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BONUS EPISODE: Pgh Sports Current Events - Apr-May 2025 · Pittsburgh Sports Memories

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Hello and welcome to an edition of Pittsburgh Sports Memories Podcast, only current events edition.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: And um the most the the biggest thing that just happened was the NFL draft.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_01: And we'll go over some Penguins and Pirates stuff.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there was a lot that happened this last current event.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes we're kind of scraping to find out, but with the NFL draft and all the fallout from that, we we got a lot to go.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: So we'll jump right into it.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_01: So um the Steelers draft him.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um who they've picked, they had obviously the 21st pick in the first round, and they picked a gentleman named Derek Harmon, a defensive tackle for Oregon.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um, he was not named Sanders.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um so round two, they did not have a pick.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: I was correct, I do believe.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: They did not have a pick.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: So I think they traded that away.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: I forget who they traded.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_02: It was DK Mecca.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, that's it.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_01: Round three, they uh drafted Caleb Johnson, a running back from Iowa, who um, according to I mean, if you I think it was pro football focus, and I don't put a lot of stock in them, but I don't think they could screw this up.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: They said that he is the fastest running back to come out of the draft in eight years.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um then they went with Jack Sawyer, who I've heard of.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: He I know he made a couple big plays in the Michigan game because I only got to watch the Ohio State Michigan game, really.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: And um, I remember him making some interceptions and plays and stuff.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: So he's kind of a big play, kind of like a TJ Watt-ish kind of guy.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_02: He he's also the guy that ripped out the Michigan flag.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes, he did that.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: And they tried to plant their flag, yeah.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um a guy, a gentleman I have no idea about Yaya Black.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: So defensive tackle, another, they needed defensive tackles.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: They have not been able to stop the run very effectively.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: So hopefully one of those two guys works out.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: And then in the sixth round, and that's kind of the interesting pick, is Yaya Black, but he's in pick 164, which will I'll tell you why that's important later.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: When 85 in round six was Will Howard, a quarterback from Ohio State.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: He just looks like an NFL quarterback.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: What he's like, 6'3, 200 and some pounds.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: He's big as an ox.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know anything about his arm.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: I know Ohio State struggled mightily against Michigan, but then they did win the national championship.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: So I mean, you know, he he he must have done something.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I know Mel Kuper, who I just was reading an article, uh, was projecting him as a backup in the NFL.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: So take that as you will.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um Carson Bruner, linebacker from Washington the seventh, and Dante Kent.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: We're never gonna hear of either of these two guys.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: I not to be rude to them.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: If they make the roster, it'll be impressive.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: If they ever see any significant playing time, it'll be a miracle.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_02: Do you know do you know who Carson Brunner is, the son of uh Mark Bruner, I probably.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um so you know, that's a legacy pick.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: I mean it's a seventh round.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: You you're not like how like I'm trying to think of people that came even the um who was the gentleman from the Vikings?
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: I think he actually John Randall.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: Didn't he go undrafted?
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: He's the only person ever, and I think Harrison is one of the lowest, him and Harris, James Harrison are one of the lowest people to ever make it to the Hall of Fame.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like as draft picks.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_02: Donnie Shell.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_02: Donnie Shell was undrafted.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: And that was back in the 12-round days.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_02: Right, right.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, you never know, but but yeah, you're he's gonna be able to get it.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's more the the earlier picks.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it it like if it's not in the first one through four, normally not much is shaken.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so uh the interesting part was the the defensive tackle from Oregon.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um he sounds like a good guy, and you said he was hurt, you said he had hurt his shoulder, correct, Tim?
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but they said they said he might need surgery at some point, but the the Omar Khan addressed that.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_02: He said that uh they wouldn't have drafted him if all of their medical people wouldn't have felt completely comfortable with whatever the this injury is.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_02: So that doesn't seem like a big deal.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_02: And then when you watch his tape, I mean he is just a big, strong dude.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_02: He's got a motor.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_02: He they showed these clips of him like moving people with one arm so that he could like pat b bat down passes with his other arm.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_02: Now, granted, you know, college defenses are not NFL defenses, but he was it wasn't like he was playing in the in some kind of big sky conference or something.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_02: He was playing against pretty elite teams.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_01: And then um obviously the running back from Iowa, they they run kind of a pro system, so and they needed some speed at running back, obviously.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like Jalen Warren's kind of like a little bowling ball guy, so hopefully this guy gives him some speed.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: It's just I wish they would have got scatabow.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't see where scatterbo did end up going or what round.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_02: He might he went not long after.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_02: I think he went like early fourth to the Giants.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_02: I I uh I like this kid from Iowa though.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_02: He's he's got speed and he's got a lot of break tackle kind of ability.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, yeah.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: I mean I don't think it's a bad pick.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: I just wish they could have got scatabow too.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_02: And and Iowa Iowa had zero, I mean, I'm talking zero passing game.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_02: He was the only running back in the draft who had he literally 50%, more than 50% of the plays that he was in for last year had eight guys in the box.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_02: And he was and he still had a stellar year.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_02: So I mean he he can he's one of those guys, really good like yards after the first hit, which I I I feel like that's kind of what Najee was supposed to be, and he he never quite was.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: He was mediocre.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: His problem was I I always thought he was a little slow.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: He wasn't as fast as you would have liked him, and he wasn't as powerful, like he had power runs at time, but he wasn't James Connor or Jerome Bettis, you know?
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: So and he wasn't fast enough to be Willie Parker.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: It was just kind of like in between.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: He he you know, he might end up having a 10-year career just because he's so in between, and he's a good person and a team player, and he's not gonna cause trouble.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: So as long as he can stay away from the injury bug, I can see Harris lasting a while.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: But this guy, to go back to this guy, I I hope he turns out because they could really they really need a running back.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so obviously I don't think they drafted any offensive linemen, so they're obviously happy with their offensive line.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: So um, Ya Yah Black, do you know anything about him, Tim?
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_02: Just a big run stopper kind of, you know.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, like you said, they need they just need depth on the defensive line.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_02: So if, like you said, if one of these guys works out, if both of them work out, that'd be really awesome.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_02: But he's just a big dude.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um again, you never know till they uh any of these guys, I guess, but you never know.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: And um now the quarterback situation, I think they are set, they are thinking Aaron Rodgers is going to sign with them.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: I am just really convinced that they are thinking that.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: And I think if they were gonna visit, they were gonna draft um Sanders, they were gonna pick him in the fifth round, and I think that's why Cleveland picked him because I think Cleveland wants him as trade bait or one of the quarterbacks as trade bait.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_01: So which is kind of weird because they just traded for Kenny Pickett, which is odd.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_02: And they drafted a quarterback in the third round, so I'm not sure what what the point of that was, but I think that's a good one.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: I think they like somebody it sounds like trade, it sounds like they're just stockpiling and they're gonna cut Deshaun Watson.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: I I can't imagine they just don't finally bite the bullet and take the hit and cut Deshaun Watson.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_01: How much money can they owe him?
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, at some point you just have to get it over with and open up a roster spot, take the cap hit, because it's only a one-year cap hit, right?
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_02: Well, they could also keep him on injured reserve all year.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_02: That'd be the other option.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: But wouldn't that still be a would that would that still be a cap hit?
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_02: It's gonna be a cap hit either way.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_02: It's dead money.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_02: Remember, his contract was fully guaranteed.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_02: They can't there's literally nothing they can do with them right now.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: They've set their they've set their organization back so many years with that contract.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_02: Well, that's good good.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, sorry, good.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_02: Like I I don't I don't necessarily wish ill on the Browns, but that was they took a guy who wasn't a very good person and who was accused of doing a ton of really bad things, and then they they literally gave him the biggest guaranteed contract in the history of the world.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_02: I I mean, good.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_02: I'm glad it blew up in their faces.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: It totally has, yeah.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I think so.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_01: That's why I think the Steelers are pretty sure that Aaron Rodgers is gonna sign with them, which is I thought Mike Talman had learned that he likes to stay away from the drama, but apparently not, maybe, or at least the drama like of Deontay Johnson and Antonio Brown.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I I we talked about that, I think, the the last month, where I I don't understand the direction there.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_02: I am happy with I'm I'd be perfectly happy with Rudolph starting, and I really do love the Will Howard pick, Steve.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know if you were gonna come back to him, but I I don't know much.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: I I know I mean he looks like an NFL quarterback.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: I mean he pisses off Mel Kuyper.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: And just to comment on Mel Kuper, I think this is like the um what do they call the lost money fallacy where like you put so much money into a hole or into a business, you just keep going because you think it's gonna pay off at some point.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's Mel Kuper at this point.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: He's didn't he have him projected as a top five draft pick?
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_02: You're talking about Sanders.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, he did, yeah.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_02: I mean a little bit.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_01: So now he looks like he's lost crestability.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: Not that I never put much stock in what Mel Kuper said anyway.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: I always thought he was for entertainment purposes only.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: He's you know, he's kind of like the old slot machine that doesn't pay out.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like he's just for entertainment purposes only.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, he that famous time he got into it with uh who is that on Mel Turbin?
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, well, that's why you don't work for any of the organizations, and people have said that online, like, yo, if Mel Kuyper's so great, why aren't teams hiring him and using his draft analysis instead of him going on TV and doing it?
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_01: That's sort of an argument for I don't know, 15, 20 years.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I I think maybe some of it is like because he really criticized the Steelers for taking Will Howard.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: He really thought he's like, Well, I thought think they should have taken a quarterback.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: And obviously he thinks they should have taken Sanders, but I think that's kind of I'm trying to justify myself more than you know, he really cares if the Steelers takes him or not, takes yeah.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_02: Sanders, uh what I liked about Sanders was he he had a lot of really good fundamentals, really super accurate.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_02: Well, like well coached, as much as you you know, we probably don't like his dad, he is very well coached, but man, he just came with all that baggage.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_02: And Will Howard, um, you know, he he's he's kind of the total opposite, just really likable, really good guy, leader, you know, almost like a Tim Tebow, and I hate to make that comparison because just in terms of personality only, not necessarily playing ability, kind of a Tim Tebow type.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_02: And and and he that's a guy, Will Howard, he only got better during the season.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_02: Like, like you said, he that Michigan game was a disaster.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_02: And then he goes and he beats all all those teams, you know, including Notre Dame, who had like a pro-secondary.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_02: I think he beat the championship game.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_01: They beat Oregon again, didn't they?
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_02: And Penn State.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_01: So so and Penn State had a pretty good defense last year, if I remember correctly.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: They did.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_02: And and in the history of college football, which is what, 150 years?
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_02: No one's ever done what Will Howard did.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_02: No one's ever gone through a tournament to win the championship.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_02: That's literally the first and only quarterback who's ever done that.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_02: And he did it.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_02: And that was that was huge pressure, massive games, huge spotlight, really good.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I mean, somebody had to do it this year, Tim.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: This is the first year they've had it.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and it was him.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_02: But that's what I'm saying.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_02: Like, it was him.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_02: So so for a sixth-round draft pick, I'll take that.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_02: I'll take that any day of the week.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I think I I think and and okay, going to the season with Rudolph or Rogers or both, that's fine.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_02: But this is a great guy that you could potentially get a look at.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_02: You're not sure.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, no pressure.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: If they don't get Rogers, I don't think they're that bad either because they'll just sign like one of those, you know.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: Did a did Pitt graduate any quarterbacks this year?
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: I you know, they'll sign like somebody from Robert Morris or you know what I mean?
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: They'll just sign a camp arm because that you know it's either going to be they get Aaron Rodgers or they get a camp arm, I think is what's gonna happen.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, I don't know if there's if there's any other veterans out there.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: I I still think if they Tannehill would be nice to get Tannehill.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_02: That's honestly, that's the guy I had in mind.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_02: If they didn't get Rodgers, I think Tannehill would be a perfect backup because he's not playing at the moment, and he supposedly wanted back in the game last year.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_02: So somebody, but somebody like that, and and then Will Howard can learn, and and then you can see what you got for next year.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_02: It gives you it gives you this year is not the Steelers year.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_02: Like we're not winning the Super Bowl this year, we're just not.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I I'd love to be wrong, I'd love for you to be able to play me a tape next year and show everybody that I was wrong about that, but I but I mean, come on, they're just not that good.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_02: And and so see what you have with guys like him, build up the rest of your team in the meantime, and then this time next year, you know, okay, is Will Howard even a remote possibility, or do we need to draft somebody?
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_02: Or do we need to draft somebody high?
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_02: And now we have two guys, right?
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, look at look at what the Patriots did.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you got you actually have to give the Patriots a little bit of credit because they drafted that who was that guy a couple years ago that flamed out?
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um I can't remember.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_02: Mac Jones.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_02: Mac somebody.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, Mac Jones, yeah.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_02: And then they and then they but then they drafted Drake May.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_02: Then they drafted that kid in like the late round last year that that they just traded to Dallas.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_02: Like they they just they they kind of like, okay, let's let's get you know a couple of quarterbacks, a couple of young quarterbacks, and if one of them is good, then great.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_02: And I feel like that's kind of what the Steelers are headed towards.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm I'm I'm fine with the strategy.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_02: I think that they're starting to finally, finally, finally dig out of the hole that they were in in those last couple of Ben Rothesburger years.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: Just on a national note, like, do you think Sanders, like I know Dion was trying to play the um, what am I sorry, the Archie Manning card where like, oh, my son's not going here.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: And then he ends up going to the Browns.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_01: Wasn't Cleveland one of the places he didn't want him to go?
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_02: I thought there was an old tweet that got dug up yesterday.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_02: Now, to be fair, it was from like 2018, so this is quite a while ago.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_02: But it's a tweet from Dion saying, like, I would never I would never want my kid to play for the Browns or something like that.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_02: And but I mean beggars can't be choosers when you're a fifth-round draft pick.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I wonder if he talked himself out of other teams that might have been looking at him and then like I wonder if he wasn't you know trying to angle for the Giants and whoops, here he is.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, something went seriously wrong there.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I I I I can't imagine.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_01: I've never seen I've never seen a guy projected in the top five drop all the way to the fifth round.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: I've seen him drop to like Aaron Rodgers, like end of the first round, beginning of the second round, but to go in the fifth round, there's some sort of poison in the water, or like even Dan Marino like only dropped to the bottom of the first round, right?
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so right, right.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_02: I mean like the the only guy I could even remotely compare it to would be like Malik Willis.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_02: Because there was like there were some people that thought maybe the Stewart would, but even even that, the only the Steelers might, you know, be some some people were protecting the Stewart to take him late in the first, not top five.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_02: And then he only got to the third.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: I yeah, and I think Sanders is better than Willis.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_02: I mean I I do too.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_02: So so again, it it had to have been like something with his personality or with his dad, or uh, you know, some something's wrong there, and I'm kind of glad like I I did kind of want him to be pretty good.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: I just still think Cleveland's gonna use him as trade bait, and they knew maybe the Steelers, maybe they knew the Steelers were gonna pick him in that fifth round because in you know the the Steelers kind of you know ended up with the defensive tackle, but you know, I I wonder.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: I wonder if they weren't gonna pick him in the fifth round.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_02: I I don't know.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_02: I I don't we'll never know.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_02: Trying to understand the mindset of the Cleveland Browns is Yeah.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean you you you you need a PhD for that.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's it's like trying to understand the mindset of the Pittsburgh.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_02: Actually, no.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_02: I was gonna say it's like the Pirates, but the Pirates, I understand their mindset very well.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_02: I I the Browns, I just I don't get it at all.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_02: I don't understand what they're trying to do.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that puts a bow on the 2025 draft.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: So in 2029, we'll come back and see how much all these guys are Hall of Famers, just like the 1974 draft.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um uh switching to hockey, uh, the Penguinis.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um why are um they had a losing season as the first time, I think, since 2005-2006, and the immortal tenure of Ziggy Palfey and Eddie Olcek and all them guys.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_01: Uh John LeClaire.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's the first time the Penguins have had a losing season.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: They haven't made the playoffs in what, three years, Tim?
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: Is it three years now?
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: So uh why are fans okay with this?
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like they're not even making the playoffs.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_01: It's not making the playoffs and losing the first round.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: It's very much like the Steelers with Mike Tomlin.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I think people are getting sick of that song and dance too, but well, people people are much more upset about the Steelers losing in the first round of the playoffs every year than they are about the Penguins not making the playoffs at all.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_02: In fact, people are even more upset about the Pirates this year being as bad as they are than they are about the Penguins.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_02: So you're asking why?
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_02: I could I can throw out a couple theories.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, do you think it's because they they keep Crosby, they've paid off like with championships, whereas the Steelers haven't had a championship in what, 10 years now?
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, almost 20.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, almost 20.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: That's hard to believe.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so we're like at the same point we were in the 90s, like where they hadn't won since 1980.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_01: That boy, I didn't realize it'd been that long.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_02: So so yeah, I think that's one of the reasons.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_02: I think one of the reasons is the the Penguins won back-to-back cups in in as recently as 2017, which is you know, now it's that's eight years ago.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's eight years, yeah.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_02: So it's almost a decade, but it's still semi-fresh.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_02: And in that era of like Crosby, Malk, and Latang, that that paid off.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_02: It won three championships.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_02: And I think everybody knows, okay, that's not gonna last forever.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_02: It's gonna end at some point.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I think I think the second reason is because I think people are starting to understand, okay, they have to rebuild and they're gonna be patient to kind of wait for them to do that.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_02: And then I think the third reason is just because it's hockey.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's a it's a it's always been a different mindset with the penguins.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_02: I I don't know why, but it hasn't been the Steelers, it's like, my goodness, if you don't win the Super Bowl, then everybody needs to be fired, everybody needs to be traded, quarterback needs to be cut.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_02: Uh the the penguins, there's a little bit of that, especially like with the goaltender over the years.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that's that's hockey.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's hockey in general.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_02: But it's not the same level of I don't know what it is.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_01: I I it's it's very like the way fans act in Toronto for the Maple Leafs is very much how the Steelers fans act.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't know, the Penguins fans don't act like that.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: I I don't know, just maybe like you said, because they're not the biggest team, the biggest fan base support, you know.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_01: They they have their fans, but they're not as big as the Steelers.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_02: So And it feels like as as Penguin fans, we're we're just we're so grateful for like the moments we have.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because you almost lost the team, yeah.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, whereas Steeler fans, it's like we're we're beyond spoiled.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_02: And I and I say we because I feel like I'm in that mix too.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_02: Like I I'm not I was probably more disgruntled again, like everybody else, with the last Steeler season, and I was what 10 times more successful than this recent penguin season.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it just seems like with the Steelers, it's more of the same.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_01: Although I thought with Russ they might have found lightning in the bottle, like again, but it just didn't last.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's like they gotta find a quarterback that can be good for more than four weeks.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_01: Rudolph was the same way at the end of the season, he was good for like four weeks, and then it was like nope.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so getting to last but not least, the pirates.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_01: Uh they you know what?
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: This isn't even a baseball thing at this point.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like, if you go to a restaurant, I've got you know we've all been to restaurants, right?
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_01: And they treat you bad, and they just treat you really bad.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_01: Like it takes forever to get service, the food sucks, and the prices are super expensive, you just stop going.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_01: You know, that's basic business 101.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_01: Or, you know, you just get treated like such crap, even though you can get a lot of things right.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, the restaurant's in a great location, it's a beautiful building.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, the prices are a little high, but it's kind of worth it.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: But oh my goodness, the service is slow and the people are rude, and it's just not worth the hassle.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_01: The pirates are turning into that kind of business.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: They really are.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: They are turning into, I'm trying to think of like you know, this business that just takes people for granted.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, businesses that take people for granted lose money.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_01: And it's with the streaming, they're losing all those customers that they used to just automatically get.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_01: And also Comcast, remember, move them to a different tier of service.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_01: So now you have to pay more just to even get Fox Sports or whatever, whatever it is, Pittsburgh Sports Net.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_01: So people are like, you know, cutting that out, and that's a major source source of their revenue, along with the people just coming to the game.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_01: So what is my point is is you know, everybody's heard now about the bucko bricks.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: There were bricks, there were script subscribed, you know.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of people, I think um, I know my wife, her her aunt and uncle had a couple bricks, and um some of these were like people like their their parents that had passed away, and this was like you know, a very commemorative thing.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_01: And so instead of doing the right thing and asking people, you know, hey, send in where your commendative brick is, just tell us where it is, we'll save it for you, we'll send it to you.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_01: We we have to replace it, they're just going bad, whatever.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_01: I get it.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_01: And they said they've done it two or three times, they've already replaced it.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_01: Well, this time they just replaced it, threw them away in the garbage, didn't tell anybody, didn't do anything, and only responded after they got caught doing it.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_01: Not only could they get caught, when it went to the uh recycle place, a guy offered to buy them and they said, no, we can't do that.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_01: Their logic was was they couldn't tell whose brick is whose brick, and then they were afraid somebody would come up and claim a brick unsolicited.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I don't see how that would create a problem.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I guess you know, I could take your brick, Tim, and hold it hostage until you pay me you know money, but I I I what a compla this is how you lose customers permanently.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_01: This this the and the only way to fix this now is you better win a playoff game, and they're not going to this year.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't know outside of the only thing that's gonna change the fan, and the fans are at the games chanting sell the team now.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_01: People are taking out billboards.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_01: We talked about this.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_01: The national media is getting on Bob Nutting very badly.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_01: So maybe it's time for Bob to, if not sell the team, get like some sort of like maybe become a minority partner or something.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's time for him to leave because I don't see this as salvageable outside of you know, somebody uh hit them winning the World Series.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_01: I I just and that might not even, you know, I I don't know.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_01: I guess that would cover everything up, but I I they're obviously not gonna win the World Series this year, they're miles away from it.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just bad baseball.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I've watched a game here or there, like I've watched O'Neil Cruz out in center field draw easy fly balls, doesn't know what base to throw to, they make base running errors.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, like Shelton just mails it in, makes curious decisions.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_01: I I there's just that's just the baseball stuff.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: Never mind all the business stuff.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: You know how much it costs to go to a pirates game for two people?
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_01: It's gotta be like eighty to a hundred dollars.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, and and for what?
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_01: To get any, you know, it's just it's bad business all the way around.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, now they're saying maybe they'll build a commemorative wall.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: It's just and I'm sure they'll take your money to do it too.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I, you know, uh it's so what what a what a horrible business.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_01: What uh you know if people don't go to the games, I don't blame them, but it it'll just maybe it'll give maybe he'll move.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe at this point, maybe it is better he moves the team because this is a joke, and we can get another team, you know.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean I I I'm just I'm just gonna I I feel like I'm sitting like in church just listening to you preach, just like throwing my hands up, going, amen.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_01: Because let him Cleveland Browns us, art model.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_01: Go to your new team, you be the we'll keep the history, you take the team.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_01: And we'll whenever the MLB decides to expand, because I think the MLB knows this is a good market.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: You put a halfway competitive, even a decently competitive team, they will sell out and you'll get TV ratings, and he just refuses to do that.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_01: So either sell the team, move the team, and we get a expansion team.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_01: I it's uh Mark Cuban save us.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_01: Remember when Lemieux wanted to buy the team, and he's like, oh, the team's not for sale, the team's not for sale.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_01: Boy, I wish the team would have been for sale.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it at this point, so yeah, like I said, everything you're saying, I couldn't agree more with.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_02: And and the closest comparison I can think of is the Washington uh commanders.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_02: I keep always forgetting what they're called these days.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_01: The the Well, this is how they treat people, yeah.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_01: Remember, he was it he he was charging people to come to practice and like all kinds of crazy stuff.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_02: And and that was Daniel Snyder.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_02: He was so stubborn in and and I'm just gonna keep doing things the way I do things and keep running the team into the ground and keep making all my you know that's a that's because it's a good comparison because that that team, just like the pirates, has an amazingly rich history with really, really loyal fans.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_02: And then he came in and for 20 plus years he submarined everything, and then they made him sell.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_02: And now look at them.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_02: Now they they were in the NFT championship game last year.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_02: They were they were one game away from the Super Bowl, and everybody's on fire, and everybody loves it, and there's a market there, and you just had to get him out of there.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_02: And and I like I I'm glad all this is happening because I feel like at least at least it might force him to think about selling.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_02: Like he never had any motivation before, but now people are legit angry.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_02: Like this bucko brick thing, this Clemeny wall thing, which Oh, yeah, I mean, that's kind of I thought that was overblown.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_02: That was overblown, but but not the brick thing.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_01: The brick thing people paid money for yeah, that was ridiculous.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_01: You owe them they were supposed to be there was no, oh, it's only gonna be for a couple years.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_01: No, this was till the end of time.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_01: And either you give the people their money back or you replace the bricks.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, it was just such a botched, everything was botched, and and now people are angry because now this is the first time, probably since Barry Bonds, that the Pirates have had a once-in-a-generation player.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_02: Like, like the Penguins got Crosby, the Steelers had Rothlisberger, and now the Pirates have Skeens.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_02: That's that's the first time in a generation, literally a generation, where we've had a guy like this, and everybody is is fully aware that it's gonna mean nothing.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_02: He's gonna be on the team for four years and then go play for the Dodgers or Yankees, and we're not gonna do anything.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_02: We're gonna totally miss the window because our ownership is so putrid.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_02: So at some point, yeah, keep up the pressure because I hope everybody keeps it up.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_01: Tim, and if in four years that happens, I think that might be the end of baseball in Pittsburgh.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_01: And I that I know it sounds like hyperbole.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_01: No, you're right.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_01: But but if not, if they don't now next year, like you said, there's a negotiation for the CBA.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_01: If there's no salary cap next year, they're just gonna keep on keeping on like they do, and Skeensley's so what?
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_01: He's been this is year two, right?
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_01: So this is 20, so he would leave in what 2027, 2028, somewhere in there.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I think it's more like 28 or 29.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_02: But but you're right, whenever that happens, that'll be the end of baseball.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_01: Why would you ever go to a game ever again?
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_02: What's the point?
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, and I I think people were kind of like, well, it's a nice day, it's a nice night out, the ballpark, beautiful ballpark, and all that stuff.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_02: That's wearing off.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_02: And now people are just yeah, they're they're angry.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_02: Like you said, people are showing up to can't sell the team, and and people are flying banners over and billboards.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_02: Like they're even nutting has to comment about it.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_02: He's actually commented about this multiple times already this season.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_01: Well, just the old PR.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we're just as frustrated as the fans.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we're trying to land the winner here.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_01: We really are trying.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_01: And it's a lie.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's a lie.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_01: You you don't sign anybody.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like they were saying the last, I think the last uh, I forget they said the oh, it was a pitcher that in 2018 was the last free agent they signed to a multi-year deal.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_01: 2018, that's seven years ago.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_01: So, like they have no intention of fielding a competitive team.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_01: They don't want to field a competitive team.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_01: Now, maybe he figures next year is the be all end all.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_01: And if he doesn't get his salary cap, which I know I think he is for, if he maybe he figures he'll sell the team then.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_01: He'll just be out, he'll just leave.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_01: I I don't know.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_01: I just think if he gets the salary cap, he can be competitive and can sign people easier.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_01: We'll see.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_02: What's the point of staying in this at this point?
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_02: Like it's it's just stubbornness because he could sell the team, he would have whatever the whatever price he gets for that franchise will be enough to provide generational wealth for his great-great grandkids.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_02: Like, there's there's no reason to stay in this.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_02: Like Daniel Snyder, again, going back to him, what did he get, 7 billion or something for that team?
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_02: You know, uh it wasn't like he was hurting.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_02: So just get look, why would you want to keep being the most unpopular person in an entire Metro region year after year and have people angry at you and chanting things at you?
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_02: Like, like what?
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_01: Well, yeah, there's literally video of him like walking into the game and people just start yelling at him.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like he's not gonna if he's smart, he doesn't come back to Pittsburgh, or he comes back and just takes the secret owner's route in.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm sure there's some elevator somewhere where he can come in and he won't have to face the fans.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_02: But but why?
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_02: Why like why go through all that?
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_02: And like he's trying, like, I I know like he he did make a huge mea culpa for the bucko brick thing, but it was that doesn't matter.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_02: And then like the the bobblehead thing, they had a thing um at the stadium with Paul Skeen's bobblehead, and they they promised they would everybody would get one, even the people that weren't in line.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_02: Like like they're just Oh, I didn't even hear about that.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, geez.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_02: Well, well, that and that but they're just trying so hard to just do everything that they can to win over everybody.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_02: Well, just just stop.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_02: Just sell the team.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_02: And and like you said, Steve, you get so you get anybody else in here, that's that's the only way this ends well.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_02: If you get somebody in here that wants to run a team.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_01: Or they win a World Series, or they like that's not gonna happen.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_02: Or at least when a new owner.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_01: Well, yeah, that's probably true.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's like Washington.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_02: Well, Washington had a couple years there, they had like RG3, they had Yeah, they had decent teams, yeah.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and they never went anywhere because it all that junk is gonna always hold you back.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_01: And then sure enough, like I said, well, because when you get good enough, let's say they get good enough to be competitive, he'll never, it's just like the 2000, what, 15 or 14?
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_01: They'll never sign that last person they need.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_01: Or or even when they try, they won't follow it up the next year to have sustained success.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we we could be we could be like the commanders if we get the right ownership in here.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_02: I really do believe that.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_02: I know baseball's totally tilted, and I hope that they do fix that with the next CBA.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_02: But but even if they didn't, we could we could, like you said, Steve, it doesn't even have to be like we're winning the World Series, just fill a moderately competitive team, be in the race.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_02: There's so many playoff teams now, just be in the race until like August.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_02: They can't even do that.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's so bad.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_02: And people are just you're right.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_02: When Skeens leaves, I I you're right.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_02: I I don't see where they I don't see how you can possibly even remotely even support the team after that.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_02: What's left for you at that point?
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_01: Well, on that happy note, uh thanks for tuning in and uh go let's go, Bucks.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_01: Well, at least the Steelers maybe will be interesting this year.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_01: And we'll still talk about them, I guess.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know why, but what a horrible state of affairs for the Pirates.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe you know, come September when we're doing this, we'll be like, wow, what a turnaround from April.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_01: They're almost in the wild card or something.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_01: So you never know.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_01: Detroit poured it pulled a rabbit out of its hat last year.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_02: So I do know, Steve.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_01: Unfortunately, I do know.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_01: It all ends in tears for Tim.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thanks so much for tuning in.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_01: We'll catch you next time on our current events.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, leave a comment on Facebook.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, Tim kinda is in charge of that.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_01: Let us know, you know, should we have drafted Sanders?
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_01: How bad the pirates suck, or if you think the pirates are great.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_01: I I would love to see.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_01: If you think the pirates are doing the right thing and are on the right track, please comment on our Facebook page.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_01: Anywhere, anywhere, post it 10 times.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_01: Please, I want to see it because I get I bet you Tim there we don't get one comment to the positive about the pirates.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_01: Even neutral, even neutral, I bet we don't.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thanks for tuning in and uh check us out in those places, and I will catch you next time.