Latest / Pittsburgh Sports Memories / BONUS EPISODE: Pgh Sports Current Events - November 27, 2025

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BONUS EPISODE: Pgh Sports Current Events - November 27, 2025 · Pittsburgh Sports Memories

0:00
SPEAKER_00: Hello, and welcome to another exciting edition of Pittsburgh Sports Memories.
0:06
SPEAKER_00: So as usual, I'm your co-host, Steve Wert, and I'm joined by I'm Tim Hannon.
0:13
SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna get right into it.
0:15
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna stop with start with hockey.
0:18
SPEAKER_00: Gotta love that hockey.
0:19
SPEAKER_00: Let's do this hockey, Tim.
0:23
SPEAKER_00: The Penguins, uh, they last Friday and Saturday they played a back-to-back after coming back from um where was it, Sweden?
0:30
SPEAKER_00: Sweden.
0:32
SPEAKER_00: Um, they got blown out by the wild five to nothing.
0:35
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then on Saturday they uh lost to the Kraken.
0:40
SPEAKER_00: The Kraken! The Kraken was unre unleashed on them, unfortunately, in overtime.
0:45
SPEAKER_00: They lost three to two, so I think they still got a point.
0:48
SPEAKER_00: Um, they got one point out of two games out of a possible four, so that's not good.
0:56
SPEAKER_00: And now they are in the worst, I think this is the worst possible situation that the Penguins could be in, in my opinion.
1:05
SPEAKER_00: You say, well, why is that, Steve?
1:07
SPEAKER_00: Well, that's because they are one point out of the playoffs, and so they're like not really good enough to make the playoffs, but they're not really bad enough to get any kind of draft pick.
1:22
SPEAKER_00: So I think it's getting time to fish your cut bait here for Duboss probably this week.
1:27
SPEAKER_00: This is probably they play um this week the game, the traditional game before Thanksgiving.
1:33
SPEAKER_00: Um, the result of that game might determine because if they win that, maybe they're in a playoff position, but just barely.
1:39
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
1:40
SPEAKER_00: They gotta pick, you know, it's kind of like you know, two words, two roads diverged in the wood.
1:44
SPEAKER_00: Which path are you gonna take there, Mr.
1:46
SPEAKER_00: Robert Frost?
1:48
SPEAKER_00: Um, so I I I think you gotta make up your mind.
1:51
SPEAKER_00: If you're gonna go all in on this season, just go all in, play the kids, play the Russian goaltender the rest of the way.
1:57
SPEAKER_00: If you're not going to, then just play what's Silvas and Jari or play Jari all the time.
2:04
SPEAKER_00: You'll definitely get a high draft pick then.
2:07
SPEAKER_00: Uh what what say you, Tim?
2:10
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I th I think I think you're right.
2:11
SPEAKER_01: It is kind of a you know, they started off so good, now they're kind of coming back to earth.
2:17
SPEAKER_01: And and I I don't know what you do with this season because um they have been playing the kids too.
2:23
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
2:24
SPEAKER_01: It's not like they've you know, and and they just called up Tristan Braz, who was one of those guys that like yeah, a lot of people thought should have made the team coming out of camp.
2:34
SPEAKER_01: So I they like they are doing that.
2:36
SPEAKER_01: And then like even if even if you were tanking the season, I don't know that you want to play Morishov the whole season because you don't want to kill him or destroy his confidence.
2:44
SPEAKER_01: I I I think they'll probably just keep going like they're going and then let the chips fall where they may.
2:50
SPEAKER_01: But I'm with you.
2:51
SPEAKER_01: I'd rather I'd much rather be I'd rather much rather if we're not gonna make the playoffs, I'd much rather have a shot at McKenna.
2:58
SPEAKER_01: And right now they're too middle of the road to have a shot at McKenna.
3:03
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I really think just play Jari the rest of the way and send everybody back to the AHL and you know if if you're like one point in or one point out, I I think that's the answer with this team, but that's why Kyle Dubis gets paid big bucks to make these decisions, and um I'm talking on a podcast.
3:25
SPEAKER_01: Very true.
3:27
SPEAKER_00: Um, all right, football Palooza, Tim.
3:30
SPEAKER_00: Are you ready for it?
3:32
SPEAKER_00: Um, so the Steelers, Tim, uh they uh lost to the Bears.
3:36
SPEAKER_00: Can you believe it?
3:36
SPEAKER_00: Wow, it's like they've only ever won there once.
3:39
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
3:42
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, still haven't won since 19 that magical year of 1995 when Neil O'Donnell out dueled Eric Kramer.
3:50
SPEAKER_00: Boy, there's two Hall of Fame quarterbacks, huh?
3:55
SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, it's a bad loss, I think.
3:58
SPEAKER_00: Um, especially because I felt like the defense shut down the uh Bears running game for the most part.
4:04
SPEAKER_00: But unfortunately, they couldn't stop the passing game.
4:08
SPEAKER_00: And um what also hurt was that there was some refereeing silliness, and it kind of like I didn't think it really played a part in the game because I thought it kind of they evened it out.
4:18
SPEAKER_00: Like there was that like ghost fumble by the Bears.
4:22
SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't think that really was a fumble.
4:24
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what they were doing.
4:26
SPEAKER_00: They just like, well, we'll give it to the Steelers.
4:29
SPEAKER_00: The guy came out of the pile, who knows?
4:32
SPEAKER_00: And then there was that play where I thought initially Payword was stopped, but they kind of they didn't blow the whistle.
4:40
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that was that was a weird play because it looked like he got the first down, and they like just they're like, nope, nope, too late.
4:46
SPEAKER_01: It's like way too much.
4:46
SPEAKER_00: Well, even on the play before, it looked like Gainwell had the first down.
4:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
4:51
SPEAKER_00: So I think that was a makeup call.
4:54
SPEAKER_00: I really do.
4:55
SPEAKER_01: Don't don't forget too that the one time where they we pinned them at like the four-yard line, and they they had a penalty that moved him back even more on a punt.
5:03
SPEAKER_01: And then they came back from commercial and they were like, Well, we were gone, the referee announced that he messed it up.
5:08
SPEAKER_01: It was actually on the Steelers, and they have to punt again.
5:11
SPEAKER_01: And it's like, what?
5:12
SPEAKER_01: Like the refs, the refs have just not brought their A game this year.
5:16
SPEAKER_01: That's that's but that you're right, it didn't impact the the game, really.
5:20
SPEAKER_00: What did impact the game was costly turnovers?
5:24
SPEAKER_00: So uh, you know, Mason Rudolph throws an early interception.
5:28
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't great, but I didn't feel it was egregious, if I can use that word.
5:34
SPEAKER_00: What really hurt them was him fumbling late in the game.
5:37
SPEAKER_00: Like, I I don't know that that was completely his fault.
5:41
SPEAKER_00: Like it wasn't it was a forced error, it wasn't an unforced error.
5:44
SPEAKER_00: I think his hand hit off it, looked like it hit off somebody's helmet.
5:48
SPEAKER_00: Like, because he he like you watch the play and he wraps up the ball, and it looks like maybe as he was going down, he hit off of somebody's helmet and the ball went flying out.
5:56
SPEAKER_00: And that's that was really that cost him the game, and you know, also the defense's inability to stop, you know, you are allowed to play defense after that turnover, and if you hold him to a field goal, it would have been a touchdown game because I think the Bears were only leading by four at that point when he fumbled.
6:18
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, when the Steelers finally did score a touchdown, you know, at least it's a tie game or it's you know within a point or two.
6:26
SPEAKER_00: So I don't know what to say about that.
6:30
SPEAKER_00: And then the really egregious error, wow, I'm using the word egregious a lot today, Tim, um, is the late penalty.
6:38
SPEAKER_00: That penalty, that that's coaching.
6:40
SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry.
6:41
SPEAKER_00: You have to be able to line up correctly.
6:43
SPEAKER_00: And that that was another play where Macy Rudolph ran for like 20 yards and they were in business at the 50-yard line.
6:49
SPEAKER_00: Now, maybe the Bears tighten up on defense like they eventually did, and the Steelers don't get any more yards, but I don't know.
6:57
SPEAKER_00: It really felt like the Steelers had momentum and that wiped it out.
7:00
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that hurt.
7:02
SPEAKER_01: Just too many mistakes.
7:03
SPEAKER_01: Like you also forgot Duggar dropping that interception.
7:05
SPEAKER_01: It was like right in his arms.
7:07
SPEAKER_00: Well, there was like two or three of those.
7:09
SPEAKER_00: And that, you know, you catch just one or two of them, and you know, maybe I don't know.
7:15
SPEAKER_01: I I said this two weeks ago.
7:17
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna keep saying it because we keep forgetting it every time they win, and then we I'm trying to remind myself every time they lose, and everybody overreacts.
7:25
SPEAKER_01: It's just not a good team.
7:26
SPEAKER_01: It's an average, it's a slightly better than average team.
7:30
SPEAKER_01: The roster composition at the beginning of the season indicated that it was a slightly better than average team.
7:35
SPEAKER_01: Maybe they could have overachieved, maybe Aaron Rodgers, you know, unlocked some potential that he still has, and he was doing that in some games.
7:43
SPEAKER_01: Maybe the defense plays better like they had been the last three weeks, did not play well last week.
7:49
SPEAKER_01: Um But it's just not that good of a team.
7:52
SPEAKER_01: And that's like like I said, like we got all messed up because I think we all well, not all of us, but I think many of us kind of expected that at the beginning of the season, that it wasn't that good of a team, but then Bro got hurt and and the Ravens started out one and five, and it's like, well, wait a second, maybe maybe maybe this is an opportunity, maybe there's a door wide open for us to do something here.
8:17
SPEAKER_01: And and so that I think that confused things.
8:20
SPEAKER_01: If the Ravens would have just been good all year and the Bengals would have been good all year, and we would have been hovering right around 500 like we are now.
8:28
SPEAKER_01: I don't know that anybody would have been super surprised, Steve.
8:32
SPEAKER_00: Well, I I just think what bothers me is that that not lining up correctly, like that that that shouldn't happen.
8:39
SPEAKER_01: That's what teams that aren't very good do.
8:41
SPEAKER_01: Like they're they're they're an average team.
8:44
SPEAKER_00: And I tell you another thing that that drove me, like, and maybe it's just the way the flow of the game went, but the Bears had a ton of injuries.
8:52
SPEAKER_00: Like, what were they playing?
8:53
SPEAKER_00: Like their fifth stream linebacker, yeah, and they didn't take advantage of it.
8:57
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that was bad.
8:58
SPEAKER_01: The coaching was not good.
9:00
SPEAKER_01: So you're right.
9:00
SPEAKER_01: The coaching was not good on the city.
9:02
SPEAKER_00: Well, I didn't I just I don't know if it was the flow of the game, like the points got out of hand, like when they got 10 down 10 late in the third, like you really couldn't run the ball like you should.
9:13
SPEAKER_00: Because like I thought the play calls were right for a lot, like they're running to the sidelines a lot, and it's like, well, when a team doesn't really have linebackers, that's what you want to do or run at them.
9:22
SPEAKER_00: But and I guess the I I think the Bears just kept everybody back and were like, well, we'll let you, you know, slowly drive the field, but you're not gonna get any big plays.
9:31
SPEAKER_00: But the Steelers this year have so rarely had big plays over the middle.
9:36
SPEAKER_00: I mean, maybe when Rogers in there, you know, somewhat, but it's all dink and dunk.
9:42
SPEAKER_00: And it just, you know.
9:44
SPEAKER_00: Well, let's go with the you want to go through the Mike Tomlin late season checklist, it's it's in full effect now.
9:50
SPEAKER_00: No speed or downfield throws on offense, check.
9:54
SPEAKER_00: Defense, they could make some plays, but not enough.
9:57
SPEAKER_00: Once again, you know, you didn't stop the Bears after the turnover.
10:01
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, drop a game to the team you should beat, lose the lead in the division, have injuries to key starters, dink and dunk offense.
10:10
SPEAKER_00: There we go.
10:10
SPEAKER_00: I think we uh Mike Tomless is, you know, who is that?
10:14
SPEAKER_00: Uh who said they are who we thought they are.
10:17
SPEAKER_00: The late uh the late Dennis Green.
10:19
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, again, that's not sure why people are ex why anybody would have expected a lot more from the the roster they put together this year.
10:27
SPEAKER_01: It's just it's an average roster.
10:30
SPEAKER_01: And and and the Dink and Dunk stuff, you know, to your point, they really haven't um they don't have any speed.
10:37
SPEAKER_00: They like Calvin Austin uh has been you know disappointing.
10:40
SPEAKER_00: He's supposed to be their speed guy, and they just don't have any offense.
10:44
SPEAKER_01: They haven't had an offense that really since pre-Benz injury.
10:50
SPEAKER_01: That was the last time they had an offense that was capable of doing the stuff you're talking about.
10:55
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I don't know how much of that is coaching and how much of that is personnel, and and they just haven't had the personnel.
11:01
SPEAKER_01: They've either had like past their prime quarterbacks and you know mediocre receivers and uh so yeah, they're just not they're just not getting it done.
11:14
SPEAKER_01: Again, I I keep going back to um it's it's just not it's not a real good team.
11:20
SPEAKER_01: And and they'll they'll confuse things more because they'll they'll like they'll do something surprising, like they'll beat Buffalo, they'll beat Baltimore in the next two weeks, and then everybody will once again be like, oh, yeah.
11:31
SPEAKER_00: When do they play Cleveland?
11:32
SPEAKER_00: Because I guarantee you they make like Shadur Sanders look like a Hall of Famer, and it's just gonna be unbearable.
11:38
SPEAKER_01: Well, possibly.
11:39
SPEAKER_01: I mean again, you never know.
11:40
SPEAKER_00: It's like you could see that happening.
11:42
SPEAKER_00: Could you not see that happening to him?
11:44
SPEAKER_00: Like everybody they they win the next two weeks.
11:46
SPEAKER_00: I was like, oh, they're in the driver's seat, and then they go into like play Cleveland and like Cleveland like Well, they play Miami, they play Miami after the next two weeks.
11:54
SPEAKER_01: So like yeah, I could see them just taking on a bad team and then and then crapping the bed.
12:00
SPEAKER_01: Like it it's this is gonna be one of those seasons.
12:03
SPEAKER_01: I said it to my dad at the Indianapolis games.
12:05
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, oh, this is one of those seasons.
12:07
SPEAKER_01: It'll be one of those seasons, Steve, that if we were still doing this podcast in 20 years, we'd be like, remember that season where Aaron Rodgers was a quarterback and we'd beat you know the best team in the AFC one week and then we'd you know be garbage the next week.
12:22
SPEAKER_01: And we haven't really lost to bad teams, so I will say that.
12:25
SPEAKER_01: I mean, like the Bears are a first place team, the Chargers, the Packers, like the teams we're losing to are good teams.
12:31
SPEAKER_01: Not like we're losing to the two and ten teams.
12:33
SPEAKER_01: So your Mike Tomlin late season checklist doesn't have the towns lost.
12:38
SPEAKER_00: Don't worry, the Browns game is coming, Tim.
12:40
SPEAKER_00: The Browns game is coming.
12:43
SPEAKER_01: But but but that's it's not that we're like beating good teams, losing bad teams.
12:47
SPEAKER_01: It's we're playing pretty good teams every week, but some weeks we show up and we're really crisp, even inside games.
12:53
SPEAKER_01: Like they ran that that fake took tush push to Kenny Gainwell.
12:58
SPEAKER_01: That was a brilliant play call.
13:00
SPEAKER_01: They were going in, they took the lead with that, you know.
13:03
SPEAKER_01: So like even inside of a game, TJ Watt made that fumble strip in the end zone.
13:08
SPEAKER_01: Like they make these like plays and they look really sharp and they look really crisp, and then they come out in the second half and they revert back to like the Packers defense, the Bengals first game defense where they can't cover any receivers.
13:21
SPEAKER_01: So it's like you never know what you're gonna get.
13:23
SPEAKER_01: And again, that's to me, that's the mark of a of an average team.
13:27
SPEAKER_01: You you just you know, sometimes they can be really good, sometimes they aren't.
13:30
SPEAKER_01: They're not consistent enough to be real contenders.
13:34
SPEAKER_00: So are they gonna beat the Bills?
13:36
SPEAKER_00: I I don't know.
13:37
SPEAKER_00: They held, I mean, like, I think they can stop the run.
13:42
SPEAKER_00: They stopped the Bears running game, but I think the problem is they have too many guys can either do one or the other thing.
13:51
SPEAKER_00: They can't do both.
13:53
SPEAKER_00: Like Duggar's good against the run, but he's not great against the pass.
13:57
SPEAKER_00: Uh Peyton Wilson's good against the pass, but not good against the run.
14:01
SPEAKER_00: That other linebacker, 50, is good against the run, but not a good against the pass.
14:06
SPEAKER_00: And I think, you know, a team like the Bills might expose that, especially with Josh Allen running the ball out of passing sets and stuff.
14:14
SPEAKER_00: So I don't know, but the Bills, the Bills aren't that great either, though.
14:18
SPEAKER_00: I mean, the Bills have had a lot of bad losses, too.
14:21
SPEAKER_00: So I don't know.
14:23
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if they won.
14:27
SPEAKER_01: I don't expect them to, but again, the way the season's going, you you like I said, you never know what team's gonna show up um and and you know, or or or if they'll just not be good again because they're playing such a dynamic offense.
14:42
SPEAKER_01: And if they lose next week, they're gonna be in real trouble because Yeah, that's an AFC loss, yeah.
14:47
SPEAKER_01: Well, and they're and they'll be if depending on what Baltimore does, they could be a full game behind Baltimore going into the Baltimore game.
14:53
SPEAKER_01: And that's that's not gonna be good either.
14:56
SPEAKER_01: I don't think they're good enough to if you look at the wild card race, man, there's a lot of teams hovering around that.
15:03
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, six and five marks.
15:04
SPEAKER_01: So they've really got to keep the lead in the city.
15:06
SPEAKER_00: Including teams they've lost to already.
15:09
SPEAKER_01: So correct.
15:10
SPEAKER_01: So so I don't know.
15:11
SPEAKER_01: We'll see what happens.
15:12
SPEAKER_01: I think I think we're heading for eight and nine or nine and eight.
15:16
SPEAKER_01: I really think that's where we're headed for.
15:18
SPEAKER_01: Um, but we'll see.
15:21
SPEAKER_00: Well, moving on to a team that I mean they're not quite as puzzling as the Steelers.
15:27
SPEAKER_00: Um pit football, Tim.
15:29
SPEAKER_01: Woo-hoo! Yeah, big win there.
15:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, they beat Georgia Tech.
15:34
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, so that game against Notre Dame really didn't matter so far.
15:39
SPEAKER_00: Um I hate when Pat Narduzzi's right.
15:42
SPEAKER_01: That's really infuriating.
15:44
SPEAKER_00: Um so they had a 28-0 lead in the second quarter, Tim, and then they had a 28-14 lead at the half, and then a 35-28 lead with five minutes to go.
15:57
SPEAKER_00: And I'm thinking this might be the end of Pat Narduzzi's coaching career because he called a fourth and fourth and nine, he called a fake punt when they are up by two touchdowns, instead of just freaking punting the ball with seven minutes left to go in a game, just punt the ball.
16:13
SPEAKER_00: And if you just play a modicum of defense and make them drive the length of the field and take like three or four minutes off the clock, whatever, right?
16:23
SPEAKER_00: But Jakari Turner had a fit another 50-yard run because Georgia Tech's defense stinks and that salted the game away.
16:30
SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, Myson Mason Heightswell had a great comeback game.
16:34
SPEAKER_00: He was 20 to 26 for 227 yards, uh, two touchdowns, no interceptions.
16:40
SPEAKER_00: That's been the biggest difference in this team with their winning streak is Eli Holstein was throwing a lot of interceptions, and this kid has really, for a freshman, been pretty careful with the football for the most part.
16:55
SPEAKER_00: Um, like I said, Turner had an awesome game: 201 yards, nine yards, 9.6 yards a carry.
17:02
SPEAKER_00: Um, the defense played solid, stopped the run pretty much most of the game.
17:06
SPEAKER_00: Although they give up 28 points, and you're like, that isn't that great, but it isn't.
17:11
SPEAKER_00: I I don't know.
17:12
SPEAKER_00: Like, and they made plays when they needed that love lace or whatever.
17:16
SPEAKER_00: He made that interception that probably really should have sealed the game.
17:20
SPEAKER_00: Um like I said, why do you do you understand the the the call on a fourth and nine and you're on your own 40 why you're faking a punt with seven minutes to go?
17:31
SPEAKER_01: No, I mean Narduzzi even said that was dumb.
17:34
SPEAKER_01: Um he even said that.
17:35
SPEAKER_00: He goes from he goes from one extreme to the other.
17:37
SPEAKER_00: He's either way too conservative or way too aggressive.
17:40
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
17:41
SPEAKER_00: You gotta pick your spots, and and that wasn't a spot to pick.
17:45
SPEAKER_00: Like, like it I could see if like they had all the momentum, maybe, and you take a chance if you see something, but just punt the ball away.
17:53
SPEAKER_00: And that they weren't a passing team.
17:55
SPEAKER_00: They're not a passing team.
17:56
SPEAKER_00: Georgia Tech is not their running team, and make them run their offense and take four or five minutes off the clock, and if they score with three minutes left, you're pretty much down, like you're gonna they're they're down to getting an on-site kick at that point, or you know, if you can get a first down, you know.
18:13
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the they kept throwing that graphic on the screen about how like ACC teams are oh and 342 went down by 28 points or more.
18:23
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, oh my god, Pitts gonna Pitt's gonna blow a 28-point lead, but they're gonna do it.
18:28
SPEAKER_01: People were somebody tweeted at us on um on Twitter in the middle of that game, like, oh, this is gonna be another pit loss, isn't it?
18:36
SPEAKER_01: I mean, everybody was feeling that.
18:39
SPEAKER_01: Um, but fortunately, yeah, they they came through.
18:42
SPEAKER_01: And Turner, boy, what a surprise he was.
18:45
SPEAKER_01: Um he he came, I mean, he he looked really sharp and he finished the game.
18:52
SPEAKER_01: He actually played a whole game.
18:54
SPEAKER_01: Imagine that from a running back.
18:55
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, that's that's and they have that other running back who's more of a thumper, more of a big gig.
19:02
SPEAKER_00: I I think I think what you're seeing, like, because this this team seems to go through lols in the game, and I think you have a young quarterback and a young offensive coordinator that need to figure out a little bit more consistency and get a little more killer instinct.
19:18
SPEAKER_00: Uh especially the coordinator, like sometimes it's okay to go on a four-minute drive, you know.
19:25
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes it's a good thing, especially late in the game.
19:28
SPEAKER_00: You're just trying to get first downs, you're not necessarily trying to score.
19:33
SPEAKER_00: So I I you know, maybe it's just part of the you know growth of the quarterback and the the coach.
19:39
SPEAKER_00: So we'll see what happens.
19:40
SPEAKER_00: I think if Pitt would have lost that game, Narduzzi probably would have got fired.
19:45
SPEAKER_01: I don't I don't think he would have got fired.
19:48
SPEAKER_00: Timblow in a twenty eight to nothing lead game in a
19:51
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but that's a little extreme.
19:53
SPEAKER_01: I mean, we're not Penn State.
19:56
SPEAKER_00: I think he wouldn't have survived the season.
19:58
SPEAKER_00: I don't think you survived that.
20:00
SPEAKER_00: I I I don't know how you survive that.
20:03
SPEAKER_00: Unless he beat, like beat Miami and you know, did something crazy.
20:07
SPEAKER_00: I I don't know.
20:08
SPEAKER_01: I I just think it's so exciting that we're coming into the last game of the season.
20:13
SPEAKER_01: And it means that's pretty cool.
20:16
SPEAKER_00: I will say this Carson Beck for the Miami Hurricane is who they're playing.
20:22
SPEAKER_00: They're playing Miami now at noon at Heinz Field.
20:26
SPEAKER_00: Um, I think it's gonna be cold, right, Tim?
20:28
SPEAKER_00: I think the weather is gonna be cold.
20:30
SPEAKER_00: So I'll be there freezing my butt off, watching Pitt get blown out, probably by Miami, because um Pitt has beaten Miami four times in the last 30 years, Tim.
20:40
SPEAKER_00: How about them, Apples?
20:42
SPEAKER_01: And and Carson Beck's pretty good, but but that Haynes King kid for Georgia Tech, he was supposed to be a Heisman candidate, and we made him look pretty embarrassing.
20:52
SPEAKER_00: I think he was a running quarterback.
20:55
SPEAKER_00: He he not he had 10 touchdowns passing, Tim.
20:58
SPEAKER_00: I I he's not bad, but I think he's he reminds me of uh who is that guy from Wake Forest, Sam Hartman.
21:04
SPEAKER_00: He very much reminded me of him.
21:06
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like like a solid college quarterback, more of a runner than a passer, careful with the football, except for that first interception was god-awful on his part.
21:17
SPEAKER_00: And um, yo, but Pitt's probably more gonna be more of a spoiler here than actually making.
21:22
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I don't see SMU, SMU or Virginia, either one of those teams has to lose.
21:29
SPEAKER_00: And I don't see SMU losing the Cal.
21:33
SPEAKER_00: And I I think Virginia, Virginia Tech isn't good, but that's a rivalry game.
21:38
SPEAKER_00: So that might be the game that if there's going to be an upset, that'll probably be that game.
21:43
SPEAKER_01: That's what I thought, too.
21:44
SPEAKER_01: I thought if if there's any chance it'll probably be Virginia losing the Virginia Tech, but we'll know that that game's not until the evening.
21:50
SPEAKER_01: So we'll kind of know whether it matters or not.
21:52
SPEAKER_01: It has to be Miami first.
21:54
SPEAKER_01: Um but boy, that wouldn't that be something if they were in the ACC campaign.
21:58
SPEAKER_00: And I I think I think S SMU has the best quarterback of the ACC, quite honestly.
22:04
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
22:04
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and SMU's really hot right now.
22:07
SPEAKER_01: I mean, Pit Pitts chances of getting in the college football playoff are are pretty tough.
22:12
SPEAKER_01: I mean, they'd have to beat Miami, get help, and then beat SMU or Virginia in the championship game.
22:19
SPEAKER_01: But again, the fact that they the fact that it's even possible is pretty cool.
22:24
SPEAKER_01: After you would have never thought that when they were two and two.
22:28
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
22:28
SPEAKER_01: I mean, my biggest thing.
22:29
SPEAKER_00: Losing the well, their losses, yeah, that West Virginia loss looks bad.
22:33
SPEAKER_00: And Louisville's kind of come back down to earth.
22:37
SPEAKER_01: Although Louisville beat Miami, so and the way that they lost both of those games, they didn't need to lose either one.
22:43
SPEAKER_01: And especially the Louisville game.
22:45
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that was the worst.
22:46
SPEAKER_00: I I keep going back to the Well, they lost West Virginia in overtime, too.
22:50
SPEAKER_01: Right.
22:50
SPEAKER_01: That's what I mean.
22:50
SPEAKER_01: It's like they they Notre Dame, they just got outplayed fine.
22:54
SPEAKER_01: That that's you know, is what it is.
22:56
SPEAKER_01: But but both of the games you mentioned, those early season losses, they should have won both of those.
23:02
SPEAKER_01: And the Louisville one, like I said, if they win that, I don't know.
23:05
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what happens if they lose to Miami and beat Louisville in terms of the tiebreakers.
23:11
SPEAKER_01: But I know that right now the reason they lose the tiebreaker to SMU and Virginia is because the common opponents for those three teams are Stanford and Louisville, and we all beat Stanford, and everybody but us beat Louisville, and that's why we lose the tiebreaker.
23:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, geez.
23:30
SPEAKER_01: So like we could we we could have lost like losing to Syracuse would have been better than losing to Louisville.
23:36
SPEAKER_01: It just it's just the way it took out, unfortunately.
23:40
SPEAKER_00: Well we'll see what happens on Saturday, Tim.
23:44
SPEAKER_00: Um we'll either be you know because it could work out where Pitt beats Miami and it doesn't matter, you know, if both SMU and Virginia win.
23:53
SPEAKER_00: Or it could be mass chaos where SMU and Virginia both lose, Miami wins, and then I I don't know who gets in.
24:04
SPEAKER_00: I don't I don't know.
24:05
SPEAKER_00: Florida State?
24:06
SPEAKER_00: I I don't know.
24:08
SPEAKER_00: Not Florida State, Boston College with no wits.
24:13
SPEAKER_00: Um so the Riverhounds, Tim, there's a new champion in Pittsburgh.
24:18
SPEAKER_00: Can you believe it?
24:19
SPEAKER_00: Woo! Woo! They won their USAL championship, first title in 26 years, first championship in Pittsburgh since 2017.
24:29
SPEAKER_00: Um the game was really wild.
24:31
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I know people like scoring, but it was excited.
24:34
SPEAKER_00: There was a lot of plays around the net.
24:35
SPEAKER_00: The goalie for um the Riverhounds, Eric Dick, had to make a ton of saves for he made like six or seven saves.
24:43
SPEAKER_00: He made one where like he literally like the guy he kicked it into his one arm and then it hit off his middle chest.
24:50
SPEAKER_00: He had to make like two saves on this guy while they were both jumping in the air.
24:54
SPEAKER_00: It it was really impressive performance by him.
24:57
SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, I had a feeling when they went to penalties, because the Riverhounds kind of ran out of gas on offense like three quarters of the way through the game, you're like, uh, they probably aren't going to score a goal now.
25:08
SPEAKER_00: But once it got the penalty kicks, I thought, you know what?
25:12
SPEAKER_00: I think the Riverhounds got the advantage because they had the better goalie.
25:16
SPEAKER_00: And he made one save and the other guy didn't make any.
25:18
SPEAKER_00: So here we go.
25:20
SPEAKER_00: It's championship.
25:21
SPEAKER_00: I don't know where the championship parade is.
25:23
SPEAKER_00: I think they might be going to the Penguins game this week.
25:26
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, maybe it's gonna go right down Broadway Avenue.
25:29
SPEAKER_00: Las Palmas is a sponsor.
25:31
SPEAKER_00: So um I'm sure Tim will be there in all his Riverhounds gear, yelling go hounds.
25:36
SPEAKER_01: Woo!
25:37
SPEAKER_00: Yep, right, Tim.
25:38
SPEAKER_01: All those games I went to this season to support them, it really, really helps.
25:42
SPEAKER_00: Really fade off.
25:43
SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah, no, good for them.
25:45
SPEAKER_01: I that's that's awesome.
25:47
SPEAKER_01: And uh how many years have they been around 2020?
25:50
SPEAKER_00: 26, yeah.
25:52
SPEAKER_00: And this is their first championship of any kind.
25:54
SPEAKER_00: They played in high school stadiums, they didn't know when they would even exist.
25:58
SPEAKER_00: Now they're gonna build the stadium even bigger.
26:01
SPEAKER_00: Um, in two 2028, then this is interesting.
26:04
SPEAKER_00: So if this was 2028, guess what?
26:07
SPEAKER_00: They'd be promoted to the top division of this league.
26:10
SPEAKER_00: They are right now in the championship, which is the second division of this league.
26:14
SPEAKER_00: So there's kind of like in soccer, there's a weird thing going on.
26:17
SPEAKER_00: There's like the MLS, which everybody knows about, and then there's this USL, which the Riverhounds play in.
26:23
SPEAKER_00: And the MLS will not go to promotion and regulation relegation, but the USL is.
26:30
SPEAKER_00: So I'm thinking, I'm wondering if they're trying to like do an AFL, NFL thing where they're gonna try and force a merger with the MS MLS at some point.
26:39
SPEAKER_00: So that would be that would make it a true soccer pyramid where the MLS would be the Premier League, the top league, and you could get into that by winning.
26:47
SPEAKER_00: So that would that would be interesting.
26:49
SPEAKER_00: That would be fun.
26:50
SPEAKER_00: That would be pretty cool.
26:51
SPEAKER_01: And I think I think you'd get a lot more people in Pittsburgh interested if you had an MLS team, honestly.
26:56
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they they sold out, they had 6,000 fans, which isn't bad.
27:00
SPEAKER_00: They had 9,000 fans in Oklahoma because they they had to play in Tulsa.
27:04
SPEAKER_00: Right.
27:04
SPEAKER_00: Um, but Tulsa plays in a baseball, like a minor league baseball stadium.
27:08
SPEAKER_00: And so we'll see.
27:10
SPEAKER_00: But um, well, that's it for this episode.
27:13
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, we got to celebrate with a championship, Tim.
27:16
SPEAKER_00: That's why, you know, we ended on a positive note, on a championship note, Tim.
27:20
SPEAKER_00: And um we thank you for all for listening.
27:23
SPEAKER_00: Uh enjoy this as we continue through our football season, and we'll probably be celebrating a what a Steelers nine and eight season Tim.
27:31
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
27:32
SPEAKER_00: In a pit in a pit pit appearance in the college football playoff.
27:37
SPEAKER_00: What if that happens?
27:38
SPEAKER_00: And we we should like uh are we like gonna go jump in the river or something if that happens?
27:44
SPEAKER_01: I I yeah, that that would be the most unlikely thing of all time.
27:48
SPEAKER_01: But again, you know, call it at the least possible.
27:52
SPEAKER_00: Well, like I said, thank you for listening.
27:54
SPEAKER_00: Check us out on Spotify, all the other podcast services, Facebook, you know, pick us up on Twitter.
28:00
SPEAKER_00: Um, we always enjoy the comments and views, and uh thank you, and uh, we'll catch you next time.