The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Brian T Smith On The Texans Draft And What's Next For Sports

Episode Date: April 17, 2020

is the Matt Thomas show. Here we go, the final hour of the Matt Thomas show on Sports Talk 790. If you want to jump in, 713, 212, 5-790, 7-1-3-212-5-790. Bottom of the hour, Ross and I will have the Fantasy 5. The category is hottest. Are we going to be sexist about this, and we're going to go ahead and do this? Hottest female sportscasters? Yeah.

We're being honest and true. It is what it is. We're pigs. Fine. Calls pigs. Yeah, call Ross at Sports Harvey at pig. That's fine. Most attractive, talented, nice female sportscasters.

You talented? What did you do with your hands right there? Well, like big, you know. Big handed. Okay, fair enough. Brian T. Smith, Houston Chronicle. You read his stuff multiple times per week on the radio on the Chronicle website, which, by the way, I just signed up for digital access today.

I hope you're proud of me. That's actually awesome. I appreciate that, Matt. Thank you very much. Hey, so you were a part of the Zoom meeting with the head coach yesterday. Give the audience a few thoughts of what you heard and what you thought about and some takeaways from there. The Texans aren't going to get years to evaluate this. I mean, Bill O'Brien's been doing this in 2014.

They'll have this season if there is an NFL. all season. I think it's going to be very interesting where the organization goes from here. There's been so much on the line, Matt, for O'Brien and the Texans for years now. I mean, it seems like every year going into a season, there's some type of huge decision, whether it's quarterback, whether it's a draft pick, whether it's trading Yondry Hopkins, and it feels like everything's on the line again, and they've doubled down on themselves again, and going into 2020 after trading Hopkins, the year after trading Clowny, I mean, you couldn't have a larger spotlight on the organization, on Cal McNair,

on Bill O'Brien, on Jack Easterby, on everything all combined together. So I continue to hope we find a way to get through this, and I think one of the most fascinating things to be positive is to see what the Texans do this year, how good it gets. how bad it gets. We have no idea. But there's so much at stake for this team, this coach, this coach GM, this organization once this season starts. So how often and how much we're going to be reminded about the fact we got to give this team and this all these changes a chance? I mean, what's the overrinder on that? Three weeks, four weeks, maybe, tops?

Yeah, I mean, the thing is, and I've written this so many times in the Chronicle, I've said this so many times. I understand where they're coming from. I feel like probably as well as anybody. I'm going to have a piece in Sunday's Chronicle explaining this. And Bill O'Brien, the key word that he kept mentioning yesterday during the Zoom conference was levels. I mean, every year there's also a code word. I mean, it's alignment, it's philosophy, whatever it is. this year it's levels.

And so last year, Cal, I think the one time he spoke to 610, he talked about the sub-programs within sub-programs. Well, that's another reference to levels. So you look at this roster, and I am not saying that I agree with this at all. From the Texan's perspective, they traded away DeAndre Hopkins, and they brought in Brandon Cooks. They brought in David Johnson. They gave to Sean Watson more options.

I'm not saying I agree with it. That is their perspective. The thing is, though, as I just said, this isn't their second year. This isn't O'Brien's second year. He is the only coach in the NFL outside of Bill Belichick who's the head coach and general manager. You just traded away one of the best receivers in the NFL on and on. And it didn't end well last year, and it hasn't ended well any year. Honestly, they've always fallen short.

They know that. They know that ultimately as much as they want to explain it, they want to talk about it. it, they want to talk about levels or depth or on these things, they have to win, and they have to win like they never have before or everyone will want, O'Brien, fire it again. But the difference is that all of us will want him fired again, but only one person can do that. And it felt like after hearing Cal last week in that get together with the fans, that not only is he all in, but he is like, man, I think I've made the right decision. And that's why, I don't know if you saw the report from somebody on ESPN that said that maybe Bill's in the hot seat,

I saw that. I was like, and I was like, that's just quite the opposite. That's not reading the situation at all properly, I don't think. Well, that's somebody that has no idea what they're talking about. Let's just be honest. If the team, if there's an NFL season, and let's say the team goes six and ten, you can move on, right? But if they go seven and nine, it's the nine and seven, what, bar and grill, Right? If they go eight and eight, nine and seven,

cow would really have to step up to make that, to make that decision, because it goes against the grain of everything that we've been told, that we've been shown. And for everything that I continue to hear in depth and detail, cow has fully bought in to O'Brien and Easterby. And ultimately, who granted them this power? Bill O'Brien didn't grant himself this power. Bill O'Brien received this power from Cal McNair. Cal McNair is involved.

He's invested. He's not absentee just because he doesn't speak to us, doesn't speak to the media, doesn't speak to the fan. It doesn't mean that he's not involved. But this is the Bill O'Brien show. This is the Jack Eustraby show. And it would take something, you know, very disappointing. I believe six and ten are worse.

Maybe seven and nine get you there. Six and ten or worse for them to conceivably make a move and even that would be surprising simply because Cal McNair has bought in so heavily to O'Brien and Easterbe. You and I will not talk until next Friday when the draft first round was completed. Where are you on the interest level of this draft if it wasn't for the fact there's no sports around? To me, I'm 500 times more invested because I need some live sports and this is a close thing we're going to get to it. It's the only thing we're going to get. I mean, honestly, right?

Until Major League Baseball or the NBA finds some way to start potentially playing games again, and that's increasingly likely without fans in the stand. So even that, I really think, I mean, the more I think about it, the more I write about it, talk about it, hear about it. Games without fans in the stands, obviously, it's something is better than nothing. But after the second or third game, it's just going to be so weird and cold and different compared to what we're using. to. The only thing that's going to be remotely normal, Matt,

is the NFL draft. And so, yeah, because it's just time, because everything it's going on, because nothing's going on, everything's going on in the world, nothing is going on in the sports world. The NFL draft, even if it's Kedalana's basement, even if there are glitches, even if much of it's done

virtually and via Zoom and video conferences, at least it's something. I mean, I'm excited about it, and the Texans have a 40th pick. Normally, I wouldn't even care. And it's going to be something live to watch, but I will say I'm much more excited about the last dance to Michael Jordan Bulls documentary that I am actually about the NFL draft. I think that's going to be the must watch sports TV in April is going to be the last dance. And did you see the story that was a rapid board that said that NFL media draft experts have no clue what's going on, all the changes.

Basically, I'm paraphrasing here. We were just discussing that before you join us. It feels like to me that maybe the evaluation of the quarterback position, because that's the one that's getting the most conversation, is where maybe these so-called draft experts are probably missing out on it, according to if that report is accurate. Yeah, and it's interesting to, I think it's a great point. It's interesting, too.

Last year, if memory serves, the mock drafts were horrendous. Last year, there was almost a freeze out of all the Internet, mock blogger. You have a real job, and in your free time, evaluate YouTube video. The mock drafts were horrendous. And this year, I mean, it's going to be completely all over the place because coaches, general manager, scouts, since the college football season ended since, you know, really since February, March, they haven't been able to see any of these players, and since the combine, they haven't been able to see any of these players in person. Any good scout GM will say the combine is one-tenth, one-twentieth of your final factor

in drafting somebody. So that's going to be. the other interesting part. I also think trades. There should be a lot of trades. We've seen that recently. You have trades shaking it up. It's going to kind of be like the early 1970s, 80s with the NFL draft, you know, thrown back three or four decades, and all the mock drafts are going to be completely wrong this year. It should be really interesting. All right. You are watching the events of resumption of play, if it, when it happens, where it happens. What are your general thoughts about, let's go to baseball because my trial a couple days ago, we basically said, I don't know if I want to do this. It feels like to me that baseball players are showing

greater resistance towards this epicenter of a place to play baseball as compared to basketball. My guess is a lot of that is because the basketball season is going to come to an end at some point. They just don't know how long the baseball players might be stuck in Florida and or Arizona. I 1,000 percent agree with you on that one. Think about this. The NBA was at Game 70, Basically, they had 12 birth to season games. If you're an NBA team and your team sucks, you're done in two weeks, right? So if the NBA tried to finish regular season, then they play the playoffs. I mean, you're down to eight teams in a conference, and then it's four, and then it's two.

So it affects the players, but not nearly, not nearly Matt, as much as Major League Baseball, where it's 162 games. If you're all in the same area, you're in, you know, you're quarantined the hotel. It's so science fiction. It's so disaster movie. You know, if you're a baseball nerd and you're desperate to have sports, it sounds good to you just because baseball will be back. But it's so unthinkable to actually live, participate in that type of scenario.

You don't have fans in the stand. It's going to be such a dead environment. It's going to be like playing baseball at the doctor's office, basically. I still don't see how it works. That being said, I want it back as much as anybody. The second they can come back, find a way to do it, and maybe this just be the aberration. It'll be like sports during wartime. You know, you always look back and there's some type of asterisk where that was there in World War II, that type of situation.

It may end up being like that to where it was just basically a lost year in all the major sports leagues had to do anything they could to find a way to eventually return in some fashion, but it really was never normal the entire time. All right. You are going to be in front of your television for The Last Dance, correct? I cannot wait. I have a DVR and I am ready to go. Who's saying Last Dance better? Selina or Donna Summer? Yeah, I'm going to defer to your Twitter account because I recently saw a tweet that Matt Thomas had referencing Donna Summer. So I'm going to guess hard that Donna Summer was much better. I don't really, I'm going to go with Donna Summer. hear that ross Ross was selling that

selina was the better version of it I didn't even sell that I sold that it wasn't trash was what you called it just people wasn't there like some cheesy garth brook song oh that was the dance

not the last man i mean selina to me like people when when elvis passed no matter whatever Elvis did it was the greatest version ever and people have that fan base of that guy right

i think there are people that will choose to love people even more so when they're dead than when they're alive. Oh, 100%. For most of those entertainers, I mean, out of all due respect,

at some point, you're better off just passing because then you become 100 times more famous and respected and everyone forgets all your fault. That's really how it goes. Like when I pass, they'll be like, God, that Matt Thomas was a hell of a sports talk host.

I've been saying that for years, Matt. What? You won't be dead for years? That's not nice? All right. BTS have a good weekend. We'll talk to you next week. All right.

Thanks, guys. Take care. How about that?