PTI - Are LSU CFB Players Actually Ok With Pros Returning?

Episode Date: September 1, 2026

Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser discuss Orioles, Colton Cowser's game-saving catch, LSU football team allowing former pros to practice, and the latest news throughout the first round of the US Open. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Early morning on a Manhattan sidewalk, a shooting caught on surveillance video. It was an assassination style killing, and everybody saw it. A new podcast series from ABC Audio in 2020 goes inside this captivating case. I'm ABC News legal analyst Brian Buckmeyer. Listen to Burden of Proof, Luigi Mangione, wherever you get your podcasts. Pardon the interruption, but I'm Mike Wilbon. That's our first show together. in a month, Tony.

How are you feeling about that? I'm Tony Kornheiser. One part joyous. One part nervous. At least one part pompous. Maybe two parts pompous. That's some recipe you got going on there. Yeah.

With all those parts. Yeah. It's a lot of moving parts here. Welcome to PTI, boys and girls. In today's episode, Lane Kiffin moves forward with former pros, Intrigue at the U.S. Open, and Tim Kirchen joins us for five.

minutes, but we begin today with Colton Couser's catch last night. The Baltimore center fielder went over the wall to bring back a walk-off Colorado home run in the bottom of the ninth. Baltimore was up two-to-one, and this two-run shot was going to close the game at three-to-two Rockies. Instead, it closed it at two-to-one Baltimore. Orioles manager Craig Albanaz called it, and I'm quoting here, the best play I've ever seen, unquote. Willvon, what would you call it? Tony, it's up there with the best plays I've ever seen. I don't know that it's the single best. You got 150 years of baseball, and there's some crazy, great plays.

Particularly, as you know, over the last 15 to 20 years in the outfield, this snatching back of home runs has become a nightly thing that did not exist when you and I were kids, partially because ballparks were made differently with dimensions that didn't allow it. Fences were maybe too tall. and you just didn't have this. And then you had, you know, the Ken Griffey Jr. era, he introduced a lot of this. And now they're, and let's not forget, Bill Jackson. But Tony, now every night there's like four of these.

But even with that said, there ain't four of those every night. And part of it's just the condition. You won the game for your team, which is hanging in there, with a wild card shot. And so that's an oh my God scream out loud play when I saw that last night. Yeah, I'm going to probably speak for both of us with what I'm going to say. And that is my first reaction was, hold on a second, Sparky, because there's a great catch every single night.

And there's the best catch of the year every single week. You know, I mean, you see these things. They happen all the time. I mean, earlier this year, I think Joe Adele brought three home runs. back over the wall in one game. And I've got a center fielder with the Washington Nationals, Jacob Young, who makes marvelous catches, runs up the wall like Spider-Man and makes them. So I thought to myself about Alburnaz, you know, when he says it's the greatest catch he's ever seen. Well, you know, I don't know. I've seen more than him. You've seen more than him.

We are older than he is. But let's give it some context. Because this is a critical play. If that it's a three-two pitch, there's two out. It's the bottom of the ninth. If that thing goes over the wall, Colorado wins if it's caught. Baltimore wins. It is the critical. There's no other play. It's the last play of the game. So I sort of get it.

And not only that, Mike, it keeps Baltimore alive for a wild card. They're right now a half game out of the third wild card in the American League at 500 for the first time since April 30th. If you're 500 in the American League, you got a chance of something. They've won four in a row, six out of seven, eight out of ten. So in that context, Mike, if they were to actually make. make the playoffs. You could look back and you could say, you could point to this. Give him a bonus, baby. Tony, it was like Randy Moss, full extension the way he had the arch his back and get his glove up there and time it

perfectly the choreography of it. It was stunning. It is that. If it's not the greatest of all time, it goes on a short list. It does. Let's move to LSU head coach Lane Kiffin, moving ahead for now with adding NFL rejects to his roster. Uh-oh. Two such players have been practicing with the Tigers, and Kiffin says the player's leadership counsel, this is his team's leadership counsel, approves of the decision. Kiffin adds he'll abide by whatever a judge decides Thursday about this mess. Tom, what do you make of Kiff's rationale in pressing forward for now? I think he's 100% right. I mean, he wants to coach all the good players that he can coach.

I mean, there's stuff about the leadership council. I don't know what that is. You know, I mean, but he says the leadership council on his team said, you know, if they can help us win, bring them in. I don't know how many people on a leadership council are playing the same positions and might not start anymore if they show up. But I find myself thinking, yeah, I mean, if I'm a coach, I want all the best players that I can get. And I know you don't like Kiffin. It's easy to slam them. You've done it a number of times.

I expect you to do it. I'm not right now in that position. I don't know what more he can do. He's saying, if you let me have them, I'm going to use them. If you tell me I can't have them, I'm going to fold my tent and I'm not going to use them. I think, Mike, he's looking for definition. He's looking for a set of rules that will not be overturned in court. Yeah, and he's probably not going to find him through no fault of his own, and I'm not going to slam him.

I like the fact that Kiffin admits publicly he's torn. That's what you should be. Coaches want to coach the best guys tonight. That's what they do. That's what they live to do. I'm not going to blame Lane Kiffin for that. You can blame a system gone awry. I mean, it's just, it's embarrassing what college football is going through right now.

It's embarrassing what college football is putting itself through right now. It's embarrassing what college football is putting teenagers through as they, you know, allow pros to come back. And this is not just football. Again, I keep saying whenever this topic comes up, whenever this subject is broached, this is, other sports have this going on too. soccer is one of them where they can just, you can look up and there was a kid who might have been in the Premier League and all of a sudden he's on your campus and centerback and you're like, what? So I, Tony, I hope.

And I know the conferences are weak usually and they tried to make a show of strength, you know, 10 days or so ago, maybe less than that. When they said, we'll suspend the coaches too. And of course, a judge basically says, oh, you can't do that. You can't do that. I hope the conference, if they can find the right judges. I got some judges.

We live in Washington, D.C., you and I. Call us. We can loan you some judges to say to hell with that and make the right call. The thing is, these players want to play a fifth year. They want to have a fifth year of eligibility. That's legal now,

except it goes into effect next year. They wanted to go into effect now. They wouldn't have gone to the pros if they could have had a fifth year, because they're going to make more money in college than they would make in the pros. You have to have something defined here. I mean, I don't want to go crazy on the NCAA,

but 75 years of intransigence has led to this. It's led to this directly. Let's turn to tennis and the ongoing U.S. Open. A bunch of things of note happened yesterday. Carlos Alcares returned from a four-and-a-half-month absence and won in straight sets, four, four and four. A couple of seeded American men win. Ben Shelton wins in four.

Francis Tiafo and five. It was a line call where a shot appeared to be clearly in, and the automatic system called it out, costing a player a point. And Naomi Osaka, who has become equal parts tennis and fashion, dressed up in an homage to Alan Iverson of all people. Wilbon, what stood out to you most from the U.S. Open on Monday? You know what stood out to me.

It ain't some damn line call, which in this case might have been worthy on another day but didn't determine anything in the match. and Al Carras was going to come back and do this. He was going to beat this guy with one wrist. And Al Caras, my God, it's Naomi Osaka on a day in which all those highlights have men in tank tops. I know that works for some, you know, people even on this network. No, no, people can't, they don't have any sense of style and fashion.

Naomi Osaka does. She's a great player. I know she's not the great player she used to be. after having adult life changes, you know, move and evolve her. But you know Naomi Osaka has long been my favorite player out there. Yep, I know. And, I know. Masu, Alan Iverson, who changed fashion in sport, in basketball.

And maybe wasn't the way you and I liked it because it moved off the Michael Jordan Magic Johnson era of guys in suits and ties. And that, okay? But Alan Iverson is a worthy figure in the world. of fashion and sport. It's Naomi Osaka on a day where every guy out there looks like he's going to change

a tire. Yeah. So I'm not going to get too deep into the fashion deal. I mean, if Naomi Osaka wants to turn the U.S. Open, you know, into the Met Gala, that's fine. It's fun when she does that. But I'll stay with fashion for this.

The last time, did you see Alcaraz's hair? The last time I saw Alcara's, he had no hair. He had shaved his entire head. And now he looks like the wolf man. I am so jealous. He has fabulous hair. And I'm not going to be dismissive, by the way of that line call.

That ball is clearly in. This thing is supposed to be flawless. If you tell me they can rule that ball out, look, I love the ABS in baseball, because it gets you within one inch. But what if it's making it up? What if it's not really one inch? There's got to be some fail-safe mechanism, Mike. That ball was in.

You can't, you just can't call that out. You can't call it out. But they had the mechanism to override it and get it right, and they didn't. Did they? They didn't do it. So you could have the malfunctioned. Didn't do it. But they still didn't.

Come on, this is, this is about Naomi Osaka. Stop it. Naomi Osaka. You love Naomi Osaka. The rest of that stuff is, eh. I can't get over. I don't want to talk about Monday because I still can't get over Djokovic losing on Sunday because I think he's done.

I don't think he'll ever win another one. Let's take a break. I think he is. When we come back, the Dodgers have tabled Shohei's return to the mound, and we're going to ask Tim Kirchin, what to make of that. We'll also ask him what's going on with Catelle Marte and the D-Backs. I mean, Jokovic can't go two weeks and go four and five sets and win, and he can't beat Cinnor and he can't beat Alcaraz.

It's time to be over. He's 100 years old. It's over. Mysteries unravel and stunning truths are revealed when 2020 investigates. Follow the clues, the evidence, the breaking new details. ABC's 2020 means true murder mystery. Shocking. If you follow true crime in 2020, then you've got to listen to this.

Subscribe now to 2020 True Crime Plus. Add free exclusive true crime content. Search 2020 True Crime Plus on Apple Podcasts and start for free trial. Terms apply. have baseball questions for our great friend ESPN baseball analyst, Tim Kirchon. Let's start with Aaron Judge. Aaron Boone said Aaron Judge could return next week. So where do you see the Yankees right now once with Judge and without Judge? Well, if Judge comes back on September 8th and he is the best player in the American League as he's been the last few years, then the Yankees have every

chance to represent the American League in the World Series. That's how good a player this guy is, and that's how important he is to this team. But they're a different team than last year. They're starting rotation with Camp Schlittler, Garrett Cole, and Max Reed can match up with anyone. They're also younger and more athletic this year with Cody Bellinger, George Lombard, Jr., and others. I think they're in a better position than they were at this time last year. But all, All that matters is when is judge coming back and what's he going to be like when he comes back? He's been out a long time. We'll just have to see how that goes.

But when he's right, they're really good. Let's cross the country, Tim. And, of course, look at the Dodgers saying, at least for now, they're going to table Shoah's return to the mound. What does that all mean? Well, it means there's a chance now that Otani is not going to be a starting pitcher for the rest of the season. And let's face it, guys, the Dodgers have not been a particularly good offensive teams since the All-Star break. They need Otani in October at the top of the order just doing damage every single night. And there's a better chance of that if he doesn't have to worry

about pitching. Plus, now that they've gotten a bunch of pitchers healthy, Glasnow, Snell, I don't think they need Shohei Otani to be a starting pitcher down the stretch or in October. they still have enough starting pitching to win the World Series with what they have now. They got to get him completely healthy. Maybe we'll see him pitch in relief before the season's over. But I think this latest table suggests maybe he's not going to be a starting pitcher the rest of the way. Let's go to a team that I certainly hope could beat the Dodgers if it came to that in October, Tim, my Cubs, who had nine home runs yesterday, though, I would put an asterisk next to it because like several of them were against Little League,

arms, but nonetheless, 62 homers record in August. But bigger than that, Tim, the Cubbies are just four and six in their last 10. After being hot, they have struggled again. What do you see? What's the good and the bad of the Cubs as we move into September? Well, the good is the 62 homers is the second most in any calendar month by any team in major league history. They lead the major leagues in home runs, they can really mash Alex Bregman, Pete Crowe, Armstrong, and once they get Dansby Swanson back to play shortstop, their infield defense is the best in the major leagues. Maybe their overall defense is the best. The problem is they also lead the major leagues in home runs allowed. All right. Your starting pitching is pretty good.

It's not great. And the bullpen has really labored in the last couple of weeks. Those have to get fixed if the Cubs are going to go on and go to the World Series and maybe even win it. But Michael, you know this. They had two 10-game winning streaks and a 10-game losing streak in the first 55 games of the season. It's hard to read the Cubs even now. They're making me crazy, Tim. If I had hair, I'd have pulled half of it out by now.

They're making me nuts. A little closer to where I sit now, let's go to Cotel Marte of the Diamondbacks, who got booed in his return after being... being AWOL, casino down the street. Arizona's a half game back of the third wild card spot, and they're messing around with this dude. I'd have thrown him out. But, Tim, am I being irrational?

What do you do about Marte at this point? Well, I'm a little bit surprised they brought him back when they did. But, you know, he's a really good player, but he's gone AWOL two years in a row. And this year, when he went AWOL, they were right in the middle of a pent race, and he just left the team without telling anyone. But to bring him back this early was a bit of a surprise for me, but Toro Lavello, their manager is one of the best managers in the game. He's one of the best communicators in the game. And he's been through this with Marte several times over the years. So we'll see if he can get that kid to play the way they need him to play, because I don't

think they're going to make the playoffs if they don't get something from him. But this was a really questionable move, and when you get booed at home by your fans, that's not a good sign. We will get you out of here on this. Artie Moreno is selling the Angels to the Rams owner Stan Cronkey. The Angels have been really bad for a really long time. How do you expect things to change? Well, I think it's going to change for the good no matter what. I had a source tell me today this is a great day for the Angels and a great day for Major League baseball. The Angels the last 11 years have been to the playoffs one time. They didn't win a playoff game in that series. And for the majority of that time, they had two of the greatest

players we've ever seen, Shoah Otani and Mike Trout on the team. And again, with Artie Moreno, who did some really good things early on in his tenure as the owner, lately I was told he has an inability to make a decision. And yet he insists. on making every decision. And that's become a problem. And the Otani situation, when they lost him to free agency, already said, we're going to trade him. Then they said, no, we're not, we're going to keep him. And then they didn't make a representative offer in order to keep him. And again, when the fans are chanting, you know, we want a new owner, which they have been at Angels' home games, that's not a good sign either. Not if you're the owner. It's not. Thank you, Tim. Thank you.

Thanks, Tim. Appreciate it. Thank you, guys. Let's take one last break. Still to come, is ESPN Wright to rank Miles Garrett as the best player in the NFL? And did the Sixers just sign their wimby stopper? Spoiler alert. The Angels. No.

The Angel is... Happy time. People happy 31st birthday, Nathan McKinnon. Colorado Avalanche Center just saw his teammate Kail McCarr signed the biggest contract in NHL history, an eight-year extension and an average of $20.4 million a year. McKinnon may be thinking, what about me? McKinnon is on an eight-year deal that pays an average of $12.6 million a year. McKinnon just won the Rocket Rashard Trophy for leading the NHL with 53 goals.

In 2024, McKinnon won the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP. In 2014, McKinnon won the Calder Trophy for Rookie of the Year after being the first overall pick in the 2013 draft by Colorado. And McKinnon and McCarr won Colorado Stanley Cup champions in 2022. That's quite an average, you know, yearly difference between those two. Even though they're both, you know, big deals in the NHL and eight years, I think of McKinnon as the better player. And you're like, whoa, I got a teammate making that much more than me per year. I just, I don't know how that goes. Happy anniversary, Justin Verlander, on this day seven years ago while pitching for Houston.

The righte a struck out 14 Blue Jays while throwing his third no-hitter, 2-0 over Toronto. That season, Verlander won his second Sigh-Young Award. Verlander won two of his three-size with Houston and two World Series there as well. Now 43, Verlander has 266 wins, hopes return from injuries to make another start for the Tigers his original team before retiring. Verlander has pitched just three-and-two-thirds innings this season. He's been sidelined with hip and hamstring injuries since a March 30th start. Verlander's eighth all-time in strikeouts, now just 19 ahead of his former Tiger teammate, Max Scherzer, and Kinlock awaits.

Yeah, Tony, you know, I like Scooball and Philly's got a trio of pitchers you could really lock into and like. But Verlander's like the last dude who connects to what pitching is in my head. What pitching is, you go out there and you take the ball. and you do this for every whatever number of days. For more than a decade, Verlander did that. I'm going to hate that we don't have Verlander anymore. Happy Trails, Dominic Canzon, the Mariners D.H, bounced one back to the mound against the Red Sox last night, and Boston starter Peyton Tolly handled the tag out with

unusual tenderness, embracing Canzon. When asked if he and Canzone knew each other before the hug, Toli said, quote, no, but we do now. The Mariners led this game 8 to 5 late, but the Red Sox scored twice in the 8th, once in the 9th, and again in the 10th to win. Mariners have now lost five straight. They appear to be all but done in the AL playoff race. You think that the Mariners with the dumper leading the way can get into the playoffs? You think they can in that division?

No, no. Not this year. It's over this year. Let's go to the big finish. UCLA fired athletic director Martin Jarman. Does that make sense to you? Nothing about that whole episode makes any sense to me. No, I don't get it.

ESPN analysts of ranked Miles Garrett is the best player in the NFL. I'm with that. Do you agree? No, it's always a quarterback. Sixers signed 7 foot six inch Taco Fall. Does that make sense to you? For training camp, you get people come in with like a 25-man roster for training camp. Kyle Tucker hit 195 in August.

Your thoughts. It vindicates you. You hate him and think he's overrated. Last one, Flo Balligan, reportedly leaving Monaco for Everett. in the Premier League, I suppose you find that significant. Not yet. He's reportedly leaving everywhere he's ever been for someplace new every day. You know, let me know when he lands.

We're out of time. Trying to do better than next time. I'm Tony Cornhus. I'm Mike Wilbon. Same time tomorrow, knuckleheads.