Latest / Chuck in the Morning / 11-11 H1: What's On Tap, M's Wish List & Mike Benton From Finland

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11-11 H1: What's On Tap, M's Wish List & Mike Benton From Finland · Chuck in the Morning

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  Speaker 1: the game on. Oh, great morning to you all. Welcome
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  Speaker 2: Sports Radio 93.3 KJRFN is the hump day edition of
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  Speaker 2: And when I say we, I mean Christopher Kidd, Anders Hurst,
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  Speaker 1: And we welcome you in.
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  Speaker 2: We'll be with you till 10 o'clock this morning. And
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: we have a lot to discuss on today's program, including
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: the close of the NFL trading deadline and all the
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: other hump day stuff that we like to do. certainly
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: on this radio program. So we will start our preview
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: of the Las Vegas Raiders matchup. And boy, Anders, did
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: that change yesterday.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: Yes, it did.
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: Very much so. And for the better in a lot
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: of ways. I think you can, you know, look at
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: what happened at the deadline and be excited that you
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: get to see a new quarterback. But also like, hey,
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: a rookie's making his first start against the Seahawks.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: Oh, it's going to be as big a story as
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: there is.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's not going to be the best game,
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: but there are going to be a lot of eyes,
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: if not all eyes, on the Seahawks Raiders because of
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: Fernando Mendoza.
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: He will be making his debut.
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: It happens because the Raiders make a trade at the
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: deadline of their starting quarterback, Kirk Cousins, to the Minnesota
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: Vikings for a third-round pick. Everyone seems to be giving
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: flowers to John Spitek, the general manager of the Raiders,
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: for pulling this off and being able to get a
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: third rounder and kind of hand over the reins to
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: his number one overall draft pick. Seems like a bit
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: of a seamless transition. And yet there was a lot
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: of conversation yesterday about Clint Kubiak looking like his dog
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: had died during the press conference yesterday. And a lot
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: of people were reading into that.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: I don't know Clint Kubiak, even though he was here
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: all that well. I mean, I heard many interviews with
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: Clint Kubiak and never doesn't really have that much of
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: a personality.
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: It does not.
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: I mean, I wasn't expecting him to go out there
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: like Charo and meh.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: I wasn't expecting him to do backflips. That's sort of
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: the Kubiak. That's my Kubiak, the guy that just sits
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: there sullenly and contemplatively, and yet he didn't crack a
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: smile during the press conference yesterday, even as John Spitek
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: was explaining to the Las Vegas media why this was
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: a good idea. So I don't know if I read
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: too much into his expressions or his gestures that he made, Um,
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: if anything that I might read into it, uh, it
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: would be when spy tech was explaining, uh, that, you know,
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: we had a deadline. I mean, we had four hours
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: to figure this out. I mean, we discussed it for
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: four hours and we're on the same page, even though
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: it didn't look like they were on the necessarily on
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: the same page, but looks can be deceiving. Um, the
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: thing that I would raise my flag about is what
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: do you mean you had four hours?
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: You had four A year?
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you knew this.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: Was the case.
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, how did you not discuss this scenario
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: before yesterday's deadline? I mean, you knew that the day
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: was going to come. I mean, we discussed it as
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: a radio show with Drew Locke the moment Drew Locke
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: had two good games. Don't tell me that you weren't
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: discussing behind the scenes some sort of handoff strategy for
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: Fernando Mendoza. And maybe the game plan was, and I
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: do love this game plan, and maybe this is what
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: Kubiak was potentially sour about. I think it really does
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: behoove a team to let a guy like Mendoza sit.
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: For a year.
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: If you can do it, do it.
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: Jordan Love, Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes, if you have the
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: luxury of doing it, do it.
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: Give that guy that you know.
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: You're going to be committed to beyond four years... Give
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: that guy an opportunity to just learn for a year,
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: not take that abuse, and see if that doesn't help him.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: It seems to help a lot of gifted quarterbacks to
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: just sit and watch and learn, especially behind someone who
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: apparently is as gracious as Kirk Cousins is as the
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: starting quarterback. I mean, Aaron Rodgers had Brett Favre who
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: hardly talked to him. I don't think that's the case
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: with Kirk Cousins. So I would think, ideally, the way
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: their season was going, 4-5, Just play it out, and
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: then we'll let Mendoza take over next year. But for
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: them to sort of suggest that they were kind of
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: caught off guard by the trading deadline, that they showed
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: up to work that day and looked at each other
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: and said.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: Well, I guess we should discuss this.
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: I mean, what'd you expect?
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: Hey, Clint, don't know if you caught the Vikings game
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: last night, but a lot of people talking about how
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: bad this Carson Wentz looks and the Vikings may be
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: looking for a quarterback. What do you think, buddy? Maybe
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: we should just scratch this itch. Maybe we ought.
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: To start the old combo.
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: They had to have had some thought that they were
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: going to get to the trading deadline with their franchise
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: quarterback sitting on the bench and have to at least contemplate, hey,
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: if this team loses this guy or this team loses
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: that guy and they come knocking, what is our asking
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: price for Kirk Cousins?
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: At what point would we have to.
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: Move on from him and just hand things over to
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: Mendoza like we were planning on all along? And certainly,
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: the way that the events were unfolding, and not just
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: Monday night, but for several weeks leading up to yesterday's
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: trading deadline, they had to have had and known when
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: they woke up yesterday morning that there was a real
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: possibility that Kirk Cousins was going to be moved before
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: the end of the day.
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: Yeah, with as many... quarterback injuries as there has been
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: in the NFL to contending teams, right? You have to
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: think of yourself in that situation where you have a
• 7:04
  Speaker 3: guy that's having some success this year in Kirk cousins,
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: but you know that that's not your future at the
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: quarterback position, right? That's the ultimate spot to be in
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: where you can get something from him. And you know
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: that you have something already to step up into that position.
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: And yeah, That's why he's getting so much credit for
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: pulling off a coup, even though Kubiak looked like he'd
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: just gotten broken up with on prom night.
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: And paying him nothing, by the way. They paid nothing
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: for him. You basically get a free third-round pick for this.
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: And having, like you said, Fernando Mendoza spend at least
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: the first half of the season learning from Kirk Cousins.
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: Two things can be true. You could have, A, our
• 7:48
  Speaker 3: plan is to keep Kirk Cousins for the entire year.
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: And have Fernando Mendoza learn under him.
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: And which I think was the plan. I agree.
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  Speaker 3: I totally agree. But you can also be like, all right,
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: we need to pivot here because we're in a situation
• 8:03
  Speaker 3: where we could add to our team. Because of the
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: situation that everyone else is in with their quarterbacks.
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  Speaker 2: We protected Mendoza this year to protect our future.
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: Correct.
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  Speaker 2: And now we have an opportunity to possibly not decline,
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: possibly improve at the quarterback position.
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: We'll see with a four and five record.
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, I don't think it's out of the
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: question that Mendoza is better than Kirk Cousins from day one.
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  Speaker 4: Right.
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: Totally agree.
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: And then we also can pick up a third round pick,
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: which we would have never been able to get For
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: Kirk Cousins at the beginning of the year, that's a
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: day to pick. And we can use that to help Mendoza.
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: And instead of him sitting for an entire year, there's
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: also a plan B for quarterback development. And that would
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: be sit for as long as we can afford to
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: let him sit. But it wouldn't be a bad idea
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: to get some of that out of the system before
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: next year.
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: Go through your bumps. Right. And by the way, we
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: could be better with him at quarterback down the stretch. Right.
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: It's kind of a win-win.
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: It's a win-win-win.
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a win-win-win. Yeah, well put. It's a win-win-win
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: for the Raiders.
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: Now, maybe Clint Kubiak and why he looked so despondent.
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: We've given several reasons why. It might just be his nature. Yeah.
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: But now... What if.
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: Clint Kubiak's like, you know what, I am facing off
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: against my former team. I kind of have a pretty
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: good idea of how good that guy is that calls
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: plays defensively for the Seahawks. And really not ideal, as
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: far as I'm concerned, that we're going to have Fernando Mendoza,
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: who's not taken.
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: A start at the National Football League level. We already
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: know what a big jump that is for every single
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: person that plays that position. I really ideally did not
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: want his first start to come against the best defensive
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: mind in the National Football League. I mean, a rookie
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: quarterback in his debut is already going to be prone
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: to being confused. The game happening too fast, and Clint
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: Kubiak knows Mike McDonald's not going to give you any break, kid.
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: He's not going to have any sympathy for the situation
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: that you're in. He is going to do whatever he
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: can to confuse the hell out of you. And no
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: matter how kind you are or how often you call
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: your mother, it's not going to help you on Sunday
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: against this guy because he is an absolute fierce fiend.
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: when it comes to trying to look for edges, advantages.
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: It's his entire motto.
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: So, yeah, I mean, at some point, you know, he's
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: got to be thrown into the deep end of the
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: pool and made to swim.
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: But Mendoza, Kubiak might be saying, yeah, but do we
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: have to have a shark in the pool?
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: Like....
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: Maybe put some floaties on him, or maybe we go
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: with O'Donnell for one game, the third-string quarterback, and maybe
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: bring him in at halftime.
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: I mean, is there anything that we... I know that.
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: NFL coaches don't think that way. But I don't think
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: that this is the ideal start that Clint Kubiak had
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: in mind for Fernando Mendoza.
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and Mike McDonald not only will not be feeling
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: sorry for him in that position. He'll be licking his
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: chops because young quarterbacks are known to struggle against this guy.
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: Whether it is the MVP runner-up in Drake May in
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: the Super Bowl who looked.
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: Both in that game and later on in the first
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: game this year as well. Or anyone else. Max Brosmer
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: from both ends of the spectrum.
• 11:45
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 11:46
  Speaker 3: So, yes, there definitely is an element of.
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: All right.
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: It could have been almost anyone else. We would have
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: preferred Mendoza start to come against.
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: Probably. Yeah. For a lot of different reasons. Yeah. That said,
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: I know NFL coaches don't think that way. Players, I mean,
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: there's a reason. They're competitors.
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: They've reached the highest level because it's like bring on
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: all comers. And I know Kubiak has that mentality. And
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: my guess is Mendoza has that mentality. I don't think Mendoza, geez, mom,
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: I'm getting my start, but it's against Mike McDonald.
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: What will I do? I don't think that he's having
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: that phone call with mommy.
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: Well, and he's also a guy that... From the young
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: quarterback's spectrum, he's on the more cerebral, does his homework.
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: So of all the guys making their first start, I guess,
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: I don't know anything about what he's like at the
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: NFL level. No one really does. But I have slightly
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: more confidence in him versus almost any other.
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: Well, I have confidence in him because I think, I mean,
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: he's really good. Yeah.
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: And he's played in big games. And frankly, he played
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: really well against the best. He probably played better against
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: the best competition that he faced down the stretch than
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: he did. So I think that he's got some makeup
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: to him. He's got a competitor to him. There's no
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: doubt about it. But increased speed, if you're not used
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: to it, you're just not used to it. And it's
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: one thing to play in preseason games. It's another thing
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: to face the Seahawks in a regular season game, snap
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: after snap after snap. when one of the great adjusters
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: in the history of the National Football League is who
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: you're going up against. So, from a Seahawks perspective, I
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: don't really know how to feel. I know Fernando Mendoza's
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: more talented, Kirk Cousins obviously more experienced, but the thing is,
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: I would have rather faced Cousins, because even though he's
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: more experienced.
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: I also know what his limitations are. And even with
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: all that experience and nine starts, to me, that's just
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: not a quarterback that's going to master the Seahawks defense
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: on Sunday. Where Mendoza, I don't know. I mean, what
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: if he does give them a spark? Mike McDonald says
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: all the time, the more game film I have on somebody,
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: the better.
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: What's he going to do?
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: Study a preseason game? What's he going to study? Indiana
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: versus Ohio State?
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: I know he will. He will.
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: Yes, he will study that. But I don't think it's
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: quite the same thing. I think I would have rather
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: faced Cousins than the unknown of a talented quarterback, a
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: more talented quarterback, who... is going to at least have
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: the advantage over McDonald of, you've never had the game
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: plan for me before.
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and what did Hugh Millen say going into last week?
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: I think the Seahawks would have rather faced Jacoby Brissett,
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: who they know, versus... Gardner Minshew, who they don't know
• 14:40
  Speaker 3: at this point, right? Of course, it didn't really end
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: up mattering that much, right? So maybe that's.
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: What will happen. Yeah. Turns out, had an easy time
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: either way. Yeah, exactly. Turns out we knocked his jean
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: shorts off him.
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: Now, I think I would probably rather face Gardner Minshew
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: than Fernando Mendoza, if you're asking me.
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 14:59
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: Well, we'll see.
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: We'll see.
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: Who knows? I honestly don't.
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: I'm not that confident in that, to be honest.
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: The game became more interesting. Yeah.
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: Not just from, I mean, we were going to be
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: interested anyway, but from a national perspective, a lot of
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: eyes are going to be on this game for Mendoza's purposes.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: And so, yeah, I think it's added another layer of intrigue.
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: And we did cover it yesterday. It's what we led
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: the show with yesterday. There's a very good chance that
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: maybe because of the trading deadline, Cousins was being talked
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: about putting two and two together, that maybe it's going
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: to affect the Seahawks' next game, and it now absolutely
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: is going to. So Hawks get ready for the number
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: one overall pick in the draft. He's getting set to
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: make his debut on Sunday, and we will certainly talk
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: more about it a little bit later on in the show.
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: Let's find out what else is on tap.
• 15:55
  Speaker 4: This is What's On Tap, brought to you by Emerald
• 15:58
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• 16:09
  Speaker 2: All right, Seahawks Raiders Sunday, 105 kickoff. Greg Bell's going
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: to join us at 705. We'll get his thoughts on
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: facing Fernando Mendoza. Drew Locke, of course, starting for the
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: Seahawks in that game. The NFL trading deadline was headed
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: up by the Kirk Cousins' move to the Minnesota Vikings
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: for a third-round pick, but it wasn't the only thing
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: that happened.
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: It was a little bit of a lighter day than
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: I was expecting. Agreed.
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: But there were some moves. Josh Downs did go to
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: the Kansas City Chiefs. The Colts also traded Keenan Allen
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: to the San Francisco 49ers. There's the 49ers for you.
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: Always looking to get younger and healthier.
• 16:48
  Speaker 3: No injury issues here.
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: Oh, no. And then they'll blame it on a substation.
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: No, you picked a guy that gets hurt every other
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: week and is 105 years old. Maybe that had something
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: to do with it. But there's also a history, apparently,
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: between Keenan Allen and And Mike Evans.
• 17:08
  Speaker 5: Oh.
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: Apparently they've talked some trash. Oh. I don't know how
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: serious it is.
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: I get the impression that Mike Evans is really good
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: at talking trash.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah. That, like, he just does it for fun, even against, like,
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: his mom. You saw he did the digs. Yeah. That
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: was great. Yeah, exactly. That was phenomenal.
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: But I have a feeling he even does it to, like,
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: his mom. You call this a tri-tip? Get back in
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: the kitchen. You know, wouldn't surprise me. He might just
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: love trash talk, but apparently there's a little bit of history.
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: So we'll see how that blends. Hopefully it blows up,
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: blows up right in their faces. Jonathan Taylor was not
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: traded by the Indianapolis Colts yesterday, which surprised a lot
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: of people. I really don't understand this. I think it's
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: the mark of, frankly, a poorly run organization. I said
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: it in the offseason with Devin A. Chan.
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: How are you not trading him? You are in full rebuild,
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: and that's.
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: The guy you're circling, 185-pound tailback?
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: That's what you're going to build your future around? And
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: what happened? Second game of the year, was it?
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: Injured for the entire season, lowers his trade value, and
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: now the Dolphins, who could have probably had a first
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: and a third rounder for Devin Achan, are like, Stuck
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: with him. Because I don't think anybody's going to trade
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: for him this offseason. And I would say the same
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: thing about the Colts. I mean, if you were going
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: to trade Jonathan Taylor, you got to trade him when
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: a team gets a year and a half out of him.
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: His trade value diminished immediately. when the trade deadline expired
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: and now you're clearly in rebuild mode and you've got
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: an older starting running back that you're choosing to be
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: the foundation of your rebuild, even though he probably has two,
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: three years of good football left in him and that's it.
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: And you're left holding the bag. I mean, just a
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: terrible decision in my opinion. And I guess it was
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: just to, well, At least Jones and our quarterback and
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: our running back, we can still sell jerseys.
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: I mean, is that it? Is that why you did it?
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: Because you didn't make the future of your football team
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: brighter by keeping both of them.
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: Do they need the money? They're NFL owners. What are
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: we doing?
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: Then again, the owner is not that important. experienced being
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: an owner yeah uh so who knows what got in
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: the way of.
• 19:32
  Speaker 3: That really liked looking at him on the sideline but
• 19:34
  Speaker 3: that really to me.
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: Was a major mistake college football playoff rankings came out
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: last night the updated version had a lot of people
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: scratching their heads this is where i warn you as
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: i do every year none of this matters It only
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: thing that Matt, this is all that show last night
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: is just to get people fired up. Um, you know,
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: so we'll talk about it a little bit later on
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: in the program, but you know, it does give you
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: a little bit of an indication on how the committee
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: is thinking. Um, but I wouldn't get too upset, uh,
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: that Alabama, I mean, Certainly, I don't think Alabama should
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: be third with two losses over an undefeated UCLA, but
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: I think there might be some merit to making that decision.
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: We're not just looking at overall records. We really are
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: studying the entire resume, and Alabama has faced the toughest
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: schedule in the country. Um, so, uh, I, I think
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: there's a conversation to be held there. We'll do it
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: a little bit later on in the show, but, uh,
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: Georgia one, Utah two, Alabama three, UCLA four, and Notre
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: Dame who should have never been number 11 is now
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: up at number five. And then the biggest story, the
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: biggest head scratcher is that Indiana who was on by
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: dropped from four to nine.
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: Didn't even play a game.
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: They dropped from four to nine in the rankings, and
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: people are wondering, well, what gives? And again, that goes
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: back to because a lot of other teams had chances
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: to build their resumes over the weekend and came away
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: with big wins on a week where seven different games
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: featured top 25 matchups. There's even an explanation for that,
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: but it does feel odd. It feels odd that Tennessee
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: is so much lower than Alabama when they beat them
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: by 16 a few weeks ago and they had the
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: exact same record. So a lot of oddities to it.
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: I just encourage people not to overreact. I really think
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: that this Tuesday show is just to piss you off.
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: I think that's the entire purpose of it. UW-Michigan State
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: on Saturday at 115. Cam Cleland will join us today
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: at 9 o'clock to discuss it. The Kraken will be
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: in Finland. They are in Finland. They will play tomorrow.
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: We are on the eve of the game. We'll be
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: doing our show from the 32 Bar and Grill tomorrow.
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: And then they're going to drop the puck at 9 a.m.
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: with pregame at 8.30. Mike Benton's going to join us
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: later this hour, as he has all week long. And
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: Al Koniski will also join us from Finland today at 9.30.
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: Jason Tatum, best Jalen Brown, 123-101. The Celtics beat the
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: 76ers last night. Not a great look for Jalen. He
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: gave him the cold shoulder at the beginning of the
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: game when Tatum was trying to be respectful. And then
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: his team loses by 22 points. I mean, it was
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: Paul George, almost said Eddie. It was Paul George and
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: not Jason Tatum that was the star of the game
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: last night, the forgotten part of that trade. But nonetheless,
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: Brown kind of came across looking small. Then he gets
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: pounded and didn't play that well. So not a great
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: night for Jalen Brown. MLB, the managers of the year.
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: Pat Murphy has won three in a row now from
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: the Milwaukee Brewers. and he accepted the award from his
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: hospital bed.
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: Not making that up.
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: He was in his hospital bed during the ceremony last night.
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: I don't know what procedure he had, but certainly being
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: confirmed as the best manager in the entire sport certainly
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: makes your hip fail better. Will Venable won the American
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: League honor, and that was a no-brainer as well. Tonight,
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: the Cy Young Awards will be handed out. And, of course,
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: the GM meetings continue in Major League Baseball. Maybe the
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: only spirit of hot stove that we're going to get
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: this entire dubious offseason. And we're going to talk about
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: some of the rumors that are coming out of these
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: GM meetings in regards to the Mariners. Is the Mariners'
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: wish list really all about defense? We'll discuss it next
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: on KJR.
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: So sad. This might be it. This might be the
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: entire hot stove season this week. It's going to be
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: a weird one. It's going to be the next couple
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: of weeks. Yeah. The hammer's about to fall.
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: Certainly there's going to be a strange off-season.
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: But nonetheless, we're going to spend a little bit of
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: time on it here today.
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: That's the wonderful thing about hump day, that the Wednesday
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: show right there in the middle for all sorts of
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: little goodies that we can discuss. And then we'll ramp
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: back up the– 24-7 Seahawks preparation coming up on tomorrow's program.
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: But the Mariners, certainly Jerry DiPoto was at the GM
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: meetings this week, and he said some interesting things.
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: There was also Adam Jude.
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: Ryan Divish put out some possible wish lists, some possible
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: candidates for the team to acquire before the lockout takes
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: place or the strike or whatever they're going to call
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: it this time around.
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: And I have my crystal ball forecast, which we will reveal.
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: I do this every offseason for the Mariners.
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: It comes up at 8 o'clock, so we're going to
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: go through my crystal ball forecast. And it doesn't include
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: any of the guys that were mentioned by the beat
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: writers yesterday. But I figured we should take some time
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: to discuss them. And Seiya Suzuki is a name that
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: has come up, a 32-year-old right fielder. And he is
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: coming off a season in which he had 270, 368
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: on-base percentage, 841 OPS, 26 home runs for the Chicago Cubs.
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: Just a really good veteran hitter who demolishes left-handers. And boy,
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: if you do nothing else this offseason, can we please
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: solve the we-can't-hit-left-handers problem that has plagued this organization for
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: the last 12 years?
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: And if it's the stadium, I don't know what to
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: do about it.
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: I really can't figure out why anyone that they acquire
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: to hit left-handers specifically, whether it's Taylor Ward, Rob Refsnyder,
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: Mitch Garver. AJ Pollock, the beat goes on. Donovan Solano,
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: why they can't hit left-handers, maybe it is something about
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: the stadium.
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: It is a monstrous mystery. But if you get a
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: Sezea Suzuki who had a 965 OPS just this past season,
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: and not in a little amount of time that he played,
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: but an everyday player who played 147 games or so
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: for the team a year ago, then I think that's
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: about as good a job as you can do in
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: an offseason to find somebody that can hit lefties.
• 26:22
  Speaker 3: If that doesn't work, I don't know what will at
• 26:25
  Speaker 3: this point.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: Like, seriously. That's something weird. It is weird.
• 26:30
  Speaker 3: Yeah, but even if he, the thing you bring him,
• 26:33
  Speaker 3: it's not like he's a platoon guy, right? He still
• 26:36
  Speaker 3: hits righties, too. He had an almost 800 OPS versus
• 26:39
  Speaker 3: right-handed pitching as well. Now, he did play in Chicago,
• 26:43
  Speaker 3: where there are some benefits to playing at Wrigley Field, right,
• 26:47
  Speaker 3: compared to T-Mobile Park. There are obviously, you can't expect
• 26:50
  Speaker 3: just a carbon copy of his numbers there to be
• 26:52
  Speaker 3: repeated here if that ends up happening. But I would
• 26:55
  Speaker 3: be very excited about Seiya Suzuki for a multitude of reasons.
• 26:58
  Speaker 3: If nothing else, like you said, to hit left-handed pitching.
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: I would, too.
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: And this is a middle-of-the-order bat that you would be acquiring,
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: and he's going to cost a pretty penny. Yep. And yet,
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: there still is this.
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: I really would like a list from people. Who would
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: get you excited?
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: I saw like 20% of the responses to this, like,
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: doesn't matter, he sucks.
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: What? Who would... Please, give me who you want this offseason.
• 27:28
  Speaker 3: Jacob Mizurowski, Chuck.
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: And if I get Ellie Dela Cruz for 9 out
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: of 10... What is going to make you.
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: Happy out there?
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: Like, say a Suzuki and Gunnar Henderson were mentioned in
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: the article yesterday by Jude. And look, Gunnar Henderson's coming
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: off a year in which he really struggled for the
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: first time in his career. He couldn't get it going.
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: He had 220 against righties. He had 220 against lefties.
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: And he did not have a very good year.
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: And maybe it is a harbinger of things to come.
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: Maybe the league's figured him out.
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: Maybe he's not going to be a superstar after all
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: for the Baltimore Orioles. But if there was a Kirby
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: for Gunnar Henderson trade, I mean... And you can't get
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: excited about somebody that two years ago people thought was
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: going to be one of the next great, great G-R-E-A-T
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: players in the league who just happened to have a
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: bit of a hiccup season this past year.
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: I don't know. I mean, what does it take?
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: Do we have to get Shohei Otani for people to
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: think that that's a good move? Or would you criticize, well,
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: he's coming off an injury-plugged year.
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: I don't know, Shohei. I don't know if he's very good.
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: Nice job, DePoto. What would get you excited?
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: I mean, I'll go over the list later this week.
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: I won't have time today.
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: But to me, a Suzuki free agent signing, I think,
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: would be exciting. And a Gunnar Henderson acquisition, even though
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: I think that comes with its concerns because he's not
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: really hit lefties throughout his career.
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: And he's coming off a season in which.
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: He stumbled and couldn't figure out the answers a year ago. Still,
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: I mean, he's a young player who's put up a
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: pretty impressive resume early in his career, and.
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: That's got to make you excited.
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah it's another left-handed bat we don't need a left-handed
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: bat we need a right-handed bat that's what we need
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: the most we need good players in our lineup but
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: if you're adding a good player you're adding a good.
• 29:25
  Speaker 3: Player right right and i feel the same way and
• 29:27
  Speaker 3: you know gunner henders no none of these additions there's
• 29:31
  Speaker 3: nothing that you're going to add to your team that
• 29:32
  Speaker 3: is completely foolproof where he's young, he's healthy, he does
• 29:38
  Speaker 3: everything right, and you're getting him for cheap. That doesn't exist, guys, right? Okay,
• 29:42
  Speaker 3: so you're either going to have a guy that is
• 29:44
  Speaker 3: young like Gunnar Henderson, who has proven to be one
• 29:47
  Speaker 3: of the best shortstops in the league. A lot of
• 29:48
  Speaker 3: people believed he was for a couple years. Yeah, but
• 29:52
  Speaker 3: he had a bad year last year. That's kind of
• 29:54
  Speaker 3: the downside. It's a tradeoff, right? Say a Suzuki. The
• 29:56
  Speaker 3: thing is, he's a little on the older side. He's
• 29:58
  Speaker 3: 32 years. He may have a, you know, plateau slash
• 30:02
  Speaker 3: cliff coming in his career. Are you willing to risk
• 30:05
  Speaker 3: that for a guy that may give you two to
• 30:07
  Speaker 3: three really good years of offense, right? There, there, no
• 30:11
  Speaker 3: one's a perfect addition. I get it. Everyone wants to
• 30:15
  Speaker 3: be the Dodgers, right? Except when you root for them.
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: I honestly want to know four, nine, four, five, one.
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: I don't think I'll be able to get to it today.
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: What would make you happy?
• 30:23
  Speaker 2: And then I'm going to keep the list and then
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: I'm going to, We'll discuss it later this week, and
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: then I'm going to keep it the entire year and
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: show you just how nothing is foolproof. But I like
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: the idea of Suzuki. I think it's exactly what the
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: lineup would need. I also like the fact that he's Japanese,
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: and I thought we really had that market cornered once
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: upon a time, and I don't know what's getting in
• 30:52
  Speaker 2: the way of that, but we have done a terrible
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: job as an organization seducing really good Japanese players to
• 31:01
  Speaker 2: a place where once upon a time, the baseball world
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: just assumed the Japanese guy was going to Seattle. And
• 31:07
  Speaker 2: now we can't get anybody? What's getting in the way
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: of that? Why weren't we more interested in Murakami and Okamoto?
• 31:15
  Speaker 2: Because they went for pennies on the dollar compared to
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: what Suzuki's going to go for this offseason.
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: Younger, more talented players.
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: Certainly unproven players that actually fit a defensive.
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: Need as well, you know, potentially.
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: And so I want to get back to owning that
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: market because, hey, newsflash, there are a lot of great
• 31:35
  Speaker 2: freaking Japanese players that are coming to America. I wanted
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: both Okamoto and Murakami. There was a world we could
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: have had both of them. And didn't end up with
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: either one of them. So I don't know what's happening.
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: I thought Ichiro was going to be a great recruiter
• 31:51
  Speaker 2: for that. Doesn't look like he's much of a recruiter
• 31:54
  Speaker 2: at all. And so let's get back into that Japanese market.
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: I'd take seven Japanese players on my team in time
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: for next year. The other thing that needs to be mentioned,
• 32:04
  Speaker 2: Jerry did mention, by the way, he did mention the
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: Japanese angle.
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: And he also mentioned at the GM meetings, yes, we
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: need a bat.
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: Yes, we are looking for a bat. A bat, not plural.
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: A bat is what he was saying. But what our
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: top priority is, is defense.
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: I don't disagree. So is that Joey.
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: Ortiz from the Milwaukee Brewers, who probably is available right
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: now and can play a gold glove short or third
• 32:32
  Speaker 2: for you, gives you some options? But it sounds like
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: defense is what they're going to make the priority this
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: offseason and shore that up.
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: It was terrible a year ago.
• 32:40
  Speaker 3: You know who was elite defensively last year? I was
• 32:44
  Speaker 3: surprised when I looked at this. Seiya Suzuki. All the
• 32:47
  Speaker 3: numbers really, really loved him last year.
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 32:50
  Speaker 3: I don't know if that was just a, hey, I'm
• 32:52
  Speaker 3: in my contract year. Yeah, I know, but I'm looking
• 32:55
  Speaker 3: at them. It's like everything.
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: All right. Mike Benton next. Sports Radio 93.3 KJRFM.
• 33:12
  Speaker 3: Kippus to everyone.
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: Tomorrow, the Kraken will be in action against the Carolina
• 33:18
  Speaker 2: Hurricanes in Helsinki, Finland. We've had a variety of guests
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: this week that have come on our show and rubbed
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: it on our faces that we are not overseas enjoying
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: culture and a new and different society and having the
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: times of their lives.
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: Mike Benton joins us again here this morning. Hi, Michael. Hey, Chuck. Hey, Andrews.
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: What wonderful thing are you doing today? Happy Wednesday. What
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: are you going to rub in our face? Yeah, what wonderful,
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: awesome thing are you doing this morning?
• 33:51
  Speaker 5: We literally have been, I think, parting ways for about
• 33:56
  Speaker 5: roughly four or five hours or so after practice. And
• 34:00
  Speaker 5: if I seem a little bit more relaxed and slurred,
• 34:03
  Speaker 5: it's because I am, because I just got back from
• 34:06
  Speaker 5: my very first ever Finnish spa trip, which also included
• 34:10
  Speaker 5: the sauna and the Highly recommended, and 10 of 10
• 34:14
  Speaker 5: would do it all over again.
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: You son of a gun. All over again. You son
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: of a gun. You really did have something to rub
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: in our faces.
• 34:22
  Speaker 3: Oh, man, thought you were going to take it easy
• 34:24
  Speaker 3: on us here this morning. I call this a work-study trip.
• 34:26
  Speaker 3: Work-study trip. All right. All right.
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: Hey, seriously, you.
• 34:35
  Speaker 5: Can't share, you can't pontificate unless you go and experience it.
• 34:39
  Speaker 3: Or else I'm just a big fat liar.
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: Alright, so.
• 34:44
  Speaker 2: Do we know anything more about game prep? I mean,
• 34:49
  Speaker 2: we've had that practice now, right? So what can you
• 34:52
  Speaker 2: report that's new, different, and special from yesterday?
• 34:56
  Speaker 5: Yeah, they're slowly ramping things up, and after a Tuesday
• 35:00
  Speaker 5: off day, Wednesday, one more practice day, right back in
• 35:04
  Speaker 5: the cave, right back in the practice rink, and Interesting,
• 35:08
  Speaker 5: the Kraken are shaking things up a little bit as
• 35:12
  Speaker 5: far as the forwards. Now, Capocacco, Berkley Catt, and Mackie
• 35:16
  Speaker 5: Samuskevich were a thing together for about a few games.
• 35:18
  Speaker 3: That sense has been modified now.
• 35:21
  Speaker 5: Where Berkley Catt is going to be, if this holds
• 35:24
  Speaker 5: up here for tomorrow for the opener of the Global Series,
• 35:28
  Speaker 5: he'll be in between Capocacco and Matthew Wood. But of
• 35:32
  Speaker 5: a different look for that second line, which now moves
• 35:35
  Speaker 5: Mackie Samuskevich. to Chandler Stevenson and Yanni Newman on the
• 35:40
  Speaker 5: left wing.
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: So good for Newman.
• 35:41
  Speaker 5: It looks like that if this does hold up, as
• 35:43
  Speaker 5: I said, he'll be getting in for the Global Series
• 35:47
  Speaker 5: debut in front of his own home country. And as
• 35:50
  Speaker 5: of this point, Jagger, Furcus, Logan Morrison, different colored jerseys.
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: I would be.
• 35:54
  Speaker 5: Surprised if they play tomorrow, if at all, here for this.
• 35:58
  Speaker 5: They're here basically, from what I've observed, for more or
• 36:01
  Speaker 5: less insurance purposes. Jacob Alonso and Curtis Douglas are still
• 36:06
  Speaker 5: in the red no-non-contact jerseys, so they're.
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: A ways away out.
• 36:09
  Speaker 5: But Ryan Lindgren has been making progress. He hasn't played
• 36:13
  Speaker 5: since the second home game of the season back in
• 36:16
  Speaker 5: early October and got a nasty hit against the boards
• 36:19
  Speaker 5: just seconds into that game against Vegas. He's back to
• 36:23
  Speaker 5: regular contact, and Lane Lambert said this morning he is
• 36:26
  Speaker 5: trending to play. this week, but nothing is 100% certain
• 36:32
  Speaker 5: as of right now. So defensively, things look pretty consistent.
• 36:35
  Speaker 5: I'm not sure yet who they're going to tap to
• 36:38
  Speaker 5: start a net. I wouldn't be surprised if it is
• 36:40
  Speaker 5: Philip Grubauer, but I think tomorrow morning might give us
• 36:43
  Speaker 5: a little bit more of a tell as far as
• 36:44
  Speaker 5: who they're going to put out there for the first
• 36:46
  Speaker 5: of two games.
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 36:47
  Speaker 3: So let's talk about their opponent. Carolina wins the Stanley cup. They've,
• 36:51
  Speaker 3: you know, I think it's seven or eight straight years
• 36:53
  Speaker 3: of maybe even nine straight years of playoff appearances. Is
• 36:56
  Speaker 3: it crazy to think that you're even better this year
• 36:58
  Speaker 3: than their Stanley cup winning team last year?
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: Absolutely not.
• 37:02
  Speaker 5: And they just keep, you know, rolling along because they've
• 37:05
  Speaker 5: had little turnover on their roster, little turnover and no
• 37:09
  Speaker 5: turnover at the very top of their coaching staff and Rod,
• 37:12
  Speaker 5: Brenda Moore and Piotr Kachukov.
• 37:14
  Speaker 3: Looks even better this year.
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: Out of the gate. He's on a.
• 37:17
  Speaker 5: Supernova run in net right now. I've said this before,
• 37:22
  Speaker 5: goaltending is the ultimate X-factor with how a team can
• 37:26
  Speaker 5: play and what.
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: The floor of a team will be.
• 37:29
  Speaker 5: It's a reason why the Kraken, despite getting out chance,
• 37:32
  Speaker 5: getting out shots, were winning games early in the season
• 37:36
  Speaker 5: because Philip Grubauer was unbelievable and Joey Decord, though he
• 37:40
  Speaker 5: had a bit of a slide, was still pretty good
• 37:42
  Speaker 5: enough to win, but Kachekov really kind of cements and
• 37:47
  Speaker 5: fills up any kind of microscopic hole that may even
• 37:51
  Speaker 5: exist on this team. I mean, it's incredible just the
• 37:53
  Speaker 5: way that they play and how Rod Brendamore orchestrates their attack,
• 37:58
  Speaker 5: their forward check. It's like a high-paced cycle over and
• 38:04
  Speaker 5: over and over. They're not really a big team, and
• 38:06
  Speaker 5: I kind of maybe even go further to say it's
• 38:08
  Speaker 5: almost as if They've got like four lines who virtually
• 38:11
  Speaker 5: look the same, let alone play the same. But that's
• 38:14
  Speaker 5: how they do it. Sebastian Ajo at the very top
• 38:17
  Speaker 5: is pretty much now an NHL superstar status, not just
• 38:20
  Speaker 5: for this week, but for the numbers that he is
• 38:23
  Speaker 5: producing here. But what they don't get credit still for enough,
• 38:27
  Speaker 5: at least for this year, is that they still are
• 38:30
  Speaker 5: very good at suppressing shots. So going back to, say,
• 38:34
  Speaker 5: Berkley Catton's line, Anders, with Kapo Kako, Matthew Wood– Catton's
• 38:39
  Speaker 5: a speedier guy than those two. So I think in
• 38:42
  Speaker 5: this case, if they're going to get their chances, they're
• 38:44
  Speaker 5: going to have to move it quick because it just
• 38:46
  Speaker 5: seems as if when you play Carolina, it is a
• 38:48
  Speaker 5: battle for every inch on the ice.
• 38:51
  Speaker 2: All right, well, go find a nice cafe, have a
• 38:54
  Speaker 2: coffee and some Corva Pusti, and enjoy yourself today.
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: What do you say? Thanks, Mike.
• 39:00
  Speaker 5: I'm actually going to be getting right back out for
• 39:03
  Speaker 5: part two of this work-study thing.
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: There is actually... A Finnish league game.
• 39:08
  Speaker 5: The league is called Liga, and it's a top Finnish
• 39:14
  Speaker 5: pro league in the entire country. But pretty good game
• 39:17
  Speaker 5: that's going down about 20 minutes away from us. They
• 39:19
  Speaker 5: play in an 8,000-seat building, kind of similar to what
• 39:23
  Speaker 5: Everett Washington's building is. But they had a couple of
• 39:26
  Speaker 5: former Silver Tips playing in this game with Jokere.
• 39:30
  Speaker 3: And IFK.
• 39:31
  Speaker 5: One's E2 Tolola, the other is Niko Houtanen.
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: It's pretty good hockey.
• 39:36
  Speaker 5: The crowd vibe is a bit different, so I'm going
• 39:39
  Speaker 5: to go out there just by myself to kind of
• 39:41
  Speaker 5: check out the scene and the vibe and report back
• 39:43
  Speaker 5: with just how much this country is just going bonkers
• 39:46
  Speaker 5: here for hockey and for this whole weekend.
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: So it's going to be a lot of fun. All right, enjoy.
• 39:50
  Speaker 2: There he is, Mike Benton, here on the radio program.
• 39:53
  Speaker 2: We're going to drop the puck tomorrow right here at
• 39:55
  Speaker 2: KJR at 9 o'clock. Anders will be hosting the pregame
• 39:58
  Speaker 2: starting at 8.30, and we've sent all of our best
• 40:01
  Speaker 2: hockey people across. The Cs to Helsinki, Finland.
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: All of the best.
• 40:09
  Speaker 2: Headlines next, plus Greg Bell on KJR.