The Kevin Sheehan Show - Soto + Commanders Shortened

Episode Date: July 18, 2022

Kevin and Thom today on the British Open, the Juan Soto news, and whether or not Jason Wright's team should be responsible for a shortened nickname for the Commanders.   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. I'm here. Tommy is here on a Monday because he's going to take tomorrow off. Then he'll be back on Thursday this week.

We had major news from over the weekend regarding Nats outfielder Juan Soto. Tommy wrote about it in the Washington Times. We're going to get to that here shortly. I'm assuming you did not watch. golf yesterday, right? Yesterday morning or at all over the weekend? Yeah, I somehow missed it. Well, you didn't somehow miss it. You just chose not to watch it. You had no intention of watching it. That's not somehow missing it. Somehow missing it sort of implies that I kind

of forgot it was on. I meant to watch it, but I didn't. You had no intention of watching it, correct? But I did forget it was on. Yeah. You had to no intention of watching it and you forgot it was on. That's good. So you did not see, of course, any of the British Open. Tommy, it was great. It was so exciting. It was so dramatic over the final few hours in particular with Cam Smith, who ended up winning the British Open coming from four behind at the beginning of the day behind Rory McElroy looking for his first major since 2014. He was tied atop the leaderboard with Victor Hovlin, who's been a really good player in recent

years, being a very good young player. And Cam Smith, to start his back nine, went birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie. All right, holes 10 through 14, five straight birdies. He also birdied 18 to shoot 30 on the back nine at the British Shopen, something that hasn't happened in a major in a long, long time. And he won it 20 under par, best score ever in terms of two par, 20 under tying three other times that it has happened. But this guy, for all of you golf fans, and you know this, Cam Smith has been one of the best putters and has really looked like he, you know, could break through, nearly did it the Masters in the spring. He wins. Rory doesn't. I would put this,

less on Rory and much more in terms of deserved by Cam Smith. But the fact of the matter is, Rory became the first player in 40 years to hold the lead at the end of three rounds at a major championship and not miss a green in regulation and lose. He just could not get a putt to drop 36 putts on his round. And that's been the problem. with Rory over the years in these majors is not rolling in a big one or in some cases missing a big one and the crowd favorite and I think very much the overwhelming fan favorite however you were consuming

the open did not come through with the lead was caught and passed by one Cam Smith who now the reports are he will take $90 million and go to the live tour which is really disappointing. because he really is a spectacular player to watch clutch player killer with the putter in his hand. And yesterday was really exciting. And now he'll take $90 million and guaranteed, at least according to some reports here, mid to late this morning. So it was really exciting. When it was done, Tommy, I tweeted out, the golf was great. I can't wait for football season to start because it's.

It's just not the same, even though I love golf. You know I love golf. And by the way, you know what my son said to me yesterday in watching the golf? He said, why do you think golf is so popular? And it is on TV. And I quoted you from many years ago. And you said this. You said, and I think it's spot on.

It's the one game more than any other by a long shot that everybody can kind of relate to because they play. And so they're watching it and they're identifying not really with how good these guys are because most people, you know, nobody watching is as good as these guys. I mean, even scratch golfers are much less than these guys are. But it is, you know, it is kind of cool to watch some, you know, to watch the best of the best play and know that later on in the afternoon, you can go out and try to do the same thing. very no no other sport really allows you to do that no not really uh and you can do it to your 50 60 70 you can yes you can um i'm sorry you missed it yesterday you know somehow it just uh slipped

your mind um but it was really really good uh that'll be it on the galls well i tell you what yeah i tell you what i feel like the void has been filled has been but your exhilarating description of the events. You know, when you do this, I don't mind it because I know what you're doing. The thing about it, though, is there's a level of trust that I have in you when you speak about something, almost anything, not necessarily everything, but almost anything I will listen to and take that perspective. and you seem to with certain things with me just immediately dismiss them

as if you've got the answer and you don't need to explore any further. Just like, you know, with Game of Thrones as an example, that's something that pops to mind. And with golf, you're a sports fan. Maybe not as big of a sports fan as you used to, but you like the thrill of competition as a fan.

Yesterday, regardless of whether or not you play, golf or even like golf was a very exciting sporting event. And you're being condescending in your answer to me. Well, I want you to don't feel alone. You're in a big group, okay? There's lots of people I treat like that. Yes, but I don't feel I'm singling you out. How many of those people do you know as well as you know me?

The other thing is, let me just punch a little hole in your argument here. And this has come with age probably as much as anything And not taking You know Not having brain cells die as quickly as maybe some other people I can't look at sports Through rose-colored glasses I mean I watch golf

And I see white men Elitist rich white men Who live on country clubs Their entire fucking year Yeah but you're you know I have no use But you know how wrong I'm not done yet

But you're wrong I'm not done yet No, I'm not wrong. Of course you are. You don't want to say I'm wrong, but I'm not wrong. No, of course you're wrong. This is your anti-elitist thing, which you are often wrong on. Many more people play public courses than play private courses.

I'm hitting a sensitive note here, but no, I'm not wrong about this. It's just like the track and feel this weekend. I love track and field. So do I. But I don't believe anything that happens when it comes to track anymore. because I know they're all doped up. I don't even bother to watch. They're all doped up.

Yes. So there's no testing anymore to figure out whether or not they are here? There's testing. But there's testing, but they're way ahead of testing. You really need to suspend your belief to watch track and field anymore. So I feel the same way about that. Yeah. So I love track and field.

I didn't watch any of it this weekend. And I know it was on and I meant to watch. I love track and field. It's my favorite thing during the Olympics. But the reason you're wrong is because there is an exponentially higher number of golfers who are not white or white, all different races, all different religions, all different genders, all of them, how many there are these days, that play public school, that play public courses, then play private courses. Do any of the guys in the tour? Do any of the guys in the tour do that? Most of them came up through public course golf.

Yeah, but what do they do now? Well, Tommy, they can afford it now. But that's not how they came up and came about becoming a pro. Oh, please. This is so absurd that golf is some kind of inclusive sport activity. It is a joke. What makes you think? think it's non-inclusive. What's your proof of that? Well, because most people don't play,

for one thing. Because how many minorities do you see on the tour right now? That's the other thing. Well, an increasing number of the years. Because there have been country clubs for years up until recently that would let minorities even on their course except to cut the grass. Yeah, but that's a long time ago now. I'm not saying... A long time ago? Well, I don't know what a long time ago is. I'm not going to, I'm not going to debate you on, on that and what it was and, you know, versus what it is now, because I don't have the date on that. And I'm sure there are still many places that are private to the point of exclusionary. But I'm not talking about that. Talking about, you know, you essentially, in your, your mind's eye, you see golf in a way, which I'm not saying

you're the only person that feels that way. It's just not that way, though. There's no data. that would back that up. I mean, there are so many more public and municipal courses with exponentially more players who play those courses than play private courses. You know, I don't even have the date on that, but I bet you it's five to one, you know, if not 10 to one, you know, in this country.

Golf has become much more inclusive over the last, I don't know. I don't even know what the years would be. It's not data that I have handy to me. Many more of the major tournaments are played on public tracks versus private tracks. The public golf course experience has become so much better. People of all, you know, of all colors, of all, you know, makeups, play golf. This is not old white guy at private golf course sport anymore. It hasn't been for years.

Oh, it is. The sport that you watch is exactly that. No, it's not. Yes. I'm going to look up how many players on the tour. Are you watching all these stuffers on the public courses on the weekends? No. Wait, say that again?

Are you going to the public courses and watching these guys play on the weekend? No. What do you mean public golf courses and watching these guys play? You're watching these guys. These guys. rich white guys in a sport that's hardly inclusive at all, you know, compete. To me, I can't ignore that. But you love horse racing, don't you?

How many non-white big owners are there of big-time horses? That's a good point. How many jockeys are there that are non-white? Most of them, I think. Yes, I think so. employees. I mean, how many kids, I mean, that's like say, well, it's not a direct apples to apples, but how many caddies are white? I don't know. A lot of caddies are white. A lot of caddies are of all nationalities. I'm looking up how many pro golfers played and grew up on public courses

versus private, because I think it's a lot. You know, you're talking about these guys now that they've made millions of dollars and now they belong to multiple private courses. And I know a lot of, you know, pros grew up in private golf course settings, but there are a lot that didn't. Okay. You tell yourself that. Well, I'm not telling myself that. I just, I just, I know that to be true.

Oh, no, you're telling me that, too. And expected me to take it seriously. I can't believe we're talking about golf this law. I got you. I hooked you into it. Golf demographics. Let's move on to something else. No, hold on.

Let's move on to something real. I found something from, it looks like it's golf digest. Okay. Oh, golf digest. This ought to be good. Golf demographics. How many people play golf and who plays it? According to the National Golf Foundation,

nearly 25 million people play golf on a golf course in the United States. States in 2020. That's around 8% of the total population of the U.S., which is a pretty large number, all things considered. Here's some additional demographic information. 77% are male, 23% female. 3 million of the 25 million are new golfers playing on a golf course for the first time, a record-breaking number of new players. Almost 6 million people are young, ages 18 to 34. worse. That disputes your everybody is white and elitist and old and rich. A standard drive for a tour pro is 291 yards. Average golfer comes in at 235 yards as an average drive. That's information. That's actually very important to me. Let me see what else they have here.

Do they have more demographic information here in this story? I don't see it. Here's one for you. 22% of people who play golf enjoy a modest one to two drinks while playing golf. I would say, depending on the foursome, that average is either spot on or way too low for the groups that I play with. That's why I dismiss it. 16,100 courses. That's why I dismiss it.

Public courses, 16,100. public golf facilities, which would include, I would guess, retail facilities like Top Golf, which have been wildly popular, that are not necessarily populated by only rich white dudes. 75% of the golf courses are open to the public. 75%. 25% are labeled as private. That's just like restaurants. 75% are open to the public.

Is that what during the pandemic? Or is that a general number? No, I'm just joking. Yeah, I think I've thrown enough data back at you that once again. Oh, yeah, I'm sure you have to convince yourself that you're fine. And it's all those liberals who have the wrong idea about the game of golf. Hey, Tommy, Tommy, Democrats by golf clubs, too, just so you know. Yeah, I know.

And Republicans by basketball. buy basketball shoes too. No, I mean, this is who you are. I just have to accept it. And, you know, occasionally some of the stuff that you say is so out there and so wrong, it doesn't matter because I enjoy the other 75% of the time that we have a conversation where you actually know something about the conversation that we're having. By the way, Rick in Missouri really enjoys the show with no particular tie to D.C. He lives in Missouri. I listen to to the pod daily since it started a few years ago. Enjoy semi-regular guests, but always look forward to Tommy's on Tuesday and Thursday, Monday to day, to see what quarrel ensues. One item, though,

you talk Maryland sports a lot, but never mention Randy White. He was the most dominant college defensive tackle I saw until I saw Nidomicon soup come along. They were both unblockable. Randy White was a tremendous college football player and probably Maryland's all-time greatest football player. I would agree with that 100%. And a player who, if they were adding 10 to the Cowboys list this year and he wasn't on it, would probably be on it as a defensive tackle, as defensive lineman. Except they would say his name was Randy Whitten.

Randy what? Randy Witton. Randy White. Randy Witton. They get the name wrong. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Exactly, exactly, like Andy Monk. Also, via Apple podcast reviews, don't forget to rate us and review us on Apple.

Five Stars is great. We'll take a short review as well, always helpful. From Sully, easily my favorite Washington football team podcast. Kevin and Tom are great. Lots of guest appearance as well. By the way, Kevin, you need to watch the wire. and Tom needs to watch Game of Thrones. If I had to rank them both on my all-time greatest TV series,

Game of Thrones is 1A and the Wire is 1B. They are both absolutely phenomenal. Keep up the great work, fellas. Yeah, you're never Sully going to get Tommy to watch Game of Thrones. He's not open-minded like most of his age, of his privileged white age group is. Like Kevin is. Yeah, I am, actually. I am.

Kevin's got a big cat. Room for lots of people. I got room for everybody, brother. You got that right. I will listen to everybody's opinion. And by the way, consider it something that you rarely do, which gets me back to the beginning of the golf conversation. All I was trying to describe to you is what a great sporting event it was and how exciting it was to watch yesterday. And it was.

And I think you would have enjoyed it. had you watched it. When's the last golf tournament you covered was forced to write about? Well, it was the Kemper Open. I mean, I had to follow Mark Rippin when he got an invite to play at the Kemper Open. That's the... What? In 92. The 92 Kempir Open. Yes.

I had to follow him around for 18 holes. So that's the last golf tournament I covered. I mean, I was out of congressional for the U.S. Open, but we were doing a radio show. So you didn't write at all about the U.S. Open when you were writing? When the U.S. Open was hearing. I may have written a column. I must have written a column. You know, look, the highlight of doing the – two things happened about doing a radio show

at the U.S. Open. For one thing, bizarrely, our old producer, our old station manager program, director. Chuck had, who was the guy who used to do the golf show on the radio all the time on the weekend? Oh my God, Phil Hawes. Phil Hawes. Yes. Great guy. I like Phil a lot. Such a nice guy.

The last show wound up the final, the final, you know, going into the U.S. Open, the final holes. It was me and Phil Hawks. I do. I kind of remember this. Yes. And, and, And the board caught on fire during the show.

Of course it did. And started smoking. Yeah. You know? And we had to stop it in the middle of the show. And then someone else gave us a board from another station. And we wound up finishing it. So that was the highlight.

And also I met Dan Jenkins, which was definitely the highlight. Well, of it. I remember that U.S. Open. You and I did our show from the Open. we went into the media area. Sally was in there, and we sat down and we talked to Sally, and Sally told you that her father was going to be there, and you got super excited about that.

I remember that specifically. Yeah, Dan Jenkins, I mean, it's the godfather of American sports writing, as far as I'm concerned. Right. Well, who's the other guy that you're all-time? There's another guy that your all-time favorite, not Dan Jenkins. I know you love Dan Jenkins. Well, Jimmy Breslin is my all-time favorite.

That's the one that you talked about. So. So on Sunday afternoon, as they're rounding up to finish the tournament, it's me and Phil Haas with a smoking board. Oh, my God. I mean, why Chuck thought it was a good idea to have you won the show with Phil on the final day of the open is beyond me. I know.

But the fact that... I know, and I got to tell you what, they... I wish I still had that because I really faked it pretty well. I mean, I really had to fake it. I see, I think we all... I mean, I'm good at faking, like, things that come... That are thrown at me. You're excellent at doing that.

That was an all-timer. I think we all did duty with Phil that weekend because I can remember doing stuff with Phil, you know, maybe more in the mornings. And Phil was a great guy. I had literally, I believe this is true, the longest running sports talk show on in the market until, you know, I don't know how many years ago it ended. But it was something like 28, 29 years or something of him doing his weekend golf show. And then Zabes had a golf show on 980 over the years. I think I heard it recently.

and he's still doing it. Well, Phil was a real pro and great to work with and helped me out through that ordeal. Phil owned the golf store, which was, by the way, one of those stores that was not available to 25%, only 25% of the population. He had a big sign out in front that said only 25% of you can come in, and those would be rich, white, private club golfers. Phil had that massive golf store that used to be out behind Montgomery Mall, you know, the shopping center that's behind Montgomery Mall that now has, you know, it's almost right adjacent to the Home Depot out there. And that was out there forever. And then those stores really, for whatever reason, they started to, like, golfdom's done great. Golfdom over in Tyson's has been a juggernaut of a business. And it

really is my favorite place to go and buy stuff. I go there all the time, actually. It's easy to get to. But Phil had that big store, and I can't remember the name of it. It wasn't Golf Galaxy. I forget the name of it. But the least surprising part of your story wasn't that you were part of the broadcast on the final round. The least surprising, because you were such a golf expert, The least surprising part of that story is that the board caught on fire. Yes. Because we always did have some issues with technical stuff. Technical stuff we did have some issues with.

Even with your really good friend, Patrick. Occasionally he didn't get it all right with the board or whatever was going on there. You remember who I'm referring to, right? Yes. my buddy always took care of it always took care of you always took care of Tommy the way I touch people yep he knew the one guy that would immediately immediately cross him off the list would be Tom and he was never ever a problem for Tommy so I wanted to just read this quick tweet from from Stevie

Stevie tweeted me Johnny Davis the wizard's number 10 pick in the recent draft was voted the most disappointing or the loser of the Vegas Summer League. There was, and he sent me a link to the story.

Here it is. Okay. Winner of the Summer League was Keegan Murray, the player out of Iowa, who I loved coming out. I was hoping that he would drop to 10, but knew he wouldn't. Keegan Murray, and the loser was Johnny Davis, the wizard's number 10 pick overall. And they write on Sporting News.com, let me be clear as possible. Three bad summer league games does not mean Davis is a bust by any means. But with that being said, Davis had a really tough showing in Vegas.

The number 10 overall pick only averaged 8.3 points per game while shooting a heinous, 27.6% from the field. That's not very good. He knocked down 33.3% of his threes, but Davis was struggling to score with similar ease that we saw from the sophomore at Wisconsin this past season. Davis isn't the quickest or most explosive athlete, which was revealed going up against other NBA caliber players. He can't rely on his size advantage at his position as much as he did at the college level, and Davis will have to become a more confident spot-up shooter and devolve his handle and shot creation skills to put up numbers that will be expected of him at the next level. etc, et cetera, et cetera.

So the biggest loser of the Summer League, Johnny Davis, I have been getting tweets from people who have been consuming this Summer League for the last couple of weeks telling me, oh my God, Johnny Davis seems to be the worst pick in Wizards history. That's saying a lot because they've had some pretty damn bad picks.

Yes, they have. But Johnny Davis, people are absolutely convinced from this Summer League and the Summer League review of him being the best biggest loser in the subject of winners and losers from Summer League that Johnny Davis is done, Tommy. His career is over. Let me just flash back. Do you flash back or do you just go back?

Let me go back to 2018, which would be four years ago because I looked through a bunch of these for the biggest summer league winners and losers. The two biggest summer league losers in 2018 were Trey Young. You may have heard of him from the Atlanta. Santa Hawks, and Robert Williams, who was a massive factor for the Celtics in the NBA finals. Final line of a ripping, scathing review of Robert Williams' Summer League, low-risk, high-reward player, but that high reward seems a long way off. About Trey Young, Young Summer League was all over the map. He struggled badly in Utah, where he shot three for 24 from the three-point line,

improved a little when he got to Vegas. He was drafted to score and we'll need to see him establish himself as a consistent shooter to do that. You could go back and I found others as well. The big winner of the Summer League in 2019 was a dude named Chris Clemens.

He was the big winner. From Campbell University, he had been a big-time college score. This guy proved, in Summer League that he can play with the big boys. He had one NBA season in 2019, 2020 with Houston and has not been back into the league since. People, you got to calm it down on NBA Summer League. Johnny Davis, I have no idea if he's going to be good or not.

I liked him a lot out of Wisconsin. There were a lot of players I liked more, and you guys know that. I liked Johnny Davis, though. I do think he is a big-time competitor, even though he didn't play well. I know that he was injured a little bit, but I am not about to write him off because of three summer league games. And if you do, then you'll end up just passing on. You probably said the same thing about Trey Young and Robert Williams. I do have one criticism.

I have some personal experience with this. in 2007 you know the Wizards had drafted Oleg Petrov Yeah Petrov for the 18th pick in 2006

Right And he signed with them in 2007 And I was out there in 2007 To cover a UFC fight And the Summer League was going on So I saw Petrov playing person in a summer league game.

I remember being blown away at how good he was. I thought, my God, the wizard, they got themselves their guy here. Right. This guy is going to be great, you know? And, well, you know, he wound up getting traded to the Timberwolves in that deal for Randy Floyd and Mike Miller two years later. And I think he barely played for the Nuggets. he appeared in one preseason game for the Nuggets,

and that was the extent of his NBA career. He was a bust, but I thought he was the next big thing. So you're right. Look, we see this in football. We don't see it in baseball as much, you know, because spring training in baseball serves a different purpose, I think, than preseason football or preseason basketball. But you see it in preseason football all the time.

You know, the exhibition game, heroes. Oh, yeah. Yeah, for sure. But on the other hand, you really don't want people saying about your number one pick. He's the worst player in the league

in the summer league. You don't want that either. I'm not saying you want that, but I'm saying that really you don't I mean, to your point, it's like preseason football is the biggest head fake there is. There's just nothing that you can really take out of it. The only

thing that I occasionally will look for is the starting offensive unit kind of in a rhythm a little bit with the passing game. And that's why I always suggest during preseason NFL football, don't run the football. What's the point of running the football? Just get your quarterback and his receivers. Let your quarterback throw the ball 15 to 20 times in a quarter or a half and then get him out. That's what you want to get going. It's the NFL in 2022.

You know, Brady, I remember a few years ago, going back-to-back pre-season was like throwing it on 18 straight plays. They didn't even try to run the football. They did the same thing, I think, with Russell Wilson and Seattle a bunch of the time. But yeah, here's the one thing that I will say about Johnny Davis, because I did watch one of the games. I didn't watch it all. I just watched a little bit of it.

I stumbled on to it because I had no intention of actually watching it. And it didn't pass by me like golf did Tommy yesterday morning. The discussion that Johnny Davis, after they picked him, and before they went out and got Monta Morris and the trade from Denver, was a point guard. I said it in the moment that it was discussed. I said, no, no, no. I watch Johnny Davis a lot at Wisconsin. Not a little bit, a lot. I watch a lot of Big Ten basketball.

Johnny Davis is not a point guard. And one of the things in watching Johnny Davis and Summer League against NBA players or some NBA players is what's obvious is he's not a point guard. He's not a guy that you want handling the ball as your primary ball handler. But what he should be, and we'll see when we get there, look, I mean, he may be an example of a guy whose Summer League was a big red flag and an indicator of what. was to come. But if what is to come is something awful, it's really not because, or you shouldn't have come to that conclusion because of what you saw in Summer League basketball. Anyway, I can't wait for a football season to start. We've got some football on the show today. But what we really have is a lot of discussion about the biggest story of the D.C. Sports weekend. And it had nothing

to do with Dan Snyder or Trent Williams. It had to do with Juan Soto. We'll get to that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Well, we're only a couple of weeks away from the first preseason game of the season. Washington, the commanders hosting the Carolina Panthers at FedEx, Tommy, where we'll get the unveiling of the new fight song. I think that's part of the schedule, the marketing schedule for 2022. At MyBooky, Washington, a two and a half point favorite in the first preseason game.

By the way, late this week, some training camps open with rookies at some NFL training camps. Washington, a two and a half point favorite in their preseason opener against Carolina. If you're into betting NFL preseason, they are a four point favorite over Jacksonville in the opener. Go to MyBooky or MyBooky.orgie.com or MyBooky.orgie.org. Use my promo code. Kevin, D.C. they'll match your first deposit dollar for dollar all the way up to a thousand bucks. MyBooky is fair.

They've got fair point spreads, fair pricing. You get paid when you win. MyBooky.ag, mybooky.com. Kevin D.C. is the promo code. If there's something written in the promo code when you go to sign up, erase it, put Kevin D.C. And you'll get your first deposit doubled. All right. The big news of the weekend was...

By the way, I will be there at that exhibition game. preseason game they call now, providing I can find my way to North Englewood, Maryland. Yes, North Englewood. Also, people sent me, well, people sent me two things a lot on Twitter since our last show. One is, once again, and not that you're wrong all the time, but you're wrong some of the time. Crumcake, links to crumb cake purchases at virtually every single New Jersey supermarket. And number two is that there's another name for where FedEx says. another town name, and it's Summerfield, Maryland.

Really? Yes. Wow. I like that better than North Anglewood. That sounds more friendly. Summerfield does? If you go to the FedEx Field Wikipedia page, this is a link that Larry sent me. FedEx Field is an American football stadium located in Summerfield, Maryland, five miles east of Washington, D.C. And you had the North Englewood, there's Summerfield, and then there is what we all know, Landover. So I don't know exactly the plot of land that FedEx is located on, but they have the coordinates, both latitude and longitude of FedEx Field, and it says that it's equivalent to Summerfield, Maryland.

I'd never heard that one either. I never heard that. Yeah. Okay, so Tommy, 440 million over 15 years offered to Juan Soto and Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported that he turned it down and that the Nats now are looking to trade him. So go. Well, I think they should trade him. I think he's unsignable, whether it's with the Nationals or any other team before he hits free agency. I think there's no way that Scott Forrest is going to sign him to any kind of contract

until he can put him on the open market and let the bidding begin. So, I mean, there's no point in keeping him around for the next two and a half years if he's not going to stay when you can get tremendous value for him at this point and get some desperately needed prospect help and some that are actually close to playing right now because Mike Grizzo doesn't have a lot of time for this so-called reboot. I mean, he got his option picked up for next year,

but he may not have two and a half years. So I think they need to trade him. And I think if you're a team that's been interested in Juan Soto, you try to trade for him now. So you get the last two months of the season and probably a postseason with Soto in your lineup. If you're one of the teams that's going to trade for Wants Soto, you're probably in the postseason hunt.

So if you trade for him now, you get three post-season with Wonsoto instead of two. So I think the teams that have probably been eyeing Wons Soto, all along are ready now to make their move. And while everyone thinks this is going to happen in the winter, and it may happen in the winter, I still wouldn't be surprised if something happens in the next two weeks. Really? With whom?

I don't know with who. I don't know with who. What kind of deal did the Nats get back? Is this the most opportune time to trade him by August 2nd, the trade deadline? so that the team that trades for him, considering that the likelihood is that the team would be a contender, would get three years of potential postseason Juan Soto baseball? Is that why you should be able to get the most back for him right now? I don't know.

I mean, Rizzo is going to have to make that decision. I think for a team that wants Wonsoto, this is the time for you to make the knock-your-soff deal, not in the wintertime. Now, now's the time to do it. If teams are reluctant to do that now, then, you know, he's not going to get dealt. But if I'm a team that has had Juan Soto on every morning or once a week, I've been called Mike Rizzo for two or three years asking about

Juan Soto, you're ready to make your move. Okay. So I just think the teams that want Soto will be ready to move quickly. Is this something that is more of a hunch for you, or is it something based on... It's a hunch. It's a hunch. It's a hunch. But he is unsignable.

He's not signing with the nationals. Is that a hunch or is that something else? That's a hunch. That's a reasonable educated get based on the fact that Scott Borgh. has taken every one of his players pretty much to free agency. Strasbourg is the outlier, but pitchers are different. For pitchers, job security is more important than for position players. So to get that seven-year extension for Strasbourg was more important than possibly, you know,

taking him the free agency in two or three years, given his unpredictability and seeing what they could get for him. but Strasbourg was an outlier. Everyone talks about Soto being like the modern version of Ted Williams. Well, if Scott Bores had Ted Williams, you don't think he's going to take him to free agency? Come on. Yes, but you said two things. You said he's unsignable before free agency, but you also said unsignable by the Nats. I mean –

No, I mean unsignable by any team that trades for him, and they need to know that. They need to know they're getting Juan Soto right now, if they trade for them, for two and a half years and three postseason. And they need to live with that. Did the Nats make, describe their offer? I mean, it's probably, it's by far the best offer they've ever made. Look, the average annual value is less, you know, it comes to like $29 million. which is less like, let's say, than Strasbourg gets.

He gets $35 million a year. Scherzer gets getting $43 million. You're a very short-term deal, though, there, right? Three years? Yes, that's the year. Strasbourg's deal is less than half of the deal that supposedly the learners offered Wonsoto. The longer the deal, you know, the shorter,

the annual salary is going to be. Now, Wonsoto, and I don't blame, him for this, you know, wants it both ways. He wants the long-term deal, and he wants the highest, you know, among the highest annual salaries. And he may wind up getting that at some point, but I don't think it's going to happen with Washington. I mean, what complicates all this, though, is the team for sale. Really complicates everything. How so? Okay. If you're a prospective owner, do you want, you want Juan Soto on the roster or not?

Right. Do you want him signed to a contract after you just pay $2.5 billion for the team, and you're inheriting a team that it does not have a payroll-flexible roster with, you know, with a player that's probably going to be making over. $30 million a year on the roster? Or do you want to take your shot at signing one Soto? If you're an owner, do you want to say, you know, if I get the team, I'll be able to convince him to sign. So do you want, you know, them to keep Soto and let you take a swing at the bat? Or do you want them to trade Soto so you don't inherit the headache of being the guy who lets

him walk, and when you buy a team, you're buying a team that's tremendously flexible payroll-wise that is much more stacked with talent than it was before the Soto deal. There's all kinds of possibilities for a new owner here. Yeah, but there are really three things for, I don't know what the answer is in terms of what's most attractive to a prospective buyer, but there is the trade for a hall now to replenish your farm system and have, you know, maybe a better future outlook in terms of volume of players. There is signing him now, which you've already said is off the table, but trying your best to sign him now to a long-term deal, which means then you're on the hook for a half a billion dollars

after you've acquired the team. Or it's to keep him and let the new owners over the next, you know, after the deal closes, let's just say in a year, year and a half from now, whenever it is, let the new owners take a swipe at trying to sign him to a long-term deal. I think the question for me that I've asked you before, I don't know the answer to this, is is the team more valuable with Juan Soto in the fold moving forward like much more than two and a half years forward? Or is it less valuable because of what you'd have to pay him to keep him in the fold? And I understand that you're saying he's unsignable. And that sort of defeats the purpose of this conversation. But the point is, does a new, does a prospective buyer get more for whatever, the two and a half

billion if Juan Soto's in the fold or not? A savvy baseball guy would tell you that your ultimate goal is payroll flexibility. That's what you want. Okay. And guys with 30, 35 million dollars, a year contracts don't give you that kind of payroll flexibility. Even though the AAV would be barely top 20 because of the 15 years. That's not enough. He's not taking that deal. Understood.

So you're going to have to pay more on the AAV than that. I think if you're a savvy baseball guy, you want a team full of young talent with a low payroll. Yeah, because even, see, what complicates this conversation for me anyway, and maybe not so much for you, is that we're not talking about Anthony Rendon. We're not even talking about Bryce Harper, as great as Bryce Harper has been, you know, here and in Philadelphia. We're talking about maybe the generational talent of the last few years. I mean, he and Mike Trout, supposedly. and you look at the results of teams with high payrolls, and there's no guarantee of winning, obviously.

You look at a team, by the way, like the Angels. I just mentioned the Angels with Rendon, who's been hurt, no Tani on the team, and they're 14 games below 500. But the value of having maybe the greatest player in the game on your team, which is what we're talking about with Soto. And I don't know that we were talking about that with Bryce Harper. Do you, maybe you disagree.

And I'm a Bryce Harper fan, and I wanted the Nats desperately to resign Bryce Harper. Are the conversations about Harper and Soto different because Soto's got a much bigger capability upside long term? Yes or no? I don't think so. I don't think it's much bigger. I think when Bryce Harper was a free agent, he was a top three player in baseball. I think Juan Soto is the top three player in baseball now. You know, I mean, look, he's a great kid, you know,

and for the most part you don't get the baggage that used to come with Bryce Harper. I'm assuming he's matured now and has gotten over that stuff. But, you know, again, he may be one of the top three players on the team, but you're not getting a chance to sign him until he becomes a free agent. And I tell you another thing, I like Juan Soto a lot. I think he's got good intentions. He's a terrific young man, but he needs to stop these quotes like he told reporters the other day. I've been with this team and I feel good with it.

When I get to know the city more, it feels great. Why should I need to change? You know, he's in charge of that. His contract isn't some separate person that he has no control over. If he wants to stay here, he can stay here. So he needs to stop with these quotes about, you know, why love it here? Why would I want to go anyplace else? Well, then sign the deal.

You know, it's your contract. It's not someone else's. Harper loved it here. You need to stop that. But Harper didn't get the offer. Soto got a better offer, even though. the average annual, I understand, is not very attractive. But the Nats tried harder.

The Nats tried much harder with Soto than they did Harper. That's a true statement, right? And much earlier, much earlier in the process. I mean, you know, the offers to Harper were right on the brink of him becoming a free agent. You know, one of the things the learners have mistakes have made is waiting too long on these kind of contract. offers. But with Boris, it just may not matter. It just won't matter. Yeah, I mean, you know, putting it in Terry McLaren, you know, the most important contract extension in the history of D.C. sports, putting it in Terry McClorn contract extension

context, you know, the truth is if the team tried to act quicker right when the season ended, Terry McCorn and his agent weren't going to sign anything then. They knew what was going to happen with the wide receiver market. And they were going to wait until the right time. They were going to wait until the Devante Adams and the Tariq Hill, et cetera, deals were done. And in this case, it may not matter what the team does, but the team did try harder and earlier, as you said.

So my reaction is this. I don't want Juan Soto to get traded. I don't want Wan Soto to go. I don't know that the chances that they're going to get a play. back that resembles Juan Soto in some big hall from the Padres or the Dodgers or the Yankees or the Red Sox or somebody else to replenish their farm system is slim and none. This is a once-in-a-lifetime talent. I mean, they've had two of them in the organization.

They thought they had three with Strasbourg over the last 10 years. And the guy has already produced. I mean, he was a part of your, and a massive part of your loan. World Series. He's the biggest draw you have, and there isn't a close second. And, you know, the team I was looking at this before the show this morning, the team is, obviously they are, you know, 30-something games below 500. They are really struggling in attendance. I think they're 20th in overall average attendance this year. I just don't know from a business standpoint, how you can survive trading Juan Soto. Winning is the

most important thing. I get it. And, you know, people that are much sharper when it comes to, you know, baseball and farm building and roster building like you are going to tell me I'm nuts. But I think the chances that whatever you get back in a hall is going to replace two things, one Soto and what he would be and the combination of what Juan Soto will be for you for the next two and a half years. because you've told me that next year they believe that they're going to be in contention for a wild card spot. And in two years, a division title. Well, that's not going to happen without Juan Soto more likely than not. And if you've got two years in which you really believe like you were a year away from turning it around and having a chance next year,

and I don't know why they would think that, but you've told me that before, why wouldn't you just take your chance that you can make another run in his final two years? And if you do, that you guys will have the kind of relationship where you will have a chance to sign them at the end of the two and a half years. I understand this goes against like when I said let's trade Kirk Cousins because I knew he wasn't going to be here. Let's maximize what we can get back. We can get the number two overall from the 49ers. You know, let's trade Trent Williams. You know, Cleveland's offering a first before the trade deadline, and it was stupid for them to not get back, you know, a reasonable fair value for the player rather than just a compensatory pick, which they'll also get back for Brandon Sheriff.

But you're talking about a guy that you've got for the next two and a half seasons, and I know this season doesn't matter. But I just, my gut tells me that if I were, you know, I would know a lot more. about what's out there and what I could build off this trade. But getting rid of the next Ted Williams isn't a great idea. Again, here's what complicates it. Look, Mike Rizzo has a board in his office that has projected rosters for the next five years. So he's got plans as to how this would unfold. And let's say you kept Juan Soto for the next two and a half years.

you had two of these young pitchers like a Cade Cavali or a Cole Henry come up to join the rotation next year and you had as part of the plan an increase in spending money on payroll in acquiring free agents but they didn't really do that this year save for Nelson Cruz

right okay so let's say that was part of the plan to increase payroll spending next year well you don't know who the owner's going to be next year How can you plan for that when you have an owner who may not be Steve Cohen, the guy from the Met, an owner who just spent $2.5 billion and should want to walk in making a splash, but may not. Yeah, but what's it going to be like when the new owner walks in and there's no superstar on the roster? Well, any new owner gets a pass. They're going to get time.

Well, I'm not saying that the owners are going to be forced out if they don't win. They get time, but... No, I mean, as far as the fan base. I mean, look, I think the Nats fan base is pretty solid, but this is the worst year, obviously, that they have had after a stretch of eight years, which they won more games than any team in the big leagues other than any team in the big leagues other than the Dodgers in terms of aggregate total of wins over eight years. They have a World Series to show for it, thankfully.

They had a lot of, you know, incredible moments in the postseason, most of them bad, before 2019. But look, I can't answer. I don't know what, you know, would come back, and I don't know what that would mean. And I don't know what 2025 would look like if they traded them now, you know, and how great the development of these players would be and how sharp, you know, I trust in Rizzo, how sharp Rizzo's eye would be in evaluating what they're getting back.

But Juan Soto is, you know, debatably, the biggest superstar in this town. Certainly the youngest superstar in this town. I mean, it's Ovechkin and him. They, you know, and he's debated as the best player in the sport. We haven't had that in a long time other than Ovechkin. I just, so you think, you think the bottom line is you think they should and you think they will, and your hunch is it will happen sooner rather than later,

where most people kind of think this is an off-season post-2020 thing. Right. Right on all counts. Okay. Now that will happen in the next two weeks. It's a long-shot hunch. But it makes sense on some level. You want to talk about their draft at all from last night or not?

I mean, I don't know any. The kid they drafted Eric. Elijah Green. Is it Eric Green? Elijah Green. His father was Eric Green who played in the NFL. That's right. I mean, he sounds like a great prospect.

But he's far away. He's a high school player. Right. You know, he's probably four years away from seeing a major league rock. And that's if he developed well. Although Hsoto came up at the age of 19. So there is that. And they picked a picture with the next pick,

a college pitcher from Tennessee who's probably closer to being ready. So I have no idea how good their talent is going to be. They could wind up with the first pick in the draft next year. based on the way they're playing this year. Right. Man, you know, he comes out of the IMG Academy down in Florida. That IMG Academy is just producing NFL players, major league baseball players, NBA players, NFL players. NFL players.

It's unbelievable what that thing has become. And by the way, they have a hell of a golf team, too. A hell of a golf team. All right. What else are we missing from the Soto conversation? I mean, I think it's very interesting because of the ownership thing for sure. Do you think if they weren't selling the team that they would be, you know, that they would, I mean, the bottom line is Boris Client, great player, he's going to make it to free agency. Tommy, what's he going to make through these last couple of years, you know, after arbitration?

Do you have any idea? Well, he could make a guess by the time his last year is here, he could be making over $30 million a year. Yeah. You're talking about through the two arbitrations. He's making $17 million this year. So he's going to make more next year. And so if he were to play here in 2024, you think he could be making more than $30 million a year that year? Yeah, I think so.

Well, there's your answer. And I think if the learners were here, we're going to be here, then Mike Grizzell had assurances that, yes, the next year when these young pitchers come up, we're going to increase payroll so you can spend on free agency, which would be the next logical step in the reboot, okay? But now they don't have that assurance anymore because you don't know who's going to. to own the team. Boy, 2019 seems like 25 years ago at this point, doesn't it?

I'll tell you know, there's a lot of sad COVID stories, a lot worse than the learners. But in baseball, I'm not sure there's any. They got that that has, that's basically driven them out of the game almost. They got no World Series bump, no increase in sponsorship, no increase in attendance, and they wound up losing money for the last two. years. They really dealt them a blow. And their best players, Scher, Turner, Rendon, and Soto are all going to be basically gone before the end of the 2022 season potentially, three years later, not even three years from the World Series. It is really amazing. When you say it's driving them

from the game, understand, I know you do, it doesn't have to drive them from the game. They are certainly in position if this were more than a business to them and it were something so much more personal and it was more of a vanity play, you know, as it is for many owners. They could afford to stay in as owners despite the losses and missed opportunity really more than anything else of the last couple of years. But that's not what they're choosing to do. And I get that. And here's, I've heard people put this out as a possible. reason for sale as well is they don't want this to turn into a situation like what happened with the Denver Broncos and the estate of Pat Bowlin.

You know, I don't think there's any, as I understand it, there's no particular passion in the next generation of family to be in the baseball business. Which generation? Are we talking about Mark's generation? No, the generation after that. Oh, okay. So I just think there's, I think there's, you know, a certain, there may be, I don't know, I've been told this as a possibility, they don't want it to turn into an ugly estate fight.

They want to get this thing resolved. But you had ugly estate situation in Denver because there was ugly, you know, situations between siblings and et cetera, just like I think what might be going on right in Baltimore. I don't know. Would you have a similar situation in Washington or not? Or does everybody get along? I don't know. I don't know for sure.

I'm not sure everybody has the same, you know, hunger for baseball that the old man had. Yeah. You know, what's interesting is the Orioles are going to be for sale, too, as soon as Peter Angelo's moves on to the pearly gates. And would baseball let two teams so close together be for sale at the same time, or would they delay the Orioles sale until the Nationals were sold? And are the Orioles a better buy?

Because they have payroll flexibility. Okay. They have a group of young, talented players, and they don't spend anything on payroll. Now, I got a sad story for Orioles fans. They're not going to spend anything on payroll next year either. So for those fans who think, well, now they're going to spend anything on payroll next year either. well, now they're going to spend money to bring in free agents to compliment the young players. That's not happening either.

But the Orioles may be a more attractive buy than the Nationals. But they don't have a $35 million a year-a-year-won-soto contract holding them down. Well, didn't you tell me this or might have been somebody else, that the Orioles have the number one farm system in Major League Baseball right now and that the Nats are near the bottom? Oh, it wasn't me. They may have it, but that's a pretty accurate assessment of where the two teams are in terms of farm systems. Yeah.

And the Orioles just had the number one pick yesterday. Right, and the Orioles are 500. They lost two or three to Tampa this weekend, but there's still 500 and just three games out, three and a half back or whatever from the wild card spot. So things are looking up there. I don't know how that would work. where Major League Baseball could, well, I guess they can do whatever they want. I guess they could prevent both teams being for sale at the same time.

I guess. I don't know. The bottom line is if there's as much demand for sports teams as I think there are from all of the many, many billionaires that are out there that want to own sports teams, I don't know that it really matters if they're both up for some. sale at the same time. This is a supply demand issue. It is in football. It has been in football. I mean, you put an NFL franchise up. There's going to be a bidding war for it. It almost doesn't

matter where it is at this point, just to be a part of the NFL. But sports, you know, franchises in general, you know, in the major sports anyway, I'm talking about, they're just, you know, the opportunities are few and far between, and there are a lot of guys, a lot of very wealthy people out there that would love, they play golf too, would love to own a sports franchise. Do you see the NFL revenue numbers, the latest one? Not only did I see it, I've got the guy who wrote the story from Sportico, Kurt Badenhausen. He's going to be on the podcast tomorrow because I read this story and I am fascinated by it. Yeah, NFL revenues hit. an all-time high.

Basically, our team's going to wind up with like $343 million each before they even open a, sell a ticket. Yeah, then I'm pulling it up again real quickly. Hold on. Bear with me. I think that's the number. It's like $343 million per franchise off of the latest, off the latest, here it is. 345 million per team in national TV revenue before you even open your doors.

Yes. That's insane. It's insane. It's why it doesn't matter how poorly an NFL team is run. What I do want to get into with him is just where Washington has really slipped compared to other NFL teams in recent years and how that has impacted their overall valuation. because what's interesting, Tommy, is if you go by the Forbes list, you know, sports team valuations, Washington's valuation overall ranking has dropped in recent years, even though their valuation's gone up, but it's gone up at a much lower clip compared to, you know,

the other top 25 sports franchises on the planet. And that's because a lot of that valuation is driven off their top line revenue. And their top line revenue isn't what it used. to be compared to the teams and the markets they were competing with. You know, it was them in Dallas for many years as the top, you know, ancillary revenue generators in the NFL. Well, Washington's now near the bottom of that. Still, though, I don't really think it impacts the sale price.

Again, it's supply demand. It doesn't matter that Washington's revenues have dropped significantly in recent years, you know, ticket revenue, concessions. revenue, parking revenue, corporate sponsor revenue, all of the other things that aren't television related, because the market itself is so lucrative and it is viewed, I think, by a potential buyer of the franchise as an unbelievable untapped opportunity right now, which is crazy to even describe it this way. You know, it's like Brian Lafamina, you know, the rent don't buy team president when he said, I believe we are the sleeping giant in town.

I mean, that combined with him admitting that there wasn't a waiting list for tickets, essentially signed his, you know, walking papers. But to refer to the Redskins at the time as the sleeping giant in town, well, that's the way it would be perceived by a prospective purchaser of the team. They'd be like, wow, they are not, you know, they're not, leveraging the opportunity that exists in that market. You know, and it's amazing to even say that about that team. Speaking of that team, we'll finish up with some discussion about them when we come back.

Home Run Derby is tonight, Tommy. Juan Soto's plus 500. He's the third pick at MyBooky. Again, go to MyBooky.ag or MyBooky.com. Use my promo code. Kevin D.C., they'll double your first deposit, dollar for dollar, up to $1,000. Pete Alonzo and Kyle Schwerber are the two favorites. Alonzo's plus 175.

Schwerber plus 325. I know, you know, last week he was really, I think he had four home runs in back-to-back games against the Nats. And then Juan Soto is the third pick in tonight's home run derby. I kind of like the home run derby, but I have really paid less and less attention to any of these things. You know, the NBA weekend to me has gotten incredibly boring. I don't watch, I'll probably watch tonight.

These are the slowest days in sports for sure. I know. Are you into the home run derby? The home run derby is of most, of the much more exciting than anything the NBA does, much more exciting than the dunk contest. And what they did is they shortened the home run derby to basically, It used to drag out for like three hours. Now it's 90 minutes, you know?

Yeah. And I think it works great as an event. And I think in person, it's tremendous for the fans who were there in the stadium. It's a tremendous event to see in person. It's often more exciting than the actual game. Yeah. Which, you know, don't tend to be very competitive. Right.

All right. That's tonight. I'm sure it'll be on. in the Sheehan household. Okay, so Ben Standig wrote a column. He was on vacation for a little while. He wrote a column when he got back, and he put it on the athletic this morning,

and he was looking at the commanders that need a strong training camp. Now, it's not just players. He had a non-player in here on his list to begin with. But in terms of, like, needing a really good camp, and by the way, you can describe that in any way you want. I'll go first because I didn't give you a chance to think about it, but there are two names that jump off the list for me before I had seen Ben's list. I had Ben on radio this morning.

He said Carson Wentz, big training camp for him. But my answer to that was, yeah, but there's nothing he can do in training camp. You might think differently. There's nothing he can do in training camp that's going to cost him the opportunity to be the starting quarterback of this team for the 2022 season. But to me, the two names that I thought of immediately were Curtis Samuel, who it's really important in training camp that what we're not hearing is, yeah, Curtis Samuel was off to the side, you know, working on individual stuff. Curtis Samuel didn't play in the preseason game. They're just holding them out for precautionary reasons.

You don't want to hear that with Curtis Samuel. Curtis Samuel, this is year two of a big deal that they gave him and got nothing from in year one. Curtis Samuel, by all accounts, looked pretty sharp at times during the offseason and some of the, you know, offseason activities, including mini camp. But you want to make sure that that injury ravaged 2021 season, that there's nothing that reminds you of that. And in training camp, he doesn't miss a practice. he doesn't miss a starters, you know, a series in preseason games. I think that's really important.

So Curtis Samuel, for me, is number one in terms of, we got to feel like, okay, he's healthy, he's ready to go. Because if we get any of the, he's, you know, they're holding them out for precautionary reasons, any of that stuff, major red flag. And then number two is Jamie Davis. Like, they only have. I would agree with that wholeheartedly,

Jamie Davis. They have one linebacker that you know is going to be on the field, and it's Cole Holcomb. Now, Jamie Davis is going to be on the field because right now he's the only other one that you really know about. And they're going to put, you know, two linebackers on the field at times. Last year they had one linebacker on the field for different alignments. You know, certainly in nickel they'll have no more than two.

And sometimes when they go with that five-man defensive front, which they did last year, they may only have one or two backers. but Jamon Davis has to, you know, you got to hear, it's not about what you see. It's about what you hear from his teammates and coaches. You know, because really in preseason, it's what these coaches are saying and what teammates are saying. And the pressers following, you know, practices or preseason games. That's when you can really learn something. Hard to really learn anything watching the games themselves.

But if you hear Jamie Davis is really. taken, you know, a massive step. He's so comfortable now playing on the outside, not being, you know, concerned with middle linebacker responsibilities. He's making plays all over the field. I think that, you know, you want to hear that. Jamon Davis has to take a step forward. It's a big training camp for him. You agree with Jamie Davis. Does anybody else come to mind in terms of, it's a big deal that they have a really positive camp? Well, I think, two running backs will be interesting to watch, and that would be Antonio Gibson and the new guy, Brian Robinson.

I mean, if Gibson fosters and Brian Robinson impresses, that's going to be a big deal going into the season for them. I mean, it won't take much, as much as Ron Rivera professes his love for Antonio Gibson. It won't take much for him to fall out of love with a guy who fumbles as much as he does. I think the two running backs, I think the running back position is of interest to watch in training camp. I think Gibson needs to have a good training camp. And if Brian Robinson has a better training camp, that's a problem. The thing about that position is it is a position where, you know, as a rookie,

if you look like the guy, they don't hold back. you're in the lineup. You're out there. It's not a position where you have to slowly, gradually, you know, work your way into it, that you have to, you know, get to the point where you're just playing football rather than thinking, no, running back is a just playing football position.

You know, past protection, there are certainly things, but I guarantee you, Brian Robinson at Alabama, is probably a guy that's gotten a lot of work and a lot of experience in past protection. But yes, I think that that is interesting. Look, there have been

situations over the years where you have had players emerge like Alfred Morris. We didn't know anything about the impact that Alfred Morris was going to make in 2012. Now, they didn't have another major option. And they do this year with Gibson. And we're talking about the first down back. We're not talking about McKissick's role. We're talking about, you know, the first and second down carries. I would be surprised if Gibson wasn't the lead back when the season starts. I think he's really good. I'm just not on board with the PFF narrative that, you know, he left too much on the field. But then again, I think the coaching staff believes that, or they wouldn't have drafted Brian Robinson in the third round. But I just think, I think Gibson is less of a risk than maybe

others do, although the fumbling is a real thing and it's got to stop or he'll never, you know, at some point you can't trust him anymore, no matter how talented he is. But he's really talented. I mean, he's big, he's strong, he's physical, and he runs a four or three. So I still think Gibson's got star running back potential in the league. We'll see. So here was the other thing that Ben wrote. So Ben on his list had Curtis Samuel. Well, you know what? You got to read the athletic to find out all of them. But Curtis Samuel. He also had Jamie Davis. He also had Brian Robinson on there. He had a corner on there, William Jackson, and then several other players. But here's the non-player he had on his list. And this is the reason why. He wrote that it's a big training camp for Jason Wright, the team president.

And he writes, the former NFL running back, by the way, I don't know how many times Jason Wright's been referred to recently anyway as a former NFL running back. But Ben writes, the former NFL running back isn't suiting up again, but he and his staff carry several substantial burdens. Here's one. Coming up with a definitive nickname for the commanders. This is not mentioned in jest. Teams have a shortened or alternative moniker used in fan cheers or conversation.

We've all done the math. There's no obvious playful choice for commanders and no time machine available to restart the branding process. No, that's true. Rather than a shortened play on the name, perhaps something pops organically such as G-Men for the Giants or dubs for the Warriors of Golden State. That can take time. Here's suggesting write in his staff, hashtag, take command of this issue by week one. and then he writes, just no more unforced errors. And we know how many unforced errors they have.

Yes, yes, we do. So what do you think of Ben's pushing Jason Wright in his team, his brilliant marketing team, to come up with a team nickname before the season starts? I mean, I guess he has a point. This doesn't really particularly interest me. I've choked with you before that, you know, people are going to start calling them the commies at some point.

And that could wind up being their nickname. But again, I mean, something could evolve out of this. I mean, the media, ironically, it's going to have to play a part in this. You know, they're going to have to start using the name, whatever, you know, a name they come up with. You know, how many people use dubs for the Golden State Warriors? It's a recent thing, but, you know, a lot of people kind of refer to them as the dubs. But it's one of those, you know, I was talking about this before,

and we talked about this before the actual name came out. There are only four three-syllable or greater names in the NFL. Patriots, Buccaneers, 49ers, and the commanders. The Niners, the Pats, and the Bucks, easy for those three. there isn't anything that's easy that comes off commanders. The nickname's not going to be the commies for obvious reasons.

It's not going to be the C's because that's already out there with the Celtics, I think. I mean, I guess you could use the same one. Coms, that kind of sounds dumb. But I don't have a recommendation on the nickname. You say it's going to come down to the media. But my one recommendation is for,

where Ben is in contradiction with Ben. And that is, I would not let Jason Wright and his team try to force a nickname on top of everything else that's happened here over the last several months. At this point, when it comes to marketing, I wouldn't trust them with anything. And I certainly wouldn't trust that they'd be able to deliver it well. So I think these things happen more often than not organically. and it's fan-driven, maybe a media-driven too, but it's not necessarily team-driven and maybe something will evolve.

You know, the C-Men instead of the G-men, I don't know. Personally, I think a lot of people are going to refer to them as the skins for a long period of time when they're talking about the team because they have a hard time with commanders to begin with. There's no obvious nickname. They'll refer to them as Washington. But, you know, Tommy, for years,

the Senators' nickname was the Nats because the team's original name was the Nationals. It was the Nationals, yeah. And so a lot of people referred to them, not because of Senators, the Senators with Senators, they were, you know, and they weren't called the Sends, but the longtime Washingtonians in the market when the senators were here referred to them as the Nats.

So I think a lot of us will refer to them, you know, the skins. And, you know, that does take the color out. It may not be, you know, something that a lot of people can swallow. A lot of the people who, you know, made it their business to be offended by the last name. But I think that that, you know, might stick for a lot of people for a while. With a lot of people. I think you're right. I think you're right on both counts. I think the last person you want making this decision is Jason, right? I think it is better when they happen organically. And I think you're right that people just generally refer to them as skins. Continue. Yeah, I also want to make one thing clear, and it's not that I am defending Jason Wright necessarily,

because I think they've made some, you know, terrible errors. They've been incredibly sloppy with a lot of things. We've been here to document all of them. But really, the bottom line is, that's not his job. You know, coming up with a nickname for the teams, I don't think a real, that's not something that the teams do. Maybe they, maybe they're examples of the teams coming up with their own nicknames,

but this is something that's going to have to develop organically. Now, with respect to him, would I trust that they would handle this well? No. At this point, there would be nothing that would give me confidence that they could come up with the right nickname and then roll it out seamlessly.

There's not, nothing that would give me great confidence that that could happen. So I would leave it alone if I were them. And look, you just rolled out the new name in February, this past February. Let's try to get used to just the name itself before you come up with a nickname. The fact that people want a nickname so quickly means they hate the name. People who want the nickname so quickly can't stand the name, which I think is the majority, is my guess. but maybe a focus group could help them with the nickname thing.

All right. What else? You got anything else? I got nothing else for you, boss. I don't either. Back tomorrow, everybody.