The Kevin Sheehan Show - Odell Beckham Jr. or Antonio Brown?

Episode Date: January 17, 2020

Kevin and Thom open the show with a hypothetical choice, Brown or Beckham Jr.? They previewed Chiefs-Titans and 49ers-Packers. They spent time on the continuing sign-stealing saga. Thom also revealed his MLB Hall of Fame ballot. Kevin had three Smell Test picks. <p> </p><p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a></p> Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You want it. You need it. It's what everyone's talking about. The Kevin Sheehan Show. Now here's Kevin. You're listening to The Sports Fix. Tommy's here. I'm here. Aaron's here. Two championship games to preview. I've got a smell test for the show today. But I wanted to mention to you, Tommy, that the radio show started this morning with Greg and I talking about the Antonio Brown and Odell Beckham Jr. stories from yesterday. those that missed it, Odell Beckham Jr., who was very prominent on Monday night in the Superdome and in the locker room, first of all, handing out what was reported to be fake money initially to players on the field turned out to be real money. That could be an NCAA violation. And then in the locker room, first of all, interrupting apparently Ed Orgeron's post-game speech. And then as the players were smoking cigars and a security officer came in, concerned about the cigar smoking, apparently it wasn't something that was supposed to be done in the locker rooms. Odell Beckham Jr. is on tape, you know, basically ribbing the security officer and then

slapping him on the butt. And so he's been charged with simple battery for that. So then you had late yesterday, Drew Rosenhouse, dropping Antonio Brown as a client until, as Rosenhaus said, he gets counseling. So I asked Greg this morning. morning, if you could only, if you had to take one of them, Antonio Brown or O'Dell Beckham Jr., on the Redskins roster for 2020, which one would you take? I did a poll on that. I'll tell you the results in a moment. Who would both of you take? Well, I would take Odell Beckham because I think Antonio Brown is more than just self-destructive. I think he would destroy everything around him, particularly the state he's in right now.

I think there's a good chance that a teammate could actually hurt Antonio Brown. O'Dell Beckham, I think, is just an inflated diva self-absorbed receiver. And, I mean, to me, it's a no-brainer. I mean, Antonio Brown isn't even getting a ticket to see my team play, let alone beyond the roster. I mean, I wouldn't have either one of them, but if I had to pick one, it'd be Odell Beckham. Yeah, I'm with Tom here.

I think that while both of them are crazy, I think that Antonio Brown's not seeing the field, I think O'Dell Beckham, while he's devout receiver, he's inflated ego, he's crazy, and he's a problem in the locker room. He at least tries to play football. Well, I don't think that's the case with Antonio Brown anymore. Although Antonio Brown for those years,

and I think we said it on the podcast yesterday, Aaron, that Mike Tomlin should be canonized for how he managed that whole situation there with Antonio Brown, because really what we thought of him during those years in Pittsburgh was that he was just a diva. I don't think we realized that he was mentally unstable, which he is. But I said this morning on the show, both of them are major problems. Both of them are major disruptions. Brown is the better player. Now, assuming he's eligible, that would be part of this conversation because he could get suspended.

for everything that happened in Oakland and afterwards, even what happened the other day. But assuming he's eligible, Brown's the better player. I would take Brown. The poll, 83.5% Beckham Jr., and the rest Brown. So overwhelmingly, the people that responded over 2,000 people to the poll said that they would do what you would do, and that is sign OBJ. OBJ is, he's a massive disruption, too.

by the way, a good player? Is he really a great player at this point? We keep thinking he's a great talent. Is he a great player? I mean, he wasn't in Cleveland this year. He wasn't in New York for the last couple of years. I know they didn't have quarterbacks. I was going to say, he got open a lot. They just didn't throw to him. Okay. Tough call, though. Tough call, either one of them, but apparently not for you too. Antonio Brown's got to get counseling. I mean, I'm, I fear for his safety and the people around him. You're right about that. But if you were in a, you know, but Beckham Jr., clearly a dummy of the highest order. I mean, he's a first-rate idiot. Seriously. Can you imagine what LSU's thinking right now, though, the fact, oh, it's great. Beckham Jr.'s

going to be on the sideline. Yeah, we'll give him a sideline pass, and then they end up with NCAA sanctions, and you get, you know, because he's handing money out and you get him arrested in the locker room. Would you have either one on your team? No. Okay. No, no, no, no, no. Okay. No, I was saying if you had to pick one.

I know. I know if you had to pick one. That was the premise of it. Before we get to these football games, you know, last night, Alex Ovechkin had a hat trick, and that's five goals now in the last two games for Ovi. And he moved up. He passed Mario Lemieux last night for 10th all time.

He's got 692 career goals. He's only three away from ninth, five goals away from eighth, where he would pass Eiserman in Messier for those two spots. That'll happen in the next week or two, probably. He became just the second player in NHL history, Mike Gartner, the other, to score 30 or more goals in his first 15 NHL seasons. If he plays the next two years at his same productivity rate that he's been playing at. He's going to end up number two on the list behind Gretzky. And if he plays another

four years the way he's played, he'll become more likely than not the all-time scoring leader, goals scored leader in the history of the sport. I bring it up because I know you've had this conversation before on radio with various partners. I've had this conversation on radio and on podcast with various people about the greatest single team sport athlete in the history of this city. it's really not debatable, is it? It's Ovechkin. Well, it is debatable, Kevin. Because of Walter Johnson and Sammy Ball. And Sammy Ball. Of course, it's debatable. I'll tell you what.

He's in that conversation now more than ever before. And if he progresses, like, I mean, if you're going to say at some point when he's done, he's one of the top two or three greatest hockey players of all time, then, yeah, you could make the case. because Walter Johnson still considered the greatest right-handed pitcher in the history of baseball. You know? What years were those? What years were those?

Oh, I don't remember, 1820 to 1830. I don't remember. But, Sam, don't do that. Don't do that. That's irrelevant. I did it for you. I did it for you. Okay.

And Sandy Ball is no longer in the conversation of greatest. quarterbacks who ever lived. But he is usually when you start ranking the top NFL players of all time. He was on the NFL 100 list. Yeah. Oh, he's very high. Usually in the top 20. He was in the top 10.

Have we not done this already? The NFL 100 quarterbacks list? So my point is, it is debatable. And people need to, you know, recognize that the world started before they were born. Yeah. This is

You know, but, look, two years ago when they won the Stanley Cup and everyone was ready to crown him, I dismissed it. I wouldn't dismiss it anymore so quickly. He's in that conversation, and particularly if he gets into the Gretsky atmosphere, then he definitely is. If somebody's going to say to me, I think, like two years from now, I think Oveckin is the greatest athlete in the history of D.C. sports, I'd say, well, I might agree, I might disagree, but that's, That's not a stupid position. I mean, I can't argue with that. So I didn't intend to go in this direction off of this conversation. You're right.

You're right. Sammy Bonn-Walter Johnson. All right. And Ovechkin. That's the list. Nobody else is close. That's the list. Okay.

So I think I've talked about it with you, but maybe I haven't because you were off there for a few weeks. And we took some days off, too, for the holidays. I watched a lot of that NFL 100 show on NFL Network. It was really well done with Belichick and with Collinsworth and with Rich Eisen. And the quarterback show in particular was really good, really well done. And Sammy Ball was one of the 10 quarterbacks that made the NFL 100 list. There were 10 quarterbacks on the team. And Sammy Ball was the quarterback from, you know, the 30s through the early 50s.

And then Otto Graham was on the list, too. He played from 46 to 56. But it was such a well-done show. And it created obviously a lot of debate. But Sammy Ball is still considered to be. Most recently, with this list, a top 10 quarterback of all time. You know, Ovechkin's probably a top 10 player of all time. You know, maybe this isn't an area of expertise for me.

But I know in terms of a goal scorer, he's probably top five. all time. I mean, he's in the conversation for best wing ever. If we're going with, you know, Walter Johnson is the best pitcher ever. Alex Ovechkin is in the conversation for best wing ever. Yeah. I enjoy him because he's 34. How many great years does he have left? Yeah, I know.

And this is a problem, though, because now they just resign back from to a contract extension. I mean, they're going to resign Ovescgen. I think his contract is up next year. You know they're going to do that. at some point. So, like, we are, like, the next four or five years, maybe the next four years, let's say, are the last years you're going to get Oveskin and Baxter and Baxter together? And if you're at a capitals, you would think you want to, you want to do as much as you can to capitalize on that. Right. You know, but they're going to say goodbye at the end of this season to Braden Holpe.

Yeah, but they seem to have a pretty good solution for saying goodbye to him. But you know what? Braden Holby was just voted. I mean, one thing, in the NBC Washington, one of the polls they did for the decade, I mean, the greatest play in D.C. sports history over the past 20 years was the save that he had. And game five against Vegas. Right. And then I think that that was considered the greatest saved that voted on in the NHL in the past decade.

So what are you saying? Do you think the window's closing? I think it's a risky proposition to take the rest of Ovetians and back from years and put them in the hands of a very talented young rookie. Saminoff or whatever his name is. Let me see. Sampsonoff. Samsonoff, yeah.

And he's very talented. And by the way, he looks like the guy who would wait on you, McDonald's. He's so young. It's unbelievable. I was standing in front of him the other night, and he looks so young. And he may be talented, but he's, is he Stanley Cup talented? Is he Stanley Cup tested? You have the guy in Holby who is Stanley.

Stanley Cup tested, don't you want more than one Stanley Cup to show for Ovechkin's era? And, I mean, you know, they could say, well, we can't afford to, like, you know, because of the salary cap, the same argument the learners made about Rendon. Well, if it was me, I'd find a way to keep Raydon Holby because I want to make the most of the last few years I have with Oveskin and Baxham. This was why they were so foolish to kiss Barry Trott's goodbye. and hand over the reins to an untested NHL head coach, you know, because he may be a very good coach, but if he Stanley Cup, if he Stanley Cup material coach, you don't know, you know, and if they waste the last year of Ovechkin and Baxter,

because they were too cheap, that's going to be stupid. Well, especially if, you know, Trotsey and the Islanders go on to win it, you know, and they're really good this year. I mean, the penguins are really good right now. It's going to, I mean, whether you have Holphee or not, it's the NHL postseason. Like, anything can happen. And I mean, thank God they won the one they got, because Oveckin's legacy would forever be tarnished without it. Because all of the great ones in that sport have NHL Stanley Cup championships.

Anyway. That was the conversation. That was the conversation that Trotts had with O'Vetskin when he went to Russia before the start of that Stanley Cup season. Basically, he said, maybe fair or not, but what people are going to say about you is what you haven't done, not what you've done. Right.

You know, I had Joe B on the show yesterday or the day before on radio, and I asked him the question about, it's interesting about hockey with as physically demanding as the sport is, a lot of the greats play well into their late 30s. You know, they play until older ages. So, you know, Baxterm's only 32. Ovechkin's 34. And they still could potentially have three, four, five years left together of being really, really good.

I mean, in Ovechkins, I think you've hit the perfect storm of a guy whose talent may have diminished with age a little bit. just a little bit, but his maturity level and his knowledge has risen significantly over the days where he was hell on ice. And by far the greatest thing you saw on ice, it's like the perfect storm of wisdom and talent. And these may be the best years of Ovetkin's career, literally. Even though he's been better before talent-wise, you didn't have the wisdom and the maturity to go with it. Now that you've got that, he still has enough talent to be one of the best players in the game. No doubt. I mean, the numbers are proving it out. He's in the process of putting together one of his best seasons ever. And the team is having one of its best regular seasons ever. Anyway, staying on sort of the past greats, although Ovechkin is not a past great, but in talking about the past a little bit,

did you see the NFL Hall of Fame entrance for this centennial year class where they're putting in 20 people, 13, you know, seniors, 10 players, two coaches and three contributors, and then they'll have the five players. So 15 non-current players, and that Jacoby was left off that list for Jimbo Covert. Did you see that? Yeah, I did. I saw that. Tom. I know it is. I mean, I hate to say it, but I get tired of banging that drum.

I really shouldn't. I should keep doing it for Joe. But how many times have I written that this is a travesty that Jacoby should be in the Hall Fame? I bet that's written it a half a dozen columns about that. And it's ridiculous that he's not. I mean, you know, Jimbo Colvert over Joe Jacoby. No, I don't think so.

No. You know? That's the thing about that list. If covert wasn't on it, we would have said, oh, man, come on. Jake should have been on that list. I mean, he had a better career than Harold Carmichael. He had a better career than Cliff Harris. But the fact that they put somebody at his position from the same era who didn't achieve what he achieved,

numbers wise, winning wise, all-wise, really is galling. It's like they're really missing something. something here. You know, a lot of the, and I had this conversation yesterday and it got into a debate about Drew Pearson. Personally, you know, did you see the video of Drew Pearson being really upset, not getting in, sitting there waiting for the announcement? I personally didn't think, I didn't know if Drew Pearson was in or not in the Hall of Fame. I don't consider him, like, on first glance to be a Hall of Fame player. He was a really good player. From that era, I'm very surprised even to this day that Cliff Branch isn't in the Hall of Fame. He was a player

that had major impact. He was a player that defenses truly had the game plan for. He's not in the Hall of Fame either. But anyway, there was a lot of conversation and follow-up to that because a lot of the Cowboy fans said, what were you watching? Drew Pearson was the best receiver of the 70s. And he wasn't the best receiver of the 70s.

He's a good receiver in the 70s. I think Drew Pearson. I think Drew Pearson is a Hall-Famer. I don't. Why do you think he is? Well, because I just remember him being a clutch receiver and a guy that, you know, if I was a giant fan or an opposing player of the Cowboys,

a opposing fan of the Cowboys, I hated because he would beat you more often than not. He would be the guy who would be you. He was very good, very good player. I remember being on the wrong side. Let me ask you a question. Who would you rather have on your team? Drew Pearson or Terrell Owens.

Oh, Tio. Tio was a much better player. Tio was a much better wide receiver. Who would you rather have on your team? Yeah, but what's the relevance of that question? That's not a Hall of Fame question, is it? Well, yes, it is a Hall of Fame question. Why?

How is it? A Hall of Fame question? I mean, because people worship at the altar of Torel Owens because of his numbers, but I'm sorry, I'll bet you if you ask nine out of ten quarterbacks, Who would they rather have in the fourth quarter go get the ball? It'd be Drew Pearson. Yeah, I don't consider Drew Pearson to be in T.O's class as a receiver. I don't.

In terms of who's a better dude in the locker room? A better teammate? Yeah, Drew Pearson might be a better teammate. But if you told me, I got to pick the best wide receiver of the two, it's hands-down T-O. T-O is one of the greatest receivers I've ever watched. That wasn't the question. Who would you have on your team? I would have, if I were trying to win Super Bowls, I'd have Terrell Owens on my team.

Okay, I'd have, I'd have Drew Pearson. And Drew Pearson won, you know, more Super Bowls than Tio. Terrell Owens was also on much better teams. I'm sorry? Terrell Owens didn't win any Super Bowl. No, he did not. Do you feel the same way about Cliff Branch the way I do? Not as passionately as you do, but yeah.

Yeah, I think he should be in Hall fan. name. We both think Jake should be in the Hall of Fame over Jimbo Covert. As somebody sent me a tweet yesterday that, where is it, that, you know, he listed all of the, all the numbers, which I had all the numbers. And then his last comment was, Covert spent half of his career watching Jacoby playing the Super Bowl, which is true. Because, you know, Covert had a very short career. Jacoby had a longer career. But when Covert was Chicago on a defensive-oriented team, the Bears, the one title team they have is because of their defense, maybe the greatest defense of all time. And Jacoby was a part of the part of the team that

really was the leading part of a team that went to four Super Bowls and won three of them, somehow coverts in there before him. Anyway, enough about that. I did want to correct something from yesterday. I'm getting to that point where I'm forgetting things from even years ago, So I apologize. I got this one way wrong. I talked about the Bears and the Redskins playoff games from those years in the 80s. And I told the story, as I remembered it in the moment, of Joe Gibbs wanting to run shotgun against the Bears in their 84 playoff game because the Bears in 84 had a great defense. It was the first year where it was like, whoa, this defense is really good.

And then they came back to next year and became the greatest defense of all time. But they were a great defense in 84 as well. And they beat the Redskins in the divisional round of the postseason at RFK, 23 to 19. And for whatever reason, I remembered it as the game in which Gibbs was actually going to run shotgun for the first time. But somebody leaked it that they were practicing it, and he decided not to do it in that game. That's wrong. He ran the shotgun with Thaisman five times in the first. half of that game against the Bears. So he actually did it. I do think that I'm right about the

story, Tommy, of him being very upset that somebody leaked that they were practicing it. It didn't matter. They sack Thaiseman seven times in that game, and their defense really was the key in beating the skins that day. Do you remember anything about that or not? No, I don't remember anything about that. Okay. Very good. You want to talk about the championship games on Sunday? Yeah, that would be a good idea. All right, let's do that after I tell you about stamps.com.

Most New Year's resolutions, they're hard to keep. Get more exercise, save more money, all of that stuff. I've got a resolution if you're a small business that's easy to keep. Stop wasting time going to the post office. Use stamps.com instead. With stamps.com, you can do anything you do at the post office

right from your computer, and you can save big. It brings all of the services of the U.S. Postal Service rate to your computer, whether you're a small office sending invoices and online seller shipping out products or even a warehouse, sending thousands of packages a day. Stamps.com handles it all with ease. Simply use your computer, 24 hours a day, seven days a week for any letter, any package, any class of mail, send it wherever you want. Once your mail is ready, hand it to your mail carrier or drop it in a mailbox. It's that simple. Here are the savings you get with stamps.com. $0.5.000 off of every first class stamp, but more importantly, 40% off priority mail. It's a no-brainer. Saves you time, saves you money. 700,000 plus small businesses are already using stamps.com. Give yourself a resolution you can actually keep this year. Stop going to the post office if you're a small business. Use stamps.com instead. There's no risk. And with my promo code, Kevin D.C., you get a special offer that includes a four-week trial plus free postage and a digital. scale with no long-term commitment or contract required. Stamps.com, click on the mic in the upper right-hand corner of the home page.

Type in Kevin DC, that's K-E-V-I-N-D-C, Stamps.com, Kevin, D.C. All right, we got two championship games on Sunday. Titans and Chiefs at Arrowhead, followed by 49ers and Packers in Santa Clara. The Chiefs are a seven-point favorite. the 49ers are a 7 and a half point favorite. I think most people really, after what they saw the Chiefs do last week, are thinking that the Chiefs are going to make the Super Bowl. I think people give Aaron Rogers a chance.

I actually have it the other way. I give the Titans a legit chance to win at Arrowhead. Really? And I don't think the Packers have much of a chance at all against the 49ers. That's the way I see it. How do you see it? Oh, I think the Chiefs are going to roll over to Titans. I just don't think.

I mean, if the Titans, I just don't think that Pat Mahomes can score, can go down the length of the field in one minute. You know, so it doesn't matter if they keep the ball out of his hand. At some point, he'll get the ball back, and within a minute or two, he can have that team down the field and in the end zone. So I just don't think the strategy, of ball control running the ball, keeping it at him a home hand, it's going to work because they're still quick strike.

I do think that the 49ers, they're going to handle the Packers pretty easily. Although I've got to say I'm in love with Aaron Rogers again, just watching the way he plays. I mean, he's just amazing to play. But the 49ers defense is really good. they have a good running game. Garapolo has proven to be a good under-pressure quarterback for them in the moment. So I agree with you about the 49ers.

I think the Chiefs are going to roll over the Titans. Yeah, first of all, it would be a great Super Bowl, Chiefs 49ers. You know, pretty much the best team in the NFC for much of the year. And, you know, the second best team in the AFC, the Ravens, I think, were the best team. But it would be a really good Super Bowl to see Pat Mahomes against that defense. The Chiefs' offense against the 49er defense would be a really good matchup in Miami for the Super Bowl. I think it's interesting. You don't get this all the time, but we've seen both of these games this year.

We saw Tennessee beat Kansas City in week 10, 35 to 32. It was an odd game in that the Titans only had 49 offensive snaps. They did have a defensive touchdown, but they scored 35 points on 49 offensive snaps. And Kansas City had 78 offensive snaps. It's very rare where you see in an NFL game, one team basically get 30 more offensive snaps than their opponent. And yet they lost the game. They lost the game with Patrick Mahomes throwing for four. 146 yards in the game. I mean, it was a huge game for him. It was his first game back from injury.

You had in the game, Derek Henry rushed for 188 yards on 23 carries. He averaged 8.2 yards per carry against the Chiefs. That game was in Tennessee. In Nashville, this game's at Arrowhead, and they have a, you know, they have a very good home field advantage. but Tennessee beat Kansas City, and then we saw San Francisco and Green Bay in November as well. And this was a one-sided beatdown in the same venue that the game will be played at on Sunday in Santa Clara. I mean, this was one of the worst statistical games in Aaron Rogers' career. He threw in the game for 104 total yards, 104 in the game, got sacked five times. he only had 74 yards passing in the game midway through the fourth quarter and then had 30 on like a garbage time drive late in the game. Think about that, Tommy.

You know, typically when there's a one-sided ass kicking, the opposing quarterback will, you know, will end up with a statistical day that includes a bunch of yards because the other team with a 30-point lead in playing the defense the same way. Aaron Rogers had 74 yards passing midway through the fourth quarter in that game against that 49er defense. And it was the last time before last week that the 49er defense was completely healthy. They had in that game D. Ford. They had Alexander. They had Tart. They were healthy in that game. Then they weren't healthy for like a month and then they got healthy for the playoff game last week. We saw it. I don't know how we see something differently.

it's something different. The only way I see the 49ers losing this game is if Garoppolo gives it away. That's the only thing that's possible to me. Garapolo throwing three picks, two or three picks, and shortening the field for the Packers, and they end up with a bunch of points off turnovers. Which Minnesota had a chance. I mean, they only got one pick,

but they had a chance for at least one other that they dropped. Yeah, I think the 49ers, beat the Packers easily. I don't see any way the Packers, other than, you know, you just think about Garoppolo not playing well, and Aaron Rogers figuring it out, but that defense is really good.

What about Kyle Shanahan choking in the big moment? Well, I mean, in that Super Bowl with the Falcons, you know, he probably should have run the ball. Yeah. And burn clock. I don't know. It's hard not to forget that performance.

Yeah. And, you know, the reason that you even talk about it is because his offense was so good to, you know, to generate a 28 to 3 lead or whatever it was in the Super Bowl. That offense that year was incredible. You know, let's not forget that in the NFC championship game that year, Kyle is the offensive coordinator in Atlanta. They destroyed Aaron Rogers and the Packers in the NFC title game. That's right. It was like 44 to 21. I mean, they crushed them.

in Atlanta. So I think this is a much better Packer defense, though, than the one they faced that particular year. I think the Packer defense is pretty good. So that's where you, you know, if you're a Packer fan, you're like, maybe we can force Garoppolo into a couple of those throws that are inaccurate and we hang on to them and we get three, you know, three picks and we score on one of them and the other two, you know, sets up, you know, points. I mean, that's the way, that's the way the Packers, I think, would pull the upset here. But I like the 49ers. To me, they're the safest of the two favorites to win. I agree. I agree with you. I just think that...

But you like the Chiefs big, too. Yeah, I do. I just find it... I tell you why. I mean, Mike Ravel would become a god if he turns around and he beats the Patriots on the road in New England, the Ravens in Baltimore, and then the Chief in Kansas City. I mean, my God. run. That would be a remarkable run for that guy. Yeah, it would be. I think he's a good coach. I think he's got, I think they got something going there. And I mean, you know, you picture what Kansas City did offensively against Houston, and it's hard to get that vision out of your head. And you

just think, I mean, who can stop them? At the same time, every time Derek Henry touches the ball, it's like a minimum of five yards. Yeah, it's hard to get that vision. you know, out of your head as well. I mean, and, you know, we know this from the NFL, more times than not, you know, if you can't, if you can run the football effectively, you got a really good chance. They would be, I think, the third number six seed to reach the Super Bowl if they do it. The 2005 Steelers did it and won the Super Bowl, as did the 2010 Packers. You know, both of the previous six seats to reach the Super Bowl. won the Super Bowl.

I give the Titans a legitimate shot. I give them a legitimate shot. I'll get to the smell test a little bit later on, but I give them a legitimate shot to win the game. It's not going to surprise me if they go in and win. It would shock me if Green Bay wins this weekend. All right. Carlos Beltran fired before he even gets to manage his first game for the Mets.

So what's your latest? thoughts on all of this. Well, I'm not surprised. I didn't think he would survive. And, I mean, I think what you're, you know, what Rob Manfred hoped to do by acting so decisively with the people he had control over, being management, was to get his arms around this thing, as they say, and to contain it. But that doesn't seem to be what's going to happen. And there's all these rumors going around about electronic devices that Jose Altuve was wearing under his uniform. Nobody knows if they're true or not.

Well, Majorly Baseball is saying that there's no evidence that that story is true. Right. about that. I mean, this is going to have a lot of legs for a long time, and I keep thinking about the players. I mean, if this was a player-generated thing for the most part, how this idea that they're afraid to go after the players because they don't want to have to deal with the players' union and get this bog down. I mean, look, I'm a union guy, okay? I believe in the power of unions. But there's this notion that, I mean, you want to make, like, professional sports leagues unions, like they're to mine workers or steel workers. It's a very, it's a very unique

situation. Yeah. Because you have a competitive, you have people, you have union members competing against each other and competing for jobs against each other. So, I mean, So basically, if the union would protect, let's say, the astro players who might be disciplined for something like this. You know, well, what about the union members who were damaged by the Astro's players' actions? What about the union members on the Dodgers who lost money? Right. Because of the – We're the Yankees.

Yes. But what about protecting those members? That's what makes this so unique in terms of a union issue. That's the thing about steroids, about like they were so quick to basically refuse to have strict testing when it came to drug use and baseball. That was all the union that stood in the way of that. But what were they doing to help the players who didn't use drugs, who were being, whose jobs, who were losing jobs to the players,

who did, who were, again, losing maybe MVP awards to the players who did use, you know, drugs. So it's a very complicated issue in terms of the players' union. And I just think that, you know, when it's all set and done, I think the union is going to look bad in all this for standing in the way of Major League Baseball going after the guys on the assholes. the players on the atros who were the key members of this scheme. This Jose Al-Tube thing, though, is really interesting because while baseball is claiming that there's no evidence that he and Alex Bregman, I believe, was the other player that was accused on Twitter yesterday by other players in the league of wearing electronic devices

that would, you know, that they'd be, that would help clue them into the pitch before the pitch would come. And there's the story that came out yesterday that Altuve's walk off home run against the Yankees in game six this year, you know, to put them into the World Series to face the nationals, that as Altuve approaches home plate after that home run, he clearly tells his awaiting teammates not to yank off his jersey. And when he was asked why during an on-field interview with Fox, he laughed and said, I'm too shy. Last time they did that, I got in trouble with my wife. So he did put out a statement saying, I've never worn an electronic device in my performance as a major league player. If there was proof that he did, he should be banned from baseball. That

would be, that's the only penalty that Al-Tubei, you'd give Al-Tube. That's not a suspended for a year or two years, that is a ban from baseball. If those players were wearing electronic devices inside their jersey, where they got beeped for, you know, one for a fastball, two for a curve, and three for a change-up, that is really cheating at a level that we've never seen before. Yes, yes, it is. And how ironic would it be? Is it cheating at a level that we've never seen before, or performance enhancers worse? Like, I don't even know. I think performance. I I think PEDs are worse. I think performance enhancers are worse.

And speaking of which, on Tuesday, the Hall of Fame will announce the results of this year's balloting for this year's voting class. And how erotic would it be in the middle of all this cheating scandal that the Hall of Fame that the voters would then vote Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens into Coopertown? on the heels of all this. That would be some pretty good irony there. And they may get in. They may get in.

They may just fall short, but they also may get in this time. Who did you vote for? Oh, I didn't vote for either of those guys. I voted for, let me see if I can recall it now. Larry Walker, Jeff Kent, Omar Fiscal, I forget who else, Billy Wagner, and I can't remember. What about Jeter?

And Jeter, obviously. Jeter. Yeah, I think those were the five I voted for. I usually vote for 10. It wasn't a strong ballot. But I didn't vote for bonds. I didn't vote for Clements. I didn't vote for Bills.

I didn't vote for Schilling. He's a borderline guy. I mean, he had a great postseason career, but his regular season wins. You know, I mean, they're, I vote for Louis Tiont before I vote for Schilling to get in the Hall of Fame. So, no. But if he got, again, you know, I'm not going to, like somebody, freedom fighters who think they're

fighting the good fight for these steroid guys and have voted, have said, I'm not going to vote anymore because they're not letting the steroid guys in. I'm not going to throw a tantrum if guys who I don't vote for get in the Hall of Fame. that's just the will of the electorate. I mean, if bonds and clements get in the whole fame, that's the way it is. You know, you live with it. It's not who I would have voted for,

but I'm not going to throw a tantrum about it, like somebody's righteous baseball writers who have said, well, you know, I'm not voting anymore. I'm boycotting the voting. Like a childhood temper tantrum. If they get in. Yeah.

Well, you know what? Find new voters then. Yeah. Well, that's what they've done, actually, a couple years ago. They basically came up with a formula that cut off a lot of the older voters who voted for the Hall of Fame, which enhanced the chances of the steroid guy. I'll be real curious, if either of those guys get in, what the reaction will be come Hall of Fame induction day on the stage. I think Derek Jeter would probably give them cover, but I've talked to enough Hall of Famers,

and this could just be for bravado, who said they would not show up on stage if Clemens or Bonds got in. Yeah, I mean, that day comes down the road. The announcement comes when in a few days? The announcement comes Tuesday. Tuesday. So in the midst of all this Astros stuff, it might get sort of. masked a little bit, but not really. I mean, if Bonds or Clemens ends up in the Hall of Fame, it's going to be massive news. I mean, you're not predicting it, are you?

No, but I think this is the closest they'll get. I think they've only got two years left. I think eventually they'll get in. Right now it's tracking the wrong way for them. There's a tracker that kind of keeps track of these things. And right now, Bonds is at 73 percent, Clemens is at 72 percent and all of, and both of them usually drop with. with the late ones. Yeah, you got to need 75% in order to get in. I don't know how, I think they've got two years of eligibility left or one year. Yeah, this is their eighth year on the ballot for both of them.

Okay. So I think eventually they'll get in. I think once the pressure's on the last year or two that they're on, I think there'll be enough people that will basically wind up voting for them to get them in. I won't be one of them. But I just think it would be ironic that if they would get in on the, heels of this Astro's cheating scandal. That baseball would be getting what they deserve then. All right. MyBooky.ag. If you want to bet the championship games this weekend, college hoops all

weekend, NBA, NHL, the Super Bowl, two weeks from Sunday, and you don't have a place to play, my bookie.orgie.ag is reliable. They've got the fastest payouts, best promotions, a very helpful 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week customer service team. Any way you want to bet a game, straight bet, parlay teaser, I want to bet futures, you want to bet in-game action. MyBooky.orgie has it all. And right now, if you join, MyBooky will match your deposit halfway, all the way up to $1,000. That means if you deposit $2,000, they'll give you an extra $1,000 in free money to play with. You go to mybooky.orgie.org, use my promo code, Kevin, D.C., to activate the offer. Once again, that's Kevin D.C. at my bookie.orgie.

All right. Get to the smell test here in a moment. So, Tommy, the Redskins haven't played on this weekend in 29 years. I was thinking about this last night. Part of the Snyder era legacy is that he, you know, through his ownership, has essentially changed the way the Redskins fan base thinks about itself, feels about itself in the team. and really has changed the expectations. I mean, think about even at the end of the North Turner era, you know, it was still a fan base that thought it was a winner

that was only, you know, seven, eight years removed from its last Super Bowl, that thought, you know, well, it's next year. We're going to be back to the way we were. You know, more than willing to support the team through thick and thin. You know, that feeling obviously has eroded over time. Most choosing to do other things with their time when they, They used to spend it on the Redskins. 21 years ago, the expectations were still very high.

Now they're not. You know, the expectations are really low. That's been one of the results of this 20-year disaster of Dan Snyder owning the team. The whole, you know, expectation scope has changed. We as a fan base, I put myself into that category, we haven't thought about winning a Super Bowl in years. We barely even think about winning a playoff game. One reason could be we haven't. In 14 years it's been.

14 years ago, this team last won a playoff game. So Snyders effectively change the game here in D.C. From thinking like a winner, feeling like a winner, and expecting a winner, to chronic hopelessness, chronic feeling of defeat. And that's where it is. is right now. With that said, I think the last two and a half weeks for some, this one-voice, one-direction Ron Rivera promised by Snyder has made people think once again that, hey, it's possible here in the next five, six, seven years, whatever it is, that they could be, you know, playing

in the postseason this late into the postseason. I feel that that's much more probable than it has been over the last five, six years. You don't, do you? No, I think it's more probable than it was when Jake Gruden and Bruce Allen were there. Of course I do. Do I think that something will get in the way named Dan Snyder and the aura of self-destruction? Of course I do. But those two things can both be the same. They can be good.

They can be competitive and they can be self-destructive. The Cowboys have been good and competitive. and self-destructive. So Redskins can do that same thing. They can win 10-11 games. The Cowboys do it. And look what happened. It's the same thing.

It's the same model. So I think both things are the same. I think you're right. The probability certainly goes up with the absence of Gruden and Alan and the presence of Ron Rivera. Yeah, I mean, it's hard. If you're a long-time fan, it's hard not to at least feel like you got something you asked for. You know, two and a half, three weeks ago, you wanted Bruce out, you wanted front office people out.

You wanted the coaching staff swapped. And Bruce Allen's out and key people that have been close to Snyder over the years are out. And you hired a coach that really was, you know, an example of overachieving on the hiring front. Most people would say that about Ron Rivera. And you got a Jack Del Rio and a defensive coordinator. And the one guy that was in the organization that people think is talented, Kyle Smith gets elevated. You've got an owner who got so desperate that he said we're going with this coach-centric model. It's one voice, one direction, and it's Ron Rivera.

And I think right now the indication is it is for now Ron Rivera's show. So, you know, that result makes me more optimistic that. sometime, you know, during the Ron Rivera era, let's say it lasts, you know, five years, that sometime, five, six, seven years, sometime during that stretch that he's going to give them a chance to play, you know, on this weekend. I mean, they haven't done it in 29 years. They've barely played on the weekend before. That's only happened a couple of times. I do think, and I think I said this to you last week, that at the very least, you know, what Joe Gibbs did here with Snyder and Vinnie here, getting to the playoffs

twice in four years, you know, Ron Rivera's going to give him that chance at the very least. That kind of success. I agree with that. Did you hear Scott Turner's conversation with the media? I did. Okay. I've got to ask you a question. Okay. There's some quotes

from Scott Turner. He was asked about the key for developing young quarterbacks. Quote, you've got to be the most committed guy in the building. Your teammates have to see that.

The coaches have to see that because that's how you develop trust and that's how you develop leadership. If you're the last guy in, first guy to leave, you don't have a mastery of the offense at quarterback and you try to tell somebody

else what to do or try to step into a leadership type role. It is not going to work, and no one is going to listen to you. Right. Was he talking to you when he said that? Me? Yeah.

I don't think so. I don't. What's he talking to me? I don't think he was talking to me. No. Was he talking to Dwayne Haskins? Is that what you meant to ask? Maybe. What do you think? Do you think he was talking to Colt McCoy? I think that he, I think he's talking to him. I think he's talking to him. to Dwayne Haskins, but I think he also came with the perspective and the part that you didn't read because it wasn't a part of that quote.

It was a part of an earlier quote is that he's been in a building and an NFL building with rookie quarterbacks with very young quarterbacks before. Teddy Bridgewater in Minnesota and Cam Newton, you know, in Carolina. And he's got some experience with understanding what kind of, you know, attitude, what kind of work ethic, you know, will work with within the, the, within an NFL locker room. So, you know, here's the thing. So in other words, the glove just happens to fit by accident, you're saying.

I mean, everything he brought up here were criticisms about Dwayne Haskins, we heard this year, including his speech to the offensive line on the side line. Yeah, very early on. We heard different as the season went on. When they all couldn't care less what he had to say. you don't think Scott Turner was aware of that and heard about that or saw that. So this just happens to be a coincidence. Well, you know, I don't have the quotes in front of me.

I was just looking for them for whatever reason they're not up on the team's website anymore. They were yesterday and now they're not. I don't understand that at all. But he also talked about designing an offense to fit Dwayne's strengths. He also talked about in his interview with Ron Rivera that he came up prepared with a plan, you know, for Dwayne Haskins. Like there was a lot in there that I heard from Scott Turner that made me think, well, you know, right now the plan is for Dwayne Haskins. But I think a lot of that might have been directed towards Haskins, you know, on the commitment front.

I think part of it he was speaking to his experience with other young quarterbacks in Minnesota with his father and in Carolina with Cam Newton as well. but I also believe that a lot of that stuff that we heard about Dwayne Haskins was then updated by people like Chris Thompson and Adrian Peterson and Bill Callahan and Kevin O'Connell. You know, towards the end of the season, as he got much better on the field, we saw that. It was continuing to progress. And then we heard things from those guys saying, you know, the giant game was sort of a wake-up call, that he wasn't prepared for that particular relief appearance early in the season, and that he's very competitive and he didn't want it to happen again. And from that moment on, he became a different player in terms of the way he prepared.

And then when he got the starting job, he really dug in. And he's really become committed to this thing in the way that a pro needs to be committed. So I think we heard some of that late in the year about a young player, who I think entered into a very difficult situation to begin with, with Jay Gruden not wanting him to be there, with the media basically saying, you know, and the team saying, oh, he's nowhere near ready to play. I mean, they criticized him at every opportunity they got. Leaks coming out of the building.

I think the whole thing was bad for him. But my point, I guess, is that was the early narrative. I think it changed at the end of the year. Okay. So you don't think it's a character flaw that the guy didn't walk into the building. Where in number seven I might want to. to point out. Yeah.

With that attitude right from the start. Is it a character flaw? Yes. I think work ethic, work ethic certainly, if you don't have it, is a flaw. I don't know if that it's a character flaw, you know, but I think you can learn work ethic. I think that you can be taught how to work and how to prepare. And my guess is that he came in as a quarter of a quarter of a quarter of a quarter of, that had started one year in an urban Meyer system that was very quarterback friendly,

and he had to learn what it would take, what kind of work it would take, what kind of preparation it would take to be an NFL quarterback. I don't know that it's a character flaw. I think it was a flaw that can be, you know, worked on and improved on. Okay. All right. That's all I got to say. That's all you got to say.

That's all I got to say, you know? just an accidental generic reference no i don't think i'm not saying i didn't say it was accidental all right you know what i'm done with you today i'm tired of you today i'm tired of you today i'm tired of aaron today i'm tired of myself today um i got a smell test to finish up the show you can go or you can hang on you can hang on you know i'm kidding with you sort of no i don't i want to get out of here i have i have important things to do. What are you doing today?

What am I doing today? Yeah. Going to the cigar store and smoking the cigar. Uh-huh. I got nothing going on today. This weekend, I want to see that movie in 1917. I've heard it's great. I would think that that's a movie you want to see. Yeah, I want to see it too. But I don't think I'll be going to the movies. I didn't see it, but I think both of you would also, like, I saw Uncut Gems last weekend. You told me about that. That is the, that's the Adam Sandler thing. Yeah. About, it's about a gambler, right? Yep. Is that on Netflix? No, it's a Netflix produced movie,

but it is out regularly. Okay. So I got to go to the theater to see that. Yes. If I, if I go to a movie this weekend, I'm going to go see 1917 first. If I, because I don't go to a movie theater that much. If I go, I'm going to go see 1917. I also heard that this Aaron Hernandez thing on Netflix is, so good. But that's like a three-hour commitment, apparently. And let me point out, and I know nobody agrees with me about this, this is part of the vulture culture that we're in these states. We're going to pick the bones of Aaron Hernandez and make money off it. We're still making money off Denise Brown and Ronald Goldman. You know, I just think that this is part of the culture created by Nancy Grace that passes for entertainment these days.

Do you know, I don't know if I was listening to something on Howard Stern that was recent or it was old. I can't tell you that. But Kim Goldman was a guest on Howard's show. I think it was in the last year or two. I could be wrong about that. And she told a story that was amazing. she was in a parking lot walking out of a grocery store or some retail store. And O.J. Simpson, so it had to be in recent years because obviously he was locked up until recently. And O.J. Simpson was getting into a car like less than 50 feet away from her. Wow, that's filling. And she, you know, she talked about how, you know, she had a lot of thoughts in the moment,

but, you know, what was she going to do, you know, in that particular spot? but the randomness of Kim Goldman, you know, and that family being, you know, tormented over the years and actually running into, she said that O.J. did not see her, but she stared him down and, you know, thought for a moment about going after him, but didn't. She said she sort of froze in the moment, but couldn't believe it that OJ had pulled up in the same parking lot,

or was in the same parking lot. All right, I'm done. I'm done with you. Go enjoy the cigar. bar, I'm going to finish the show up with the smell test and move on myself. Thanks. All right, Bob. All right. Have a good day. Tom Levero, everybody.

Let's finish up the show with the smell test. Kevin looks where the John Q public is putting their cash and does the opposite. It's time for the smell test. So on the radio this morning, I said I was five games under 500. I'm actually six games under 500. I thought it was five. I'm six games under 500. Aaron, at one point this year, I was 26 games above 500.

That's a massive turnaround. When I was up 26 games over 500, I knew it would come back. I knew when I was hitting at 70% or whatever it was at that point, that it would end up in the 50s somewhere by the time we got to the end of the season. I did not think that there was a chance that I would end up having my fourth losing season in 14 years of doing this on radio and on podcast. but that's what we're headed towards because six games under 500. The only way to get back to even or to 500 record-wise

is to have every total on every side in the three remaining games. Or play the Pro Bowl. Oh, that's right. We could still do the Pro Bowl. I doubt I'll do the Pro Bowl. I've never done the Pro Bowl. Last week one and two, I had Green Bay as a winner. Houston as a loser in Baltimore as a loser. The Baltimore game is aggravating because it's one of those games.

games where, you know, from an analysis standpoint, I thought Tennessee matched up well and I thought they had a really good shot. But the public played Tennessee last weekend. So I took Baltimore and laid the 10 and it was never close. Yeah, six games below 500. I've got three plays this weekend. The public's on Kansas City, seeing what they saw last weekend, they think Kansas City will roll. I'll take the Titans plus seven. Also, given all the points that were scored in the Kansas City-Huston game, the public likes over 52-5, I'll take under 52-5. And then in the NFC championship game, I don't like a side. I'd lean San Francisco, but I'm not playing that. The game's pretty much split in terms of the public betting. They're playing the over in that game, though. People

like over 46.5, I'll take under 46.5 in Packers, 49ers. You know, the first four games of this postseason were all unders in Wild Card weekend. You had Houston Buffalo that ended up being an undergame. Tennessee, New England was an under game. Minnesota, New Orleans was an under game. Eagles Seahawks. All four of the wild card games went under the total. Then last weekend, the first two games, San Francisco, Minnesota, Tennessee, Baltimore,

they went under, and then finally in this postseason, you got two overs with KC. Houston sailing over the total. And I leaned over on that game last week on the podcast. Didn't give it out. I should have. And then Seattle Green Bay went over the total as well. I've got two unders Sunday. So there they are, three plays. Titans plus seven, under in both games. That would get me to three games below 500 if I hit all three. and I'm not going to, I've got a losing season, all wrapped up for the fourth time and 14 years of doing this. 10 winning seasons. Next year, it'll be 10 winning seasons for losing seasons in the history of the smell test.

Who do you like this weekend? I am leaning Chiefs and 49ers right now. I'm not totally convinced on the 49ers. I might take a closer look at that, but those are where I'm leaning right now. You know, the first game, to me, the key to this game is, is that Tennessee understands going in. They just have to do what they did against New England and Baltimore, and that is run the football, take shots when they have them.

And in this particular game, more likely than not, they're going to have to score more than they scored in those two games. They're probably going to have to score 30 plus. I think they can in this game. They already did it once against the Chiefs. They scored 35 the first time. There was one defensive touchdown in that game. I think it was a fumble return for a touchdown.

That first game, I think I mentioned it earlier, I believe I did. Kansas City ran 78 plays to just 49 for Tennessee. Derek Henry was incredible, 188 yards, 23 carries, 8.2 yards per carry. You're going to see Tanna Hill take some shots in this game like they did in the Baltimore game last week when they had the fourth down stop and they went with heavy tight end personnel, three tight ends, one back, and they threw it deep to that guy, Khalif Raymond. Khalif Raymond's got 10 catches on the year, 21 and a half yards per catch. Had a big one, a 52-yarder against the Chiefs the last time they played.

I think you will see Tennessee take some shots. I also think Tennessee's defense is going to pose a much more difficult challenge for the chiefs offensively. They've got two very good safeties in Byard and Vicaro. And one of those two is going to have to check Kelsey and take them out of the game a little bit. Hard to do. I think Tennessee's got a shot to win the game outright. I'm going to play them plus 280, 290, whatever it is on the money line.

To me, as I mentioned earlier, the Packers win if Garoppolo throws up all over himself. That's like the only way I could see it happening. I think the 49ers win something like 20, like they did last week. It's a 2710, 2713 kind of a game. where they never sweat it. But I could see Tennessee winning, you know, 31-28, 34-31, something like that. Wouldn't surprise me at all. All right.

That's it for the day. You got anything else? Did we miss anything? Any breaking news while we were on the air? Nope. Nothing big has happened. Have a good day. Have a good weekend.

Back on Monday.