The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - The Matt Thomas Show 10-25-19

Episode Date: October 25, 2019

The Matt Thomas Show w/ @SportsMT, @SportsRV, and @ProNickLow 10/24/19Zach Greinke will take the mound in Game 3 (0:00)The Instant Replay gets used by both teams in Rockets Home Opener (10:27)Jake Kaplan Breaks Down Game 3 Possibilities For The Astros (36:29)Joel Klatt Doesn't Trust Auburn To Win A Shootout With LSU (57:51)Brian T. Smith On Game 3 : "This Is Why They Got Zach Greinke" (1:15:12)

Much larger than life. Yeah. Lunch timers is the Matt Thomas show. 12 H-town. Yeah, I feel fine. You should feel fine. Do I? I'm a little nervous.

Well, you should be nervous. It's a World Series. Yeah, I'm a little hoarse from last night's Rockets game. But the show... I'll talk about that later. Must go on. And so should the Astro Series. And so should the afternoon delight on the Sports 790 website on the What's on Matts Mine show page.

Just make sure that's loading properly. You've done well. Ladies and gentlemen, I ask you to conjugate your verbs properly. To not have assonine takes about clubhouse leadership. Oh, boy. And call 713-212-5-790 because tonight, Zach Granky is going to get three hits. Is he?

That would be awesome. Well, that's maybe a little bit of an embellishment. I don't know if he'll get three at bats. He'll get two quality at bats. And we will hear about Juan Soto, turning 21 years old today multiple times. With Fox birthday graphics, birthday cake overlays. It is the bat-tobba show on Sports Talk 790 on this. Okay, keep the music on.

We got to, with the music, here we go. Here it is, and he goes Friday. Sammy Hagar in our lives. You're a Hagar guy, however. I don't really, I'm mostly ambivalent, but I'll go with, what's his name? The Justin Gigolo guy. Oh. So what is, what can I think of his name?

The long-haired guy. David Ragh. Daily Ross, whatever. Oh, wow. Hager's better. I don't think you can be both. I think you're in the minority on that. That's neither here nor there.

Yeah, it is neither here nor there. So Sammy, sing it to Houston, Texas. We can get fired up for game three of the World Series right here on Sports Talk 7-9. Busy show for you today. Two different check-ins in Washington. College football with little Joel Clatt. You guys want to talk about the Rockets game last night. You're up for that as well.

Everything is really fair game at 7-1-3-212-5-790. 7-1-3-212-5-7-90. I'll be really honest with you I'm really happy there's a game because everything that has not been discussed about the Astros in the last 24 hours hasn't been about the game itself and that's unfortunate They need to extend

this series I was having a great conversation at TOTA Center last night If the Astro True or false If the Astros can get this series back to Houston They win the series Would you be accepting of that?

that? Yes. That's the only way they're going to win it. Well, but I mean, yeah, that's true. But there could be as many people to say this series is not coming back. As you're saying, they're not losing two games at home to the Nats if they come back. If they can come back and win two out of three there. They just lost two to the Nats at home with Verlender and Kold.

I'm just saying you can agree or disagree. Okay, disagree. It's not a guarantee, no. All right. So your hunch says if the Astros are back in Houston, Texas for games Tuesday, see Wednesday next week that they're not going to win the world series i don't understand the question six and seven yes if the astros can win two out of three would you then go to los vegas i'm picking the astros on i'm picking the astros in seven i'm still i'm sticking by that

all right i went from six i had to fluctuate a little bit because it lost i had astros in five and thus that's not applicable this moment i had to walk the goal post back a little bit yep as of the rest of us i hope this is a good day man it's good it's hard to do the show here frankly i were at twin peaks by the way at two 90 in pinemont um good job i i've i've actually practiced the girls are wearing like um black it's like Halloween costume yeah which really just means lingerie day they're just wearing black lingerie so it's very yeah it's hard for us to focus but the show must go on and we will do a great radio show today with a couple of updates what's happening there um okay so zach rinky

been spectacular in the postseason. Actually, he's been probably lower than he would be. You know what he's been? He's been about what he's been during the postseason. He's been postseason Zach Grinke. Well, the first start was horrible. And then after that, I mean, and then the middle one was what he went to six and gave up three.

And then, I mean, overall, not exactly what you want. There was the Brian Smith article talking about how it was just he's been a disappointment and stuff like that. I wouldn't characterize him as disappointment. I mean, I think so. So if you're paying him $35 million and he was brought here to be an ace type of level guy, then he's a disappointment from that standpoint. Now, you would like to see a strong start from it.

Not necessarily like what he did in his last regular season, start where he was going against the Mariners and threw no hitter into the ninth inning. But it would be nice to see him go out there and go out at least six and give up like one or two runs. Like that's something, that's what he's here for. He's not here to be your four guy or to be your, you know, When Wade Mila goes out and throws six innings and give up three runs, you say, you know what, Wade, you did your job, thank you. I think that's a guy making four and a half.

Maybe three runs and six innings isn't enough. No, it's good. Because the Astros offense is just an admin spectacular. It's good. It's good enough to keep you winning games. It's good enough to have you in games with the Astro's offense in theory, but it's not spectacular. And maybe there's a little bit of the fact that not everybody's going to be Gary Cole and Justin Verland.

You're not necessarily asking him to be that, but you're also asking him to be better than he was. Somewhere in between, you would like from Zach Rinky for a guy who is a Cy Young winner, who's probably going to the Hall of Fame, who's making $35 million, you would like better than Wade Miley-style production out of him. Yeah, especially the biggest moments because your team is down. This is such an unfamiliar territory for the Astros, being down 02, especially after one of the first two games. I think confidence is, if I was to poke into the Astros Clubhouse yesterday,

I don't think they're like, oh my God, we're not going to finish this. I think there's probably a lot of guys that are feeling like they've let each other down, which is natural. The offense has not been spectacular. The defense has been erratic. The pitching, I mean, what have we always been teasing about? You have Garrett Cole and Verlander in back-to-back starts. You're supposed to be up to nothing no matter what the situation is.

And it hasn't turned out that way. Verlernando was just okay. Cole was frankly hitable for the first time. Yeah, but you went against. Scherzer and Strasbourg. So you understand that those are loseable games. It just sucks that you lost both of them. You would have not expected to. I think if you'd ask me to predict the series a million times, I would have never said the Astros start the series 02. It just didn't seem within the realm of possibility.

But it's happened, and they're there. And these are the Sarts that Zach Grinky is here for. Zach Grinky was traded to the Houston Astros, not to be a piece, not to be a filler, not to be just a guy. He was traded here to be the third head of a three-headed starting pitching monster and he needs to step up and perform that way and the reality is yeah and the reality is you're going to need him for game seven too absolutely so this is Zach's time you know doesn't he do interviews doesn't need to do uh public appearances he just go to the mound stare at his feet say six words in your pregame press or what did he hear yesterday i don't even know no i don't even think he spoke to a media that's fine yeah don't need to talk to him i need him to

pitch god i hope so i need him throwing 70 mile an hour ephous pitches and strike folks out Yeah, and not apologize for me, either, by the way. Exactly. How about this? Okay, being a little bit of a negative, get the Astros loose tonight. Here's my question. Don't say that.

Okay, in the world of video games, where you do lose occasionally. And you are a video game player like you tend to be. Every now and then. Would you throw Garrett Cole in game four? If you're not three-nothing. Do you throw Garrett Cole in any circumstance at all in game four? I mean, it's a sim.

You would call it a must-win situation either way. AJ Hinch would. I think he starts game four no matter what. I would tend to think that. You know what? I would completely disagree. I think if you win tonight, you do have game five with a full Garrett Cole rested

to keep the series alive. Yeah, can you're just? guaranteed game five right yeah and you can win three straight Cole Verlander Greenkey 5-6-7 yeah well that's maybe you're right yeah so I would yeah I think the only way Garrett Cole pitches in game four is if they lose tonight they don't okay down oh three all right 713 212 5 790 7 1 3 212 5 790 what are you all thinking do you feel good do you feel like this is a chance how is your confidence level I mean Ross and I can blurt out all the things we think or may or may not be

happening over the next two and a half hours But today's your opportunity to say, hey, Matt, I think this thing's going to go. The Astros are going to get their mojo back? Or are the Astros that you've seen in the last couple of days at MinuteMade Park? Just not the same ones that you thought were going to be the perennial favorites to win the World Series. The Rockets had Red Nation. Matt has Maddie Nation. Things are going to start happening to me now.

You made it. I'm somebody now. More Matt Thomas. Now. And that's about Playtus. Bottom line. And they came into our building and played two really good games. And, you know, we're going to have to try to sleep off the latter third of this game.

We haven't found the results. And so I think that's been the frustrating part of this series. I'm not going to drag the ALCS into this. This is about the World Series. But, you know, whether you want to credit them or whether you want to put the pressure on us, they're winning these at-bats. And that's been the difference in these games. There you go.

AJ's like, you know what? We don't you get the swagger back. Do you do it? We don't do revivals on a road, do we? No, that's probably a bad idea. Probably so. People don't get the show. We're already getting stunned.

Stunt looks as it is. Well, there's a lot of stunning looks, period, around these parts. It is the Matt Thomas show on Sports Talks. We're live at Twin Peaks, 290 and Pinemont. We'll be here until 3, 18, 3 o'clock until 5. And at 4.50, we're going to weigh a trip to 2, 2. West Palm Beach for the Astros National Spring Training Opener. So kind of nice little extra bonus for listening to our radio station all day long.

Jake Kaplan's going to be with us at 1 o'clock today. The lineup for when the Astros last played the Nationals in Washington, D.C. Ooh, okay. Isn't that good? To show you how things have changed. The date, June 18, 2014, the year before the Wild Card Team. Wow. I will say Jose Al Tuve and then I'm done guessing Marlon Gonzalez?

Uh, no on one of those. George Springer is in the lineup. Oh, that's good. Yeah, Jose Al Tuve batted second that day. George Springer batted third. Let me give me the entire lineup. And then don't give me answers. Just give me emotions, like sound effects.

Okay. Leading off for your Astros, the center fielder, Dexter Fowler. Okay, major later, you're fine. Well, traveled. Second baseman, Jose Altupe. Right fielder, George Springer. First baseman batting cleanup, John Singleton. Batting fifth, the third baseman, Matt Dominguez.

Batting six, the catcher, Jason Castro. Shortstop, batting seventh, Jonathan V.R. Betting eight, the left fielder, Robbie Grossman. These match should have been okay. And then batting ninth, then the pitcher, who I believe is the highest payroll guy on that year's roster, Scott Feldman. It's actually solid for them a little bit. To be replaced by Josh Zide, Darren Downs, Kyle Farnsworth, and Tony Sip. I forgot about Kyle Farnsworth, the Houston Astro.

Oh, yeah, I do. I was like, Kyle Farnsworth throws 100 miles an hour, but is easily the one of the most hitable pitchers in Major League Baseball. And likes to fight people. Yeah, and it's a little aggressive. Yeah. I think Kyle's Farnsworth would sometimes throw up people just so he could start a fight. Yeah. He had anger issues, and that's fine.

We've all got them, apparently. Well, that's true. 713-212-5-790. 7-1-3-1-2-5-7-90. Besides what Astros, any impressions last night, Houston, about the Rockets opener against the Miliwock A-Box. I thought for the first, let me just give you everything about last night. Okay. Can I tell you about this instant replay bit?

Yes. Okay, they used it twice yesterday. The bucks get to use it once and the Rockets used it once. And they were both successful. They both used them in the first quarter. So as I'm learning more and more about this, you can only use it once per game. Yeah, right. If you think about the percentages of calls that you can challenge, right?

For an NFL coach gets two. Right? They run 80 plays a game. Right. Even if that, like somewhere in that neighborhood, you're talking about like 200 possessions, and you get one. One. So as I'm, and you've got to realize, I took a picture of this on my Twitter can. I'm in the middle of all this. There's a video camera.

There's a stat thing. There's a button that shows which team calls the challenges. It's a hot mess right around my area. Lighten up, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like a light up. And I told the guy from it was in charge of our instant replay. I said, this is a lot of work for, in theory, two plays.

Right. Here's the question. Both the calls were overturned. Yes. Which doesn't make fishing look particularly good. I get a lot of stuff wrong. But here's the problem. You're going to have calls in a third and fourth quarter.

They're going to be goofed up. Right. And if there is a charge or a. basket or you want to argue about a goaltend or a travel, why in the world would you bother using it in the first quarter when you can beat your chest and feel good about it? And then in the fourth quarter you're sitting there going, well, there is a nice monitor that you can't change a call and a foul.

Can I tell you this is really bad, but this went through my mind yesterday? When I was watching that game, I said, we went from horrible umpiring throughout these playoffs, so now I've got to watch bad NBA refs. That's what my mind was focused on, on opening night of the NBA, when I should be happy about, you know, all these things happening and the season starting

and Russell Westbrook and the opening night in Toyota Center and this is great and Yonis Tis Kumpo's in town. Right. I was thinking about referees. That's the first thing I was thinking about in that first quarter. That's sports now. That's 2019 sports. So here's, I'm going to be very clear when I tell you this. Officiating basketball

is the hardest job and it ain't even close. It is so much more difficult. both than being a baseball umpire or an NFL official or college or high school. Being an NBA referee, or college for that matter. But the NBA especially because they're the best of what they do out there. The game moves so fast. There's very few stoppages.

It's a pretty fluid game. With that being said, three human beings can't do it anymore. Rossi, I was sitting there going, this challenge worked. And my thought was, and tell me, and again, I know we're talking, talking about games going on and on and on. But if there are wrong calls, Ross, and you hit that challenge button, and you get it right,

why can't you just keep on challenging until you get it wrong? I think they should give more challenges, but also, I don't know, man, I think what you said in the middle there is key about the games going on and on and on. Do we want the calls right? Yes. Do we want the game stopped at every point, where there's a wrong call.

And there's a miss call and all that types. And I think I struggle with the same thing in football. It's just there has to be, I guess, find a middle ground between getting the calls right and also making the game flow. Well, because one of my favorite things about basketball is because it's back and forth flow. There's not stop it just like a college basketball. It's one of the more fun. That's why I want it to me.

It's one of the more fun sports to watch because of the back and forth action. Not stop, foul, a challenge. But here's the problem. If you're that guy, I'm not saying you are, but if you're that guy that is, I hate the NBA because the officials suck, then you have to then go, all right, then I need 10 stoppages in the game.

It's all about what you're willing to deal with. I watch that Thursday at football game too. And there was, I mean, those calls where people are low, they're calling unnecessary roughness for guys that are making tackles for lowering their heads. And there's helmet-to-helmet-contact, But there were so many times where I'm sitting there going, what do you want this guy to do?

There was this poor Redskins player who kept getting called. I'm like, there's nothing he can do. He's playing football. And so you have to digest that. You have to take the bad with the good, right? Any sport. Umpiring, you have to take the balls and strikes are going to get called wrong all the time.

Basketball, you have to take blocks and charges are going to get screwed up. There's going to be some referee at half court calling a foul from somebody in the paint. And then football, you don't know what's going on. There's a holding on almost every play. Are they going to call it? Are they not?

I mean, it's just about what you can handle and what you can digest because none of these sports are perfect. 7-1-3-2-1-2-5-7-90. I got more impressions on the Astrosse or to the Rockets opener from last night talking about Russ, James, EG, really the whole team struggling from the floor. We'll get to more of that as our afternoon progresses. 1228, Matt Thomas, with you from Twin Peaks. 290 and Pinemont on Sports Talk 790.

Hardin-hammers. The beer, Tomah! George Springer goes Sean your home for the Rockets and Astros Sports Talk 7-night members of the Ross Miller Real fan club have made their way here to uh I twid pigs and 290 and binemont about that Ross I didn't realize you had such a fan club 1235 on 790 7197-1 3212 5 790 719 712 2-9 All right, few other things. Yes. Russell Westbrook is awesome.

I know he doesn't shoot great, but he is athletic. He is fast. He rebounds. He distributes. He loses his man on the three-point line every now and then. A little bit. I don't know a little bit better there.

Yeah. Sorry. All right, there we go. There were a lot of open-miss threes yesterday. Yeah? There were also a lot of made threes by the, bucks like Ersan Ili Assova hitting threes one of the Lopez is hitting threes

yeah one of the Lopez Brooke Lopez was hitting fade away contested jumpers at the end of the game and Yonnas dentecoupo who's not supposed to be hitting three point shots yes made three point shots is he working out in the offseason I would imagine I don't like that it's there's just no way I mean PJ Tucker was

hanging like 10 feet off of him because that's the only way you can even try to have some semblance of way of guarding without just flat out double teaming of old school like hakeem olajuan style and if he's just going to pull up and some of those threes were just there was no doubt about it there were as matt what thomas would say nothing but nylon it was it was rough to watch at times because p.j was doing everything he could size matters ross that's true and now he got bumped down to a six five from a six six so that's unfortunate he gives it as all uh but the The story for me was, the athleticism that was great.

Yeah. The speed of the game, which was good. I thought the defense for the first half was exceptional. But sometimes just missing shots over and over and over again has an indirect negative effect on you when you're on the other side of the floor defensively. And I think it's what the Rockets got themselves caught up into yesterday. They were really bad. I mean, especially in the fourth quarter, you had, what was it, 0 for 6, I think, from Eric Gordon.

But, I mean, overall, looking at this rotation, Matt. I think this is a pretty good team. I like Cephalosha. Ben McLemore came in and made a couple of threes. Tavo Cephalosia is going to be solid. I really liked what you got out of Tyson Chandler. Remember he was sitting in front of us, and we were asking, I was like,

hey, how much spring you got in. You're just messing with him. How much spring you got left in those legs? He's got a pretty good amount of spring left. I actually teased him yesterday. I said, at halftime, I said, are you 22 again? He goes, at least for the first half. Yeah.

That's not going to be every single night. Right. But that's going to be, frankly, more what you're going to probably get out of a say on the nane at this. point and Ryan Anderson you know is not gonna be a guy that's gonna go in the low block and do that kind of thing I didn't Clint Capella I'm waiting for those free throws a drop that's gonna be an Achilles in Russell Westbrook same thing for all the great things that Russell did that free throw conundrum of the Rockets

with those two gentlemen the line is it going to is going to be a benefit to teams that are gonna try to stop them one way or the other yeah I there was there was a lot of good things I saw out of Russ I mean the pace is clearly faster he's got everybody faster and the way that he gets up to the court and can chink try to I mean he just glott and never seen anybody as they're dribbling glide as quickly as Russell Westbrook oh I think his zero to 60 yeah incredible I mean maybe prime there uh Derek Rose before the injuries and maybe you put John wall up there but I think Russell Westbrook's up above all of the for a 30-year-old he's so so fast so fast and there was a couple of times or he threw up elbow jumpers that I didn't like or contested threes that I didn't like, although he made one of them in the fourth quarter.

But I think that's just what it's going to be. You take the good with the bad with Russ, and there's going to be more good than bad. I don't think people should be overly discouraged about last night. It had been nice to win. But it was one of those games that I still enjoyed. Again, the fourth quarter was kind of painful to watch, but that's neither here nor there. Ron in North Houston on 790 at 1239. Hi, Ron.

Hey, what's up, man? Same old Rockies, man. They need to be on the phone call in Oklahoma City. and asking for Sam Adams and Gallinari for Capella and Tucker. Sam Adams. The Boston Lager guy? What's his name? Adams is the center for Oklahoma City?

Yeah, the former revolutionary who makes Boston Lager. Samuel Adams. That's exactly who they want. Okay, okay, yeah, him. Where they need to be asking for Sam Adams and Gallagher and I would have gone to give him Capella because we need that remounting and that defense, man.

Yeah, so they're going to trade... Heck of a noseguard as well. They're going to trade their good center, Steve Adams, in return for what you think is a bad center in Clint Capella. I think so, man. I think he may play better defense.

I mean, seriously. Well, I tell you what? You know, that's my opinion. No, you won't. No, you'll say. No, your opinion is not valid when you call him Samuel Adams. It's just not. Should the Rockets trade a Coorsalite and a Moka Frappuccino in return for a Amstel and a Dosecchi's 713-212-5-790?

Oh, man. Why? Okay, so walk me through this. The Rockets played one game and the very first call I get about the Rockets game last night is making a trade with Oklahoma City. For a revolutionary figure. And look, people guess mess up names all the time. But you call the show, like, I got a take that's going to tell you that the Rockets can be better with the player. Okay, I'll adhere to that.

What do you want to hear? Now, again, I don't usually take a lot of trade people on first day calls. Yeah. But I thought, why not? Ron calls a show occasionally. We'll give him an opportunity. Who lost anyone to give away? I don't remember.

He lost my and somebody for Stephen Adams is what we wanted. Stephen Adams is a great player. I just don't know that Oklahoma City is going to trade away. Oklahoma City is not training Stephen Adams under any circumstance. Well, I mean, unless they're like, you know, all of a sudden. They might actually be good. Like Steph Curry may want to come play in Oklahoma City. By the way, speaking of Steph Curry, they got the tar beat out of them last night.

In their home opener in their new arena. And the Clippers are a buzzsaw, and they don't even have Paul George yet. Yeah, can I be really blunt with you? Yes. I'm scared of the Clippers. Me too. Like, oh my God, good, deep stars, and no Paul George in two games and no problem in two games. Good mix of talent, and then for my money with Kevin Durant down,

Best player in the planet, Kwai Leonard. It makes me sick. But you know what? Do you agree with that or no? Best basketball playing on the planet right now. Kauai Leonard? Pound for pound? Two-way.

How many pounds he weighs? Is he playing every night, though? We'll see. How can I make him the best player on the planet if he's only going to play 56 games? When he's out there, he's healthy, he's the best player on the planet. I'll give you that. At least now we know that losing sucks. And if anybody knows how much losing sucks, it's Matt Thomas.

Outstanding. This is Whitney Merciless. Back to the Matt Thomas show on Sports Talk 790. Yeah, I think Whitney might have something on his mind. It's accurate. It's been a bad week. My Astros have dropped two straight. The Rockets lost last night, and my Cougars lost to SMU.

Although they did cover, so if you're into that kind of thing. That's true. What was it? 13 and a half? Yeah. Lost by three. That's what we do. We have moral victories now.

Peach Bowl in 2000. 2016 and now we're moral victories That's fine. I have a mighty have fallen Well now they weren't that mighty ever I just want to get to a bowl. Isn't that crazy? Yeah, I guess we'll kind of bowl anything tax slayer bowl Yeah, we'll take the Aggies on. I mean there'll be seven and five anyway That's true, so just saying seven one three what bull you're all going to? Let's see there's no sugar you lost twice, right?

No, I think the sugar was the latest I saw. What? New Year's Day 6? Is there another highly rated Big 12 team besides Texas? Oklahoma? I mean Oklahoma? Not okay. That's if Oklahoma goes into the playoffs.

Oh, Baylor? Eh, that's going to be a problem. Who's going to finish higher? Baylor or Texas? One, two, three. Texas. Who's playing Oklahoma? In the, who's losing to them in the Big 12 championship game?

Who's losing to Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game? One, two, three, Baylor. Texas. One, two, three. Texas. Gerard on the southwest side at 1250 on Sports Talk 7. Hi, Gerard. All right, how's it going, man?

How you doing, Matt? We're doing great. We're at Twin Peaks. Where are you at? Oh, man, I'm out here working, man. Trying to make a dollar out of 15 cents, man. All right, fair enough. Yeah, I'm going to talk about there with y'all, man.

One of these days I'm off of y'all. Y'all's doing something on the stairs. I can maybe get out there. As far as the game last night, It's a tough game, man. I thought they should have, you know, brought that game home, you know, especially with a Greek freak falling out with five minutes left. You know, he was the best player on the court last night,

and you got him to file out. But they just weren't able to get any stops that Ilosova and Lopez pretty much did them in down the stretch, man. And that goes to my point of, you know, the head Tucker on Lopez. And Capella, man, no free throws, man. You see it kind of come up doing this, on the fourth quarter, because, you know, you can't have them out there because he's just not a reliable free throw. shooting. He's been working on his free throw shooting with, I think, John Lucas for the last

three or four years, but yeah, he hasn't really improved enough for you to have much I guess in a crunch time. That kind of hurt us in down the streets to get Milwaukee. Eric Gordon, another guy that three-point percentage has gone down the last two years started this season out, you know,

struggling behind the three-point line. He's got to be able to find that shooting touch, man. He cannot be as interested as he was the last two seasons, man. So hopefully he can find the group. James Harden, you know, he didn't shoot the ball well, but he fixed the game in a positive way with 14 assists. He still got 19 points as he was 14, 14 on the preto line. And I thought Westbrook played very well, especially in the four-quarter.

He brought the energy, and he played well, man. It's just a tough loss. I just want to like to see them bring that game home, especially with Greek falling out. But it's just a game that they're going to have to look back on and try to get better and know that Milwaukee team with a lot of lifts and a lot of athleticism have given the Rockins' problems, in particular James Harden. He struggled to have a good game against them in the last, really the last three hours. So hopefully they'll make the adjustment man Saturday night when they got to play in New Orleans.

So we'll see what happens, man. But Eric Gordon is the key, man. He's got to be able to be that third, third consistent score to go along with what Harding or Westbrook brings for the paper. Now, as far as the Astros go. Yeah. Go ahead. Now, as far as Astro goes real quick.

Grinky, I think the Astro offense got to show up tonight, man. I really don't think it's a great matchup as far as Gricky against the Astrook. Washington National lineup from Gricky is not a power pitcher. He pitches to contact, and Washington National are a very good high-contact team. But that being said, I think the offense has got to be able to step up, man. They need that offense to Scotian runs, man, because I don't see Gricky holding them, you know, two runs over seven innings. I don't see that happening.

So I think the offense is going to be the key to get a victory. We can get a victory tonight, man. We'll be back in this series, man. But if not, you know, you know, get that fat lady warmed up in the offer room. Get ready to start things. Oh, don't talk like that. Thank you, Gerard. I appreciate the phone call.

I don't want to get opera singers talking. I'm not going to take, and thank you for the phone call. I'm not taking one Rockets game and talking about the issues that are going to be, you know, killing the team over the course of the year. Because, A, by the way, they play 81 more of these, and secondly, not everybody they play is the caliber of Milwaukee. Now, is Milwaukee one of the best teams in the NBA would have been cool to win the opening night game? Absolutely.

Were there shooting deficiencies all over the place? Yes, for sure. Eric's got to shoot better, but I don't think that's a byproduct. I don't think that's why the Rockets gave him all the money. I don't think James Hardin's going to struggle the way that he did. That's just Milwaukee's a good defensive team, really good team, great length, and is a squad that should be reckoned with. 713-212-5-790.

I think they're better in Philadelphia, honestly, in the Eastern Conference. 7-13-212-5-7-90. If you want to reach out via Twitter, you can, at SportsMT, at SportsRB, and at Pro Nick Lowe. So the questions I've got, honestly, for what the Astros are going to do tonight are twofold. One, who's playing left field? How much does Jornan Alvarez get to play in this series? And does that solve the right field issue that has been Michael Brantley?

Not Michael Brantley. That has been Josh Redick, who has struggled the way that he has offensively really this entire postseason. And ultimately, will game fours start? pitcher be decided based on the efforts of what happens tonight in game number three if you've fouled down three nothing in the series do you go to Garrett Cole on short rest I think if you win the game it's a moot conversation you don't even think about it I think you go with erkidi peacock that bullpen type game but it's obviously got to be an AJ's mind if they lose tonight how do you salvage a series I think tonight is a

huge night for the emotional swing of our baseball community known as Houston, Texas. You win game three tonight and you feel like you are right back in this bad boy. You lose this game tonight and you go man, 107 wins, American League penned, this is all cool, this is all fun, and then you wind up thinking about it's still being a disappointment. And I don't want I don't want y'all to feel that way. Because yeah, we'll be disappointed. We'll be crushed. I get it. But there still is a lot to be accomplished.

And it does go back to the one thing that a lot of us talked about a few weeks ago. This is the first time in a long period of time that the Houston Astros, among any Houston sports teams, were the favorite. And it's not that they couldn't handle it. The Astros can handle a lot of things. The Astros just ran into a team, by the way, of a national squad, who has been playing out of its mind since the middle of the season. Scrappy five-game series went against the Washington against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Beat the Milwaukee Brewers in a wild card game. And then just disposed of a very good St. Louis team. Nothing wrong with what the Astros are competing against. Nothing fluky. But I think the emotion certainly can change in a dime if you win tonight's game. because then you rest game four, Cole. You don't even think about putting him out there. And then you say, look, I got Gary Cole in game five

with a chance to come back to Houston, Texas, with game six and Justin Verlander on the mound. And then hopefully Zach Rankie. But Zach's got to come through as Ross said a few minutes ago. This is about Zach having the game of his, frankly, major league career. There has never been any moment in Zach's life that I can think of that have more pressure than what he's going through. right now.

This is the Matt Thomas show. Here we go in 102 on Sports Talk 790. We're live at Twin Peaks in the 290 location in Pinemont. Let's go to our nation's capital, or Jake Kaplan. Jake, I got to be honest with you. I loved your tweet a few minutes ago about the Astros' Nationals' last meeting in our nation's capital. Was that one of the first games you ever covered as an Astro?

Hold on. Okay. Can you hear me? Yeah, go ahead, try it again. Well, I'm not an astro to start, but... What do I call you? I call you an astro? You're a... I'm talking an Astro.

I'm talking about a beat reporter. No, you are now. You play third base. You've got terrific slugging numbers. You're with the athletic. Hi, Jake. Hi. No, I was actually working in Philadelphia at the time,

and it's an easy drive or train ride to PC, and John Singleton, was just on the scene, had been a big Philly's prospect, and so I came down to do a story about him, and also Jared Cozart had been part of this piped-up group of Phillies prospects called the Baby Aces at one point, and so I did a story on that as well. And so I was on the field before the game,

and there was this nice-looking MLB.com beatwriter standing there, and so I struck up a conversation, introduced myself and we chatted for five minutes, and Brian McTiger, to this day, does not remember our first meeting in June 2014. So it's kind of about how things are with me and him. I'm actually alarmed that you'd call him nice-looking. I've met Brian.

I've known Brian since we were in college. Nice-looking and Brian McTaggart usually are not the adjectives I'd put in front of him. He's a swell fellow, but nice-looking is not one of the things I'd go with. Not an appearance, but he appeared. be a nice person. Like just, he looked friendly enough to approach. Right. Okay, that makes more sense.

Jake, is Yordon Alvarez going to start a game in this series, and could it be tonight? I, based on AJ Hinch's comments yesterday, it sounds like he'll play left at some point in the series, but he didn't make it sound like it would be tonight behind Zach Granky. And that because of Granky's ability or maybe lack thereof to be. a guy that's drawing lots of contact. You don't want to potentially have a left field disaster out there defensive. And that's not fair to him, but it's just a guy that's hardly played the position as a major league. Yeah, I mean, he's pretty bad out there.

And I think in a situation like this, you don't want to lose a game because of your defense. So I think that's really what it stems from. Granky's more of a ground ball pitcher, but hasn't been lately. And it's not like Alvarez is tearing the cover off the ball by any means. I think, you know, in the regular season, and he never hit, everything was extra bases. And in the postseason, while he has been getting on base, he's last two games, it's singles and walks,

which obviously are fine, but it's not exactly screaming. You need a four-minute lineup. So through your eyes, what are you seeing from the Houston Astros that you have not seen? I guess the question would be beyond the obvious. Hitting, Cole gets roughed up, Burlanner. Anything else you're noticing about the Astros that has been foreign or are you watching them all season long?

Not really. I think they're facing the best pitching that they face all year. And I think, you know, they obviously have a great offense and a great team. But I think, you know, when they face the Mariners and the Angels and the Rangers constantly, you know, it inflates their stats a little bit and probably extends, expectations to a point where you can't really expect them to put up those type of historic numbers against the best pitchers in the world. So I think that's part of it, a big part of it. But yeah, I mean, I don't think it's, I think this is what postseason baseball is. It's not always

the best team that wins, but the hottest team. Well, you know, one of the things that Ross and I talked about yesterday was, you know, there's this national narrative of, well, the nationals are loose and feel good. Astros are feeling the pressure. Let me tell you something. The Nationals would feel the same pressure and still feel nervous about themselves that they weren't getting base hits and weren't hitting home runs. This is not a team that is all a sudden change its ego and its culture and it's who they are. It's the fact that their bats who have been largely ridiculously successful Jake over the course of the year have struggled for about a two or three-week period. It's not because they're

daubbers down. It's not because there isn't a veteran influence pumping them up. It's because they face good pitching and the type of ferocious Astros offense that we saw for 98% of the season just isn't there right now. I mean, so you don't think the pressure's on the Astros right now. No, I think they're like, well, why are the Nationals so footloose and fancy free? Because they're hitting the ball. That's what makes them footloose and fancy free, right? Yeah, yeah. But I still think the pressure coming into the series was on the Astros. They were the heavy favorites, heaviest favorite in 12 years and it's definitely on them now it's down to a strike into the road coming up whether that's why they played like so poorly in the seventh inning the other night I don't

think that's the case I think they just played poorly but I don't think you can debate that the pressure is on one side versus the other right now oh I'm not a debating that I'm just saying that it's easy to say a team is feeling bad and feeling tight when they're down I just I yeah well the same thing goes for the Astros because throughout the regular season, right? When they're having fun, it's because they're winning. That's right. And I think tonight, if they score six runs,

a tremendous weight of the world is off their shoulders. Let's go to the opposite of that. If they lose tonight, is Garrett Cole starting tomorrow night? I don't know. Even if you win game four behind Gary Cole, then what are you doing? So you're going to have to win four games, so I don't know if your best chance to win. is by putting them on short rest,

and then you still have the same dilemma the next night. So, yeah, I don't know. I would lean no, but obviously it's something they have to consider if it was tonight. What other lineup changes could you envision? Or, you know, because I think when AJ has brought that up, it's like, you know what, we don't want to hit the panic button too fast. Anything subtle, anything dramatic when that lineup comes out in a couple hours you think could potentially be?

And there's not much they can do. You know, I assume the top seven is the same, or the top six is the same, with Correa hitting six, with Alvarez out, and then you have Trinos and Redick in some order. But, I mean, what else would you like him to do at this point? They're not going to start Kyle Tucker. They're not going to start Olemas Diaz. So it's kind of the guys that they have been playing are going to keep playing. Are you noticing a different Alex Brighman? I mean, the offensive goals are one thing, hit the home run,

but there's been very few times that we've seen him have one bad throwing a game, much less two. Is he had the way of the world on his shoulders right now? You'd have to ask, Cam, I can't, you know, I can't get inside his head, but, you know, obviously the defensive inning he had in the seventh is about as uncharacteristic as he can get for him. You know, I don't think I've seen him do that twice in an inning, maybe ever. And then, you know, offensively,

he obviously, he's spoken a lot about like the mechanical issues. He was just off. You know, I think he's up at bat's a lot better in the last game and obviously at the home run that tied the game. But yeah, I don't know as far as weight of the world.

I think he puts a lot of pressure on himself all the time. But you'd have to ask him as far as, you know, that question goes. All right, well, I'll call him after this segment if you can talk to me in between breaks. So what does your gut tell you, Jake? Will there be a game six in Houston, Texas on Tuesday night?

My gut right now says no. But that could change. My opinion could change pretty quickly. I think it really boils down to Zach Rankie's performance tonight. If he's good, I think they're going to give him enough offense to win. Because I think they will get to Honabel Sanchez. But if he's bad, I'm not sure there's any. coming back for that.

How hard it will be for the Astros to market is that Granky if he does not perform well tonight? I mean, because there's two years left still in the contract, correct? Yeah, I don't think they would market him. I think they need him to, I mean, they acquired him to kind of fill out the, help them fill up the top of the rotation in his next two years. So I don't think they would market him. All right, we'll leave it at that. Jake, thank you for the time.

How's the weather, by the way? Any weather issues the next three days? Right now it's great I was walking around earlier It's like 60 maybe And yeah it's great I don't know I haven't looked ahead At the next couple days

But as far as tonight Should be no issue with the weather Is there a nationals fever all throughout D.C.? Can you feel the nationals buzz in the air? A little bit Yeah I mean I haven't I've only been in a concentrated area of D.C. But yeah

you definitely see some national shirts around. I'm sure it's going to be a lot crazier around the ballpark, which is a little bit of a ride away from where I'm staying. Jake, look forward to your work. Jake M. Kaplan on Twitter and The Athletic. Thank you for the time as always. Thanks, Matt.

I will see you. Jake Kaplan from the Athletic with us here on Sports Talk, 790. This is Ricky Williams. I may have worn a wedding dress on a magazine cover, but it still looks better than any outfit Matt can put together. Let your wife drive. Yes, you, man. Texas fight.

Texas five. Back to Matt Thomas on Sports Talk, 790. Woo. Let me just sit down and relax a minute. Let me tell you about it. I just got big. Good. It ain't.

It is for Mattress Mac. Our buddy, you know, he's one of my favorite all-time people in the city, Houston. Yeah. He flew to New Jersey this morning. morning, put another million dollar in bets on the Astros. Well, he's getting longer odds now, yeah? So I guess it behooves him. Yeah, um, Unibet went first as Mattress Mac been $100,000 at plus 210. He then about $150,000 at minus 152 on the Astros to win game three tonight.

Minus 152 isn't that much earlier. Yeah. He's moving by, this man's moving lines by himself. Then he went to William Hill, opened his app and his account had $800,000 in. And he bet $300,000 at plus $210 to Astros to win the World Series. And $500,000 at minus $140,000 on tonight's game. Oh, I just want to be within a mile of the man. He's just hedging his bed on these mattresses.

He must have sold a boatload of mattresses at Gower. He sold a boatload of mattresses and probably a decent markup. God, what a life. I'm so jealous. Yeah. I wish I had that kind of... Kind of money. You all right, Matthew?

7-13, we're at Twin Peaks. Yes. You couldn't figure that out by now at 290 in Pinemont. 7-1-3-21-2-5-7-90. 7-1-3-2-1-2-7-90. We need y'all to take carey a segment of the show because Ross and I are a little flustered. I'm fine.

Oh, okay, okay. You leave the topic. You leave the topic. This is not a must-wit-one. win today by the way right of course not in your mind though is it a must win it's a very important way it's vital to their success I get it it's a crucial game I get it there's a high leverage situation I think we're super nervous I feel it at the bones of the audience gosh I'm nervous we you know like after game one when the

Astros lost by a single run we had phone lines that were full and everybody's excited hey Matt we got the faith don't let the national folks tell you otherwise I don't feel it right now. The game is six hours away and I'm already feeling there's a little bit. So much is riding now on me because to me the uncertainty of Zach Rinky's start is what you're getting. Absolutely. I mean so let's run through the starts that he had so far in this postseason. Go ahead.

First game, three and two thirds, six runs, six earned. Then his best start of the postseason, well I guess you could maybe his last one but six, six innings, three runs, three earned, and then in the last one, four in a third, one run, one earn, which is great and get you a win, but he had to be pulled early from that game, and he only threw 83 pitches. You know what you're looking for? Remember that almost no hitter he threw? Yeah.

You're asking him to do that in a World Series game against a bunch of hot and Washington Nationals hitters. You're our National League, the pitcher is going to hit. Their lineup isn't much, I mean, they're good. but they're not Yankees level, which you only gave up one run in your last start against the Yankees. I think it's very well within the realm of possibility. We see Zachary can go out and pitch very, very well tonight. And I think to the point of a lot of people that have been critical of Zach,

you want him to be successful because there's a lot of money that is in his piggy bank, regardless of who's paying him. This is the July 31st moment that when the deal was done, just seconds after our show was done, Ross. And everybody was bouncing around, high-fiving each other, going, you got one of the best pitchers in the game that's going to make life miserable for any postseason team, regardless of lineup. And he's been good, but not spectacular.

And now with your team down 02, you need the Zach Rankie that has largely made life miserable for opponents for a decade in regular season. Yeah, yeah. There's so much. much on the line tonight. I mean, not only are you down to over the series. You have Zach Rinkie, like you said, the guy you traded for, the guy you're paying $35 million in the next two years. The guy who his entire career, the one thing people say about him, Zach Rinky fades in the playoffs. And he's having a huge start in the World Series tonight where he's not going to be able

to erase all the ghosts of playoff pass or anything like that. And maybe it's unfair to to ride us so much on one start. But this is what he's here for. No, no, no, no. That's exactly right. life's not fair, but if you sign the contract and you want to be the dominant pitcher and you want to be the guy that is going to take the ball in the most important moments this is where your team needs you badly. There's no other way around it. This is what the Astros traded him for. Aschon didn't make this trade at the end of the July. Yeah, July and say, oh, you know what, this guy's going to be nice and we'll just have him. He's here to be a dominant Syung type of pitcher and that's what he was in Arizona. That's what he was in Kansas City. That's what he needs to be in the playoffs for the Astros in the World Series. Game three, down to nothing.

Zach Rinkie is here for this situation. 7-1-3-21-2-5-7-9. Joe Klaz is going to join us in 10 minutes. Let's go to Dawn in southeast Houston. Hi, Dawn. Hey, just want to bring up a point about Granky. I think he can do it. I feel it.

I know he's a great pitcher. He just hadn't had the best starts, but we still have to give him run support. to win this game. We have to have run support for Frankie. Well, that goes without saying. It really does. Thank you, Dawn. So with that being said, what Don San is right? Thank you. Who's going to be the offensive hero? I mean, I love the fact that Breggman got the home run. That was much new. It felt like he could have a little sigh of relief.

Unfortunately, it didn't translate to his glove. That seventh inning wrong, Saturday 9th, was one of the worst endings the Astros have played probably in five years. She's got to watch that out of my memory. Yeah. But your first question, who's going to be the offensive hero? One thing that just made me actually feel a little better is I just thought about three guys. I mean, there can be even more. I was thinking, first off top of my head was Yuli.

I think Al-Tube could be a hero. Bregman. I mean, he hit a home run in the last game. And he's, you know, he's looking for redemption, and he's always a guy who's going to be motivated and ready to go. Hopefully he can be better. I mean, George Springer can step up at some point. Carl's Correus had huge hits. And now, outside of those couple of holes,

home runs is that bats haven't been extremely productive. It is so weird. Carlos Correa says some of the biggest moments of his career, but when he strikes out, it's like he doesn't even see the pitch. Yeah, I would say there's so much variance. Like Alex Bregman, for example, or Jose Al-Tuvae. They're steady, right? Jose Al-Tuvi is going to try to jump on early fastballs. He's going to swing and miss, but he's made contact, et cetera, et cetera. Alex Breggman, you know what he's going to do, he's going to spit on a lot of pitches, great eye. Carl's Correa can do both of those things and then also like you said he can go up there's such a huge gulf

between how steady and consistent he can be at the plate if he's locked in he's one of the better hitters on the planet but then for whatever reason like you said he looks like he just went out there and this is this first time picking up a bat yeah the the amount of aggressive overswinging now George does that in a spring training game you know Jose does it It's carnalis' bat discipline that it fluctuates to me so badly.

Yeah. He just goes up and down, and it seems like, I don't know if it's with confidence. I don't know if it's just, I don't know what's going on with him, but sometimes he looks so. And you can tell, it feels like you can tell like a couple of pitches into the bat, whether he's locked in or not, whether he's seeing the pitches or not. Well, the number one thing for me that has been so disappointing, and I know there's been exceptions to rule.

Rossi, I feel like after Yuleigariel, it's a pipe dream to get something started. What makes the Astros and is so good with George Springer is that he's been able to, as the lineup turns over, he's got a guy or two on the base paths. I don't feel like it's been much of the Astros at any point during this postseason. And yet they've still won some games, obviously. It's true, obviously, I mean, they're in the world too.

Yeah, I mean, you've gotten, how many hits combined do Martine Maldonado and Robinson Trenos having these playoffs? I don't even know. The catcher spot's been, I don't care about the whole run. It's been horrible. Right field's been a disaster. And again, there's not enough guys.

And that's why I think, from what I understand, they had the kind of, after the game, too, they had the door closed. Let's pump each other up. And it wasn't like you suck. It was, hey, look what we can do. We're all in this together. And I think that's what you have to do.

It's not like there's one guy. It's not like every single time with two to three runners on the base paths that guerrilla striking out. Or that Bregman is inducing a pop fly, whatever. There are a collective number of guys. George Springer, you know, could not add anything to game two. There's a variety of things, and that's the thing.

Good pitching from Washington with some of the most heavy hitting, not heavy hitting, star-laden power pitching in the top two guys in the order, and their clutch hitting has been really, really good. Yeah, I mean, we have to continue to give credit where credits do until the Astros steal that Washington Mojo back. Definitely. Yeah, the other guys are getting paid too. The Washington Nationals went out and won these games.

The Astros shot themselves in the football. a little bit in that seventh inning, but I mean, if you lose 12 to 3, you have to say, you can't blame that all on defense. What you can blame is the team got out of hand in the seventh inning. And I don't know what that was, if that was just, you know, when Suzuki hit the home run, the air got let out of the balloon, or however you want to phrase it, but it was a different baseball team. It was a baseball team that looked like they wanted to get out of there as fast as possible,

and they did after the national scored those seven runs. 713212-5-790 7-1-3-21-5-790 we say hi to our friend Joel clatt of Fox Sports in a matter of moments after I propose to somebody here at Twin Peaks and now we're talking college football with Joel clatt brought to you by dos ekees official beer sponsor of the college football playoff 134 the p.m. here on sports talk 790 Matt Thomas shows Rolls along, broadcasting live from the Twin Peaks 290 and a Pinemont location. Pleased to be joined by Joel Clatt as he joins us every week.

Joel, Matt got up and disappeared here, so I guess it's just going to be me and you here. I hope you don't mind. You're going to punch it up, Nick. So disappointed in the first two games. You got me now? Yeah, I got you now. Sorry about that. Okay, there we go.

Where is that? Matt might have fallen into the bathroom. Hopefully he's okay. Go ahead, Joel. I'm just going to say, I know you guys are probably disappointed with the first two games of the World Series, but let's all hope that the old stroes come back and give us some fight here in the next couple of games, huh? Why are you got to bring that up, Joel? Why don't you just talk about the Rockets losing last night, too, while we're at it?

Let's just go ahead. Rockets lost to the Bucks, the Astros are 0 and 2 in the World Series. Well, I mean, the Rockets, that's not going to work. Listen, the rockets are not going to work. We all know that. You can't have two guys at hockey ball like that. I mean. All right, what's going on here?

What did I just interrupt? I'm in a big executive meeting with Twin Peaks of employees. Is that what you're calling it? Oh, my God. Joel, you need to come to hang out with. Hey, when you come to XFL games here, can we, I'll bring you to Twin Peaks. You'll never be the same again, I promise.

I'm almost certain my first game is in Houston. Good. Good, the rough next year. There we go. All right. How are we doing? We're not great. I mean, honestly, it's not great.

I don't care. Look, the Rockets is one game. The Astros down being down to nothing is not great. And for you, for Fox, for us as Houstonians. But at least you got a nice big 10 game matchup tomorrow. And you are currently calling us from Columbus. What's going on up there today? I got to tell you.

Well, I mean, it's exciting. What I love about it is like when you get a matchup that this is this size, it's palpable. You get off the plane on Thursday and you feel it. People are asking you about it the entire time. So I could not be more excited about this match. I actually think Wisconsin is going to play a lot better than what they showed clearly against Illinois,

and they still have the ability to come out here and beat this team. So I really think it's going to be a great game. And the reason I can't wait for that is because we haven't seen Ohio State have to have any meaningful snaps in the second half of any game that they've had. So, you know, for me, this is a chance to really see and measure what Ohio State is. And what they are is a team that's going to comfortably make into the final for or not? I actually anticipate that that is the case.

They are, in my estimation, the best team in the country by most metrics. Anybody that's doing, you know, whether it's analytics, the film, whatever you want to say, I think Ohio State has been the most dominant team in the country. And they've got a great defense. Think about it from this perspective. We all know how important recruiting is. If you take a look at what is the most influential recruiting class for this season, you would say it's the 2017 recruiting class, three years.

Okay, so all those kids are right now true juniors, the twos of the world, the Chase Youngs of the world. Well, did you know of the top, of the top eight defensive players in the entire country that year in that recruiting class, Ohio State has four of them on their own defense? That's insane, guys. That's a big reason why they've played so dominantly on that side of the football. and I think they are going to go to the playoff. And if you ask me right now who's going to win the national championship,

I would say it's the Buckeyes. And it's interesting to me, Joel, Ryan Day taking over for Urban Meyer, and then you have Lincoln Riley having a ton of success in Oklahoma taking over for Bob Stoops. Are these just one-offs or what is happening with these hands-offs? How are these guys going from head coach to head coach and being so successful? When we've seen other programs go from a great coach to not-great coaches or inability to find a great coach? What is happening in these situations that are making them so successful?

Well, I think that it's the blueprint that Oklahoma found, and really that's what Ohio State was following here, was exactly what Oklahoma was doing. And that's when a coach, when you're trying to go from a great coach, and then you just hire some other great coach who's not associated, and he's trying to implement a new system and bring a new culture, and maybe all the infrastructure has to change, that's when I think it's really precarious and very difficult.

But in both cases at Oklahoma and now at Ohio State, the infrastructure stayed the same. And that's really important. Now, Ryan Day hired a couple of defensive coaches here at Ohio State, but the strength coach, the recruiting staff. Everything was in place already. And so that machine could continue to roll because remember getting a program going and rolling at the top of college football. It's a lot like a flywheel. If you're familiar with Jim Collins' book, Good to Great. It's a leadership book based in the business world.

But he talks about the flywheel And the flywheel being very hard to start It's hard to start turning that flywheel But once you get it going It's incredibly tough to stop it It's a really momentum-based thing And so at that point You've got these programs

And they get that wheel going Why change the wheel? They'll reinvent it. Use that same infrastructure Higher grade coach That's been within that infrastructure And then it can continue along And I think that's what the Sooners and Buckeyes have done

All right, a lot of folks in our neck of the woods are very excited about Auburn versus LSU. What kind of chance do you give Auburn to pull off the upset this week? You know, I just don't think it's a great matchup for Auburn. I think Auburn is probably more suited to beat Alabama than they are LSU. And the reason is because I think Auburn is not a team that's likely to get into a shootout and succeed. Remember now, Bo Nix has played well for a true freshman, but when you look at his completion percentage, somewhere like the 111 in the country, I don't.

don't think he's the guy to go out there and lead you in a 48, 45 game, which is what it might take against LSU. LSU is right now, I believe, the second rank scoring offense in the country. Joe Burroughs completing 79% of his passes. He's got 29 touchdowns, which is not only an LSU record, only in seven games, for a single season, but it's also right now the side for the best mark in the entire country. He's got 31 touchdowns responsible for at the top mark in the country. I just don't trust Auburn to get into a shootout and win in that environment.

So for my money, I'm taking LSU, and I think that LSU is going to continue to roll. And here's the thing, guys. If Tua is not back and he's not 100%, I would say the exact same thing about Alabama and LSU. I don't think Alabama will be suited to get into a shootout with LSU either. So in that standpoint, unless two is healthy, I think LSU is going to be an undefeited team going to the FCC champion. of game. What do you think, Joel, as opposed to LSU, of course, and their murderous schedule that they're having to go through. And then you look at Clemson, who, as you were, I'm sure, happy to hear getting nine first place votes to the AP poll this week. Well, the fact that they're

going nine is atrocious. I mean, I know it's going down, so we're whittling away on it. But again, those people should be stripped of their votes. Absolutely. There is no case to be made for Clemson. There's not one. There is not one. Unless you immediately invoke last season into the argument. And you can't do that. This is this season. We're rating this team. And they might be bored. They might be much better than what they've shown. That all might be true. But you cannot give me an argument that states that Clemson is the number one team in the country. Those nine people and the eight people should be stripped of their votes immediately because they're ruining the sport. well here's the thing we don't believe in stereotypes on the show

but joel those nine people are wearing jeans plaid shirt they're probably 30 to 40 pounds overweight um they have high blood pressure wow i mean the jeans and plaid shirt community just getting just roasted right now i tell you what uh they probably have a toothpick in their mouth at this point i mean there's a little i mean this this isn't a highly sophisticated group right or my or my my misinterpreting what the AP voter is these days? I don't think that you're misinterpreting it all that much.

And I think that the problem from my seat is that you have people in my own industry, and I think that they're naive by saying this, but they say, like, well, what do you care? It doesn't matter anyways. And my argument to that is it absolutely matters, because if you're naive to think, naive enough to think that the 13 committee members are not watching football during this first half to three quarters of the season without at least a framework of what's happening. That framework is provided by rankings. We talk about which wins are good and which wins are not good during the course of this

first three quarters of the season. So that framework is going to, even if it's subconsciously, affect the way that you think about the sports. So to suggest that the AP poll just doesn't matter, I think is naive, and I think it's throwing human nature away, and we all know that human nature has a great deal to do with not only this sport, but how we crown our champion in this sport with the subjective nature of the committee. All right, I got 60 seconds.

How nervous should Tom Herman's defense be with the amount of yards and touchdowns given up by Kansas last week as they go to Fort Worth this Saturday to battle teams? Yeah, I mean, they should be nervous. They've got to play better defense. He knows that. I mean, this was always going to be a young group and maybe a little bit of a step back. But Todd Orlando's got to figure this out. He's got to try to find a way to play some semblance of defense.

Oh, you dealt with this last year when they had the worst past defense in the country. And certainly Texas is going through that right now. And they've dealt with a lot of injuries in the secondary. But they've got to find a way to create some pressure on the quarterback. I think that's been the Achilles heel for the longhorn. and until they figure that out, they're going to continue to struggle. Rip it H-Tale, like, by slamma jama. Yo, what's up, this you boy, Bumby, the Trilogy with the whitest man in America.

Matt Thomas. You are now tuned in at Sports Talk 790, man. For your moorset's in, ready to go. Y'all were here at Twin Peaks. You can see Ross to his robot, chom! Charlie Hustle is here. That's our promotions guy. He's got the most dangerous Instagram account in Houston.

Don't lie. He's looking like it. Who, me? And I'm going to tell you all something. Twin Peaks has upgraded. Food. Great.

Beer. Wonderful. Ice cold. 30.9 degrees right now. Receptionist. In the back, I don't see an office. Hall of Fame are backed up there.

713. 2.12. 7190.7190. They don't call them reception. They call what they. You're talking about hostess? Hostess at the hostess stand. They will get you to your seat promptly and with a smile.

Unless you just want to stand and say hello for a minute. You can do that too, but then you're just creepy. Yeah, you wouldn't want to be a creeper at Twin Peaks. No. That wouldn't be your jam. It would be a bad look. Gene Southwest Houston at 153. Hi, Gene.

Hey, how you doing there? How you doing this? We're wonderful. Good. I have some observations. I believe we've got great pictures. I think our pitch is going to do fine. I think all we have to worry about is getting somebody on base.

And I think it all starts with Springer now, too. And then also we've got Jordan. He's starting to hit that ball in now. What I see is. Oh, what's the last game? It seemed like he's starting to come around for it. What do you think? I think, Yorda, Alvarez.

Thank you, Gene, for the phone. call of a good weekend. Yordon the power isn't there but at least just contact Ross at least he's getting on the base pass. He actually drew a walk. He's been on like four or five times in this in this World Series. I would say yeah

would change that slightly by saying the extra base hits haven't been there but some of those balls have been pretty hard hit so yeah that's true there has been some power but it hasn't been going over the fence and it hasn't been going in gaps so and it's encouraging signs I mean you'll take what you can get after what was he like one for 23

or whatever it was, that bad spell? He looked lost. He looked absolutely lost. He's looking better. He's drawing walks. And unfortunately, you've got to go to a National League park. I don't know that we're going to see him in the lineup today. That's a strange thing is that it would be an easy call if he wasn't hitting the ball well. Now it's actually got to be in the thought process of AJ of whether or not to put him in. I mean, he's going to start.

I would have presumed he's going to start one of these games, right? Especially if he's one of your better bats in the World Series, ironically enough? Yeah. I just don't know when it's going to be. You're probably not necessarily going to want to start him against Corbyn the lefty in game four. You're probably not starting him tonight because we mentioned Zach Rinky. And AJ Hitchman asked him about it yesterday. He said he's leaning towards not putting him in the lineup.

He wouldn't give a defendant of answer. So maybe game five with Garrett Coleman-a-mound? Here's the thing. And we joked about this during the season before he got up here. But it hasn't been, no one's disputing it. No one is saying that Yordon Alvarez is even an average major league outfielder, especially because he hasn't touched the outfield in weeks. Yeah, he's just not good.

He's not good at tracking balls. He's not very, I mean, he can run straight line, okay? He's not very good side to side and running like dad. And I mean, the arm is questionable. It's just everything that it takes to be a left-fielder is questionable. And I think Jake made a good point when we had him on earlier. This is not a game where you want to be messing around and losing games due to defensive errors, which cost you in game two.

And you have the, we're paired with the fact that he's hitting okay, but he's not just, if the guy had like seven home or four or five home runs or something like that for this postseason, you'd think about it more. It's a little bit easier to sit in the way he's been hitting. Yeah, if this was a two home run in back-to-back games, you'd have to suck it up somehow, some way, because with all the other hitters and the Astros lineup not doing their job, it'd be irresponsible to, but he's, again, while the singles are there, the hard contact is there, it's not, but he's not making, he's been like a major difference maker.

Gerald or Gerard in Mo City on 7-90. Hello, Gerard or Gerald? Hey, it's Gerard. Hey, Matt. How you doing there? Hi. Good. Thank you for calling.

Let me tell you the bad news. There was a Tyler White siding, a Jersey siding at Minute Maid on Wednesday, and our offense is basically flashing his numbers throughout the post. season, so we got to fix that. But if you'll give me 30 seconds, I want to make a case that the Astros are the 1986 New York Mets, and we're going to win it all. I got 30 seconds? All right.

20. Hopefully, less cocaine. I'll do my best. 86 Mets, best record in Major League Baseball. Same as us. They went 108 and 54. We were 107 and 55. They had their best record in their team history. Same as us. They won the LTS against the Houston team four games to two. We won the LPS against the New York team four games to two.

They were heavily favored in the World Series. Same as us. They had home fields, same as us. They lost game one at home by one run. We lost game one at home by one run. They lost game two at home in a blowout. We lost game two at home in a blowout. Their opponent, the Red Sox, was called the team of destiny. Our opponent, the nationals, was being called a team of destiny. The Mets went on to win game three and four on the road and won the series. Now, all we need is the most infamous fielding error in baseball history. Oh. And we're going to win it.

We're taking it. And you know who's going to do it? Thank you for the phone call. Howie Kendrick at second base. Henry Kendrick, okay. Howie Kendrick is my air to click. You like it? Okay.

That, I mean, and Gerald, I appreciate your phone call. I think you stretched quite a bit. Yes. But the effort was definitely there for that. We appreciate that. All right, let's do this. Those of you on hold, Mark and Ryan, the rest of you, 71321-21-25-790. We will get to your phone calls after we talk to Brian T. Smith, who is in our nation's capital as well.

We'll get his perspective on the World Series in game number three. Yeah. This is the Matt Thomas Show. All right, Brian T. Smith is with us from our nation's capital. We'll get to him in a second. Want to remind folks, Ross, come on by here because the A team's going to be here from 3 o'clock until 5. They are? Yeah.

They're actually going to put a full 2-R-day in. Oh, wow. Are they going to make it? Are they going to be okay? They're going to be exhausted? I hope they are all right. I hope they're all right. I don't think they're going to be able to focus.

Like, we've had a difficult time focusing on the show today. They might have some issues. This is really, I don't know how we're going to do it. But the big news is this. Adam and Adam at 4.50 this afternoon are going to announce. a way to win a trip to the Palm Beaches, courtesy of the Palm Beaches, and tell them what they're going to be potentially winning if they listen this afternoon with Adam and Adam at $450 this afternoon.

It's a getaway trip for two to the Palm Beach's known as America's first resort destination. Price package includes four-day, three-night accommodations, round-trip airfare, a rental car. Tickets to the World Series rematch at spring training for the season opener for the first rematch of the Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals, VIP behind-the-scenes tour of fit team ballpark in the Palm Beaches. Go to the Palm Beaches.com for more information.

The Palm Beaches.com. You've got to, and I know that Brian T. Smith has been down in Florida before. West Palm Beach has a terrific vibe to it, and you need to go down there, win the prize package at $450 or make your way down there this February and or March. BTS is under nation's capital. Give me some thoughts about how AJ Hinch handled the press conference yesterday. What was his vibe to you folks getting ready for game three tonight? AJ was as professional and calm and even as he's ever been, Matt.

It's been a difficult postseason. The last few days for the Astros to say the least off the field on the field. AJ, I go back to what he would say in 2015, and it sounded a little Samford psychological, you know, cheeseball, Zinn, but it helped them win a world title. And honestly, if they're going to do this, if they're going to become the first team since the 1996 New York Yankees to lose the first two at home, find a way to win the World Series,

it's going to be very much because of A.J. Hinch, and 15 were saying, I will always be the calmest heartbeat in the room. You know, they need somebody right now, Matt, within that clubhouse, on that team in this organization to find a way, out of this. And AJ's done it before. You know, AJ watched his team in 17, drop three straight games in Yankee Stadium. Look horrible. Hey, Yankees Stadium. Come home to Minutemade, when to go to the World Series. He's had to win game seven of the World Series in Dodgers Stadium before. The start of the start of the start of the stadium before. The start of the Astros are going to do

it. It has to start with Zach Grinky. You had a column last week about Zach. I didn't necessarily agree with all of it, But that's okay. That's what we're good friends, and we can agree to disagree. But I will say in this context, there is a column to be written tonight about Zach, because with your number one and your number two starters, not performing up to expectations, he makes a lot of money. He carries a lot of, the resume is incredible.

This is where not only tonight he's got to step up, but hopefully with a potential game seven. This is the moment that Zach Granky was brought here July 31st. Nothing prior to that. That's exactly it, Matt. And look, whatever Zach Grinky does tonight will, in many ways, erase everything else or add to everything else. If that Grinky can go out, Nationals Park, First World Series in Washington, D.C. in 3,000 years, if he can go out tonight and give him six innings, two run balls, seven innings of one run ball, two run ball, whatever, walk off the mound with a lead, walk off the mound, and it's just a tie game, and then he has to find a way to win it.

is Zach Rinkie can do that. The trade right now is worth it. Now, we have to see what happens with those prospects, et cetera, et cetera. But yes, this is why they brought him here. And I will say, yeah, I wrote a strong comment about Grinky a couple starts ago. I also thought that his last start in Yankee Stadium was a much better start. He could have stayed on that mound. He gritted through a really tough first inning.

He found a way through that. We still haven't seen the, I feel like the best of what Zach Rhee can do is an Astro in the playoffs. We saw it in the near no-hitter during the regular season. Probably won't throw a no-hitter tonight, but if he can give them six, seven good innings, two-run ball, one-run ball, and find a way to quiet this, you know, Yankees, bomber, national lineup with Soto, et cetera. That is why they got that Greek. Especially considering that the Nats just beat the Astros, Aces, Verlander, and Cole in Minutemate Park.

BTS, I felt like even after the home run with the defensive miscues that Bregman had, that Alex has been carrying the way of the world on his shoulders. Are there other guys in an Astros clubhouse feeling that way, or is he kind of in his own world rightly or wrongly? Because he feels like he's been a large part of the reason why the team has struggled offensively. I think it's a good question. I know that Bregman's comments got a decent amount of attention. Honestly, I think if you've been, and I know you have Matt, but I think if the average fan is following Astros, you know, daily, weekly over the last few years, this is Alex Bregman being on Fredman.

Adam's Bredman was really hard on himself in the season opening series in Tampa, and said he had been horrible. This is honestly what Alex Breggman does. Alex Breggman will make guarantees that they'll come true. He guaranteed that the Astros of Wing Game 4 at Tampa. They didn't win that game. They also won game 5 and had a couple walk-offs against the Yankees in their World Series. That is just Alex Breggman.

He's the big, you know, MMA wrestling, boxing quote type of guy that's in his blood, that's in his DNA. The biggest, I'm not concerned about is Alex Breggman being hard on himself. He is always hard on himself. The bigger issue is it's not just. Regman that has to carry more weight. It's Josh Reddick. It's Carlos Correa. It's George Springer. Jordan Alvarez.

Julie Gurio, I had it in the Gronicle. They've got six key guys, you know, locked in one through nine lineup guys that are hitting 233 or below in the playoffs, and I know batting average is a little outdated. A few of those guys are at about 160 and below. You're not going to beat the Nationals. You're not going to win the World Series. You're not going to win two or three at Nationals Park. if that continues, as much as I want to say, and you want to say, yeah, it's on Grinky.

He's got to step up. This is why they got him. If the Astros hitters don't do anything, that will become the story of this postseason. That's one of the best lineups in baseball history, maybe the most powerful and efficient and strongest lineup in Astros history, completely disappeared in the 2019 playoffs. All right, get your crystal ball out, Brian. Invision how much and in what capacity Yoron Alvarez plays in his next three? three games. Yeah, you know, that is not being, there's been a lot talked about that it really

has nothing to do with the actual game on the field the last few days. That is not being talked about enough. And AJ was asked about it yesterday. We're going to find out in a couple hours, right? The lineup will come out. AJ will present it. We'll see where it's at. He said yesterday, it's unlikely that Alvarez plays left today, but that he feels like he will during the season. I think, you know, he's pinch-hitting, obviously. Sixth inning, seventh inning with a pitching change, and maybe then you're putting it in, but in terms of a start, maybe one out of three. That's what AJ hinted out yesterday, but that's a huge deal because Alvarez was fantastic at game one, you know, had a couple situations in game two, but it looked like he was finding

it and your team struggling at the plate, and then you have to take Alvarez out of the lineup, it doesn't hurt the Astros' chances of being the next team, you know, to be the next 1999-6-Jank. All right, a couple last questions for you. if the Astros fall tonight, who starts game four? That's a good one, Matt. I'm sure A.J. Hinch flying to D.C., coming to the ballpark today on the team, but he's got that in the back of his head.

I'll be shocked if he reveals that because we will ask him, hey, what's the plan for game for? AJ this far has very much been by the A.J. book and the playoffs saying, you know, I'm focused on the next game. I'm going to focus on this game. I will not discuss the next game. He's always got a backup plan.

He's got a backup plan to the backup plan. And if they're down 3-0, you cannot have a bullpen game. I mean, your season is on the line, the world title's on the line. You're going to have to throw Garrett Cole on short rest. That's the only option they would have, in my opinion. All right. Now, the last one. Will there be a game six in Houston, Texas on Tuesday night?

Man, I'm going to be honest with you. I'm going to feel back the curtain. That's maybe the hardest question anyone's asked in years. Because you know what? You know what? Throw it at me. I don't care. I'm a big boy.

You're listening to the show too much, Brian, if you're saying feel back the curtain. I don't know right now. I don't really know where this team is at. That seventh inning was so, if it was just one inning, it was so discouraging. It did feel like the team quit at one point, you know, when they're throwing it around and looking at the bad news bears. I also think having an off-day, getting on the plane, getting the seat, you see, your back against the wall. we will find out tonight, right? What the dozen Astros are truly made of.

And I will always believe that if you've got Altuve, if you've got Springer, there's too much heart and soul in this team for them to quit, but they also were up 1-0 against the Red Sox, and they won at Finway, and they absolutely collapsed last year. So I don't really know what to make of this team. I'm going to say yes right now, and that's a tribute to 107 wins.

But, Matt, I also won't be shocked right now if the National sweep this series, things do not feel good as we speak, and maybe that changes, but as we speak to the Houston Astros. All right, I'll give you mind. If the Astros win tonight, they bring the series back to Houston,

and they win the World Series. It's not grandiose. If they lose tonight, there will be no game six in Houston, Texas. Matt, man, if they lose tonight, the series gives 99.9999% over. I mean, they will become the, most magical team in baseball history if they go down 3-0 and find a way to win the world series

But and conversely and conversely Brian think about this if the nationals win the night and sweep the a astros on Saturday How many teams in major league baseball history swept the championship series and a world series? That puts the Nationals in rarefied air. It truly does and we will find out very quickly tonight right I I always go back to 2017 in Game 7 in Dodgers Stadium. The Astros go there at 3-2. They lost a very tough game 6th. And it's Dodgers Stadium. The Dodgers on paper were still the better team.

And the Astros came out on that first inning, right, with George Springer, and they turned it on. And yeah, maybe they were reading the pitches off Starfish, but they turned it on. And the confidence they had, the focus, that will always stick with Astros fans. They're going to have to be that same type of team tonight. But, yeah, if they lose tonight, I mean, they'll either be the greatest turnaround of baseball history, or they are absolutely done.

I'm going to say it comes back to Houston, but they're going to have to prove something to not meet tonight, to themselves and the Astros fan base. We'll leave it there. Thank you, BTS, enjoy the Midd's Atlantic area. And thank you very much for the time, as always. Brian T. Smith from the Houston Chronicle. Amazing work, as always. You catch us every Friday here on the Matt Thomas show.

Ride, half the workday 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. Okay.

Phone calls to come in a matter of moments. Right now, let's get our buddy and Paul Nolan from freewinter's. That sports investors weekly. It is a Saturday and Sunday staple. You go to the don't. store to get your donuts and your calacies and your hot coffee. You go to the hardware store, you go to the grocery store. You go drop off your kids at soccer practice.

You catch Paul Nolan on Saturdays and Sundays with Sports Investors Weekly. Paul, how are things? I am. Things are well. I'm doing well. Looking forward to another good weekend. How are you doing? Good.

Now, you told the audience, and you always soft play this. You say, look, I know you love your Texas in Houston. But remember, Paul, we are here to win money for people, not worried about love and losing. So with that being said, you hit the nail on the head on the Indianapolis Houston game. Got any feelings about the Texans and Raiders this week? Yeah, you know what? I actually do. First thing, first thing first.

I mean, the trade this week, I think it's a perfect fifth to Houston. I think Gary Connolly is one of those guys. When he was at Ohio State, he was such a good man-to-man cover guy. And according to Allen numbers, you know, Houston plays man-to-man only second to, you know, the Patriots. So I think he's going to be a really good fit there, especially anything to buy that D-line a little more time to get to the quarterback and they're getting there good pressure, obviously. So I really like this matchup.

I know that the Oakland Raiders have really got a lot more moxie. They've been playing a lot tougher. They've taken on Gruden's personality. They're starting to believe. But Josh Jacobs is really banged up, and as good as he is, I thought he was the one spot that could be problematic for, I guess you would call your home teams run defense. Maybe mediocre at best it to be polite.

It's not terrible. It's definitely not good. But when they have a chance to really tee off and get after the quarterback, they're outstanding. And then on the other side of the ball, the offensive line, we kind of said early on that the tonsil deal, you know, expensive, but we have to keep the Sean Watson upright. Keep up right and they're just a different team. And they could have won that game last week. I mean, I feel very fortunate that we won the indie game. That's part of the business.

You know, they were really, you know, that could have turned on that, you know, really, I mean, I'm sure everybody in your hometown is a normal. about the sack call, pulled away the touchdown, but, you know, it's, you know, we want to keep the quarterback safe and all, but this to me is a perfect comeback. I like Houston to, especially when you see the line at six and a half. I really like it at that number, and I'm not trying to dismiss Oakland. They've been a good value team, but this is a good spot. I think I really like this spot for Houston laying the points. All right, just got a word that Pat Mahomes is not going to play Sunday for the Chief.

So how does that impact, which I think is going to be. I think a really fun game between the Packers and the Chiefs. Well, yeah, it's definitely going to, of course, it impacts it. I mean, to say it doesn't would be silly. Look at the line. I mean, you've got the Chiefs as a home dog now. And you just don't see that with, you know, being a dog and, you know, an arrowhead. So, like, for me, it's one of those situations where when you're looking at the game,

you know, what is, you know, more really have. I mean, to me, like, it's, you know, it's such a massive. drop off in terms of talent, especially with a team that really has a hard time protecting the quarterback with all the injuries, and then the injuries to Casey's front seven. But the whole world is all over Green Bay. The whole world is buying Green Bay, buying Green Bay. And when you see teams come off these masterful performances, the odds makers overinflate, they overpriced, and it turns into a tough spot.

And then you look at the weather there as an issue. So that could change things up a little bit. to me, you know, there's so many outliers in this game with injuries. So I'd rather people check back with me on this game on Sunday morning. I'll listen to the Sunday show because we'll have a little more information on it then. All right, perfect. And remind folks what you got working tonight and the rest this weekend before your show tomorrow at 10 o'clock. Well, just listen to the show on Saturday and Sunday morning, 10 o'clock local time.

We try to give a lot of content and we try to share as much inside as we can. But we also do is if they call up the office, anytime they call, they get the full free weekend pass. We give them our best bets on Saturday. We give them our best pets on Sunday. And we have some really nice TV games, you know, for everybody tomorrow. Some of the games available tomorrow that are free of Wisconsin, Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan State, and Texas Tech, Kansas. You know, just free picks. And then on Sunday, we'll have three more.

And then Monday night, we'll give you guys a test drive and let them get started if they like us great. And if not, no worries. Sports Investors Weekly 10 o'clock Saturdays, 10 o'clock on Sundays, please do yourself a favor, being highly entertained. as you get that morning coffee or anywhere to church. Paul, thanks for the time as always, and we'll visit again next week. Thanks, Maddie. Have a great day, buddy. You got it. Paul Nolan from Sports Investors Weekly. And, yeah, I think we're going to have to keep a pretty good eye on,

especially from a betting perspective on that game between Green Bay and Kansas City and how much the line shifts now that Pat Mahomes has been considered out. How about the fact that Drew Breeze and Alvin Kamara Sports RV are going to be a game-time decision on Sunday as New Orleans is back in action and home against an Arizona team, it's suddenly kind of hot? Better? Let's see, Latavius Murray

is good and Teddy Bridge driver's been good. Murray was fantastic from a fantasy perspective, by the way. If I do say so myself. Is that a, from personal experience there? Yeah. Texans, Raiders, I think the Texans comfortably win this game. I think the Raiders can put up some points, but they can't stop a nosebleed, as our friend Bart Scott used to say.

Okay, I'll go ahead and pick the Texans wrong again. and I have them winning comfortably as well. I've been wrong every time I've picked them. I thought they would win up in Indianapolis last week as well. Yeah, I think Deshaun will get this fixed. I don't think the addition to the secondaries to make that big of a difference. I think it's going to be a high scoring game.

I can see this being 35-21 somewhere in that range. A total of 51.5 is pretty high. Texan 6.5 point favorites as well. Yeah, I like the Texas in the game. It's going to be a nail-biter. They're going to have to beat the Colts in Houston to get a share of this thing. But I'm still on the hook for everybody in the division

beating each other once. That's still in play, correct? Probably. It's early in the season. In fact, you know, the Texans and Titans don't even play each other until two of the last three games of the year, which is kind of strange. 51 and a half, by the way, the highest total in the entire league this weekend. Okay. Yeah, I think Texans comfortably win it.

All right, let's do this. Let's get a timeout in, and then we've got four folks that want to talk. We're not going to play believing it or not today because we're on location. So give you guys more opportunity to get in. 713212-5-790. 7-1-3-212-5-7-90. If you want to get in, it's you, me, it's Ross, to the top of the hour before Adam and Adam.

And remember it, $450 this afternoon. Somebody is winning a trip to Palm Beach, Florida next February to see the Astros of the Nationals compete in the spring training opener. We got a World Series game three to discuss first. Craig Ackerman here. When I'm not calling Rockets basketball, I'm following at SportsR's. on Twitter. You're listening to the Matt Thomas show on Sports Talk 790. All right, there is a poll question up on the blog. Keep this music. This is a good song. Makes me feel good. I mean, you come here to Twin Peaks and you're always feeling good,

if you know what I'm saying, because the food is so delicious. Yes, the beer is so cold. And the beer is cold. Ice cold and refreshing, Matthew. Yes, course, like the world's most refreshing beer. Or perhaps a dosakis. Sure, whatever. All right. So here's, so here's, Here's the bit. I put a poll question up. How many times will Juan Soto's birthday be mentioned on Twitter, on Fox today? Yes. Did you know that it's this 21st birthday today? I had no idea. The internet is very slow here. I can't get to my full question. Go to my Twitter account if you want to vote. It's at SportsMT. What's your Twitter account? At SportsMT, almost at 24,200, which puts us at 5,800 away from the magical 30,000.

That means we're going to party hard in Las Vegas. There you go. I just voted for you. All right. 1,797. No, I got 20.53. Wow. 2,000 votes are in.

75% of you believe that Juan Soto's birthday will be mentioned eight or more times today. Are Buck and Smoltz going to have some, like, a slice of cake in between one of the inning breaks for them? I think it's cut to them. Will they put birthday hats on? Will John Smoltz sing? Happy birthday. to Juan Soto. Yes.

Will Joe Buck Venmo won Soto some money for Christmas? I mean, first birthday. That's a plus 300. All right. We're at Twin Peaks. Yeah. If you all do not come out here

and see these women, it's really on you at this point. They're like wearing dental floss. Not all of them. Yeah, they are. They've got great personalities, nice young ladies. And dental floss. 7-13-212-25-7-9.

if you like dental floss. All right. 7132-1-2-5-7-90. In terms of longest wait, let's go to Mark and Wollobrook on 7-90. Hi, Mark. Good afternoon. How you doing?

Wonderful. Good. Compliments to the man with all the comparisons, but for the benefit of Mattress Mac and the rest of Houston, the Astros will win tonight because I believe in Ozzy, Jose Al-Tube.

That's it. You just believe in Jose Al-Tube? No, but he's the leader. He will get it done. Now, the Astros will come through it. I have faith in them. Okay. I like it. I like it. Thank you with the phone call. I think most fans are feeling pretty confident about the Astros and their ability to come back and win this series. Well, I think optimism is high, but if we gave everybody a big elixir of truth,

I mean, nobody's proud of the fact the team is down to nothing. No, nobody's happy about the situation, but I think most people are pretty confident that the Astros are going to be able to come through. Yeah, there's any team that's not fretting about going on the road and winning baseball games, it's the Houston Astros. Ross, I'm saying again, if they can get the series to Houston, the Astros win the World Series. They're not going to lose at home in a game of six or seven.

That's what I'm saying. Okay. You've got to win two out of three to get the series home. Game six would be Verlander, game seven would be Granky on a home field with 43,000 crazy people thinking, you know what? Thank God you guys are back here. I want it to happen. Like I said, I've shifted.

I guess I should stick with my original prediction, but it doesn't seem like it's going to happen. Astros and 6, but Astros and 7, I'm down with that. All right. Let's go to Ryan and Seeley on the Matt Thomas' at 237. Ryan, how are you? Great, guys. Thanks for taking my call. I hope you guys are enjoying this frosty beer this afternoon and frosty weather.

Let me get right to it. The reason why I think we're going to do two out of three, if not three out of three. And this may be the engineer in me coming out, but here it is. We knew that Cole was going to statistically have a mess-up at some point with a 19-0. and then we knew at some point that Burlander was going to do what Verlander or any other good picture was going to do, which was messed up. Unfortunately, they did it back-to-back night with respect to the world's theories. Now, we wouldn't probably be talking about these messed up as much as we are if it would have happened, say, against Tampa Bay. Of course, Verlander was on short days rest, if I'm not mistaken, but we had that one coming.

and then of course the lynchpinning this whole thing tonight. Grinky is like the kid that was taken during the middle of the school year, moved out of the National League into the American League. I think he was the new kid at school with nobody to eat with at lunch. Tonight he's back home visiting all of his friends from his early childhood. He's going to be comfortable. And then we obviously reset the dial. Cole's going to not do that two times in a row.

Burlander, given the chance, definitely's not. They've got that stuff out of their system. And I think that in the short version is why we go two out of three, if not three out of three. And then, of course, you've got the bat. I really think that Jose Altoouva is going to take this team by himself on his shoulders and inspire the rest of his people. the rest of his teammate

guys this is this you know what you need to do this is why we know what I need to do that's exactly you said the magic words yes Ryan thank you very much for the phone call you heard him Nick

don't do it Nick friend co-worker you heard what he said this is it this is the night where the Astros

get back on the field and prove they are 107 strong beating Tampa Bay in a three game series beat the Yankees in six how many more verbal cues can I give sports RV? I don't know

Matt wants this is it like he wants this is it I think they checked out of the show I was not looking I wanted some Kenny Loggins right here Yeah, that's okay. That's okay. You will come back from the break.

We'll come back from the break. Oh, yeah, let's come back with the break with it. And we're going to play it loud so the city of Houston can roll their windows down on this very, you know, crisp day, cold, refreshing day. You want playing with the boys, right? What's that? You want playing with the boys by Kenny Loggins, right? No, no, no. No.

I want this is it with some Astro highlights, good highlights. Not like crappy seventh inning highlights. This is it. All right, let's go to a phone call in. Hi to Zach and pass a get down, Dina. Hello, Zach. What's up, man? How's it going, man?

I'm wonderful. I wish I was over there at Twin Peaks with y'all, man. I really do. You just get over to the nearest location you can find quickly. Okay, that's awesome. Well, let's get straight to the point, man. I feel like I'm going to switch a subject off to football, but I feel like the Packers, man.

I feel like we are in control of the NFC, and I think we're the biggest threat to the Patriots right now. The only team that's the biggest threat to the Patriot. Okay. Well, I mean, it's very nice you to say that after Aaron Rogers through six touchdown passes. It's very bold. I mean, we have a running game. We have a defense now.

I mean, there's not much to say. We've been take care of business. I think our true test will be the 49ers who are undefeat, and I think we're going to take care of them easily, too. Dang. All right. This ending goes Friday, Zach. You just represented the pack.

There's like three of you in the Houston area, but you represented strong, my friend. Oh, I have to, man. I have to. Well, we'll see what happens. I think Rogers is being coachable for the first time. I think the coach is in there handling business. We got a running game with Jones and Williams.

The defense is just coming in strong with the Smith. I think we got it going, man. And I really hope we can do it this year. But hold on real quick. talk about the Ashtals and Nationals real quick. I think everybody's being biased in Houston. I think it's going to be really, really tough. If we do lose tonight, we will lose in game four, and I think we'll get swept.

But I do think we can take them to game seven, but all I'm going to say, it's just going to be tough. They better win tonight, or that's it. All right. Thanks for joining us on Packer Talk. Go, Pat, go. Cheddarheads. Remember what I said in the midday.

If the series gets back to Houston. They're winning the World Series. Okay. Go Pat Go. Let's go with Rodgers. Kenny, or as our friends call him, Kenneth Loggins, will get you fired up with some highlights. King Logan's never got anybody fired him about anything.

Go-ass children that were created in 1981, and there were quite a few. Okay. This is it, is next on 7-90. Can't wait. 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.

First pitch. And Correy aligns it deep to right field. Judges going back. He goes out too big first pitch and here he... Jeff Blum in the third grade. When he's been in Little League, his mom and dad's like, what can we do to get this young player who's got some promise? Kenny Loggins? No, I don't think so.

Oh, absolutely. He's shaking his head, no. Thank you. Thank you, Jeff. That's not getting anybody going. It is. It's getting Charlie Hustle going. It's me doing the robot.

I'm doing the Ross. Put me to sleep. You have no appreciation for it. Great. Wake me up at the end of the show. You're not going to be to get that right now. Good. I didn't go this year. You should go.

All right, let's go wrap it up here with a couple of phone callers. Thank you, Kenny. I think the city's fired up. There are people. high-fiving each other here at Twin Peaks? There's literally zero people high-fiving each other here at Twin Peaks. And there's a pretty large crowd. There's a large crowd.

Do not let's, uh, do not interfere with my vibe. Okay. How are you? Let's go to Kyle and Pearland. Kyle, you fired up? I'm fired up, man. What about you, my friend? See?

He's fired up for Kenny Loggins. What you got today, Kyle? I love Kenny Loggins. He's the best. He's almost the good as Lionel Richie, but not quite. Almost as good as one, I know, that's high praise. I got a question for you, my friend. Yeah.

I missed the rocking game last time. What was your opinion of how they played? And what's with the argument between the Hardin and Westbrook? I heard something about it. They were not arguing of anything. Kyle. They didn't get overblown, did it? No, of course it got overblown.

By the way, when James Hardin and Russell Westbrook fight, I got on national TV the whole time. Did you? I was like, damn, I'm handsome. You're supposed to say yes, Matt. You look great yesterday. You're sticking your tongue out. Yeah.

Because we're trying to figure out, and I also scratched my head to him. Look, my gift, I'm a gift now. No, you're not. All right, good. Yeah, it's okay. They've been besties. They're talking basketball. Why are people making a big deal out of this?

Oh, Westbrook and Hardin aren't getting along around so far after one. Don't tell me this got all overblown. Oh, you think? How many retortals? tweets is that rep- it has a thousand yeah see nothing to worry about absolutely nothing to worry about when it comes to those two gentlemen and by way it's one game my god i don't think him i think only the national my guess is that horrible around the horn show did a well we saw the first sample size and it's not looking good they're friends they've been friends ross as they were 10 years old

they're not going to let working with each other ruin that friendship Because last time I checked when they did work together in Oklahoma City, it did turn out okay. Different players, different responsibilities. Yeah. James Hardwood was good in that finals, 2012. Wait a statement like that. Like I said something it was wrong. That was right. It was actually right. Look, I, and that's why Oklahoma City didn't want to put the money behind him. They said, we're not going to put that kind of cash, and so the Astros fleece the Thunder for that deal.

And now he's a Houston Rocket. I think they won 55-ish games. They'll be good, and they'll make it to, like, the second or third round of the playoffs and lose. Rockets, Clippers, and the Western Conference finals. How about that? Okay. Larry and Galveston on 790. Hello, Larry. M.K. How are you, man?

I'm good, buddy. What's going on? I tell you what, I'm having a great time here in G-Cown today, and all that I've got to tell everybody in Houston is everybody just needs to relax, because our boys tonight are going to come through for us and for themselves as a team and bring the series back to Houston for game six. And go Astros and just, you know, we got a great team. We got the best manager in the free world. And that's all I've got to say.

Thank you, Larry. Have a good weekend. I think if you're nervous right now, you absolutely have every right to be nervous. You're down 2-0-0 in the World Series facing three games at National Spark. I've never been there, but my guess is going to be fairly loud tonight.

I guess I'm sure it'll be fine. I mean, there was times during the ALDS, though, where they had tickets for like $10. I don't know, I mean, don't you feel like as far as baseball towns go? I mean, is anybody really like born and bred, die-hard Washington, D.C., and Washington Nationals fan?

No. But they have been very impressive. They have not lost a World Series game or a championship series game. And they came back after being down in the Los Angeles Dodgers series. I'm highly impressed with them. Juan Soto is going to celebrate his 21st birthday today. Wonderful. They already had Arod and David Ortiz having cake with him pregame.

Do they really? Adam Wexer just showed it to me. And by the way, Alex Rodriguez will pick the nationals to win the game. Okay. And they'll go home and put on purple lipstick and Sarah. himself in the mirror for six hours. Great, thanks. And by the way, you've been telling me about this Netflix series? Screwball. It doesn't make him look good, does it? No, he's he's a liar, a cheat, and vain, and thinks he's the center of the universe. What a great segue.

A team is up next with Adam Clinton and Adam Wexler. I like that. It's like you throw the softball, I got to hit it. Exactly. Out of the park on that one, Matt. Speaking, hitting it out. The boys are going to give away a trip to Florida at $450 to Sanford. So we'll be listening for that. And Jeff Blum is in the house? Jeff Blum, one of our favorite all-time Expos, not nationals. Expoes. We'll be on to talk.

Former Expo Great. Former Expo Great. All right. For Walter, for Nick, for Ross, I'm Matt. Have a great rest of your day. A team from Twin Peaks at 290 and a great giveaway thanks to the Palm Beaches. What I said? You didn't say either.

Oh, 290 and Pine Month. Thank you, Palm Beaches, for giving our listeners a chance to win a trip. More of them for the 18 next on 790.