The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Feel Good Astros Series Win, Mike D'Antoni & Joe Kelly Speaks

Episode Date: August 13, 2020

larger than life. Yeah. Lunch timers is the Matt Thomas show. 12 o'clock straight up here in H-town. What's happening at lunch timers, as Matt Thomas would say?

We've got to update the music with Matt out, Brendan. I like it so much better. And Bregman lifts it over the leap of the second baseman Dubon and into center for a base hit. Springer around third. He scores. Brickman ties the game. with an RBI single.

It's one-one. Yeah, it's just a, it's just a series win over the lowly San Francisco Giants. Small victory. But the Astros, we're just going to run with it. They're going non-stop, baby. And Maldonado hits it in the year.

Deep to left field, it sends back Dickerson, looking up. See you later. A three-run, home run for Bertine Maldonado. And the Astros go up five to one. Breggman getting in the action. machete, who would have had a grand slam, but I think it was Carlos Correa scored on a wild pitch,

although you do have the blutterfly. It's like maybe that wouldn't have happened. And the Astros get a much needed win last night. And that's lifted down the right field line. Reddick racing over, stops, reaches back across his body and makes the catch. And that is the ball game. The Houston Astros take two out of three from the San Francisco Giants. Winning tonight, game by a final of five to one. Eight and ten, look, we'll take it at this point. Like I said, we're going to celebrate. I actually thought about coming into the show with We Are the Champions.

That would have been appropriate because you'll take what you can get for the Astros. I mean, they'd lost five straight. And then they won the one game against the Giants. And then they coughed up the second game of the series with Ryan Presley giving a blowing another save. The Astros now, they've lost 10 games. They have seven blown saves. Think about that.

Think about that how much that hurts, but that's okay. A win against the San Francisco Giants yesterday, a series win, just a whole hum, nothing to worry about business-like win for the Astros. There was not a nail-biter. It didn't go into 13 innings, and you can feel okay about it. Ross Viery out with you here on the Matt Thomas show until 3 o'clock. Coming up at 1 o'clock, we have Mike Dan Tony, Rockets, Head Coach. Conversation always good with him. A lot of stuff going on with the Rockets is they love.

lost last night and they have some injury news that we'll get to here in just a second. But the Astros there getting a win. And you guys can get to me on the phone lines at 7-13-21-2-5-7-90. How are you feeling now? Are you feeling a little bit better? You had a nice, nothing to worry about when. You didn't have to say up until midnight. 7-1-3-212-5-7-90. He had George Springer back in the lineup for the Astros. He was able to get a hit. But the real story to me, it's Zach Grinky just not. I mean, he's universally loved, right? Even all of these Astros hate accounts that are out there on Twitter have to admit that Zach Grinky is a freaking American treasure. I mean, the guy is going out there. He's calling his own signs. He's barking at the

umpire like, hey, man, you can't miss that. And the umpire doesn't even flinch. I don't even remember the guy's name, but he was like his first game calling balls and strikes. So you know, he's all nervous as hell up there. You don't want to displease Zach Grinky. And Zach Grinky is like, hey, man, you can't keep missing those. And that is exactly right. I mean, uh, the umpiring was a little bit inconsistent, but it's just a fresh, a breath of fresh air of the last couple of nights with, well, the two of the last three nights, Zach Rinky pitching well last night, six and a third. Did give up seven heads, but worked out of a lot of jams. He got the seven strikeouts. And when he is on, he is just out there painting masterpieces. And that's what we saw last night,

because we know, of course, this stage in his career, you're not going to see Zach Rinky blow it by a bunch of people. So that's just not what he does. And then you have Brooks and a Blake. I'm starting to learn these relievers a little bit better. Brendan, are you getting more? I'm a handle of the... No, you're not? It's still just a who's who of who's giving up runs. Well, Brooks Raley was traded to the...

The guy had... This is just like... There needs to be a book written about the 2020 Astros. You got this guy, Brooks Ralee, who hadn't thrown a major league pitch since 2013. Apparently, he was with the Lottie Giants. Your thoughts on the Lati Giants of the Korean Baseball Association, Brendan? Okay, thank you. That's what my thoughts exactly as well.

So he'd been with the Lati Giants at the Korean Baseball Association. He was going to be outrighted by the Reds. And then now the Astros pick him up and James Click, and he's contributing last night. The guy threw an inning in two-thirds and a couple of strikeouts didn't give up a hit or a walk. So, I mean, good stuff from him last night. And then Blake Taylor, he has been pretty good outside of one outing for the Astros.

So he was a four-run outing. and then you had Ryan Presley pitching back-to-back night, so he wasn't going to be available to come in. And it wasn't even a save situation. But I was just, the most calming thing about the entire experience for me last night was that you didn't have anybody get in a bunch of trouble. Zach Grinke did get some traffic on the base pass and did give it one run, but he was just spectacular for the majority of the night.

And then Brooks came out and did well, and then Blake followed that up as well with pitching well. So it's encouraging to see. And you could kind of see, we had Dusty Baker on yesterday. And he was talking about it. And I think he's right. It's very hard, certainly in a 60-game season. We don't want to judge a three-game run or a five-game run.

And we would never do that in a normal season. But this is an normal season. And we're just, it feels like we're prone to panicking a little bit. But this is still a really talented team. This is still a team with the one, two, three. Well, now you got Josh Redick in the two-spot. But, I mean, the theoretical top 5, 6, 7 of the lineup is really good. And they're going to hit.

And, oh, by the way, they should be getting Yordon Alvarez very soon. So this is a really good lineup. They're going to be okay. They're at the very least an average team. Isn't there part of you, too, that feels like as these arms get extended and, like, you saw Grinky go long, I think the longest outing of him for the day, a party that feels like that makes you feel more comfortable is you get deeper? Yeah.

Well, right now, I mean, I can say trust. I trust two starters for the Astros, right? Do you trust Christian Javier yet? I mean, he had two good starts, but then he was shaky and his last, and the guy's a rookie. No, but I think even right now, when you don't, up until now, it's like if you get five innings out of his starter, anybody, that was a good day. Hey, I was thrilled about a week ago. I was thrown the four, four innings out of any starter.

That's what I'm saying. Yeah. I just, I don't know. You're right. You still only trust two starters. I don't care if it's Christian Javier or who it is. I just feel better. as the Astros can get five or six innings out of guys.

Yeah, I mean, look, if you go six and a third, it's like somebody else going eight in another season. So it's just, uh, Zach Rankie was really good for the Astros last night. And so they got a series win. If you get, once you get swept out of the, get swept out of the Oakland County Coliseum.

I mean, first of all, you're just in that dump in that dirty rat hole in the first place in Oakland. And then you lose all those games. You had the whole brawl situation on Sunday with Alex Centron getting, uh, getting, suspended and there's just been everything swirling around the Astros this entire season.

And Joe Kelly went on Ross Stripling's podcast. We'll have more on that in the next segment. And we can just talk about Joe Kelly. And he, the Astros are rats. Okay, we'll get to that in a little bit. But it just feels good.

Yeah, it's the Giants. Yeah, they suck. But that's okay. The Astros are going to be playing teams that aren't very good for the majority of this season, quite frankly.

You're going to be going up against the Angels. You got the Mariners coming up. The Rangers to me aren't too scary of a team, or nor should they be, even though they're ahead of the Astros right now and the AOS standing. That's okay. I think that the Astros are going to find their water there, and I think they will challenge for the AOS crown or at least for the very least second place, which is going to get you into the playoffs. So feeling a little bit better about the Astros after that win last night, and it especially feels good because it wasn't one that you had to sweat out. All right, so you got the Astros going on with that last night. Last night you are, I guess yesterday afternoon.

It was a matinee game for the Houston Rockets. They lost, unfortunately, to the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers were shorthanded. So were the Rockets. And I got to be honest. Last two games that the Rockets have lost, I'm not really that worried about it. They lost the back-to-back to the San Antonio Spurs and to the Indiana Pacers. But you had Russell Westbrook, Eric Gordon and Daniel House Jr.

Out in the first half. And then the second half, I'm sorry, James Hardin was out in the first half. and then Russell Westbrook out in the second half. We do have some Russell Westbrook injury news. But you didn't have Russell last night. He didn't have Daniel House Jr. who's been playing excellent throughout the bubble, and he's supposed to be okay with a stub toe.

And James Hardin was fantastic. That's my biggest worry. James Hardin drops 45, 17, and 9. The majority of the time, the Houston Rockets are going to be okay. I'm a little worried about PJ Tucker. Robert Covington made both of his, or I'm sorry, three of eight of his threes that he put up.

but I'm actually encouraged, by the way, the rockets are playing, even if they're not going to have Russell Westbrook, if you had not heard, Jonathan Fagan talking yesterday or talking today, first of all, the news came out yesterday. The Rockets made an announcement. Russell Westbrook got an MRI. Russell Westbrook has a quadriceps strain, and it was unclear as of yesterday how much time he was going to miss.

Well, now you have Jonathan Fagan putting out today that Russell Westbrook is expecting. to have missed at least the start of the playoffs. And they're going to be playing in a 4-5 matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder. And obviously, I'm worried about it. I'm not happy that Russell Westbrook is out and not going to be with the Rockets.

But I think they can play, I still think they're better than the Oklahoma City Thunder without Russell Westbrook. And with him, they're clearly better. So missing the start of the playoffs, does that mean two games? Does that mean four games?

Does that mean one game? We don't know. We're waiting for more information on that. I do know that if he can go and if he is at least some semblance of healthy, Russell Westbrook is going to want to get out there because he eats, drinks and sleeps basketball. And we know that the winning spirit that Russell Westbrook has, that sometimes to his detriment. But he's going to be okay, I think. P.J. Tucker got banged up in the game last night as well, didn't play the fourth quarter. He's got a finger issue and he was a little gimpy.

That's not something that's going to keep PJ Tucker out either. So my worry level for the Rockets low, my worry level for the Astros a little bit lower now after a series win over the San Francisco Giants. How do you feel about it? 713-212-5-79. The phone number 7-13-212-7-90 tweets to at SportsRV and at Brendan Riley underscore. My name is Ross Veer-R-R-R-It is the Matt-Tomass show without Matt Thomas. We got Mike Dantony coming up at 1 o'clock. Keep it right here on Sports Talk 7-9.

Yo, what's up? This you boy, Bumb-B, the Trill-O-G with the whitest. in America, Matt Thomas. You are now tuned in to Sports Talk 790, man. Oh, Joe Kelly. What a real treat this guy is. Ross V. Realt back with you on the Matt Thomas show without Matt Thomas. Matt is out today and tomorrow. He is, you know, it's a big day.

His son is going out to Texas Tech. He said he's a junior now? That's actually crazy to me. I remember little Cam Thomas And when he was pitching in Little League And Matt was convinced that he was going to be a major league pitcher Because he was striking out 12 year olds But anyways

No, so I mean It's just crazy He's going to be out the next couple of days He's got a long road trip ahead of him So best of luck to Matt Thomas On the drive out to Lubbock Because he's taking his young one Back to school

In these uncertain and unprecedented times Don't shake your head at me, Brendan What? These times are unprecedented And are uncertain And it's what's another one? The new, this is the new normal Okay.

How long do we have to go before they're no longer unprecedented? Well, if the whole country shut down for a year, that's unprecedented. If it's shut down for nine months, it's always going to be unprecedented until somehow the coronavirus gets zapped away. I don't know. That would almost feel unprecedented. How about this? When we have a regular college football season, the unprecedented times are over. Is that fair?

I just feel like at a certain point it becomes. as you said, the new normal. They're no longer unprecedented. They're very president. We've been doing this work. I'm going to have to wear a mask for the rest of my life. Is that what you're selling? No.

I mean, don't have to. No. Cairns are going to be getting caught up in Whole Foods market and getting on YouTube because they're throwing fits at the store the rest of our lives? No, that's not going to happen, is it? Jeez.

No, now I'm upset. All right, talking about Joe Kelly here. First of all, you're probably acutely aware. Kelly is an a-hole. Joe Kelly was throwing at the Astros, and then he started that whole scuffle with the Dodgers, and then he got suspended for eight games. It got reduced to five games. Well, apparently, Ross's stripling of the Dodgers has a podcast. I don't even know this, but he does. And so Joe Kelly went on said podcast, and I have to think, first of all, let's predict, is Joe Kelly going to get suspended for what he said on this podcast? Do you think,

Brendan? I'm thinking, yes. I honestly have a heard it yet. Okay, well, I'm about to bring you some of the, some of the heat he brought. Look, I'm not really mad about it. I kind of don't care. If Joe Kelly wants to go out there and voice his opinion, his uninformed opinion, which we'll get to here quickly, he's entitled to do that, freedom of speech, whatever. I don't think he should be suspended or fine for going out and speaking his mind on a podcast, but that remains to be seen. So let's go ahead and start. This is on the Ross Stripling podcast called The Big Swing, because if you're doing a baseball podcast, You have to have a punny name for it.

It's the big swing. It's the strike three call. It's over the fences with Brendan Riley. You got to come up with some kind of baseball pun if you're doing a baseball podcast. Those are the rules. So here is Joe Kelly, first of all, talking about why he was so mad at the Astros. My personal friend and a guy who I passionately love was a fall guy. If I'm on the twins, I'm mad that they cheat.

But I could get over that because they know they cheated. Everyone knows they cheated. It's fine. That's completely fine. It's not fine to do it, but it's fine that we already know what happened. It was not fine. It's like I said, is ruining someone's life to make yourself look better. That ain't fine.

Well, Alex Corr's life isn't ruined. Unless he spent all his money, he's still a millionaire. That's who Joe Kelly is referencing because Joe Kelly was with the Red Sox in 2018 when they won the World Series championship. And on a year where they got punished for, cheating, Joe Kelly. So he's really upset that the, apparently the Astros through Alex Cora and Carlos Beltron under the bus.

And he says that because of this, the Astros are not respectable men. If they would say, hey, I was super scared. I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to be suspended from baseball. I don't want to lose money. I had a rat. Like if you would say that and grow a pair of balls and say that to somebody, like me, if I was a snitch or bad up, like, dude, I panicked. I don't say, hey, my bad bro, like, I'm sorry,

like, I'll go do an interview and do, do, do, do. Like, no. So until that happens, I don't know if it has, because I don't talk to those guys and I don't want to talk to those guys, because they're, they're not respectable men to me. So he hasn't talked to those guys. Won't you have a conversation for him? I think I knew Joe Kelly in high school. Uh, okay, he just, he just, this feels so immature as what I'm saying. Like a gossipy bitch. Is that what he is in high school? But it just, it feels like I'm listening to a, little kid. No, bro. I don't want to talk to those guys. No. Well, why don't you talk to them and you can figure out what, get the facts. Well, that's one of the funny things about this is like,

is you can, if you can communicate with somebody, you can probably get their side of the story. If I did it, I would apologize. Screw you. Yeah, uh, if this is, yeah, you don't know that, number one. And your, your team was involved in it in 2018 on the Red Sox. Like, come on, they were, they were cheating in 2018. Rob Manfred's report, cheating. breaking of the rules. That's what happened. It's not the Astros fault. They're not the ones that took that stuff to the Red Sox.

Alex Cora did. The guy that you're trying to defend, Alex Cora, this saintly man that could do no wrong, apparently cheated with the Astros and the Red Sox documented by Commissioner Rob Manfred. But Joe Kelly is, he's all in on Alex Cora. I know that AC wants to eventually, when everything kind of gets settled, I know that he wants to

he wants to say what happened. He would love to. He hasn't because he's a freaking respectable man. And so when people lie and do that and entertain his name, that doesn't sit right with me. Now see, this is the thing. Joe Kelly is probably,

he hasn't talked to any of the Astros and he's really close, good friends with Alex Cora. So he's probably talked to Alex Cora. So he's going to get one side of that story. Alex Cora did have that little statement that he came out with, where he said he took umbrage with being singled out as a fall guy.

and this is what Joe Kelly is parroting, so you know he got this from Alex Cora. And that's the problem. You've got one side of the story, Joseph, okay? And if you read the report, which I could just about guarantee you Joe Kelly did not read the report. It says in the report,

player-driven scheme. It says that. If you could read, which hopefully Mr. Kelly can, you would see that in the report that Rob Manfred put out. player driven scheme. So to act like it was the Astros and there were a bunch of rats and snitched on Alex

Cora and said it was him and him only, that's not true. They said it was also Carlos Beltran and they also called it a player driven scheme. That's what Rob Manfred said. But unfortunately, he couldn't punish the players. I understand. That doesn't sit right with Joe Kelly. That doesn't sit right with the majority of baseball fans. But if you do one extra step of critical thinking,

You will figure out that the Astros would not have said a word if they were not offered immunity. And the rules were not. It says in the report as well. Just read the freaking report if you want to get all upset and up in arms. I think we would be doing better as a country, as a baseball following country. It's like a nine-page report, all right? It's not that much homework. Go home, Joe Kelly, read the report where it says it's a player-driven scheme and where they're offered immunity

and where the rules were not properly communicated to the players so they couldn't be punished. You had about a month ago, the union and the owners agreed on sign stealing electronically sign stealing rules. If those are violated in the future, guess what? Players are going to be punished

because now it's collectively bargained. It wasn't collectively bargained before, and the commissioner would not have anything without the testimony of the players and they would not have testified if they didn't have immunity. So it's a non-starter. I guess, you know what,

if they weren't offered immunity and nothing ever came of this, Joe Kelly would be happier because they wouldn't be, quote, snitches and rats. So Joe Kelly just doesn't have the facts. Although he tries to say that he does have the facts, and Cody Bellinger has the facts.

So he's mad at Carlos Correa. That's one of the reasons that he was throwing at him because Carlos Correa came out and said it, Cody. Come on. Codes? If you haven't got the facts, you got to shut the bleach. up. Well, Joe Kelly thinks he has the facts. What Kray said to Belly,

belly had all the facts. No, tell my teammate to shut the fuck up. No, no, he didn't. Okay? No, he didn't, Joe. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt you there. Go ahead. What Kray said to Belly, belly had all the facts. You don't tell my teammate to shut the up and then spit at us during a pandemic. That ain't right. That ain't right. He's not looking out for the health of anybody doing that. He's going to get his own teammates sick doing that if he had the if he had the corona. Like he'd get us sick. Like that's just not right. So like I would always not respect. them in that way.

Okay. I don't even remember Carlos Correa spitting on anybody. Did Carlos Correa spit on somebody? Did I miss that? I was wondering the same thing, and it seems like it would be really hard. I don't think he would make that up, though. I just don't really remember. I believe he thinks it, but Ross, that would have been such

a big story, and you would have thought he had gotten a major suspension for that. Yeah, I don't remember any spitting or anything like that, but if Joe Kelly's upset about that, that's fine. I can't speak to that. But Cody Bellinger did not, you can't. come out there and say Cody Bellinger had the facts. You just can't do that.

What Cray said to Billy, Billy had all the facts. No, he didn't. This is from Codes. I thought the apologies were whatever. I thought Jim Cranes was weak. I thought Manfred's punishment was weak given the player's immunity. These guys are cheating for three years.

I think what people don't realize is Alive is stolen MVP from Judge 17 and everyone knows they stole the ring from us, but it's over. Okay, there are, factually incorrect statements riddled throughout one paragraph from you, Cody Bellinger. Okay? The guys weren't cheating for three years.

Listen to Carlos Correa. Listen to what all they said. It was in 17 and a little bit in 18. Carlos Correa said it was not in 18 and not in 19, whatever. And if you look at the trash can banging website that the Astros fan put up, they basically did it from about May to September. There was the Danny Farquhar game where the Chicago White Sox heard everything and they kept changing up their signs, and there were pretty much virtually no trash can bangs after that.

So that's the extra step that the Astros went, right? Because we know that the Red Sox, they cheated with their Apple Watches, and then they were still relaying signs to batters on second base. Same thing for the Yankees. The way the Astros revolutionized it was with the trash can banging, so they didn't have to have somebody on second base. But everybody else was doing pretty much the same thing, except for what the Astros did for a couple of months for May until September.

That's the fact. So codes did not have the facts, Joe Kelly. You're wrong and you're willfully ignorant on this. If you're going to get all up in arms and throw it guys' heads and threaten their careers, I would like for you to have the facts on it. Maybe I'm crazy. I don't know. And so, you also, Jose Al Tuve stole the MVP from Aaron Judge.

Well, Jose Al Tuve didn't cheat. He didn't use the trash can banging. Look at the data. Okay? And you want to say, well, he had guys on base and got RBIs. Jose Al-Tuve didn't win the MVP because his RBIs. Trust me. Okay? It was because of his OPS. It was because of his defense.

And it was because of what he did at the plate. Nobody looked at it. I don't even know what, what were his RBI numbers in 17? I'm going to guess it wasn't that many. And if it were extra guys on base, you're talking about minimal amounts of extra guys on base. And oh, by the way, Duke University study said it didn't help at all. So it's possible that there were zero extra guys on base because of this Astros. scheme. So Joe Kelly doesn't have the facts. Cody Bellinger doesn't have the facts. You want to be all upset about it.

Be my guest. All right. Time for a break here on the Matt Thomas show without Matt Thomas. You want to get in. You want to react. How are you feeling about Joe Kelly and all the things that he's saying on Ross freaking Stripling's podcast? 713212-790. The phone number 7-1-3-2-1-790. It is the Matt Thomas show without Matt Thomas. Coming up at 1 o'clock, it's head coach, Mike Dan Tony. So keep it right here on Sports Talk 790. We are former players. We are lifelong fans. And we're your home for your voice. Houston's going to have their voice with heard today.

Sports Talk 790. Your most complete lineup in Houston Sports. 1233 here on the Matt Thomas show. Without Matt Thomas. Ross Villarreal, Brendan Riley, with you folks. It's 713. 212-790. 7-1-3-212-790.

Talking a little bit about the Astros. They've won two out of three now, baby. this is the time to get excited. Sure, they won like a three of their first four and everything was humming along and they were beating up on the Mariners and we thought this was cool and the Astros were just going to cruise into another World Series title

or at least into a World Series. Well, not so fast in the games following that. But now winners of two of their last three, the lineup is going to be good. The lineup is going to be fine. I'm not really worried about that. But you get the six and a third from Zach Grinky last night was huge

not only for just booed, boosting morale of how you're feeling about the starting rotation. But to help the bullpen out a little bit, you only had to go to two relievers in Brooks Rayleigh and Blake Taylor. So Brooks and Blake, the tandem getting it done for the Astros last night. And they're now eight in ten. And now next up on the schedule for the Rockets, I mean for the Rockets, for the Astros is the Seattle Mariners. But we were talking a lot about the Joe Kelly situation.

And I don't know. I understand that everybody wants to go after Joe Kelly. And he's just wrong. He has his opinion, and he's just getting the wrong side of the story, as I said. Alex Cora is his boy. He talks about, I mean, he has effusive praise for Alex Cora throughout all these cuts, and I'm not going to go listen to Ross Stripling's podcast, but I'm sure he just talks about how much he loves Alex Cora.

And that's why he's mad. I'm sure he's had conversations with Alex Cora. I'm sure he talks to Alex Cora, and he's gotten just his side of the story, and he feels like he was railroaded. But if you look at the report, if you look at what the players, said it was a player-driven thing. It was a player-driven scheme. Absolutely, they said that. But unfortunately, the players could not be punished. And them's the breaks. So, I mean, the funny thing to me is, have you noticed, Brendan, that it's all pitchers and or young

hitters who've only been in the league for a couple of years? Like Cody Bellinger was a rookie in 17, right? He's spoken out about the Astros. You've had Marcus Stroman has said a couple of things. Joe Kelly has said a couple of things. And then when it's like a veteran guy who's been around the league and seen some things like Brett Gardner for the Yankees. Whenever they ask somebody's like, yeah, you know, it is what it is, man. Let's move. I think we just want to move on. That's because Brett Gardner's seen some things.

Brett Gardner knows that this is how baseball works and how it's gone over the several last several years. Listening to those clips, I don't even necessarily get the vibe Joe Kelly is. He isn't cared that much about the cheating. No. I think this is like, the more you listen to it, the more you go, he's just upset because he feels like his boy. He feels like his boy was wrong.

Yeah, because you know what, you're right. Because the pitching part is, and Joe Kelly is like that, too. He's kind of like, you know, it is what it is on the cheating, but he's probably seen it. He's seen it in 2018. He's seen it in 17, and he's probably seen it all over the place. And these pitchers know that it happens. So he's mad about how he thinks that Alex Cora got railroaded, right?

And Code Bellinger is mad. They stole MVP, bro. You've been in the league for three years. You probably haven't seen something like this, but it's everywhere. And so, I mean, it seems to me it's usually, if it's, It's a hitter. They're very young in the game, or it's a pitcher that are really, really coming hard at the Astros and what they did. Like the Mike Clevengers of the world and stuff like that.

All right, 713, 2125. 9 is the phone number here on the Matt Thomas Show. 713, 2, 1,2, 5. 7.9. Let's go to Michael and Katie here on the phones. What's up, Michael? Hey, I don't know if you agree with this, if you would you trade Josh Reddick for a couple of twins prospects, Mike Cox, Big, and Terry Bulls? see, I'm not Terry Bulls, Louis Bulls.

If they traded him, would he know it? Oh, I know. I know who this is. This is not Michael and Katie. I know, yeah. That's a prank caller. That's fine. Appreciate you getting in. You gave yourself away a little earlier.

You've gotten me before. Come on, man. All right. What's his thing? That wasn't even... Don't worry about it. It's not worth our time. 713-1-2-5-790 is the phone number.

7-1-3-1-2-5-7-90. If you have a legitimate call, phones are why. wide open here on Sports Talk 790. But, I mean, just continuing on the Joe Kelly thing. That's, well, let's just have, here's a little bit more from Joe Kelly on Ross Stripling's podcast. On why you don't want to associate with the Astros or you wouldn't want to associate them, well, you wouldn't be with them at all. No, I mean, I don't know if you really want to be affiliated with that.

I mean, especially, I mean, I wasn't on that Dodger team, but especially knowing what you know now, like, I'd be pissed. It's not like, hey, let's work out together in chat and be like, hey, no hard feelings, because that's history. And I mean, it could have easily went your guys' way, like by far, a landslide if none of that happened or occurred. So for me, it's like, I live my life. And I will always hold something, people make mistakes, which is just human nature. And I, and I forgive people. But the sincere and the apology and the way that it was went about without really getting the real truth out of it is what kind of

bugs me the most. And like I said, it's, it just bugs me the most when you taint someone else's name, like I said. Like that, that really irritates me. See, that's how that that's where all this Joe Kelly stuff comes from. We've gotten to the bottom of it. We figured it out. He's upset that his boy Alex Cora got his name smeared and that he was the only one punished. And unfortunately, I don't know if there was a possibility for Alex Cora to get immunity on this. But, but he was with the 2017 Astros when they cheated. And he was with the 2018 red. socks when they cheated. So Alex Cora is very far from a victim here.

Joe Kelly. I'm sorry. That's just the way it is right now. You can get upset and be all and piss and moan and call them weak and rats and snitches and all that type of stuff. If you were in their position, you would have done the same thing. All the Astros did was be honest and tell the truth.

And so Alex Cora was one of the masterminds of this thing. And I'm sure that upsets you. but them's the facts. So clearly you don't have all the facts. Clearly you're very biased and only have one side of the story from Alex Cora. And I guess that's cause enough for you to get suspended and start throwing at Astros players' heads. And that's fine. That's okay.

Joe Kelly is going to go for his guy and the Astros are going to back up their guys. That's just how it's going to be. 713-1-2-5-790. 7-1-3-1-2-790. Let's hope this is a bad joke, Benjamin. See, at least I know if I'm going to get a bad joke, we know up front. What's up, Ben? I'm just Joe Smalley.

You know, I don't know about that guy. I'll leave it to, I'll just leave it at that if you've heard the rumors. But if you could say, who's improved their draft stock? Their free agent status renewal with the Astros so far this far into the year, Correa or Springer, who do you think to improve their contracts? Well, Correa is not a free agent. Yeah, Correa is not a free agent. this year, but George Springer is.

So, I mean, one is still under a contract for another year. So it's not apples to apples on that comparison, Ben. But look, I've been in the minority, and I think some people are coming to my side. I'm more of a believer in Carlos Correa's long-term viability as a Houston Astro than George Springer's. I mean, George Springer literally said it yesterday. I play the way I play, and I get hurt every year because the way I play. And that's fine. You love the passion that George Springer plays with.

You love the fact that he's willing to do. dive for balls and roll on his wrist and willing to run into literally run through a wall to try to catch a fly ball. But you put himself at risk. He's 30 years old. He's not necessary. I mean, he's at a premium defensive position, but shortstop is an even more premium defensive position. Carlos is 25. He has a higher ceiling to me at the plate long term. And so that's to me, and both of them have had injury history. But I feel. like the style in which George Springer plays makes him more prone to injury than Carl's Correa. So to me, I would say if I have to sign one long term, it would be Correa.

You know, Ross, you'd run through a wall for 790. You're always working hard over there. We appreciate it. And then, go aster us. Well, it depends on how much they'd give me. All right. Thanks a lot, Ben. Appreciate you getting in, man. All right, 713, 2, 1, 2, 5, 790. The phone number on hold. We'll get to you in a second. We've also got Rockets head coach, Mike Dan Tony. What's the latest on Russell, Westbrook, how's he feeling after back-to-back losses on a back-to-back? We'll talk to Mike Dantonie coming up next here on the, I was going to say the sports RV show. That's not accurate.

The Matt Thomas show here on Sports Talk 790. Back in a second after this short break. Don't go anywhere. Right. Half the work day is done. Celebrate with Matt. Hey, Matt. Love your show.

Look, what was I talking about? By the sound of it, some of you started the party at breakfast. Matt Thomas on Sports Talk 790. I have to resist the urge. to give a heavy metal growl when we come back to a song like this. I'm going to resist because there's two more hours left in the show after this, man. I can't go losing my voice. And I'm solo out here.

I mean, thank you for being with me, Brendan, but, you know, it's hard out here for a pimp. That's what we need you guys on the phone lines. You want to tweet in as well. 713-212-5-790 is the phone number at SportsRV at Brendan Riley underscore for the tweet. So a couple of you guys wanted to get on the phones. We got head coach Mike Dan Tony of the Houston Rockets coming up at one of clock but in the meantime you guys want to talk about Joe Kelly who I mean he's got one side of the story and he's going for his guy and I actually you know what I get where he's coming from and it's

almost admirable the problem is he's stumping for a guy who cheated in multiple spots and he's stumping for a guy who told him his side of the story and then said I don't even want to talk to the players well if you're only going to get one side of the story then you are going to have a biased view and that's what you've got Joseph all right 713212 575 90 James and the high Heights here on 790. What's up? How are you today? I'm having a beautiful afternoon. Hello? Hi. I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you for a second. That's okay.

You know, if there's one thing I've learned over the past few months is that people are just going to believe whatever it is that they want to believe, regardless of what truth gets the spacked dead of the face. Yeah, I'll say that again, James. People are going to believe what they want to believe? Hello? You guys, I'm sorry that you couldn't hear. You can hear me now? I can hear you now, James. Go ahead. I apologize for that. I forgive you.

There's one thing that I've learned in the past few months. It is that people are just going to believe whatever it is that they want to believe, and regardless of when truth hits them smack dead in the face. That's true. It's just, and I'll tie this in. I've been absent from social media for years. It's just got back on Facebook a few months ago. Uh-oh.

And it's very, very apparent that truth. rarely, if ever, seems to matter. If it doesn't fit the narrative that supports someone's story, it's easier just to believe whatever it is they want to believe and move forward, because that's more interesting. Yeah, you know what? That's very true, and that's a very good point, James. Thank you for getting in.

It's 2020, and you're not going to change your mind about anything, and you're going to get disinformation from one side and the other, and you're only going to believe the disinformation that supports your theory. It's called confirmation biased. You look for things that confirm your previous. beliefs. And Joe Kelly probably doesn't want to change his mind. Joe Kelly could probably hear, he could probably get

video of what the Astros were doing and video of them talking. Like he could get a something of Alex Kora saying, hey guys, with a game plan. Like they're in an NFL meeting room. All right. And it could be Alex Kora up there with a pointer and a PowerPoint with pictures of a trash can and

the massage gun they used. And he would say it was Photoshop. And he would say it's a deep fake. And he would say this is not right and this never happened. That's just what we do in 2020. That's fine. We don't pay attention to facts. We pay attention to how things make us feel. And when they make us feel a certain way, we're going to dig in and we're not going to change our minds. That's what Joe Kelly is doing. Joe Kelly is being 20-20s. You know what? So maybe I shouldn't get so mad at him. He is like basically every single other

American. One person says something and you can slant it any way you want. You can take it out of context, and then you're not going to be able to change your mind of how you feel about it. That's just what we do in these days. Good point by James there. 713, 2-1-2-579. The phone number 7-13-1-2-5-7-9. Let's go to Jim and Crosby here on Sports Talk 790. What's up, Jim?

Hey, thanks for taking the call. The people I have a problem with, well, I have a problem with how Manfred, the commissioner, and Mike Fires, you know, what stops Mike fires from knocking on the commissioner's door and say, hey, I need to talk and get something off my conscience. Why do you have to go to the athletic? I agree with Big Poppy, David Ortiz of the Red Sox throwing Mike fires under the bus for the clubhouse to the public. This is a systemic problem, and Manfred mishandled the whole thing. and these self-righteous punk athletes who criticize the Astros are throwing rocks in a glass house.

They're ruining baseball. They shouldn't have been handled this way. Should have it handled behind closed doors by the commissioner. Well, Jim, Mike Fires did not seek out the athletic. They sought him out. Apparently, they went to contact several players, and they asked him about it, and former players and Astros players. and literally the only guy who was willing to talk was Mike Fires,

so you can get mad at him for that. But he was approached by the athletic. Well, you know, he didn't have to handle what he has talked about. All right, Jim, thank you. Appreciate it. Yeah, look, there's a lot of people to feel that way. I get it. And I understand everybody's going to boo Mike Fires

and talk trash about him for all eternity. And he is the impetus for this whole thing. It started because of Mike Fires. The Red Sox could not get punished as harshly as the Astros because the Red Sox did not have a snitch. The Red Sox did not have somebody, a whistleblower, if you want to call it that. Somebody willing to speak out. And Mike Fires was.

He said he didn't like it at the time. But honestly, also, it's kind of hard for me to be mad at a guy for being honest. It's kind of hard for me to crush Mike Fires for just telling the truth and saying what he saw. I mean, that's what the Astros players did. Of course, they did it what they had immunity. But he was the start of all of it. but it also uncovered something that was problematic and something that the Astros did. The Astros cheated, right?

If I break the law, if, let's just say, I don't know, I invite Brennan over to my house, and when he comes over, he comes over early, and I'm like stuffing a dead body into a carpet, and then he calls the police. Should I be mad at Brendan Riley for calling the police? You better not snitch on me, Brennan, all right? That body was here when I got here. I assumed it was why you called me over. I have found it.

No, you're not in the circle of trust yet, Brendan. Dead body list. Oof. I don't know if any. If I got a dead body, I don't know. You know, I don't know you yet, Brendan, all right? We got to go break bread. We got to go have some drinks.

We got to get a little closer before you're in the, the, uh, bury a dead body circle of trust. That's actually a genuinely fun question. Do you have anybody in that in that? My brother, for sure. One of my friends, Brad, I definitely would call if I had a dead, there was a dead body situation. Matt Thomas. Matt Thomas is selling me up. Matt Thomas is selling me up the river within seconds.

All right. I'm certainly not telling him, although he can keep secrets. Let's see. Who else? Anybody at 790 on the dead body list that I don't think would snitch me out? I don't know, man. Maybe there'd be something to think about. I'm not sure yet.

You know what Clanton? Probably a good one. All right, that's enough for me talking about burying dead bodies. But what I'm saying is it's hard to be mad at fires when it was the Astros who committed this crime. It was the Astros who did it and it was talked about all throughout baseball. And Danny freaking Farquhar figured it out. So I understand everybody hates Mike Fires and he's persona non grata in Houston, but doesn't bother me as much. Let's go to Patrick and Katie real quick here. What's up, Patrick? Yes, sir. A question. The Yankees had a, you know, that closed

letter deal with the judge. Yes. I'm supposed to open it. If you go online and I'm constantly trying to get up. updates on that. Maybe I've missed it. I don't know, but all the articles, all the, all the media, everything stopped probably two days after that was notified. So there's no real updates. They appealed. Yeah, the judge is supposed to hear an appeal, and I think it's said in September. So they're, so they ordered it unsealed, the judge did, and then the Yankees side, because there would be significant reputational injury to the, to the Major League Baseball and the Yankees. There's nothing in the letter, but there would be significant reputational injury. Okay. So they had that seal. They made the appeal, and I think the appeal is going to be heard.

Don't quote me on this, but I believe it's in September. There's going to be reputational impact. Let's wait for the season is almost over before we even get close to opening it. And that way we can just, it'll get washed away and some other support that comes up during the next round of schools. So anyway, I guess, I guess, you know, just my last little take here, as far as Mike Fires goes, like, look, he broke a code, but we broke the rule, you know, it is what it is. The Astros are certainly, I think, paid for it. But at the end of the day, we're ever going to move on. And so if you can't move on, then don't watch it, I guess. I mean, it is what it is. You know, they got to pay for what

they did. And I hate it. I hate watching the TV and seeing the Astros play without a hitch, without some of the, you know, Kora, whoever. But it's just, it's the top story. So everyone is going to get used to it. Every time someone gets hit, it's going to make the storylines. We're all going to get mad about it and want to bench about it. But, you know, the guys on the field, they've got to play better and shut everybody up, period. That's right, Patrick. Thanks a lot. The only way to make this go away is to win.

When the Astros won three of their first four games, you weren't seeing a whole lot of articles and think pieces and all that type of stuff. What people are really going to jump at is the failure of the Astros. That's what America is rooting for. So if they go out there and win, if they go out there and swing their bats and they make their pitches, they're going to be okay. So far, they're 8 and 10. They've been the butt of a lot of jokes. The only way to erase any of this, you take the Patriots route. Talking about SpyGate Gate and filming the Bengals and filming the bills, all that type of stuff.

You know why it gets swept under the rug? Because they keep winning. So the Astros need to win. All right, we're going to take a quick break here on the Matt Thomas show. Without Matt Thomas. My name is Ross Vier. We are out when we come back, Rockets, head coach, Mike Dan Tony, with the latest on your Houston Rockets. Is the Matt Thomas show.

One o'clock straight up here on Sports Talk 7.90, Ross Vioriel, with you until 3 o'clock. And right now, very pleased to be joined by the head coach of your Houston Rockets, Mike Dantonie. And coach, Matt, is out. We thought we'd give you one week off of them if that's okay. Yeah, thank you. I appreciate it. Yeah, I thought you would. I thought you would. So a rough couple of games in the back-to-back with the losses there. First of all, let's talk about Russell Westbrook.

We got the news yesterday. He had the MRI. What's the latest on how? him? We don't know for sure. He'll be re-evaluated this weekend. He will miss tomorrow. That's for sure, and probably a couple of practices. But then, you know, we're trying to get him as close, you know, 100% as possible. But we'll know more how he responds to treatment and also how the, you know, a couple of MRIs going forward. All right. And what about PJ Tucker? He had the leg injury and also the finger. Is he going to be okay? Yeah, I think he's fingers a little sore and stuff, but it should be okay. You know, the last two, three games

really, in reality, we weren't fighting for anything. We were probably locked in a fourth or fifth, which means no difference. So, you know, we didn't have the energy that we've had. We're trying to rest guys as much, and Friday will be the same thing. It's more just

who needs the work, who needs the rest, reduce minutes, any minutes at all. So that's kind of what we are right now. So, yeah, you are having to do that. Is that, are you just going case-by-case basis? Because normally it would be the same for everybody, but you had the long layoff, and now you have everybody in the ramping up period.

Where do you think guys are at physically now than they would be at the end of the regular season if it went as scheduled? Well, I don't think they're – there might not be as sore, a different play, but they're not as ready for the playoffs as they would have been if they play regular schedule. I think, but everybody's in that same boat. And the biggest thing is just trying to get in closer as you can, and every team is doing the same thing. And it's hard to figure out do they need more game work on the floor together,

just them individually finding the rhythm, or is it more important that you don't risk injury by not playing them, but then do they need the work to get in shape? You know, there's just so many questions to go into it, and the medical staff really will determine the minutes for guys and all that. And I'll put my two cents in about, well, you know, like Eric Gordon, for example, needs probably to work. But then again, the medical staff has got to tell me how much that is. And there's just a lot of things to go back and forth.

Yeah, and when you putting your two cents in, what are you looking for? You're looking for how fresh they look or the sharpness of their play. And how do you think Eric Gordon played last night? I think the sharpness and just the togetherness, you know, ideally, I would love to be able to get the rotation that we're going to have on Monday as close as possible. But it looks like that's not going to be possible. That would be ideal. But by the time the end of the season, normal season, you know that. You know what the rotation is.

They've been doing it for about a month. And then if you take the last couple games off in the last game, all you're worried about as a little bit, lose the rhythm, I hear a bit. But now it's, you know, our rotation has been all over the place for the definitely past three games, but the whole, really the whole loving games. And so we just got, you know, just play it by here and get everybody. I think right now, the biggest thing is just trying to get everybody healthy. And Eric, going back to Eric, I'm sorry. No, go ahead. Yeah, back to Eric, he didn't look real good, but that was normal. I mean, you know, he was rusty and had six turnovers and couldn't hit a three. But.

we knew that and that's why it was good he played yesterday and he'll he'll play some friday and then have a couple of blacks so hopefully that'll get him back in with him now he looked pretty good going to the basket is he lost some weight he was he was quick man and he was getting he was getting pretty easy i think it was those old uniforms kind of style that uh was look good but yeah he was and that that's very encouraging the other stuff will come as long as he physically feels good and his quickness uh so yeah i mean there's definitely good that that that's good and uh the other part, hopefully will come, you know, real quick.

All right. Austin Rivers, it didn't be three points for you last night in 30 minutes, but, of course, he had the 40-point game earlier. What is the difference between when Austin Rivers is right? Is it just the aggressiveness and his mindset? Because we know that he has the tools to do what he did when he dropped 40. Yeah, a couple things. I mean, yesterday we had him and Ben and Jeff couldn't make a three,

you know, mainly because they played the night before. the first back-to-back we've had since the four-month layoffs. So I knew their legs were going to be dead, and we had to get through that. So, you know, James is really good. Well, he had a day off the day before. So, you know, you have to put that into context. And then Austin, that is a little bit of a strickey shooter. When he's hitting his three, he's going to score, he's going to score.

He's not hitting his three. They'll back up, and then he's got to drive, and sometimes they can clog that up. And that's probably his thing that going forward, he's going to have to get. more consistent on his outside shooter. And on the offense as a whole, haven't seen the last few games a whole lot of the teams doing the trapping offense, but do you think,

it seemed like you guys are getting better and better every game at the four on three situations. Do you think that's a product of that team's going away for it, or do you think you'll still see it in the playoffs? Different teams have different philosophies, and we'll see what they do. But we'll be

ready for each one. Obviously, you know, having us in the middle really may put a lot of stress on teams. If James gets it going, then you might see some double teams. They might try not to it first so that the other guys don't get started. So each coach will have a different philosophy. But it shouldn't make any difference. We have our attacks.

If it gets doubled, then we should be able to exploit it. And if not, then James will go do his thing. Rocket Tech coach, Mike Dan Tony, continuing here on the Matt Thomas show without Matt Thomas. Coach, let's talk about defensively. How do you feel about where you guys are at? And do you think communication you've always talked about is huge for the defense. Is that a little bit easier in this bubbled environment without the fans or is it just about the same?

I think it's about the same. I do think you do hear a little bit more. It's easier to communicate it verbally. So I guess that would help. But I think also the players know the urgency of doing that. James is doing a good job of really pointing out that we've got to talk and Tyson Chandler up on the bench is really talking and you can hear inside the bubble. So a lot of things happening.

I think our defense last maybe four, five, six games actually have been really good. Making some mistakes, but that's to be, you know, that's normal. But we've got to get it on point. You know, if we're going to beat teams, especially, you know, certain in the playoffs, then the only way we're going to do is just be really good defensive. And then if we do that, we won't be a hard out. Yeah, I think so. And speaking of the defense, it seems to me, inside the bubble,

the team defense has been good. And James Harden, I feel like, is playing some of the best defense he has. Is it just him knowing he needs to lock in? Or would you agree with that assessment that his defense has been pretty good in the bubble? And what is causing that? Well, he definitely has been a lot real good. I think just the urgency of winning and understanding. that no matter how good you are offensively and how good he is offensive

that defense has got to be a priority. And it's also leadership. If he does it, the rest of the team will do it. And nobody should have an excuse us. So he's taking that role up. And yeah, he's playing a really good team defense. And he's getting some steals and rebounding. And you don't have to do it.

You know, it's going to be a monumental, effort to be able to beat anybody in the playoffs. Because all these teams are good. and everybody is in the same boat. And it's going to be interesting to see. And speaking of that in the playoffs, you guys are locked in against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Just your thoughts on that team,

what Chris Paul and Billy Donovan have done. They've surprised everybody. Just how you think they're playing and what kind of challenges they pose. Well, you hear that Billy's always done a good job there in Oklahoma City. And adding Chris Paul, you've had another coach on the swole.

with that. That is just phenomenal and just his mind and the ability to come up with big plays down the stretch. And they've won so many close games because he can hit that little mid-range and doesn't miss foul shots and comes up big steals. He's just a very, very, very smart player that can maneuver the game at the end. And they have some good time. And Gallinari's playing a while for him. Stephen Adams will create problems. The two little point guards out for Schroeder and and Gilg, they're good. Shea is good. And, you know, they've got a lot of, they've got a lot of problems that we'll have to match up.

We'll have to play well to beat them. But they're also playing, you know, for parts of the bubble, the restart, they play better than any team here. So it's going to be a challenge. You mentioned Chris Paul and being a coach on the floor. I mean, you've obviously been around the game for a long time. Is he one of the smartest players you've ever coached? And what is it that sets him apart from others as far as the floor generalship? Yeah, obviously, his brain and how he works at defensive and offensive,

he's one of the smartest. And he just knows all the tricks. You know, he's got a lot of gamesmanship where, you know, you foul. He just barely touch him, and he's able to knows when to flop and when not to flop, when to trick you, when to trick you. He also has his mid-range shot as deadly. And once he gets in there, he's almost automatic. And then he's 90% foul shooter.

So he just has a lot of things. to his game that makes him a winner. And he's been that way all the time. The only time he hasn't been a winner is when he's been hurt. And now he's not hurt. He's playing back-to-backs, and he's playing all year. And he's played, I think, every game since the restart. And he's in phenomenal shape.

So, yeah, he's going to be a handful. All right. Rocket's head coach, Mike Danton. Final question for you, coach. What's the plan on Friday? The game, not meaningful for seating, but what do you want to see other guys? And what's the approach? Well, I'm going to talk to the medical staff and get a better feel.

But, you know, the time we play, we want to play really well. And then see whatever that means. I know Eric has to get good work. And so he'll play for sure. And then we'll see what the rest of the guys do. If anybody needs any special, you know, special rest or whatever, we'll see. All right, coach. Thank you for the time.

Appreciate it as always. No problem. All right. Rockets head coach, Mike, Dan, Tony. here on the Matt Thomas show. Good for stuff from him. We're going to take a quick break here on the Matt Thomas without Matt Thomas.

You want to get in react to anything coach had to say? We were talking a little bit about Joe Kelly and what he had to say earlier. Astros, Rockets, college football, all that good stuff. You want to get in. 713-1-3-7190.21-790 is your phone number, 7-1-3-2-5-7-90.

The Matt Thomas show. Without Matt Thomas continues after this short break. Rockets! Rockets, PA announcer and sports talk show host. One might get the impression Matt Thomas loves to hear Matt Thomas's voice. Go ahead, Matt, talk for us. Thanks again to Rocket's head coach, Mike Dan Tony, on the Matt Thomas show. Always great stuff with him. If you guys want to talk a little Rockets, we can do so. If you want to talk anything, phone lines open at 713. 212-5-790. 7-13-2-1-2-5-7-9-0. So, yeah, the Rockets

losing last night and there are a lot of question marks. None of them are huge question marks, which I think is the good news because it's just been an up and down season. It's been very hard to get a feeling and to get the pulse of what's going on with the Rockets as is. I mean, you can go all the way back. This is just, I mean, 1920 Rockets is going to be one for the ages as far as storylines and things to talk about. You started off the season with Clint Capella and you just made the trade for Russell Westbrook. He struggled to fit into the Rockets offense at first. He was taking like, five three-pointers a game and just frustrating all of us.

Anytime he got up at three, he was making like under like 22% of them or something like that. Like, hey, Russ, what are you doing, man? Get to the basket. I understand you think you're here in the Rockets and everything's going to be cool, but you don't have to just jack up this many threes when you're one of the best in the history of the game at getting to the basket. So why don't you do that, Russ, please.

But you had that starting off the season. Then James Hardin was just out of otherworldly, averaging over 35. five a game. As soon as James Harding came back to Earth and had a couple injury issues, Russell Westbrook shot up. He was just getting to the basket. He wasn't taking a lot of three pointers. Somebody pounded the message home to him. Stop taking threes. You're the one of the, with the ball in your hand, you're one of the fastest players in the history of this game. So get to there and do that. Eric Gordon's been up and down. And then the season paused. They made the

trade for Robert Covington. They won six of eight. Then they lost four or five. And then the season paused. And now you have this. You have Daniel House missing couple of games with a sprain toe. You have Russell Westbrook now getting in MRI yesterday. Head coach Dan Tony saying that they're going to have to reevaluate him. But there's the report from Jonathan Fagan that he's going to miss the first couple of days, first couple of games in the playoffs. And that remains to be seen. Now, I still think, I don't know if you agree with me, Brendan, do the Rockets? The Rockets still should be favored to the Thunder, even if Russell Westbrook doesn't play in the whole series, right? But more slight, I think.

It makes me a little more uncomfortable than you. I'm a little more uncomfortable, too. I mean, I still think they're favorites, though. I think they have enough. I thought from everything I had seen in the seating games that there was just not a first-round series that was going to give me any concern. I'm with you. And this is also the thing.

I'd be much more concerned if James Hardin were out instead of Russell Westbrook. I agree. I mean, you were talking about Russell Westbrook when he first got here. Inefficiency's always been his issue. Well, he's known as Crazy Russ, and that's why I wasn't over the moon when the trade was made. So, like, if it was just him, you have some concerns, even if he falls into that way, you know, once or twice. With James Harden, I feel like you kind of know what you're getting. Yeah.

Yeah, no, I'm with you. The Rockets are still favorites. I don't, I wouldn't say I feel comfortable if he were to miss the whole series. But as long as you can get him back after a couple, I think I feel pretty good. Yeah, I think if you can miss him for two games, just split those. You get them back and then hopefully, you know, win three. of the next four, something like that, and win a six-game series. I think that would be something that would be reasonable.

I just think, yeah, the Thunder are a good story, but there are a lot of young guys. Chris Paul scares me a little, but Chris Paul is not going to be dropping 40 on you on a given night. He's going to be a good maestro. He's going to be like what Mike Dan Tony said, all the things that he likes about Chris Paul is he's a coach on the floor and all those types of things. So it's going to be a tough series. I just think if the Rockets have all the horse, all the whole, all the, horses. And that's the if. If they have Daniel House Jr. back from his sprained toe, if they have

PJ Tucker with all the nicks and bruises that he has and now he's got a finger injury. And well, it's not like he was making three-pointers in the first place. And the rocket started off four and one in the bubble. And then some players missed some games from there. And now they should be getting Eric Gordon back, who, who as I, as coach was talking about and we were talking about in the last evening, Eric Gordon looked pretty good last night. As far as not the necessarily the results because he only made one of nine of his three-point shots, but he was getting to the basket, he was playing some good defense, he looked strong, he looked quick, and he came out of the game unscathed. And that was your biggest worry with Eric Gordon and what's going to happen

there. So my optimistic about the rockets, I would say so. A couple of days ago, when they were four and one, I was like, ooh, this team is dangerous. This team, when they, look, it was the Sacramento Kings, but you're talking about wins over the Mavericks, wins over the bucks, of course, lots of the streaking trailblazers, but also a win over the Sacramento Kings, and who is the other win that they had in the bubble? I forget. The Lakers. The level is short-handed Lakers team. It's not as significant, but in terms of the feeling it gives me, not knowing when Russell come back, kind of makes me feel a little bit like when Verlander got hurt early in the season. Oh, hey, oh, come on, man. Not as significant.

Hey, hold on. Whoa. Whoa. Just in that, Ross, it makes... Don't you put that hex on us, Ricky Bobby? Come on now. Just in that it makes me feel almost naked. Like, you lost any luxuries you had. It's going to take...

It's not to say the Rockets shouldn't beat the Thunder. It just... The margin for victory becomes so much smaller. Like the Astros' room for error without Justin Verlander became much smaller. Yeah, and well, this is that... Well, Justin Verlinder, speaking to him, he's supposed to be throwing next week. I saw that yesterday. Isn't that a little shocking?

Is Verlander? A little? Is he going to be okay? Wouldn't that be... Wouldn't that be the turn of the return of sports right there? Hold on. I lost my headphones because I'm crazy over here. I like to jump around when I host shows.

Sorry. I just think that would be the turnaround of the Astros in terms of how you feel. There's just no way. I think it's going to be one of those scenarios. I mean, when Lance McCullors needed his Tommy John surgery in, what was it, 2018, he continued to try to pitch and he wasn't very effective. I think it might be one of those scenarios. Don't you think?

I mean, first of all, it takes a certain type of bulldog to do that type of thing. And Justin Verlander, as we know, is that certain type of bulldog. So was Lance McCullors. So was a lot of people on the Astros. And what does Verlander have to lose? If they tell him there's a 5% chance you can get it back out there, maybe you're not going to make it worse. And if you can throw and provide anything, you can do it. Why wouldn't he?

At his age? Yeah, I mean, is there a difference between if he has Tommy John now in August or if he has it in two months later in October? Either way, it means he's probably missing two seasons or at least a season and a half. So I'm not a doctor. I'm just speculating here. But when I saw that yesterday from Justin Verlander, I did. It did pique my interest. Well, I wonder what's going to happen with Justin Verlander and if he is going to come back.

But back to the Rockets, as far as the first round playoffs. Thunder don't scare me. And now you got the matchup you wanted. Had you been with us, Brendan, on that? As far as I had been, well, actually, I kind of flip-flopped a little bit. Before the season, I was like, people are sleeping on the Lakers. Then when they were the number one seat, I was like, well, maybe the Clippers are better. So I don't know.

But I think as a match-up for the Rockets, I'd rather have the Lakers and the Clippers. No, hey, the Rockets wouldn't be favored against either of them. I'm not picking the Rocket. Look, let's be honest. I love the Houston Rockets. I was wearing a run as one shirt yesterday. Today it's Air Yordon. I love the Rockets.

I don't know that I'm picking them in a series against the Lakers. I think I like the Lakers a little bit better, but I also think that maybe LeBron's not getting quite enough respect. Well, doing what he's doing at 35. He's not going to win the MVP, though, right? Is it going to go to Yon-Sahian? Like, you have to assume he's going to turn it on full playoff mode, and he's going to be on the court.

You know, that offense has struggled when he's not on the court at times, but he's going to be on the court 40 minutes tonight in the playoffs. Man, at his age, so Michael Jordan's last year before he retired, he was 35. And I know that LeBron is 35 in like 200 and something days. I wonder who was older at that point. But we do know LeBron James has played more minutes than Michael Jordan ever did in the NBA. But anyways. Do you know the last time LeBron made the playoffs and didn't make the NBA finals?

Well, let me think about that. it would have to be 2010. Without looking it up, that was what I thought so. This last year with the Cavaliers, the first time. Oh, yeah. They didn't make the, because, yeah, that would be it?

Is that correct? I believe so. Okay. Because who did they? Was that when they lost to the Orlando Magic? Boston Celtics, I believe. Or the Celtics? I can confirm.

They lost to the magic and six, and the magic went on to the finals, I think. That was the, that was like the Jamir Nelson Dwight Howard, Courtney Lee. That Orlando team was actually pretty good. They get kind of old school. They played the inside out game with Dwight Howard in the middle

and surrounding him with a bunch of three-point shooters. Who else was on that team? I can't even remember. It doesn't matter. But yeah, I mean, LeBron James is, that's going to be really interesting to watch. It would know it was the Celtics. It was the Magic the Year before that.

Oh, okay. The Magic was in 2009 and then 2010 was the Celtics. And that was the one where everybody tried to say he gave up and he completely quit on the team. Okay. Anyways, what were we talking about? I don't know. The Rockets in the playoffs and the Lakers.

Look, LeBron James, I mean, he's one of the all-time greats. I understand there's this argument between him and Michael Jordan and all that type of stuff. It's two different type of players, in my opinion. If I'm starting a team with one, uh-oh, controversy. I'm probably going to LeBron Day, but that's okay. We don't have to talk about that right now. 713-2125790 is the phone number here. It is the Matt Thomas show.

7-13-1-2-5-790. What's your worry? level with the Rockets and the Oklahoma City Thunder. If I told you Russell Westbrook was going to miss the first three games in Orlando, the Oklahoma City Thunder series, would you be worried or would you not? We could talk about that. We also got Astro stuff to get to all types of things on the docket for the Matt Thomas without Matt Thomas.

My name is Ross Vier. We're out and we'll be back after the short break. Don't go anywhere. Real Texans talk H-Town sports all day. on Sports Talk 790. No other radio station set on my preface. Home of your Rockets, your Astros, and your talk. Matt Thomas show without Matt Thomas continues.

Matt Thomas having himself a day out helping, well, they're packing today, he and his son. They're going out to Lubbock because he's taking his son there for his junior year at Texas Tech. They just grow up so fast. And then Matt Thomas making the road trip tomorrow, and then he will be back Monday. My name is Ross Villarreal, normally the other guy on the Matt Thomas show, with you until 3 o'clock. At 7-1-3-2-1-25, 7-90.

So the Astros with the win yesterday. Now they got a series winner to the belt, so we're feeling good about them. The Rockets have stumbled in back-to-back games. They're four-and-three in the bubble. But I just think the fact that they're missing all these players and the fact that they're not a lot of long-term injuries, it doesn't worry me as much as I could be in the or as I would normally be under circumstances. If you're telling me you're missing Russell Westbrook and you're missing Daniel House Jr. And Daniel House Jr., by the way, I mean, he's been playing fantastic inside the bubble.

And that's doing exactly what the Rockets need. The Rockets look, the way they comprise their roster is with superstar players and then three and D guys. Right now, I mean, it used to be, well, even back in the day, it was Dwight Howard. And then it was Chris Paul, and then now it's Russell Westbrook. So that's what Daniel House Jr. is out there to do. He's out there to play good perimeter defense, not make a lot of mistakes, and shoot and make threes. And he's got the second best stepback three on the team, in my opinion. He's been working on that thing.

It looks pretty good. So James Harden obviously is the stepback king. Daniel House Jr. has been playing well for the rocket. All right, 713, 21, 5, 790 is the phone number if you'd like to get in. 713, 212, 5, 790. So the NBA is in the bubble. and we got the report, I think it was yesterday, that another 342 players, well, it used to be 343.

Who got out? Did somebody have a season ending injury? I don't know. We need to keep tabs on this. But 342 players, all testing negative. They have yet to have a positive test inside the NBA bubble. So what's going to happen for major leagues in their playoffs? Well, according to Jeff Passon, they might have a bubbled environment for the playoffs,

which, I mean, how are they going to slap this together in two months? That doesn't make a lot of sense to me. But Major League Baseball, this according to Jeff Passon yesterday, had preliminary discussions about holding a postseason in a bubble-type format after the coronavirus outbreaks on the St. Louis Cardinals in the Miami Marlins that wreaked havoc on the regular season. And see, that's the question that I was wondering about. When you have, okay, the Cardinals, have they still haven't picked up, right?

Have the Cardinals still only played five freaking games this whole entire season? I think that's accurate. So what if you had this type of outbreak situation in the middle of a playoff series when you're playing three-game series is certainly in the first round? Then what do you do? You can't. What if the Astros? They are then a first-round series against, I don't know, the New York Yankees or whoever,

Tampa Bay or race. And it's a three-game series, and all of a sudden, Blake Snell or Alex Bregman or somebody is, and a number of them are tested positive for the coronavirus. What do you do? it's a forfeit. Like, I don't think you have another choice. Or you just call, yeah, they just, but they've been pausing these games for a couple of days to let everybody get, to everybody get tested. But that's

supposed to be the right protocol, right? They're not stopping them for two weeks. Like the Marlins came back and they're playing games and they're 8 and 4 by the way, and first place in their division. So maybe it's going to help. But I mean, you have to stop for a couple of days to let everybody continue to get tested to make sure there's not a a further outbreak, right?

I'm telling you in the playoffs, you don't have time. What do you do? You just, I honestly believe, yes. I think that that is the answer. No. You can't have got... Look. And you can't have one team have five games played for three weeks of baseball either.

But they did. But here we are. The Cardinals are in second place in their division somehow. Alice, because they're only five. In the National League Central, the Cubs have 12 wins. The Cardinals have two. The Cubs have three losses. The Cardinals have three losses.

they're five five full games back of the Chicago Cubs and by the standings that puts them in second place because the Reds are five and a half games back at 8 and 10 that's freaking hilarious

oh my gosh well we're tied in the wind call or tied in the loss column so but anyways how do you stop the boy so what are you going to do you're just going to say it's one I think the

the official forfeiture score in baseball is one to nothing so here's what I'll say so far it seems like the MLB's done a pretty good job stopping these breakouts given how early the first two were yeah we haven't seen much since you can't don't you think maybe that kind of rattled the cages of the players and made them take it a little bit more seriously but I think

I think Ross that that's like almost being underappreciated the fact that we haven't had another one since the Cardinals it's like hey guys no casino trips no fishing trips no no magic city wings or legs or thighs and just we're going to okay. But I just think it makes it so that you can say look in the playoffs. You've shown us for however long the season, regular season goes. You've shown us it's possible

to avoid breakouts. Guess what? You're going to have to avoid them in the playoffs because the other option is you forfeit. Yeah. Well, this passing story says that they're thinking about going into a bubble. So in April, of course, they pursued going with the season-long bubble, but the players said no thanks because they didn't want to be away from their families for three to four months. And so now what are they going to do for the playoffs? Both sides would have to agree to a bubble, right?

They would have to collectively be bargained and get this agreed to by the players union. And I guess it would have to be Arizona would be the safest bet for this because you have 16 teams in the playoffs. You're talking about eight matchups per day or four and four. And then how many times? I mean, what if, what if it's going to be like a tournament? What if one of the games goes extra? and the other one just gets pushed back an hour

because the guys can't, and the grounds crew's got to come in and scrape up the field and all that type of stuff in between games? I don't understand how that would work. Is it plausible to have a bubble with more than one realistic field available? Like, that's a genuine question. I think so. I think in Arizona, they have, I mean, they would go to the spring training facilities and they have whatever the hell their stadium is called out there these days.

I can't even remember. But I think that would probably be the most viable spot to do it, to get 16 teams in there. And it would have to be on artificial turf. You can't have guys scratching up the grass of all the entire time out there in the outfield. I wouldn't think. I don't know.

I think this is the smarter option, but I think this is also an option, you know, just slap together in the middle of August. This is something you should have thought about. Slap together in the middle of August, the official slogan of MLD. Yeah, that's slap together in the middle of seconds before we need to do it, which is the same thing happening in college football.

football, but I don't know. I don't know if we would see a bubble environment, but it's smart. I think that's the best option. I think that's what they should do. Because I think you're already talking about a season where it's a joke because the Cardinals have only played five games. It's a joke because it's only a 60 game season. It's a joke because you've had outbreaks in multiple cities and teams getting, not being able to play all their games. It's a joke because you've had injuries, a rash of injuries all over the place, not just with the Astros. So if you have further. If an outbreak were to happen in the middle of the playoffs and that team had to forfeit and that's why they lost, that makes it even, I mean, we're talking about, as Matt would say,

the gimmicky of the old, the gimmicky of all gimmickry, it would just be, it would be over the top. How could you take this season seriously and this World Series champion seriously if that's the way that's a team won a playoff series? Or would we just forget about it? I mean, look, it's just a season of you've got to do what you got to do. And it's very real possibility we don't take the champion seriously. I mean, right now you have to accept the fact that the St. Louis Cardinals could be World Series champions. I've been playing like 15 games. Do you think they're going to make up every game they're behind right now?

There's no way. Well, by winning percentage, they would be fourth in their division. But by games right now, they're second. But yeah, aren't they supposed to play like 40 games and 30? days at some point or something like that. There's just no way. All these double headers. And they're only going to be seven and double headers.

Oh. What a, what a disaster. What a disaster. Thanks, coronavirus. Thanks for ruining this for everybody. We're talking about bubbles. I was talking about this last night. Like, you, we've just accepted, quote, the new normal.

I'm watching a baseball game where I can literally hear, because there's no fans. I can hear Zach Grinky. communicating with Martine Maldonado talking about the signs that he and like throwing up his hands like no second sign two two is a one okay yeah he's he's we can hear all of that

and you can hear Zach Grinky every time he pitches like he's in the finals of Wimbledon Grimbleding groaning and moaning every time that he throws a pitch it's just weird man the cardboard cutouts

the season the no players the outbreaks, the missing of games, injuries. Baseball in 2020, and sports in general in 2020 are weird. But Major League Baseball thinking about going with a bubbled environment there for the playoffs. I'll tell you who has had a bubbled environment. That is the NBA. And then coming up after the second week of the playoffs, I'm sorry, the second round of the playoffs, after the first round,

players can invite friends, but there are restrictions on said friends that they can invite into the bubble. We'll talk about that next here on the Matt Thomas show with you. Till 3 here on Sports Talk 790. There's a short break here. This is Coach Landtoni. Your city. Fires. My city.

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The Matt Thomas Show on Sports Talk 790. Matt Thomas is out. Ross Vier Real, Brennan Riley. We are in. They'll be out today and tomorrow. That's okay. We're with you folks. And we like having you.

I appreciate you listening. If you want to get in on the phone lines, you can do so at 713-1-2-125. 7907-1-3-21-2-5-790. So Major League Baseball proposing a bubble yesterday. Well, there's a report from Jeff Passon and others that Major League Baseball is thinking about going into a bubbled environment for the playoffs. And I think that's just smart. I think you want to – how likely is it there's going to be an outbreak? After you had the two teams with their outbreaks, we haven't heard of anything else in Major League Baseball.

and that's good and that's all well and good and that's fine. And so there likely would not be another outbreak at some point in the playoffs. Certainly when you don't have guys traveling a lot and the first round, you're going to knock out half of the 16 teams there with the three-game series. So it's not likely. But if you want to, if there were an outbreak, that's the thing, right? Even if it's a 0.1% chance of an outbreak, it would be a complete disaster for Major League Baseball. They would have to either have guys forfeit, they would have to pause the entire playoffs

and hold everything up. And I just don't know that they would want to do that. I don't know that they could do that. It would just be, it would seem like a mess. But there you go. So the Major League Baseball going for a bubble. The NBA, they do have a bubbled environment. And so apparently, Adrian O'Donarowski has obtained a memo that says the NBA players must have, quote,

a longstanding relationship for non-family members who are going to enter the bubble. bubble. So you can't just have any. So no Instagram hose in the bubble. Is that what the issue is going to be, I guess? That's what, is that what the NBA? Come on, man. These guys got to get theirs. I'm really trying to understand why the NBA cares who your people are. I mean, if they're quarantined properly, what does it matter what the relationship is, right? And how do you go about proving, what if you've had a sidepiece for over a year? Like, does Adam Silver want selfies of you two together with with the timestamp on it or something like that? Does it even need to be a side piece? Yeah. Like you could have many, many side pieces if you don't have a main piece and there's nothing, nothing wrong with that. That's true. Is that a longstanding relationship? If you're a young, I'm married, to my knowledge, James Harden not married.

Eric Gordon not married. Russell Westbrook is married with children. But, I mean, any players across the NBA, look, if you've been cooped up in this bubble, look, it's really fun playing cornhole with Damar de Rosen. But at some point, you need to go see your lady, all right? And I think Adam Silver is holding these people back. And I'll tell you someone who agrees with me, that would be Stephen A. Smith, who says there needs to be conjugal visits there in the bubble. Loneliness. It's very, very simple.

You better let somebody come up in there and see them. You understand what I'm saying to you? I'm just being real. We all know that, you know, six of those teams are going home at the end of this week. All right? Because they ain't going to be out in the playoffs, right? Well, that's six teams, right? Okay.

So you got the teams, the roster, and all of their personnel. Now, you can't just let family come up in there. But you can let one somebody come there. You could let a wife or a girlfriend come. I would strongly advise the NBA to facilitate that happening before August 30th. Not after. Before it would, I was strong. This one person.

This one. It would go a lot way. Are you advocating? Are you advocating for conjugal visits in the bubble? I mean, the bottom line is they didn't do anything wrong. They're not in jail. There's a pandemic. I mean, I didn't want to go there.

Social distancing, Stephen A. You got a social distance. Since you asked the question, yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. There you go. Stephen A. Smith, I think I'm with Stephen A. Look, you're going to have all this pent up energy.

And maybe, you know, because what boxers do is they say women, we can legs, and you know, if you've seen Rocky probably, and they say, you can't have sex for like three months because it gets you all pent up in the energy, and it's actually scientifically proven your testosterone levels go up if you haven't released pressure

in some time. So, I don't know, if you're going to have all these guys all pent up and maybe everybody getting in fights. That's my theory as to why B.Y. Football always outperforms their levels, all because they're all pent up and they're not married. Don't shake your head at me, Brendan. I don't have any scientific proof to back this up,

but that's why I say that BYU football always overperform. Was it Jimmer for Dad? I know basketball, but was he the BYU? Yeah, I think so. Well, he didn't. He was great in college. What happened when he left? What happened when there wasn't the student code of conduct?

Kind of lost a little juice, didn't he? That's a hell of a theory. I've never heard that one before. Well, you know what? This is what I bring to you on the show here, Brennan. But I think it's interesting. Here's a quote from Kyle Kuzma. I can't wait.

Obviously, this is a great experience. They've done a great job at the same time. We're all human, and we have our whole families and loved ones that we want to see and be around. It's good news. So this is my question, though. This is what the NBA says. They will have to have a quote, longstanding relationship with those they're visiting. And they will not be able to host guests who would be deemed as casual in nature.

including, known by the player only through social media or an intermediary. That means you can't have some random Instagram hose showing up to the bubble. You know what?

This is about freedom. This is not right. This is, quite frankly, a grave injustice that is being perpetrated on the NBA players who are free men

who are being held against their will and they're not able to just see their Instagram hose. This is not right. And look, this is another quote from somebody inside the bubble saying that there might be some issues. Hold on. Let me try to find it. There might be some issues with players bringing in strange girls and it might cause friction amongst the teams or something like that.

It could create problems within your team and maybe someone else's too. Well, you know what I say? if you have to deal with these problems, you deal with them. Because if you're going to cage up these NBA players in the wide world of sports complex, if they're going to have to be playing pickleball with Goofy and Pluto and Minnie and Mickey, if they're not allowed to see their families, then by God, they should be able to see their Instagram hose. Why must these men be pent up and have? held up with all this extra energy.

You want to keep them happy in the bubble, don't you? You want them feeling good in the bubble, don't you? Why such a stringent screening process for these young men, these virile, athletic, wonderful young men who provide us with entertainment? And we can't let them entertain themselves? I will not stand for this. You must allow these NBA players to see. their main pieces and their side pieces and their Instagram hoes and their Snapchat freaks.

Why would you bar this from happening? I will not stand for it. I will not allow this to happen. I will not allow. I will not stand idly by. As James Hardin is not allowed to see his top five favorite strippers. If she quarantines for several days, what's the risk? What's the issue? Why would you take these freedoms away from these young men who are providing a billion dollar industry with entertainment?

I say no to this. Will you rally around me, America? Let them bang. Let them have their Instagram hoes in their side pieces. And of course, their family members, which I'm sure they love very much. I have had enough of the taking of the rights of Americans we have gone too far in these days we're constantly tracked

we're constantly tested they're kept in this bubble I say let them have their women let them have their ladies let them be free to sleep with whoever they like

whether it's a new acquaintance whether it's a girl they met on Instagram or whether it's a side piece they've had for many years. Matt Thomas Show returns in a minute here on Sports Talk 7-90. And Bregman lifts it over the leap of the second baseman, Dubon, and then the center for a base hit. Springer around third, he scores. Bregman ties the game with an RBI single.

It's 1-1. Otto hits it in the year, deep to left field and sends back Dickerson, looking up. See you later. Stroves go up five. That's right. They're the champions. of a three-game series against the Giants.

We'll take it to this point. And that's lifted down the right field line. Reddick racing over, stops, reaches back across his body and makes the catch. And that is the ball game. The Houston Astros take two out of three from the San Francisco Giants, winning tonight's game by a final of five to one. Oh, wasn't it nice? Just not to have to sweat one out.

I mean, even the last couple of games that the Astros have won. And, well, they haven't been winning a whole lot of them recently. But they had the one, of course, that they coughed up on Tuesday night. You had the one the night before that. Josh James was giving up some runs like crazy. And although the Astros had a four-run lead, you had to have Ryan Presley come on. And I believe the tying run or the go-head run might have been at the plate at that point at the end of that game. I think, what was it, first and third with two out or something like that?

So you had to sweat that one out. and it's just been it's been a mess for the Astros. I mean, when they lost five straight, the first two games against the athletics and the last game against the Diamondbacks are all one-run games and a couple of those

where Alex Breadman puts you ahead in either the final inning or an extra innings and then you just cough that up after that. It feels good to get a series win and it feels good to have a 5-1 win and one you didn't necessarily have to worry about. Ross v. Real back with you here on the Matt Thomas show.

It is the third hour of three. Setting a couple of things up, we had Rocket's head coach Mike Dantone earlier on. Coming up at 2.30, we will have... You can find that conversation, by the way, at SportsTalk 790.com, the what's on Matt's Mind show page. Coming up at 230, we will have non-Florida stories, but right now talking about the Astros if you want to get in. 713-212-5-790 is the phone number 7-1-3-2-1-790 tweets to at SportsRV and at Brendan Riley underscore. So Dusty Baker speaking to the media after the game. We had him on yesterday, right?

Was it yesterday? I think it was yesterday. It was yesterday. You know what? So you know what? They had an easy win because of us, because Dessie Baker came on the Matt Thomas show. Doing some tips. Taking total credit for that.

But we're talking with him yesterday and it's like, you have to feel snakebid. Because it's not like the Astros are losing all these games 12 to 2, and you've lost all hope, and they're one of the worst teams in baseball. They're hovering close to 500. They've got a talented roster as far as, it's certainly on the lineup side. and it's just been snake bit in these late game situations. And guys giving up runs. And quite frankly, you've had all these rookies

who have come out of the bullpen for the Astros and in the starting rotation as well. I mean, Brandon Belak a couple of nights ago getting his second major league start. And then, of course, Christian Javier and those guys. It's just been a weird, weird season. They felt snake bit, but they feel like they're close. And that's what Dusty was talking about yesterday.

And here's what he has to say about the offense going a little bit for the Astros. know. You know, we started out cold and, you know, the first pitcher was throwing a lot of pitches and not too many close to the zone. And then young Rodriguez came in. He was throwing, he was throwing the ball pretty good. And the guy's on the bench is saying, you know, his fastball was six or seven miles an hour faster than it was last year that they remembered it. And so, you know, we got some timely hits. You know, we got Brady's starting to swing a lot better. Let me see. Tucker, you know, got a hit off the lefty, and then, you know, I was a big homer that, you know, that Maldi hit.

And, you know, that was the difference of the game. So, yeah, some good, timely hitting for the Houston Astros. There was a point there where they were just getting a hit or somebody getting on base the entire game, it seemed like. And then Martin Maldonado, the machete. He's resumed, Bryn. You heard it here first already. He was resuming his MVP campaign, and I think he picked it back up yesterday with that 3-1 home run. what do you think martin maldonato a l mvp are you kidding me i've been i think after the first

series i i asked if he was the goat yeah maybe he is the greatest of all time well he's hitting two o nine now but he did have three rbi i yesterday with that big home run uh i bet the splits and wins look pretty good yes true do you know what that does make him the most valuable you'd probably have to say at this point but yeah i mean martin maldonato knocked in three of their five runs but uh guys are picking up Alex bragman with a couple of hits he's uh he's o pssing up now to 865. Is it safe to say Alex Bregman is back? He's been drawing walks the entire season. And that's one of the things you love about Alex Bregman and his discerning eye. And despite the national narrative being, well, he only knows what pitch is coming because he hears a trash can bang and

he knows. No, he's got one of the better eyes in baseball. And he's had it since he's come up. So you look at it. His swing and miss percentage is very low. His contact percentage is very high. and he's almost, you can set your watch to it. Alex Bregman is going to walk a ton, even when he's not hitting, even when he's not getting a lot of hits, and he's struggling at the plate, which he somewhat was in the first couple of weeks of the season. But now he seems to be turning it around with a couple of hits yesterday. He's got his average up to 250, and this is why after it was well under 200 a few days ago. So I'm starting to be encouraged about that.

George Springer with a hit yesterday, he returned to the lineup. So a couple of things shuffling around for the Astros. You have Jose Altuvae desperately in need of a day off. He got one yesterday. I wonder if he'll be in the lineup today because Dusty had talked about possibly giving him a couple of days off. So Jose Altuve needs to turn it around. George Springer was turning it around and then he had the wrist injury, but he dached yesterday. So we'll see if he's going to be in the field today or in the next couple of days because Dusty also talked about possibly putting him back in the field on Friday.

So he's fine. Michael Brantley was rested yesterday as well because he has, we don't know if it's, is it an ankle injury or the lower leg injury that he's had this entire season? I don't know what it is with Brantley, but hopefully he's going to be okay because if you get this lineup full strength, if you get George Springer back, which you did, if you get Jose Altuve himself. And oh, by the way, there's this young man named Jorda Alvarez who is waiting in the wings in Corpus Christi, who now is, I think he's supposed to be back real, real soon, Dusty Baker said.

Probably within the next couple of days, he said not to be surprised if you see him. If you get this lineup, if you Springer, Altuve, Bregman, Brantley, Guriel, Correa, Jordan Alvarez, somewhere in that neighborhood. What's that? Seven that I just went through?

That's your top seven? Who's the weakest in that top seven? I guess Yulee right now? And Yuley's been fine. He's hitting, you know, he's OPS sitting almost nearly 800. So he's been pretty good, even though he's over for yesterday. Ross, I know we play dramatic music with highlights from basically everyone in loss. So it feels like everything's so dramatic.

Yes. But I do think it's fair to admit maybe there's a little overreacting of the Astros. Just because it's 8 and 10, you know, a third of the way through this season. Yeah, that's a problem. If they were 8 and 10 and 162, I wouldn't really feel as much of a type of way about the way the Astros are going. But go ahead. I was just, you're sitting here. It sounds like you're trying to make yourself feel better about the Astros.

Yeah. And I'm telling you, you don't need to try that hard. Okay. You should feel like. I should feel good about them. I'm not telling you, like, I'm not telling you there's nothing to be concerned about. But I just, I guess I would say maybe some of the sky is falling or Matt has said on the show, the walls are collapsing. Well, I wouldn't say that.

And I don't ever feel, I've been consistent. I think they're an average team. I think the pitching is going to have a lot of question. You think they're better? I mean, right now. I don't think they're... If they get some people back, I think they're going to be above average. But this is not a World Series championship.

No, I agree. I agree with that. But I think they're more than average. I think they are a good baseball team. Oh, I said above. Well, okay, did I say average? Yeah, I guess... Okay, the way the pitching is kind of turning around,

Zach Grinky has given me more confidence. Obviously, you have Lance McCuller's going seven and what, six and a third of no-hit ball at that point. I feel a little bit more confident about that. You know, Zach Grinky struggled early on in the season. You had Lance McCuller. go three perfect innings and then give up eight in the next week, I mean, in the next inning. So it's been a week since that happened, so you feel a little bit better.

But I was more on shaky ground there, but now the Grinky and the McCullors and their back-to-back starts, well, they weren't back-to-back. But both of their last starts has given me a lot more confidence in the squad. And maybe we're reading too much into one game here and there, but we ain't got time. All right? This is a 60-game season. We don't have time to be messing around, unfortunately. And that's one of the beauties that we've talked about

and one of the things you love about Major League Baseball is there's the 162 game season. Guys can be terrible. What was it? The Washington Nationals, 19 and 31 in their first 50 games or whatever it was last year. And then they come roaring back and then they win the World Series,

unfortunately, at Minamee Park. But that's a different story for a different time. But that's one of the wonderful things about baseball. You have the ups and downs and the ebbs and flows and Jose Altuve can struggle for 10 games and it's going to be okay. Well, it's not necessarily going to be okay when it's just 60. But you will make the playoffs. Can I make a prediction?

Oh, boy. Uh-oh. How hot of a take is this prediction? I don't think it's hot. Oh, dang it. I want hot takes. It's, um, here's what my prediction is. They're 8 in 10 right now, right?

Yes. And they got a weekend series up against the Mariners. It's three games. Uh-huh. We're going to feel a lot better on Monday. Okay. You're saying they're going to sweep the Mariners. I think they are.

I would love them to do. man, that first series against the Mariners, that was my introduction to closely following the Houston Astros. And I found myself thinking, okay, that was fun, but when does real baseball start? I don't know how the Mariners are 17, 13, man. The Mariners are like the pregame warm-up. It's like when they do, they used to do, they would have like the Corpus Christi hooks come up with the preseason, and they'd play a game against them, and everybody'd come to Minutemate and have a good time and get a look at the next young stars of the Astros.

Is high school baseball anything big around here? Depending. Some programs. There's like, I think Bel Air was a big one throughout the years, Clements. There's some big time baseball programs. I just ask because I feel like there's got to be a high school baseball program. Oh, come on. That's better than the Mariners. I've never said anything like that. Don't talk about you say Cacucci like that. That feels better than the Mariners. The Mariners are going to give you a couple of runs a game, it feels like. Well, tonight the Astros are going to get a good look at Cacucci. So he will be pitching on the mound for the Seattle Mariners. That's unfortunate, actually. Frumber Valdez for the Astros.

So Fromber has been kind of turning it up lately. So we'll see what happens tonight. The Astros. I'm trying to find the line real quick. The Astros are favored tonight. I think it's... Oh, I'm sorry. They're off tonight.

The game tomorrow. Yeah, there's no line. Yeah, I know they're off tonight. Because you got a nightcap coming up at 6 o'clock here on Sports Talk 7. And I will be the host. My name is Ross Vial. You're listening to the Matt Thomas show. You want to talk about the Astros?

How are you feeling? Are you like, I'm trying to convince myself. everything's going to be okay. Brennan's telling me everything's going to be okay. How are you feeling about the Stroes right now as they won two of three against the San Francisco Giants? 713, 212, 570. The phone number 7132-1-2-5-7-90 tweets to at Sports RV coming up at 2.30.

We've got Florida stories. We've got your calls. We've got sports. All kinds of things to talk about here on the Matt Thomas show. Short break here. Don't go anywhere. Good news. It's the Matt Thomas show for lunch.

Let that boring brown bag lunch rot in the employer. refrigerator. Oh, what's that smell? The Matt Thomas show on Sports Talk 790. Matt Thomas Show continues. Sports Talk 790, Ross v. Reall, Brennan Riley, with you. We will have non-Florida stories, the staple of the Matt Thomas show. That'll be coming up here in the next segment. In the meantime, we can talk to you folks at 713212-5-7-90. The phone number tweets at SportsRV and at Brendan Riley. underscore. So just seeing this story, have you seen

there is a Florida state wide receiver. They're challenging the school's handling of the coronavirus? No. Apparently three wide receivers, including Star Tamorian Terry have publicly spoken out about the lack of transparency

in coronavirus testing at the school. There was a player from Florida State who tweeted that he had tested positive for COVID-19, but then it was deleted. He followed Thursday morning with a second tweet suggesting lies within the program. So apparently there was an open letter to Florida State stating that he'd been lied to about testing and health protocols on multiple occasions. Hmm. So this is a long letter. Of course,

it would be Florida State. Florida State's always got issues, right? I mean, if there was anybody where shady stuff was going to be happening, I would have figured that it was going to be Florida State. It says, our leadership is based off an eye mentality with them only worried about their own future rather than their own athletes, Thompson wrote. I've been ridiculed about speaking up regarding this issue and it needs to be addressed for myself and for me to safely continue the season. So you already had, have we heard any update on the, there was the Colorado State issue where they were investigating, they suspended the program. You had 10 allegedly from according to the Fort Collins-Coloradoan, which is, I mean easily a top five,

Collins newspaper in my mind. You had them saying that there was at least 10 players and staff members who raised issues with how the Colorado State was running this. And then now you have this at Florida State. And that's what I think, Brendan. I just think I am really worried about outbreaks in college football more so than the NFL. The NFL came out with some numbers. They said they've had like a 0.46% positivity as far as the testing that they've had.

Major League Baseball since the outbreaks, a couple of early outbreaks they've had. They've been largely under control. And, oh, by the way, the NBA in the bubbled environment and the NHL in the bubbled environment have been doing just fine. Who would have thought that wearing masks, disinfecting, and social distancing, and regular testing would be a way to combat this thing? That's just wild stuff right there. So that's the thing, though.

I'm worried about outbreaks in college football. I wonder what's going to happen. So we already have the news. Big Ten says they're pushing. the season back to the fall. Pac-12 says they're pushing the season back to the fall. Big 12, SEC, and ACC are playing, correct? Well, currently. Currently. That's the thing. How is this going to happen? How are we going to have a national champion if there's no Big Ten in Pac-12? Now, obviously, like save for Ohio State, there hasn't been a whole lot of Big Ten action in the

playoff. Playoff. But I'm worried about college football in the long-term viability of this. And if you have these players coming out, and that's the thing. There's just, too much to keep under wraps. It's hard enough to keep 32 NFL teams under wraps. It's hard enough to get 30 NBA or MLB teams under wraps. You're talking about that's under one umbrella. We are all in the National Basketball Association. You have all these, what is it, like in the three conferences that are playing, or however many Division I think is like 77, I think, or something like currently? Currently playing. I would think it might even be a little higher than that. It's something where I, well, it's not the normal like 120 or whatever it is, but you're talking about 77

different coaches, 77 different athletic directors and presidents and protocols, 77 different budgets and different ways of going about things. I just feel like it's an inevitability that there's going to be outbreaks and I wonder how they're going to be handled and where you go forward from there. I know that it's a very different sport, but do you take any away from that. We've still not seen, I guess, transmission from one team to another in baseball.

I think that gives football some hope. In fact, like, I mean, I tend to be an optimistic person. But I actually look at the way things have gone in baseball and that we haven't had an outbreak in a few weeks. And I say, you know what? I'm down for trying out college football. And anything that we try out

is going to come with the caveat that look, at any moment, this could be shut down. but I don't know, man. We haven't seen outbreaks from one team to another yet in baseball, which makes it feel at least possible. Yeah. Yeah, these are contact sports,

and I'm just wondering how this is all going to be handled. And I'm actually still shocked. Now, when Big Ten came out and said that they weren't going to do it, I was a little bit surprised, but I think it makes sense because as we had Joel Clad on the show earlier this week talking about, it's almost like it's a cover-your-ass thing. and the NCAA are in multiple lawsuits.

And what they're selling in these lawsuits is that we are here. We exist for the student athletes. We exist for them and their health and safety. We're a nonprofit organization. This isn't any about money. Maybe it's not about individually money for NCAA, but it's about money for these programs. There's a reason that you can afford to pay Nick Sabin $9 million a year

to be the head coach of Alabama. And so these schools are going to be going forward with this. These schools are, I mean, it seems inevitable. There's going to be outbreaks. I think I don't want to overstay it. I want to go a hot taking on this, but I think we could see within probably within five years, depending on how certain lawsuits, when there's going to be the inevitable outbreak, when there's going to be the inevitable, why did you guys go forward with this?

And heaven forbid somebody gets seriously ill or hospitalized or even dies. And I'm not even saying that's going to happen because you're talking about guys who are opting in who are 19 and 20 years old and at the peak of their health that they're probably ever going to be at their life. So they probably should be okay. But even if you have them signing waivers and stuff like that, I feel like within five years we might see the whole entire college football season the way it is. We know it today completely blown up. Is that the worst thing in the world? Well, it would be justice, quite frankly. I think the system is broken as it is.

that we pretend that the charade that these guys, he's 19-and-20-year-old athletes, and everybody's just supporting them and everything exists for him. We have, yeah, this is all for the athletes. This is all for the student athletes. Why are you building a 50-foot 1080P screen out there in the stadium that costs $40 million? Well, it's for the fans. It's for the boosters. It's for all of that.

I mean, come on, stop it, college football. But for them to keep up this house of cards for this charade, this seems like a mistake long term this is a short term this is a short term probably the right decision because you need whatever money you can get right now and that's what these these presidents are looking at

but I think the Big Ten and the PAC 12 are kind of looking at the long term I certainly don't think they're just worried about the player safety I think that's probably the last thing that's on their mind but that's okay they're worried about public relations they're worried about lawsuits and they're worried about the long term viability of this whole amateurism chariress

that they have going on with the NCAA. And so that's why I want college football. Look, the Big 12 says they're going to play. I love the Texas Longhorns. Guess what I'm going to be doing when the Texas Longhorns open up their season against UTL Paso on, I think, September 12th or whenever it is. I'm going to be planted in my seat drinking a beer watching the game because I love college football and I want to watch it.

I just hope that I can watch it for the next five years and I hope that they aren't throwing the baby out with the bathwater. And what you have with the Big Ten and what they're doing, They're pushing forward with a spring season. And don't you think that's all so tough to sell that we're all for the players when you have them playing two seasons within the span of eight months? So that's one thing. That's one major narrative that I'm hearing right now. I would be very careful is the wrong word.

I just don't jump ahead of yourself because the spring season. It's probably not going to happen. The spring season, first of all, probably doesn't happen. Second of all, if it does, who's to say it's a full season? third of all, if it does, you adjust on the fly. Like, just because you end up playing on the spring, maybe it means you play a short and fall. Yeah, we'll see.

You can't, you have no idea what September of 2021 is going to look like. And this is what Urban Meyer said yesterday. So he's the assistant AD at Ohio State, and of course he's on Fox Sports College football. And did you see that video with that guy with no shirt on walking around? And Urban Myers is like, hey, get out of here. Hey, man. Yeah, what was that? I don't know.

and quite frankly, Urban Meyer looked lit up. All right. I mean, his eyes were barely open. I don't know what he was on. But he looked like he just like maybe hit the golf course at 8 a.m. had himself an 18 pack of Coors Light and then goes, and all of a sudden had to start scrambling when the news came down that the Big Ten wasn't going to play. Urban Meyer looks like a party, Eric. Yeah, that's fine.

I got no issue with that. I just think it's funny. If he wants to go get lit up on the golf course on a weekday afternoon, that's definitely his prerogative. But anyways, he says about playing two seasons or playing a fall season. He says, quote, no chance. You can't ask a player to play two seasons in a calendar year. When I first heard that, I said that. I don't see it happening when I hear that. The body, in my very strong opinion, is not made to play two seasons within a calendar year. That's

2,000 repetitive reps and football's physical tough sport, so I don't really don't see that happening. Well, Big Ten's going to try to go forward with it. We'll see what happens if they keep on pushing it back or maybe eventually we'll hear in the spring that they have to cancel the entire season. All right. We're going to take a break here on the Matt Thomas show here on Sports Talk 790 without Matt Thomas. He'll be back on Monday. My name is Ross V. Realt. We're going to take a break here.

When we come back, it's time for non-Florida stories. So don't go anywhere. Alexa, play Sports Talk 790 on I-Hard Radio. Sure. Mr. Bunby. Would you like it regular? Or chopped and screwed. Ha-ha-ha-ha.

Keep it trill. You know, I had this idea for this segment called Trend Rulet, where we would just find things that are trending on Twitter. We wouldn't know about them, and then we would click on them and find out what they are in the middle. But sometimes it's like somebody has died. Or usually these days it's political and somebody's getting canceled or, I don't know, something's going on with Jeffrey Epstein. So I was kind of wary when I was clicking. I was just trying to see. Steve-O was trending.

How much, Brendan, you're pretty young. Did you watch Jackass when you were a kid? A little bit. It seems like a little Grand Rapids kid would love him from Jackass. You know, my mom actually didn't like me watching Jackass. Oh, okay. So, but you sneak over to a friend's house and watch it there. I watched that, like, I watched some of the later ones, to be honest with you, because they came

out when I was a little older. As any good American kid would do, you have good parents, but probably some kid down the street does not, so you just go watch it over there. That's what we, that's one, you know. Well, the first couple came out while I was quite young. Okay. But the later ones, I've definitely, I'm very familiar. Well, Steve-O is, was trending, and I was hope, I'm not hoping, but I was thinking

of the worst, but he's just taped himself to a billboard, so he's okay. Well, I keep seeing, like, videos of him telling the story of some of the craziest stuff he's done. I don't know what you've seen. He's a crazy person. And I think he's had, you know, bouts with depression and stuff like that. So I wish the best for Stivo because he kept me entertained. Well, like 16-year-old Ross loved him some Stivo and some jackass movies and all that type of stuff. Guys getting kicked in the nuts for an hour and a half on TV.

It was amazing. I have at least one friend who went by Stivo for a little while. Okay. It might be more than one. What were you called that? Brendan? B. Ryle?

Brendan. Brendan. Riley? Never really had. So I never had nicknames with friends, but for some reason, every radio station I've ever been at hates calling me Brendan. Okay. Well, I don't have any problem with it. You guys are cool with it. ND calls me Beirai.

B. Rye. It's okay. I don't like nicknames that are just your name. And then Lil B, Mr. B. Like sports RV. What a waste of time that is. Come up with something creative. You know, when I got hired, I knew I was doing your guys' show, and I was trying to figure out listening.

Like, why the hell? this guy went by sports RV because I didn't know your name was Ross. Yeah, that's right. So I was like, does he like sell RVs like on the side? Well, I've been I've been clamoring for an RV sponsorship for years on this station. I'll never get one. I genuinely thought like you were you were selling recreational vehicles. I couldn't come up with anything.

And I had not had a Twitter account. Matt was SportsMT and I was like, I guess I'll be sports RV. I don't know what else to be. Because, first of all, my whole name does not fit. Ross v. Real did not fit. So I didn't want to be. Ross V was taken. And whatever. Anyways, let's go ahead and get to the Florida non-Florida stories here on the Matt Thomas show.

It is a Thursday staple. That's right. Hit the music, baby. A little Mark Morrison gets you going. So normally, look, every other station and every other show, they're going to bring you Florida stories. Matt Thomas has sought fit to bring us non-Florida stories. So we have to find some kind of weird, wacky, funky story. And it has to be not related to what's going on. In Florida.

Brendan, the floor is yours. What is your non-flora story? California Highway Police helicopter had to rescue an elderly couple who were injured will try and flee angry cows. The old people who are running away from a cow stampede? Yeah, in fact, oh, no, no. This is actually just a couple cows. A couple of cows. Not a stampede.

Just, I believe. Were they bulls, oxen? Jersey's, Angus? The pair encountered the bovine and her calf. while hiking. Oh, see, you don't mess with a cow in her calf. She's going to get defensive. She's going to get defensive.

She's going to be as a threat, chased after them. Oh, no. They fell and hurt themselves. Oh, no. Saved by a helicopter who scared the cows off with their siren. You don't normally see that on the Life Alert commercial where they're getting chased by cows. But get this, they had to hoist the elderly couple 75 feet into the helicopter. They lifelighted the couple?

Yep, and then flew them to a nearby. ambulance crew. Are they okay? Yeah, they're fine. Now I'm just worried about this elderly couple that was trying to pet a cow or whatever. You're not, yeah, you're, look, when you're 60, you're, I don't know, what is it? Let's guess. I'm going to Google it, Brendan. What do you think the top speed of a cow is?

I'll go 20 miles an hour? You think? Do that fast? Oh, wait, 15? I'm going to go 15. I'll go, I don't know. Cow top speed. 25. That's pretty fast. The cow's getting up to 25. Look, Mimaw is not getting up to 25.

What's that? Does it just ram into you? Yeah, I get. That's the top speed of a human. This is like, there's about 28 miles an hour, apparently. That's Usain Bolt at 28 miles an hour. I'm going to guess that Mee Ma'am and Paw, weren't necessarily running 28 miles an hour and it's order to outpace a cow.

I just can't get over this. Just a helicopter flying by recognizes there's an elderly couple. Yeah, that's great. In distress and scares away the cow. Oh, I'm glad that they did that. I'm glad that the cows did not kill Grandma and Grandpa. What part of California was this?

I don't know, man. Cows are mean. If it's a mom and her calf and they're no longer a threat and they're writhing on the ground, I'm guessing they're going to be okay? Lynch Canyon Regional Park in Solano County. Any of that do anything for you? Sure.

It's one of my favorite counties. Solano County is a top five county for me in California. All right, that is Brendan Riley's story. My story, you know, it's a sad, story from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Teenage Chili hostess reportedly attacked by a large group of women after trying to enforce COVID-19 guidelines.

A 17-year-old hostess at the Chili's on Constitution Avenue was attacked by a group of more than 11 women after she told them they could not all sit together per the restaurant's COVID-19 social distancing policies. She said, quote, I couldn't believe like over two for 25s and three-for-25s and three for tens, I got attacked. Kelsey Wallace said,

Wallace is a straight A student at Broadmoor Senior High School. The important information. And the EBR Career and Technical Education Center. So this is a straight A student, 17-year-old, trying to make an extra buck as a hostess at Chili's. She said, quote, my general

manager and my other managers tell us we cannot sit a table bigger than six because of the coronavirus. Well, she says, because of the corona, were supposed to separate them. There's pictures of her nails getting ripped off and she was assaulted and they got upset and the first thing I did was get my manager. But then one girl came in and she just hit me

and we started fighting and all everybody who they was with just started hitting me and the lady who pushed me first she takes the wet floor sign, cocks back and hits me in the eye. Wallace had to get stitches above her eye. Hair was pulled from her scalp and she had broken nails. What is wrong with you people in Baton Rouge? Louisiana.

Scarier. At the Chili's. Chili's Karen. This is not right. And look, I've heard this. We have Joe George who works up here. He works at Lids. Apparently people are telling him F you when he tells him to put on masks.

So you know what we need to do here? We have to have a public service announcement. Hi, guys. Ross via Real here on Sports Talk 790. I need to talk to you about the Rona. And I need to talk to you about getting aggressive with Chili's employees and guys who work at the mall for telling you to put your mask on. I know that this is America and they can't take your jobs and take your freedom and you don't want to put a mask on. But just please know that this Chili's hostess and the guy who stocks up at American Outfitters,

it wasn't his idea to make you put a mask on. It wasn't his idea to make you social distance. It wasn't his idea to try and have all these preventative measures or limit you to six at a table. But it is your job to follow the rules. And if you don't want to follow the rules, if you don't want a social distance and put a mask on, don't leave your house.

And if you do, do us all a favor. And don't attack the poor people making $5 an hour or $7 an hour or minimum wage, who have to be the frontline workers and enforcers. Have a little compassion. Don't clock the Chili's waitress over the head with the wet floor sign. That's just not right. That's not the way you should go about it. I understand that you're triggered and you're angry that you have to wear a mask.

But please, for Christ's sakes, don't take it out on the low-level employees. Don't start fights with them. Take it up with management. Take it up with the politicians and the leaders and the doctors who are recommending all of this. So these are trying, unprecedented times, and this is the new normal. Please, I beg of you, don't take it out on the bus boy or the hostess. or the guy who's stalking the shoes at journeys. This is Ross Villarreal, asking you to please have some compassion and some courtesy for your fellow man.

Thank you. Matt Thomas, we'd like to thank his parents for only giving him two first names. Because who would listen to Billy Ray Thomas talk about Houston Sports? The Matt Thomas Show on Sports Talk 790. Final segment. Matt Thomas show. Without Matt Thomas. Coming up at 3 o'clock, you get the 18.

Adam Clanton, Adam Wexer. A wonderful program. Beautiful people. They are. Ross Vireal with you at 713, 2,1, 2,5, 790. 7.17.13, 1, 2, 1, 2, 5, 79. I can't believe they beat up this poor lady, or this poor 17-year-old hostess at Chili's in Baton Rouge,

because she was just trying to let them enforce the, enforce the COVID rules. And I'm not joking about that. We've had, I mean, I know I did a little funny, tried to be funny with the public service announcement. There are people who are yelling and getting mad at these employees. It's like the employees aren't making the rules, man. You can't.

Don't yell at them because they're asking you to put on a mask or only have six people to a table. These are unprecedented and trying times that we're going through. So please don't attack Chili's hostess. Please don't. I've Joe George has told us multiple people. I've told him bleep you and they've asked him to put masks on. And all he's doing is enforcing the rules that he was told to enforce.

He's doing his job. You know, they need bouncers in front of these malls. Everybody needs to hire some six-foot-four, 300-pound bouncer in front of everything. So people will calm down about this. Doesn't it make you thankful for, like, the hang-up button on the radio? You can just hang up on people. Yeah, well, that's true. If somebody's saying to say it to crazy stuff.

I mean, I'm not saying you do that to everybody, but, like, you know, if someone's, no one has the ability to hit you over the head with a wet floor sign, is what I'm saying. That's true. I've taken, look, I've been on Brendan's side and the producing side, and I've been yelled at by many of people for various things that have happened on this station. Here? No, I mean, callers who would call in.

Call in and complain about something, or, why can't y'all stream the Astros? Well, sir, we haven't streamed the Astros ever. I'll listen to him last week. Well, either somebody screwed up or you're listening to something else because we don't stream the Astros, sir, because Major League Baseball doesn't let us. So just be nicer to your fellow man.

Everybody's stressed out. These people are, I mean, people are losing their jobs and money and getting furloughed. And look, the Chili's hostess, I'm going to go and guess he's not raking in the dough as it is. So just be nice to these people, man. Come on. All right. 713, 2, 1-2-5-7-90. Let's go to Gerard on the northwest side here on the Matt Thomas show.

What's up, Gerard? I ain't too much, Ross. How's it going? I'm well, sir. What are you got? Yeah, man. I heard, you know, just hearing about what's the rest of the playoffs, man, I think this is a devastating loss for the record. I'm not going to even try to sugarcoat it. Hopefully he'll get back, you know, sooner rather than later.

But the problem I have with them than not having him is a team is going to double team trapped James Harden. I mean, he's going to get the ball out of his hands when you didn't know anything. You know, what's the rest of was a guy that could make it happen for him three, you know, once they trap hard and he could get to the basket or create easy opportunities for his teammates. You're not going to have that. is going to have to fall on Austin Rivers. He's probably our best guy. If they start that trapping, you know, maybe put him in the game.

He's a guy that can get to the rim. You know, he's probably the second best guy not as Westbrook's not there. He's probably the second best guy behind Hardin that can get to the basket and maybe create some of these opportunities for his teammate. But that's going to be a big problem without Westbrook when one, when teams start to trap and get the ball out of James Hardin's hand. Now, when you look at this matchup, you know, without Westbrook, man, it's almost like an even matchup.

I mean, you look at, you got Chris Paul, you got James Hardin, you know, two Hall of Famers. You know, Hardin is playing at a high level right now, but it's not like a drastic, drastic gap. He's a much better player, but you got those two guys. You got Kid Gildredge and Eric Gordon. Eric Gordon is rusty right now.

He's one for nine. He's been, you know, kind of up and down the last two or three years by shooting a three-point range. So you probably give Kit Gilder's edge in that matchup. And then off the bench, you got Austin Rivers, and you got Stroder. You know, the Austin Real that scored 41 points, yeah, he can match up with Schroeder.

But overall, Schroeder is running for six million of the year. Austin River is not, you know, on that level. So, you know, you look at the matchups, Gallinari is going to be the key. You know, Covington's going to have to shut him down because he's kind of like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hayes. He's going to play real good. He's going to play real bad.

So Coveton, if he can kind of slow him down, you have to be a key and keep Adams off the glass. That'll follow with PJ Tucker, man. But this is a tough matchup, man. It's a little bit tough matchup with Westbrook, but I would have favored the Rockers, but now that Westbrook's not there, it's a cornflip matchup, man. It really is.

It could go easy, either way. Hardin's going to have to be unbelievable. He's going to have the average probably around 35 to 40 points per game in this series. And it's going to be a very, very, very tough matchup, man. It's going to either way. It's a true four or five matchup. So I just hope they get Westbrook back as soon as possible. But it's going to be tough, man.

It's going to come down on defense. Defense and offensive rebound. And can somebody besides. James Harden, get you 20 to 24 points. It's going to be Rivers. It's going to be Eric Gordon. There's got to be somebody coming to hitting the three. McLemore, you've got to have another guy that's going to take up the flag that you're

not going to get those 20 plus points that you're getting on a regular basis from Russell Westbrook. That's going to be the key, man. But this is a tough loss, man. This is a tough, tough loss, especially considering who you're going to be playing, man, in Oklahoma City, who's been playing very well this season. And they do have some players that can. really creating a score, man. And Schroeder,

Kiergilderis, and, of course, Kirste Pah. All right, Gerard. Thanks a lot, buddy. Appreciate you.

That's a full 305 there for those you counting at home for Gerard there. Look, as far as the Rockets in the matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder, to me,

it's not a toss-up. I think the rockets are the better team. And you're right. Look, there are some of the talent can be overlooked from the Thunder because they're not,

you know, Shee Gilges-Alexander isn't necessarily a household name. And outside of Chris Paul, and perhaps you could say, I don't think Stephen Adams is a household name, but people who follow the NBA know him and know he's a pretty good center. And certainly against a small ball lineup of the Rockets, they're going to try to work him on the post a little bit. But I think the Rockets are still more talented. I think it's more even of a matchup without Russell Westbrook. But you had the report earlier today from Jonathan Fagan.

He says that he's going to miss at least the start of the playoffs. Mike Dantonie earlier today on our airwave said he's going to miss a couple of practices in Friday's game. So it remains to be seen if and when Russell Westbrook misses time, how much time he's going to miss. But I still think I would favor the rockets. And I think I would favor them comfortably. It'll be interesting in the next couple of days. A series price might already actually be out. But I think maybe not with Russell Westbrook out.

And that's when on gambling, they say who's going to win this series? and then they set up the odds from there. But the Thunder are good. Chris Paul is good. He's a great floor general. And like you said, Shea Gilges Alexander. I mean, he can,

I think he popped off on the rockets earlier at some point this year. And Danila Golanari is a guy who can obviously shoot threes very well as well. But I just think overall on both sides of the ball, even if you have Russell Westbrook out, and then you're inserting whomever in the starting lineup, my guess would be Daniel House, Jr. Eric Gordon, James Harden,

PJ Tucker, Robert Covington, and then you'd have a couple of the rest of the three guys off the bench. If that's the way it's going to be, if Daniel House Jr. is not missing time, I think it's fine. I think they're favored over the Oklahoma City Thunder. I think they're better than the Oklahoma City Thunder. And the Rockets

just got to play their ball. I mean, we've seen it so far throughout this season. If the Rockets play the way that they're supposed to be, and to me they've been pretty sharp, even though they lost this back-to-back, they haven't had all of their horses. But James Harden, I mean, the guy's just unconscious right now from three, and he's one of the best scoring weapons of all time, if not the best, depending on how you want to argue points

per possession and all that type of stuff. 45 points he got last night, nine assists. He should have had more than that. Nobody could make a three. Rockets not named James Hardin last night. Shot nine of 43 from the three-point line. That is 20.9 percent. that is not good.

So maybe, obviously, is that going to happen again? I don't know. But they barely lost to a Pacer's team. And if you get Daniel House Jr., I think, is important to get back. Jeff Green has been playing well for the Rockets as well. I think they're better than the Oklahoma City Thunder. And with Westbrook, it's not a question in the first place. With Westbrook, they become even that much more potent on the offensive side of the ball

in order to take down the thunder. because then you have one of them. You have an MVP on the court at all times. And as far as what you're talking about, the four-on-three situations, without Russell Westbrook, yeah, they've been putting him at the top of the key, and he's really flourishing at the four-on-three situations

because he can get to the basket or kick open to a wide-open shooter there on the corners. Jeff Green's been pretty good in those scenarios as well for the Houston Rockets. He's been getting to the basket. He's been really quick. He's been playing well. He had 14 points last night for the Rockets. He didn't make a three-pointer.

but I mean, how valuable has he been so far in this restart for the Rockets? I think he's a guy that you can use in some of those four-on-three situations that the Rockets are going to get if the Oklahoma City Thunder think that they're going to double team. And are they going to? I don't know because we haven't seen it in the last few games that James Hardin has played. And I don't know how much of his data because they're getting very efficient at the four-on-three scenarios. because when it first happened against the Dallas Mavericks in the first game of the season, the Rockets flat out struggled.

They didn't know what they're doing. Nobody was in their right spots. It's like they had amnesia. And it was the first time they'd seen James Harden get double-teamed, even though it had been happening this entire season. So they're getting better at that. So the last couple of games, were teams not using it because that's their philosophy? Or were teams not using it because the Rockets are getting that much better at handling the trapping

and the double teaming. I don't know. We'll have to see, and a big part of that is going to be the health of Russell Westbrook. When is he coming back for the Houston Rockets? That remains to be seen. So that's what we have to keep an eye on, but they are locked in against the Oklahoma City Thunder in that 4-5 matchup, which means if they do get past the first round, it'll be the Rockets and the Lakers, which to me the preferred matchup in the second round there. All right, that's going to do it for the Matt Thomas show without Matt Thomas. My name is Ross Villarreal. I would like to say thanks to all of you for listening to the show.

Thanks to those you who called, tweeted, got involved in any way. Matt Thomas will be out tomorrow as well as he is traversing through Texas on a trip to Lubbock. So he'll be back Monday. You'll have me and Joe George tomorrow. In the meantime, you have coming up now. It is the A team. Adam Clanton, Adam Lexer, next here on Sports Talk 790.