This Shrewdness episode covers the exciting final of the World Baseball Classic, NCAA March Madness predictions, and the latest NFL free agency signings. Tune in for insights on baseball stories, college basketball brackets, and NFL team moves that could impact the upcoming season.
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Hello, sureness. Welcome to our show tonight.
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Chis is on vacation this week, but Dex and Peru here.
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We're going to keep the show rolling, as they say in
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Hollywood. And I'm podcasting, I think too.
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So it. Has to be.
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It's probably the same. If they don't, they should.
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Right, we just made that up, if you couldn't tell.
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Now we're here to to bring another edition of the
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Shrewdness Podcast. We are going to talk about the
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final in the World Baseball Classic that happened last
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night. Very exciting finish.
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We're going to talk about tomorrow.
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This will be published, published probably during the
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first round of games for the NCAA tournament, but we'll talk
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a little bit about that and a couple teams that we like.
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There's it's, it's hard to digest the whole bracket in a
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day or two with all the other stuff going on.
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But we'll give you at least a little bit of knowledge going
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into the tournament. And then I think we're going to
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wrap up with some new NFL signings that have happened this
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last week. We hit on several after Week 1,
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but yeah, there's been a lot of news happening the last several
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days too, so we'll bring you up to speed on that.
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Yep, 1. Team in purple.
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Has a new quarterback. That's.
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True that when we get there, we. Better talk about it.
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Yeah, we better talk about it this week before Chiz gets back,
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because he'll. All he'll do is just RIP on him.
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He'll be obnoxious about it and we don't want that so.
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We don't need, We kind of do. That we kind of do like that.
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Fans, I mean, I gave it away. Bury in the lead, all right?
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We can edit that out. That's right.
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All right, next, take it away. Tell us your take on World
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Baseball Classic and the final that occurred last night between
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two really good teams. That's right.
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So the World Baseball Classic, if you've been listening the
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last couple weeks, super pumped. It was exactly what I wanted to
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be an exciting tournament from start to finish.
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And we saw some very interesting, cool stories.
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Not the least is Italy, who ended up being a Final Four
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team. So team Italy, Congrats to you.
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And again, for our Royals listeners out there, we got to
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watch Vinny Pasquantino and Jack Caglione kind of leading that
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team to what, one of the first five games, then lost the 6th
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and they lost to the eventual champs, Venezuela.
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But they had to come back to do it.
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So they had the lead 2 to one in the 7th inning.
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And then Venezuela scraped across a couple runs and Italy
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just couldn't get anything else to happen.
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But a great, great series and tournament for Italy and for
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baseball. It's just a great story.
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So when you watch those and get the stories behind it, I mean,
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the manager driving all over Italy just to find people
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playing in sandlots to get the Italian baseball program going,
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that's cool. That's really freaking cool.
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But I mean, we got to finish though.
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I mean, the the final four teams, three of them were
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expected and the fourth one, Italy was was not expected.
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But I think at the end of the day, Japan really good again.
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They lost, lost to a good team. Venezuela beat them, and
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Venezuela had a great tournament.
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And if you watched the game last night, you know, it's the first
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time Venezuela's won any sort of tournament of any sort, baseball
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or otherwise, I think since the 40s.
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Didn't they say like 46 or something like that?
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It's hard to believe, but yeah, it was.
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It's been many a lifetime for most of these people, right it?
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Is and that's a baseball country and you could tell.
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And if you didn't watch the game, it was man, I'm not
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exaggerating. 80% Venezuela fans.
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In. Miami, like the US, has been a
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road team three of the last four games in the World Baseball
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Classic in Houston and in Miami. So when Mexico played, that
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stadium was all Mexico, Canada, I think it was probably even
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split. It didn't seem like it's too
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lopsided. But then when Team USA played
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Dominican in Miami, that was all Dr. fans and it was cool to see
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it. I mean, they, like we said, it's
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more like a soccer atmosphere or football, however you want to do
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it, but just loud, proud, beating drums, just having a.
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Party. That's what I thought was
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different. There's a lot of the drums and
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noisemakers and stuff like you hear at soccer games.
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Yeah. Around the world versus a
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normal, you know, US baseball game is some cheer a.
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Little more subdued in US, but then we got to the final in
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Venezuela and US, the US beat Dominican Republic, which if I'm
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being honest, I thought that was basically the championship game
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because I didn't. I thought the US would trounce
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the winner of Venezuela in Italy.
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Well, I went wrong on that. But the Dominican, yeah, the
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Dominican Republic game was still awesome.
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It was super exciting all the way down to the end.
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US came away with it. Obviously 2 to 1 was the final
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score of that one, right? And then we got to Venezuela and
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let's just start in here. So boy, the US bats for the
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entire tournament were pretty freaking sleepy and they slept
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for 8 innings yesterday. And then we had one exciting
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moment. So it's basically 2.
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Nothing. A very sleepy game.
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Even the drummers of Venezuela were falling asleep.
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It was a lot of ZS going on in Venezuela.
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For the Venezuela fans and US fans in Miami, this wasn't very
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entertaining to be dead on us. So we had a solo shot and then
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we had Salvi come around on a double.
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I believe he scored and that was kind of cool that Salvi scored
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one of the runs. Yeah.
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So it's 2 nothing kind of the whole game.
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One in the third, one in the 5th and then Bryce Harper.
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So after Bobby Witt draws A2 out, walk Bryce Harper, who
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hadn't done much of anything this tournament.
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He had a hit earlier in the game for the championship.
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He parked 1. And I thought, Pru, tell me if
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this is what you thought, too. I thought, here it is, baby.
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Yeah, US. Mile got.
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It tie game, let's go. All we got to do is hold them
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and get one in the bottom of the ninth and it's go time.
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When Bryce Harper hit that dinger, what what did you think
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about the course of the game? Did you think momentum was
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totally changed? Yeah, it was a complete,
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complete shift. And that, that's kind of what I
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kept hoping for the whole game was like if they could just keep
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the score low, keep it close, one big swing and they're right
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back in it. Yeah, it's exactly what
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happened. And yeah, I'm with you.
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I thought momentum has shifted and now it's it's USS time to
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shine. Just in time to close it out.
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That's. It late in the game in the
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final. Yeah, and I thought in the I've
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been reading some articles and I watched the game and heard the
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commentary too. And people are like, oh, why did
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you not bring in Mason Miller? And then you heard Derose after
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the game is like to honor the Padres and all that sort of
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junk. It's not like Garrett Whitlock
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sucks, man. He's really good.
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He's exceptionally good. He hadn't given up a run the
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whole tournament and a lot last. Year for Boston, seven and
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three, 225 ERA, 91 KS and 72 innings.
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This guy is not a chump. He's not just off the couch guy.
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He's really, really good. I loved it.
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I would have put him in anyway. And Mason Miller, yeah, he's
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gotten through and hadn't allowed to run either, but he
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had some shaky at bats. I mean, he was not flawless
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going through here and he got 2 saves and there's two save
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opportunities. Got it.
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He was a little wild I thought in the previous game.
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Yep. But 10 strikeouts in his four
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innings in the classic. And he had the two walks, but
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those walks were in like, not the best situation.
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Yeah, no, not a. Walk here, tight game leading
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off an inning. That's bad.
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That's not what you're rooting for, I thought.
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The people. So congratulations to Venezuela.
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Let's just start there. Awesome.
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To your to your earlier point, early in the game, right, I
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turned, I tuned in for the first couple innings and then I went
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and did something and came back like in the 5th.
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So I missed the first two runs, but first, first hit of the game
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for Venezuela, the whole crowd erupted.
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I was like, I thought this was in Miami.
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Yeah. But it was clear that that was a
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wild crowd that was there to see their team right.
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Venezuela dominated those stands.
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They were. Yeah, I guess I didn't realize.
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That full force. Venezuela had a massively high
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population in the city of Miami, and they announced it was like,
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I think it was the biggest population of Venezuelans in the
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country lives in Miami, which makes sense.
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Makes sense. Yeah.
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I think a lot of those South American countries have a large
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population in southern Florida, so that makes sense there.
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I think that the people are disappointed, so we'll talk
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about how good Venezuela is here in a minute.
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But for Team USA, I already said the bachelor sleepy all
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tournament in the championship game.
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We need our biggest Thunderbats to do the most because you think
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if two runs allowed or three runs allowed, we should have
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rolled that game with this offense.
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But Aaron Judge, captain, the team goes over four with three
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KS, Kyle Schwarber over 33 KS. And you got to walk.
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So you got on base at least. But man, are 3-4 hitters in a
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game that matters the most. And frankly, the whole team had
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three hits all together. So Harper had two of those 3,
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and I think Trang had the other one.
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Yeah, Trang had the other one. Yeah.
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That was it. That was the US offense against
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Venezuela. And here's what's this is what's
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frustrating is Venezuela's pitching lineup.
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Eduardo Rodriguez of the ilk of five plus ERA and multiple
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seasons in the big leagues. Back of the rotation, Arizona
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Diamondback starter who blows, man, he's not good.
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But any other way, he pitched, honest to God, the best game of
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his life last night. Four in the third innings, one
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hit. Yeah, and I'd go back to Major
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League One. God Dang hit.
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That's all we can. Get against a bunch of All
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Stars, yes, right. I mean, that was a stellar line
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up. And only one walk, 4 KS and he
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came out like this is not good if Eduardo Rodriguez just shut
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us. Down for half the game.
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And then the rest of them, that's the thing, is that their
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bullpen was good. We team USAI think, did not
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expect to come out with zero runs in five innings with
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Eduardo Rodriguez starting. That one kind of hurt.
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So I think that killed that. The bullpen did great.
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Kudos to Venezuela's bullpen guys.
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So Bizardo Bhutto, Zerpa, good job, former Royal Zerpa, Machado
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and Palencia closed it down for Venezuela and again, except for
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Machado giving up the two run shot to Bryce Harper.
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And if anyone was due to do something, Bryce Harper was due.
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So I don't really felt Machado. He just finally threw it over
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the plate and Harper for once this tournament was on time and
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sent that thing deep. Like we said, that was a pretty
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exciting moment. But as we look through the the
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starters and I know if Chisholm was here, here's exactly what he
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would say. So we had Tarek Scubble standing
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on the top step and instead we're throwing our young kid,
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Nolan McLean again, Mets, I think second or third starter on
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the team. He's at rookie status and he's
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a, he's honestly the top prospect pitcher in the game.
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So it's not like, Oh my God, what kind of scrubber they
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throwing out there. I thought McLean did just fine
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and giving up two runs in five innings is enough to usually win
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a game. But I think Chisholm's point I I
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want to get your take on this too.
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Peru is why the hell can Tarek Scubal not pitch?
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Is he not going to throw any more games in spring trainings?
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He not going to throw any more innings.
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Bullpens pitch to batters anymore to prep for a season.
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Why could? He not do 65 pitches for Team
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USA in the championship game. Not that I'm upset about it, but
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I want to get your take. Do you think there's any
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justifiable reason why you would not pitch other than it sounds
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like you had a deal with Detroit beforehand but then he tried to
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change the deal but for whatever reason they didn't?
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What's your take on Terex? Google.
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Yeah, that's that's kind of a even.
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So I'll talk about that specific situation in a second.
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But even beyond that, I think the whole, the whole timing of
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the World Baseball Classic just sets sets this kind of conflict
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up. Yeah, right.
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It's early in the year. Pitchers are going to play the
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next six months for their team where they're getting paid a lot
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of money right to be healthy and and pitch for that team.
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So it's bound to happen. It sucks that it's potentially
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cost the US, you know, a chance, an even better chance at winning
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the the tournament and everything, but we have.
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The Cy Young just standing on the top shelf with the.
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Dugout. Yeah, it.
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Hurts. I don't, yeah, obviously we
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don't know the details and all that.
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But yeah, it's it's even worse that he was still there at the
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game. Like he would have had to fly
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back because he had to get to spring training game or whatever
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because of some contract thing. That's one thing.
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But I'm still part of the team, but I'm not allowed to pitch
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because fill in the blank reason.
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I don't know. And that's.
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What's weird 'cause go back to what you just said.
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I thought he was going back to the team.
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I thought he was piercing out after pool play.
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So when I saw him in the dugout in the last couple of games,
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like what he is here, he just won't pitch anymore.
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He he talked, he talked about, I think you said that he talked
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with Detroit. I think about like, maybe, yeah,
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altering their deal or whatever so that he could pitch one more
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time and and then I guess that just fizzled out or whatever.
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It never came to be. But yeah, super frustrating to
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see like your star pitcher, one of your star pitchers, one of
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your best 2, just hanging out, watching the action, not not
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wanting or not willing to be in the game.
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Then another question I want to ask you Peru is do you think
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this is more of AUS let down or a huge just great game by
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Venezuela? The the bats for sure were
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disappointing, but beyond Venezuela's bullpen in the
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final, they said something. I can't remember the stat that
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they gave, but that bullpen was lights out.
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All the, you know, the whole tournament, but especially past
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pool play, once they got into bracket play that their bullpen
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was lights out. Yeah, the last time they got hit
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around was Dominican Republic game four of the pool play.
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Yeah, so they they locked down. I think that might have been the
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only runs they gave up. I mean, they gave up the the
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Bryce Harper Homer, I guess. But but they didn't allow
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baserunners. They were striking out.
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There's a lot of chatter from the announcers about how many
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times the US had struck out last night.
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They were just, they were overmatched, it seemed like.
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Yeah. So kudos to them.
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A little bit of a let down, maybe, or a disappointment from
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the US bats. But yeah, I think you got to
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give credit to Venezuela. They just outplayed them.
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That's right. And like it, it wasn't.
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We say like Venezuela was the underdog and they were.
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But you're starting off with Acuna Junior, who I believe won
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the MVP of the year. He went 4070, yeah, Michael
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Garcia All Star last year, Lewis Arise three straight batting
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titles in a row out. He didn't win last year with
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three row before that. Eugenio Suarez 40 home runs
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multiple times. Glaber Torres multiple time All
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Star Ezekiel Tovar Gold Glove and also 300 hitter for the
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Rockies. Will you're a brave from Boston
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and then obviously Salvy and then Jackson Cheerio.
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That is a legitimate lineup. It is one that we talked about
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beforehand. We're previewing this classic.
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That lineup in the Dominicans in the US, Those were the three
00:16:24
best lineup. Well, Japan was really good too.
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So those four teams, that's why they were favored.
00:16:29
That's why those were the four favorite.
00:16:30
Teams, you know, given, given those lineups, would you have
00:16:34
ever predicted a three to two final?
00:16:36
No, usually because the the pitchers are behind the bats
00:16:39
anyway. Yes, Yeah, and maybe it's
00:16:41
because they're on the pitch count.
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I mean, when you only have to throw 60 pitches and you don't
00:16:45
have to go through a line of 1/3 time, maybe that has something
00:16:48
to do with it. I don't.
00:16:49
Know but. Again, the pitchers did well.
00:16:52
I was expecting more like an 8 to 7 game or a.
00:16:55
Yeah. Whatever, 5 to 4 game, but 3:00
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to 2:00 and 2:00 to 1:00 the game before, like they're just
00:17:03
there was a lot more pitching than I expected.
00:17:05
A. Lot more good pitching, Like
00:17:08
really, really good. Yeah, that's what I expected.
00:17:10
Some Netherlands like in like Chechiya.
00:17:14
I mean, that guy was stolen, what, 74 miles an hour and shut
00:17:17
out Japan for four and a third innings.
00:17:20
Like in a standing ovation. That's an electrician or
00:17:24
whatever he was. Yeah, electrician.
00:17:26
That's a great story. It was fantastic.
00:17:29
I do want to touch a little bit on just the Royals touch here
00:17:32
because we are Royals fans at heart here at the shrewdness, if
00:17:35
you haven't listened to us before and having Salvador Perez
00:17:39
just tear up and be so freaking emotional about this.
00:17:44
And the captain of the team, Venezuela, big part of getting a
00:17:47
lot of these guys there. That was awesome to see him win.
00:17:51
And from if it's going to be anybody, he may as well be
00:17:54
Salvador Perez and Michael Garcia.
00:17:55
Some Royals winning the the hardware for the World Baseball
00:17:59
Championship. But how great was it seeing
00:18:01
Salvi hold up a championship trophy?
00:18:04
Proof. Oh yeah.
00:18:04
Listening to his speech after the game.
00:18:06
I don't know if you listened to that.
00:18:07
It was awesome. I was super excited to see him A
00:18:11
Represent Venezuela as the captain.
00:18:14
B Walk away with the trophy and hold it high.
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You know, the guy just loves baseball.
00:18:19
Doesn't matter who he's playing for.
00:18:20
But. Plays like a 12 year old.
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He's always played like a 12 year old.
00:18:24
We've talked about that multiple times on this show.
00:18:26
He's so fun to watch play. That smile never leaves his
00:18:29
face. He's just awesome.
00:18:30
He plays every day and he's not. He's like, upset about it, but
00:18:34
then he'll like, cheer like he's a 12 year old kid.
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Cheer not his best friends. Yeah, it's just awesome.
00:18:39
Yep, super cool to see that. Super cool to see Garcia and the
00:18:42
MVP. It was the tournament well
00:18:46
deserved for sure. A couple of huge hits for
00:18:49
Venezuela. Yep.
00:18:51
Big, big, solid band. 380-5970 OPS.
00:18:54
It was well earned. It was pretty damn.
00:18:56
Good. Yeah, so that was good.
00:18:59
So I think that is all I've got for World Baseball Classic.
00:19:02
Any other moments that you want to talk about for a move on to
00:19:06
the next one? Like you said, Italy was
00:19:09
surprising. So we back to the Royals thing.
00:19:11
We got to see Vinny and and Jack advance, Mike, Michael Garcia
00:19:17
and Salvi, Bobby Witt, obviously Team USA and I mean yeah, lots
00:19:24
of Royals and ex Royals and stuff scattered throughout the
00:19:27
tournament. It was fun to see them represent
00:19:30
well. Absolutely.
00:19:33
So that's a wrap, a world baseball classic.
00:19:35
I hope you guys watch some of it and I hope you got to see just
00:19:38
the pure joy and excitement from some of these some of these
00:19:41
teams in the tournament. It's just it's so fun to watch.
00:19:43
It makes you just get right in the dugout with them.
00:19:47
You're doing their dances, the espresso shots and the Imani
00:19:50
codes for the Italians and we're putting the the numbers on the
00:19:53
coffee espresso machine was amazing.
00:19:56
Wearing the hats and the jacket, like everybody this, the
00:19:58
celebrations were unbelievable and they're jumping over the top
00:20:02
rail. Incredible.
00:20:03
I can't wait for three years from now, but we'll get some
00:20:06
World Cup and have some more similar activities this summer,
00:20:09
which is going to be a blast. This is an awesome lead in to
00:20:11
the World Cup that's coming. So if that didn't get you
00:20:13
excited for your country's coming into that, look good into
00:20:17
that. All right, so now let's pivot
00:20:19
into NCAA. So Peru, you and I back in the
00:20:23
day in high school along with Chism and many of our friends.
00:20:27
When Thursday and Friday 1st 2 days of the tournament came
00:20:29
along, we were not very good in school and especially when then
00:20:35
SMS. But Missouri State would make it Winston Garland if you
00:20:39
guys remember way back then, it was a blast when your team made
00:20:43
it and it's still that exciting to be there.
00:20:46
I don't quality follow college basketball as much as I used to,
00:20:49
especially back in college when I had tons of free time.
00:20:52
Work right? Work gets in the way now.
00:20:54
You got to pick your. Sports work is running my sports
00:20:56
life for sure. Exactly.
00:20:57
But we know enough to be dangerous this year.
00:21:00
And so we're going to kind of go through just not like game by
00:21:04
game, but kind of each kind of main bracket, the final four
00:21:09
ones, then some games we're looking forward to this weekend.
00:21:12
So let's jump into Peru. Give us your winners from each
00:21:18
little quarter East, West, South, Midwest.
00:21:21
Who is your Final Four team and who are they playing?
00:21:23
So who's really your Elite 8? So we kind of talked about it in
00:21:27
the Patreon before the show. This is a tournament that seems
00:21:32
to have some elite teams and then the rest yes, right.
00:21:37
So it's. Nil has ruined it again.
00:21:40
Yeah, it's, it's pretty. It sounds like we don't really
00:21:44
know what we're talking about, and we probably don't some more.
00:21:48
Chalk. Mostly favourites, yeah.
00:21:51
So Duke and UConn, I don't. I mean, maybe Michigan State
00:21:55
sneaks in in the East, but I don't see anybody else really
00:22:00
competing very deep in that that corner of the bracket.
00:22:05
Yeah, so I am also on Duke and UConn, which sounds so chalky
00:22:11
like you shrewdness host just don't know anything.
00:22:13
That's why you're going 1 and twos like, well, if you kind of
00:22:16
look how the tournament's gone the last couple years, once Nil
00:22:18
came back into play, Cinderella's slippers been
00:22:21
broken, man. Like, it's just there'll be a
00:22:23
couple, don't get me wrong, But days of the 13 seed, getting to
00:22:27
the final four in the 12 seed, even sevens and eights, man,
00:22:32
Yeah, just whatever. You just don't see it very much
00:22:36
anymore. The favorites go because the
00:22:37
favorites are stocked. Two years ago, there's like a an
00:22:41
11 versus A7 or something in the Elite 8 and then just got
00:22:46
obliterated the next two weeks. Yeah.
00:22:49
Or the next two rounds just. I mean, those teams just at some
00:22:53
point are going to get obliterated.
00:22:55
Yeah, by the powerhouses that seem to be there every year.
00:22:58
It is and so I think interesting.
00:23:00
So I'm a big KU fan. I love Kansas and I think they
00:23:05
Candace has done some disappointing things before, but
00:23:07
I believe they will get past Cal Baptist of the 413 game there.
00:23:12
So if they can't beat the 13 seed, Oh my gosh.
00:23:17
I mean, Canada should be able to win that.
00:23:18
I mean, they they beat Arizona when they're undefeated courses
00:23:21
at home. They keep saying, yeah, anyone
00:23:23
can win at home on Monday, but whatever.
00:23:25
So Kansas should win the first round, but then the Saint John's
00:23:28
Northern Iowa, I think they'll also win that one.
00:23:31
But by the time they win those two games, make Sweet 16.
00:23:34
I think that's where the tournament run ends because you
00:23:37
will run into Duke, who will probably have just beaten Ohio
00:23:39
State. And I think Duke is far superior
00:23:43
to Kansas this year. So I think that's kind of a, I'm
00:23:45
looking forward to the game. I think Duke, Candace is always
00:23:48
awesome when it comes up in these tournaments.
00:23:51
I think it'll be a good game. I think Duke's got too much this
00:23:54
year. So you're obviously on the same
00:23:56
page on that. Is that the matchup you have in
00:23:59
this particular bracket? I've got Saint John's squeaking
00:24:02
it out against Kansas. Saint John's, huh?
00:24:04
Even though they've been playing like dog balls down the stretch,
00:24:06
right? I like the coach.
00:24:09
Oh yeah. That's that's a lot of it.
00:24:11
I feel like there, I think I mean Bill Self's fine too, but I
00:24:16
think tournament time, he's done OK tournament time teams with a
00:24:22
solid coach that has been around for a long time have a huge
00:24:25
advantage experience they've. Seen it?
00:24:29
Before as a coach, they know they know how to win and you can
00:24:34
see you know the obviously the the classes turnover and and new
00:24:39
players roll in every four years, but you can see some of
00:24:42
those coaches have been around a lot of years yeah, been to the
00:24:47
tournament, you know most of them so.
00:24:49
And then I think one of my one of my upset picks for this
00:24:52
bracket, I do like South Florida over Louisville.
00:24:55
South Florida's been looking pretty darn good.
00:24:58
And Louisville, they're they're good, don't get me wrong, but
00:25:01
they're beatable. So I think that's a Beatle
00:25:03
matchup. So South Florida is kind of a
00:25:05
sneaky one in there if you want to get it.
00:25:07
If you have an upset bracket where you get points for the
00:25:09
other way, that's kind of interesting one.
00:25:12
I think UConn is going to blow through the winner of UCFUCLA
00:25:15
and they're playing Furman. So I don't see Yukon losing the
00:25:18
Furman. And then they'll get the in the
00:25:22
winner of probably Michigan State and I think South Florida,
00:25:26
but could be Louisville. They'll play them as I don't see
00:25:29
that as a contest, and so it's going to get down to where it's
00:25:32
UConn and Duke. So it sounds chalky, but when
00:25:34
you look at who they're playing. Right.
00:25:37
Really. I mean, you could throw a dart
00:25:39
and hope it works out, but those are the two best teams in that
00:25:42
bracket. It's pretty clear to me.
00:25:44
Yeah. All right, so let's move on
00:25:45
down. And so in of Duke, UConn, who do
00:25:48
you have winning that game for your Final Four pick?
00:25:50
I have Duke, they're pretty much unbeatable this year.
00:25:54
Yeah, they have. Lost a couple games but.
00:25:56
Yeah, 2:32 and 2:00. They don't lose names.
00:26:00
Yeah, exactly. Let's go down to the South.
00:26:05
So Florida is the one seed there, Houston's a two seed.
00:26:09
Who do you got in that particular bracket meeting in
00:26:12
the Elite 8? So I I think Florida's got a
00:26:16
clear advantage. They're a powerhouse team.
00:26:19
I actually, if I recall right, did they win last year?
00:26:21
Yeah, I think they did. I think they did too.
00:26:24
I actually have Illinois going to the Elite 8 facing Florida.
00:26:31
That's somebody that hasn't been in Illinois watching Illinois
00:26:34
play. I'm not going to do it on that
00:26:38
bandwagon. Well, I don't know.
00:26:40
We'll see. They like losing close games is
00:26:43
all I know. When it gets.
00:26:45
Close and the going gets tough. They collapse, so if they don't
00:26:49
win by a lot, they lose it close and I think they would.
00:26:52
They may, they may struggle with you and see a second round if
00:26:55
they get past that, I don't know.
00:26:59
I agree it could be and Texas A&M is another sneaky 1 coming
00:27:03
out, but Saint Mary's? I feel like Saint Mary's always
00:27:07
ends up doing decent in the tournament and so I have a
00:27:11
Houston and Florida. Again, Chalky, but I've watched
00:27:15
both those teams play quite a bit.
00:27:18
They just seem to be the games that were on when I was watching
00:27:20
basketball. So Houston's is good.
00:27:23
They play suffocating defense and they crushed my team.
00:27:27
Candace. Maybe it's just because if I if
00:27:29
a team beats my team, I think they're really good.
00:27:32
It. Can't possibly be.
00:27:32
My team played a bad game, so Houston's obviously better.
00:27:36
So there's really good. But Houston can be tough.
00:27:40
I think, again, I agree with you.
00:27:41
I think you'll be either Illinois or North Carolina will
00:27:43
be their toughest one in the Sweet 16 round.
00:27:47
That'll be a tough one. I think Houston just better
00:27:49
though. I think they'll they'll beat
00:27:50
Illinois. I think they'll be not even
00:27:52
really close. And if North Carolina gets it,
00:27:54
same problem. They just don't have enough
00:27:56
depth off the bench to do in my opinion to make it to the final
00:28:01
four lead 8. Florida is just tough.
00:28:04
But. Clemson, Iowa.
00:28:08
The winner of that game, which I have Iowa, but you could say
00:28:11
Clemson sounds good. I was tough.
00:28:14
Clemson's tough. I think they could sneaky in
00:28:17
Florida. I mean they they weren't that
00:28:19
good at beginning. A lot of people were surprised
00:28:21
they ended up with a top seed number one and most of it's
00:28:25
because the beginning of the year it's not really at the end
00:28:27
of the year. They played really well down the
00:28:29
stretch. So it's going to be probably
00:28:32
Florida, which is why I have Florida, Houston and the the two
00:28:35
teams. Well, I mean to your point, it's
00:28:38
very tough to repeat. So it is, it's super possible
00:28:42
that they could get an early upset, early exit after, you
00:28:46
know, getting a little overconfident maybe or when when
00:28:50
teams are going up against the Champs, you know, everybody
00:28:53
brings their A game and plays their best game.
00:28:56
It is you don't have what what are you going to lose?
00:28:58
You're already the underdog. Just given everything they got,
00:29:01
right? So and then so you got Illinois
00:29:04
and Florida and who do you got winning going Final Four?
00:29:07
I actually took Illinois. Oh my God, you are.
00:29:11
It's not gonna be friends in the area here in Illinois you're
00:29:15
making. Friends all gonna be.
00:29:17
It's not gonna be 4-1 seeds, so somebody's gonna get upset
00:29:20
sometime. Probably be a two seed in there.
00:29:24
We are a Chalky tournament. All right, let's go to the West.
00:29:27
Speaking of Chalky, so we have this is the Arizona and Purdue
00:29:31
bracket. Who do you got going to the
00:29:33
Elite 8 here and what games are you looking forward to?
00:29:35
I, I like Gonzaga, again, going back to the coaches that seem to
00:29:40
be there every year, the coach is amazing and Gonzaga is not,
00:29:47
you know, size wise and everything is not a huge school
00:29:52
comparatively, but they just always seem to have a great team
00:29:56
that does well in the tournament.
00:29:58
And again, I think a lot of that's coaching and just
00:30:01
preparation. I think you're right.
00:30:02
I mean, I like them advancing, and Arizona is a clear favorite
00:30:07
on the other side of the bracket.
00:30:09
They're just a dominant team this year.
00:30:12
They are. I think the the good thing about
00:30:15
Gonzaga is they have kind of a history of being good when no
00:30:19
one expects them to be good, right?
00:30:21
They just keep being the name, so they know that the name on
00:30:24
the chest has won some incredible games in history.
00:30:27
I think that has something to do with it.
00:30:29
You can be Cinderella when you're like, we've been there,
00:30:31
we've won this whole thing before.
00:30:33
And yeah, it's not this team, but I'm going to be rooting for
00:30:36
them as well. So I've got, I've got some
00:30:39
friends in the area and one of their family members plays for
00:30:42
Gonzaga, so I am all in. So I think Davis Fogle is
00:30:47
Gonzaga, and so we'll be rooting from him, from Illinois.
00:30:50
Go Davis, go Gonzaga. I think they're going to have a
00:30:54
I think that when the first two games pretty easy and then
00:30:56
they'll be playing either Purdue or probably Miami.
00:31:00
And again, I like Kansas in about from Missouri though, So
00:31:04
like I got a soft spot for Mizzou, but when they play each
00:31:07
other, I always go for Kansas, but I don't have to worry about
00:31:09
that in this bracket. Nope.
00:31:11
So Missouri plays Miami FL in their first game and Missouri
00:31:15
has been struggle busting down the stretch like a lot of people
00:31:18
thought they were going to be one of the first four out.
00:31:20
They made it in as a ten seed. I mean, they got twenty wins in
00:31:24
the SEC, so that's pretty good. 20 and 12 this season.
00:31:28
I think that is a fun game. Looking forward to watching it.
00:31:31
Not going to be surprised if Miami wins though.
00:31:33
I'm picking Missouri because I'm a Homer and I'm going to pick
00:31:35
Missouri. Of course.
00:31:37
I'm not going to be shocked or surprised when Miami ends up
00:31:40
being circled on everyone else's bracket.
00:31:42
I know The thing is Purdue, I think it's going to pound them.
00:31:45
Whoever wins that game, I think Purdue's is going to pound them.
00:31:48
They're the Big 10 champs, just beat Michigan, who many people
00:31:51
think can win this whole darn thing.
00:31:54
So Purdue is no floozy whatsoever.
00:31:57
In my bracket, I have Arizona meeting Purdue at the end.
00:32:00
I think a fun game is going to be Arkansas versus Wisconsin
00:32:04
this weekend on either Saturday or Sunday, whenever that is.
00:32:08
And then I think the winner of that game is going to be playing
00:32:10
in Arizona. I think that is going to be a
00:32:12
great game. So either Arkansas, Wisconsin
00:32:15
versus Arizona will be the toughest matchup if they get
00:32:17
through that one. And that is the chance of the
00:32:20
upset in this bracket where I can see one.
00:32:22
I think that'd be where it will come from.
00:32:24
Otherwise, Arizona's looked really tough.
00:32:26
They've only lost two games all season and they were hard
00:32:30
losses. I mean, they were close, close,
00:32:33
close, close. So Arizona and Purdue for me out
00:32:36
of that one and then Arizona going to the Final Four for me
00:32:39
again, Chalky is all get out. My bad.
00:32:42
I've given you some of the upsets in the middle to go for,
00:32:45
but just don't see much else happening.
00:32:47
I don't see Gonzaga getting through all those teams.
00:32:50
One more thing or more team that I think is interesting in the
00:32:53
West is High Point. They play Wisconsin in the first
00:32:56
round. Yeah.
00:32:58
So they're a smaller school. I get that in the big S, which
00:33:03
is not a not a powerhouse league by any means, but there were 30
00:33:07
and four. And teams that are used to
00:33:10
winning in the regular season that know how to win can catch
00:33:14
fire in the tournament. And so A-Team like that is a
00:33:18
team that that goes a couple rounds deep and then they run up
00:33:21
against a team that just over matches them.
00:33:24
But it wouldn't shock me if they're, you know, as a 12 seed,
00:33:28
if they go, if they make it through that first round, at
00:33:32
least then they'll be facing Arkansas most likely who will,
00:33:39
who will probably kill them. But anyway, I don't want to
00:33:42
dismiss the. Rain the rainbow warriors of
00:33:45
Hawaii who are playing Arkansas, but I don't know Arkansas is a
00:33:50
whole different beast than what Hawaii is used to playing.
00:33:52
So and then they also so a lot of people think a cuff junior so
00:33:57
the point guard for Arkansas who is amazing.
00:34:00
So I think Chiz was talking last week, he's the first one since
00:34:04
Pistol Pete to lead the SEC in points and assists in the
00:34:08
season. So that's what, 50 freaking
00:34:12
years or something since someone has done what he just did.
00:34:15
They are coming off the SEC champions.
00:34:18
So Arkansas is someone again, it's the depth issue.
00:34:22
They keep having to rely on a cap all the way down the stretch
00:34:25
to win every single game for him.
00:34:27
I think Arizona's got too much talent, but I think I believe
00:34:30
it's going to be Arizona. Arkansas will be playing in that
00:34:34
at key game for the West and Acuff Junior is someone that's
00:34:37
fun to watch. If you've not watched Arkansas
00:34:39
play or just haven't been in that region or area, they're
00:34:42
good. They're good, they're fun to
00:34:44
watch, and that's a sneaky 4 seed that could wreck some
00:34:47
brackets this year, I think. So one to look out.
00:34:50
Besides watching teams, a lot of a lot of guys like that step up
00:34:54
in this tournament. You hear new names that you've
00:34:56
never heard all year long. That's right.
00:34:58
He might be an exception. He's one has gotten better and.
00:35:02
Better and better as the season's gone on, too, by all
00:35:04
accounts. I mean, I wasn't watching Week 1
00:35:07
Arkansas, but I did watch tournament, SEC tournament
00:35:10
Arkansas. He looked good.
00:35:12
And they were saying, yeah, he's moved his draft stock up.
00:35:13
A lot of people think he'd be the number one pick in the
00:35:15
draft. Like wow, I didn't know he was
00:35:17
that good. That's awesome.
00:35:19
Something to watch. All right, let's go to our last
00:35:21
quadrant. So we got the Midwest where we
00:35:23
got Michigan and Iowa State, the one and two seeds there.
00:35:26
Who do you got? You got any upsets in this one
00:35:28
or you chalking it all the way in?
00:35:30
No, I actually took Virginia. I like the Cavs.
00:35:34
They've they've been historically pretty good.
00:35:37
They can go far in the tournament like this.
00:35:41
ACC is no no joke. Yep.
00:35:44
As a league, so I have them beating Iowa State and making it
00:35:52
to face Michigan. Yeah, I think that is pretty
00:35:56
darn good. And then Michigan and Virginia.
00:35:58
Who do you have winning it? I have Virginia.
00:36:02
I'm sorry. I have you.
00:36:03
No, I have Michigan. Taking it from Virginia.
00:36:06
You're. Gonna say if you've got Illinois
00:36:08
and Virginia in a final. Four, you're going back to.
00:36:11
Classic upset brackets. That's kind.
00:36:13
Of fun? Nope, I get Michigan facing Duke
00:36:18
in the finals. OK, nice.
00:36:20
I like it. All right, so I'm going Michigan
00:36:23
and Virginia as my Elite 8 matchup, and man, I was, I
00:36:30
really want Virginia because I got a little soft spot there for
00:36:34
the Cavalier. Lived in Charlottesville for a
00:36:36
year and been there many, many, many times.
00:36:38
Been to quite a few games. Oh man, I just think Michigan's
00:36:42
got too much for him, though. I mean, you can have a great
00:36:46
defense, but when you have to defend that much and those
00:36:49
humongous bodies that Michigan throws at you, I don't know how
00:36:52
you get past it. They're long.
00:36:54
Anything can happen. They they're long and fast and a
00:36:57
deep bench. Michigan's freaking good.
00:37:00
So I got Michigan going to the Final Four and but they're
00:37:04
playing Virginia. I think Iowa State is awesome.
00:37:07
I would not be shocked at all if they win this bracket.
00:37:11
If they win the Midwest, wouldn't be shocked at all.
00:37:13
They're excellent team, excellent team.
00:37:16
I think that a fun weekend game is going to be Iowa State,
00:37:19
Kentucky. And yeah, it could be Santa
00:37:21
Clara. If you're doing one of those
00:37:22
seven 10's and Santa Clara wins, OK, well then it won't be as fun
00:37:26
a game, I don't think. But Iowa State, Kentucky be
00:37:28
pretty cool. Then Virginia versus Miami, Ohio
00:37:32
is another potential matchup. So I think that game's still
00:37:35
going on. We don't know the winner yet,
00:37:37
but Tennessee's playing the winner of the play in game, SMU
00:37:41
or Miami, Ohio. But Miami, OH, if you haven't
00:37:43
been watching basketball, they were undefeated until they
00:37:47
weren't this last week. So they.
00:37:50
Yeah. So they were actually at risk of
00:37:53
not making it, being undefeated the entire season and losing in
00:37:56
your ratty little bracket tournament.
00:37:59
And yet they lost the free ride. Like, no.
00:38:03
So they had to get an at large bid, but the at large bid was
00:38:06
only in the 65 to 68 range. So they're end up having to play
00:38:09
their way in. But that'd be a fun story.
00:38:11
It would really suck if they didn't get to get on the main
00:38:14
bracket sheet. You want to be part of 64, not
00:38:16
68, in my opinion. So that'll be kind of fun one to
00:38:19
watch. Alabama's a great team on the
00:38:21
top half. Over on the Michigan side, Saint
00:38:24
Louis again, I'm right on the doorstep there.
00:38:27
So SLU, Saint Louis, Billikens, they are a fun team to watch.
00:38:32
They got Larry Nerd, they got the total dork guy.
00:38:36
He's amazing. Used to be Illinois, Indiana
00:38:38
State, Yeah, Indiana State. So the coach and him both came
00:38:40
over from there and he's got the rec spec glasses on.
00:38:45
He's. Fantastic, you're going to love
00:38:48
watching the Billikens, but George is a tough matchup for
00:38:50
him. George has been taking the ball
00:38:52
away a lot lately and the problem is Saint Louis lately.
00:38:55
They've been giving the ball away a lot lately.
00:38:58
But does not make a good match. Up No, it's not sounding great.
00:39:02
I'm going to put Saint Louis in there as a 8-9 upset.
00:39:05
So they're the nine seed, but George is probably going to win
00:39:07
by putting Saint Louis anyway and then Michigan's going to
00:39:10
pound that team. Then we get on the bottom part,
00:39:12
they'll probably run into Alabama or Texas Tech.
00:39:16
I think it'll probably be Alabama though.
00:39:17
I think they're better. And then like I said, we we like
00:39:20
Virginia kind of rolling through the bottom.
00:39:21
I'm with you on that. And then I have Michigan getting
00:39:25
in there. So my final four is Michigan,
00:39:26
Houston, Arizona, Duke. I've got Duke versus Michigan
00:39:32
with Duke winning it all. We think alike decks is.
00:39:36
That what you end up to. Yes.
00:39:39
Oh my God, we did not compare brackets either.
00:39:41
We just we're waiting on the air with.
00:39:42
The tiebreaker, if you don't mind me asking?
00:39:45
I didn't actually do the tiebreaker, but generally
00:39:48
speaking I almost always go like 7471.
00:39:54
I'm. Almost always like 145.
00:39:57
I went a little lower. I went 133.
00:40:00
That is low, yeah. 606560 whatever that it translates
00:40:05
that. Is low.
00:40:05
That's super low score game. These are good offenses, but
00:40:09
anyway, we'll see if that comes to play.
00:40:10
So that is our bracket coverage. So good luck on your brackets.
00:40:14
Hope you win the office pools and get your bragging rights and
00:40:18
hopefully gave you a couple little teams to think about for
00:40:20
upsets and it's going to be fun. Looking forward to March Madness
00:40:24
again. I remember just fondly back in
00:40:26
the day, I used to always take off work the first two days of
00:40:29
the tournament, like in my 20s when that cost me like. $20
00:40:33
giving. A few days of work and as I was
00:40:36
like what do you do farming? I make nothing and so that it's
00:40:39
just super fun. I love the first couple days of
00:40:41
the bracket. I will be paying attention.
00:40:43
I know most of the country will be paying attention.
00:40:45
There's nothing better than circling those brackets on.
00:40:48
That's right. First weekend, it's just a
00:40:50
blast. Look how much of A genius I was.
00:40:52
That's right. So let's kick it over to some
00:40:55
NFL stuff. Proof.
00:40:56
Tell us what's been happening in the last week there.
00:40:59
Yeah. So we like I mentioned earlier,
00:41:01
we covered a lot of the kind of main signings and noteworthy
00:41:05
players that that were changing teams right away when the the
00:41:10
free agency season opened up. This last week, several more
00:41:15
kind of key things have happened.
00:41:18
Maybe not quite as blockbuster deals as as some of the ones we
00:41:22
saw early. Then we're Max Crosby situation.
00:41:26
Double first round picks. Things like that.
00:41:28
But let's see, dating back to kind of mid part of last week,
00:41:33
Omanihue and Chenal went from the Chiefs over to Washington.
00:41:38
So both those guys are giving up their Chiefs gear for some not
00:41:43
Redskins gear commanders. Commanders gear.
00:41:47
That's right. We mentioned last week David
00:41:49
Montgomery going to Houston, Bradley Chubb is going to the
00:41:53
Bills. So that'll.
00:41:55
Upgrade. Change their defense a little
00:41:58
bit. Yeah.
00:42:00
Derek Noddy, former chief going to Indianapolis on a one year
00:42:03
deal. Stefan Diggs released by New
00:42:07
England to clear cap space. What do you think of that
00:42:10
situation? I mean Diggs was again her at
00:42:14
the beginning of the year because he's coming back from an
00:42:16
ACL from last year. So he came on slow, but I
00:42:20
thought he was AI mean. He was very helpful for the
00:42:23
patriots and Drake May Stefan Diggs, I think so I don't know.
00:42:28
I don't I was surprised they caught him, but I was also
00:42:30
telling Peru I was like I thought he was only on a one
00:42:32
year deal. So when I heard he's released
00:42:35
for cap space, I'm like kind of makes sense, but I don't know
00:42:41
who's going to I don't know. He's he's a good piece for that
00:42:45
offense. But then again, it seems like he
00:42:47
keeps doing one year, 2 years with the team and then keeps
00:42:50
getting released for being a good guy.
00:42:51
But I think we also mentioned, I don't remember his Patreon or
00:42:54
during one of our episodes, he keeps going to court too.
00:42:58
So maybe that has something to do with it and they're waiting
00:43:01
to see how that plays out. They don't want to pay the the
00:43:05
roster bonus, or maybe they just need to clear space for
00:43:08
something else. Maybe they're going for an A.J.
00:43:10
Brown. I don't.
00:43:11
Know what they're doing, You know, if they were, if they're
00:43:13
clearing $5 or something of cap space, I would think it's
00:43:17
off field type issues, but it's almost $17 million of cap space
00:43:21
clearing. So it's not insignificant.
00:43:24
And if you're coming off a Super Bowl team, while those guys are
00:43:27
going to expect pay races in the offseason.
00:43:30
Yep. And but he's the.
00:43:32
One that's been there, done that.
00:43:33
I think he's a good piece and he's going to land somewhere and
00:43:36
help that team. I think Stefan Diggs still has
00:43:38
some juice in the tank. I think he's still a good
00:43:41
player. I was surprised that I don't
00:43:44
know, you think they're going to do that.
00:43:45
They would have done like day one and they didn't, so it's
00:43:48
kind of surprising. It was like a week two thing
00:43:50
which makes you think something's brewing for either a
00:43:53
trade or they're getting ready to sign one of their guys to an
00:43:57
extension or something like that.
00:43:59
Yeah, they've got a deal brewing.
00:44:00
Some other notable ones are our buddy Rashad White is also going
00:44:05
to Washington. Really.
00:44:07
Yeah, on a. One year deal City native but
00:44:10
Tampa Bay buck the last couple years.
00:44:13
Yep, Yep. So he's moving.
00:44:16
That's a good fit for him. I think you like that fit up
00:44:18
there. I think he's pretty.
00:44:19
Good. I think so.
00:44:20
He's I he's still a very capable back.
00:44:23
I thought he did great filling in for Bucky Irving when he was
00:44:26
hurt this this fall and that's. Not that big a competition.
00:44:31
I think he might carve out the first, first RB 1.
00:44:35
I don't know. I mean, I think between the two
00:44:37
of them, Jacori and him, I think that's probably pretty good
00:44:40
backfield. It's not too bad.
00:44:42
Good start because they can both catch the ball and both run the
00:44:44
ball pretty well. I think that's a good landing
00:44:46
spot for a shot. Yep I agree, I thought that was
00:44:49
a notable 1. Michael Pittman, junior, going
00:44:53
to Pittsburgh on a 2 year, $35 million contract.
00:45:00
Who's throwing him the ball? That's a great question, TBD.
00:45:05
TBD. Throwing the TDs to MPJ.
00:45:11
Lots of acronyms going on. That's acronyms.
00:45:14
So, well, good luck to two. Years, two years, 35 million.
00:45:17
Is that so? We talked last week about Alex
00:45:20
Pierce and the huge deal he got from Indy to stay there. 29
00:45:25
million a year. 29 million a year, yeah.
00:45:29
So is Michael Pittman Junior really that?
00:45:32
Was he like upset in Indy that he wanted out?
00:45:35
Or why is he so much cheaper and Indy didn't want to keep him
00:45:39
instead? I'm not sure because I think if
00:45:41
you in fantasy circles that one you want was Michael Pittman
00:45:45
Junior. And so from production
00:45:47
standpoint, Michael Pittman Junior is a good wide receiver
00:45:51
in this league. I'm kind of surprised it was
00:45:54
that low, to be honest. I kind of thought he'd be at
00:45:56
least 20 million a year. So that was surprising to me,
00:45:59
the price tag. But I think, yeah, I think it's
00:46:02
a good fit. I think he'll fit right in with
00:46:04
Pittsburgh if they get a quarterback, and they might just
00:46:08
trust their guy. Howard, is that his last name?
00:46:13
Yeah, I think it is Howard. That's it.
00:46:14
Yeah. So he is 1.
00:46:16
I don't know if they're one, though, because they keep
00:46:18
talking about bringing in other guys.
00:46:21
So I don't know why they don't want Howard to be that person.
00:46:24
Who knows, he may not be ready in their opinion, or whatever he
00:46:27
may not. Be ready.
00:46:28
But I just I'm wondering why it's just such a gaping hole and
00:46:32
I was like, we're going to have a guy.
00:46:33
We have a guy. We just would like to have
00:46:34
others, but it's like they're just like we need a guy.
00:46:37
Like what? What did he do?
00:46:39
I didn't know he's at hurt. We have our guy unless he's not
00:46:42
our guy, which is TBD. Exactly.
00:46:48
So, so we'll see what pans with that, but I like Michael Pittman
00:46:51
junior there. I'd say that's a good spot, I
00:46:53
thought. That was a good signing.
00:46:55
And then two quarterbacks, you mentioned Kyler Murray, one year
00:46:58
deal to the Vikes. Yeah.
00:47:00
You've already kind of I think, yeah, comfortable with that.
00:47:04
I've gotten comfortable. It's been a rumor for a long
00:47:07
time that finally got put. Just it's there.
00:47:10
It's now slapped the table and here we are.
00:47:12
We got a new quarterback. I kind of like it.
00:47:15
A one year deal is exactly what I wanted and we're only paying a
00:47:18
million. We're playing like. 1.31 point.
00:47:22
3 dirt. Cheap.
00:47:24
Dirt cheap for a guy who just inked like 50 a year for
00:47:28
Arizona a few years back and he's got all the talent.
00:47:32
There's a reason he went number one overall.
00:47:35
He's been a Pro Bowler twice. He has the talent and the tools.
00:47:39
Even if he's a Midget. Even he's a 58 Midget trying to
00:47:42
throw over a line. I think his size is a big, big
00:47:45
reason he's not elevated his game.
00:47:47
It is but. No pun intended, but yeah.
00:47:50
But if they. A big deterrent.
00:47:52
If they find a way to roll him out and let him run, man, yeah,
00:47:56
let him run. Let's go.
00:47:58
I want him to be 1000 yard rusher next year.
00:48:00
I think that'd be phenomenal. It'll help everything.
00:48:03
I mean, JJ, Justin Jefferson, JJ.
00:48:07
McCarthy let. Me get the one.
00:48:11
Justin Jefferson is a nice target to make any quarterback
00:48:15
look pretty Dang good, and Jordan Addison's still going to
00:48:19
be there. TJ Hawkinson's still going to be
00:48:20
there. They kept Aaron Jones in the
00:48:22
backfield as kind of a safety blanket to be able to throw in
00:48:25
the flats. They've Got Talent all over the
00:48:28
place now. I hope they draft a lineman.
00:48:31
That'd be great. That'd be pretty freaking cool.
00:48:34
You ever just need it? We need it.
00:48:36
It's it's the Darasaw. Everybody's going.
00:48:37
Was he the one that's hurt a lot of health last year?
00:48:40
Yeah. That's the problem, we have a
00:48:42
good line, just they weren't vertical at the same time.
00:48:45
Yep. So the the Vikings need to be
00:48:46
healthy and we could use probably an upgrade a guard.
00:48:52
We just got to see what happens with that.
00:48:54
But I I do like the signing for one year.
00:48:56
I was more worried they're going to do something stupid and sound
00:48:59
like this monster thing. Give him a one year prove it
00:49:02
deal and hell, if he proves it sounds good man, then we'll pay
00:49:05
you. Let's see what you can do.
00:49:07
So I'm hopeful that they can at least squeeze every drop out of
00:49:12
Kyler. Let's go, let's get let's get 12
00:49:15
wins at least. Let's try and win that division.
00:49:17
Purple's all in, man. We're all in.
00:49:19
And then we're also coming up with the perfect narrative of
00:49:22
how it's all going to fall apart.
00:49:24
There's going to be an injury after we start off 12 and two,
00:49:28
JJ comes in, dominates for those last few games, goes in the
00:49:33
playoffs. Now there's a conundrum because
00:49:35
Kyler's ready to play again. But J JS played so well.
00:49:38
He's a quarterback of the future.
00:49:39
What do we do? And then whatever we do is going
00:49:42
to be the wrong answer. We lose the next game in the
00:49:44
playoffs and we lose this awesome season again.
00:49:47
That is how every Minnesota fans already seen this play out.
00:49:50
We've seen this movie. We've seen it.
00:49:52
All right. A few more to talk about here.
00:49:55
So I think we mentioned last week that the Tua signing in
00:49:59
Atlanta weird. Is he the backup?
00:50:03
Is he going to compete for the starter job?
00:50:06
He was, he was dirt chief for Atlanta.
00:50:09
He's still costing Miami dearly for a while.
00:50:14
A couple more Chiefs signings this week.
00:50:17
Demarcato came over from Arizona or to KC on a one year deal.
00:50:25
I know you're not a fan. Not a fan of Demarcado?
00:50:29
And here's why. Here's why.
00:50:31
So Demarcado was the running back for the Cardinals.
00:50:36
Arizona Cardinals broke this humongous run.
00:50:39
It was going to change the course of the game.
00:50:41
They're going to take the lead. It was going to put propel
00:50:44
Arizona to a victory that they really needed.
00:50:47
And dumbass drops the ball and a victory celebration at the half
00:50:53
yard line goes out of balance. They lose the ball, so yeah,
00:50:57
touchback and then they end up losing the game by like a field
00:51:01
goal and they would have won it had dumb ass just not been a
00:51:06
doofus Schmurtz and dropped the ball on the way into the end
00:51:10
zone in my talk at that point. Like cut him.
00:51:14
He will never be on my team. That guy should never touch
00:51:16
football ever again. He should be for the Battle
00:51:19
Hawks in Saint Louis if anybody. And then he goes.
00:51:23
Ironically. Oh my God, he's going on team.
00:51:27
I just don't like it at all. Demarcato, I can't say I don't
00:51:30
like it at all. He is an exciting player and
00:51:33
when you look at the stats, he is explosive.
00:51:37
So I can probably give him another chance if he doesn't
00:51:39
drop the ball again. If he doesn't do that ever
00:51:42
again, I can like him. What I've seen, I've seen a
00:51:44
couple takes on on him and his potential role.
00:51:48
So he is a pass catcher and he's also a very good pass blocker.
00:51:53
So I can see him being a third down back and maybe a series or
00:51:57
two during the game just to give Kenneth Walker a break, kind of
00:52:01
a 1-2 punch. He's a little bit too similar in
00:52:06
size to Kenneth Walker. So it's not like the lightning
00:52:10
and Thunder type, you know, combinations that exist around
00:52:13
the league. But I think he will be a nice
00:52:15
change of pace and he will certainly block on 3rd downs and
00:52:21
that's what I've heard. He's pretty good and The thing
00:52:24
is I think it hurts the worst because a guy that we like,
00:52:28
Rashard Smith, who's also a pass catching running back on 3rd
00:52:31
downs and maybe a little competition is good.
00:52:34
Can you ever have too many good running backs and pass catchers?
00:52:37
Probably not. And head, I put both those guys
00:52:41
out on 3rd down, have both going to the flat.
00:52:44
I think that could be kind of fun if I'm being honest with how
00:52:48
it could look pretty good. And how exciting would it be to
00:52:52
put Tonga, who has, he's a defensive lineman, but he has
00:52:56
full back experience. He was used as full back for the
00:52:59
Patriots a little bit. How fun would it be to line him
00:53:02
up as a full back with Kenneth Walker with Demarcato and just
00:53:09
pound the football on 3rd and short or goal line runs or
00:53:13
whatever? Yeah, Andy Reid could probably
00:53:15
come up with something fun, Yes, which was a tangent right into
00:53:19
one else Who else they could put in that backfield that you were
00:53:21
just mentioning and that quarterback with those people in
00:53:25
the backfield, What do we now have for the Kansas City Chiefs?
00:53:28
We have another kind of interesting signing in Justin
00:53:31
Fields, which most Chiefs fans have probably heard at this
00:53:34
point and are still cleaning out their ears making sure they
00:53:37
heard that right. Wait, wait a minute.
00:53:39
What? Justin Fields says join the
00:53:42
Chiefs on a $3 deal or it's 3 paid by the
00:53:46
Chiefs, 7 million still paid by The Jets.
00:53:48
Traded 1/6 round pick so it wasn't.
00:53:52
You're not paying too much draft capital.
00:53:55
And you're getting some. Upside, we did need a backup
00:53:58
and. It's just this is the plan.
00:54:02
What do you think about this one?
00:54:03
Like, would you ever want him to throw the ball in Kansas City?
00:54:08
Not more than 5 yards, I don't think.
00:54:11
Well. You're lucky.
00:54:11
Can't do that anyway, right? So yeah, he's proven that he
00:54:15
can't do that or he couldn't do that in.
00:54:18
Sub 100 yard games. This isn't in 1/4 people, this
00:54:23
is for the whole game. Yeah, he can't muster over 100
00:54:26
yards in today's NFL. So I had I had similar vibes to
00:54:31
your Demarcato rant when I first heard we just signed who should
00:54:35
be the backup quarterback. But I'm hopeful that Andy Reid
00:54:41
and his creative mind, the way he gets the most out of his
00:54:46
players. I'm waiting to see the day.
00:54:49
I never saw it with The Jets, but I'm waiting to see the day
00:54:52
where the Chiefs run some Wildcat stuff, they run some
00:54:56
triple option stuff with Walker and Demarcato and Fields, some
00:55:02
sort of misdirection or whatever that just makes the defense look
00:55:07
foolish, right? So I think if anybody can do it,
00:55:12
Andy Reid will find a way to make Justin Fields effective at
00:55:16
what he's good at, which is using his legs.
00:55:20
I've also seen we might have a tush push now in Kansas City.
00:55:24
Yeah, Mahomes will not sneak after, you know the if they
00:55:29
don't take the play. Away this off season, which I
00:55:31
don't know, I I know I was going to get revoted on because.
00:55:34
Yeah. It's just still is.
00:55:36
A Well, so even if it's not a push push, it'll be at least a
00:55:40
quarterback sneak option. Yeah, Mahomes is not interested
00:55:43
in those. Plays.
00:55:44
Yeah, he's not interested in sneaking, but just having that
00:55:49
threat changes our 4th down profile a little bit.
00:55:54
It makes the third down, third, third and one with two backs.
00:55:57
Like you're saying, those kind of sets, you can do some
00:56:01
creative things off of that and not not necessarily sneak it.
00:56:04
You can pitch it for a quick, you know, quick hitter outside
00:56:07
or whatever. So, Prue, I got to ask you, do
00:56:10
you think there's a big change coming to what offense we're
00:56:14
going to see from the Kansas City Chiefs?
00:56:16
Because we've invested a lot into people that can run the
00:56:19
ball and catch short passes with the ball.
00:56:23
Yeah, I, I see like a dramatic change coming for EB.
00:56:27
So be enemies back in the saddle.
00:56:30
And before we were just a an air show, an air raid.
00:56:33
So 50 or 50 touchdowns, 5000 yards.
00:56:37
Pat Mahomes early in his career with EB, but now we're getting
00:56:41
again, Kenneth Walker, we're getting Demarcato.
00:56:43
Justin Fields for some, I imagine going to be some short
00:56:46
yardage plays designed for him. Holmes will leave the game and
00:56:50
we'll put it in the hands of Justin Fields to run for it with
00:56:53
all these weapons around them. Do you see that?
00:56:56
Or is this just kind of like, Nah, still going to look like
00:56:58
the Chiefs were used to? We just have some different
00:57:00
pieces. There's two sort of diverging
00:57:03
thoughts in my head about Justin Fields.
00:57:06
Number one, Patna Holmes can't go in August.
00:57:10
So all the, you know, all the preseason stuff leading up to
00:57:13
preseason games and even maybe the first couple weeks of the
00:57:17
season, he's the contingency plan.
00:57:21
He will have practiced with the Chiefs, you know, for three or
00:57:24
four months or whatever. So all right, so that's, that's
00:57:28
probably the worst case. That's probably option B Plan B
00:57:32
is that he has to lead the team for the first weeks.
00:57:37
The other thing is it could be just like the rugby player they
00:57:42
brought in last year and he's like, what if we tried this and
00:57:48
they figure out in the offseason that just isn't working and then
00:57:51
he won't even play. You won't even make you won't
00:57:53
even make the team. Oh wow, is maybe.
00:57:56
There's a chance you don't think you can make the team then.
00:57:59
I mean, he doesn't have a whole lot of competition right now, so
00:58:01
he probably makes the team, but. But it's not 0.
00:58:05
Yeah. But it's, you know, he might be
00:58:08
the sort of backup quarterback. But.
00:58:13
We might consider running the ball with Noah Gray before we
00:58:17
put Justin Fields in the game or something, something crazy.
00:58:20
I don't know. We'll see how it plays out.
00:58:22
I just Justin Fields is not, I don't know.
00:58:28
He has a ways to go to impress me.
00:58:30
So I hope the Chiefs can figure out a way to utilize his talent.
00:58:34
I agree. I think one other one I want to
00:58:36
talk about. So it's a in the division.
00:58:38
So Denver picked up a new wide receiver this week, Jalen Waddle
00:58:42
from Miami, who's just giving away everybody.
00:58:44
It's it's a chain carrying the show with Malik Willis.
00:58:48
That's it. It's all they got left.
00:58:50
But Jalen Waddle to Denver. And this is what is surprising
00:58:53
to me. A first, a third.
00:58:57
You said a fourth too, right for.
00:59:00
Sure, it's Jalen Waddle and a fourth round pick or a sixth
00:59:04
round pick. I think it's 4th.
00:59:06
OK. Four first, third and 4th.
00:59:10
So they just traded 4th round picks for some reason, but it's
00:59:14
also a first and third. That is a lot for Jalen Waddle.
00:59:18
Not that he's not a good player, I think he is, but a first and a
00:59:21
third is aggressive. What do you think on that?
00:59:24
Yeah, a little surprising. He, I mean he did, he did OK
00:59:29
stepping in as kind of the number one after Tyreek went
00:59:32
down. But I wouldn't say he like lit
00:59:35
it up necessarily down the stretch last year.
00:59:38
And we need to be. Frank nobody in Miami was lied
00:59:41
down the stretch last year. I mean, a chain was still fine,
00:59:44
but yeah, he. By himself, but he's the only
00:59:47
one. Yeah, but he.
00:59:48
Also caught 90 of the passes. Yeah.
00:59:52
So I don't know, did they overpay?
00:59:54
Probably. Will they will they see major
01:00:00
production out of the wide receiver room with Cortland
01:00:03
Sutton and and Waddle? They're.
01:00:05
Better. I think they're better
01:00:06
automatically with that, Yeah. But it just seemed like a steep
01:00:09
price. Yeah, But who knows, Maybe there
01:00:13
was other competition for him and that's what that was priced
01:00:15
to me to get to get him. But I think Sutton and Waddle
01:00:18
with Bo Nix, if he kind of gets back to form, it can be kind of
01:00:23
scary. It could be pretty good.
01:00:25
So we'll see what happens, all right.
01:00:27
Anybody else? Yeah.
01:00:28
Two more that I wanted to just hit real quick, both going to
01:00:32
Philly and that is Hollywood Brown OK from the from the
01:00:36
Chiefs one year deal and Andy Dalton going to the Philadelphia
01:00:42
Eagles as AI presume backup quarterback.
01:00:45
I don't think he's bumping Jalen Hurts anytime soon.
01:00:48
So one year deal for Mr. Dalton, OK from Carolina over to Philly.
01:00:54
That happened this week. I don't think there's ever a
01:00:56
problem having a competent, experienced veteran backup who
01:01:01
has no desire to take your job. I think that's a nice spot.
01:01:05
I think it's a good fit for Philly to have him back there.
01:01:07
I think he can help Hurts if he's because he's someone that
01:01:10
can probably seize the field as well or better than Hurts and
01:01:14
can maybe see stuff during the game to make an impact.
01:01:17
Whereas if you draft a rookie or get some younger guy out there
01:01:20
like Kenny Pickett, I don't I'm not going to trust Kenny
01:01:22
Pickett's view of the field like as a backup and they had him
01:01:26
before. I'm like you only want him in
01:01:28
the game. Whereas if Andy Dalton had to
01:01:30
come in, just like with Bryce Young and Carolina last couple
01:01:33
years, really he stepped in and did very well and did veteran
01:01:37
leadership. You don't want him a whole
01:01:39
season. You don't want Andy Dalton your
01:01:42
as your starter. But if you need like Jalen Hurd
01:01:45
gets a a rolled ankle and he's out for a week or two, you're
01:01:49
not going to be Mad Philly if Andy Dalton comes in as your
01:01:52
quarterback. So I think that's a pretty good
01:01:54
signing. As far as Hollywood Brown
01:01:56
though, I mean, he just came from Kansas City and I'm like, I
01:01:59
don't even remember him playing. So he was here 2 years.
01:02:04
I don't remember anything positive that stands out to me
01:02:08
more than outside of a couple plays.
01:02:10
He had, yeah, one or two games that I would say were decent
01:02:15
stand out and then yeah, the rest has been kind of crickets.
01:02:19
Yeah, mediocre at best. So I don't know how that
01:02:23
upgrades him. But as I was talking to Peru in
01:02:25
the in the Patreon, I think maybe that gives them more
01:02:30
ability or confidence to trade A.J.
01:02:33
Brown. That's maybe, I don't know.
01:02:37
Don't see him as a replacement. They're still down grading,
01:02:39
right? Yes.
01:02:41
But if you trade A.J. Brown, you're probably getting a
01:02:43
first rounder and they could probably draft a whiteout, which
01:02:45
is what I imagine they would do. I mean, I guess I don't know,
01:02:49
but there's some good whiteout talent in this draft.
01:02:51
Oh yeah, 100% so. That.
01:02:54
Be it Speaking of whiteouts, the last two on my list that I
01:02:57
wanted to mention, Christian Kirk going to the 49ers I think
01:03:02
helps helps upgrade their wide receiving core.
01:03:05
Yeah. Him and Mike Evans and then
01:03:08
they've had so many injuries, I kind of understand why they want
01:03:11
to do it. They've had four to five
01:03:14
whiteouts injured at the same time on this team.
01:03:18
I mean, Brandon, are you? Did you even know he was a 49er
01:03:21
Last two years? He was, but he didn't get to
01:03:23
play much. Are you can Jennings and Ricky
01:03:27
Pierce all? Yeah, Pierce all has been hurt a
01:03:29
bunch. Kittle was down a lot this year
01:03:32
as a tight end, but yeah, they Christian Kirk gives him a a
01:03:36
nice slot option that's. Yeah.
01:03:39
Hopefully a little healthier than their their group has been
01:03:41
the last few years. That's a pretty good fit.
01:03:43
I kind of like that for San Francisco.
01:03:44
I think that's a a real good fit.
01:03:46
Brock Purdy's going to like him. Christian Kirk can do some good
01:03:50
things for you in the slot. Yep.
01:03:53
And then the last one I wanted to mention.
01:03:54
DJ Moore has moved on from Chicago.
01:03:58
He is now a Buffalo Bill. Yep.
01:04:01
I think that is so we mentioned that one last week.
01:04:04
I think we did, yeah, that was pretty new news late last week.
01:04:07
But I like that signing. I think that'll drastically
01:04:11
improve their wide receiving core in Buffalo.
01:04:14
So I think so too. That'll be good.
01:04:18
All right. Yeah, lots of news still
01:04:19
happening, but that's what I know at the moment.
01:04:23
All right. Well, I think that's going to
01:04:24
wrap up this week shrewdness. So thank you for tuning in,
01:04:27
listening, hit the like and subscribe button if you haven't
01:04:30
already, if you enjoy this. And this weekend, obviously, we
01:04:34
got our brackets. So be circling, hope you're
01:04:36
circling a bunch and not hitting a bunch of XS on your bracket.
01:04:39
And mostly, as long as you are doing what we're telling you,
01:04:43
you should have a great bracket because you are staying shrewd.