The Kevin Sheehan Show - Fitz, Dinwiddie, and JoJo

Episode Date: August 3, 2021

Kevin and Thom today rambling about WFT's QBs, Covid, Spencer Dinwiddie, and the Nats' new pitcher JoJo Gray. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheon Show. Here's Kevin. All right. Tommy's here and I am here. Took the day off yesterday.

May take another day or two off this week. I'm off from radio. I get vacation time for radio and somebody Tommy asks me, well, if you're doing the podcast, why can't you do the radio show? Well, I'm on vacation technically, even though it's not a real vacation. because I'm moving. I've been moving over the weekend. Boy, that's fun.

And the difference between the radio show and the podcast is the radio show, I have to wake up at 4.15 every morning. So it's nice to be able to sleep in all the way to about 545 or 6. You know, seriously, my wife was like, are you not going to sleep in? And I said, I just did. Getting up with your wife on that. I don't get, you know what I see?

You know how late I slept yesterday? I know you sleep a lot. 10.30. I know. You sleep a lot, and that's good. It's healthy. I've never been a late sleeper, not since college. I mean, there were many nights where you rolled in at 4 or 5 a.m.,

and you slept until one or two in the afternoon, and you got up, and, by the way, then watched all my children one life to live in general hospital. If you were a college student of the 80s like I am. But that aside, no, I can't do it anymore. I've never been a super late sleeper to begin with. But for me, to sleep until about six, honestly, 615 is it's a world of difference. World of difference.

Well, that's good. I'm happy for you. You know what? I think the key is most people I know who can't sleep once they wake up, their mind starts going about what they've got to do that day. That's what happens with me. And not me. I can get out. Well, there's not a whole lot up there.

Right, there you go. If you're mindless, you can sleep longer. Yes. So I wanted to start up the show with what I think is, you know, some optimism from training camp. Yesterday, according to one of the beat reporters, Taylor Heineke, dropping dimes, dropping dimes for emphasis. puts a pretty ball right in DeAndre Carter's breadbasket, working an out route to the right side of the end zone, and he got his foot in.

Now, you've got to get two feet in, you know, in the NFL. So I don't know if it was a completed pass or not a completed pass. The next play, Heineke, hit a wide open Stephen Sims for an easy pass touchdown. So I don't know. I've been reading all of these tweets coming out of training camps starting last week in Richmond, and I am really getting fired up for this season. I mean, he's dropping dimes, dropping dimes. You know, how did the rest of the NFL miss this guy?

Yeah, how they miss him for all these years? He's 28 years old. He's been the best kept secret in football. I think he's 29. And now he's there. I think he's 29. Oh, are you kidding me? Hold on.

You might be right. You might be right. He's 28. My fault. He just turned 28. Correct. You know, it actually, and I know we, again, we kid because we love. Yeah, you're hard on these guys.

I'm not hard on them. I find it hysterically funny because they are doing what they're supposed to doing. to be doing, and there is clearly an audience for some of it, but don't count me in on being this serious part of the audience. With that said, though, Tommy, I was thinking about this one thing. I don't know if I've ever been less like sure about anything involving this football team, and it's not just because of the last week with COVID, because we're 40-something days away from the regular season.

But I just, like, I could see five and 12. No, I could see six and 11, and I guess I could see 11 and 6. I mean, that's a stretch for me because I think if everything went well, 10 and 7 is more likely the number, but maybe a playoff spot, a wild card playoff spot, but everything would have to turn out to be like the most hopeful ending, you know, of what we're thinking right now. Like Ryan Fitzpatrick, wow, did he, you know, live up to or exceed? Antonio Gibson was even better in year two than we thought. Chase Young was a monster in year two. How about the return of Matt Ionitis?

And that Jamin Davis, my God, who knew? And at the same time, like, it's this organization, and it's not the default, you know, it's not the Surgeon General's warning. It is just that there is so much we also don't. know. Like for those that are absolutely convinced this is going to be a dominant defense, why? It has talent. It's well coached. But it wasn't dominant last year. And they've added some pieces. But that doesn't mean it's going to be dominant. Offensively, what if Ryan Fitzpatrick is what you think he's going to be, which is on the verge of looking old? I mean, there is so

much, and by the way, you can say this about 25 to 27 teams probably a season. But I sort of feel like because of the optimism, the increased optimism, as I've been saying, probably the most since 2013, I feel like for me, it's not like super optimistic. It's super coin flipish. A lot of NFL seasons are that. I understand that. But this one, I'm not. I'm not on the side of this is really going to be a lot of fun to watch these guys. Like, this has a chance to be the season. I don't feel that way. I feel like I have no idea what's going to happen.

None. Well, again, I mean, like you said, particularly with the quarterback position, a lot of things have to go your way and basically beat the odds in this case. I mean, I write for War Pass, like a newspaper and online thing for Washington football. You do what? You do what? I write for War Pass. I think it's a, you know, Rick Snyder is in charge of it.

I write a column for them. It comes out, I think, once every couple weeks. You are familiar with Warpath? No. I've zero. I don't know anything about Warpath, and you've not. never told me you write for some publication called Warpath. Never.

Well, I do. I do, and I wrote a column for them about the quarterback position, and I just laid out the absurdity of the anticipation and excitement for a position with so much uncertainty. I mean, I suggested that fans are more excited about Ryan Fitzpatrick than Alex Smith when he got traded to Washington. And Alex

Smith, Alex Smith, I mean, was coming off a career year. You played for nothing but winning teams, most of his career. And I think fans are more excited about Ryan Fitzpatrick than when Alex Smith got traded here.

I don't agree with that. I think that there was a lot, I think that there was a lot of excitement about Alex Smith. Now, I was very obviously not happy about the way the Kirk Cousins thing was handled. And, you know, I think I turned out to be right about that. I wanted him signed. And then when they wouldn't, I wanted him traded. Now, when they signed Alex Smith, I did say at the time, and I felt this way, I like Alex Smith as a player. And he gives him much more of a chance to be competitive with an improving defense. Remember, it was also, you know, 2018 was the second consecutive year.

They had drafted a defensive lineman in the first round. And I'm like, all right, at least they're focused on this. Maybe they get better at it because that was the Achilles heel, were, you know, the, really the special team, the defense number one, special teams number two for the 15, 16, and 17 seasons. I was excited about Alex Smith. I did not like the contract extension. I was against that. But the Alex Smith edition, I actually felt pretty confident that he was going to be able to do a pretty good job, especially in Jay Gruden's sort of West Coast offense, because that's really what he came from with Andy Reed. Now, remember, before that year I said, if you don't give Alex Smith a running game, you got zero chance. so they've got to give him a running game somehow. They've got to advance their rush offense. And obviously he had many more weapons in Kansas City coming off that season. That season,

that 2017 season in Kansas City for him really was his best year. That was the year for him. He was, I'm looking it up right now. 26 touchdowns, five interceptions, I think. 26 and 5? Yeah. Yeah, I think that's in numbers. That's exactly what it was. 26 and 5. He threw for over 4,000 yards for the only time in his career.

He completed 67.5% of his passes. That was second only to what he had done in 2012. And there was a point in that 2017 season where it bogged down where a lot of people in Kansas City were like, look, there's a limit to Alex Smith. we might want to insert Patrick Mahomes. They didn't do it, and they probably, I would bet Andy Reid regrets it. I'm sure Andy Reid will always play.

Alex Smith was a terrific mentor to Patrick Mahomes, and Alex Smith played well, and he got it together late after they went through a period of time where they were struggling to score. But I don't know. In my opinion, after seeing Patrick Mahomes, would it have really been that much different had he come in in week 10 or 11 and taken over versus week one the following year. They lost in the first round wild card,

blew a 21 to 3 lead at home, and lost to the Titans. Look, I don't want to litigate Alex Smith anymore. My feeling is that Washington fans that are within my circle and on social media have expressed more excitement about Ryan Fitzpatrick. And I think part of the reason is Ryan Fitzpatrick, when he's on is a lot more fun than Alex Smith. It's more fun to watch a guy

whip the ball down the field and throw four touchdown passes and 400 yards a game when he's right. So I think Phantom more excited about him. That's my opinion. So I think that's a little bizarre. I think it's the same. Well, it shouldn't be. I think it's...

I mean, Ryan Fitzpatrick isn't even in Alex Smith's... this, you know, atmosphere. That's true. I mean, Alex Smith's record as a starting quarterback is 99-67 and 1. And he's played and he's started several playoff games as well. I'm with you. I don't know. You might be right.

I don't know. Maybe you're right because of the overall season last year that ended with people being optimistic about the future as long as they added, you know, a decent quarterback. Whereas in 2018, really many people saw it as incredibly transparent that Bruce Allen was trying to cover the major fuck-up that the team had made with cousins. And that he couldn't start from scratch. You know, he couldn't go into the draft and draft somebody or take it more slowly. He had to do something quickly.

and Alex Smith was a good solution for what they had lost. It should have been, I still will never understand why the offense that should have fit Alex Smith to a T didn't, where it didn't seem like they utilized his strengths as much. But that's fine. He didn't seem like Jake Gruden wanted him from the start. Yeah, well, he had no idea. I mean, he told me that on the podcast. He didn't know he was coming.

He had no idea. He had no input into it. whatsoever, which is another sort of, I think, data point on Bruce felt the pressure to make people forget how badly they had screwed up the cousin's situation.

So, anyway, you might be right. You're right. I don't want to litigate Alex Smith either. Your point was that people are more excited about Ryan Fitzpatrick than they were Alex Smith in 2018, and why should they be... And then... Yeah. And then you've got

you know, Mr. Dimesdropper himself, Taylor Heineke. They're really excited about that guy. You know, the former XFL quarterback. There's, I mean, people don't think that, nobody thinks there's an actual competition, do they? Nobody listening to this actually thinks there's a competition. I hope you, I hope you don't. I mean, that's, it's not going to happen. I don't care if he gets first team reps or not.

And by the way, didn't Ron Rivera? And I'll be honest with you, over the last couple of days, because I've been in the midst of this movie, I've been paying attention, but not as closely. But didn't Ron Rivera say something really nice about Kyle Allen the other day? Well, no. In fact, just the opposite. He said, he basically said, you know, I think, you know, somebody asked him about Kyle Allen, and I think he said something like, you know, he's been working really hard.

I know he tweet the ankle, an ankle. Yeah. I thought he had said something positive before that. Whatever. Ryan, so you used a phrase actually here that I think is actually a decent topic. You said they've got to beat the odds. Where do they have to beat the odds? Well, they have to beat the odds at quarterback because the odds are on Ryan Fitzpatrick

is that he will be average because that's essentially what he's been as a starter. So he needs to beat the odds. Fitzpatrick does. The linebackers need to beat the odds. One of the reasons they were an inconsistent run-stopping team, and if you're an inconsistent run-stopping team, you cannot be a dominant defense. The linebackers sort of have to beat the odds, don't they?

Like, is Jamon Davis? Wouldn't it be beating the odds if he were fabulous as a rookie? Like, it takes time. So the linebackers as a whole have to sort of beat the odds. I'll tell you he's got to beat the odds at this point for me as the kicker. The kicker was 79% on field goals last year. It was like 27th or 28th in the league. He's got to beat the odds.

They decided to keep him and not provide any competition for him. Who else needs to beat the odds? Like the odds right now are against them that they're going to have a great linebacking core, that they're going to have a great quarterback, that they're going to have a great kicker, maybe just great, maybe special teams have to just beat the odds. They need a punt returner that doesn't fumble. They need a kicker that doesn't miss as much as he did last year. By the way, the big one is the quarterback.

That's the most important one. Yes, that's the one that ever, it all rights on that. So that's why I'm. I mean, it all right on the quarterback. And they've got three quarterbacks, but they don't have any, you could argue. Yeah. But if you are optimistic and you think that the quarterback can beat the odds and he can have another really good year or even elevate from where he was last year and the year before, then you're going to feel like you've got a really good team. But I don't know, Tommy, the net of it is I have no idea. I have no idea. Like on one hand, I always do this, you know, as we near a season.

I always start to envision, all right, what's going to happen? And it's impossible in the NFL in general. But with this particular team, I'm like, you know, the Chargers game. The Chargers are pretty good. A lot of Chargers fans are really optimistic. And they have a quarterback, it would appear. They have the answer. And they got a pretty good defense, too, and they're getting healthier on defense with the return of Darwin James.

Like, can they really beat the charges? But they do have a new coach. They do have a new coach. They have a new coach. And that's always a step back, usually. Sometimes. Sometimes, yeah. Yeah, sometimes.

And then I look at, you know, the teams that they're facing, and I realize right now how many games they're going to be underdogs in. But I think about that first game, first two, really, because they play two games in the first five days of the season. The Chargers and then the Giants on that second Thursday night game after the Cowboy Buccaneer game opens it all up. They're both home. Right.

They're both home. And I'm like, you know, and by the way, I don't want to say that they have to get off to a good start because we know in the NFL you don't have to get off to a great start. And now with 17 games, it's probably even less important that a good start happens. But if they did get off to a 2-0 start by beating the Chargers and the Giants at home, do you know how much excitement there will be? and how many people that were skeptical are going to be like, whoa, and now they're going to Buffalo, and they get, you know, the extra, it's almost like an extra buy week when you play that Thursday night a week and a half before, and Buffalo's good, and big game as a two and oh team.

But I could also see them going 0-2 to start the season with two home losses. And at that point, you know everybody will be bailing. Here comes Buffalo. They're 0 and 3 there. And, you know, and a few. Then it's Falcon, Saints, Chiefs, Packers. And then Denver and then the Buccaneers. Like, these first two games, even though they're 15 after them,

are going to sort of set the tone in terms of excitement. If they can win these first two games, their next home game comes like three weeks later. I think it is against the Saints. They will sell some tickets for that game if they win the first two. Yeah, they will. Now, would you, if they went 0 and 2, would you blame any Washington football fan

for bailing on them at that point? No. No. And again, I want to, hold on, I want to make one thing really clear because my opinion on this has changed over the years. I used to be the, look, you know, if you can't deal with, you know, the process here, when Mike got here, remember Tommy?

If you can't deal with it, you know, go antiquing with your wife for the weekend and check back in here on Monday and we'll tell you how it's going if you can't man up and handle it. But now I don't blame any of these people after 21 years of being treated the way they've been treated. And they're totally welcome back in under the tent of Redskinned, I'm sorry, Washington Football Team Nation if the team starts to do well. These people in this fan base would say, well, if you're not there through all of this, you know, go to hell. No. No, no, no, no. These people have been abused. This fan base has been abused for two decades.

Yeah, I think if you're a Washington football fan, you have the right to come and go as you please. Absolutely. 100%. You know what? I would say the same thing about an Orioles fan or a Yankees fan for all those years. Any fan of a team that has had that team ruined by management or an ownership, you've got the right to come and go as you please. You have the right to spend and not spend as you please.

But I don't know what to – I'm telling you, I could see them winning the first two. I could see them losing the first two. I could see them winning the first two. And even though it's early and it doesn't tell the tale, could catapult them to a 10-11 win season with some big games. in November and October, and I could see him losing the first two, and who knows what COVID will bring, and then all of a sudden everything goes to hell in a handbucket. Like, we know that these seasons can get away and snowball in an ugly way.

We've lived through all of those, many of them. my goal every year Tommy for the purposes of me and you is just get us to Thanksgiving where they have a chance because if you get to Thanksgiving, you're already three quarters of the way through the season typically. And if they're sitting there at five and five or six and five or five and six, you know, people still think, well, you know, they got, and this year, they've got all their division games left basically. it's when you get to Thanksgiving and you're two and nine or three and eight, that's when it's a long year, a long year, and not good for our business at all. No, no, definitely not. By the way, speaking of COVID, did you see my tweet that I tweeted yesterday? I liked your tweet. Did you see that? Did you notice that I liked your tweet?

I didn't know. I didn't see that. No, sorry. Yeah. You want me to read it? or would you like to read it? Yeah, you read it because you do such a much more eloquent job than me. Don't be sarcastic. Go ahead and read it. I wasn't trying to steal your thunder. I was just saying, would you like me to read it and therefore, you know, I'm sort of propping you up? Or do you want to read it and sound like you're so super proud? Let me be proud of you and read it, okay? John Kime tweeted out. Rivera said they had a good turnout for vaccinations yesterday, said they're trending. up. And Tommy retweeted that and wrote the following. You know, if a doctor showed up at the park,

opened his trunk, and told them I've got syringes filled with a guanapis, that will make you, that will make you faster and stronger and it's undetectable, there would be a line through the parking lot. And it's so true. These guys, this is such a great point. Like, and I think you've made this point before, what they have put into their bodies, you know, and by the way, just thinking about baseball players, can you imagine baseball players not getting vaccinated with all the shit they put into their bodies? But somebody, somebody a friend of mine mentioned, I mean, these guys take shots of Toridol and all of these different things to be able to get back out on the field and they won't take this vaccination. Like, are you kidding me? It's a good point.

It's a really good point. They would. If they, if they were told that a guan, Monopis would make them faster, stronger, and it couldn't be detectable. They'd have a line out there. And by the way, with no FDA approval on any of that, with no real science behind it, probably. I mean, again, their whole argument, I mean, you know, it just sounds ridiculous. It's always sounds illogical, you know, and it's falling apart, unfortunately, by the day, as more people wind up hospitalized. Well, these players aren't ending up

possible. No, I mean the argument that it's a personal choice and that what I do doesn't affect anyone else, that argument's kind of falling apart as more people, well, I won't say across the country. Let's say in Florida and Texas are hospitalized. Yeah, I mean, we've seen these spikes in states and then we've seen moments where some of those states have been among the lowest, too, Tommy.

I don't want to politicize this, and I know you're going in that direction. The number of people that are unvaccinated in terms of the demographics are much more mixed than CNN might tell you. But that's beside the point. Here's the thing that I don't. I told you this last week. Don't test. Either mandate vaccinations and don't test or don't mandate them and don't test. If vaccinated people are, as we know now, they are getting infected.

But vaccinated people aren't really getting sick at this point. I know there are examples, but they are few and far between. What the vaccine was supposed to do was not be a guarantee, certainly not the Johnson and Johnson shot, or the Moderna or the Pfizer shot, as much as the Moderna or the Pfizer shot, I should say. They weren't guarantees that you wouldn't get infected, but they were going to significantly decrease the already super long-shot odds that you would get ill. NFL players are not going to get ill if they get COVID right now. They weren't going to get ill more likely than not if they got COVID before.

Now, I know that there have been some examples before the vaccination. You know, we had the, I mean, Jason Tatum and the NBA is still, even though he's competing in the Olympics, is now on, you know, an albuterol inhaler, you know, and there's taste and smell loss. And there are some of these longer-term effects. I certainly understand that. But now with the vaccination, if you're vaccinated, your chances of getting ill as a young athlete are basically down to, I mean, you know, quarters of a percent or less than that for

their age group and their fitness level. Now, do you want them to put other people at risk? I don't. But if they're putting other unvaccinated people at risk, that's on the unvaccinated. I get that. I understand that. You're right. So don't test.

In the NFL, they're not required to test. This is their policy. And they're testing. And we're seeing a lot of COVID cases. And we're seeing a lot of players being held out. how about Minnesota where the quarterback room and my guy apparently is an anti-vaxxer. Kirk. That's not a shock.

No, it's not actually. I would agree with you on that. Very, very religious, very probably conservative in many of his views. But again, to push the unvaccinated on just conservatives, you know, Maga hat wearing, you know, Arkinsonians, is that how you say somebody from Arkansas? Was that good? Arkansasian? Do you think that's right?

That's pretty good, buddy. Is that the way they say? You know your geography. When it's just as many young people, and by the way, young people of color that are a major issue right now. Yes. All I'm saying is, and to let me just say, preface this by saying, I haven't given a lot of thought. I haven't given a lot of thought. But I just, if the trend.

holds up where players aren't getting sick from COVID and maybe they have some cold-like or flu-like symptoms for a couple of days. Don't test. Either or just mandate. I'm for either. Let me just be clear. I'm for mandating the vaccine. The NFL saying you got to get it. I'm for that because I think gets better for mankind, and then it gets better for the country, and to eradicate a virus as transmissible as this, you need the highest percentage of vaccinated people. So I am, let me also be clear, I'm pro-vaccine. I'm not into shaming people who aren't getting it, and I'm into being more open-minded when somebody says they won't get it, but I am pro-vaccine, and I really personally have a hard time believing a lot of the answers as to why people won't, and, you know, where they're

getting their information. Just call your damn doctor. Your doctor's going to tell you to get the vaccine. But I'm for either mandating the vaccine and then not testing or not mandating the vaccine. Secondly, I would say if they choose not to mandate the vaccine, just don't test. If you don't test, you're not going to have any players on COVID protocol, missing games, putting games at risk or putting teams at competitive disadvantage risk. But that rewards the people who don't get the vaccine. Well, you know what? They may not ultimately be rewarded because if they get it and they get sick,

they're going to be out anyway. If they get it and they have significant symptoms and they get sick, they're out anyway. But there's more people around the team. Yeah, get them vaccinated. Well, actually, they're all vaccinated. They're all vaccinated. Anyone who works in an NFL team has to be vaccinated. They now have to be, right?

So even an older coach or an older staff member that, you know, they had that tier one, tier two thing, they're all vaccinated or they're not there like that Minnesota Vikings coach, whatever his name was. So if everybody's vaccinated, I mean, this goes back to, I forget when you and I were talking about this, but it's like if you're worried about the virus, get vaccinated. And if you're, no, it was more mask. I don't want to get into the mask thing. It was like, if you don't want to wear a mask, get vaccinated. This was a couple months ago. If, you know, if you're worried about getting the virus and you're unvaccinated, I can't remember what I said.

Whatever. Who cares? Okay. Let me just add one last thing to this. TMZ reported that the CDC has paid the NFL alone. Alumni Association, $3.5 million to help them promote the COVID vaccine. Do they really think that's going to work? I don't like that. I guess, look, it's worth a shot. Former players. Not that current players

will listen to former players. They never do. You know, they really should have just told them, hey, we got, we found some iguanipis, and it's really going to increase your speed and strength. Come on in here. There you go. And by the way, it's a two-shot thing. And, by the way, it's a two-shot thing. You got to get one now and you got to get one in 30 days. You know, Tommy, honestly, and we talked about this a year ago. What would shut the league down was no longer remember a year ago. A positive test isn't going to shut sports down like you did with Rudy Gobert. Somebody being on a ventilator in a hospital or worse is going to shut down sports.

And we never had that. We never had that. Now, to me, it's still, it won't shut down sports, but somebody on a ventilator or worse, is almost required at this point for others to realize, oh, I can actually get it and get sick. But, you know, the odds, again, are astronomical long shots that will actually see that happen, which is precisely why I would say mandate it.

That's what I'd be in favor of. And if you're not, regardless, whether you mandate or don't mandate, just don't test. Not every company tests, Tommy. Not every company requires vaccinations. Not every college is requiring every student and every faculty member to be vaccinated. Most are, I think, at this point, although I don't really know what the numbers are. I'm guessing that most are in a college atmosphere.

And a lot of companies are. The NFL hasn't mandated it. They could, or maybe they can't because of the union, I forget. But the bottom line is these guys, if they test positive, or if they're exposed to somebody who test positive, I mean, knock on wood, the odds are so long that anything's going to happen to any of them. And I get it. They could go home and infect somebody that's older.

But you know what? That person should be vaccinated. If there's a concern of an older person with an underlying health issue or even a younger person with an underlying health issue, get vaccinated. At what point, Tommy, when the vaccination, start to level off and maybe they already have. At what point do we say, well, these people chose not to get vaccinated. We're moving on with our lives now. We're moving on with it. When I guess it doesn't strain the hospital system in particular locations, when it doesn't

affect health care for other maladies. Where are we seeing the influx volume on the health care system? other people or, you know, a heart attack victim isn't being treated properly because all the COVID cases over. Well, there's been some reports that, that, again, Texas and Florida, hospitals are starting to be overwhelmed with COVID patients. This is a good reason. You know, it's like, that is to me, like, ultimately it's like, okay, if you get to the point where you're cold-hearted in terms of unvaccinated people, they chose this.

if they get it and they get sick, even if I'm the one infecting them as a vaccinated person, which by the way, I could have it and transmit it. You know, even if you get to that point where you're like, sorry, you should have gotten vaccinated. I guess the better point is what you just made is that, you know, without these people, if these people start overrunning our hospitals, then that vaccinated person who has a, you know, a necessary surgery and has to put it off for months or, you know, longer. Look, Tommy, you know, the mental health, we've talked a lot about mental health, but one of the unforeseen, you know, issues, not unforeseen, but one of the underplayed

issues of the last year and a half is one-on-one mental health therapy. You know, a lot of the mental health therapy with psychiatrists and psychologists and cognitive, you know, behavioral therapy is much better if you read about this stuff done in person one-on-one. And they haven't been able to do that. You know, there have been a lot of those areas of health care that have just really, people have really been underserved because of this. Yes. Well, you're starting to talk. You're starting to talk me in this, a different feeling. I just, I'm thinking specifically about the NFL, and it's like they're in buildings, everybody's vaccinated that should be vaccinated, coaches, staff members.

It's the players that have the right not to be vaccinated. If they get COVID, they're not going to get sick, and they're not going to infect somebody that's going to get sick. If the people that are at risk are already vaccinated. I don't know if that's an absolute. No, there are occasionally, I think there are some. some examples of vaccinated people getting COVID and getting sick. But the chances are so long that the odds of them, you know, getting something else from that player and getting much, you know,

much more ill or higher. But whatever. I don't know, man. Back to our team. And are they... By the way, you saw that Tampa Bay is 90% vaccinated. Yes. The bucks.

Right. Yeah. and I saw that our team, it's growing a little bit, but Chase Young is a real holdout, huh? Is that where we are with him? He's a team captain. And, you know, here's what somebody said to me about the, this is the philosophy of this generation.

You do you. you do you you know i'll do me you do you you you know what i don't i don't want to beat this to death but you i think you really made um the best point to me not thinking this thing through as i suggested and prefaced all of my previous comments with and that is to to say to chish young look dude you're not going to get sick if you don't you know the odds of you getting it and getting sick even if you're unvaccinated are really low. And the odds of you infecting somebody that ends up getting sick are really, really low. We all understand that. But here's the problem. The problem is if we continue to fill up hospitals with people who are getting sick because they're older or they have

underlying conditions and they're not vaccinated, you might have an emergency appendectomy or something like that. And they might have to say, yeah, we're going to have to take you to it. It wouldn't be him, obviously, but a normal person, maybe somebody he knows, might have to, you know, wait on that surgery. And that really is. Remember, the initial fear, one of the initial fears, when we go back to March of 2020, was that it was just going to overrun the health care system. And it did in places like New York and, you know, and a couple of other true hot. spots. Houston. Houston was a bad city for that. And it did, and it probably costs people who were sick with other things, you know, immediate health care. Yeah, it probably did. But you know what?

You're vaccinated. I'm vaccinated. We're cool. Let me just tell you something. My sister, she never listens to this. My sister's vaccinated. She got COVID. She just got it the other day. she had a sore throat she had a fever um she was vaccinated and she did have some underlying conditions um and uh she was so she was one of the first to get vaccinated um you know in talking to her she feels fine the fever the fever and sore throat is why she went to the doctor she actually thought maybe she had strep because she wasn't thinking that she could have covid because she was vaccinated um but she tested positive for covid um and she she's she's feeling fine One of the things in just a brief conversation with her and then just looking some stuff up online,

you know, the other thing that's really improved over the last year of the therapeutics, you know, to deal with those that have serious, you know, serious symptoms. So they're able to deal with the seriously affected with COVID much better than they could a year ago with medicines. You mean like Jack Del Rio is a voodoo woman? No, I don't know who that is. Do you think Ben, Standick told me that they were all doing some back of the envelope, you know, math, because there are some tells or there were at training camp last week because, you know, you have to wear masks if you're not vaccinated.

There's some sort of yellow wristband or something if you are vaccinated. And they basically, I think they came to the conclusion that eight of the 11 defensive start were not vaccinated. Now, maybe that's changed. I guess Duran Payne was the latest to go on protocol. He didn't have it. I did hear that Duran Payne was without a mask and got fined in the building. You know, a source told me that last week.

I didn't care about putting it out there. Who cares about that? But I'm just telling you, apparently he's one of the players that's gotten fine for not, you know, wearing the mask, where he was supposed to as an unvaccinated player. You know, there are, look, the bottom line with football, we're going on and on on this, and I didn't intend to. The bottom line is your team's going to be at a higher probability of being at a competitive disadvantage if you're on the lower end of the vaccination scale based on the current NFL setup. If the NFL wants to change it and mandate vaccines or say we're not going to test or we're going to loosen restrictions against the unvaccinated, which I don't see coming, maybe.

But right now, if you're on the lower end of that, there's a higher chance. It's not definite, but there's a higher probability that you're going to be impacted when the season starts. I think Ron Rivera said the other day, I'm paraphrasing here, but if they had the kind of breakout that they had last week, right before the Charger game, those players would have missed two games because the giant game is that next Thursday night. So if you were out, you were without Brandon Sheriff and Matt Ionitis and Curtis Samuel and Duran Payne, you know, you would have been at a competitive disadvantage without four really good players. For two games. What else you want to talk about? You want to talk about the Nats? I want to talk about Spencer Dinwiddie?

Want to talk about Simone Biles? Let's do that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Subscribe to the podcast. If you have it, doesn't cost you a thing. Rate us and review us, especially on Apple and on Spotify. The podcast today is presented by our good friends at My Bookie. UFC 265 this Saturday night. They've got everything you need on UFC 265.

Mani Pachial fights this month, Tommy. They'll have everything on Manny Pachial as well. Plenty of Olympics stuff. I didn't look at the number for the U.S. who beat Spain this morning in the quarterfinal round. I'm going to guess they were like a 10-point favorite, maybe more. I have no idea what they were favored by. They won by 14. I did not watch it, but I did just read here this morning that Simone Biles competed again.

I think everybody knew that she was going to compete one last time. And she got the bronze on the balance beam. So she missed the vault, the uneven, and the floor exercise as well as the all-around, but she returned to competition today and got a bronze medal on the balance beam. So hopefully... Well, good for her. Congratulations. The twisties are, I would imagine, is the...

I mean, you still have to do one of those things, you know, one of those dismounts off the balance beam, and you still have to do a lot of things in the air on a balance beam. So are the twisties less impactful on the beam than they are on the unevens? You would know the answer to this. Well, of course I would, based on my years in the gym. From what I read, she had to undergo a thorough medical exam and a psychiatric, psychological profile, for lack of a better word, to see what her state of mind was before she went into this thing.

Okay. So, I mean, she did have to undergo some scrutiny. And I'm sure she probably welcomed it. She wanted to feel comfortable before competing. That was a big part of the problem. So apparently she was, and she won a bronze, which I think ties her for the most gold medals by U.S. gymnasts. Wow. Most medals.

Most medals. I can tell you this. the ratings for NBC are way down on these Olympics. And her not participating definitely impacted some of those numbers because she was the big star coming in. And look, you know, you can certainly, you can certainly, you know, build her up and glorify her return to the games and the effort to get back on the horse. so to speak, and the fact that she was cleared and it wasn't dangerous, good for her.

And I don't know. Will she compete in 20? She's 24 years old, so she would be 28? Yeah, she's 24. She's not a kid. I don't think so. There is a gold over America, Simone Biles tour scheduled for this fall. So she'll be coming to an arena near you.

Okay. Well, and you can cheer. and as you said, canonize her for taking that incredible, brave, courageous stand and bowing out of all of those Olympic events with, again, we say, in all seriousness, a serious issue. For those of you that reached out and said we were harsh, no.

We absolutely said, after learning about what it was that kept her out, that is a legitimate reason to keep her out. The bigger issue that we had was just this falling all over each other as a media base to call it like the most courageous thing in the history of sports. And that it was some kind of game-changing moment in sports moving forward. Yeah. I mean, that whole discussion was absurd. And you know what? At Wildwood last year, week. My name was,

yeah, they're wonderful people, but none of them know anything about sports. And I was trying to make my case to people who really thought I was an ogre for suggesting this. So suggesting that, you know, I mean, people watch

sports, to watch people overcome adversity, that's part of the reason we love sports so much. I mean, if everyone starts bowing out, because of pressure, you know, that's not going to happen. You've already had a couple of Olympic athletes put on Twitter that they welcome the pressure,

you know, that pressure only drives them and stuff. And they weren't right. Referring to Simone Biles, they were just talking about their own philosophy. So this notion, again, this notion of you do you, you know, it's, I don't think it's going to, it's what, it's going on here. I don't think it's a game changer. Do you think they're sort of conditioned to think of your responses as ogre-like and that it was just sort of hitting the default button with you?

No, not really. I agree with you. I agree with you. I totally agree with you. What would have been a better, seriously, people, what would have been a better story? Simone Biles drops out initially sort of referring to this mess. mental health issue. We find out it's a legitimate issue that absolutely should have shelter from events because

it was dangerous. Would that have been better than finding out after she competed and won a silver, a gold, a silver, and a bronze that she was dealing with a condition that was actually dangerous and she overcame it somehow during the competition? Well, apparently the former is a better story these days and more, as Tommy would say, canonized or glorified or deified. It would have been great to see, as Tommy said, people overcoming adversity in sports to get it done to compete, to win or to come close to winning is the best. Now, real quickly on Djokovic, you know, Djokovic was the one that went off a little bit about. about the pressure using the Billy Jean King line about pressure.

And then he completely lost it. He melted down. By the way, just as an aside, tennis and golf, no offense, in baseball, tennis, golf and baseball should not. There are others, too. Shouldn't be Olympic sports. I mean, I was thinking about Jokovic. Why the hell is he even there?

Like, who, like, Xander Shoffley won the goal. golf event, which, by the way, was played an hour away from any the next closest Olympic event. Do you really view Rory McElroy and Zander Shoffley as Olympic athletes? There should be, the sports should require that this is the pinnacle, the pinnacle for an athlete to participate at the Olympics and win a gold medal. Zander Shofley would give his gold medal back and himself wrapped in the American flagback in a heartbeat for a win at the U.S. Open or the Masters. Like, it probably even, you know, a significant event on tour.

This is stupid. There's got to be a marketing benefit to these sports and these athletes. You think so? Who's watching these things? I don't know. I mean, sponsorships, you know. Look, I mean, there is, I mean, even only one. Olympics are down, even though, you know, I think they're obscenely corrupt, there is some

marketing benefit to be associated with the Olympics. You think Todd Frazier would rather win a gold medal or a World Series? Obviously. Yeah, it's just, I know that. It's the whole thing. Djokovic didn't need to play this. And by the way, apparently the tennis was played in like 175 degrees. It was just unbearable.

what they played in. I don't know. Those sports, they're newer to the Olympics, I believe. The golf thing is really absurd. Golf is already wildly popular. These athletes don't need the exposure. I mean, I give everybody a little bit of credit for sucking it up and representing your country,

but this isn't really an Olympic sport. They're not part of the Olympic village. They're not part of the Olympic athlete group. They're multi-zillionaires. This is number 17 on their list of tournaments that they'd like to win. It's just not the same thing. And this is why baseball wants it. This is why the NBA wanted it because it helps grow the game internationally.

If other countries are competing in this sport that may not have competed before. Golf and tennis don't need international expansion. Everyone needs to grow. Oh, come on. This nobody's, nobody, the Olympic baseball or Olympic golf or Olympic tennis isn't helping the sport grow. I think it is. I don't. It may be minimal, but I think it is.

Now the basket. You can't just kick away the rest of the world and say, oh, we don't care about that market. What do you mean the rest of the world? These sports are played in the rest of the world. They're not played in Italy. The only reason it's played in Italy, baseball, is because of the Olympics. Okay. All right. Well, you know what? Maybe, maybe I just don't consider Todd Frazier or Xander Shafle to be Olympic heroes.

And it just seems to me to be a bit much. And do you have any, do you have, like, you actually have some interest occasionally every four years in the Olympics? And I have it various times. Did you, do you even know what the U.S. baseball team did? in the Olympics. No, I don't, but I have to admit, when I was in Sydney in 2000, covering the summer games, one of the best things I covered was the United States team, managed by Tommy LaSorda, a bunch of minor leaguers, not major league players, maybe with one or two retired major league players on the roster, beating the Cuban national team, the heavily favored Cuban national team to win the gold medal. that was one of the best things I've ever covered at the Olympics.

And that was a lot, in part because of what sort of. He turned it into, you know, this like patriotic battle against the Cubans. And it was a lot of fun covering that. I enjoyed that. Remember the boxing stuff against the Cubans? Oh, my God, yeah. Tommy, Tommy, has, have we had any big boxing in the Olympics so far? You know, I think there's, I've read that there's a.

resurgence of the U.S. Olympic boxing team. They've been, I think they've been shut out of medals for the most part for the last three or four Olympics. There may have been one or two occasional. I think there have been three medal winners on this team. Not necessarily gold medal, but I think

there's, the Olympic boxing has a little comeback this year. But it's not what it used to be. It's not the 76 boxing team. No. 484 boxing team. Yeah. which is more famous, the 84 or the 76? Well, 76, rightly so, because in 84, all the Soviet bloc countries didn't compete.

Right. You know? I mean, the Cubans didn't fight in the 84 Olympics. So while the Andrew Holofield, Breeland, and all those other guy, you know, Pernell-Wittaker, they all won gold medals. They didn't compete against the Soviet block countries because that was their boycott following the 1980 boycott by the United States in Moscow. Right. Because of the Afghanistan situation.

Right. The 76 team was Sugar Ray Leonard and both Spinks? Yes. Both Spinks were on it, and who else was on it? Leo Randolph. I don't know who that is. And I think Leo Randolph was a lightweight, and John Tate. John Tate.

I think was a medal winner as well. Big guy. I think he actually won a heavyweight championship briefly. Who was the Cuban heavyweight that was the big Cuban heavyweight that was like in the Olympics for like forever? Well, there were

two of them. One was Teofeelot-Stevenson. That's the guy. Yeah, him. But there was a guy who I covered in 2000, his last Olympics, who followed him, and I think won three gold medals over his career. That was Felix Savon.

What's another great Cuban heavyweight. Teia Felo-Stevenson, I just pulled him up. He won gold medal as a heavyweight. 72 Munich, 76 Montreal, and 80 in Moscow. Wow. And I think Savon won three Olympic gold medals as well. So 72, Ali was 60 in Rome, right? Yes. Joe Fraser was 64. George Foreman was 68. The American Olympic Hope in 72 at heavyweight was Dway was Dwayne Bobbick.

Oh, yeah. Yes. Hmm. Okay. Some gnats and wizards right after these words from a few of our sponsors. I did want to mention that the NFL news that I did not miss were some of the injuries, which are, to me, you know, really that's the information you want, you know, to avoid as you're following your team through this, you know, training camp preseason stretch. Carson Wentz out five to 12 weeks. Apparently was, I know.

I mean, this guy can't stay healthy. This is the big issue, obviously, with him. And the Colts who, you know, were going to be a good football team, they just don't have anybody. They just added Brett Hunley to the team. They've got Jake Eason. You know, there's been talk of a potential trade. I mean, this is where if I were Washington, I'd be saying, hey, are you interested in Kyle Allen or Taylor Heineke?

You know, for a fourth round pick. Or, you know, maybe with Taylor, it's a third round pick at this point. Maybe. You know, I read somewhere, I don't know where I wear it, where that Nick Fault wants to be traded to Indianapolis. He, they, Wentz and Foles both loves. loved Frank Reich. They just love them. Yes.

So, you know... But talk about a nightmare for Carson Wentz to have Nick Falls traded to take his place in Indianapolis. Yeah. I mean, to be honest with you, if I were... If I were... Well, the problem is,

is you're not going to come back and be the short-term guy. But I'd call Philip Rivers. And I'd say, we need you to, you know, come back out of retirement one more year. year. Philip Rivers was good last year. And he was damn good in that playoff game. And I mean, I don't even, I'm trying to think of who else, you know, is out there. Obviously, the 49ers have a situation with Garoppolo after, you know, drafting Trey Lance. I wonder if Garoppolo is available. Denver has Drew Locke. They also have Teddy Bridgewater.

I'm trying to think of the guys that were available, you know, what's his face in L.A.? Not in L.A. in Vegas, Marcus Marietta. Marietta would be a decent fit for them. I don't know. I can't think of others out there. But Foles would obviously be the one that would make a lot of sense.

And Nick Foles is in Chicago where Andy Dalton is and Justin Fields. You know, you've got both of them. I'll tell you, the last time, though, we saw Nick Foles, God, it was ugly last year at times. Yeah. There were games last year where it was painful to watch him.

All right. So the news on the Wizards is that they have their point guards, Spencer Dinwiddie. The details of the trade haven't been worked out, but among others, I think Wojo was reporting a three-year $60 million dollar deal for Dinwiddie. In terms of the players that are going to go back to Brooklyn for Dinwiddie, they're going to be, I think, some of the assets they acquired from the Lakers for Russell Westbrook last week. I would imagine that there's a chance that Kuzma is involved in that deal. But let's talk about Dinwiddie. They needed a point guard. They didn't have one. They've got

Aaron Holliday as a backup. Bish Smith and Netto are not under contract. I like Spencer. Dynwitty. I like him a lot. Now, he's coming off that torn ACL. That torn ACL happened. Remember, in December at the beginning of the year, because the season started late, because the other one ended late. So it just happened in late December. He only played in two or three games with Brooklyn. He's had some big games against the Wizards over the years. You know, it's one of the reasons I got to sort of know Spencer Dinwiddie as a fan. He has come off the bench a lot of his career. like about Dinwiddie is he's 6-5. He's long. He's an excellent pick and roll player. He is a much better shooter than maybe the percentages indicate from beyond the arc. He's at a couple of decent

seasons. But you can see with the stroke, even though he leans into it a little bit, he's got a good stroke. He's got really good feel and good handle in the pick-and-roll game. He's longer. He's a longer, sort of taller point guard at 6-5-66 wherever he is. He's a creator, too. He's a score. And he can facilitate. I think he's a good fit with Beale in the back court. I think he's also a guy that's hit some big shots and big moments and is fearless. I like Spencer Dinwiddie. I think the key is, is he healthy? And then we can sort of evaluate it in more detail when we find out what they gave up.

But they had to have a point guard. And having a guy, and Spencer Dinwiddie, if he's healthy and he's back to where he was when he last played, you know, a significant portion of the season in that shortened season, COVID, that ended in a bubble. He averaged 20 points a game. He's got the ability to put up 18 to 20 with Beal averaging 30, and, you know, you end up with a back court that's averaging, you know, 50 plus a night. And, you know, he's a good facilitator too. He's a guy that, you know, his average close to seven assists as more of a scoring point guard.

Excellent pick and roll player, excellent player on the floor with the ball in his hands. Beale can play more off the ball, but they can certainly switch that up and Beale can, you know, play possessions with the ball in his hands, with Dinwiddie off the ball. They had to have them, you know. This was not a playoff team as currently constructed. With him, you know, maybe it's a team, depending on what they give up and what they bring back,

and Gafford and, you know, Hachamura hopefully blows up. And you got a team that can compete for the playoffs. And, you know, maybe you're another piece away from being a legitimate contender. And when I say contender, not championship contender, but, you know, a team that can win 45 to 50 games and win a series or two and push at least the Eastern Conference finals. It's not the team they have right now, even within Witte. but maybe, you know, there's another piece to come next year, more likely than not it would come. With the ability that Tommy Shepard has created in terms of, you know, some ample cap room. Anyway, I like Dinwiddie.

I think he's a good player. I hope he's healthy. I got to tell you, it's hard to take an athlete seriously. His name is Spencer Dimwitty. Well, he didn't pick his name. Well, it doesn't matter. I mean, if you've got a group of babies and one of them is named Spencer Dimwitty, are you saying that's going to grow up to be an NBA player or is he going to grow up to be an accountant?

That's an accountant's name. Yeah, Dinwiddie O'Donnell and Farkas. Sounds like an accounting firm. You know, it's just, it's hard to take him seriously. He needs to change his name. His big issue is just staying healthy. I'm looking at the year he averaged 20.6 points per game in 2019, 2020. Okay, so that was, that included some of the bubble.

He averaged 16.8 points per game off the bench in 2018, 2019. Let me see if that was the year. He had some big games against, he had some big games against Washington in the 28. 18, 2019 season. And I'm just reminded of something. The last, there were two sporting events I went to in the week prior to everything shutting down in March of 2020, Tommy. I went to, actually three. I went to two Maryland basketball games. I went to the game against Michigan State and then the final game, as it would turn out, against Michigan, where they clinched a share of the Big Ten title. I also, with our good friend Harley from Window Nation, went to the Wizards Brooklyn Nets game, which was on February 26th of 2020.

I just pulled up the box score because I remember Harley had very good seats for that game. We were sitting on the floor for that game. And Spencer, and Spencer Dinwiddie got really hot at one point during the game. Now, it shows that he had 18 points in this game, and Karas Leverd had 34. I do remember that night. I think Tommy Shepard, from my point of view, knows what he's doing and gets the benefit of the doubt until he builds up a resume of failure like the guy he replaced. Yeah, I agree with that.

It's weird because the NBA is just so different. And evaluating NBA general managers is just different than evaluating, you know, NHL or NFL or MLB general managers. It's just too hard to win championships. It's just too hard to even get to an NBA championship. So an NBA general manager who's getting his team, you know, to, you know, pushing the 50 win mark and getting into the playoffs year and year out without, you know, a top five player is doing a pretty damn good job. So we'll see.

I mean, time will tell on Tommy Shepard. I like Tommy a lot, and I think that he's done a pretty good job. Look, just getting out of the John Wall contract and then getting out of the Russell Westbrook contract and parlaying all of that into, you know, what they got back from the Lakers and then into Spencer Dinwiddie is a pretty good job from where they were. They were not going to win an NBA title. They weren't even going to push anywhere near contending for an NBA title or even an Eastern Conference title with the way they were constructed. So yeah, I agree with you.

I think so far, so good. I'm rooting for Tommy. He really is one of the really good guys in the area, in an executive position. All right. The Nats, Tommy, you know, we were, we did do our podcast, the last podcast, after all of those trades. I think the only one we missed that day was the Lester trade. They've won a couple of games. they blew another one in the bottom of the ninth last night, which hurt.

They're actually right in this. They're still in the thick of this race. You do realize that, right? They're only six and a half games out. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. The Mets stink right now. I mean, they're five games over 500, and they got a two and a half game lead on the Phillies. Last night, though, they blew a big lead in the ninth,

gave up five runs in the top of the ninth with that, bullpen, which had swarrow in it, and then a couple of dudes that I don't really know. But they started this guy, Gray, one of the guys they got back in the sell-off haul. The Dodgers trade. He was their Dodgers

top pitching prospect. He immediately becomes the national's top pitching prospect. And he pitched okay from the box score. I didn't watch the game. He pitched five innings, gave up one run. You know,

So that's pretty good for your first time out. From all counts, he had his composure, didn't seem overwhelmed by the moment. His first name is Josiah. I imagine is how you pronounce it, Josiah Gray. Right. But apparently some people said he went by the nickname Jojo. And he cleared that up on social media last night, where he said, well, you know, my close friends and teammates might call me. Jojo, but nobody else should use that.

Everybody else should call me Josiah. Okay. Well, you know, you've got to earn it. You know, you've got to earn the right for him to allow you to call him by his, by his which I posted, like the old man on the couch that nobody will pay attention to, get back with a video. Say again? Can you figure, get back to his, You know, don't call me Jojo thing.

Oh, the Beatles. Get back. There you go. Good job. Yeah. Good job. You might be the only one who got that. No. Get back, Jojo. Get back, Jojo. What album was that off of? That was the Let It Be album.

I was going to say, it had to be, like, 19... Because it was later. It was, like, right before they broke up. Yeah. It was 1970, I think. There you go. Okay. You got anything else? Yes, I want to wish a happy birthday to two people. Okay.

Happy birthday to Tom Brady, who turns 44 today. Right. Six years older than Ryan Fitzpatrick. Right. There's your role model right there, buddy. And wish a happy birthday to the other guy I know, this other guy who I know, who's also going to live to be 100 like Tom Brady, and that's Andy Paul. Happy birthday, Andy.

And yes, as we know, Andy's goal is to live to 100 years old. And I will give Andy is, first of all, he's the most creature of habit person I've ever known in my life. Actually, we know two of them. Al Galdi is a major creature of habit. If you get either one of them out of their daily routine, they're all mess. stop. Andy really has over a long period of time done a great job taking care of himself. You know, he works out, he bikes, he does his best. His goal is to live to 100. How old is Andy now? I'm guessing 62. That's just a guess. Okay. Happy birthday, Andrew. Happy birthday.

You know, we both worked with Andy. I had some great years on the sports reporters, and then we did the show together on the 106-7 for about three and a half years, and he's one of my favorite people. Well, yeah, you and Andy got, look, Tom and I would have never done our show together for seven plus years. Had Tom not been a big part of the sports reporters with Andy and Steve for all of the those years leading up to it. That was what, you know, that's where all of us realized Tommy was really good at this. And then, um, of course, we had a genius program director who put the two of us

together. Um, he loves to take credit for that. Uh, had nothing to do with him, obviously. Um, but, uh, um, you also got, you know, I, I, you have also gotten the opportunity to work with Andy at 106-7 on that Saturday morning show. And, you know, I worked a lot with Andy over the years. Andy and I hosted Monday morning quarterback together on Mondays during the season, following games. By the way, following preseason games too. We did that four-hour Monday morning quarterback show together for, I don't know, six or seven years, something like that. And, you know, it was the only show, Tommy, for me, that I got to just sort of show up and not have to worry about planning it out.

Because Andy was, you know, Andy was the lead on that show. Whereas, you know, you and I, I've always sort of bit, it's not that I'm the lead, but I'm the one that sort of organizes everything and the whole thing. But I got to do that. And I loved doing that. I loved being able to just, because that show would start at 6 a.m. and it was 6 to 10 a.m. And, you know, you could roll in at 5.45, and Andy was already there and everything was already organized. And of course, you'd get some sort of story from Andy about home life prior to the show starting that you'd have to, you know, do a quick double take on.

Andy was never bashful, that's for sure, about sharing all details of everything involving his life. but Andy and I got together for lunch two weeks ago, three weeks ago, something like that. Hadn't seen him in a while. Oh, good for you guys. Yeah, and we caught up, and I hear from Jeremy all the time on Twitter, his son, and they're all doing well.

So happy birthday, Andy. Happy birthday. Have a good day. I got to go back to now after moving the last two days in all the stuff Tommy into in the new house, but also moving into our one-month furnished rental in downtown Bethesda, which, by the way, already I kind of like. I now have to go back and we have to clean out the house now

and make sure everything's clean and perfect for the new owners that will be moving into our house. It was a sad, by the way, it was sort of a sad day for my boys and I. Of course it is. You know, it's the house that we pretty much raised there, right? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. A lot of memories in that house.

Have a great day. Tomorrow, not likely. Thursday, yes. We'll probably do a show Thursday and Friday, but no show tomorrow. Enjoy the day. We'll talk later in the week.