Latest / Pittsburgh Sports Memories / BONUS EPISODE: Pgh Sports Current Events - August 2026

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BONUS EPISODE: Pgh Sports Current Events - August 2026 · Pittsburgh Sports Memories

0:00
SPEAKER_02: Hello and welcome to another exciting edition of PSM Current Events for the first week of August here.
0:09
SPEAKER_02: As usual, I'm going to go to Steve Wirt and I'm joined by Hey, I'm Tim Hannon.
0:14
SPEAKER_02: And hey, we're going to do some current events.
0:16
SPEAKER_02: We haven't done this.
0:16
SPEAKER_02: It's been a summer.
0:17
SPEAKER_02: You had a good summer so far, Tim.
0:19
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
0:20
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
0:21
SPEAKER_00: You know, my favorite part about the summer, Steve, it's it's been the weather's been semi even key.
0:28
SPEAKER_00: We had that one really bad week where all the smoke was here in town, but other than that, it's been uh not too bad.
0:34
SPEAKER_02: You know, people complain about Pittsburgh, but you know what?
0:36
SPEAKER_02: We rare we got a couple 90 degree days, but like that's kind of rare.
0:40
SPEAKER_02: Like we've gone whole summers without hitting 90, and we're kind of back to where Pittsburgh weather is, especially like in this time of August, people don't realize like it really does cool off.
0:50
SPEAKER_02: Like we might get up in the mid-80s, but that's about it.
0:53
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
0:54
SPEAKER_02: Anyway, um, speaking of people that are kind of middling along, um, that would be the your Pittsburgh Pirates, Tim.
1:01
SPEAKER_02: Um, they're kind of hovering around 500.
1:04
SPEAKER_02: I think they're a game under, sometimes they're a game above, depending on who they're playing and how they're playing.
1:10
SPEAKER_02: Um, it just seems like maybe it's not their year this year.
1:14
SPEAKER_02: Like, I don't think they're gonna make the playoffs, which is a shame because it has a lot of hope.
1:18
SPEAKER_02: But it's not over.
1:19
SPEAKER_02: I mean, they still got two months.
1:21
SPEAKER_02: If they can fix the bullpen, maybe, and they made a bunch of trades.
1:26
SPEAKER_02: Uh, Duvall, some guy Camelo Duval from the Yankees.
1:31
SPEAKER_02: Uh, they got Kirby Yates, I guess.
1:35
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
1:36
SPEAKER_02: Um, some guy from the Marlins, and uh what'd you say?
1:41
SPEAKER_02: The guy from the Mets was the big guy that we were talking about.
1:44
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, really just getting bullpen help, like literally four new arms for the bullpen.
1:50
SPEAKER_02: That's that's their bullpen is in bad shape and been the whole year.
1:56
SPEAKER_02: So maybe maybe that puts them over the top, but then unfortunately they got a bunch of injuries and they lost Mitch Keller basically for the season.
2:06
SPEAKER_02: Um Ryan O'Hearn is not gonna be back until late September, which really hurts.
2:11
SPEAKER_02: O'Neal Cruz has been hurt, it seems forever since June, and they're saying the 60 day, so that would put him what?
2:21
SPEAKER_02: Well, they should be coming back soon, right?
2:24
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I guess.
2:26
SPEAKER_00: You're right.
2:26
SPEAKER_02: They're they're and Connor Griffith is on the 60 day, too.
2:30
SPEAKER_02: Not that we should be expecting, but he's been one of their better, more consistent players.
2:34
SPEAKER_02: So, I mean, they have some injuries and they've kind of survived them per se, and they're in a really tough division.
2:40
SPEAKER_02: Like, how the hell is St.
2:41
SPEAKER_02: Louis good again?
2:42
SPEAKER_02: What the they're like the Steelers, they just they're always good every year.
2:47
SPEAKER_00: So I I think you're right, Steve.
2:49
SPEAKER_00: They're gonna be hovering.
2:51
SPEAKER_02: I mean maybe they catch fire, like maybe they can just kind of hang around, hang around, and catch fire the last two weeks of the season and sneak into the playoffs.
3:01
SPEAKER_02: Like, that's really the only path I see them having right now.
3:05
SPEAKER_02: But you never know.
3:06
SPEAKER_02: Maybe they'll win the division and surprise us all.
3:08
SPEAKER_02: I it's not I didn't see, I think they're like 12 games out though.
3:11
SPEAKER_02: So I mean that that would be a pretty pretty tough hill to climb there.
3:16
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, their best chance is one of the wild cards, and and they're like only three games out of a wild card at the time we're recording this, but but it's it's you know, that they have now joined.
3:27
SPEAKER_00: Congratulations to the Pirates.
3:28
SPEAKER_00: They are now in Steelers Penguins territory.
3:31
SPEAKER_00: Mediocrity, yeah.
3:33
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, like like maybe good enough to make the playoffs, maybe not, kind of like a last a last ditch qualifier for the playoffs, and then really, if you get to the playoffs, really no chance to do anything.
3:44
SPEAKER_00: But I think the most disappointing part of this Pirates season is that the the difference with the Pirates was okay, they could be like the last playoff team and they could not really have a chance.
3:55
SPEAKER_00: But if you have pitching, you know, that's that could carry you, that could make you it's like having that hot goaltender in the hockey playoffs.
4:03
SPEAKER_00: You know, you don't have to have the best team, but man, if you have the hot goaltender, you can make a run.
4:08
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that Hall of Fame quarterback, yeah.
4:10
SPEAKER_00: Right, exactly.
4:11
SPEAKER_00: That's the other comparison.
4:12
SPEAKER_00: And that's what the Pirates had last year, but Skeens has been a huge disappointment this year.
4:19
SPEAKER_02: I mean, by the fact that he's regressed to the mean, so he's regressed to just kind of normal.
4:25
SPEAKER_02: It's like, but you never know, Tim, maybe you know get hot, like you said, if some and if a couple other pitchers get hot late in the season, you never know.
4:36
SPEAKER_00: I mean, well, if if Ashcraft goes back to kind of where he was pre-all-star break, uh Jones has looked pretty good since he came back from that injury.
4:45
SPEAKER_00: I know they've you know been babying him back in.
4:47
SPEAKER_00: I was I was at the game where he had a perfect game going in the seventh inning and they took him out.
4:52
SPEAKER_00: I would everybody was furious.
4:54
SPEAKER_00: But but you know, it's it so like it's a bunch of like, well, if this happens and if that happens, if this happens.
5:00
SPEAKER_00: This is I I had a buddy say to me the other day, you know, this is like the 1980s in Pittsburgh Sports.
5:06
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, no, it's not it's not the 1980s, 1980s.
5:10
SPEAKER_00: I remember in 1989 when the Stewart and Penguin both made the playoffs, and we were all like, oh my gosh, a playoff game.
5:16
SPEAKER_00: This is so exciting.
5:18
SPEAKER_00: It it's not that.
5:19
SPEAKER_00: It's it's like we're all you know playoff caliber teams, but that's it.
5:24
SPEAKER_00: Like we're the bottom rung of the playoffs, and and you know when all three of our teams get into the playoffs, there's really no chance for them to make any noise.
5:33
SPEAKER_00: And like I said, for the pirates, their only chance for that is the pitching has to really get hot again.
5:39
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
5:40
SPEAKER_02: Well, that concludes the baseball portion of our draft, Tim.
5:44
SPEAKER_02: If you would like to cue the NFL primetime music.
5:48
SPEAKER_02: So, umoza.
5:50
SPEAKER_02: We're back, football Palooza, baby! Woo! What we do best, Tim.
5:55
SPEAKER_02: I think this is what we do best.
5:56
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
5:57
SPEAKER_02: We I don't know, whatever.
5:59
SPEAKER_02: Not that I don't enjoy talking about the pirates, but it's what I enjoy doing best here.
6:03
SPEAKER_02: Um, so we'll start with everybody's favorite football team, pit football.
6:08
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
6:09
SPEAKER_02: For the five people and a dog that like to watch pit football.
6:12
SPEAKER_02: Um Mason Heichel, he's back, Tim.
6:16
SPEAKER_02: Um I I uh what's his name?
6:18
SPEAKER_02: Uh went to Virginia um Eli or whatever.
6:22
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
6:22
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
6:23
SPEAKER_02: So uh I don't think they play, they don't play Virginia this year.
6:27
SPEAKER_00: So Bummer, bummer.
6:30
SPEAKER_00: I would if we played Virginia I would have I would have all our guys just stand in the end zone.
6:36
SPEAKER_00: Just let him get just to let him drive all the way down the field, wait till he gets to the five-yard line, and then it's a guaranteed intercept.
6:43
SPEAKER_02: So so uh what do you think for Mason Heichel?
6:47
SPEAKER_02: Is he he gonna build on last year's success, regress, mediocrity?
6:52
SPEAKER_02: I I don't know.
6:53
SPEAKER_02: It's tough to predict like what's gonna happen with him because I thought Eli was gonna be really the next guy, and I would boy, I was wrong.
7:02
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I thought the same thing as you about Eli, because it's like, oh well, you know, he's got that year under his belt, second year is gonna be he's really good at scrambling, like he's really good at like when he runs around.
7:12
SPEAKER_02: He's kind of reminds me of Ben Rothesburger.
7:14
SPEAKER_02: Like when he scrambles, he's deadly.
7:16
SPEAKER_02: But like for whatever reason, when you make him sit in the pocket, he just throws interceptions, like you said.
7:21
SPEAKER_02: He's very, yeah, very inconsistent.
7:24
SPEAKER_00: And and so Mason Heinchel, it'll be it'll be interesting to see.
7:28
SPEAKER_00: Does he take that second year of lead?
7:30
SPEAKER_00: He was really, really good as a freshman.
7:32
SPEAKER_00: I know you weren't as impressed because you know he didn't play good in the meaningless bowl game.
7:36
SPEAKER_02: Well, but he had some lucky breaks too.
7:39
SPEAKER_02: There were some fumbles that went like against Florida State that went our way and stuff like that.
7:44
SPEAKER_02: Like, sure, sure.
7:45
SPEAKER_00: But I mean like the Georgia Tech game at Georgia Tech, I mean, he was brilliant in that game.
7:49
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
7:50
SPEAKER_00: So so I again we'll we'll see.
7:52
SPEAKER_00: Like you're right, it's impossible to predict.
7:55
SPEAKER_02: He threw he showed some flashes and definitely maybe more consistent, and we'll see you know how it works out.
8:01
SPEAKER_02: I hope it does.
8:02
SPEAKER_02: He seems like a nice kid and seems like a solid quarterback prospect.
8:06
SPEAKER_02: And boy, if anything I've learned like lately in football in general, if you have a quarterback, boy, it's like pitching and baseball or goaltend and hockey.
8:14
SPEAKER_02: Boy, you can you can cover up a lot of like weaknesses in your team with a quarterback.
8:19
SPEAKER_00: He's he got named to like one of the like the watch list for the Maxwell Award.
8:24
SPEAKER_00: So um there's there's already like some pressure on him that he's supposed to be a star this year.
8:31
SPEAKER_00: So it'll be real interesting to see how he responds to that.
8:34
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, there is a difference between coming from no expectations to now.
8:38
SPEAKER_02: I wouldn't say high expectations, but they definitely have expectations.
8:42
SPEAKER_02: Like, even like I work for you know a company that might be UPMC, and they even on their like employee page, they had like a little article about him, and it was like, geez, man, they're already hyping this kid in the company.
8:55
SPEAKER_02: You know, the company's like, ooh, look, look, we have a quarterback.
8:59
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
8:59
SPEAKER_00: So and you're right, that is a big difference because last year it was like, hey, the season's kind of lost.
9:05
SPEAKER_00: Um what you know, uh Nardezi kind of surprised started him that first game.
9:10
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
9:10
SPEAKER_00: And and so you're right, there was no pressure.
9:14
SPEAKER_00: And then he came in and almost won the conference.
9:17
SPEAKER_00: And and now it's like you said, it's a bunch of hype.
9:20
SPEAKER_00: It's Maxwell Ward candidate, uh, all the meaning.
9:24
SPEAKER_02: So don't undersell the U the UPMC info net.
9:27
SPEAKER_00: Well, that's probably the I mean, you know, that's that's you know, made or or broke careers in the past.
9:34
SPEAKER_00: We all know that.
9:35
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
9:38
SPEAKER_02: Um do we do we want to talk about the blowhard?
9:42
SPEAKER_02: I guess we can't avoid it, huh, Tim?
9:44
SPEAKER_02: So Pat partner, Pat Narduzzi's never meant a microphone that he didn't like to say something insane to.
9:51
SPEAKER_02: And God bless him.
9:53
SPEAKER_02: Hey, you know what?
9:54
SPEAKER_02: Whatever.
9:54
SPEAKER_02: He's my coach, he's my guy, he's he's been the best coach Pitt has had since Jackie Sherrill.
10:01
SPEAKER_02: I mean, is that an understatement to say he's been the best coach since Jackie Sheryl?
10:06
SPEAKER_00: That's very accurate.
10:07
SPEAKER_02: So, whatever, dude.
10:09
SPEAKER_02: You want to say some stupid stuff to the media?
10:11
SPEAKER_02: God bless you.
10:12
SPEAKER_02: Just keep doing what you're doing.
10:14
SPEAKER_02: You got this job till you don't want it.
10:16
SPEAKER_02: He's kind of he's kind of worked himself into the Jamie Dixon spot where it's just like, you're here till you don't want to be here anymore, my man.
10:24
SPEAKER_02: And so, yeah, he said that the um the ACC is better than the Big Ten.
10:29
SPEAKER_02: It's better than the Big Ten.
10:30
SPEAKER_02: It's got more skill.
10:32
SPEAKER_02: You look at our record in bowl games against the SEC in the Big Ten, and you look at our record in the regular season, we don't have losing.
10:39
SPEAKER_02: I guess I cut the quote off.
10:41
SPEAKER_02: We we don't lose against those teams.
10:43
SPEAKER_02: Um, just for personal reference, and this took me a minute to look this up, Narduzzi's record against the Big Ten at Pit is one and six.
10:51
SPEAKER_02: But maybe just talk about the ACC at hole.
10:54
SPEAKER_02: And I tried to I tried to look up and I couldn't really find like AI was not finding, you know, like because that's a tough stat to find, like ACC as a whole.
11:03
SPEAKER_02: And I tried this doing the last 10 years, and I just didn't feel like really getting that much into weeds.
11:09
SPEAKER_02: But the AI says that the Big Ten has won 60% of its game versus ACC opponents.
11:15
SPEAKER_02: So it's like a 50-50-ish kind of thing.
11:19
SPEAKER_02: I mean I like I like Pat.
11:22
SPEAKER_02: I like Pat.
11:23
SPEAKER_02: You know, I like when he talks trash because he's into the into it and whatever.
11:28
SPEAKER_02: It doesn't always work out for him, but but I like him.
11:31
SPEAKER_02: I mean, you know, he he he's you know, he's not the hero deserve, he's the hero we need, and that's exactly who he is, so yeah.
11:40
SPEAKER_00: He's he's annoying.
11:42
SPEAKER_00: He makes you roll your eyes all the time.
11:43
SPEAKER_00: That's a really tone-deaf statement to make about the Big Ten when they just won the last two national championships.
11:49
SPEAKER_02: I mean, he coached in the Big Ten for years, so I mean, but that was a long time ago now.
11:55
SPEAKER_00: So it it it's just him being him, and I don't know.
11:59
SPEAKER_00: It's not worth to me, it's not worth getting too upset about most of the time.
12:03
SPEAKER_00: He just I'm not upset.
12:05
SPEAKER_02: I yeah, like I like, whatever, man.
12:07
SPEAKER_02: If that that's what floats your boat, great.
12:10
SPEAKER_02: Come on, can we can we try and be like some quality teams this year?
12:14
SPEAKER_02: And I guess that kind of flows into you know the football schedule for Pitt.
12:20
SPEAKER_02: And guess who they open against him?
12:22
SPEAKER_02: I kind of want to go to this game now because I think uh there's gonna be a famous uh Steeler alumni there.
12:28
SPEAKER_02: They're they're playing against the fighting Ben Rothelsburgers, those Miami Redhawks.
12:34
SPEAKER_02: So that's right.
12:35
SPEAKER_02: Which they'll probably lose September.
12:37
SPEAKER_02: It's September 5th.
12:38
SPEAKER_02: Oh, I won't uh man.
12:40
SPEAKER_02: I wish I oh well.
12:41
SPEAKER_02: Well, I'm kind of gonna miss that game.
12:42
SPEAKER_02: I kind of wish I would have got that.
12:44
SPEAKER_02: So they'll probably lose that game, right?
12:46
SPEAKER_02: The big games uh you know what though, Steve?
12:50
SPEAKER_00: I will say Narduzie does usually not usually doesn't have the like Mac losses.
12:56
SPEAKER_00: He he usually doesn't.
12:57
SPEAKER_00: Like that's his game.
12:58
SPEAKER_02: Well, he's had Western Michigan that one year.
13:02
SPEAKER_00: Yes, he did.
13:03
SPEAKER_00: That that but ironically, the year that they won the ACC.
13:06
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
13:06
SPEAKER_00: But but but still he that that's not as common in the Narduzzi era.
13:11
SPEAKER_02: I know I just jinxed it massively, but he doesn't he play they play UCF again at home.
13:17
SPEAKER_02: Maybe they could run the uh Pitts special again.
13:20
SPEAKER_02: Oh yeah.
13:21
SPEAKER_02: Was that use no?
13:22
SPEAKER_02: Yes, that was UC.
13:23
SPEAKER_02: UCF, yeah.
13:24
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
13:25
SPEAKER_02: I remember that's one of my favorite games of all time.
13:27
SPEAKER_02: I watched watched from the hospital.
13:30
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
13:30
SPEAKER_02: Um Bucknell is our whatever game.
13:34
SPEAKER_02: Bucknell, are they even good in basketball?
13:36
SPEAKER_02: I'm even sure they're good.
13:38
SPEAKER_02: I didn't even know they had a football game.
13:39
SPEAKER_00: They're good in academics.
13:41
SPEAKER_02: Oh, really?
13:42
SPEAKER_02: I I don't know much about Bucknell.
13:44
SPEAKER_02: Um, but the two to two big games that like you know, obviously Syracuse, I don't know how good or bad.
13:51
SPEAKER_02: Syracuse didn't have a quarterback last year, so maybe they fixed that this year and they're not as bad.
13:57
SPEAKER_02: Um they play Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.
14:02
SPEAKER_02: And I don't know, like normally I would say bet the house on Pitt because Pitt always beats Virginia Tech, but guess what?
14:10
SPEAKER_02: We get to play our old friends, Mr.
14:13
SPEAKER_02: Franklin and Mr.
14:15
SPEAKER_02: Belichick in back-to-back weeks, Tim.
14:18
SPEAKER_02: We get we we hang out in the uh in Tobacco Road there for a while.
14:22
SPEAKER_02: Well, not I mean, I guess Virginia Tech's more the tidewater, but not even really.
14:27
SPEAKER_02: It's on the mountain side of Virginia.
14:30
SPEAKER_02: So we hang out in the south there for a while.
14:33
SPEAKER_02: Virginia and North Carolina.
14:35
SPEAKER_02: Belichick and I I mean, I wonder if Narduzzi's ain't gonna like talk trash on Belichick, like, oh, those six Super Bowls, he cheated for all.
14:45
SPEAKER_02: Of course, they play their um they play an away game in Miami and on and late in later in October.
14:52
SPEAKER_02: Um, which of course, hey, they've won one game in Miami since the Johnson administration, and that could be Andrew or Lyndon Bames.
15:00
SPEAKER_02: So Yeah.
15:05
SPEAKER_02: Um and the the late game, big game, I guess, the big ACC late game is gonna be Florida State.
15:12
SPEAKER_02: Although they do play, they play in Cal on November 28th, which is great.
15:17
SPEAKER_02: I I don't know.
15:19
SPEAKER_02: Like there's some potential.
15:20
SPEAKER_02: Like I always go to one pit game a year.
15:22
SPEAKER_02: Maybe I'll fly out to San Francisco and go see that Cal game.
15:26
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
15:27
SPEAKER_02: That would be that would be nice.
15:28
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
15:29
SPEAKER_02: San Francisco's San Francisco's a great town to visit.
15:32
SPEAKER_02: But so what what what do you expect for I I don't know.
15:37
SPEAKER_02: I I don't know what to expect.
15:38
SPEAKER_02: I figured Miami's a loss.
15:41
SPEAKER_02: Florida State, I don't know what Florida State's gonna be by the end of the season.
15:45
SPEAKER_02: That's a tough one to predict right now.
15:47
SPEAKER_02: I'd have to wait to see.
15:48
SPEAKER_02: Like Florida State could be either I think they're either gonna be like pretty good or really bad again.
15:55
SPEAKER_02: And they their coach could be fired by it.
15:57
SPEAKER_02: They still have Norvell, right?
15:59
SPEAKER_02: They stuck, I think they stuck with him.
16:01
SPEAKER_02: So that could be a crapshoot.
16:03
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's it's for college football.
16:07
SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, Miami's gonna be good.
16:08
SPEAKER_00: Everything else, who knows?
16:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
16:10
SPEAKER_00: Um, like who would have thought that Georgia Tech was gonna be as dominant as they were last year, right?
16:15
SPEAKER_00: Like you were.
16:16
SPEAKER_02: Well they kind of had that they kind of had that quarterback that like as long as like the score was even or they were ahead, he was okay.
16:22
SPEAKER_02: Right.
16:22
SPEAKER_02: But once you like he kind of reminded me of that Sam Hartman from Wake Forest, like once you forced him to throw, it was like he was not a disaster.
16:30
SPEAKER_00: But but I mean still nobody nobody would have predicted that at the beginning of the season that they were gonna be like the first place ACC team all the way through, you know, the yeah, the penultimate week of the season.
16:40
SPEAKER_00: So so you never know how the conference is gonna shake up.
16:43
SPEAKER_02: There's still Yeah, the the media voted, Tim.
16:46
SPEAKER_02: So would you like they they have Pitt at nine, so exactly right in the middle, right behind Virginia Tech, ironically enough.
16:55
SPEAKER_02: Miami got all the votes overwhelmingly, with SMU second and Louisville third, and Clemson fourth.
17:02
SPEAKER_02: So uh we'll see how that shakes out.
17:05
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we'll see.
17:08
SPEAKER_02: Stanford got one first place vote, but they were at the bottom as 17.
17:13
SPEAKER_02: So I guess Stanford is gonna suck.
17:16
SPEAKER_02: So moving from the uh to the pro ranks, uh Steelers football, Tim.
17:21
SPEAKER_02: Woohoo! They open with some team from Green Bay in the preseason next week, I do believe.
17:27
SPEAKER_02: Um, guess what?
17:29
SPEAKER_02: Aaron Rodgers is gonna retire this year.
17:31
SPEAKER_01: Yay!
17:32
SPEAKER_02: I heard congratulations, maybe.
17:35
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, is he gonna Brett Farvest, do you think?
17:37
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
17:38
SPEAKER_00: I mean trying to predict anything with Aaron Rodgers is pretty much a futile exercise.
17:45
SPEAKER_02: Well, uh, one thing I can predict is he really doesn't like uh Anthony Fauci.
17:52
SPEAKER_02: And I I guess I mean it's kind of not cool.
17:54
SPEAKER_02: Like, I wish he just I think if he wouldn't have lied about taking the vaccine if he just said uh yeah, I didn't get vaccinated, like people would have been mad, but it wouldn't have been it lasted as long, maybe.
18:07
SPEAKER_02: So Yeah, I I think that was his bigger m problem than like, hey, I I just don't believe in it, I'm not getting it.
18:15
SPEAKER_02: And I would have I I'm okay with that, I don't care.
18:18
SPEAKER_00: Well, it it it it and he, you know, if you ask him, he didn't lie, he said he was inoculated, and but everybody took that to mean he was vaccinated and then he wasn't.
18:28
SPEAKER_00: I I I I can't tell you, Steve, because I've seen a lot about this in the news.
18:33
SPEAKER_00: I can't tell you how little patience or desire I have to trudge up all the stuff that happened over COVID six years later.
18:41
SPEAKER_02: Like, I I really apparently apparently Rand Paul does not agree with you, the senator of Kentucky.
18:47
SPEAKER_02: He's he has a he has a thing for him and Fauci have like an ongoing spat.
18:53
SPEAKER_02: And it looks it looks bad when Fauci has a uh what's it a pat uh a pardon in his back pocket for everything, and he goes there to take the fifth.
19:02
SPEAKER_02: And technically, when you take the fifth in a jury trial, you're not supposed to assume anything.
19:07
SPEAKER_02: But what Fauci doesn't realize is he's not in a jury trial, he's in a public a trial of public opinion, so you look guilty.
19:16
SPEAKER_02: But or maybe he realized that and he just figured, well, whatever.
19:20
SPEAKER_02: The the people that like me are gonna like me, and the people that don't like me are still not gonna like me.
19:24
SPEAKER_00: And why are we holding hearings on it?
19:26
SPEAKER_00: Like it I just um I don't want to I I'm just tired of like I like Well, they're like, oh, they have to be held accountable.
19:32
SPEAKER_02: It's like six, like you said, six years later.
19:35
SPEAKER_02: I just make a rule where you know that you can't do that stuff again if you're that against Well, yeah, learn from it.
19:42
SPEAKER_02: That's the only thing that's the only thing you really can do.
19:45
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and and to be fair to everybody, like I don't I know everybody has different opinions on this, and that's fine.
19:50
SPEAKER_00: It was a time too where we were trying to figure out a lot of things as we went, a lot of things were unprecedented.
19:55
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, a lot of things on the fly.
19:57
SPEAKER_00: Like And there were a ton of mistakes made, like at the local level, at the state level, at the federal level, but at the same time, it's so it's easy to play Monday morning quarterback when you when you've already been through it.
20:06
SPEAKER_00: I just I had very little patience at the time for everybody arguing about masks and vaccines and this and that.
20:13
SPEAKER_00: And now we're gonna have these arguments six years later.
20:15
SPEAKER_00: Like, I thought we were past this, and Roger's trudging it up again.
20:18
SPEAKER_02: It's like Well, he's he's much like a lot of other people that just have a sore subject about it.
20:24
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well then then anyway.
20:26
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I have I have I have no no uh appetite to trudge all that up again, personally.
20:35
SPEAKER_02: So getting back to football, are Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy gonna be a match made in heaven again like they were in Green Bay, or is it gonna be like the late Green Bay years where they didn't really get along that well?
20:47
SPEAKER_00: I think the offense will improve from last year.
20:50
SPEAKER_00: If if Rogers stays healthy.
20:53
SPEAKER_00: Like that was a big deal last year.
20:55
SPEAKER_00: Rogers what missed that one game in Chicago and that was it.
20:59
SPEAKER_00: For him being 45 years old, that's a lot to ask that he's gonna be healthy all season.
21:03
SPEAKER_00: If he stays healthy, I do think the offense will be better.
21:05
SPEAKER_00: They have they have we finally have two receivers.
21:08
SPEAKER_00: Now they went out and got Pittman.
21:09
SPEAKER_00: They drafted that kid in the second round, so they have better receiving options.
21:14
SPEAKER_00: I think McCarthy's way more innovative on offense.
21:16
SPEAKER_00: I I never understood the last couple years of the Tomlin era where they were I never understood what kind of offense they were trying to run.
21:25
SPEAKER_00: Matt Canada's offense made no sense.
21:27
SPEAKER_00: Then they brought in Arthur Smith to run like the 2019 Titans Derrick Henry offense.
21:32
SPEAKER_02: Without without Derrick Henry was the biggest problem.
21:35
SPEAKER_00: Without Derrick Henry and with like Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers, which made no sense to me.
21:40
SPEAKER_00: Like if you were going to run that offense, you should have been running it with like Mason Rudolph and again, like a really you know top notch running back.
21:49
SPEAKER_00: Top notch work worse running back.
21:51
SPEAKER_00: So I think there's actually order to the offense now.
21:54
SPEAKER_00: Uh I think that'll be better.
21:56
SPEAKER_00: I'm excited to see if the defense it'll be interesting.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: You know, we'll get a lot of answers.
22:02
SPEAKER_00: A lot of people thought um the the defense was good, but then the defense should have been better than it was.
22:08
SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
22:09
SPEAKER_00: And was that the coaching or was that the players?
22:12
SPEAKER_00: And I guess we're gonna find out this year.
22:14
SPEAKER_02: Are they gonna be able to stop the run?
22:15
SPEAKER_02: That would that's been a problem for years now.
22:18
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so and like I said, is that is that is that Tomlin and the scheme, or is that just the players really aren't that good?
22:27
SPEAKER_00: Because if if the defense kind of looks the same this year, then we know whose fault it is.
22:35
SPEAKER_02: But the more important question, Tim, is who'll be the training training camp phenom?
22:41
SPEAKER_02: Because that's the that that that's the that's the question every year, Tim.
22:45
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
22:45
SPEAKER_02: And and it's like my favorite is that guy normally does nothing.
22:49
SPEAKER_02: Who was the training camp phenom last year?
22:51
SPEAKER_02: I forget.
22:52
SPEAKER_02: It was uh I it's like it doesn't even matter.
22:56
SPEAKER_02: So is it Roman Wilson?
22:58
SPEAKER_02: Is he finally gonna contribute?
22:59
SPEAKER_02: Well, it'll be one of the quarterbacks, Will Howard or Drew Holler.
23:02
SPEAKER_02: Speaking of that, are they gonna trade Mason Rudolph and go with just rookies?
23:07
SPEAKER_02: I mean, just figure if Darren Rodgers gets hurt, that's the season.
23:11
SPEAKER_02: I I I don't know.
23:12
SPEAKER_00: That's gonna be the biggest story of the preseason because it's it's they have to do something.
23:17
SPEAKER_02: They they can't keep four, I don't think.
23:20
SPEAKER_00: They can.
23:20
SPEAKER_00: The the biggest story is going to be so so they're definitely keeping Rogers, they're definitely keeping Aller.
23:26
SPEAKER_00: So it's gonna be can Will Howard beat out Mason?
23:31
SPEAKER_00: That's really the the if you if you want something to watch the preseason games for, that's it, because we've never actually seen Will Howard throw a pass in a game ever.
23:41
SPEAKER_00: I mean, we haven't, not since Ohio State.
23:43
SPEAKER_02: Well, those Ohio State quarterbacks, they have a great oh, definitely a really good track record.
23:48
SPEAKER_00: Well, and I was saying, uh, if you would have said this two years ago, it'd have been like, well, CJ Stroud finally broke the curse, and then he was like sucking interceptions in the playoffs last year, and it's like, okay, maybe not.
23:59
SPEAKER_00: But but yeah, it'll be interesting to see if he can if he can beat out Mason.
24:03
SPEAKER_00: Um, if not, I mean, if he's just math, then I think then they'll get rid of Howard.
24:09
SPEAKER_02: If Howard if Howard comes out and is competent, then they'll probably get rid of Mason Rudolph.
24:14
SPEAKER_02: Number one, because it saves money.
24:16
SPEAKER_02: And yeah.
24:17
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and it gives him more of a future.
24:20
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
24:20
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
24:20
SPEAKER_00: But I mean he has to be really competent.
24:23
SPEAKER_00: You know, if he just looks like Joe's third string quarterback that could you could pick up from anywhere, then I don't think he stays.
24:33
SPEAKER_02: So uh the Steelers schedule uh we'll do much the same we did with Pit Football here.
24:38
SPEAKER_02: Um Sports Illustrated, a guy named Connor Orr.
24:40
SPEAKER_02: I mean, he's great.
24:41
SPEAKER_02: I read him all the time, right, Tim?
24:43
SPEAKER_02: That's sarcasm, by the way.
24:44
SPEAKER_00: I I I actually do read SICOM a decent amount.
24:48
SPEAKER_00: He's he's a little bit of a blow heart, also.
24:52
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
24:52
SPEAKER_02: Well, he has them at 6 and 11.
24:54
SPEAKER_02: But he's a decent writer.
24:56
SPEAKER_02: It seemed kind of extreme.
24:57
SPEAKER_02: Like he went through and predicted everybody's record, and I just went to the Steelers and looked.
25:02
SPEAKER_02: Needed them at 6-11.
25:04
SPEAKER_02: Why do the Steelers play New England in New England again?
25:07
SPEAKER_02: Like what it was.
25:08
SPEAKER_00: Because we won the division.
25:10
SPEAKER_02: But why in New England is the schedule so screwed up?
25:13
SPEAKER_00: It's a rotating thing.
25:14
SPEAKER_00: It's a total rotating thing.
25:16
SPEAKER_02: So I know.
25:17
SPEAKER_02: I know we have to play the the we didn't we won the division, so we have to play the division winners.
25:22
SPEAKER_02: Um, by the way, Vegas, just for informational purposes, and actually this is probably the best way to get an opinion poll, has them at eight, eight and a half.
25:31
SPEAKER_02: So I think the public thinks they're gonna win somewhere between eight and ten games.
25:36
SPEAKER_02: So maybe seven and maybe more accurately, seven and nine games there.
25:42
SPEAKER_00: So what's a realistic, like what would you be at the end of the season, Steve?
25:47
SPEAKER_00: What would be a wow, the Steelers really um overachieved?
25:53
SPEAKER_02: Oh, well, I mean 17 and oh, too.
25:57
SPEAKER_02: Every game they win 55 to nothing.
26:00
SPEAKER_00: That would definitely be overachieving.
26:01
SPEAKER_00: What's what's like the low end of that bar though?
26:04
SPEAKER_02: Oh, is it making 0 and 17?
26:06
SPEAKER_02: No, no, no.
26:07
SPEAKER_00: I mean the low end of the overachieved bar.
26:09
SPEAKER_00: Would it be like making the divisional like actually winning a playoff game for the first time in a decade?
26:13
SPEAKER_02: Would that be like I think I think that would satisfy something.
26:19
SPEAKER_02: I mean, it would be an improvement because like let's see, they got it Atlanta.
26:24
SPEAKER_02: I don't know, they they have them the one guy had them winning that game, then losing at New England.
26:30
SPEAKER_02: I don't know, New England I think is gonna be in turmoil this year.
26:33
SPEAKER_02: I I don't know.
26:34
SPEAKER_02: We'll see.
26:35
SPEAKER_02: Like, just with the coaching and everything, if Rabel can pull off this, like, I'm not sleeping with the reporter anymore stuff, then maybe they'll be okay.
26:45
SPEAKER_02: But I don't know, I have a bad feeling about New England that they're gonna take a step back this year.
26:51
SPEAKER_02: Just for a lot of a lot of off-the-field stuff, and their quarterback isn't that great.
26:56
SPEAKER_02: He's okay.
26:58
SPEAKER_00: Honestly, I'd rather be playing in the first place.
27:01
SPEAKER_00: Like, I'd rather play New England in Denver than Buffalo and Kansas City.
27:05
SPEAKER_02: Well, that's true.
27:09
SPEAKER_02: Is he gonna be back?
27:10
SPEAKER_02: Like, that quarterback got hurt pretty late in the season.
27:13
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think he'll be back.
27:14
SPEAKER_02: It was like wasn't it a broken ankle too?
27:18
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
27:19
SPEAKER_00: I think by the time we play them, I'm I'm thinking about it.
27:21
SPEAKER_02: Well, that's after Thanksgiving.
27:23
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, he'll be he'll be he'll be back by then.
27:26
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
27:27
SPEAKER_02: They have to play Indianapolis here.
27:29
SPEAKER_02: That's a win.
27:30
SPEAKER_02: The Steelers always beat Indianapolis.
27:32
SPEAKER_02: Uh at Tampa Bay.
27:35
SPEAKER_02: Hmm.
27:36
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
27:38
SPEAKER_02: I I Baker?
27:40
SPEAKER_02: The Baker, you know, I mean he's in a contract year, right?
27:44
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
27:45
SPEAKER_02: So they might they'll probably lose that.
27:48
SPEAKER_02: Oh, the New Orleans game in France.
27:50
SPEAKER_02: Wee wee.
27:54
SPEAKER_02: Uh at 9 30 a.m.
27:56
SPEAKER_02: on a Sunday, Tim.
27:58
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
27:58
SPEAKER_02: I hate I hate international games.
28:00
SPEAKER_02: But it does make sense to send the uh Saints with their Florida Lee to Paris, right?
28:06
SPEAKER_02: The first game in Paris.
28:08
SPEAKER_02: Does it will anybody in Paris care?
28:12
SPEAKER_00: I guess we'll find out.
28:14
SPEAKER_02: Are you taking the trip to Paris to see the Steelers play the Saints?
28:17
SPEAKER_00: I am not.
28:19
SPEAKER_00: I've never been to Paris, though.
28:20
SPEAKER_00: That would be kind of fun.
28:22
SPEAKER_02: I've never been to Paris either.
28:23
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if I can afford to go to Paris.
28:25
SPEAKER_02: Sounds expensive.
28:26
SPEAKER_02: Might be cheaper to go to Cleveland in in early October.
28:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they play they play the they play the NFC South.
28:36
SPEAKER_00: So like you said, Tampa Bay, New Orleans, uh Carolina.
28:40
SPEAKER_00: Uh who's the other team in that division?
28:42
SPEAKER_00: Uh-huh.
28:43
SPEAKER_02: Uh Atlanta.
28:44
SPEAKER_02: Atlanta, right.
28:45
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
28:46
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
28:46
SPEAKER_02: And and oh, what's his name gets a the running back gets to go against uh Carolina?
28:51
SPEAKER_02: You go down a little.
28:53
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's right.
28:54
SPEAKER_00: And and then they play the AFC South.
28:56
SPEAKER_00: So they play, you know, Houston Indy, Jacksonville.
28:59
SPEAKER_00: So we're we're visiting the South.
29:01
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they play Houston.
29:02
SPEAKER_02: Tennessee.
29:03
SPEAKER_02: Here.
29:03
SPEAKER_02: Houston is here late in the season.
29:05
SPEAKER_02: Right.
29:06
SPEAKER_02: It's an eight o'clock game right now.
29:08
SPEAKER_00: So so NFC South, AFC South, our division twice, and then the and then the two division winners, New England and Denver.
29:16
SPEAKER_00: The Denver game is home.
29:18
SPEAKER_02: What's the extra game?
29:19
SPEAKER_02: Isn't there a Oh Philly?
29:21
SPEAKER_00: It's at Philly.
29:22
SPEAKER_02: So that kind of that's that's that's a loss.
29:24
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
29:25
SPEAKER_00: That's no good.
29:27
SPEAKER_02: Speaking speaking of teams that have won one since the Johnson administration.
29:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's that's no good.
29:33
SPEAKER_00: Um that's unfortunate because uh we could have played, but then again, see that that's that's another again finishing first.
29:43
SPEAKER_00: We'll do that to you.
29:44
SPEAKER_00: Um but like I said, I I would rather play, like I said, Denver and New England than than Kansas City and Buffalo.
29:52
SPEAKER_00: I think those would be harder.
29:53
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, the games are probably a Tampa game is probably gonna be a big one to turn the season.
29:58
SPEAKER_02: Um outside of the the divisional games.
30:02
SPEAKER_02: They'll probably be split with Cincinnati, I think.
30:05
SPEAKER_02: What about what about what's his name, the coach from Cincinnati being the uh most uh tenured coach in the AFC North right now?
30:12
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, Zach Taylor, the Lego maniac from uh Cincinnati, being the most tenured coach in the AFC North.
30:19
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
30:21
SPEAKER_02: I didn't have that on my bingo card.
30:24
SPEAKER_00: And that's the other interesting thing.
30:25
SPEAKER_00: Baltimore has a new coach, mentor, and then Cle Cleveland's just always gonna be Cleveland, but the Browns be Browns, huh?
30:33
SPEAKER_00: With without Miles Garrett, not that he ever did anything against us anyway.
30:38
SPEAKER_00: So um man, who knows?
30:40
SPEAKER_00: Like again, the NFL, like we were talking about college being unpredictable.
30:43
SPEAKER_00: The NFL's getting just as unpredictable these days.
30:47
SPEAKER_00: So you never know.
30:48
SPEAKER_02: If you're gonna bet, bet the first week because they don't have it locked in yet.
30:52
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, yeah, that's always the chaos week where, you know, any like the the last was that last year we played the Jets and it was like 32-31 or something crazy.
31:02
SPEAKER_02: Like well, that was kind of that Aaron Rodgers revenge game.
31:05
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
31:06
SPEAKER_00: And then the Jets were just god-awful the rest of the season.
31:09
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
31:09
SPEAKER_00: So so yeah, you you we'll see.
31:11
SPEAKER_00: It'll be interesting.
31:12
SPEAKER_00: Like I said, I think I think things should be a little bit I I'm excited to just have something different.
31:17
SPEAKER_00: Like I like Tomlin, I was not on the bandwagon of fire Tomlin.
31:21
SPEAKER_00: At the same time.
31:22
SPEAKER_02: I thought it was I thought it was time for him to go.
31:24
SPEAKER_02: It got in stale.
31:26
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I I agree.
31:27
SPEAKER_00: It was it was it was very similar to the end of the knoll era and and probably similar to the end of the Cower era.
31:33
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of hard to remember that because he won a Super Bowl at the very end there.
31:36
SPEAKER_02: But like But his team was so like you felt like they were so close because they were so good.
31:41
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
31:42
SPEAKER_00: And at the end of that era, it was kind of like people again, no one will ever remember this because Cower's a god and he's great and we love him and we hate Tomlin.
31:51
SPEAKER_00: But every you know, the middle of the 2005 season when we were uh seven and five.
31:57
SPEAKER_02: Oh, everybody gave up.
31:58
SPEAKER_02: I didn't give up.
31:59
SPEAKER_00: I thought But everybody wanted him fired.
32:01
SPEAKER_02: Well, and they were like, oh, they'll never beat Indianapolis.
32:04
SPEAKER_02: And I said, that Indianapolis game wasn't as bad as you thought.
32:08
SPEAKER_02: Right.
32:08
SPEAKER_02: Like I I thought they could beat Indianapolis even after that loss.
32:12
SPEAKER_02: I thought if they have to play this team again, I'm not really scared of Indianapolis.
32:16
SPEAKER_02: Like I just had a feeling that they were gonna play better that say, and I was right.
32:20
SPEAKER_00: But but Cowers Cowers last nine seasons, they made the playoffs four times.
32:25
SPEAKER_00: And again, nobody remembers that because Super Bowl was in the middle of that.
32:28
SPEAKER_00: So so I I think that that's the pattern.
32:31
SPEAKER_00: The pattern is that the guy's here maybe a little too long, and then when he goes, a new that now that's another pattern, Steve.
32:40
SPEAKER_00: When the new coach came in with the same players, the new coach improved on what the departing coach had done.
32:47
SPEAKER_02: I don't know that they have the talent on the team that they had on that 2003 team.
32:52
SPEAKER_02: They they they definitely signed some people in 2004 that just beside outside of Ben Rotheser, but they you could tell they were building a team even late in that season.
33:03
SPEAKER_02: And that was that 2003 was a disappointing season.
33:06
SPEAKER_02: Was that a sixth win?
33:07
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
33:08
SPEAKER_02: Six wins.
33:08
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
33:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but but look at the 90s team.
33:10
SPEAKER_00: Like in 1992, you know, they had been building a pretty good team for a couple of years.
33:15
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and well, but Noel even admitted, he said, I just can't coach this generation of players.
33:20
SPEAKER_02: He said they're a good, they're gonna be a good team.
33:22
SPEAKER_02: No said that at the end.
33:23
SPEAKER_02: He said this they're they're gonna be a good team.
33:25
SPEAKER_00: And if you look at the Omar Khan drafts that he's ever since he's come in, they've had really decent draft picks.
33:31
SPEAKER_02: Well, it should start to because he's has he been here three years yet?
33:34
SPEAKER_02: I think this is so it should start to kind of like you should see improvement now.
33:41
SPEAKER_00: That's what I'm saying.
33:41
SPEAKER_00: I I I'm excited to have something different.
33:44
SPEAKER_00: I think it'll be better than last year.
33:46
SPEAKER_00: But if they did have six wins, like Connor Orr from Sports Illustrated says, I also wouldn't be shocked.
33:54
SPEAKER_02: Well, that wraps it up.
33:56
SPEAKER_02: So Tim's saying six wins.
33:58
SPEAKER_02: I think they'll finish.
33:59
SPEAKER_02: I I think they'll finish.
34:00
SPEAKER_00: I did not say six wins.
34:01
SPEAKER_00: I said I wouldn't be surprised at six wins.
34:04
SPEAKER_02: I I also I I think I think they're they're at eight wins again.
34:08
SPEAKER_02: They're they're Mike Tomlin eight and seven, eight and nine.
34:11
SPEAKER_00: I'm actually gonna go I'm actually gonna go ten.
34:13
SPEAKER_00: I think I think they could win ten or eleven games this year.
34:16
SPEAKER_02: I don't I think Tampa Bay is probably a loss, and then like one of those Baltimore care well that's a toss-up, but like those Carolina Jacksonville, like I could see them losing one of those games too.
34:28
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
34:29
SPEAKER_00: So so that's seven losses.
34:31
SPEAKER_00: I could see that.
34:32
SPEAKER_02: Certainly Cleveland game, like the traditional.
34:34
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they're both early this year.
34:36
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
34:36
SPEAKER_02: I was gonna say, because that's their traditional Mike Tomlin let's leave Cleveland for no reason.
34:40
SPEAKER_00: Well, and that's the thing, like things are gonna be different, and I don't know if they'll be different in a good way or a bad way, but I I'm relying on history repeating itself where the new the new coach comes in with the same players and it just injects a different kind of energy.
34:54
SPEAKER_00: But again, it the only difference this time is the 45-year-old quarterback, and that's what I think the whole season kind of hinges on.
35:02
SPEAKER_00: Can the 45-year-old quarterback actually stay upright the whole time?
35:06
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
35:08
SPEAKER_02: Well, that wraps it up for this edition.
35:10
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35:11
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35:16
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35:18
SPEAKER_02: Check us out on Facebook, you know, Pittsburgh Sports Memories on Facebook.
35:23
SPEAKER_02: Um, any other services, you know, word of mouth is great.
35:27
SPEAKER_02: Um, check out Tim on the Top uh podcast there.
35:31
SPEAKER_02: Tim had a nice guest appearance on there, and uh they gave us a nice little shout-out to shout out to what were the gentleman's name again, Tim?
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SPEAKER_00: It's the 1988 Tops Podcast with um David and Matt.
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SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they they're really nice to uh have Tim on there and give us a nice little shout-out to that.
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SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for tuning in, and we'll catch you next time.