Latest / Pittsburgh Sports Memories / BONUS EPISODE: Pgh Sports Current Events - October 8, 2026

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BONUS EPISODE: Pgh Sports Current Events - October 8, 2026 · Pittsburgh Sports Memories

0:00
SPEAKER_01: Hello and welcome to a jam-packed episode of Pittsburgh Sports Memories Current Events.
0:05
SPEAKER_01: Uh I'm Steve Wert, and I'm joined by I'm Tim Hannon.
0:11
SPEAKER_01: Do you feel like we got a lot to talk about, Tim?
0:15
SPEAKER_02: We have a ton to talk about, so let's get to it.
0:17
SPEAKER_01: All right.
0:18
SPEAKER_01: As in the words of the immortal Laszlo Holmes, let's do that hockey.
0:26
SPEAKER_01: Um, hey, the Pens opened up their season, and uh boy did they ever.
0:31
SPEAKER_01: Uh by the time I turned realized the game was on, I turned it on.
0:34
SPEAKER_01: It was five to nothing.
0:36
SPEAKER_01: And then before you know it, it was seven to nothing.
0:39
SPEAKER_01: So uh yeah, they blew the Flyers out seven to nothing.
0:42
SPEAKER_01: It's been a bad week in uh Philadelphia sports, huh, Tim?
0:46
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's a shame.
0:47
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
0:47
SPEAKER_01: Phillies get eliminated, Flyers get blown out, Eagles blow big lead late in the game.
0:53
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
0:53
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
0:54
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
0:54
SPEAKER_02: Couldn't happen to nicer fans.
0:57
SPEAKER_01: So Silvas with the shutout.
1:00
SPEAKER_01: Um, I think I've read somewhere 14 out of 20 players on the roster scored a point.
1:06
SPEAKER_02: Sounds about right.
1:06
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that was it was a massacre.
1:09
SPEAKER_02: That's a nice way to start the season, but it's yeah, it doesn't yeah.
1:13
SPEAKER_01: I mean, people are like, oh, that makes up for the uh playoff loss.
1:16
SPEAKER_01: No, it it really doesn't, but hey, I mean, if that makes you feel better, I guess.
1:22
SPEAKER_01: Um Penn's then played Montreal, they win six to five.
1:27
SPEAKER_01: Um, in a game they gave up the lead.
1:29
SPEAKER_01: They had a four-goal lead, they gave it up, but then they scored in overtime.
1:33
SPEAKER_01: I think it was Malkin.
1:34
SPEAKER_02: No, it was Novak.
1:36
SPEAKER_01: That's right, it was Novak.
1:37
SPEAKER_01: But Malkin fell in the puck.
1:40
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, right.
1:42
SPEAKER_01: Um so uh and then they lost to the Jets three to two.
1:46
SPEAKER_01: There goes the dream of 82-0.
1:49
SPEAKER_01: So darn.
1:50
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:51
SPEAKER_01: Um fun home opener.
1:53
SPEAKER_01: They probably need to get better in the third period.
1:55
SPEAKER_01: Didn't they do that a lot last year, blowing leads in the third?
1:58
SPEAKER_02: They did.
1:59
SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's discouraging.
2:01
SPEAKER_02: It's it's gonna be like it's it's all the team all the Pittsburgh teams are kind of at this similar crop crossroads because it's like so Murishaw made the team as the backup goalie.
2:14
SPEAKER_02: So is he gonna is he gonna eventually come is he eventually gonna be the guy?
2:18
SPEAKER_02: Because I it's it's one of those things where it's like you know, and then same with questions with a bunch of the other young guys.
2:24
SPEAKER_02: You know, Kindle started the season, hurt, he's back now.
2:27
SPEAKER_02: Like, can these young guys um step up and start being the future?
2:32
SPEAKER_02: I think that's really gonna be the question this season.
2:35
SPEAKER_01: Future?
2:37
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
2:37
SPEAKER_01: It really hockey really doesn't get serious till Thanksgiving.
2:40
SPEAKER_02: It it doesn't.
2:42
SPEAKER_02: But again, nice, nice way to start the season, regardless.
2:44
SPEAKER_02: You always want to kill Philly.
2:46
SPEAKER_01: As Meatloaf used to say, two out of three ain't bad.
2:49
SPEAKER_01: That's right.
2:52
SPEAKER_01: All right, on the food football Palooza.
2:55
SPEAKER_01: Kind of a mixed bag here, huh, Tim?
2:58
SPEAKER_01: We got a little bit of everything, too.
2:59
SPEAKER_01: We got trades, we got injuries, we got coaches.
3:02
SPEAKER_02: Controversial in the yeah, yeah.
3:05
SPEAKER_01: What what the heck didn't happen?
3:08
SPEAKER_01: Um so uh Pitt versus Virginia Tech.
3:11
SPEAKER_01: Uh Pitt wins 35-3, or did they?
3:15
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, it was a weird game.
3:19
SPEAKER_01: Like, so Virginia Tech uh kind of has the lead for a lot of the game, and then Pitt takes the lead by 11 late in the second half and then blows the lead after you know their quarterback, their starting quarterback gets hurt.
3:35
SPEAKER_01: But the backup didn't play bad.
3:37
SPEAKER_01: He didn't turn the ball over and he threw a touchdown, you know, made made a pass when he needed to.
3:42
SPEAKER_01: So um I thought the defense had four turnovers, which should win you most games.
3:48
SPEAKER_01: Um Ethan Grunkmeyer for Virginia Tech was had 434 yards passing, but he had three touchdowns, two interceptions, I think a couple, at least a fumble or two, also.
3:59
SPEAKER_02: So yeah, he he made some mistakes, but he looked really good.
4:05
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he did.
4:07
SPEAKER_01: Um Pitt for their part, height High before he got hurt was 10 for 18, 113 yards and a touchdown, and then grind greener, griner, green, greener green, I don't know.
4:18
SPEAKER_01: Eight, eight for twelve, seventy-eight yards and a touchdown.
4:21
SPEAKER_01: So um the rushing um 14 for 65 for Turner, uh four point yards a clip, and then Ferguson 60 six rushes for three or thirty-one yards or five point two yards a clip.
4:34
SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, I I think you know it's a big win for Pitt.
4:38
SPEAKER_01: They're five and oh going into playing the fighting Bill Belichicks.
4:42
SPEAKER_01: You wonder how much like stolen tape Bill Belichick has on Pitt.
4:48
SPEAKER_01: How much spying is going on right now?
4:52
SPEAKER_01: Is that enough to keep Pat Narduzzi up at night?
4:55
SPEAKER_02: Uh yeah, that was that was a that was a big win.
4:59
SPEAKER_02: It feels really bad because he lost Mason.
5:04
SPEAKER_02: Like we were talking last week about you know, he had those two kind of like subpar games, um, and the only two really good games were against the you know Miami and uh what Bucknell or whatever.
5:17
SPEAKER_02: And it's like then this week that Virginia Tech game, the whole they started slow, but then he was on.
5:24
SPEAKER_02: Man, he was on having Boozy Turner back really helped.
5:27
SPEAKER_02: Like one thing that I'm learning about this Cade Bell offense, it really needs a dynamic running back.
5:33
SPEAKER_02: And him being back made all the difference.
5:35
SPEAKER_02: It's like, okay, now this is the pit offense that we expected.
5:39
SPEAKER_02: They build a lead, they're gonna run away with this, they're gonna beat a 4-0 Virginia Tech team in Blacksburg, and then he tears his ACL.
5:48
SPEAKER_02: And it's like, man, that that's just that's brutal.
5:52
SPEAKER_02: Like, I'm not sure.
5:52
SPEAKER_02: That's I hate to say that's the season, but but I'm not sure.
5:57
SPEAKER_02: I you know, I don't hold Holden, are we gonna talk about Holden Gurner?
6:02
SPEAKER_02: Because he he was a backup quarterback for Texas State last year.
6:08
SPEAKER_01: He's been everywhere.
6:10
SPEAKER_02: But but I mean, he couldn't start for Texas State.
6:14
SPEAKER_02: So but I'm like, I'm rooting for him.
6:16
SPEAKER_02: And you're right, he came in, he made some throws.
6:18
SPEAKER_01: How about how about like uh what's his name?
6:20
SPEAKER_01: Eli Colste?
6:22
SPEAKER_01: Doesn't he wish he was still here, huh?
6:25
SPEAKER_02: No, I'm thinking I don't.
6:29
SPEAKER_02: Um offense.
6:31
SPEAKER_02: I just I I know I know what Eli Holstein can do, and it it involves a lot of interceptions in the end zone.
6:38
SPEAKER_02: But but yeah, he he made some good throws, but they also like they had him totally handcuffed.
6:44
SPEAKER_02: You know, the whole uh fourth quarter they were throwing you know screen passes and you know, which I make sense.
6:51
SPEAKER_02: They had an 11-point lead, you know, and they were just playing it safe.
6:55
SPEAKER_02: I I get it, but man, like if you're gonna if he's gonna be the start of the rest of the season, please just come out and just let him play the same way Mason did.
7:02
SPEAKER_02: If he's not good, then fine.
7:04
SPEAKER_02: Right?
7:04
SPEAKER_02: But you're not gonna like it the temptation is gonna be there because Pitt has a pretty good defense this year.
7:10
SPEAKER_02: It's a it's something like a top five defense in terms of points allowed per game.
7:14
SPEAKER_02: So like the temptation's gonna be there to just like, well, we can play safe.
7:19
SPEAKER_02: We have a we have a good running game and we have a good defense.
7:22
SPEAKER_02: It's like I want to see if this kid can actually play quarterback or not.
7:25
SPEAKER_02: And if he can't, then okay, that's the season, so be it.
7:29
SPEAKER_01: Well, I think there there's gonna be a time in some games where it comes down to that where he's gonna have to complete a pass or two.
7:36
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
7:36
SPEAKER_01: But in college football, you can be one-dimensional and go pretty far.
7:40
SPEAKER_01: Like the 2018 season proved that pretty definitively.
7:45
SPEAKER_01: And I mean, who does Pitt have left besides the fighting cheater squads?
7:51
SPEAKER_02: I mean well, they have the whole ACC schedule.
7:54
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so and but it's not like Florida State.
7:56
SPEAKER_01: They have Boston College, Florida State, who might be good.
8:01
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
8:01
SPEAKER_02: They have Cal.
8:02
SPEAKER_02: I think Cal's having a decent season so far.
8:04
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
8:05
SPEAKER_01: Miami's the only game that like you can probably chalk that up as a loss.
8:09
SPEAKER_01: That's in Miami.
8:10
SPEAKER_01: They've won one time since the Johnson administration.
8:15
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it it's not the Andrew Johnson administration, at least, but they got they got Boston College after North Carolina, Boston College, Miami, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Louisville, and California.
8:29
SPEAKER_01: That that's a that's a good schedule, but it's not an impossible schedule.
8:35
SPEAKER_01: Yeah they they can go, they can go like what lose probably two out of win every one.
8:40
SPEAKER_01: I mean, if they win every and just lose two games, lose to Miami in one other game, I would call that a successful season.
8:46
SPEAKER_01: That's gonna put them like what nine or ten wins.
8:49
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
8:51
SPEAKER_01: And they can still they would probably still make the championship game, Tim.
8:56
SPEAKER_02: So a bunch of interesting.
8:58
SPEAKER_01: I don't think I don't think I don't think the championship game's out of the question yet.
9:02
SPEAKER_01: Not that I I mean this guy might suck, this this backup quarterback.
9:05
SPEAKER_01: He might just be like Nate Yarn L where it's just too much.
9:12
SPEAKER_01: But if he's just mediocre or not great, like and they can just run the ball, they they're gonna win some games too.
9:21
SPEAKER_01: I I don't think the season's a complete loss yet.
9:24
SPEAKER_01: Now, now talk to me after Boston College game, and then maybe I'll have a different opinion, but I at least want to give them a couple games to see what they can do.
9:34
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, I'm that's good.
9:36
SPEAKER_02: I like your optimism.
9:37
SPEAKER_02: I I'm I'm feeling a little better about it than I was, you know, whenever they announced Mason was out for the season.
9:43
SPEAKER_02: Um it just sucks though, because it's like, man, he was this was gonna be his year to really come into his own, and now he's not gonna get that, and the team's not gonna get that.
9:53
SPEAKER_02: But like you said, it it's not a total loss.
9:55
SPEAKER_02: And they're they are 5-0, they are ranked now.
9:58
SPEAKER_02: Um and man, it was fun beating Virginia Tech.
10:02
SPEAKER_02: James Franklin is such a bad coach, man.
10:05
SPEAKER_02: Like, he's he's it's just fun beating him.
10:10
SPEAKER_02: And in that series where Mason got hurt, Pitt scored a touchdown by aft af the play after he got hurt, they ran the ball six times for 54 yards.
10:21
SPEAKER_02: How do you not adjust to the fact that backup quarterback just came in?
10:26
SPEAKER_02: And they did adjust the next series.
10:27
SPEAKER_02: They started putting eight guys in the box and daring Holden Gurner to throw the ball.
10:33
SPEAKER_02: But like that series where he comes in cold, how do you how do you not just defend, how do you just sell out totally against the run?
10:39
SPEAKER_02: Again, like I said, James Franklin's just not a good coach.
10:44
SPEAKER_01: Uh, I mean he did coach Penn State to all those wins.
10:48
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
10:49
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
10:49
SPEAKER_02: Penn State made it really far under him.
10:51
SPEAKER_02: Did great.
10:53
SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
10:54
SPEAKER_02: All those championships they won.
10:56
SPEAKER_01: He's a good recruiter.
10:58
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I guess now he's a good paycheck writer.
11:00
SPEAKER_01: I mean, is that what recruiting now is?
11:03
SPEAKER_01: You just sign a bunch of checks and hope you have enough money to outbid the whatever SEC or Notre Dame.
11:10
SPEAKER_01: That's what's fun, is people like ever since they got the NIL and it's not cheating anymore.
11:16
SPEAKER_01: And it's so funny to watch all these like SEC and like Clemson schools, like, oh, where does Notre Dame get all this money?
11:23
SPEAKER_01: Notre Dame has always had this kind of money.
11:25
SPEAKER_01: They have a way bigger fan base than you, Georgia, Alabama always have, always will.
11:31
SPEAKER_01: They have a national fan base, they have their own freaking network, not the Big Ten network, it's NBC.
11:38
SPEAKER_01: It should be the Notre Dame broadcasting network.
11:41
SPEAKER_01: That's how much money they have, Dabo.
11:44
SPEAKER_01: They have like their fans sell out stadiums, like that they'll pay$200 a ticket.
11:49
SPEAKER_01: Like Pitt used to make you buy season tickets to go to Notre Dame games.
11:53
SPEAKER_01: The Notre Dame fans would buy the season tickets just to go to I you just don't understand what the fan base is there.
12:00
SPEAKER_01: Right.
12:01
SPEAKER_01: But I digress.
12:02
SPEAKER_02: Um, so what did you think about the ending?
12:05
SPEAKER_02: Did you think the kid made the field goal?
12:06
SPEAKER_01: I have no idea.
12:08
SPEAKER_01: Why?
12:08
SPEAKER_01: Doesn't mind remember we talked about that Joe Paterno game in one of our podcasts where he called a game and you couldn't tell if the kick went through or not?
12:15
SPEAKER_01: It was the exact same situation.
12:17
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
12:18
SPEAKER_01: Oh, at my first glance, I was like, oh, that looked like it went in.
12:20
SPEAKER_01: That was like, well, maybe it went over the top of the post.
12:24
SPEAKER_01: I have no idea.
12:25
SPEAKER_01: And I've seen people say, oh, who is it?
12:27
SPEAKER_01: The one guy in Alka.
12:29
SPEAKER_01: He's like an idiot.
12:30
SPEAKER_01: He's like a big SEC guy.
12:32
SPEAKER_01: Like he's like, oh, you got to raise the post up higher.
12:35
SPEAKER_01: Okay, how does that help you?
12:37
SPEAKER_01: I mean, why was there not a good angle of that?
12:40
SPEAKER_01: Like, there's like a million cameras at these games, and there wasn't an angle that like you could definitively say the I gotta say, I gotta take the ref's opinion.
12:49
SPEAKER_01: He's right underneath the post.
12:50
SPEAKER_01: He should be.
12:51
SPEAKER_01: I think it went over the post.
12:54
SPEAKER_01: Does that mean it's no good if it goes over the top of the post?
12:57
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what the rule is.
12:58
SPEAKER_02: The rule is that it still has to be inside the post, but at that point the post is imaginary because it would hit the post, right?
13:05
SPEAKER_01: In real life.
13:06
SPEAKER_01: Right.
13:07
SPEAKER_01: Like so if that kick was lower, they're assuming that it would have doinked off.
13:11
SPEAKER_02: Or if the post were higher.
13:13
SPEAKER_01: If the kick was lower, the post was higher.
13:16
SPEAKER_01: But it can doink and doink through, too.
13:18
SPEAKER_02: It can, but you can't you can't assume that.
13:21
SPEAKER_02: The rule is it has to be all the way inside the post.
13:23
SPEAKER_02: Now that's hard to see in like real time when you're standing underneath it.
13:27
SPEAKER_01: And there's no good angles.
13:28
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
13:29
SPEAKER_02: But standing underneath it is a better angle.
13:32
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
13:32
SPEAKER_01: Well, than whatever we have, yeah.
13:34
SPEAKER_02: And whatever we had.
13:34
SPEAKER_02: The the best angle I saw that looked like he actually missed was somebody with their cell phone camera in the stands.
13:40
SPEAKER_02: It was like a diagonal kind of angle.
13:42
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
13:43
SPEAKER_02: And that looked like he missed from that angle.
13:45
SPEAKER_02: But it's it's crazy that like the game end the kicker thought he made it.
13:49
SPEAKER_02: Kicker was celebrating.
13:50
SPEAKER_01: I don't blame them because it it looked it's that close.
13:53
SPEAKER_02: I talked to a I talked to a friend um earlier tonight who was at that game who's a who's a tech fan, and he said we all started jumping up and down because we thought it went in.
14:03
SPEAKER_02: And and it's like that that's what like my seat at Story games, when when Tyler Loop missed that field goal last year to put us in the playoffs, my angle I can't see.
14:12
SPEAKER_02: That was at my end of the field, but I can't really see.
14:15
SPEAKER_02: So I always watch the crowd behind the like when everybody started celebrating when the ball was in the air, that's when I knew he missed.
14:22
SPEAKER_01: But at the you want the Virginia Tech crowd, they start going nuts to be able to do that.
14:26
SPEAKER_01: That's what I'm saying there.
14:27
SPEAKER_02: It was the complete opposite.
14:28
SPEAKER_02: So it's like, oh my gosh, he made it, but then the ref start signaling, no, he didn't.
14:31
SPEAKER_02: I you really can't fix that problem easily.
14:34
SPEAKER_02: Like people are like, make the field goal post higher.
14:36
SPEAKER_02: You can't do that.
14:37
SPEAKER_01: Put a laser, like put laser pointers.
14:40
SPEAKER_02: You could do that, I guess, but you can't you can't like arch architecturally, you can't make the thing like you know, 90 feet tall because it won't stay upright.
14:48
SPEAKER_02: But you could do like lasers, you could do sensors.
14:51
SPEAKER_02: Steve, this happens like this is a controversy like once every 30 years.
14:55
SPEAKER_02: I don't know that it's really worth right.
14:57
SPEAKER_01: Well, like I said, the last time I saw something like this was I think it was the Nebraska game that Joe Paterno was calling, and but now that was low death TV without all the angles, and it was like, well, did it go through or not?
15:09
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
15:10
SPEAKER_02: The the only time I could remember this happening was literally 30 years ago was the um the AFC championship game where John L.
15:18
SPEAKER_02: Weighed the drive.
15:19
SPEAKER_02: Oh so they they John L.
15:22
SPEAKER_02: That drive sent the game into overtime, and then in overtime, Rich Carlos, the Broncos kicker, made the field goal and sent the Broncos to the Super Bowl.
15:29
SPEAKER_02: Well, there's still Cleveland fans to this day that say he missed it because if you watch the replay of that, it kind of goes over the one goalpost.
15:36
unknown: Oh, okay.
15:37
SPEAKER_02: Like very high, but they called it in.
15:38
SPEAKER_02: So it was the opposite of what happened to Virginia Tech.
15:42
SPEAKER_02: So yeah, it does happen, but it's rare.
15:44
SPEAKER_02: I I don't know how how much do you try to fix it?
15:47
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
15:47
SPEAKER_02: I can tell you one thing.
15:48
SPEAKER_02: I bet Pat Narduzzi was disrespected either way.
15:53
SPEAKER_01: Uh as you like to call him, Coach, Blowhard.
15:56
SPEAKER_01: In uh that should be instead of die hard, it should be blowhard.
15:59
SPEAKER_01: That would be his movie.
16:02
SPEAKER_01: Uh first after the game, he complains about the voters not putting Pitt in the top 25.
16:07
SPEAKER_02: Oh, here I have audio of it.
16:08
SPEAKER_02: Oh, here he is.
16:09
SPEAKER_02: This is this is this is classic Patton RD.
16:13
SPEAKER_00: Putin RDZ, what are your emotions right now?
16:16
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
16:17
SPEAKER_00: We gotta help the football team.
16:19
SPEAKER_00: Now leave those voters out there if they wake their ass up, okay, they might figure that out, okay?
16:24
SPEAKER_00: And I'll tell you what, we've been a damn good football team in Virginia Tech.
16:28
SPEAKER_02: That is too insufferable.
16:31
SPEAKER_01: I I I I know.
16:33
SPEAKER_01: It is what it is.
16:34
SPEAKER_01: It's just just it's just stupid, too, because like the voting really doesn't matter anymore.
16:39
SPEAKER_01: Unless I mean, I guess unless he's already like angling for losing the championship game and he wants to get in at a dollar, you're not getting in as as an at-large bid.
16:48
SPEAKER_01: I can tell you that right now.
16:49
SPEAKER_01: Unless you win the ACC championship, they aren't you're not getting in the college football playoffs.
16:55
SPEAKER_02: I don't think he's thinking that far ahead.
16:56
SPEAKER_02: I think he's just he's like the guy at like the sports bar, like, oh, don't and and like two things can be true at the same time.
17:03
SPEAKER_02: Like Narduzzi is the right coach for Pitt.
17:05
SPEAKER_02: He's a good coach.
17:06
SPEAKER_01: It's just annoying, but whatever.
17:09
SPEAKER_01: I wouldn't trade him for he's a good coach who wants to be here.
17:13
SPEAKER_01: Pitt hasn't had that since I can't not even Johnny Majors or Jackie Cheryl.
17:19
SPEAKER_01: Like Yeah, that's true, actually.
17:21
SPEAKER_02: And and so yeah, see, both things can be true.
17:24
SPEAKER_02: Like, he he wants to be here, he's the right coach.
17:26
SPEAKER_02: I wouldn't trade him, I wouldn't fire him, I wouldn't do any of those things, and he's incredibly insufferable.
17:33
SPEAKER_01: Well then well, then later this week he takes like another shot about the top 25.
17:38
SPEAKER_01: He says, Well, that team down the road got ranked because he was referring to Penn State, and Penn State is not very good this year.
17:44
SPEAKER_01: They lost to Wisconsin, who's pretty mediocre, and I think they lost to Minnesota too, didn't they?
17:50
SPEAKER_02: They've lost two, they've lost two games in a row.
17:52
SPEAKER_02: I can't remember.
17:53
SPEAKER_01: Oh, Northwestern.
17:54
SPEAKER_01: They got blown out by Northwestern, but that was Northwestern's home opener, but it wasn't even a close game.
18:00
SPEAKER_01: They got blown out by a lot of points.
18:02
SPEAKER_02: But but but like Penn State was ranked in the preseason poll.
18:06
SPEAKER_02: That didn't even matter even when the rankings still mattered.
18:09
SPEAKER_02: Like even before they had the playoff and the rankings actually mattered, the preseason poll means nothing.
18:13
SPEAKER_02: Like this if if you start playing games and you lose your first two conference games, then it doesn't matter.
18:18
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
18:19
SPEAKER_01: And on another point, going back to Pitt can make the championship game, this is where Cade Bell earns his money.
18:25
SPEAKER_01: You wanna you wanna prove you're a big time offensive coordinator?
18:29
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
18:29
SPEAKER_01: Hey, coach up uh whatever his name, Gurnier or whatever his name is.
18:35
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, if you get Gurner playing well and you get your offense running through him, hey, there you go.
18:41
SPEAKER_01: You're probably gonna be gone next year.
18:43
SPEAKER_01: Writing your own check to be a head coach somewhere in the SEC.
18:46
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's a really good point.
18:48
SPEAKER_02: He he's got a lot of opportunity to to show what a good coach he is.
18:52
SPEAKER_02: And like I said, I I do think that his offense needs that.
18:55
SPEAKER_02: It's I just couldn't believe the difference getting Turner back.
18:59
SPEAKER_02: Because they they miss him for the last two games, and it just it definitely made all the difference in the world.
19:03
SPEAKER_01: So that was And they got two other guys that are pretty good.
19:06
SPEAKER_01: They got the the Pounder guy, Lavell, and then they got that other guy who's that uh I mentioned him, uh Ferguson.
19:14
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's just a question of um, you know, can teams just stack against that because they're not gonna be able to get a lot of things.
19:21
SPEAKER_01: But that's fine, fine, do that.
19:23
SPEAKER_01: You know what?
19:23
SPEAKER_01: That's gonna make that much easier for Gurner then.
19:26
SPEAKER_01: Then he's gonna have a lot easier time.
19:28
SPEAKER_01: Like a running a running game is a quarterback's best friend.
19:30
SPEAKER_01: Now you're dictating, okay, you're gonna put 10 guys in the box.
19:34
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to be Dan Marino to beat that.
19:36
SPEAKER_01: You just have to be, you know, basically Pat Bostick.
19:41
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
19:42
SPEAKER_02: But again, can he do that?
19:44
SPEAKER_02: Can the backup quarterback for Texas State?
19:47
SPEAKER_02: You know, again, I I I don't mean to insult the kid.
19:50
SPEAKER_02: Like I I I just I'm just saying, he doesn't come with a lot of pedigree.
19:53
SPEAKER_02: That's all.
19:54
SPEAKER_01: You're skeptical.
19:55
SPEAKER_02: I'm skeptical, and I um you probably should be.
19:58
SPEAKER_02: But I'm really rooting for him for sure.
20:00
SPEAKER_01: Well, let's move on to the Steelers.
20:03
SPEAKER_01: Um do you want to talk about uh do you want to talk about a trade?
20:11
SPEAKER_01: Let's talk about trades.
20:13
SPEAKER_01: Um Joey Porter Jr.
20:15
SPEAKER_01: was traded to the Cowboys, and a funny thing happened.
20:18
SPEAKER_01: So if you ever have Tim, do you have any back problems?
20:22
SPEAKER_02: Uh sort of.
20:23
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I go to a chiropractor.
20:25
SPEAKER_01: Do you have any knee or any other ailments?
20:27
SPEAKER_01: Maybe no.
20:28
SPEAKER_01: Okay, well, if you ever do, I heard the cure for that is getting on a plane and flying to Dallas.
20:35
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it makes it a lot better, apparently.
20:37
SPEAKER_02: Right away.
20:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it heals your back.
20:40
SPEAKER_01: So instead of having all these expensive back surgeries and chiropractic treatments, you should get on a plane and fly to Dallas.
20:47
SPEAKER_01: So Joey Porter Jr.
20:49
SPEAKER_01: was traded.
20:50
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what'd they get, like a bag of footballs or something tomorrow.
20:54
SPEAKER_02: They got they did get a second round pick, but not until 2028.
20:57
SPEAKER_01: And they got like a fifth or sixth round pick or something.
21:00
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, for next year, yeah.
21:02
SPEAKER_01: Um obviously, you know, is this goodbye to bad rubbish or just a business decision?
21:08
SPEAKER_01: Um lying about the injury just may really make him look bad.
21:13
SPEAKER_01: Why couldn't he just hold out?
21:14
SPEAKER_01: Would that have been like the Le'Veon Bell situation?
21:17
SPEAKER_01: Then it would have cost him a ton of money.
21:19
SPEAKER_02: Oh and then and then it gives the Steelers all the leverage.
21:22
SPEAKER_02: Because if he holds out, it's like, go ahead, don't play.
21:25
SPEAKER_02: We won't pay you.
21:27
SPEAKER_02: Good luck with that.
21:28
SPEAKER_02: Right?
21:28
SPEAKER_02: Like this is this sucks, it's terrible, but I get it from a certain perspective.
21:33
SPEAKER_02: Jalen Ramsey did it, Micah Parsons did it, and but that doesn't make it right.
21:37
SPEAKER_01: That's it, doesn't it?
21:39
SPEAKER_01: And it's and it makes you you look like idiots.
21:40
SPEAKER_01: That's why I never liked Jalen Ramsey.
21:42
SPEAKER_01: Like he's a good player, but I don't really like it.
21:44
SPEAKER_01: Like, I kind of put him in the same boat as like Antonio Bryant Brown and um Levy Gon Bell.
21:50
SPEAKER_01: It's like you're just kind of an idiot.
21:52
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
21:53
SPEAKER_02: It's dishonest, it's skeezy, it's all those things.
21:58
SPEAKER_02: And at the same time, like the team.
22:00
SPEAKER_02: The owners have all the leverage.
22:02
SPEAKER_02: And like Le'Veon Bell has to feel so stupid after seeing all that, because he literally sat out and gave up a whole season's worth of salary for his holdout.
22:12
SPEAKER_02: And it's like, man, if he just would have been like, oh my back, oh my back, then he would have got paid the whole time.
22:17
SPEAKER_02: And it's really hard to like the NFL.
22:19
SPEAKER_02: I'm sure the NFL, there's too much money at stake.
22:22
SPEAKER_02: I'm sure the NFL is going to fix this somehow.
22:24
SPEAKER_02: I just don't know how.
22:27
SPEAKER_02: But but like the fact that he got on a like he was out for a Thursday night game, literally declared out because of an injury, and then played on Sunday for a different team.
22:37
SPEAKER_02: The the Steelers should absolutely follow a grievance.
22:40
SPEAKER_02: They should file a grievance.
22:41
SPEAKER_01: With who?
22:42
SPEAKER_01: The union?
22:43
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
22:44
SPEAKER_02: Get their money back.
22:45
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
22:46
SPEAKER_02: Why were they paying him for three weeks to fake an injury?
22:49
SPEAKER_02: They have plenty of proof that he was faking the injury at this point.
22:52
SPEAKER_02: But I don't think they will because they don't want to because it'll upset other players and it'll you know what I mean?
22:57
SPEAKER_02: It's like a delicate balance.
22:58
SPEAKER_02: Well.
22:59
SPEAKER_02: That's that's by the way, Steve, that's one of the things we don't talk about in sports enough today.
23:04
SPEAKER_02: Is um I was at the game this summer where Jared Jones had a perfect game going through seven innings and Clint Hurdle took him out.
23:12
SPEAKER_01: Clint Hurdle, the other guy.
23:13
SPEAKER_01: Clint Hurdle, um, Don Kelly.
23:16
SPEAKER_01: Gosh.
23:17
SPEAKER_01: Jim Leland, I think.
23:18
SPEAKER_02: With wishful thinking my way into a different manager.
23:22
SPEAKER_01: Jim Leland and uh Danny Murtaugh made the decision of the poll.
23:27
SPEAKER_02: Um Tanner was on the bench too.
23:31
SPEAKER_02: Fred Clark, can we go back out for it?
23:34
SPEAKER_02: Uh um, but but one of the things that you know somebody pointed out to me later is that that yeah, it's like it's just so dumb managers pulling guys because there's a pitch count, and even though they have a perfect game, what what that does when they don't do it is agents notice it, and then agents are trying to steer their guys away from you know teams that aren't going to comply with that kind of stuff.
23:59
SPEAKER_02: Well, this they're just gonna work you to death.
24:01
SPEAKER_02: Your arm's gonna fall off if you sign there.
24:04
SPEAKER_02: So there's this whole like delicate balance that sports teams have to do now.
24:07
SPEAKER_02: Players have so much more power, which in some ways is really good.
24:10
SPEAKER_02: I know people hate that, but it is like it was it was garbage that owners had all the advantage for so many years.
24:16
SPEAKER_02: But but then there's things like do the Steelers try to get their money back?
24:19
SPEAKER_02: Because if they do that, that's gonna ruffle feathers across the league.
24:23
SPEAKER_01: Hey, you know what?
24:24
SPEAKER_01: You know what ends it all is fans stop showing up and paying.
24:28
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
24:29
SPEAKER_01: That's what ends it all.
24:31
SPEAKER_02: Totally agree.
24:32
SPEAKER_02: And and it will never happen.
24:34
SPEAKER_02: And we're we're sitting here talking about it.
24:36
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's true.
24:37
SPEAKER_01: We're part of the problem, we're part of the problem.
24:39
SPEAKER_01: Shame on us, Tim.
24:41
SPEAKER_01: Shame on us.
24:42
SPEAKER_02: So here's here's a good question.
24:44
SPEAKER_02: Because I heard people being like, oh, Omar Khan's in over his head.
24:47
SPEAKER_02: Omar Khan doesn't know what he's doing.
24:48
SPEAKER_02: And Omar Khan's made some the the Steelers as an organization has made lots of mistakes over the past five, six years.
24:55
SPEAKER_02: I I I gotta defend him a little bit in this one.
24:58
SPEAKER_02: I I'm not sure what other options they had, because people are like, oh, just make them just make him sit the bench all year.
25:05
SPEAKER_02: But that's not what was happening.
25:06
SPEAKER_02: It wasn't Le'Veon Bell.
25:08
SPEAKER_02: So what happened in the so they have three practices every week, right?
25:12
SPEAKER_02: And and after each practice, they dec they have to declare injuries.
25:15
SPEAKER_02: Right.
25:16
SPEAKER_02: So practice number one, Joey Porter, full participant for Cleveland.
25:20
SPEAKER_02: Practice number two, Joey Porter, full participant for Cleveland.
25:23
SPEAKER_02: Practice number three, which in this instance happened to be the day before the game, oh my back, I can't play.
25:29
SPEAKER_02: How do you how do you go into the rest of the season if that's gonna happen every week?
25:34
SPEAKER_02: Your game planning that he's gonna play.
25:38
SPEAKER_02: He's part of the, you know, he makes a difference.
25:41
SPEAKER_02: It's a huge difference maker in whatever game plan you're rolling out in terms of your coverage and everything.
25:46
SPEAKER_02: Especially if you're going against like a Jamar Case or somebody like that.
25:50
SPEAKER_02: And so you're you're you know, okay, full full participant, full participant, oh, oh, oh my back, I can't play.
25:56
SPEAKER_02: So they couldn't go through a whole season like that.
25:58
SPEAKER_02: It was gonna kill the locker room, it was gonna kill the coaching, any ability for the coaches to plan anything.
26:04
SPEAKER_02: So they thought that they were negotiating in good faith.
26:07
SPEAKER_02: They thought, you know, in the history of the Steelers, people either hold out or they sign.
26:12
SPEAKER_02: And this was something different that they never experienced before.
26:16
SPEAKER_02: So I I I just don't know what else they were supposed to do, I guess is my question.
26:19
SPEAKER_02: What what else would you have done if you were a Mark on?
26:21
SPEAKER_01: Do they still they s I guess they still don't negotiate during the season?
26:27
SPEAKER_02: No.
26:28
SPEAKER_01: That that Michael Robinson was like really critical of the Steelers, and what did that guy ever win?
26:33
SPEAKER_01: You know, even at the end of the day.
26:36
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
26:36
SPEAKER_01: He said, Oh, it's an archaic rule.
26:39
SPEAKER_01: I I don't know.
26:40
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's a rule, and everybody knows it.
26:42
SPEAKER_01: And you know, if you're not signed by the end of training camp, then maybe you should ask to be traded dead.
26:48
SPEAKER_02: That that also assumes that with just oh, just one or two more weeks of negotiating, they would have got a deal done.
26:54
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
26:54
SPEAKER_02: Like, it's not like they ran out of time.
26:56
SPEAKER_02: This has been going on for months and months and months.
26:59
SPEAKER_02: So like you're you're assuming people that criticize that, maybe it is an archaic role, I don't know.
27:04
SPEAKER_02: But people are assuming that well, the the problem was they just needed more time.
27:08
SPEAKER_02: It wasn't that they were so far apart, they just needed more time.
27:10
SPEAKER_02: I don't believe that.
27:11
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think they were never going to come to an agreement.
27:15
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
27:15
SPEAKER_02: Agreed.
27:16
SPEAKER_02: So so I go back to then what what are your if you're Omar Khan, what do you if you go back in time, what do you do differently?
27:22
SPEAKER_01: I think also, Tim, and I've noticed this over my years of sports fandom, and every and I I wish I could cite more examples, but like every time a coach comes in, like he chases off like a good player.
27:35
SPEAKER_01: Every time there's a coaching change.
27:37
SPEAKER_01: And it it it's happened a lot more.
27:40
SPEAKER_01: And like it's sometimes just like a player and a coach just don't get along, and they're just good or they don't fit the system, or it just doesn't work out.
27:48
SPEAKER_01: And I think this is kind of a case of that.
27:50
SPEAKER_01: Like he just didn't like Joey Porter Jr.'s a lot of antics and his father's a lot of antics, and he you know, and that Tomlin put up with that kind of circus.
28:00
SPEAKER_01: And I'm really happy that Mike McCarthy doesn't.
28:04
SPEAKER_01: And I I know that makes our secondary weaker, but my god, that just makes the Steelers so much easier to root root for.
28:12
SPEAKER_01: And it's I I just don't think Mike McCarthy puts up with the circus.
28:15
SPEAKER_01: And that's what this year like he's not gonna put up with people, uh TJ Watt putting on the headset, yelling at his defensive coordinator.
28:23
SPEAKER_01: I get the feeling that's gonna stop or guys are just gonna leave after the season.
28:27
SPEAKER_01: And you know, they're they're good players, but especially on that defense, they're a lot of older guys, so we'll we'll s we'll see what happens, but there might be more guys that get chased off just because they don't, you know, they're used to Tomlin and his ways, and McCarthy's gonna run things differently.
28:42
SPEAKER_02: So yeah, yeah.
28:44
SPEAKER_02: But I mean, I I so I agree with you, and I also wonder that I mean this still all came down to a contract for him.
28:51
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that the Steelers weren't willing to pay whatever it is he wanted.
28:54
SPEAKER_01: I think he wanted top five and the Steelers were willing to go top ten.
28:58
SPEAKER_02: I bel I believe that too.
29:00
SPEAKER_02: And but but then like he got very like petty about it.
29:04
SPEAKER_02: Like that whole thing about like being a full participant, then then all of a sudden the day before the game, like that just totally held them hostage.
29:11
SPEAKER_02: But at the same time, they don't trade him if he doesn't do that.
29:15
SPEAKER_01: And then like now now his father's like, oh, I'm not a Steeler fan anymore.
29:19
SPEAKER_01: It's like that's just Joey Porter just talking about it.
29:22
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, time time won't yield those wounds, I think.
29:25
SPEAKER_02: But but you're right, it's like at this point, whatever.
29:28
SPEAKER_02: It it just sucks.
29:29
SPEAKER_02: It sucks the way the whole thing happened.
29:31
SPEAKER_01: Well, no one ever cleared the porters of having class.
29:35
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
29:35
SPEAKER_01: Right.
29:36
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
29:37
SPEAKER_02: I mean, and and the NFL, I just don't know what they do about this because you can't prove that somebody's faking an injury, especially if it's a back.
29:45
SPEAKER_02: Like if you tear your ACL, or if you say my, you know, there's something you can do an MRI on or an X-ray and prove that somebody's hurt or not hurt, that's fine.
29:53
SPEAKER_02: But back soreness, you can't prove that.
29:57
SPEAKER_02: Um, so I I don't know what the role could be.
30:00
SPEAKER_02: It could be something like if if you get traded mid-season, you have you can't play for X amount of weeks because yeah, I don't know.
30:08
SPEAKER_02: They'll do something.
30:09
SPEAKER_02: I guarantee the NFL will do something because they can't just keep having this every year.
30:13
SPEAKER_02: The everybody now knows the secret code.
30:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's the same agent that's been pulling this, too.
30:19
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
30:21
SPEAKER_01: So all right.
30:22
SPEAKER_01: Well, Browns be beaten Steelers, Tim.
30:25
SPEAKER_01: 24 to 27.
30:26
SPEAKER_01: Um, losing in Cleveland has become a habit.
30:29
SPEAKER_01: Not a habit that I want to keep.
30:31
SPEAKER_01: Uh five losses in a row.
30:33
SPEAKER_01: Um, the last win was Halloween in 2021.
30:37
unknown: Wow.
30:37
SPEAKER_01: I think that I I don't think that I think that was a Ben game.
30:40
SPEAKER_01: I don't think that was amazing.
30:41
SPEAKER_03: That would have been a Ben game, yeah.
30:43
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
30:43
SPEAKER_01: Um, the team's different, like they lost in a different way, but it's the same.
30:47
SPEAKER_01: And people are really complaining about the schedule.
30:50
SPEAKER_01: Like, I heard it again, like I was listening to some of the D V, like, you know, they have the little like DV show.
30:56
SPEAKER_01: And like they're they're like, oh, you know, the Steelers keep getting you know put against division opponents on Thursday.
31:02
SPEAKER_01: But everybody plays a division opponent.
31:04
SPEAKER_01: It's always a divisional game.
31:06
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what what they're talking about, but the the only thing they're talking about, well, it's back-to-back divisional opponents, but everybody plays like uh isn't every Thursday night game a divisional game?
31:18
SPEAKER_02: Not not every, but I mean a lot of them are like 90% of them.
31:22
SPEAKER_02: And it doesn't it doesn't matter.
31:23
SPEAKER_02: I mean you you the Thursday night games suck.
31:26
SPEAKER_02: I I do want to say that.
31:27
SPEAKER_01: It's the it's the worst game in football.
31:29
SPEAKER_01: It is the worst game in football, yeah.
31:31
SPEAKER_01: Because everybody's tired, nobody can play.
31:34
SPEAKER_02: It's just it's just it's a short week of prep.
31:36
SPEAKER_02: It's it's it's it's a bad product.
31:39
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
31:40
SPEAKER_01: I I wish they would get rid of it, but and they won't.
31:43
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
31:44
SPEAKER_01: Much like the Jaguars playing in London.
31:47
SPEAKER_01: Right.
31:47
SPEAKER_01: Why do they just give it up and move them to London already?
31:50
SPEAKER_04: Right.
31:51
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, early interception.
31:54
SPEAKER_01: I thought the Steelers were kind of like had momentum going on their side early in the game, and then Rogers throws that early interception that kind of got the Browns going.
32:03
SPEAKER_01: And quite honestly, the defense didn't get any pressure again, which is kind of scary.
32:09
SPEAKER_01: And um poor tackling too, and maybe that's once again that's a Thursday night game, they don't have a lot of practice.
32:16
SPEAKER_01: Um, Watson, for his part, was 24-33, 268 yards, a touchdown and interception.
32:23
SPEAKER_01: He had a bunch of almost fumbles and like that Junkins 17 carries for 53 yards, he really wasn't that effective.
32:31
SPEAKER_01: Like they're they're like rookie wide receivers were very effective.
32:36
SPEAKER_01: Um, the Steelers defense turned it up in the second half, but once again, it was like this is the same thing, like same thing with Drake May, who I I will come on to your side, Tim.
32:46
SPEAKER_01: Drake May did have a good week this week against Buffalo.
32:50
SPEAKER_01: Um they had Watson on the ropes.
32:53
SPEAKER_01: He was fumbling and stumbling around and falling apart, and the Steelers just couldn't put them away.
32:59
SPEAKER_01: There was like they get a turnover and they don't score any points.
33:02
SPEAKER_01: You have to punish a team when a team's you and it's not just field goal, at least a field goal, but uh you get a touchdown after a turnover, that's like putting the dagger in your opponent.
33:12
SPEAKER_01: That really is.
33:14
SPEAKER_01: I remember how many times like Tom Brady didn't turn the ball over much, but it seemed like anytime he did, like they the other team would never score.
33:22
SPEAKER_01: Be like, oh well, we can't score against the Patriots now.
33:24
SPEAKER_01: It's like I I just that's such a crucial part of football.
33:29
SPEAKER_01: Like, not just getting a turnover.
33:31
SPEAKER_01: Now, if you get a turnover at the end of the game that wins you the game or stops like under four minutes, you know, that's definitely a big thing.
33:39
SPEAKER_01: But when it's in the middle of the game with lots of time left, you have to score.
33:44
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, agreed.
33:45
SPEAKER_02: And it's it's it just goes back to the so the defense makes a play and then they trot out the 42-yard quarterback, and it's a slow plotting offense that he's leading.
33:57
SPEAKER_02: And and again, uh I'm gonna just say it every week.
34:01
SPEAKER_02: Like, I don't understand the point.
34:03
SPEAKER_02: I don't understand the point of playing Rodgers this year.
34:06
SPEAKER_01: Like well, he had three touchdowns and two interceptions.
34:09
SPEAKER_02: And and he and he and he came all the way back.
34:11
SPEAKER_02: He led them back to tie the game at the end uh before they lost it.
34:14
SPEAKER_01: And the receivers are still slow.
34:17
SPEAKER_02: The receivers still can't get open.
34:19
SPEAKER_01: Well, even when they do, like Roman Wilson finally gets open.
34:22
SPEAKER_01: Uh Rodgers hits him perfectly in stride.
34:25
SPEAKER_01: And he that should be a touchdown.
34:27
SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry, you're an NFL wide receiver, and he couldn't outrun anybody on the Browns.
34:32
SPEAKER_01: Like he he ends up getting tackled after 40 yards.
34:35
SPEAKER_01: That should be a touchdown, Tim.
34:37
SPEAKER_01: Like, are you an NFL wide receiver or not?
34:41
SPEAKER_02: It's it's it's amazing.
34:42
SPEAKER_02: I keep going back to, you know, again, everybody was like, oh, Mike Tomlin this, Mike Tomlin that.
34:46
SPEAKER_02: And and again, not going to rehatch that.
34:48
SPEAKER_02: Mike Tomman had many, many problems.
34:50
SPEAKER_02: They couldn't tackle under Mike Tomman, they can't tackle this year.
34:54
SPEAKER_02: The receivers couldn't get open under Mike Tomlin, the receivers can't get open this year.
34:58
SPEAKER_02: The quarterback's slow, and it's quarterback's still slow.
35:02
SPEAKER_02: Like it the offense is still just kind of plodding along.
35:05
SPEAKER_02: They can't, like you said, they can't take advantage of turnovers.
35:09
SPEAKER_02: It's just gonna be this way all season.
35:11
SPEAKER_02: It's not gonna, we're not gonna be in the top five draft picks.
35:15
SPEAKER_01: All all like problems that get solved in the offseason.
35:18
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they have become the Philadelphia Flyers, just stuck in the middle.
35:22
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, stuck in the middle.
35:23
SPEAKER_02: It's it's it's gonna be the same as Tomlin.
35:25
SPEAKER_02: I really bel I I hope not.
35:27
SPEAKER_02: I hope I'm wrong about that, because maybe, you know, so that's one theory that I subscribe to, but the other side of the coin could be hey, it's four games in, that they were playing on a short week.
35:38
SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, like give them a chance to gel.
35:41
SPEAKER_02: They were starting to gel by the end of the game.
35:42
SPEAKER_02: They were really starting to gel the week before in Cincinnati against Cincinnati.
35:46
SPEAKER_02: So maybe it just needs more time to come together.
35:48
SPEAKER_02: New coaches, new scheme.
35:50
SPEAKER_02: You know, be patient, Tim.
35:52
SPEAKER_02: Like, don't write off the whole season.
35:53
SPEAKER_02: But it just looks like it just looks like the same thing we've been stuck in the last seven years.
35:59
SPEAKER_01: Uh, were you upset by uh Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy yelling at each other and saying bad words to each other?
36:06
SPEAKER_02: I I I mean Andy Reid and Travis Kelsey screamed at each other during a Super Bowl that they won.
36:12
SPEAKER_01: So so no, I wasn't upset by I think it's just a working relationship, and they've just known each other for a long time.
36:19
SPEAKER_01: And I'm sure I've done stuff to annoy my boss, and as soon as I walk out of the office, he says the exact same thing about me that Mike McCarthy said about Aaron Rodgers.
36:30
SPEAKER_02: I I'm much more upset by Aaron Rodgers like taking sacks and having no way to like get out of pressure or or give the defense anything to do other than to just blitz him and cover our receivers who don't like to you know be open.
36:48
SPEAKER_02: That's much more upsetting than those two guys yelling at each other.
36:51
SPEAKER_02: Or TJ Watt yelling at anybody.
36:53
SPEAKER_02: I whatever.
36:54
SPEAKER_02: That's just all whatever.
36:55
SPEAKER_02: It's the heat of the moment.
36:56
SPEAKER_02: Guys yell that stuff happened all the time.
36:59
SPEAKER_02: Surprise everybody.
37:00
SPEAKER_02: That happened all the time before there were 40,000 cameras and microphones catching every last thing.
37:06
SPEAKER_02: That happened all the time.
37:09
SPEAKER_01: So the Steelers are two and two.
37:12
SPEAKER_01: Um, it's a mixed bag.
37:13
SPEAKER_01: I think, like you said, they're a borderline playoff team.
37:16
SPEAKER_01: Maybe they make the playoffs, maybe they don't.
37:18
SPEAKER_01: They're probably like last year, remember they made the playoffs because they got that freaky play in what, Detroit, and they got another lucky play along the way.
37:26
SPEAKER_01: So they're they're just gonna have it's gonna be like that again.
37:30
SPEAKER_01: If things break the way they want, they're gonna make the playoffs.
37:33
SPEAKER_01: If not, they're gonna probably be eight or nine wins and sitting at home.
37:38
SPEAKER_02: Yep, sounds about right.
37:39
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, um, hey, the Browns are leading the division.
37:43
SPEAKER_01: Suck on that, Mike Tomlin.
37:44
SPEAKER_01: They're three and one.
37:46
SPEAKER_02: What a what a great story.
37:47
SPEAKER_02: I mean, did you hear Kirk Per Kirk Herbstreet and Almeida talking about how Deshaun Watson has just overcome so much adversity, Steve.
37:55
SPEAKER_02: That poor guy, no one gave him a chance.
37:57
SPEAKER_04: No one gave him a chance.
37:58
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, what a what a disgusting like and I would be I honest to God, I would be rooting for the Browns because those fans deserve something.
38:06
SPEAKER_01: Anybody but Watson.
38:08
SPEAKER_01: Well, that's the Browns are in such a terrible position once again, is like this is a contract year for him, isn't it?
38:14
SPEAKER_01: Again, yeah, it is like he's gonna have like a decent to good year, and they're gonna have to make like a really unpopular decision.
38:21
SPEAKER_01: I really hope they're not fooled by this.
38:24
SPEAKER_02: I don't I don't think I think they're ready to move on, regardless, unless they would like win the Super Bowl or something crazy like that, which they won't because they're the Browns.
38:32
SPEAKER_02: Um but but yeah, but what a scummy like like you really shouldn't be fooled by this because this is like fool's gold.
38:39
SPEAKER_01: It like even if he has like a decent season, I don't see him replicating that again next year.
38:45
SPEAKER_02: No, and and like no one should ever talk about adversity with him.
38:50
SPEAKER_02: He created all the adversity.
38:52
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he did.
38:53
SPEAKER_02: He had zero, zero remorse.
38:55
SPEAKER_02: Like, like you the I hope people in Pittsburgh appreciate Michael Vick a little bit better because I know everybody was so angry when we signed him, but that dude served time in prison, like was incredibly remorseful, wanted so badly to make amends for what he did, uh, has been a model citizen ever since then, and people were still angry that we signed him.
39:17
SPEAKER_02: Look at Watson, man, didn't didn't suffer one iota of anything, got the biggest contract in NFL history, all guaranteed money.
39:25
SPEAKER_02: It gets to mostly not play for the Browns the whole time.
39:28
SPEAKER_02: And then when they ask him, you know, do you regret anything?
39:31
SPEAKER_02: Nope.
39:32
SPEAKER_02: And also, these fans suck.
39:35
SPEAKER_02: What a great guy.
39:37
SPEAKER_01: Uh moving on to the Colts, Tim.
39:40
SPEAKER_01: Uh hey, the Steelers always seem to beat the Colts.
39:43
SPEAKER_01: So I I get the feeling they're gonna beat them.
39:45
SPEAKER_01: Is this in Indianapolis?
39:47
SPEAKER_03: This is a home game.
39:48
SPEAKER_01: Another, wow, second year in a row, we're at home against the Colts.
39:52
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
39:52
SPEAKER_01: So um, I don't know.
39:54
SPEAKER_01: Daniel Jones, is he good?
39:55
SPEAKER_01: Is he not?
39:56
SPEAKER_01: Who knows?
39:56
SPEAKER_01: Are the Colts any good or not?
39:58
SPEAKER_01: Who knows?
39:59
SPEAKER_01: The you know, whatever.
40:01
SPEAKER_01: Who's in the AFC South that's even good?
40:04
SPEAKER_02: Jacksonville's pretty decent.
40:06
SPEAKER_02: But yeah, right.
40:06
SPEAKER_02: The rest of that division is hot.
40:08
SPEAKER_01: Well, Houston's totally falling to pieces.
40:11
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
40:12
SPEAKER_02: By the way, Steve, all time series, Steelers 28 uh to eight.
40:18
SPEAKER_01: Against the Colts.
40:19
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
40:20
SPEAKER_01: I don't think the Colts have beaten us in Burke Jones.
40:23
SPEAKER_01: No.
40:23
SPEAKER_01: No, they've beaten us since then, I'm sure.
40:25
SPEAKER_02: They they did beat us twice.
40:27
SPEAKER_02: So they've this is the fourth year in order they've played each other.
40:30
SPEAKER_02: I'm sorry, this is the fifth year in order they've played each other.
40:33
SPEAKER_02: And they beat us in 23 and 24, we beat them in 22 and 25.
40:38
SPEAKER_01: Well, we got that going for us.
40:40
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
40:42
SPEAKER_01: Um, here's a fun thing to do.
40:44
SPEAKER_01: Uh, do you want to play penthouse or outhouse?
40:49
SPEAKER_01: And I don't mean the adult magazine.
40:52
SPEAKER_01: I run by Larry Flint.
40:54
SPEAKER_01: I mean, are these teams good or do they suck?
40:57
SPEAKER_01: Uh, the Ohio teams, the Browns 3-1, Bengals 2-2.
41:02
SPEAKER_01: Are the Browns any good, Tim?
41:04
SPEAKER_03: No.
41:06
SPEAKER_01: What about the Bengals?
41:07
SPEAKER_01: They're 2-2, and both are receivers, apparently, are now.
41:10
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think I think the Bengals will end up above the Browns in the division by the time it's all said and done.
41:17
SPEAKER_01: But I can absolutely think Baltimore's gonna win the division now?
41:21
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
41:23
SPEAKER_01: I I think the Bengals somehow still pull it off.
41:25
SPEAKER_01: I just I don't know.
41:26
SPEAKER_02: Maybe I I think all four teams in the division are flawed.
41:30
SPEAKER_02: And maybe that's how Cleveland ends up having a good season, also, because like they're playing Cleveland's playing the Jets this week.
41:37
SPEAKER_02: Like they have a they have a nice soft schedule, and I think the division is flawed.
41:42
SPEAKER_02: Although Baltimore does look pretty good, but now Lamar might be hurt.
41:45
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
41:46
SPEAKER_02: So yeah, I I don't know.
41:47
SPEAKER_02: I it's too early.
41:48
SPEAKER_02: Maybe maybe it's too early in the season to tell.
41:50
SPEAKER_02: I I can't write off Cleveland yet.
41:51
SPEAKER_02: I just I guess I just don't want Watson to do good.
41:54
SPEAKER_01: Uh, what about the Raiders?
41:56
SPEAKER_01: They're three and one and gave Kansas City everything they could handle.
42:00
SPEAKER_01: And uh I mean I mean they've the Raiders were at home in Vegas.
42:04
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
42:05
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
42:05
SPEAKER_02: Good for Kirk Cousins.
42:07
SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, what he's another guy, is like like remember we talked about that last there's like five, are they good or not?
42:14
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's like Dak Prescott, uh Kirk Cousins, I don't know.
42:20
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Michael, Michael Penix is quick quickly joining that list.
42:23
SPEAKER_01: It's like uh are you kind of good?
42:26
SPEAKER_01: Because Atlanta, Atlanta looks like world beaters now that they got a real quarterback.
42:30
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
42:31
SPEAKER_01: So uh the Chargers 0-4.
42:34
SPEAKER_01: I I guess the wheels have fallen off the Los Angeles Chargers.
42:38
SPEAKER_01: Hey, I said it right this time.
42:40
SPEAKER_02: They're they're a complete mess.
42:42
SPEAKER_02: They're just a complete mess.
42:43
SPEAKER_02: I don't know what happened to them.
42:44
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, hardball, like a hardball coach team.
42:47
SPEAKER_01: You thought they would uh the G-Man, three and one with uh with Mr.
42:53
SPEAKER_01: Turnover.
42:54
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
42:56
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I I I mean again, they don't have a quarterback, so it's hard to get he'll he'll throw 20 touchdowns, Tim.
43:03
SPEAKER_01: Now I'll throw 25 interceptions, but it'll still throw 20 touchdowns.
43:08
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
43:08
SPEAKER_02: I I don't know what to make of them either.
43:10
SPEAKER_02: I mean, again, like I I said last week, I'm kind of rooting for Harbaugh to succeed there, but that's gonna be hard without a quarterback.
43:17
SPEAKER_01: I have the Rams at one and two.
43:19
SPEAKER_01: I think they're actually two and two.
43:21
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they came back and won that game last week.
43:23
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
43:25
SPEAKER_01: Do they just have Philadelphia's number?
43:27
SPEAKER_02: I apparently, yeah.
43:30
SPEAKER_02: Well, the Philadelphia, Philadelphia looks really bad on offense, too.
43:34
SPEAKER_02: Like I I feel like Jalen Hurts, is he good?
43:37
SPEAKER_01: Is he not?
43:37
SPEAKER_01: I I I don't know.
43:39
SPEAKER_01: Is he just good at QB sneaking?
43:41
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
43:42
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
43:43
SPEAKER_02: Well, he looks really bad this year.
43:45
SPEAKER_02: I I had I benched him this week on my fantasy team because um he was just so he was killing me.
43:53
SPEAKER_02: And he he had a terrible not a terrible game, but he it was in a unproductive is the best word for it.
44:01
SPEAKER_02: So yeah.
44:02
SPEAKER_01: So Tim thinks the Rams might be good.
44:04
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't know about the Giants.
44:05
SPEAKER_01: Chargers stink.
44:07
SPEAKER_01: Raiders, who know maybe mediocre.
44:09
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
44:10
SPEAKER_02: What about the Vikings?
44:11
SPEAKER_02: Did you put them on the list?
44:12
SPEAKER_01: No, I did not because I don't know what to do with them either.
44:15
SPEAKER_02: Like you know what the record is?
44:17
SPEAKER_01: Is it four and oh?
44:18
SPEAKER_01: It's four-no.
44:19
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
44:20
SPEAKER_01: Like Kyler Murray.
44:22
SPEAKER_01: I don't I mean, four and oh.
44:25
SPEAKER_01: Is that the same uh a number as like Kyler Murray's height?
44:28
SPEAKER_01: Four foot.
44:30
SPEAKER_01: All right.
44:30
SPEAKER_01: I gotta all right.
44:32
SPEAKER_02: You'll be here all night.
44:33
SPEAKER_02: Hang on.
44:34
SPEAKER_02: Do you know that two of their four wins came without scoring a touchdown?
44:39
SPEAKER_01: Well, that's a credit to Kyler Murray for sure.
44:43
SPEAKER_01: But then they have Carson Wentz playing a game.
44:47
SPEAKER_02: So so Steve, there's a great stat that came out.
44:50
SPEAKER_02: Do you know that the you know the last NFL team to win two of their first four games by not scoring a touchdown?
44:56
SPEAKER_02: Do you know who it was?
44:58
SPEAKER_01: Probably like the 76 Steelers or something like that.
45:00
SPEAKER_02: The 1923 Cardinals.
45:04
SPEAKER_01: Chicago Cardinals.
45:06
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
45:06
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
45:07
SPEAKER_01: Did they win the championship that year?
45:09
SPEAKER_01: They did not.
45:13
SPEAKER_01: At least they weren't the car pits.
45:16
SPEAKER_01: So uh everybody likes to get upset about Mike Tomlin playing Minecraft.
45:21
SPEAKER_01: Apparently, like when he wasn't coaching the Steelers, he was in like Minecraft.
45:25
SPEAKER_01: And I'm not a big Minecraft person.
45:27
SPEAKER_01: I don't understand.
45:28
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I guess that's fun.
45:30
SPEAKER_01: It's as much as a hobby as anything else, right, Tim?
45:32
SPEAKER_01: I mean, some guys build like elaborate, like would have been better if he built like an elaborate model train set.
45:38
SPEAKER_01: I guess people just would have laughed at him more.
45:41
SPEAKER_01: But I guess he this is like a way of connecting with his kids because you know, like my kids play this, and um, you know, I don't know, people were like, oh, no wonder we haven't won a playoff game in 12 years.
45:53
SPEAKER_01: It's all Minecraft's fault.
45:55
SPEAKER_02: So yeah, that's that's that's people people have to stop letting Mike Talman live in their heads, Ryan Free.
46:02
SPEAKER_02: Like, like get over it.
46:03
SPEAKER_02: Like, he's not the coach anymore.
46:05
SPEAKER_02: He fired himself.
46:06
SPEAKER_02: You know he fired himself.
46:08
SPEAKER_02: He did fire himself.
46:10
SPEAKER_01: He's like, I'm fired, I stink.
46:13
SPEAKER_02: I mean, he did.
46:13
SPEAKER_02: I mean, he's he's come out and said that.
46:15
SPEAKER_02: He's basically said, like, I felt like I was holding the team back, and you know, they it's just time for a change.
46:20
SPEAKER_02: So, so fine.
46:21
SPEAKER_02: And again, like, why do we do this thing where we can't we have no nuance?
46:27
SPEAKER_02: It's like Mike Tomlin was a really good coach.
46:28
SPEAKER_02: Mike Tomlin did some really good things, and Mike Tomlin was really bad at the end.
46:33
SPEAKER_02: So was Chuck Knoll.
46:35
SPEAKER_02: Like, that happens, it's okay.
46:37
SPEAKER_02: And like now we have a different coach.
46:39
SPEAKER_02: So, so what did he just play in Minecraft?
46:41
SPEAKER_02: I I just this is all you know what I blame this once is all the internet's fault.
46:45
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you never would have known about this if it wasn't for the internet.
46:48
SPEAKER_02: Well, and and you wouldn't have had the opinion people being able to just spout out their opinion and it becoming like a a thing before social media.
46:57
SPEAKER_02: But I did watch, did you watch the video?
46:58
SPEAKER_01: It was something I watched a little bit of it.
47:01
SPEAKER_01: He likes aquariums a lot.
47:03
SPEAKER_01: It looked like it looked like it looked like Oakland or like shady side to me, like a lot of like high-rises, and there was a football, he said he was gonna go over to the baseball or football stadium later.
47:15
SPEAKER_02: It it was just so surreal because we know Mike Tomlin from press conferences and from like Tomlin speak and from not saying a whole lot.
47:24
SPEAKER_02: And he's sitting there like, and and what I like to I like to keep the bathrooms up to code when I put the bathrooms in.
47:30
SPEAKER_01: Minecraft! Does it matter?
47:33
SPEAKER_01: So what is he putting GFI outlets if it's within three feet of water source?
47:38
SPEAKER_01: He makes sure the temperature is not over a hundred degrees, Tim.
47:42
SPEAKER_01: It was hilarious, and like it's up to code.
47:45
SPEAKER_01: Like, are they ADA accessible?
47:48
SPEAKER_01: Is there at least one ADA?
47:50
SPEAKER_01: Does he have enough square foot for that window?
47:54
SPEAKER_02: And like he is a real person, right?
47:56
SPEAKER_02: It's just weird to hear him talk like that.
47:58
SPEAKER_01: And I you can make fun of every hobby.
48:01
SPEAKER_01: People are I I don't know.
48:03
SPEAKER_01: It's something for him to do.
48:05
SPEAKER_02: I don't think that was insight we ever got when he was coaching, and it was kind of cool to see that.
48:09
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
48:10
SPEAKER_01: Well, this is definitely like a spin-off of like Tony Dungey, Chuck Knoll kind of philosophy, like go home, do something else, your life's work.
48:18
SPEAKER_01: You know, um, Tony Dungey was a big guy on that.
48:21
SPEAKER_01: Bruce Arians is big on that too.
48:22
SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, have a life, you know, get out of the building, do something.
48:26
SPEAKER_01: You know, so and the guys who work all the time, the Dick Van Reels, Bill Belichick's.
48:31
SPEAKER_01: I mean, Dick Vermil's actually a nice guy, but Bill Belichick, who wants to be like that guy?
48:37
SPEAKER_01: So, whatever.
48:39
SPEAKER_02: I um I think that if if social media was around in 1988, people would have freaked out that Chuck Noel was conducting.
48:48
SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, that's right.
48:49
SPEAKER_01: He conducted the symphony.
48:51
SPEAKER_01: Well, moving on to our last bit of business here, and I'm sure we're all glad to hear this one.
48:57
SPEAKER_01: Uh, Tony Romo is out.
48:59
SPEAKER_01: What happened to Tony Romo?
49:01
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, he he finally he got kicked out because of his DWI stuff, um, driving all under the influence.
49:09
SPEAKER_01: He got a DUI and um he was drinking.
49:13
SPEAKER_01: But they I guess he's had a problem with substance abuse because he his back hurts, and no flights to Dallas will fix his back problems.
49:22
SPEAKER_01: So he he he turned to a lot of drugs and alcohol.
49:25
SPEAKER_01: And he he said he got off the drugs by going to alcohol, and then you know, maybe he's like Lloyd Bridges' character in airplane.
49:32
SPEAKER_01: I picked a bad week to stop that.
49:35
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
49:37
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
49:38
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that was that was surprising because I mean that guy was such a big star.
49:43
SPEAKER_02: Like he became a nine years.
49:44
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he had nine years, and boy, really what a fall from grace.
49:48
SPEAKER_01: Because when he first started, but it's like, oh my god, this guy's so great.
49:51
SPEAKER_01: And it was interesting when he could read a defense in the insight.
49:54
SPEAKER_01: I don't think like Tom Tom Brady's not very good.
49:58
SPEAKER_01: Like, he's very like monotone and like, oh yeah, like he just has no personality.
50:03
SPEAKER_01: He like I can see why he never did commercials or anything.
50:06
SPEAKER_01: He's very vanilla, like, there's no personality to Tom Brady.
50:10
SPEAKER_01: He's not like an interesting person to really listen talk, talk to.
50:14
SPEAKER_01: So maybe Tom should go back to not talking to the media how he did when he used to play.
50:20
SPEAKER_01: Except for Jim Gray.
50:21
SPEAKER_01: He can just like do appearances with Jim Gray.
50:24
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it it was surprising and it's unfortunate.
50:27
SPEAKER_02: And because at first you're like, wait, okay, I know he got a D D UI and that's bad, but like that that they're gonna fire him over that.
50:35
SPEAKER_02: But like you said, it it went much deeper than that, unfortunately.
50:38
SPEAKER_01: What's up with like CBS sportscasters getting like in serious legal trouble?
50:43
SPEAKER_01: Like Mark Sanchez, I guess we're never gonna see him again, huh?
50:47
SPEAKER_01: He's going to prison for a long time.
50:49
SPEAKER_02: He's not gonna be back ever.
50:51
SPEAKER_01: Long him and Tony Romo can hang out.
50:53
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
50:54
SPEAKER_02: No, no, I I think so so this week, the the Steel R quotes game, we have Nance coming.
51:00
SPEAKER_02: Jim Nance.
51:01
SPEAKER_01: And he's with uh he's with the other Watt.
51:04
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he's with KJ Watt.
51:05
SPEAKER_01: I like KJ Watt.
51:06
SPEAKER_01: He's okay, he's not bad.
51:08
SPEAKER_01: The guy they had doing the um, I forget what game, uh was it the Cincinnati game, Russ.
51:14
SPEAKER_01: Russ uh, oh I've heard he he's from like the eastern part of the state.
51:17
SPEAKER_01: He was like an offensive lineman for the Giants.
51:19
SPEAKER_01: He's okay too.
51:21
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think I think Romo was had the potential to be like that John Medden kind of like Yeah.
51:27
SPEAKER_02: You know, like like like you said, like like these all these rushes guys, they're fine.
51:31
SPEAKER_02: But every once in a while you get that guy that's just kind of like a different level.
51:35
SPEAKER_02: And Romo kind of had that potential, and it's yeah, it's like you said, it's quite the fall, unfortunately.
51:41
SPEAKER_02: Hopefully he addresses you know whatever's going on there.
51:46
SPEAKER_01: Well, hopefully we don't have a fall from Grace here, Tim.
51:50
SPEAKER_01: I'll try to stay off.
51:51
SPEAKER_01: Wouldn't you be too far to fall?
51:52
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
51:55
SPEAKER_01: True.
51:56
SPEAKER_01: Well, as usual, we'd like to thank you for listening.
51:58
SPEAKER_01: This is kind of a long current events episode, but thank you for sticking around to the end.
52:03
SPEAKER_01: Um, hopefully we thralled you with our acumen.
52:06
SPEAKER_01: Um as usual, uh, word of mouth is great.
52:09
SPEAKER_01: Check us out on Facebook, check us out on whatever podcast service you uh listen to, give us a five star and whatever else that we'll check you out next time.