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Whatever Happened To That Guy? · Pittsburgh Sports Memories

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_03: Hello and welcome to a remembered episode of Pittsburgh Sports Memories Podcast.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_03: I'm your co-host, Steve Burton.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_03: As usual, I'm joined by Hi everybody.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Tim Hannon.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_03: You know, not everybody gets remembered, Tim.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_03: Some people, you know, we forget about.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_03: I'm sure there's people, you know, we went to high school with that we don't remember out of our whole class of 12, right, Tim?
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: I remember everybody perfectly.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, perfectly.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Years later.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_03: But um, you know, in sports, that seems to happen.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_03: And you would think this would be harder to do, like, now with, you know, maybe the internet and Facebook and you know, all the other social media stuff.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_03: But um, it just seems that like especially like sports figures, there are a few here that maybe are a little bit more than one shining moment, but there's some guys that like had like kind of a season or two that were really in the spotlight and then just kind of disappeared.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_03: And I I was just kind of wondering whatever happened to these guys.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_03: Some of these guys had pretty mediocre careers, but um, you know, we we've swept them into the dustbins of our memory and quickly forgot about them as the latest new shiny person or thing came along.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's a good point, Steve, that it's at this day and age with all the the social media and then the you know, like stuff like our show and things like that, where you always see old clips or old, you know, um nostalgia kind of things.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: It it is kind of funny that there's still guys that when you see their names, you're you're like, oh yeah, I I definitely like when you hear their names, it's oh yeah, I remember that guy, but you hadn't thought about their name in ages.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's almost like looking at like a like a senior yearbook or you know, something like that.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_03: Like, oh, I hadn't thought about Joe in a while.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, it should be interesting.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_03: As usual, you know, check us out on you know Facebook and all the other places you get us, you know, give us a ranking, you know, so then more people hear about us.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_03: And uh word of mouth is always good.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, so we don't want to be forgotten.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_03: Not yet.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_03: Not yet.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_03: So although I did have a funny story, I had a person tell me they were they were lit falling asleep listening to another podcast and then woke up to like, who is that guy talking?
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_03: And it was our podcast.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_03: They had forgot to set it so that the I guess the podcast would stop, you know, at the end.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: So that would be great if we could somehow set this podcast to automatically come on every time somebody tried to fall asleep listening to another podcast.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I don't know how scary it was they woke up to my voice, but uh there you have it.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_03: Um anyway, um, the first person out of the uh shoot here will be Andre Battle of Hastings.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, if we remember him.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_03: He was a wide receiver, so that's who he was.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_03: He was for the Steelers from 1993 to 1996.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I think I want to say he came from Georgia.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_03: Um his best season was 1995.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_03: He had 48 receptions for 500 yards, 502 yards, don't forget those two yards, Tim.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_03: Um in 1996, he also had 72 receptions for 739 yards and six touchdowns.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_03: So 1996 was maybe a little better.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_03: Um, his big moment in the sun was Super Bowl 30, he had 10 receptions for 98 yards.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um at the time, I think that was the uh record of Super Bowl performance for a receiver.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_03: And um, you know, of course, I referred the Battle of Hastings by Chris Berman, which I do believe was won by the British some some time long ago in maybe 1066, or was that Agin Corps?
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_03: Anyway, um the he said uh as about his Super Bowl like success.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_03: For me in the Super Bowl, I was just doing what I always did.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_03: I just turned out it just turned out to be my day because the opportunities were there, were there.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, and I was a good receiver too.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_03: Ha ha ha ha.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_03: I think you had brought up earlier when we were about to do this podcast that he he's often referred to as the guy that ran the wrong route.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_03: Like there was a miscommunication between him and Neil O'Donnell, and that's why one of the interceptions happened.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, that's what that's what the the story is.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's one of those things where, you know, did he wrong was Neil expecting him to be there and he wasn't, and that's why he threw the ball to Larry Brown covering grass, or was there, you know, was it was Neil more fault?
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: Either way, I think it's his even his Super Bowl performance always going to be overshadowed by the fact that they lost that game.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: And it's a shame because you think about all the Steelers Super Bowl championships, Steve.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: Almost all of them have a great receiving performance, you know, whether it's Swan or Stalworth or Ward or Holmes.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: And it Hastings could have been one of those guys where you look back and you would have been like, yeah, Andre Hastings, the hero of Super Bowl 30.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: And unfortunately, he doesn't get remembered that way.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_03: Definitely forgotten, like, because it was more like people remember Yancy Thigman, definitely Cordell.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_03: Um, did they have Charles?
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_03: Was Charles Johnson, I think, was hurt a lot that season.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, but he was on that roster.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: Ernie Mills.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_03: And they Bruner was his rookie year, and then John L.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_03: Williams out of the backfield was kind of the receiving.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_03: He was a fullback, but he was a pretty good receiving one, which is an odd thing for a fullback to be known for, but that's how it goes.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so whatever happened to Andre Hastings?
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_03: Well, he left via free agency and he went to New Orleans.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_03: And I remember he had a couple decent seasons with New Orleans.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_03: He played three more years.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_03: He had 48 receptions and 7 yards, one year, 35 receptions, 455 yards, 40 receptions, 560 sore yards.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_03: And then he goes to Tampa and he retires because he he probably got hurt by then.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, it'd been in the league since 1993.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_03: So that's seven years.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_03: That's that's a pretty respectable career.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_03: Um he he said, uh, I never wanted to leave.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_03: They just didn't want me back for some reason.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_03: I had no issues with the coaches and no off-field issues.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_03: It's like that.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_03: You can't take it personally.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_03: There they are in the market to win games, but I did want to go back.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_03: No one ever wants to leave Pittsburgh.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_03: There are no Carson Palmers in Pittsburgh.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_03: So that was an interesting quote by Andre Hastings.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, yeah, very interesting.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: And and the Steelers ran into a lot of wide receiver problems later in the 90s.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's why they kept using first-round picks on wide receivers.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: And so maybe maybe that was a mistake letting him go.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I mean, I well, they did they let they let ThinkPen go too, but ThinkPen was like every other year.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_03: He was like he just had a lot of injury problems, but when he was good, he he definitely was good.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_03: Because he went to Tennessee and had a solid year like a year later.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_03: After.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_03: So maybe they they picked Yancy ThinkPen over Andre Hastings, and they should have done the other the reverse.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_03: Because Ernie Mills left too.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_03: Free agency.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_03: Like they lost all three of those guys to free agency.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_03: So next up is another Steel Steeler wide receiver.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_03: You may or may not remember.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um, Nate Washington.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_03: Who?
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_03: Who, Tim?
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_03: Nate Washington.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: Nasty Nate.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_03: Wide receiver for the Steelers, 2005 to 2008.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_03: He actually played at a college named Tiffin.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_03: And um he had a pretty good career with the Steelers.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_03: Um, did you go to all those Duquesne Tiffin games way back in the mid-2000s, Tim?
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, the classics.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you were as an alumni, you went back and like, yay, I what's the big cheer at Duquesne?
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_03: Go Duquesne, go, or whatever, whatever they do at their games.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_03: Have you ever I've never been to a Duquesne football game.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: I mean Yeah, I I've I've been.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: I when I do they do any are there any traditions or uh not that I'm really aware of, at least not back when I was there.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, what so to be fair, it's a very small stadium.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_03: Like I think they made it, I mean, if does it even seat like 5,000 people?
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: So the field's right in the middle of campus, right in the middle of academic walk.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: And you can actually see the field from you know, depending on what dorm you lived in at the time.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: So so to go to a game when I was going to school there, you could just kind of walk up and and watch the game.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: I also was um covering, I was broke for the sports section of the Duquesne Duke newspaper for a while too, so I covered some of the sporting events as well.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um so so but but back then this was the 90s.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: This was Duquesne was very, very small.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's gotten a lot bigger now.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: They they're now you know, they played Pitt uh last season, they've played Florida State, they've played WVU.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: They they they are now getting like some of those.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: I I know that's the like you know, come come get creamed by.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's you know, trying to trying to prepare for the season, but that's still a bigger knock on their belt than it was when I was there.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um it now, Greg Gatuso, who's of Beachview fame, him and his brother, uh actually coached very successfully at Duquesne for years.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_03: And um he was he had coached at Pitt too, and um he had obviously coached against Nate Washington, and he called him the best small college wide receiver he'd ever seen.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_03: And obviously, you know, he was not wrong in that assessment since I mean Nate Washington goes gone to have like a very nice pro career.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_03: His first career catch was in 2005 in the AFC Championship game.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_03: Um, he had a catch in Super Bowl 43.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_03: He also has two Super Bowl rings with the Steelers, Tim.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_03: So he he he had a very solid, nice little career.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: So um he actually left you mentioned Super Bowl 43.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I think he only had like one or two K.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_03: He didn't have a ball.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: But he but he was the only so that final drive, the famous 92-yard march down the field drive.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: There's only two people that that touched the ball other than Rothesburger on that drive.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, it was him and yeah, Holmes.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, him and Holmes.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: And and there was even a long pass that Rothesberger attempted in that drive for Washington that actually went incomplete.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: So um that was pretty significant.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like Heinz Ward never touches the ball, uh, Heath Miller never touches the ball.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's it's all Washington and Holmes.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: Now, granted, obviously Holmes did the bigger care of the lifting on that drive, but but it's still pretty interesting that Nate Washington was the other guy on that drive.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_03: So whatever happened to Nate Washington, um, he left via free agency in 2009, and he actually had four more productive years um before retiring in 2016.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_03: I think he went to Tennessee, right?
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_03: Another guy.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_03: I think he went to Tennessee.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I believe so, yes.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_03: And he was pretty effective there.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_03: So how about a guy?
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know if everybody's forgotten or maybe they just don't realize how good he was.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_03: Um, James Farrier.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so who was he?
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_03: Um he was a linebacker for the Steelers from 2002 to 2011.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_03: He was a free agent signing from the Jets.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_03: Outside of Jerome Bennis, this is probably the best free agent last trade the Steelers have ever made.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_03: Um he's a two-time Super Bowl champion, 40, 40, and 43.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_03: He's the first team All Pro in 2004, second team all pro in 2008, two-time Pro Bowler, two time second team all ACC.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_03: He's in the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_03: His nickname is Pottsy because I guess he had a pot belly, not after Happy Days.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_03: He had a potbelly.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I just remember he made a big tackle on Peyton Manning in that AFC championship game that or AFC divisional game against the Colts and Peyton Manning.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_03: And that that that was a big play.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_03: That was on was that on third down or fourth down, I want to say.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was it was they had two sacks on that drive.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: The one was at the at the two-yard line to you know, turn the ball over on downs.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: But is that the thing?
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_03: Which if yeah, not for a fumble, that would have been the game.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: That would have been the game, yeah.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_03: So, yeah, really great career with the Steelers and just like a very underrated player.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_03: I think the Steelers fans know who he is, but maybe not the newer ones or the more casual ones.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so whatever happened to James Farrier, um, like everybody else, Father Time is undefeated, and um he retired in 2011, Tim.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and I really he's been to the Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Honor in 2020.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_03: And uh, in my opinion, the Steelers are still trying to replace him, quite honestly.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_03: They tried with Ryan Shazier, they tried with Patrick Queen.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_03: Neither of those guys really have played as well as James Ferrier, in my opinion.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_03: I think Shazier might have been on a track to be pretty good until his injury, but Patrick Queen can't cover anybody.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_03: He can stop the run, but he can't really cover a pass.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: So that's a really good point that they're that like they've never since he retired, they've never really been able to replace him.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: I never thought about that until you said it.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's so true.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_03: They had the other guy that went to Cleveland, um, the guy from Michigan who Devin Boy.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, who was good for like half a season and then got hurt and just fell apart like both off the field and on the field for whatever reason.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, he was a high draft pick.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: Chazeer was a high draft pick.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: Queen was a big, a big money-free agent.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: So like they just lack of trust.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_03: Like they keep saying, oh, Queens that like he I just remember there were games where like teams are wanting the tight end to the middle of the field and like picking on him.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_03: Like I Seattle, especially, like I just didn't feel he was all that effective, you know, at least in that role.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, we'll see.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it'll be interesting now that because everything that you just mentioned has one common threadline and it's Mike Tomlin.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: There's always a Mike Tomlin defense, so it'll be interesting to see if a different defense.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_03: I guess we'll know if Patrick Green is like he got run out of Baltimore, too.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I think Baltimore just thought he wanted too much money, maybe.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, you're right.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if it wasn't like he was cut or something.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_00: He was a free agent, but but you're right.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: It it's it'll be interesting to see.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just saying it'll be interesting to see if a different defensive coach, if anything.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's just gonna be a weird year.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_03: We'll cover that in the current events.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_03: So um, so Mr.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_03: Jeff King, Tim.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_03: Do you remember Jeff King?
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_03: For sure.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_03: All right.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_03: Who was he?
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_03: He was from Arkansas.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_03: Well, we won't hold that against him.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_03: He was from Arkansas in the 80s, and his name is not Clinton.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um he's uh drafted by the Pirates first overall in 1986.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_03: He played for the Pirates from 1989 to 1996.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_03: His MLB debut was June 2nd, 1989, with the Pirates.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_03: Um, he played third base.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_03: Um, he's one of the few guys that hit two home runs in the same inning.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_03: He shares that record with Willie McCovey and Andrew Dawson.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_03: I say Andrew, I meant Andre.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_03: Sorry, I put a W at the end of his name.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_03: Well, Jeff King for his part.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_03: Uh once again, he Jeff King was kind of a mediocre player.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_03: He wasn't bad, but he wasn't like a superstar, and he was on a really good team.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_03: So he had hit 256 for his career with the Pirates, hit 154 home runs, which back then that was a decent amount.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_03: He had a history of back problems, so much so that Bobby Bonilla had to play third base in the 1990 NLCS.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_03: And if you remember Bobby Bonia at third base, that was um a little bit of a disaster.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_03: Scary would be a best word.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_03: Well, he that's why they moved to the right field.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_03: It's like because he would over like it wasn't like he couldn't field, he could field okay.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_03: It's just like every time he'd throw the ball, it'd be like five feet over Sid Bream's head.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_03: Like Sid Bree would have to like try and jump like super high to catch the ball.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_03: It was amazing.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: So if I remember correctly from our Barry Bonds episode, that was one of the things that Barry Bonds did that um ticked everybody off was he publicly criticized King for not playing in that series.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, well, Jeff King, I don't think like he he didn't like baseball, apparently.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_03: Like I've read that in some of the articles I read and stuff.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_03: Like that he just very much disliked baseball, and it was just kind of so it kind of leads into a nice whatever happened to.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_03: So he he was traded to Kansas City in 1996 with Jay Bell.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_03: Him and Jay Bell went to Kansas City for Joe Randa.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_03: Good God, Joe Randa was not that good.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um, he retired in 99 due to back problems, and the reason like they think he disliked baseball is because the day after he was like, okay, I'm fully vested in baseball's pension, it's like I'm out, guys.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_03: And it was like the middle of the season, like it was like July or August.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_03: Because I guess well, I guess it would make sense because it he started in June, right?
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_03: So it was probably like whatever, maybe he like gives it like a couple extra weeks just to make sure.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_03: But like, why you couldn't just last till the end of the season and like be like I'm out.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_03: So maybe Barry Bonds had something to say about like you know, you gotta play through the pain, but he had back problems.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_03: Back problems are pretty painful, and you know, maybe you put him out there and he's not that effective anyway.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_03: So good point.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I don't know who was in right field, probably Gary Reedis or somebody.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's interesting.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: I you know, here's a good if you want a good trivia question, Steve.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_00: He you said he was the first overall pick in the MLB draft.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, 1986.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: So so the Pirates have had the first overall pick in the MLB draft six times.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: That was actually the first time.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want to take a guess at the other five guys that they picked first overall?
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I don't know.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_03: Wasn't one like guy they wouldn't pick because of the catcher?
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_03: Somebody else.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: No, that wasn't the first pick, but that was a good guess.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, one's pretty obvious pretty recently.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_00: Skeens, right?
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, skeins, yeah.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: Uh uh.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_00: Henry Davis.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, yeah, that's right.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_03: And he's terrible.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_03: It sounds what a joke that a major league baseball draft is.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_03: It's just yeah.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: The other guys were a little bit more mixed bag.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: Chris Benson, uh, Brian Bullington stunk, and then Garrett Cole.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, Cole and Benson were good.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: Benson was okay.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: I wouldn't say he's the level Cole, but he was, yeah, he was at least mediocre.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, come on.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_03: Davis, Davis is terrible.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_03: Right, but he catches skiing, so they have to keep him.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like, that's literally the only reason he's on the team at this point.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_03: It's nice work if he can find it, I guess.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: And he was a number one pick, so that helps.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_03: So um moving on to baseball players from the 90s.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_03: Um, Don Onslaught.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_03: That's another Chris Berman reference.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_03: Um, who was Mr.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_03: Onslaught?
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_03: It's actually Dawn Slot, but who was Don Slot?
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_03: He played for the Pirates from 1990 to 1995.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_03: He was acquired in a trade on December 4th in 1989 from the Yankees.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_03: The Pirates gave up Jeff Robinson and minor leaguer William Willie Smith.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_03: Um, Jeff Robinson, I remember, was like an okay bullpen pitcher.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_03: He was nothing special.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_03: Was he the one that hit home runs?
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think I remember he would like he would like just he was a pretty good hitter for a bull, and like, but he was a bullpen pitcher.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_03: It was really odd.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_03: It was an odd thing.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: We we have a clip somewhere in our Facebook feed you'd have to search for it, but we of Jeff Robinson hitting a home run.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: Hitting home run at Wrigley Field with Mike Lang making the call.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_03: Wow, that's a lot going on in that sentence.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know whatever happened to Willie Smith, but whatever.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_03: Um his nickname was Sluggo or Dawn Onslaught, but apparently Sluggo maybe was better.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_03: He's a good hitting catcher.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_03: Wow, what a novel concept, Tim.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_03: But he I don't think he was as good defensively as Mike Lavalier, so they platooned him in Mike Lavalier.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_03: Um definitely his most productive years were here with the Pirates.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_03: He did play for Kansas City, Texas, the Yankees, Cincinnati, San Diego.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_03: Um wow, he is a great 305 for the Pirates, average twenty-one home runs, 184 RBIs over six years.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_03: That's that's pretty solid for a catcher, Tim.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he um he he was semi clutch in those postseason years too.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um he he I remember he he hit hit at least one home run against the Braves that one year.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, and that was at a time where those those postseason years, the the stars were not clutched you know, bonds bony events like were not hitting home.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I remember Jose Lean would hit a home run every start.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_03: It's like, what?
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_03: You've got Dawn Onslaught and Jose Lean carrying the offense.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_03: That's probably not a good recipe.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, exactly.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so whatever happened to Mr.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_03: Dawn slot, um, he went on to go sign with Cincinnati in 1996.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_03: Um and then he ends up splitting that season between the Reds and the Angels.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_03: Um and actually the next year he finishes up his career in San Diego in '97.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_03: I think he went like 0 for 20 and San Diego was like, sorry, dude, you're done.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_03: So he kind of liked the heart of his career.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_03: Like he played well with I think Texas and the Yankees early on, like in the 80s, but then like really his best years really were with the Pirates.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_03: Um, what did he do after the uh career through retirement?
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_03: Um he coached a little in Detroit in 2006.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_03: I think that was with the Leland or McClendon staff.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: I guess that would have been a lot of people.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, like a like a Mc a little pirate connection.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_03: Because like yeah, they had the the 90s pirates were in Detroit for for a few years there.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_03: So next up in our trip of people you probably forgot about.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_03: No, I don't know.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_03: I maybe this next one shouldn't be on this list.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_03: I think people remember him.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe not.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_03: Um, how about Aaron Smith, Tim?
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_03: Do you think people more people remember him or forgot him?
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: Or uh yeah, I think people will remember Aaron Smith.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_00: I think it helps that he played during those Super Bowl champion years.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: I think if if it's always easier to do it.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_03: Like a Joel Steed.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, like people like forget how good he was.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's that's a perfect comparison because Joel Steed was a really, really good defensive tackle, and and maybe probably around the same level as Aaron Smith, but people would easily remember Aaron Smith more just because he played on championship teams.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: That's a perfect comparison.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, maybe I should have put Joel Steed here instead of Aaron Smith.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_03: But I'm gonna find out what happened to Joel Steed.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: Sequel episode.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_03: Um Aaron Smith as a defensive end, obviously, for the Steelers from 1999 to 2011.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_03: He only ever played for the Steelers.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_03: He um played at Northern Colorado and he was drafted in the fourth round.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_03: He's a two-time pro bowler, which seems like a ripoff.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_03: Like he should have made more than that.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_03: Um he's in the Steelers Hall of Honor.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_03: Um, he made the Sports Illustrate all deck decade team in 2000, which that's pretty impressive.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: Oh wow.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_03: That must have been for the 2000s.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's still that's still says a lot.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_03: Um, did you know he wanted to play basketball?
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_03: His first love is basketball.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_03: He really likes basketball.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_03: He kind of looks like a basketball player, like if you think about it.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_03: Like he kind of balked up for football, but you look at him, he's like kind of got like those long arms and he's pretty tall.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_03: Um, he just played football for something to do until basketball season.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_03: Because I've seen interviews with it where he's like, yeah, I was just kind of bored, and the coach begged me to play, so I did it and I got good at it.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_03: Um he was a he was a glue of that defense from 2000 to 2011.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_03: Really, like he was kind of like like when Marval Smith would disappear off the like get hurt, not play on the offensive line, you would notice it.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_03: And there's the same thing with Aaron Smith.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_03: When he was not in the defense and he was hurt, you would definitely notice that he was not there.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_03: Um Dick Lebeau, his coach for many years, called um him one of the best football players he'd ever coached.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_03: And um a great story was um Dick Lebeau um has that powerhouse defense and they required you know the fire zone blitz.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_03: And so sometimes Aaron Smith would have to go out and cover like a wide receiver or something.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, Aaron Smith wasn't crazy about that, and um he said, now what if this guy just takes off at the snap and he doesn't give a darn who's blitzing or not?
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_03: And he said, Well, we'll well you just take off with him.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_03: And he said, Look, don't worry, Ike is trapping in behind you, and if he's running away from you, Ike will be sitting right back there to get him.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_03: He's talking about Ike Taylor, the corners.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_03: So Ike's supposed to kind of help out a little bit.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_03: So Lebeau called his zone blitz, and Ike is trying to do the cover, and so Smith runs the play, and um and uh Bears, it was against the Bears, and Bears running back Thomas Jones caught a pass and got away from Smith, and Ike Taylor missed picking him up.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_03: And so Jones on that play picks up 20 yards.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_03: And before he got a chance to get to Smith after he came off the field, he stomped over to the Lebow and said, You told me he was gonna be there.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_03: You told me I wouldn't be alone.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_03: He was so mad I didn't know what he was going to do.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_03: But he's coming right for me.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_03: And I said, Well, he'll be there next time we run it again, just relaxed.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_03: He was really upset with the old coach there, Dick Lebeau.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_03: So I mean he he really that that was a funny story, you know, about him Ike Taylor uh doing Ike Taylor things apparently.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: That's great.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_03: So whatever happened to uh Mr.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_03: Aaron Smith, um, he retired after 2011 due to injuries.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I think he lives in the Pittsburgh area.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_03: Um, because as of 2024-2026, um he's working as the boys' varsity basketball coach at Eden Christian Academy.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_03: So um he joined the school in 2022 to lead the program to the following successful career.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_03: So he's coaching high school basketball, basketball is true love in a crit at Eden Christian Academy.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_03: So I don't know, maybe he's uh has some uh you know religious beliefs there that match with that school.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_03: So that's interesting.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: He uh I I was just at Eden's graduation.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um my niece just graduated from there.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_03: Was Aaron Smith there?
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_00: I did not see him, uh, though there was a lot of people there.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_03: He'd be pretty hard to miss, I would think.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_03: Well, he's lost a lot of weight, but he's still like six seven.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, he's a big dude.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but I remember most about him.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: There were three seasons where near the end of his career where he got like hurt for the season somewhere, you know, in the middle or near the end of the season, it really just killed the defense.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: Just you know, those were seasons where the defense just couldn't ever recover losing Aaron Smith.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_00: That's how valuable he was.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: And you talked about his faith.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: I remember so so when he was playing for the Steelers, um, his son, who I think was like four, was diagnosed with leukemia.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_03: That's right, he was, yeah.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: And um, and and that became a story.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: He didn't want that to get out in the public.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_03: And yeah, he kind of kept that under wraps.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_03: He didn't ever make a big deal out of it.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_00: He didn't want to, and then his wife, I guess, kind of kind of said, Hey, I think this would be good to have the support of people.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_00: And then he and he said, and and by the way, one of the people that really did that on his behalf, I know you're not a huge Ron Cook fan, but Ron Cook wrote this just tremendous column.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: It was it was like one of the only times I ever emailed Ron Cook and said, like, thank you so much for writing that.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because it was just and he replied back to me too, and it was just really a nice story.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_00: And and Aaron Smith said that, you know, he's from Colorado, but he stayed here in Pittsburgh because he loves the people, and that all goes back to the outpouring of support they got when their son was diagnosed.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, that's that's awesome.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_03: Wow, that's a that's a nice story, Tim.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_03: I glad you included that.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I forgot about that article Ron Cook wrote, maybe just because, you know.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_03: Well, you know, Ron Cook, he's not all bad.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_00: No, he's not all bad.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_00: And he highlighted his faith in that article, which is something you don't always see, you know, people do in the media.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_00: So it was just it was cool.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_00: I thought it was just well done, and it's cool that it really impacted the Smith family.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_03: I wonder how his kids kid's doing today.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_03: I should have looked that up.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_03: Whatever happened to the kid.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_03: I'm sure he's alive and well.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_03: Normally childhood leukemia carries like a 90% cure rate or something.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he as of it's pretty high.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_00: I can tell you, as of as of three years ago, he um was playing was playing uh football at IUP.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_03: Nice.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_03: Wow, that's awesome.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_00: As an offensive lineman.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_00: So he did pretty good, yeah.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, that's that's that's really awesome.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_03: So moving on to uh not quite as serious a topic, but that was a great story, though.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_03: That was a nice, nice way to put a bow on that.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_03: Umar Moreno.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_03: Um who was he?
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_03: And I I don't know, people I don't know.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_03: So you think people are podcasts might remember it?
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_03: I think we trend around this age, maybe.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_03: I vaguely remember Omar Moreno.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_03: I just remember my dad really liked him.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_03: Um he played center field for the Pirates from 1975 to 1982.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_03: He was signed as an amateur free agent from Panama.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_03: Panama! There's a red station wagon playing Panama on March 30th, 1969, by legendary scout in Latin America, Howie Hack, Hawk, Hack, I don't know the guy's name.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_03: Um he was kind of like a light-hitting, speedy center fielder.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_03: He was very good in the field, but he was more of an on-base, get on base, steal a base kind of guy.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_03: And that's kind of worked well with what exactly, like when you got Parker, Matlock, and Starjoel, that's kind of the kind of guy you want hitting in front of those guys, I would imagine.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_03: Um, he led the National League in stolen bases in 1978 and 1979, um, with 77 and 96, respectively.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_03: He caught the final out in the 1979 World Series, Tim.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_03: That's yeah.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_03: He batted he batted 333 to lead off for the World Series.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_03: So that's pretty good, yeah.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_03: And um, like I said, you know, getting on base.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_03: Uh he he actually had 96 stolen bases in another season, but it didn't lead because somebody else had 97.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_03: He got edged out.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_03: So now I think that was 1980.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um, his O on base percentage was 333, which was above average, which is what you want for your leadoff.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_03: You just want him walking, just like they said, mighty ball.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_03: We don't care you get on base, we just want you to get on base.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_03: So um, any Omar Moreno memories, Tim, or anything to add?
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, uh like you, it's I vaguely remember him.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um that era of Major League Baseball, that was a good time to be a speed swallow and bass guy because that was really in vogue at that point.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_00: Remember?
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, Chuck Danner kind of brought that in quite the lumber lightning, that's what they would call it.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_00: And you had guys like Lou Brock and Ricky Henderson and Vince Coleman, and you know, you had all these like stolen base specialists.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it kind of got into the 80s with like Vince Coleman.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and there was actually a team, you're gonna get into this, but there's actually a team in the American League who decided to build their entire strategy around speed.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_00: And it was a team that wears pinstripes.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, because that that's what happened was that's that's that's getting into the whatever happened to Omar Moreno part of the story.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_03: Um, he signed with the Yankees in 1983 as part of the aforementioned we're gonna sign a bunch of speedy guys, or dude knows, Steinbrenner just like big names.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know if Omar Moreno was a big name, but so um after his playing days in 1986, he he retired to back to Panama.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_03: And um he runs a disadvantaged youth baseball charity for kids in Panama.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_00: Oh wow, that's pretty cool.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_03: So and I don't think the Yankees won any World Series in the 80s, so I don't think that really worked out too well.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_00: They did not.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_03: In fact, they don't they won in 78, didn't they?
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_03: I think, yeah.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they if I remember correctly, yeah, maybe they were in that 81 series against the Dodgers.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_00: I don't remember that.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_03: But like Fernando Mania and all that, right?
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, right.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_00: But but I know I can tell you in the latter part of the 80s, they don't even make like the playoffs.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_03: Well, because that's always the joke on Seinfeld, you know, you you sir are running this, your ego is ruining this.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_03: Or George tells us off Steinrenner.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_03: He's like, hire this man.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's right.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_03: All for the glorification of your ego, sir.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and that was that joke was relevant in the mid-90s because that's you know, that's that's the way things had gone for about 15 years, and then of course that all flips in the late 90s.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_03: So next up is um I don't think he ever played for the Yankees, but um Um Jim Rooker.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_03: Um now I remember Jim Rooker more as the announcer rather than the pitcher, but um, he was a lefty pitcher from 1973 to 1980.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_03: He was acquired in a trade from Kansas City in 1972 that sent the immortal Gene Garber to the Royals.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, Gene Garber, I could have when that happened to him four years before I was born, I was like, wow, I'm really I'm really upset about this.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_03: Uh as usual, my lack of.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I guess you know, we shouldn't complain when we make fun of people that don't know about Aaron Smith.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_03: But I mean, I'm maybe Gene Garber was a really good player.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_03: Um, back to Jim Rooker, though, he had a great game against the Dodgers in game two of the 1974 NLCS.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_03: He gave up two runs and seven innings.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_03: The Pirates did win that game, but they lost the series.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_03: Um overall, he had a 3.29 ERA with the Pirates.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_03: His best years with the Pirates really were 74 and 75.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_03: His ERAs of 2.78 and 2.97.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't include wins because wins for a pitcher are kind of like I mean, I don't know.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know how indictive that is of how good or bad a pitcher was.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_03: So um in 1979, his career really was kind of over, and um, he didn't start and he he just he he kind of filled in here and there.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_03: He went four and seven, had a 4.60 ERA.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_03: But the moment he is remembered for is he really was clutch in that 79 uh World Series.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_03: The Pirates are do or die, down three games to one in the series, and Brooker pitched five innings and gave up one run.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_03: And he kind of opened or did the opener thing, and then he gets them to Burt Bilevin, who just finishes the game and has a great game five and totally shuts down the Oilers or the Oilers, the Orioles, to um get the Pirates back in the series at three games to two.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, um Jim Rooker's overall career, um, he has a 3.29 ERA, 82 wins, 65 losses.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um anything to add to Jim Rooker before I go into the whatever happened to, which is which is just as interesting as his career, quite honestly.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well, and it it's probably what most people remember him for, actually.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_00: The incident you're gonna get into.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_00: But I will say you talked about wins not being a good stat, and I was just gonna say, you know, Paul Skeens won a Cyang award going 10 and 10.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_00: So if that doesn't prove your point, I don't know what does.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I mean people don't regard it as the BR.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_03: I I will say this, Steve Carlton won 20 wins with like the 1972 Phillies and they stunk.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_03: So maybe that I always thought that was really a credit to Steve Carlton, you know.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_03: But back then, remember that you pitched whole games, like so it was easier to get a win.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_00: You have you have to have run support, but you also have to be good.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_00: So there's it's it's a little bit of both.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so whatever happened to Jim Rooker, Tim?
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_03: Well, he became a Pirates announcer.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_03: And the most infamous, you know, incident that happened with the Pirates was, and I remember this game.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_03: I remember this distinctly.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_03: So in June 8th, 1989, the Pirates are in Philadelphia playing in the old vet, and the Pirates scored 10 runs in the top of the first inning, Tim.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_03: And I remember me and my friend, I was I did not know you at that point in time, Tim.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_03: I was with another person named Teddy, and me and Teddy and his dad were like, okay, this game's over.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_03: We're gonna go out.
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_03: And I think we went out and got some pizza or something.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_03: And we came back, and all of a sudden the Pirates are like losing, and we're like, what?
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_03: What happened?
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_03: This game was over.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_03: And um, we weren't the only ones who thought that because Jim Rooker, after he scored 10 runs, said, if they lose this game, I'll walk back to Pittsburgh.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_03: And um, Steve Jelts infamously hits two home runs, leading to Barry Bonds wondering who Steve Jelts is.
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_03: Um the fair, I mean they lose they lose 15-11 on a wild pitch.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_03: They don't even lose by like one run, they lose by four runs.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_03: A wild pitch by Darren Dalton.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_03: Um, the two-run single, Phillies take the lead.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_03: I think that was like in the eighth.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_03: So um I remember 1989 was like the year the Pirates didn't have a bullpen, much like this year.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_03: Like, because they like no lead was safe that year with the Pirates bullpen.
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_03: So that was kind of the story of the season for them.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_03: Because they had a decent 1988, and they this was a year they definitely regressed.
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they had some injuries that year too, but in 1988 they had Jim Gott was their closer.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_03: That was the game that opened the season.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_03: Jim Walk walked in their winning run in Montreal.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_03: Wow, I just said a lot of things that don't exist.
• 40:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, and that's that's kind of what happened was yeah, he was their closer.
• 40:31
  SPEAKER_00: He's set he had set the team record for saves.
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, he got hurt early in that season, and they really didn't have anything after that.
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_03: Like it would like they would get to the seventh inning and everything would fall apart like every game.
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_03: So and they would be up like five to one or you know, six to two, and then all of a sudden they'd lose eight to six, you know, whatever it was.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_03: So um Rooker for his part uh does make good on the walk.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_03: And I think we did this as part of uh a podcast.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_03: It's in one of our podcast episodes buried somewhere.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_03: This story.
• 41:04
  SPEAKER_03: Um he walks 300 miles from Veteran Stadium all the way to Three Rivers Stadium during the offseason for charity.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_03: And yeah, you know, good for him.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_03: Um him and his buddy did it, and um, yeah, they had to they were afraid like through rural Pennsylvania because like he could obviously couldn't walk the turnpike, so he walked like Route 30 or whatever it was, and like they're afraid there wasn't much of like a um like a whatever shoulder, yeah.
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_03: And they're afraid he'd get hit by a car, and he almost did.
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_03: He said he had to like jump out of the way of like an 18 wheeler one time, so but you know, he walks the 300 miles.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_03: That's a kind of impressive.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_03: Like, what did it take him?
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_03: Two weeks, three weeks, something like that.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, yeah, it was cool that he actually did it.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_03: Um and it was for charity, you know.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_03: So it was great.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_03: It was it was a cool little thing they did.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_03: Um, whatever happened to Jim Rooker after that, um, he began writing children's books with baseball as the subject.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_03: Um, it was like, you know, darn you, pirate relievers, can't you hold a lead?
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_03: It's like goodnight lead or something, or I'm trying to think of like you know, the walk, the home run, and the wild pitch bedtime stories for children.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_03: Um, he retired from broadcasting pirates games in 1993.
• 42:23
  SPEAKER_03: It's kind of like there's another guy that's kind of like this, like we're never sure like if he was forced out, fired.
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_03: He is 83 years young, Tim.
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_03: Oh wow, can you believe it?
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_03: So he's been around.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_03: He was born in 1942, so he's no spring chicken.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_03: But yeah, that was that's a fun story.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um going to a different fun story.
• 42:45
  SPEAKER_03: Um, have you ever heard of Ed Ott, Tim?
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
• 42:49
  SPEAKER_03: Oh yeah.
• 42:49
  SPEAKER_03: Ed Ott, that was another one of my dad's favorite players for just interesting reasons.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_03: So Ed Ott, who was he?
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_03: He was a catcher for the Pirates from 1974 to 1980, so he was on the 79 World Series team.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_03: He was drafted 23rd round out of high school in 1970, and he was a very good defensive catcher, and his nickname was The Otter.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_03: Um, now this kind of becomes like relevant in his later years and just the way he conducts himself.
• 43:22
  SPEAKER_03: He was a high school wrestler, and um, you know, he was a very good high school wrestler, he was from like the backwoods of Pennsylvania, and they my dad used to say that would help him throw runners out at the plate because you can remember at that time you were allowed to block the plate, and Ed Ott was kind of a bigger guy, and so he would just like totally destroy people with the plate.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_03: So it was quite interesting.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_03: So it it leads to an incident, and actually, this wasn't anybody blocking the plate.
• 43:55
  SPEAKER_03: Um, it was August 12th, 1977, and there was a game against.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_03: The Mets.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_03: Ott slid hard in the Mets second baseman, Felix Milan, trying to break up a double play.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_03: Another thing you were allowed to do, but I think Milan was actually on the base.
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_03: So it wasn't like you know the Chung Ho Gong where you're sliding in the center field kind of move.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_03: Milan shouted at Ott and hit him with the baseball in his hand.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_03: And um Ott answered by picking Milan up in a wrestling move, upending him and then slamming onto his knee.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_03: So like he does like, I don't know, what would you call like a power?
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know, what's the name of that wrestling move?
• 44:34
  SPEAKER_00: Power drop, I think.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_00: Power drop.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 44:37
  SPEAKER_03: Um, he did this at Three Earl Stadium.
• 44:40
  SPEAKER_03: Um, it severely injured Milan's shoulder, and the incident effectively ended this uh Milan guy's career.
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_03: Um Chuck Tanner for his part said, hey, he got what was coming to him.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_00: That would get you fine today.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_03: Uh it actually broke um um Felix Milan's collarbone.
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_03: Um there's pretty cool pictures of it in the paper.
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I don't know if we'll be able to post that to our website, but hey, it looks neat.
• 45:10
  SPEAKER_03: It's funny to see the pictures because like they have like three different pictures of it like happening.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_03: So because there's obviously no video of it.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I mean he's like I'm I'm looking at it now, but he's like clearly he's it it looks more like a body slam.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it does like a hip.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_03: And that odd is a pretty big guy.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_03: And this Balan guy is not small.
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_03: That's one guy looks like he's over six feet, like 200, too.
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_03: So these guys are pretty big.
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_03: So and being slammed on the turf at three-year stadium when you're not wearing football pads, I apparently was really bad for your health.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_03: So probably even when you were wearing football pads, if this happened.
• 45:47
  SPEAKER_03: This is like something that looks out of like out of a football game.
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, seriously.
• 45:51
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so Ott, what did he he batted um 267 over seven years, 31 home runs, 173 RBIs?
• 45:59
  SPEAKER_03: He really wasn't a great hitting catcher, but um, I think he did um win like one year, like he he won like offensive player of the month one time, and it was like clutch for the pirates.
• 46:12
  SPEAKER_03: Um so whatever happened to Mr.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_03: Ed Ott when he wasn't slamming people or causing physical injury, well he continued more of that kind of fun stuff uh in his in his post in his post um I guess playing career.
• 46:26
  SPEAKER_03: What he went into management.
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_03: He got so first off, Tony Pena comes up, and um they he really doesn't have a spot anymore because Tony Pena can you know is better hitter, better catcher, better overall.
• 46:41
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so he gets traded to the Angels for Jason Thompson and Mickey Meller.
• 46:46
  SPEAKER_03: I don't remember Mickey Meller, but I remember Jason Thompson.
• 46:49
  SPEAKER_03: He was a pretty good power hitting first baser.
• 46:51
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 46:52
  SPEAKER_03: Um he did retire uh Ed Ott did in 1984 due to rotator cuff surgery, and he coached um the Astros with Art Howe from 1989 to 1993.
• 47:04
  SPEAKER_03: And um he got in a fight with Rob Dibble, which you know, whatever.
• 47:09
  SPEAKER_03: I think Rob Dibble threw it.
• 47:11
  SPEAKER_03: So they were coaching, I think it was with the Astros, and Rob Dibble threw it somebody.
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_03: So Rob Dibble used to think he's like a tough guy until we met Ed Ott at like, you know, how old is Ed Ott?
• 47:22
  SPEAKER_03: Like this is probably like 1990.
• 47:25
  SPEAKER_00: Probably it's like in his 40s by that point.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, Ed Ott literally like chokes out Rod Dibble.
• 47:34
  SPEAKER_03: So, okay, tough guy.
• 47:37
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 47:38
  SPEAKER_03: Um unfortunately, Ed Ott did it did pass away.
• 47:42
  SPEAKER_03: He he died in 2024.
• 47:44
  SPEAKER_03: So but um rest in peace, Mr.
• 47:47
  SPEAKER_03: Ed Ott.
• 47:48
  SPEAKER_00: I um I just recently read Dave Parker's autobiography, and he talks a ton about Ed Ott because he he and Ed Ott were very similar personalities.
• 47:58
  SPEAKER_00: They were both fresh, they were both uh combative, and you would think two guys like that on the same team with that same personality are gonna clash.
• 48:08
  SPEAKER_00: They actually ended up being really, really close friends, and they used to their relationship, at least if you read Dave Parker's book, which which Ed Ott contributes to, um, it's it's based entirely on just making fun of each other constantly.
• 48:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, like at the dugout and everything.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, good natured ribbing, I guess.
• 48:29
  SPEAKER_00: Sure, sure.
• 48:30
  SPEAKER_00: Not not mean spirited, just like always, you know, like brothers.
• 48:33
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 48:35
  SPEAKER_03: So anywho, um, moving from baseball back to football, um, and I think we've covered this guy a little bit before.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um, do you remember Dennis Dixon?
• 48:45
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I guess he did kind of play baseball for a little bit.
• 48:47
  SPEAKER_03: He was a center fielder.
• 48:50
  SPEAKER_03: Um, who he was, he was drafted by the Steelers in 2008 in the fifth round.
• 48:55
  SPEAKER_03: And um he did get the play in a game in 2009 after Ben Rothesberger and Charlie Batch got hurt, and it was against the Ravens, and he went 12 or 26, 154 yards, a touchdown, and an interception.
• 49:10
  SPEAKER_03: Unfortunately, the interception wasn't overtime and led to a Ravens game-winning field goal.
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, 2009 was kind of the year the defense couldn't hold a lead, so it wasn't completely his la fault.
• 49:23
  SPEAKER_03: I think they had a lead late in the game and they gave up a late drive.
• 49:28
  SPEAKER_03: Um then in 2010, Ben was uh suspended for um yeah, going into the bathroom in Georgia, you know, for and doing not very nice things to people.
• 49:39
  SPEAKER_03: Um three games to begin the 2010 season, and he actually started two games.
• 49:45
  SPEAKER_03: And um in the 2010 game was against the Falcons.
• 49:48
  SPEAKER_03: He was 18 for 26 for 236 yards in interception.
• 49:52
  SPEAKER_03: The Steelers did win this one in overtime 15 to 9.
• 49:57
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but it wasn't the greatest though, because third downs they were four for fourteen and they were oh for two in the red zone.
• 50:04
  SPEAKER_03: So it really wasn't that great.
• 50:06
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, only scoring 15 points really isn't that great of a performance even now.
• 50:11
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I mean, now not but back then though.
• 50:14
  SPEAKER_03: And then he plays against the Titans the next year and the next week and gets hurt.
• 50:19
  SPEAKER_03: And um that was kind of that was kind of the end of uh Dennis Dixon's uh career with the El Steel Aritos there.
• 50:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I remember the Ravens game.
• 50:30
  SPEAKER_00: He I mean, I thought he played well and yeah, he he kind of lost it at the end, but it was like, man, that was at Baltimore.
• 50:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he was pressed into service, he almost pulled that out.
• 50:42
  SPEAKER_00: That was kind of his big moment.
• 50:44
  SPEAKER_00: And then yeah, he's he's the opening day starter in the year that the Steelers went to the Super Bowl, which you know, few people would ever remember.
• 50:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and like you said, it wasn't like he, you know, they won both of his starts, but he was kind of along for the ride.
• 50:58
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so whatever happened to um good old um Dennis Dixon, he got cut the next year.
• 51:04
  SPEAKER_03: He played for Baltimore on the practice squad for that Super Bowl team, so I don't know if he got a Super Bowl ring or not.
• 51:10
  SPEAKER_03: And he bounced around the league for Philly, Buffalo, and Arizona.
• 51:14
  SPEAKER_03: And um, I don't know what he's doing now.
• 51:17
  SPEAKER_03: He has some Instagram stuff, so it looks like he's you know trying to do that, like maybe be an influencer or start a business or something like that.
• 51:25
  SPEAKER_03: So I will say that the next couple guys, it's like tough to like it's funny because these guys are not like at odd, like they're kind of like guys that grew up more in this era, and like I I will say this as like kind of a disclaimer like these guys just kind of disappeared.
• 51:43
  SPEAKER_03: Like people say, oh, you can't disappear off the grid.
• 51:46
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I don't have access to the NSA database, or I'm sure I could find people, but you know, when you're just an average person and I'm not really you know looking any farther than Google or whatever search engine you're gonna use, you don't find much.
• 51:59
  SPEAKER_03: If somebody doesn't want it out there, it doesn't seem like it's out there anymore.
• 52:03
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, and you can understand that people want their privacy, and um but that would be another good sequel episode, Steve.
• 52:11
  SPEAKER_00: Is or is you you go and uh the NSA hire private investigators, track them down, do like gotcha interviews.
• 52:19
  SPEAKER_00: Tell me what you're doing now.
• 52:20
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 52:21
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so the next person that kind of falls in this category is RJ English.
• 52:26
  SPEAKER_03: And boy, I don't know if anybody's really gonna remember.
• 52:29
  SPEAKER_03: I remember him, but do you remember him, Tim?
• 52:32
  SPEAKER_00: Uh-huh.
• 52:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I do.
• 52:33
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 52:33
  SPEAKER_03: He was a yeah, he was a wide receiver for the University of Pittsburgh from 1998 to 2001.
• 52:39
  SPEAKER_03: Um, he led the big east in receiving yards, Tim, with 760 in 2001.
• 52:45
  SPEAKER_03: Come on, led the whole conference.
• 52:48
  SPEAKER_03: And that was, I think that was before Miami left.
• 52:51
  SPEAKER_03: So it wasn't like they were like a joke conference back then.
• 52:55
  SPEAKER_03: They had a national champion just a couple years ago.
• 52:58
  SPEAKER_00: So I mean they I think that was I think that was the year actually Miami won the national championship.
• 53:02
  SPEAKER_00: So that's even bigger.
• 53:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 53:05
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, you know, they they they still have a winning record against the SEC.
• 53:09
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, come on.
• 53:10
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 53:12
  SPEAKER_03: It just meant more to RJ English.
• 53:16
  SPEAKER_03: Um his best year, um, like I said, 41 receptions, 760 yards, six touchdowns.
• 53:23
  SPEAKER_03: That was in 2001.
• 53:24
  SPEAKER_03: Um, he was an interesting receiver, uh, a big guy at 6'2, and not necessarily the fastest guy in the world.
• 53:32
  SPEAKER_03: He was probably better at slot or other receiver, and that was because he played across from a guy named Antonio Bryant, who was really good.
• 53:40
  SPEAKER_03: And now he did not play with Larry Fitzgerald because this was the year I think Larry Fitzgerald was still at Valley Forge, getting his grades or whatnot together.
• 53:50
  SPEAKER_03: Um he got overthrown in a game against Virginia Tech in '99.
• 53:54
  SPEAKER_03: The play would have given the Pitt lead a late lead in the game.
• 53:59
  SPEAKER_03: And here we'll uh play this for you.
• 54:05
  SPEAKER_03: Wide open.
• 54:07
  SPEAKER_03: Gee, Tim, wow, what could have been?
• 54:09
  SPEAKER_03: Do you think Pitt still wins that game?
• 54:11
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, it's not like with a minute left, but there's a couple minutes left.
• 54:14
  SPEAKER_03: And it wasn't, I don't think Michael Vick was playing that game, right?
• 54:18
  SPEAKER_00: He was playing, he had gotten hurt.
• 54:20
  SPEAKER_00: And so he was by that point he was out.
• 54:22
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and they had a terrible kicker, too.
• 54:24
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, that was that was huge.
• 54:27
  SPEAKER_00: They were number two, I think, in the country, he said at the time, and and that play would have beaten them in Blacksburg, and unfortunately, it was just a little bit over his head.
• 54:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 54:38
  SPEAKER_03: Good old John Terman.
• 54:40
  SPEAKER_03: Um, RJ English on his rise to promise and prominence at Pitt.
• 54:44
  SPEAKER_03: I was nothing coming in.
• 54:46
  SPEAKER_03: They didn't know what position I was.
• 54:48
  SPEAKER_03: I was nothing.
• 54:48
  SPEAKER_03: I was a nobody.
• 54:51
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, the in that upset of um, then in an upset of number 12 Virginia Tech, he had eight receptions for 134 yards and a TD and pin one pit one 38-7 at Heinzfield.
• 55:03
  SPEAKER_03: I think that was the following year after that 99 game.
• 55:08
  SPEAKER_03: Um, that same season, Ron Cook says Pitt doesn't deserve a bowl bid in November.
• 55:13
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so this is bad Ron Cook.
• 55:15
  SPEAKER_03: We had good Ron Cook later.
• 55:16
  SPEAKER_03: Now we have bad Ron Cook.
• 55:18
  SPEAKER_03: He's back to play.
• 55:19
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so Pitt does get that bowl invite to that they don't deserve the Tangerine bowl.
• 55:25
  SPEAKER_03: And um they upset NC State and Phillip Rivers 34 to 19.
• 55:30
  SPEAKER_03: So Ron Cook goes back and writes like this big, oh, I'm sorry, man, this team really turned it around.
• 55:35
  SPEAKER_03: What a great performance by Pitt.
• 55:37
  SPEAKER_03: I can't believe, you know, why I really didn't expect this.
• 55:40
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't see it coming.
• 55:42
  SPEAKER_03: Did Ron Cook do any of that stuff?
• 55:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna guess no.
• 55:46
  SPEAKER_03: He decided to cover Steer Steelers fullback John Whitman, and he was strangely silent on Pitt that week.
• 55:54
  SPEAKER_03: I guess he just didn't have time to fit it into his busy schedule of interviewing Steelers fullbacks.
• 56:00
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said when I brought up the Aaron Smith thing earlier, I'm like, I know Steve's not gonna like this because it's a positive Ron Cook story, but I didn't say he didn't like, I mean, people can you know be both.
• 56:11
  SPEAKER_03: There's yeah, there's good and bad.
• 56:13
  SPEAKER_00: People are a mixed bag usually.
• 56:16
  SPEAKER_03: Except for that one guy back in the back in the 30s and 40s.
• 56:19
  SPEAKER_03: He was just straight evil.
• 56:22
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, he's the exception.
• 56:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 56:25
  SPEAKER_03: Um, well, maybe Genghis Khan, but you can say his name, but not the other guy.
• 56:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 56:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so uh he did RJ English did have an off-field incident in June of 2001, which was kind of before his big C big season with Pitt.
• 56:41
  SPEAKER_03: He had a disorderly conduct.
• 56:42
  SPEAKER_03: I forget that was the year they had like a bunch of like, you know, they're throwing people through glass windows.
• 56:47
  SPEAKER_03: So that was later with Wandstat.
• 56:50
  SPEAKER_03: So I I don't know.
• 56:51
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so whatever happened to, here you go.
• 56:54
  SPEAKER_03: I have no idea.
• 56:55
  SPEAKER_03: There is no wiki page, no online present, no Instagram, no Facebook, no nothing, Tim.
• 57:01
  SPEAKER_03: I'm your guess is as good as mine.
• 57:03
  SPEAKER_03: I guess we can make it up.
• 57:05
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I heard RJ English was head of the um you know development for the Arizona Cardinals of white wide receivers.
• 57:13
  SPEAKER_03: So that's what I heard.
• 57:16
  SPEAKER_03: Prove me wrong.
• 57:18
  SPEAKER_03: That's all.
• 57:19
  SPEAKER_03: RJ English, if you're listening, contact us on Facebook and tell us what you're doing.
• 57:23
  SPEAKER_03: We would love to hear you.
• 57:24
  SPEAKER_03: You can correct my fake job I just made up for you.
• 57:28
  SPEAKER_03: Or maybe not.
• 57:29
  SPEAKER_03: I bet it would pay six figures.
• 57:32
  SPEAKER_00: Knowing the way the Bedwell family runs the Cardinals, it's not that far-fetched.
• 57:38
  SPEAKER_03: So sticking of uh people that played for Pitt in those weird years, um, there's a guy named David Priestley.
• 57:45
  SPEAKER_03: Do you remember David Priestley?
• 57:47
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, of course.
• 57:48
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, he was an interesting dude.
• 57:50
  SPEAKER_03: Um he played quarterback for Pitt from 1999 to 2001.
• 57:55
  SPEAKER_03: He was from Brethren High School in Los Alamitos, California.
• 57:59
  SPEAKER_03: So why is he coming to Pitt to play?
• 58:02
  SPEAKER_03: Well, that's because he had been at Ohio State with uh Walt Harris, and Walt Harris had kind of coached him when he had actually Walt Harris had recruited him to Ohio State, and then had been with him at Ohio State until Harris got the job at Pitt, and then I guess Priestley stayed like another year or so.
• 58:21
  SPEAKER_03: And then transferred to Pitt and had to sit out a year, and Priestley's best year was his senior year, that 2001 year.
• 58:30
  SPEAKER_03: He had 12 touchdowns and eight interceptions with 2,128 yards, and it was always him back and forth with Terman.
• 58:38
  SPEAKER_03: Like Priestley was very inconsistent.
• 58:40
  SPEAKER_03: He could be good at times and he could be really not great.
• 58:43
  SPEAKER_03: Um, he had a great senior year with Antonio Bryant, RJ English, and Keevan Barlow.
• 58:49
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, Keenan Barlow and Antonio Bryant go on to have pretty good pro careers.
• 58:55
  SPEAKER_03: So um they did beat NC State, like we said, 34-19 in the tangerine bowl and number 12 Virginia Tech that season while he was at quarterback.
• 59:05
  SPEAKER_03: And that that tangerine bowl was an upset because everybody's like, oh, Philip Rivers is gonna carve him up, you're never gonna be able to stop him.
• 59:11
  SPEAKER_03: And the pit defense kind of held him in check, and the pit offense scored 35 points.
• 59:17
  SPEAKER_03: So um 2001 overall was an odd year.
• 59:22
  SPEAKER_03: It had high expectations after a seven-win year in 2000 and a bowl game loss to Iowa State.
• 59:28
  SPEAKER_03: Do you remember the quarterback from Iowa State, Tim?
• 59:31
  SPEAKER_00: I do not.
• 59:33
  SPEAKER_03: He was the immortal Sage Rosenfelds.
• 59:36
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, he was he played like 10 years in the NFL.
• 59:40
  SPEAKER_03: Like he was not that good.
• 59:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um, now the 2001 season gets off to a rocky start.
• 59:46
  SPEAKER_03: Do you remember?
• 59:47
  SPEAKER_03: I remember I went to the game against East Tennessee, like their annual cupcake game.
• 59:52
  SPEAKER_03: And do you remember that play where like so Walt Harris switches to the spread offense, which Walt was right, everything was going to the spread offense, but the other problem was Walt didn't have the players to run the spread offense.
• 1:00:06
  SPEAKER_03: So Priestley like fakes this running play and runs the opposite direction of the play, and like he runs for 70 yards, like, and by untouched, I mean there wasn't a player within 10 yards of him.
• 1:00:18
  SPEAKER_03: It was it was pretty funny.
• 1:00:20
  SPEAKER_03: Um, they started calling him like vanilla Vick after that play and stuff.
• 1:00:26
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 1:00:28
  SPEAKER_03: Um, they won so they they lose like four games, and I think the low light was they lost to Paul in Boston College by like 35 points, but then Walt Harris goes back to his original offense and they win the next six and they make the bowl game, and you know, they beat uh some highly ranked teams.
• 1:00:47
  SPEAKER_03: So um Priestley always seemed a little confused out there.
• 1:00:50
  SPEAKER_03: Like I remember he would take a lot of timeouts.
• 1:00:53
  SPEAKER_03: Um even in an article, Harris stated that he was confused after Ohio State and couldn't pick up the offense of an Ohio State, but even at Pitt, he just I don't know, he just never seemed to like be like, you know, to have really command of the offense.
• 1:01:08
  SPEAKER_00: So there was an infamous moment in the backyard brawl that year.
• 1:01:11
  SPEAKER_03: They were we almost threw the interception, yeah.
• 1:01:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, where where the game was over and all they had to do was take a knee and he inexplicably throws the ball that almost gets pick six.
• 1:01:23
  SPEAKER_00: It would have been like the it would have been a Joe Vizargik type of play.
• 1:01:27
  SPEAKER_00: And if you watch the replay, you know, him and Harris were looking at each other like, wait a second, you didn't want me to call that play?
• 1:01:34
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, so yeah, yeah, you're right about confusion.
• 1:01:38
  SPEAKER_03: He seems like a nice enough guy, and he was a good quarterback.
• 1:01:41
  SPEAKER_03: You just for every every once in a while he would just like so whatever happened to him, he's another guy I couldn't find a lot on, but there is a LinkedIn page for a person with that name that works for some company in Philadelphia.
• 1:01:56
  SPEAKER_03: So I don't know.
• 1:01:58
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe that's what he's doing.
• 1:01:59
  SPEAKER_03: So there you go.
• 1:02:01
  SPEAKER_03: David Priestley, if you are out there, tell me what you are doing.
• 1:02:05
  SPEAKER_03: You know, we we would like to know.
• 1:02:07
  SPEAKER_03: Just just for the fans of Pitt, you know, it'd be nice to hear what you're up to.
• 1:02:11
  SPEAKER_03: So uh I mean, you know, I I think what do you think?
• 1:02:15
  SPEAKER_03: Just a mediocre career, Tim, at Pitt for him?
• 1:02:18
  SPEAKER_00: I I mean I would say slightly, I would say slightly above mediocre.
• 1:02:22
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, he he had his moments, um, but certainly not, you know, like Dan Marino, Alex Van Pel, can you pick up kind of?
• 1:02:30
  SPEAKER_03: I think he's better than Sanceri, than Tino Sinceri.
• 1:02:33
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 1:02:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's why I said better, I'd say better than mediocre, but not you know, not great.
• 1:02:38
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:02:39
  SPEAKER_03: Um, how about this guy?
• 1:02:40
  SPEAKER_03: You probably remember this guy, Brandon Sutter.
• 1:02:43
  SPEAKER_00: So famous hockey family that he came from.
• 1:02:49
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so who was he?
• 1:02:50
  SPEAKER_03: He was a penguin center from 2012 to 2015.
• 1:02:55
  SPEAKER_03: He was acquired via trade from Carolina with Brian Dumelin.
• 1:03:00
  SPEAKER_03: Do you remember the other guy that came with that trade?
• 1:03:03
  SPEAKER_03: That did you remember who they had to trade to get him?
• 1:03:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that was the stall trade.
• 1:03:08
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:03:08
  SPEAKER_03: And boy, you know what?
• 1:03:10
  SPEAKER_03: I I maybe I should save this for the whatever happened to.
• 1:03:13
  SPEAKER_03: I'll save that for the whatever happened to.
• 1:03:16
  SPEAKER_03: Um, in in three years, he only plays for the Penguins for three years.
• 1:03:20
  SPEAKER_03: He scores 38 goals, 33 assists, and 78 points.
• 1:03:23
  SPEAKER_03: He's a third-line center, but geez, it just seems like he was okay, but he never he was he wasn't quite Jordan Stahl at all.
• 1:03:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um, he is a drop-off from his time with the Hurricanes, which he had 53 goals and 54 assists and 107 points in four years.
• 1:03:40
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 1:03:41
  SPEAKER_03: It seems like maybe it wasn't much of a drop-off.
• 1:03:43
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 1:03:44
  SPEAKER_03: He didn't do much.
• 1:03:45
  SPEAKER_03: Um, he was meant to replace Jordan Stahl, who who was traded for.
• 1:03:50
  SPEAKER_03: Um, because what the penguins didn't want to pay Stahl's contract so they could keep Malkin, Flurry, Crosby, right?
• 1:03:56
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I think it was also Stahl wasn't gonna Stahl didn't want to be a third line center the rest of his career.
• 1:04:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, he was better than that.
• 1:04:04
  SPEAKER_00: And he was, I mean, he became a pretty secure.
• 1:04:06
  SPEAKER_03: He's still playing, he's in the playoffs this year.
• 1:04:08
  SPEAKER_03: I think they just beat Montreal.
• 1:04:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he's he's in the Stanley Cup finals this year.
• 1:04:13
  SPEAKER_03: Uh he's already won a Stanley Cup with them.
• 1:04:16
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, you know, he he Stall's had a great career.
• 1:04:20
  SPEAKER_03: He's had a great career, and that's it would have been nice to keep him.
• 1:04:23
  SPEAKER_00: It would have been, but he wasn't gonna be you couldn't make a guy like that a third line center.
• 1:04:28
  SPEAKER_00: He was gonna be he was just gonna be like a team captain kind of guy.
• 1:04:31
  SPEAKER_00: And that's really why they traded him.
• 1:04:33
  SPEAKER_00: It was it was because they knew he was never gonna supplant Crosby or Mulkin.
• 1:04:38
  SPEAKER_00: So that's really why they traded him, which which I get.
• 1:04:41
  SPEAKER_03: It's kind of one of those ones where it there really isn't a good answer, you know.
• 1:04:46
  SPEAKER_03: It's like the Matt, it's like the keeping Matt Murray over Bark Andre Fleury.
• 1:04:51
  SPEAKER_03: It's like not really a clear-cut.
• 1:04:54
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, now it looks more clear-cut, but back then I I don't know.
• 1:04:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and they and they did write by him.
• 1:05:00
  SPEAKER_00: They traded him so he could play with his brother, yeah, and all that kind of stuff.
• 1:05:04
  SPEAKER_00: And you thought Suter would be yeah, maybe not as good as tall, but like, okay, at least we, you know, we don't we're not like lost at that.
• 1:05:11
  SPEAKER_03: Because that was always a strength for the penguins being able to roll three three lines and have it be they don't really get that back until what year two the next after they get rid of him in 2015, they bring in Benino, right?
• 1:05:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, correct.
• 1:05:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, and that's when things started rolling again, you know, not coincidentally.
• 1:05:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:05:31
  SPEAKER_03: So that leads us to the whatever happened to.
• 1:05:34
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so we're saying that wasn't a great trade for the pens, but it was probably necessary.
• 1:05:39
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:05:39
  SPEAKER_03: Um, whatever happened to Brandon Souter.
• 1:05:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um, he got traded to Vancouver in six years, 54 goals, 50 assists, 170 points.
• 1:05:48
  SPEAKER_03: He's a negative twenty nine.
• 1:05:51
  SPEAKER_03: I know plus minus isn't the be all end all it's kind of like wins with pitchers, but I'm sorry, when it gets that bad, there's something gone wrong.
• 1:05:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you're the comment that.
• 1:05:59
  SPEAKER_00: denominator at that point when the goal is scored.
• 1:06:02
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry.
• 1:06:03
  SPEAKER_03: But but like honestly, that's kind of well, a six years well, that's that is a drop-off from even from his penguin years.
• 1:06:10
  SPEAKER_03: Um, he retired in 2023.
• 1:06:13
  SPEAKER_03: He got COVID in 2021, and um he never really recovered from it.
• 1:06:17
  SPEAKER_03: It's kind of a sad story.
• 1:06:18
  SPEAKER_03: He's considered a COVID long hauler, um, just never like one of those people.
• 1:06:23
  SPEAKER_03: Some people got it and just kind of messed them up.
• 1:06:25
  SPEAKER_03: So kind of a sad story for Brandon Suter.
• 1:06:28
  SPEAKER_03: Like I was kind of hoping, like, I remember when Matt Madden was talking about, he said, Well, if you're gonna trade stall, you better trade him for like a Souter or I forget who else, another famous hockey family.
• 1:06:39
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, it just never quite worked out for Brandon Souter here.
• 1:06:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, unfortunate.
• 1:06:47
  SPEAKER_03: So um, how about Lanny for Terry, Tim?
• 1:06:50
  SPEAKER_00: Go ball, get out of here.
• 1:06:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, who was he?
• 1:06:54
  SPEAKER_03: He was an announcer for the Pirates from 1976 to 2008.
• 1:06:58
  SPEAKER_03: 33 years, Tim.
• 1:07:00
  SPEAKER_03: Jeez.
• 1:07:00
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 1:07:01
  SPEAKER_03: He announced for the Rochester Americans, the minor league hockey team in the early 70s.
• 1:07:06
  SPEAKER_03: He began with the Pirates in 1976, announcing two innings on radio as a color guy.
• 1:07:11
  SPEAKER_03: I said, Here's your two innings, Lanny.
• 1:07:13
  SPEAKER_03: Um, he announced his 33 years is the longest tenure of announcer in pirates history.
• 1:07:19
  SPEAKER_03: I wonder if Greg Brown uh he's gotta be getting close to that, right?
• 1:07:23
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, you would think, yeah, pretty close.
• 1:07:25
  SPEAKER_03: He announced his 5,000th Pirate game in 2008.
• 1:07:28
  SPEAKER_03: Boy, he saw a lot of bad baseball.
• 1:07:30
  SPEAKER_03: Um he began splitting time with Greg Brown late in his career.
• 1:07:35
  SPEAKER_03: Um, in 2008, he was nominated for the Ford Frick Award, but he he just was nominated, he didn't win it.
• 1:07:41
  SPEAKER_03: Um, in an article, he denied he was forced out um by Frank Coonley.
• 1:07:47
  SPEAKER_03: He said, Oh, Frank Coonley was great with me.
• 1:07:49
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I liked him.
• 1:07:51
  SPEAKER_03: He he wasn't mean to me.
• 1:07:53
  SPEAKER_03: Um and here um we'll play the uh there's here's a great um his catchphrase was there was no doubt about it.
• 1:08:00
  SPEAKER_03: Here the pirates win the NL East, and um here we'll play this.
• 1:08:04
  SPEAKER_03: Uh it's a great call.
• 1:08:06
  SPEAKER_03: The Pirates are the champions of the National Egg East, and there is no doubt about it.
• 1:08:16
  SPEAKER_03: And there was no doubt about that call, Tim, was there?
• 1:08:20
  SPEAKER_00: Right, yeah.
• 1:08:22
  SPEAKER_00: That was that was the kind of the equivalent of Elvis has just left the building.
• 1:08:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 1:08:30
  SPEAKER_03: He also announced the remember the chair throwing game by Bobby Knight in 1985.
• 1:08:35
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's right.
• 1:08:35
  SPEAKER_00: What a weird spot for him to be at.
• 1:08:38
  SPEAKER_00: Like in that moment he's announcing that game.
• 1:08:40
  SPEAKER_03: Well, we'll have that linked on the website.
• 1:08:42
  SPEAKER_03: You can check out Bobby Knight throwing a chair.
• 1:08:44
  SPEAKER_03: Not Adam officially, just kind of throws it across the court, but Landing for Terry's there to give us the play-by-play.
• 1:08:50
  SPEAKER_03: So um, whatever happened to Lanning for Terry, um, I remember he he was doing Pony League Baseball Games, which is like for the Pony League World Series.
• 1:09:00
  SPEAKER_03: So it's not like just like you know, Chartiers Valley and you know whoever, you know, down at the old little league ball field.
• 1:09:07
  SPEAKER_03: But um, he's a professor, believe it or not, at Washington and Jefferson College, and also he announces WVU baseball games on ESPN Plus.
• 1:09:16
  SPEAKER_03: So good for Landy, still working in his retirement years.
• 1:09:21
  SPEAKER_00: A few years ago, he was co-hosting a show on the Upper St.
• 1:09:25
  SPEAKER_00: Clair um cable access channel where um he would just they would interview uh local politicians or people like Sean Casey who grew up in Upper St.
• 1:09:36
  SPEAKER_00: Clair.
• 1:09:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think he even had like Jim Leland on there once.
• 1:09:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's just interesting.
• 1:09:40
  SPEAKER_00: Like he just even after he retired, he's like, I still want to, you know, talk to people, even if it's on like the smallest scale possible.
• 1:09:49
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you wonder like if he really was forced out or I don't know, he still does stuff.
• 1:09:54
  SPEAKER_03: Like he doesn't, yeah.
• 1:09:55
  SPEAKER_03: And he's still competent.
• 1:09:56
  SPEAKER_03: It's not like he's bad.
• 1:09:58
  SPEAKER_00: I never Yeah, maybe.
• 1:09:59
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, there's there's also a big difference between, you know, I can do a show or I can do like a podcast or something of that nature where I can just kind of do it on my own time versus like going on the road with a baseball team.
• 1:10:10
  SPEAKER_03: It's it's every it's every day from April to October, yes, pretty much.
• 1:10:16
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's that's quite with very few breaks, yeah.
• 1:10:19
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:10:20
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so next up we're gonna go with another penguins announcer.
• 1:10:24
  SPEAKER_03: Um, um, Bob Ary.
• 1:10:26
  SPEAKER_03: Who was Bob Ary?
• 1:10:27
  SPEAKER_03: He was the Penguins left wing from 1983 to 1993.
• 1:10:32
  SPEAKER_03: He's from Montreal, Quebec.
• 1:10:35
  SPEAKER_03: Um, he was the Penguins' 15th overall draft pick in 1983.
• 1:10:40
  SPEAKER_03: He spent 10 years with the Penguins, 132 goals, 140 assists.
• 1:10:44
  SPEAKER_03: He's a plus 26.
• 1:10:46
  SPEAKER_03: He's the exact opposite of Brandon Suter.
• 1:10:50
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I like the I remember I remember him playing for the Penguins, but I liked him as an announcer with Steve Mears.
• 1:10:55
  SPEAKER_03: I always thought he was really solid.
• 1:10:57
  SPEAKER_03: Um, he announced a Stanley Cup win with the Penguins.
• 1:11:00
  SPEAKER_03: Um, he has two Stanley Cup wins of his own in 1991 and 1992.
• 1:11:05
  SPEAKER_03: Um, he has a world championship with Canada.
• 1:11:08
  SPEAKER_03: Announced the Penguins for announced with the Penguins for 17 years.
• 1:11:12
  SPEAKER_03: And then um he was let go in 2023 after Fenway Sports Group bought the Penguins.
• 1:11:18
  SPEAKER_03: Um I don't know what happened there.
• 1:11:20
  SPEAKER_03: It's odd.
• 1:11:22
  SPEAKER_03: Um any uh thoughts on Bob Ary there, Tim.
• 1:11:26
  SPEAKER_00: I I I agree with you.
• 1:11:27
  SPEAKER_00: I liked him as an announcer.
• 1:11:29
  SPEAKER_00: He was always, I thought, pretty insightful, and he always kind of had that like you know, like, oh, like like he would like geek out on hockey.
• 1:11:37
  SPEAKER_00: Like oh, look at this play, look at what this guy did.
• 1:11:39
  SPEAKER_00: He kind of like brought some of that energy to to the announcing, and it was like very genuine.
• 1:11:44
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't like him trying to pull like a John Madden stick or something.
• 1:11:49
  SPEAKER_00: He like literally, I think, just really loved hockey and and you know was loyal to the penguins all those years.
• 1:11:56
  SPEAKER_03: And he got let go as soon as the management changed.
• 1:12:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 1:12:01
  SPEAKER_03: Um, he still does some announcing for TSN, but I think he's semi-retired.
• 1:12:06
  SPEAKER_03: He is 61, so I don't know.
• 1:12:08
  SPEAKER_03: I I did happen to um I I I had spent some time north of the border recently, and um I did see that Colby Armstrong is on uh uh what's it called?
• 1:12:19
  SPEAKER_03: Uh Hockey Night in Canada, which is on the CBC.
• 1:12:23
  SPEAKER_03: So no Bob Ary though.
• 1:12:26
  SPEAKER_00: Unfortunate.
• 1:12:27
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:12:28
  SPEAKER_03: How about this guy, Tim?
• 1:12:30
  SPEAKER_03: This guy probably has the sh one of the shortest tenures with the Penguins, but one of the more memorable and uh influencing Ron Tugnut.
• 1:12:39
  SPEAKER_03: Do you remember his nickname?
• 1:12:41
  SPEAKER_00: I do not.
• 1:12:42
  SPEAKER_03: Ron Tough Lock.
• 1:12:45
  SPEAKER_03: They always think things went against him.
• 1:12:47
  SPEAKER_03: Who was he?
• 1:12:48
  SPEAKER_03: He was a goalie.
• 1:12:49
  SPEAKER_03: He played one season.
• 1:12:50
  SPEAKER_03: I wouldn't even call one season, Tim.
• 1:12:52
  SPEAKER_03: Is it even a season?
• 1:12:54
  SPEAKER_03: He played seven games in regular season after the trade deadline.
• 1:12:58
  SPEAKER_03: He was a late season acquisition.
• 1:13:00
  SPEAKER_03: He was trade, they traded Tom Barrasso for Ron Tugnut in March 14th, 2000, and defenseman Yanni Lochnon.
• 1:13:09
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, he was a rental player for an off-season run.
• 1:13:12
  SPEAKER_03: He replaced Jan Sebastian Aban.
• 1:13:16
  SPEAKER_03: And the Pens make a playoff run with his hot goalie.
• 1:13:19
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and they actually they make it to the second round of the playoffs, and uh they get they they take the first two games in Philadelphia to start the playoff series in 2000.
• 1:13:30
  SPEAKER_03: So you think, yeah, the Penguins are going to the next round, the conference final.
• 1:13:36
  SPEAKER_03: But unfortunately, the Penguins decide they really want to play like the longest game ever.
• 1:13:42
  SPEAKER_03: So the the Philly wins this OT game.
• 1:13:46
  SPEAKER_03: Uh the Flyers and Pens, they played a five overtime game.
• 1:13:49
  SPEAKER_03: This is still, I looked it up, it's still the third longest game in NHL history, Tim.
• 1:13:54
  SPEAKER_03: What were you doing at two in the morning when Keith Primo did this?
• 1:13:58
  SPEAKER_01: Primo.
• 1:14:02
  SPEAKER_01: Keith Primo.
• 1:14:04
  SPEAKER_03: Well, that seems like a very anticlimatic way to end a five overtime game, doesn't it, Tim?
• 1:14:10
  SPEAKER_00: I what I was doing was just slumping to the floor of my apartment and just devastation because it was that was unfortunate.
• 1:14:19
  SPEAKER_03: It's like not even that great of a goal.
• 1:14:21
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, he kind of cuts in the middle of the ice, but he doesn't really do anything super fancy.
• 1:14:25
  SPEAKER_00: But that's what happens after eight periods of hockey.
• 1:14:28
  SPEAKER_00: Like that's that that was the kind of goal that was gonna win that game.
• 1:14:31
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't gonna be like a breakaway like Deke move thing.
• 1:14:34
  SPEAKER_00: It was just gonna be something seemingly um not exciting.
• 1:14:39
  SPEAKER_00: And that really stunned because Tugnight played great in that game.
• 1:14:42
  SPEAKER_03: 72 of 70 shots.
• 1:14:45
  SPEAKER_03: My goodness.
• 1:14:46
  SPEAKER_03: 70 shots.
• 1:14:47
  SPEAKER_00: And he shot them out in game one.
• 1:14:49
  SPEAKER_00: He played really good against the Capitals in the series before.
• 1:14:52
  SPEAKER_00: And that's and you want to talk about a big what if.
• 1:14:55
  SPEAKER_00: If the Penguins get a goal in one of those overtimes, they're up three to one in the series.
• 1:15:01
  SPEAKER_00: They probably win.
• 1:15:02
  SPEAKER_00: They almost definitely make it to the next round against the Devils, and then who knows?
• 1:15:07
  SPEAKER_00: Who knows what happens at that point?
• 1:15:09
  SPEAKER_03: Especially when you got like a goalie that's red hot.
• 1:15:11
  SPEAKER_03: So I think they still had Mario.
• 1:15:13
  SPEAKER_00: Mario wasn't a it wasn't a stacked team.
• 1:15:21
  SPEAKER_00: That was the year that um Herb Brooks had come up along.
• 1:15:25
  SPEAKER_00: They had fired Kevin Constantine in middle of the season and they replaced him with Herb Brooks.
• 1:15:30
  SPEAKER_03: Probably why they had to trade Barrasso, because I couldn't imagine Tom Barrasso and Herb Brooks occupying the same locker room.
• 1:15:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:15:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:15:39
  SPEAKER_00: And and and so it wasn't like this great team, but that's what happens in the NHL playoffs a lot.
• 1:15:44
  unknown: Yeah.
• 1:15:45
  SPEAKER_00: You're seeing that this this most recent season with Vegas, you know, you fire a coach and then all of a sudden the team that wasn't that good in the regular season gets hot in the playoffs.
• 1:15:52
  SPEAKER_00: And like you said, Steve, having a a like on fire goaltender, that can carry you really far.
• 1:15:58
  SPEAKER_00: So if you know that one game, that one overtime, if the penguins get the goal instead of the Flyers, I history could have been very different.
• 1:16:07
  SPEAKER_00: And Ron Tugnut might not be on a list of like hey, remember that guy.
• 1:16:11
  SPEAKER_03: Well, because he just played like was he even here a month?
• 1:16:15
  SPEAKER_00: I mean right.
• 1:16:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's right.
• 1:16:18
  SPEAKER_03: I but he had such a memorable couple weeks here.
• 1:16:22
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, he did.
• 1:16:23
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:16:24
  SPEAKER_03: Um like I said, Ron Toughlock, um, whatever happened to him, he leaves after the season because there's like he's like the he's a free agent.
• 1:16:33
  SPEAKER_03: So what had happened was they traded him because he was one of those deals where he's like a free agent.
• 1:16:38
  SPEAKER_00: Uh huh.
• 1:16:38
  SPEAKER_03: And the team, I think it w I I want to say was that when it was that the um Nordiques?
• 1:16:45
  SPEAKER_03: No.
• 1:16:45
  SPEAKER_03: Because he did play for Quebec, but I think the Nordiques were gone by then.
• 1:16:50
  SPEAKER_03: But they were gonna trade him anyway.
• 1:16:52
  SPEAKER_03: Whatever team he was with was gonna trade him.
• 1:16:54
  SPEAKER_03: So there's this bidding war between uh the Penguins and the Blue Jackets, and the Blue Jackets give him more money, and he goes to Columbus and he wins 22 games in their first season, which is considered one of the best performance by goalies on an expansion team until Vegas came along.
• 1:17:11
  SPEAKER_03: But Vegas had a stacked roster, so um, he lasts till 2003, 2004, he retires.
• 1:17:18
  SPEAKER_03: So he had been in the league a while before that.
• 1:17:21
  SPEAKER_03: Like I said, he played for the Nordiques and he'd been up and down.
• 1:17:25
  SPEAKER_03: And um the goal back, boy, that's a lot of things that don't exist anymore, uh Tim.
• 1:17:31
  SPEAKER_03: Well, that that's it.
• 1:17:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um hopefully you remember our podcast.
• 1:17:35
  SPEAKER_03: Like I said, don't forget to like and share and tell all your friends about us or you know, put us on when you fall asleep.
• 1:17:42
  SPEAKER_03: Sing yellallah by go to sleep, go to sleep.
• 1:17:47
  SPEAKER_03: But uh, thanks for tuning in.
• 1:17:48
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, we'll check you next time and God bless.