The Kevin Sheehan Show - Two Bold WFT Predictions

Episode Date: September 2, 2021

Kevin had his dog with him, Thom had clicking in his head, yet somehow Frick and Frack got through the show. It started with a cringy medical update from Thom and then the boys got to the Washington Football Team cuts, practice squad formation, and more. The 2nd part of the show began with an old Sports Fix segment called "You Heard It Here First" where the guys made two bold Washington Football Team predictions for the upcoming season. They also talked DeChambeau, Robles, Boone, and Kevin finished up the show with his first "Smell Test" pick of the year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheehan Show is Kevin. Tommy's here. I'm here. First smell test of the year coming up a little bit later on in the program. The show today brought to you by MyBooky at mybooky.orgie.

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They've got money lines that are completely fair. And the pricing is perfect. If you already have a spot, use my bookie for, A, the free deposit money, and B, a place to comparison shop. But I do have a game tonight. I bet most of you who know the way I think in terms of wagering, probably have a pretty good idea of what the game is. Tomorrow I'll have the full-fledged weekend smell test for the Friday games, the Saturday games, the Sunday game and the Labor Day game,

a full-fledged college football weekend underway. MyBooky, my bookie.orgie.orgie.orgie, use my promo code Kevin D.C., and you'll get, again, your deposit first-ever matched dollar for dollar. Tommy, hello. How are you? How you doing, baby? things sound a little bit nuts for you this morning well i have um i have my uh my dog here with me in studio today for the first time ever and she now is that because that's the only person left in your house that will even have anything to do with you well she's the one that probably

enjoys my company the most and i by the way the feeling is reciprocal um it's it's it's mutual i I'm kidding, of course, but she is a great dog. She's a two-year-old just turned to English bulldog. You know, it's funny about bulldogs. People are either real into bulldogs or they're not. This is our first bulldog. She has been great. You're going to probably hear some heavy breathing, perhaps, on the podcast today.

It's her. We are in transition here this week. We are trying to move into our new house, which we've been renovating. I'm not going to bore everybody with the details, but the renovation's taken longer than we thought. So we were in a two-bedroom furnished rental for a month, but we had to get out of there the other day. And now we are in the residence inn, courtesy of Marriott. And we should be there just for one more night, and then we're going to be moving in on Friday and or Saturday. So she had to come with me today.

I envision this like Charles Foster Cain moving into Zanadu. I didn't see Zanadu. No, Citizen Kane. Oh, Citizen Kane. You know I've not seen Citizen Kane. You know I've already lectured me on this before. It's only considered the greatest American film ever made. I understand that.

I understand that. There have been several of those greatest movies of all time, especially the old ones that I haven't seen. It's funny, my... envision that the Sheehan move into your house, similar to Citizen Kane moving into Zanadu. Okay. Should I just rent Citizen Kane one night and watch it? Is it still good today? Yes, because there is a movie that was nominated for an Oscar the last time called Mank,

about the author, the guy who wrote the screenplay for Citizen Kane. I believe it was Herman Mankowitz was the guy who wrote the screenplay and the movie's good Mank It was an Oscar nominated film And that came out in 2020 So yeah Citizen Kane is still a relevant movie to this day

I think I should at some point Go through the list of all of the old classics That I haven't watched You know like Citizen Kane Which is always way up there on the list right Tommy? Wizard of Oz, Citizen Kane. Let's start with one. Let's start with one and see how it goes. You've seen Casablanca, right? I've told you that I have not seen Casablanca either. Okay. Well, start with two then. Okay. Okay. So Citizen Kane, would you put that ahead of the Godfather? Godfather one?

Yes. Would you put Casablanca ahead of the Godfather? Yes. Give me some other old movies. Like, it's a wonderful life. Where does that rank? on the old, you know, movie scale. Well, that's a Christmas movie, but it's almost a category of its own. It's not in top ten greatest movies of all time or even top 20.

Okay. You know, so I wouldn't, I've got a movie called Meet John Doe that's sort of like a Christmas movie that I would put ahead of that. But it's fun to watch. Where would the Godfather be on your list? It sounds like you'd have several movies ahead of it.

I would put the Maltese Falcon ahead of it. See, that's another one. I haven't seen that. Yeah. I mean, the Maltese Falcon is an unbelievable script. What about some of the Hitchcock movies? Where do they rank? You know, I'm not a big Hitchcock guy.

I mean, they rank among the top greatest of all time, some of them. Real Window, Vertigo. I'm not a used to... Psycho, birds. Yeah, the birds. I'd like the birds. The birds was pretty simple. scary. I watch that one. Yeah. Yeah. But

start with one and take baby steps, you know, because your life is a little bit crazy right now. I don't know if you have a time to sit down and watch Citizen Kane. I did watch and I got caught up on Ted Lassot the other night and can't wait for the next episode of that. So there is that. That's the thing I'm focused on. The Formula One has come to a halt the last two weeks. I'm through the first five. episodes. I'm enjoying it, though, for those that have reached out to say, hey, that was a good recommendation. It's not a recommendation because I've completed it. It's a recommendation because I've started it, and I am enjoying it a lot. I am. All right, look, let's get to

what, go ahead. Wait a minute. One thing I wanted to talk to about what happened in my life. Did you get your eye? Did you get your eye shot up again? No, no, no, no. This is a different procedure, a different eye. I had to have laser surgery in my right eye. Lasic or laser? Laser. Okay. You know, I had cataract surgery on both eyes about three years ago. Is this going to be one of those squeamish people are going to be covering their ears,

get me through this quickly, little things from you where we end up with. No, no, no. Because the eyes are really a sensitive area for a lot of people. A lot of people don't like to hear the stories of things happening to their eyes. I know, but this is kind of. supernatural, so you've got to hear this. Okay. Okay.

So I had to have laser surgery on one of the eyes because a cloud had formed behind the lens that they had put in, which is a common occurrence. There's a lot of clouds in your head, yeah. Yeah. So basically they go in and clean it up. You know, it's like a cleanup surgery. It's pretty simple. They do it right in the office.

You know, you're in, you're out. But, you know, they put the eye drops in your eyes and numb your eyes. She says, you're not going to feel anything. It's not going to be uncomfortable. What she says right before she starts, you might feel a click in the back of your head. Oh, God. Oh, my God.

I don't think I... Okay. So they start... I would rather talk about Jimmy Morland and Troy Apkey right now so much more. And I don't even want to talk about that. And I feel this click, not on the back of my head, in the back of my head. Oh, my God.

I hope you took like a Valium or Xanax or something before all of this to really make sure that you were a little bit loopy. No, I didn't. And it didn't hurt. It was just like what she said. Inside my skull, in the back of my skull, there was a click every time she shot this laser. For those of you that hear these things and then develop like similar symptoms, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry about this. I had no idea what he was going to say.

No idea. That's a bit supernatural. A click inside your head. Can we go back to old movies? Okay. How about Dr. Strange Love? Was that a good movie? What?

Oh, yeah, absolutely. Dr. Strange Love, Peter Sellers played three roles in Dr. Strange Love. What about a street car named Desire, right? That's a movie. More of a great play than a great movie. Oh, okay. I didn't even know it was a play. On the waterfront, I think it's more of a great Brando movie.

In movies that were made from, let's just say, 1975 on. Okay, so, you know, movies... Because when you do 75 on, you're missing Chinatown. Okay, 70 on. Because Godfather, too, obviously. Right. Okay.

From 1970 on, because, you know, we are, we do on the... this show live in a world of Kevin's life that he remembers. Not going back here further. Nothing exists yes before seeing. You're right.

1970 on. Godfather. Jaws. Start listing some great movies from from that period on. Obviously we have so many of the Tarantino movies and recent movies.

Give me your Is Godfather number one? Please tell me that 1970 and on Godfather's number one. Well, you know, my favorite or what I think are the greatest movies? Greatest movies. Aren't they both the same, one and the same? Not necessarily because my number one would be what would be Miller's Crossing. But I recognize that's not a greater movie than the Godfather or Godfather, too.

So I would put both those ahead. I would put Chinatown in the top five of the greatest movies since 1970. I would put Raging Bull. Oh, yeah, definitely. In the top five. How about American graffiti? No, as much as I love it, I wouldn't put it in the top five of greatest movies. How about one flew over the cuckoo's nest?

That's a pretty good one. That's a really good movie. That's a really good one. Let me just mention real quickly on that. particular movie. That's a movie that even a younger generation, I know this because two of my three boys think it's hysterically funny. And I'm always surprised at a movie that old. And when did that come out, Tommy? Late 70s? Yeah, 1977. 77, maybe. Okay. Jaws has to be up there, right? I mean, certainly, what about, what about, oh, God, this to me still is a movie when it's on, I will watch it.

This might be 80s, but it's post-1970. The Deer Hunter. Phenomenal movie. Yes. The Deer Hunter. I remember seeing it in the movie theaters, and I remember I saw it with a bunch of my friends. We saw it, and we were going to go out after that, and nobody was going out after we saw that movie. Was the Sting?

The Sting was a 1970s movie, right? Yes. Remember that the theme song from that, The Entertainer, or whatever it was? It was like, you know, number one on the charts for years. Okay, people, I have, I have, all the president's men. I just pulled up a list, and it started at number 50, and all the president's men was number 50, followed by Network. This is movies of the 70s.

Network, network, absolutely, in the top five. Network was a good movie. I've successfully moved him away from his eye description from what happened yesterday. Let's get to some Washington football and what's happened. in the last two days, shall we? Yes. Okay. Let's go right ahead.

Let me just begin with this. I want everybody to understand that I am not necessarily being condescending to those of you that have really reached out and been incredibly concerned and passionate and obsessed over this. But I want to just give you a couple of thoughts on the last two days, which are cuts and then practice squad and all this stuff that goes on. Tommy will weigh in afterwards. You know, the cuts Tommy, the formation of a practice squad, I think it's a more recent phenomenon, you know, which by the way is good because even if it is niche, which I think it is,

I don't think this appeals to the majority of football fans this time of year. But I know that it appeals to enough. It just shows how important the NFL is and how do deep into these teams and everything that happens people get. But the associated angst, you know, obsession, concern, passion, whatever you want to call it, over it that some of you have, I just, I know it's significant because the construction of a roster is obviously important. But the first 43 on the roster is important by like a first 43. factor of, I don't know, 10, 20, 50 over the final 10 spots?

I'm not saying it's totally meaningless because it's not. But the odds are in favor of like the healthy majority of the players that we've been discussing or many of you have been discussing for the last two days are not really going to be significant to the actual games, real games. You know, they're not going to be significant to whether or not they win 10 or lose 10 this year and probably not even next year. I'm not saying that the development of the back 10% of the roster and then the assignment of 16 players to a practice squad isn't ultimately an important thing to a franchise. But I do think we don't know that much about that stuff. Like it's one thing.

Oh, I think everybody knows a lot about that stuff. No, no, no, no. Just ask them. Yeah, just ask them. Of course, but I don't think they really do. I don't think they do either. Look, if you weren't a tizzy last year over Adrian Peterson being released, at least that's a player that you really know a lot about,

you know, have some strong feelings about. But, you know, shock a Tony over William Bradley King, or Dax Milne over, you know, AGG, or the big one, even Jimmy Morland getting cut for, oh, by the way, not Troy Apkey, I'll explain that in a second, but getting cut for, say, Daryl Roberts or Benjamin St. Juiced. Yeah, he may have been cut because of Benjamin St. Juist. I'll explain that in a moment. I understand they don't play the same position, but I'll explain that in a moment.

But I think we can all have really strong opinions, but the opinions on real games with players that play a lot hold a lot more weight, like a lot more. I am on one hand appreciative that so many of you are so into it because I think, you know, the NFL has done that to people. It's another new phenomenon, just like the Indy Combine became must watch TV, even though that's very niche too. You know, OTAs and mini-camps and obsessing over all of these things, just show really in a reflection of just how incredibly popular and how deep people go with the NFL. But to me, it's a very overrated conversation. Not for the team, not the decisions the team's making, but our evaluations on what they're doing have to wait. Because we just don't know enough about why Daryl Roberts versus Jimmy Morland.

Let me just make one thing clear to those of you that probably know this, but many of you don't. Not one player they released was picked. up off of waivers. Not one. So all of the angst over the players that they released, oh my God, they've made a massive mistake cutting AGG. Well, he was not claimed off waivers and they were able to sign him back to the practice squad. The coaches know when we're talking about the back 10% of the roster, they just know so much more. We haven't observed these players in regular season games. We have with Jimmy Moreland, but we really haven't much with

Darrell Roberts or Benjamin St. Juist. They know a lot more. They may be wrong, ultimately, but they have a better perspective. That's all I'm saying. Now, a couple of quick things. Troy Apke, let me just make this really clear, didn't take the spot on the roster from Jimmy Morland. I mentioned two and a half weeks ago before I think it was popular to mention this, that I thought Troy Apkey was going to make the team. I actually thought Troy Apkey flashed a lot in the preseason games in just evaluating how he played. He's got incredible speed. He tackles well and he's physical.

I understand he did not play safety very well on this team, and they're not going to have him play safety, and he may not play corner at all this year. He could if injuries really rack him in a game and he's out there and he's got to be moved into a corner position. But they kept him because he is an excellent special teams player. He might have to play corner, but I doubt he will. Darrell Roberts likely took Morland's spot, and so did Benjamin St. Juist. Let me explain. What's become clear with St. Juice from the jump is they like him a lot,

they think he can play on the outside with his size, with his length, and when they go nickel, or when they go more than 4 dBs, Fuller's going to play a lot in the slot. He's going to take a lot of Moreland's slot reps from last year with St. Juice replacing Fuller on the outside. I had a hunch two and a half weeks ago, Apkey wasn't going anywhere because Ron Rivera's become clear going back to last year that special teams are a priority for him. Now, they weren't necessarily with old coach Jay. But Apkey, they loved Hudson. They loved Deschaser Everett.

These are all guys that may not see a lot of defensive snaps, but they're on the team for special teams. Now, you can evaluate whether or not you think that's overall more important than keeping Jimmy Morland as a backup slot corner for Kendall Fuller or maybe for Daryl Roberts. I don't know. That's a worthy discussion. Special teams don't make up a third of a game. This is something I remember Zab saying many years ago. And I remember thinking, you know what? That's so true. I'll never forget he went on this rant about coaches that emphasize special teams

because they always say it's a third of the game. Well, it's not a third of the game. You know, it's more like, you know, a fourth or a fifth or a sixth or a seventh of the game, depending on the game. But it's not as simple as that. And it's, well, hold on, let me finish. there are major special teams plays that change games. No doubt.

Special teams, even though they are much less in terms of the play count in a given game, a lot of the plays that happen on special teams are incredibly significant. And if you don't have good special teams, they can cost you a game. You know, they cost Washington a game last year. The Carolina game. It's more than just special teams plays. it's essential to field position, which either sets back to defense or sets back the offense. No doubt.

It's a contribute, but it's not equal to offensive and defensive importance. No, it's not. No, it's not. Okay. But it has a, I take a big impact, maybe not a third of the impact, but I would argue a fifth. Yeah, I don't even know. know what the um i mean there are you know typically on average 10 punts a game six kickoffs a game um you know uh field goals and p a t's probably another 10 so you know we're talking about 25 to 30

you know special teams plays a game and offensive and defensive snaps you end up with like you know 60 you know 120 um let me just mention a couple of other things uh Just observations, okay? Not getting into whether or not Daryl Roberts is better than Morland or if Ricky Seals Jones keeping him and Samus Reyes was better than keeping Peyton Barber or however it shook out. I mentioned Chaka Tony when they drafted him in the seventh round because I watched a lot of Penn State over the last couple of years. The other thing to me that it's clear, Ron wants, he wants quick Twitter. guys on defense, man. And Tony is one of those. And I mentioned in the preseason game last week when I did the recap of what was utterly unwatchable. One of the things that I, you know, caught my attention

was just how quick shock at Tony is as a four three defensive end rushing the passer. Like to me, he looks like a guy that has a future in the NFL. They kept him over, you know, he's a seventh round pick. Not a lot of seventh round picks end up making the final roster, but that's been a trend here over the last couple of years. The releasing of Peyton Barber, even though they signed him back to the practice squad, goes back to that Gibson in the Cincinnati game getting the short yardage carries. I think they feel like they can use Gibson or maybe even Patterson in short yardage. And Barber was signed back to the practice squad, so the practice squad has lots of flexibility. So he he may be on this roster and he may be their short yardage back on a lot of weeks.

But I think Gibson will be fine as a short yardage back. How about, by the way, Martin Mayhew comparing Jared Patterson, Tommy to Ricky Irvins and Jamie Morris? I thought that that was, first of all, the Ricky Irvin's thing is very apropos. You know, super quick, super quick feet, great vision, which is what you could see on the very first series. against the Patriots. I also noticed just one other thing. I think that keeping Patterson was a gimmy, but it's also instructive because I think they kept Milne over AGG

because I think they view Milne as a potential slot receiver down the road. So Patterson could replace McKissick, who's got a year left on his deal, and Milne could potentially replace Humphreys, who's got a year left on his deal. You know, just another observation on maybe some of the whys on decisions. You know, he talked again the other day about sustained culture with young players and developing young players. For Ron, it's all about, you know, developing something that can sustain over a period of time,

not be a one-off. Now, the Ryan Fitzpatrick signing, some of you would say, well, he's just going for it this year. No, it's hard to evaluate all the young players and give them and put them in a position of getting experience if you don't have a quarterback on the field you can trust. Anyway, that's kind of it from the last couple of days. I found it very interesting. Now, some of you may say, and it's true, there weren't a lot of waiver claims to begin with. It's still a weird situation, right? because if you get there, then you've got to be in, you know, if you're unvaccinated, especially, you've got to be in quarantine.

I think, you know, I think it's, there weren't a lot of waiver claims in part because it's hard to get somebody new into your facility and get them through everything that's going on right now and know who you have and be able to trust who you have. There were waiver claims. I mean, there were plenty of them, but just not as many as there used to be. And maybe there will be over the next week. I mean, this is the other thing that's different about this year is having, you know, the two plus weeks, you know, between the final preseason game and the regular season. So a lot of people and a lot of the players, look, Cam Sims was cut last year. There was one, two players last year in their final 30 cuts or 35 cuts, two players who ended up making a contribution to the team last year. Jeremy Reeves and Cam Sims.

So it's certainly possible that one or two of the players that they cut that they brought back to the practice. squad could end up being a significant contributor this year. I just challenge you to pick which ones and be right on, because I think that that's much harder. And a lot of times it's dictated by where they end up having injuries during the regular season. Last thing, I just want to say, the Cam Newton release, which happened when we were on recording the show the other day, and we did not ask ourselves the question, well, what about Washington? And the reason I didn't bring it up is it didn't even occur to me. It occurred to a lot of you, though, that Cam was out there, and now Ron Rivera will go pick him off waivers. Ron Rivera's passed on every opportunity to sign

Cam Newton. Why? Did you watch him play last year? He stunk last year. I mean, I used to be a big Cam Newton fan. And still, I will remember Cam from his prime years as being really unique and fun to watch. Cam Newton sucked last year. His days as a first-rate starter are long gone. Do you think if Cam Newton could still really play that Belichick would have cut him? So it did bring up a question about Cam the other day. I don't know who asked it. I just saw somebody tweeted out. What about Cam Newton and Ron Rivera said, Ryan Fitzpatrick's our starter. So we finally got the admission that Ryan Fitzpatrick is the starter, which apparently somebody told me that Ian Rappaport reported it the other day

as if it was like breaking news. I mean, we all know all of us who are living the day to day here that Ryan Fitzpatrick was going to be the starting quarterback from the jump unless he completely soiled himself and practices, not even in the games, in the preseason games. Anyway. What you talked about here with the roster cuts and stuff, it's a version of what I always talk about in managerial decisions in baseball. There's a difference between information and knowledge.

And fans have information about these players. You know, they know what they saw in games. They have the statistics, how many tackles they had, how many plays they had. They have more information than they've ever had before. But they don't have the coach's knowledge. That's right. You know, it's the same thing. You just, as unfair as it may seem to you, you know, you're not an insider.

You know, I'm not an insider, okay? We don't know what the coaches think about every player on the roster. and I mean, but that's what you're talking about here. Coaches have, I mean, obviously, with APK, this is a coach's instinct. And Tommy, there are degrees of like, you know, perceived knowledge. If you, if, when we start watching all of the players that play in the games, in the real games, we're going to have very strong opinions that are going to be, based on watching these players in real games, and we're still not going to have the knowledge

that the coaches have, but we're going to have a lot more knowledge on what we're watching then versus trying to look. And people on the beat, you know, they're there every day watching practices, but, you know, they don't know. I mean, and I love all those people, but they were convinced a lot of them were that, oh, my God, some of these players that got cut or they're going to be picked up right away. But he got picked up. So either they're wrong or the coaches, they were really wrong or the coaches were really right. I'll side with the coaches being really right because obviously they knew who would clear waivers.

And by the way, players that they knew they would want back on a practice squad to have access to them, like Antonio Gandy Golden, like Jeremy Reeves, like some of these other players, which is great. You know, maybe the coaches really understood. The coaches and the general managers, all of them, really understood and played the game that, you know, we really do like AGG. We like him just as much as Milne. But because of the previous injuries, he probably will clear waivers. Milne, we know a lot of people liked coming out of the draft, even though he was the next to last player drafted overall. But there was going to be a huge crush of teams that were going to sign him as an undrafted free agent, which is why we picked him.

He's not going to clear waivers. So there's probably a lot of that involved as well. I guess my overarching theme here is focus on the first 43. Not the 53. That's for them. That's where the lack of knowledge or the difference in knowledge is greatest. And you would say the difference in knowledge is pretty significant on the first 43 too. And I would agree with you.

But it's so much greater on the lack. 10 to 20, you know, the last 10 spots that they decided on. Whatever. We could go on and on about this. I mean, I, the net of it is they have a really good, they have a very good roster. They have, they have the best roster they have had in a long time. How does it stack up against the rest of the division? They're scheduled that they're going to face.

We're going to find out. But they have in their first 40, 43 players, the best first 40 to 43 they've had since it least 2005, maybe 2000. Probably right. You know, the Derek Forrests and the Tori MacIres and one of those players. Yeah. One of those key players, according to the people who we love, who you love, who cover the team, Chase Young is not at practice today.

Oh, boy, COVID. Well, we don't know yet. Well, what else would it be? I don't know. Maybe he's got another game show of the film. Don't do that. You know, that's really what we should discuss next because there's no, I mean, Urban Meyer made a big mistake. Well, he made a mistake.

I don't know how big it was. He made a mistake for being honest. Yeah, he's being totally honest. But, you know, unfortunately, those are the rules. And to admit that you did, it's like you can't hurt yourself. they could potentially get fined significantly with this. I know, but I read a union quote. What was the union quote?

This was basically it, that, you know, he pulled a fire alarm, so we've got to investigate. I don't think they're crazy about coming down on him either. Do you think the league's happy that he pulled the fire alarm? I don't know if they are or not, but I don't think the union is particularly chomping at the bit to punish this guy. I think the union would just assume everyone be vaccinated too. Sure. Yeah. I don't know. I just think it's, man, he's a, he's a bit of a loose canon.

They're investigating it because they have to as much as anything, not because they're eager to. Well, yeah, well, he's because when you're a college coach, you run your own kingdom. You're not really answerable to anybody. Yeah. He just, he doesn't, he has no idea what the shield even is. It's completely unfamiliar with the shield and how powerful it is. By the way, just real quickly, before we get to our next subject, how about some of the tornado video? Oh, and the flooding, the flooding, the flooding.

The flooding. The flooding. Right up here in Frederick was tremendous flooding. You had a lot of rain. Yeah, a school bus had to be, they had to rescue 10 kids out of a school bus that got caught in some road flooding here. So I didn't venture out at all yesterday and still haven't, so I don't know what it looks like out there.

But what's yet to come is the river, the river thrives. And that will continue until probably Friday. And that could be interesting as well. But yeah, the videos, you know, I mean, basically, CNN didn't know where to turn today. between the western fires out in Lake Tahoe and the flooding in New York. It was like an end of days morning. The tornado video from Annapolis and Edgewater was pretty incredible, the video. And I don't know.

I guess the National Weather Service will go out and they will assess the damage and then assign how strong the tornado was. But the tornado in South Jersey, have you seen that video? That people are estimating was, you know, an F3 tornado. Like it looked like a Midwest tornado. Yes, it did.

It looked like something out of the movie Twister. It really did. I mean, I didn't know that you could get a tornado that ominous, that big, you know, on the East Coast. But it was, If you haven't seen that video, that video of the tornado in South Jersey, it is dark, it is big, it looks like something from the movie Twister. It looks like something from, you know, storm chasers. It doesn't look like it should be South Jersey.

That's for sure. How about one other quick thing, as long as we're talking weather. On Tuesday night, because we didn't do a show yesterday, the lightning, eventually. on Tuesday night. The lightning and the rain and the thunder on Tuesday night was incredible. You probably slept right through it with all those clouds in your eyes. Of course I did. What was the, was it you're so vain? Clouds in your eyes? Something in your coffee. Clouds in your coffee. Yeah, something in your eyes, clouds in your coffee.

Yeah. Something like that. That's your girl. And the clicking in the back of my head. But that's your girl, Carly, right? I know. Yeah, I know. Carly Simon, Tommy once said that if I were on a train and got in somehow ended up seated next to Carly Simon for, you know, an hour-long train ride, we would probably be dating by the end of the train ride. Well, that was before I actually met her. At the book signing? At a book signing and found myself unable to speak English when it was my turn to talk to.

Yeah, you've had that issue a couple of times, and that had nothing to do with clicking in the back of your head. The Brooklyn Decker at the Super Bowl that you're sitting down in front of us, and I know you've got some crazy story to cover for that. But, oh my God, I've told it so many times I'll net it out. Brooklyn Decker, who was spectacular looking when she sat down in front of us as the forthcoming swimsuit, SI cover girl. Tommy and I usually had a system where I would ask to and then he would ask two and then we would just figure it out from that. Tommy was not ready for his two after my first two. Tommy couldn't speak. There's a good reason for that, but let's keep the myth going.

She was in a movie that was being directed by Dennis Dugan, Ritchie Backelman from the Rockford file. And you couldn't remember Dennis Duggan's name. Yeah, exactly. Okay. Right. We'll be back with more right after the. these words from a few of our sponsors. Tommy and I on the show that we did for many, many years, the sports fix, had this weekly

segment called You Heard It Here First, which was, you know, a crowd favorite of sorts, and it was just a bold prediction. It was a bold prediction that Tommy would have, I would have, and that we, then we'd open it up for calls, and it could be a bold prediction on anything sports-related, and it often turned into something and a lot of things that weren't sports-related. But it was a fun segment. We loved it. And I told Tommy, before we started recording today, I said,

I want to do a you heard it here first on the Washington football team season upcoming. Because I had a thought, and it sounded to me when I had the thought in my own head without any clicking whatsoever, that it was a you heard it here first thing. Because I think it is bold, and I think it is a bit of a reach. and I think it is against the odds here. So you have one, but since I asked you to come up with one because I had one first, I'm going to give you mine first. You ready?

Okay, that's good. I think Ryan Fitzpatrick is going to start all 17 games for Washington this year. All the quarterbacks that they have played over the last few years, and it's been what, since 2016, right? since 2017. It's been since 2017 in the run of Kirk Cousins starting all those games, that it's been a quarterback carousel for Washington. I think Ryan Fitzpatrick, they have supreme confidence in. I think Washington will be a competitive team all year long, and if they lose games, it's sometimes maybe the fault of the offense, but it's not going to be overwhelmingly

the fault of the offense. The offense is going to be improved this year. significantly, I know that's not saying much, but I just had this feeling that Ryan Fitzpatrick is part of it, by the way, let me just mention, is that they barely even played the dude. And there were teams with veteran quarterbacks who were playing a lot that have been with their own teams. And I just have this sense it's because they're really confident in him and very comfortable with him. So my you heard it here first is Ryan Fitzpatrick.

starts all 17 regular season games for Washington. Remember that, everybody. You heard it here first. You totally disagree, which is another reason I wanted to do it. Okay, so are you ready for mine? Yeah, did you want to say anything about mine? I think yours is very noble. It's noble.

Do you want to say anything about the substance or lack thereof of it? because no. Well, my you heard it here first speaks directly to your you heard it here first. Oh, okay. Go ahead then. Okay. After four straight losses, including a very ugly loss on the road to the Denver Broncos, the Washington football team will name Kyle Allen as their starter for when Tampa comes to Washington

for the November 14th game during the body. Oh, I thought you were talking about the first four, like they started off O and four. No, no, no, no. They lose to the chiefs, the Packers. They lose to the Saints Chiefs, Packers, and Broncos. Ugly loss to the Broncos on the road. And that is Halloween afternoon, October 31st, and then they have the bye week. And when they come back to face Tom Brady and the defending champs on the 14th, Kyle Allen is the starter? Kyle Allen will be the starter. Okay, that's bold. You know what?

Dare I say, that is noble as well, because I think you, I think it's quite efforted and I think it's very honorable and honest on your part. And required a bit of work as opposed to my usual picks. Yeah. So we're just on the opposite ends. I've got Ryan Fitzpatrick starting all 17 games, and you have him benched after the eighth game. Yeah, after four straight losses. And dare I say, if Ryan Fitzpatrick gets benched this year for performance, he ain't coming back next year.

No, no, he's not. I should have added, and they sign him to a one-year contract extension before the end of the regular season. could say that for week seven after the loss to the Broncos. Right. So did you see the other day after our conversation about Bryson DiChambo and I recommended the Kevin Van Valkenberg story and I also recommended the Barry's Verluga story? Did you see that the PGA tour may update their fan conduct policy and fans could get ejected from events for disrespectful behavior, including shouting out Brooksie to

Bryson D. Shambo. Yeah, I saw that. I remember I tweeted out. I said, I'd put it on my resume if I ever got kicked out of a golf tournament. Well, you'd never be there to begin with. Well, if that happened, I'd be so proud, I'd put it on my resume. You know, I read an article. I forget.

I wish I had given it to the guy credit. he was a golf writer. Since the PGA kind of created this thing for themselves. I mean, they encouraged the Brooks, what's his name, Brooks Copeca? Kepka, yeah. Kepka. He's the guy, I mean, he's the guy who basically, you know, encouraged all this harassment of, what's his name? He's another guy.

He's an adult. He's a guy. Right. Yeah. Yeah, he's the one who encouraged this. I mean, he offered three beers of fans who harassed them. And the PGA has encouraged guys to be more vocal and more demonstrative on social media, too. Yeah.

So this writer was saying, a PGA kind of created this situation. When you pump that pump, these are the kind of fans you're going to get. it's a great point um you know i i read yesterday and i'm looking for some of the quotes but i'll paraphrase because i can't find them rory mackleroy kind of came to de chambos defense saying you know it's kind of gotten out of hand and he's somebody that has good intentions and he means well but he also said simultaneously he's brought a lot of this on himself basically he said he said he's an asshole. Well, they've all said that to a certain degree. And what is our obligation? What is our obligation to protect assholes? When did that become an obligation? I don't think it is the obligation of

us or the tour. And, you know, to be honest with you, I think it adds a certain element to the sport that the sport misses and has missed over the years. You know, he's going to have to deal with it. I mean, it's adversity. He brought some, when he referred to Augusta as a par 68 for him, I mean, and look, for those of you who are wondering and don't know much about it, Bryson D. Chambot is an outrageously good golfer and talent and already a major championship winner. He won at Wingfoot the U.S. Open last year. He's really actually fascinating to watch because he swings so fast, generates so much. speed and hits the ball longer than anybody has ever hit it. But with that, he is, you know,

has been acknowledged by almost everybody that's ever, you know, associated with him as the kind of guy that is the smartest guy in the room. And if you're not sure, just ask him. And so, that's driven everybody nuts over the years. And then he's made a lot of comments and he's blame things like his manufacturer for the clubs and when he's played poorly and referred to Augusta's a par 60. He's brought a lot of this on himself. And then he developed this incredible rivalry with Brooks Kepka, who probably has been a bit of an asshole himself in this whole thing.

Yeah, he fueled it. Yeah, but really fueled it because I think he understood this guy's not only the smartest guy in the room, but he's also hypersensitive to criticism and hypersensitive to this. And he's really played it pretty well. and he's gotten under his skin, you know, over the last year. But, you know, that sports different. You know, the expectation of the gallery and the fans and the conduct is just different than other sports, you know.

And so I think it'd be interesting if they threw somebody out for yelling Brooksie. You know, I was trying to think of like, go ahead. Now, I was trying to think of what he could say to help the situation. But I think you have to be self-aware to, sort of be able to handle the next press conference where he's asked about it. Like, I think there's just a, you know, if you're going to shout it, it's fine. I've probably brought some of this on myself.

I love golf. I love the nerdiness and the science and all of that stuff behind golf. And maybe I talk and social media about it too much. But this is who I am and, you know, deal with it. And then just focus on going. going out and kicking everybody's ass. Because eventually... You've got to be a bit willing to self-deprecate yourself a little bit.

You have to be. That's always... That and then, you know, the redemption of coming back and playing... Maybe he's got to sink to a lower depth because he hasn't done that yet. He's great. Well, that depth could be coming later this month when him and Kokeka, Kepka are teammates on the Ryder Cup. Yeah, I know. I know.

They're going to be teammates. on the Ryder Cup. This is going to come up on the press conferences and all that. And I'm reading a New York Times story where Kepka said, I can deal with anybody in the world for a week. I'm not playing with them. We're not going to be high-fiving and having late-night conversation. Right. But he did, he did put a little bit of, you know, a holiday pause on it. Like, you know what, put our guns down. It's Christmas. we're going to take the day here and celebrate. But that was before this latest stuff went on.

And it's going to be, it's going to be a, I bet you, I bet you there's peace for Ryder Cup. And if there isn't, and Kepka's the cause of it, then Kepka's going to pay for it. Yeah, he probably will. But the issue is not going away. It will be a major press conference issue before the tournament.

Yeah, true. True, that, Tommy. True that. All right, you tell me real quickly, I'm going to get to the smell test here to finish up the show momentarily. Two things. And I know you wrote a column,

and I know you want to talk about your column, which I want you to do. What did you make of Victor Robles being sent down? And then what did you make of Bob Boone when the Nats mandated vaccines for all of their employees, him leaving the organization. Well, I was always surprised that Bob Boone lasted as long as he did. Why?

He must have had some value because he's been there since 2005. Yeah, long time. Bob Boone is a holdover from the Jim Bowden era. And obviously he worked well with people. I must have contributed something of value to have lasted as long as he did. but you know I mean I don't have any sympathy for somebody who doesn't get the shot

I just don't you know they're on they're on the list they're gone that's unbelievable simple as that yeah you are a list person that is for sure

well he's on the list well I'm sure he's really concerned about it um he said be since his son Aaron yeah since his son Aaron who just is coming off open heart surgery right not open heart surgery right not open heart but heart surgery a year ago and had the shot, you know, I'm assuming he gets together with his son from time to time.

Right. Well, maybe he doesn't. Maybe they don't. Maybe this is one of those where you've got information but not knowledge. I don't want to get into the whole your body, your choice thing. I'm vaccinated. I don't understand those that aren't. And there's been very little that I've heard from people who aren't that makes a lot of sense to me. but I'm certainly not going to put somebody on a list if they don't get vaccinated. What about Robles? I mean, this was a guy that at one time, Tommy, correct me if I'm wrong. At one time, Victor Robles was thought to be more of a future star potentially than Juan Soto. True or not?

True. Victor Robles was untouchable. he was the guy that other teams wanted in trade talks and then that's what you know he was considered an untouchable prospect uh i tell you what i think the nats wouldn't have had to trade lucas gilito if they've been willing to deal trade away victor robles to the white sock for uh in the deal they made with chicago so he was considered an untouchable uh player that almost every team

that call the Nats wanted in a trade. So it's a big setback for the organization to have to send him down at this point. What are the chances that this is just a blip for him? That we look back and at the end of a great career and say, remember back in 2021 when they really were very disappointed with performance and they sent him down to the minor leagues? You know, I mean, in 2019, this guy hit 17 home runs, 65 RBI, stole 28 bases, and had 33 doubles. So he's shown that he can play in the Major League.

The problem could be, you know, once Major League pitchers got a book on him, maybe he didn't adjust. And I don't know if he's capable of adjusting. but the place to do that is not with the Major League Club. It's with Rochester. Look, a guy that is talented that every other team wanted. I think I'm willing to go, this is more of a big bump in the road rather than a crater, that Victor Robles will be back with the Major League team and be a contributor. There's too many people that had this guy as a top prospect for everybody.

to be wrong, and not just for the nationals, for other teams as well. Okay. You ready for the first? Let me tell you about... Oh, your column. Your column. My fault. Go ahead.

Yeah, let me tell you about the guy who's playing for him. Lane Thomas, right. Lane Thomas is the guy who is basically one of the reasons they were willing to send Victor Robles down is how well Lane Thomas, the young guy they got in the trade with the Cardinals. It's almost like a throwaway trade at the end of the deadline for John Lester. I wrote a column about Lane Thomas and how well he's been playing and basically pointed out that I learned something about him personally. That in Knoxville, Tennessee, he's known as the King of Cabinets. The King of what?

Cabinence. Like making a cabinet? Like building cabinets? No, not building cabinet, selling cabinets. Oh, okay. Surprised he didn't do that. In High Point, North Carolina, the furniture capital of the world. I know. He and his sister are partners in several cabinet showrooms.

Oh, wow. Lane Thomas is on the cover of the Knoxville City magazine in October 2019, not for his baseball, but for selling cabinets. I love that. Yeah. So I interviewed him, and I interviewed his sister, who's partners with him, and this is a kid who has a business future ahead of himself,

whether or not he makes it in baseball or not. And he's played real well for Washington in 14 games. He's batted 304. And, you know, he hasn't been able to stay healthy for any sustained period of time when he was with the Cardinals. and they had a lot of outfielders like him. So that's why he wound up getting traded. But I always thought it's interesting.

I mean, you don't see too many young players that have full-time businesses in all season that are successful. I bet you that's a real, like for someone like Mike Rizzo, who's, I think, you know, really smart and really, well, I mean, he's obviously a real keen evaluator of talent. But I bet you those are the kinds of things that he and certainly the learners probably like a lot. Like it's an intangible about a person. Yes. Yes. There is a certain level of ambition and intelligent. And likely some maturity that comes along with it.

Yeah. You know, having been responsible for a lot of that. Yeah, I, that's great. So you should read my column. I will. And if you like it, maybe you could retweet it. I will retweet it if I like it, but I probably will retweet it anyway. Even if I don't like it, I'll more likely than not retweet it.

It's not the typical column that you like because it's not an opinion column. I like your opinion columns. I like when you're really, I like when you are on the attack more than anything. I like when you are simultaneously attacking and using your wit. in a column. I've told you this before, and I'm not just saying this here, because Tommy is my friend and longtime cohort, but I think you and Sally, as far as the columnists in this town, have the go on the attack better than anybody and smarter than anybody and with the most wit. I think sometimes Sally's, you know, doesn't even realize, sometimes when Sally goes after

somebody, she'll use some word that'll just make me laugh. Because she's, and I don't even think she realizes it. But I will, I prefer those columns of yours. But I bet you this is a good one. And look, you gave me enough there that I'll go read it for sure. You don't care if I read your columns or not. Yes, I do. Of course I care.

Kind of. It's not a big deal to you. No, I care. Okay. It's not a big deal to you. All right. I wouldn't sit in a corner and listen to the clicking in the back of my head if you didn't read my column. That clicking in the back of his head.

Fortunately, you've probably heard more deep breathing on this podcast than the clicking. And that would be from my dog who just jumped up on the chair. She's ready to wrap this show up, I think. And so are we. Smell test next right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Kevin looks where the John Q public is putting their cash and does the opposite. It's time for the smell test. Year 16, Tommy, for the smell test, if you can believe that.

11 winning seasons, four losing seasons over the years. The four losing seasons were just barely losing seasons. You know, I hit on like 49.5% or 48.9%. But many of the years, but many of them, of the winning seasons were just barely winning seasons. So I do understand that as well. Tomorrow I will have more picks for the Friday, Saturday, and potentially the Sunday game and the Monday game as well. But there's a Thursday night game that I've been eyeballing since it was scheduled for Thursday night because I thought that the line was a little bit short and I thought that the public

would play the favorite in this game, and they have been. For those of you unfamiliar with the smell test, it's real simple. It's a contrarian go-again-again-handiapping philosophy. Many of you now are very familiar with sort of anti-public betting. This is a combination of going against the public for sure, but also using some information that I have from more, I would say, offshore books about where sharp money is and sort of combining some information with some anti-public information and just some intuition about these things over many years of playing

this way. It's funny, Tommy, I told you a few weeks ago, remember? Maybe it was only a week ago. Gambling for me, sports betting's gotten to the point where it's a, I don't know, I'm not as much into it as I used to be. But when you get into football season, it comes back pretty quickly. So it was fun to sort of look at the board this weekend. And tonight's Ohio State Minnesota game is one of those games that fits pretty much everything. Ohio State's a 14-point favorite. To be honest with you, I'd prefer to see it at like 13 rather than 14.

I think 13 would really almost incent even more public action. But the public is all over Ohio State in this game. laying two touchdowns. Now, if it went to 14 and a half, 15, would, you know, you'd get a buyback on Minnesota from the public? Maybe there's some sharp money on Minnesota. The line is held steady pretty much at 14. Not a lot of movement on this game. I'm not a big PJ Fleck fan. I think a lot of people are. And that's fine. He's a little bit too Rarii for me, the Minnesota head coach. But they've obviously been under him, you know, a turnaround story very much in college football. Here's, you know, a program which really, you know, has had a lot of ups and downs,

you know, probably more downs than ups. But that 2019 season that they had when they were, you know, 11 and 2 and they beat Auburn in the Outback Bowl and, you know, they had some huge wins during that year, including a win against Penn State. And, you know, they didn't play a whole. Ohio State that year. But that was a big breakout year for them. They've got, you know, two of their key guys coming back this year. Quarterback Tanner Morgan is coming back. And they're running back, Muhammad Ibrahim, is to me a pro back in a major way.

He's from Baltimore, by the way. I think Minnesota is going to be able to move the football and score enough points to keep this within 14. If they pulled off a shocker, I would be shocked. Typically, if you take a dog at plus seven or less, you think they've got a really good chance to win the game. Plus 14, not as much. But I do think this is going to be a competitive game.

Ohio State is starting CJ Stroud in his first start. And look, they're loaded. We know that. And they have a chance to run the table this year. and end up in the playoff, no doubt. Their schedule, by the way, includes, you know, rough games at Minnesota, at Indiana, and then they play at Michigan at the end of the year. Some of their tougher opponents like Penn State and Oregon,

they get Oregon next weekend, and maybe the number one player, number one picking next year's draft Ibado, the defensive end. Next week they get Oregon in Columbus. But I think this is a competitive game tonight. I like Minnesota plus the 14. that's your first smell test selection of the year. The Gophers plus 14 at home against Ohio State. And then tomorrow I'll have more for the Friday, Saturday games.

And then there is a Sunday game, I think just one Sunday game. And then the Monday night game is Louisville Ole Miss on Labor Day night. Notre Dame, Florida State, I think, is the only game on Sunday. There could be another game. Sunday, I'm not sure. Anyway, I'll have the rest of it tomorrow. There you go. That's it for the show today. Tommy, you have anything else? I got nothing else, boss. All right, that's it. I'm glad we got out of the eye story there early in the show, but I'm glad you're doing well. Clicking aside. See ya, thanks. Back tomorrow.