The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd-HOUR 2-Zion, Dak Prescott

Episode Date: August 13, 2020

Colin talks about Zion Williamson rookie season, and some interesting facts about Dak Prescott's stats.Guests: Brady Quinn, Joe Vardon Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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. A win is a win.

A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford 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 Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok's podcast network on TikTok. On the Look Back at it podcast.

For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's big to me. I'm Sam J. 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 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. 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. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. There we go.

It's our two. We're live in Los Angeles. Three hours of fun. This is The Herd, wherever you may be in. However, you may be listening, we're on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. It's an absolute pleasure. By the way, I will be on Bill Mars show tomorrow real time, which has always been one of my favorite shows. Very exciting.

Yeah, Bill is well-read, well-versed. He's got polarizing factor, which I love. You know, I love that. Three hours of fun. I think that should be our, like, should be our tagline. The herd. Three hours of fun.

Yeah. We're three hours of something. I don't know if it's that, but we're three hours. I have fun for three hours. By the way, Joy has, in about 25 minutes, has a great point in the update that I never thought of.

It's a great point. Not surprised that she would unveil it to me, but it's fascinating. And we're going to get to it in about 25 minutes. Well, I want to start. with this. So Zion Williamson's rookie year's over. So it's over. And I'm going to read you the numbers. They're pretty good numbers. They're about what we predicted before the season. 22 and a half points, six rebounds, two assists, and he shot 58% from the field. He didn't play much, 24 games.

What if this is what he is, special but infrequent? You know, I used to have this, I used to do this all the time with a friend of mine, Joe. And he said, would you, would you rather go to 12 NBA games and have bad seats or two and have great seats. And I was always like, oh, I'd take two. If you put me on the floor for two games, I'd take that over 12 in the upper deck. And I said, to me, it's just an argument over, would you rather eat once at a great steakhouse or four times at, you know, shaggies down the street, which has health violations? Give me quality over quantity. What if this is Zion Williamson? He's great but infrequent. He's a 53 a game guy every single. He's a guy every single. He's a guy. season. I mean, Kauai Leonard, last two years, his average 60. You wouldn't take him? Shaq in his prime was playing 66 to 69. You wouldn't take him? I'm a quality guy.

Kansas City won a Super Bowl. Mahomes missed two games and was hurt for three others. Like, everybody gets caught up and, well, he's not there. He, Shaq didn't even like to practice. Shaq missed all sorts of games. You know, this goes to my Tua argument. I think Tua is going to be a really special NFL quarterback. If you told me today, two is only going to play for the next eight years, 13 games a year, it's not ideal. It would be great if everybody's LeBron. They play for 17 years and get hurt once. But that's not the way the world works. Some people get sick more often at work. Some people have underlying medical issues. Some athletes, you know, they get banged up more. If Zion is as good as I think, these are his rookie numbers. Twenty-two a game, six

rebounds, 58% shooting. If he becomes, I mean, can we add five, six points on? I think we can. If he becomes a 27 point a game, nine rebound guy, never great defensively, but just hell of fun to watch. And I get him for 58 games a year. You do realize Adam Silver

is trying to reduce the number of games in the NBA season, which I wholeheartedly agree with. I have no idea with the NBA travel and the 7,000 calories a player can burn in two-hour, three-hour NBA game, why you'd play 82 games. You want him healthy for the postseason. Play 65, 68. Boom. Let's get to the playoffs. Three game first round, five game second round, seven game conference

finals, seven game NBA final. Let's make urgency. Let's make a matter. Let's keep these guys healthier longer. Most guys aren't LeBron. They get hurt over the course of a time. They wear down. Even the late Kobe Bryant, last couple of years, he was getting banged up. It happens to the all-time greats. So, you know, it's funny about this. There's something about the NBA guys were bothered when they missed games. Ask yourself, Aaron Judge is the best baseball player. He's certainly the face of baseball. Aaron Judge has missed at least 50 games the last two years.

Nobody talks about it. J.J. Watt has missed half of the Texans games the last four years. Nobody bangs on him. Why are we banging on NBA guys? It's hard. The travels brutal. We consider them the world's best athletes, the cardio, the running up and down. the getting on a flight at 1130, flying cross-country.

The schedule's brutal. Maybe his body isn't good for it. But if you ask me, 12 NBA games in the upper deck or two on the floor, I'm taking two on the floor. I say it with two. If you give me 13 games a year, well, then it's the Miami Dolphins responsibility to have capable backups. There's a lot of good quarterbacks out there.

I mean, Tyrod Taylor was viewed as a backup quarterback forever. He's starting for the Chargers this year. Last four years, I think he's got a winning record. There's a lot of good quarterbacks out there. Get a good backup. But I would take Zion in one second. Some things are great, but they're just less frequent. Quality to me, he's worth it.

All right, so, Dak Prescott, Jerry Jones were talking yesterday. I will say this. Dak Prescott has become Derek Jeter. He talks and says nothing. Dak has got it down. I've never seen a young quarterback. DAC should run for governor after he's done being a quarterback. He says nothing and talks all day.

He has figured out exactly what to say and never say anything, you know, flammable. So he and Jerry were talking yesterday about the contract and the Cowboys. Twelve players, by the way, this year. Twelve couldn't get a deal done, got franchise. So Dak's not alone on this, and Jerry talked about his contract. We think he's outstanding. We think he's our quarterback of the future. We just couldn't get together at this particular time.

And candidly, nobody knows what's going to be there next year, next year, or the next year. So all of that came to bear, and this was just a less than stable time to be talking about serious, serious, generational, if you will, to use Dax term, dollars. For the record, they did offer him $105 million. They didn't stiff him. You know, they didn't, they didn't dine in debt. dash here, eat and run out of the restaurant. They offered them $105 million. Listen, I know people in the media whose contract is up right now.

It's a rough time to have your contract up. This is not business as usual. You sign George Kiddell and Patrick Mahomes. Those are guaranteed players. George Kittles is the best tied in football or the second best, and Mahomes is probably the best or second best quarterback in the NFL. Those are guarantees. If you have any questions, you put it off for a year. And with DAC, there are three fundamental questions. The three questions for DAC, and they're reasonable ones, how come his stats and wins against good teams have plummeted the last three years? I don't know. How come, is it DAC or Jason Garrett who is responsible for that? And the third question is, can Mike McCarthy turn DAC into rookie

DAC? So we beat the good teams and the bad teams, got him into the playoffs, and the stats were good. these are if you have questions about an employee right now you put it off for a year it is not business as usual this is not they offered him over 105 million i'm actually surprised um i'm not surprised dac was franchise i kept saying for six months on the show dallas reporters one after another would come on the show and they would say it's guarantee he's going to sign a deal and my takeaway was you only got so much money this is a salary cap league and they've signed everybody and second this is not business as usual. It's a different year. I'm shocked Ryan

Tannehill got a contract. I mean, he, to me, more than DAC, is the ultimate franchise quarterback. Because what owners and general managers use the franchise tag as, it wasn't intended to be this, but here's what it's used as now. The big question mark. It's a big box with a question mark.

And if you have one, your franchise tag. Dak, the three questions. Why can he beat good teams? Whose fault is it? Can Mike turn it around? Ryan Tannehill felt like lightning in a model to me. He faced the worst Patriots offense in about 10 years. You know, they weren't dominant in the regular season. They were healthy late. Derek Henry was on fire. They got a good playoff matchup with Baltimore and took a lead.

I would have absolutely franchised Ryan Tanna Hill. And I don't think the franchise, let's not, it's not dismissing a player. It's saying you got a question mark. And this is why we had it. And by the way, you players in the CBA agreed to it. So I do think DAC is going to be fine. I think we're going to be in the same situation one year or in six months from now that we are now where DAC will be fine. It'll be 8 and 8, 9, and 7. Numbers be good, not spectacular, and we're going to be asking ourselves, you know,

now at that point, you franchise a quarterback, they don't like it. You franchise them twice and they start screaming at you like Kurt Cousins. Like that's what it gets in six months, this could get prickly. I think Dak is serious when he's like, you know, this is great, fourth round pick, had a lot of money. Six months from now, they're 9 and 7,

they squeak into the playoffs and people, say that, then, then you may have an issue. All right, good stuff coming up. Brady Quinn played at Notre Dame. As for now, Notre Dame is playing football, but people in the Midwest who love their Wolverines and their Spartans and their Buckeyes and their badgers and their nittany lions, they're not playing football. Thoughts from a former college great NFL quarterback Brady Quinn, Fox Sports Guy, now coming up. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeard Radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. 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 eye heart. 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'm saying.

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 Cliverts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you're 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 Jette. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick you 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 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. 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, Keer Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we, are in possession of the thing, and we're still chasing it, and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses.

Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth, 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, Keer Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure and purpose on my new

podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free I Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Tonight on Thursday night baseball, NL Central rivals square off as Christian Yellich leads the Brewers against Javier Baez and the Cubs. That's tonight at 630 Eastern, 330 Pacific

on Fox and the Fox Sports app. Cubs are good. Watch out. Are they allowing, Cubs aren't not allowing anybody in Wrigleyville, are they? Are they on their roofs? Are they allowing any of that stuff this year? I see the cardboard cutout thing. I like that a lot. I'm not going to lie to you. I think it's pretty funny. I don't think they own the rooftops across the street. Yeah, no, no, it's their bars.

Yeah, some people can, I think some people can sell those seats. Have you ever been to Wrigleyville? I have, yeah. It's incredible. I haven't for a game, but. Oh, my God, it's great. If you ever, I mean, Chicago is just one of the best cities in the world. The two best things I've ever done at a sporting event in America. Well, a sporting event. Wimbledon is unbelievable. It is so British, so cheeky, it's hysterical. And going to a rooftop bar watching a Cub game, it's as much fun as you can have at any game in America.

It's so great. SEC football games, you can smell the bourbon miles away from the stadium, are really close. By the way, guys, you're getting older. MDrive4Mn.com today. MDrive for Men.com today. Get lean. All right.

By the way, in 15 minutes, less than that, Joy Taylor is going to make a great observation about the NBA that I never thought of, and it's so spot on. Let's go to Brady Quinn now, seven years in the NFL, first round pick, a Heisman trophy finalist, 36 single game and career records at Notre Dame. Brady Quinn is now joining us. So let's start with this. Big Ten's not going to play, and they're going to go to spring football. The first thing I worry about is January, February and the Big Ten is awful weather.

Just awful. It's not going to be very artistic football. But let's just talk physically. Couldn't you just have a short spring season? Take the rest of it off until a light fall camp, play in the fall. Why is that so dangerous? Well, I think it's dangerous in the sense of the intensity of actually playing games versus what spring ball really is. Typically, 10 padded practices.

And for a lot of the upperclassmen are guys who are experienced that have played, it's not viewed quite the same. It's more of an opportunity for you to continue to recover from the previous season. And to be honest, for those that care about academics, a lot of times you're pushing your most difficult courses to the spring. So, you know, really with the exception of that spring game, if you will, which again is usually rigged for one side of the other, it's just not even close to the same intensity.

So I think from the standpoint of just overall wear and tear on those student athletes, it would be a non-starter for me. I think if you ever wanted to make a point, as far as what would impact the player's safety for these young men, it would be doing just that, you know, tried to monetize off of them two seasons in one calendar year. You know, I said this about Justin Fields or Ohio State. He doesn't need to play another game.

He's going to be a top five or ten pick. 41 touchdowns, three picks. He doesn't need to beat Maryland and Purdue to be a top pick. The guy's an unbelievable talent. Mitch Trubisky started one year. Trubisky is not nearly, I don't believe, nearly the prospect of 6-3, 225, 10 rushing touchdowns as Justin Fields, who just, he looks like today's NFL. And then I think to myself, if he plays January, February, March, he could get hurt.

The weather is going to be lousy, no Toledo on the schedule. Your numbers probably come down. I don't think he'd drop a lot, but what if he has a worse season? The other thing is, Ohio State's NFL football factory. What if like six Buckeyes opt out? And he's on less of a team with the worst offensive line. Like, if I'm Justin Fields, I wake up this morning, I know there's a loyalty thing to teammates, but what about loyalty to Justin Fields?

Yeah, no, look, Ohio State, really the big, big 10 conference made it made the, you know, a business decision, if you will, right? They're trying to limit their liability. And I think Justin Fields needs to do the exact same. If they're anticipating on playing a season in the spring, which I'm still very skeptical of actually happening, I would think if I'm Justin Fields, I'm sitting out. Unless you get some sort of reassurances from the NFL that they're going to push back, the draft, the combine, all those, the different things that you prepare for.

once you do declare for the NFL draft, maybe you'd give another thought or consideration, but let's also not forget, if the Big 12 ACC and SEC, go ahead and play this fall, what are you really playing for? Just to get seven or eight more games out there on tape, to me it's not worth the injury risk. It's not really worth the risk of the fact that you're playing exhibition games

anyway, and then for someone else to make money off of you when you should be preparing for the next level so you can go and actually earn that paycheck. So it might upset some Ohio State fans, but unfortunately, this was a decision that was made by Kevin Warren, the commissioner of the Big Ten, I thought he overreacted when he decided so soon instead of waiting a couple more weeks to potentially postpone. But this was a decision that he made and put them in this place. And I think now these young men have to do what's in their best interest

and they should look towards the NFL. You know, I said my daughter's a college student. I've said this on the air. I would feel better if she was rooming with college athletes because I know they're getting tested four times a week. She's going to room with a couple of girls that aren't college athletes. I don't know what they're doing, their boyfriends, whatever. I actually think, you know, I think college athletes, Michigan, Alabama, I've seen their positivity rate. It's really impressive. As a former college athlete, you said the Big Ten pulled it too fast. Do you think we'll get this season in?

I personally do, but I've tried to be optimistic all along. You know, I think the Big 12, maybe it's set the standard down for the ACC and SEC to follow suit. And if those three Power Five conferences can go ahead and play this fall, I do think it's in the student athlete's best interest. reason being is I don't think COVID's going to go away by the time we get even to a spring season. I don't know that we're going to have a vaccination by then. And I don't know that there's any less risk. In fact, more risk, injury risk, if you will, to those players trying to play in the spring and fall like we already talked about. So I would go ahead and have them be on campus now, play now.

I think they're much more prepared for that. A lot of these schools have already been on campus since June. As you mentioned, many of them have already been going through testing. And so I think if you listen to what a lot of the players are telling you, even their parents at some universities they want them to play. They've sacrificed and prepared their entire lives for this moment, for their opportunity to play, showcase their ability to play in the NFL at some point.

So to me, that's what's most fair for these young menace to try to go out there and play the sport in the game they love. Yes, there are some risks that come along with that, but they all seem willing to be able to take that risk. And again, I think if the proper protocols are in place, playing a conference-only schedule, a lot of that will mitigate some of the risk that these players are going to be under.

I've got to ask you a couple NFL questions. So you're a rookie quarterback. I think it's totally unfair. Joe Burrow, Tua. So you don't get OTAs. You don't get preseason. It's just brutal. I mean, I don't know what we can expect.

I mean, go back to your rookie year. Can you imagine not having an OTA a preseason? I mean, when any of these guys, when is the fair moment for us, Brady, to go, okay, now you can judge his play. Because to me, I look at September and I'm like, give me a bruntary. I don't even want to talk about these guys in September. Probably 2022. I mean, to be honest with you,

give them an actual full season or hopefully they have an outseason under their belt, a year of playing to be able to get some chemistry with the guys they're throwing to. And really the speed of the game slows down. I think that's what I'm most concerned with is, you know, these guys may be up mentally on the offense or the system they're asked to run.

However, when you think about the lack of being able to practice and playing games in real time, even in scrimmages, where there's going to be at least a heightened sense intensity and a heightened speed to that game. That's what you're trying to adjust to. We always talk about the NFL throwing guys open. That means you're throwing their spots.

You're throwing in windows before the open. In order to confidently make those throws, you have to have reps. You have to have experience and practice ending games to feel more confident about making those throws. So unfortunately for these guys, they're under a lot of pressure to perform right away. That's the society we live in now. That's our expectations for them. So I think the second half of this season,

you can be optimistic to see maybe better play. You know, for Joe Burrow, he's been through this before. You know, when he transferred to LSU as a grad transfer, he got there late in the summer. He didn't play his best football that junior season in the first half. He played some really good football done the second half. So that's kind of what I'm looking for out of him. You know, it's interesting, Brady.

I didn't have a perfect childhood, but parents were there and it was by and large a nice, you know, childhood. here's what worries me about no college football season. Joseph Adai, Joe Burrow at LSU. Their life is changed because of their last year in college. Now, Notre Dame, you know, everybody thinks Notre Dame and, oh, my gosh, it's this, everybody comes from money. Notre Dame has a lot of recruits that come from very tough backgrounds as well. And they're amazing, remarkable American success stories, Brady.

here's what worries me the most is there is an opportunity in college football for lives to be changed. And we don't have, we may not have college football. It's a humanity issue for me because I've seen it. Joe Burrow does not happen if this was his senior year. He's a fifth round draft pick, maybe. Take me to your college Notre Dame experience. Does that part worry you about the Big Ten kids who needed this year to show off their skills or maybe go from a backup to a starting tight ender running back.

Colin, I'm worried about it all. You know, I'm worried about the guys who are backups trying to be starters, the guys who are starters trying to, you know, get on the national stage to prove that they can maybe play in the NFL one day. I'm worried about the kids in high school right now. You know, I always go back to my junior season, one that was, you know, crucial as far as my recruitment and getting me on the national scene to even have the opportunity

to go to a place like Notre Dame. If that season ever had happened, who knows how things would have turned out for me. So I'm worried about every single level. of not only the development of these young men, but their opportunity and really what they have to showcase. And again, I'm coming from, you know, my experience where, you know, these kids aren't quite as at risk as I think as the older demographic or population. And I think they put a lot of time and energy and their parents have sacrificed the time to be a part of the decision. So that's kind of the one thing that bothers me the most. That's one of the things that I think you have to applaud about the Big 12 and Bob Bullsby was it sounded like they took into consideration.

the parents and the players and the feedback they got from them. And that if there was some concern, they could opt out. If not, you know, they want them to go and play because that's why they set them there in the first place. So, you know, I think all you can do at this point is take the information that you get, be as safe as possible, utilizing the guidelines and protocols that you're provided with. But if they want to go play, let them go play. Give them this opportunity that they've been waiting their entire life for. Brady's on Fox Sports Radio Sunday night to 8 to 11 with Jonas Fox Knox.

It is great to see you, my friend. Thank you so much for taking time. You're a busy guy. Good luck to you. Thank you. All right. Brady Quinn does tremendous work for us here at Fox Sports. All right.

Here comes the news. Very keen observation. Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. I'm waiting for it. You're building this up.

I don't want to disappoint anyway. The NBA suspended Janus for the buck's last seating game after head-bedding Wizards Mo Wagner Tuesday night. Yonis was ejected from the game when it happened. And afterwards, he expressed remorse for his actions. Terrible action. You never could go back, turn back the time and go back to that play. I wouldn't do it.

But you're not in the end of the day. You know, well, human, well, make mistakes. Great answer, by the way. Yeah, it's, this is, we're showing the video of it now. He clearly obviously had him. Yes, yes. Obviously. So get to this revolutionary.

I never thought of this. Okay. So I saw this, observed it, observed it. Whatever. Okay, Janus lost is cool. It happens. Yeah. But he's suspended for a game that is irrelevant.

Not a playoff game, just the next seating game is irrelevant. Yeah. This is why, we've talked about this before, is Janus, you know, there was this push maybe a year ago or so. Like, Janus is the next face of the league. Face of the league. Right. Yonis is the next LeBron. He's going to replace LeBron.

I didn't buy it because Janus is an amazing player. He's a great guy and he's fun to watch. He's incredible. MVP, wonderful. But if LeBron did that, the whole world would stop. If Zion... If Zion did it, the whole world would stop.

We'd be back on our stay-at-home order. Everyone is losing their minds. It would be complete chaos. And that is why Janus will never be the face of the league. Because he can headbutt someone. And nobody cares. And nobody even talks about it. We did not even mention it on the show until now.

We would start the show and do five segments on LeBron losing his cool and headbutting someone. You're so right on this. You're so right on this. Is being the face of the league, James Hardin's the best score. He'll never be the face of the league. He doesn't want to be. His game is sort of, it's hard to embrace. He has the foul line too much.

Carl Malone was an unbelievable score. But like Hardin, it felt like he scored a third. of his points at the free throw line and his game wasn't artistic. He was like a bulldozer. That is it with Yannis. This is the point. He headbutt somebody and we're like, whatever. It's not even a story on a sport show. And, you know, the media gets accused of a lot of things. You know, some of which we're guilty of. But we also get put into the space where like, we only talk about LeBron and we only talk about Zion and why don't we talk about hockey and why don't we talk about lacrosse? And like, we don't actually decide what's interesting. The audience does it. The audience decide.

That's what's interesting. I literally went. And this had no pulse to it. No one was outraged by it. We were people flipping out by it. I went to my Twitter account. You know, I before the show, usually as we're doing prep in the morning, I kind of look and see what people are talking about.

Yeah. And I often listen to other sports shows driving to work, not just to hear what people are talking about. This was not a big, nobody cared. And that is it. Like, if Westbrook would have done this, it would have been a huge story. Westbrook is closer. Zion is the best point because he's, a rookie this year, right?

We have no body of work to say that he will be the face of the league. But if he did this... Oh, it would have been my lead today. Absolutely. Would have been my lead today. And Janice is the MVP, and everyone's saying he's going to be the MVP this year. He headbutted Movonner, and we're just back to our regular schedule. You know, I was talking to a friend last night.

We had dinner with a friend with some NBA connections. And I said this. I said, you can teach a jumper. You can't teach charisma. You either have it or you don't. And that's not a knock on Janice. And in any way, shape, or form. He's an amazing player.

Great guy. This was a very out of character thing to do, like he says. It was a terrible mistake. So that's fine. But you have to have that thing, that indescribable factor that none of us can articulate in order to be in that situation. Dr. J, Magic, Jordan, Shack. You have it or you don't.

And it's not a knock on Yonnas. It's just the facts. Everyone would freak out. I mean, lose their collective mind. if LeBron did that. So there's plenty of injuries around the league as the seating games are coming to a close. This was a big conversation going into the bubble. Are they going to have a lot of injuries?

It's a big injury concern. Joel M. Bede returned from an ankle injury against the Raptors yesterday, but he left in the first half with a wrist injury. X-rays were negative and the team is reportedly not concerned about it being super serious. The Rockets, however, will reportedly be without Russell Westbrook, who is dealing with a right quad-strain. Not good. He will reportedly miss the start of the playoffs. So this is super disappointing for the Rockets who were rolling.

And yeah, I mean, I'm sure he's very frustrated. He's such an explosive athlete. Yeah. Like the quad's a big deal. I mean, it's a big deal for everybody. But he is so, like you'd give Westbrook more time off. Like, he's like Zion. His body is so explosive.

It's, you worry about this. Yeah. And this is a big issue for the Rockets, obviously. Zion will not play in the Pelicans final game with a right knee, So his rookie season is over. T.J. Warren is dealing with planar fastitis. The Pacers don't believe it's serious and they expect him to be ready for the playoffs. But that's something to watch as well as he's had an incredible time in the bubble.

He's the shock of the bubble. Yes. And C.J. McCollum has been playing with a fracture in his lower back, which is something to watch as well. These injuries are not abnormal. We haven't had, I mean, outside of Ben Simmons, generally in the NBA season, you have all sorts of, you can't blame the bubble for this. This is guys get hurt. At this point in the season, you would have these things. going on. Yeah. I mean, maybe you can blame the bubble, but either way, we expected there to be

some injuries. So it's not, it's nothing too crazy. Although Westbrook will be an issue. Finally, even though it's still early into preparation for the 2020 season, Levy on Bell has already seen big improvements from Sam Darnold. Bell said it's like night and day, Darnold and campus here. And he can tell his quarterback is a lot more confident in the offense. Darnold also acknowledged some changes he made this year. He said he worked to keep his lower body and core as strong as possible. And he said most importantly, he focused on everything he was putting in his body,

saying I'm not having in and out every single day and making sure I'm eating good food. So a lot of guys have really focused in this off-season on changing their bodies, adding some muscle, and eating better. So Sam Darnal's not eating in and out every day. I could not eat in and out every day. God, I love Sam Darnal video.

You just love you love football video. Love it. We got to get some Sam Darnall practice video. It's so amazing. Send us all of your practice footage. It's so unfair. Baker Mayfield has a zillion all pros, and he's playing with deck chairs out here.

It's unbelievable. Yeah, well, that's why I had to stop eating those terrible fries every day. I don't like it in and out fries. Terrible. Terrible. The burgers are amazing. The shakes are amazing. I can't figure out what it is within an out fries.

It's almost, I don't, I had them the other. I had it about a month ago. Because my daughter had never been. I said, go get it. And I'm like, I don't get their fries. I don't get it. And then everyone's like, oh, you've got to get them animal style. Like, that's a meal in itself.

Like, why do I want the meat and cheese on top of the fries when I already have meat and cheese in between two pieces of bread? Exactly. Because that's the meat and cheese I want to eat. And I just want to eat the fries as an accessory to the burger. Very similar. Thank you. Sinemas.

Joy, revolutionary segment. Joy Taylor with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lie News. You know, that's a good point. You go get the in-and-out burger and get McDonald's fries on the way home. The best fries.

There's nothing close. The best fries. They're all salty. Just nothing but salt. And then the ones at the bottom with the extra salt. Oh, bonus. Bonus fries. Yeah, pow.

Thanks for joining us. Coming up, we go inside the bubble. Joe Varden, really good NBA reporter. We got the NBA playoff set. Good stuff. We'll talk about that next. 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.

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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.

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Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Guys, Manscaped, revolutionary company, the right tools for the job, lawnmower, 3-0-geared, skin-safe technology. Trimmer reduces cuts, free shipping. 20% off. Go to manscape.com, code H-E-R-D. Joe Varden, senior NBA writer for the athletic,

former Cavs Reporter, Cleveland.com. That's when we started bringing them on the show. He's joining us now. in the bubble where he tells me it's freezing. That's why he's wearing a hoodie, not just trying to pretend he's Bill Belichick in the NBA bubble. Joe, it's great to see you. Westbrook is hurt.

He'll miss games. Your takeaway on kind of the story of the day in the NBA. Yeah, you know, we were talking off air that this is a bummer, and I think that's really true. The Rockets, to me, looked as good as any team down here. And if you go back to, I can't remember if it was January or February, but when Mike Dantonie decided to just get rid of the center position and play as small as anybody in the league, and it was working.

And James and Russ together have been fantastic. It's worked. And then, you know, the other night the Rockets are playing in a meaningless game for them against the Spurs. And James doesn't play. Russ does. And now he comes up with the squad issue. It's a heartbreaker. So for the Rockets, you just have to hope that it is only a few games that they can serve.

survive those first couple against Utah and get going. So Milwaukee was not good pre-bubble. They had a rough couple of weeks. Milwaukee's not been great in the bubble. Janice with the headbutt. Maybe he's frustrated. Is this anything we should worry about with the Bucks who were sort of preordained to be in the finals?

Boston doesn't match up with them. They're going to get to the finals. Kauai's out of Canada. This is the Bucs year. But you'll watch him, Joe. It's been choppy for the last couple of weeks. Yeah, it really has been. And I was on them heavy coming into the bubble, you know, from Janice, Chris Middleton.

They were raving about him. The bucks are supposed to be deep. They have veterans. They're adults. They get it. And I think all of that is still true. But at the same time, they are, they do seem sort of like a step slow. Now, you could say there's just a lack of interest or a lack of, um,

you know, urgency, of a sense of urgency, just because they knew coming in, they'd be the number one seed. But, you know, when I was talking about the rockets looking as good as anybody, you can go ahead and throw the raptors in there, too. I mean, they are tough and they're disciplined. They want it. And, you know, between Pascal Seacum and OG, you know, they feel like they have replaced Kauai and they have no fear of the bucks whatsoever. So, you know, sometimes as a sportscaster, you've got to be careful predicting major upsets because if you're wrong, you'll get crushed. But I actually think Portland is a nightmare matchup for the Lakers.

I think they can beat the Lakers, and I think they will. And I don't think when Avery Bradley opted out, they are guard short. And Portland is guard-centric and guard-heavy. Gary Trent Jr. now is another weapon. How many people in the bubble you talk to think the Portland's got a real shot to pick off LeBron and the Lakers? Well, Colin, I think it starts with me. I wrote a story the other day with the headline, Clippers are right. Blazers can beat the Lakers if they get there first, and that's kind of the crazy thing.

The Blazers, as you said, are a terrible matchup for the Lakers on paper. It's probably one of the worst matchups they have other than the Clippers. And yet, if things go sideways today, if Brooklyn, you know, it's kind of like you're as good as your starting pitcher. that day. I mean, somehow if the nets come out and throw a no hitter or something, the Blazers could be out. But yeah, I mean, the crazy guards, but then beyond that, three huge guys who can move in Nurkich and Zach Collins and Hassan Whiteside, that pretty much mitigates the length that the

Lakers can throw out there. So, yeah, I mean, the Lakers are aware of this. They've been scouting the Blazers heavily, and I mean heavily for the last week, 10 days or so. and that's who everybody thinks this matchup's going to be. Yeah, by the way, the Lakers, the Blazers also have a veteran team with a veteran coach. So they're not going to be overwhelmed in the moment. This is a bunch of guys that have been around a long, long time. I love Zion, and I was saying it about 40 minutes ago.

Shack gave me about 68 games a year in his prime. Aaron Judge is great for the Yankees. He's missed 50 games a year last two years. J.J. Watts missed half the Texans game in the last four years. Great is great. If you can't play every night, Kauai gives me 62, I'm good with it if he's available in May and June. How do you look at Zion's first year, which was explosive but wildly infrequent? Boy, I mean, I think you would be okay with his first season had it just been the surgery, right?

But whatever happened for him to leave the bubble and be gone for two weeks and then come. back looking how he looked. And we don't, we don't know. We don't know what the family issue was. If indeed that was the case, I mean, they insist that it was. We know that he had a minor leg cramped issue also, but that was not why he left. But we do know that when he came back, he was not in any kind of shape, that it was clear that he just hadn't done hardly anything. And so then you do wonder, because now this is a guy who just, who can be away from basketball for two weeks and be and totally lose the shape that that he was in. And so you do have to wonder, you see the absolute explosiveness that he plays with,

the high level of skill. I think he's a cerebral player. I really do. You know, but he, if you even go back to high school, but certainly with Duke and now at the Pelicans, he has had conditioning and injury issues. And those do have to be addressed. I hope and I think they will. But, you know, that's a valid.

criticism at this point. So you have been in the bubble since July 12th. What day is it today, Joy? What is it? August 13th. Oh, wow. A month and a day in the Orlando bubble. Your favorite part and your least favorite part. Take your time. I shot 92 today at the Palm Course, one of Disney's. And I had, and I'm a little bit upset with that. I was a little rough on the back nine. They have created a team. times for us on Thursdays in the morning, like between 6 and 7 a.m. basically is the only time we're allowed to play, but it was a bucket list item for me to come and play at Disney World Golf, something I never got to do. So I really love that. I really do. There aren't many leased, you know, I mean, you're around some of the best athletes in the world all day, every day, access to games and practice like you really haven't ever imagined before. The thing that is actually uncomfortable and it's it's you know why i'm dressed like this i want you guys all to see how we all dress at these games because it is absolutely freezing in all three of those buildings to

the point where it's uncomfortable and i don't know if if you guys saw it on twitter or even if they done it in the broadcast the other day but the raptors bucks game there was a like a small leak coming from the top of the of the roof in one of the buildings and um they decided that it wasn't a week that it was actually condensation from the air conditioning. So for whatever reason, they decided to crank it up. Yeah. And it's 10 degrees colder in there than it was. And it's, I mean, you know, my first year as a reporter, I used to cover, I was covering

high school football in Ohio. And in October, you can't feel your fingers when you type. And I'm telling you, by the end of that game, that's how I felt. So that's the worst thing is how cold it is in the arena. Well, the aesthetics are good. The optics are fun. We've really enjoyed it. The playoffs start Monday.

Joe Varden, absolute great to see you. Senior NBA writer of the athletic. Take care and thanks again, bud. Oh, thanks for having me. Oh, you bet. Yeah, I mean, it's been good. I've really enjoyed it. So Monday, we have, you know, the playoff bracket.

You guys can put it up if you want. The Western Conference playoffs are incredible. Now, so Houston opens with OKC, right? And they won't have Westbrook. Yeah. Wow. That is a, that is. The Grizzlies play the bucks today.

The sons play the math. and the Blazers play the Nets today. So if the Blazers beat the nets, they're in. Look at that. So Westbrook will not play in the first couple of games. It's so unfortunate. And I tell you, between those two teams, you have five world-class guards. It was just going to be a crazy-

We're very, like, critical of Houston sometimes. Like, it's just, that's a bad break. They played defense. It sucks. Yeah. Well, the Jazz, they lost Bogdanovich, a good player. And so Westbrook is out. So, I mean, some of this joy is attrition.

Like some of this bubble is just attrition. Look at that. I'm actually not surprised that he says that about the arenas. That's a thing in Florida. What's that? Air conditioning. Well, yeah, because it's so unbelievably hot outside. Yeah.

And you go in, so you're wearing clothes like so that you don't sweat outside. And then you go inside and it's absolutely freezing. Yeah, it is. You ever been in Disney World in August? I don't know if I've been in August, but I've lived in Florida for 10 years. So, yeah. Yeah, I did it with my kids a couple of times. That's an interesting time to go to Disney.

Well, when I had time off. You know, there's no sports, right? Yeah, yeah. All right, good stuff, folks. Summer and sports are in full swing. Do It Yourself projects. Check it out at Lowe's. I just built a really cool bar cart.

You can go to my Twitter account and see it. Go to Lowe's.com. Show us your transformations and do-it-yourself projects at hashtag Lowe's. Bob Stoops last hour. 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 performance. 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

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Listen to The Cliverd Show on the I-Hard 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. On the Look Back at it podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me. Eighty-four 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.

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