The Kevin Sheehan Show - Rivera: "I'm Tired of It..."

Episode Date: March 29, 2022

Kevin and Thom talk about the many comments made this morning by Ron Rivera at the NFL League Meetings in Florida. The majority of the show is focused on the Washington Commanders including why their 2022 Win Total is lower than expected. Some Nats and Chris Rock-Will Smith follow up on the show too. 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 Chean Show. Here's Kevin. Tommy is here today. And as we were getting ready to start the podcast, I said, you got to give me a quick minute.

I've got to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back. And when I got back, which was pretty quickly, probably within a minute and a half, what did you say to me? I said to you, that was pretty quick. I said, I guarantee you, in 15 years from now, it won't be that quick. Is that true?

Yes, it is. Oh, no. I like to be able to, you know, take care of things quickly. I don't like a lot of time wasted. Actually, there are times in the bathroom where I love just on my phone reading. Do you ever, and. Oh, yeah, I do that too, yeah. Yeah, and, and the shower for me ends up becoming the time where I end up coming with, coming up with most of my, and, and, I do, I, I do that. my show topics. Like I get into the, I don't shower every morning before work. It all depends on what time I get up. If I get up at like 4.15, which is the first wake up alarm number on my phone, then I'll

get in the shower and I'll think. And I usually come up with a good idea or two in the shower for the radio show. And, you know, sometimes we'll take it into the podcast as well. and then if I get up at the latest time, which is the 445 wake-up call, and sometimes I then don't shower before. How many of people that are listening are like, you don't shower sometimes before you go to work? Well, why would I?

There's nobody here in the studio with me. I'm the only person walking into the building at 5 a.m. And then when I'm done, many times I'll go home after the radio show if I haven't showered and I'll shower and eat breakfast. breakfast at home and then come back and do the podcast with you or, you know, solo or with somebody else. I kind of like that that I don't have to shower before work. Well, listen, you know, look, I shower every day, but I'm not, I don't care that much

about other people's shower habits. And I'm always amazed when some people are obsessed about it because, like, it's not like most of us work in coal mines every day. You know? I mean, what are you doing during the day that gets you so dirty? You need to shower again. I know people are shower twice a day. Like I said, they're not working in a coal mine.

Well, it doesn't, look, obviously if you're working in a coal mine, you have to shower. But if you're in a job where you're working around and you're in your clothes all day and no, no, no, you have to shower every day. There are weekends. There are weekends when I'll wake up on a Saturday morning, lounge around all day, watch games and not shower, but I could never

go both weekend days without showering. I would then have to wake up on Sunday morning and shower. But I'm saying I know people that shower twice a day. I have showered twice a day. Yes, but it's only usually because I've worked out in the middle of the day.

And then I don't... Well, that's different. Yeah, and I don't like to work out and then get into bed, you know, especially if it's at night with, like I will, if I work out, I will shower before I get into bed. I don't like getting into bed. Right. Um, like that. What are we doing here? I wanted to read something to you to start the show because Ron Rivera spoke today, um, down at the league meetings in Palm Beach, Florida at the lovely Breakers Hotel.

and he said a lot of things, but he said one thing in particular that got repeated by all of the beat reporters down there, Nikki, John, JP, Ben, Michael Phillips, everybody else. He said about the Washington reputation, you know, and people not wanting to come here and just the overall reputation of the organization. He said, quote, we're an easy target. I get it. and frankly, I'm tired of it. We have to win. That's the truth of the matter, closed quote.

I kind of liked that response, and I also will tell you in a moment why I'm a little bit, not bothered by the response, but bothered by a gut feel that I have about him and the new people that are there of the last two years. But I'll let you answer how you feel about. about this first. Okay, let me give him the benefit of the doubt and say, my interpretation of what he was saying was, you know, I'm tired of it, but he's not putting the blame on the people delivering the message because he says, I get it, you know?

He's basically, he's saying, you know, if you read between the lines, you know, it's a deserving, it's a deserving moniker. It's a deserving reputation, and we need to overcome that quickly by winning. So I'm going to give him the benefit of doubt of saying, I'm tired of it, but he points the finger inward instead of outward. Yeah, I think, you know, I want to kind of combine this with things that he has said in the past, You know, when he's asked for people to forget about the past and focus on the future and, you know, it's a new regime and we're going to stay positive and we need it. You know, when he's kind of rooted on the media a little bit in the past to be more positive.

Yeah. And so, you know, which I know has irritated you and I get that. It's irritated me a little bit as well. First of all, I do think that he does get it in terms of why they're an easy target. I'm not so sure he got it totally when he got here. But I also think he understands that the only way out of this is to win. There's no other way, which is why on the Deshawn Watson conversation when we were having it, it's like at this point, you know, what's the downside?

They don't have a downside anymore other than relegation, but they don't have that in this league. If they were in the Premier League, they'd have to worry about relegation. Actually, they would have been relegated a long time ago. But they're not going to be banned from the league. There's no... But the downside,

it's so ironic, it shows you how fucked up this team is. The downside, people with the team, the handful of people that would actually think this would say, well, the downside is the owner could wind up getting forced out, but that's the biggest upside of all. Of course. Of course, that would be nothing. That's so ironic.

I mean, that's the only downside left for them. Is the owner forced out, but that's the biggest upside of all. It shows how screwed up they are. You know, it's funny, is he says we have to win. That's the truth of the matter, and that is. but the other way to win would be for the owner to sell. Like if the owner was forced out and they lost for the next five years, people would still be a lot happier.

And I know there's no guarantee that the next owner is going to be better. But let me assure you that there is a guarantee that the next owner couldn't be worse. So you've got that going for you. But so I think, you know, I think Ron understands it. I think he understands the way out is to win. But I think there's another part of this where he says I'm tired of it. And that's where I kind of recollect some of his previous quotes, and I'm paraphrasing where he's tired of the criticism and he wants people to be positive

and he wants people to stop focusing on the past. Let me just tell you, coach, you're not nearly as tired of it as all of us are. we've been living it for a quarter of a century. And this was something that was truly part of our hearts. You know, this was an important part of our lives, probably an outsized part of our lives. Nobody's more tired of it than everybody else. And, you know, nobody's more tired of it.

When it comes to the media, by the way, you know, the scapegoat for so many dumbass fans out there that believe that this is like, media initiated or most of it is. Again, the media is tired of it too because the media isn't benefiting from covering a winner. See, that's the part, and I've emphasized this a lot over the years. I don't think people realize how much benefit there would be to things like what we do if we were covering a winner. Forget about, you know, just financially, but the opportunities that would exist for so many people.

I mean, like, what book is John Kime going to? Well, you know what? Actually, there probably is a good book to be written about this organization's last few years anyway. Or, you know, really, there actually is a good book to be written. I guess RG3 wanted to write something of a tell-all book, but he has shelved that for the time being. But, you know, for guys like Ron and, you know, the newcomers to the organization, you're

not as tired of it as all of us. You've only been here for two years. You can't possibly understand what is at the core of all of this. You know, it started for so many of us with this incredible, incredible emotional tie to this, you know, this diversion. It was so important to us, so important to the community. And it's been beaten out of many of us completely. And for some of us, almost all there. And so I don't know if he sometimes or any of the newcomers do understand, you know, the tired of it, you know.

And by the way, they're not just tired of it. They've already, they tired of it a long time ago. They've rid themselves of it. Many people have. The other thing, too, and not that he said this in this quote at all, but I know they feel this way in this new administration, just like the last administration felt this way, and maybe even the one to a much lesser extent prior to the previous organization felt this way.

This is not a tough media market. I know we've had this conversation before, so I will keep it short. I know people out there think that this is a really, really brutal, you know, a media market when it comes to them? No, it's not. It's not. You people would be cowering in your shoes with the performance and the behavior of the last 22 years if you had been in New York or Boston or Philly. And that's all also. Yeah. You know, this is the exact thing that Barry Trots went through

when he came to Washington the Coast of Capitals. He got very annoyed about the narrative after they have their early exit in the playoffs that Cap fans were used to. I mean, like, he just got very annoyed at the fact

that people kept bringing up the history. You know, he would say, well, you know, this is a new time, new era, new people. And I remember having a conversation with him once saying that, you know, it's been a long time. It's been a long time and people have lived it, and they're not just going to give it up just because, you know, there's a new group here, and you're going to have to overcome that.

And he finally got that in actually the Stanley Cup year. I mean, the year he went, that off-season when he went to Russia and stopped in for a visit with Ovechkin and gave his speech that people on. aren't going to remember how great you are, they're only going to remember what you haven't done. And that's when a Stanley Cup. He finally got it then, that while he made thought of it was unfair, that I always say when you take a job like that, you carry everything of the organization with it, the whole history, all the good and all the bad.

You know, if you're Ron Rivera, you can't talk about this team's Super Bowl and winning traditions and then just carve out the bad stuff. You know, you inherit it all because the people have lived it all. The fans have lived it all, and it comes with the territory. It may not be fair, but it's real. There were a couple of other things that Rivera said today. He was asked about Chase Young, and he said Chase Young had an awakening after going through his struggles last season.

I'm reading from Ben Standig's tweet, said he anticipates Young attending the off-season workouts based on their conversations. And that would be, by the way, even if he isn't ready to go coming off that ACL, I still have high hopes for Chase Young. I'm not in the camp of bailing because he had a bad season and off year. And by the way, I think maybe an immature, you know, second year. I mean, he's still a very young person and hopefully in, and I've heard very bright, so hopefully he kind of learned from, really, I've got to see on my chest,

so I'm going to be the only one not to post because I got business to take care of. No, he's going to have to post for these OTAs and the minicamp. I think he will this year. And I still have high hopes for Chase Young and Montez Sweat. You can't teach the talent they have. It's not like all of a sudden you're going to get a player that's going to have their kind of talent. So, you know, Ron Rivera is, by the way, also confirming as he has many times in the past, when he uses a word like awakening, you know, we keep hearing this and we've heard this many times previously. The issues they were having when he was talking about doing your job and, you know, following the game plan and all that other stuff early last year, he was pointing and the coaches were pointing at number 99, as much as they were anybody else.

Yes, like we said throughout the whole season last year, both of us. Yeah. I mean, that was pretty clear what was going on. Look, I'm with you. I mean, there's so much talent those two players have. I mean, you'd be foolish to give up on them. But it's pretty stunning how ineffective they were last year. Yeah.

Yeah, I mean... It really is. I mean, they were really ineffective. I mean, their backups played better. Yeah, it's one of the reasons, and we're going to get to this, because Draft Kings, My Bookie, and others have posted their opening over-under-numbers or they're updated over-under-numbers for the upcoming season based on, you know, kind of this first wave of free agency ending.

But I wanted to read one more thing from Ron Rivera from today's discussion. And there's more, and we might get to more of that today or to- tomorrow. But Ben Standing tweeted out the following. He tweeted out that Rivera today said that the Wents trade changed their plan at 11, meaning in the first round at 11. He was asked, does it change their plan? He said, yes, it does. It does at 11, most certainly. For future depth, it doesn't change it, though. So he is telling you right then and there, they're

not taking a quarterback at 11. Now that doesn't... Or he's telling, or he's telling his rivals that they're not taking a quarterback at 11. There's a lot of gamesmanship that goes on here. Fair point. We don't know for sure. Fair point. You know? I mean, you know, I mean, I don't know how

I'm not privy to how much credibility all the front office executive give each other when it comes to draft talk. But you're right. Initially, on what you're saying is they're not going to draft a quarterback, that's probably true. Unless, like you said, they really like a guy.

They've decided by the end of April that we really like this guy. We've got to take them. I got this tweet from Jimmy C. from Connecticut, a big Giants fan. Sheehan, why on earth would you want another quarterback? The draft choices they gave Indianapolis. Carson Wentz has the upside that you've been looking for. You've been saying you want guys with high ceilings. He's got that.

He goes on and on. First of all, thank you, but we're not taking advice from Giants fans. Secondly, I'm going to read, I don't know if you saw this yesterday, Tommy, the Chris Ballard stuff. You know, we've been reading the Frank Reich stuff, which has been super positive about you know, about Carson Wentz, and even the Doug Peterson stuff from the coaches yesterday. Chris Bell. A remarkable, what a saint this guy is, and how beloved he is and all that, and yet he can't find a home.

It's just one of those mysteries of the NFL. So I want to read from this column in The Athletic written by Stephen Holder about essentially what happened in Indianapolis and, you know, the fallout. And there's a lot of Chris Ballard, the Colts general manager in here. And Chris Ballard is a little bit more direct and a little bit less effusive of Carson Wentz. Let me just read some of this story because I think this is in regards to, you guys all would have to be incredibly naive to think that Frank Reich is in love with Carson Wentz and just got rid of him after a year. Okay, something went drastically wrong in Philadelphia

at the end and in Indianapolis at the end or during. If you don't believe that, you are a mark. It doesn't mean that he doesn't have talent, that he might not play well here, that this might be the organization where he has, you know, some sort of an epiphany and he becomes an incredible leader and an incredible player. And man, will Ron Rivera and company be able to say, we told you so. And you know what? For their sake, I hope it's true.

For everybody that is so heavily invested in this team, it's possible you didn't acquire a guy without talent. But if you think that they were able to acquire him because he's so great and so without flaw, you're really a dope. So I read from this Stephen Holder story, in the athletic because it's got a lot of Chris Ballard in it. It's really good. He writes, it's over now, and all we're left to do is reflect on the highs and lows, on the promise

unfulfilled, on the hopes dashed. The Carson Wentz era lasted all of one season in Indianapolis. The quarterback was traded earlier this month to the Washington commanders just 12 short months after the start of his second act with the Colts. So much has happened in the past few weeks, from the Wents trade to the tense moments without a starting quarterback on the roster to the surprising acquisition of Matt Ryan. But at no point did we hear the perspective of the men

who risked their reputations for Wents and their view of the ill-fated trade that now can be viewed with the benefit of hindsight. Would they have mortgaged future draft capital and tied themselves to a quarterback coming off a disaster season if they had to do it again. Well, this was Chris Ballard. Looking at the decision at the time, based on where we were in the draft, what it was going to take to trade up, we had a player that Frank Reich had success with.

I still don't think it was a bad decision. It just didn't work, and sometimes that happens. But the way the cults see it, this is a key juncture in the story, and an important lesson they will take from the failed experiment. As they weighed their next move, the Colts settled on cutting their losses. There's nothing worse they concluded than compounding a bad decision by doubling down on it. It was a good debate, Ballard said of the discussions with Rike and owner Jimmer say that went back and forth. Carson was productive for us.

Let's be real here, he had 27 touchdowns and seven interceptions. But my job is to look not only at the short term but also the long-term implications. And I think sometimes you hang on just because you made a move and you don't want the world to see you in a negative viewpoint. But at the end of the day, I'm a steward for the organization. That's the way I look at it. And we've got to always do the right thing no matter how it might make me look. I just thought it was the right move for us short and long term.

for Reich, the coach who in his words stuck my neck out for Wentz, vouching for him as the offensive coordinator in Philly, the whole process of evaluating Wentz after the season was gut-wrenching on a personal level. Reich said, you guys know how I feel about him. Reich also added, you have to make the move that you think is right. As is often the case in life, the appropriate decision is not always the easiest. that was certainly true here. So here comes some really interesting stuff. This is the money quote. Yeah, this...

There's going to be a money quote coming up from Ballard at some point, right? Yes. This is a... The Ballard... Well, there's two things. Number one, the Colts confirmed something that has been previously reported recent weeks in this publication, meaning the Athletic. They moved on from Wentz without having a replacement lined up.

and by the way, their quarterback on their roster was Sam Ailinger, a running quarterback out of Texas. They moved on from Wentz, and by the way, they were willing to release Wentz without a plan to replace him. Asked whether they got lucky when Ryan, Matt Ryan, the 2016 NFL MVP became available from the Falcons in recent weeks, Ballard was unequivocal. Damn right we did. Lucky, blessed, whatever you want to call it. Reich conceded. Frank Wright conceded. However you wish to describe the process, the Colts embarked on it without

knowing they could acquire a quarterback of Ryan's caliber. But they moved forward despite that reality, and that tells you everything you need to know about the franchise's view of the prospect of Wentz returning in 2022. There were too many indications that the plan had gone awry. The message was driven home long before those two fateful final losses to the Raiders and Jags that eliminate the Colts from the playoffs. This was a reclamation product that would not end with actual reclamation. So many things told them this. The late season limitations on Reich's play calling brought about by Wents' performance. The drastic drop-off in wide receiver performance on yards after catch, an obvious lack of belief in the quarterback from the team. It was just time. And here is the money

quote from Chris Ballard, the GM. It's just experience. The locker room knows who's there by merit and who's there by status. They know. When you lose that part of it, now you're sacrificing everything you've built up to this point, closed quote. God, damn,

how many times have we heard that over the last 10 years? We heard that from Mike about Robert when everybody in the locker room knew Cousins was the better quarterback. Cousins was the better guy. And Mike, I remember, said, you know, once the team knows, if you keep pushing it, you are going to lose the team. We heard that from Ron Rivera about Dwayne Haskins when he demoted him to third string.

I had 52 other guys that were looking at me. Like, what are you doing? and this is what Ballard is saying. The locker room knows who's there by merit and who's there by status. They know. And when you lose that part of it, now you're sacrificing everything you've built up to this point. So it might work here. It might work here.

I will tell you that if I were putting out the odds of it working here, it would be less than 50-50. I'm not saying it's zero. I'm not saying it's 10%. but it's probably like a one in four, one and three chance that it works out. And part of it is this is not the place where people go to get right. Not usually. Not usually. This is typically not the organization where reputations are salvaged and reclaimed.

Just the opposite. Okay. This is the place where NFL reputations go to die. It's just these are the things that if you want to bury your head in the sand and pretend that Carson Wentz only played in 2016 and 2017, you can do that. But Washington got desperate, period. Ron Rivera can tell you all he wants that they did all their due diligence and they have all the answers and they feel great about this.

And Frank Reich was the first one to call him to call him to. congratulate him to tell him what a great guy he got. And you can read Doug Peterson's quotes, which are so positive about Carson Wentz, if all of those people are telling you the truth, well, then why isn't he playing in either one of those two places, people? I mean, it's really not that hard. If he's all that, why isn't he playing in Indy? Why isn't he playing in Philadelphia? The Philadelphia thing's a little bit easier because they had a total regime change. Well, they had a coaching change anyway. But still, if you're Nick Siriani, are you coming in if Carson Wentz is so great and such a great guy and saying,

let's move on from him with a $33.8 million salary, a dead salary cap hit? No, you're not. I just think, you know, I'm not going to sit here and apologize. for continuing to talk about this trade. This is a high-risk trade. You know, it's not a high-risk trade because you gave up multiple firsts. It's a high-risk trade because you could be totally wasting a year. Now, if they weren't going to get Trubisky and they didn't get Wilson, Rogers, Deshawn, understood all of that.

They didn't know Matt Ryan was available. They're not interested in Jimmy G. Apparently nobody's interested in Jimmy G at this point, except for the 49ers. You hated every single quarterback that you looked at in the draft, you know, and this was it. And you didn't want, with the promise of a quarterback change and an upgraded quarterback and with a new name and new uniforms and a new crest updated already, you had to go in with like somebody that people have heard of and who's got some upside. Okay. But that Chris Ballard quote is really, really telling because we have heard that before about two different quarterbacks in this town. Robert Griffin III and Dwayne Haskins. Where are their careers right now? This is the last shot, by the way. The more I think about it, I don't know how many teams were willing to give Wentz another shot. Doesn't seem like a lot. So if he doesn't make it here, I don't know, when you don't make it here, that

That gets back to the reputation they have. Somebody else might think, well, we knew it wasn't going to work there. We'll give it a shot. Yeah. We'll see. That may be. That may happen. People may look at it and say, well, of course he wasn't going to get right in Washington.

You know, he comes here. We can fix him. There's always that. Yeah. Okay. We've got other things to get to, including a couple of things that Martin Mayhew said yesterday. And the new totals for the 2022 season are out, the over-under totals. And Washington's total is actually lower than I thought it would be.

We'll get to those things right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast. Rate us and review us to. That's the most important thing, especially on Apple and Spotify. So many of you are doing it. So many more of you haven't. So if you want to take 30 seconds and pause the podcast right now, and give us a five-star rating on Apple and a quick one-to-two-sentence review.

It would be much appreciated. This from New Parent 415, love this podcast. I used to listen to Kevin and Tom on 980, was disappointed when they didn't have their show on radio anymore. It's been a long time now. Now you guys are back on the podcast. We've been back on the podcast for a long time now, and I couldn't be happier.

Never stop arguing with each other on the podcast. These are the best moments. continue to listen. This from Roger Narassetti, who's a big, I know, big Tony Kornheiser fan, quote,

the ball explodes off his foot, closed quote. Yes, that's the way I described Dustin Hopkins for many years. They love them because the ball explodes off his foot. It's true. This from

ST Cohen 79, a must listen. if you are a commanders or Terps fan, love when you go on, complete tangents with Cooley and Tommy, keep up the great work. And, yeah, all of you that have been writing in reviews, I mean, they're coming in by the droves, so it's much appreciated, but keep them coming because it's huge for us as far as revenue goes. So, Martin Mayhew and Ron Rivera today confirmed. that Cole Holcomb is a middle linebacker candidate,

for those of you that were wondering how they were going to solve their middle linebacking situation. First of all, what we did hear when the season was over is the Jamon Davis experiment for middle linebacker was pretty much over. So they haven't added anybody in free agency. Bobby Wagner, more likely than not, didn't come in here. They could, you know, they could draft Devin Lloyd. they could draft Nikobe Dean in the first round.

I doubt they're going to use number 11 overall on an inside linebacker. Cole Holcomb can really run. Remember, base defense, not a lot of the time, the 4-3. They're in nickel a lot, which typically means two linebackers are on the field. And Holcomb last year was always one of them, that's for sure. I'm not giving up on Jamon Davis, just for those of you that have. I think he's really gifted athletically. And maybe they threw too much at him trying to play the middle linebacker position.

And I can tell you, because Ron told me this on one of the shows at the end of the year, they really missed John Bostic. And they think some of Davis's development was hampered by the loss of John Bostic. I know many of you don't like John Bostic as a player, but they really considered Bostick to be their highest IQ defensive player in the coach on the field. and when he got injured, they felt it actually impacted negatively Jamon Davis's development. As an aside, I would not be surprised if you get to camp or shortly before camp

if they haven't added more linebackers and they re-sign John Bostic to like a one-year veteran minimum. Wouldn't surprise me at all. I'm not predicting it. I'm just saying if they don't add anybody between now and then, they love them. But I think Jamie Davis is athletically gifted. So is Cole Holcomb. And Holcomb, high IQ was pretty much given the responsibilities of play calling for much of last year after Bostick got hurt. So we'll see.

Here's another thing, by the way, Tommy, that Martin Mayhew said yesterday. So he was asked about, you know, players not wanting, you know, the impression that players don't want to come here. And Mayhew rejected that, saying, quote, I don't know if I would agree with that. We've had talks with a lot of agents about players who want to come to Washington. So I wouldn't agree with that assessment, closed quote. And, you know, J.D. McKissick ended up he wanted to stay here. John Allen re-signed last year.

John Allen's also from here. You know, they have signed free agents, big-time free agents last year. Obviously William Jackson signed a big deal here. Curtis Samuel signed a big deal here. But let me just mention this. The real, real measuring stick on whether or not players really want to play here, players with real choices, it's going to be Terry McClearn. Terry McClorn is a really good player.

He's a really good teammate leader, locker room guy. He has professed how much he loves it here, how much he enjoys living in D.C. He's not from here. And this is going to be one of those, does he end up going the same way of Kirk Cousins, Trent Williams, Brandon Sheriff? Or does he go to John Allen route? Again, John's from here.

He's living like three minutes from where he grew up, you know, playing out in Loudoun County before, you know, going to Alabama. but I think the Terry McLaren thing is huge for this organization, and they are going to have to offer a boatload of money. They could franchise tag them a year from now, but we know what the history is with the franchise tag in this team. It just doesn't work out usually. You know, let me get back to the linebackers for a second.

It's not a good group, okay? Carl Holcomb may be the best of the bunch, you know, and Jamman Davis may be a great athlete, and, you know, they might love John Bostic because he's smart on the field, but it's a weak unit. It really is. I mean, so, I mean,

they need, they need to upgrade. Yeah, they do. At linebacker, significantly. As far as Mayhew's comments, I wouldn't expect, look, he's a general manager. What are you going to say? Yeah, you know,

I find it really tough getting people who want to stay here. Yeah, I mean, he just can't say that, even if it's true. And even if he believes it, he can't say that. So, you know, I'm not going to roast him over to calls for saying something that it's probably contrary. I know you're not. I know you're not. It's probably contrary to the truth. And as far as Terry McLaren, I think if he leaves, it's a bigger indicator than if he stays.

Well, yeah. Because you could, you know, you could blow him away with the deal that he can't turn down. You know, the water's... I think most people think that this is a guy they need to do whatever they can to keep. Am I wrong? I think you're right. I think you're right. I think we're going to find out here soon, you know, over the next several months,

maybe the next couple of months, you know, before. training camp starts. I think we're going to find out. I mean, the wide receiver salaries right now, you know, I'm sure Terry's agent is going to say, Tariq Hill at 30 million a year, Devante Adams at 28 million a year, DeAndre Hopkins at 27, DJ Moore and Keenan Allen and Mike Williams and Amari Cooper are all in the 20 to 21 range. You know, he's going to be looking for a deal that's going to put him in the top five, you know, on average. The top, the top The top five average would be closer to $25 million, which is what they'd have to tag them for next year. So, you know, it's that situation that's a little bit sticky because the top three salaries of Hill, Adams, and Hopkins are, there's big room between number three and number four, like $7 million a year, roughly.

But the average will come out to be somewhere in the neighborhood of $25. And so it's like, because I, you know, I always think back, and I know people hate when we reference Kirk Cousins, but when they offered him at the end of the 2015 season, $13 million a year when the tag the next year was going to be worth 20. Like, who was doing, who was handling their math? Like, why would he ever accept that deal? even if it had been a longer-term deal with like 20 guaranteed. He was 20 guaranteed with the tag the next year. So in the McLaren situation, he's going to be in that 24 to 25 guaranteed with a tag next year. So that's almost the starting point as an annual average,

maybe a little bit lower because you end up guaranteeing a significant portion of it if it's a five-year deal, something like a four-to-five-year deal. but they're going to have to pay for Terry McClure. And they're probably, with respect to where his true ranking is among receivers, they're probably going to have to overpay. But as I've said many, many years, going back to what Field Yates told me eight, nine years ago, and he used this phrase on the show, today's overpayment is tomorrow's bargain.

And so they'll have to look at it that way because the receiver salaries are cooking right now. I mean, they are really, the guy, by the way, that's looking for a new deal right now is Stefan Diggs. I mean, this guy's never happy, and he's in a perfect situation in Buffalo. And by the way, he's from here, having played at good counsel for legendary, legendary coach Malloy. But, yeah, by the way, you know, I'm trying to look for their tweet. There was another thing that came out of this morning. Maybe JP tweeted it. Let me just look forward about looking for other playmakers to go with for, with Wentz.

Hold on. I want to find this because I thought it was an interesting comment. My personal view is that it's not going to surprise me if they don't add another receiver. I think many of you believe they have to add another receiver. And I'm not, by the way, against them adding another receiver. I think it really depends on what their true feelings of Diami Brown are. I think that they think Diami Brown is a legit number two in this league. And with an upgrade in quarterbacking, he's going to prove that.

And then they also have, you know, hopefully a healthy Curtis Samuel, a healthy Logan Thomas and J.D. McKissick back. And we'll see what they would do with DeAndre Carter. But they'll probably look at this and say, our weaponry around Wentz isn't that bad. Now, Brown is kind of the key there. They believe in him. I think they believe in him.

They did last year. And if they don't, if they, if they've cooled on Diami Brown, then maybe they'll be looking to add somebody. But there was something in here, and I can't find it right now, where Ron Rivera said they're looking to continue to add offensive weapons to, you know, give Carson Wentz the best, you know, potential weaponry that he can have. So anyway, yeah, the McLaren thing's going to be interesting, really interesting. Yeah. If I'm his agent, he's in a really good spot. Now, I don't know how they would feel about a one-year franchise tag for 24, 25 million or, you know, somewhere in that general range. You know, this is the time to strike on a big long-term deal where, you know, you end up getting, you know, 23, something like that, you know, 22 a year.

I'm sure the team's thinking more like 18 to 20, you know, and you get a four-year deal for 90, something like that with 650, 60 of it guaranteed. You know, whatever. I mean, the guarantees now are just going up and up. You know, this is the opportunity for him to strike on something like that. And if he doesn't, then, you know, you end up, you know, risking losing him in free agency next year or forcing the tag. Yeah. Yeah, and like I said before, I think if he leaves, it really speaks to the premise that I put forward that when it comes to talented players, the only ones they can keep are hostages, the ones who can't leave.

No, no, you just can't leave. All right, I wanted to, this is obviously so far a heavy, actually a 100-1stall, percent minus the going to the bathroom talk, Washington commanders show. And I want to keep it going because I do think they're over under total now with the odds makers is an interesting one. So basically all of the casinos, BetMGM, My Bookie, Draft Kings, Fan Duel, etc. They've all now updated after this first wave of free agency. they're over-under numbers for win totals for the 2022 season.

And if you had asked me before I saw this, what do you think Washington's number is going to be? I would have told you, I think it's going to be similar to last year's number. I think it'll be eight, eight and a half somewhere around there. That's what Washington's number was last year. I bet under, if you recall, on a futures bet. I didn't do great with the smell test last year, But I did on my futures bets.

I went over Philly, over Dallas, under Washington, and also bet Philadelphia very early in the season when they were one in three or whatever to make the postseason. And they did. That paid handsomely. But it's not eight and a half or eight. It's seven and a half. That is their win total.

They're basically a game lower than they were a year ago. There are also three games behind the Cowboys whose win total is 10 and a half. all right they're also a game behind the eagles the eagle's win total is eight and a half the giants are right where washington is at seven and a half not only is Washington um is their win total at seven and a half games um it's seven and a half and if you bet over you get plus 100 you get even money um they're actually trying to incent you to bet the over in this particular situation now i know many of you when we get into this discussion are like, can you go a little slower and explain it?

Yes. So this is what you call, you know, a prop bet or a futures bet. It's not, you're not betting on a game. You're betting on a season. And the seven and a half number is the projected number of wins that Washington will have in 2022. And so the way you bet on that is to bet over seven and a half or under seven and a half. If they win eight or more games and you bet the over, you win. If you bet the under and they win seven or less, you win. And for those of you that will tweet me and say, why seven and a half? They can't win seven and a half games. Well, that's just the betting number. The betting, the odds makers understand that they can't finish at seven and a half, but they also know that if you bet over, that means eight or more.

If you bet under, it means seven or less. And they aren't going with seven or eight because then it would be a push on those numbers. Anyway, did I do a good job of explaining it or not? Yes, I think he's done, you did an excellent job, professor, just like you did when you came to talk to our class. So do you, so what do you think about the win total? they've acquired Carson Wentz, and the win total is a game less with a much easier schedule, even though I don't really play the schedule game, although last year all the quarterbacks they were facing, I did take that into consideration.

But it's a game less than it was a year ago. Why do you think that is? Well, whatever it is, it should be a wake-up call to some commander's fans who are operating on the delusion that this team is suddenly a 10, a 12-win team, you know. Who thinks that? Well, there's always some. There's always some. But, I mean, they are at the same level, the same win total as the Giants who have a new coach,

new regime, totally new regime, and really don't know who their quarterback is going to be next year. And they're at the same win total as the Giants at seven and a half. I think seven and a half is low, okay? A little low. I'm kind of surprised at it, but it should be a wake-up call for everyone who thinks this defense is going to be, again, the defense that struggled last year is going to be outstanding somehow this year.

And, you know, that all they needed was a couple of healthy players to have that playoff, you know, nine or ten wins season this past year. It's a wake-up call. But most people are trying to sleep their way through, rooting for this organization. They're trying to comatose their way through. I mean, the first thing that it says is it says that the odds makers, the boys in the desert, aren't giving Washington much credit for acquiring Carson Wentz. So you can say that for start.

Why do I say that? Well, because the Denver Broncos acquired Russell Wilson, and their total is 10, and it was eight three weeks ago. So they're in a division, by the way, that's loaded. The Chargers over under is 10. The Broncos over under is 10. The Chiefs over under is 11, and the Raiders are at 8. So they're picked to finish last, and their over under is a half game higher.

Washington's. But anyway, it says, for starters, they're not giving lots of credit for the acquisition of Wentz. But I actually think it says more. Last year, it was eight and a half. I mean, you've got to give last year some context here

because they were the reigning division champs, even though they were seven and nine. They had a defense that looked like it was going to become the next really good defense in the NFL, if not one of the best, some of you thought the best in the NFL. And the odds makers also thought

that the defense had a chance to be great and that the defensive rookie of the year was a potential defensive MVP on the Washington football team a year ago. They also upgraded at quarterback significantly, no matter what you think of Ryan Fitzpatrick, it was an upgrade over Alex Smith and Taylor Heineke. Even though Heineke's you know, playoff game was the best game of his career, but Ryan Fitzpatrick was coming off two of the most productive, if not the two most productive years of his career. So there was an expectation that the offense was going to be more dynamic and better. So that's kind of why they were at eight and a half last year. And then this year, they're not getting much credit for

Carson Wentz for the acquisition of Carson Wentz. They're not. But really, I think part of it is that the part of why it was eight and a half last year was a lot driven by the thought that they were going to be a really good defensive team. And the biggest disappointment and the biggest stunner, quite frankly, from the 2021 season was the regression of the defense. It was a bad defense last year. Bad. And it was bad before the injuries started.

And so there's no. nothing to really hang your hat on if you're an odds maker on Washington. The only thing you can say is they don't stink, you know, they're not the Panthers, they're not the Texans, they're not the Jets, they're not the Falcons after trading Matt Ryan, you know, they're not, they're not even the Bears for that matter. The Bears have a much lower, they're like seven, not much lower, a half game lower. But, you know, there's nothing there that excites us about Washington. Even with the perceived easy schedule of playing the AFC South and, you know, the NFC North,

although, you know, Green Bay's with Rogers in that division. Yeah, I just don't, I'm surprised. I thought it would be closer to last year's number. And last year, I immediately thought I'd play. under on it, and I did, and they won seven games. And this year, I think if you forced me, and I wouldn't play it, by the way, I would not wager on their total, and I'm not going to. But if you told me I had to, I'd probably lean a little bit over.

But Tommy, there is some, especially with this quarterback acquisition, there is the potential of an absolute blow-up bad season. year. That potential exists every year with this organization. But the quarterback and the quarterback's recent, you know, history tells you that, you know, you're playing with fire going into this thing. You better make it work or the whole thing could blow up. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, because it's something that, again, worst case scenario, you've got multiple players fighting on the sideline during games because of this quarterback situation. And here's the contrast.

And I brought this up before, and I don't think you think it's that serious. And maybe it's not. But from everything we know, they love Taylor Heineke, the players. They love him. They may not love the quarterback as much as they love him. They love his moxie. They love his leadership. he's never heard Taylor Heineke described as being selfish,

except when he decides to dive with a yard left to score. But, I mean, if Carson Wentz is the bad actor that people have suggested he could be, that's going to be a sharp contrast to Taylor Heineke. Yeah, I mean, I tend to agree with you on that. They're going to have to, you know, I think it's going to be an interesting dynamic with like Scott Turner. Maybe Scott Turner is the kind of guy that it's not Doug Peterson, it's not Frank Reich. Your head coaches aren't also your, your number one offensive minds in the organization. And it's going to be, you know, his little thing with Scott Turner and

Taylor Heineke and the offensive guys. I don't know. Who knows? There's not a lot of pressure necessarily on him with respect to team expectations like there was last year with the Colts. and, you know, I guess they're not going to take a quarterback high enough to threaten him like Philadelphia did. We'll see. But, yeah, I don't know. We put out a poll. I put out a Twitter poll. Let me check where it is right now.

So just the over-under. So a thousand votes in, 67.1 percent say over seven and a half, 32. 0.9% say under. And I was looking at some of the comments from an earlier tweet. A lot of people say this is going to be an 11-12-win team. So you're right. There are some people there. And then there's some people that think this is going to get completely blown up.

I would think that this team with better quarterback play, the ability to stretch the ability to throw it down the field more so. If they're healthy, don't have, you know, we're not going to have a COVID issue, knock on wood next year. I think that this team's very capable of winning eight games. I do. Are they capable of winning 10? I think they are too.

I don't know about 10. No, I don't. But somewhere... I agree with you. I would bet be over if I was going to bet. Yeah. I think I would too. Yeah.

Here's the other thing, too, that's all been updated. This is MyBooky. Don't forget, my bookie.orgie.com. Use my promo code Kevin D.C., and they will double your first deposit all the way up to $1,000,000. Plenty of ways, by the way, to bet the final four this weekend. But they're updated division numbers for 2022. Dallas is the favorite in the NFC East and a sizable favorite at minus 140.

The Eagles are plus 280, and then it's Washington at plus 400, and the Giants are plus 680. So even though they have the same win total, the odds to win the division, are much, are better with Washington. And unlike last year, I think Washington was like third or fourth from the bottom to win the NFC championship. This year, there are five or six teams with worse odds. You know, the NFC, losing Ryan, losing Wilson, you know, having some teams in rebuild mode. I mean, you still have Rogers and you got Brady back, obviously.

but the Rams, the Bucks, the Packers, the Cowboys, maybe the 49ers, Cardinals, maybe Minnesota, New Orleans, but really there's some bad teams or perceived bad teams now in the conference. The Giants, the lions, the bears, the Panthers, the Falcons, the Seahawks. You know, we'll see. Yeah. All right. There's some more that we want to get to.

and John Kime just posted a complete story about the Ron Rivera interview. There are a couple of other quotes in there from Rivera. I want to read to you when we come back. And we'll do, I don't know what else we'll do. The nationals. I want to talk about the NACS training a little bit and how opening days pretty much almost a week away. Yes, it is. It's a week from Thursday.

We'll do all of that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. So we read some of and commented on some of the Ron Rivera quotes from the NFC coaches day down at the league meetings. By the way, no update on the overtime thing yet. I don't know when they're taking a vote on the overtime rule. I am interested to see how that plays out. I still, even though I've read people who have said it looks like it's going to be a tough thing to get passed, I'm going to be surprised if they don't update the rule for at least the postseason. But anyway, John Kime just posted a lengthy story about Ron Rivera,

saying that he's tired of Washington. He said, quite honestly, I'm tired of it. The only way to fix it is winning, and that's the truth. And we kind of talked about that quote earlier. But there are more quotes in here. So the perception that Washington is a mess and players want to avoid it, Rivera strongly refutes that. Quote,

let's stop assuming, let's stop hearing stuff secondhand and throwing that out at us. Then on Rivera saying he wants to get away from issues that don't involve the football aspect of it as he tries to rebuild the franchise. Quote, this is where we are today as a team. This is what we're trying to do as a team.

I get it. People want to continue to pull you back into this and we're trying to get away from it. That's what I'm trying to stress. On the new name and the building of momentum, we have a chance for a reboot, Rivera said. If we can stop having to every time be the focal point of football, I respect what happened over here and I understand how serious it is,

but my job is about football and we're trying to create a sustainable winning culture. We're serious about it. And then he said the situation in Washington, is, quote, a lot better than people are portraying it. I'll tell you that right now. Close quote. And he pointed to the solid offensive line, the thousand yard running back in and Antonio Gibson,

the thousand yard receiver, and Terry McClorn as reasons for optimism. What a tired act that is. They still have a defense capable of success. This is such a, this tired pitch. I mean, they didn't have a pro-bow player on their offense last year. and their best linemen has left. You know, I mean, this is ridiculous. Washington hasn't had a winning season since 2016,

but Rivera has pointed to this upcoming season is the one where they can make a leap. I believe that. Why shouldn't I, why shouldn't I do the things I do to promote who we are? I do believe in us. I do believe where we are. I believe in this fan base. We have to win, and that's the truth of the matter, closed quote. He also at some point, because I read this on Twitter earlier, referred to the third year, you know, his third year being a big third year. Yeah.

It's the all-important year, as he was mentioned before. He's right. I guess. Especially when you've had two losing seasons in your first two years. The third year becomes significantly important. Yeah, the third year in Carolina began a five-year run of winning. winning three division titles going to a Super Bowl in the playoffs four times. But he also had Cam Newton at quarterback, which he had drafted in his first year,

and he had a hell of a defensive football team led by Luke Keekely and others. But I don't have a problem with any of this. You know, if I were him, it's coach-centric. So, you know, on some level, he's the face of the entire franchise. So he can't just say, just, you know, let's focus on football. But he does say, you know, I understand where people are coming from. I respect what happened over here, meaning, you know, all of the sexual assault, you know, allegations. And I understand how serious it is.

But my job is about football, and we're trying to create a sustainable winning culture here. We're serious about it. By the way, has anyone asked him if he's been questioned in the DEA investigation of the personal, the trainer that he brought in from Carolina? Ryan Vermillion. who is under a federal probe, yeah. Has anyone asked him that if he's been questions at all? I don't know, but I did read so much.

That's not an unreasonable question, you know. He's the guy who brought the trainer in. Yeah. I mean, at any investigation, you think, well, let's talk to the guy who hired him. I mean, doesn't implicate him in anything, but he had to be questioned. I don't know. I don't know if he's a question or not. I know that he has talked about they're going to hire a new head strength and conditioning person.

So they're going to replace Ryan Vermillion. So I guess that means that Ryan Vermillion's not coming back. I guess that means he's disappeared. And the assistant trainer's gone too. I don't remember his name. You don't? No. Was he the assistant trainer this year?

Yes. He's gone too. he was suspended as well Oh, I didn't know that. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, Doug, Doug Kwan. Doug Kwan, yes, yeah. Yep. Yeah.

Okay, what did you want to say? The whole medical staff was under investigation by the DEA, but yeah, let's concentrate on football. Well, absolutely. Well, Tommy, the only way out of this is to win. So they better be concentrating on football because that's where they can win. it's the only place they can win.

If they don't win this year, if they're not a contender through much of this year, man, whatever's left is going to be gone. And God forbid there be more, not that I'd bet against it, more controversy, you know, more women, more testimony in front of Congress.

Snyder, look, all of that, if it's not leading to Snyder being ousted, it's not good for them. No, no, it's not. All right. What did you want to say about the Nats as we are, I guess, eight days, nine days away from opening day? Well, they're not exactly having a great spring training. I mean, you know, look, exhibition baseball, you don't put anything into their record. But, you know, they're not hitting well. They're not pitching that well.

They're one and eight so far in exhibition games. They're going to go into the season probably with a third baseman who was pretty much out of baseball last year. One good thing is Patrick Corbyn yesterday looked good in a game against the Marlins they got beat 8 to 1 and he gave up and the Marlin scored four runs off of him

in a fourth inning but they were all unearned because of errors which is not good either I mean because their defense doesn't look that strong either so so you had Patrick Corby yesterday who pitched five innings

and didn't give up any earned runs and only three hits and struck out six, but they wound up getting beat 8 to 1. They need a lot of things to go right this year. Strasbourg is not going to be on the roster when the season starts. Corbyn will probably be your starting pitcher. They're looking at Cade Cavali, their top young pitching prospect, who they swore this winter is a year away from being ready,

as are other top pitching prospects in their organization. But he's looked good in spring training, and they may be desperate enough that they may have to put him in the starting rotation. Because it's pretty thin right now. And the Marlins look like the Marlins, you know, look like a better team this year. So, again, like I said, they need – they're going to score runs, but their pitching is suspect. their release pitching has really not stood out at all. Will Harris, one of her relievers, is still coming back from that thoracic outlet syndrome surgery, the same kind of Strasbourg had.

And, you know, they could lose a lot of, they could lose a lot of games like they did last year. You know, they could have a lead in the sixth inning and then wind up losing. Is Tyler Clippert on this roster? Did I read that the other day? is. Yes, he is. It's almost like 2008, where they basically open the doors to anyone who wanted to show up for a tryout. That's kind of the way they're operating this year. It's reminiscent in a way of the Bowden days in terms of relief pitching. They don't appear to have a strong bullpen. Again, they need to have a lot of things go right for them.

Are we going to get Scherzer in the opener next week here for the Mets? No, he's not pitching the opener. It'll be DeGrom, but Scherzer is pitching Friday, and that game is not going to be on TV. It's going to be on Apple TV. What? Yes. What do you tell?

MLB made a deal with Apple TV to show a number of games, and that's one of them. So you won't be able to watch Scher pitch Friday night. Unless you're at the ballpark. I have Apple TV. I mean, but... Well, then you'll be able to watch it. That's a Friday night game, a week from this coming Friday night. It's night two of the season.

They open up the day before. So you're saying DeGrom pitches the opener, and then Scherzer will pitch game two for the Mets against the Nats at Nats Park. Yes. And just to alert everybody, Bob Costas, his show, back on the record. Friday, April 1st at 11 p.m., and then, you know, it'll be on demand after that. Max Scherzer is going to be one of his guests on the Bob Costa show, start this Friday, April 1st. Another one of his guests is one of our greatest guests ever, and that's Billy Crystal.

Oh, yeah. Tommy, those first, because of the expectations for the Mets, that, that, fan base is going to descend upon Nats Park next Thursday, especially Friday night. And, you know, Scherzer is going to have, regardless of who shows, a home environment for himself, I think. I don't know how the Nats fans will react, but my God, the Mets fans with the expectations that they have. And to see DeGrom and Scherzer night one and night two, they're going to be a lot of New Yorkers in town next Thursday and Friday. Yes, there will. And my youngest son who hopefully will be working as a bartender at the bullpen again this year.

I don't know. I haven't talked to him. Well, he's not going to be back. He's got final exams. What am I talking about? He'll be back for the summer. But maybe he should come back. I'm going to call him today and I'm going to say, you better be down there for Thursday and Friday next Thursday or Friday because you're going to make a fortune.

Maybe you should go down there and work. Why don't we both go down there and hang out and just drink some beers and watch some baseball? You're going to be there for opening day. God, remember our little studio in the bullpen at Bo Blair's bullpen? They built that little studio for us right there. I love that little thing to do. Yeah, to do shows from. Yeah, that was okay.

Yeah, that was okay. People used to see walking by because it had glass and people on the street would bang on the window and say hi and stuff. I always liked interacting with fans in the bullpen. That was always a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun. You know what I can't believe I haven't asked you about is Will Smith and Chris Rock. I can't believe. I almost forgot.

Everybody, I am sure, listening to this podcast wants to know what you think. Well, I thought Will Smith was a little bit out of line. I mean, you can't get up out of your seat and smack a guy on national TV like that. live TV. Especially when you're probably going to be winning the best actor award and you probably know it. He's a vessel for love. That's what he said. You know? So, Will Smith looked pretty much absurd doing it. And other people pointed out, and I think they're trying. If that had been Dwayne Johnson up there, the rock, making jokes, I don't think Will Smith gets out of his chair. What do you think?

I haven't changed my mind. Will Smith issued an apology and said his, you know, behavior was unacceptable and inexcusable. And I said, you know, certainly that wasn't how to handle it in that moment. But I do kind of recognize. And I guess, actually, I don't know if this is true or not, because I kind of dropped paying attention to this after yesterday's shows. But did Chris Rock say he did know that she suffered from alopecia or not?

I don't know. But one thing from the video that people have concluded is that when Chris Rock made the joke, Wolf Smith left. Well, he did, but then he saw his wife's reaction. I'm not, look, I admitted this yesterday. If I had been watching this live, which I wasn't, the joke would have gone right over my head because I never saw G.I.J.N. I didn't know anything. I would have never gotten the joke about the bald head being similar to Demi. horse, you know, head and G.I.J. Jane 1. I also would have never known, because I really don't give a shit about these people, that Jada Pinkett Smith's got alopecia, and that's why she's got a bald head. He did laugh initially, and then he realized how upset she was, because you could see how angry and upset she was with the joke. And what I said yesterday is, I can certainly understand the emotion of wanting to be protective of your wife.

And, you know, even though I understand comedic privilege and when you show up at an event like that, you know, especially when you're up for actor of the year in a movie that did so well, this is what that environment is. You can be the punching bag for Ricky Jervase or for Chris Rock or for any of the comedians that stepped to it. But I also understood Will Smith's, you know, inclination to protect his. wife, but there's apparently lots of context there and lots of bad blood

and whatever. And here's the other thing, though, too. If that was his motive, you know, you could easily read into what happened and he looked at his wife and said, oh shit, I'm going to be in a world of trouble if I don't

get up and think so about this. Well, whatever. That's a possibility which is not as noble as protecting your wife's daughter. That's more like covering my ass. That's more covering your own ass. Well, I mean, that's what that is.

I think my wife would certainly expect me to react in a protective mode, but at the same time, she would not want me to handle it in that way, in that setting at all.

But the thing that I emphasized, I think, the most yesterday is that I just personally, and I respect everybody, opinion and everybody's got, you know, perspective is everything. But for those that wanted Will Smith cuffed and brought out of the arena and somehow arrested, no, that was not, it may have technically been an assault by the definition of the law, but I didn't want Chris Rock to press charges and he didn't. And, you know, I'm sure the LAPD had much more serious things to deal with

than Will Smith slapping Chris Rock and Tommy yesterday I played, and a lot of you commented on how funny it was, and it was. The night that Barclay and Kenny Smith and Shaq could not stop laughing and were in literal tears when there was an incident after a Rockets Clippers game where Chris Paul and Blake Griffin got into it, and then it spilled over into the locker rooms and into the, and the reporter said that the LAPD had been called and there was a police, presence and the two of them were like police presence for Chris Paul.

Hey, police, Chris Paul's going to attack me. And the whole thing was just hysterically funny. One of those nights on that set, which is the greatest set of all time. And that was the thing, I mean, everybody again, entitled to your own perspective, Tommy has certainly been in a scrap or seven in his lifetime. I've been in one or three, too. and that was not a call the LAPD situation, in my opinion. But anyway, he apologized.

And again, yeah, he apologized. I'm not getting that worked up, but it will live forever on social media. Oh, yeah. It will live forever. This is not like something that will go away. How about Chris Rock? I mean, he really handled it, you know, and moved the show along pretty well. I mean, everybody had what his comebacks should have been.

and yeah, if it had been the Rock or if it had been somebody, you know, there was the possibility. I mean, what if Chris Rock decided, you know, essentially you just smacked me. You're not getting away with that. And then he went off after him and punched him as he was walking off. And then you got Denzel and Bradley Cooper in the whole group up there trying to break it up. That would have been something. That would have been something. It really would.

I mean, they kind of live in their own world out there anyway. But, all right. What else? Are you watching winning time yet? Am I watching what? Winning time. Yes, I am. Yes, I am.

I've watched the first couple of episodes. It's okay. I think John C. Riley is fun to watch. I have no idea if he's actually Jerry Buss, since I've never really met Jerry Buss or really seen much about him. I mean, he's fun to watch as kind of the narrator of the whole thing. because, I mean, John C. Riley's just a great actor. But, I mean, I'm, it's okay.

Not as an Aberde Wizard as you are. Okay. But are you going to continue to watch it? I'll finish watching it. Yeah, I'm going to watch it. You know, I'm watching this other series on HBO now called The Dropout. Somebody else told me about that. Who's in that?

It's about that woman from the Elizabeth Holmes. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. What, Theranos, the one that she's a bit nuts. Yeah. Yeah. Basically, Serenose. That's pretty good. I'd recommend that to anybody to drop out.

I've heard that's good. And also the one about Uber is good. And let me give you another one called Secret City. It's on Netflix. It's an Australian series. series about a reporter and government corruption in Australia. That's really good. It's only two seasons of it, and it's all there.

I think it was 2017-2018, and it's on Netflix, called Secret City. Man, you've got a lot of time to be watching a lot of things, don't you? Yeah, well, now I'm not traveling around the country. You know, going from the Music Museum, the Music Museum, to Libero Southern Soul Tour is over. Yeah, I have not watched the latest episode of Winning Time, but I really like it. And I am, oh, God, there was something else I was going to say about a show. Oh, some of you commented on just the end of the show yesterday when I had a few words about Taylor Hawkins.

And I said that there's a, that documentary about Alanis Morissette's jagged little pill tour is really, really good. It is. It's an HBO show. You can find it on HBO. I think it was done a few months ago. And somebody said she hated it and she thought it wasn't very well done. And I think I said that on the show yesterday. And if I didn't, I did read about that. But yeah, if you're, if, look, I don't even, I guess you kind of had to be into that during that, you know, crazy tour and explosion of a star in 1994, 1995, to kind of. remember that a little bit to enjoy the documentary, but I thought it was great, and it did kind of describe the close relationship that she had with Taylor Hawkins, who was her touring drummer, before he jumped to the foo fighters. Anyway, oh, kiddoke, that's it. You're not going to be back until Friday this week, correct? That's right, boss. That's right. I got business, big business. Doc Walker will be on the show with me tomorrow. Enjoy your day, your evening, back tomorrow.