The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 1 - UConn might be unbeatable

Episode Date: March 29, 2024

Colin explains why UConn deserves to be mentioned among elite territory if they repeat as champions this year He believes Shohei Ohtani's Opening Day performance reveals the truth about the interpreter betting scandal Jerry Jones isn't extending the contracts for Dak Prescott and Mike McCarthy during the seasonSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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in noon to 3 Eastern, 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at Fox SportsRadio.com or stream us live every day on the IHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go. It's a Friday. There is so much to talk about. Baseball, March Madness, NFL League meetings, Celtics.

Celtics shaky in Atlanta, live in Los Angeles. It's the herd wherever you may be, however you may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day. It's going to be a mess in Los Angeles tomorrow. Perfect time tonight and tomorrow. Watch March Madness, watch some baseball. It's going to be a swamp out here. J-MAC, 360 Division I one teams.

I tend to watch college basketball from 33,000 feet. I swoop in, I watch a couple games. The team I thought looked much better than everybody else was Yukon, and they looked much better than everybody else, mostly last year. but they are putting on a clinic in this tournament. That team is a cash cow. They are. They are.

So there has never been in my life a college basketball or college football program that was this good that got discussed so infrequently. In fact, Yukon's women's program, excellent, gets much more national discussion, prestige, considered iconic. And if you look at the great men's program, excellent, gets much more national discussion, prestige, considered iconic. And if you look at the great men's college basketball programs of all time, we can put them up for you. I don't think people understand how great Yukon is. I was in that state for 10 years. UCLA's got the most titles, the John Wooden era 11, Kentucky 8, Carolina 6.

Yukon will be tied with the tar heels above Duke, vaunted Indiana, above Kansas, if they win. but we don't talk about we don't talk about Yukon like Duke or Carolina or Kansas maybe it's because they're not flashy they've had a few down years they've had different coaches

win them Calhoun Dan Hurley Kevin Ali they've had very few historic Christian Leitner's maybe or Lou Al Cenders maybe that's it didn't have a coach like

Bobby Knight that got talked about or coach K. But I covered Jerry Tarkinian for years. And the one thing that always stood out with Tarks teams, they weren't always the most talented. They'd have NBA guys on the roster. Nobody played harder than UNLV. Years ago, in Denver, I was covering a final between UNLV and Duke, and Shoshchewski said, I've never seen a team play like Tarks teams. He goes, we play hard. I can't get my guys to play. That hard both ends every second of every game. That is Yukon. That is UKON. That is You can. Nobody plays this hard. Calhoun, Hurley, it doesn't matter who the coach is. It's just built in. It's in the water in Stores, Connecticut. I watched them last night. The only people that can beat Yukon in this tournament are the referees. If you call a tight game, because they're hyper aggressive, hyper intense, and you have a tight whistle, they get into foul trouble. Maybe you get them off your game. There's nothing like them in the tournament. Every position, both ends, absolute intensity. crashed the glass.

Last night, they had almost 40 points in the paint. And again, if the refs let them play, and that's what happens in the NBA finals. And the NBA playoffs, the further they go, refs get out of the way. It happens in the conference championships in the Super Bowl. Few flags in the Super Bowl. Refes don't want to beat the story.

They get out of the way. In March madness, generally speaking, the further you go, the more the refs get out of the way and let the best teams decide it. That's why physicality in the NFL, NBA and college basketball, just play hard, force the referees to decide it because they don't want to as the tournament goes on. In the last two years, it's hard to be back-to-back champs.

Yukon has beaten team the last two years. In the tournament, these are the best teams by 23 points a game. Nine straight games of beating teams by at least 13, and in that time, double-digit advantages on the glass. So there's nobody beating this team. And again, I follow this sport casually from above. there's 360 teams. I can't memorize starting lineups. I watch Yukon, Kansas, Duke, Carolina, a handful.

Last couple of years, they're different than everybody. And last night, the refs let them play. And when you let a team this aggressive with this kind of NBA length, it's very UNLV. They would have your occasional Larry Johnson or Stacey Ogman, but mostly it was effort with guys that would go play overseas, guys that wouldn't star in the NBA. And I'm Dan Hurley after acknowledged,

after a blowout win again, we're not easy. We got a killer instinct. We play every possession with great desperation. We got NBA-level players that are incredibly well-prepared by Luke Murray and Kamani Young. And obviously, we're very comfortable in tournament play. We're hard to prepare for. Yeah, very hard to prepare for.

So I'm sitting there listening to the Dodgers yesterday. And it may have been a replay. I don't know if it was live or replay. It's baseball in the summer I listened to it. And I was thinking as Otani was having a very good game. He had a single, a double. He had a walk. He's played very well this year.

And I was thinking to myself, I know guys are pretty good at compartmentalizing things. But if you had, if you're lying to everybody and potentially bet on baseball, it would ruin your career. A career corrosive move. You bet on the sport. And you're just fooling all of us. wouldn't it be eating him up? Living a lie is stressful. But wouldn't you see at the plate

during discussions with the media on his face and his performance? I mean, he's the Dodgers' DH. So he sits for 45 minutes between it bats. He's not out there in the field. It's different in hockey. It's too fast. Basketball.

You don't see prolonged slumps in basketball. A guy may have a bad two-game stretch, but you shoot 20 times a game. Kobe didn't have a lot of prolonged slumps. Hockey guys don't have a lot of prolonged slumps. Same in the NFL. You can have a bad half. It's mostly due to the defense and the pressure and a bad O line.

But baseball, and sometimes golf can be different. Long stretches in baseball of inactivity. We've seen great players. Your A-Rod, your Barry Bonds, get into their head and have horrible slumps. Derek Jeter didn't have a lot of them, but he had a few of them. And he once talked about it. Derek Jeter said, I want to be around positive, optimistic people. I don't want the sport in my head.

If Otani was out there, knowing that he did something to end his career, don't you think he'd be stressed a little? But if he was lied to, stolen from, duped, which happens to all celebrities at some point, big, level, small, then he could just be like, hey, I'm a victim, it happens, I've got to move on. I'd be a rich victim, but a victim nonetheless. It'd be like getting rear-ended, pulling into the ballpark. Well, it's not my fault.

Insurance will take care of it. I'm going to go take some swings. But as I watch Otani, I don't see an evil, deceitful kid. I see a quiet kid who got married in the off-season. Got married in the off-season. Teammates didn't know. Nobody knew. He's kind of quiet for a superstar, very warm, very light.

They say in the Dodger Clubhouse, It's brought everybody a little bit closer. I don't know. I know guys are supposed to be great at compartmentalizing stuff. I'm not particularly great at it. If I was living some deceitful life, I think it would eat me up and stress me out, and you'd see it in my performance and my sleep and my body. You'd see it everywhere.

But if this is like as bad as some are suggesting these Vegas guys, betting on baseball for your millions of dollars, I don't know. I don't know how you compartmentalize that. Well, what about Pete Rills? Pete Rose is a different cat, was more comfortable with it, and it was a different time. He didn't have Twitter and YouTube

and blogs and pods talking about him every day. You had newspapers, you barely had sports talk radio for most of his career. It's a different ballgame now. Controversy is an avalanche that you can't avoid. Back then, as a few letters

to the editor, maybe an angst-ridden columnist, you just didn't read the paper. For most of Pete Rose, his career. It wasn't even sports talk radio, except maybe in New York or Philadelphia. So I don't know. I go back to this thing. Baseball has a lot of inactivity. In very few, I don't see Mahomes going on a bad six-week stretch. I don't remember Michael Jordan having like nine games he couldn't hit the mid-range jumper. I've seen baseball players get into their head and go into the tank. And I'm talking all-time guys. Wouldn't this

affect Otani more. His exit velocity on a couple of his hits yesterday were harder than any Dodger hit last year or second hardest. That's my take. Dodgers are good. Otani's amazing. This would be eating people up if he was

living a gigantic lie. I'm going to be proven wrong potentially on all of this, but it just feels like the kid foreign land got duped. That's what it feels like. I'm not protecting anybody. You know, I'm not a guy that lives and breathes with baseball. That's what it feels like to me.

J. Mack, watching that tournament, my tar heels. Oh. A fight, but Alabama got really hot. How about that choke job by UNC? Oh, my God. Well, I mean, Alabama was pretty good. You lead by one with 50 seconds left, and you got like a power forward jacking up a three-pointer. Well, it wasn't a great shot.

Did you hear Jim Jackson the announcement? No. The guy shoots it. It bricks off the back of the rim. Jim Jackson goes, why? Oh, yeah, yeah. I heard that. What are you doing?

I felt bad for the kid, but that was a terrible shot. It's they're young. It's the tournament. It's a one-point game. It's sudden death. There is no game tomorrow if you lose. Well, it's over. Season done for UNC.

Arizona out. You wanted chaos. A number one seed goes down and two two seeds go down. My Iowa State Cyclones looked disgusting last night. Tough loss for your boy. All right. So we have the NFL league meetings wrapped up. And Jerry loves the spotlight.

He said something yesterday, which is true, but could make his head coach a little uncomfortable. 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. 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. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clipper Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media.

Somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always.

always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. 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 is big to me, not just because of crack.

I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you 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 this hate. 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. So the NFL league meeting sort of wrapped up. Yeah, the big owner's there, the GM's there, the coaches there. They do it every year. You got some news occasionally. Jets denying that Robert Saul and the owner has.

a heated conversation. Jerry Jones is not going to give Dak Prescott an extension during the season. He said, let it play out. He's not going to give Mike McCarthy a head coach an extension, which, by the way, at the college level, it can hurt recruiting. If your coach doesn't have an extension, people use it against you, but in the NFL, nobody cares. You select the players. The players don't select you in most instances. So Jerry Jones was asked about not giving Mike McCarthy in extension, and he said, most of America gets up, and they don't have it guaranteed right in front of them.

He said, I've had coaches in their final year before. I'm just comfortable with it. I'm sure he is. This is why I think the Cowbell, always a noisy franchise. They have a coach on the hot seat in September. DAC final year of his contract, no guarantees, and they don't have any money to make real moves like other teams in their division did.

What's fascinating is, in May last year, I'm not sure if there's a set date, but the NFL schedule release is after the draft. The Cowboys play 11 playoff teams. That's a staggering number. And they also got the short end of the stick here. They got the AFC North, the best division in football. So they will face the most improved team in the league, potentially, Atlanta on the road, Deshawn Watson and Cleveland on the road, Russell Wilson and the Steelers on the road,

and the Niners on the road. And because they were first playoff, in their division, they get a first place schedule. They also face the Texans, the lions, and the Ravens. They get Joe Burrow in the Bengals home. Start looking around. That's really tough. Now, there would be a way to gain some inertia, some momentum,

and keep the wolves at bay if you got, you know, let's say you get Carolina at home early, or you get some of those NFC South teams early. you get the Giants and the commanders, but the league likes to put your division games as much as they can in December, those decision-making games, right? You want Philadelphia, Dallas. One of those games will be like the last week or next to the last week. So the schedule release for Dallas, same for Chicago. When you have a coach on the hot seat, Chicago and Dallas, the schedule matters a lot. It doesn't matter necessarily for San Francisco, Detroit, Green Bay, New England's got a new coat, so does Atlanta.

Your schedule doesn't mean much. For the Bears and for the Cowboys, and look at that Cowboys schedule. Burrow, Lamar Jackson, you start looking at that home and road schedule. A lot of star quarterbacks in there. They get San Francisco, Baltimore, and Joe Burrow in September. You get off to a one-and-three start for a noisy franchise,

coach on the hot seat, DAC in a contract year? Just saying Jerry might be comfortable. America might be comfortable, not having that extension in front of them. I think Mike McCarthy would like to have it. J-Mack with the news.

No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Huh, I look like about seven wins, seven losses on that schedule to me, so, uh... I feel the exact same way. I don't know. That might be an under, and that's just being generous.

You know, the ball bounces the other. They're over under is 10 and a half. So you think Dallas is going 11 and 6 with that schedule? No. No. That's not great. It has to play first place teams. Yeah, yeah, very difficult.

Let's start with the Eagles in their division. So Jalen Hertz did not perform incredibly at the end of last season. Eagles lost six of seven. Hertz took a lot of the blame. I thought it was probably too much on him. But Nick Siriani also did. owner Jeffrey Lurie wants Hurtz to be himself next season. I want him to be authentic, and that's what he is.

It's the worst thing to be 24, 25, and to try to be something. Be authentic as he is. He's an excellent, excellent example. Like every quarterback goes through ebbs and flows in their career, and so there were so many ups, and then we had a really, you know, difficult final five, six games of the year. he will adjust to that and lead the way because he's really respected for being who he is. I like that.

When you're young, you're trying to find yourself. I like that. It's weird that he's making it about hurts. I know that's a fun storyline, but it felt to me like the defense is what let them down. Remember that Niners game? I mean, Niners scored like seven straight possession. I think you have to, I mean, Mahomes last year had great support defensively and so did Lamar. but I think by and large, NFL teams now are trying to keep the defense young and cheap.

I don't think you can rely on defense. Now, again, Mahomes has carried that franchise and also last year he was carried for a big chunk of it, but I don't think you can rely on defense. Everybody thinks the Niners are a defensive team. No, they're not anymore. Their best players are on offense outside of a boss. Well, maybe not rely on defense, but how about this? Don't give up 42 to San Fran.

Right. 33 to Dallas. Remember that? That was a tough back-to-back stretch. They had a brutal loss in Seattle, like one of those last second deals. But Arizona, I remember that game. Arizona hung 35 on them in Philly late in the season. You're like, whoa, what is going on here?

Like they just couldn't stop the big plays. Both their cornerbacks were terrible. In my mock draft for Fox Sports, I have them taking corner late first round. They need secondary help badly. Let's go easy on Jalen Hurts. He's not the reason they were terrible last year. Next up, Drake May had his pro day yesterday and got off a lot of little bit of a slow start, missing some early throws, but he did finish strong. He threw

about 70 passes, according to reports, showed off his accuracy, deep ball, and I don't know, Colin. What are you thinking here? He, he's very big and he's very strong. I don't think he's as talented as Justin Herbert, but they have, they're a comp. I think Justin is a more consistent thrower. If you look at, you know how like Jerry West was the logo? If you had an NFL logo, you could make Justin Herbert's delivery the logo. Like it looks the exact same. Some say it's mechanical. I don't think, I think these got some comps,

personality-wise, size-wise with Justin Herbert. Herbert's a more consistent distributor, the distributor of the football accurately. But I do think Washington's O-line and run game were kind of pathetic last year. So he's going to need, he's going to get hit, and I'm not taking a smaller quarterback at number two. He is a big, look, you could see this.

size of him. He's a six, four and a half, two, 30. He can get hit, and he's going to get hit in Washington as they rebuild the O line. So that's, that would be my pick. Well, let's just remember when, when Herbert was coming out, Borough went first, and the big debate was at five with the dolphins. Was it Tua or was it Herbert? And they took the small guy. And we've seen, you know, Tua kind of get banged up. Well, we've seen Bryce Young. We have, we're kind of in a negative small guy pattern right now. Like size does matter. We talked ourselves into it not mattering for years. Like, it matters.

The best quarterbacks, a lot of them are big guys, 6'5, just like when we grew up. Trevor Lawrence, Herbert's big, Stafford's bigger, Josh Allen. Mahomes is not small. Mahomes and Caleb are built alike. If you're by them, they're only like 6'1. But if you're by Mahomes and Caleb Williams, you look like they could put on 10 pounds and be a linebacker, they're thick. 2.15, 220.

And he's thick. Not easy to bring down. No. But like, that gets to the Jaden Daniels versus Drake May discussion. And like, Gina Daniels is, I mean, he's not small stature-wise, but frame-wise, he's definitely smaller than Drake May, who, I don't know, I think you've got to go May too. I can't see the argument for Daniels. Same. All right.

Final story, Colin, let's get to those upsets last night. UNC, the one seed goes down. But Arizona, just, I mean, listen, we like Clemson getting seven, but I did not think in any way, shape, or form. Arizona would lose that. Arizona is, we had UCLA's, Mick Cronin, the UCLA coach on our show this week, and he had said, Arizona could be hot and cold offensively. They kind of, you don't know the team you're getting, and last night didn't hit shots. And there are very few teams in this tournament are great offensively.

Almost everybody plays hard and has some size, but there's very few like teams offensively. You get the same performance. And that's, you know, Gonzaga has, it's one of the few programs in the country. country, you get good offense and good shooting almost every year. Gonzaga's Mark Few has built a program. They score a lot. I think they lead this tournament in three-point percentage. Outside of Gonzaga and a few others, they have nights like this. They have halves like this. RJ Davis of UNC, their Star Guard, O for nine on three, see shot four of 20. I mean, I'm watching, I'm like, wow, what's happening here? And then Caleb Love, the streaky kid from Arizona

who used to play at UNC, also 0 for 9 from 3. Yeah. And like, I don't know, man. Arizona, for whatever reason, always bumps up against it in the postseason. They just are let down after let down against lower seeds, which sets up basically like a college football elite A game, Clemson versus Alabama for a right to the final four. Yeah. Any early lean there? No, I don't know enough about either one of them.

I didn't suspect they would be here. I thought Alabama last night, for most of the second half, I thought they were the better team. They did look good. I thought Alabama was better. I bet Clemson, every game in this tournament, they've covered. They trailed for 50 seconds in the tournament. I'm on Clemson again as a dog here again. Alabama's favored by, I think, three, and the numbers have it at Alabama, too.

I just, I think Clemson just on a roll. They're playing great. Jay Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lye News. So I thought this was interesting. They have these pro days, and they don't mean a ton.

but, you know, everything is something. Nothing is everything. Michael Pennock's pro day was very unique. I don't remember most quarterbacks even running at their pro day, but he had two ACL surgeries at Indiana, and he ran at his pro day. And I honestly think it helped him in the draft, maybe significantly. There have been talk he's dropping in the first round.

He ran like a 4-5-40, and he looked, now this is what he ran like at Indiana pre-surgery's. So he is also, a lefty, which can turn some people off. Mark Dominic, a general manager formerly of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, talked about a couple of the issues with Michael Pennix. Joe Burrell came into college or through high school, into college, and then into the NFL with injury history, right? And it's kind of plagued them a little bit in the National Football League. The difference is Michael Pennix, I think, has a worse physical, like a

worst injury history. The big thing on Michael Penix, as I've lived through that, too, with John Gruden and Chris Sims is, do you want a left-handed quarterback in your system? And how hard does that make everything change, even if you like the talent of the players? So those are two things, I think, that are working against Michael Pennix a little bit that may actually have him drop down the board a little bit more than people think. Well, dropping down the board is a fascinating thing. So I guess if I could be a number one quarterback, I would want to be a number one quarterback. But other than that, I would rather drop down the board.

Can you imagine him dropping down to the board to the L.A. Rams at 19 and getting McVeighal or Miami and getting Mike McDaniel and Tyree Kill at 21? Wouldn't that be better than a defensive head coach? But here's the thing about Pennix. Let's just say he only gives you four years. So he goes to Seattle. He sits behind Gino until about Thanksgiving. And then they finally say like they did with Lamar and Baltimore, you just look better in practice. We go with you.

And he's pretty good at the end of his rookie year. and then he gives you three excellent years on a rookie quarterback deal so you can stack the roster. You wouldn't take that? Outside of like a San Francisco, Buffalo, Kansas City, Baltimore. Wouldn't the entire league take that?

I know he was hurt in college. Joe Burrow was hurt in college and perpetually hurt in the NFL. You think Cincinnati regrets drafting him? NFL can be a bit hypocritical. Deshawn Watson has torn his ACL twice. is a mess off the field, even last year. What's going on with him?

He got a guaranteed deal. If you give me winning and production and continuity for three and a half to four years in this league, I'll take it. Not if I was Kansas City, San Francisco, or Baltimore, or maybe Buffalo, but almost for the rest of the league, I would on a rookie deal. You know, my friends, Joe, I lease everything. I lease cars. I lease golf clubs. I'll go out in a boat two times a year. I don't own much.

I tend to lease my fun. And I don't, right now in Los Angeles, I'm a renter. I'm okay with it. I don't think you have to own that much, right? Like, I really don't. I got my family. I sleep well. I'm good.

I don't have to own a lot. And the other thing is, I just, we forget that brief success, even historically, Troy Aikman, Troikman had like five years. Three Super Bowls, 92 to 96. His career, Sandy Kofax, had three unhittable years. Consider the best pitcher ever. Terrell Davis is a Hall of Famer.

Remember John Elway was going to Super Bowls and getting smoked and he got Terrell Davis? Four years, two Super Bowls. He had a headache issue, migraine issue. He had about four great years. A Hall of Famer. Todd Gurley for the Rams For about four years was money Those Jared Gough-McBay teams

The one that got to the Super Bowl That was a Todd Gurley team That was not a Jared Gough team And so we don't Do we think less of Akeman or Sandy Kofax? And I'm not saying Michael Pennix is going to be that But this idea that you have to marry everybody a date Own every car

Always have to buy and not rent Can't lease your fun In the NFL outside of like four great teams four or five great organizations. If you said, okay, you get four excellent years with panics on a rookie deal where you can load the roster up and you win 10 to 11 games.

And I think he's that kind of talent. Because Seattle's got two backs, their left tackle, linebackers, corners, excellent receivers and Noah Fant, I think is still their tied in. Like Seattle's got players. They got, they don't,

you don't have to carry that franchise. I mean, Gino Smith got to approval. You don't have to carry the franchise. Come in, hand it off, play action pass. Seahawks coordinator is, Pennix is coordinator in college. But there's this idea that everything is long-term. Very little in life is your 401k.

Your 401k, invest, don't touch it. Do everything you can to stay away from your 401k. Your kids, your wife, hopefully that's long-term. You've got an insurance policy. If you could just say you get four years, no chaos, lot of wins, fun to watch, aerial circus. Seattle? You think they're happy where they are now?

Or they would take that? I would take it. You think Denver? When's the last time Denver was great? It was a Peyton Manning years. You don't think Michael Pennix on a rookie deal? Cortland Sutton, they just went and got Josh Reynolds, Dremes, another guy. I don't know.

I think sometimes everybody, not everything has to be long term. Not everything has to be long term. Like life's a series of chapters. Michael Penix, four or five years. And by the way, Deshawn Watson has had two ACL surgeries. Got a guaranteed deal. Burrow, to me, is one injury away from, we've got to draft another quarterback. You think that's crazy.

Four straight years beginning of the season, they're not ready to go. So I think Michael Pennings on a rookie deal, if he goes like 20, 21, 22, is going to be the steal of the draft. I really do. especially if he goes to a team which has got protection in a run game like a Seattle. Denver's O-line played very well last year. They got a little bit of a run game. Offensive coach. Just saying.

He had a good pro day, and he ran. And not only ran, he ran a four or five. I like your Seattle. Did you see, though, that Seattle's really hyping this Sam Howell acquisition. We love Sam Howell. Oh, he's so good. And Gino Smith is there. I don't know if Seattle's a fit now for Pennix.

I mean, logistically, it makes sense. But with Howell and Gino Smith, I mean, I don't know. I mean, they're moving on from Gino. I don't know what's going on in Seattle. I do. Oh, you do? Okay. I don't think, again, I don't think Sam Howell and Gino Smith are long-term plays.

So I think you can bring the young kid in, doesn't have to play the first year. Seattle does not have a lot of needs. What they're trying to build right now in Seattle is a very good quarterback room. I mean, again, if you think Sam, Hal and Gino are hoisting a trophy, I would, now defensive coaches generally don't have the urgency at quarterback. Offensive coaches do. We've seen offensive coaches move off Jared Goff. That's right.

We've seen offensive coaches move off Pro Bowl or Alex Smith, Andy Reid. We've seen offensive coaches move off Jimmy Garoppolo Super Bowl. Yeah. Defensive coaches don't quite have the same urgency. So maybe in Seattle, the new coach from Baltimore, he looks. at Gino and thinks we can win my way, we can run, limit the turnovers. Sam Hal has a few turnovers, by the way. He's not... A few. Yeah, he's been turnover plague. A lot of that's a terrible O-line with Washington. Seattle could be trying the San

Francisco route. Hey, let's build up every position and ultimately we will find a quarterback to plug in. Because like you said, Seattle, roster-wise? Remember they smashed that draft? Was it last year or two years ago? Two years in a row, they've had great drafts. Like Detroit Lions, Seahawks last two years have had excellent drafts. By the way, not a small thing, Celtics swept by the Hawks and something to think about. You see, Tatum got those looks late in the game regulation. Bummer. Success.

It's almost like it's a pattern. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, gang, this is Jay Glazer, host of Unbreakable, a mental wealth podcast. And every week, we will have on. leaders from sports, entertainment, like Sean McVeigh, Lindsay Vaughn, Michael Phelps, David Spade, Guy Fieri, and also those who can help us in between the ears, anyone from a therapist to someone like Ed Milet or John Gorton. We've all been through some sort of adversity.

To get to the top, we've all used different tools. Listen to Unbreakable with Jay Glazer and Mental Wealth podcast on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get 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 I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying.

Yep, that's me, Clifert Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger.

So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at Tickford. TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped 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. clear, 84 is big to me not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you 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 Podcast.

or wherever you get your podcasts. Tomorrow night, Fox Saturday baseball returns with a star-studded showdown. As Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, with the Yankees against Jose Al Thuvae and the Astros. Or the Giants take on the Padres. It all begins at 7 Eastern check for the game in your area. Ah, Yankees, nice double you. Play at the plate.

I just stay home tomorrow. It's going to be rainy and terrible watching baseball on Fox. I will be on a plane to parts of it. unknown. Sorry. Oh, I know where you're going. That's right. Vacation. Yeah, not here. Treadmill. Treadmill. Grinding out shows. So, uh, I know, I know what you're thinking. Oh, the Celtics lost. Let's talk about it. You only talk about the Celtics when they lose. Well, it's how they lose. You ever notice I talk about them when they lose close? Tatum can take over. Didn't love his last two shots in regulation. They lost to the hawks. Back-to-back losses to the hawks.

But here's why this season matters a lot for Boston. Because all the financial dynamics change starting next season. So Jason Tatum is eligible for a $340 million extension. He's going to get it. Jalen Brown just signed a five-year $304 million max extension. His cap hit will jump almost $20 million next year to $50 million. You understand that this deep. This is the deepest roster in the league.

Easily the deepest roster in the league. Much deeper than Denver. Denver's starting five, I like better. Boston goes nine deep. It's not going to look like this. Derek White is probably the best number five starter in the NBA. He just won Eastern Conference Player of the Week.

He's their number five starter. He's only under contract through next season. You're going to have to start moving off these guys. And so you're going to have Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown making max deals. It's just like in the NFL. When you pay DAC, that kind of money, you've got to move off a number two corner and a number two wide receiver. You don't have any money in free agency.

The Eagles, you know, Jalen Hurts signed that bag, and they had to move off people in the secondary, and you watch their secondary. It was hot garbage. And Bill's Josh Allen. We didn't think Buffalo had a great free agent period this year. They moved off really good players. They had to get rid of a center who will go to Jacksonville and be one of the better, maybe the best center in his. division. Well, that's what happens. The Celtics have Jason Tatum in their prime, and they got one finals trip and a loss to show for it. So they got him Kyrie Irving early in his career for

scoring, and they get him Porzingas for size, and they get him Drew Holiday for defense, and he's had Jaylon Brown the entire time, and this year, their number one record and number one point differential, and they remain an enigma in close games. Oh, and two against the Nuggets. And last night, Jason Tatum had two ISOs late in the game against Atlanta. We can show them again.

Neither one of them to me were great shots. I was talking to somebody the other day at the NBA network. That's not a good shot for a star player. That's a bad shot. Here's the second one. Sorry to the radio audience. Moves to his left. That's not a good shot.

If you're one of the best five players in the league, that's not a good shot. Those are two bad shots. against Atlanta. You think I'm being, am I being overly critical on that? Am I being nit picky on that? Not to pick nits, but that was poor spacing. Jalen Brown was in the corner,

and Tatum starts going to the corner. So Brown's guy doubles off him, didn't have a good look. You can continue to bash the Boston subject. I'm not bashing them. I'm acknowledging what appears to be a real issue. This is the year they've got to get the W. Because it looks like to me,

there are teams out there, A great example is Denver. Denver's got a better starting five, and Denver is on one of these San Antonio Spurs. If you start looking at their players and they're drafting and developing, they're going to go in about a seven-year run of being excellent. And there may be a year that Jamal Murray gets banged up or they have to move off Michael Porter. I get it. But when you get into these Kansas City Chiefs runs or the Spurs with Duncan runs,

you get these brief moments to beat them. And I don't think Denver, I don't think Denver at full strength is losing to a deeper team. a team that hasn't beaten him this year, a team in Denver that's better in late-game situations, because Yokic now is the best late-game player in the league, and Tatum's one of the more mysterious late-game players, despite his talent. The problem is the West is full of landmines, and I think we could confidently say Boston's going to the NBA finals.

Okay, I know Joel Embed is supposed to come back this weekend, but there's no challenges in the East, man. But let's be honest about landmines. For years and years when Nick Sabin was at his prime, All I heard about is landmines, Georgia, Tennessee, LSU. One games. Great beats landmines. Who's a landmine?

So let's just talk about it. Sacramento's not as good as last year. Oklahoma City's average age. Do the Lakers as the 8C. So the Nuggets got to go through LeBron and ADD. Lakers may match up with them better than any team. But you do not trust Dilo in the postseason. Yokic will be the best player on the floor.

Denver's winning the series. Lakers may match up with them best. Now, let's go to the Clippers. Wait, that's not a sweep, though, right? I know they got flipped in the conference finals. It'll be tough. Okay, fine, fine. Take the Clippers second round. Nobody cares about

sweeps. Well, I mean, if the Celtics are steamrolling, you know, two losses in the first three rounds, they're going to have a lot of rest. Let's go to the next team in the West. Clippers. You trust Westbrook, Paul George, James Hardin in the postseason. I don't. You forgot, Kauai Leonard, but if he's available, if he's available.

I'll just say this. that's a very tough series for the Denver don't. Okay, they won't sweep that one either. Maybe that goes seven. I don't know. And then in the conference finals, you got the Dallas Mavericks. No defense. Two best players don't play defense.

Phoenix Suns, duplication of mid-range shots. This idea, the West, is landmines when Kobe and Shaq were in their prime, all those landmines didn't matter. When Michael was in his prime, the Stockton Jazz were good, and the Blazers were good, and the Knicks were good, and the... It doesn't matter. Great teams win. The LSU, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, had very good teams during Sabin's run.

He beat all of them until the end for 15 years. LeBron in the East beat all of those great threats. Spolster was coaching then. Spolster was in Miami then. Why can Miami knock off of Boston? They couldn't beat LeBron. Great, big, squishes, medium and small. And there's a lot of medium in this league.

Boston is an excellent team with no trophies. Denver's an excellent team better starting five, I think better coach with a trophy. But here's the thing. All the stuff you're saying about Boston, we said about Denver heading into last postseason. Oh, Yokic wins MVP. He can't do it in the postseason. Well, what about his teammates' questions? And they go and win the finals.

Why can't Boston do the same thing this year? We never had any question about Yokic in late game situations. He was a two-time MVP and should have honestly won a third. Yeah. We never doubted his late game greatness or aggressiveness. That's all I wonder about Tatum. I don't worry about getting 27 a night against Orlando. We never had those questions about Yokic or Michael or Kobe or bird or magic.

We never had those questions. We had those questions about Carl Malone. We had those questions about Clyde Drexler. We have those questions about Jason Tatum. I don't buy into this. Well, Denver won't sweep people. Who cares? It's not like Gordon and Porter and Yokets are old guys.

It's not an old Lakers. Lakers need sweeps. Milwaukee's old. They need sweeps. The longer the Nuggets go, though, the more likelihood of an injury, the potential for a Jamal Murray issue to pop up. Cadavius Colwell Pope is an older guy. They have no bench whatsoever.

Denver has literally no bench. They had no bench last year. Well, Christian Braun emerged that he's like their only guy, and they had the guy who ended up in Indiana. Bruce Brown was very good off the bench last year. I don't know. I mean, again, I'm poking holes in the number one team. I don't think Denver's a lock to get to the finals.

I think Boston is a 100% stone cold. Well, I think Boston will get in, too. But I think you're overvaluing talented players. Clippers aren't a great team. I'll say this again. I've been saying this now for two months. The Lakers match up with Denver better than anybody. I do not think they beat him,

but I think they could beat them in games. Now, they haven't done that the last two years. They can't even beat them in the game. But they do match up with them well. But I have a huge issue with the Lakers, and that being DeAngelo Russell, when he's on the floor with LeBron, can just disappear, can shrink. And I don't have any of those concerns with Denver.

I never had any of those concerns with San Antonio. But the Lakers have a big coaching edge, Darvinham v. Michael Malone. Here's another thing. I can make an argument that tougher conference is an advantage. Alabama was in the toughest conference. It hardened them for the biggest games. I mean, to me, I mean, I could argue when the Rams won the Super Bowl,

the Niners were great. Seattle was very good. I think Kansas City goes through the AFC. It hardens the Chiefs for the Super Bowl. Tough run through the AFC. Almost didn't make it out. Almost. Almost.

I hear a lot of almost. Hour two next. 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, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On The Look Back at a podcast. It's a big moment for me. 84 is 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. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win.

Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve

to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, Follow at Clifford and at TikTok's podcast network on TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast, guaranteed human.