PTI - College Football Season Kickoff and MLB News

Episode Date: August 28, 2026

In this episode of Pardon The Interruption, hosts Mike Wilbon and Frank Isola dive into a variety of sports such as, college football, MLB, NHL conflict and more! 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. Police in Montclair, California, say someone stole a truck loaded with 50,000 cans of beer. I'm Frank Isola.

My Montclair would never do that. No way. Not the town of Yogi Berra. What's your Montclair? Well, how many Montclair has we got? There's a Jersey. There's a California. It was California.

We don't have people like that in Montclair. We just have high taxes. That's like east of L.A. apparently. Maybe somewhere near river. side, something like that? That's right. And I'm west of New York.

Welcome to PTI. Yeah, way west. Tony couldn't be bothered, so I'm lucky to be joined by our great friend from the starting lineup on Sirius XM, Mr. Frank Isola. Yeah. Not drinking. Yeah, yeah, you're slightly east of California as well. Let's start with Chris Sales Gym against the Dodgers last night.

Atlanta's 8 shut out L.A. Moaning down 11, walking none, scattering five hits. After the 8th, with 97 pitches already tossed, he marched up to manager Walt Weiss and told him, this is mine. Then he struck out Alex call to end it. Braves won, Dodgers, nothing, Frank. Are you more focused on what Sale did or what the Dodgers who were swept did not?

No, it's about sale, and this is why we love baseball, Mike, because you can get a one-nothing game that's riveting and exciting. You don't have to see 10 runs in a game. A one-nothing game sometimes are some of the best games. And Yamamoto, his first pitch, Drake Baldwin hits it out of the park for a home run. And then Yamamoto and two relievers, they shut down the Braves. But this is all about Chris Sale. And, you know, we talk about all the time, Mike, how baseball has changed.

Where now, you know, a starter is going four innings, five innings, six innings. To get a guy to go nine innings, it's like a lunar eclipse. And you brought up a great point. He looks at Walt Weiss and he says, this is mine. He comes out for the ninth inning. The crowd erupts. His son goes crazy when his dad comes out. That was a great game, a great pitching performance for Chris Sale.

By the way, is ERA just a shade over two? He's been incredible this year. Frank, by the way, I watched the lunar eclipse in full right here in Southern California. last night. Just want to make sure we talk about that. Frank, you hate to think that something's heroic because something can become so rare in sports

that you don't get to see it anymore. It's sort of sad. But I watched every pitch of that game last night. Just here in Southern California where the whole thing's vibrating in the Dodgers and Dodgers Braves, you know, with the two, you know, with the, you know,

brewers are sharing the three best records in the National League. And sale, man, when he said that to Walt That was straight out of Bob Gibson, Steve Carlton, Ferguson, Jenkins, Sandy Kofax. It's like, Skip, if you say one word to me, I will punch your lights out. I got this. And no 29-year-old dope in a front office is going to tell you I can't go through the lineup again.

You were going there. This was real baseball, Frank. I started to cry. I don't care about the Dodgers or the Braves, but Chris Sale, who's going to be. going straight to the Hall of Fame, Frank. Straight to the Hall of Fame. Winning percentage, strikeouts. Everything is career.

Say he is won when it matters most. He is won, and he may have another chance to do it again. And I just thought to myself, my God, this is great. Yamamoto gives up one earned on four hits. Are you kidding me? That was real baseball. And I don't even know when we're going to see anymore. We're going to see any more this week.

Can you promise me? Yeah, hopefully. You just love those kind of games. And you mentioned Chris Say a less seven outings, Mike. 60 strikeouts, three walks. And last night was the 28th time in his career. He's had 10 or more strikeouts and didn't give up a run, which is outstanding. But to put it into perspective, Nolan Ryan, one of your guys, did it 58 times in his career.

Back when guys pitched nine innings, right? They did. It's amazing. Standing ovation for Chris Sale, man. He was great. All right, believe it or not, college football season kicks off tomorrow. Among the notable teams in action, North Carolina and head coach Bill Belichick take on TCU and Dublin. 14th ranked USC host San Jose State, UNLV and Memphis Square Off in a game that could have playoff ramifications.

And how about North Dakota State? It's going to play its first FBS game after winning 10 titles in the last 15 years in the FCS. So, Mike, what intrigues you the most? I'm sitting out here in Southern California, and USC has been sort of, eh. They have not been USC-like for a while. And so I got a mild interest in that, Frank. I do.

Mild interest in that. I'm going to, you know, take in some of that. But this is about Bill Belichick. This is about Chapel Bill. I'm sorry. I'm one of those people who was obsessed when he took the job, obsessed with it went south, losing the opener 4814 last year. That's right.

Still obsessed, obsessed at all the offseason stuff, which leaves him with the staff that I don't quite understand. Oh, my goodness. Suppose they're not any good again, Frank. I don't know what to expect it. So, look, I care about Virginia, NC State. Oh, my God, that's something we used to call a conference game in America. Yeah, yeah.

So that's sort of cool for those of us who need to care about the Mid-Atlantic and particularly Virginia. But no, man, this is about Bill Belichick and whether last year is going to be an aberration or whether that is going to be just a sort of long march or spiral downhill for maybe the greatest coach of all time. Yeah, I'll get to Bill in a second. You're right, though, about USC and Lincoln Riley. A lot of pressure on him. He's a terrific coach, but they haven't made the college football play up there. Right? Then you got Florida State with Mike Norvell, 38 and 34 over his career, 5 and 7 last year.

Mike, by Labor Day, we might already be hearing about Dion link to Florida State. You know that that's going to get circulated in the media. But as for Bill Belichick, two things. We mentioned Montclair before. Jaden Craig, the quarterback of TCU from Harvard via Setonhoe Prep, Montclair, New Jersey. I've got to give him a little shout out here. But for Belichick, here's what's amazing. Indiana won the national championship last year with older players.

Carolina did not do well on the transfer portal, Mike. They have 60 new players. 40 of them are in freshman. Mike, you've covered college sports for a long time. You don't win with freshmen, especially in football. So for Bill Belichick, this could be a tough year in that schedule. 11 of the 12 games, Mike, are against power four teams. So it's going to be really difficult for Bill Velichick in year two.

and the sharks are out. They smell blood. Everyone is killing Bill Belichick right now. I mean, for Belichick to go into a season like this, Frank, it's unbelievable because even though there was skeptics last year, there was still a lot of people saying, come on, even if he gets off to a slow start, he'll get this thing moving. No, he didn't.

Yep. And so tomorrow, wow, what to expect. Let's move two of all things in National Hockey League with Jet Star goaltender, Connor Hellebuck once out of Winnipeg. The three-time Vezan the trophy winner announced yesterday that he asked for a trade several months ago despite having five years left on a deal he agreed to in 2023.

The 33-year-old struggled last season, though he was spectacular for Team USA, helped win the gold medal at the Olympics. Frank, do the Jets owe it to their longtime star to trade him? All right, I'm going to keep it clean. Heck, no, they don't. And I'm going to go back to October of 2023. Here was a quote from Khan of Hellenbach.

I'm ready to be a jet for life and bring a cup to this city. But yet at his exit meeting last spring, he said, I don't know if we can get the pieces, and I don't know if the players want to come. So A, he's questioning the front office, whether or not they can get it done. And he's also talking about the market, which, let's face it, for the North American oil.

It's a small market, right? So he clearly has trouble there. But the idea that making it public, and players do this all the time, Mike, where they want to have a nice, clean divorce. It never works like that. You got five years coming to you, and he's been great. But in the playoffs, with him between the pipes, they're 24 and 34. So he hasn't been lights out in the play. This is a bad look for him, and the fans in Winnipeg are going to turn on him real quickly, no matter how nicely worded that statement was.

basically he's saying oh we need better players well then be one of them dude then be better they gave you the security you wanted the money you wanted they rewarded you you signed the deal

can you not count from three to eight can you you don't know what that is unbelievable no I would call him in I call him in his agent and I'd say you know we love you we signed you to this deal you want to trade

go to hell. When I trade you, unless the thing I would do now is if I was old and crotchety and felt like get off my lawn, I would trade him to whatever outpost I could. I would trade him to,

you know, if it could be relegated, I would do that. That's about the only thing I would do for hell of book. The nerve. Mike. You signed this deal that gave you everything you wanted and now you want out because you're not good enough.

Please. And Mike, Mike. Think about it. If he played in the NBA and you did that, if you were in Major League Baseball and you did that, this is a case of him being lucky that he plays in a small market. Or else he'd be getting destroyed by more than just me and you. How about if he was in Philly? How about that? How would that go? Let's take a break. Not well. But coming up, the Astros edge of hand in the American League West. What's the word for that? And how best to describe George Rumbar Jr. committing six. Six errors in six straight games.

Aye, aye, aye. You mean Phil Rizzuto? Oh, you mean Derek Jita? Oh, you mean... D.D. Gorgorian. 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. Crime Plus, add free exclusive true crime content. Search 2020 True Crime Plus on Apple Podcasts and start for free trial.

Terms apply. Time to play some word games with Frank. What's first? The Astros are a blank pick to win the AL West. Frank, the Astros are 500 right now. 67 and 67. Are you kidding me? Everybody's won a division in Major League Baseball being under 500.

which seems like a distinct possibility right now with the Astros and the Rangers. And all of a sudden, oh, my goodness, the Royals are hot, as bad as they've been up until recently. It's just, I find it depressing. I want this team to be relegated. The whole division just be relegated and give a spot to the National League. Why do we need another American League team? The American League has been dreadful.

The whole league has been dreadful all season. but particularly this division. I don't want to see any up in the postseason. And I know Yardin Alvarez is very much worth watching that division, that team may yield the MVP in the American League. But, dude, I don't want to see it. I'd rather see one of those additional National League teams from that group of teams is really good like Arizona and San Diego and Cubby's, Philly,

Milwaukee, Atlanta, Dodgers, all those teams. Give us one more of those. Yeah, but my word is going to be shaky, even though the Astros did win two out of three up in the Bronx against the Yankees. But here's the thing about the Mariners. And they've had a wacky season. Mike, they're eight and five over their last 13, so they're maybe starting to turn things around.

But in those five losses, they lost 22-0 to the Brewers and 19 to 2 to the Chicago Cup. Yet despite the poor season they've had, they're only three out. And here's something to remember, Mike. They have the easiest schedule the rest of the way. They got 17 games against the A's, the Angels, and the Rockies. So all season long, you've been waiting for the Mariners who were this close last year to reach in the World Series. I still have a little bit of faith in them.

Their pitching isn't bad. And Cal Raleigh had three home runs on Monday. So maybe things are turning around for them. That may be the salvation for them. You know, but man, the Mariners, how long are we going to wait on any of those teams? what's next? It's blank that George Lombard Jr. has committed an error in six straight games.

Frank, it's evening. I should say it's evening out, but it's evening because a praise for this kid was, oh my God. I mean, you would have thought he was Lou Gehrig. I mean, I'm just watching some Yankees games here and there. And look, I realize he's got a lot of talent. but to suggest, look, you know, it's funny, checking this with AI, and I don't mean Alan Iverson, sadly, I'd rather check to and talk with Alan Iverson. 22 people have played shortstop since Jita, number two, Jeter, and this kid's one of them, and you hear all the praise, every stop along the way, every city, every opposing team's broadcaster, the Yankees broadcaster, he's made from different stuff.

He doesn't flinch when the lights get bright. What? Nobody's made an error in seven straight. What are you people talking about? Just slow down. I realize he's very talented, but saying that he's the greatest thing since Jeter didn't do him any favors. It's all evening out.

I'm going to pay homage to you. I'm going to use a Northwestern $3 word ignominious. Because right now, Mark Lewis, back in 1992 with Cleveland, had seven straight errors. Yankee to do this was Chick Fuster in 1921. Mike, Chick Fuster is not in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium.

But guess what? The fans are ready to put George Lombard in there. Before Gary. Exactly. On his debut, he had a home run. But here's the thing with the errors. Anthony Volpey, who had, I understand he had 19 errors last year. Then he had the shoulder surgery. He showed up. He had had four errors in 56 games. He was sent down Lombard. So now the Yankees are in a position where it's a 21-year-old, you don't want to mess with his

confidence. He's five for his last 28. He's going to stay there, but he's got to start making plays, especially with the Red Sox in town for four games. Wow. Yankees look, you know, sort of stupid on this one. That's another one. That's the final word. I'm talking about sending Volpe down. Let's take one last break, but still to come. Tristan Peters of the White Sox tries to Homer for a sixth. straight game. And could NFL players join Lane Kiffin at LSU after all?

This story's not ending anytime soon. No, no, no, no. And for the West... Time to get happy, people. Happy 80th birthday tomorrow. Bob Beeman! History lesson kiddies Bob Beeman won the gold in the long jump at the 1968

Summer Olympics in Mexico City by flying 29 feet, 2 and a half inches, which shattered the then world record by more than 21 inches and inspired the adjective for transcendent Beman-esque. Another verb, he beamed it. While Beman's mark was later topped by Mike Powell, it's still the Olympic record by nearly 60 years later, Frank. Beeman is a member of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fames, has earned a master's degree in psychology, and has been nominated for.

for a Grammy as a percussionist or the group, the bone squab. Nobody like Bob Beeman, nobody. The classic underachiever. What a life he had. You know, they estimated that the Mexico City altitude may have added a foot to his jump. If you take away that foot,

he still broke the record by nine inches. How amazing is that? Yeah, not yet. How about that? Unbelievable. Just thrilled to mention Bob Beeman on this show. Happy anniversary, Troy Edwards. On this day, 28 years ago, the then Louisiana Tech wide receiver set a beeman-esque record of his own against Nebraska,

catching 21 passes for a record 405 yards and three touchdowns. The 405 still stands as college football single game mark. After multiple huge seasons at Tech, Edwards was drafted 13th overall by the Stillers in 1999, but never really established himself at the NFL level the way he had in college. He eventually lost playing time to a guy you might have heard of Heinz Ward. Yeah. The 405 is right over your shoulder, by the way, Mike. That season, Edwards, 140 catches, 27 touchdowns, and he was four yards short of 2000.

How is that for a season for a wide receiver? Crazy. Unbelievable. Crazy. Might have just worn himself out that season alone. Amazing. Happy trails to the SEC. SEC's ban on players returning from the NFL.

Two separate judges, one in Dallas and, of course, one in Louisiana, have blocked the NCAA, the SEC, and SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, himself from preventing eligible athletes from returning to school from the pros. As we discussed yesterday, the SEC along with the other Power 4 conferences, frantically created rules this week to stop schools from signing pros who want back in. These players are attempting to take advantage of a recently awarded fifth year of eligibility, and Lane Kiffin, for one, what a shock, has been eager to sign them. Frank, what do you make of all this?

You know what? It's a mess. I'm not surprised by it. Once you get the courts involved. And remember, Dayquan Wright, who played for Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss, last Saturday, was playing for the Browns against the bills. He dressed, did not play, was cut, and now LSU wants to add him. And also, remember, for basketball, Will Wade's team at LSU, R.J. Lewis, who was in the G. League, got cut from two G League teams last year. He's going to do a season at LSU if everything stands up. Amazing. Yeah. Yeah, Frank, here's why it's not going to happen. Because there are other rules that people were paying attention, other bits of news when this went down, where schools can just say in

whatever conference, fine, we'll suspend the coach. Address the people you can address. You can address and effect. You don't need to worry about the eligible athletes. Say to the coach, we'll knock you out here. We'll throw you out for a while. Have that at it, Lane Kiffin. Go ahead. Let's see if you're on the sideline Saturday. We're running out of show. Let's go to the big finish. Yeah. The Ms. beat the Mets and is now, get this, Frank, 14 and 5 of the 173, your thoughts. And, you know, he really struggled with the mound at City Field. It was wet, so he wasn't throwing as hard as usually does. Still outstanding.

By the way, the Brewers up seven in the NL Central, and they have the best record in baseball. They're scary. The Little League World Series 70s are tomorrow. The final is on Sunday. What do you got? I'm going to take Japan over Curacao and Ohio over Nevada. I'm not going to the betting window, boys and girls.

These are just, you know, recreational picks. No MLS teams among the league's cup semi-finals. Frank, does that matter? Yeah, this was the tournament years ago that Messi and Inter-Miamy won. It's four Mexican teams. The last three champs, though, and the runners-up all came from the MLS. So it doesn't look good to the MLS. Tristan Peters of the White Sox tries to Homer for his six straight game tonight.

You like his chance. Yeah, I guess the twins, why not? Last one. Tua and the Falcons in Miami. Tua back in Miami tonight. Is he going to get booed? I think he will. I don't tell fans what to do.

I'm not booing them, though. We're out of time. Thanks for watching. I'm Frank Isola. I'm Mike Wilbon. Have a great weekend. Knucklehead.