, if lip reading to be is to be believed, Bryson said, if I you know, allegedly said, if I get penalized, I I'm not playing tomorrow, so we'll continue to monitor this. I don't think Bryson is going to do any media today, so we'll continue to monitor it and see what information comes out before our final hour. Done, done, Dune, Thank you, content, King Bryce is a shit getting us through, getting us through a Friday, Oh mane Brenman and Jones on baseball, Trenaman and Jones on baseball.
01:15:23
Speaker 1: Then our number three, and then I'm getting the heck out of here for the weekend. More after this Cincinnat's ESPN fifteen thirty.
01:15:30
Speaker 5: Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic from.
01:15:34
Speaker 1: The UC Health. Here we go, our number three, our number fifteen, Drew, that's right, our number fifteen. Mstre A big thank you for those of you that have chosen us all week, I mean Tarn and I Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and then Drew has filled in on Thursday and Friday and done an absolutely brilliant, masterful job. Especially good job. Due, thank you, thank you, thank you, just super and you know we've needed you here in this last hour because there's been drama, a lot of drama, and a lot of drama in Southport. What's the latest, all right?
01:16:57
Speaker 2: So the latest I've got from what I can find from senior writer at Golf Digest Joel Beale, Proud Ohio University graduate. UH spoke to Bryson's agent. H Bryceon's agent spoke to a few of the media members said the RNA felt Bryson wasn't careful enough with where he stepped and he improved his swing path. When asked if he's playing tomorrow, the agent replied that we'll see if Bryson shows up. So once again, we are look continuing to monitor this situation. It appears to be extremely fluid.
01:17:28
Speaker 1: Fuck, your prediction was that Bryson d Chambeau would not be playing on Saturday and Sunday at Royal Birkdale. That's right. If he doesn't play that that makes you right, right likely. This is that one in Tony Pike's her hole. I was gonna say, this is a big one. You and you and Tony we were into it a little bit, uh off the air, behind the scenes. Here a little bit of a heated exchange, not as heated as Bryson and the UH. The rules official. Here's another. Here's what I need to know. What you got? What do you got to do? To get that job for the guy that I've seen probably fifty times in the past hour, that's just standing in front of the scoring tent.
01:18:13
Speaker 2: I don't know, but it'd be a pretty good one, Like could I do it?
01:18:18
Speaker 1: Is that a job you can get? Like for the tour? Like could you be that guy at all the events? Or does every event have their own guy?
01:18:26
Speaker 2: I would imagine it is probably just a volunteer, So at different tournaments around the country or around the world, it's probably just a different guy that is hired out by the tour or the RNA in this case, that just gets to stand there and monitor the scoring tent. The most sacred room in all of golf, the scoring tent. There's usually like one set camera up in the corner and that is it. No media members can go in there. Bryson spent a lot of time in there, speculation that he was refusing to sign his scorecard. So yeah, drama, that drama and content that only Bryson d Chambeau could provide for everybody. As we head into the weekend as well, So that's where we're at right now. Bryson has dropped from seven under to five under. Whether he plays tomorrow remains to be seen. I think he would be foolish of him to not play, but he does some foolish thing.
01:19:26
Speaker 1: But he does. Because here's the thing.
01:19:29
Speaker 2: If Bryson plays and he loses by one, he can make a stink at how the tournament got taken from him. If he loses by two, he can do the same thing. If he plays and he plays horribly on the weekend and completely ejects from the tournament, he can say, well, they threw off, they threw me off with the ruling. The only way that he comes out like a loser in this is if he doesn't play. But the thing is is that if I was betting now, I would say he's not gonna play tomorrow. Really, that he's crazy. You cannot predict what this guy is going to do. Anybody else I would be like, that's just talk. There's too much on the line, there's too much at stake, that they're gonna play tomorrow With Bryson, I wouldn't be surprised. It would not surprise me if he just tried to turn himself into a martyr and not played, which would be very, very funny, It would be very Bryson. It would it really really would, So you.
01:20:27
Speaker 1: Would think you would think the competitor would say, I'm gonna take that ruling and shove it up there, you know what, and go win the damn thing. Exactly. I've been playing outstanding golf for over the first two days. Even with the two shot penalty, there's still only three shots back if you're right there. So he's on the range.
01:20:51
Speaker 2: I am watching Live from the Open on the Golf Channel currently, So he's on the range getting some swings in right now while Smiley Kaufman is on the scene kind of creeping around the area like an home intruder, like trying to figure out what all is going on. Shout out to Smiley. He's doing God's work right now on live from on the Golf Channel. So a big shout out to Smiley Kaufman on all this stuff. It's it's incredible. I couldn't have asked for much more because, honestly, like the golf today was good, and you know, we could have gotten a little bit of run out of that. This is We're going on our number two of getting updates on this and I don't think we're gonna be done by the time this show is over. So you know, once again, thank you Bryson for giving us content on the fifteenth hour of this week. Look, I might like we we need I might need to send him like a gift basket, some kind of gift basket. Uh, he's gonna put a YouTube video up and title it if I did.
01:21:49
Speaker 1: It is Uh, what what does swings look like?
01:21:53
Speaker 4: Is?
01:21:53
Speaker 1: Is he just hammering drives to like let off some aggression.
01:21:57
Speaker 2: It looks like he's got he's got an iron or a wedge in his hand right now, so he's being pretty pretty controlled with his golf swing. But uh, they're they're showing it on the they're showing the actual swing on the left side of the screen now, and he is.
01:22:14
Speaker 1: It's just you see.
01:22:16
Speaker 2: It all the time. Players do this all the time. It's just the RNA was was brave enough to step up and do it? That they're phrasing that they use was that he did it inadvertently, So you know, they didn't say he did it on purpose, but doing it inadvertently is still a two shot penalty. So that two shot penalty has been assessed and we will wait and see what happens.
01:22:34
Speaker 1: Uh, if he's gonna play or not you are a noted Bryson hater, I am. So you agree with the RNA, yeah.
01:22:45
Speaker 6: I do.
01:22:46
Speaker 2: To be honest with you, Chad, when when it when the news broke that the RNA we're taking Bryson back to the fifth hole to discuss this, I like threw my hands up in the air and was like, thank you God, because, like you know, it may have turned out to be nothing. But the thing is is that with Bryson, Like, yes, I am a Bryson hater, but I also respect the fact that he gives us content and he is a content king. And so when I saw that this was going on, I knew we were gonna get some gold out of it. And just find just find you anybody that related to golf. Twitter, golf media. Kyle Porter has been following this really really well, very very funny, no laying up as well. Just the images and the scenes of this entire situation are are very very funny. Even if you aren't much of a golf fan, just kind of dive into this story for thirty minutes and I think you will get a laugh. It's been pretty funny. It has to watch them. I'm not gonna lie It's the entire sequence of Smiley Kaufman doing his investigating has been posted to social media. You better bet that when we're done here, I'm going to watch that entire video before I go home.
01:23:54
Speaker 1: Love it. We still do not have a red slangn Nope, we do not. We do have a Rockies line the Rockies lineup. I don't know if anybody cares about the Rockies lineup.
01:24:06
Speaker 2: Well, the only the only thing I care about is cole Kerrig not being in the lineup tonight. So is he on your fantasy team? He's on the fantasy team. So he's not in the lineup tonight. So he is on the Seamsters Union bench? Howd Hunter Goodman for the Rockies? Heck of a player, twenty seven home runs, fifty one RBIs on just a dreadful Rockies team, just dreadful with the Rockies. Are the Rocky's gonna sell on him? But he's in year four, He's got two more years of control left. Wow, he might not even have gained a service year in twenty three, depending on when he came up. He only played twenty three games. He feels like somebody you hold on to for the remainder of the season, but in the offseason, if you start getting some call about him, maybe you consider moving on from him.
01:25:03
Speaker 1: That's a guy that I mean, the big numbers and it's gonna be a light market in terms of sellers.
01:25:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, if you're gonna move on from him, he's one of probably one of the few catchers. Well, it's funny you might be getting a look at two catchers that could be available at the trade deadline tonight, assuming Tyler Stevenson's in the lineup tonight. But you know, I think Tyler Stevenson has been discussed as somebody who could potentially be on the move as well, so be interesting to watch. The Rockies are wearing their City Connect uniforms tonight. I think they're among the best in the league, so they got that going for him.
01:25:40
Speaker 1: There you go. You know what, let's take a quick break. We have not taken any phone calls today. Is Mike there? Do we know if Mike's there? I believe it's Mike. I'm gonna have to confirm that as we move to break here, but I'm pretty sure it's Mike. Okay, we'll come back. We'll go out to the phones. If you want to get a call in before we end the week. Five one, three, seven, four, nine, fifteen thirty. It looks like I'm gonna be driving home in a thunderstorm. It is rumbling pretty good out there. But we're we're diligent, We're we're staying focused. We're driving this car forward. We're monitoring a lot of situations both here in the Tri state area and across the pond. Yeah, across the pond the red starting lineup and thunderstorms and flash floods. Uh, it's not going to be a fun drive home. It's gonna it's gonna take me a while to get back to independence, Kentucky.
01:26:29
Speaker 9: I think.
01:26:30
Speaker 1: More after that since Ant's ESPN thirteen.
01:26:32
Speaker 5: Thirty, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty. Traffic from the UC Health Traffics.
01:26:55
Speaker 1: Yo, we tank I grew.
01:26:56
Speaker 8: Oh yeah.
01:26:57
Speaker 1: For the kids, it's always the kids favorite Wu Tang song. This one's up there for sure.
01:27:09
Speaker 2: Yeah, Min mine's not a Wu Tang song. It's a it's an O dB song. Shimmy Yaws is a class.
01:27:20
Speaker 1: It's a good one. It's a classic. I love a good one. Have you ever heard the the method man explanation of where the m E d h O D Man came from I have not. It's pretty good. Look that up on TikTok. It's pretty good. All right. I guess it's time to go out to the phones. Let's see if Mike is available. Mike, how are we doing? It's raining here, it is. It looks like like eight o'clock at night outside right now.
01:27:52
Speaker 7: Well, you know that's that's good. You probably need to rain.
01:27:56
Speaker 1: Well, it hasn't rained much. I guess you know it's okay. You get it done today.
01:28:02
Speaker 7: The whole country's got droughts going on basically, except some of these isolated spots down in the southwestern stuff. But I know my buddy in Florida said it's been terrible down there. They're in severe drought conditions in Florida.
01:28:15
Speaker 1: I mean it was hot down there, Mike, hauh goodness, it was hot when we.
01:28:19
Speaker 7: Were down there Florida and my cup's keeper.
01:28:23
Speaker 1: We've had that out there with Vietnam.
01:28:26
Speaker 7: If you want to talk about you.
01:28:28
Speaker 1: In terms of climate, I'll go wild Man Walker, remember wild Man, of course, San Diego Forever, Florida.
01:28:37
Speaker 7: Never there you go, brother nail on the head, Mike, my name. The rest of Mike call is twofold number one. I've really enjoyed you and Drew together this week. I'm not taking anything away from Terran. I always loved Teran, and you and Taren have a nice relationship and you feed off each other well. Drew is is assimilating in a remarkably quick fashion. And uh, it's been a nice change from Mo no offense to Mo. But you know, change is a beautiful thing. And Drew, your Mike conversation with you yesterday about the Open Golf was probably the coolest conversation I've had in a while.
01:29:21
Speaker 1: With thanks take for beef, so appreciate.
01:29:23
Speaker 7: I appreciate it both you guys.
01:29:25
Speaker 1: Thank you. I appreciate that.
01:29:26
Speaker 7: Mike, Well, you deserve it, man, It's so real. What's the update on the Open today, Drew.
01:29:34
Speaker 2: Oh, we've got a whole We got a whole situation going on right now, Mike. That involves a two shot penalty in Bryson to Shamba.
01:29:42
Speaker 1: Another Shambo fans neither neither am I, but this is a situation worth monitoring. He's still on the range.
01:29:49
Speaker 2: It's it is pitch black out there in England right now, and Bryson is still on the range.
01:29:55
Speaker 1: Amazing.
01:29:56
Speaker 7: How's Scotty doing.
01:29:58
Speaker 2: Scotty shot another sixty eight today, so he's he's four under for the tournament.
01:30:02
Speaker 1: He's still right there.
01:30:03
Speaker 2: Couldn't really get a putt to drop today, but he's leading the field in ball striking. He's been good off the tee. He's hit a ton of fairways. Scott He's still gonna be a factor in this thing at the end.
01:30:15
Speaker 7: I have no doubt is Ror doing anything.
01:30:18
Speaker 2: Rory got it to minus one today, so he's he's tied for thirty eighth. You know, tough, it's probably too far back, but he bounced back after a tough round yesterday to make the cut, which means Austin Elmore will win a free lunch off of myself and Tony Pike for Rory making the cut there. So so yeah, Rory. The decent day for Rory, so he makes the cut. He'll play the weekend. But I wouldn't I would say he's probably out of the running of winning the tournament.
01:30:50
Speaker 1: But what about the wrong Fitzpatrick?
01:30:53
Speaker 7: Are you still in there? Did you make the cuts? Head?
01:30:56
Speaker 1: I didn't have a golfer that was that was we did that?
01:31:00
Speaker 7: You?
01:31:00
Speaker 1: Oh me? No, I did not make the cut. I'm out for the weekend. Mike, he ain't getting paid.
01:31:04
Speaker 7: Do you play golf?
01:31:06
Speaker 2: Uh? No, I haven't played in a long time. I used.
01:31:12
Speaker 1: I like to play. I'm much better at watching it though.
01:31:17
Speaker 7: Well that's not there's nothing wrong with that. Hey, the only other thing I wanted two other things, real quick, Lebron, Lebron, make a decision. Quit trying to suck the oxygen out of the whole damn country. Just make your decision and get on with it. You're holding up everybody so that you can get the oxygen that you need. Obviously, So I just because I'm burnout on Lebron and I'm burnout on soccer. Uh. And that's just the way I feel about it. So the other question is it looks like this and this is hard and this doesn't happen ever in LA Is it possible that the Dodgers and the Rams could both win championships this year? In your opinion? Now, I know what you're gonna say, but do you truly believe it?
01:32:08
Speaker 2: Sure, it's possible. Why wouldn't it be possible they're both the favorites?
01:32:14
Speaker 7: Well, I mean, it's like, okay, if I said, I'll take the Dodgers, you take the field. I'll take the Rams, you take the field. But I wouldn't do that because that's a stupid bet. But I'm just wondering if you, if both of you think they're that much better than everybody else, Well.
01:32:34
Speaker 2: Just basing it on the odds, the Dodgers are plus one seventy to win the World Series. The next best odds are the Yankees at plus five hundred. After that it's the Brewers, Brave, Mariners, and Phillies all at plus one thousand or more. So the odds tell you that, yes, they believe that the Dodgers are going to the Dodgers are going to win the World Series. As for the Super Bowl, the Rams also the betting favorite. We looked at these a little bit yesterday. They remained unchanged. The Rams at plus five point fifty are the betting favorite as well, with the Seahawks being second at plus eleven hundred. So you'd be you'd be bet you'd be banking on the two favorites winning the championship. Now that doesn't always happen, but no, it's it'll be interesting to why. I just baseball is a weird game, and it's it's really hard to win three in a row. So but I think if the I think the Dodgers can do it, but it's going to be extremely difficult, especially with a much improved National League.
01:33:32
Speaker 7: Right. I talked to my buddy today up in Boston, UH, and I was asking him, how how did it feel when the Patriots were on top for so long? Did you just get a lot of hate from the country And he said, oh, yeah, it was. It was bad. And I said, well, that's the same thing I'm getting now for my Dodgers. It's just a lot of hate. And I don't know if it's just jealousy or what. But what dynasties I think are good for sports in some fashions.
01:33:59
Speaker 2: Well, my thing with the Dodgers is I don't even really hate the Dodgers because they are just playing the game in the constraints that are provided to them.
01:34:06
Speaker 1: You know.
01:34:06
Speaker 2: They now, obviously they they have a ton of revenue, they have a big television contract, and they have the room and the money to make these moves. And I understand why fans of you know, teams, fans of people who are fans of teams who are a small market and don't have that much money. Get frustrated with them, but they're they're not breaking the rules, they're not bending they're they're playing the game within the guardrails that are provided to them. So I don't hate the Dodgers for doing it, and honestly, I kind of hope they do because then I think is when it may bring change.
01:34:39
Speaker 7: That could be that. Yeah, with the with the CBA, you're right, I just you know, it's just ironic if people say that and then the all stars on that team, Max Montcy, they got them off the scrap heap from the age and twenty seventeen, Andy pat has second year through the system, Will blessed, he Pitcher through the system and U and uh Freddy was the only superstar that you know that made it. So anyway, I'll get off that. I know people since and I don't want to hear what did I didn't tick to catch your your discussion with J D.
01:35:12
Speaker 1: French?
01:35:12
Speaker 7: How did that go? Chad? What do you think?
01:35:14
Speaker 1: I thought it was good? You can tell he's a guy that's that's taken a lot of snaps. He's played a lot of quarterbacks, so he's got some confidence in his game, some confidence in his ability. I think, you know, that's something you absolutely want and need at that position. I think the big thing for J. C. French and I've talked about this a ton going through the offseason. I was a big Brendan Sorsby guy, Like I thought Brendan Sorsby is a very very good college quarterback. However, it was to boom or bust, and that's that's what catches up to you eventually, is it was either touchdown or three and out is what last year felt like. It felt like they either got the i've started and rolled straight down the field and scored a touchdown. They were one of the most efficient, explosive offenses in the country. But when they did not get that first first down, you know, when they couldn't get the engine started on the car, it just wouldn't turn over, and next thing you know, you're not winning field position. Like the crazy thing, Mike, they lost field position on the season almost two to one. On a season it was almost forty to twenty time of possession for Cincinnati. They have to get that changed. One of the ways you get that changed is your quarterback can make that third and six throw and it felt like Soresby too often could not make that third down play, that drive extending play, And it will be interesting to see if French can give them that guy that provides some stability that they haven't been haven't been able to find last year.
01:37:08
Speaker 7: Does French have better wheels than the.
01:37:11
Speaker 1: No, No. Sorsby was a really good runner, like really good runner, and he was bigger, a couple of inches bigger than French, couple pounds thicker than French. So but he's a different type of runner, so it'll be interesting to see how they use him. They use Soorsby a lot on that dive where they fake the handoff. The running back would go up the middle as a blocker and Sorsby would get right tuck in behind him and try to get downfield. I don't know that you want French running that type of QB run action. But he looked fine in the spring, running like he could get out in the open field and make plays. I just don't think you're ever probably gonna use him really as like a power guy like they used Soresby.
01:37:59
Speaker 7: Yeah, because Sworsby is You're right, he's pretty big.
01:38:02
Speaker 1: Six dude.
01:38:02
Speaker 7: There was no question about that.
01:38:06
Speaker 1: Something like that was Yeah, Sorsby was a big boy.
01:38:11
Speaker 7: Although I did catch it real quick, real quick, a snippet from your interview. And I like the way he sounded confidence. Twice he sounded like he really knew what the hell he's doing.
01:38:22
Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean, he's got twenty six starts under his belt at the college level. He's the all time leading passer at Georgia Southern who's had a good football program. So the ability is there. I think the offense is still you know, Soadderfield's offenses have been good. I think the question is the defense. Can they get off the field, can they get after the quarterback? Can they get some interceptions? They had two interceptions all year last year and one of them was against the FCS team.
01:38:50
Speaker 7: That's bad.
01:38:51
Speaker 1: It's terrible.
01:38:53
Speaker 7: That's terrible. Well, I sent Mo a text. I said, all I said was Wally, Pip question Mark, A great week. Thanks, thanks for entertaining me this weekend. You guys have been sensational.
01:39:06
Speaker 1: No problem. Thanks, Mike. Let's take a break. We will. We got one more call. We'll get to Scott in Louisville and wants to talk to me. You see football when we get back. Right after this Cincinnati is ESPN fifteen thirty.
01:39:18
Speaker 5: Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic.
01:39:30
Speaker 1: Final segment of the day. I'm not looking forward to getting out there me either.
01:39:36
Speaker 2: We took a look at it during the break there. It looks nasty out there. We got a lineup, Drew, We do have a lineup. Let's get to it, shall I read it off?
01:39:48
Speaker 1: Sure? All right?
01:39:51
Speaker 2: The Reds and Rockies tonight in Colorado. Leading off for your Cincinnati Reds, playing shortstop Ellie Da La Cruz, sal Stewart hit second place first, JJ Blede in left batting third, Spencer Steer and right batting fourth, the designated hitter Eohaneo Suarez hitting fifth, Tyler Stevenson catches and hit sixth, TJ Friedel in center hit seventh, Edwin Royu man's second base and hits eighth, and the returning key Brian Hayes at third base, hitting ninth. So that is day La Cruze, Stuart Bledet, Steer, Suarez, Stevenson, friedel Or Royu, Hayes, and Brady Singer on the mound for the Cincinnati Rett.
01:40:33
Speaker 1: I don't even I just I don't even care. I don't I did my best. No, you're did start you. I'm glad you did it, and I didn't have to. I don't care. I was supposed to talk about the Reds a lot today. Do something. It's like did the meme with the guy with the stick poking the dead guy on the ground, Like, do something? Scott wants to talk to UC football Scott Ciderfield.
01:41:00
Speaker 9: No, No, we're good there all the although, when I wear my UC gear out at a bar in Louisville, I've got all my U of L friends wanting to still buy me a beer for taking them off their hands. Well, yeah, I realized next year's baseball schedule is tended the best, but I was a little disappointed when they released the schedule. The first thing I did was look at September eighteenth next year to see if the Red Sox were going to be in town when UC goes up to Boston College. I was hoping to do the the Fenway BC doubleheader, but the Red Sox are out of town.
01:41:44
Speaker 1: Well that's unfortunately they missed like April. Yeah, it's early.
01:41:49
Speaker 9: They're the home opener for the Red Sox.
01:41:53
Speaker 1: Yep, I'd like to be I'd like to go.
01:41:57
Speaker 9: It's it's everything. It's we went we were up there last year for the Reds. It's it's everything it lives up to be. It's I think it's so much better than Regulae, but it was. It was incredible.
01:42:10
Speaker 7: But as a h.
01:42:13
Speaker 9: Can you talk me into why you see is not going to be six and six this year?
01:42:21
Speaker 1: I mean we we were. Are you a BCJ podcast listener, Scott.
01:42:26
Speaker 9: Yes, absolutely and absolutely. Actually actually on Twitter, I kind of refer when Mike Golick was looking for people to UH try to connect with Big twelve teams, I suggested you guys.
01:42:37
Speaker 1: Thank you. We went through an exercise last night, Dave and I did, looking at the like what how we would tier the Big twelve going into UH to this season, and we had Cincinnati tenth and six and six feels probably right to me unless J. C. French is better than I expected, which I am pretty high on J. C. French. I had questions going into the spring. Being at spring practices, you could see week by week he was progressively getting quite a bit better, and by the end of the spring I thought he had the offense operating at a pretty good level. Now here's the problem. Is the defense any good, like, we don't know if the defense he's facing stinks, then it's hard to get a gauge on what it means for J. C. French to be playing, you know, progressively better as the weeks go by.
01:43:38
Speaker 9: So I.
01:43:41
Speaker 1: Trust that Nate Woodye will have the defense prepared. I don't know if these guys there's very few returners, there's a lot of portal guys. There's a lot of guys moving up a level from you know, the group of six up to the power four. Do they work out? And if they do, you know, if if the defense can get off the field, then yeah, I think, uh, I don't think I could talk myself above eight because of the schedule. You're you're going to Utah, You're you're, you've got you're you're going to excuse me, you're going to BYU and you've got a road slate. West Virginia is better on the road than they than they are at home, or better at home than they are on the road. Same with you got to go to ames, Iowa November twelfth. That sounds awful, that sounds terrible. So I have a hard time getting a like. I think six and six is probably about right. So if if you want me to talk you off the ledge like I might have just kicked you instead.
01:44:50
Speaker 9: No, I thought, I think six and six. That's kind of the one thing I'm optimistic about with French is having watched sadder Field here in Louisville. It's almost countering intuitive, but when he had a when he had a less athletic or a less talented quarterback, his offense seemed to function better. And I think was something just didn't connect last year with Soresby. Yeah, but with the talent he had with Royer and the two wide receivers and.
01:45:21
Speaker 7: The offensive line.
01:45:22
Speaker 9: Just my concern this year and why why I keep coming back to six and six is I just don't think that the roster as or the starting lineup as of now or for what we know is is as talented as it was last year going into the season.
01:45:38
Speaker 1: I'd agree with.
01:45:39
Speaker 9: That's why I keep coming and that's why I keep coming back to six and six. Now, I don't know, you know, defensively, the the the merry go round last year with Corleone, is he in?
01:45:51
Speaker 7: Is he out?
01:45:52
Speaker 9: Is he healthy? Is he only going to play? Is he Why isn't he in? On third and short, I think not having him there, even as talented as he was, not having him there now you that just factors out of the equation and you game plan accordingly and move into a different scheme and see how that works out.
01:46:11
Speaker 1: Yeah, the big problem with Dante and people didn't They didn't really let onto this that ankle injury was bad, like, oh yeah, he had he had ankle surgery at the beginning of the season when he sprained it, and they that just never got out. So it was it was unfortunate and it produced kind of an unfortunate end to a a career that you know, was was once was on pace to be like a UC great and then because of the injury, it just kind of tapered off at the end. But uh, can they It comes down to two things, Scott, can they get after the quarterback and can they use that to create some more turnovers because they were abysmal at taking the ball away. They were not very good at getting to the quarterback last year. And if you can't get to the quarterback and you can't turn the other team over, you're in trouble at the big time level.
01:47:06
Speaker 9: Absolutely so, and that's why I think I think that Miami game. Every I'm that I don't put that in the automatic win category. I mean we should be favored, but I do not put that in the automatic cat win category.
01:47:22
Speaker 1: Uh, Cincinnati should be better than Miami.
01:47:28
Speaker 7: And they Yep, they should be.
01:47:30
Speaker 9: But it's just a at that stadium. Who knows, I don't. I just we'll we'll see.
01:47:36
Speaker 1: But I'm fascinated to see a game there.
01:47:40
Speaker 9: I think it'll be great.
01:47:41
Speaker 1: I think it's gonna be fascinating to watch a game. Yeah.
01:47:44
Speaker 9: I did appreciate your take on travel, on travel sports with what you're going through with your daughter, and it's a conversation for a different time. But my son's played uh baseball, basketball on lacrosse at Trinity, so I kind of went through the travel thing as well.
01:47:59
Speaker 1: So I again, you're a rich man, Scott. What did you go to Trinity?
01:48:08
Speaker 9: No, I went I went to Connor.
01:48:09
Speaker 1: Okay, it's gonna say, I got a I got a good friend. I got a good friend that went to Trinity. That actually, how old are you, Scott? If you don't mind me asking?
01:48:20
Speaker 9: Sixty three?
01:48:21
Speaker 1: Okay, do you remember the Boone County Trinity Shawn Alexander State championship game.
01:48:27
Speaker 9: Absolutely.
01:48:28
Speaker 1: So in that game, uh, Boone County was fielding a punt and a guy from Trinity got there a touch early and they let it go. The ball bounced free. The ball out actually bounced off of his helmet and Trinity recovered and it kind of kind of set the tone for that game. My buddy Rob Delessio and uh he's still big in uh in Trinity circles down there.
01:48:57
Speaker 9: But uh, well my middle unplayed with with with Dingle. Uh he was in his graduation class Trinity. So but it was I mean, it's interesting especially with everything with with with Trinity's baseball team this year, having the success that they did and it being designated national champs in a couple of poles. But I'm sure you're you're with with the volleyball circuit. You're familiar with the public private school to pay up there as well.
01:49:29
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, it's but I was in a basketball event in Atlanta and Cartersville, Georgia one year and I was out walking to my car in the parking lot and the facility's got a bunch of baseball fields there as well. I don't know if you've ever been to that facility in Cartersville, just north of Atlanta, and uh, all of a sudden there were all these r v's and I'm like, I know that's not for basketball. That is not a basketball thing that they would take r vs to the events. It was the baseball families and basically they live in RV's all summer. They said, if it's cheaper to get an r V, use it for a couple of years and sell it than it is to stay in hotel rooms all across the country all year. And there was like a community. They had like six of them that were like parked in a in a rectangle and they had like a courtyard in the middle where they were grilling out and had all their camping chairs and all that stuff. You got to rent an RV, buy an r V to do to do youth baseball. It's crazy and all that for.
01:50:30
Speaker 9: A all that for a D D three or an N I I a place place placed on a roster. But East Cobb in Georgia is an interesting baseball event. Yeah, but it's it's it's it's a lot of fun until it ends.
01:50:46
Speaker 1: My uh, my daughter had a very quick revelation. Scott when she was a freshman, was a girl on our team that's really good, played for the best AAU program in Greater Cincinnati, and uh, she was awesome and she went D three and went, oh, yep, oh that's what D three looks like. I'm in trouble. Yep. I appreciate it, Scott, I gotta go. You have a great weekend, man.
01:51:11
Speaker 2: Thank you too, Drew, Chad, excellent, great week, excellent past couple days.
01:51:17
Speaker 1: Thank you for filling in. Thank you for for being a great partner, for being a great you know. Uh, you were riding shotgun and you called all the shots like the old days when you didn't have GPS and the guy's shotgun was important. You did that. That's right. Just trying to be a start of my role. You start in your role, buddy.
01:51:37
Speaker 4: That's right.
01:51:38
Speaker 2: You have a great weekend, everybody. I'm Chad Brendle. I'll be back sometime in August.
01:51:44
Speaker 1: I don't know. I'm going to the Bahamas. I don't even care. Uh see you next time my Leggers show. Since that E's ESPN fifteen thirty