The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Desperate Seahawks, Lou Williams "Magic City" Saga, Top 100 NFL Players

Episode Date: July 27, 2020

The Seattle Seahawks seemed desperate trading for Jamal Adams, while the New York Jets got a lot from Seattle; and Doug Gottlieb joins the show to give his thoughts on that situation. Along with the Lou Williams strip club saga. Colin then breaks down the top 100 NFL players list. Where Colin was right and wrong, while Joy and Colin discuss the success of the leagues that are currently using a "Bubble". Former MLB player Nick Swisher joins the show, Peter King joins the show to share his thoughts on the upcoming NFL Season and Covid Policies. Shams Charania also joins to speak on the NBA season. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and one hour from now where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong. I love weekends where big trades happen in sports, and increasingly they're happening. happening in the NFL. Used to be an NBA and baseball thing. The NFL's got a lot of young general managers, and they like trading players, and that wasn't the NFL. We grew up with Joy Taylor,

but the NFL now is a trading league. It's like maybe even to a greater level than baseball and basketball. This particular NFL NFL off season has been like an NBA free agency period. It's incredible, and it's fun. It's a lot of movers and shakers. Now, usually, I'll start my show with this today,

Usually if a really good team gets a great player, we celebrate it. I'm from the Pacific Northwest. I felt it was kind of desperate. It felt like Seattle was saying, all right, we've done such a poor job building our offensive and defensive lines. We've kind of whiffed on so many first round picks. Let's just get a big headline and a big star and maybe it can cover our arse. Listen, I know he's expensive.

I don't want to pay a ton for a safety, but he is great. I wouldn't give up two first rounds and a third and a starter for a safety. But Seattle does this if they believe he gets us to a Super Bowl. Now, Honey Badger was really valuable to the Chiefs this year. I mean, he's a guy that really solved the back end of their defense, and Jamal Adams plays a lot like him. Seattle's going to be very good this year. I'm not disputing that.

But Seattle only won one game last year all year by more than one score. I'm going to throw something up if you think Seattle is a Super Bowl team. They had 11-1 possession wins. That doesn't happen. That's just insane. That'll never happen again. And whereas San Francisco, the Niners outscored people by 169 points. Baltimore outscored people by 249 points.

Seattle outscored people all year by seven points. Folks, they got holes on this roster, namely their offensive and defensive lines. And Jamal Adams is going to, it's a big swing. It's a big swing, and it's also a big salary cap eating swing. And listen, I kind of feel like Seattle's trying to make up ground for a lot of bad picks in the first round and allowing their offensive and defensive lines to erode. God, in division, just stay in their division. San Francisco is so much better than Seattle on the O line and defense line.

It's not even close. It's not even close. And Seattle knows it. We are at such a deficit, O-line and D-line, we've got to make it up. Now, this morning, would I rather be the Seahawks than the Jets? Of course I would. I've got Russell Wilson. I got Pete Carroll.

And Jamal Adams, Bobby Wagner, and Russell Wilson are playmakers in their prime. So yes, I'd rather be the Seahawks than the Jets this morning. But that's not the Seahawks standard being better than the New York Jets. That's not their standard. Their standard is Kansas City. Andy Reed and Mahomes. Their standards, Baltimore, Lamar and John Harbaugh on that secondary. Their standard is the Saints.

Their standard is the Niners. And all four of those teams, I think, not only have better O-line and D-line play and better overall rosters and fewer holes, but they also have better vision. I had an NFL exec say to me after this past draft a really good one. What the hell are they doing up there? I mean, last year at this time, they went and got Chedavian Clowny. Headlines, star, wow. Where's that a year later?

Where's that one a year later? I just don't see the vision with Seattle. You know what I see? I see Russell Wilson. And Russell Wilson's unbelievable. And Russell Wilson makes bad draft picks and a bad O line and an average D-line and a lack of vision work. And I like Pete Carroll. But right now, I think he has.

too much power in the organization. I think he's the one that makes these moves and really gets this stuff done. Seattle hasn't had a meaningful playoff win in five years. Yes. Yes, they beat Carson Wenseless Philly last year. Yes, they beat the Lions. Yes, they were outplayed by Minnesota

whose kicker missed the chip shot. This is a lot of money. And I don't know the vision. And they got bigger issues. and safety isn't one of them. It's a big swing, a huge swing, but it feels to me like it's trying to cover up other issues in the organization. Now, let's take it from a Jets perspective.

The Jets will not be as good this year. Jamal Adams is a really good football player. But the simplest thing I can say about this is that Joe Douglas, the general manager of the Jets, had a very good Saturday. I had an NFL exec say, listen, man, the Steelers got Minka Fitzpatrick for one first rounder. And we know the Steelers are well run. Seattle spent two first rounders and a third and a starting safety. Joe Douglas had a very good Saturday for the Jets.

But Joe Douglas is in a really bad spot. He's just tearing down from the studs, the organization, to rebuild it. He's got a suboptimal owner. He's replacing a GM that was incompetent. He's got a head coach that appears to be, I don't know, not communicating with his star players. The Jets are in a weird spot. Joe Douglas is their life preserver.

Highly respected. Usually here's the way it works. You do what Baltimore or Kansas City is doing. You draft this young quarterback. You pay him nothing for three or four years. And because of that, you can give Lamar all sorts of free agent help. and Mahalms all sorts of help. And all of a sudden, you're like, oh, my God, young quarterback, I'm paying him nothing.

He's got nothing but stars around him. That's what the Jets would like to do because they're not paying Sam normal anything. Instead, Joe Douglas has to come in and undo all of it and let go of star players to get draft picks. Because the owners aren't very good. The coach doesn't communicate. And the previous GM was a disaster. I told you this after last, the draft with a previous GM. I had a GM call me and say it's the worst draft I've ever seen.

He goes, after the first pick, it made no sense. That was two drafts ago. When the Jets didn't fire him before the draft, they let him do the draft, which was awful, then they fired him a couple weeks later. What? So Joe Douglas had a great Saturday, I believe. But the standard for the Jets now, they're not close to the Bills roster. They're not as good as the Patriots.

and I don't think by about week seven or eight, they're going to be as good as the dolphins with two are starting. It's a fourth place team. The playbook in the NFL is simple. Draft your quarterback in the first round. And when you're not paying him, surrounding with a bunch of free agents, that got Russell Wilson a Super Bowl.

It just got Patrick Mahomes a Super Bowl. This year I'm picking against Lamar Jackson a Super Bowl. And instead, Sam Darnold, they got rid of his star because they just got a tag. tear this down to the studs, start over, and this was the first process. I like Jamal Adams. He's really good, and I do think he fits Seattle way better than the Jets, because Seattle's got leadership and the Jets don't.

So for one guy with the Jets, it was a great Saturday, Joe Douglas. He's terrific. He got a ton for a safety. And it gives them some openings now because Lavian Bell's probably gone in a year, and C.J. Mosley, a couple more years, you're not paying anybody. But it is, it is, there now the Jets are one of the seven or eight. teams in the NFL. You can just take them and say, okay, let's not worry about them in the Super Bowl. And generally in the NFL, there's only three or four of those. There's about eight, and the Jets are one of them. All right. Coming up next, there are a lot of people saying the Jets were clear-cut winners. A lot of people

are saying that. But there's something very interesting about Jamal Adams, and not that he's the future of the NFL. That would be too grand. But he is new and unique. and we're seeing more players in all sports like Jamal Adams, and you better be very careful giving them away. Colin Wright, Colin Wrong, and Peter King, top of next hour. Doug Gottlieb this hour. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific

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On my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free, our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Clifford 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.

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Listen to the Clifford Show on the, the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Say hello to Casper's Sleep Company. Outrageous comfort without the outrageous prices. Casper.com, everything to build the dream bedroom. Peter King and Colin Wright, Colin Wrong, atop of next hour. Now, a lot of people believe just because you just historically, you don't get two first round picks, a third round pick,

and a starting safety for a safety. Regardless of how good the safety is. Minka Fitzpatrick's terrific. Steelers gave up one first round picks. ground pick. So Seattle probably overpaid. But I will say this about Jamal Adams. When I was a kid growing up, the best second

basement in baseball was Joe Morgan of the Cincinnati Reds, and he looked like a second basement. And then the best shortstop was Ozzy Smith, and he was too small to play like a corner position on the infield or didn't have the arm or the size for an outfield. And Ozzy Smith athletic, that's a shortstop.

Joe Morgan, that's a second basement. And then you start seeing in baseball guys like A-Rod, and you're like, Oh, he could be a Hall of Famer at short or at third. And short stops now were really good, and they had power. And I watched the Dodgers this weekend. They had multiple guys that could play multiple positions. And Erod was the first guy.

I'm like, oh, he could be a Hall of Famer at two different positions. That's not the way baseball was as a kid. But athletes are bigger and stronger. And LeBron James has been this in basketball. Oh, you mean he can be a point guard. lead the NBA and assists, or he could just guard your four. LeBron's a positionless basketball player. He's just good.

Actually, great, and he's to put him anywhere on the floor you want. He'll guard Derek Rose, he'll guard your four. He'll guard anybody. And here comes Jamal Adams. He's positionless. And you're seeing this more and more. Derwin James of the Chargers is a little like this. Last year, the Jets lined up.

Jamal Adams at linebacker more than they lined him up at safety. They also lined him up at edge rusher and at linebacker and at strong safety. And he made plays in all of them. In Pete Carroll's history, he started as a DB coach. Pete Carroll's history is taking really talented young defensive backs and making them stars like Earl Thomas. Pete knows DBs. They got good corners now again. Pete knows DBs.

And he is looking at Jamal. Adams and saying, I can put this dude all over the field and make plays, and we don't have much of a pass rush anyway, I just got better there. That I get. That I totally get. Isaiah Simmons, remember the kid out of Clemson that got drafted by Arizona? He is one of these positionless players, and it's not a knock on him. Isaiah Simmons is all over the field.

When you get these athletes now, guys used to look like a corner and look like a safety. That's just not the way it is anymore. You get these unique basketball, football, baseball players where you're like, this guy can play first or third or second. And I think for Jamal Adams, I think Pete Carroll looks at him and think, you know what, I'm not going to get anybody at the end of the first round the next two years that good,

that I can mold into my defense and create situational pass rushes, which Seattle, by the way, last couple of years, has struggled with. Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Well, the Knicks have their guy. The team is reportedly finalizing a five-year deal with Tom Thibodeau to be the franchise's next head coach.

He was considered to be the frontrunner for the job during the Knicks search. He'll make his return to the NBA after being let go by the Timberwolves in January of 2019. His most successful coaching stop still remains the Chicago Bulls. He made the playoffs in each of his five seasons there. went on to lead the Timberwolves to their first playoff appearance in 14 years in 2018, but then he was dismissed as the coach and team president in 2019. And now he is with the New York Knicks, who were 21 and 45 this season, missing the playoffs for the seventh straight year.

Yeah. I don't think he's going to be around in five years. That's what I'm thinking. With the New York Knicks? Yes. Are they going to be around? I mean, God. This is kind of an uninspiring hire.

I mean, when his name was first thrown out there as, as the front runner of the Knicks, it didn't really move me. I mean, he is a solid head coach, but is he the coach that's going to turn around the franchise New York Knicks who haven't made the playoffs in seven straight

seasons, who are a very young organization, who are likely going to have another very, very high draft pick that they're going to plan to build their franchise rounds. If David Fisdale couldn't get an interview with Kevin Durant,

not even an interview. Players love David Fisdale. This is one of these rare sports teams in America. And do you get a new owner? It doesn't matter. Yeah, I would agree with that because you're absolutely right. David Fisdale is beloved by players. He's young, innovative, good coach, magnetic.

Can't get a meeting at Starbucks with Kevin Duran. Right, because players know what it is there. And you have the Nets. You have an organization right down the street. still live in New York City, partaking everything that New York has to offer and play for an organization that has good ownership and has had success as of late.

Now, what they've become over the past couple months, that's a different conversation, but they're still not the New York Knicks. It's just, I want to remain hopeful that one day this is going to turn around and we're going to actually have relevant conversations about the New York Knicks as in the competitive nature. Think about this. Outside of the Yankees,

find me the optimistic sport story professionally in New York. I mean, I guess you can say the Giants because we haven't. It's based on pure optimism. Yes. Because we don't know what Judge is going to be and we don't know what he's going to become. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's a, it used to be that was everybody wanted to play there. I'm not sure that's the case anymore.

This doesn't feel like the kind of move. Because you don't have, no matter what sport you're in, you don't have to be in a city in order to be a superstar anymore. You don't have to be in a specific place where, you know, 10, 15 years ago, you needed to be in. New York. You needed to be in L.A. You needed to be in Miami. You needed to be in Dallas. If you wanted to get to the next level with endorsements and your brand, you don't need to do that anymore. So why put your career at risk to go to the New York Knicks? I mean, again, he's a solid hire, but is he the guy that's going to turn this organization around? It's just not going to change until ownership does. All right. So this is the story that everyone

else was talking about over the weekend, other than the big trade. Lou Williams left the bubble for an excused absence last week. But after an investigation, into his visit to a strip club while he was away. Williams will have to quarantine for 10 days, which begins on Saturday. That means he will miss the first two seating games for the Clippers. I believe he will also not be paid for those games as well. Yeah, I think you don't get paid. So he's going to lose a significant amount of money there.

They face the Lakers on July 30th. That's in three days and the Pelicans on August 1st. He reportedly made a stop at Magic City in Atlanta to get some wings. It's a very popular strip club with good food. Yes. Now, I don't go to strip clubs. Do they have good food? Is that like a normal thing?

Yes, yeah. Generally, strip clubs have good food. Oh, is that true? Yeah. Okay. I don't know. I mean, well, I shouldn't speak that generally. Like Spearmintrmino and L.A. has good club sandwiches?

Yeah. In cities where strip clubs are kind of a fabric of the community and a way of life. Dallas, Houston, Miami, Atlanta. Good food? They have good food, yes. How do you know that? Is that like, am I, is this another thing in America? I mean, when you are in a city where strip clubs are like,

it's common for people to go and eat at strip clubs, then they have good food. I drive by strip clubs. I never see a produce truck outside. I mean, you tell me they have good food. I go by a grocery store. I know they have good food because I see the produce. Well, think about it.

Like, wouldn't you want to have good food at a strip club so that people have another reason to go there? I'm not going to get into this. Okay. Well, anyway. This is one of his favorite restaurants. They have wings there named after him, the Louisle Lemon Pepper Barbecue Wing, which Lemon Pepper is my favorite.

I don't know if I would have the barbecue. You've been there before? I had not been to Magic City. Oh, okay. I have been to establish them in Atlanta, but not Magic City. And it had good food. I did not eat there. I'm telling too much.

Anyway, he told the league that he was only at Magic City for dinner, and he tweeted, ask any of my teammates, what's my favorite restaurant in Atlanta is? Ain't nobody partying, chill out. Hashtag mask on. hashtag in and out. So he reportedly told the league that there were no entertainers there.

Can I ask this? Did he test positive? I don't know if his test is. But that's not the point that. Like the point of all of these excused absences is that you have to test every single day. Obviously the NBA will let you leave. You have to test every single day that you're gone to have consecutive negative

tests. And then when you come back, if you've had negative tests every day that you've been gone, you can do the shorter amount of quarantine when you come back. So hypothetically, had he not done this and done whatever the protocol was that the NBA asked when he left. That seems so strict. If I go on the road and I test on the road negative after I have wings at a strip club, then I come back and test negative again. How many days do I have to stay away from everybody? Well, maybe the NBA's protocol for you leaving is that, and obviously, who actually follows this is one thing.

But when you're spotted at a strip club, then they have to handle it appropriately. I mean, obviously people are probably going to restaurants. when they're allowed to leave. The NBA probably asks them go do whatever you need to do with your family or whatever the emergency is that you're leaving for. Stay home, stay quarantined, test, stay out of the, you know, the internet's crosshairs. And when you come back, you can test again and do the four-day quarantine.

So maybe he has still consecutively tested negative. But because this is out there, he now has to do the 10-day quarantine and miss those games. So after the news of the Jamal, Adams trade broke, Levy on Bell took to Twitter to give his thoughts on the move. He wrote, People do all the hood and hollering to get you bought in just to leave, L.O.L. Like people weird, yo. The internet got these dudes doing whatever for attention.

Even when they tell you, believe they don't believe themselves. Jamal saw Levian's comment and responded, noted see you week 14. That's a good answer. And to that, Levyon said, noted what, that you lied? Please trust that it is noted. Then if I'm supposed to take see you in week 14 as a threat, I don't. But it's still all love. And like I told you, on the phone, I want the best for you. If this is the best for you, I want it for you, bro.

It's very weird. So they spoke on the phone, but he's still tweeting about it. Yeah, I know. I just, I don't. I'm not in, a lot of people like Twitter as a combative form, a platform. I don't. But I see people I know that I like, they're always combative and they're throwing bombs. And I was like, I don't want to get into that space.

But like, a lot of guys, they're just fired each other on them. I mean, I find Twitter to be fun for the most part. I mean, you know, people get into it and stuff. And that's really what it was made for. It's made for discussion. And sometimes discussions are. combative and that's fine. I just think that this is a little strange on Jamal's part because he kind of recruited Levion there. So like I understand Levyon feeling some type of way. Like you brought me in

to all this chaos and now you dipped and I'm, I mean, I'm probably going to dip too, but you know, I get it. I'll say this about Levian Bell. Antonio Brown ended up being very problematic. Jamal Adams gets traded. Lavian Bell has been a great jet. It's not his fault. The offensive line stinks. Lavian Bell has been such, every time Lavian Bell has the chance to be in the crosshairs, he goes to Twitter and is like, I'm a jet, it's a business, every single time with Laby and Bell. And every time, say this about Lavian Bell. He's had so many opportunities to crush this team and he's always like, like it here, it's a business. Which to me as a pro athlete is the way to do it.

Like, hey, it's a business. I could get moved. But right now I wear green. I get paid. I'm a team. I mean, I think he still would have been better off in Pittsburgh. Of course. Everybody would be better off in Pittsburgh than the Jets.

Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Live news. I learned so much on this show. I've never once driven by an adult club and seen a produce truck. I had no idea the food was good. I mean, you're not going there for like, you know, fresh.

There's no. You're going there for fresh. Trust me on that. I can't. I don't know what I was going with that. It's just a bad segment for me. You're fine. You're safe on that. I'm not. Joy Taylor. Okay, let's go to Doug Gottlieb, brought to you by a Mercedes-Benz, the best or nut in the Doug Gottlieb show after mine. You know, it's funny, you and I both, we both, you're a basketball background, but you love football and have great connections in that.

And the people I talked to over the weekend went, wow, Jets got a lot of stuff. Is that what your source has said after the move? Yes, the Jets are competently run by Joe Douglas. That's the big takeover. way, right? Because there are other positions, Laramie Tunsell last year was two first round picks and Kenny Stills. Obviously, you go back and you look at what the Raiders pulled in for one of the elite pass rushers in the NFL. But to get this for a safety, a box safety, especially a guy who really did the old General Sherman and, you know, burned it to the ground, calling out his head coach. Look, the Jets did have him under contract for at least two more years. So they did have that is leverage, but to get two first round picks, especially considering, as you pointed out many

times, smartly so on your own show, that, dude, the Jets just don't have the talent. Like, Mike McCagnan didn't, he did a good job with first round picks, but the rest of it was a complete mess. So this gives them the ability to load up on talent for Sam Donald in the future. And for Seattle, it does, they overpaid, but they overpaid for the best possible guy that they could go out and get. And he fits their scheme and he's a guy who now the big question becomes did they agree to a long-term extension before this deal was done and that we don't know yet you know it's interesting i was saying this Doug when i when i i'm older than you but i remember when i was younger a shortstop was a shortstop and they were mostly light hitting and uh i mean i go back to the aes in the 70s ber campaneras

i think his name was for the aase they look like shortstop they were thin they couldn't hit with power but they had great gloves they were slender oh that's a short stop dave conception then all of a sudden, you get Ripkin. It's a shortstop, but he's got power. Then you get A-Rod, and you're like, oh, my God, he's a Hall of Famer shortstop or third base. Athletes are getting bigger, and they're getting stronger, and they're getting more multiple. I do look at Jamal Adams, and I say to myself, man, if I'm Pete Carroll, I can line that dude up. But Derwin James of the Chargers, I can line him up everywhere, right?

Okay, he's not Derwin James, though. Like, this guy's more of a box safety, whereas German, Darwin James, what you're pointing out is, and there is a parallel between basketball and football, right, where you have guys in basketball, versatility, positionless basketball, they call it, right? What position is Kevin Durant? Well, he brings it up, and then he can defend the rim, essentially one through five,

because you're not really guarding a big 260-pound space eater in the post, right? Like, you have to be able to play multiple positions. And in the NFL, the guys who are the most valuable outside of the quarterback are the ones who either play the most positions, can cover the most positions, or can play inside and out as a wide receiver, tight ends that can block some, and then, of course,

are great pass catchers as well. The more versatility you have, that way you line up, they don't know what you're going to do with this guy. So I do think that safeties have become more and more valuable, and I do think that Derwin James is the guy that everybody points to. I don't think that Jamal Adams is as versatile as Derwin James, but as a box safety,

he's about as good as they come, and he does have some versatility to him, and that's what makes him more valuable on the open market, on the trade market in this case, than he would have been, you know, 10, 15 years ago. So, you know, it's interesting with Lou Williams, we shift to basketball and the Clippers. Lou's a very good player, six man of the year.

And I can look at it in a multiple of ways, but Pete Carroll was talking about it this weekend about the virus, and Pete Carroll said, A, there's only two ways we look at it in Seattle. Are you protecting the team? are you a team guy? And number two, I don't want to hear about victimhood. You know the rules. Don't mess around.

I don't want to hear that, well, you know, I'm so, I don't have that. Pete's like, if we're going to get through this, you got to be a team guy, and I don't want to have excuses. We're all in this hard year together. And I look at Lou Williams, smart veteran player, a good player. And I think, okay, there was a funeral. He went to that. I totally get it. But then part of me thinks, dude, Lou, you got teammates here.

There's a championship team, and part of me thinks, if I was a teammate, I'd be like, Lou, you're not a rookie. You're a veteran. Come on, you've got to know better, right? Colin, everyone says in basketball or in football or in baseball, I want to win a championship. I'll do whatever it takes to win a championship. But very few people will actually do whatever it takes to win a championship. And the easiest juxtaposition with Lou Williams is Alex Caruso. Alex Caruso didn't go to his sister's wedding, right?

because you would have to leave quarantine and come back and get under quarantine and Lou Williams goes to a funeral and then stops at Magic City to get some wings on the way back to the airport. Like, we can joke about it. We can have fun about it. I'm learning a lot from joy about adult establishments

and where the best place to get some wangs are. But you can DoorDash just as easily. Yeah, you can, I'm sure he's Lou Williams. And look, the reason we found out was because some rapper tweeted out that he was there, that he was hanging out. Whether or not he was making it rain and throwing dollar bills doesn't matter. It's just the idea of selfishness, quite frankly.

And this is the reason that Lou Williams, as super immensely talented as he is, has never really been a part of a winner. Because everybody says they want to win, but it's based upon your actions. And on one side you have Alex Caruso, who's scratched and clawed to get this chance. and now the Lakers are down two point guards, and this is his opportunity, and he's turning down any sort of chance to do anything outside of quarantine,

whereas Lou Williams takes the first flight to Atlanta. Obviously, you've got to be with family. No one's going to argue with that, but the Magic City just points to you can say you want to win, but it's your actions that are more important, and it's a selfish move because it puts not just your whole team at risk, the entire league at risk. By the way, I want to throw it.

So this weekend, everybody was crushing Rob Manfred, and I said they're going to get baseball. A lot of this stuff is just public negotiating. And I watched this weekend, and I watched a bunch of baseball. And I thought, honestly, I thought the cardboard cutouts behind home plate helped. I mean, you know, we're talking about empty stadiums. I thought Fox did a good job with some ambient noise. And I got to tell you, I thought baseball was interesting this weekend.

Now this morning, you know, here we go. Marlins can't play. Now Baltimore can't play because they're going to play Miami and the Phillies and the Yankees. Now, that's a real game that matters. Now, they're postponed. Your takeaway on, is it, I was thinking about this morning, Doug, NFL's only got eight roadies. Baseball doesn't get the advantage of the bubble and a bunch of road trips. Are we nuts on this?

Is baseball going to be impossible to manage during this? I don't believe so. I mean, they've done it in Korea for months, done in Taiwan as well. I mean, here's the first thing, and I tweeted this, and it's become kind of wildfire on Twitter, which is to all the sports writers, it's not a death sentence to test positive for COVID. It is not, especially when you're a professional athlete and you're being treated by the best of the best of the best.

Is it problematic for the league? Absolutely. Would we like to avoid you testing positive? Sure. But you had to think that Major League Baseball knew at least one of their teams would have several players, if not the entire team, infected at some point.

That's why they have these, there's no minor leagues anymore this year. So they have these bloated rosters where they can add pieces. And now they'll have to juggle and figure out what to do with the Marlins, what to do when Yankees are supposed to play in the Philly Stadium. That's what the Marlins were last night. There's a lot of other. So the first thing is, though, that testing positive is not a death sentence.

The University of Oklahoma had 13 football players test positive. When they first tested kids, there have been no positive tests since. It can be treated. It can be managed. Now, that doesn't mean there's a cure for it. but especially with the best of the best, if you catch early, you test often, and you have athletes in that level of physical condition

at that age, they are very, very, very, very, very unlikely to succumb to COVID-19 based on all statistical data. So that's the first thing. The second thing is, and this is the point that you're making about the cardboard cuts, I watched baseball, it was great. It was fun. It felt like summer, right?

But baseball does not exactly have a high bar in terms of level of intensity to bring it to, right? like baseball could be baseball. We're just as boring as we've always been. And I think everybody would go, yeah, you know, that's not bad. That's about right. It was great ambient noise. The Mets still stink.

Show Hey, the big story, Show Hey, Otani's fastball is 93 off Tommy John. That's like five, six miles an hour off what it used to be. That's a big problem. But I do think that baseball can survive this. And we'll see. Rob Banford had plenty of time to prepare. He said the 60 game season was pretty much all they could do. And we'll see.

it's not the crisis. It's how you manage the crisis that determines if baseball can continue. My guess is they plan for this. His podcast, All Ball with Doug Gottlieb on iTunes as well. The Duggard Sports Radio after our show. Good seeing you, buddy. Great to see you as well. Colin Wright, Colin Wrong, top of the hour. Coming up next, the NFL does this every year. They're top 100 players. And the players vote on it. And it's always interesting to me to see who the players like and consider top 100 players in the NFL. There's a quarterback they like, and he ain't close to the top 100, and we'll address that coming up.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days I'd put on 10 pounds, I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English.

Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84's big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Then you're finishing that sentence.

I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your 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. Trip 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 here 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 Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. 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? Quarterback on office blue of 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. Parker.

Listen to the Cliverts show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. By the way, I like a cocktail at night. I'm transforming a little corner outside of my house to a bar. Oh. Yeah. Shopped around Lowe's, you'd be amazed how much they have. Like, when I say building a bar, go to Lowe's. They really do.

I get all sorts of stuff now. Unexpected choice. Find bar accessories. Go to Lose.com. Get inspired. Lose.com. Show us your transformation. Hashtag Lose Goals.

We're talking strip clubs, outdoor bars. This shows unraveling right before your eyes. So the NFL has a top 100 players list on NFL.com. They released the top 25 players. It's very interesting how players, what players are impressed by? Players are impressed by big, strong athletes. Of course they are. Because there's a certain, like, fidelity, there's a certain truth inside a locker room.

You know, it's like Steph Curry. I love Steph Curry. I think Steph Curry is one of the best players in India history. Players look at Steph Curry, they're like, nah, come on, man. Come on. You really? Little skinny, Steph Curry? They love Westbrook.

Well, Steph Curry's a better player than Westbrook. Westbrook's got a 47-inch vertical. Westbrook is going 100 miles an hour. He's a bigger, just a stronger, more exhilarating athlete. Nobody would dispute that. I mean, Russell, Westbrook, next to Steph Curry, run up and down the court. One guy is Superman. The other guy is, like, fascinating.

A fascinating player who's the best shooter of all time. But players prefer Westbrook over Steph Curry. GMs like the fact that Curry can play with everybody. And everybody's better with Curry and everybody struggles with Westbrook, though Westbrook is unbelievable. and I've said it before. I'd pay to watch him play. He's unbelievable.

He's like, MJ LeBron, there's a handful of athletes in NBA history. You're like, there's better than rest of these dudes. The rest of these dudes are great. So I look at this list of players. Levante David at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the linebacker number 100. If he's the 100 best player in this league, the NFL's in good shape because that dude can just play.

He's one of the best young linebackers in football, and they have him at 100. But 13 spots ahead of him, they have Josh Allen, the quarterback for Buffalo. Come on now. Big strong, get it. Runs over people, big arm. I get it. Josh Allen's not a top 100 player in the NFL. Come on. Now, again, players look at him. He's 6.6. He can run. And I think he has the strongest arm in the NFL. But great players do not unravel against the best teams or coaches. Josh Allen has played the Patriots three times. His completion percentage is 48%. is pass rating is 56, and he has more picks than touchdowns.

That's not what Mahomes or Russell Wilson. That's not what they look like against New England. Now, I'm not saying New England's not a hard out. You know, go ask Jared Goff. They're a tough out. But great football players, Ronnie Stanley is on this list. He's a left tackle. When Ronnie Stanley, if he plays Khalil Mack, he's not going to unravel.

Laramie Tunsell's not going to unravel against the good edge rusher. Now, I'm not saying you'll have your best Sunday, but in 27 NFL starts, Josh Allen has completed 56% of his throws. That's atrocious. That is terrible. I know he can run. Great. But that's not a top 100 football player in the NFL.

By the way, Kyler Murray is below Josh Allen at this point. I would say this about Josh Allen. Josh Allen has a really good coach. I think they have the best defense in the league. I really do. I think it's better top to bottom than San Francisco. It doesn't have the stars you know or watch on television. But don't confuse yourself.

There's 1,700 players in the NFL. I would make the argument Josh Allen is not a top 200 player today. He's not. If Levanté David, the linebacker for the Bucks is 100, Josh Allen's not a top 200 player in the NFL. He just looks the part. That is just half of it. That may not even be half of it in the NFL.

All right. So we got this baseball thing. The Marlins have canceled their game because of the corona spread against Baltimore. Now, most people don't care because these are not good teams. But now postponed are the Yankees and Phillies, and this is a problem. The advantage the NFL has on all of this, and Joy and I have talked about this, the NFL can watch the bubble and can watch soccer and can watch baseball and can just watch all this stuff and go, don't do that, don't do that, don't do that.

It's a huge advantage. This thing would have broken out in September. I got news for you. You know, the NBA and baseball would look like geniuses. So I do believe the NFL is going to get through this. Baseball's got two issues. Number one, the players didn't want to bubble. They didn't want to play in Florida and Arizona.

It's the summer. Believe me, I get it. I totally get that. Number two is they got a lot of travel. Even with a condensed schedule, baseball's got a ton of travel. Here's the advantage the NFL has. They have eight road games. And in the NFL, you literally go to a city, check into your hotel, do a walk around, grab dinner, do some film, get up, play, go home.

In baseball, you go to a city, first thing guys do, man, they get their golf clubs, they go out. And the Marlins got young players. Baltimore's got, you know, a lot of these teams, you know, the Yankees have veteran players, the Dodgers, a lot of the high payroll teams, they have veteran players. Red Sox usually do. Maybe the Cubs do. But a lot of these young teams in baseball, these average teams, they got young kids, they got a bunch of kids. They got a bunch of guys under 26 years old, 25. They get to a city for three days.

They're not going to their room. They're going to go hang out. And so the NFL has a real advantage here. Not many road games. The other thing the NFL has, I believe as COVID spreads, and we move into the fall, states are going to keep bars closed, close more restaurants, close the gyms, the barbershops. As this thing ramps up, you could have more closure state to state. What does that mean?

That's an advantage. And in the NFL, we've talked about this before. Football practice is hard. And that what happens over the course of a season for an NFL player, a lot of them, football players tend to get married sooner than other sports. Is it because they spend a longer time in college? Is it because NFL players know it's a shorter career? They put their money away sooner.

They get married sooner, have kids sooner in the earning years. I don't really know the answer to this. But what you find in the NFL with a lot of players is, the season, it's facility home. Facility home. Facility home. Lift, workout, sweat, home. That's what an NFL regular season looks like. In the off season, boom, guys are out to the second half, guys party, guys have fun, guys move. But in an NFL regular season, you see a lot of these players, only eight road trips, facility home, with all the closures around America, I think the NFL gets through the season. I don't know with baseball. They're not doing the bubble, and there's a lot of road trips,

a lot of young players, on a lot of teams that don't have big budgets. I don't know what's going to happen. I thought baseball was very good this weekend, but if you told me in two, three weeks, you had nine teams couldn't play, I'd be like, well, no bubble, a lot of players on the road, many days, tough. It's a tough one for baseball, and I don't know what they're going to do. I thought they had a great weekend, but I think it's a tough one for it. Peter King, Sharm Shara is going to be joining.

Is he in the bubble? I think he's in the bubble. Is he not? Hopefully he is. NBA stuff, watched it as well this weekend. He is. Shams is in the bubble. You okay, feeling older, unwanted pounds, lack energy.

Either am I. Go to mDrive for Men.com, MDrive for Men.com. Supplements. Lean you out, exercise, take one every morning, feel better, more energy. Colin Wright, Colin, wrong next. 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.

Imagine an Olympics where doping is not. not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-taped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim?

Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jek. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack. Yeah, yeah, literally.

But just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed, correct. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence. Yes.

I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast,

Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your 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 a ball. 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 Hardway. Open your free, our heart radio app. Search, learn the hard way, 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, 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 of 42.

Hey, Brett, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Here we go, hour two. We're live in Los Angeles. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening,

it's the hurt. Fox Sports Radio and FS1 right here. Absolute pleasure to have you in. Learning a lot today. Peter King in 15 minutes stops by, learning a lot today. Lou Williams got in trouble. I went to Atlanta for a funeral.

Everybody understands then stopped it. strip club got food supposed to have the best food in Atlanta. I've been to Atlanta a half dozen times. Not one time did anybody say we've got to go to the strip club best meal in town. But I'm one of these guys. I don't know everything. A lot of this stuff, boo, right over my head. Joy tells me strip clubs have remarkable food.

Not all. But there's one in Miami called what? 11 is a 24-hour strip club in Miami. Oh, 24 hours? Yes, it does not close. Oh, I didn't even know that was legal. 24-hour strip club. Yeah.

All day long. All day. Anytime. Three in the morning, three in the afternoon. Bacon, eggs and tacos. Yeah, they have a restaurant on the roof there. But Tootseys has good wings. Oh, Tootty's.

All right. All right. Well, you know what? This is, first of all. Places, cities in America that have a strong strip club community tend to have good food. See, I grew up in Pacific Northwest. Seattle is the worst strip club city in the country. because of legislation you can't have them.

It's terrible. Oh, okay. So not that I would know, but I've heard guys say it's just in Seattle, in the winter's kind of dark and cloudy and rainy and downtown Seattle is kind of cold and quiet. Yeah, not a scene. Not a scene, right? And so once the Sonics moved out of downtown Seattle, it's just dead. And so what I've heard NBA guys be like, yeah, it's a bad strip club place.

I'm like, all right. So listen, I've been going to these cities forever, all these big cities. I've never once, when I get Zaggett guide, seen Spearmint Rino in there. So like, I'm like, I can go to the wrong places. I mean, it's a culture. You know what? I could tell Ann, honey, best club sandwich in town didn't look. I don't know if the club sandwich is the way to go.

Wings, wings specifically are, yeah. Okay. Yeah. You know what? I like to learn. Yeah. I mean, that's the part of life, right? Today was a learning day.

Grow every day. All right, Colin right, Colin right, Colin wrong. We do it every Monday. Here we go. Where Colin was right. Rob Manfred got. crushed by everybody. Oh, he's the worst commissioner. And I said, just settle down, settle down. We're going to have a baseball season that's going to be fine. The ratings is going to be great.

What do we do this weekend? Unbelievable ratings. ESPN broke records, Fox, up like 30 percent. And I got to be honest with you. It looked pretty good. I watched three games in the Dodgers Giant Series and highlights from the rest of them. And for a sport built in gigantic stadiums and no fans, I thought it worked. The ratings were fantastic. This pandemic is creating very unique challenges. As Joy mentioned last week, baseball may have more challenges because the ball, it's always reminding you, the ball is going into the stands. It's always reminding you, there's nobody at these games, but I thought baseball looked great. I watched the games. It felt different. It wasn't as, there's not enough juice, but I think overwhelmingly,

it was a great first weekend for baseball. Where Colin was wrong. Listen, I've been supporting Adam Gase for years. I do think he has a lot of qualities of Kyle Shanahan, but he's becoming a problem now, and this will be his last year, unless they have a winning record. If Jamal Adams is correct in what he said about Adam Gase, he basically doesn't communicate with any of the players or not enough of the star players. It's a big problem. He's just not a great communicator, and you can say what you want. Andy Reed, John Harbaugh, Pete Carroll, the great coaches in this league, even Belichick.

You ask players, they're like, oh, he's a great teacher. He's a great communicator. People will tell you about Belichick. He'll teach you football. You ask questions, Bill's got answers. Adam Gays is in trouble in New York because if Jamal Adams can go, Joe Douglas can certainly fire a coach. Where Colin was right?

Ian Rappaport at Rapsheet says the unsung hero in the football CBA negotiations over the weekend was Andy Reed. I've been supporting Andy Reid for 15 years, one of the smartest guys ever, a total players coach. Michael Vic talks about him like he's his dad. Players love Andy Reid, and apparently Reed stepped in this weekend. And he got everybody in the players union through this thing and said, he basically told the owners, guys, we got to bend on this stuff. These guys are making huge sacrifices for us. And he's one of the few head coaches that gives Bill Belichick trouble because he basically every Sunday, he's got a different playbook.

But not a shock that the great Andy Reid, that's why the Super Bowl win was so just and special. This guy deserves a Super Bowl. He's just such. The guys love him. The players love him. owners love him. Nobody in the NFL deserve one more, not a shock the CBA this weekend, figured out by Andy Reed. Where Colin was wrong. I think this is the easiest year ever to give LeBron the MVP. New coach, new system, new teammates, new star teammate, and oh, by the way, new

position. And he's putting up unbelievable numbers and the Lakers are the number one seed in the west by five and a half games. And he's not going to win the MVP. Yep, 17 to the 20 riders. The SBN.com, we're going to choose Janus. LeBron's odds are 10 to 1. I honestly, I know you think I'm a LeBron fanboy, but this is an easy one. This is an easy one. New coach, new system, new players.

I mean, God, the roster is brand new. And new position. And you lead the West by five and a half games. This is the easy LeBron one. I mean, it's, you know, this is why this award for me is the coach of the year in the NBA and the NBA players. the year MVP, I just, I don't get it.

I just, I don't, if you don't see LeBron as the MVP, most valuable player, could Janus have gotten a new coach, a new system, all new teammates, and lead the West by five and a half games? Let's start with no and work our way from there. Where Colin was right. You know, I like change baseball struggles with it, but baseball decided to, and I love this idea, we're going to start extra inning games with a runner at second. We don't want 17 inning games.

What do you know? They did it four times this weekend. at all four times. Tenth inning, game over. So it worked exactly as planned. What baseball says is we go to extra innings, we want to speed this puppy up. We don't want teams with the virus.

We can't do the makeup games. Let's get these things done as fast as we can. And the Mets and Braves, Rays and Js, A's and Angels, and Cleveland and Kansas City, four for four. Game ended in the 10th inning. Where Colin was right.

Brian Brutus, a former skis, a former scout in the NFL and former cowboy coach went on the radio in Dallas last weekend and said, when asked about Dak, at this point, I don't think he wants to be on the team. He won't say it or he won't show it. He's strong. He's a stud. But I don't think he's happy is what he basically said. This has always been my feeling about Dak and Mike McCarthy.

Mike McCarthy was asked a week after getting the job if he talked to Dak and he said, no, I don't even get that. But the difference is I do sort of understand it. DAC needed Jason Garrett and Jason Garrett needed Dak. Mike McCarthy doesn't need Dak for his legacy or a Super Bowl or his money or his job security for the next three years. And I think Dak can sense that. You know, people can tell me they love each other. But Dak's smart enough to know, I lost my guy and now I have to prove myself all over again. And it does not shock me at all.

Not to mention, I totally get professional athletes, especially quarterbacks, not liking the franchise tag. I would not like it. If I was Aaron Rogers and they couldn't get me a defense and I knew I was trapped for the rest of my career mostly, I wouldn't like it either. Tom Brady didn't have real free agency until the very end. And what did he do? Used it. The minute he had and he used it.

Where Colin was wrong. I never thought Cam in New England was a perfect fit. New England's very much system over player. Camp is the star, the guy. But at Logan Airport, Cam arrived in Boston, and he went all in on the Patriot Way. Cam, I'm so sorry to do this to you. You're live right now with Channel 7. I'm sorry, I know you didn't want to talk.

Anything that you can say to Patriots Nation right now again, you're live with Channel 7. No disrespect to nobody, but I'm extremely ecstatic. But I'm not talking. That's pretty much, you know. can we expect you to say a few more words for us? Who knows? Excited to be here in Boston? Go past. Thank you.

That is so Tom Brady, it hurts. That is the Patriot Way, baby, and I like that, Cam. Where Colin was right? Joe Douglas got the job. I called all my NFL guys, and they're like, this guy's going to be great for the Jets. We'll see what he can do. But I will say this about Joe Douglas.

If you knew I had to sell my home, and Joy was going to buy it, and she knew I had to sell it for a reason. She'd have all the leverage. Once Jamal Adams called out Adam Gase, everybody in the league knew Jets had to move often. To get two firsts, a third in the starting safety was excellent, considering they lose Jamal Adams. But that's a big haul considering everybody in the league knew they wanted to trade him. I mean, remember, Steelers only gave up one first round pick. They got double that and a third and a starting safety.

The Jets may have their issues and be a tire fire, but that was a really good haul for a team, frankly, that did not have a ton of leverage. This was not a quarterback you're moving. This was not an edge rusher. This was not an elite corner. It's a box safety. A lot of teams don't want to spend the money on a box safety.

Where Colin was right. Tom Thibito got hired by the Knicks, a five-year deal, shocking another uninspiring head coaching hire. He's been fired twice. He just looks like practice would be no fun. It's increasingly an offensive league, and he's Mr. Grined It Out defensive coach. I'm sure, I'm sure he knows basketball. But New York needs a coach that can attract free agents because James Dolan is repellent for free agents.

You got to get somebody who doesn't look like my accountant, and wants long practices and is Mr. Defense. This is why I never got the move off Fisdale, liked and respected. He couldn't get a sit down with KD. What's that tell you? It's a process. It's going to take a lot of time. This feels like, hey, who's a guy that's won some games in the NBA?

Does he fit what the Knicks want to be? Is this attractive for free agents? I don't get it. But again, I'm right because I'm not surprised at all. The top candidates out. Good stuff. Peter King's going to be joining us next. I know he likes baseball. I thought it was a good weekend. I'll tell you that, Giants Dodgers series.

Giants aren't very good, but when you get pitching, easier to win games. Baseball is so much about pitching. It's just incredible. You can have the worst roster. Dodgers have better players all up and down. A minute, Giants get decent pitching. Dodgers can't score. Giants win games.

And that's why Kershon, these guys get these monster deals. There you go. That's why. Be sure to catch live edition. of the herd weekdays in noon eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Tonight on FS1, the MLS is back. Tournament Round of 16 continues as the San Jose earthquakes take on the Real Salt Lake at 830 Eastern. Then Seattle Sounders battle LafC at 11 Eastern, back-to-back, MLS tournament action on FS1 and the Fox Sports back. Okay, so Joy, you got,

now this is crazy. So the MLS, Joy, as we know, the has, we know, have a bubble. Yes. And now two teams did not show up of Nashville and Dallas, but they didn't show up to the bubble because they had a bunch of guys test positive. Right. But since the bubbles happen in soccer, it's good. It's been great, yes.

NBA has a bubble. It's been great. There's no tests in the bubble. And they're very punitive as Lou Williams. No chicken wings at strip clubs. You're out. Listen to this, Joy. The NHL took 43,000 tests of over 8,000.

800 players. Now, hockey's got two bubbles. 43,000 or 4,300? 43,000 tests with 800 players. No positive tests. So the bubbles work. Well, yeah, it would make sense that the bubbles work. I mean, that's the point of quarantining and isolation and staying away from, you know, public places and wearing masks and going through protocol. That's exactly what you're supposed to do to eliminate the virus from spreading.

So the question is, does the non-bubble things, work. So like, for instance, college football, my problem with college football is how are you going to do college football? Like in the NFL, guys go back home to their families. Right. And as I said, football players tend to get married a little sooner than other athletes for whatever reasons. But in college football, if you had kids on campus, what are you going to the, you're walking around. But if kids aren't going on campus and they're doing it online, then football players just hang out with the football players, then it is a bubble. Then college football essentially, yes. Essentially, it is a bubble. And let's be on.

honest, you've been on, you know this from your brother. College football over the last 15 years, the facilities are built for players. Yeah, they're tremendous. You'll never see a college football player outside of an occasional class ever on a campus. Like they're just, they're in their like facilities. And so if you don't have students at universities, college football then becomes essentially a bubble. Well, that's the question. Are they going to have college football?

Okay. But this is, this is really interesting. So hockey had 43,000 tests. That's really impressive. 800 players in a dual bubble, no positives. So right now we know bubbles work. We don't know if the non-bubble works with baseball or football. Peter King will join us now.

Football Morning in America by peterkingnbcports.com. He was writing two minutes ago. That's what Peter does. He writes to the last second that he's on the air. Okay, let's start with a Jamal Adams trade thing. So it's interesting, Peter, I was saying this. I went to pro football focus last week. They had the Seahawks defensive line 32nd, their offensive line 28.

In their own division, San Francisco has massive advantages on both lines, and I think we both agree. Line play in the NFL is a significant factor in getting to the playoffs, winning divisions. Here's my problem with the Jamal Adams trade. I know he's great. I know he's amazing. But boy, Seattle's got issues on this football team, and I don't think safety is a priority, or am I wrong? is it a priority for Pete Carroll and the Seahawks?

Well, I think the way John Schneider and Pete Carroll looked at this column is very simple. You know, they will never have an opportunity when they draft in the 20s. And their average draft position in the last five years has been 23 and a half. So they're not going to get a chance to get a game-breaking player like Jamal Adams. And so I think their view is, if this was a, a franchise left tackle. If this was a franchise pass rusher, I think John Schneider would have done exactly the same thing.

This is a difference-making football player, and for the Seattle Seahawks, that made all the difference in them going after them, even though they've got to give up two ones. Look at their history, their recent history. In, as I say, top 45 picks, their last five of them have all been, you'd argue that the best one is Rashad Penny.

Yeah. So, I mean, this was, to me, a no doubt deal almost for both teams. Because the Jets had to get rid of them, got two ones, and the Seahawks get to a really, really good player. And now all they have to do is sign them. So I look at the Jets. And the way, the playbook in the NFL, Peter, is you get it, you draft a quarterback. You don't have to pay them for three or four years, like the Chiefs, like the Ravens, like

Seattle with Russell Wilson, and then you're allowed to kind of overspend on some free agents for three or four years, and you win. So the Jets are the opposite. They're not paying Donald anything, and their star player leaves. But I do think Joe Douglas had a good Saturday, but this is the opposite of what all the smart teams do, right? Like get rid of their best player? Well, look, Joe Douglas is walking into a broken situation, period. He's walking into a broken situation. He is the one who has to clean up the mess left by previous administrations. And so therefore, he now, he didn't make the mess, even though he might have exacerbated it with Jamal Adams. He didn't make this mess. But clearly what happened in this particular case

is that, you know, he viewed that, look, I probably am not going to be able to sign this guy. and I'm getting offered two ones for them. We're not winning the Super Bowl this year. Let's take it. And so now the jets are sitting there. In 2021, they got five picks in the first three rounds, including two ones. And that for Joe Douglas is about the best he can do. Okay, so we're, you know, I was just talking to this about Joey.

The MLS bubble works, the NBA bubble works, and hockey just had 43 tests with eight 800 players, not a single positive test. So the bubble stuff, the very restrictive bubbles, they work. It appears they work. Baseball's got a lot of travel and a lot of players and a lot of planes and a lot of road trips. I do think the NFL has a huge advantage, two advantages over baseball. They only go on the road eight times. Secondly, for whatever reason, and I don't have an answer for this, NFL players generally get married before other athletes.

I don't know why. College experience, I have no idea why. But historically they have, meaning, They go home at night. Facility home, facility home, facility home. I do think that's an advantage for the NFL. When you talk to people right now with all the COVID stuff in sports, do you get a general sense of optimism from football people?

Optimism, but also caution. You know, in the last 10 minutes I have reported that one of the NFL's leaders in formulating their, anti-COVID policy and formulating the role of the infection control officer Minnesota's head athletic trainer Eric Sugarman just tested positive for COVID-19 so clearly there are no guarantees in this Colin there are no guarantees whatsoever the fact that you know one of the leading people in the NFL you know has now tested positive for COVID-19 one of the leaders in combat in COVID just means that look there's no reason for anybody to get cocky and think oh yeah we're

playing 256 games right on schedule it is why I wrote this morning in my column very simply that you know Roger Goodell in my opinion has to have the authority you know to be able to say if on Thursday or Friday if the Minnesota Vikings offensive line if four starters go out that he's got to have the authority, at least in my opinion, to be able to postpone that game. And maybe to add an 18th week to the NFL season. But, but Colin, everybody I talk to desperately wants a season. You know, Andy Reid over the weekend saying, hey, listen, we got to play. America needs it.

And I totally agree with them. America needs this game right now. And people are saying, oh, don't be silly. It's just football. But I'm telling you, if the NFL didn't play, I think it would have been. be a big blow to this country. Yeah, I think not only economically, but psychologically, because I watched a lot of baseball this weekend, and I'm not going to lie, I had a corona. I watched a bunch of baseball, and it made me very happy, and I'm sorry, maybe I need sports

more than I should. Maybe I'm not healthy, but I thought it made my weekend. Finally, I don't, you know, it's when Joe Douglas made this move for Jamal Adams, it was funny because I don't remember, Joey and I were talking about this. The NBA was always the trade sport. Players had power. And the NFL was always kind of a reluctant trade league. And then Saturday, I get that Jamal Adams thing. I'm like, we are in a sport now. It's more trade-centric than the NBA, and we're seeing stars get traded. It's the last three or four years, Peter. You talk to these GMs. What's happened? Why is the league said, we're not only going to make it. Go ahead. I'll tell you exactly what has happened, Colin. And this, I feel very strongly about this.

and I love this. I love this about the way the NFL has turned to the trade and not just draft day trades. It is because a younger generation has taken over the reins of teams and you have less need with the Rams. He's not afraid. You know, he'll trade for Brandon Cooks and then he'll turn around and he'll trade him away. And when Brandon Cooks was very privileged. productive for him. You know, John Schneider is the king of the big trade. You know, he's a younger guy.

He's in his 40s, but, you know, he's had this job for 10 years now, and he's always been a trainer. Eric DeCosta wants to trade. Joe Douglas, the new GM of the Jets, wants to trade. Howie Roseman is a tradeaholic with the Philadelphia Eagles. So the younger generation of general managers are all saying, in my opinion, why not? not. Why shouldn't we trade? I can get value when I have confidence in how we judge the player we might trade away or I have confidence in the player we're going to trade for it. Yeah, Peter King, good stuff, NBCSports.com. Peter, good talking to you. Thank you so much. And I will say this. I think trades are good for leagues. And I think it makes it more fun. I really do. Listen,

there's a fantasy football aspect to trades that you can play along. I mean, literally that Jamal Adams trade came down and I'm like, oh my God, this is great. And I'm looking at the and I'm looking at the Jets and I'm like, oh, I got draft picks. Any time a sport can let you and I play along, I mean, we can't put on the pads, but when we can play along, everybody likes to build a roster and build a team. It's, you know, my son was building forts when he was four years old in the bedroom. He's got pillows and he's building forts. And there is, that's why guys, I mean, I know a lot of people that like the fantasy teams.

You like you pretend you're a general manager. And the NFL now is just crazy. Well, it also lends to the possibility of the, the, predictability of the season, you know, and you get these guys like Jamal Adams who are in bad situations that we want to see thrive, who otherwise, in past years we would be stuck in these situations, and

now they're not. Like, now he's with the Seahawks. We get to see what he does with a better organization with a better quarterback, better system. Like, those things weren't possible before. So it's so many more possibilities. Yeah. Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is

the herd line news. All right, more bubble news. The Pelicans announced that Zion Williamson has returned to the Orlando bubble. He was tested daily while he was gone and never received a positive result. So he will only need to quarantine for four days and is expected to be ready to play in the Pelicans' first game Thursday against the Jazz. So after a very long wait, we will see Zion Williamson this Thursday. So, no, I could be crazy on this. I thought he had much longer to stay out.

It seems like they're expediting this. No, so if you follow the protocol, for leaving. So if you have to leave for extenuating circumstances, every day attack. If you leave for, you don't get permission to leave, then you have to quarantine for whatever 10 to 14 days. As we saw early when everyone arrived at the bubble, there were a few players that violated the quarantine and protocol. If you follow the protocol and you have permission to leave the bubble,

which obviously means you've had a conversation about exactly where you're going, who you're going to be around, what it is exactly you're leaving for, all of those things. So he had a family emergency or an emergency he had to leave for, as several guys have had to leave the bubble. If you test negative consecutive days, you don't have to quarantine for as long when you come back.

So when you leave, you still have to continue testing every day like everyone else in the bubble does so that you know for sure that you don't have it. Because obviously you can be exposed by being out around people. So because he hasn't tested positive, he will only have to quarantine for four days, which means he'll be available

for Thursday's game. His quarantine began on Friday nights, and he'll probably be out of quarantine sometime this Tuesday. So good news that we're going to see Zion and that he's back in the bubble for when game start. So Alex Smith has been working to get back to football after a devastating leg injury in 2018. And now his surgical team has cleared him to resume football activities. He returned to Washington for his physical today. And according to multiple reports, he is expected to start training camp on the physically unable to perform list.

But he is cleared. So players who start the season on the PUP list may not be practiced. until their team cleared by team personnel, but they can attend meetings and they can work out and once clear, then they can return to the field. I'm not comfortable with us at all. I just don't want to, I mean, listen, great guy, nice career, wrap it up,

a lot of money, beautiful family. I can't watch Alex Smith now all wince if he gets hit. I mean, his leg had like 17 surgery. If you didn't watch the special on Alex Smith, it's worth your time. It's really an incredible watch. I can't even imagine, like a normal injury is hard to come back from, but just mentally, emotionally, going to rehab.

I didn't see it. Wasn't there almost a consideration of amputation? Oh, yeah, very early, very early. Because he got a skin infection, like a flesh-eating bacteria on his leg. So they had to take massive parts of his leg out in order to stop it from obviously spreading to the rest of his body. And I think it might have, I don't know if it got into his blood. I don't know. But you have to watch the special.

It's really incredible. He's had 17 surgeries on his leg. It's just an incredible. testament to his spirit because that is, I mean, one surgery is a lot to go through. I don't know if you ever had a major surgery. It's a lot. So to go through 17 of those, he really wants to get back out there. On one injury.

On one injury, yes. 17 surgeries on one injury. Yes. It's remarkable, really. I would like to see him have an opportunity. If for nothing else, just, you know, it's an incredible story. It's clearly something he's deeply passionate about. I'm with you after watching that.

I'm like, I can't imagine having just even the slight, slightest desire to go back out there and play football again. I just hope he backs up, Dwayne Haskins. This is another reason to root for Dwayne Haskins to succeed. So Alex is a backup and then moves into the front office and is a wonderful broadcaster. Well, Astros, Ace Jess and Verlander will be out for a significant amount of time with a right forearm strain. Manager Dusty Baker said Berlander felt some tenderness during his start on Friday and he will be re-evaluated. in a couple weeks. This comes after an initial report

that Burlander was done for the season, which he strongly denied. He tweeted the report that I'm currently missing the rest of the season is not accurate. There is a forearm strain. I'm hopeful that with some rest that we'll heal and I'll be able to return soon.

Thank you all for the well wishes. Prayer emoji. I just got a text from a good friend of mine. I'm not going to say his name to get him in trouble. He said some of the best food in Atlanta is inside of strip clubs. And this is one of my dear friends. I sort of got my friends,

I had no idea. My friends are hanging out at strip clubs eating wings in Atlanta. I had no idea. There are a lot of people hanging out of ship clubs, generally. Any of my friends that go there, please text me. So when I'm in Atlanta, hold on. Hold on. Oh, God, he just sent me a website of good strip club food.

I mean, so you've never eaten in the strip club before? No. Is that a, am I rare in America? I mean, for a very long time, I was anti-eating in strip clubs. but I've never once the couple times I went at a cocktail was very respectfully viewed I mean it's funny it keeps you there longer

you can go there for lunch you know maybe you'll have lunch meetings and strip clubs I didn't even know they were 24 7 until 30 minutes I mean not everywhere I mean Miami has different I'm pretty sure Vegas strip clubs are 24 7 so I can literally walk in and go pancakes maple syrup and dance

a lap dance I like a pancakes and the lap dance you can say that in America that's a sentence I didn't know existed 30 minutes ago in America. You did not know that people consistently ate in strip clubs. So when you saw this Lou Williams story, you were just in shock.

You thought he just went to the strip club. I can have waffles and a lap dance? I didn't even know that was possible. I don't think you do them simultaneously. If you can eat, I don't understand. I watch Sopranos.

Nobody's eating waffles in the Svranos strip club scenes. Not a single waffle. Not every city's strip club has the facilities and like this, like it's not a thing. I'm not like certain places. It's just like that's just...

I'm not even comfortable eating yogurt in front of people. Forget naked people. What are you talking about? We're talking about wings and like sliders and stuff. I got to get out of this segment. Are we done? Yes. All right, segment done.

Yeah. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd lie news. He said yogurt. I've never been less cool in my life. Sean Sharanja is going to be in the bubble soon. He joins us next.

Been enjoying an occasional cocktail. I built a bar outside of my little house area out there with a TV set. Lowe's has all this stuff for your bar, your outdoor or indoor bar. Unexpected choice. Right now, perfect place to relax and enjoy. Get inspired. Go to Lose.com. Show us your transformations.

Hashtag Lose Goals. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Imagine an Olympics where Doppler is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all,

embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people.

I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill,

waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day but just so y'all know I mean at this point Mark this is the second episode where we've discussed crack so I'm starting to see that there's a through line

We also have AIDS on the table right now So Thank you finishing that sentence I don't think there's a more important year For black people Really? Yeah for me it's one of the most important years For black people in American history

Listen to look back at it On the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts Or wherever you get your podcast Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your 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, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app. Search learn the hard way 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, A, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. A rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, miss. Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. John Sharanja, NBA Insider for the Athletic and the stadium comes on our show regularly. He's headed to the bubble in a little more than a week, and he is joining me now on some interesting stories. He broke the story that the league was investigating Lou Williams of the Clippers, also broke the story that Lou Williams

was beginning a 10-day quarantine. So let's get to this story. Are the Clippers mad? Is the league frustrated? this is a veteran player. I mean, I get rookies doing things. They're kids. Lou's been around the league a while.

I mean, who's mad? Who's upset? Lay it out for me, Shams. Yeah, I think the league is more upset about the optics to this. And I think everyone around the clippers, they're not holding anything against Lou Williams. From what I'm told, the locker room, the players, they're not giving Lou Williams any crap over this situation.

Like, they understand that, you know, he went home for a family, friend's funeral. It was something that took place. He went into the Magic City, the restaurant there, and got some food. And he ended up taking a picture with Jack Harlow, the rapper, and that picture leaked. And if that picture had never leaked, maybe we would not be having this conversation. So for the optics of everything, the league has put such an emphasis on safety, on player health, on everyone being in this bubble, a restrictive environment, and really utilizing all the rules,

you know, all the mandates that the league is put into place. And so if a player goes into, you know, quote unquote, you know, Magic City or strip club or whatever and ends up taking a picture. For the optics, it doesn't look good. But listen, Lou Williams understands, you know, what went into this decision by the league and this 10-day quarantine that he's going to take place. And he's going to have to sit out at least two games because of that quarantine. He understood that as, you know, Friday and Saturday went on as he underwent the investigation. with the league and they came up with this 10-day quarantine. So Zion returned.

It was a family emergency or some emergency he returned. That's a deep sigh for the NBA because he's a wildly popular player despite not having played many NBA games. Do we know Zion? Okay. Family back. I mean, he kind of did it the perfect way, right? Like do it.

Take a test every day. Like that's kind of the example of the way to do it, right? Yeah. Him Mantras, Harold, Pat Beverly. These guys, you know, they went away. for whether it's a week, a few days, and ended up testing every day and reentered the bubble.

And then now they're going to have, you know, could be two, could be four days of quarantine before rejoining their team. Zion Williamson will rejoin the Pelicans for practice team activities tomorrow, Tuesday. And his status is still a little up in the air for Thursday. Listen, the Pelicans, the league,

they're hopeful to play and that he plays. But again, this is going to be all about his health. The Pelicans are going to prioritize his health. and its safety as these next few days and weeks go on. You know, it's funny. I heard somebody say it on this show, and I forget who it was, but they said international players tend to be a little more loyal to their teams, whereas the domestic player in America is more mobile, LeBron, Kevin Durant,

they're going to go where they want to go. And it was a theory I heard out there that international players tend to be a little more loyal. I don't know if they're thankful. Who knows? So I've said before with Janus is if Chris Middleton struggles in the postseason, like he did against Toronto last year, you know, Janus, looks at it and thinks, I'm going to make a lot of money here.

Chris is locked into a max. It's not a great free agent market. So I have theorized that Chris Middleton playing well, even if the bucks lost in the finals. But if Chris gave you 23 a night and you could depend on him as a two, I think Yonis stays in Milwaukee. I don't think they have to win the finals. But I do think, Shams, that if Middleton struggled against the Boston or he struggled in earlier rounds, that even Yonis, as much as he loves Milwaukee, may think, This league is no fun not getting to the finals.

That's my theory that Chris Middleton could actually hold the key to a lot of what's going to happen in the NBA for the next five years. Am I nuts? Have you heard this? Do you believe that? I haven't heard Chris Milton being the key, but listen, he's part of the key of the Bucs succeeding in the playoffs in the potential finals to keep yonis.

And listen, the Bucks understand, everyone around the Bucs understand, is that getting to the finals and really winning at a high level is the ultimate carrot for Yonesta Dekunpo to re-sign, ultimately, whether that's an extension this summer or next year. And so they understand how badly he wants to win under any circumstance. So, yeah, it's Chris Middleton a key in that, of course. But I wouldn't say everything is based on Chris Middleton. But there's no doubt he is their other all-NBA, all-star type player. The onus will be on him to provide that secondary support that the Bucks also paid him a near maximum

near $180 million contract last summer. By the way, we know Kauai Leonard because of his health, doesn't do a ton of back-to-backs, but now he's had like four months off. Do we expect Kauai Leonard to play on a nightly basis, which is we haven't seen a ton of that over the last couple of years. But as the virus and the layoff, has that changed that with Kauai going forward?

I mean, I would expect Kauai Leonard to be 100% for these seating games and then the playoffs. There's no doubt, like the playoff. playoffs is when Kauai Leonard really turns his game on. And when you see that MVP, you know, all, you know, all worldly type play, you see it already in the regular season. But obviously it seems that he's able to turn his game up to a whole other level come playoff time. And that has a lot to do with no minute's restriction, no, no sign of maybe sitting out a game or two. Like, he's all systems go. So I know how much, you know, from I was told, he really used the layoff

period to work on his body. The clippers as a whole utilize that period to try. train with each other to spend time, whether it's virtually, and then as they got closer to in-person workouts, to working out with each other. And so a lot of that has to do with Kauai Leonard making sure that he is 100% in shape. And him and Paul George have taken the leadership as far as bringing guys together and really getting guys to be in shape for when, you know, the light shines brightest, which is right now. Shams, good seeing you again. Good luck in the bubble in about 10 to 14 days. We appreciate it. Thanks, Colin. Yeah, this weekend that the NFL trade with Jamal Adams is interesting because

initially segueing to that, some of my friends in around the league said the Jets already got a haul. It's interesting about the NFL that, you know, you usually in the NBA, you'd never want to lose a star player. That's just given. In baseball, you're willing to lose

a star player if it's a 10-year contract. And even the Yankees with Robinson Cano said, we've got a ton of money, but we're not signing Robinson Cano to a 10-year contract. But in the NFL, what's happening outside of quarterback is that people are just more willing to trade really great players. Again, it doesn't happen in hockey.

It doesn't happen in the NBA. And it occasionally in baseball happens simply because teams don't want to get tied to a 300. I mean, the Nats have a lot of money. They just didn't want to pay that kind of money for Bryce Harper. There does get to be a point of no return. But you are increasingly seeing in the NFL, people are like, we'll trade our best players. You know, Judevian Clowney, Khalil Mack. and I really outside a quarterback, and I think about this all the time, remember with the NFL, as good as Jamal Adams is, the average NFL player is not worth half a point in a game.

That's the downside of the NFL. I mean, Jamal Adams has been playing for the Jets for a couple years. They've been lousy. Even their defense is not always great, although it played pretty well at the end of last season. So when you look at these players, you know, when Khalil Matt got traded, people just went, they were aghast, they couldn't believe it. I mean, the Raiders ended up getting a bunch of picks. And one of their picks, the running back from Alabama was the player,

was the offensive rookie of the year. So I don't think it's, and it's not anti-player. But the truth is, in the NBA, a great player is probably worth five to seven points a night. I mean, you can't give up Eric Lindross in his prime, or there's not that many spectacular transformative hockey players that are great. You can't give them up. but I do think in football because of the construct of the sport, you can move off players and you can really move off defensive players.

What do they have in common? Jadavian Clowney, they moved off him, defense. Jamal Adams, defense. Kaleo Mack, defense. Minka Fitzpatrick, defense. This league is now so offensive that I think general managers look around and Joe Douglas is like two, first, a third, and the starting safety for a defensive player.

So that's, I just think what we're just seeing. I think it makes the sport better. You know, I've said this before. I don't know if analytics helps baseball. I don't think it does. I like base runners. Analytics is home runs, strikeouts, nothing in between. The analytics in football appear in the front office to be saying, you know, move guys, get offensive guys.

Receivers are worth more. Defensive players worth less. I don't think it's good or it's bad. I think it's the reality of the NFL. So you're seeing Mika Fitzpatrick, Jamal Adams, Camille Mac, Judavian Clowny. These are great players. Great players.

All defense, you just move on. Plus college football. I've never seen this many good quarterbacks. I've never seen this many good wide receivers. I just looked at a mock draft for next year. It's like five more receivers around the first round. It's incredible. The kids these days, man, they know where the money and the fame's at.

Outside on the perimeter. Maybe that's why the games are changing. Hour three next. One 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. Oh, it's hour three.

We're live in Los Angeles. Nice seeing you. Hopefully it's nice seeing us. This is the herd wherever you may be. However, you may be listening, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1. I have bizarrely fast-growing hair. So does joy, I imagine.

I do think I told you this last weekend. At the end of the show today, we're doing best bubble duos in the NBA. Because not just the best duos in the NBA, but what's left? What are the best duos? I think we have the best hair tandem in broadcasting today. It's strong. Your hair does. You have to get a haircut every week.

It's unbelievable. It's incredible. My nails and my hair grow like crazy. I just did my nails like Wednesday. You need to cut them again. Taking your vitamins? No, really. I've been free basing zinc for the last six months.

Because everybody told me that would make me healthier if I got something. Well, I don't know what it is. My hair and my nails grow. No idea. I think it's a good thing. Yeah, how often you get your haircut? That's not a thing for women. Yeah.

I mean, not a thing. How often do I get my haircut? I get my haircut. Not often. Like three times, five times a... How often do you get your haircut? I mean, the haircuts don't work like that for women. But time out.

What? Yeah, I don't have to get lined up, Colin. Like, we don't get haircuts. Well, how are you doing your haircuts? If I have, if I had like a pixie cut or like a really short haircut, then I would get What's the last time you had a haircut? I don't, six, seven months ago, maybe? Okay, time out.

Strip club served breakfast and women don't get haircuts. No, women with short hair get haircuts, like, that have to keep it short. What's happening? What's happening to America? What do you think women need haircuts for? Like that often? Because their hair grows? Yeah, but I mean, do you want to keep it at like a specific length?

Like, we get our haircuts to keep. like to get rid of dead ends and to like to shape it i don't even you guys are playing a big game on me today these are you guys are just doing stuff to be no i do what i don't know what you're talking i cannot be the only guy in america that doesn't know this you you get a haircut every seven months i mean i probably should get it trimmed just to like keep it healthy keep the ends healthy but it's not like i've never once talked about my ends because you have short hair you have short hair like you don't you're not growing your hair out last segment. I love defense events.

No, you are learning a lot today. My God. Shake joints and haircuts. Like some pancakes and a lap dance. On a Monday. That's a strong start. Unavailable to me an hour ago, until an hour ago. Pancakes and a lap dance. Okay, Nick Swisher in 15 minutes. My bosses must love to that.

Really gone off the rails. Top NBA duos in the bubble. But let's start with the big news. And it was exciting. It was between baseball and this. It was a great weekend. Big NFL news this weekend. Seahawks trade two first round picks for Pro Bowl safety jets, Jamal Adams. I felt it was kind of desperate. It felt like Seattle was saying, all right, we've done such a poor job building our

offensive and defensive lines. We've kind of whiffed on so many first round picks. Let's just get a big headline and a big star and maybe it can cover our arse. Listen, I know he's expensive. I don't want to pay a ton for a safety, but he is great. I wouldn't give up two first rounds and a third and a starter for a safety. But Seattle does this if they believe he gets us to a Super Bowl. Now, Honey Badger was really valuable to the Chiefs this year.

I mean, he's a guy that really solved the back end of their defense, and Jamal Adams plays a lot like him. Seattle's going to be very good this year. I'm not disputing that. But Seattle only won one game last year all year by more than one score. I'm going to throw something up if you think Seattle is a Super Bowl team. They had 11-1 possession wins. That doesn't happen.

That's just insane. That'll never happen again. And whereas San Francisco, the Niners outscored people by 169 points, Baltimore outscored people by 249 points, Seattle outscored people all year by seven points. Folks, they got holes on this roster, namely their offensive and defensive lines. And Jamal Adams is going to, it's a big swing. It's a big swing. And it's also a big salary cap eating swing. And listen, I kind of feel like Seattle's trying to make up ground for a lot of bad picks in the first round and allowing their offensive and defensive lines to erode.

God, in division, just stay in their division. San Francisco is so much better than Seattle on the O line and defense line. It's not even close. It's not even close. And Seattle knows it. We are at such a deficit. O line and D line, we got to make it up. Now, this morning, would I rather be the Seahawks than the Jets?

Of course I would. I've got Russell Wilson. I got Pete Carroll. And Jamal Adams, Bobby Wagner, and Russell Wilson are playmakers in their prime. So, yes, I'd rather be the Seahawks than the Jets this morning. But that's not the Seahawks standard being better than the New York Jets. That's not their standard. Their standard is Kansas City, Andy Reed and Mahomes.

Their standards, Baltimore, Lamar and John Harbaugh on that secondary. Their standard is the Saints. Their standard is the Niners. And all four of those teams, I think, not only have better O-line and D-line play and better overall rosters and fewer holes, but they also have better vision. I had an NFL exec say to me after this past draft a really good one. What the hell are they doing up there? I mean, last year at this time, they went and got Chedavian Clowny.

Headlines, star. Wow! Where's that a year later? Where's that one a year later? I just don't see the vision with Seattle. You know what I see? I see Russell Wilson. And Russell Wilson's unbelievable. And Russell Wilson makes bad draft picks and a bad O line and an average D-line and a lack of vision work.

And I like Pete Carroll. But right now, I think he has too much power in the organization. I think he's the one that makes these moves and really get. this stuff done. Seattle hasn't had a meaningful playoff win in five years. Yes. Yes, they beat Carson Wenseless Philly

last year. Yes, they beat the Lions. Yes, they were outplayed by Minnesota whose kicker missed the chip shot. This is a lot of money, and I don't know the vision, and they got bigger issues, and safety isn't one of them.

It's a big swing. A huge swing. But it feels to me like it's trying to cover up other issues in the organization. Now, let's take it from a Jets perspective. The Jets will not be as good this year. Jamal Adams is a really good football player. But the simplest thing I can say about this is that Joe Douglas, the general manager of the Jets, had a very good Saturday.

I had an NFL exec say, listen, man, the Steelers got Minka Fitzpatrick for one first rounder. and we know the Steelers are well run. Seattle spent two first rounders and a third and a starting safety. Joe Douglas had a very good Saturday for the Jets. But Joe Douglas is in a really bad spot. He's just tearing down from the studs, the organization, to rebuild it. He's got a suboptimal owner. He's replacing a GM that was incompetent.

He's got a head coach that appears to be, I don't know, not communicating. with his star players. The Jets are in a weird spot. Joe Douglas is their life preserver. Highly respected. Usually here's the way it works. You do what Baltimore or Kansas City is doing. You draft this young quarterback.

You pay him nothing for three or four years. And because of that, you can give Lamar all sorts of free agent help and Mahomes all sorts of help. And all of a sudden, you're like, oh, my God, young quarterback, I'm paying him nothing. He's got nothing but stars around him. That's what the Jets would like to do because they're not paying him. say I'm normal anything. Instead,

Joe Douglas has to come in and undo all of it and let go of star players to get draft picks because the owners aren't very good. The coach doesn't communicate and the previous GM was a disaster. I told you this after last, the draft with a previous GM, I had a GM call me and say it's the worst draft I've ever seen. He goes, after the first pick, it made no sense. That was two drafts ago. When the Jets didn't fire him before the draft, they let him do the draft, which was awful, then they fired him a couple weeks later. What? So Joe Douglas had a great Saturday, I believe.

But the standard for the Jets now, they're not close to the Bill's roster. They're not as good as the Patriots. And I don't think by about week seven or eight, they're going to be as good as the dolphins with two is starting. It's a fourth place team. The playbook in the NFL is simple. Draft your quarterback in the first round. and when you're not paying him, surrounding him with a bunch of free agents.

That got Russell Wilson a Super Bowl. It just got Patrick Mahomes a Super Bowl. This year I'm picking, it gets Lamar Jackson a Super Bowl. And instead, Sam Darnold, they got rid of his star because they just got to tear this down to the studs, start over, and this was the first process. I like Jamal Adams. He's really good.

And I do think he fits Seattle way better than the Jets because Seattle's got leadership and the Jets don't. So for one guy with the Jets, It was a great Saturday. Joe Douglas. He's terrific. He got a ton for a safety. And it gives them some openings now because Labian Bell's probably gone in a year.

And C.J. Mosley, a couple more years, you're not paying anybody. But it is there now. The Jets are one of the seven or eight teams in the NFL. You can just take them and say, okay, let's not worry about them in the Super Bowl. And generally in the NFL, there's only three or four of those. There's about eight, and the Jets are one of them. All right. Around the corner, Nick Swisher, baseball is back officially, and I watched a ton of it this weekend.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all. embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the look back at it, I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it.

Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your 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. Trip 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.

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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? Quarterback on office blue 42.

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cut it and car motorcycle and RV policies Geico.com learn more. Got to switch by October 7th. We've been talking on haircuts all day. So Lou Williams got in trouble because he left the NBA and he ended up at a strip club ordering wings and I didn't know strip clubs had

great food and then Joy told me you can eat breakfast at a strip club and they're open around the clock, no idea. And then a half hour ago Joy told me she cuts her hair once a year. We like twice or three times. I'm actually getting my haircut today. Ironically, that you're asking it. So let's go to the best hair in the business.

Nick Swisher, who's got unbelievable hair. All right. Now, let me ask you, tell the audience, how often do you get that beautiful crop cut? You've got to stay in the chair, Colin once a week, once every seven to ten days, maybe. That's it. You've got to stay in the chair.

Okay. All right, we've got to, we're doing haircut questions from now on. Okay. So I sat and watched a lot of baseball this weekend. First of all, here's what I loved. Baseball's got this new rule. They're playing around with it. They tried it in the minors.

You go to extra innings. You put a guy on second base. And it worked four for four this weekend. As a player, do you think it's cheesy or hurting the game? How does it land for you? I don't know. I mean, from not being a player, the only advice that I can say is that this is 2020.

This is a crazy year. We have to be fluid with the things that are happening. So let's try different things. We've got the expanded rosters this year, expanded playoffs. I think we're trying a lot of things to move our game forward. But at the end of the day, there's a lot of strategyry that goes into that, right? Do you walk the next batter? Do you set up the double play?

Because the last thing we need right now in a shortened season with everything it's happening is for an extra inning game to go 17 innings. Next thing you know, they're calling up the entire taxi squad, trying to do whatever they can to get guys on the field. This is a year where we have to think of health first. And I definitely think this definitely saves a lot of pitchers' arms by putting that runner on second base. So I watched a lot of Dodgers this weekend. I knocked open a Corona and I sat and watched Dodgers Giants.

And the Dodgers lineup is unbelievable. It's MVP's, it's talent, it's 30 jacks, it's just nothing. It's guys you can move around. But Kershaw's out. And you know, and then I watched them against the Giants and the Giants got really good pitching this weekend in a couple of games. And you look up and you're like, Dodgers should have dominated the series. San Francisco's walking out with a winner two. So I look at Kershon, I think to myself, okay, Nick, Nick Squisher joining us,

a lot of innings. Is the injury a problem for the Dodgers? Yeah, I definitely think it's something you're going to have to pay attention to. I mean, just look at Cory Kluber, right, with the Texas Rangers. It comes out after the first inning, right? That was that one guy that you expected to be there the entire season. The one thing I could say about Clayton is he's been in this position before. It seems every year we go back to a little low back injury that he has to

take care of and get himself right. So is this something that I am super worried about? No. But is this something that Clayton's going to have to hurdle through to help his team get to the World Series? A hundred percent. Because I don't think if you have a Clayton Kirshaw, the Dodgers win the World Series. But with a healthy Clayton Kirshall, he's still got what he's got, man. There's no doubt about it. He's throwing a lot of innings, but he knows how to pitch. And anytime you can have that guy on the mound for you every fifth or six day, depending on what your rotation is, I'll take him every time. The Dodgers are an interesting mix of youth, international players, veterans.

It's a really, and they've got depth. Is that the best roster in baseball or are you like somebody else? Yeah, I love the Dodgers in the National League. There's no doubt about it. Come on, Colin. You know who I'm going for, baby. I need those pinstripes, baby. The New York Yankees, in my opinion, have to be the best team in baseball.

Now, at the beginning of spring training this year, what I've said that, no. because half the roster was hurt. But now after spring training 2.0, everybody is healthy. Jean-Carlo is back better than ever. He's leaned out. He's comfortably, he's strong in his legs. Aaron Judge is healthy. He's got that shoulder plumbed up.

Aaron Hicks is back. He's good, right? James Paxton, who was banged up with that low back injury, and they have Garrett Cole. I don't think there's any team in baseball that is as deep of a pitching staff as the New York Yankees are. And they are also one of the few teams in baseball that didn't run out and put all the football.

their top prospects on their taxi squad. Because whether they need them or not, bringing up a rookie that has no time in the big leagues or no understanding of how important things are, they don't have to go through that. They have the guys that they know they can win with. And whether it's a shortened World Series or not,

a World Series is a World Series. By the way, you know, we see some games postponed today. And I said in the NFL, you only have eight road games. And for whatever reason, a lot of football players get married sooner, they go to the facility, they work out, they go home.

They go to the facility, work out, they go home. And then only eight times do they go on the road. Baseball's different. It's more international. Players, you can get on some of these bottom teams, a lot of young kids prospects, 22 years old. It's a lot of travel. You go in the road for a place three or four days.

Guys aren't going to go to their hotel room. You know, and I said the joy, if I played baseball and I had 60 games in 75 days, come on Nick I'd have to go out occasionally is it unrealistic to ask all these players to just protocols discipline never leave your hotel room it's hard I mean I was I was hearing a lot of things that were being said earlier today saying why would they even try the season they knew this wasn't going to work if they didn't have a bubble and you've got to give the NBA credit they've done a heck of a job of keeping this virus outside of their bubble that's the one thing

that I think baseball understood going into the season that this that's a really reason why there's 60 man taxi squads. That's the reason why the rosters are as much as they are. So if there is a rash of eight to 10 guys that might be a quarantine for two weeks, I mean, two weeks worth of games this season is 21% of the season. So I think whatever team has health, whether it's virus or whether it's injury related, I think the team that can stay the healthiest and keep their guys in check the best, listen, man, at the end of the day, it's hard to do, right? These guys have families and that's exactly, you want them to go home healthy to their families every night. Believe me, I love sports just as much as everybody else does. But if we put

these guys at risk to take any of these viruses back to their home, to their families, to their loved ones, anything like that, that's the last thing we would want to happen. I want to ask you about two players. So I can remember when I'm a kid and I'm watching Dave Winfield play. And Dave Winfield play. Oh, he was awesome. Oh, my gosh. He was so awesome. But he looked awesome. He could have played in the NBA, the NFL. He looked like a tight end. And then there's Mookie Betts. He's, he's, he's He's not a physical stature. He's not Aaron Judge. And everybody's telling me,

Mookie Betts is that it could be the best player in baseball. So what is it with him? Because there are players that you look at and you're like, okay, I mean, I can watch football, basketball. LeBron's just bigger than all the dudes. What is it about Mookie Betts? Is it hand-eye? Is it reactions, athleticism?

What makes him maybe the best player in baseball? I think it's all those things you just said, Colin, right there. I mean, I love me some Mookie bets just as much as anybody else. And to be able to have him and Cody Bellinger in the same lineup, wow. I mean, that's almost unheard of back to, you know, both MVP winners in the same lineup. I mean, that's impressive. But I think the one thing that Mookie has is you got to appreciate the way he handles his business, right? He always does things the right way.

He loves the game. He loves his team. I don't know whether it's, you know, strong wrist, hand eye. Maybe it's that it factor that he has that other people don't. But every time he takes that field, he's one of those guys. As my man, D. Trey, Dantrell Willis would say, I'd pay money to go see. He's one of those guys that can transcend the game both on and off the field. And let's be honest, man, this guy's probably an athlete, everything he does.

I don't know how many 300 bowling games he's got. I'm sure he's probably great at everything he does. But to be able to watch that man on the field each and every day, man, is a blessing for us all. Now let's talk about size, John Carlos Stanton for the Yankees. Now, they bring him in last year. I didn't really get it because they had Aaron Judge. and he was basically free by Yankee standard. John Carlos Stanton offers a lot of the same tools,

but was highly expensive, and the Marlins got rid of the contract. What do you expect he looks a little different this year? Oh, I mean, how good does he look, right? I mean, last year I think we saw, you know, I mean, the last couple years he's been kind of hit with that injury bug a little bit. But I don't know what he did, man, during spring training and spring training 2.0,

but all of a sudden he came back. He's leaner. He looks taller than what he was. And all of a sudden, he's hitting more, he's hitting baseballs further than it looks like he ever has in his life. He's, you know, you got to remember as an athlete and as those years wear and turn on the body, the lighter you are, the better you feel sometimes from a guy that had knee injuries, well, one pound on your belly is worth three pounds on your, on your knees. So you've got to remember, man, Jean-Carlo coming back, lean, trim,

and being the guy Yankee fans always knew he could be. It's going to be so much fun to watch him in the future, man. he's healthy. The knee is healthy. No knee breaks, no none of that. And he's catching those handoffs coming down the third base line, hopefully every day for the Yankees. What is that again? So one what does that pound in your belly on your knees?

Say that again? Yeah, one pound on your body is three pounds on your knees. Because once you start running, right, that extra weight, you know, compounds on your knees. And for Jean Carler to come back all trimmed up the way he is, man. Could not be more proud of him, man. He's going to have a great season this year. Was that Nick Swishers?

You make that up or is that like a real thing? I don't know. It sounded good when I said it, man. I was just rolling with it. I could have sworn I thought a doctor who told me that. I'm for it. It sounds right, doesn't it? Absolutely.

Rest of my life, that's all I'm going to think about. That line, the great Nick Swisher. I love you, brother. Good seeing you. Man, love you, call it. Joy, take it easy, guys. Good to see y'all. All right, Nick Swisher.

He is just all the time. It sounds right. It does sound. It sounds brilliant. It's like Dr. Oz would say that. Eat a donut, three pounds in your knees. You're like, all right, no more donuts. It literally sounds like the smartest thing I've ever heard in medicine.

I was like, you know, because a lot of times you go to a doctor's office, it's way too heady, mathy. Yeah, just keep it simple. Just say like, give us something we could put on a hat. It hurts that. Yeah. Like my dentist one time said that. He said, keep your mouth clean because your stomach and your mouth are connected.

So tell your kids, brush your teeth more, less stomach issues. And I was like, boy, that's simple. I'll remember that the rest of my life. Yeah, like sometimes. Nick, who knew Nick Swisher was a Ph.D? I mean, listen, it's a new. America. When the show started three hours ago, it's a new America for me today. By the way, I have a new project, Outdoors, Lowe's. I'm doing a little outdoor bar,

unexpected choice Lowe's. Check it out. Good project. Stay up for the next couple of weeks. Please keep me updated. Get inspired. Do it for yourself. Lose.com. Transformations, little bars in your house. Hashtag it Lowe's Goals. Here's Joy Taylor with the news. is the herd line news. Well, NBA teams have only had a few weeks back together in the bubble to get ready for the rest of the season. And Luca Donchich doesn't think that the maps will be 100% in time for their first game. I don't think we're going to be in the best, you know, in the best way on the first game, you know, we just got to keep building it, you know.

I think when it most matters the playoffs, but, you know, we want to win the whole eight games. So I think we're going to be ready. they beat the Lakers 108 104 in their first scrimmage and lost of the Pacers. I didn't think the basketball 111, the second scrimmage. I didn't think the basketball was bad at all. I watched a little of Pacers game. It's okay. Basketball is not bad.

I mean, it looks like preseason basketball. You're getting back to it. I think that everyone is kind of playing with a little more intensity than you would see in a scrimmage game or preseason game because they need to, you know, be able to ratchet it up in a few days once the game start. But he's right. I mean, nobody's going to be at 100%. They're certainly not going to be where they were when the season ended.

But the Mavs are seventh in the West. They have a seven-game lead on the Grizzlies at the eight seed. Let me tell you something. The difference between the East and West, the Mavericks are the seventh team in the West. And when they start shooting well, they can be a huge matchup problem. That tells you the West. The Dallas, Mark Cuban must love this team. I mean, Dirk got old.

You were trying to find, you know, Dirk got you a title, but Dirk was aging. You're like, you draft a bunch of guys and you're looking for, then you land Luka. And you own the team. And you know for the next 12, he'll never let Luke go. For the next 12 years, I can go to the arena if I'm Mark Cuban, who by the way, was in town this weekend, driving a convertible. And you know for the next 12 years, I get 25 a night from that guy. That's a great feeling in the NBA.

That's what happens when you run the basketball side of things well. And you make good decisions for the future to build an organization and culture and move forward as guys get older. So Mark Cuban was in a convertible this weekend. Why are you telling? He's with his son. That's good. He wasn't doing anything. He wasn't eat waffles at a strip house.

He was with his son. Well, you wouldn't know. I don't think they do that here in L.A. So the charges drafted Justin Herbert this year, but don't have to start him right away with Tyrod Taylor also on the roster. Head coach Anthony Lynn says the team did select Herbert should one day be the franchise quarterback, but isn't going to put a timetable on it. He also says he has a lot of familiarity with Tyrod, but no position, including the starting quarterback is final until they get to training camp. Well, I never believe that. Give me a break.

Generally, I don't believe that. In this situation, I do think Tyrod is going to be the starter this year. No, no, no, no. Tyrod should have. Like, whereas Miami, I think, is very up in the air, depending on what, too, it looks like. No, but I, you know, I've told you this. If you really look at Tyrod's numbers considering where he's been, he's actually very efficient. I get a lot of efficiency with him.

He's completely reliable. He is a starting quarterback. And Lynn coached him for two years in Buffalo. And last year, obviously, with the Chargers. So he's already in this system. And particularly for this year with so much. uncertainty, having someone who's already in the system ready to go, who you can rely on is going to be huge. There's not a real rush to me with Justin Herbert. Whereas Tua, there's a little bit more

of a star factor. They kind of had things rolling a little bit last year towards the end of the season. So I think there's a little bit more urgency with Tua than there is with Justin Lerler. I also think Tua played in the SEC and he's played more big games. He's been great in those games. Herbert is, we'll see. But also, I mean, you feel comfortable with Tairad, whereas Ryan Fitzpatrick, it's like, he's just... He's a really hot and cold. Right.

I could guarantee... If you told me Tyrod did not throw a pick in September, I'd be like, oh, I could totally see that. With Ryan Fitzpatrick, if you told me he had a four touchdown game and a four pick game, I'd be like, I can see that. Fitzpatrick's, on his good days, Ryan Fitzpatrick's bizarrely good.

Right. But then it drops off. That's the difference, as a GM once told me, the difference between the starter and a backup in many cases is the consistency. A lot of these backups have quarters and halves, but the starters, you don't get this. I don't think we see Justin Herbert at all this year. Wouldn't shock me.

Unless he's otherworldly in camp to the point where it's just undeniable, I don't see it happening, which I don't think is a bad thing. Him sitting a year maybe two behind Tyrod is actually beneficial for him, especially this year. So the first player has decided to opt out of the 2020 NFL season. Kind of a unique situation, though. Chief scarred Laurent DuVernay Tardiff announced he will not play this year. He is the only active player with a medical doctorate.

and he explained his decision on social media, saying in part being at the front line during this off season has given me a different perspective on this pandemic and the stress it puts on individuals in our healthcare system. I cannot allow myself to potentially transmit the virus in our community simply to play the sport that I love if I'm to take risks. I will do it caring for patients. He's played for the Chiefs since 2014 when he was drafted by them.

He's been working as an orderly at a long-term care facility near his hometown of Montreal, Quebec, during the pandemic. He also thank the chiefs for their support and understanding. He's a Canadian guy. Yes. Yeah, a Canadian guy. Yeah, he's from Montreal. So he's a doctor, and he's been working as a doctor at a long-term care facility during the pandemic,

and he wants to stay there and continue caring for patients and is opting out of this season. And the Ravens had an offensive lineman or smart. The Ravens have an offensive lineman who was a math genius. I forget his name. Alex L. He was literally a math genius. genius like MIT level these offensive linemen you don't want to get in these

you don't want to go on Twitter and start sparring with these guys you don't want to get into the jeopardy high IQ with them I think this is very admirable of him I mean he's obviously been working through the pandemic helping helping patients and you know this is what he feels comfortable doing rather than coming back next year the chiefs have been super supportive of him so hopefully we're all looking forward to this eventually ending

and he'll rejoin the team but for this year he's going to be opting out John Urshel? He did retire, and he was a math whiz. I mean, I'm a genius. I am not a math wiz. New. He, okay, he had a Ph.D. from MIT. I mean, you've got to be kidding me.

NFL offensive lineman. A Ph.D from MIT. That's actually very impressive. My son once told me, he goes, Dad, I want to go to MIT, and I'm like, your dad's a sports radio host. You didn't encourage him to go to MIT? I didn't discourage him. I just said you should lower your standards. I said, I'm a sportscaster.

You can't end up at MIT. It's not what we do. And he goes, you said your dad was a doctor. And I'm like, yeah, my dad was smart. But a lot of that stuff, maybe he just like skipped. Well, he's very tech. You're very smart, Colin. I'm not saying, no, but my son, he's got all these dreams and I've crushed all of them.

I've said, listen, there's a community college around the corner and we'll get you through. And then you can go have waffles over at Experiment Rhino. And it would be quite a life for you. Yes, it's a good life. All right, Joe, the news. That's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lye News.

Okay, it's interesting because we got all these teams now. We were talking about the best duos in the NBA, and most of us know it, but some of these duos are not in the bubble. I'll rank 1 through 10, my favorite duos in the bubble. I like one more than a lot of people, and I'm not high on another, and you're going to crush me for it, but that's okay. That's what we do. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific.

All right, Thursday. I was going to take Friday off, and then I realized. NBA starts Thursday. Can't do that. So the NBA resumes Friday. Cross your fingers. It feels good. LA Times put out an article today about how, you know,

LeBron and AD are the best duo in the NBA. And I thought, you know, we look at the bubble duos. And now that we've got, you know, we've got a real set of games to look at, who were the best duos, not the two most talented players, but who were the best duos in the NBA this year? So let's go 10 through 1. Number 10. I'm going to go Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell.

And the reason I would say it's the best defensive duo. Gobert is one of the great defensive players in the league. Donovan Mitchell at Louisville was a better defensive player before an offensive star. They played over 1,600 minutes together. That's second most of any duo in the bubble. And they have outscored opponents when those two are on the floor by six a game. Probably the best defensive duo. Gobert is a wildly underrated player.

If you watch the jazz, he gives them so much. many advantages defensively. They can get out on the break on the wings. I would say they're number 10. Number nine. I'll go, how about Miami heat here? Jimmy Butler and Bam. And let's be honest, Butler's had a great year. Now, we thought he was going down there and we thought, oh, it's Jimmy Butler. He doesn't get along with people. Career high and rebounds a game and assists a game. And averaging over nine free throws a game. Now, he's athletic and he gets to the line and he gets fouled. And when Bam and Butler on the floor, a little less effective. defensively, but they score 5.5 points more than their opponent.

So they're number nine, and I'm shocked they're in here. Number eight. Total offense, but Damian Lillard and C.J. McCullum. Not a ton of defense, the opposite of Utah. Damien's averaging 29 points a game. I think outside of Steph Curry, he's the best shooter in the game, so I think, because Steph Curry's not here, Dame's the greatest shooter in the bubble. He's an all-time offensive threat.

really unlimited range. I can make the argument he and Steph are the only two guys in the league. Shoot from anywhere. C.J. McCollum, similarly, very good offensive player. They're not a great defensive back court. In fact, they're the only duo in the top 10 that has a sub-500 record in games in which they both played. They're close to 500. Don't give you a lot in the D-N, but great scores.

Number seven. Joe L.M. Beat and Ben Simmons. Now, everybody loves these guys. Like, in talent, you'd put them one or two. Here's the problem. Their net rating and offensive rating has gone down in each of their last three seasons together. So even though I think Simmons is a tremendous young defensive player, and Ambide can man you up down low, something's not working and it's not getting better.

And I think it's fairly obvious. Ben Simmons needs an open lane to be totally effective. And Ambide's really good in the lane, so I don't think they work. And it's getting slightly worse every year. But in terms of talent, you could make them number one, both physically in their prime. Unbelievable talent. Number six. Luca Donzich and Christopps Porzingis.

So teams were outscored by almost seven points when these two were on the floor. Luke is unbelievable. He has, leads to the NBA, 14 triple doubles. At 20 years old, makes no sense. He was at 16 years old was a star in the European league. and those are older players. So he comes in very mature, handles both ends of the floor, and Porzingas was on fire before the bubble.

He was averaging 25 and 11 in his last 15 games. So he and Luca, unlike the Sixers, Luca and Porzingis played their best together in the last 15 games. Very interesting team in the bubble. Number five. Janice and Chris Middleton. Now it's going to be lower than everybody thinks because they have a very good defensive rating. Here's my concern about this.

The Bucks are nine and one without Chris Middleton this season. So this feels like one great player and a player sometimes Milwaukee is fine without and who let them down in the postseason. But you can't deny what Yonis brings to the table. Best defensive player in the league, along with Gobert in the middle anyway. And they have the highest two plus minus stats in the NBA. this year. That's confusing for our audience, but they're really good at it. Number four. Yokic and Jamal, you're a Murray for Denver. Both scores, both passers.

Denver outscored opponents by seven points per 100 possessions with Yokic and Jamal Murray on the floor. Second consecutive season as the only duo with a hundred plus assist to each other. My concern with Denver is they're real young. That's generally not great. in the postseason. And if one of these two is off, Jamal Murray has an off night. Who's my third guy? Who can I guarantee can drop me 24?

Whereas the Celtics have several players can do that. I worry if Jamal Murray is off. What do I get? But a very interesting bubble team, a lot of energy, can play nine guys, well coached, and two players that work really well together. Number three. I think these guys are undervalued.

Jason Tatum and Kemble Walker. Kemble Walker's been a great pro forever, but he played in Charlotte and nobody watches their games. You know, it's more of a NASCAR football college basketball market. Tatum was torrid before the break. Jason Tatum has become a top six player in the NBA, was averaging 29-9 a game since the All-Star break. So whatever it was for Jason Tatum, it popped after the Altar break. and when these guys are on the floor together, the Celtics outscored people by almost 11.5 points per 100 possessions.

And what I like about Boston, even if one of them struggles, I get some Gordon Hayward, I get some Jalen Brown. No other team in the league has four guys that could drop 23, and I wouldn't be surprised. But I think Campbell Walker, this has been such a great. A bunch of winners, a winning coach, a winning culture, a very good player who had to get a better fit and Boston's been great for him.

Number two. Kauai and Paul George, excellent defensive players. Two of the top five, maybe two of the top three, two-way players in the NBA with Clay Thompson. They won 75% of their games when they played together. And, you know, there's always been this thing that, you know, Toronto won a bunch of games without Kauai.

Well, the Clippers have it. They're six and seven without him. So the clippers are deep and well-coached. these guys really work together. And remember, Kauai chose the Clippers if Paul George would join him. And I think one of the reasons is Paul plays a similar style game.

So Kauai doesn't have to carry the big defensive load night after night. They add Patrick Beverly, another guy that can defend the wing. So that's the second best duo. Number one. Come on. LeBron and Anthony Davis.

Now, the problem with this duo is who's three? Danny Green, I don't trust Kyle Kuzma, bench isn't very good, Avery Bradley's out. Now, I know what you're saying. They're one of two duos that average 25 plus points a game this year. The other is Harden in Westbrook, but I didn't have them in. Yeah, where are they at? I think they're individual talents.

I think they're great individual talents. Well, I mean, aren't all of these great individual talents? think the other duos work better together. I think they're great individually. And Darry will DM me today. Now, I couldn't be totally proven wrong. I've said before, they're going totally small ball. And they're going to be two or three matchups potentially.

They're going to look so tiny on the floor. But Houston has decided, because analytically, I never liked this match. I didn't think it worked. I want to be proven wrong with Hardin and Westbrook. And if I am, I'll come on the air. When I looked at all these today, I felt. like they work together. Like Gobert and Donovan Mitchell are tremendous when I've gone to Utah Jazz Games or watch.

They really work well together, even though they got a little spat this year. Or Murray and Yokic work well together. I think Hardin and Westbrook are talented. I think there's a big difference between that. But if I'm proven wrong, I'm proven wrong. I think that once games start and we see everything going full speed, it's going to be a very interesting. So Thursday, what are the games Thursday? Let me pull these up for you.

Pull these up for me. Today's been a learning experience for me. I'm going to learn more about what teams play Thursday. I don't have it memorized. I sure Zion plays in LeBron. Jazz Pelicans, Clippers, Lakers. Oh, boy, that's good. Thursday night?

Well, for us, it will be 3.30 p.m. Jazz Pelicans. I cannot wait for that. And then Clippers Lakers 6 p.m. Isn't it amazing? It's crazy to just say that. March 11. We've gone so long without sports.

Well, remember Mark Cuban saw. Yep. We saw the picture of Mark Cuban saw his phone. And he was shocked, but now you look at it and you're like, yeah, I had to do it. I mean, I loved watching baseball this weekend. Watch WMBA, saw Sabrina Ianescu's debut.

I'm trying to think what else I watched. I watched the documentary. Oh, God, I watched a good documentary. Oh, my Lord. What was about? This was the XFL. About the Vince McMahon. Oh, okay.

Dekeversal League. Have you ever met Matt Viscersion? So he was the first announcer for the XFL, which was the He Hate Me League. Yes. The story of it is unbelievable. Matt Riscursion's the funniest play-by-play guy in the history of the business.

He wins the award. There's no second place. I was on a plane laughing out loud multiple times. So he was the first play-by-play guy. And Vince McMahon wanted him to be like all in, like a wrestling announcer. And Dickie Bersall is like, no, no, no.

You're a network announcer. If they show, show girls, just don't say anything. And they were in each ear. And he's the play-by-play guy. The stories are a heart. to believe. Matt Viscursion is so funny on that. You've got to watch it. Other network, but you've got to watch it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel 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. Remember me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard 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're not, you need to. Listen to learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. On the Look Back at it podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English.

Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. I mean, it was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black. people.