The Kevin Sheehan Show - Trent Williams Wants Out

Episode Date: June 6, 2019

Kevin and Thom open with the latest in the Trent Williams saga. Kevin also suggests an immediate replacement for Williams and how the Redskins should handle this moving forward. The boys recap Game 3 of the NBA Finals and talk some Nats too. <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 is here. Tommy is here. This show is presented by Window Nation. If you're in the market for Windows, call 86690 Nation or go to Window Nation.com and tell them we told you to call. Just a few days left on Window Nation's best deal of the summer. So stay tuned for that. We're going to get to Trent Williams here in a moment. But I just asked you, a question right before we started recording the podcast because I could not get into my email account for some reason. And I was putting in the password that I thought was the password, but it wouldn't open it up and something was wrong. And then eventually it worked. But I said to you, I've gotten to the point where I have so many logins and so many different passwords. I find myself twice a week, once a week, definitely, requesting a password change. Because I've forgotten a password to get into some sort of account that I have. And you have the same problem.

Well, yeah, I'm going through it right now. Listen, I have a radio station account. I have a Georgetown account. Professor. And I have a Washington Times account. I never sign into that, you know. And I have AOL email. I have Yahoo email.

I have Gmail. Why do you have so many email accounts? You're up to something. No, I'm not. You got three different email accounts. Yeah, but two of them say Tom Levera. So, I mean, I'm not hiding from anybody. I've got your personal one, which doesn't say Tom Levera.

No, it doesn't. But a lot of people know that. I've had that one since I've ever had an AOL account. Ted Leones' one said when he liked me that he thought it was one of the greatest emails in the history of AOL. And I'm not giving it out here because I don't want to be indicted. Let's just say it has something to do with one of your favorite performers of all time. Yes.

Yes, let's just say that. So I agree with you. I'm going through that right now with Georgetown because I'm about to teach in the fall. And the contract they send you is through their email account. And when I go to sign on, my old password is it doesn't work anymore. So I try to set the new password, and they give you this exercise. Oh, yeah.

Where you have to look at pictures. Tell me how many cars are in this picture. Oh, yeah, all of that to get into something. And I hate it because I always get it wrong. Well, you can't see. Yes. So that's a problem for you. And even if you could see, you're not very good at sort of picking out the nuances of a picture.

No, so then I get locked out. So then I have to call, you know, and deal with the password people. So, yeah, it's, these are the problems, 21st century problems. There has to be, I'm sure someone is going to tweet both of us and tell us that there's some app or something. on your phone that saves all of your passwords and is secure and you can just use it that way. But there's no such thing as secure. Yeah, I guess. Not on your phone.

No. Or on your Fitbit. I was told, by the way, recently, you don't have a Fitbit. Aaron, do you have a Fitbit? I was told recently by somebody who. Do you have a Fitbit for show? No, actually, I have it because since I've been in this mode of trying to lose some weight, I'm counting my steps every day.

Are you really? Yeah. Trying to get somewhere around 12,000 steps every day. It's hard. It's hard. It's hard to get it. Yeah. You got, I mean, for me, for who walks slow, I mean, there was a time where I was hitting 10,000 steps a day. Yeah. That was a time commitment. Well, yeah, I was going to say maybe your target should be somewhere in the three to five thousand steps per day range. But I was told by somebody who would know who works in, let's just say, intelligence, that they can learn a lot. lot about you through your Fitbit. A lot. There's a lot going on in this thing. Now, you know my philosophy? That they can learn about you from. Yeah.

I don't care what they know about me. Well, why do you have three email accounts then? Well, because I needed something besides the AOL account that would have my name on it. How many burner social media accounts do you have no burner social media accounts? I don't hide behind anything. So the Yahoo account was the account to basically, you know, have something with my name attached to it that I could send out for business. Then there was the Yahoo S storm that happened, you know, when they were compromised.

And somebody said, you should get a Gmail account. So I got a Gmail account then. But I still used the Yahoo account as well. So that's why I have three. I think that I've had the Yahoo account forever for personal. And then obviously when we were at the radio station and you probably have one, now I had an email address there, although that got to be unwieldy, if you recall. Yes.

Because it just, you would get emails from people within the company, but then they would send all of the show email to that address. And then everything else got lost. But anyway, I guess I've had this Yahoo account forever. I mean, I don't know, 15, maybe 20 years? Is that possible at this point? Sure it is. Yahoo? More than 20 years. And everybody says, you. Yahoo, who's still using Yahoo email? Well, if you get that, imagine what I get when people see I have an AOL email. Oh, yeah. But almost everybody I know has a Gmail, but I don't want to change it because this is how

people contact me. Yes. Yeah. So I have two emails. The second one, the three emails, the Gmail was because people said, well, Yahoo's all messed up. You need to get a Gmail account. And then whatever was going on with Yahoo seemed to settle down.

So I kept it. and I use both of them. You know what? Like I said, I don't care what anybody knows about me. I don't. I don't really care either, but I don't want to lose money via an email account.

I don't want to do that. Yeah, I don't want to compromise my family somehow through my email account. My life is a open pornography book. I don't know if it's completely open based on my familiarity with you. By the way, you know, that's a great day.

Isn't it a great day? Here's why I know it was a great day. As I was getting out of the car, I looked down and there on my leg was still one big piece of pretzel salt sitting there on my pants. I mean, a really nice piece. That's what you ate on the way in? So I had that and I said, wow, this is my, I should buy a lottery ticket today. By the way, back to passwords for just a moment. Do you have a general theme to your passwords?

how many different passwords? Because I come up with different passwords for every account. I'm not going to use the same password for every account. But do you have a general theme or a general approach to them? You know, family. You don't have to get specific. But are they sports teams related? Probably not with you.

I know one of your email accounts is a musician you're very fond of. Or do you just come up with something new every time that's just completely random? You know how creative I am. You're not. That's the problem. I come up with something new all the time. I've got a lot of them. I just have to remember key numbers, key jersey numbers.

That's the key for me. All right, we're going to get to the NBA finals, even though apparently, according to Tommy, most of you don't care. We'll also get to the Nats, who are legitimately as hot as anybody in baseball right now. But the story around these parts is Trent Williams. And the story on Tuesday afternoon started with Ian Rappaport

saying that he wasn't at mini-camp because he wants a new deal. And then that story got updated yesterday by Jason Lockenforah with CBS. Jason tweeted out, quote, Trent Williams' issues with the skins are not financial at all, according to numerous sources with knowledge of the situation. He's told teammates he has demanded a trade or his release from the club due to their handling of his recent medical situation has vowed not to play for them.

That was from Jason Lock and Forer yesterday. Now, presumably, the recent medical, situation in question, and this has been reported after Jason's initial tweet got this whole thing going yesterday, is the tumor that was on Trent's scalp that for a moment there, doctors were concerned could be malignant, but thankfully it turned out to be benign, and he is healthy, and he had it taken care of surgically. Now, how specifically it was handled by the team and why this upset Williams so much is a bit unclear, but Gruden, Tommy, said the following.

He said, I know he's frustrated. Anytime you have something done, a procedure like that, of that magnitude, you want to find the reason. You wish something maybe could have been done differently or different timing. But our doctors are very good. I know they did the best they can. I mean, they have plenty of degrees. I know they did the right thing in their mind,

and I know Trent's probably frustrated, closed quote. Now, if this is mostly about medical, which let me just say up front now, because we're going to get to this collectively, I don't know and I don't think I believe that it's all about the medical. But if it is the reason, medical, he wouldn't be the first to be skeptical about the skins medical and training staff. Let's not forget that someone on the skins training staff left a laptop with medical records of everybody on the team and everybody that came through the Indie's, combine between the years 2004 and 2016 in his car and it was stolen in 2016. That did not make anybody happy in the organization, in the league, or players. I was told Tommy that one of the reasons Trent doesn't show up for OTAs usually and other non-mandatory team things sessions is that he's more comfortable and trusting of his trainers and doctors versus the teams. He's not the only one, I was

told. Morgan Moses, by the way, stuck up for him yesterday. He said, quote, it's about time someone like that stands up. It's not just a situation here. It happens throughout the league to have one of our peers like Trent stand up like that means a lot. His scare is one you never want to have, but you've got to take care of yourself. Closed quote. Again, that's more vague than specific, but it is backing him up. It does back him up. And Jay sort of backed up the report. Yes, he did. Basically, Jay didn't say, I don't know what that's a back. out, he acknowledged that there's something going on there. Right.

Involving Trent's frustration over the way his situation was handled. So, I mean, Jake sort of confirmed that, look, there's so many components to this. We don't know. We'll get to all of them. We don't know if Trent is upset with a misdiagnosis. We don't know if Trent is upset with after the diagnosis. how he was handled. We don't know exactly what Trent Williams' problem is with the doctors at this point.

You know, when the initial thing, when the initial report came out that he was unhappy and stayed away, you and I, without being together, had the same kind of thoughts. When you go through a cancer scare for many people, it's kind of a life-changing experience. And I was thinking, you know, maybe when he went through that, he sat down and, you and said, you know, I only got so much time left in my career. Do I want to waste it with this organization? And if I do, do I want to at least get paid for it? You know, so I thought in a way the cancer thing was connected to the financial issue

because of maybe an awakening to realize that his clock is ticking on his career because that's when an event like that will do it. had no idea it was going to be because he was unhappy with the way the medical staff actually handled them. So I want to go back to something you just said before the last part of what you said because how they handled it. You started to lay out a couple of potential reasons. And one just popped into my mind that, you know, if you read the Morgan Moses quote, which I just read, the end of that is his scare is one you never want to have, but you've got to take care of yourself. So maybe it was misdiagnosed to begin with, maybe the timing or how aggressive they were to get to it wasn't to his liking.

Maybe, maybe they scared him unnecessarily. Because the report that came out about this surgery in April, which was a report in May, I think, maybe early May, maybe it was late April, I forget when it was, but it was after the surgery had taken place with, by the way, the result of it, which is it was benign and everything's fine. But perhaps he was scared unnecessarily. You know, hey, this could be malignant, man. This could be really serious.

We got to get in there and look at it, rather than with a 31-year-old pro athlete who is, you know, healthy as horse, and I'm not talking about injury-wise, and saying, look, You got something there. You got a growth on your scalp. We got to go in there and we got to cut it out and take a look at it just to make sure everything's okay. You know, I mean, I'm not trying to play, you know, bedside manner here.

But, you know, there could be a lot of reasons. Yes, it could. That he could be have been really upset. But I. And it could be a cumulative effect. It could be. More than just a one-time thing. It's more than likely a cumulative effect.

I did think yesterday, though, that the scare in common. combination with all of the leverage he has right now, because they don't have much along the offensive line to replace him with, that, you know, that it probably was more about trying to grab one last contract extension while the Gittin was good because he's got as much leverage right now as he'll ever have. You know, if they, they didn't have a sense of him wanting a new deal before the draft, that was probably in his benefit not to let them know that so that they wouldn't take a left tackle early or, you know, in the early portions of the draft. But, um, you know, I just thought it was leveraged because I thought yesterday, well, if it's about

getting out of here, he would have just, the report would have said he wants to be traded. Yes. And get a contract extension. And that's not what Rappaport's, uh, story or tweet said. Now, Jason's says that he has vowed never to play for the team again. He's vowed not to play for them. All right. So let me, let me get to a couple of things based on just a few conversations that I had, um, yesterday. First, real quickly, you know, on the medical thing, you know, there's been a lot about the Redskins medical situation, not just, I'm not talking about the injuries of the last two years, but, you know, is it coincidence as an example that both quarterbacks who broke legs needed follow-up surgeries because of infections? Is it, is it- In fact, Colt McCoy was probably

rushed on the field, rushed back to try to get him to play in December, and needed two more surgeries after that. May have been, or maybe Colt said, I want to be available for this, the final game or a potential playoff game. I'm not sure anyone but the key people involved really know if the skins trainers and doctors are competent or, you know, competent enough or not. Larry Hess is the head trainer. He oversees the team's athletic training and medical needs.

He's been a Snyder guy for 17, 18 years now. I mean, and he, I believe he was the guy that, that had the laptop in the, the car that got stolen with all of those records. But anyway. And let me just point out, under the Surgeon General's warning, an addendum to that is anyone who works for Dan Snyder for 17 years, you have to question their competence and ability. We've had that conversation before.

I do not disagree with that. I mean, you know, there can be lots of reasons you'd want to stay employed by this franchise. It's a nice place to live. Great place to live. Your family. Your kids are growing up. But, you know, this is what I've said about guys like Eric. Schaefer before. If he's so brilliant, why hasn't he gotten a job as the team president or general

manager in another organization? Because that's not been his title here. All right, I wanted to get to this because putting the medical aside, I believe Tommy that this is not solely about medical. I think it's, you know, I think Trent wants a new deal. I think he recognizes the leverage he has right now and wants to take advantage of it because he's 31 years old and he's got one great deal left. And by the way, I believe now, and I didn't yesterday, that he does want a new deal somewhere else. Perhaps the medical thing is a cover, or maybe it's just part of a long list of reasons that he's ready to move on from here, but I think reasons aside, he wants a new deal, doesn't think he'll get it from this team, from Bruce, and is ready to move on and get it from somebody else. By the way,

as an aside, I apologize to the few of you that have bought into the notion that the organization has somehow overnight become more stable. Yes. Because of a perceived good draft. You know, many, think about this. Many players, coaches, and others in the organization, all right, are not fond of it. And understand it's dysfunctional. There were two coaches who bolted in the offseason for lateral positions. You know, not upgrades, lateral moves. The team hired. The team hired. two coaches who were out of retirement and one who wasn't in the league or is never coached in the NFL because nobody wanted those available jobs. They couldn't hire a defensive coordinator, which is why Minnowski is still here. Anyway, the reputation of the franchise is what it's been. It's

bad. Hasn't changed because of the draft. People in it that have no other place to go feel that way and certainly people outside of the organization feel that way. By the way, just as an aside, Keep an eye on this Brandon Sheriff's situation. I've heard that the team's first offer was low. I've mentioned that before, and that Sheriff and his agent would love to get to free agency next year. Now, the skins could franchise him next year. That works well for them.

Yeah. Now, some of you tweeted me yesterday, and I appreciate the compliment, because you asked me if the Trent Williams situation was the situation I was referring to with Tommy a week or two weeks ago whenever it was, when I said there's something else brewing inside the walls of Ashburn that's not real good. I was not referring to the Trent William situation. I wish I were because that would kill two birds with one stone.

But it's actually, I was referring to something else and it's more in the personnel scouting area, an issue that stems from Snyder overruling the board on the first day of the draft. Anyway, I think the team should be actively in the business right now of trying to trade Trump Williams. I felt that way even before this offseason. Waiting until August and maybe a contender gets desperate could work to their benefit. It could. But they need to actively begin the process of trading Trent Williams. But what do they do this year then? Kevin, Kevin, the owner's brand new young quarterback just bought a Bentley.

Okay. If Trent Williams isn't at left tackle, he should have bought an ambulance. Donald Penn is still out there and available. Cooley always loved Donald Penn. He was a pro bowler two years ago, 36 years old. He's older, but he's a vet. He can play left tackle. When the Raiders signed Brown to the big deal in the offseason, they released Penn.

He's still out there looking for the best possible deal. I'd sign him immediately today just to put the pressure on Williams, to let him know, we got a football season to prepare for, and we drafted Dwayne Haskins at 15 overall, and we're not going to let him get bum rushed over Eric Flowers, which we may have to move to left tackle now, because remember, Ty and Seki's gone. He signed a deal in Buffalo. But Donald Penn, who Cooley's always been a big fan of, not just because he's a Utah state guy, but he's a three-time pro bowler. He's a veteran. He can play left tackle. Sign him today. and then actively try to move Trent Williams for the best possible deal

and be patient on it because you know there will be injuries, you know there will be needs in training camp in August, and a contender who thinks they've got a chance to go far and needs a left tackle, may be willing to give up a hefty price to get a Trent Williams. Remember the situation the Redskins were in with Jason Taylor? You know, what was that, Aaron? That was the second, third, and fourth?

Kevin. there's only one Dan Snyder out there. Oh, that would, yeah. They were on the receiving end of that. I think Trent at 31, even with his injury history, first of all, the team's got to be willing to give him a new deal, more likely than not. But I think it's a second, no less than a second.

And if somebody really got desperate, could you get a first for Trent Williams? I don't know. I thought maybe you could have before the draft and right when the season ended. You know, certainly a second, a combination of like a second and a fourth, something like that for Trent Williams. And I would take it and I would move on and I would sign somebody like Donald Penn and I would look for other veterans to bring in.

Look, he's only going to give you 12, he's going to give you 12 great games. Yeah. They're going to be great. But he, you know, in four of them, he's either going to miss or he's going to be, you know, he's going to be hampered. Yeah. Compromised. Okay. yesterday, like so many times before, Jay Gruden had to stand before reporters

and answer questions that he had no answers to and really wasn't the guy anyone wanted to talk to. You know, and I mean, he was faced with this. Were you expecting Bruce to come out and talk? Well, I mean, doesn't Bruce Allen have to show up at some point and say something like today? You know why he has to? He won't. It'll be Doug. Doug will do an interview with Doc or somebody and, you know, and probably, I mean, I hope he handles it well.

But that's what they'll do because they're cowardly. You know, you bring up an excellent point. And I was thinking about this when I was listening to Jay Gruden yesterday. There he is in that positioning of not really being the guy that made this decision or being the guy that has all the information, even though he is the best frontman for the organization, by far. Yes. By far, right? No, absolutely. Nobody's more likable in the organization than Jay Gruden. But, you know, Bruce just, you know, was out there essentially bathing himself in media appearances after the draft. Oh, yeah.

Yeah. Which, you know, this is typical of him. Yeah. Like you get one good thing to happen and now he's going to go out and shower in it, like doing every possible interview. But then you put some, you know, controversy and something that's uncomfortable and he won't. speak and there's no other way to describe it. The appearance is cowardly. Yes, it is.

Of course it is. I mean, it's gutless, you know, for him not to speak to it one way or the other. I mean, because one thing, Jay kept saying it's not a football issue. I would argue that if your best player, who you repeatedly have said is your best player, doesn't trust your medical staff, that's a football issue. And according to the report, wants to leave. Yes. So that's technically, that is a football issue.

I agree. And here's the thing. Here's the thing that is real troublesome. Even if they trade him, what has happened here, this damage will permeate throughout the locker room. What Trent Williams says to teammates, what he's been through, that will be what teammates believe about the organization, if they don't already. in that locker room. By the way, on the Bruce Allen thing, what you will get from Tony Wiley and other PR people

is that we don't comment on stories. It's a medical issue. We don't comment on medical issues, and we don't respond to tweets, you know, the report. We don't think the report's even close to true and we don't respond to that. But look, again, you know, it was just a month ago that he was out doing

as much as he could do to take all of, you, the back slapping over the draft. So come out and just say, look, we've got a situation with Trent Williams. He's frustrated. We're upset about it as well. He is one of our best players.

He's one of our best leaders. And we don't want anything other than Trent Williams to play football for the Washington Redskins in 2019. But we've got to sort through some things with him. Much of it is confidential right now. And we can't share all of the details with all of you. But we are working on it, and we like Trent a lot, and we want it to work out, and that's that. Just something like that, even if it's Bruce putting out a statement, because he doesn't want to sit there in front of, you know, the media and answer questions unless they're talking about, you know, how great the draft was.

But he should say something. It shouldn't be left to Jay or Doug. No, and here's what else should happen. If he doesn't, then the media, the hard-hitting media that covers the team should basically pound them, Every chance, Jay Gruden, Bruce Allen, or Doug Williams makes any kind of public appearance anywhere about Trent Williams if this thing continues. Your first, your last, your middle question should be about Trent Williams. No more questions about the rookie quarterback. No more carrying water for this organization.

No more being the house organ for the Redskins. You've been embarrassed enough. They embarrassed you yesterday with this incident because they made you look like fools. You do not like our local media that covers the team at all. Not all of them. As I've said, many, many times over, this is why I've always laughed at the notion that Mike had. Mike felt the same way, Shanahan, this is a tough media market. Well, that's because you were in Denver.

Yeah. You know, Jay Gruden, this is a brutal media market. Well, that's because you were in sin. Cincinnati. I mean, compared to Cincinnati in Denver, it's tough because, you know, there are a lot of people that care. It's the number one story in town, even though the fan base is eroded. And, you know, but compared to other markets, it's honestly so, so much, they get away with so much. All the teams in this market do. So much because it's not a hard-hitting confrontational media base. It just isn't. But I'm not suggesting that it's weak. I'm not suggesting that everybody's a sissy. I'm just saying that it's not what other markets are. Some of the bigger sports markets are.

It never has been. Kevin's not doing that. I am. What? You're not doing that. Doing what? You're not saying that. Saying what?

That they're weak. I'm, no, I'm just saying. I know. That's my point. My point is you're not saying that. I'm saying that. You think it's really bad now. like worse than ever.

What I'm saying is I don't think it's ever been tough. I don't think our medium market sports-wise has ever been super tough. In the days of all guys, Lock and Four covered the team and Jason Reed after him, I think it was a lot tougher. I think Mike Jones did a good job. But, you know, look at just put it this way, Tommy. How many stories on the team break locally? Yeah.

Is that a big deal anymore? I don't even think it's that big of a deal anymore. Well, it's not a big deal among young people. reporters, which is one of the problems. And it's not, I'm not just talking about the reds. It's funny, I was having this conversation about the baseball writers in press boxes, you know, and how they've changed. And I was describing how they share information now among different beats with interviews

that they do, not exclusive interviews, but, you know, like post-game interviews. Like one guy from a media organization. Well, yeah, was there and gets the sound. He'll share it with somebody else and then it's reciprocated down the road. That never happened when I covered baseball. It happened for me when I was on beat jobs. You didn't make your competition's job easier. Oh, I mean, I can remember my first job at Channel 5,

and I was covering the Redskins for Buck and for Harvey Smilovitz and Ernie and all the guys. And I can remember many times, like, you know, there'd be give, over here and Doug Williams over here and they were happening simultaneously and I'd grab my cameraman and we'd get Gibbs and then we would just share with Channel 7 or Channel 9

by the way, Channel 4 never shared anything George didn't share anything with anybody George was competitive. Yeah, very super but there was always sort of a community of helping out is not to the point of sharing something exclusive No, no, that does not happen. Yeah. That doesn't

happen. It's just, it's just And the mindset of that is there's not this drive to get the exclusive story, however small that exclusive story may be. There's not the drive to beat the other guy that there used to be. There may be that drive on Twitter to beat them on Twitter, but to beat them in some kind of story of in-depth, it's not as important as it used to be, which leaves you to national reporters. Yeah. taking up the slack. I also think that part of it is not this particular media base's fault.

I think this particular team is very hesitant to have too many local contacts. Like Bruce's contacts primarily are all national guys. Dan, same thing. But that's no excuse. I know. It's no excuse. I didn't say it was an excuse. I've been frozen out of situations before.

That means you have to work the fringes. There are people who know what's going on. You just have to find them. So the last thing on Trent Williams from me, and then if you have a closing thought on it, you can share that as well. But it's going to sound like a major waffle. But I think there's a lot that's very unclear.

I think most people really don't know exactly what this is about. My guess, based on making calls outside on the fringes yesterday and working the fringes is that it is more about a new deal and a potential trade outside of, you know, from this team than it is medical, but it could be both. But I would also suggest to you, and again, this is a major waffle right now, that it wouldn't shock me if we get to the beginning of training camp and Trent shows up and says, I'm here, I'm ready, we're all good. We worked everything out. I'm ready to go. I just, that to me is definitely in play because, and I said this yesterday, before the medical thing came out, Trent doesn't like to be at these things. For a lot of reasons,

and I think maybe the medical and the training, maybe one of them, but he will show up when, you know, when training camp starts. See, I think that's more likely. I think it's more likely he's playing left tackle for the Redskins come week one. That's what I'm saying.

I'm saying that that is definitely in play. Yeah, you say it's in play, but you do think he's going to get traded. No, I'm saying that I think they should try to trade it. I don't know if they will. I'm just saying that that's what I would be thinking about. But remember, I'm coming from the position of I would have blown this whole thing up at the end of December and January, fired everybody, brought in a new team, and tried to get as many draft picks for my viable players like Carrigan and Williams as I could and really tried to build something for the long term.

Not that you're not trying to be competitive next year because you could have a defense. I mean, look, I mean, Rob Ryan thinks it's a top five defense. I know. Isn't the biggest leverage for Trent, though, Dwayne Haskins? All of it. It's not just Haskins. It's Keenham, too. He's new to the system. And Keenham took 34 sacks last year in Denver. You know, this isn't a guy that just is really good at getting the ball out and reading defenses and real quick release and the whole thing. He's good at it. He's good at it. But yes, it's about it's definitely more about Haskins. It's about Keenham to a lesser degree. It's about the fact that their offensive. of line has no replacement currently for Williams and how important he is to everything they're going to do this year, you know, in terms of trying to run the ball and then obviously protecting

one of two new quarterbacks who's going to more likely to not play. I don't think, I mean, I don't know that we completely exclude Colt McCoy from the competition at this point, but I think it's a two-man race at this point. It seems to be a two-man race. More likely than not. At this point. But I think that you think it's a probability. I think that it's not a probability, but definitely a possibility. Again, I'm waffling here because I don't know for sure that he could end up showing up at training camp saying, we got everything worked out. It was a whole lot to do about nothing.

I'm good. I'm healthy. I'm ready to go. I think that Dwayne Haskins influence will pressure the Redskins to make the deal with Trent Williams. I do not want them to give him a huge contract extension. I would not do that. Well, I wouldn't do it either. And I don't know if they will.

But I think this will get resolved because of the quarterback. I don't think Bruce wants to give him a long-term deal. I think Bruce doesn't want to give him a long-term deal for, by the way, what I would call legitimate reasons. He's going to be 31. He's injured a lot. He plays injured a lot. But when he plays injured, he's compromised. The suspension thing seems to be less of an issue.

nothing's happened since 2016. But, you know, he's got a good deal now. Not a great deal, but in the ballpark with his position in the league at left tackle deal. I wouldn't give him a huge contract extension. But you may be right that they may look at it and say, oh my God, Eric Flowers, Morgan Moses over on that side, Geron Christian. you know, we don't have a left tackle and there's nobody out there

that can actually protect either one of our quarterbacks. And we don't, look, I always think this is overblown with this team. But we don't know the influence that Trent Williams has in that locker room and what his absence would mean. Look, guys get traded all the time. You know, team leaders leave all the time. But this is a team that can't afford

to lose leadership because every time they sign a free agent or trade for somebody, they become the new leader in the locker room. Trent Williams is legitimately one of the leaders of the team. And they just can't afford to lose much leadership. I agree with that. I mean, right now, there are a handful of players that you look at and you're like, they, as a fan of the team, I think they make me, you know, comfortable. You know, John Allen, Matt Ionitis, Brandon Sheriff, Trent Williams is on that list, no doubt. But you know, you don't have a lot of them on the team yet that you're comfortable. You know, like you said the other day, how often the new guy ends up being the leader on the team leader.

That tells you that they don't have any when he shows up. The Washington Post was counting on Ruben Foster to be one of the leaders of the team. That's so absurd. I'm surprised on social media the reaction after the news broke yesterday. What was it? I'd say, I mean, in my social media accounts, I'd say the majority of Redskins fans said, get rid of them, trade them. I don't want them.

I think, I mean, that's where I was on social media. I just checked some of my responses because we didn't have this story when we finished the recording, the lock and four apiece. And I think the significant majority is they should have moved on. You're right. They should have moved on with him before the draft, well, before the draft, but now they've got to move on from him. if he really and truly doesn't want to play for the Redskins, you've got to trade him.

You know, you don't want him to be holding out. He doesn't want to hold out. Well, I don't think he would. I mean, again, I don't think he'd hold out. That's a lot of money to leave on the table. I agree. I do agree, but I think the Redskins could call it.

I think the Redskins, it's one of those situations where they could get, this is the time. If he's not a big part of your long-term plan, now's the time to try to get something for. But there is no long-term plan for Jay Gruden. Yeah, this season is just going to be so interesting. Like there's so much, like, are we entering Jay Gruden's final season? If so, why is he the guy that's developing Haskins or not playing Haskins?

What's Kevin O'Connell's role? Is he going to be the next head coach? What about the personnel department? What about, you know, there's a lot. I mean, and then just the individual, you know, this should be the year, the third year, that John Allen turns into a monster if he's going to turn into a monster. This should be that year. You know, Duran Payne's second year, he should be significantly improved.

Ionitis has the new deal. Like defensively, I can't wait, as I've mentioned, over and over again, to see Montez sweat play because apparently he is just embarrassed Eric Flowers, you know, day in and day out. I was at minicamp. Not that that's saying anything. I was at minicamp yesterday. I know you called me and told me. Did you see anything interesting?

Well, I could tell you what. Dwayne Haskins and Case Keenham, they look like NFL. They're big dudes. I mean, especially. I mean, when they throw the ball. Haskins is just a big dude. Yeah, but when they throw the ball, they look like NFL quarterbacks. How's that?

You know, I'm not the quarterback whisper like so many people who cover this team are. Oh, you always get up. And can tell you all the nuances about how good they are. But Dwayne Haskins looks like an NFL quarterback. So does Case Keenham. But there are players this year. I mean, I'm excited to see Landon Collins play. I think he's a really good player.

I enjoyed watching him play in New York. I'd like to see Fabian Moreau take the next step. One of the things about Moreau every single time I've been out there, whether it was in Richmond or out in Ashburn. The one thing that's clear about Moreau is he runs better than any of their corners. That's one thing. One thing I did see and notice is Quentin Dunbar is moving around really well. Okay, good, because I heard the opposite last week.

Well, from what I saw, he seemed to be pretty fast. Okay, good. And moving well. I'm actually intrigued by Alexander in his size and some of the things I've heard people talk about, that he could actually be a legitimate contributor at corner on this team. Who's going to be their slot corner? I mean, right now, you know, it might be, it might be Moreau. It could be clearly the seventh round pick, Moreland.

I will tell you that I had a conversation over the weekend with Cooley. He's going to come on tomorrow, by the way, and Cooley loves Morland. Look, there are seventh rounders that people will spout off about, you know, like, oh, he really looks good. And then, you know, he doesn't even make the team or he's barely on the team. He's like, no, no, no. They understand that Morland can play. Like, this dude can actually play and he's going to contribute in a significant way, potentially even start. He's got, as they say in the business, a nose for the ball.

Yeah, and apparently Jay Gruden in talking about him the other day, he can catch. He's got good hands, so he'll return punts. But Trey Quinn, you know, was the seventh rounder last year, too. Somebody that Gruden really fell in love with. They have high hopes for it. The kid that they got from Ohio State, who was Haskins teammate? McLaren, yeah. Him and Haskins had a tremendous hookup yesterday to end practice.

Really tremendous. I've heard some decent things about the way Doxon looks so far this year, and the attitude that he has this year, which some people think is much better. Right now, you look at it. Offensively, major question marks. everywhere, right, a quarterback, offensive line, certainly, you know, even more so with Trent Williams today. You know, is Geis going to be the guy? Will he be, you know, even if he's fully healthy? I wasn't a massive fan of Geis. Not that I didn't like him. I just liked more running

backs more, but will he be the guy or will it be AP carrying the load? You know, hopefully Chris Thompson is healthy because he's such a weapon. He's such a valuable part of the offense. You know, Ryan O'Halloran, who used to be at the Washington Times. Jacksonville, no. No, he's in Denver. It's been in Denver now. I didn't know that. Yes. Yeah. And he covered Case Keenham last year and he was on 106-7 the fan and basically he said, you know, the best of Case Keenum is when he throws the ball less, which when you think about it was the Alex Smith offense last year. Yeah. That was exactly it. Yes. I mean, it was it was a quarterback who can protect the ball, you know, maybe throw it 20 times a game at the most and you let your defense

and your running game win games for you. I mean, it seems to be like the only chance that they've got again this year. What happens if Case Keenham starts the year? But the intention is, you know, which a lot of the beat guys in town have said, you know, week five, week six, that Miami game after the Patriot game

might be the spot for Haskins to get a start. But what if they lose a close game at Philadelphia, come home, beat the Cowboys and the Bears at home? Oh, or split and then beat the Giants. And they're two and two. And then they got a real tight game, but a close game with the Patriots. And through five games, they look at two and three or three and two. They look like a team that could compete for the postseason,

especially going into a stretch where you're going to play Miami and San Francisco in the following weeks. Who knows what they'll look like by the time you get there? But what do you do? This is the dilemma. It's like Jay, does Jay have to get to the playoffs or does Jay have to develop Dwayne Haskins? And here's the real dilemma there. you find yourself in that situation, the owner and Haskins and Haskins can't really say, okay, it's time for us to start.

They can't. They can't do that. They'll lose the locker room. I don't think Jay would put up with that. I think if you, the scenario that you painted just now, if after that, you know, the plan was to, okay, let's start. The owner says, I want to play my quarterback now. You can't do that.

This is why the risk of playing Keenum at the beginning is he's good. Well, it's not just that if he's good. It's as if he's doing the things that just, let's say, Alex Smith was doing, not losing games, managing games, not throwing interception. And they're winning, you know, some close games and pulling them out at the end and getting some breaks with field goal kickers like the cowboy kicker missing to force overtime. and all of that stuff breaks their way, and they're sitting there at three and two

heading to Miami. Yeah. And this was supposed to be the week for Haskin. Then you're riding the Case-Keon train, or else you've got to revolt in the locker room. Here's what they all, here's what Dan and Bruce are praying for. And by the way, they don't have to pray for anything because they can just do what they want if they want to do it.

But what they're really praying for is that Haskins beats out Keenham. and Colt McCoy, and it's obvious. And it's obvious. Or, worst case, they're hoping for something that, you know, is super close. And Jay says, it's close enough. Let's put the kid out there because this is the long-term plan. Let's get him 16 games instead of 11. And then they play well. And they're good defensively and they're running the ball and they're taking the pressure off him early in the season. And they've got, you know, you still look at it and you say, who's he going to throw to? Well, maybe it is McLaren. Maybe it is Kelvin Harmon. Maybe it is Josh Doxon and Trey Quinn. And maybe Geis is great. And maybe West Martin turns out to be an outstanding guard opposite sheriff. And Trent Williams was fine with all of this.

There you go. You're not taking the pressure off him without Trent Williams at left tackle. Yeah. And you're not running the ball like you did last year? Trent Williams gets beat every once in a while. Just let's not act like he's never gotten beaten before. I get that. They all do.

that's what they're hoping for and you know what if you're a fan of this team and you just want a quick change of fortune like you want somehow them to luck into the winning and then the culture can come following that usually doesn't work that way but you need Haskins and you need the defense to be what we think it could be

and you need Haskins to come out slinging it Tommy from the get-go and they're sitting there at you know through the first four games They're two and two, and they got a game at home against the Patriots. Wow. This is what I do every year. The last five years when I've been incredibly realistic,

much more so than I used to be. And I'm like, it's just not going to happen. Look, it's a mess out there. But once we start to inch towards the beginning of the season, I'm thinking, how do we get to like a meaningful game at Thanksgiving weekend? during December. There you go. Maybe this will happen. Maybe that'll happen. All right, quick word about Window Nation, and then we'll get to the NBA playoffs.

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I know that you wrote a column basically saying that nobody cares about sports anymore. Well, that's not exactly what I wrote. What did you write? I basically said that sports fans are disappearing and it's got people in the business in a panic because they really don't know where they're going. They don't know where they are. Netflix. Amazon Prime. Again.

Well, I'm sure, look, there's a laundry list of possibilities. Lots of reasons. But you could have a generation that is growing up that just isn't as passionate as we were. Isn't everything sort of niche now, almost everything in entertainment? That's a good argument. You know, relative to the way it used to be. Yeah, the dominance, the dominance may be God. But like every look at the numbers, and part of the problem is with viewing numbers is they haven't figured out a way to accurately.

view how many people are watching on their tablets, their iPhones, their computers and stuff. And even if they do, they haven't figured out a way to make money off of it yet. But the TV numbers for everybody, including the NFL, are down. Well, they're up over the year before. Yeah, over the national anthem protest year. Yeah, right. But the three previous years, they're down from that. Now, it's still, like I've said, it's still the nicest house in a neighborhood with dropping property values.

Everyone wants to be still on the NFL. They still want to add. It's not stopping advertisers, but people, not as many people are going to sporting events. Not as many people are watching it on television. And TV execs and guys like Ted Leonzes are convinced that gambling is going to, it's going to be the flex seal that that's going to stop the leaking. And I think you were the first one to open my eyes to this, that it's not going to be a game change. lifestyle move for a lot of people. You're not going to have a country of fans lining up at betting windows who didn't bet before to bet. Exactly. That's the thing about the legalization

of sports betting is that, you know, it essentially was available to anybody who wanted to gamble long before it was legalized. So those people have always been gambling. Now, there's always younger people that are getting into it and maybe have more access to it and the casual better. But as I mentioned to you a few weeks ago, and we're getting sidetrack because I do want to get to the game, but the casual better, you know, the guy that's never had access to a bookie or to online gambling, that now has access to it, trust me, it's one of the reasons we've seen in some of these states, the initial numbers after legalization of sports betting, aren't anywhere near the target numbers. It's because they're betting casually and they're betting lower amounts and they're not betting on credit.

So if you don't have credit, you're not going to fire in a nickel on a game. Nichols 500 bucks, by the way. They're betting $10 a game, you know, $15 a game. That's not moving the revenue needle much. But anyway, on the- Did you watch the game last night? No. I didn't watch it.

I really, I'm sorry, Kevin. You're not into it at all? No. I watched game one, and I watched some of game two. Yeah. But I just... Did you? watched the game, Aaron? I did, yes. I don't know what it is about this series, but I'm enjoying it.

I think it's, first of all, it's the first time in, you know, several years, we haven't had the same two teams. Right. And, you know, me, I'm a huge Kauai Leonard fan. But I think these three games have been highly entertaining. They've all been different and weird. And last night, you know, taking the night chronologically, and I know Aaron was following this, because Aaron, like me, is a better and has been a better and didn't need the league. of betting to stop us from wagering on games. But Clay Thompson was ruled out. What time exactly? Was it around 830, 835, something like that? I might have been a little later than that. But yeah, and that 830 to 845 window.

The game tipped it shortly after 9. And by the way, Metallica, National Anthem, outstanding. Did you like it? I actually missed that part. Okay. But before that, there was a report around 8 o'clock or so that said he was playing. that he was going to play. Anyway, when the official word came out on Clay Thompson that he wasn't playing, the line dropped to three, two and a half. The Golden State was a five and a half point favorite. It was inching down all day, and it went to two and a half. I don't know where you got it.

I played Toronto last night. I ended up by the time I played it, I played it at plus three. I played it way too late. I should have jumped on it early. I thought Clay Thompson was going to play. I really did last night. But that was interesting to watch that. Steph Curry's first quarter last night is one of the great all-time first quarters by an individual player you will ever see. 17 points, six rebounds, and three assists in 12 minutes of play. He was unbelievable. And I thought, but I will mention this. And my son would back me up on this.

My son was over to Friends House watching this. And my son has said, this is Corbyn, Aaron, has said since the playoffs started, nobody's going to beat Golden State Best 4. to seven, and even when they lost Durant, there's no way Toronto can win this series. I texted him at 15 to 7. It was 15 to 7 in the first quarter. Toronto was up, and I said, the Warriors have no chance tonight. No chance. I should have in-game bet at that point, and I didn't, but whatever.

That's beside the point. It was clear to me that it was going to be, have to be all curry, and there was no way this was sustainable over, you know, 48 minutes, even though he was brilliant in that. first quarter. But it was an incredible performance. But Toronto's best games of the playoffs haven't been the games in which Kauai Leonard's had 35 to 40 plus. You know, they've won some of those games because of him and he's had to carry him. But their most impressive team performances and their best wins in terms of blowout wins have been when he hasn't had to do it all by himself. And last night was an incredible team performance.

Lowry and Green, Danny Green, went a combined 11 for 19 from behind the arc. Just shooting it, Tommy. Just shooting it. A lot of that, by the way, set up by Leonard, especially Green's threes. He was outstanding. Danny Green was last night.

And by the way, interestingly, didn't start the second half of the game. They went with a different lineup, and then he came in and started bombing it again. Gasol last night, Siakum, combined for 14 of 20, from the floor. And they combined for 16 rebounds and 10 assists.

Van Vleet, three for six off the bench from behind the arc. And how about Serge Abaka? Six blocked shots in 22 minutes. Bill Russell numbers from Abaka last night. A few of them I thought were goaltending. In fact, I don't think the NBA calls goaltending anymore. It's amazing, unless the balls hit the backboard and then you get a block. But the old, did it reach its apex?

And is it coming down? down? Because it looked like three of the blocks by surge were shots that were coming down. Anyway, the team, Toronto, I don't think they were going to get beat last night, even if Clay Thompson played. Really? They were incredible. Now, Thompson's defense would have been a major factor in the game. Kauai Leonard, by the way, in addition to all the other great performances, Kauai just had 30.7 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 block shots, and 2 steals. And by the way, just an ordinary night. He was great, though. He does so much. many things that help your team. But I just thought it was one of those games that we've seen Toronto play against Milwaukee. We've seen them play against Philadelphia, where everybody's got it

in rhythm, and they're really difficult to beat. Tommy, it's a really good basketball team, potential-wise, each night with the players they have. They've got really good players who, when they're stepping up and the ball's moving and they're knocking down shots like they did last night, They ended up with six or seven players and double figures. You know, even healthy, they'd be a tough out against Golden State. So is it set up for Kevin Durant to come back and save the Warriors? Maybe. That narrative where that would be best case scenario for Kevin Durant.

The best case for Kevin Durant was that they lost last night and fell behind two games to one and end. He's legitimately ready to play game four. He has to be ready to play. What would even be better is if they lost? game four and he came in for game five and let him from three one down. Yeah, that would be even better, but that would, it'd be hard to, it's hard to beat a team three straight. I mean, they, they need, they definitely, they definitely have to have Clay Thompson in gave, gave four, even if they don't have Durant, because what was clear last night was that without Thompson and Durant, they don't have a chance

to beat Toronto. There's, there's just not much of a chance. Well, that's asking a lot. It's asking a lot. They've got good players, though. I mean, Dray my dream. I know. But that's asking a lot. Two superstar players. Boogie Cousins, you know, after playing very well in game two. Didn't have a very good game from one of that.

Yeah, I mean, he doesn't have his wind. He's not in shape. Yeah, but plus he's always been inconsistent. He's not a guy you can count on. Like I said, this was the perfect scenario the other night. Yeah. You use them sporadically. I mean, with Thompson out, you needed production from cousins.

You needed to count on him. I actually think Bogot's. played well in his minutes here over in this series, you know, and can give them more if they allow them to give them more. But they have to have Thompson back for game four. By the way, just back to Curry for a moment. He had 47 points, you know, in the game last night. I don't know how many games over the years the Warriors have had with just Steph and Dremont and no Clay Thompson or Durant. I don't know what the answer to that is. And I don't know that they mentioned it on the broadcast last night. I would love to know how they performed.

because as great as Steph is, and he's great. He's all-time top 10 easily, in my view. Unlike LeBron, all right, LeBron would be the best example of this, he can't carry a team by himself over a good team. He can't do that. In a championship situation? Yeah, I mean, Curry last night had 47 points.

Well, LeBron hasn't done it. LeBron hasn't done it. No, you're right. LeBron hasn't done it by himself. But he's, we've seen. like that the best performance I think one of the greatest performances of all time from LeBron was the game six that they had to win in Boston to stay alive when he was in Miami and he went for 45 and I know they had other players on the floor but he was just unbelievable that was the first like super clutch performance by LeBron but Curry last night was as aggressive as you'll ever see him he never stopped moving he had 25 at halftime 40 at the end of the 3rd He started to run out of gas. He played 43, 44 minutes last night.

He did not rest, I don't think, in the second half. I don't think he sat in the second half. But he single-handedly kept them within striking distance multiple times last night. But he can't, there's no, they have no chance of beating Toronto without getting Clay Thompson back. I agree with that. And then, you know, potentially they might need Durant as well. I think if Clay Thompson comes back, they'll win game. and then it's a best two out of three.

And I would still think that the Warriors, even if Durant doesn't play, would have a chance. I agree with that, too. You know, game four is tomorrow night. I mean, this is the shortest turn run in the series, Wednesday night to Friday night, and then they wait until Monday to play the next game. There's no Saturday or Sunday night game. I don't know why that would be, Tommy. I thought Sunday, now they have to travel, okay, so they've got to go from Golden State

back to Toronto after the Friday night game. but I would think that Sunday night would have been the target for this next game. It's odd to me that they're waiting until Monday night. But anyway, it's probably the travel day for everybody. Yeah, it probably is. Interesting series. And Toronto's really, really good.

They've got really good players. There was a moment last night where Kyle Lowry went into the crowd. Did you see this and he got pushed by a fan? No. So loose ball, he's, you know, four-seat guy. you know, he basically runs through the floor seats trying to save a ball in bounds. And as he's trying to get back on his feet, one of the guys that has a floor seat pushes him. Really?

Just pushes him and then starts lipping off at him. And Lowry was really upset, and the fan did get booted out and will not be able to attend another game in this series. What provokes a guy to do that? He did a moment? It's funny because there it is. It's right. They just showed it. We have a TV on here, and it's perfect timing.

See the guy? Yeah. You just missed. He pushed, and now he's lipping off. Now he's mouthing off at Lowry. So, by the way, it wasn't like this hard, super hard push. It's not like the guy. You can't purposely put your hands on a player.

And this guy did. Yeah. This guy did. But anyway, whatever. It's idiots. You ever been kicked out of a sporting event? Yes. Tell me the story, Kevin.

Tell me the story. Well, it wasn't my fault. I was at a Caps game 20 years ago, probably. Was it at the Capitol Center? It was at the Capitol Center. So it was more than 20 years ago. So it may have been 23, 24 years ago. It was mid-90s, you know, mid to late 90s before they had moved into the new building.

And I think I've told you this story before because somehow this came up with, different scraps that we've gotten into. But there were the, we were in the, we were in the upper level. There was the first row of the upper level and there were like, there was a guy with his girlfriend there or his date and she was drop dead gorgeous. They were sitting right in front of us and I was there with actually clients, business clients. And then two rows behind us were a bunch of atticomers.

controlled drunk, you know, drunk dudes, all right? And they were, it started off with them just making comments about her, loud comments, and, you know, dude, how did you end up with her and the whole thing? And, you know, he smiled and laughed the first time, but then it just got more obnoxious as the night went on to the point where it then became like they were confronting this dude who was with his date. And we were in between. So anyway, I just turned around and basically said, shut the fuck up.

to the one guy that was lipping off, who was a small guy. And there was a row in between, and they were hammered. And we were pretty hammered, too, by the way. And he just sort of led with his chin as he stumbled over coming after me. And I'm telling you, Tommy, and I've been in these situations with other friends who have gotten, I've been with friends of mine who have gotten into beefs at sporting events, and they've gotten kicked out, but I've been saved somehow. But this one was basically the yellow coats were up there before all of these dudes were heading towards me after the first guy went down.

Yeah. And the yellow coats were there and they sent us out. They took me and threw me out of the arena on one side. My biggest concern is I got thrown out by myself and they were throwing out three or four of their guys on the other side of the arena. I can't remember where I was parked, whether it was Eagle or Stars and Stripes. Remember the parking lot? You didn't want these guys to run into you out in the parking lot. Yeah.

Remember the parking lot areas at Capitol Center? And I just remember, I think my car was like on the other side from where they threw me out. So I was trying to make sure that I did not run into them again in the parking lot, which, by the way, wasn't exactly smart. But they just got, they got us out of the arena. So yes, that was, there was another time, too, I got thrown out. I got thrown out of a baseball game. I got thrown out of a major game. Camden Yards.

Did you really? Yeah, it wasn't my fault. Again, like this one wasn't my fault. The other one was just a bunch of knucklehead friends, and everybody was just way too lubed up. And you got thrown out. Yeah, we got thrown out. But again, there was a fight that started.

I was not, I was involved, only that my friends were involved in the fight. I was trying to steer clearer this one, because these dudes were, I mean, one of my friends got his ass kicked during the, and we were all trying to participate, but not trying to totally participate. And they just took both, you know, groups and just tossed us. I got thrown out of, I guess, I'm going to call it a sporting event. It was a wrestling match in Miami Beach Auditorium. I spent the summers of 68 and 69 with my sister in Miami.

She lived in Miami then, and I would go down and spend the summer with a great. Summers. Yeah. And she was married, you know, my brother-in-law was a big guy, uh, looked like a wrestler. This was well after you burnt the fraternity house down. Oh, no. This is, this is this. I'm 14.

Oh, you're 14. I'm 14 years old. And so you had yet to burn your fraternity house down. Yeah. This is why I'm just going down to visit my sister. So my brother-in-law takes me to a wrestle a match at Miami Beach Auditorium. And we have ringside seats. He's got great seats.

And he's pounding down the beers. I mean, up, up until the main. event and the main event, I think, was Hans Mordiere against Joe Scarpa, who later turned out to be Chief Jay Stronglow. But he was known as Joe Scarpa then. And my brother-in-law is drunk at this point. And like I said, he's a big guy. So they hit each other at one point.

No, the two wrestlers punch each other and supposedly knock each other out. So one of them, Hans Mortier, his head is right by the ring apron. right outside the ring. My brother-in-law jumps up from his chair, runs over to the ring, takes a penny, and slaps it on the mat right next to this guy's head, the wrestler's head, and yells, here, that's all this match was worth.

Well, the wrestler rolls away like he got hit. The fans just cover us. I mean, like the whole arena just came down on us. There's, you know, there's security. trying to protect us from the fans who think my brother-in-law is a wrestler, and it's just chaos. And I thought it was the greatest thing in the world. I mean, I'm 14 years old.

And I just got kicked out of a wrestling match. And you liked the action already at 14. Yeah, because my brother-in-law, everyone thinks my brother-in-law tried to beat up on her to wrestlers. That's pretty funny. Now, the only scary part was after we got kicked out, my brother-in-law kept hanging around the dressing room outside. Oh, he was looking for more? Yeah, he wanted more. That was not smart.

smart. No, so eventually. Especially with you. Yeah. Eventually, we talked him in the leaving. But I was 14. I was a kid. I know, but he had to, he was, it appears as he didn't have your best interest in mind.

Oh, no, no, no, but he gave me a hell of a story. That's the only time I remember being kicked out. That's pretty funny. The, um, the, the, the, the funny thing about my capital center story is that I got kicked out by myself because the people who I was there with, when it, when it started to escalate, they left. Your clients. Yeah, they didn't stick.

And one of the guys was a good friend of mine, like a really good friend of mine. And like, you know, it wasn't even the cell phone days. It was like the pager days. And I paged him. And then we ended up talking the next day, I guess. And I'm like, where'd you go? And he goes, oh, man. You know, I, I just thought I could help you from being, you know, down on the lower.

I'm like, no, I needed your help there. Not down on the concourse level. But that's funny. By the way, boys and girls, just turn the other cheek and move on. That's the way to do it these days. And you can get a pretty good sense that trouble's going to happen a lot earlier than it does. Exactly. So take steps to protect yourself.

Right. And don't put your hands on any players. Don't put your hands on players if you're sitting in the floor seats. Those would be your seats anyway. Yeah. By the way, I asked somebody who covers the world. Wizards yesterday who was at the Redskins practice. If they ever hire a new GM, does that mean the GM would want a new PR director?

Scott Hall's excellent. But if they hired a new PR director, that means I would start going to Wizards. Well, maybe the new PR person won't like you either. Well, that may be. I can't fathom how anyone wouldn't like me. Well, I don't think that Scott Hall has a problem with you. I think you just... I have a problem with him.

My point is a general manager... Scott, I love you. A general manager would likely bring in a new PR guy. This could bode well for Tommy. That's true. It's possible. Yeah. That would be smart, in fact.

But Ernie had multiple PR people. He had Zach for a while. And then Zach left to take what was, you know, an NFL job with the Redskins and then realized. Well, it wasn't an NFL job. It was with the Redskins. Yeah. Zach's at Mason, though. Yes, he was.

George Mason. Yeah, he's some kind of bigwig there. Yeah, he is. I could see that coming. How about the Nats, Tommy? I mean, this is a team now, eight of ten. Now, Philly won yesterday. Philly's all of a sudden won two in a row.

And by the way, Harper's gotten, you know, better here over the last couple of weeks. But this is obviously a completely different team during this stretch. And last, you know, yesterday, the game was yesterday after they blew a lead, you know, in the eighth with the bullpen. That's their, that's their inning. That's their inning. They came back and, you know, you got. Got a trade turn or walkoff homer. Two run shot.

Look, I think they won four series in a row. Including two two game series that they swept, Atlanta and Chicago. Which is the way you climb back into it. I think they're only six out of first place now. I think it's still six and a half. I think it's still six. Aaron, how far back are they? Or the Nats right now?

Six and a half. Okay. They're six and a half. Yep. So, I mean, they're still within, you know, striking distance. I still think there's a lot that has to happen over the course of a season, not just to climb back, but to stay ahead.

I still think it's a big ask for this team. And here's the problem. Craig Kimball just got signed by the Chicago Cubs. Okay. Now, the one saving grace is none of your competitors in the East signed them. The problem is you could have used them in the Nats bullpen. The bigger issue is, will the learn? learners finally, like they've never done before, let Mike Rizzo make trades at the trading

deadline. If they're, let's say they're six and a half out of first place on July 31st, okay, at the trading deadline. You want them to be buyers. Right. Yeah. And no words, spend money on bringing in talented players who will help you win. The learners have never been willing to do that.

All the deals that they've allowed Rizzo to make at the trading deadline, they've been deals where Rizzo had to jump through hoops financially to get them done. I mean, the most famous is the Papalban trade where they needed a closer and they got the Phillies to trade Papalban, but the Phillies paid for his salary for the rest of the year. That's the way the learners operate. They have to be aggressive buyers at the trading deadline if they find themselves anywhere within striking distance the first place. Do you agree with the following? Let's assume for a moment that they are in that, you know, three to six game behind Philly or Atlanta at the trade deadline. We've got a long way to go. They could be in first place at that point, but let's just assume that that's the case.

And they don't make a move, but they're playing well. And let's just say they're three games back, four games back at that point. They don't add, you know, any bullpen help for the stretch. Do you agree that there's just no chance that with a bullpen with an ERA over six or wherever there's is, like six and a half or whatever it is, that there's no chance of them actually winning a series or even what would be their maximum upside, winning the division in this particular division. Could they win this division with a terrible bullpen? I don't think so. Okay.

I think you're probably right, because history would say that, I believe. I think I was reading something the other day. I don't think so. And I guarantee you the Phillies will make a trade at the trading deadline to help themselves. and the Braves may make a trade at the deadline to help themselves as well. Not only does it help you on the field, it's an emotional lift to the clubhouse. It tells the clubhouse that ownership is committed to winning.

The one that comes to mind is the 93 Orioles were in, I think it was the 93 Orioles, were in an NL East race with the Toronto Blue Jays. I mean, they were right there with them at the trading deadline. have been four or five games behind the Blue Jays, the defending champs. They competed with them really well that year, and it's a training deadline, and Ricky Henderson is on the trading block from Oquin, okay? And, you know, who was going to get him? The Blue Jays get Ricky Henderson. The Orioles get Mike Palli-Rulah. And really, you could feel it in the locker

room. No offense to Mike. But if you brought Ricky Henderson into that locker room, that would have change the dynamic at that point. Players look for that kind of commitment, and they have yet to get it at a trading deadline for a pennant stretch from the learners. All right. There you go. I mean, they have now a bit of a road trip. I think they're heading to San Diego. Yes, they are. Which is where I think the Phillies just were. So they've got that coming up, you know, against the Padres who are pretty good. The Dodgers are running away with that division right now. I mean, right. They're so good.

Really good. So they got that, and then I think they play, they return the favor in Chicago against the White Sox, I think is what happens after San Diego. Really? Yeah, because I think it was two and two. Two at home. Okay.

Two on the road. And I guess we're getting, we're probably getting pretty close to the first games against Baltimore, right? Aren't they usually in June? I think that's a while. Is it a while? Yeah.

I thought usually the first series against Baltimore is in June. I think they got the Phillies at home. way before that. Oh, you're right. The first two at Baltimore are in July and then where are the two at home against Baltimore? Do they only play Baltimore twice? And on the road? That can't be right, is it? They play them twice at home, usually and twice on the road. Right. I'm looking at their schedule. Aaron help me with this. End of the end of August. They play them at home. Oh, they play them at home. Okay. Well, I was saying to Aaron yesterday, it would just be cool to have a legitimate pennant race in August and September. And that's what they're working

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All right, a couple of things to finish up with. First of all, the ACC Big Ten schedule is out for basketball. I think I've mentioned a couple of times, Tommy. I don't know if you've been on. Maryland is going to, based on all of the early top 25, you know, polls after all of the recruiting and all of the players that were going to the NBA or not going to the NBA or trying to go. They're going to be ranked really high, like top 10. No worse than top 10 more likely. I've seen them as high as number five preseason. Now, the big 10's loaded coming back. I mean, Michigan State's a preseason number one or number two virtually everywhere. Michigan's good. Ohio States.

good. Yeah, a lot of good teams in the big time. You got Bayline out of Michigan. Right. Maryland's ACC opponent. I hate saying that. It just bothers me to say Maryland's ACC opponent. Oh, it should bother you.

It's going to be Notre Dame. I don't want them to play Notre Dame. I want him to play North Carolina or Duke, which just seems to not be in the cards. Well, look, Shoshchewski made his feelings clear. You're never playing Duke. I think that that's, I think he probably has some control over the ACC Big Ten challenge. But when we played, Aaron, who we played Pitt? We've played Syracuse.

We have played, who else? Virginia and North Carolina, they've played. Virginia twice, North Carolina, and then Pitt and Syracuse. Because it's five years in the Big Ten, right? Yeah, sounds right. Can you believe that? It's already been five years. I want to play an ACC rival.

I want to play an old ACC rival. I don't care. Would you rather play Wake Forest? I'd rather play Wake Forest? Really? Oh, much rather play Wake Forest than Notre Dame. I'd rather play NC State than Notre Dame. I'd rather play, well, we've already played Virginia twice.

I would much rather play Clemson than Notre Dame. Give me a real ACC rival. I was thinking that it wouldn't be Virginia this year, and it might not be North Carolina and Duke. And so, like, Florida State, I would rather play Florida State because they're supposed to be good next year. Is Notre Dame supposed to be good or I don't think they are? No, I think they're supposed to be towards the bottom of the league. How about Louisville? Louisville would have been good, even though it's not your classic rival.

It would have been a good matchup. I would have rather played Louisville, but I wanted an ACC rival. But it's a win. It's a win for you guys. I don't know if it's a win that early in the season. It's early December. I'm looking at the matchup. So Duke's going to play Michigan State.

Michigan's playing Louisville. Who's Florida State playing? Indiana. And Carolina's got Ohio State. Ohio State's supposed to be really good next year, but Maryland I think's been ranked, will be ranked higher than Ohio State, right? Virginia's got Purdue. All right.

There you go. Nothing speaks ACC, Big Ten like Notre Dame Maryland. Notre Dame representing the ACC against Maryland representing the Big Ten. Who would have thought that a decade ago? That says everything about what's happened to college basketball. You know, there was a time when Digger was at Notre Dame and Lefty was at Maryland, that Maryland played Notre Dame every year. They played them every single year.

was a rivalry. It was an outside the conference rivalry. Notre Dame recruited the hell out of the D. I remember, you know, Austin Carr. Yeah, but then Adrian Dantley and Donald Duck Williams and all the players that came from here. I remember when, look, I remember Digger Phelps when he coached at Fordham. Yeah. You know, and had a great player named Charlie Elverton. And then he got hired at Notre Dame. And I remember the John Shoemate days. Yeah, the shoemate and Dantley. Yeah. That's the first team I remember. Back at Notre Dame, they were really good. They were a fun team to watch. They, they brought. broke UCLA's win streak. I remember the early digger days.

Absolutely. And it was actually, it would be like one of those big, high-profile, you know, inter-conference, you know, inter-conference matchups. And it was always, always nationally televised. Notre Dame. I had cachet, even in basketball. Yeah, and Maryland did too, you know. So those were big games.

By the way, also on college basketball, they officially moved the three-point line back to the international distance, which I'm thrilled about. It's been too close. You don't need the NBA level, but they should, college basketball should have had and should have been playing all along at the international distance, which is 22 feet, 1 and 3 quarter inches. So I think it's like a foot and change beyond. I'd like them to move it to the harbor.

I know you would. That's where I'd like it to go. So that's good. Here's the thing on Maryland, though. They needed a good opponent there because the rest of the non-conference schedule is not that good. They do play Seton Hall again, right? Seton Hall is going to be a top 15, top 20 teams. They play fine teams.

Seton Hall is the best. They play George Mason and Rhode Island. The Advocare Invitational is Marquette and Temple and Texas A&M and USC. All fine teams, but they needed a good marquee game. Wait, I'm sorry. That's Orlando. So we're playing in the Orlando thing Thanksgiving. Yes.

Right. Okay. You know what? That's better than something that's going to be shown on CBS Sports Network. Yeah. Because that's usually what they've played in recently. Who's in that field again? That's USC, Texas A&M, Temple, Marquette, Harvard, Davidson, and Fordham?

I mean, Marquette losing, you know. Fairfield. Marquette's not going to be as good coming back, right? Right, they had the transfers. Yeah, exactly. All right. What else you got for me? I got nothing else.

You got nothing else? No. Okay. I got a big, actually, tonight, you know, after I leave here, I got to go write my column about the new redskins stability. And then after that, I'm going to speak to the university club tonight about the D.C. Grace. You're kind of crowd.

The U club is Tommy's kind of crowd. That'll be great. Yeah. That'll be great. So I got a busy day ahead of them. Maybe they'll invite you to be a member. Maybe I would. Wouldn't that be said?

Listen, I teach at Georgetown. There are enough people spinning in their graves who know me. over that. To be a university club member? That's different than being a university club member. I could retire then. All right. Well, enjoy.

Are you on? You've already been on with Chad this week. You're on with Andy Saturday? I wasn't on with Chad this week because I was preempted due to the day baseball game yesterday. But I'm on with Andy Saturday, Sunday morning on 106-7 the fan. Great day. Enjoyed it. Trent Williams, who knows?

Maybe there'll be more on this tomorrow. Coolie's going to call in. And he's out in Wyoming. He's already started his summer Wyoming trip, but he said he'll call in tomorrow. And we'll get his thoughts on Trent Williams tomorrow. So tune in for that. Enjoy the show.

Enjoy the day. Back tomorrow.