The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 3 - NFL, World Series

Episode Date: October 28, 2022

Tom Brady was given way more power in Tampa than he got in New England Preview of game 1 of the World Series    Guests: LeRoy Butler, John SmoltzSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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.

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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 need to. Listen and learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet,

or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd. Now let's get this party started. to Fox Sports Radio. Fox Bet Super 6 has already given away over $1 million of Terry Bradshaw's money this season,

and everyone has another free chance to win 100 grand this Sunday. Download the Super 6 app and enter your six picks in the NFL Sunday Challenge contest for a chance to win. Colin, one of the matchups is 49ers at Rams on Fox. I already locked in Rams 17, 49ers 13. I'll tell you what. You did a great job because you convinced me. I think you're on the right side. I love the Niners, but you, that Debo injury, if you tell me he doesn't play, I'd take the Rams.

Well, waiting for the practice report today. You made really good points on that. I didn't know Van Jefferson was back because that was one of those games. I just didn't have a feel, so I didn't even, and you do very good job on injury stuff. So your argument for the Rams is a great argument. Now they just need to win. Yeah. He has a podcast called Leap 36.

It's Leroy Butler. He's a Hall of Famer, 12 years, 4. Bulls, two Super Bowls, and he's joining us. So listen, I said before, sometimes you can be right about something, but I don't love how you deliver it, right? Like, as a dad, sometimes I'm upset with my kids, and my delivery mechanism is lousy, and I've learned that as a dad. I don't mind what Aaron said.

I just wish you didn't go public with it. Is that fair? I think it's very fair. And to your point, just like Democrats have great policies, but their message. is terrible. Republicans, they just get in line and tell me what to do, even if it's illegal, I'll do it,

but they stick together. So, Colin, what I'm saying is, when you're in a locker room, Lee Rimmel told me this. You're not talking to the media or you're talking to the fans. You're talking to the locker room.

Yeah. So he said, be measured about what you're saying so people can understand it. Because again, Colin, you got kids in there, 21 to 31 to grown men. How do you get on the same page?

And that's what leaders try to figure out. Yeah. I said this. It did feel like for the second time in a couple of weeks. First, Aaron said, you know, our offense needs to be simplified. And Matt Lafleur said, I don't even know what that means. And then this week he took a shot publicly and said, you know, we got to get new guys' reps. And it wasn't like mean-spirited, but it was a couple of shots at Lafleur,

which I would prefer, Aaron, just go to Lafleur and bark at him in the office. how do you think that stuff lands with Matt because he's getting a lot of heat right now? Well, there is no new guys. I mean, the guys are there. But I think what the Packers do, even when you see Tony going to Kansas City or even Robbie Anderson, you know, going to Arizona, receivers into one of the Moors, DJ Moore, Elijah Moore, any one of those guys would have came in a week ago. We wouldn't have this problem.

But to your point, the messaging really has to come from the head coach. Now, what we did in the 90s, we had a committee. That committee will go and figure out what's going on with the team, especially in losing streets, okay? Because you sometimes, because no young guy, you know, Romeo Dobbs is not going to walk out to Aaron Rogers and say, hey, listen, that path was well off. Can you get it up a little bit? He's not going to do that. So what you want him to do, have a clear, clear the air to say, the coach is the leader.

I facilitate his message, not my own, not my own. And even if there's some differences, because I'm a big fan of Matler Floor, and I really think these guys, remember, they're close in age as well.

Right. But Matt LaFlewold is the head coach. So they'll get it. All they got to do is beat Buffalo. Everything will be fine, but it may not be. And if it's not, how do you deal with it?

Well, it is, you know, it's interesting on this. The, um, one of the reasons I like bringing you on, Roy, is that you talk to the audience, right?

When you do local radio, you are really in the belly of it, and I'm not. I'm an outsider. So when you take calls on this, on this, the blame pie, when you take calls on this, you know, Packer fans, Colin, you're too hard on Aaron. What are your callers in Green Bay say on Aaron taking shots at the young guys? What do they say?

But they're not happy about it. I will say that. They say it's not helpful. Do it another way. And then some people say, well, you know what? It's brilliant what he's doing. He's putting all the pressure on him

and taking it off of the younger guys. So it depends on what do you think. And I think you could be an Aaron Rogers saying and still be critical at times. Sure. I mean, there's no, it's not wrong with that. I mean, I just think for the most part, when you start to say those guys, you know, because I take a lot of therapy, Colin,

and one thing about the therapist tell you, I want to talk about the man in the mirror. I don't want to hear about your family, your ex-girlfriend, why you didn't get this raised. Let's talk about you first, because once I fix you, you can fix everybody else around you. So I would say this to Eric, and I would say this if you was on this show. I love you, my brother. I know what you're trying to do. let's take a different route to grandma's house. Whether or not we take these routes, it don't matter, but let's just get the grandma's house.

Yeah. No, that's what I said. Listen, with kids, I can be right, but sometimes my delivery is lousy. So you play Buffalo this week. Oh, boy. Yeah, that is an old boy. I think Green Bay will be an effective team early. They have gotten into a tendency where Green Bay is very good on script early,

and they just have nothing in the second to which I say, A lot of that is they're limited offensively. So they can practice ski. This is like two in Miami. Excellent coaching. Get you on the board. 12 scripted plays. But second half is playmaker time.

They don't have a lot of playmakers. And I think that's just, I think that's where I defend Aaron. It's a bunch of kids. I don't, that's why I'd go get Chase Claypool or somebody. What do you, what's your theory on the second half?

Because Green Bay right now is a one half football team. Yes. That's a great question. I think if it was me, I would look at the Buffalo thing. I didn't think that Daniel Jones could beat the Packers. I didn't think Zach Wilson can beat the Packers. And I certainly didn't think Tyler Heineke could beat the Packers. I mean, there's no top receivers in none of those three teams, but they have receivers that catch the ball and go where they're supposed to go. And there's no stress. And that's what Aaron meant. This could be good for us. Because the young guys, we have nothing to lose. We can go up there and play a team. And congratulations to Buffalo for getting their new stadium. They should have won the Super Bowl two or three years ago with all that talent. Right, right.

It's not played on the paper. So you have a chance, but you've got to execute. Yeah. So people can like Matt LaFleur. Here's where I would level some criticism. I think Aaron Jones is the second best offensive player on Green Bay. and Lefleur's reputation was, this was his reputation. He builds running games.

Sometimes Aaron Jones just doesn't get the ball enough. I mean, the Giants, they know Barclay's their guy. He is like Derek Henry in Tennessee. He's our guy. Is it a fair criticism to say, Matt, you're not using your best players enough? Of course. And I think he'd be okay to that. I think sometimes timing, it could be the RPO's.

We didn't have that with the West. coast offense. It was a built-in audible system, but if a guy come down in the box, you normally were audible and throw the ball. But Aaron Jones, as you talked about, he's one of these platinum running backs. You can give it to him anyway.

But here's the problem, though. The defenses know what we're saying. Aaron, I think average six yards of throw. They're going to just play cover two and stack up for the run. But again, the reason why the commanders won that game,

they ran the ball regardless. It didn't have three and out. That's time, but we ran the ball. And then they were able to open up the passing. So maybe that's something the Packers will get into. All right. Give me your gut feeling this weekend. I think it's close, early, blowout late.

What are your thoughts on it? It's hard to say in the NFL, but I got Buffalo 27, 10 to the Packers. The Packers haven't scored in the 20s and seemed like forever. Right. And again, Buffalo coming off a bye week. I get it. Everything is in their favor. Right.

Anything can happen. All right. Leap 36 is his podcast. He's got a vodka behind that. How about that? Look at that. I got your jersey. I got your jersey.

I got to mail it to you, though. All right. I'm ready for it. You guys. Talk is cheap. Mail. Look at that thing. It's got my name on it.

Yeah, I got your name on it. Yeah. All right. I got you. All right. Tell my producers. You have expensive mailing stuff to California. Leroy, it's a pleasure, buddy.

Thanks a lot, Colin. Take care, buddy. All right, one of the really good dudes, Hall of Famer. 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 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, Clifford 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 IHeard 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. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast.

Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of taun tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind 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. 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 all 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. And, 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. Uh, J-MAC, it's time for the news. No, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news. These former quarterbacks love to pop off.

You know, they play for a team, then they come in the media. and then they just sound off, say whatever they want. So last night, the newest guy, Ryan Fitzpatrick. He was on the Amazon broadcast. If you watched it, after the Bucks lost, he did not mince words when discussing what the heck happened in the Bucks. I didn't want to believe it coming into this game. I tried to drink the Kool-Aid. I thought they were going to come out and do it, but this offense is broken.

They are absolutely broken right now. They're lost. It was tough to watch today because that. That's not the bucks of old, and I don't see a fix anytime soon. Yeah. He's not a huge fan of Brady. Did Patrick? Yeah, because Brady, when he did beat Tom, the one time I think he beat him, Tom wouldn't shake his hand.

And so Fitz is like, you know, I shook your hand a lot when you beat me. So he had a good point. He said Tom's kind of a bad sport, and I listened to his story, and he wasn't wrong. You know the great quote after that. What? Show me a good sport, and I'll show you a loser. Now, let's stop with that. You can be a good sport. There's some class in sports.

Hey, why don't you read that text you or read to me in between the break about a... I like putting coward on the spot. All right. My friends think I'm, they think I'm mean to J-Met. My friends are all like, you know, you're not that nice to them. And I'm like, you know, sometimes you can't be nice to people that are annoying. Oh, that's a sick bird. Oh, my goodness.

We need to call the paramedics. It's a third-degree burn. All right, next up, Jerry Jones. It's known for making headlines earlier today. He went on the radio, you know, because this is what NFL owners do. They go on the radio, obviously. And he was on 1053, The Fan, showed some love for this receiver who's a free agent right now. OBJ, sparking speculation.

Here's Jerry Jones on the radio. Oh, brother. I think Odell Beckham is, we know, firsthand. He made the greatest catch that I've seen, I believe, other than the one Desmaid for the touchdown against Green Bay. But bottom line is, Odell is a player that I admire a lot. Owner, going on the radio to talk about a potential free agent receiver. Got to love it.

But Dallas could use him, right? You just paid Michael Gallup a lot of money. I know, but they are really seedy lamb reliant. I think in the NFC, here's a prime example. Philadelphia is stacked. Everything else is wide open. So Dallas has a championship defense. and a coach who's been in playoff games.

OBJ to Dallas is not a bad move. And DAC's a veteran OBJ. Anywhere's a good move. My conspiracy theory around this, if I could share it with you. So the big story in Dallas this week that Jerry's not talking about is his boy, Ezekiel Elliott,

is going to miss the game doubtful. Secretly, Cowboys fans are excited because Tony Pollard is a better running back. He's faster. He hits the whole quicker, better vision. Jerry doesn't want to hear that because he loves Ezekiel Elliott.

So he's steering the conversation. away from Pollard v. Zeke to, hey, OBJ, because, you know, the sheep are easily distracted. I will say this. OBJ to Dallas, I would think of them differently. That's another weapon. Gallup, you know, CD Lam's great. I love that tied in when he's healthy. Michael Gallup is fine. He feels like a week or two than a one. But OBJ is the classic McCaffrey. Six targets, four catches. He finds his way to the end zone a lot. He's really good over the middle. OBJ to Dallas makes, hey listen, you're going to face Philadelphia. You better have a better.

That offense is not going to move the ball up. You're going to need playmakers against the Eagles if you're the Cowboys. That old line of Dallas right now. They're not, they just brought in Robert Quinn. That means Dak, when he faces Philly, he's going to need a weapon. I think OBJ to Dallas is interesting. I can see it now. I lose my shirt when the Cowboys lose to the Bears, and then you come in Monday,

and your lead story is, go get OBJ, Dallas needs a weapon. It's not terrible. Not terrible. All right, let's wrap up with the NBA. Again, more breaking news here in the last hour, last 15 minutes, actually. So Anthony Davis tweaked his back in the loss of the nuggets. I joke that he was slow getting down the court a lot. Apparently, it's no joke.

Anthony Davis questionable for tonight's game against. I forget who they're playing tonight. But the bigger... Minnesota. There it is, Minnesota. Russell Westbrook will return to action tonight, but he's coming off the bench, according to the Lakers. Darvin Ham will now bring Russ off the bench with the second unit.

Second unit that features Troy Brown, who you have no clue who that is. Well, maybe Austin Reeves starts now. But it's like Matt Ryan. Okay, so Russell doesn't like this. This is the new role for Russell. Shape up or ship out, Russ. This is the new role for him, and he doesn't like it. So, you know, I told you before the year, we had talked about this last year on this show.

Anthony Davis was going to have a good first half. We are four games in, and he is questionable. You guys can sense when Cowherds on something, right? He is now on the Anthony Davis train, ship him out of town. By the way, just to clarify Woge, if AD doesn't play, Russ will then start, but more likely Russ will come off the bench. Listen, I don't like betting NBA early in the season. I love betting in the playoffs.

Lakers better not lose this game tonight in Minnesota. And Minnesota is good. They got the Stifle Tower, Carl Anthony Towns. Hasn't Carl Anthony Towns own the Lakers? He has, especially from Deep. Remember last year, Pat Bette was a game Pat Bev was talking trash to Westbrook? Yeah. Patrick Beverly going back to Minnesota where they kind of liked him last year.

He was a bit of a folk hero during their playoff run, if you want to call it that. Listen, I know there's World Series tonight. I think there's a college football game. Lakers, Minnesota has to be on like at least TV two or three for you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Jay Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The Hurd Live. You know, I was thinking of this, the Brady thing, that wealth and fame, you know, it can be strange, right? You don't, it's easy for your priorities to get tweaked with wealth and fame. And, you know, Brady's divorce is final today. And it, I've said this. The two retirements that stick out to me to be perfect endings are John Elway, Super Bowl out. He could have played. John could have still played.

And Derek Jeter with the Yankees felt like this is the time. But it is interesting. At the end of Brady's career in New England, one of the things he thought about was he felt constrained in their system. Tom versus Time, the documentary, he wanted more say. He wanted more freedom. And, you know, he came to Tampa and he got it, but there was still pushback in year one and two with Ariens. Well, now Arians leaves. Tom has way more power and it's a mess.

And so, you know, I've talked about this. Brady feels in Tampa, to me anyway, he feels a little unchecked now. Ariens pushed back and then Tom pushed him upstairs. And, you know, Tom's doing Saturday meetings and then, you know, missing that for a wedding. That feels unchecked to me. And it really is kind of a cautionary tale is that, you know, everybody wants power and be careful what you wish for because ultimately Belichick said

I'll take care of the defense, we'll take care of personnel, Josh McDaniel and Tom, as we know from Tom versus time, you guys work on the offense, but Tom didn't get what he wanted all the time. Now, for 18 of the 20 years, it was fine and then we always said the fact

that it lasted this long. As great as Shaq and Kobe were in total last five, six years. Stuff doesn't last forever. But it is interesting is that, you know, MJ eventually in Washington with the Wizards, he had power. And they were awful. You know, and Farve with the Jets had power. And that was pretty awful.

And like Brady now has power and it's a mess. So, you know, nobody wants to hear this, but sometimes constraints, limitations on your power. Like LeBron came to the Lakers. And by the way, he wanted Westbrook. That is power. That deal was done. And now he has Westbrook.

And it doesn't work. like LeBron's a great player. Very few players are great GMs. Steph Curry has always let the Warriors figure that part out. Steph Curry never wants full power. That is not his thing. He said, KD, come on down. I'll take fewer shots.

Steph Curry, he's always been undervalued to me. He is willing, I'll shoot, I'll be the peacemaker. I don't want power. I'm not, you do your thing. I'll make it work. I'll make KD work. I'll make Andrew Wiggins work. I'll make Draymond work.

I'll make, you know, MJ, Brady, you get a lot of that power. It goes sideways fast. A little pushback. A little check yourself at the door. It's not a terrible thing. 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. Hey, this is Jason McIntyre.

Join me every weekday morning on my podcast, straight, Fire with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sports pod pushing the same tired narratives down your throat every day. Straight fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest sports headlines, accurate stats to help you win big at the sports book,

and all the best guests. Do yourself a favor and listen to Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre 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 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 I'll say. Yep, that's me, Cliver 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 TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast.

Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to Stuff to Blow Your Mind on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

podcast. 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 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. 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 podcasts. Well, the World Series starts tonight on Fox. Justin Verlander, who's about as good as you can be throwing a baseball at 39 years old, is going to go up against a guy a decade younger, Aaron Nola. You get Bryce Harper. The Phillies are a great story. Apparently, they have a chance to be a great team. The Astros are the villain of baseball, but appear to be really loaded in the more talented team. John Smoltz, 22 years, a World Series champ, a Cyang. The list goes on and on. So it is interesting. You know, Bryce Harper's amazing. So at 16, like a Tiger Woods, the weight of the world on his shoulders. And he got some pushback from teammates. He was a little

flashy, the big hair, incredibly embraceable. And it's crazy, but that kind of heat can melt players. He has been unbelievable in this postseason. Are even you a little surprised by how great he's been. Well, I mean, you nailed it. It was breaking into the league with the highest expectations I've ever seen of a player. And maybe went about certain things in the wrong way as young players do. He's matured. He's a veteran, believe it or not.

He's a season veteran of this game with about nine more years to go on a contract. And he's embraced everything. I've talked to people in Philadelphia. He's done everything you could ask for. And now he's delivering on the stage that you know he was. built for. I mean, this is what everybody talked about when they talked about Bryce Harper. So he came in not right mechanically because of the injury. He was struggling and the playoffs got him going. In a lot of ways, this has been the timing he and the Phillies could have used for perfect timing. And you think

about it with the new rule change, the DH, we wouldn't even be talking about Bryce Harper if it weren't the universal D.H because of the inability to throw and play the field. So sacrifice a little bit Philadelphia defensively, but they gain a lot offensively. And look, if it were me and I'm seeing this lineup card tonight, I'm circling him, he's not beating me, I'm making the right-handers behind him, do something. And Bryce Harper's not, that's what you have to think about if you're the Houston Astros. He cannot beat you because he single-handedly has been that good in the postseason. Well, we saw the Yankees shut, the Astro shut down the Yankees,

which, by the way, they've done in the last several years. They are great teams all have something in common. make a little mistake and they pounce on it. And that's what the Astros do. Tonight, Verlander goes to the mound. He still throws gas at 39 years old. But in the playoffs, he's had a couple of outings, one good, one not so good. Where is he? Compare him to 33-year-old Verlander. Where is he? Do you trust him tonight? Yeah, I know the record for the World Series is very misleading. I had to check it like 15 times to see if that was accurate because I still don't believe it. But he's a classic pitcher that

exploit the weaknesses of the other team. And he's going up against a free swinging team. So tonight's going to be one or two things. It's either going to be three solo home runs or 12 strikeouts. And it could be both because that's what the Philadelphia Phillies do. They're up there to swing. They don't really have a lot of change in approaches. And if he's at top of his game, Justin Verlander can expose the top of the zone better than anybody. And that's what I'm looking to see. Top of the own fastball, curveball sliders off the plate. And he's going to have to, the Phillies are going to have to make him throw some strikes. If they don't, then he can have whatever he wants to do with the stuff he has. So it's really going to come down to some aggressive first-style,

first pitch hitting and whether or not they get a pitch that they can handle because Justin Burlander has, as I called him forever, the 10-speed bike. He still has seven gears of his 10 left at 39. He still can rev it up there, but he's a command pitcher. He's cerebral. He knows what he's doing and he will definitely get the ball to the weakest spot that a hitter has. You know, it's interesting. Some of the stuff in the postseason was kind of predictable. The Mets didn't have enough sticks, and we saw it. You kind of knew that as the season progressed, just didn't have enough sticks. Yankees, you know, the injury to an outfielder, the lead-off hitter, their pitching was suspect when King went down. So we saw that. A lot of the things

are predictable in baseball over the course of a season. Dodger fans worried about their pitching in big spots. It ended up being a problem against, you know, the Padres. The Phillies, did you project this? I mean, are they a great team or are they a great story with a great hot star? What do you make of them? Houston, if you stack them up, it's the better roster, right? The pitching. Yeah. What do you make of Philadelphia? How would you label them? Well, I think they were built for the postseason. And many people didn't give them a chance. In June, I remember doing a game. They had just fired their manager, Gerardi. And I figured, like, look, if they could show up a couple things, every team has warts.

They hid the warts with their top starting pitching, the top three guys were able to shorten the bullpen, which was a story for so many years. Their defense has been not great. Right. And they were able to hide some of that. But what they are built for is this moment. And I don't think this is the formula for every team that gets in the postseason, just get in, because, by the way, they just got in, and now they're here in the World Series.

but they do enough things that allow them to be as confident as they are right now. They're not a super analytical team. They don't go by every single dot and I, but they basically roll out the guys and they play, and they give those guys confidence. And I think that's a scary team to play when they're just kind of flying by the sea of their pants going, hey, we're as good as you, and we can win this thing.

So that's what I think they are, and I think they answered a lot of critics this year, and it has definitely been an incredible run. You know, I saw off this series for a second, game one tonight, Astros and the Phillies. You know, Aaron Boone, in baseball right now, you know, the GMs often make up the lineup card. The analytics crew tells you the pitching moves. So I tend to give baseball managers a little bit of a break, whereas I'd be tough on a football coach after seven games if they're one in six. The Yankees, there's Aaron Judge issues.

At the end of the year, they just weren't as good a team. What do you make of the reports? Aaron Boone comes back. You know, I just thought it was an explainable end of the season. What do you make of the constant criticism of Major League Baseball managers when analytics has largely taken some of their decision-making out of their hands, much to their chagrin? We're seeing it more and more. And I think, what, three, four years ago, when, you know, you speak up against it, you're shouted against.

And now you're starting to see the evidence of things that are happening more and more. It's not a one-off. And you've got to have some feel. You've got to have some gut. You've got to have the information. You can't pour everything in one bucket. And look, certain teams are built for the regular season. I can say that the New York Yankees are built for the regular season.

But what happens is you hope that those things that you are trying to avoid showing up don't show up in the postseason and they have. So they've run up against a team that's complete as I've ever seen in Houston. Over the last six years, they have been able to, in their formula, limit strikeouts in their offense and strike everybody out in their defense. And their defense has been really good too. So it's not a fluke. that Houston's been here the last four out of six years. And it's not a fluke that some of these

other scenarios that you're talking about have happened because when you run by the numbers and you let a 162 campaign run your best of five or best of seven, you're chalking up a lot of things to over 162 that might work. That doesn't really work in a best of seven sometimes. And we're seeing that play out. And some lessons have to be learned. And we're seeing some teams flourish who have the balance of eyes and numbers. Yeah. And that's the Phillies. By the way, Game one tonight. Houston coverage, 7 Eastern on Fox. John, Joe Davis, every game. They may be the villains in baseball, but they are stacked.

Ask the Yankees. Houston probably favored, should be favored. John Smoltz, 22 years in the sport. Today was lousy weather. Hurry, or he'd be on the golf course. I wouldn't blame him, but I appreciate you stopping by the show, John. My pleasure. Thanks for having me. Yeah.

You know, Houston, you know, villains aren't terrible. People in Los Angeles don't like the Astros much. but villains aren't terrible. The way they became a villains bad, not great. But, you know, the other night, I was telling a friend this, is that I watch more football, but my favorite sports movies are baseball. Moneyball, I think, is an absolutely amazing movie. And so the other night, I watched about 45 minutes of it.

And it is interesting about baseball because so much of its rich history, the lore, the nostalgia of it, it makes great books and it makes great movies. and I was talking to a friend about this. I said, there's not a football movie ever made I love. But Bull Durham, Field of Dreams. I think Moneyball is just a great movie, period. I think Moneyball, if I had my 20 favorite movies of all time, money ball makes it.

I mean, that's how much I love. Wait, wait, top 25 movie all time, regardless of genre? Moneyball is a great movie. I agree. I said this once about Spider-Man. Nobody would ever give, you could not go to the Oscars and give Spider-Man an award. Spider-Man was a great movie. Yeah.

You know, I mean, literally, it's a great movie. Though, I've never given any thought. I can't imagine a top 25 movie of mine all time being a sports movie. But I do love Moneyball. I have a lot of comedies in my top. Have you read the book Moneyball? I did not. I watched a movie.

Oh, it's a top. Michael Lewis is you should automatically be anything he writes. Yeah, Moneyball is, you know, I'm, my favorite book ever is Walter Isaacson and wrote to Steve Jobs book, which is like four books in one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It literally, you learn about tech, you learn about Bill Gates. It's four books in one. Money Ball's Top Ten Book.

It's a great book. What's the best movie you've seen recently, Coward? Because I know you're not going to the cinema a lot. I don't go to the theater. So you're just watching streaming stuff? Yeah, I mean, I'll be honest with you. I watch Top Gun. It's not going to win an award, but it was eye candy.

It was fun. Will you watch the new Black Panther movie coming out? I don't watch a lot of... You're not a Marvel guy. That's not... You know, I watched an Avengers movie. That's not, if my son wanted to watch it. And Avengers, it would be like nine of them.

Well, I would watch, if my son's, if I'm going to be with my son this weekend, if he said, hey, dad, you want to watch it with me? Yes, I'd watch it. Yeah. But you, that first Black Panther cowherd was one of the best superhero movies ever. It was awesome. Yeah, so my son said. Oh, I asked him his favorite movie, his favorite superhero movie ever.

That's exactly what he said. I took my kids to the cinema and, spoiler alert, when they're tossing Black Panther off the waterfall, my kids literally got to the edge of their seat and were, and we're nearly crying. No, I'll never forget it the rest of my life. It was a long. That movie's great. All right.

Phillies Astros, game one tonight. Not a great weekend of college football. Tennessee, Kentucky, good future NFL. If you want to scout NFL quarterbacks for the 23 draft, Hendon Hooker versus Will Levis. Yes, but they're both going to play in the NFL. Levis should be a... I think they're both first round picks.

Levis will be a top 10 pick. Hooker will be drafted somewhere early, but I don't know. Clats. top 20, I think he's, we'll see, listen, if he plays well against Georgia in two weeks, I don't see how you keep poker out of like the top 15. Dude, Alabama. He could run at Virginia Tech, and now he's become an awesome pocket passer. You meld that two together.

There's a good story on the internet this week about how pocket passers are struggling this year and the running quarterbacks are excelling. Well, we saw, by the way, Justin Fields and Foxborough was a huge dilemma for Belichick. Yeah. And they, by the way, Luke Getsey, the coordinator for the Bears, leaned into it. I mean, they leaned. I mean, you saw last night in the second half. Lamar, a lot of horsepower, a lot of problems.

Yeah. All right. Tough economic times. Precious metals, maybe the way to go. Go to buylegacygold.com. Buylegacygold.com. We'll see you Monday. First thing's first is around the corner.

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. Listen to humor 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 and learn the hard weight with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games.

This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen to learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of taun tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith Rule of Two.

Listen to Stuff to Blow Your Mind on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.