Full Transcript for NFL Week 9 Storylines: Seahawks in TROUBLE? AFC contender WEAKNESSES, NFL trade deadline predictions

America. So that is the schedule for today. First, we will go straight to voicemail brought to you by Boost Mobile. Brandon Ayuk files to be reinstated by the Niners. The way this is going to work, he's going to show up, they're going to cut him, and then he's going to see if anybody else wants to pick him up. I would not They are not going to keep Brandon Ayuk, but in order for him to be able to sign somewhere else, they have to cut him. In order for them to be able to cut him, he's got to show up. So that's what's going on. The Sixers win again, beating the Pistons. LeBron got to just an absolutely ludicrous 16,000 field goals, which means if LeBron had never hit a free throw, and never hit a three, he would be 292 points shy of Michael Jordan's career point total. If it was just 16,000 twos and no free throws, no threes, he would be the seventh all-time leading scorer and the Sixers are the best team in the Eastern Conference. And Wimby put up a game for the ages. 52-24 with eight blocks just he was one of eight from three and I think 16 of 28 for the game so he's 15 of 20 inside the arc as the Spurs win a great game against Kyrie and Cooper Flagg and Wimby you know puts his first real stamp on the season to Monzae a season that Quietly, I don't know if it's quietly, but the story of the season from an individual excellence standpoint has been Luka is just lighting everyone on fire every single night. Wimby kind of threw his hat back in the very, very early MVP ring and then had some interesting comments after. So there's a little strange voicemail, a little basketball talk before we get to Thursday night football, which was supposed to be one of the best Thursday night football games of the year. Sadly, Greg Russo's helmet and Lamar Jackson's thumb had something else to say about it. We'll discuss it anyway. Let's get right to it. 00:05:26 Speaker 3: Oh yeah, your Jags take home my depleted Ravens tonight in a primetime game, which the Jags do not get often, or this group has not gotten, so they've been flying kind of under the radar. They've won in pretty much every possible way. Do you think that this Jags team is a special team? What's stopping them from being a Super Bowl team if they aren't already? 00:05:47 Speaker 1: I don't know if any team in the NFL this year yet qualifies as a special team, but I think the closest would be maybe the bears. Cause yeah, there you go. Young quarterback, relatively new coach added, you know, they have a lot of the pixies vibes. So I don't think this Jags teams like going, you know, a special team in, in any discernible way. But I do think they are a very credible Super Bowl threat. And I do think they have a very strong argument that they are the most complete team in the AFC. The Bills' secondary is a mess, and that was before they cut Chauncey Gardner-Johnson. And sidebar on that, I... Does Chauncey Gardner Johnson really not have anyone in his life that can be like, bro, it's you. Nobody can stand being around you from a team perspective for more than a few months. Three years in New Orleans, traded to Philly, lasted there a year, went to Detroit, lasted there three games, went back to Philly, lasted a season, went to Houston, lasted three games, went to Chicago within the year, lasted 10 games. Went to Buffalo, lasted six games. Come on. And he's a good player. I mean, he just seems like it's too much, man. I mean, 93 games in his career, 21 interceptions. He's a legitimately good player. The Bills need secondary help drastically. And they're like, it's not worth it. Just get out of here, bro. And so, but that was a little bit of a sidebar. The Bills have secondary issues. The Broncos have a quarterback issue. The Bengals can't run the ball. The Chiefs, once again, don't have pass catchers. Is there any, the Steelers have a 42-year-old quarterback. The Patriots... are a complete, but to me, not elite team in that they spent a ton on receiver in the offseason. AJ's hurt. Romeo Dobbs is hurt. I think Travion Henderson is not pop for them. Again, I'm not trying to go... They're just not... They don't have an obvious glaring hole, but they don't have an overwhelming strength to me either. And then there's the Jags, who have an excellent running game. who have an excellent quarterback, who have such a deep receiver core, they might trade away Brian Thomas Jr., whose defense is excellent against the run, whose Travis Hunter is turning into the corner that we thought he could be. The Jags, who this year have two losses, a loss in Denver, a Denver team that I think is now 17-1 in their last 18 in Denver, And the only team actually to go there and beat them is the Jags last year. And then a neutral site loss in London to a desperate Texans team, which is a bad loss, but you still scored 31. Also, Domonze, this Thursday night game is weird in this regard. From September 28th, so five weeks ago, until... November 28th, September 28th to November 28th. This is the only game the Jags play in Jacksonville. 00:09:48 Speaker 4: Wow. 00:09:48 Speaker 1: Isn't that wild? Yeah, they had two games in London. No, both in England. They played, but two different stadiums. They played at Tottenham. and at Wembley. 00:10:01 Speaker 4: But, yeah. 00:10:04 Speaker 1: So it's really, they basically, they go all of October and almost all of November, and this is their only game being played in Jacksonville. 00:10:13 Speaker 3: Have the Jacks had the most games out of the country? Yeah, so that's like a set up. 00:10:18 Speaker 1: No, because their owner wanted it, and they were. So he was cool with it. They're kind of like England's team. That's part of the reason I call Trevor Lawrence the prince that was promised. But the Jags blew out the Browns, who have five wins. They blew out the Patriots, who have five wins. They blew out the Colts, who stink. They beat Cincinnati. Cincinnati. Like, they have good wins. They are a well-rounded team. They're next four to

Monza. Baltimore, Tennessee, Giants, Tennessee. So they should, you know, at a minimum, they're going to be huge favorites in three of those four games. So at a minimum, they should be eight and three. They maybe could be nine and two before they go to Chicago and in early December, I just, if the Jags played in a different market, they would be discussed like an A-list team. They've got a star quarterback. They have an excellent young coach. A lot of the arguments that you could make for the Bills, you can make for the Jags, that things changed when Liam Cohen got their number one pick, great pedigree quarterback. And so, yes, I like the Jags to blow out the Ravens tonight, and I think maybe they put a bit of a stamp, but it's just hard for them to get any narrative momentum because, yeah, maybe tomorrow people will be like, oh, man, the Jags looked impressive. And then when you have three straight games that go Titans, Giants, Titans, none of which on national TV all Sunday afternoon buried in either the 1 o'clock or the 4.05 window, You just, they're not ever going to be a media-wise, a media darling, but they're an awesome, awesome team. All right, so let's, a couple more Jags questions. I know you have them. Go ahead. 00:12:31 Speaker 3: So they have an 8% chance to win the Super Bowl, and Trevor Lawrence has a 9% chance to win MVP. 00:12:36 Speaker 2: Which one of those do you like more, or both? 00:12:40 Speaker 1: I think those are both probably about fair. I think that Trevor is a touch more likely to win MVP than they are to win the Super Bowl, which is exactly what those odds say. I mean, Trevor's numbers have been quietly excellent. He's 8.5 yards per attempt. He's a 112 rating and 17 touchdowns, 4 picks. He has just been an elite quarterback this year, fresh off a 13-win season. Um, and so, yeah, I mean, I think both of those make sense. And as far as his, for them winning the super bowl or him winning MVP being the number one seat obviously would help a ton and they have a very clean path to it. The rest of the way they have that game in Chicago. And aside from that, like, I'll just read you their schedule real quick. Baltimore, Tennessee, the Giants, who have four wins. Tennessee again. Chicago. Pittsburgh, who's a good team. Houston, Dallas, Washington, Indy. So, I mean, they have 13-4 kind of written all over them, maybe 14-3, and a legitimate, legitimate A-list contender. All right, one Brian Thomas Jr. question before we get to your Ravens. 00:14:08 Speaker 2: Is Brian Thomas a Jaguar this time next week? 00:14:12 Speaker 1: I don't think so. But I also don't think they'll... I would love the Chiefs to trade for Brian Thomas Jr. If I'm the Jags, I historically have not really believed in the, oh, you don't trade within your division in sports. If you think you're getting the better end of a trade, in theory, you would want to trade within your division because you're like, we're getting better and you're going to actually... be

worse off for it. So with that, and I know the Jags and Chiefs aren't in the same division, but they're in the same conference and they're both legit contenders. And Brian Thomas Jr. would just fill such an obvious hole for Kansas City that I just think they're, but it does, here's what's interesting. It does appear the Chiefs and Steelers are the two teams most interested in Brian Thomas Jr., Both of those teams are AFC playoff teams. But still, if I'm the Jags, I'm just a lot more worried about making the Chiefs better than I am about making the Steelers better. 00:15:20 Speaker 2: I want to get Mahomes a better receiver. 00:15:24 Speaker 1: And so I wanted Brian Thomas Jr. on the Chiefs for a year and a half now. So I would love it. I think the Jags might be a little too good to do business with Kansas City. But we'll see. 00:15:37 Speaker 2: Brandon Ayuk, take a pay cut. They just took Justin Tucker. 00:15:43 Speaker 1: I mean, well, listen, and Brandon Ayuk doesn't appear to be a bad guy. Right. He just, like, so I don't think it's been. 00:15:49 Speaker 2: It was him and the Niners, it seemed like. 00:15:51 Speaker 1: Yeah, and he also seems to be going through some troubles. But I just don't know if he can play anymore. 00:16:00 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:16:00 Speaker 1: Like, I mean, he hasn't played football in so long. Yeah, and he was coming off a major injury. So I don't know that Brandon Ayuk is. 00:16:09 Speaker 1: In any position to help a NFL team right now. Maybe we'll see. All right, we'll get to your Ravens in a second, but first, hoop season is here. Best way to trade on it is the prediction market, poly market. In the past, if you wanted action on the game, put some money in, and if your team was doing well and you wanted to cash out, sometimes you couldn't or they'd lock the trade or it wouldn't be a good deal. 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The Polymarket US app serves as an independent software provider and affiliate of Polymarket US and Polymarket Clearing, the CFTC regulated exchange and clearing organization. 00:17:38 Speaker 1: All right, Demondsey, let's talk about your side of the game tonight. 00:17:42 Speaker 2: So our Ravens have not given up yet. 00:17:43 Speaker 3: Fagnano will start tonight, and then after that, Jacoby Brissett will be brought in until Lamar returns, if he returns. 00:17:51 Speaker 2: Should me and. 00:17:52 Speaker 3: Fellow Ravens fans have any optimism about Lamar returning by the end of this season? 00:17:58 Speaker 1: Well, so I would think not, but also, you know, Huntley got hurt in this game. And we know what's going on. Turf Toes season-ending IR. He's done for the year. Lamar, we... There's no question Lamar got hurt. We saw it. And... What I thought was... If he had surgery, he's just done for the year. But they won't make that official. So I don't totally understand that piece of it. I. 00:18:34 Speaker 1: So I guess we have to keep open the possibility that if you guys are alive late in the year, could Lamar be back by week 17 if you guys are potentially making a playoff push? So I would keep a slim level of optimism for that. I don't think, though, that's the only reason they traded for Jacoby. But go ahead. You want to say. 00:18:56 Speaker 2: Something at all? 00:18:56 Speaker 3: Yeah, no, and if that's the case, if he does come back by the end of the year, if he rushes back, I feel like I could still be a Ravens fan next year. That probably means he's playing next year as well. 00:19:08 Speaker 1: I'm not sure either direction on that. I think whether he comes back or not, there's obviously a very good chance. There's a good chance he's a Raven next year. I think there's a good chance he's not. But I don't think him coming back or not coming back is going to be indicative of that. But I also think, because there was some speculation that if the Ravens get crushed tonight, could they be sellers at the deadline? Could Derek Henry be somewhere else, you know, after Tuesday when the trade deadline is. And then when they traded for Jacoby Brissett, I think folks reaction was, Oh no, they must, they're going for it. I, not certain they're going for it. I think that you have 10 games, 10 weeks left in the year, and you have to be able to evaluate the team. You have to be able to give the guys... a legitimate chance to compete. And with respect to Fagnano, they weren't going to have that there. There is a baseline level of quarterback play that a team must have to be able to function. And an undrafted kid out of UConn that was supposed to be a project was not going to give you that. 00:20:24 Speaker 3: Probably brings the morale down of the team. It's like, well, that's the other exactly right. 00:20:29 Speaker 1: Like if Jesse Minter wants to evaluate the defense, he needs to have a defense that feels like we at least have a shot. And so I think Jacoby gives you that. My guess also is, I think we're going to find out they traded him for a conditional seventh. I don't think they gave up real assets for him because remember Brissette got that contract extension before the year. So he's

making real money. So if the Cardinals were like, we're done with him, we've got Minshew and then Carson Beck who we want to get a look at, they would just be thrilled that somebody's going to pay some of that number. And so that's just an easy win-win for both teams. I do wonder if they take calls on Derrick Henry. Derrick Henry and Roquan Smith would be the two guys I wonder if they take calls on, which obviously would signal– potentially going a different direction, you know, down the road, but they traded a pick for Juergens thinking this was, you know, they could win big this year. They might want to try to recoup some of that, particularly if they think next year, Derek, like we're already starting to see a little Derek Henry decline and they're worried about, um, next season. And so I, I don't think Demanze, I don't know what you think. Um, I don't think they have any shot at competing tonight. I think the Jags are– I think the defense has been poor enough the last few weeks, plus Vignano at quarterback. I just think the Jags are going to put it on them. I don't know if you're more optimistic, but. 00:22:10 Speaker 2: I– Hey, if we get the ball first and we go out there and score a touchdown, we're in it. Okay, sure. 00:22:16 Speaker 3: And just get us a touchdown on the first drive or get us a field goal. 00:22:20 Speaker 1: Or Derek Henry, go out there and just run it down there, see if he can do it. I mean, big favorites have not been covering in the NFL this year, except for the Jags, who, you know, last week were 9.5, 10-point favorites and won by 100. I know you have a Henry follow-up, and then we'll get to some other stuff. 00:22:39 Speaker 3: What is a Henry offer that the Ravens couldn't refuse, and who do you think would give it to them? 00:22:43 Speaker 1: A second-round pick. I think a second-round pick you would have to say yes to. Um, I, I am, I wonder if Seattle would consider giving up the kid. They just drafted in the first round. Judarian pro price with the 32nd pick running back for running back. Like, Hey, if they're trying to just go for it right now, I think that is at least interesting. I don't think they would trade with Cincinnati. Um, I think Minnesota is a team that if I were the Vikings, I, and I'm like, I've got this great defense plus Derrick Henry. Should we just, since we're so limited at quarterback. So I don't, I think if somebody offered a second round pick for Derrick Henry, you would have to take it. I do not think he has the trade value that Jonathan Taylor has because Taylor's so much younger. and honestly has been better this year. But those are the offers I would listen to. All right, let's talk some Darnold. 00:23:59 Speaker 3: Darnold's going to be out this Sunday dealing with a quad injury. Drew Locke is going to be starting, and he's already proven that he can win. But the Seahawks are 4-4, so they desperately need to get back on the horse or get a win here. 00:24:10 Speaker 2: Should Seahawks fans be panicked right now? 00:24:14 Speaker 1: Panicked? Not yet. But... Panic is around the corner if you lose this game. I know the Cardinals just beat the Cowboys. The Cardinals are not good. The Cardinals are starting Gardner Minshew. He's not going to have the success he had against Dallas, against this defense. If the Seahawks lose, they were 12.5 point favorites. It's now down to 8.5. If the Seahawks lose to the Cardinals, it starts being a math problem. Now, I was stunned yesterday on the TV show. Coach and Brew were hypothesizing if Locke plays really well, could he keep the job? You can't bench a healthy Sam Darnold because of a rough six games. That's insane. I mean, he had back-to-back great seasons, and they won the Super Bowl. And if he's healthy and you don't start him, he's not your quarterback next year. Like all of a sudden, you're just looking for a quarterback. You can't. So I don't think that is tenable right now for Seattle. What I will say is this, however. If Locke plays really well again, and he played well the first couple games he played, If he plays really well again, and then Darnold comes back, and Darnold struggles mightily when he comes back, and it's not six rough games, but it's nine rough games or something, then I think you can, if you're Seattle, you can fudge the numbers of the info a bit and be like, listen, he's hurt. He got hurt week one, the glute injury, then had a quad injury. He came back early. We're going to let Darnold heal up and then go to lock? But I don't think you can. I think Darnold has to play more and continue to struggle before you consider making a quarterback change in Seattle. But he hasn't been good. I mean, Darnold's had a really, really rough season. He's got a passer rating of like 79. I think it's 10 touchdowns, 9 picks. He has been a problem for them. I don't think it matters who's going to play quarterback for them this weekend. I think their defense against Gardner Minshew should be enough. All right, I want to keep going to things, but first let me remind you guys, and I'm sure you notice it. It sure seemed like people noticed it on Tuesday. Everything, all prices are going up. Rent's going up. Streaming service is going up. Favorite burrito spots, charging you extra for salsa. Boost Mobile, you and your phone bill don't have to play the will this go up soon game. Why? Because Boost Mobile has unlimited talk, text, and data plan at a price that'll never go up. In fact, it's the same price you pay for life. So switch now for unlimited wireless at a price that'll never go up only at Boost Mobile. After 30 gigs, customers may experience lower speeds. Customers will pay $ 25 per month as long as they remain active on the Boost Unlimited plan. All right, I alluded to this earlier to Monze, and so I want to go a little deeper on this here, which is the holes and flaws on some of these AFC teams and how they could fix them if possible. 00:27:58 Speaker 2: So go ahead. 00:28:00

Speaker 3: Yeah, so Tuesday you mentioned how every AFC contender has a glaring weak spot. We didn't really get the time to finish that off. What is holding back the top AFC teams from being true contenders? 00:28:12 Speaker 1: So I went through this list off the top of the show, but just to revisit in what they can do. So the Bills, it's their secondary. And that, yeah, maybe they trade for a, I would, if I'm the Bills, I do call Seattle and say, Reek Woolen, you signed him to a one-year deal. He's leaving after this year. You guys have lost six in a row. Can we add him? But more than anything for Buffalo, it's can Jim Leonard, new defensive coordinator, can they, we have seen defenses with new defensive coordinators you know, around the midway point of the year, turn a corner. That would be the hope for Buffalo. I just don't know that Buffalo has the personnel on the back end. So that's a concern. Cincinnati is bizarre to Monza because Chase Brown has been a good player his whole career. And he's just been below replacement level this year. Chase Brown is His three years prior to this was 4.3 yards per carry, a consistently solid running back. This year, it's 3.6, one touchdown, and his longest run of the season is 14 yards. yards. He also has given them very little in the passing game, where his longest reception of the season is 12 yards. For an offense that has been so dynamic, with Burrow playing out of his mind, It's really surprising. And you know defenses are selling out to stop the pass. It's really surprising that Chase Brown. So I don't think Cincinnati, you know, they would be an interesting Jonathan Taylor home. But they have a running back they like. So he just probably needs to play better. The Chiefs must trade for a receiver. Flatly. I believe the Chiefs pass rush. is going to get better as the year goes on because it's young players and it's young players in the secondary and on the front. And so spags, I think once guys get more comfortable in the scheme, we'll be more, he'll be more comfortable throwing those exotic blitzes out there. But the other thing the chiefs need is Chris Jones to have a much, much better second half of the season than first half of the season and And then they need trade for a receiver. We'll see. Broncos need to take... I'm only partially joking. Have you ever seen any of those hypnosis videos? 00:31:12 Speaker 2: Yes. I've seen football players do it, I feel like, too. 00:31:16 Speaker 1: So hypnosis is a... I don't understand it, but it's definitely a real thing. So people have... Like, I've known people that have done hypnosis treatment to quit smoking. Like, hypnosis is like a sneaky magic. 00:31:35 Speaker 3: I never looked at it as remotely real. I thought it was just like placebo type. But I also haven't talked to anybody that's been hypnotized. 00:31:44 Speaker 1: No. So, again, people can clip this and make fun of me. But I know that. 00:31:51 Speaker 1: Hypnosis is like a real science. Again, I'm saying I don't understand. But I don't get it. 00:31:59 Speaker 2: Manifestation, almost. 00:32:01 Speaker 1: I truly don't understand. But here's my point. I would consider, if I were running the Broncos, asking Bo Nix if he was okay experimenting with hypnosis. And having the hypnotist... come in in pregame and be like it's the no it's the fourth quarter and we're down 10 just like before the game it's the fourth quarter and we're down 10 and just see how that works because it is undeniable that when they're trailing he's a totally different player and scary Yeah. And there's never been a quarterback I have followed that more often plays unbelievable late in a game, in a game in which he was booed. And the announcers were like, what is going on? So, like, that's their big question mark. Who am I leaving out? 00:32:59 Speaker 2: Patriots. Do you want to go Patriots? 00:33:01 Speaker 1: Yeah, Patriots. Listen, Patriots, if the Patriots don't get anything out of A.J. Brown this year, they are going to have a disappointing season. They have made do without it and credit to them, but Dobbs has been a $ 17 million a year zero for them, and he's hurt. 00:33:18 Speaker 4: A.J. 00:33:18 Speaker 1: Brown hurt his ankle, and now he's dealing with a knee. He has done nothing for them. They must get something significant out of A.J. Brown this year. And then the Jags, we talked about earlier, who don't have a discernible, obvious weakness. All right, let's talk some coaching stuff before I do my political segment. 00:33:37 Speaker 3: So we've got a few games this week with extremely lopsided head coach matchups. So we got Reed versus Aaron Glenn, McVay versus Dan Quinn, and Ben Johnson versus Todd Bowles. Where do you think the biggest gap is here? I got my answer. 00:33:52 Speaker 1: What's your answer? 00:33:54 Speaker 2: It's definitely Ben Johnson, Todd Bowles. 00:33:56 Speaker 3: I know you want to go Reed, Aaron Glenn, but I know you want to go Reed, Aaron Glenn, but, like, I don't know. Like, and you can argue that, like, there's kind of a— I' m done. There's been some conflict. 00:34:08 Speaker 2: I'm done. 00:34:09 Speaker 1: You don't want to be me? 00:34:10 Speaker 2: I'm backing down. 00:34:12 Speaker 1: Listen, I think Todd Bowles, it's a little unfair to him. I mean, they did just find a way to win a game last week where they didn't complete a pass. That's impressive. The week before, they scored 43 points and they threw for like 40 yards. I don't think Todd Bowles... I don't think Todd Bowles is brutal. Somebody had what? 00:34:33 Speaker 3: Somebody had to find a way to win that game. 00:34:35 Speaker 2: Somebody was going to win it. 00:34:36 Speaker 1: Yes, but they did run for 320 yards. McVay has not exactly bathed himself in coaching glory this year. Dan Quinn obviously hasn't either. However, Andy Reid against Aaron Glenn might be the most lopsided head coaching matchup in the history of the NFL. I mean it. Andy Reid is going

to go down in history as one of the five greatest coaches ever. And Aaron Glenn is one of the five worst head coaches I've ever come across. They're asking worse than Reed versus Nat Hackett. Yes, Aaron Glenn is worse than Nat Hackett. Damn. People need to revisit some of the Nat Hackett stuff because Nat Hackett, everyone's like, oh, he's doing all this and Russell Wilson's good. And then we learned Russell Wilson was not good anymore. And so... And also, by the way, all of a sudden, and I don't think D'Amico's done a great job this year, but D'Amico versus Jim Harbaugh is a bit of a... I mean, Jim Harbaugh's got no answers. Got no answers whatsoever. Yeah, Reed versus Aaron Glenn is one of the biggest coaching mismatches of all time. All right, little hoops here. It's time. For the Emirates, NBA Cup on Prime. Every Friday, Prime's bringing you the best matchups of the tournament from group play all the way through the knockout rounds and championship. And each week, we've got you covered with everything you need to know before tip-off. So this week's Friday Cup preview. You have Sixers-Cavs. So listen, Demondze. I know folks were expecting me this year to be overly pro Sixers. I don't think you can be overly pro Sixers. I think the Sixers, they have lost once this season. It was a game that I know Bron didn't play. Oh no, Bron did play. Who didn't play in that game? Oh, it was one of the games Embiid sat out when they lost to the Pistons. Pardon me, Bron did play in that game. It was Embiid that sat that game out. Since that one loss, They've won five in a row, including avenging that loss to Detroit. And right now, they have the exact platonic ideal of statistical production that I said before the year that they were going to need to have. Maxie is a superstar. Maxie's awesome. He is their leading scorer. He's the guy who's played every night. He's given them 28-5 a night. He's been great. Jalen Brown has slid seamlessly back into that number two role. Last night, he had not a game-saving, but maybe game-saving block. It could have gotten interesting if he didn't get the block. Detroit was down four with, I think it was four. might've been six, whatever it was like about 30 seconds left. His block sealed the win. He's given you 22 a night in bead, giving you 20 and 10 and the best defense he's played in years. And LeBron is just like, all right, I'm in year 24. I'm 42. I guess I'll regress into 32 year old magic Johnson. And he is just, he's giving you 16, seven and seven plus really good defense. And Edgecombe DeMondsey is one of my favorite young players in the league. His disposition, I really hope that you're able to come out east sometime this year when there's a Sixers game that we can go to together. You will love how Edgecombe carries himself. 00:38:39 Speaker 2: You'll love it. 100%. 00:38:40 Speaker 4: Go. 00:38:42 Speaker 3: I honestly draw a parallel. I know we're doing NBA. He gives me a little bit of Jaden Daniels. I feel like he's just so comfortable, like pretty much from the start. But yeah, I love his play style. 00:38:52 Speaker 1: So he is... He. 00:38:56 Speaker 1: His aunt, but he. 00:38:59 Speaker 1: When I was at Sixers... Who were they playing? Cavs. And Maxie got into it with Harden. Edgecombe was... the mature voice of reason as a 20-year-old kid. Or how old is Edgecombe? I think he's 20. He just turned 21. Yeah, just turned 21. And he's the guy who's asked to sacrifice the most because of the stars on the team. And he's the only guy who's never been paid on the team because he's so young. And he has the perfect professional disposition for it. So I think the Sixers are legit A1 contenders. And I think with respect to the defending champion, Knicks, who they've beaten twice, I think the Sixers are the best team in the East. You then have Lakers-Blazers as the other game. And every Lakers game, the story is, what's Luka going to do? Just flatly. Like, just last night, he had a 49-7, and you don't even raise an eyebrow. In November to Monza, Luka has played three games. The Lakers are 3-0, and Luka is averaging 42-10-9. They did do a good job of putting the right type of pieces around him, and his usage rate is just historically high, and it's working. And so, you know, I expect the Lakers to win that game. I don't know that I look at the Lakers as actual real contenders yet, but they're going to try to follow the path that Luka took the Mavs on three years ago when a team very similarly built found themselves in the finals. And if you find yourself in the finals... You can win a championship. I don't think it'll be this, but man, Lakers-Sixers in the finals would be unbelievable. That would be unbelievable. So those are the games. That's it for this week's Emirates NBA Cup Friday preview on Prime. We'll be back next week with another as the tournament continues. Don't forget, tomorrow, Sixers-Cavs and Blazers-Lakers starting at 7 p.m. Eastern, only on Prime. All right. This is where I will tell the audience... If you feel like you're... Listen, I am going to talk about the election and I'm going to give a lot of my thoughts on what happened, why it happened, what it means. Obviously, no one's ever under any obligation to listen to me talk about anything. But if you particularly... No hard feelings. If you are like, I am not here for political discussion and I've got too much of it this week already. I... Got it. But I also, I'm not going to pussyfoot around what I think and what happened. Okay? That was a good, you know, parental advisory. All right. Let me go macro to micro. And we're going to spend a fair amount of time here. I went into Tuesday optimistic. And optimistic for what I thought was best for the country, what I wanted. You guys know my... I grew up in a devout union household. I've been a proud liberal Democrat my entire life, even if at times I have not been proud of some of the most forward facing Democrat politicians. And even if I have,

you know, greatly disagreed with how some of them have conducted themselves in the Trump era. I don't lie to you guys and say, I'm conservative on this, I'm liberal on that. I am a proud liberal Democrat. That's who I am. And obviously, for the most part, over the last decade, we've been getting our teeth kicked in a lot of elections and in the sentiments of the country. And so it has been tough to be optimistic. And there has been a lot of reason for optimism going into election nights. Despite all of that, I was optimistic Tuesday night. And I put on Twitter that I thought the Democrats could end up with around 240 seats in the house, 28 governorships, and critically 53 Senate seats with a ceiling of 55 seats. Which would mean they sweep every competitive race outside of, in my best case scenario, outside of Nebraska, which I actually thought was never actually going to be competitive. And it appears that is exactly what happened. With the exception of they added a race that I did not think was possible in Mississippi. So they're staring at 56. Senate seats and not 240 house seats, but like 255, 260, somewhere in that. So why did it happen? And there are two totally independent categories of why, or I guess three. One is things going on in the country. One is the candidates the Republicans ran. And one is the candidates the Democrats ran. And I get, listen, I understand midterms are always good for the party out of power. I get all of that. That is not what this was. This was a route the likes of which we have not seen in a midterm election before. since post Watergate and even post Watergate didn't have this type of Senate impact. This is not just, ah, this happens. This was a stunning night. So first I do want to talk about the candidates, the Republicans ran in some of these races because it was insulting. It was insulting to the American people that they thought some of, and, and a lot of the, A lot of this does fall on the shoulders, not of the Republican Party, but of the face of the Republican Party, the leader of the Republican Party for my entire 30s, Donald J. Trump, who against the wishes of some of his party leaders, handpicked some of the most ridiculous candidates imaginable. South Carolina is supposed to be the safest Republican seat imaginable. Lindsey Graham was a wildly popular, very successful, and I will even say, for most of his career, a quite principled senator. Lindsey Graham passed away in July. The governor appointed Graham's sister, who has no history in politics whatsoever, to finish out the last few months of his term. That happens. We see that sometimes like a family member finishes out the term. The staff basically handles it for him. So be it. But then Trump announced he wanted her to be the candidate for a six-year Senate term. She didn't want to be the candidate. South Carolina didn't want her to be the candidate. Republican hierarchy didn't want her to be the candidate. Trump did. She ran and she lost by five

to a young pediatrician, Annie Andrews, who has been trolling Republicans on TikTok for years. It's a young kind of millennial sassy doctor is now the US Senator in South Carolina. I like her a lot, but it was insulting to the voters. That it's just like, ah, Lindsey's sister can be the candidate. In Texas, all of the Republican brain trust wanted John Cornyn to continue to defend a very reliably Republican seat. Trump got flattered by Ken Paxton, one of the most disliked corrupt politicians in American history. put his finger on the scale for Paxton. Paxton was the nominee. And they lost Texas by 12 in the Senate race. And by seven in the governor's race. Those are insulting and bad candidates that is just taking... In Ohio, for governor, you run one of the most unappealing people to ever come into American life. Vivek Ramaswamy, whose closing message was, I bet Demanzi is pretty unplugged from politics. What I'm about to say here, you don't even have to put him on camera. I just, I see it in the corner. I can't wait to see Demanzi's reaction to this because I'm guessing he's, you know, not dialed into the Ohio gubernatorial race. Vivek Ramaswamy's closing message was, finding his opponent's estranged mother, who she was estranged from because the mother's second husband, pardon me, but this is what happened, raped the daughter when she was a child and so the daughter cut off contact with the mom who's going through a mental health crisis cleaned that woman up put her on tv and said i'm not even supporting my daughter it's like well yeah your daughter doesn't talk to you because your husband raped her Years ago. That's who was running for governor of Ohio. Just the worst candidates imaginable. So yeah, that's going to help the Democrats. In Kansas, this is, you know, listen, he's the sitting senator. He also tried to shake my hand at a chief's rally once. And it was, it's hard to, it's hard when someone tries to shake your hand to stone snub them, but I'm proud of myself. I did. Roger Marshall, who the New York Times, you know, really, you know, didn't do him any favors when they reported, hey, Dr. Roger Marshall, there's some Kansans that have faced jail time because he sent collections agencies after him for not paying their doctor bills. He loses to a pastor. Well, I don't think so. You know, he's probably far more conservative than I am, this Democrat pastor in Kansas, but he seems like a good dude. Texas. Okay, so that's the Republican candidates. The Democrat candidates like some, love some, didn't like some. But what they all had in common is, not all, but most, youthful, energetic, and speaking to the American public about the things we care about right now. James Tallarico has been a political phenomenon. He just won Texas by a dozen points. And the big knock that they had against him, the closing message for the conservatives was, I think he's a vegan and he kind of seems like he's gay. That really was their message. Didn't work. John

Ossoff, who I believe de Monza is going to be the next president of the United States. I believe in 2028, John Ossoff will be the Democratic nominee and will be the president of the United States. Won Georgia by 20 points. 20. A white Jewish Democrat won Georgia by 20. You know why? Because he spoke about things people cared about and inspired people. We have a black female governor in Georgia. First black female to be a governor anywhere. Prior to this election, there had only been three elected black governors in the United States history. Any state, male or female, three elected black governors. This election, there were five, including a Republican in Florida. And credit to the Florida Republican Party, because they said, we're immune to this wave. We're staying as deep red as can be. And you know what? And this is why I hope people who disagree at least listen to me. There is something to the fact that Florida, listen, I don't agree with Ron DeSantis about much of anything. However, he has not just been a limbing following Trump over the cliff the last few years and his state stayed red. So those are the candidate reasons. And then there's the what's going on in America reasons, which is the reason instead of this being a dim plus five election, it was a dim plus 15 election. And that is some of the most obvious shit imaginable. And this is where I'm so glad that actually some things still matter. You know what the American public is sick of? Fucking wars. I think the American public understood Ukraine's an ally. A big bully in another country basically invades them. We are supposed to have their back. We're going to help them out. I think the American public in general still feel, and I think the American public, and this is, I understand, a very hot-button issue, but after what happened to Israel a couple of years ago, understood they must respond after November 7th. I think they, or was it October 7th? Did I get that wrong? 00:54:03 Speaker 2: But I. 00:54:05 Speaker 1: Think the people, I think we understand that our place in the world as, hey, we have allies and if allies get attacked, we're going to help them. I don't think the American public is all like, at all times, you know, never drop a bomb, never fight a war. I don't think they feel that way. But I think the American public's like, wait a minute. We didn't have a debate. We didn't have a vote. And we're just in another war with a Middle Eastern country in Iran with no end in sight, with no plan. We didn't talk about this for the nebulous reason of we think one day they could be a threat. People did not want that. And they rejected it. There are a lot of reasons that for a lot of America, prices have gotten out of control. And life has gotten very, very expensive. Donald Trump and the Republicans... ran on, elect me, I will fix that. And then the last two years tried to tell everyday Americans, aren't you glad I fixed it? While everyday Americans are saying, no, you fucking didn't. Gas is higher, my groceries are higher. Now, if you're listening right now and be like, this was terrible under Biden too, I'm not even necessarily disagreeing with you on that. But you can't tell the American public, I'm going to fix this, have it get worse, and then be like, no, I fixed it. Believe me, not your lying eyes. And they rejected it. And while the American public is not as dialed in as some of the media thinks they are to the everyday beltway stories, what they just have a natural aversion to is, wait a minute, are you a stone crook? While we are all struggling, are you guys literally making millions, and in the president and his family's case, billions of dollars? on front-running stocks and front-running crypto from the power of the presidency. We don't like that. And they rejected it. And while it hasn't been at the forefront the last few months, the American public watched how the group in power wanted to take on immigration, which was an issue that the Republicans had a mandate to be more aggressive on. It's one of the reasons they lost the last election and said, your answer is masked bullies in the street and not apologizing for public executions. That's not what we're about. even if we want to agree with you on the need for immigration enforcement. And they rejected all of that. And the big response every time you had these major issues from the vast majority of the people trying to hold on to power in the Republican Party was one of two things. It was either, yeah, but what about those 17 trans kids that are playing high school sports, you weirdos? And while that is a hotter button issue than I ever thought it would be, and while that certainly does get people riled up, The biggest tentpole of your party's platform can't be that 0.001% of the kids playing sports might want to play for a different gender than they were born to. That can't be what you're based on. And the other thing can't be, some of these candidates sure have scary friends that say outrageous shit on the internet. And this is where the media must look itself hard in the mirror and say, why, why did every left-leaning candidate have to answer for some of the offensive or outrageous things their allies or supporters who are media members or personalities said. And the elected right wing, not allies, actual candidates, actual politicians could say some of the senator. There's now two senators in South Carolina. Annie Andrews and Tim Scott. Tim Scott is supposed to be a serious person. Called Annie Andrews on the campaign trail, Tranny Andrews. The vice president of the United States called the new senator in Minnesota, Abdul Al-Said, evil and a terrorist. And this is, and this is the part to a little live, um, producing. This is the part more so Paul that from here on, what did I say? 01:00:29 Speaker 2: What did I say? 01:00:30 Speaker 1: Minnesota is new. Oh, my apologies. New Senator from Michigan. Thank you. Um, this is the part actually from here

on that we can put the whole thing on YouTube or whatever, but from here on is the part that I want far and wide. I desperately hope that Tuesday night the fever broke in this way. Call me an old man, call me old-fashioned. I do think it is an embarrassment. to the office of not just the presidency, but the United States Senate, the United States Congress, that these folks have just totally changed in a decade what is and what is not acceptable from our elected officials. I don't like That people have just decided, yeah, I'm going to call people retards. I don't like it. Call me a woke snowflake if you want. I don't like that. I think it's mean. I think it's demeaning. I think it's shitty. And it's not to the level of where if I was on the subway and heard somebody say it, that I would say something to them like I might if I heard somebody use a racial slur. I don't want it tweeted from the Vice President of the United States account. Have some goddamn respect. I don't like it. I don't like that. We are in a place where there is such a almost glee in the pain of other people being espoused from official media and social media Of the highest offices in the United States. I think it's gross. It makes me feel. I can't explain it. But I don't want. My senators Twitter account. Or the White House Twitter account. To be posting edgelord memes. To own the libs. And I don't want the Democrats to do it. To own the conservatives. Grow up. There are real, I, my son, the co-host of this show, he and his girlfriend, they just had a baby. She turns one in a year, in a year. She turns, doesn't turn one a year. She turns one in a few days. And vicariously just through what they're going through, I am reminded of how tough everything can be. Childcare is outrageously expensive. Shortly after the baby was born, DeManzi and his girlfriend lived like two hours apart before they moved in together. Just the back and forth of that, the gas, like stuff is hard for folks in this country who haven't, to be totally honest, just flat made it. Like for it not to be hard right now, You really have to have made it. And I sound like an asshole here. It just is what it is. I'm very lucky. I don't like a lot of the difficulty of day-to-day cost of things. It doesn't ping me the way it did 10 years ago or 15 years ago, but it's only gotten harder since then. We have, I believe, a potential looming existential crisis. Related to artificial intelligence that I have no idea what to do about none We are involved currently in another another Middle Eastern conflict I Want some damn adults I Want some people that take that that don't feel like the job is to Staying in power by making the people my voters hate miserable and therefore, even if their life isn't any better, they'll vote for me because they know I'm sticking it to the people they think aren't real Americans or are the real threat or make them feel icky. We got real stuff ahead of us. And I do. And I hope Tuesday night was the end of it. I resent what the hold for the last 10 years, the office of the presidency, the hold it has taken on my day-to-day psyche. And I resented for my kids. So my kids are 13, 21, and 28, which means certainly for the 21-year-old and the 13-year-old and a little bit for Demanze, they don't know and certainly don't remember that once upon a time, you could go a week without ever thinking about who the president was. You could go, you could have real, you would just go out and it would just be like American unbelievable controversy or did you see this or what about that or pending doom this. That was not an ever present part of your life unless you were really dialed into politics. And I'm 42 years old, and for basically the entirety of my 30s, a main character in my life has been Donald Trump and his minions. And I'm just so sick of it. And I feel like there have been a lot of folks who feel the same way, but have been afraid to say that because the numbers are the numbers and we would have elections. It's like, man, guy's more popular than I thought. Well, Tuesday night was a total repudiation of the entire thing. And Now, as a proud liberal Democrat, what I want from the Democrats that just, in my opinion, received an overwhelming mandate is all of the above. And I don't, I, cable news waited 45 minutes before they tried to put on their both sides hat. And they're like, well, Are you going to listen to the Americans? people and worry about prices in the war? Are you going to do those annoying investigations? How about both? Yes. Day one resolution to end this war that we never agreed to be in. 01:09:15 Speaker 4: Yes. 01:09:16 Speaker 1: Day one, some real effective, with teeth measures to try to make the cost of living more tenable for the average American. 100%. And also day one, I do want to know, was the president of the people closest to the president buying and selling stocks and crypto moments before they would make an announcement on said stocks and crypto? Is the New York Times report about $ 2. 2 billion in personal enrichment for the president's family real? If it is, I don't really care about Donald Trump being impeached, and I don't even really care so much anymore. That's not what I'm talking about. We went down that road. It's fruitless. But I do want the record to reflect what has been going on. And I do want to know The level of incompetence, corruption, and the lives that were impacted because of it. That's what... So Tuesday night was about a lot. And I also... I want to say this. The... There has to be a common thread for all of us that says we can totally disagree on a bunch of big picture stuff. How do we get ourselves out of the really untenable and outrageous debt the country is in what i don't think and you know that the i i this is you know something that just makes everyone mad it's the only opinion you're not allowed to have on this topic uh but it's my opinion i don't think that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and how much that has impacted American politics in these elections is simple. I think that the folks on my side that act like it's so obvious and simple in one direction and folks on other sides act like it's so obvious and simple in another direction, I do think that's complicated. And I do think respectful, intelligent people can disagree. I'm fine with having a real discussion about how much of a threat a nuclear Iran actually is or isn't, and the best ways to attack that. I think that's real. I think that we need to have real disagreements and arguments about a lot of important things. But we can't have it if the dominant political party in this country's biggest tent pole the one thing they seemed to have become experts at is inflicting cruelty or just trying to get laughs on the internet with the most ridiculous unbecoming statements imaginable. We've got real grown-up problems ahead of us. And the country said on Tuesday night, even in Texas, in Mississippi, in South Carolina, among many other places, all I'll stomach a liberal Democrat over a clown in a red tie. And that's, in my opinion, a very positive step. Pick show tomorrow. We'll try.