The Kevin Sheehan Show - Trent Speaks

Episode Date: November 1, 2019

Kevin and Thom open with more World Series talk and the question of whether or not Stephen Strasburg and Anthony Rendon will be back. Trent Williams spoke yesterday for the first time since his holdout began and ended. The boys discussed that. Will Dwayne Haskins start in Buffalo and if he does, how will he play? That plus Kevin's Smell Test to finish up the show. <p> </p><p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a></p> Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You want it. You need it. It's what everyone's talking about. The Kevin Sheehan Show. Now here's Kevin. You're listening to The Sports Fix. All right, I am here. Aaron's here.

Tommy's back from Houston, but he's calling in because it was probably a late night getting back. And he's going to tell us all about what it was like to be there. But I'm going to start the show off with a question for both of you. Given that more likely than not, Strasberg's going to opt out and become a free agent, and that Anthony Rendon is going to be a free agent, if you could only choose one to have back, if I told you right now that only one of them re-signed and stayed in Washington,

which one would you want it to be? Well, for me, that's pretty easy. It would be Strasper, because starting pitchers who win 18 games a year and are as unhittable as he is sometimes are much harder to come by than position players who are great. I mean, and I know Strasbourg is 31, and, you know, he did have the Tommy John surgery, you know, about, what, nine, ten years ago now, but he shows no sign of wear and tear.

And I want to keep both of them, but I think Rendon is more replaceable. That's my answer, too. Not to mention the fact that you've got Soto, Robles, Trey Turner, still a really good young nucleus for a team. but I'll take the dominant starting pitcher, who, by the way, has already proven to be dominant in your biggest games and maybe the best big game pitcher in the game and maybe entering the prime years of his career the next year to three years. I'll take Strasbourg. It's a tough, tough choice, but I'll take Strasbourg. Aaron, who would you take? I think I'd lean Strasbourg.

The argument for Rendon would simply be that with Strasbourg, yes, he's entering the prime, but pitchers can, you know, fall off a little quicker than position players. Rendon is also entering his prime very clearly, and you could see him being at this level for the next, you know, potentially eight to ten years. So that would be the argument for Rendon, but I think I'm inclined to say Strasbourg, plus the fact that, you know, just in my head, if one of them's leaving, if only one of them leaving, it's probably Rendon anyway, so I've kind of already resigned myself to that. Do both of you feel like Anthony Rendon's a top five player in the sport?

position player? Yeah, position player. Because that's what I've heard here for 24 hours from all of the baseball people. He's a top three to top five player in the sport. Is he that good, Tommy? I think if he's not, he's right on the edge. I mean, what he did in the elimination games in this postseason was remarkable. His batting in the late innings in the elimination game,

or, I mean, like, doubles, home runs, doubles, walk, home runs. It's incredible. I mean, it really is incredible. His defense is incredible as well. He seems to stay healthy now the last couple of years. You know, the thing is, though, we could be talking that a year from now

that one of his teammates Juan Soto is in that top five list right yeah good you know but so you know I mean he's right on the edge if he's not there so let me ask this to you

Tommy do you think they're going to have both of these guys back and if not which is the more likely to be back I hope I'm wrong because I've been wrong about everything this postseason I don't think Grendone is coming back because he's such a hard read. I don't know what to make of him.

I mean, here's his kid who didn't hate to talk into the media. And in the post-game celebration on the field, I mean, stood there and talked to reporters until the PR people had to drag him away. You know, I mean, he was, so, I mean, he's such a difficult, read. But like I said, he's a Boris client. It only

takes one owner by Scott Borre to convince that Anthony Rendon is the key to his team's future and he should overpay him a lot of money. And the learners have not, the learners are betting clients of pay guys, but not overpay

guys. And you know, not make the offer that you can't refuse to keep a guy. There's not that many instances of it. I just don't think they're up for it. I think Borac will find an owner who's willing to do that. And I don't know how much Rendon really loves playing here compared to Strasbourg, who I think loves being here, moved his family here to Washington last year, and I don't think is going anywhere.

You know, I know what you're saying about the learners, but I also think that this is uncharted territory, you know, a championship team, the thrill that went with it, the massive massive disappointment if Anthony Rendon's not back here. I would think that this is the guy that they would overpay to bring back, given the situation in the context. And maybe I'm wrong. And maybe they got what they needed and they're fine now. And that gives them more reason not to overpay him because they've already gotten the title

for the old guy. But my guess is both of them are going to be back somehow, some way. It is interesting what you said about Rendon. I don't have a problem with him sticking around talking to media for hours upon hours. He was the world champion, and he was unbelievable in the postseason. No, I know you weren't saying that you had a problem with it, but I'm just saying that if he ends up becoming a little bit more extroverted because of the success in this postseason, I'm fine with that.

But I don't know. I have a weird feeling that the learners are not going to want to open up the 2020 season as the defending champion without Anthony Rendon and Stephen Strasbourg. I just think that both of them somehow are going to be on the roster. I think you could be right. I mean, I'm not adamant about it. You know, I have no feel about what Rendon will do. I have no feel as to how much he really would like to stay here

or how willing the learners would be. I mean, you know, but if he stayed here, it wouldn't surprise me. I just think of the two, he's the more unpredictable. All right. What was it like to be there on Tuesday and Wednesday night? Well, I mean, I can't even remember Tuesday night. Because Wednesday night was so unbelievable because, I mean, again, like, you know, like for the wild card game, I had a story written about them losing that I thought was terrific.

I had a story about them losing the World Series in game seven that I thought was ready to go that I thought was great and Zach Granky was writing the story for me because he was, I mean, the Nats couldn't get the ball not just past the infield. Past him. Past him.

They couldn't get, and he, I mean, they looked utterly helpless against Zach Granky. And I'm thinking, and his pitch count is ridiculous. ridiculously low. And I'm thinking, you know, they're not going to see a reliever until maybe the eighth or ninth inning with this guy. I mean, they're done. And then, you know, Rendon hits the home run. Soto walks.

and 18 Hinch takes them out. And I mean, I'm thinking, whoa, there you go. You know, there goes my story, because, I mean, this is what the nationals wait for. This is who, you know, this is what they were waiting for. And then they bounced on the Astros. So, I mean, that was, I mean, everything after that was, you know, the Callie Kendrick home run off the foul pole, how quiet the crowd was, how everybody looked at each other in the press box and acted like, I can't believe they're doing this again, that they're coming back

again in this, where everybody in the press box except me was looking at each other earlier in a game saying, why are they keeping Max Scherzer in there? All the sheep were bleeding. You've got to take Max Scherzer out. You've got to take him out. He's got nothing. You know, this is, this is like throwing gasoline on a fire. This is what they do. This is what sports writers do. They all feed off each other. One guy

says it, and then the other guy said it. Oh, God. And then it's become this travesty that, you know, that Dave Martinez is doing. When he's believing in the guy who had gotten them this far, and one of the guys who had gotten them this far in the first

They have no idea of the conversations that Scher and Martinez are having back in the dugout at the end of each inning. And Dave Martinez, who like I said before, played 16 years in the Major League, is always going to believe in players. He's going to put his face in veteran players in particular. And he bet on Scher to get through it, and for the most part he did. Well, you know, Scher, and I heard this yesterday after the show. You know, because I didn't see the Dave Martinez interview with, I forget who it was with on MLB Network. It wasn't the Pedro. It wasn't the Pedro Harold Reynolds group.

It was somebody else. But he said Max won at the sixth, and he said, no, that's it after the fifth. So I hear what you're saying about the first five innings, and Scherzer didn't have his best stuff. And he was in trouble as he was in game one. but he kept getting out of it, and he was able to grind it out for five innings, you know, 104 pitches, 103 pitches, two earned runs, and, you know, there he was at the end going, all right, go get some runs now. But he wanted the sixth, according to Dave Martinez.

And Dave said, nope, we got you now, we got your back, we're good. And he came in with Corbyn, obviously, and it turned out to be brilliant. Yeah, and most people thought they should have pulled him a lot earlier. and I understood, you know, they're concerned because, I mean, Diastos were hitting the ball hard, and it was remarkable that they only had two runs against it. It was. Much more so than game one.

Oh, yeah. I mean, the second inning when Gurriel Homer's, and then I think it was Alvarez and Correa, and then you got the catcher, Chirnos, he's sack bunting, popping up, which was stupid on their part. and then you got Springer, and that may have been the play of the game, the Soto catch on the Springer line out to left where Soto came in, because that's two runs and then maybe Springer sitting on third if it gets by him. But I was sitting there in the fifth when he finally left, and I'm like, man,

I don't know how you just did it, but you got out of here with just allowing two earned runs. That was pretty amazing and was huge in their win, because a lot of nights. maybe seven out of ten, you know, he's out of there in the third or fourth, having given up five or six runs. Absolutely. Absolutely in that situation. And then Corbyn comes in, who I roasted in a column a couple of days earlier. Yes, he was great.

Still, I mean, the big picture, he's not getting paid $140 million to be relieved pictures. I understand that. I mean, his starts were terrible. He turned in three great innings in the most important. game of the year for them. And I get that. He deserves a lot of credit for it. But his line still in the postseason is 15 runs in 23 innings. And I mean, the nationals may have not have been in a seven-game situation if Corby had done his job as a starting pitcher. But that's neither here or there. He turned in, I think, I mean, basically, you know, I think

Davey was only going to give him an inning, but he felt so strong and looked so good. He kept putting them out there for, you know, for three innings. So, you know, I mean, it was just, I mean, everybody in the press box, like, they were just like in awe of how this, this national team had this tremendous ability to come back once again in the biggest, most important game of the year, and had reduced the best team in baseball to basically quivering at a corner at that point. I mean, they seem like the baddest guys in the neighborhood at the last couple of innings in that game. And the actual seemed like victims.

Let me, two things, and we've got a lot more to get to on this. First of all, I would take some exception to your description of Patrick Corbyn. First of all, let's not forget, too, that he came in in Game 5 at Dodger Stadium and got four huge outs. Three strikeouts didn't give up a hit or a run as a reliever. So he didn't have one great relief appearance. He had two in the winner go home game against the Dodgers and also in game seven of the World Series.

Number two is that the start against the Cardinals in the game that completed the sweep, you know, he ended up giving up four earned runs in that game, but he pitched well through five innings. He had 12 strikeouts. I thought he pitched pretty well in that game. and finally in that last inning got into some trouble, but I thought he pitched well. But you're right, the other starts were terrible. But if you told me, you know, $140 million for, you know, a 3.25 ERA, a 14 and 7 record during the regular season,

and as the third starter, a guy that's going to save you in the two biggest games of your postseason, I'd take it. I'm not saying it was a bad signing. It was a good signing, and he did his job. during the regular season. But he was their worst starter in the postseason. Yeah, he was. Annabelle Sanchez was a better starter than he was.

Yes. And, I mean, basically, the nationals, you know, the whole thing was, Nationals have the better starting pitching with this big tree, and he didn't hold up his end on the starting rotation with the big tree. I'm not complete. Look, I thought it was one of the best signings of the off season. I think it helped the Nationals get to the postseason. And I thought he had a really good regular season.

It's just that in those big moments when they handed him the ball as a starter, particularly in the first innings, he seemed to waver to be kind. Yeah. But I don't want to. I mean, again, you're right. In the biggest moment, when they needed him the most, he came through. Yeah, he did. And, you know, it's funny because when he came in for Scher the other night,

And he gives up an immediate single to Mariznick, you know, to start off the 6th. And I was like, oh, boy. But then you could start seeing that slider, that thing is hard to hit when he's got it, you know, in the right spots. And it was awesome there. So the other thing that I wanted to just go back to was A.J. Hinch, because I wanted to tell you something, because I think it's very interesting. And is that, you know, this was, you know, the big analytics discussion, you know, did A.J. Hinch pull him out. one batter too early, which was the right decision, or, you know, or if he had left him in, it would have been one bad or too late. You know, all the analytics people were fine with him

pulling Zach Granky when he pulled him. And Tommy, I'm sitting there watching this, and I compared it to the Sanchez start that he had in St. Louis. It's like, this guy is fooling them on every pitch. One pitch is 63 miles per hour, and one, and it's, you have no idea where it's going to come and land, and the other one's coming in just barely touching the outside corner at 90-91. Like, he is on. This guy's got it together. And if I were just a baseball fan and not a Nats fan, that was the best part of the first six in a third inning was what Granky was doing because we were told he wasn't going to pitch well,

that he was terrible in the postseason, that he had this huge ERA in the postseason, and that he doesn't really deliver in the biggest moments. And there he was. He was doing what Sanchez did in game one against the Cardinals, utterly fooling them. And it was just a, it was really fun to watch if you were a baseball fan. But when we got to that moment and Rendon hits the only mistake he had made,

the only mistake he made all night, Rendon hits out. And it's still two to one. And then he got a terrible call on the two one pitch. It should have been two two against Soto, got a terrible call. goes to 3 to 1 and you could see his reaction to it. He was like, well, shit, now I can't give him a 3-1 pitch to hit. I'm going to end up walking Soto.

And maybe he knew in the moment that that was it once he walked Soto there and he got the bad call. And the Nats got most of the bad calls through the first five games. So I'm not, you know, good for the Nats to get a call to go their way in a key spot. But even me, Tommy, who I'm on your side, like to me, I'll take all this advanced stats information. I find it interesting, but to me it's just one piece of information. Context, so much more goes into it. And personally, I think in football, there's just too much that isn't measured in football and basketball that the whole running a team based on analytics is

just stupid to me and doesn't make any sense. But in that situation, I knew he was coming out. And I kept thinking to myself, well, maybe it is the right decision to pull him, even though if you would ask me that question a year ago or two years ago, I would have said, he's going to pull Zach Granky after one bad pitch? He's got a two-hitter going? Are you out of your mind? And the bottom line is that that is a debatable decision, I guess. To me, he had to come with his best pitcher after that. And if you're going to tell me that you can't bring Garrett Cole into a game in the middle of an inning, well then bring an Osuna. Will Harris had given up the home run the night before.

He had pitched a lot. You know, come in with your closer at that point. That would have made more sense to me. But what do I know? Bottom line is it didn't work out because Kendrick hit a home run. And he would put it this way. Granky couldn't have done any worse had he pitched to Kendrick. No, no.

He could have. And then, look, I forget the kid's name, the kid who shut them down in. Zerkidi. Zerkidi. Yeah. Yeah. Why not bring him in? And that struggled against him.

You're Keady. You're Keady. I'm sorry. Your Keity. Yeah. Or Keity or whatever it was. They couldn't hit him. Right.

I mean, it was, look, I wouldn't have taken Grinky out. I just wouldn't have. I mean, I thought it was the wrong move. You're right. It's a debatable move. It's not like clear cut. But you can look back and see where the game changed. And that's where the game dramatically changed when Granky came out.

And, you know, it's funny. because Dave Martinez, you know, for a Nats fan base that was ready to roast him most of the year about his bullpenes decisions, he outmanaged Dave Roberts and AJ Hintz in the postseason. Two of the most respected managers on two of the – the two best teams in baseball. Yeah. The Dodgers and the Astros. No doubt. By the way, and I didn't mention –

this on the podcast yesterday or the radio show. I actually went back and watched a lot of the game yesterday. It was so exciting. You know, another big mistake that was made by A.J. Hinch, Aaron, a three to two game is still a winnable game in the eighth inning. When Eaton got on in the eighth and stole second, how the hell did he pitch to Soto with first base over? Yeah. Yeah. And you could tell that the, because there was a mound visit before that, if I remember correctly. Yes, there was. And I bet you it was pitch to it, you know, if you want to pitch to him, fine, but pitch to him very carefully because the first couple pitches of that were not particularly close to the zone. He hit the second pitch. He singled in the second pitch. Excuse me. Yeah.

But yeah, I agree with you. I remember talking about that in the stands as it was happening. Yeah, that was, AJ Hinch, you know, if you think he aired with Granky, that's more debatable than you, you got first base open after Eaton Steele's second, you cannot pitch DeSoto in that spot. And by the way, it's not pleasant to face Kendrick with two on either. You know, it's not like it. But you can't pitch to Soto there. You got to try to keep the game at three to two. And by the way, you know, Cabrera came in and Cabrera had a chance to really end the game there.

And they finally did in the ninth. By the way, I went back and looked at this yesterday because I was on, I did a couple of hits in other markets. yesterday afternoon. And one of the hosts said, you know, it was really interesting about the whole Nats run was nobody did anything at any point in these key elimination games in their last at bat. You know, there was no last at bat drama, you know, with the Nats holding on to the lead. And in fact, in the five elimination games, which the Nats won, first, you know, team to ever do that, the last chance at bats for Milwaukee in the wildcard game, for L.A. in the game four, game five and for Houston in game six game seven they never generated anything zero runs three hits

on 15 and bats and it was like i was thinking about that like Milwaukee still had a chance down four to three you know the dodgers now the dodgers had less of a chance down seven to three in that you know in that game uh after kendrick hit the grand slam but certainly you know there was there was no threat there was no last at bat threat like you typically see. In fact, you know, with the exception, you know, in this particular World Series, even though I think it was a compelling World Series for a lot of reasons, there wasn't a memorable game in the World Series. No. No, you're right about that. But it was,

the Nationals made it a memorable World Series with their ability to come back. You're right. And what's amazing is the eighth inning was a horror show for the Nationals during the regular season. Remember? Right. Just an absolute heart. But they didn't have to use the bullpen. I know it, but I don't think they gave up a run. Right.

The eighth inning in the entire postseason. It was such a remarkable performance that's going to go down in a record book, it's very unique and very unforgettable for a lot of reasons. And what's so great is, look, just from an observer's point of view, Nobody out there likes Washington for a number of reasons. I mean, you know, from politics to image, I mean, the rest of the country is not crazy about Washington, D.C. The Nationals became a lovable team outside the Belt. Agreed.

People fell in love with the Nationals, not just with their players, but with their come from behind, you know, style of play. It just captured the rest of the country. and you know they were the heroes in this and the asteros were the villain. Yeah, I mean, not to mention you had, you know, these incidents, you know, during the postseason, you know, with their assistant, you know, GM that made them, you know, a lot of people don't follow that stuff, but for a lot of people it made them the team that was easy to root against. I agree with you. I mean, the nationals, you know, look, for its own fan base, for its own city, this was an incredibly likable group. but I agree with you that people sort of, you know, as they got into postseason baseball, they're like, you know what, I like this Anthony Rendon.

I like this Steven Strassberg. You know, Juan Soto may have rubbed some people the wrong way, but God, did he deliver, you know, consistently. You know, the bottom line is they had great starting pitching and then the, you know, the Eaton-Rndone Soto Kendrick. They generated 51 of the team's 78 RBIs over the course of the post-season. season, which is really remarkable, those four guys. And you said something that I wanted to respond to. You said that, you know, this is going to go down as very memorable for a lot of reasons.

Here's the one thing I think it's going to go down as, and I don't think it's fair for it to go down this way. I think they're going to go down as like one of these all-time Cinderella underdog stories, because they were. They were a massive underdog. But really what we watched was the best team. They were the best team from June on. They had the best record. They had the best run differential. They had the best starting rotation. And their stars, you know, Soto and Rendon in particular, were just better than, as an example, Josh Hader, the best closer in the sport.

The, you know, the Jack Flaherty, who everybody was, you know, best ERA ever since the All Star break. Well, Rendon took care of him. Cole and Verlander. You know, they took care of those guys. And then the pitching, here comes the Dodgers, greatest left-handed lineup ever. It's going to be held a deal with

and what did Scherzer and Strasbourg do. They were just better. You know, they were better than these teams. Aaron, you may be familiar with this. Baseball prospectus, you know, basically ranks the teams in terms of the most talented and best teams of all time.

Do you know that the Dodgers this year were rated the third most talented team of the last 70 years and the Astros the best team of the last 70 years, whatever that means. And the Nats beat both of them, and by the way, beat them fair and square with better players. Yes. They did. So that would be the one thing I would say to you.

I hope it's remembered for the uniqueness of it, you know, seven road wins in the series and their eight-and-one road record and what Strasbourg did and what Rendon did and all of that and what Soto did for his age. but this they shouldn't have been the big underdog they were they shouldn't have been well i mean that's that's what makes this season so strange in that a lot of people picked the nats to get to the world series because they were so talented going into the season people thought the nationals had the best postseason in terms of acquiring talent and and the whole Cinderella thing comes in the play only because of the hole that they

dug themselves in. Yes. Starting with the 19-and-31 start. That's true, yes. I mean, that's where the Cinderella, and it's not really Cinderella, it's comeback, it's resilience, but it's not over-achieving, you know, because you're right, the NACTA are a very talented team, and they play to that level. They should be able to play with the Dodgers and the actors.

They have the talent to match up to those teams and play with them. But it was the whole, you know, Davey Martinez, you know, we want to go one and oh every day. That became their personality, and that's what people kind of fell in love with. No doubt. You said that you were wrong about this series, and, you know, if I remember correctly, what you said is that you didn't like them to win the World Series or go beyond, you know, that wild card game. because ultimately the bullpen would do him in. I mean, I was sort of with you to a certain degree.

Like I understood that this was a major flaw. But man, did Dave Martinez manage around it? And, you know, did we all learn something if we didn't know this before that it was a possibility? We've seen in game sevens and in game fives, you know, game five of the division series, game sevens of the CSs and the World Series. We've seen all hands on deck. But this dude had all hands on deck from the jump.

You know, he basically avoided the flaw and was able to do that over a one-month period. So, you know, because I don't know that anybody's ever managed that aggressively around a bullpen weakness like Martinez did. No. No, I don't recall any postseason where anyone's, I don't recall postseason where, uh, A team that would go on to win the World Series had the worst bullpen during the regular season in all baseball. And that's what we were looking at here. The worst bullpen in baseball,

even when they made the mid-season trade and got Daniel Hudson and Hunter Strickland, the Forgotten Man, and Elias, they got better, but they were still the worst in baseball. And he did that basically and hid that, only surfacing again in games that were out of reach in this postseason, pretty much. So Dave Martinez right now is going into the – one of the things that needs to be addressed is he's going into the final year of his contract. You don't want a manager to be managing as a lame duck manager.

I'd be stunned if Dave Martinez doesn't get a contract extension this winter. Oh, God. I mean, I hope so. I hope that they don't continue with the, you know, trying to underpay and truly, you know, nickel and dime, the manager and the general manager spot. I don't want to see that. They just want to title. And Mike Rizzo and Dave Martinez get the lion's share of the credit. They had great players. Don't get me wrong. But just think about Mike Rizzo. I mean, first of all, the Corbyn signing was brilliant. You know, clearly, you. You can't make that move if you end up signing Bryce Harper. And then at the trade deadline, getting Hudson was huge for them. Huge. Yes. And picking up Cabrera. And picking up Cabrera.

Yeah. No, absolutely. Pira and Cabrera, like he did. Look, I've always thought that Mike Rizzo is among the best DMs in all baseball. He's put a winning team on the field now for eight straight seasons. You know, they've gone to five postseason. in that time. So, yeah, I mean,

Mike is going into the last year of his contract, too. Yeah. It's not as big a deal for a general manager as it is for a manager in terms of the locker room. But, you know, Mike is going into the final year of his deal. And he would be in demand. Let's face it, if he were on the open market, he could probably, you know, pick his job at some point.

parade is Saturday. That ought to be fun. The ratings, they finally hit it out of the park with game seven, which I thought was, you know, I would have been really, really surprised had they not done a massive rating in game seven. And they did. They did a 31.8 locally in game seven, which is huge. I mean, it's really an indication that, you know, we are a bit of a, you know, event, big event, you know, town because games four and five only did a six. 17.3 and a 19 locally, which was really disappointing. It was explainable because it was up against football. And the bottom line is, you know, if you're up against football in a lot of cities, your baseball number is going to be compromised. The Nats did a 17.3 on Saturday night, you know, up against probably Notre Dame Michigan. And on game five, they did a 19 locally up against the Chiefs and the Packers. I mean, there's no other way to explain the big dip in ratings for games four in games five in game five. But the 31.8 is, you know, a reflection that the Nats are the number two. You know, they're the clear number two. And I know a lot of you want to say, oh, they're the number one.

Well, you know what? Right now it feels like it. And by the way, I wouldn't even care if they became the number one. But, you know, if the Redskins had a wild card game, you know, in early January, not a game seven of a World Series or a Super Bowl game, you know, they would do, you know, a 40 rating, you know, locally. So anyway. It would be that. And I want to point out to people in the changing television landscape, I don't know about every single game, but on most nights, the most watched TV show nationally on network TV was the World Series. Yeah, it was even though the overall, the World Series numbers were way down with this matchup.

It was still the most watched TV show that night. Yeah. And, you know, I mean, Houston numbers were better. A lot better. We're higher, but Houston has had baseball for 57 years. Yeah, of course. And they went to the World Series two years ago. And won it.

And they have a team that won 100 games for the past three years. I mean, they have given their fan base a reason to watch and show up. No doubt. So, yeah. I'll point out that, first of all, and this is not a knock on the cap. I just want people to understand from a comparison standpoint that when the caps closed out Vegas to win the Stanley Cup, they did a 25.6.

Now that was not a game seven. So it's not apples to apples. If the caps in Vegas had played a game seven, they probably would have done a higher number. And I'll just point out that the Redskins Vikings last Thursday night did an 18.3 rating, and that beat the Nats in game four of a World Series. That was a higher.

More people watched the Redskins Thursday night than watched Game 4 on Saturday night and almost the same number that watched a game five and a two-two pivotal fifth and decide a fifth game on Sunday night with that said that's all I'm going to say about the ratings I was praying that they'd get to 30 plus because I said before the series I think we're going to see a 30 plus if we get to a game six and game seven and look game seven's the ultimate I mean if you're not if you're not as a sports fan that doesn't even care that much about baseball if you're not going to sit down and watch a seventh and deciding game of a world series you're not even a sports fan.

at that point. I agree. I agree. You know, before game seven, I recognized the feeling that I had inside and it was the feeling that I get before a big championship fight when I'm ringside. Oh yeah, I felt the same way.

Couldn't not wait for that first pitch. Yeah, there's this feeling in my stomach like I was out there playing or something like that. I mean, the nerves were so different than anything else. and it was just because of the moment. What a big moment it was going into that.

And look, this was a gift for me, this World Series, because the Washington Times used to send me to cover the World Series no matter who was in it. And they don't do that anymore. They haven't done that in 10 years. So I didn't know if I'd ever cover another World Series. And to get a chance to cover this team throughout the entire postseason, from L.A. to Houston was really a gift for me, and I was so glad I had a chance to do it.

I bet. I mean, but you and I both said, and I know a lot of people can relate to this, you know, big fight fans, there is nothing, nothing that matches the electricity and the feeling of being at a big-time fight live. There's something that nothing else matches. You've been to even a lot more fights, big fights than I have, but I've been to a bunch of them over the years in Vegas. And to be there in the arena, hell, you can go back to being in the Capitol Center and watching, you know, Leonard Durant on closed circuit.

It's the same thing. The feeling that you have before a big mega championship fight is unlike any other, I think, at least for me, it's been that way in sports. And the other night, when they, when, when they, when, when they, when, when, when they, when, when, when, Verlander was ready to throw that first pitch to Trey Turner. It was like, wow, this is big time. This is Game 7 of the World Series. And there was a tension there that was really, really palpable.

And I loved it. I loved the whole run. And it sucked last night because last night was the first night that we didn't have anything to watch or get excited about. But anyway, it was awesome. They are, you know, they're such, it was such a great team. It was such a great month. There were so many memories from the month, you know, and what you said, they were just so easy to like, and people shouldn't underrate that.

I understand that if they were a bunch of bad boys and a bunch of, you know, guys that were getting in trouble but were still winning, they would still be embraced. You know, they would still be loved. You know, the bad boy Pistons teams of the late 80s and 90s, people love them in Detroit. People love the Oakland Raiders. But, man, there's something about Anthony Rendon and Stephen Strasbourg and Max Scher and Juan Soto, even though some of his antics might turn some people off. I loved it.

Every time he looked at a pitch that he got fooled on and sort of nodded and said, all right, you got me on that one, it sort of meant the next one was going out of the park, you know, for the most part. I think Soto won over a lot more people than he turned off. I think that's true. I hope that's true. I think he did. What's the most memorable moment of the month? What's the moment of the month?

Because there are several of them. Well, to me, it was the wild card game when Soto hit that basis clearing double. And him dancing off second base getting tagged out, but he's celebrating in the base ride. I hated that he got tagged out. I know that, but he did that to make sure that red. Don't, you know, didn't draw a pro at home. I mean, because basically he cleared the basis with that double. To me, that's the best moment for me.

I mean, because that's when every, that's when it all changed. That's what, that was, you know, everything changed for them. I think there's a bigger one for me, Aaron, what's your number one most, like when 30 years from now, when you and I are talking, Tommy won't be around, it'll be unfortunate, but when you and I talking hopefully about the 2019 World Series, knock on wood as I say that, because I hope we're all around. What's going to be the number one moment that you remember? And I've been going back and I think it's Kendrick's Homer. The Grand Slam. I think that's my number one too. But here's the other one that might actually, because it wasn't a game winning kid, the back-to-back

Homer is off of Kershal. In the eighth. Yeah. That would be my number two. The Kendrick Grand Slam was so dramatic and it was the realization that they were going to advance past a point that they had not advanced to. Yeah, that's true. There was something about that. It's like, oh, my God, they're going to be in the National League Championship series. And they just beat the Dodgers in Dodgers Stadium. But, Aaron, to your point, the shock of Rendon and Soto back against Kershaw on a 3-1 game

that looked like it was heading for a loss and another disappointing division series loss was shocking in the moment. And it was like, oh my God. They just went back to back on Kershaw. And it's like, what's Kershaw still doing in the game? And Soto's bomb to tie it, you know, and to make it 3-3. Yeah.

And by the way, Tommy, Soto's, you know, Soto, I'll give you another one. Strasbourg's Game 6 is, I'm never going to forget. Never going to forget Strasberg's Game 6. It's one of the all-time great clutch performances by a pitcher in the World Series to me.

No, I agree. I think, you know, it wasn't easy picking an MVP of the World Series. Who did you, did you have a vote? No, I didn't have a vote. Who would you have voted for? I would have voted for Strasbourg. Yeah, me too. With Kendrick being a second. Kendrick being a second. I think Rendon would have been my second.

Okay. Okay, but either of those guys. I mean, you had candidates to choose Trump. But for Strasbourg, he would have been my pick. I mean, the way he has changed on and off the field has just been such a pleasure to watch. And it's interesting that the 2012 shutdown resurfaced as a storyline this time, only for in the sense that the nationals, you know, some people said the nationals, you know, were vindicated by the shutdown. And Pedro Martinez, who had been a big critic of it, apologized to Mike Rizzo. I saw that. Yeah.

You know? For that. Let me just say this about the shutdown. And I never criticized them for it. I thought it was the right decision to make. There's no, you can't be proven right or wrong. Of course not. You don't know what would have happened.

Yes, right. There's no comparison. Right. Yeah. So my point is you can't sit there and say that was the wrong decision. You know, rather, even if you can't sit there and say it's the right decision. Nobody knows. It worked out for Stephen Strasbourg, we think. But it's a thing that you can't be proven right, and you also can't be proven wrong either. So that's what people need to understand about the shutdown. The critics who said it was a horrible move, that they're off-faced because there's no way you can know that. Here's what they did, though. And this is what I never understood, given what's going on at Redskins Park right now, and I don't want to get into that. going to.

Too much, but I know we will. But the Nationals, if they were guilty of anything, it was protecting a player. That's what they were guilty of. They were protecting a player. I mean, we criticize teams all the time for not doing that, and that's what the nationals did right or wrong. Yeah. I mean, you know, it's big boy sports.

I mean, you see, you're right. No one's right, no one's wrong, but you could, you can say, I agreed with the decision, or I disagreed with the decision. And if part of the reason you agreed with the decision is you thought that part of it was you wanted the team to err on the side of what was right and what was safe for the player, that's fine. If you disagreed with the decision, you can disagree with it and say, hey, this is big time sports.

He's making a lot of money. They have a chance with him pitching to win the world effing series. I disagree with the decision. But you're right when you juxtapose it against, you know, at least what the allegations are about the Redskins, and we are going to get into the Trent Williams thing here in a moment. But, yeah, they erred on the side of, hey, we think that there's at least a risk that this wouldn't turn out well for him, so we're going to take the safe route. Yeah, and that pays dividends when other players are looking at organizations to play for.

Yeah, I think that's probably right. Of course it does. So, I mean, there was, I mean, this was, I mean, I keep calling it a gift for me. It really was a gift for, for, you know, the whole DMV. I mean, people, people are, I mean, it gave it, it gave a chance for people to feel good. The cats already broke, you know, true and did this two years ago. And we saw the outpouring of joy and happiness from that. There's a lot of that uncapped joy and happiness among sports fans who had to live with so many difficult times for so many years.

And I'm just glad for everybody involved in the area. I think they deserve it. Here's a question for you. Give me the average age of the person in this market that appreciated it and enjoyed it and was passionate about. it more than anybody else. Give me the average age of that person. Someone who really, this was one of the greatest sports moments of their lives here as a Washington, as someone who's lived in D.C. for a while.

I'm going to say 43. I think it's older than that. Really? Okay. I do. And maybe it's because I talk to a lot of those people of that age. And I think I've told you this before. This was so big for my father and his friends.

You know, guys that grew up here, went to Griffith Stadium, went to RFK, D.C. Stadium and then RFK, and lived through losing two baseball teams and then didn't have it for 34 years. This, I think I've told you this, my father, and by the way, my mother's husband, who's also a native Washingtonian, they love the Nats more than anything. I mean, they sit there every night and watch these games, you know, over the last, you know, 10 years.

They know everything about the team. And I think that it meant a lot to people a little bit older than that. Look, the younger, you know, fan and Aaron, you're not in this category because you're a hardcore fan of teams and you're a hardcore sports guy. You know, the kid that's at GW, you know, is going to be out on U Street celebrating because it's a chance to party. I mean, you're in a city with a World Series champion. You get a lot of that, and I'm not saying that they didn't enjoy it and they didn't have fun. I'm talking about the people that really felt this in their heart. Like, this was a big deal.

I think the average age is closer to 50. You may be right. I mean, that makes sense on a lot of levels. But, you know, my theory about baseball and aging is that all this hand-wringing about baseball, older population and that they don't, you know, they don't generate much interest among young kids. Well, all baseball has to do, I mean, all we hear about is how the population is aging, how there's going to be more old people 10 years from now than ever before. Right.

So slow the game down. Just wait until everybody gets older. I mean, if baseball appeals to an older population, they're in a driver's seat. Yes, yes. Well, you know, somebody once told me, you know, about the dilemma of being on AM radio in the years, you know, in 2017, 2018, and 2019 when AM radio is dying off. Hey, the only people that listen to AM radio are older people. Well, hey, we're getting older as a society. And by the way, most of the revenue generation in this country is from people older than 45, not younger than 45.

Yes. But anyway, we digress here. Put a bow on it. Is there anything else you want to say about what we just went through this month in the last few nights? Well, you know. Or maybe you already did. You sort of already did. Well, I wrote a column, you know, a game-clinching column,

this is the World Series Climbing column, that basically brought up that the first day of spring training two years ago. when Dave Martinez walked out on the field and announced that they would have this circle of trust, you know, and we all rolled our eyes about it. You know, we thought it was just some kind of new age babble that the manager was trying to do. You know, it went with the camel that he brought to camp, you know, to get over to hump. And there was a lot of skepticism about it. But that was a real thing. that circle of trust was the real thing.

Strasbourg refers to it constantly. Like if you ask Strasbourg about things that go on inside the clubhouse, he'll bring up, he'll say, well, you've got to be in the circle to know that. And he's half joking when he says it. But the trust that these players had in each other and in their manager is what got them proved that 19 and 31 start. I mean, when they did the opposite of false, apart, when they did the opposite of pointing fingers.

So in a way, that that circle of trust that that Dave Martinez started back then, that's what held them together at the beginning of the season, and it's responsible for where they are as much as anything else. And these guys, I mean, they talked about, even Rendon talked about it, and talked about how much they love playing with each other, and how much trust they have in each other. That's what gave them the fuel in the seven, eighth and ninth innings when they were behind in that dugout. I mean, they never felt like, like, you know, they never felt like holding or surrendering like other next teams did in the past.

And I give Dave Martinez credit for that circle of trust and telling his coaches from the beginning, we're never going to we're never going to preach negativity here we're not going to criticize guys if somebody's not good at something we're going to figure out how to make them better at something we're going to talk about what they are good at and deal with that and i i know you know i mean again i mean it's it's abstract stuff that you can't you know you'll write down with with a pen and a piece of paper but i just think that uh the roots that dave martine has planted with that circle of trust early in spring training two years ago is what got them through this year. I'm always a bit surprised.

Well, I'm always a bit skeptical, but then sort of later surprised at a lot of this stuff, you know, circle of trust, a lot of the, you know, a lot of the platitude stuff, a lot of the corny, hokey stuff that teams do completely buy into, and they become actually very significant and they contribute to winning. I don't know. I am all for, I mean, a positive environment is always better than a negative one. I know that. I know that from coaching young people, that, you know, you're much better off in a positive environment than you are in an overly critical one.

And I think it applies to like almost any, you know, any athlete at any age pretty much. So anyway, oh, I had one other quick thing, because you just reminded me of this. A bunch of the interviews, you know, Aaron and I were sitting in here after the show watching some of them, and I was watching them late on Wednesday night and all day yesterday with a lot of the players. You know, one of the questions that got asked multiple times, and I thought the answer was very interesting, was, you know, how did you guys, you know, what did you think? How did you come back off of that 19 and 31? I mean, and everybody said the same thing.

Like, immediately they said, we were injured and we knew we were good. Like, we knew with a healthy team that we were really good. Like, there was never a doubt. Like, there were doubts from obviously the media and fan base at 19 and 31, even with recognition of all the players that were missing because they were falling so far behind. You know, I even listened to the play-by-play guy in radio, not Jagler, but Charlie Slows.

Sorry, Charlie was on with Mad Dog yesterday on high heat. And Mad Dog said, so at 1931, you're the play-by-play guy. What are you thinking? He said, I was thinking it was going to be one of those long summers, you know? And I think everybody was thinking that way. But every player, and then I saw Paul Menhart, and I saw interviews with Davey and with Mike Rizzo. They all said the same thing. No, no, no, we just weren't healthy.

We knew when we got healthy that we were really good. There was no doubt that they thought that 1931 was completely attributable to the injuries in the players that they didn't have. And you know what? They were right, clearly in hindsight. That doesn't explain the bullpen. No, it doesn't explain the bullpen. It doesn't explain the bullpen, which they had to deal with all year.

And players had to come back to that dugout, starting pitcher, had to dress in the same locker. room with guys who basically cost them at some point with blown safe and blown leads. And that never affected the chemistry inside the clubhouse. You know, they lived with it. They got rid of some of those guys, you know, Rosenthal and Barraclaw, some of those guys, they got rid of pretty, you know, because if they stayed with them, it may have been a disaster. They may have never been able to actually turn it around.

And guess what? Those guys get World Series rings. They do. I'm sure they do. Yeah, they're on the team. Yeah, yeah. All right. You know, the other part, too, right?

And I was looking at this the other day. When you go back through that 19 and 31 start, the bullpen wasn't good, but you know what else wasn't good? They weren't generating anywhere near enough offense with all of those injured players out. All right. Well, that was fun. One last thing. Yeah, go ahead.

One last thing. Because you mentioned them among the guys who contributed offensively to their success in the postseason. Adam Eaton, I think I heard this, is the only player in the history of postseason to have a sacrifice fund in home runs in two games. Yeah. That's incredible. Yeah, he was a very valuable contributor as well. Oh, my God.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, Adam Eaton ultimately went eight for, eight for 24 in the series with like six RBIs. Yeah. And look, the home run that got it started in game six that tied it was huge. You know, and so that was big. By the way, he's also, he's my pick for the guy who becomes a legend this weekend with his antics. Oh, well, actually, you know what they all said.

Scott asked Rendon. He said, who's the guy that's going to be, you know, equivalent to one of the caps like Govechkin that completely over celebrates. And Rendon said this and other players said that. They said it sure's her. That's very possible. That Max is nuts. You know, they're going to the Caps game on Sunday.

Oh, they are? Who do the Caps play? I'm not sure. Why do I even care? Yeah, but that's going to be a big party there. You know, they're going to try to replicate if not one off the Caps. All right. Let me do a quick read here for my bookie.ag.

And then we will get to the Trent Williams stuff from you. Yesterday I've got a smell test coming up as well. MyBooky.ag is one of those places that you can rely on if you don't have a place to bet right now. Take my word for it. I wouldn't tell you if it's not true, if it weren't true. There are big shops, there are small shops, there are medium-sized shops, and not all are the same. MyBooky.orgie.ag is a big enough shop, by the way, and totally reliable. They've got a great reputation for fast payouts, solid lines.

plenty of ways to wager, not getting locked out. You know, right before a kickoff, you're going to have access to them for any game at any time, including in-game action. I promise you that if you don't have a place to bet, you can't go wrong, going to my bookie.ag. Now, when you get there, use my promo code, Kevin, D.C., K-E-V-I-N-D-C, they'll double your first deposit if you do that. MyBooky.ag today, you play you when you get paid. use my promo code, Kevin, D.C. All right, let's get to the Trent Williams stuff from yesterday. So, you know, I didn't even ask Aaron to pull the sound because I didn't even use the sound of Trent Williams on my show,

in part because it was, you know, hard to pick up. There was a lot of noise in the background. There was a ping pong game going on in the background. And so I'm going to take a minute here, Tommy, to sort of summarize for those that don't, know that Trent Williams spoke yesterday for 18 minutes and what he said. So the summary goes this way. For starters, he said that there basically was a growth on his head that he recognized six years ago, and he was told by the team and the team's doctors that it was nothing, that there was nothing to worry about. Even as the growth continued day by day, month by month, year by year,

he was told this is not a big deal by the team. Trent Williams also said, said that nothing was done about it until this previous off-season. So the winter of 2019, finally, he decided to do something about it, got it checked out, and it was diagnosed as a rare form of soft tissue cancer. He was told, and this is where, you know, I had this back in August as a report, and he laid this out. He was told that he needed to get his affairs in order. It was the scare of his life. He thought there was a chance he would die. He had the growth removed.

He was told he'd be okay, but that he was just weeks away from the cancer reaching potentially his brain. It was scary stuff for anyone it would be. He's got young kids. He had to contemplate there for a few weeks the possibility that he might die. This quote yesterday from this interview with reporters out in Nashville, Burn sort of summed it up. He said, quote, I was told some scary things from the doctors. It was definitely nothing to play with. It was one of those things that will change your outlook

on life. It closed, quote. By the way, he's conducting this interview, and he torches the team in this interview, which we'll get to in more detail here. And he's torching people that are right down the hall, literally right down the hall. He blamed the team for not taking the growth on his head more seriously. He said he said he doesn't trust the team, quote, there's no trust there. There are some things that have happened that are just hard to look past, closed quote. And he went on and he said, quote, I mean the lump continued to grow over the years. It was concerning, but there was no pain involved. But if I'm being told by the very people I put my career in the hands of, people who are telling me I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine,

that's how I looked at it. Trent Williams said that, even that he even told doctors a couple of times to remove the growth when they were doing previous surgeries on his knee and thumb, but they said, no, it's not worthwhile to do it. But it wasn't until this offseason when Redskin doctors examined him and finally said to him during the offseason, you should go see a specialist about this. And he said, quote, they kind of underestimated it. It was far more advanced than they realized. and I don't think they realized how long it was there, closed quote.

He flew on Dan Snyder's plane to Chicago for further examination, and that's where ultimately he had the surgery this winter. He needed 350 stitches and 75 staples on his head, and the diameter, he said, of the incision was about that of a softball. Quote, we literally caught it within weeks of it metastasizing through to my brain. extracting it was the only thing they could do. Doing radiology on it would have put a cap on my life. I think 15 years was the most I would have had after I started chemo,

so it had to be cut out, closed quote. Since that operation, he's had two subsequent cosmetic procedures done in the spring. His scalp, he claims, and says, remain sensitive from the surgery. It said it caused him discomfort the other day when he put on a helmet for the first. time, which is why he failed the physical, to which Bill Callahan, if you recall the other day, said that they are trying to find a helmet that they are customizing that will fit Trent Williams. Williams didn't say he would play, Williams didn't say that he would play again for the Redskins, and my guess in the reporting has been, including from J.P. Finley, that he'll never play

for the Redskins again. But Tommy, there was more to this, because I want to mention a couple of other things. he did say that he wanted more guaranteed money in the final two years of his contract. Remember, we've been debating for the last, you know, four months. Is it medical? Is it money? What is it? Well, he said that he wanted more guaranteed money on the final two years of his deal. The final two years of his deal didn't include guaranteed money. The Redskins have long said privately that this is a situation, that this was always a situation about money.

And he did confirm that at least part of it, was about money. He said that he didn't need an extension necessarily. The team knew that they didn't want to give him an extension, but he wanted guaranteed money and he said, quote, I've represented this franchise in the Pro Bowl the last seven years. To me, I would think that would be good for something, closed quote. I know you want to talk, but let me just finish up here. On him not getting traded because he wanted to be traded, he told the Redskins before their June mini camp that he wanted to be dealt, that he didn't want to play for them, and the Redskins obviously didn't actively try to trade him until shortly before the deadline the other day. And he said about

that, quote, when you give them 48 hours to strike a deal, it probably isn't going to happen. I just felt like that was done to embarrass me, to try to make it feel like ain't nobody want you. You're not good enough for us to trade for. I felt like that was the play more so than to get me moved. He also said that no team official visited him at the hospital during his two weeks in Chicago, but former teammate DeAngelo Hall did. John Kime had some reporting that said that head athletic trainer Larry Hess spent at least a week with Williams in Chicago. And Kime also reported that multiple team officials called Trent Williams during his time before and after the surgery, but calls were not returned.

He can't stand Bruce. He made that very clear in this interview. Was asked about the relationship with team president Bruce Allen if it could be repaired. He said, next question. About Dan Snyder, he said the following. I have a ton of respect for Dan. I love him to death. I don't look at this as being his fault.

And then he went on to say that's why he didn't go public before he could do it in length. like he did yesterday because he didn't want people to think that Snyder was at fault. The team made a statement yesterday, Tommy, that basically they've requested that the NFL's management council and NFLPA review the medical records and the medical care given to Trent Williams. Quote, the statement read, we have requested this review under the NFL's collective bargaining agreement that provides for an independent third-party review of any NFL player's medical care. the Redskins continue to prioritize the health and well-being of our players and staff. Due to health care and privacy regulations, we are unable to comment any further at this time.

Closed quote. All right, you take the first swing at Trent Williams talking yesterday. I've laid out everything he said without having to play the 20 minutes of sound for you to get all of it. It took me five, though. Go ahead. Like I've said all along, it doesn't matter what the truth is. And remember, according to Bruce Allen, he knows the truth, and he hasn't revealed it yet, whatever that is. It doesn't matter who's right or who's wrong here.

The Redskins did not handle this right, and they've angered, and they've forced their best player on the team to basically publicly say that he doesn't trust the organization and wants to be traded. I'd be surprised if the majority, if not almost all of the people in that locker room, believe what Trent believes as well about this organization. So the damage is done. I mean, you know, part of why you probably couldn't play the audio was, from what I heard on the audio, you had players in the background, you know, cheering them on. They were yelling preach, preach, preach, yes, they had his back, definitely. And there was a ping pong game going on.

Yeah. So I just think that, you know, we can debate what the Redskins, you know, whether anyone visited him or not, you know, if he's using that or not. But the general manager has alienated the best player on the team over a sensitive issue that a lot of people can sympathize with Trent Williams about. Yeah, I don't disagree with anything you said. But I would say the following. Number one, I believe there's a lot more to this story.

And I tweeted out before the Redskins made the statement yesterday, and people took me to task for this, which is fine. And, you know, that's the unfortunate nature of Twitter. There's only so much you can say in 280 characters, or whatever it is now. But I said that the Redskins should defend themselves if they believe Trent's words don't reflect the entire story. even though people despise the sight and sound of Bruce Allen and Dan Snyder. If the team ignores this, most will assume it to be true. And many aren't going to choose to believe them anyway,

but they should get on the record, in my opinion. Well, it was shortly thereafter that they put out the statement that they put out. And I actually think it's the right course to take. I have not been a big defender of this organization when it comes to public relations or anything like that. I think they're stupid for the most part. But I think, you know, getting a third party involved to investigate this and review this and then essentially come out with a finding no matter how long it takes and have whatever that finding is come from somebody other than the Redskins is probably the best way for them to go

because nobody's going to believe Bruce Allen or Dan Snyder in talking about the Trent Williams situation. But let me be clear on this because I had some of this, you know, during the summer, and I believe that I'm still right on this. I think there's a lot more to this story from their side, which, by the way, doesn't mean that I'm contradicting anything he said. I just think that there's more to the story than what he revealed, even though I think probably what he revealed is very accurate, or mostly accurate.

And the biggest part is that I think the team probably indicated to him far sooner than he sort of suggested that this is something that he should have looked at. But regardless, I would say this, if I had, if I were completely in the dark as to this whole story, and the first I heard of it was Trent Williams' discussion yesterday and answers to questions, my first answer would be, why didn't you go have, as this thing was growing, you know, day by day, week by week, month by month, why didn't you go get a second opinion? Why didn't you go to an internist? Why didn't you go to an on-com? Why didn't you go to somebody that would basically back up the assertion and lack of urgency from the team that they didn't think this was a big deal?

I don't think that that's a crazy reach. Now, he's young, he's an athlete, he feels great, it doesn't bother him, it doesn't hurt. I understand that too. He's like, well, they're telling me it's fine, it's fine. but I think after a while, if the thing continues to grow, you would probably, I don't know, I would be, but that doesn't mean that he would be. But anyway, I think there's a lot more to this issue.

Bottom line here, though, Tommy, two things. One, they should have traded him. God damn, they're stupid for not having traded him. Not that they would have avoided this, because he was eventually going to speak, whether he was in Cleveland, New England, or whatever, and they were eventually going to put this statement out. But it was just so Redskins. And when he said, you know, and I had already felt this way and mentioned it a couple of times,

that they're going to make this out to be that nobody wanted him. Like, you know, like nobody's going to pay Kirk $80 million. You know, don't you guys understand McClewins are drunk? They're going to come out and try to make themselves look good by acting like there wasn't a market for him. And he's right. He sensed that too. and it's just so stupid to have not traded him for a first round pick. They would have gotten a first from Cleveland.

They potentially could have gotten a first very early on from New England. There was probably a really good package. Had they been open-minded and listened to Houston? Did you see some of the quotes that came out from other teams? Like, they're so arrogant, we're not going to bail them out. They didn't listen to us. And that's the reputation they have. Dumb and arrogant.

You know? And when you're dealing with dumb and arrogant, you almost want to see them get it stuck to themselves. You know, you want to stick it to them and you want to see them basically, you know, soil themselves like they do all the time. So no one was going to help out there at the 11th hour, and they didn't. But anyway, the great news is that Trent's healthy. More than anything else, he's healthy. That's what everybody should be pleased about because this Trent Williams thing for me, Tommy,

didn't add to my feeling of how dysfunctional they are. There's going to be another Trent William story, you know, a month from now, four months from now, two years from now. This is who they are. You know, this is what they're involved in all the time. And it's just so interesting, you reminded me about Bruce saying that he knows the whole truth. Well, guess what? Whether you know the whole truth or not, your best player just,

you know, no less than 100 yards away from you, just through your whole organization, other than your owner, under the bus, that is hardly a damn good culture. That's the opposite of a damn good culture. That is, yeah, to me, that's the thing you can't debate. I mean, you can argue who's right or wrong, who's telling a truth or who's not. but what unfolded yesterday with Trent Williams doing that. I mean, general managers get fired on other teams for having situations like this. I mean, so, I mean, this is, and you look, we're talking about very personal stuff here,

but I've known people over the years who have, you know, died from cancer, and part of what they did, you know, because they didn't bother to get things shot, diagnose and stuff. That's not an uncommon human reaction. I know you, you know, you would run to the doctor if somebody, you know, dropped a little dot on you. No, I'm not that bad. But yes, if I had a growth on my head that was growing, I would have had, I would have definitely been somewhere for somebody to look at it rather than, you know, a team. Look, there's a lot of trust in these team doctors. This is not a normal employment situation. You know, I don't rely on my employer to diagnose my health, but I'm not professional

athlete in an office or in a locker room or in a building with lots of trainers and doctors. You know, if you're around those people, you're probably asking him stuff all the time. Like, hey, man, you know, I have this thing over here. What do you think it is? And you trust them. So I understand that perspective. And I think there's probably a side to the story from the team that probably makes them look less awful in this situation. but still it's a situation like it always is with them and they just can't find their way out of it. I do think it's interesting that Trent, you know, singled out Dan, and I mentioned this this morning, and the reason's obvious. You know, all of his former players like him,

how many times do you hear a former player say that they think they can't stand Dan Snyder? Because he's their buddy. Yeah, exactly, exactly. He's their buddy. He paid him a lot. He pays him a lot, takes good care of them, sets him up. You know, like Clinton and Santana and, you know, all the play, coolly, all the players that I know that played for a Dan Snyder organization, they don't feel anywhere near the way I do about Snyder. But why should they? This guy was essentially like a big-time friend that paid him well and never punished him for anything.

Yes. You know, and empowered them. Now, the other thing about Trent, and this is, again, speaks to the human nature of being diagnosed with something like that. Look, when you have something that you're worried about on you, and you have a doctor tell you that it's okay, don't worry about it, you're relieved. Oh, yeah. I mean, you don't go out searching for somebody else to confirm your worst fears. When a doctor has already been black, don't worry about it. don't worry about it.

No, you're right about that. You are. I mean, I think that, I think maybe ultimately the issue is whether or not the team, you know, much earlier than he suggested was maybe not urgent, but suggestive of you need to go see somebody and have this looked at. You know, and maybe to him, that's like them still, you know, a lot of this could just be communication too. You know, I mean, he's a young person. They aren't really that bright and not very good at communicating. You know, you could see with all of this stuff where a lot of it

could have just, you know, fallen through the cracks. But the bottom line and the biggest takeaway, thankfully, is he's healthy for now. Yeah. Yeah, that's good. And you're right. Because it could have been tragic. Can you imagine if something had happened to him? You know, oh my God, yeah. And by the way, you know, in many ways, like, I wonder whether or not he will slap them with a medical malpractice suit. I mean, he essentially said in that interview, it was malpractice the way they handled it. Yes. Yeah, I agree with you. He's lost a lot of money, too.

He's lost a lot of money in this holdout. And you know what? I still wonder, Tommy, why he couldn't have figured out a way to get on injured reserve and not lose one penny this year, of that kind of a surgery in the off-season. Yeah, you would think so. But he also failed two marijuana tests during the course of his career. He couldn't figure out how to not get that taken care, how to avoid that. I like Trent.

I've always liked Trent. I think he's a great player. I think he's one of the better players at that position in Redskins history. He's not the best. Okay, let's be clear on that. Joe Jacoby, Jim Lachay, would be your top two left tackles in franchise history. But Trent Williams has been a very good player. I wish him the best.

I hope for the best. He's not going to play for this team. I think that that is a long shot. And the team fucked up by not trading them in a major way, which they do all the time. They essentially let their emotions get in the way of football decisions and influence football decisions. Consistently they do that. And it hurts the team. It hurts the team.

And one other thing I just want to point out, I pointed this out before. And I think, look, for me personally, it's worth. pointing out. I guess Jason Lockenforre was right, wasn't he? About what? About when he tweeted out. When this whole thing started, at the beginning of mini-camp, I think it was, when

Jason Lockenforer tweeted out, Trent Williams won't be a minicamp, he doesn't trust the organization. He'll never play for the Redskins again. I mean, there were a lot of Redskins fans that jumped on that because it was Lockett for and didn't believe it, and he was

100% spot on with that. Yeah, look, Jason, you know I like Jason, and I've had him on the podcast before. I like Jason. I think he's fearless. I think he was one of the best beat reporters they ever had covering the team. I know a lot of Redskins fans don't like them. That's okay. I like him. With that said, he also multiple times reported a trade for Trent Williams is imminent like it's about to happen. And he wasn't right about that. But yeah, no, going back to the original thing, and that was really the first time, that was the first sort of jaw. dropping, you know, read or report that, you know, he doesn't trust them and he's never going to play for them again. I mean, that was a pretty dramatic thing to report. You're right. I mean, that was like no other player situation. I mean, that was even different from Antonio Brown in a strange way. It's going to be interesting to see how the team handles this from a roster standpoint,

from a contract standpoint, from everything else. You know, my sense is any way they can get back at him, that's the path they will take. I don't see them doing something that benefits him moving forward. Not if Bruce Allen is making the final calls on these things. I think they'll try to figure out a way to get the contract not to a crew, so he's got two years left. I think, you know, Les Carpenter when he said they're going to try to bleed him, and essentially for all intents and purposes, him crawl back. That's, you know, when he crawled back the other day, they viewed that as a

win. You know, they did. That's how limited they are, is they viewed that as a win, even though it didn't help them. The bottom line is for both parties in this, netting this out, because I want to move on to Haskins, netting this out, lose, lose. The organization lost, and Trent Williams lost in this whole process. Except for where Trent Williams, thankfully, had a surgery that perhaps saved his life. So I'm thankful for that. But he lost a lot of money in holding out. Yeah. And this is why everything you said

about what they're going to try to do here. This is why they call Bruce Allen, the Prince of Darkness and Tampa and why I call them that here. All right. So I don't know if there's any update on Case Keenum today, Aaron, probably not at this point because it's still early.

But if Case Keenum remains in concussion protocol through today, there's a decent chance. A decent chance. A decent that Dwayne Haskins is going to start Sunday against the Buffalo Bills. It's not what they want. Trust me, okay? I've heard enough now to know that this is not the direction they want to go in right now. They hope Case Keenham's ready.

They think they've got something to prove, and they think they're on the verge of proving it. And by the way, Callahan loves himself some Case Keenham. But they think they should have beaten Minnesota. They think they should have beaten San Francisco. And they think they got a chance to go five and three or six and two in the second half of the season. prove everybody wrong to show everybody how close they were. And they can't do that with Haskins.

So they don't want Haskins to start. Not yet. By the way, I forget if we've talked after I, I had this random thought that isn't so random, but I think the quarterback plan for 2020 is Alex Smith. And if it's not Alex Smith, it's resigning Case Keenum. And that Dwayne Haskins truly is a long-term 2021 and beyond plan for them, and they want him to sit for two years and really learn. And they recognize that he's not anywhere near ready for a lot of reasons, okay, that he's not anywhere near ready, but they're okay with that because they're not planning on playing him until 2021. So they don't have to worry about whether or not they made a mistake or not until 2021, because I believe they believe Alex Smith, the six and three quarterback, is coming back

to get them back to playoff respectability in 2020. Anyway, back to Haskins. If he starts, what do you think will happen? I think what will happen is what you claim won't happen. What would not happen? I think he's going to play terribly. I think the fan base is going to turn against him. They're going to be disgusted with the sight of Dwayne Haskins

if they keep putting him out on the field, and he'll be damaged good. I think it's going to go terribly if he plays Sunday, but I'm all in favor of him playing now and for the last seven games, because this is how somebody gets better by playing. This is how an organization evaluates a player with him playing on the field. And so I want to see him start eight games the rest of the way. That's what I want to see.

I think he'll be terrible to begin with, especially on the road against a team like Buffalo, even though he's getting all the first team reps this week. Earlier on the show, on the radio show, we did this as a call segment. I guessed 14 to 33, 168 yards, two interceptions, no touchdowns, a fumble, maybe a couple of scrambles for like 19 yards in a 23 to 9 loss. You know, they haven't scored a touchdown in two and a half games. And I think there's a chance they won't score.

If Dwayne Haskins plays, I don't think they'll score a touchdown on Sunday either. With that said, I want him to play. And I think if he plays against Buffalo, that next week or in two weeks against the Jets, after having two weeks to get ready during a buy week, that it'll improve a little bit. And there will be moments the rest of the way where you'll see something that you'll say, okay, this guy can really do it because he's got some talent. This isn't a guy without talent, and there are going to be a lot of terrible moments as well. But I disagree with you.

I think the fan base or what's left of it, and I think we really have to, to, when we talk about the fan base, you really have to add what's left of it, because there isn't a lot of it left that's paying attention right now. So what's left of it, I think absolutely will understand and be patient. And they may say they may come to the conclusion he sucks, but they're not going to say get him out of there and get Keenham back in there. They're going to say. No, they're not. Yeah. But the damage, look, for one thing, in two weeks, I mean, in three weeks, I guess it would be. No, it would be two weeks.

I mean, you talk about him having two weeks to prepare for the jet. You know who also have two weeks to prepare for Dwayne Haskins? Greg Williams. Well, not two weeks because I think they've already had their bite. Oh, that's true. They had their bite. I think so. Greg Williams is going to make Dwayne Haskins' life at home miserable that Sunday.

I hope. And Redskins fans are going to be. are going to be so angry, they're going to take their anger out on Dwayne Haskin. They won't think about, they won't think about, well, you know, you should put Dwayne, Case Keenman, or whoever it is. It will be an ugly situation, an ugly scene that will cause permanent damage to Dwayne Haskin status on this. Here's the one thing.

I mean, you were just giving these fans way too much credit. What's left of them? Remember to add that in there. What's left of them? I can only tell you how I would react, and I can guess on how the majority of the fan base would react. I just don't think that they would be overly worked up if Dwayne Haskins, a rookie quarterback,

had bad games and bad outings in his rookie season playing the back half of the schedule on a bad team. I just don't. But here's something that I just thought of that would be a concern to me. And by the way, totally in play. If he really, like if he starts and he's really terrible and they decide to start him the rest of the way because, you know, let's just say

Case Keenham's not, you know, is in concussion protocol for a while. I mean, Jordan Reed's been in it for the whole year. Or, you know, he's felt the lingering effects of a concussion for a long period of time so much so that he's on the injured reserve. What would concern me is if he really weren't, if he really played poorly, and it's because of things that we've heard leaked like he's not preparing the way he needs to and he's not studying and he's not studying and he's not the first one in, last one to leave, if they started to leak out some of that information when he started to play poorly. You know them.

They don't want to look bad. It still would make them look bad. This is the point they always miss. When they leak stuff out that's bad about somebody else, it's always easy to sort of connect the dots back to them and then they look bad anyway. But no, I'm ready to see them. I can't imagine that I would feel at the end of the season. anything other than having a football opinion on him,

I would not feel like, oh, my God, he was terrible against Buffalo. He's awful against the Jets. You got to sit him down. He can't do it. Let's move on. I don't think I'd be there because they're 1 in 8, 1 in 9 at that point. Just play them. Let's see what happens.

And we've seen young quarterbacks look horrible in their first, you know, several games as a rookie. And then ultimately be pretty good. It's happened many, many times before. Now that's not true. You know if he stinks up the joint this year, you'll be on them to draft another quarterback. Oh, at the end of the year. I'm not doing that in the middle of this. I'm not doing that in the next three weeks.

If he's terrible against the bills and the jets but, you know, makes a little bit of progress against the lions and then big step back against the Panthers. But I want to see eight games. And then I will form an opinion. And then I will say, you know what, this dude can't do it or he can. And by the way, even then it would be premature. you know, but you'll have a gut feel at least. I have no gut feel other than the feel that I had when he was coming out of Ohio State,

which was I don't think he's a first round pick. That's what I thought. But do I want to be right about that? Yeah, I wouldn't mind being right about that. Would I like to see, would I also feel really good if this dude came out on Sunday and threw four touchdown passes and beat the bills? Because here's one thing as a fan. I don't want them to win one.

game the rest of the way, unless it's a game that he starts and finishes. Okay. That way, you understand, if he's starting and finishing, then the Redskins are building towards next year and beyond. They've thrown in the towel on this year. Good for them. Now we're building. I want him to be the answer, Tommy, in many ways.

I would love them to draft Chase Young and have Haskins. It be clear that Haskins is the guy. By the way, I continue to hear that while he may not be picking up this offense and maybe some of that's on him, I continue to hear that he's very well-liked, that he's not an asshole. And there were people when you got towards the end of the season, they didn't say it, but certainly some people on that staff thought Griffin was a bit full of himself. No one has said that about Dwayne. Not that I've heard. I haven't heard it yet either.

All I keep hearing is, you know, the concerns about him, you know, they would like him to be a little bit more enthusiastic about being ready to play. Yeah, I think that's a good way to put it. Yes. I think they also need a better coaching staff to get him enthusiastic about it and give him something that will work for him. That is a big part of this thing. If he goes out and he starts Sunday and he's not very good,

part of that's on the coaching staff in my view. I just don't think they've got the sharpest tools in the tool shed that will figure out how to make it easier for him and give him a chance to succeed. That's my view on that. All right. Thank you. I got to do a smell test here and then get out of here.

All right, buddy. All right. Okay, hey. Have a good weekend. All right. You feel better. Take care. Tommy's back.

That was fun talking baseball with him. him and it was great that he got to experience a world series again. Quick word about the app. We have an app now available. You can get it in the app store on your iPhone or the Google store on your Android. It's another way to listen to the show. You don't have to listen to it that way. If you do, rate us, review us.

And if you have a problem, just tweet me at Kevin Chean, D.C. and let me know. But I've been using it. It's been working pretty well. I think we've got the show out earlier on the app. You can still listen to it all the other ways you listen to it. iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher, Tune In, etc. But anyway, we've got an app. It's another way to listen to it, and it makes it easier, I think, ultimately,

for you to listen to it that way. But let me know what you think. Redskins' Bill's prediction real quickly. If Haskins starts, they get beat easily. If Keenham starts, I think they've got a chance to cover. I could see like a 20 to, you know, a 20 to, I could see a 20 to 13 game. They're not going to win it.

Something like 21 to 13, something like that. They're a nine and a half point dog. I think that they've got a strength of their football team that's going to continue to improve, and that's Alan, ionitis, and pain. And I think they're going to give them a chance defensively, and I know Minnesota ran it down their throats at the end of the game. San Francisco did the same thing. But I think that the defense is improving.

You may not see it. It's what I see. I can be dead wrong. but I think that the defense is going to give more chances to sort of hang in there against some of these teams, especially the teams that struggle a little more offensively like Buffalo, like the Jets, you know, in terms of teams down the stretch, maybe the next two weeks is their best chance to win a game this year, if it isn't the Giants on December 22nd.

I don't think they'll win Sunday. But I think that they could, with Case Keenum in there, I think that they could keep it close. They haven't scored a touchdown in two and a half games with Haskins. I don't think they will score a touchdown. I think it's 23 to 9, something like that, 26 to 9, something like that as a final. But that is what I would prefer. I would prefer Dwayne Haskins gets started here for the final eight weeks of the season.

And maybe this concussion protocol is the one thing that will give them a chance. All right, let's finish up the show with the smell test. Kevin looks where the John Q public is putting their cash and does the opposite. It's time for the smell test. 4, 5, and 1 last week. Not great. 55, 42, and 2. The public's done pretty well here recently, although last night, Aaron, not a good night for the public.

I leaned Arizona and I think, let me just tell you, personally, I played Arizona, West Virginia, and Georgia Southern last night. I went three for three last night. I know I leaned Cardinals in West Virginia. Did I lean Georgia Southern on the show yesterday or not? I don't know if you made a play on Thursday. are set as play. They weren't smell test picks, but they were leans yesterday at the end of the show. All right. I don't like the card at all. I don't like the card at all. And I'm going to give you

some terrible football teams, especially on Saturday, to play. So you're going to hold your nose and you're going to play them. I think Maryland's a massive anti-public side against Michigan plus the 21. There is sharp money actually on both sides. I'm going to give out Maryland plus the 21. Here's how it happens, by the way, Aaron. Maryland can't stop the wrong. run, Michigan can run the football, and it's one of those quick college games where Michigan runs it down their throat, but it's long drives, you know, 12 plays, eating up five minutes, and they finally score. Maryland gets one or two big explosive plays and loses the game 24 to 7, 27 to 10, something like that. Maryland plus 21. Air Force should not be laying 16 to Army.

Army's had a rough year. I understand that. That line should be less than two touchdowns. Public is playing the underdog in this game. Give me Air Force laying the 16. Rutgers is playing Illinois. Illinois beat Wisconsin two weeks ago, beat Purdue last week. And now they're laying a massive number for Illinois. And the public, they love Illinois now. The Eli and I have become the new public darling, laying 20 and a half points against one of the worst teams in America. who, by the way, beat Liberty last week. I'll take a flyer on Rutgers plus the 20 and a half. By the way, by the half point to plus 21.

Arkansas is terrible. Mississippi State's not that good either, but Mississippi State should be bigger than a seven and a half point favorite against Arkansas. Public's all over Mississippi State. I'll take Arkansas plus the seven and a half. Let's go to Sunday, the early game, 9.30 a.m. All right, the London game.

The world is on Houston Sunday in the London game, laying a point and a half to Jacksonville. I'll take Jacksonville and catch the point and a half. That'll be fun. Wake up, little breakfast, newspaper, coffee, bagels, football, and you're wagering 9.30 on a Sunday morning. That's how you do it. And by the way, we're going to get you off to a good start with Jacksonville.

They're going to win the game outright. Jacksonville plus the one and a half. The public is all over Indy and there's very sharp money on Pittsburgh. I'll take the Steelers plus one at home against the Colts. The biggest public play of the weekend is going to be at Green Bay in Los Angeles, but really playing a home game. That place will be filled with Packer fans. They're laying three and a half to the Chargers. I'll take the Chargers on pure contrarian principle.

No one's going to have the Chargers on Sunday. I'll take them plus the Packers plus the three and a half. Hold your nose on this one like I asked you to do last week, but Denver's the side again on Sunday plus the three. and a half. No Joe Flacco. A lot of you will think that that's a good thing. They're home against Cleveland and that complete and utter punk Baker Mayfield. You see the thing he got into with a media member the other day that was talking about the final minute of the first half. By the way, he was wrong about that. He got into this thing with a media member who was asking him about the urgency or lack thereof at the end of the first half, and he blamed it on a penalty that

set him back down in distance. It wasn't a penalty. It was a sack. He gave up a big sack, didn't throw the ball away. I can't stand Baker-Mayfield. And by the way, I think he's really overrated. Denver plus three and a half on Sunday late. And then on Sunday night, the game of the weekend, Ravens, Patriots, and the Sunday night football game, I'll take the Ravens plus the three. The Patriots have played nobody.

The public doesn't seem to care. They're playing the Patriots. But my God, look at their schedule and who they've beat. They have beaten nobody. They opened up with Pittsburgh, if you recall, on opening day where Ben Rathesberger basically had one arm. And then after that, it was Miami, the Jets. Buffalo gave them all they wanted with Barkley at quarterback in for Josh Allen. They came here, ran the Redskins out of the building in the second half.

They had the Giants, the Jets again, and the Browns. They have not played one good football team. Buffalo is the best team they played, and they nearly lost. that game, they needed a defensive touchdown and a big play on special teams to win that game at Buffalo. I think Baltimore wins this game. And by the way, I'm not a massive fan of Baltimore this year like I was last year. I think Baltimore is good. I love watching Lamar Jackson. He is the ultimate in terms of under pressure, nobody to throw to. No worries. He'll figure out an answer. I like their defense. It's improving, even though they lost all of those players.

That win over Seattle. Their last game was a big, big win for them. They had the buy week. They're off of that. I like the Ravens plus the three. All right. Recapping. Maryland plus 21.

Air Force minus 16. Rutgers plus 20 and a half. Buy it to 21. Arkansas plus 7.5. Sunday, Jacksonville, Pittsburgh, the Chargers, the Broncos, and the Ravens. There's your smell test for the week. already gave you a Redskins pick. That's it.

I'm looking forward to Georgia, Florida tomorrow. I'm also looking forward to the parade tomorrow. And to see the Nats celebrated by this city tomorrow. I think that'll be cool. What's the weather for tomorrow? I didn't even look. I know it's supposed to be cold. It's supposed to be cold, but I think as far as precipitation,

it's supposed to be fine all day. Let me pull up weather right now. Yeah, it's supposed to be 56, but sunny all day. So actually a pretty good weather for a great. 56 on Saturday. Hopefully no wind and you got a beautiful day for a parade. All right. What do you got? Anything? Yeah, actually, I did want to say one thing. If you're, if you're like me and you're spending all of your money or looking to spend all of your money on all this World Series merchandise. Oh, my God. Yeah. My boys are trying to buy it up. Yeah. I mean, I've been online all day and every day, it seems like every hour new stuff pops up that I feel like I have to get. There's actually some really cool products from phoco.com. They're specialized in bottle. which, by the way, for me, my favorite type of any sort of merchandise.

I love bobbleheads. That's been always my favorite type of thing. But they had these really cool world series. They have all sorts of cool. They've always had cool bobbleheads, including they had a partnership with Game of Thrones. So they had a bunch of like MLB Game of Thrones bubblehead, including Max Scherzer sitting on the Iron Throne. Right.

A lot of cool stuff like that. But they have World Series bobbleheads, including basically every important player on the team with the World Series trophy. No Fernando Rodney, probably. I don't know about Fernando Rodney, but they have all the starting lineup. They have Scherzer. They have Strasberg holding the MVP trophy. They do have Hararano Parra with a baby shark if you're into that. They have all the racing presidents with that as well as a ton of other World Series stuff.

They're awesome. And it's not just like cheap stuff you might get in a minor league baseball game. It's really cool bobbleheads. So check out Foco.com because the bobbleheads there, awesome. Spell it. F-O-C-com. Perfect. There you go. Thanks to Tommy for joining us today.

Thanks to Aaron for producing the show. Thanks to all of you for listening to the show. Enjoy the weekend. Back on Monday, and we'll have a Redskins game and a football weekend to recap then. Enjoy the weekend.