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From Notre Dame Snub to Baseball Hall of Fame Drama: The Problem with Sports Committees · Fanatically Speaking with Kent

0:00
what's up everybody welcome to fanatically speaking
0:02
i'm kent i'm log off i'm the log off legend and
0:05
uh we're here to say everything that every fan
0:07
is thinking but louder and probably a little
0:09
crazier get ready this is fanatically speaking
0:12
with kent and log off you know what's funny like
0:15
i don't hate i don't i'm not a social media hater
0:18
i'm a social media I don't want people to think
0:25
that I get on the internet and start hating people
0:27
on social media. That's not what I do. The first
0:29
half was absolutely, absolutely horrible. You
0:33
know, just inept offense, inept defense, special
0:37
teams, you name it. I'm going to turn into Oprah.
0:40
Why were you so angry? He sucks this season.
0:45
This game, whatever, whatever's going on, right?
0:47
And then in the very next pitch, guess what?
0:50
They double Homer. And he's like, told you that.
0:53
Why are you always knocking down people? Listen,
0:55
you got the highs and the lows. Yeah, so I knew
0:58
that. You need the highs and the lows. So I do
1:01
that, yeah. I'm trying to be the voice of reason
1:04
here. I am what I am. Hey, what's up, everybody?
1:20
Welcome to another episode of Fanatically Speaking.
1:23
I am Kent, the co -host and promoter. I'm Loggolf,
1:27
the Loggolf legend, the hater of social media.
1:29
I'm the co -host and producer of the show. All
1:32
right, so I got a topic for us today. It's two
1:35
different sports, two different committees, selection
1:39
process, whatever you want to call it. But they
1:41
both hit me because I wanted to ask the question,
1:43
like, which one is worse? We just recently, the
1:47
college football playoff selection committee
1:50
had the big drama the past weekend who got in
1:54
who's not in who's out and obviously there's
1:57
always an argument on who didn't get in but I
2:00
think with the process and the fact that they
2:02
put out rankings every week leading up to this
2:05
last week some of their stuff is head scratchers
2:08
and I know they change it every year now because
2:11
they're trying to find the right way but it was
2:14
still kind of it was a head scratcher on some
2:17
of it And this is not just because I'm a Notre
2:19
Dame fan. But and then you got the Hall of Fame
2:24
voting has just began for MLB. It's very early.
2:28
About five percent of the votes are in with the
2:31
Baseball Writers Association of America. But
2:34
then on top of that, they also just had their
2:36
selection for what they do. The committee, the
2:40
Contemporary Baseball Era Committee, which they
2:43
have, it's basically a second chance for guys
2:45
who don't get in on the original Hall of Fame
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selection vote. You know, they can, baseball
2:51
player, they can only be on there 10 years or
2:55
a max of 10 years. And if they don't get in,
2:57
then they fall into this committee where they
2:59
can vote them in. And I just want to hit on both
3:02
of them because both these committees, I think
3:05
have some explaining to do. Yeah. So the question
3:11
for me comes down to when you have a committee
3:16
which is essentially a selected group of people
3:20
who gets to make these decisions for you, everything
3:24
comes into play. Bias, their professional history,
3:28
their background, their experiences, their connections,
3:32
their relationships. All of that comes into play
3:35
even when they say that it doesn't. So whether
3:37
you're talking about college football, a college
3:39
football playoff, or you're talking about, you
3:41
know, baseball Hall of Fame inductees, like all
3:44
the things that involve you being a human being
3:47
still comes into play as to what your choice
3:50
is going to be or what selection you're going
3:52
to make. For the, I mean, we can touch on the
3:55
college football one. It's kind of the, you know,
3:57
the, the hot topic of the day. But the thing
4:00
with Notre Dame and obviously the, the more shocking
4:04
thing about the Notre Dame being bumped out was
4:07
that they had already been ranked they'd stayed
4:11
ranked they didn't play any games so they didn't
4:14
lose any games or win any games but somehow they
4:17
slipped out of the playoff now me not even being
4:21
a college football fan i wanted to see i would
4:26
have preferred to see miami in there anyway full
4:28
disclosure mainly because they did beat noter
4:31
dame early in the year and I know, and if I'm
4:34
not mistaken, Notre Dame did start off 0 -2,
4:36
right? Yeah, they lost to Miami and Texas A &M
4:40
by a total of 4 points. Got it. But still losses.
4:45
Still losses and then went on to win the rest
4:50
of their games, 10 straight, by an average of
4:54
30 points. Got it. And then, so with Notre Dame
5:01
being up against Miami, The big talk all over
5:05
was, okay, but they lost to Miami. Miami beat
5:08
them. How is it that Notre Dame got in? And if
5:13
you want to say, you know, hey, well, they were
5:15
on a hot wind streak. They caught fire. They're
5:17
a different team now than they were then. That's
5:20
fair. But Miami was also a different team too.
5:24
The losses that they had were against strong
5:26
competition. those were close games as well.
5:29
They didn't get destroyed in any of those games.
5:31
I think one game they lost by three and then
5:33
the other game they lost in overtime. So it was
5:36
as neck and neck as it could have been, but I
5:38
think the big dropping of the ball was the fact
5:42
that they had Notre Dame ranked. and then drop
5:46
them for no explainable reason. It's like, if
5:50
that's the case, just put both of them outside
5:52
of the top 12. Just put both of them outside
5:55
of the top 12. It's almost as if they left Notre
5:57
Dame in there just to keep them talking about,
6:00
because we all know how popular Notre Dame is,
6:04
but it didn't make sense to me, even though I
6:07
was okay with Miami getting in, because I felt
6:10
like that head -to -head has to matter. And I
6:14
understand all the outrage and everything with
6:16
Notre Dame. I don't like how Notre Dame handled
6:18
it after. I don't like the, oh, we're not gonna
6:20
play in the bowl game. And you know, there's
6:22
all this anger at the ACC. But the committee,
6:28
this entire time, it shows a level of inconsistency,
6:31
which I think is what you're getting to. And
6:34
I don't know, I don't know if there's a way for
6:37
them to fix it. This is a terrible precedent,
6:40
especially to say that alabama got their doors
6:44
blown off and they still let them stay in now
6:48
we just debate all day about whether or not al
6:50
up at the alabama still formidable i think they'll
6:52
be okay to play out they'll be able to hold their
6:54
own but that ask you can that it took a bit in
6:57
the s e c title game against georgia and i want
7:01
to say they had like negative rushing yards in
7:03
that game but they couldn't do anything Negative
7:06
three yards and they still left them in the game
7:08
like let them in the in the playoff. So it's
7:11
wonky. There's no perfect measurement system
7:14
for any of this and Ultimately what I think this
7:18
comes down to Kenton and I'll give it to you.
7:21
I Think this comes down to the reasons for committees
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is to have this flexibility and nuances to where
7:31
College football as a whole gets what they want
7:35
in terms of which teams play and which teams
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don't if you have a set criteria you can't dictate
7:43
it the rules are set meaning if you have this
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certain record if you have these certain wins
7:48
if you have this certain strength of schedule
7:50
if you win by certain amounts of points if everything
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is fixed not only do the people on the committee
7:55
not have a job which means they don't get paid
7:58
for it but they also can't cherry pick the teams
8:03
that they want because I don't care what anybody
8:05
says Alabama was absolutely cherry picked to
8:08
stay in the playoffs Because they're Alabama
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and because they are such a big draw and they've
8:14
been a big draw for the last what? 10 to 15 years
8:17
and they're in the SEC and all losses are not
8:21
equal At least that's what said I mean No, yeah.
8:26
Yeah, I'm not I'm not gonna give them that but
8:29
I think this is and and we can I mean, I'll let
8:32
you go on the college football thing. And it's
8:34
the same thing for baseball, where I think it's
8:37
meant to be this divisive. It gives us something
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to talk about. It gives us something to dive
8:46
into, to question, to be outraged about, for
8:49
people to cheer. I mean, they were popping bottles
8:51
in Miami when Miami got in, and Notre Dame had
8:54
their hands on their heads. Like, Notre Dame
8:56
fans had their hands on their heads. Like, man,
8:57
I don't believe this. What the hell happened?
9:00
Think that's the intention. It's to garner the
9:03
reaction and to get this type of reaction because
9:06
now Everyone's paying more attention to it than
9:09
if the teams were set and picked and it didn't
9:11
matter who got in because you would have known
9:13
anyway Yeah, so so I think we agree that Two
9:18
teams four teams twelve teams that they go to
9:20
sixteen teams. There's always probably gonna
9:22
be an argument Over who got in who got who didn't?
9:26
That's as long as there's a selection committee,
9:29
as long as they're doing this way. I do have
9:32
a way and I'm going to give a shout out when
9:33
I talk about it that could possibly fix it. But
9:36
I want to just like when you put these resumes
9:39
against each other and I think we're really talking
9:41
about, you know, Miami, Notre Dame, Alabama.
9:46
Those were the three kind of battling for the
9:48
last spot. BYU was in there, but they lost as
9:51
well. And then that pretty much kicked them out.
9:54
So Miami this year we talked about they beat
9:57
Notre Dame the very first Week by three Can't
10:05
can't be mad at it tough game went down to the
10:07
wire Miami was at home home team one And then
10:11
you mentioned Notre Dame they lost the next week
10:12
Texas A &M at Notre Dame by one the kicker I
10:19
Forgive me for not remembering exactly. I know
10:21
they they messed up the extra point right missed
10:22
it something from They missed it, so they lost
10:26
by that one. They come back and got them. Miami
10:30
lost this year to, they lost by three to Louisville.
10:34
They're not ranked. They lost by six to SMU.
10:37
They're not ranked. So their two losses were
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to two unranked teams, okay? Where Notre Dame
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lost to two top teams. Alabama, you mentioned
10:51
they got blown out in the SEC title game. with
10:55
a horrible performance, but early in the year,
10:58
they beat Georgia. So they beat one of the top
11:01
teams, if not, you know, arguably top two, top
11:04
three team, right? Yeah, but I think, and not
11:07
only that, that was a close game. I think they
11:09
only beat Georgia by three. It was a very close
11:10
game, but they beat them. So, but as you said,
11:14
and I know head -to -head matters, but like you
11:16
said, Miami beat Notre Dame the very first week.
11:19
You know who else lost the first week of the
11:20
season? Alabama. You know who they lost to? Florida
11:24
State So so it's like we're not holding them
11:29
accountable for losing the first week of the
11:31
season to a trash team You know I mean and and
11:35
they lost to a bad team So it's kind of a three
11:39
-way tie in a way when you look at it But it
11:42
like you said it depends on what the committee's
11:44
looking at But this is again not solely about
11:48
Notre Dame. It's about the selection, right?
11:52
Miami didn't even win their conference, and their
11:55
conference had a championship game. That was
11:58
between Duke and Virginia. Duke won. They're
12:02
not in the playoff, because they're like, well,
12:03
yeah, we're not going to let in an eight and
12:05
five team. So I don't know if that means if Virginia
12:09
would have won, then Virginia would have got
12:11
in. And they let in however many conference champions,
12:16
which that's why JMU's in. Tulane is in. Okay,
12:24
so again, this is not solely about Notre Dame.
12:27
You know, it's about, again, the conferences.
12:29
We talked about the ACC. And then, you know,
12:33
like you said, Notre Dame was ranked above Miami,
12:36
and then Miami jumped them. So the committee,
12:39
you know, they're letting in someone who didn't
12:41
even win their conference, and Notre Dame didn't
12:43
even play. So there's an argument there and I
12:46
think Notre Dame hurts themself for sure by not
12:49
being in a conference I can't even defend that
12:51
I'm just kind of like hey, you know Eventually,
12:54
you got to join a conference and the other thing
12:56
that's hurt college football is is again Everybody
12:59
joined the ACC big 10 big 12. So they all grew
13:02
ACC, you know It's not regional anymore So here's
13:09
the fix real quick and not that we're trying
13:11
to get a fix but again This committee, again,
13:14
they didn't make a good decision here, I don't
13:18
think. And again, they're never going to, not
13:21
as long as it's like this. So the fix is, again,
13:25
shout out to Josh, one of our top listeners.
13:28
He came up and just said, basically, look, go
13:30
back to regional, or you gotta have, split these
13:35
teams back up into conferences, and whatever
13:38
number you want, 12, eight, that's how many conferences
13:41
you have. Maybe the SEC is two conferences split
13:45
like right they are now ACC. However, you want
13:48
to do it and basically no more conference championships
13:51
You play your teams in your conference You win
13:56
your conference You're in the playoff There is
14:00
no argument after that If you can't win your
14:03
conference, you don't need to be in the playoff
14:07
So that's a fix not that we're looking for it,
14:10
but that is a way to get it out of a committee's
14:12
hands Just let them settle on the field however
14:14
that works out But long as they have it like
14:17
it is now It will always be messed up like there's
14:20
always gonna be an argument who gets in who gets
14:22
out Again, they're letting in a team who lost
14:25
three games like Alabama didn't win their conference
14:28
played in the championship and then Notre Dame
14:32
Miami's at home on her couch and somehow Miami
14:35
jumps Notre Dame because head -to -head but even
14:37
though for the last three weeks Notre Dame was
14:39
ranked above them and then the committee has
14:42
a you know kind of like a Get out of jail free
14:47
card because they can say Well, we tell y 'all
14:50
not to pay attention to the rankings. Then why
14:52
are you putting them out? Then don't put out
14:54
rankings, right? They say so it's like, okay,
14:59
they can basically say well the rankings are
15:01
what they are But then we do whatever at the
15:02
end of the year So and that's the thing and that's
15:06
a that's a real good idea by Josh. I like that
15:09
Yeah, the the only the only downside to it is
15:13
that that works perfectly if You don't care about
15:17
money Like if it's just about football and it's
15:23
just about like winning games and finding out
15:26
who is the best team in the nation that works
15:29
perfectly but they got all like these conferences
15:32
you got to split up money which is why Notre
15:36
Dame doesn't belong I'm sorry let me take that
15:38
back which is why Notre Dame does belong in ACC
15:44
except for their football program because they
15:48
understand the money generator that it is and
15:50
they want to keep all those dollars to themselves
15:52
so they're good enough to be in the a c c when
15:55
it's good for them and that's for every other
15:58
competitive uh... of sports team that they have
16:01
except for football they feel like football is
16:03
their exception and there's other teams That
16:08
could benefit from this joining conferences and
16:11
getting a chance to compete and actually win
16:13
a conference and get into a national championship
16:15
game but the other thing other side of this is
16:18
all the bowl games and Yeah, and the money that
16:21
surrounds that it like bit like college football
16:24
is such a huge revenue generator for not only
16:27
teams But for like television broadcasts as well
16:30
because you know that millions of people are
16:32
gonna watch these games alive And I think that's
16:36
why the committee gets this wrong is because
16:38
they're trying to put together the best matchups,
16:41
the best teams that are going to draw in people.
16:44
And even with the, and if you put Miami in one
16:48
box and Notre Dame in the other, we know that
16:50
Notre Dame's bigger, a bigger draw. But with
16:54
this move, I guarantee you that that Miami game
16:59
is going to shatter records. for the amount of
17:03
people who are going to watch and maybe even
17:06
hate watch just to see what Miami does. And that
17:11
contention is I think what they were going for.
17:14
I think they were meant to the intention was
17:16
to make this messy so that people are paying
17:19
more attention. I don't like it. It has destroyed
17:22
kind of what we expected college sports to be.
17:26
And we know it's been a dirty game. And we're
17:29
actually going to get into how dirty college
17:31
football is a little later, too. But it's just,
17:34
it's a headache. There, you know, there's real
17:38
players on that roster. There's real people whose
17:41
jobs are on the line. And I don't like the way
17:45
Notre Dame reacted. I don't like the way the
17:47
committee. You know change things up at the end.
17:51
I don't like how Alabama is still in it's just
17:54
gonna stink Hopefully this playoff turns out
17:56
to be fun to watch. That's all I'm really banking
17:59
on but it's it's tough to tell man it It all
18:03
just stinks. It makes my head hurt a little bit
18:05
Yes, it does and like I said, we just want consistency
18:09
and we just want you know Everybody wants to
18:10
understand it but like I said as long as like
18:12
this is always gonna be a problem And just to
18:21
flip it to what I was talking about earlier is,
18:24
you know, are they worse? Is this committee worse
18:26
than the baseball writers or the committee to
18:30
get Major League Baseball players into the Hall
18:33
of Fame? Now, why would you say they're bad or
18:37
as bad? So why I bring it up is, you know, I
18:41
do look into this every year. It's fun for me
18:43
to look and see who gets how many votes and all
18:45
this. If you don't know, again. You can be on
18:49
the ballot after you've played for 10 years max.
18:55
To stay on the ballot, you gotta get 5 % of the
18:57
vote. And then to get in the Hall of Fame, you
18:59
have to get 75 % of the vote. So as we know,
19:04
there's the whole, one, there's the whole steroid
19:06
users, right, or alleged steroid users that are
19:11
not in the Hall of Fame, right? We can talk about
19:13
Bonds, Clemens, they, you know. We think they
19:20
use we don't know for sure we have you know,
19:23
there's all kinds of smoking guns smoking needles
19:26
as you a but and Then there's still guys on the
19:32
ballot to this day right now and they're getting
19:35
votes and I've always been I've always been one
19:37
that I think they all should be in but I'm also
19:40
that guy that says yeah, if you if you Failed
19:44
a test after they implemented drug testing Then
19:49
I don't know if I can help you out Because let's
19:53
face it if there was a period they didn't care
19:55
they loved the home they loved the long ball
19:57
so But what brings it up is again this year recently
20:01
and I'll get into the baseball writers They're
20:05
voting at the moment and how I don't agree with
20:09
the trend. It looks like But again, then there
20:13
is the contemporary baseball era committee. I
20:15
mentioned So they vote guys who don't get in
20:18
on the regular process later can get voted in
20:21
by this committee and the committee is 16 people
20:25
their former, you know some players coaches different
20:28
people who were in baseball They're 16 you have
20:33
to get 12 votes to get voted into the Hall of
20:36
Fame by this committee each Each member I believe
20:42
get up to three votes Okay And there's roughly
20:48
six, seven, eight guys, you know, up for possible
20:57
selection. So just this past week on December
21:02
7th, Jeff Kent got voted in with 14 votes. And
21:08
I, and them all four, I thought Jeff Kent should
21:10
have got in on the regular process, right? Solid
21:15
numbers most home runs ever by a second baseman.
21:17
He's got an MVP Had some all -star five all -stars,
21:21
you know some four silver slugs some silver sluggers
21:25
Not like most people look at it not say the greatest
21:29
numbers but again, I Thought compared to some
21:33
people they've let in I'm like why not? Let him
21:36
in so he gets in which I'm cool with Bonds Clemens
21:42
Fernando Valenzuela, they did not get in. I don't
21:45
think Valenzuela should have got in anyways,
21:48
but Bonds and Clemens, of course, they didn't
21:50
get in. They would still be eligible. They didn't
21:54
get five votes, so you had to get five on this
21:56
committee to be on the ballot next year. So regardless
22:02
of that, the other votes bothered me. Also on
22:06
this ballot this year was Dale Murphy. and Don
22:11
Mattingly. So, if you know anything about baseball,
22:16
you know those two names. They were two of the
22:19
top players of the 1980s, early 90s. Del Murphy
22:24
won back -to -back MVPs. Again, his numbers don't
22:29
blow you away. He didn't hit all the milestones
22:31
that you normally do in baseball, the 3 ,000
22:33
hits, 500 home runs, bat around 300, but he also
22:39
played in the dead ball era. And the same for
22:41
Mattingly. And they didn't use steroids. Mattingly
22:45
has an MVP. He's an all -time Yankee. So they
22:49
got the All -Stars. They've got gold gloves.
22:51
They've got, again, MVPs. Everything you think
22:55
you would get to get in the Hall of Fame. So
22:58
somehow they didn't get voted in on the regular
23:00
process. Here they are again. Murphy's been on
23:02
this a couple times on this New Era committee.
23:05
They got six votes apiece. Now my issue comes
23:09
with who got the second most votes on this this
23:12
year was Carlos Delgado He got nine votes Carlos
23:19
Delgado was three votes away from getting in
23:23
the Hall of Fame over Don Mattingly and Dale
23:28
Murphy That's where my problem comes this year
23:33
because Carlos Delgado batted 280, not bad. He
23:44
got a little over 2 ,000 hits, not bad, but that's
23:48
1 ,000 from 3 ,000. 473 home runs, solid, almost
23:54
500. A little over 1 ,500 RBIs, that's solid,
23:59
pretty good numbers. 483 doubles, again solid,
24:06
1 ,100. Walks solid They go by war now wins above
24:14
replacement he had a 44 that's middle of the
24:17
road He was a two -time all -star and no MVPs
24:23
no gold gloves and he had three silver sluggers
24:27
So again that I know I'm rattling off numbers
24:31
but again when I when I see when you when you
24:35
hear that You're like, oh, okay. He was a solid
24:39
player But I mean no MVPs He didn't dominate
24:46
the the game for you know, a whole era like a
24:51
Don Mattingly a Dale Murphy And just to rattle
24:54
off those numbers again for everybody for Dale
24:57
Murphy and Don Mattingly Don Mattingly batted
24:59
307 for his career 2100 53 hits Only 222 home
25:06
runs, only 1 ,099 RBIs, but still 442 doubles.
25:11
588 walks, not bad again. 42 war. Six all -stars,
25:16
nine gold gloves, three silver sluggers, and
25:18
an MVP. Del Murphy, 265 average, 2 ,100 some
25:24
hits. Almost, I mean, he had 398 home runs, 1
25:29
,266 RBIs, 350 doubles, 986 walks. and a 46 war,
25:36
with seven All -Stars, five Gold Gloves, four
25:38
Silver Sluggers, and two MVPs. So I'm not gonna
25:42
keep here rattling off numbers. My thing is,
25:47
with this committee, with this vote here, is
25:49
I don't know how Carlos Delgado got more votes
25:53
than Mattingly and Murphy, and was so close to
25:57
getting in before these two legends. And Mattingly
26:00
and Murphy are legends. Let's not get it twisted.
26:03
Yeah, they are. They are. So that's my first
26:06
beef. And I don't know if you want to respond
26:09
and I go to the next to my neck to just the baseball
26:13
writers and the direction and the stupidity they
26:16
do sometimes. Well, no. And like the only thing
26:19
is, is like when we were talking about the college
26:22
football selection committee, to me, the incentive
26:26
that they had to have kind of questionable. rankings
26:32
made sense because it's they had a TV show around
26:36
the reveal of who get you know is put in what
26:39
slot and all that this is just where I'm confused
26:42
because I don't understand what the benefit is
26:45
I don't know what the criteria is and the expectation
26:48
is that people who are professional baseball
26:50
writers understand the game understand the players
26:53
understand the stats and They have kind of the
26:58
highest level of knowledge of making the decision.
27:00
So it's not just about having a disagreement
27:03
with what it is that they come up with. But I
27:08
don't understand what the... So let me put it
27:11
like this. So let's just say there's this writer
27:14
who's based in Chicago, based in Chicago and
27:18
covers the Cubs. And then he just happens to
27:21
vote for a Chicago Cubs player. you know whether
27:25
historic or current to constantly make it to
27:27
the hall of fame that makes sense and you're
27:29
going to get that type of regional bias but other
27:32
than that i don't understand what the benefit
27:34
is of having you know controversial selections
27:38
i guess i just i don't see the benefit for the
27:41
committee in the in the members of the committee
27:43
themselves yeah i don't either it's it's one
27:46
of the hardest things to try to figure out um
27:49
i try to look at it again objectively I'm obviously
27:52
a Braves fan so like this year I'm really rooting
27:54
for Andrew Jones and you know he's on his ninth
27:58
year and it's just like can we just get him in
28:01
like you're letting you know other people are
28:03
in who didn't do you know was not a great as
28:07
player as him so obviously and there's always
28:10
like you said some it's just some head scratchers
28:14
and I'll give you some examples though and again
28:17
this Carlos Tugado again You're not, like, we've
28:20
agreed, you're not the biggest baseball, you
28:23
know, fan, whatever, right? Knowing the history
28:27
and all that. Like, did you know who Carlos Delgado
28:29
was? What, as a player? Yes. Yeah. Okay. So you
28:36
know who he was. But, like you said, if you're
28:38
going, like, biased, and this group of these
28:41
16 members of this committee, you know, you would
28:44
think, if they're biased, then they would go
28:47
with the two players, like Murphy and Del Murphy
28:49
and Don Mattingly. One played for the New York
28:52
Yankees and the other played for the Atlanta
28:54
Braves. You know, Carlos Delgado was mainly a
28:57
Toronto Blue J. And then he had a stint with
29:00
the Marlins and the Mets. So in history, Delgado
29:05
is known as a Toronto Blue J. He is their all
29:08
time home run leader. But so we get to the Baseball
29:12
Writers Association of America. And right now,
29:16
like I said, five percent of the votes in for
29:17
this this vote right now that's going on and
29:21
they turn in their ballots and there's a guy
29:23
he tracks all the ballots they turn in their
29:25
ballots and he tracks them so that it's like
29:27
a whole spreadsheet I'll follow it up until the
29:29
time they announce it and it's pretty it's pretty
29:32
accurate he normally doesn't get the end of it
29:35
the end votes the last week or day couple day
29:38
votes but it's pretty accurate so my issue at
29:41
the moment is again I brought up steroid users
29:45
So this year, you know in my opinion there's
29:48
there's a there's a lot of guys who could be
29:51
in should be in the Hall of Fame and You know
29:56
there are So there's again you get ten writers
30:04
get ten votes in the normal selection of the
30:07
Major League Baseball Hall of Fame They don't
30:11
have to use all ten votes But they get 10 votes.
30:17
So you brought up, one, the fact of biased, right?
30:26
From these guys locally. And one of that happened.
30:30
Some of these guys don't even put their name
30:32
on their ballot. They turn them in and they're
30:34
anonymous. So here's where, you know, as a fan,
30:39
you get kind of upset. One anonymous vote already
30:43
has been turned in. The guy voted for one person,
30:46
or the voter, voted for one person. And he voted
30:50
for David Wright. David Wright, solid baseball
30:54
player. You know, New York Met. I don't know
30:59
if I agree that he's a Hall of Famer. He's definitely
31:03
borderline. He was really good. But that just
31:08
shows you, right? Then there's one guy on here.
31:12
He voted for nobody He turned in a ballot blank
31:17
So he thought that Nobody this year Was worthy
31:25
of a vote Okay, so again my opinion for sure
31:33
this year Carlos Beltran Andrew Jones should
31:35
get in That's just my opinion We can get into,
31:40
I'm not gonna get in the weeds of every, like
31:41
these stats. There's other guys, like I said,
31:44
I always say there's guys that are in that have
31:46
just as good numbers as guys who have already
31:50
been put in. You know, guys like a, you know,
31:54
if you watch, but again, if you're going by numbers
31:56
and again, that's what you're saying. Like they
31:58
should be going off numbers and then like I said,
32:00
awards, things like that, all stars, things like
32:02
that should matter. I think post -season should
32:05
matter too if you've got the other numbers to
32:07
back it up. Again, if you're World Series champion
32:10
MVP, now you got Championship Series MVPs. I
32:14
think those things should matter too. So I mentioned,
32:17
Bond's not in the Hall of Fame, Clemens not in
32:18
the Hall of Fame. There's certain guy, Curt Schilling's
32:23
not in the Hall of Fame and he didn't even do
32:24
steroids. They just don't like his personal life.
32:29
So Andy Pettit is getting a lot of votes already.
32:32
And I've seen a lot of Writers, a lot of analysts
32:37
talk about that Andy Pettit should be in the
32:40
Hall of Fame. He would be one of the former players
32:42
on the MLB network. Andy Pettit failed a drug
32:46
test. Andy Pettit had to do a news conference
32:48
and apologize for taking drugs. Yeah, I do remember
32:53
that. But there's a big campaign for him because
32:56
you know why? Because he's a nice guy, right?
32:59
Bonds and Clemens aren't nice guys. So, you know,
33:03
Gary Sheffield. Not in the Hall of Fame. They
33:05
don't want to vote him in because he might have
33:07
been connected to some steroids. Andy Pettit,
33:10
after drug testing was implemented, failed a
33:13
drug test. But somehow, he's getting this, all
33:19
of a sudden, this campaign to get him in. So
33:22
I could go through the names again. Manny Ramirez
33:24
is on this ballot still. Alex Rodriguez, all
33:27
failed after the fact. So that's so all this
33:34
to say I Don't know which I think I think the
33:39
baseball one bothers me more Because I feel like
33:44
the writers think they have this holier -than
33:50
-thou power To pick and choose Like you said
33:55
with even with this like with the steroids. It's
33:58
oh well Well, he did steroids and we don't like
34:01
him So we're not gonna vote him in but we're
34:03
gonna give this guy some vote a lot of votes
34:04
because we like him And some of these votes could
34:07
be guys who also voted for bonds and Clemens,
34:09
etc It and I get it like to be in the Hall of
34:15
Fame, you know Like the whole Pete Rose thing
34:17
we talked about before, you know, you don't want
34:19
to cheat the game. You don't want to There's
34:23
a there's a certain stain you don't want a Hall
34:25
of Famer to have But they're very inconsistent
34:29
because you know that I think there's guys obviously
34:32
that are in that there's some there's some question
34:35
marks if they use steroids or not and Then again,
34:37
then you get into the talent situation like you
34:39
said these writers are voting for one person
34:42
and they're anonymous and it's a guy who really
34:45
is not even the best player on the ballot and
34:47
Does not have the he does not have the numbers
34:50
to back it up And then you have to, like you
34:53
said, then you're changing the numbers that are
34:56
actually, you know, like, well, he didn't get,
35:00
you know, 3 ,000 hits, but he had 20 -some -hundred
35:02
hits. And that's pretty good, because he didn't
35:05
use steroids. Or the same with the 500 home runs,
35:08
or the 300 wins for pitchers, because now me
35:11
pitchers, it's gonna be hard to win 300 games,
35:14
because, you know, they might pitch five innings,
35:17
they might not pitch, you know what I mean, the
35:19
way they use pitchers now. They might not get
35:22
to 300 wins or, you know, 3 ,000 strikeouts or
35:26
whatever the case may be. So I think it just
35:30
bothers me more. So I know I'm on a rant and
35:32
I've been yelling off numbers and stats and net
35:36
players names, but the Hall of Fame voting is
35:40
not going anywhere, obviously. They're always
35:41
going to let the baseball writers do it. And
35:44
then if they don't get in, then the contemporary
35:46
committee then get a chance to vote guys in.
35:51
And it's just, like I said, you heard what I
35:54
rattled off, the stats, and then you're like,
35:57
how did that guy get more votes than that guy?
36:01
And then it's the, you know, also it's the, I
36:05
voted for him last year, but this year I'm not
36:07
voting for him. That blows my mind. Either they're
36:10
a Hall of Famer or they're not, in my mind, right?
36:16
Because you could say, well, they're not a first
36:18
ballot Hall of Famer. but again if they don't
36:20
get five percent then they drop off the ballot
36:22
so it's a to me if i always look at it i like
36:27
to have fun with it and say okay if i had 10
36:29
votes would i vote for 10 people or would i vote
36:33
you know how would i do it but some are just
36:36
no -brainers and like you said though as long
36:38
as they're coming from a city they're biased
36:40
to their region to their team but i mean again
36:45
i don't think you should have a vote if you're
36:47
doing stuff like that I think you should be honest
36:50
about the game of baseball and honest about the
36:52
Hall of Fame vote. And I just don't think these
36:55
guys are being honest. I think the college football
36:58
playoff committee, I think, are being more honest
37:01
than these baseball writers. Really? I do. I
37:04
really do. Now, do they have agendas? Like, I've
37:10
heard them say Notre Dame got punished this year
37:13
because they're not in a conference. They're
37:15
like, we'll show them. We don't know if that's
37:17
true. I think there's definitely bias, like you
37:21
said, Alabama. But at the same time, you know,
37:27
the way they've got the conferences and it's
37:29
like, you know, like JMU, Tulane. I'm like, do
37:31
we really think they're, I mean, go look at their
37:34
schedule. They could really be good football
37:36
teams. Hell, they might win a game, I don't know.
37:39
But each time this season they played a top program
37:43
of another conference, they got beat. The JMU
37:46
lost to Louisville by two touchdowns and Tulane
37:49
lost to Mississippi like by 25 like three four
37:53
touchdowns So that's what I'm saying. I think
37:56
I think they're I think they're trying and I
37:58
just think their criteria They're just kind of
38:00
like, you know They're going back and forth and
38:03
there's this algorithm in their brain and they're
38:05
like you said they're saying well head -to -head
38:07
and they played in the championship and they
38:08
then they didn't and Well, they did this and
38:11
they did that and then there's like this. I think
38:13
they'd coin flip And then again, Alabama is rewarded
38:16
for playing in the SEC. They play a tougher schedule.
38:20
But then like you said, you know, the strength
38:23
of schedule changes throughout the season. You
38:25
may think this school's good at the beginning
38:27
of the year and they may not end up being good.
38:29
So I think there's a lot that goes into the college
38:31
one. And I just think the baseball writers are
38:36
trying to act holier than now. And they just...
38:40
Like you said for spite they won't vote for a
38:43
guy because they like well, he wasn't nice to
38:45
me So I'm not gonna vote for him. Well, that's
38:47
got nothing to do with how he played on the field
38:49
Yeah, and that's been around for Years where
38:54
I mean and I'm and I'm just to kind of put a
38:57
bow on this and it made me laugh It made me laugh
39:01
hard the I think I think at this point in our
39:06
lives kind of the older curmudgeon grandpas in
39:12
sports media is, you know, Tony Kornheiser and
39:16
Michael Wilbon. Did you hear what Michael Wilbon
39:19
said about how he felt about Notre Dame? No.
39:24
He said he said, I hate Notre Dame. I've always
39:28
hated Notre Dame. And the thing that that was
39:31
flooring about it was. It was clear that that
39:36
was how he'd always felt. And if you were to
39:40
go back for years, you could probably find things
39:43
where he'd criticize Notre Dame, but the door
39:46
had opened up with an opportunity for him to
39:48
kind of say everything that everybody else was
39:50
saying about Notre Dame, where before he had
39:53
to be objective, serious journalism guy, and
39:56
he couldn't say those types of things. But of
39:59
course we know what year it is. We're in the
40:02
era of Colin Coward and, you know, screaming
40:05
A Smith and you can just say whatever now, like
40:08
no one's going to hold it against you. So for
40:11
Will Bond to kind of pile on and say, yeah, I've
40:13
always hated Notre Dame. And, and now that just
40:15
kind of shows you the bias that if someone like
40:17
him who is, I mean, incredibly well respected.
40:22
Like, very well respected, and you would hope
40:25
that he would have the objectivity to not be
40:28
able to hold how he feels about a team against
40:32
them. But let's just say he's one of those people
40:34
that's on the committee. Let's say he just happens
40:37
to be... If Michael Wilbon, somebody who's been
40:39
on TV for 25 years doing PTI, the lead -in to
40:44
Sports Center, and he comes out and says that,
40:47
it's just an interesting perspective to hear
40:49
him... come out and say that, you know, toward
40:52
the end of his end of his career on television
40:55
and just make it clear like, yeah, I have always
40:57
hated Notre Dame. I'm pretty sure there's someone
40:59
in that room that may feel the same way. And
41:02
maybe it's not toward Notre Dame. Maybe it's
41:04
toward some other team that they have some, you
41:06
know, that their alma mater, you know, plays
41:08
them every year. So it's like, yeah, I don't
41:10
like this, you know, or my son goes to this school.
41:12
So now I hate that school. You know, it's just,
41:15
it's all ridiculous and When you have these people
41:18
involved, you're going to have the feelings and
41:20
the emotions and the biases that come with them.
41:23
And it's an imperfect system. But I think that
41:26
it's working specifically how it's designed to
41:30
work is to be imperfect. So that way you can
41:33
manipulate situations and get it to be what you
41:35
want it to be. Fair enough. Yeah, I'm not lying.
41:43
Wilbon did say that. The audio is actually kind
41:46
of funny too. I believe it. Alright, so that
41:59
is another episode of Fanatically Speaking. I
42:01
am Kent, the co -host and promoter. Am log off
42:04
the log off legend the hater of social media.
42:06
I am the co -host and producer of the show Thanks
42:09
again for listening to another episode of fanatically
42:12
speaking We are all over all the social media
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platforms tick -tock Facebook Instagram YouTube
42:21
Kent where can they listen? Can't they listen
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us on every podcast platform? Every major podcast
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platform there may be something that we don't
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know about but no one's listening on those It's
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the main ones. Mostly everyone listens on Apple,
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Spotify, Amazon. I think there's iHeartRadio.
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There's other ones. But yeah, anywhere there's
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podcasts, we are there. We are out there. Go
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listen to us. Again, interact with us on social
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a friend, phone a friend. and uh yeah just keep
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us keep us going man like i said listen to us
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and then uh you know share get it out share share
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like post review um follow yeah all right that's
43:15
all i got yep same thing