The Bill Simmons Podcast - Ep. 129: Friday Rollin' With Mike Lombardi, Joe House, and JackO

Episode Date: September 30, 2016

HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons calls Mike Lombardi to talk about what Carolina needs to fix against Atlanta, Josh Gordon's release from the Browns, and more (2:30). Then Joe House joins the show to discuss his picks for Week 4 of the NFL season and what we should be watching for in the Ryder Cup (32:30). Finally, JackO gives his thoughts on David Ortiz retiring and shares how he felt after the first presidential debate (47:30). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

today's episode of friday rolling is brought to you by c geek our presenting sponsor and the only fan-friendly app for buying and selling tickets for sports and music it's october there's baseball hockey basketball nfl and college football you need c geek drop your old ticket app use one built for 2016 buy tickets and enter stadiums on your phone download the free c geek app or go to c geek.com we are also brought to you by sl TV, the best way to watch live TV on your turf. 20 bucks a month. That's it. Stream more than 20 live channels,

including ESPN, TNT, AMC, and CNN. No installation, no extra gear, no annual contracts. Just an internet connection. Start watching for seven days free at Sling.com slash Bill Simmons and get Sling TV on your favorite device. Restrictions apply. Please don't forget about any given Wednesday.

That's my HBO show. We had Abby Wambach and Charlamagne this week. The re-airs are on HBO, or you can watch on HBO Go or HBO On Demand. Another new show coming next Wednesday. Michael Rapaport might be involved. For great reads in sports, pop culture, tech, and politics, I hope you're checking out TheRinger.com,

and I hope you subscribe to our new podcast, Ringer University, which covers college football and college hoops. Chris Vernon makes his debut today, Friday. Wow. Uh, and I hope you checked out the keeping it 1600 Facebook live pregame and postgame debate shows because they were awesome. And our crew worked really hard in those last thing. Uh, this is the last podcast of the first year of the bs podcast we started this i think on october 1st 2015 with two of them and now uh it's the end of the year we are over 75 million downloads for this podcast for one calendar year and i owe it all to you guys thanks for spreading the word word. Uh, please leave some, uh,

one year anniversary comments on my iTunes. Let us know what you think, what you think we should add, what should happen going forward. Uh, give us some feedback, uh, press some stars. Stars always help on the iTunes, right? Joe and Joe's nodding. Give us some stars For God's sakes The podcast is free We have Mike Lombardi coming up And then we have Joe House And then finally After much clamoring Jacko

To say goodbye to David Ortiz And to also See if his head is combusted from the debate yet Alright, here we go Let's do it Yeah is combusted from the debate yet. All right, here we go. Let's do it. Yeah. Clear enough for you. All right.

Yeah. As promised, from FS1 and Fox, our old friend, Mike Lombardi. How are you? I'm great, thank you. How are you, Bill? I'm still kind of coming out of a coma from last night's Bengals-Dolphins game. Another Thursday night stinker. We just can't seem to figure these games out.

So I have, Sal and I did our power poll, and initially I had the Steelers in my top tier, but then he talked me out of it. Pats, Broncos, Vikings as the top tier, as the top three right now. Anyone else you would throw in there? I wouldn't throw the Steelers out. You know, they played a horrible game in Philadelphia. They got behind.

Shazier got hurt. I think that affects them defensively. Look, everybody's going to have a clunker once the season. I think that was the clunker for Pittsburgh. I think Pittsburgh's still a good team. Their offense is still something to be a force with. And when you look over the landscape of the league, I would say Pittsburgh's in the upper echelon.

I think Carolina could be, but there are a couple things that need to get fixed for Carolina. But Pittsburgh, to me, is a team that you really don't want to play because they're a tough out. What does Carolina need to fix? Well, Carolina, their offensive line, they need Funches to make plays. He has three catches for 28 yards, I think, on the season. And what happens is Ginn's their best receiver. I know that sounds ridiculous, and everybody says, well, it's Kelvin Benjamin. Nobody really fears those guys that can't run.

They fear Ginn, who can run. And if Funches isn't going to make plays, then it becomes very difficult for them to move the ball effectively. They need more quickness. They have too many slow receivers. And Funches, who's kind of a borderline tight end, he's really the kid from the Jets. He's kind of like him.

He was a tight end at Michigan. They moved him to receiver. They need him to play better. They need him to become a better player. And then their corners need to play better as they move up, and their front needs to be more dominant. But Carolina's still a tough team to play. I think Atlanta will find that out this weekend.

But they're not quite there yet. They need September to regroup. You know, I don't know what to make of Carolina last week because they had so much terrible stuff going on in the city, and I just don't see how there's any way that doesn't affect the team. Were you ever in a situation with any of the teams you worked for where there was some sort of incident happening in the city that was affecting the players domestically heading into a game?

Yeah, no big deal. Our model moved the team in 19. Oh, yeah, yeah. That's right. No problem. You know, we couldn't. I thought we were living in Bosnia. The only thing that was Christine Amapour wasn't

reporting in front of our building. That was the only difference because it was brutal. I mean, we couldn't get anybody to deliver snacks. Coke guy wouldn't come. Nobody would come. So I get your point, and I think that does have a ripple-down effect for the Panthers, no question. There is outside events that happen, and sometimes we criticize players, and there's events in their life that's going on that fans don't know about that are affecting their performance on the field. It's very difficult to do the complete blockout, especially when you have a lot

of stuff going on in your personal life, which was going on in Carolina. Well, they're at Atlanta this week. Atlanta, there were signs that they might actually be a little sleepery. I wasn't buying them. Then they lost in Week 1. They did put up 24 points. They put up 35 against Oakland in week two.

They put up 45 against the Saints in week three. And really, it could have been more. There was a dropped interception, a couple other things that happened. Should I believe in the Atlanta offense again? Tell me what to do. Well, I think Atlanta's offense is good. I think Atlanta's offense is effective. They can throw the ball.

They've changed a little bit of what they're doing. They're a little more diversified. They're not just a play-action-pass team. They can move the ball. They can run it. They have two good backs, and they can mix it up on you, but Atlanta's defense is historically bad. They're an ABA team. They're not going to stop anybody. If you go through

the numbers and just look at Atlanta's team, when they blitz, they're 29th in the National Football League. They're 29th in successful plays allowed. They're 29th in opponent net passing. They're 29th on passing defense on second down. They're 30th on

yards per game. They're 30th in opponents' rushes and completion. Red zone success. I mean, the list goes on and on and on and on, and this is going to catch up. You can't escape this. So I guess if anything was going to get Carolina going, it would be this game. I'm not sold on the Carolina running game, though.

I think they really missed Stewart, and I'm just not a huge Fozzie Whitaker or Payne fan. I think it's really tough for them to run the ball, and I know Minnesota's defense is incredible, and people thought that was part of it, but I'm just not a huge fan of those backs. What do you think? I think what Minnesota does better than anyone,

and it's proven out, is they rush the passer the correct way. They never go past the quarterback. They keep Cam in front of them. They rushed him perfectly in the game. They gave him no avenues to escape the pocket and make the loose plays that he's capable of doing. I'm not sure Atlanta could do that. First, Atlanta can't rush the passer, A, They gave him no avenues to escape the pocket and make the loose plays that he's capable of doing. I'm not sure Atlanta could do that.

First, Atlanta can't rush the passer, A. And, B, they don't really understand how to rush Cam to keep him in the pocket. I think your criticism of the running back situation is valid, but it's not going to show up against a really bad defense like the Atlanta Falcons. The Atlanta's historically bad defense. I mean, this is really bad. They're trying to beat Seattle, and they have no element of a defensive front to simulate Seattle. If you want to copy Seattle, or really, essentially, you're copying the Minnesota Vikings of 1985 with Chris Dolman, Henry Thomas, Keith Millard, blue-chip defensive linemen, that's one thing. But when you're trying

to do it with some of the guys who are trying to do it within Atlanta, it's not going to work. Have you liked what you've seen from Bradford so far in Minnesota? I think I like what I've seen from the whole Minnesota team. I think they're a team. I think their culture wins. I think they understand that they've bought into what Zimmer's selling. I think everybody wants to pick a player. They're not good here.

They're a team, and you're going to have to beat them in all three phases of the game, special teams, defense, and offense. And that's what makes them so successful. I think Bradford's playing within the system, and I think when they play against a bad defense, their passing game will shine, and every week he's going to gain more confidence as he plays.

And he really likes Kyle Rudolph. You know, I was thinking about the sounds of the game with Belichick from the Texans, which you link to on Twitter. Follow Mike on MLombardiFoxTV is Mike's Twitter account. And McDaniels and Belichick, it comes out a couple times in that four and a half minutes just how close those guys are. You can just feel it.

Like it's definitely there's a little father-son, Mr. Miyagi Daniel-san type of relationship with them. And I was thinking McDaniels could have had a job. He could have. You offered him the Cleveland job. Twice. He could have had probably his choice of jobs last year. It seems like he's content to stay there, work with Belichick,

be a very highly paid coordinator, and just kind of keep gaining experience and learning and learning for Belichick. And by the time he's ready to be a head coach, he'll still be in his mid-40s. The reason I bring this up is Mike Zimmer didn't get that Vikings job until his mid-50s. And I would argue he's in the top three or four coaches in the league. I don't know if McDaniels is playing it intentionally, but don't you think this could be a Mike Zimmer situation with him? You know, I do, but I think Josh is at the point today now, and I'm not going to speak for Josh,

but just knowing Josh as well as I do, I think he's ready to become a head coach. I think he's felt like, look, I just watched a lot of guys get head coaching jobs in the NFL that I think I'm more qualified than I think I'm ready. And what he's always been hesitant before is, Howard Schultz talks about this in his book when he bought the Supersonics in Seattle. He said, I thought I could go in and change the culture organizationally of a pro sports team, and I found out I couldn't. And I think Josh found out in Denver how difficult it is to change the culture. Remember, we criticized him for trading Jay Cutler. Everybody ripped on him for that. And now look at the Bears, and after all these years,

was Jake, was that the right move? Yeah, it probably was. But, you know, and I think he needs to get to a culture that fits him. That's what really matters most is this culture thing. And Miami does it. Last night you could see it. Like I tweeted out last night, you know, I'm sure Miami's going to go home and think they need to draft a wide receiver after this

because that's all they do. Tannenbaum is the general manager. He loves to trade away draft picks, and he loves to draft receivers. Both of those things don't translate into building the right culture and building the right team. I wouldn't leave if I was McDaniels unless it was for a top seven QB or a top five defense. Right.

Because you have to have one or the other. You can't just jump into a Dolphins situation. You're not going to save the Dolphins. Right. Or you could go somewhere and think you're going to take Jimmy G with you. Yeah. Like any given Sunday style. Exactly right.

And especially if you take an NFC job, you would absolutely have the front row seat to trade for Jimmy if you wanted to because Bill would probably be more than happy to trade him out of the division. Right. Two older quarterbacks, Drew Brees, Carson Palmer, have not looked good. Palmer was fairly predictable because of how bad he was in the playoffs and just the history of, the history of really traumatically bad playoff games like that usually doesn't pan out.

I thought Breeze was terrible on Monday night. Really made some bad throws, uncharacteristic Breeze throws. Are you seeing signs of real decline with these two? I think that Breeze is desperate because he knows how bad his defense is. And I think when you play with that sense of desperation, like I've got to make a play every single time, you play outside of your game and you don't play very comfortably. And I think that's the problem.

And then when you look at the Arizona Cardinals, I think Carson Palmer doesn't trust his line right now. I think he's feeling a lot of pressure. They're not very good in terms of being able to balance it. And even though they can make some plays down the field, teams are saying, look, see if you can keep the ball and execute and be precise for six, seven, eight plays, and the Cardinals haven't been able to do that.

I think Brees is pressing. I think they're both not playing well for different reasons. I think Brees is pressing, and I think Palmer isn't comfortable with the pocket right now, and I don't think he's comfortable with the offense the way it is right now in terms of their execution. They're down in rushes and completions significantly from they were last year. They're not executing as well as they did last year,

and I think that's showing up more than anything. The Rams are going into Arizona this week getting a lot of points. Somehow the Rams are 2-1. I don't totally understand it. But they do have guys on defense, and they are going to pressure Palmer. And, you know, it seems like a lot of points. Is this a do-or-die game for Arizona? I think Arizona just needs to shut up and play good.

You know, like they're trying to get to the Super Bowl without trying to climb the mountain. Just take it one game at a time. I think that's really, after week one when they reacted the way they did to the loss to the Patriots, to me there's almost an anxiousness within their organization that needs to kind of go away. It happened to us in Cleveland after we won in 94. In 95 we started out slow.

Then, of course, we moved the team, but there was an anxiousness that as you look back on it, you know what? Just relax. We need to get better and focus on the task at hand. And that was a mistake we made. Then I see that mistake coming up here with Arizona because I think they're really acting desperate as opposed to being poised. Look, we're a good team. We've got a good game.

Let's just execute this and let's keep moving forward. And I just don't know. I think they could explode at any time. Look, it's going to have to be a zone game for the Rams. The Rams are not going to cover the receivers with Trey Hill and Tremaine Johnson one-on-one and live for it. I think they're going to have to play a zone game. And I don't know how Case Keenum can... I mean, they won last week and Case Keenum had ridiculously bad stats. I don't know how Case Keenum can – I mean, they won last week, and Case Keenum had ridiculously bad stats. I don't know how they can keep going in that direction and keep maintaining a 2-1 above 500 record. Yeah.

Well, you know, the other one that – flipping that around, like the Chargers are 1-2 and really could have won all three games. Should have won all three. And blew the Colts game. The Chiefs game, yeah, I mean, that could have gone either way. But are the Chargers better than we think? Well, they were. Their injuries are going to creep up with them a little bit.

But the Chargers are a good team. I mean, Rivers, their press protection is much better. Defensively, their corner situation hasn't been very good. But they get the lead on you. They play hard. And I think Melvin Ingram's a really good football player. They haven't had their first-round pick both, so really he hasn't played. So we don't know what he can do and what he can bring to that defense.

Certainly he can improve them because he can rush. And if their offensive line can hold up, I think Melvin Gordon's played much better. I wish he was more explosive. You know, the 4-4 time he had coming out of Wisconsin, you don't see it on the tape. But it isn't horrible. It's not Ron Danish, but it's just not there. And I think he could be a better player maybe. But I like what San Diego's done so far.

They've been in every game. I think they easily could have won the first game in Kansas City, and certainly they had Indianapolis beat. They just kind of let that game get away from them. What happened to – Mike McCoy has lost a lot of these games in the last five minutes is is that an accident or a pattern because my feeling watching those games is that they're just sloppy at the wrong times and the softness jumps out you know they take so many chances on defense that it

catches up to them at the wrong time you know they can't play something fundamentally sound and say just beat us that That's the problem. The key to evaluating football teams is you have to evaluate them when the opponent knows they need to stop them or the opponent knows you need to run the ball. If I need to pass or I need to run and I can do it against you, then I'm a really good team. If I can't, I'm not. And the Chargers can't stop teams from throwing the ball when they know they have to throw the ball. That's a problem.

And I think that's a sign that they're not good enough. You predicted some issues for the Jets last week because their receivers were banged up. And you were talking about how Fitzpatrick needs those big receivers to thrive. He was absolutely horrific. And I don't think the receiver situation is going to be a lot different this week. That team is in trouble, I would say. What do you think? I think they are, but because they have no depth.

I mean, they have no depth. I mean, they took a chance on the Jenkins kid from Tampa who's had some issues at Washington. He's had issues at Tampa. It's almost a risk they had to take because they have no tight end, and they can't control the middle of the field. Enwil's a good player, but he's only a good player when Decker's getting doubled and Marshall's getting doubled, and he can kind of work his inside.

But when Decker's not on the field or Marshall's not on the field, Enwa's not going to be able to beat you. You're not walking to the stadium every Sunday and saying, oh, my God, how are we going to stop Enwa? Good player, but that's not there. And I think that that lack of depth adds itself up on the Jets. This week they're playing an offensive line that's not very good. I don't know how Russell Wilson's going to be able to move around and handle it all.

But the problem when you watch the Jets, they've been really bad in the red zone. And when you watch football, red zone passes have to follow the pattern of this. If you're throwing the ball to the goal line, it has to be low. If you're throwing it to the back end line, it has to be low. If you're throwing it to the back end line, it has to be high. Because if it's not low on the end line, then what happened to the Jets is going to happen. And if it's not high on the

back line, then what happened to the Jets is going to happen. That has to happen. You cannot throw the ball any other place but low on the goal line and high on the back line or else you're going to get interceptions. AFC playoff teams. Pats, whoever the hell wins the AFC South, Steelers, Broncos. Who are the other two?

I think Kansas City's a good team. I think Kansas City's tough to play. I think they're not a great team. They're a good team. They still can't make plays down the field. They're getting the ball to this Tyreek Hill, who's explosively fast. He can change field position quickly. He's a returner, receiver, played running back at Oklahoma State,

had some issues in college, and ended up going to West Alabama, transferred to Akron. But he's got explosive talent. Oakland's defense has been atrocious. I mean, you can't say that Oakland's the Atlanta of the NFL, of the AFC, because they can't stop anybody. So I don't know how you could think that they're going to be much better. I think the Jets are in the same category as Kansas City. Really good team, have a lot of good things going for them, can play poorly at times, but over a length of games, they'll play well enough, especially since

their defensive front can control games. Their corner situation at the Jets is not very good. This Revis contract next year, it's headed to a collision course. Right. So you would have you're leaning toward Chiefs-Bengals as the two wild cards right now. No question. And look, I don't know what to make of Baltimore. They've beaten Buffalo, they've

beaten Jacksonville, and they've beaten Cleveland. So what do you make of Baltimore? I've beaten Buffalo, they've beaten Jacksonville, and they've beaten Cleveland. So what do you make of Baltimore? I mean, they're playing really good defense. They've given up less than six yards per pass attempt. They've only given up their run average, if you take away the 85-yard run, is below

three yards a carry against them. They're playing really good. Is it them, or is it the bad offenses that they're playing? I tend to think they haven't really seen a good offense. This week, they're going to see a good offense. I think we'll get a good idea of where Baltimore is this weekend. And they're perennially a great home team. That's what they are. I think this is an important game for the Raiders. They're going back to the East Coast.

They're going to be able to score points. It only takes about, I think, 27 points you're going to beat the Ravens. I don't think they can get to 27 points. No, and they haven't been able to. The Ravens are 3-0, and they can't run the ball. They're averaging 3-3, a rushing attempt. They can't run the ball. Their offense kind of just keeps the ball for a little while, and they'll make a play here, make a play there.

I mean, the Browns had 20 points with four minutes to go in the first quarter and didn't score another point. If the Browns score another point, if they score a touchdown, they win that game. You know, but, and then Jacksonville has a chance to win the game and Blake Bortles, you know, everybody thinks I pick on Blake Bortles, but, you know, I mean, I'm only picking on what I see. I'm not picking on the player. I mean, like at some point you got to make a play, you got to make good decisions.

That Baltimore game was horrendous decision-making. And if you're going to ignore it, then you're just going to, you know, then what are you looking at? Who says no to a Bortles-Tannehill trade? Well, the reality is you're not getting any better either way. This morning when you wake up in Miami, you have to come to the realization you don't have a quarterback. My point about Bortles is it's either Bortles or the scheme, but you don't have three first quarter touchdown passes in your entire career if the player's great or if the scheme's great. There's something wrong here. You can't deny it. Now, maybe now that he's in London and he's looking at the Thames and he's in a different

country, he can throw it in the first quarter, but this game against Indy, if he can't throw a first quarter touchdown pass against a Colts defense, I don't know if he ever is going to. Well, the last two years, two coaches came to London and one came back. And I think Gus Bradley, who's 12 and 39, I think there's a real chance if they get smoked by the Colts, I don't know if he comes back. The problem for the Colts is they just cannot protect Andrew Luck at all. Watching him taking these hits, it's starting to veer into Jim Plunkett

Archie Manning territory. Do you think he can get through the season taking this kind of punishment? No. No, I do not. No, I do not. I don't understand why the Colts... There's two teams I don't understand. I don't understand the Redskins and I don't understand the Colts. I don't understand why the Colts thought they were going teams I don't understand. I don't understand the Redskins, but I don't understand the Colts. I don't understand why the Colts thought they were going to be better this year

and didn't really change the players. And I don't understand why the Redskins thought they were going to be better and they're getting no production out of any of the rookie class or anything. I mean, I know they signed Josh Norman, but, you know, no. I mean, Washington is one of the worst teams in terms of getting the rookie class players out of them, but Buffalo is the worst team. The Jets are second to the worst in terms of production from the rookie class, meaning all their college free agents and all that. They're one of the worst teams in the league, and I don't understand why people thought they were going to get better. You know,

the best teams in the league that get stuff out of the rookie classes are typically the teams that are playing rookies, like Cleveland. They're the number one team. Chicago, Tampa Bay. But New England's fifth in the league in terms of production from the rookie class because they're playing their rookies. Washington's laying a lot of points to Cleveland this week. It does make a ton of sense to me. I'm not sure Washington should be favored by eight points over anybody.

I don't think Washington's an eight-point favorite over anybody either. Look, I don't think Cleveland plays hard, but I think Washington's going to have this attitude in this game. Hey, man, we're really good. We'll beat these guys in the first quarter. And I think Cleveland plays hard, but I think Washington's going to have this attitude in this game. Hey, man, we're really good. We'll beat these guys in the first quarter. And I think they're in for a dogfight. I think Cleveland will run the ball on them a little bit. Everybody does.

I think Washington's defense isn't very good. And I think Cleveland can make enough plays. I don't think Cleveland's going to win the game, but I think if Washington's willing to give away the game like they were last week to the Giants, and the Giants just refuse to take it, I mean, that game was on a silver platter. I mean, they're lucky they won the game. Can you imagine what we'd be talking about this week if Jay Gruden went in at halftime with a timeout and didn't get three points? Oh, my God.

That had to be one of the worst game management I've ever seen in my life. I mean, Tampa Rams had some doozies the last five minutes, too. You know, Pryor has a chance to be special. It's amazing. As we talked about a couple weeks ago, the Patriots brought him in

for a tryout last year. He was sitting there for everybody in the league, and this guy now has a chance to be special. The league often gives you a chance to be great, and if you don't take advantage of it, it's your own fault. And that was one of those times we didn't take advantage of it in New England, clearly. And it was all right there in front of us,

and we didn't make the right decision at that point. But that's life. You move on. But Pryor has a chance to be special. He's really a good player. And Josh Gordon being out is only going to help him because he's just going to keep getting better and keep getting reps. Were you surprised, sad?

What were jumps to mind when you saw that Josh Gordon is? I just think poor Josh, he just can't get it fixed. You know, this has been a pattern. You know, in scouting, the first rule you always understand is past performance predicts future achievement. And so when he was a Baylor and he transferred to Utah, the problem didn't go away. When he left Utah and came to Cleveland, the problem hasn't gone away.

So at some point, we have to put football away from this and solve the problem. And until he's willing to solve the problem, football should never enter his life. And that's the issue. AFC South has a chance to send a 6-10 team to the playoffs. The Texans are the

favorites, even odds. The Colts are like plus 180 and then the Titans and Jags are like 9-1 basically. If you had to pick one of those teams, if your life depended on it, which one would you pick? I'd still pick Houston. I think Houston's still good on defense. I think J.J. Watt was hurt. I tweeted it last week.

There's no way he wasn't hurt. He tried to come back and be Mr. Macho Man, and he wasn't, and now he's going to miss the season. But they still have enough talent on defense. And look, Osweiler says, I read a quote this morning where he said, I don't understand why people would criticize my play. Well, maybe we're watching different games. I don't know. Maybe I've been watching somebody else play quarterback for the Texans, but he's going to have to rise up and play well. But to me, they're the most complete team of the South.

Yeah. I still feel like Tennessee can do it. Jacksonville talks about all this talent, but they can't do it. Tennessee has no speed at receiver. That's Tennessee's problem. They've been drafting receivers, and they have no receivers. I mean, Andre Johnson, love him to death, but he can't run anymore. Kendall Wright can't really

stay healthy. They have no outside receivers to threaten you, so you're playing an inside game, and they can run. I think DeMarco Murray has been sensational. I think DeMarco Murray is as good a running back as I've seen all year. He's more than that. I like Derrick Henry, too, and I wonder if

they should just accept who they are and just be a ground-and-pound team. I actually think that would be a good idea. I think it could work. I don't like Mlarky at all, though. I think they're trying to be ground-and-pound, but I think the problem they get into is that they get behind, they can't come back. And then they can't get open. I mean, that's the biggest issue.

They can't separate. Look, people have to understand that sacks are a reflection of coverage. Pressures, interceptions are a reflection of pressure. So when you sack, when the quarterback's taking sacks, he's trying to throw the ball. There's just nobody open. That's why Cam Newton was sacked last week. He couldn't find a place to put the ball. These guys can put the ball through anything, but the great ones can. But when you're getting intercepted, it's because the pressure, you're getting rid of the ball earlier than you want to.

The pressure's coming, I've got to get rid of it. But you're holding it is when you get sacks, and that's the problem. That's why sometimes sacks aren't always equated to having a great defense, because pressures mean more. And when you have a great rusher and he can pressure,

all of a sudden you cause his turnovers. Turnovers win the game. Give me an underdog pick. Titans plus five against Houston. Browns look like they're plus eight in Washington. Rams are plus eight in Arizona. Or the Niners getting three and a half at home against Dallas? I like the Niners.

I think the Niners have two personalities. The Springsteen has a song, Two Faces. I think the Niners are two faces. When they go on the road, they're not very good. When they play at home, they can't. I don't think Dallas' defense is very good. I think Blaine Gabbert sees that Dallas' defense counts to five Mississippi before they rush, which makes Blaine Gabbert extremely happy.

And so he can throw the ball comfortably against them, and he has a sense of confidence. And I think that their defense will create some problems. If Dez doesn't play, then Prescott is going to have a harder time finding, you know, where am I going to put the football? You know, who's going to get open? You know, and I think they'll pressure him a little bit more. The telltale style of Dak Prescott over Wentz,

and I know everybody's on the Wentz bandwagon, is you should just look at third down. The Cowboys are the best team on third down with Dak at quarterback. The Eagles are like 28th in the league. I think they've only converted 10 out of 40 third downs. Not that he's not playing well, Wentz isn't. He is playing well. But the pressure downs, the Eagles have done a great job of playing Canadian football. They've gotten

first downs and two downs. They're one of the best teams in the league doing that. Whereas some teams, like San Francisco, is the worst team in playing Canadian football. When you're not good on third down, you've got to play Canadian football. You did it again. You came up with another phrase I've never heard. Canadian football. That's a good one.

It's the key point of the game. If we're not good on third down, let's just play Canadian football. Right. Last question. Should I be worried about the Pats game this week? I'd be a little concerned. I'm not sure who's going to play quarterback. I think there's, you know, whether Jimmy's

arm strength is there enough. Pain tolerance is not the problem. It's arm strength that's going to be the problem. And then I think the Patriots are going to do their classic, we're not going to lose this game. And when you play that kind of style, the game will be a little closer than you suspect. Like a bend but not break, 13-10 type

of squeezing out. All they have to do is keep them in the pocket. They can't let them get out of there. They can't let McCoy beat them. I mean, look, against air, the Bills aren't going to score 30 points. So, you know, you just got to make sure that this game, you don't give them any cheap plays because it's a challenge if you do. And then you can control the game.

Michael Lombardi, we will see you on Fox this Sunday, 11 o'clock. All right. Excellent. All right, man. Thanks, Bill. Always a pleasure. Talk to you. All right, Joe House is on the line.

And he's on the line because I'm taking a quick break to talk about wine. House, our wives love wine. They love whining about our faults, and they love wine. I think we need to sign them up for Club W. Club W delivers wine straight to their door, your door, our door. It's personalized to your taste through their palate quiz. They work with top winemakers and growers from around the world. They even partner with local artists to develop wine labels that are unique works of art.

You know those bottles at the liquor store that you buy your wife that go for $20 or more? They could just show up at your house and cost you around $13 a pop. No risk whatsoever. No membership fee. No cancellation fee. 100% satisfaction guarantee. Right now, Club W offering 20% off your first order if you go to www.clubw.com. And they'll pay for your shipping if you order four bottles or more. Club W.

I think you need to step in, house. Yeah, I mean, you said, you know, no risk. It sounds like a high-risk proposition having wine show up at the front door of my house. But, you know, anything to accommodate mommy. She's going to get the wine one way or the other. I just need to make an all-white profile. She loves the white. Loves the white. All right.

Hey, House, remember watching me shave in college? How you guys used to stand around the door and make fun of me? Not only that, I was pulled in to shave the back of your neck more than once. Yeah, that's true. It's true. You couldn't reach back there. Hey, we're very close friends. Well, you know I hate shaving.

And for years, 30 years, I never knew what razors to use. I never knew when to stop using one razor, move to a fresher one, all that stuff. Then I found Harry's. I love the guys at Harry's. We didn't add for them a while ago. They sent me some razors. It altered my life. I never get shaving cuts anymore.

I don't get shaving zits on my neck anymore. I have a nice, clean, happy face. Harry's is so confident in the quality of their blades. They'll send you their popular free trial set which comes with a razor five blade cartridge and shaving gel it's free when you sign up for a shave plan just pay shipping that's it and if you enter code bs at checkout you get a post shave bomb added to your order for free harrys.com offer code bs joe house on the line uh i made an appearance on house's podcast on the shack house pod i came in hot talking about the rider cup i was upset about tiger uh just furious that they left him off the team until shack reminded me that i've played more

golf in 2016 than tiger has we're taping this on a Friday morning, West Coast time, and the Ryder Cup is happening right now, and it looks like we're doing okay, right? Yeah, the most important match, it's interesting, is the very, very first one, and both teams came out with star power. We got our best combo, Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed, up against a Euro powerhouse team of Hendrick Stenson and Justin Rose. And our boys, last time I looked, were two up.

I hope that is the prevailing result, because apparently over history, winning the first Friday match and the last match on Saturday really portends well for Ryder Cup victory. So fingers crossed for the U.S. Yeah. They still have to win me back. You're not persuaded.

No, they still have to win me back after all the traumatic losses we've had over the last decade. Let's talk about week four NFL. We just talked to Lombardi for a while. Every week you and I do the Callaway Par 3. Last week I went, I bogeyed. I went one and two. I think you bogeyed too. Did you go one and two?

Oh, I did worse. You double bogeyed? Oh, you triple bogeyed. Oh, and three. I tripled. I went from par to three over. This is a lesson. This is a life lesson.

Last week I went with three favorites from the NFC South. That is a do not, I will never repeat that mistake for the rest of my life. So you're plus three for the season, not great. I am plus three, not great. I think I'm even. Even, okay. Well, fortunately we've got 18 holes. There's a lot of time to scramble back.

Can you tell everybody about the Callaway Irons really quickly? Yes. So the XR steelheads, you can try some if you enter in promo code HOUSE, H-O-U-S-E. They will ship them to your house for free. The combination of that old school steelhead shape that you love with the technology right now, the XR, which is the lightest and fastest iron on the market, I believe. Okay. All right. I'm going to go first.

I'm taking the Titans plus five in Houston. And it's not just because of the J.J. Watt thing. I'm just not totally sold on this Houston team yet. I'm not sold on the AFC South. And as we discussed with Lombardi, I think 7-9 could actually win the AFC South. I just think it's too many points. I like the ground and pound possibilities with the Titans. I'm not sure the Titans, I'm not sure they're that bad.

They played the Vikings pretty close week one, came back to beat the Lions in week two. Raiders last week could only put up 10 points weird game but i i could i just think they have a chance to win and i like the points so that's my first pick what do you think yeah i um looked long and hard at that one i had a hard time with the slate coming up with three games this week not an easy slate uh i i looked at that Titans matchup. The thing that concerned me was, and this is, you know, we're in la-la land when you start putting reasons like this on the analysis. Maybe the J.J. Watt going out would have a galvanizing effect that the team would kind of rally around.

They'd get, you know, Texans would get kind of a one-game bump out of him not playing, and they're playing at home where they've been comfortable so far this season. It only requires them to win by six, so I'd stay away from it. Okay. What do you have for your first pick? My first pick is the Cleveland Browns, of course, plus 7.5. I'm taking them, too, just for the record. Oh, good. Well, so this one was not hard.

I didn't have a hard time at all debating this. I liked very much Kevin Clark, a couple good nuggets. The Deadskins have not been favored by this much since October 2009 and have not covered a line this high since December of 2007 with the incomparable Ted, Todd Collins. Oh, God. Yeah. Yeah.

Kirk Cousins, 14-9 against the spread as an underdog. 0-6 as a favorite. Does not like the pressure of being a favorite. I like this Browns line so much I entered it into the Super Contest. My entry into the Super Contest. The M.O. of this Deadskins team is to accept gifts. So over the last season and a half they win games when teams give them games.

I think this Browns team is going to play them tough. There isn't anybody where I look at the Deskets and say, oh yeah, put that one in the win column. The defense remains atrocious, allowing opponents so far this season to convert 22 of 38 third downs well and that's cleveland's bad that's cleveland's bad but they're not that bad they can run the ball prior to make plays that's right yeah they have a coach who's going to take chances and the thing i liked about this i just thought the line was three points too high when you have a bad defense laying that many points i it's just it's a great position to be in. It happens five times a season.

Their defense is not going to be able to help themselves. They're just going to make things happen. And then you know Cousins will throw one or two or three terrible picks. I could see the Washington fans getting all grumbly. And I don't know. I like it. I think the Browns could win the game.

So you're getting that many points. Me too. What's your third pick? Or second pick? And I don't know. I like it. I think the Browns could win the game. So you're getting that many points. Me too. So grab them. Me too. What's your third pick? Or second pick? My second pick is, I hate to do this, your Patriots. Minus five and a half or six, depending on where you look. Home against the Bills.

So the Pats have owned the Bills. Buffalo has been outgained in every single game it's played in this season. The Pats are coming off an extra-time situation. The last time they played was a Thursday. They are 11-1 straight up, 10-2 against the spread after playing on a Thursday. We might have Jimmy Garoppolo back at quarterback. The Bills are a smelly 2-12-1 against the spread. The last 15 games coming off of an upset win.

They are coming off of an upset win against the Arizona Cardinals last week. And Bills 2-23 straight up in the last 25 games in this matchup. I like the Pats. I'm staying away. Yeah, I understand why I just wonder if it's one of those games where they just try to eke it out I said to Lombardi it feels like a 13-10

just don't show anything just try to get through it don't get fancy just try to do your job Belichick just walking around telling everyone to do their job a lot of handoffs a lot of short in the game and you know I guess the best thing for that pick Belichick just walking around telling everyone to do their job. A lot of handoffs. A lot of short in the game.

And, you know, I guess the best thing for that pick is that the Bills, you know, had a huge win last week. And when bad teams have a good win, usually they fall back the next week. Yeah, 2-12-1 against the spread in just that kind of situation. I feel like what you just described is what the Patriots have been doing all season, and they've covered every game. So I'm okay with that. I also think if they can, they're going to try to get through one more game without really playing Gronkowski.

If they can get through this one and then – actually, I think week five they have – oh, yeah, they're at Cleveland. They have Cincinnati at home week six, and then they're at Pittsburgh week seven. And they want the whole team ready for those two games. And I just feel like there's going to be up to a lot of chicanery. Who do you have for your third pick?

My third pick, and again, this is just a testament to the struggle I had with the slate. I'm taking the Jacksonville Jaguars getting points against Indianapolis in London, mainly because I want to have a reason to wake up and put on that game for a little bit before I flip over to the Ryder Cup. That's really the explanation. The Jags, there is a little nugget, 8-2-1 against the spread in an interdivision game like this when they are a dog less than six points.

So, you know, slight angle, but really this is just me wanting to have a little taste on something when I wake up Sunday morning. Indianapolis has demonstrated a complete inability to stop anybody. Andrew Luck, I'm not rooting for this. I love him. He's on at least one of my fantasy football teams. He may end up in a

body bag this season. It's very possible. I'm not rooting for it. It's very possible. The Jags getting points against Indy. That's a terrible pick. I think there's a better chance of the coach getting fired. I think we've all found out why you're three over par

in the Callaway par three for the first three weeks. On the other hand, the AFC South, everybody stinks. Why not just take points in every game? That was my logic for the Titans. All these teams stink. It should be just, every spread should be even.

Speaking of stinking. Yes. This pick stinks. I didn't like the slate either. I didn't like last week's slate, and I don't like this week's slate. I'm going to take the Niners plus three at home. Is it plus three or plus two and a half? I don't want to cheat. I don't want to cheat. My team gets accused of cheating. I'll and a half? I don't want to cheat. I don't want to cheat.

My team gets accused of cheating. So I don't, I don't want to cheat. Uh, it is, uh, two and a half. Uh,

are you going to change your mind? I'm looking at a line right now that has also some folks are showing too. I don't like two and a half. That doesn't make you going to change your mind. I thought it was at least, I thought I like two and a half. That doesn't make sense. Are you going to change your mind? I thought I was getting at least three. You know what? I'm going to take it anyway.

I think they can beat Dallas. I don't think Dez is going to play. I don't mind the Niners at home. Actually, you know what? I'm not taking them. That half point spooked me. Just like that. So what's your backup plan? That half point spooked

me. I'm going to take the Rams plus seven and a half. Okay, that's fine. In Arizona. I'm not sure Arizona's good. Actually, you know what? I'm not taking them either.

What are you going to do? I told you this is a hard slate. Yeah, I'm not taking them. I changed my mind twice. I made a bet based on what I want to see when I wake up in the morning Sunday. Yeah. All right. You know what? Let's do a London Bowl. Take the morning Sunday. Yeah. All right. You know what?

Let's do a London Bowl. Take the other side of that. I'm going to take the Colts minus three. I actually think the Jaguars are horrendous. Yeah, the London Bowl. I think this is my last chance to go against Gus Bradley before he's on the sidelines. We were exactly in this same position last season.

It might have even been this week with the Miami Dolphins, the infamous, never-to-be-forgotten Joe Philbin. I think I took the Dolphins on this notion that the Dolphins were going to play an inspired game to save Joe Philbin's job. You took the other side of it, and Joe Philbin was fired before they came back across the ocean. They left him there. He's still there.

He's in some pub. We talked about, on the podcast, doing a Philbin hedge, and then we didn't do it. All right, so I have- Maybe we should do a Bradley hedge. Are we going to do a Bradley hedge on this? I should do a Bradley hedge on this one. I have the Titans plus five. We both have the Browns plus seven and a half.

It's not five. Titans plus five. Oh, Titans. I'm sorry. Titans plus five.5 it's not 5 Titans plus 5 oh Titans I'm sorry Browns plus 7.5 Colts minus 3 you have the Jags plus 3 you have the Browns plus 7.5 and you have the Patriots minus 5

5.5 maybe you can get back to par give us two things to watch for the Ryder Cup this week and then we'll go absolutely positively rooting for a singles Maybe you can get back to par. Give us two things to watch for the Ryder Cup this week, and then we'll go. Absolutely positively rooting for a singles match of Patrick Reed against Rory McIlroy. Rory McIlroy probably playing the best of anyone in the whole entire world. We want Saturday to end with the teams within two or three points so that those singles matches are acutely, intensely competitive.

And Patrick Reed is our very best, most competitive singles player on the entire U.S. team. The other thing that I think is fun watching, and it's already taking effect, is Phil Mickelson smacking the ball all over the golf course. He's all over the park. He's hitting it left. He's hitting it right. And his playing partner today is Ricky Fowler has been scrambling his ass off. And those guys have been hanging in that match.

They're either all square or the U.S. was up one last time I looked. So throwback Phil smacking the ball all over the joint. Patrick Reed against Rory McIlroy on Sunday. Those are two things that are going to be fun to watch. All right, you can see House and Shaq recap the Ryder Cup. That's going to be on Wednesday on the Shaq House podcast. Shaq House! Thanks for playing the Callaway Part 3 with me, House.

All right, we're going to call Jacko to get his thoughts on the Red Sox in the election. But first, I've mentioned many times in this podcast I hate shopping. I'm lazy as hell. And that's a combination that usually leads to dudes wearing the same set of clothes for six to seven years at a time. Well, here's an idea. Let Trunk Club handle all the work for people like me. They take the hassle out of shopping by finding the best clothes for you and your style.

They mailed me a trunk of clothes a few months ago. It was like Christmas come early. Here's what you do. You go to trunkclub.com slash BS. You answer simple questions about your style preferences and size. You'll be assigned an expert stylist who handpicks clothes from the best premium brands, approve of what you like, send back what you don't like, and guess what happens? A few days later, a trunk arrives on your doorstep filled with hand-picked clothes that are perfect for you.

Try them on. Keep what you like. Return the rest in your prepaid trunk. You can even stop by a store in New York, L.A., Dallas, Chicago, or D.C. and meet your own stylist for free. This is not a subscription service. Get started today. Trunk Club will style you for free. Even better, free shipping both ways. Get started today at trunkclub.com slash bs and now jacko let's talk about ortiz first he's all right he single-handedly swung the curse he's the all-time yankee killer he's yeah having one of the great farewell years

in the history of sports and even even you can't come up with anything negative to say at this point. Oh, I beg to differ. Let me put it this way. I'm happy that he's retiring. I'm happy to see him gone because as recently as last

week or two weeks ago, he murdered the Yankees season basically. Up from the grave season, they came out of nowhere and gave Yan, when he murdered the Yankees season, basically. Up from the grave season, they came out of nowhere and gave Yankee fans hope for the first time in forever. And then he, you know, pretty much single-handedly, well, not really single-handedly, I guess Henry Ramirez had a bigger hand in things

too, but crushed the Yankees' hopes and dreams and just squelched that before anything came of it. So, he definitely is the biggest Yankee killer of my lifetime. I remember being a kid and hating George Brett because he always killed the Yankees. Other guys like Eddie Murray would kill the Yankees, and Edgar Martinez in the 90s, they could never get him out, but nobody has done it like Ortiz has done it to the Yankees.

It's broken my heart more times than I can count, and especially doing it for their biggest rival. I'm not a big fan, let's put it that way. Well, and plus you got to move on with the next Babe Ruth, Gary Sanchez. So you're not even thinking about Sox anymore. You're just thinking about, how much of this is Kevin Moss, and how much is this a real thing that's going to last for 20 years? Well, I don't want to jinx it. I'm nervous about it. I don't want it to be like Kevin Moss and how much is this a real thing that's going to last for 20 years? Well, I don't want to jinx it. I'm nervous about it.

I don't want it to be like Kevin Moss. But, I mean, there's obviously been – I've gotten so many tweets about Kevin Moss and Shane Spencer, the home run Spencer. People forget his great year he had that one. That year, great month he had. But both those guys came out of nowhere and were a flash in the pan. Everybody thought they might be a flash in the pan. They turned out to be.

But Sanchez is a highly touted prospect. He's been on the radar for a long time for Yankee fans. I think he was like the number seven rated prospect for them by Baseball America. So he's not a guy that came out of nowhere like Kevin Moss. I mean, he's been highly touted, and he's living up to the hype. The thing that was questionable about him was his defense, and his defense has been almost as good as his offense. He's been gunning out runners left and right, so he's been a... I hope to God he's not Kevin Moss.

I hope to God he's not like a Java Chamberlain deal where somebody comes out of nowhere and catches lightning in a bottle and disappears, but yeah, I'm a huge Gary Sanchez guy. guy i mean he's the building block for the future all these young guys you know the yankee season started out with all these like bloated contracts and over the hill guys and there wasn't you know going nowhere the team was miserable and then they got rid of a rod they brought up the youth movement they traded their three best players and you figure okay it's all about next year and then you know they got hot and they got you got hope and these young guys, and they were fresh and energetic and doing big things.

It's exciting. Have you watched more or less Yankees in the last two months than you thought you would? Oh, much more. Much more. I didn't want to let myself believe. And I was like, well, I'll watch and see what these kids are. It's kind of exciting to be like the Kansas City Royals of 10 years ago where you have all these young kids and prospects and for the Cubs you know hope for the future because I'm so used to just watching guys playing out the string of their of their careers so I started to watch and I got excited

and I'm like wait now we're playing with house money because they're not supposed to be good until next year or the year after probably more likely and then when they started to play well I really got my hopes up. I was like, oh my God, they could really make a run here at the wild card. I knew they weren't good enough to win a World Series with their pitching, but I'm like, gee, this is a young team. They trade their best players. If they can get into the

wild card, just getting in the postseason, that's a good building block for the future. Then the Red Sox just that Thursday night game against the Red Sox when the Yankees blew a 5-0 lead, the Tantus group blew it in the ninth. It was the first time in a long time I wanted to throw my remote against the wall. So it was good to bring back those memories. It was a great win for the Red Sox.

And it actually, it started a streak that they needed because it just felt like one of those teams that was great if the game was 12-2 and couldn't get the close wins, the comfort behind all that stuff. And that win sent them on the big streak. And also, you know, put a little doubt in the whole Batances bandwagon, I think, for the Yankees fans. He's been a robot. He's been like this fire, flamethrowing robot for four straight years.

That was the first. That was the Russianist cut moment for him. Girardi did a little, you know, Joe Torre, and he was trying to squeeze life out of him to try to maybe make a postseason run. He overused him, and, you know, the troubling thing is it's like Mariano, who was the greatest closer of all time,

but he had a little hiccup against the Red Sox. Yeah. And that always put a seed of doubt in your mind that he's dominant against every other team except the one team that you want him to be dominant against. So that worries me for Batances going forward, but hopefully it was just due to overuse. Seems like a kid with his head on his shoulders

and he will not let it bother him, hopefully. So that Thursday night game, though, my God, that was so terrible. I was so despondent the next day. It's crazy to be despondent about a regular night game, though, my God, that was so terrible. I was so despondent the next day. It's crazy to be despondent about a regular season game, but that was such a heartbreaker because, like you say, the Red Sox had a little bit of a seed of doubt going, and the Yankees, one, could have made a spin advance, and you could have put bigger questions on the Red Sox.

That was definitely the worst Yankees loss to the Red Sox in 2004, no doubt about it. Wow, since 2004? Yeah, yeah. That one was really, that Thursday night game, that really bummed me out. Of course, that's a little bit like saying to Mary Lincoln, what's the second worst play you ever went to?

Right. You know, there's no comparison to 2004, given the circumstances. But it was pretty pretty it was bad it bummed me out for like a day or two I couldn't even watch any more of the games after that series

I have some Yankee fans on the TV show that work for the TV show and they were they were definitely feeling themselves a little bit

heading into that series like oh right you don't want to we're hanging around you know it was a lot of bad stuff four games out four game series you're hoping for another Boston Mass, we're hanging around, you know, it's a lot of bad stuff.

Four games out, four game series, you're hoping for another Boston Massacre from like the 70s, you know? Yeah. No. Not really.

Well, none of this matters because there's not going to be a baseball season next year because there's not going to be a world next year. The world is ending.

We've, we, so this is the, we're almost finishing the first year of the BS podcast. I think you came on in October. And we just had a nice big laugh about Trump and how funny it would be if he stayed in the race for a little while. And then at some point, I think we joked about what it would be like if he debated Hillary, how hilarious that would be. All of this happened.

He's the Republican nominee. And he debated Hillary, how hilarious that would be. All of this happened. He's the Republican nominee, and he debated Hillary, and we almost had the moment that we jovially predicted six, seven, eight months ago, where he stopped for a second and said, you know, there's something I could say right now, but I'm not going to say it. First of all, imagine, like, who who says that who says that in any social situation who just says who presents anything that way what a baby oh insane people i mean i was i i got started to get sick on sunday i had a stomach bug i had a fever i was sick all day monday i literally was like catatonic with a fever and as as the day went on, and I was kind of like waking up intermittently,

and I was like, I got to rally for this debate. And I had consumed about two glasses of ginger ale and a piece of toast in the course of about 36 hours. So by the time the debate rolled around, I'm like, I'm going to force myself to sit up and watch this. I was hoping to tweet, but I really couldn't. It just didn't happen in me, you know? And then it still was bracing when they say, you know, the Democratic nominee, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and they're like, the Republican nominee, Donald Trump.

I looked at my wife, and I'm like, oh, my God, I'm more delirious with fever than I thought I was. She's like, no, no, this is really happening. You know, we've learned enough to get you to the hospital. This is real life, which almost made me throw up again. So, yeah, it was really quite something. And it just goes to show, if you don't do any preparation for a debate, you really have no clue about any of these issues,

you really can't just go wing it for 90 minutes in front of 85 million people and hope to do well. Amazingly enough. Go figure. You know, it's interesting. We have mostly people who are either, I guess, liberal or have leaned Democrat, like in the whole ringer universe, just by chance. Yeah, I would say so. Yeah, I would say so.

But you've always come on the podcast for the last, I don't know, since I've had one, and you're a Republican conservative. And I think there's a lot of people out there like you that are just like, this guy doesn't represent my party. Like, this guy doesn't stand up for anything I believe in, and are just kind of in no man's land with this election. Oh, yeah. Like, how do you handle something like that? Your whole life has revolved around politics. Like, now we're at this point where you're going to have to vote on one of these two

people. It's an interesting question because in some way it's almost a good thing because when I talked about the Yankees-Red Sox game, the Tansys blew it. I was looking for something to punch or a remote to throw across

the room because I was that invested in the Yankees winning. In a Trump-Hillary battle it's, I wish there was a way they could both lose. So I'm just disinterested. I'm not interested enough in it. No, I shouldn't say I'm not interested, but I'm disinterested from a fan perspective, let's say. So I didn't watch the debate being nervous and upset that I had to be sober because I had a stomach flu, like not on the edge of my seat and biting my nails and worried that my candidate was going to commit some unrecoverable gaffe. So it's interesting to watch it from that perspective of just a disinterested observer from that regard. But in the other regard, it's really so depressing because I would like to have a horse in the race

that I could believe in and support and get behind and be excited about. And so just to be so, every time I watched it, I mean, when they, I joked about the fever, but when they announced Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, it like turns my stomach, stomach full or not. It's like, it's just so fucking ridiculous. I mean, there's no other way to put it. It's just so fucking ridiculous and pathetic that that actually was allowed to happen. And people made that happen. It's a disgrace. Who and pathetic that that actually was allowed to happen, and people made that happen.

It's a disgrace. Who do you blame the most? Jeb Bush? Marco Rubio? Who are you the maddest at, retroactively? Well, it's not a person. It's Fox News that gave this jackass a platform for years and years to call in to their morning show and pontificate on all things political as if he had any idea what the fuck he was talking about and then he's propped up by the you know roger ailes when he was there

and the sean hannity's of the world and you know fox has an outsized voice obviously in republican politics because it's the only right-leaning you know news network so they get the most eyeballs of conservative viewers that aren't going to watch any of the other mainstream media outlets. So they prop this clown up and put wind in its sails. And basically, all these viewers are like, the Republicans in Washington are weak and spineless and sold us out. Trump's our only champion. We ended up with him.

And then you had too many candidates involved in the race, and so that allowed support to be split. But he just sucked all the oxygen out of the race, and so that allowed support to be split. But he just sucked all the oxygen out of the room, which is a cliche. But there's estimates I've read online that he got like $2 to $3 billion worth of free advertising because of the media that covered him. But I understand a lot of the other media networks that lean left, they wanted to prop him up because they thought he was a tomato can for a boxing analogy that Hillary was going to just knock right over.

And that was the candidate she'd have the easiest time beating. And it's true. But Fox is really disgraceful the way they propped him up. And I don't understand what the rationale was for that. Just that he sells it like it is. He's not afraid to be politically incorrect or whatever, which is just horse shit. Well, the other interesting part about Fox propping him up and doing all the stuff they did is that they created their own competitor because he's going to go start his own network, right?

Yeah, he's going to lose the election. He's going to contest it for like seven years and say it was rigged. And it's going to be lawsuit after lawsuit, and he's going to present this whole case like he should have won, but it was stolen from him. And meanwhile, he's going to present this whole case like he should have won but it was stolen from him and meanwhile he's going to start this media network and it's probably going to be bigger than fox yeah or he's going to try to make it yeah because he's got this base of voters and all of them are going to go and watch these shows i mean for the life of me politics aside i have

never understood the attraction of donald trump i mean there's all these people that i read on twitter or read articles articles online or wherever. They say, well, even if you don't agree with Trump, you know, he's quite a good entertainer and so entertaining and so good at TV. His appeal is totally lost on me. Like, I never understood it. I always thought he was a buffoon. Like, just to watch him, I don't think he's good on TV. I don't think he's funny.

I don't think he's clever. tv i don't think he's funny i don't think he's clever i think he's a fucking jackass you know i wouldn't watch the apprentice at gunpoint just because i don't i just don't find him entertaining in the slightest so aside from politics but then to think well boy he's so good on tv like i i don't know his rallies and all this i just i'm lost i keep looking around the room like, is it me? Tim, right? Is it me? Like, I just don't get it at all. What's, if Hillary's president, what are your three biggest concerns about a Hillary Clinton presidency? Well, obviously that, you know, she's going to appoint Supreme Court justices that, you know, I would disagree with. Supreme Court justices that don't care so much about the Constitution. That's obviously the biggest concern. But I mean, one of the things that sort of surprises me is that we have all these pundits, Republican folks or Republican politicians that jumped on the Trump train,

be it at the last minute or not, because we're so fearful of the prospect of a Hillary presidency. Oh, my God, Hillary is going to be a president and this could be the end of the country. We just went through eight years with Obama, who is more left-wing than Hillary and more charismatic than Hillary. So if you're worried about like, oh my God, progressivism is going to take over, he has more appeal than she does. And he's been president for eight years, and the country's still here. I mean, she's terrible as a politician. She's a terrible speaker. She has so many deficiencies as a politician, it's scary. So the notion that she is somehow going to instill, you know, a hundred-year reign of progressivism where Obama couldn't do it, when he's ten times

the politician that she is, and, you know, charismatic figure that she is, I think is ridiculous. And I think she's going to get in there. I think she's going to be terrible. Democrats don't even like her. They love Obama. You know, she can barely get 80% of Democrats to support her at most polls. That's her problem, is that Bernie Sanders folks won't get on board with her. So, you know, the notion that it's going to be like an apocalypse for this country if she's in there.

Now, I'm not going to like it. I'm not going to like her policy. I don't like her. But the notion that, like, oh, my God, this is the end of America, could be the best thing for the Republican Party. You know, if they happen to lose the Senate this election, which is a possibility, they probably make gains in 2018. And then, you know, maybe they do the right thing

and nominate a smarter, you know, more attractive candidate in 2020. But I'm probably giving them way too much... I'm probably way too optimistic and giving them way too much of the benefit of the doubt that they would ever do the right thing. But I remain hopeful, I guess. It would seem like the best-case scenario for the Republicans would be,

and this is weird, but losing the election, having Hillary not do well, and then kind of grabbing the reins in 2020 with a qualified candidate who actually could stay in charge for eight years. What they really need is they need Trump to lose as badly as possible. Like, it would be ideal, really, from a conservative standpoint, if he's going to lose, he can't be close. He needs to lose, like, 40 states and then just say, OK, politics isn't for me and go away and play golf, build gaudy resorts or hotels or whatever he's going to do, you know, and just be a late night Twitterer and not do anything more with politics of the Republican Party. And then, you know, hopefully cooler, saner heads would prevail and

say, this is what Trumpism got us, like an electoral wipeout. It's time to rebuild with, you know, more attractive, appealing, saner policies. Right. Is there anybody on the horizon? Well, who knows? Well, yeah, there's a couple of young, you know, there's got some young senators. This guy, Ben Sasse, is a guy from Nebraska, and he's been firmly anti-Trump. I mean, the people that will come out of the ashes of this, I think, are the ones that have kept the Trump stench as far away from them as possible. And he's been like a beacon of light in terms of staying far away from Trump and being extremely anti-Trump, which is hard for a senator when he's getting a lot of, I'm sure, establishment pressure from the party to get on the train. So, you know, he's hopeful, but, you know, he's a senator from Nebraska.

So how much, you know, how much nationwide appeal does he have? I don't know. You would think a guy like Rubio if he gets back in, but he's played footy with Trump now and been on all sides of everything. I'm not sure anybody's going to want anybody that was involved in this mess as a candidate. Even Ted Cruz. Ted Cruz, he basically insinuated his dad murdered jfk and what else did he say he called his wife ugly what else did he call his wife ugly i mean this is like what makes people hate politics and hate politicians ted cruz is mr principal conservative

right so he starts out in the in the primaries and he plays footsie with trump because he thinks that trump is a buffoon and he's going to implode and Cruz will inherit his voters because he was nice to him. And then Trump starts beating his head in and saying, not only not implying, but basically, you know, saying outright, here's a picture of your, for the National Enquirer of your father, hanging out with Lee Harvey Oswald and retweeting some bad picture of his wife saying, and compared to Melania so that she looks like she's ugly. Right. And so then Cruz says, you know,

I'm not going to, and thinks, you know, Trump is a liberal buffoon and says, I'm not going to get on the train here. So he does a principled speech at the convention saying, basically vote your conscience. He won't endorse the end of Trump.

People like wipe the floor with Cruz, throw them out of the convention, everything else. And conservatives are like, Oh, Cruz, throw him out of the convention, everything else. And conservatives are like, oh, Cruz, he did the right thing. He really is a principled conservative. And then now, at the last minute, he decides to hop on board the Trump train, you know? Amazing. Now in life,

like if somebody in your fantasy football was like fantasy football league was like, you know, Bill, I think your father was involved in the JFK assassination and your wife is ugly. Like, would you be in that guy's fantasy football league no but Cruz is going to endorse him for president

that's why people hate politicians because nobody in real life in common sense would ever do that like you punch that guy in the face I think my father didn't kill JFK my wife is not ugly fuck you you know I'm not going to endorse you for president. Jesus.

Ridiculous. All right, so your prediction for how many, how the election goes right now. I'm going to ask you again before we actually get to the election, but what's your prediction right now? Well, Hillary's going to win, and I would say that her margin,

I'd say right now that her margin of error is probably going to, I mean, not margin of error, her margin of victory is going to, which will be a margin of error, too, that her margin of error is probably, I mean, not margin of error, her margin of victory, which will be a margin of error too, but her margin of victory will be probably similar to what Obama had over Romney in 2012, I'd say. So a pretty resounding victory, but not quite a landslide. And who's your prediction for the American League champion? Because I know you don't watch the National League.

Anybody but the Red Sox, hopefully. Hopefully the Indians. Cleveland's year, right? Cavaliers. Maybe not the Browns' year, but the Cavaliers did it. I'll go for the Indians and Terry Francona. It'd be great if Terry Francona beat the Red Sox.

That'd be phenomenal. It feels like it's heading toward a Francona versus Henry and Lucchino clash, which, considering how poorly they treated him, it's going to be tough for me not to have like 1% of me rooting for Frank Conan to get revenge. But I'll fight it off. I'm sure they've already got Bob Holer from the

Boston Globe working on some of the sources to find out some more, just in time for the series. Cubs, any last words of advice as they head into October for the Cubs fans? Well, they should do something about that goat curse, I think, right? Like, I don't know.

What's interesting to me is there's a couple of Cubs people that tweet me, tweet things at me. They decided just to, like, give the finger to the curse and just, like, go headlong into this. And, like, they don't acknowledge it. They just are like, no curse.

We've won 100 games. We have all these players. Rizzo and Chris Bryan, Jake Arrieta, all these guys. We're just going headfirst, and we're going to win it all. They're the cockiest bunch of people for a group that hasn't won a World Series since four years before the Titanic sank. I kind of admire it. Let's just do it.

That's interesting because I think that's one demographic, but most of the Cub fans I've talked to just think they have no chance of actually winning the World Series

and it would just be fun to get there, but they've just given up almost like somebody who's a lifelong bachelor and has just given up the thought of ever being married.

I'm never getting married. Yeah. See, that's the way I feel. If I was a Cub fan, If I was a Cubs fan, that's what I would do. We'll blow this somehow. It'll be interesting to see how we choke it away this year.

I would never have the irrational confidence, the irrational exuberance to just say, no, we're winning it all. We're going to dominate for years to come. Just take it easy. But we'll see. It'll be interesting. I think they're going to find a way to choke it away.

I think the Cubs win. They should bring Steve Bartman back, I think, to throw out the first pitch. He's gone. I think they really need to welcome back with him. They should do that. The Red Sox did that with Buckner. It really helped. I think if the Cubs win, I think Theo goes down in history and then

his next move is to take over the Republican Party in 2020 would be his next step. Red Sox, Cubs, Republicans. That's his train. Jack, always a pleasure. We will check in with you one more time before the election actually happens. Great to talk to you, as always. Good talking to you.

All right. Take it easy, buddy. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. That's it for the BS Podcast. Thanks again for one year of BS Podcast. Thanks so much for spreading the word. Thanks to Midroll for helping us sell some of

the territory you've heard us talk about within the podcast. They've been great. Thanks to Slink TV, the best way to watch live TV on your turf. For just $20 a month, stream more than 20 live channels, including ESPN, TNT, AMC, and CNN. No installation, no extra gear, no annual contracts,

just an internet connection. That's it. Start watching for seven days free at sling.com slash billsimmons get sling TV on your favorite device restrictions apply. Thanks to Harry's. Go to harrys.com right now. Sign up for a shaving plan Only pay for the shipping

If you enter code BS at checkout You'll claim your free trial set And complimentary post shave balm Your face will really appreciate it That's harrys.com Code BS Don't forget about any given Wednesday Every Wednesday 10pm

HBO re-airs all week on HBO HBO on demand HBO go Don Demand, HBO Go. Don't forget TheRinger.com. Don't forget about our eight other podcast feeds on The Ringer Network, including Ringer University. And last but not least, thank you to Joe Fuentes and Tate Frazier for an excellent first year of the BAS podcast. And thank you for everybody out there for spreading the word. We'll be back next week. Anytime y'all want to see me again,

rewind this track right here, close your eyes, and picture me rolling.