The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 07/10/2019

Episode Date: July 10, 2019

Colin gives Adam Silver some much needed parenting advise, stop enabling NBA players by bending to their every whim and start making tough decisions. Kevin Durant left a great marriage opportunity with the Golden State Warriors & Steph Curry for a recent fling with Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn which wont last. Television is meant to be engaging, attractive & cool but analytics in baseball is slowly making the sport less attractive and Aaron Rodgers has to overcome his worst enemy to win a super bowl, himself.Guest - RJ Hampton  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise,

breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you're not to be played. with and just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to listen to learn the hard way on the iha radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast what's up guys

this is clivert taylor the fourth and on my podcast the clivert show i'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff like being an internet famous referee we're in the middle of a game this linebacker this linebacker walks up to me he goes a ref my mom wants you to wave at her what Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Rhett, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Ms. Parker.

Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for listening to the best of herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday. From 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1, find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartreport. Radio app by searching Herd. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, this on a Wednesday is the herd, live in Los Angeles, wherever you may be and however you may be listening.

We're on IHeart Radio. We're on Fox Sports Radio. We're on FS1. Today I'm going to talk some baseball, some college football, some NFL. Joy Taylor is joining me and some NBA as well. How are you? I'm great. Good morning.

Good morning. We've got a lot of stuff to talk about today. We've kind of moved out of the NBA free agency period, and we're moving toward the NFL, baseball. This is kind of a segue day. But I do think the NBA is an interesting lead today. Adam Silver runs the NBA. And, you know, as a commissioner, generally commissioners

are in their late 40s, mid-50s when they take the job. And then they're like 70 when they get out of the job. And NBA players come into the league at 18. and then you hit their prime by 27 and then they leave by 32. Now, obviously, Adam Silver is not a parent to the players, but in a weird way, you are sort of dictating laws in the NBA house like a parent would do for kids. And Adam Silver is complaining today about two things,

and complaining is the wrong word, but he's unhappy with two things that happened during the free agency period that we just all watched and enjoyed and was crazy time, right? he doesn't like the tampering and he doesn't like players demanding trades in the middle of contracts

as a parent I agree with him on the first I don't set rigid rules for my daughter I said be careful how much you drink in college I didn't say never have a drink she's going to college it's not a rigid rule

tampering's flirting the basketball culture in the world especially in America is you collaborate with guys. You move around with players. You pick guys you want to play with. Hey, let's go to Duke. Let's go to Kentucky.

Let's go to Kansas. Let's go to Detroit Metro, AAU. So that's the culture of basketball in America. And having an unrealistic tampering rule, what do you want to do? Seize their cell phone records? By the way, leagues are hypocrites. Broadcast companies are hypocrites. They're interviewing before contracts are up with leagues.

It's flirting. It's harmless. And by the way, the reality is flirting, martini lunches, talking, it's always been part of business. It's relationships. Basketball is a relationship sport. High school, college. I mean, it's a very small community. Everybody knows everybody.

And what he said, Adam Silver came out and said, it's pointless to have rules that I can't enforce. I totally agree. As a parent, I don't create rigid rules that I can't. can't enforce. You're going to drink in college. Just don't be an idiot. You know, don't go to a third cocktail or a fifth beer. I don't, I think that's good parenting. Unrealistic parenting is, don't do this and don't do this and do do this and do do this. And they're not in the house. They're at college with a bunch of 18-year-olds. They're going to make bad decisions. You just hope they make few of them. So I agree with Adam Silver. The tampering rule, you can't enforce it.

It makes it look like the league has no integrity. When you create a law and nobody follows it, it's a bad look for the NBA. So as a parent of the league, I totally agree with Adam Silver on this. The second thing he's bothered with, and this is where I have a problem, he says, I do not like these players breaking contracts. He said, it's a bad, it's disheartening. Yes, yes, it is, and here's Adam Silver talking about this. Trade demands are disheartening. They're disheartening to the team. They're disheartening to the community. And don't serve the player well. That's an issue that needs to be addressed. there's not a simple solution?

There isn't a simple solution, but as a parent, here's another rule. If you baby your kid, they become a brat. If, in psychology of parenting, don't overcomplement your kid. You're the greatest kid. That's the greatest shot. No, give them appropriate comments, so they're realistically understanding the world they're going to grow up in. This is where I think Adam Silver has made a mistake. Adam, I like tampering. I'm for mobility.

I'm pro Kevin Durant moving. I am Mr. Mobility in my career. I am pro mobility for players. But when you coddle and baby employees, sometimes they're brats. When I came to Fox, I signed a four-year contract. If it would have been a disaster, ethically,

I'm going to serve my four-year contract. That's the integrity of the contract. Players are breaking contracts, Adam, because they're, Every whim is served by you. David Stern was pro player, but he made moves without okaying everything. He introduced a new ball. Didn't tell the players.

They didn't like it. But he didn't go around letting players labor control the entire league. Listen, these players right now, I just saw a story this morning that Kauai Leonard and Paul George signed the exact same contract, the two plus one with a player option. So once again, in three years, they'll be able to move. This league is totally pro player, and I'm for it. Baseball players get locked in for 8, 10 years. NFL players can be cut.

Hockey players, there's limited, a very low ceiling on what they can make. In the NBA, you can make a ton. You can move. LeBron did a one-year deal. KD. did a one-year deal. I have no problem with LeBron bouncing around the league on one-year deals. I have no problem with KD.

I wouldn't have done it, but moving to Brooklyn on one-year deals. I am so pro-mobility, and I am so pro giving my kids some compliments. But I don't want to spoil them because I don't want them to be brats. And I don't want to over compliment them because I don't want them to think everything they do is amazing. And sometimes they're not good at stuff. And it's okay to have a real authentic conversation with your kids. This is where Adam Silver, to me, has made a mistake. Too many times LeBron wants this.

Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. I like getting rid of some back-to-backs. I like embracing gambling. I like allowing players the freedom to move. basketball culture. I like flirting. Tampering's a stupid word. But you ultimately get the kids that you help create. And it's okay to hold players to contracts. Because by the way, if players in the NBA start to treat contracts like they don't matter, ask yourself, who's going to win in a court of law, billionaires or millionaires? What if owners after a while say,

You know, players are breaking these contracts. Why should I have to pay them all this money? Like, there has to be integrity for the guy or the woman that run a franchise or own a franchise. You've got to have league integrity. So, yes, good parenting on tampering. Don't create rules you can't enforce as a commissioner or a parent. But a lot of the problems you're seeing right now with players breaking contracts, when Paul George signed with Russell Westbrook.

What did I say? Oh, that's not going to work long time. Paul George and his agent have to eat that. Suck it up. Everybody in the world knew. That's a terrible move. Westbrook over LeBron, Oklahoma City, over your home state, California. Yeah, that's not going to last forever.

Own it. Deal with it. Integrity. This one's on Adam Silver. Let me talk about this. I, I, the whole Kevin Durant,

Kyrie Irving thing is at the heart of what we're talking about. Players moving. I'm okay with it. But I'm hearing a lot of this. Kevin Durant chose Brooklyn. No, he didn't. He didn't choose Brooklyn. By the way,

a story comes out today. The general manager of Brooklyn never even had a meeting with Kevin Durant. How did he find out Kevin was coming on Kevin Durant's Instagram? Kevin Durant didn't choose Brooklyn. Kevin Durant chose Kyrie Irving. That's the story. They didn't talk to Brooklyn. Didn't talk to the owners.

Didn't talk to the GM. Didn't talk to the scouts. Didn't tell anybody. He just chose Kyrie Irving. And this is why I have problems with it. We all know there's some people you have flings with and there are some people you marry. Steph Curry's temperament is the kind that lasts forever. Steph Curry and Clay Thompson will hang out forever.

That's a marriage. Their personalities. Their temperaments. They're givers. Kyrie Irving and Westbrook, history tells you, resumes tell you, are flings. It's hot, it's cold, the earth is flat, confrontational with coaches, confrontational with players. Kevin Durant chose Kyrie Irving's temperament and personality over Steph Curry's. I believe Steph Curry, that's what you marry.

I believe Kyrie Irving, that's the fling. and those relationships are all based on personalities. It doesn't matter if too rich people marry or two poor people or two equally educated people. If you have two takers, it's tough. If you have two givers, it's got a better chance. When I look at Kevin Durant going to the Nets, what I see is Kevin Durant left a giver, Steph Curry. Here, I'll space better. You shoot.

It's your team. You win the title. I'll back off to a taker. LeBron, too much. Brad Stevens, I won't listen. Jason Tatum, confrontational. It's a choice you make. I wouldn't make it. They'll win a bunch of games. I don't doubt that. They're super talented. But you read the story today. Kevin Durant never talked to Brooklyn. He didn't choose that coach. He didn't choose that GM. He didn't choose that city. He chose that player. That player's Kyrie Irving. Steph Curry's very Tom Brady. Just look at him. Family.

give, support, relinquish. Kyrie Irving is the opposite of that. Talented, not disputing any of that. But when, again, when Paul George chose Westbrook, we all knew this is a fling. This isn't a marriage, and it didn't last three full years. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app.

Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies,

and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls,

we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your host, favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark.

Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing, and we're still chasing it, and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses.

Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth, or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app.

Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes,

Hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue 42. A rep. My mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at?

Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Jared Adano. You might know me as that loud guy who yells out, help on the internet. Help! Somebody!

But there's so much more to me than that. I'm an actor. I'm a comedian. And recently, I've become quite the helper myself. And on my new podcast, Hope from a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need. with my sage advice and thoughtful solutions. Sike, I'm a comedian!

I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to man. If I'm calling you, even if you're on your phone, let it ring twice. One ring is too scary. Oh, cream a chicken suit.

Hey, cream... Cream a chicken suit. This is help from a hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from Hippocrat as part of the Mike Pulitzer Podcast Network available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It is always more efficient for me to drive the freeway. It's faster and it's better gas mileage. But about half the time when I drive home after the show, I take the beach route. It takes me about seven minutes longer,

maybe nine, not as good gas mileage, more start and stop. But as I drive. But as I drive, home, I'm not worried about efficiency. I'm worried about attractive. I watch surfers. I see the palm trees. And it makes me remember why I move to California, what I believe to be the most beautiful state. Puts me in a good mood. Brings me down after an intent show. Efficiency, my friends, is not always the most attractive thing. Television is the attractive business. You see very few unattractive anchors. It's why the Kardashians are zillionaires. Attractive. matters in sports. The right camera angles, good-looking players, Russell Wilson, Cam, Joe Montana, Brady, often are more endorseable. We like them, right? Kobe's cool. Jordan's cool. Part of it is

they look cool. Baseball, in its zeal for analytics, has gotten less attractive to the eyes. And let me give you an example. You have to be careful about analytics because commissioners can allow some and not others. Don't allow them all in. I'll give an example. If I'd have told you 30 years ago, NBA, all three-pointers, no more mid-range jumper. You would have said, it's ridiculous. That's the game. If I had told you 30 years ago, hey, baseball, strikeouts, nobody cares. Just hit home runs.

No line drives. No bunts. No stealing bases. That is ridiculous. That's the current game. What if football analytics over the next five years, as ridiculous as it sounds, it was proven that if you just threw deep balls, bombs, home runs, over the top, eliminated a running game, no bubble screens, no screenplays, no intermediate routes, no quarterback scrambling,

just hike it and throw it deep on every play. You'd have more touchdowns. Would it be as much fun to watch? Yuck, I like running games. I like screens. I like my quarterback running around. I like intermediate throws. I like the structure, the nuance, the schematics of it. What if in tennis analytics provided this gem, ACEs, double faults are irrelevant. Just always serve gas. Nobody plays at the net, no long rallies. Just serve hard as you can. Analytics will prove over the course of a year, double faults don't matter, like strikeouts in baseball, like the mid-range and bat. Just serve it as hard as you can, have no second-serve go as fast.

Would tennis be as much fun to watch? Baseball right now has an attractive problem. There's no base runners. Last night, half of the National League batters got out because they struck out. For the 60% of home runs in baseball this year, 60% are solo home runs. It's the highest in 100 years. There's no base runners.

There's no singles. Don't hit doubles. It's home runs, strike-and-es. out's be damned. Last night, 16 of the 27 National League outs. Guy doesn't even get on base. Baseball can be fun, but

it's got an action problem. It's got an attractive problem. There are fewer engageable moments. The lottery's got it figured out. Nobody would play the lottery if just one person won a billion dollars once a month. The reason the lottery works in America is because

they give out a million little small prizes. Your neighbor wins $200, $300, $400, $400, $50, $25, constant engagement, not winning the big prize, brings you back and back and back and back. Don't have to win $5 billion. A lot of people win $1,200. They pay their mortgage for the month. They take a vacation with their wife or their husband.

Baseball now has an issue, and I hope football never faces it. I don't want tennis to just be aces and double faults. I don't want football to just be deep routes over and over. And I think baseball's more fun with stolen bases, first to third, bunts, situational baseball, nuance, context. John Smoltz talked about it last night. The current baseball doesn't give us what our eyes demand. There's so many more three-pointers in the NBA than ever before

is because there's so many more taken. And the applied strategy for hitting is the same as it would be taking more three-pointers. trying to swing for the fences more. So guys are bigger, they're stronger, bat speeds faster, the ball velocity's higher. That's a contributing factor. I'm not saying I don't like analytics, but last night was a prime example. A zillion strikeouts, and because of defensive shifts, a couple of ropes that were caught that should have been base hits.

I like singles, I like stolen bases, I like doubles, I get tired of home runs, I get tired to strikeouts. Commissioners have a right to step in and go, no more defensive. shifts. I want to see bass runners. I want activity. I want action. Baseball is always going to make a billion dollars. And I watched the game last night. Baseball will always make a billion dollars. There's so much volume of games.

But it's fascinating to think of what analytics has changed basketball and baseball. I don't think the regular season of the NBA's is much fun. I like the playoffs when Kauai Leonard said, I'm going to mid-range jump for us to a championship. I really enjoyed it. I really liked it. And I miss the cat and mouse

base running game. I miss bunts, sacrificing singles, action, baseball. runners, I really do. Want more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart radio app. Search herd to listen live

or on demand whenever you'd like. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in.

I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories,

their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls,

we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them.

Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Keer Games.

And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch.

Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust.

I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free. iHeartRadio app search learn the hard way and listen now what's up guys this is clivert Taylor the fourth and on my podcast the clivert show i'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff

like being an internet famous referee we're in the middle of a game this linebacker you know these kids linebacker walks up to me he goes hey ref my mom wants you to wave at her what time out quarterback on office blue 42 hey rep my mama want you to wave at her what Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliffer Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. If you're watching the latest season of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, you already know there's a lot to break down.

Gorsha accusing Kelly of sleeping with a merry man. They holding Kay Michelle back from fighting Drew. Pinky has financial issues. I like the bougie style of Housewives of Housewives show. I think it looks like it's going to be interesting. On the podcast, Reality with the King, I, Carlos King, recap the biggest moments from your favorite reality shows, including the Real Housewives franchise, the drama, the alliances, and the team everybody's talking about. As an executive producer in reality television, I'm not just watching it. I understand the game.

As somebody who creates shows, I'll even say this. At the end of the day, when people are at home, they want entertainment. To hear this and more, listen to Reality. with the King on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. You know, I just tend to bring my attache case to work. Oh, it is stuff with money. There's just so much money in there. You can't, you got to have it on the outside too.

So I do this every year. Okay? I give you, it's called my Uncle Collins over unders. So Vegas predicts how many games teams will win. And some of these have already come out and be bet down. USC, by the way, started at like eight and a half. to seven. So these are random win totals. What I do is I go through my Phil Steel magazine. I go through every bit of information I can and I give you the four or five. And by the way, I do four to five

every year. I've never had a losing season. I always have a winning season. This is my favorite bet of the year. They're over and unders in college football. And the college football practice starts in about 15 days. So are you ready to go on this? All right, here we go over and under. Let's start with an over Michigan State. So the guys in Vegas have Michigan State at seven and a half wins. Michigan State's going to win more than seven and a half games. Here's why. They return 17 starters.

That's fourth most in the country. When you return a bunch of starters, you're always great in the first month, right? Because you bring experienced players and colleges have limited practice time. They'll be great in September. They return their entire defensive line, which was number one in the country against the rush. They return their entire offensive line. This is a program, by the way, in the last eight years, they have won half the games they've been an underdog. They win games. You don't think they will on paper. They return their lines. They've got a very good player development program,

Michigan State, over on seven and a half wins. Texas A&M, Vegas thinks they're going to win seven and a half. They're going to win fewer than that. The SEC is just two. good right now. You can go seven to eight deep in the SEC, unlike other conferences where there's two or three top teams and then it's weak in the middle. Jim Bo Fisher can recruit. That's his strength. I don't think he's a great schematic coach. The problem is most of his recruits aren't playing yet. This will only be a second year. He's only had two recruiting classes. The other thing, their schedule is brutal. At Clemson, Auburn, Alabama, at Old Miss, at Georgia, at LSU. I got five losses, six losses right there.

That would put them at 7 and 5 or 6 and 6. They also have one starter on offense that's a senior. In the SEC, are you kidding me? They'll be good eventually with Jimbo. I think they're a 500 team this year. They've also been worse than expected last three years at home in the SEC. Let's go to Oregon. Vegas thinks Oregon's going to win 8.5.

I don't love this coaching staff. They recruit well. I don't love their game management, but I'll take the over. Very simply, Oregon under this coaching staff has struggled on the road. This schedule is very, very easy on the road. The Auburn game, neutral. They go to Washington and they'll lose it. But by the time they play USC on the road in November,

the Trojans will have several wins. The Coliseum will be half full. Also play Arizona State in the road, but it's late in the season when it's not hot. Oregon's returning offensive linemen have started 153 starts in college. Now think about that. That is the most in college football in eight years. Four of their offensive linemen are already honors players, first, second, third team.

NFL guys, they have the second or third best college quarterback. The schedule is mostly comfortable with very little discomfort on the road. I don't love the staff in close games are on the road. I think there'll be a lot of blowout wins at home, probably win nine games. Let's go Auburn. Again, I'm going to take the under. Gus Malzon will be fired after this season. He's been a disappointment, mostly because he's an average recruiter in a conference of great recruiters.

Jared Stidham's gone at quarterback. I thought he was a wildly underrated college quarterback. Their schedule is the toughest in college football, Oregon, A&M, Mississippi State, Florida, at Arkansas, at LSU. The two games they get at home, Alabama and Georgia, the problem is those may not be winnable games because Georgia and Alabama have the best personnel in the SEC. I think by midseason they're beat up. There's a lot of criticism from Gus Malz-on, and they have to beat Georgia and Alabama late to save his job, and they won't. And finally, I know you guys all bang on Jim Harbaugh, but I'm going to take Michigan over nine and a half wins.

They're going to be favored in 12 games this year. I looked it up. They're favored in 12 games. Now, they are 1 and 18 on the road against ranked teams, but they host Michigan State. They host Notre Dame. They host Ohio State this year. He's got eight starters returning on offense. I think it's his best offensive line.

And the Big Ten is very weak at the lower middle and bottom. Unlike the SEC, which is very good top, excellent in the middle, okay, in the bottom. There's a lot of Ws with that offensive line and that schedule, just a lot of guaranteed Ws against the middle and bottom of the Big Ten. Michigan, I think, ends up. I don't think they're a national championship winning team, but they may end up in the playoff because of their returners, their quarterback, and their schedule,

three toughest games all at home. There you go. So in review, can we do the in-review thing? I got Michigan State over, Texas A&M under, Oregon over, Auburn under, Michigan over. By the way, the SEC teams, the reason I have them under is because of respect to the conference. It is so good, one through eight in the SEC.

If you don't, by the way, A&M's best player, tight end running back, both gone. A lot of the SEC elegant schedules. So there you go. And congratulations. I don't know about you, but when I go home today with my attache case, you know, that's what it, I can't even keep all the money in there. This is just ridiculous.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. has had a lot of injuries over his career, and his career should be about halfway done. He's had two broken collar bones, an MCL sprain, concussions, a calf tear, and a fractured foot. And not only has he missed a lot of time, but Aaron's got some good pain tolerance because he's played hurt a lot in his career. Aaron's not a guy that wants to miss games. I'm giving him credit here. He plays hurt more than people realize. He is a total gamer. Cam Newton plays hurt a lot more than people get, and Aaron Rogers, plays hurt a lot more than people get.

My sources in the league have said for years, some players have high pain tolerance. Cam Newton's got it and Aaron Rogers has it. So Aaron deserves a lot of credit. But it should be noted, why is he hurt so often? Carl Lawson's a very good football player for the Cincinnati Bengals and he talked about Aaron Rogers and why he gets hit so much. Honestly, I think it's easier to sack Aaron Rogers than most quarterbacks.

He sits there and he pats the ball. He's an easier quarterback to sack meat for me personally because he sits there. You know, he probably gets maybe like eight to ten yards in the pocket. So he sits there. He waits. He waits. Wow. Getting there.

This is what Greg Cosell has talked about. Aaron Adlibs out of successful plays. Now, a lot of Packer fans, Green Bay is the smallest NFL market. And Joy, I've talked about this. The smaller the market, the more the team means to the city, right? Like in Green Bay, the Packers are everything. Right. In Los Angeles, I'm not sure the Rams are the most popular NFL team.

I think Dallas is more popular in Los Angeles than the Rams. We got two of everything, two baseball, to NBA, to football, to MLS, to hockey. So Green Bay fans get defensive. Well, it's our offensive line. In the last, since 2010, Green Bay's had six offensive linemen make the Pro Bowl. Six. That's like double the league average. Eight years total voted into the Pro Bowl.

By the way, right now, pro football. football focus, rates their offensive line is eight. In terms of pass blocking, the Packers have the number one left tackle in the NFL, the number nine pass blocking right tackle in the NFL, and the number one pass blocking center in the NFL. And the organization in Aaron's time has done a great job to take third, fourth, and fifth round offensive linemen and make them pro bowlers. The Packers don't do anything better than developing offensive linemen. They're tremendous at it. The Patriots and the Packers are great at that. And not everybody. is. Houston's not. So Aaron's an ad-libber. Farv was an ad-libber. The difference is Brett was a little

thicker. Brett didn't get hurt as much. It's just kind of the body composition. Aaron's a smaller quarterback despite having an unbelievable cannon for an arm. He's about my height. He's six-two. He's about 2-15, 218, maybe 220, but he's not that thick. And he ad-libs a lot. This explains it. No blaming, no finger-pointing. is the downsides. Why I don't think Aaron has aged as well as Drew Brees or aged as well as Brady ad-libbing equals more hits. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. I want to introduce you to R.J. Hampton, 6-5-185 pound. He was the Texas High School basketball Gatorade player of the year. The number two score in the nation at point guard could have gone anywhere, including Kansas and Memphis. I want to bring him on

the show because he's going to be a very interesting case study. RJ Hampton said, I'm not going to college. I'm not going to the G League. I'm going to go play with guys in New Zealand for the New Zealand breakers. First of all, it's an absolute pleasure to meet you. No, it's a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for having me. Let's start with this.

Why the decision? Let's start with that. Why? I just thought it was the best decision for me. Me and my family, we kind of talked it over, and I've never really dreamed about just being a college basketball player. I've always dreamed about being an NBA player. So I felt like going to New Zealand and playing overseas out of high school

would prepare me best to go to the NBA. Zion made a name for himself in college. I think going to Duke helped him. The shoe explosion probably got him a huge shoe deal. Is there any part of you that thinks, man, I go to Kansas for a couple years. I'm in the final four. Is there any regret at all? There's no regret.

I mean, Kansas is a great program and all the programs that recruit me are great programs. But at the end of the day, I felt like, the NBA was my main goal and to play at the NBA at the highest level possible, I felt like the path for me was going to be overseas and playing against growing in every day and getting better. By the way, you have a beautiful shot. You're a good ball handler and you're long.

So this is, oh boy, you're going to, you're going to be a good player. You're long and you've got a beautiful looking jumper. Now, are you concerned at all out of sight? RJ out of mind. New Zealand's way over there. Yeah. I'm not really concerned because I think in like the last month we've gotten we've gotten lamella ball, we've gotten Terry Armstrong.

So obviously there's some attractiveness with us three players going over there. And I know NBA scouts and teams and especially how the way social media is growing, people are going to be checking in on us in the MBO while I'm in New Zealand. They're in Australia, but same league. But I feel like I'm not worried about outside of mine. I feel like it'll be good. College players are 1819. Give us a little breakdown on the quality of New Zealand.

Now, these are obviously, guys are older, right? It's like G-League, you're dealing with men. Yes. And is the quality of play pretty good, do you think? I think the quality of play is really good. Honestly, I feel like I'm going to go over there. I'm going to be on a team where everyone's going to want to succeed and going to want to win. So I know my teammate Corey Webster, I watched some film of him.

He's scoring, I watched him against Phoenix Suns last year. When the Breakers came and played the Phoenix Suns, he's scoring 20, 25 points. I feel like the competition is really good. I feel like it's better than most people think it. Well, clearly a professional team, a Canadian football league team would beat a college football team. A New Zealand team would be to college basketball team. They would. I mean, very few exceptions.

You know, when you, it got a lot of pushback. I like it because I think you're a little bit of a pioneer. And I think anybody that does something differently gets heat initially. And I think if you work, everybody will do what you do. I think it's a very, I like my basketball players to have options. Were you surprised at the attention, all of it, the good, the bat, it was. I mean, you're on this show. It's talked about it. You're surprised by that.

Yeah, I'm really surprised by it. I didn't think it was going to blow up this big. I think it was just kind of be like he's just going overseas. We'll see him in a year. But I feel like I kind of sparked a conversation and sparked a couple of people's thought processes of getting to the NBA and getting to the next level. And I'm really glad I did that because I've had a lot of people

reach out to me and like, hey, how did you do this? How did you do that? Or there's been people that say that's a bad decision. But at the end of the day, I think it's what I wanted to do. And no one else has to do it is what I wanted to do. I just sent my daughter to South Africa for leadership counsel, and the reason I did it, I thought she was mature enough to handle it. My initial impressions of your father and your mother and you, you all make eye contact,

your good communicators. I would feel comfortable. I felt comfortable letting my daughter at 18 go overseas. I would feel comfortable in my brief meeting with you. You feel like, to me, your parents have got a good job of, you had real discussions. Really? Yeah. You're not, you're not, you look like you'd be okay going.

to another country. No, for sure. I feel like what really prepared me for going in another country, I played U-16, U-17 national team. So we went to Argentina and we went to Formosa and Buenos Aires. And Formosa wasn't the best city, but I hear Auckland, New Zealand is probably like, I mean, kind of like L.A. It's just super nice. So I mean, I'm not really scared to go overseas.

My whole family's going with me. My mom, my dad, and my little brother. Oh, that's great. So I'll have that support system too long there. Oh, that's fantastic. Now, by the way, when you had to tell the college coaches who were really competitive, hey, love you, but I'm going to New Zealand. Did anybody try to talk you out of it? I feel like there was some college. I'm not going to say any names, but there were some college coaches.

I bet. There's some college coaches leading up to the decision. They kind of got word that that's what I was going to do and kind of try to text me out of it, talking me out of it. But, I mean, I was just dead set on what I wanted to do. What have other players said? Your peers? Yeah, my peers, everyone, it was tremendous.

tremendous feedback. All my peers were just saying, like, be you, be yourself. They know, like, my peers know I'm like myself, and they know that I'm going to do it my way, and that's the way I wanted to do it. So, I mean, I don't know if they'll do the same route as me. I mean, I hope they do. That'd be great, but I think they liked it a lot. So do you remember the moment in the day, mom, dad, and you were sitting down, and maybe your little brother, do you remember the moment that you just looked at mom and dad and said, I'm going to go to New Zealand. Where were you?

What was the game changer the moment? A car ride. You're in the living room. When did it happen? Usually a lot of our talks, like, I'll be, like, walking up the stairs, and I'll say something, and they'll be, like, stop. And, like, they'll talk about it, and I'll be sitting on the stairs while they're in the living room. The living room is right by next to the stairs. And I remember us talking, and we were just going over, like, the pros and the cons about the New Zealand and the NCAA. And I was sitting there for like an hour just on the stairs. Oh, you had to talk to your parents for an hour.

Brutal! I was sitting there on the stairs for like an hour. And then that's when I finally was just like, yeah, I think I'm going to go to New Zealand. You got to get in your IG. Help me. Mom, dad won't stop talking. Get me out of here. So you sat there for an hour and it was it emotional.

What was it like? Was it like, would they talking into it or out of it or what? They were just asking me what. They were just giving me the pros and the cons and telling me, and now you decide, tell me what you want to do. And that's what I liked about. They weren't pressured me into doing anything. I love that.

That's good parenting, by the way. I always felt like my daughter wanted to go to a college. Maybe I wouldn't have picked it. But I didn't want my daughter to resent it. me. I'm like, I'll give you all the information. It's your life now at 18 years old. Now, are there, now you're going to go from high school basketball, and you played very good AAU

basketball. Now you're going up against men, and they're going to look at you and go, oh, that little skinny guy over here, a little American guy, a little high school guy. Do you worry that you're going to become over there and you're going to be the prize recruiting a little bit of a target? I mean, not necessarily, because I've always

been the target in anything any basketball I've played, but what I've really been doing like this summer, I've been working with the French national guys and the guys in the Euro A League, they all come down to Dallas and they train and they do pro run. So I've been playing with them

just to get used to the physicality and all that kind of stuff. You ever see Alan Houston play? Hey, Dad, do you ever see Alan Houston play for the Knicks? You got a little Alan Houston in your game. He was good, by the way. Alan Houston's good. You know Alan Houston?

Alan Houston was good. You got a little Alan Houston in your game. Is there a player? I mean, everybody mimics somebody, right? Is there a player or two that you have that crossover, that pause move? Like, what guys do you kind of follow?

I mean, I kind of just take bits and pieces from everybody's game, but probably like Steph Curry, but not the shooting stuff, not three-point shooting, Steph Curry. The way he moves without the ball, the way he's great at that, by the way. The way he moves without the ball, the way he sets up other teammates just because he is who he is. I like the way he does that. And then who I really just started to try to just like watch all the time is Paul George, because he's a two-way player.

You like to play defense? Yeah, you got to play defense. I hated defense. So hard. I just like shooting. You know what, RJ, this kind of story is fun for me because it is, I think it takes a lot of guts. Yeah. Like when you made that decision on the stairs with mom and dad, no, you've never looked back.

You've never woken up and died. Man, I like, I was at Texas Tech wanting me and Memphis came. You never had you never look back. No, never. Not one time. No one time. Have you been to New Zealand yet? I haven't.

It's supposed to be. It's supposed to be amazing over there. It looks beautiful. It looks unbelievable. Really, really, really far. It is. It is really far. Yeah.

So, like, you know, when you go over there, you're going to have a couple meals on the flight. And this is a big time for you. Now, so you're all going over there together. We're all going to there together. And how long is the season last? So I'll get over there probably like August 15th, somewhere in the middle of August. And the season starts, we play the Oklahoma City Thunder. We play the Memphis Grizzlies.

Oh, Lord. October, like, 7th and the 10th here in the States. and then our actual NBA season starts, I think, October 18th, and the last regular season game is February 14th. So it's not a very long season. So your first games were against NBA teams? Yeah, my first game is against the thunder, I want to say. Just hopefully Westbrook's out of town.

Wouldn't that be the worst guy? Hey, you've got to guard Russell tonight. That'd be a tough. That'd be tough. First game. RJ, very best of luck to you. I appreciate it. You've got a great head in your shoulders.

You have an incredibly formidable family here, and I love stuff like this. Thank you. You're a pioneer. Go for it. Kick butt. We'll have you back as soon as we possibly can. Yes, sir. Thank you. All right. R.J. Hampton, the New Zealand Breakers. Great story. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in.

I'm Timbo. In every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headlines. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slical Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends.

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