Latest / The Craig Way Show / MLB Postseason Drama, SEC Contenders Face Road Tests, HSFB District Matchup Previews

Transcript

MLB Postseason Drama, SEC Contenders Face Road Tests, HSFB District Matchup Previews · The Craig Way Show

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Here from 2 to 5 p.m. My name is Jake Herman,
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: the producer of The Craig Way Show. Craig is out
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: at a class today talking to some broadcasters, some reporters
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: of the future over at UT, as well as attending
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: to a couple of other personal matters. He'll be back
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: the rest of the week. For today, I've got you covered,
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: and we've got plenty of ground to cover. We're going
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: to talk MLB with the postseason underway, four wildcard series.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: We'll see elimination games here today. One of them is
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: underway right now. The Braves and the Phillies tied at one,
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: heading into the bottom of the third inning. We'll keep
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: you updated on that. We'll also talk Astros-White Sox, a
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: game that starts at 4 o'clock this afternoon. We'll keep
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: you in the loop on all things Major League Baseball.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: We're going to talk plenty about that throughout the show.
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: Hunter Baumgart will join us, the Milwaukee Brewers pre-post game
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: host and reporter. They're the number one seed in the
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: National League despite what the odds makers, what casual baseball fans,
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: and really what most baseball pundits would tell you is
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: the odds on favor to win the Los Angeles Dodgers.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: It is the Brewers who won 103 games this year
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: and will have home field advantage throughout the National League postseason.
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: They are going to face the winner of the Cubs
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: and the Padres. Game one went San Diego's way last night.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: Great atmosphere there at Petco Park. And then, of course,
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: you got the Red Sox and Yankees. Sonny Gray and
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: Max Freed will go toe-to-toe in game two of that
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: series tonight at seven. We'll hear from Cam Schlittler, talk
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: about some of the implications on his performance and on
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: that series throughout the show. We've got a lot of
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: cool baseball notes to get to over the course of
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: these next few hours. Of course, it's not a Greg
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: Way show without some talk about the Longhorns, and we'll
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: talk Longhorn football during this bye week coming up in
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: the next segment with Chris Hummer from CBS Sports and
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: 247 Sports. We'll talk about the slate coming up this week.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: A lot of ranked teams going on the road, including
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: in the SEC. We'll see which ones might or might
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: not be on upset alert as we look through the
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: offerings during the Longhorn buy in the college football world.
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: Then we'll talk high school football. Plenty of buys to
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: talk about there as well. You heard our conversation yesterday.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Craig Way and Greg Tepper mentioned that 40%, 39% to
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: be exact, of all UIL teams are on buy this week.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: That doesn't mean the Austin area isn't. is without intrigue.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: We got some good matchups.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: We're going to dive into those with our good friend
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: EJ Sanchez, play-by-play broadcaster with Dave Campbell's Texas Sports. You
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: can also hear him on UIW and UTSA games. He'll
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: have the story to watch in some of the biggest
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: 6 and 5A matchups in Austin area high school football
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: this week. So we got a lot to look forward to,
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: a lot of ground to cover. And We're going to
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: start with baseball. With the postseason getting underway yesterday. During
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: our program. The Braves beat the Phillies. In game one
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: of that series. And it was a perfect example. Of
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: why I believe. And I'm a neutral. In this series.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: The Braves and Phillies both play in the division of
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: my team. The Washington Nationals. This is why I believe
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: Major League Baseball. Is the best postseason.
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: That there is.
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: In sports.
• 3:31
  Speaker 4: And.
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: There are certain moments that the MLB postseason can produce.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: On a nightly basis that bring a type of poetry,
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: a type of elevated version of the game that you
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: just don't see necessarily in other sports. And Major League
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: Baseball has a few things working in its favor when
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: it comes to the postseason.
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: Number one, every single game.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: Pitch matters it's true according to what the numbers guys
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: say in regular season baseball but in the postseason it's
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: especially true you can hear it with the swell of
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: the crowd on every two strike pitch yankee stadium last
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: night every pitch with the yankees and red socks series
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: and the performance of cam schlittler there but you've also
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: got the pressure and the stories of a six-month season
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: packed and built into every single moment we get so
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: attached to these characters Over the course of the season
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: as MLB fans.
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: And yet.
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: When casual fans tune into the postseason. They might get
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: a totally different impression. Based on whether a guy rises.
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: Or shrinks from certain moments. Baseball is a sport.
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: That.
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: One player can very rarely. Carry a team. Unless you're
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: an ace pitcher on one particular night. Even then.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: You can't carry a team an entire series. Unless there
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: are rare cases. see Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the World Series
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: last year for the Dodgers. It's the hundreds of individual
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: matchups that decide a series in Major League Baseball. And
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: no two players in the 150-year history of this game
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: have ever played even one part of baseball exactly the same.
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: So you've got these little nuances here. That are all
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: part of a big chessboard between two managers over the
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: course of a series. The NBA and the NHL, yeah,
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: they play series. The NFL, yeah, you play halftime adjustments.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: Major League Baseball, there are short-term matchups and long-term matchups.
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: One game of a series can completely impact what happens
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: in the next. One pitch of one at bat can
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: completely impact the next pitch. And sometimes moments come together...
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: that ultimately are what we remember in the postseason. Take
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: Austin Riley's home run yesterday in Atlanta to put the
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: Braves on top in the bottom of the eighth inning
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: in what turned out to be a 5-3 victory over
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: the Phillies in game one of the series. On the surface, yeah,
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: it's just an opposite field home run. It's a clutch hit.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: It's a guy coming through. It's a team in front
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: of a home crowd winning in a big moment with
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: the game on the line. But this Austin Riley home
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: run has, like I said in the open, that little
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: poetic full circle moment. First of all, Austin Riley doesn't
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: hit home runs to right field. Matter of fact, he'd
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: only done that once all season, as Jason Stark and
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: The Athletic pointed out.
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: And it happened all the way back on July 4th.
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: It was in a blowout. Nothing like this particular home run.
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: Then you got the pitcher, Yohan Duran, who typically closes
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: out games for the Phillies. But manager Don Mattingly brought
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: him in in the seventh and the eighth with the
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: top of the order coming up in the seventh inning
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: and the Phillies on top by one run. Trying to
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: use their best pitcher to get the best hitters out
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: in the highest leverage moments and extend him a little
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: longer than he would in the regular season. Again, MLB
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: postseason play is just different.
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: He's played five seasons already.
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: In the league, Deron, he just doesn't give up home runs,
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: especially not off his fastball, where he's only given up
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: four homers off of that pitch in five years. And
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: he had never given up a home run to right
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: field off a right-handed hitter on that pitch. Meanwhile, you
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: have Austin Riley, the hitter, who really struggled in all
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: of 2026. Strikeouts really plagued him. He also is a
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: guy that really leans on his pull side power. He
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: doesn't hit opposite field home runs often at all. So
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: how rare was this moment for Riley? The last time
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: he hit an opposite field homer in the eighth inning
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: or later, he had the last postseason game the Braves won.
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: Game two of the 2023 NLDS.
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: Oh, by the way, in that ballpark against the Phillies,
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: who have knocked the Braves out in two of their
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: last three postseason appearances. We'll hear the call of that
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: home run coming.
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: Up in a little bit.
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: We'll dive deeper into some of the storylines in that
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: Braves-Phillies series. Plenty to talk about as well concerning the Astros.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: And we'll get to that. But coming up, Chris Hummer
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: from CBS Sports joins us to talk Longhorn football on
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: a Wednesday here on Sports Radio AM 1300, The Zone
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: and the iHeartRadio app. Welcome back on this Wednesday afternoon,
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: a bye week for Longhorn football, but still plenty to
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: discuss when it comes to a lot of our favorite sport.
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: And here to join us to talk about it is
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: Chris Hummer from CBS Sports. He covers the sport at
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: the national level there, as well as over at 247 Sports.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: Chris, hey, thanks so much for checking in with us here.
• 9:11
  Speaker 5: Yeah, absolutely.
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: Thanks for having me on.
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: Well, we've seen the Longhorns now tested twice, first at
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: home against Ohio State, then out on the road at
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: Neyland Stadium where they come away with the 20-17 win
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: a week ago. I want to get your thoughts on
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: kind of the good and the bad and the questions
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: that you've seen from watching Texas so far four weeks in.
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: Well, I mean, the good is you're 4-0.
• 9:36
  Speaker 4: Uh, at the end of the day, uh, that is
• 9:38
  Speaker 4: the most important thing for Texas, a team with legitimate
• 9:41
  Speaker 4: national championship aspirations. And I mean, it could be as
• 9:45
  Speaker 4: bad as two and two, if you really think about
• 9:47
  Speaker 4: how the Tennessee and Ohio state games went. So that's
• 9:49
  Speaker 4: a great thing for Texas at the same time for
• 9:52
  Speaker 4: really the second season in a row, the offense continues
• 9:55
  Speaker 4: to be a pretty big question mark. I mean, it's
• 9:57
  Speaker 4: 111th nationally and you.
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: Per play.
• 10:02
  Speaker 4: Texas isn't really running the ball the way you were
• 10:05
  Speaker 4: hoping they would. If you're a Texas fan with all
• 10:07
  Speaker 4: the changes on the offensive line and in the backfield
• 10:10
  Speaker 4: and Arch Manning hasn't been as consistent as you'd like
• 10:13
  Speaker 4: him to be. And then obviously there's some of the
• 10:17
  Speaker 4: distractions coming out of that game and some other stuff
• 10:20
  Speaker 4: around the Texas football program. So I think ultimately Texas
• 10:23
  Speaker 4: will take it. They're 4-0, but it's been anything but perfect.
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and you talked about the inconsistency from Arch Manning
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: this year. It doesn't look as though he's necessarily carried
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: over some of the momentum he had from the end
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: of 2025 into the new season, but we've seen some
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: of the high highs at times for Arch. I'm wondering
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: if what you've seen from him this year so far
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: has changed what you thought this Texas team could accomplish.
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: And that could be in either direction for the better
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: or maybe for the concerning turn.
• 10:58
  Speaker 4: Um, I don't think it changes what they can accomplish.
• 11:00
  Speaker 4: I think it might change their ceiling, right? Um, you
• 11:04
  Speaker 4: have less margin for error when you have, uh, good
• 11:09
  Speaker 4: quarterback instead of an elite one. And I think a
• 11:12
  Speaker 4: lot of us thought, including frankly, some people in the
• 11:14
  Speaker 4: Texas program that arch would be an elite quarterback this season.
• 11:17
  Speaker 4: And he's been a good one. And at times the
• 11:20
  Speaker 4: maddingly inconsistent one. Um, and if he's going to have
• 11:24
  Speaker 4: three to four games a year where he just looks pedestrian,
• 11:28
  Speaker 4: like you're good, you can lose, like you can lose
• 11:31
  Speaker 4: down the stretch in the playoffs that way you can
• 11:33
  Speaker 4: lose a key sec game that way. So I think
• 11:35
  Speaker 4: Texas is a margin for error. Arch man continues to
• 11:38
  Speaker 4: play this way. is smaller than it's been. Um, but
• 11:42
  Speaker 4: at the same time, like you also see stretches from arch,
• 11:45
  Speaker 4: like in the fourth quarter against Ohio state where he
• 11:47
  Speaker 4: looks like one of the best players in the country. Um,
• 11:50
  Speaker 4: so you don't always know what you're going to expect.
• 11:52
  Speaker 4: And if that's the case, um, the highs can be
• 11:55
  Speaker 4: very high, but I think on the whole, like you
• 11:57
  Speaker 4: have to lower expectations, uh, slightly for Texas. And I'm
• 12:01
  Speaker 4: not saying you have to change championship expectations, but you
• 12:05
  Speaker 4: certainly have less wiggle room to get there with your
• 12:07
  Speaker 4: quarterback playing up and down the way Arch has.
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah, the wiggle room already a little bit smaller with
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: the schedule. The Longhorns still have coming up. We're talking
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: with Chris Hummer, National College football writer with CBS Sports
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: and 247 Sports.
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: We talked over the summer after media days.
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: About some of the awesome reporting you did on the
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: kind of yo-yo effect between Texas and Texas A &
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: M over the really recent history of both programs and
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: now the last couple years have been an exception to
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: that hadn't necessarily played out that way for A &
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: M so far this season I'm curious kind of what
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: you've seen over the last couple weeks where the down
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: in College Station it has not looked like I think
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: Mike Elko and company really expected it to.
• 12:54
  Speaker 4: Yeah no question um I mean I'm sure Texas fans
• 12:57
  Speaker 4: have had their grumbles early in the season but that's
• 12:59
  Speaker 4: nothing compared to What's happening in College Station? Texas A
• 13:04
  Speaker 4: & M' s offense has been kind of a mess so far.
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: Obviously, the production hasn't been there for Marcel Reed.
• 13:11
  Speaker 4: But Texas A & M also isn't able to consistently
• 13:14
  Speaker 4: run the football. Texas A & M' s weapons, other than
• 13:17
  Speaker 4: Mario Graver, aren't getting open. The offensive line has been
• 13:20
  Speaker 4: really bad. So they're not helping themselves at all. They
• 13:24
  Speaker 4: rank 129th nationally in yards per play, and I think
• 13:28
  Speaker 4: on the defensive side, that defense for a couple years
• 13:31
  Speaker 4: now has been counted on to carry so much of
• 13:33
  Speaker 4: the load for A & M, and you're starting to
• 13:35
  Speaker 4: see with the amount of draft picks that have left
• 13:38
  Speaker 4: that program, particularly along the defensive line, Torian York leaving
• 13:42
  Speaker 4: as their kind of middle linebacker who was responsible for
• 13:44
  Speaker 4: calling so many of the complicated checks that Mike Elko uses.
• 13:49
  Speaker 4: Without those pieces there, you're starting to see that unit
• 13:52
  Speaker 4: come back to earth a little bit too. You're seeing
• 13:53
  Speaker 4: busts in the secondary and To be honest, the vibes
• 13:57
  Speaker 4: are not good in College Station right now. It's been
• 13:59
  Speaker 4: very ugly. I mean, the way Texas A & M
• 14:02
  Speaker 4: has been playing, they could legitimately lose to Arkansas this weekend.
• 14:06
  Speaker 4: I didn't think I'd be saying something like that going
• 14:07
  Speaker 4: into the season, but that is a realistic possibility with
• 14:11
  Speaker 4: the Texas.
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: A & M product we've seen so far.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I certainly wouldn't have seen this level of struggle before.
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: coming from Texas A & M another team I was
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: high on coming into the season was Oklahoma bigger cause
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: for concern for you the Aggies or the Sooners right
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: now both Longhorn rivals have just really struggled to start
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: the year A & M.
• 14:32
  Speaker 4: By a pretty decent margin to be honest I think
• 14:36
  Speaker 4: Oklahoma still has something you can count on from game
• 14:38
  Speaker 4: to game which is the defense they have an elite
• 14:41
  Speaker 4: defensive unit I know I know Georgia jumped on him
• 14:44
  Speaker 4: a little bit, but a lot of that had to
• 14:46
  Speaker 4: do with field position and some unfortunate circumstances that defense
• 14:50
  Speaker 4: got put in. I think at the end of the day,
• 14:52
  Speaker 4: Oklahoma still has an elite defensive unit, which makes them
• 14:55
  Speaker 4: extremely dangerous. And I mean, has John Mateer been great? No,
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: but John Mateer has definitely been better than Marcel Reed
• 15:03
  Speaker 4: so far.
• 15:03
  Speaker 6: So yeah.
• 15:05
  Speaker 4: I think Oklahoma, I'm not saying Oklahoma is going to
• 15:08
  Speaker 4: be fine. Like it won't be up to expectations, but
• 15:10
  Speaker 4: I think Oklahoma is going to remain very competitive in
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: the sec. And I think next week in Dallas will
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: be a very competitive game because it always is.
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: And Oklahoma still remains to, is it still a very
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: talented program?
• 15:21
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: So often the team that, that stumbles out of the
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: gate can, can then rise to the occasion.
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: In the red river game.
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: I don't think the Longhorns will be taking that challenge
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: lightly in the slightest. I think a lot of teams,
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: as I look at this week's slate, Chris, are going
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: to be tested in ways that maybe aren't at the
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: top of their list schedule-wise this season, but they're going
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: to be in unique ways. You got BYU, Miami, and
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: Notre Dame all going on the road. Top 10 teams,
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: so BYU's going to TCU, Miami's going to Clemson, Notre
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: Dame is going to Chapel Hill. If you were going
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: to get some chaos in that group, which matchup carries
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: the most intrigue there for you?
• 16:04
  Speaker 5: Um.
• 16:05
  Speaker 4: I wouldn't say, I don't know if I'm prepared to
• 16:08
  Speaker 4: really put any of those teams on full upset alert,
• 16:11
  Speaker 4: even though there's some intriguing games on the schedule. I
• 16:16
  Speaker 4: think for me, like it's TCU.
• 16:19
  Speaker 3: Maybe that's just, I grew up in Texas. Like I
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: grew up watching the big 12.
• 16:23
  Speaker 4: I'm very fascinated to see how TCU is going to
• 16:25
  Speaker 4: respond after a really bad loss to UCF.
• 16:29
  Speaker 3: TCU is the team going into the season.
• 16:30
  Speaker 4: I thought, would be right there for a Big 12 championship,
• 16:33
  Speaker 4: and they have just not been so far this year.
• 16:35
  Speaker 4: Their offense has really struggled. That defense is actually playing
• 16:38
  Speaker 4: better than it has in a couple years with the
• 16:40
  Speaker 4: offenses and held up at the center of the bargain.
• 16:42
  Speaker 4: And this is a BYU team outside of a game
• 16:44
  Speaker 4: against Arizona that hasn't really been tested so far. So
• 16:47
  Speaker 4: I think if I'm going to pick a team on
• 16:49
  Speaker 4: upset alert, the team I'm most worried about, it would
• 16:51
  Speaker 4: probably be BYU, but a lot of that has to
• 16:54
  Speaker 4: do with I'm just curious how TCU is going to
• 16:56
  Speaker 4: look after a really rocky start.
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and Clemson had that rocky start in Death Valley.
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: Now they get Miami at home. And look, it hadn't been.
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: Pretty for the Tigers over these last couple weeks, but
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: they've found different ways to get it done. Miami, on
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: the other hand, has just looked unstoppable offensively so far
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: this season. How can Clemson potentially cause some trouble for
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: the Canes in this road matchup?
• 17:25
  Speaker 3: You got to run the ball.
• 17:26
  Speaker 4: I mean, Clemson.
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: Clemson at times this.
• 17:29
  Speaker 4: Year has really struggled to run the ball consistently, but
• 17:31
  Speaker 4: what it did last week against Cal was establish the run.
• 17:35
  Speaker 4: Gideon Davidson averaged, I think, seven yards per carry in
• 17:38
  Speaker 4: that game and took a lot of pressure off a
• 17:40
  Speaker 4: true freshman quarterback. I guess Miami are going to have
• 17:44
  Speaker 4: to score. I just don't see a way around that.
• 17:46
  Speaker 4: Clemson's defense is solid, but Miami's going to put up
• 17:49
  Speaker 4: its points. That's why I just don't I just don't
• 17:52
  Speaker 4: see a path for Clemson in this game to realistically
• 17:55
  Speaker 4: pull an upset because it's going to have to.
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: Score to such a degree to keep up with Miami.
• 17:59
  Speaker 4: And they have not really asked Tate Reynolds to do
• 18:03
  Speaker 4: a ton offensively.
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: I've kind of let him work into it as a
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: true freshman this year.
• 18:08
  Speaker 4: So I'm not, I'm not really that worried about Miami
• 18:11
  Speaker 4: this weekend, but you know how it goes in Miami
• 18:13
  Speaker 4: every once in a while, once a season in the ACC,
• 18:16
  Speaker 4: they have a, what the.
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: Heck are you doing game? And, Maybe this is that one.
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, certainly could be.
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: Although I think decently highly of the Wake Forest team
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: that they've already beaten on the road this season or
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: already in ACC play, I meant to say. You've got
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: some ranked on ranked matchups in the SEC here. And
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: I know you and Brad Crawford put together a great
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: little preview and prediction article over at CBS Sports diving
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: into these matchups a little bit further. We're talking to
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: Chris Hummer here on AM 1300 The Zone. You don't
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: have to worry about offense when Alabama takes on Mississippi State.
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: I mean, what a start it's been for both of
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: those young quarterbacks. Keelan Russell leading the Tide offense to
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: sort of reach its explosive height, some of which was
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: missing towards the back half of last year. And then
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: what Kamario Taylor's done at Mississippi State really, I think,
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: catching the eyes of the rest of the conference.
• 19:08
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, these are my two favorite quarterbacks to
• 19:11
  Speaker 4: watch so far this season, other than maybe Trinidad and Chandler.
• 19:14
  Speaker 3: These guys are Legitimately awesome.
• 19:17
  Speaker 4: In some ways, I think Kamario Taylor is a better
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: quarterback prospect than anybody in the country right now.
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: Like he is that gifted.
• 19:24
  Speaker 4: And I'm including people in the 27 quarterback class, potentially
• 19:28
  Speaker 4: like Dante Moore and that discussion, like Kamario is that good.
• 19:31
  Speaker 4: And if you're from Texas, like you are probably aware
• 19:34
  Speaker 4: of Keelan Russell for what he did at Duncanville. He
• 19:37
  Speaker 4: has been that good from the jump for Alabama as
• 19:40
  Speaker 4: a second year quarterback this season. So it's going to
• 19:43
  Speaker 4: be a really intriguing matchup of two guys that I
• 19:45
  Speaker 4: know are close friends on top of everything else.
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: To me, this game.
• 19:50
  Speaker 4: really just comes down to like, can Alabama's offensive block
• 19:54
  Speaker 4: or can Alabama's defense generate pressure? Mississippi State's been a
• 19:57
  Speaker 4: top 20 pass blocking unit, but I don't think it's
• 20:00
  Speaker 4: faced an elite pass. I don't think it's faced an
• 20:02
  Speaker 4: elite pass rush so far. And Alabama has been that.
• 20:06
  Speaker 4: so far this season and Alabama secondary, which was bus
• 20:10
  Speaker 4: prone against Florida state a couple of weeks ago. And
• 20:13
  Speaker 4: it's supposed to be a strength. The team needs to
• 20:15
  Speaker 4: stay in front of Mississippi state, which might have the
• 20:17
  Speaker 4: fastest receiver group in the country. I like Alabama in
• 20:20
  Speaker 4: this game, but I really just hope it's a banger
• 20:22
  Speaker 4: because I think these are two of the most fun
• 20:23
  Speaker 4: teams to watch in the FBS. And I'm more excited
• 20:27
  Speaker 4: for this game than any other this weekend for sure.
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's hard to overstate what this means for both
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: because you've got Mississippi State, right, trying to prove that
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: they've turned a corner, back up some of these big
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: results that they've racked up early in the season.
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: And then you've got Alabama. You lose this one.
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: All of a sudden, you've got a stretch coming up
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: that includes Georgia at Tennessee, LSU. And you got to
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: come through that with two losses or less to be
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: a playoff team. This feels like a really, really big
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: matchup in the SEC picture.
• 20:56
  Speaker 7: 100%.
• 20:58
  Speaker 4: I mean, you can say the same thing about Mississippi
• 21:00
  Speaker 4: State too. I think they go LSU, Oklahoma, Texas after Alabama.
• 21:04
  Speaker 4: Like there are no off weeks in the SEC this year,
• 21:07
  Speaker 4: unless I guess maybe you're playing Arkansas. And even Arkansas
• 21:10
  Speaker 4: is more talented than some others. So it's a game
• 21:13
  Speaker 4: of pretty significant implications. I think it's going to have
• 21:15
  Speaker 4: Heisman implications by the end of the season. I think
• 21:18
  Speaker 4: one of these two quarterbacks is going to be in
• 21:20
  Speaker 4: New York City. So there's a lot on the line
• 21:23
  Speaker 4: for sure.
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, should be a lot of fun to watch.
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: Florida's going to find out whether or not they can
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: take an off week in the SEC after that big.
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: Home win over Ole Miss.
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: They go on the road at number 25, Missouri. You
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: were all over it this summer in terms of Jaden
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: Ball and the impact that him staying at Florida was
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: going to have. How about the work that John Sumrall's
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: done in just a short time building up that Florida
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: roster to get Aaron Filo to the level where he's playing?
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: Do you feel like this Florida team has a lot
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: of staying power here in the SEC this year?
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: I know it's early.
• 21:56
  Speaker 4: I think they're talented enough to be really, really competitive
• 21:59
  Speaker 4: the entire season. Would I go as far to pick
• 22:01
  Speaker 4: them as a legitimate SEC threat?
• 22:04
  Speaker 3: I don't think so.
• 22:05
  Speaker 4: I think we've seen some of the limitations for them
• 22:07
  Speaker 4: defensively this year, particularly in the secondary. I think they
• 22:11
  Speaker 4: have really good corners with the safety play. It's been
• 22:14
  Speaker 4: a little inconsistent for them, but we're seeing that offense
• 22:18
  Speaker 4: and how explosive it is. They have three of the
• 22:20
  Speaker 4: best receivers in the country. Uh, I think they might
• 22:24
  Speaker 4: have the best, like top three receiver room in the country,
• 22:26
  Speaker 4: at least the most talented. And, um, they have probably
• 22:31
  Speaker 4: the best running back in college football and Jaden ball.
• 22:33
  Speaker 4: And John Summerall went to that dude's house on Christmas
• 22:36
  Speaker 4: reason to recruit him. Um, he is somebody that has
• 22:39
  Speaker 4: made a huge difference for them. And I think John
• 22:42
  Speaker 4: Summerall has basically made every correct decision so far. Um,
• 22:46
  Speaker 4: there's obviously a long way to go, but he's unlocked
• 22:49
  Speaker 4: Florida in a way we just didn't see. And, I
• 22:51
  Speaker 4: think four seasons under Billy Napier, maybe it was five,
• 22:54
  Speaker 4: the years run together, but he's done an excellent job.
• 22:58
  Speaker 3: And I mean, that's not surprising.
• 22:59
  Speaker 4: I mean, John Summerall has been a rising star in
• 23:02
  Speaker 4: college football for a long time. If you talk to
• 23:04
  Speaker 4: people behind the scenes and I believe he's competed in
• 23:06
  Speaker 4: a conference championship game every single year, he's been a
• 23:08
  Speaker 4: head coach.
• 23:09
  Speaker 3: He can't do much better than that.
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: You know, you've done a lot of great reporting just
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: in terms of the roster valuations and which coaches are
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: maybe getting the most bang for their buck. Is there
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: anything John Summerall's done kind of in that category that
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: is repeatable or is something that new coaches will use
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: as roster building teach tape based off this?
• 23:33
  Speaker 4: Well, I mean, I think he had a pretty big
• 23:34
  Speaker 4: advantage in that Florida's roster was way more talented than
• 23:38
  Speaker 4: I think a lot of people on the outside understand.
• 23:40
  Speaker 4: I know Steve Sarkeesian said something to that effect this
• 23:42
  Speaker 4: week at his press conference too, but like.
• 23:44
  Speaker 3: Florida was legitimately very, very loaded.
• 23:48
  Speaker 4: And I think what he did that was most important
• 23:50
  Speaker 4: was he prioritized keeping the right people. So on offense,
• 23:54
  Speaker 4: that means bringing Jaden ball back, getting Vernel Brown and
• 23:59
  Speaker 4: Dallas Wilson to stay the two freshmen receivers and On
• 24:03
  Speaker 4: the other side of the ball, keeping Jaden Woods, star
• 24:05
  Speaker 4: edge rusher, who Texas fans are probably familiar with, too,
• 24:08
  Speaker 4: if you were following the portal cycle last year. So
• 24:11
  Speaker 4: he kept the core pieces around at no small expense,
• 24:16
  Speaker 4: mind you. He took, I don't know if this is
• 24:19
  Speaker 4: recommended all the time, but he took a slight discount
• 24:22
  Speaker 4: quarterback and went with an unproven starter in Aaron Filo.
• 24:25
  Speaker 4: But what he had as an advantage was the right
• 24:28
  Speaker 4: coordinator hire. He brought in Buster Faulkner, somebody who knew
• 24:33
  Speaker 4: Aaron Philo by heart at that point. He was his
• 24:36
  Speaker 4: offensive coordinator the previous two seasons at Georgia Tech, and
• 24:39
  Speaker 4: he saved money there. And I think Florida has a
• 24:42
  Speaker 4: very competitive roster in the SEC. It's like in the
• 24:45
  Speaker 4: low to mid-30s in terms of costs, but it's not
• 24:48
  Speaker 4: a top seven or eight most expensive roster in the league.
• 24:52
  Speaker 4: So Florida, I mean, to a degree, is doing more
• 24:55
  Speaker 4: with less. And I think John Summerall hired the right GM.
• 25:01
  Speaker 4: He hired an NFL GM. He kept some of the
• 25:04
  Speaker 4: key pieces around from the old staff and the personnel office.
• 25:07
  Speaker 4: And I think he just found a way to bring
• 25:10
  Speaker 4: all that together. So yeah, I mean, he's doing more
• 25:12
  Speaker 4: with less and I think he made basically every right
• 25:14
  Speaker 4: call about who needed to come back and who he
• 25:16
  Speaker 4: could let go. Yeah.
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: And it's, it's, it's, I think that's pretty clear, even
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: though we're early in the season, could be a tough
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: spot on the road against Missouri who lost on the road.
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: Like we know it's hard to, hard to win on
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: the road in the sec, but That's a Mississippi State
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: team that it sounds like you think pretty highly of.
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: Could the Tigers potentially pull a home upset here?
• 25:38
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, absolutely. Missouri's playing really well this season
• 25:44
  Speaker 4: in terms of what they get from Austin Simmons at quarterback.
• 25:47
  Speaker 4: The run game has suffered without Ahmad Hardy. There's no
• 25:50
  Speaker 4: question about that. But Missouri is good enough up front
• 25:54
  Speaker 4: defensively to at least slow down Jaden Ball. Missouri comes
• 25:58
  Speaker 4: into this game as a top-20 run defense. I don't
• 26:00
  Speaker 4: think anybody's going to stop getting ball, but they're good
• 26:03
  Speaker 4: enough to make Aaron Filo do a little bit more
• 26:06
  Speaker 4: than he's had to do at times this season. I'm
• 26:08
  Speaker 4: not picking the outright upset. I think Florida's really good,
• 26:11
  Speaker 4: but I have Missouri covering in this game. I think
• 26:14
  Speaker 4: Missouri's more than good enough to cover that line, and
• 26:16
  Speaker 4: it's really tough to play on the road in the SEC.
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: Sounds like you've got a lot of the favorites kind
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: of hanging on through their road test this week. We'll
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: see if all that comes to fruition. We're wrapping up
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: here with Chris Hummer from CBS Sports. You can follow
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: him on X at Chris underscore Hummer. Got to get
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: your thoughts on the game in Iowa City where the
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: Hawkeyes are riding high after that big win at the
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: Big House. But they have really, like you pointed out, never...
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: stood up in these big tests against Ryan Day's Ohio State.
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: Do you see this going a little differently this time
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: around as the Hawkeyes host the Buckeyes?
• 26:53
  Speaker 3: I mean, I see it being close for a while.
• 26:55
  Speaker 4: I mean, Iowa, by just the nature of how they play,
• 26:58
  Speaker 4: are going to keep games closer. To me, if Iowa's
• 27:02
  Speaker 4: going to stick around in this game, it has to
• 27:03
  Speaker 4: have long drives, and it has to be able to
• 27:05
  Speaker 4: run the ball consistently. And you know what? to Iowa's
• 27:09
  Speaker 4: credit this year, they've been a different offensive attack. I
• 27:13
  Speaker 4: think they're 37th nationally in yards per play, and this
• 27:16
  Speaker 4: is a team that's hung out in the hundreds basically
• 27:18
  Speaker 4: every year in the last five years. So Iowa's offense
• 27:21
  Speaker 4: is much better. I think they lack some of the
• 27:24
  Speaker 4: explosive pieces along the defensive line that they maybe had
• 27:27
  Speaker 4: in the past, but nobody plays more sound and consistent
• 27:30
  Speaker 4: defense than Iowa. They play zones, and they're in the
• 27:35
  Speaker 4: right spots all the time. But I just have a
• 27:38
  Speaker 4: hard time picking against Ohio State in a game like this.
• 27:40
  Speaker 4: They're just more talented. Obviously, I think Texas fans saw
• 27:44
  Speaker 4: that Ohio State might have some flaws. They gave up
• 27:47
  Speaker 4: way too many rushing yards last week in the game
• 27:50
  Speaker 4: they played. I think they're susceptible there. The pass rush
• 27:52
  Speaker 4: isn't what it has been. Do they have impact weapons
• 27:57
  Speaker 4: beyond Jeremiah Smith? I think that's a question mark, but
• 27:59
  Speaker 4: at the end of the day, I think Ohio State
• 28:02
  Speaker 4: still might be the best team in the country. I
• 28:03
  Speaker 4: think they're on the short list and They just don't
• 28:06
  Speaker 4: lose a lot of games like this to a team
• 28:08
  Speaker 4: against Iowa that just.
• 28:09
  Speaker 3: Really has to play perfectly to stay in this game.
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we'll see if they're able to do so.
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: I tend to agree with you on that matchup with
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: Ohio State getting the edge. 14.5 points, by the way,
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: is the spread in that one. Chris, we appreciate you
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: stopping by, sharing your expertise as always. Are you headed
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: out to any of the games this weekend?
• 28:28
  Speaker 3: No, I'm just hanging out on the couch this weekend
• 28:30
  Speaker 3: trying to take it all in.
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: A lot of Longhorn fans are going to be doing
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: the same thing.
• 28:33
  Speaker 3: Enjoy it. Hey, I hope Longhorn fans enjoy their weekend off.
• 28:37
  Speaker 3: I appreciate it. Thanks, Chris.
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: Appreciate the time.
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: That is Chris Hummer from CBS Sports. When we come back,
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: inconceivable on this Wednesday edition of The Craig Way Show.
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: We appreciate you hanging out with us on AM 1300,
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: The Zone.
• 28:53
  Speaker 3: Right on right matchup. And the first pitch on the
• 29:02
  Speaker 3: way from Durant.
• 29:03
  Speaker 7: Swing and a fly ball to deep right field.
• 29:05
  Speaker 3: That's in's Hill. Back to the wall. That is good!
• 29:10
  Speaker 3: It's good!
• 29:12
  Speaker 8: Riley rattles one out of here as he gave it
• 29:16
  Speaker 8: a ride.
• 29:16
  Speaker 3: And the Braves take the lead in the eighth. 5-3 Atlanta.
• 29:22
  Speaker 2: That was the moment in.
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: The eighth inning yesterday with the Braves taking the lead
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: over the Phillies.
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: Of course, today, that matchup still tied up.
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: Austin Riley came to the plate with a chance to
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: give Atlanta the lead in the bottom half of the sixth.
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: Was not able to come through.
• 29:39
  Speaker 3: That was beautiful.
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: For a Phillies team that maybe has the weaker bullpen
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: of the two games in this series. Of course, they're
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: not quite into either bullpen yet. Tyler Malley, after giving
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: up a run on three hits in the first inning
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: for the Braves, Is dealing.
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: And he's making his postseason debut. This is pretty incredible.
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: After 168 regular season starts in his career.
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: According to MLB.
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: Only Mitch Keller with 185 career starts. And Trevor Williams
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: with 179. Have had more starts without a playoff appearance.
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: Among all active pitchers. He was a good deadline acquisition.
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: No doubt about it. For the Braves. And he gets
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: the game to start. Because of what he's done since
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: getting to Atlanta. 4-1 with a 1.99 ERA. Almost the
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: Braves version of what we'll see from Tampa Bay. When
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: Freddy Peralta pitches for them in the postseason. He came
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: over after really struggling with the New York Mets. And
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: was a great addition to the Rays rotation. So the
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: Braves and Phillies tied up at 1. Waiting for that
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: big moment from Ronald Acuna... Who really contributed already today...
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: Got on base with a walk in the first inning...
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: Stole second, stole third... Came in to score on the
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: Matt Olsen highlight... We played for you earlier... Remember when
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: the Braves won the World Series... In 2021... Ronald Acuna
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: was out with a torn ACL... And when he won
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: MVP in 2023... And they lost to the Phillies in
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: the NLDS. That was the last time Austin Riley hit
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: an opposite field home run to give them a lead.
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: Like I brought up in the opening of today's show.
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: Acuna was two for 14 in that series. Now he's
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: only played about half of the Braves games the last
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: three years with all of the injuries that he's fought.
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: He hit 307 in September. He had a 950 OPS.
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: So he's playing well. We'll see if it translates into
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: a big postseason moment, a big wildcard series moment perhaps
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: as Malley works a scoreless top of the seventh and
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: the Braves will come to bat after the seventh inning
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: stretch tied at one in game two. Speaking of game twos,
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: the Astros are on deck. They're starting about an hour
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: from now and they were the only home team who
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: lost in In game one of their series.
• 32:07
  Speaker 2: When the Chicago White Sox. Beat them last night.
• 32:12
  Speaker 4: It was.
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: A tough start for the Astros bullpen. It's hard to win.
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: A bullpen game. Which was the plan for manager Joe Espada.
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: After having to fight tooth and nail. Until game 162.
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: To close down their playoff spot. It's tough to win
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: a bullpen game. When you don't get a good start.
• 32:31
  Speaker 3: And A.J.
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: Blueball couldn't escape the first inning. Got two outs.
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: Walked three batters. Brian King was called upon, and Joe
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: Espada drew some ire for this move because King has
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: an ERA up over seven over the last 20 or
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: so innings that he's pitched. He hadn't been good really
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: down the stretch this year. He allowed the inherited runners
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: to score, allowed a couple more runs in the second inning.
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: Astros were down 4-0 after four. They got down 5-0
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: in the fifth, got two runs back, but eventually fell
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: short by a final score of 6-3. They had a
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: big chance to go by the boards. in the bottom
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: of the eighth with the tying run aboard against Grant Taylor.
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: And that was really that. But you compare the atmosphere
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: in Houston to some of the other playoff atmospheres we've
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: seen around the sport, particularly the raucous night games in
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: New York and in San Diego. And I get it.
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: Those are night games. Whereas the Astros are having to
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: play at four o'clock. But the Astros players were not
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: happy with the atmosphere, not only for the fact that
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: there were empty seats and Sections that were more than
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: half empty. But for the fact that the Astros heard
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: some boos during their game last night. The Astros fans
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: got frustrated at certain moments. Especially after the offense really
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: struggled to get anything going early against the White Sox.
• 33:56
  Speaker 2: And the atmosphere was quiet.
• 34:00
  Speaker 4: The.
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: Bullpen drew even more of a response. The boos came
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: in when Bennett Sosa struggled with his command in the
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: seventh inning, spiking back-to-back pitches. All of a sudden, you
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: heard the boos kind of swelling up. There were some
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: comments from Sosa specifically about the fan base and the
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: atmosphere feeling tame. He said, the fans here, quote, are
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: definitely spoiled. With a lot of ALCS and World Series runs.
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: And we have to earn that right. To bring this
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: team back to that position. This is Bennett Sousa.
• 34:37
  Speaker 2: Astros reliever.
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: That being said. When this team was in their first
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: playoff series 10 years ago. Minute Maid Park was probably packed.
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: Makes a big difference. If we were in Chicago. It
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: would probably be as loud as. Not a four letter word.
• 34:51
  Speaker 4: So.
• 34:52
  Speaker 6: Look.
• 34:52
  Speaker 2: Some of this falls on the players.
• 34:54
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 34:55
  Speaker 2: For starting slowly. And needing to pick that up.
• 34:57
  Speaker 3: Obviously.
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: You always hope for. And I think Houston fans in
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: general are pretty forgiving. I've been to that stadium, even
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: as a Washington fan. That place loves the Astros. Houston
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: loves its Astros. Doesn't mean they can't be frustrated with
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: the season that, even though they won the American League West,
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: has fallen short of some of the expectations in some
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: big ways. And Joe Espada was asked, For his thoughts
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: and his reactions to the fans booing, as well as
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: to Bennett Sousa's comments, this was earlier today before Game 2.
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: Astros manager Joe Espada.
• 35:38
  Speaker 5: Yes, I did notice, obviously.
• 35:39
  Speaker 3: I'm there.
• 35:41
  Speaker 5: And the way I see it, I understand both sides.
• 35:45
  Speaker 5: There's frustration. Our players and the fans have the right
• 35:49
  Speaker 5: to also.
• 35:52
  Speaker 3: Show their emotions.
• 35:53
  Speaker 5: And I get it. But one thing I do know
• 35:55
  Speaker 5: is that our players love our fans. And we respect
• 35:59
  Speaker 5: our fans. We need our fans. We need the energy
• 36:03
  Speaker 5: from our fans. We feed of that. But I did
• 36:08
  Speaker 5: talk to the players and we're going to move on.
• 36:12
  Speaker 5: But I do want our plot fans to know that
• 36:14
  Speaker 5: we love them and we need them. They're part of
• 36:18
  Speaker 5: what we're trying to accomplish. They're part of our family.
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: For his part of this, Bennett Sousa, who has been
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: with the Astros for four years, apologized for his comments
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: he said i'm sorry for the comments i made about
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: our fan base anyone that knows me knows how much
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: i care about this organization this city and our fans
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: he said this before game two today the team took
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: me in four years ago when i was at my
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: lowest they've seen me at my highest i feel really
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: bad about last night one thing i would love for
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: people to know is no matter how they feel about
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: me or anything like that i'm feeling it 10 times
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: worse this after his uh wildness on the mound allowed
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: the white socks to get an insurance run in the
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: seventh inning of last night's game. So we'll talk more
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: about that series and much more about the Major League
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: postseason as a whole with our next guest. Coming up,
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: Hunter Baumgart from the Milwaukee Brewers radio team is going
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: to join us. He's their pre- and post-game anchor. He
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: also hosts some Brewers shows over on Fox Sports Radio Wisconsin.
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: And We'll get his thoughts on a team that we
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: haven't discussed a ton over the course of the season.
• 37:22
  Speaker 2: They've just, they've just been so consistent, just quietly chugging.
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: Along and they are the number one seed awaiting the
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: winner of the Padres and the Cubs. We haven't talked
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: about that series too much yet, but we will as
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: the program moves along, we'll get to some of your questions.
• 37:38
  Speaker 3: Your comments.
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: We had a comment from Greg on YouTube hook. I'm
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: interesting to hear an opinion nationally.
• 37:43
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: Chris Hummer joined us earlier on in the show, had an, a,
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: a look at the rest of the college football slate,
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: a look at what the Longhorns have put on the
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: field so far. And we look forward to talking more
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: college football throughout the week as we lead you up
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: into that slate.
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: For now, we need a break.
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: We've got Hunter Baumgart joining us coming up to talk
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: MLB playoffs here on a Yacht Rock Wednesday, Sports Radio
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: AM 1300, The Zone, and the iHeart Radio app. Rolling
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: back on this Wednesday afternoon as the Major League Baseball
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: playoff games continue. Of course, we've got Phillies Braves in
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: progress here this afternoon. We've got three more wildcard series
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: with game twos on the way here to dive in
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: and talk about the MLB postseason with us. is a
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: returning guest, our friend from the Milwaukee Brewers radio team.
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: He's a reporter there with Fox Sports Radio Wisconsin. He
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: hosts their pre- and post-game coverage as well. Hunter Baumgart,
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: what a ride it's been for you guys this season
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: up there at American Family Field.
• 38:49
  Speaker 9: Jake, thanks for having me. It's been an absolute blast
• 38:52
  Speaker 9: of a season. You know, you come into the season,
• 38:55
  Speaker 9: they had won 97 games last year for the first
• 38:57
  Speaker 9: time in franchise history. They had gotten the best record
• 39:00
  Speaker 9: in baseball, came in as the one seed, got to
• 39:02
  Speaker 9: the NLCS. And you come into this year and you think, well,
• 39:06
  Speaker 9: the only way to really top that is probably to
• 39:08
  Speaker 9: go further in the postseason and get to that world series.
• 39:10
  Speaker 9: The birds have never won a world series. They haven't
• 39:12
  Speaker 9: been there since 82. So that was probably what you
• 39:16
  Speaker 9: were kind of thinking going into the year. And a
• 39:18
  Speaker 9: lot of people were like, yeah, they can be good,
• 39:20
  Speaker 9: especially locally. It's like, yeah, they'll compete for the division,
• 39:23
  Speaker 9: but it's hard to win 97 games. Well, they came
• 39:26
  Speaker 9: back and they won 103. And so it's been absolutely incredible.
• 39:30
  Speaker 9: This team is so solid top to bottom. Pat Murphy
• 39:34
  Speaker 9: is an absolute joy to cover. So boy, now it's just,
• 39:37
  Speaker 9: can you do it in October? They got, you know,
• 39:39
  Speaker 9: won a series last year for the first time since 2018.
• 39:42
  Speaker 7: See what happens this year.
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah, the words you used over the summer when we
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: talked about the Brewers, when they really started to get rolling,
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: was steady.
• 39:50
  Speaker 2: This team is steady. They're consistent.
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: You don't set a franchise record in wins without that.
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: But the big question on everybody's mind is why can
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: this group be the one to take it a step further?
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: What do you kind of read into that?
• 40:06
  Speaker 7: Yeah, it's a good question.
• 40:08
  Speaker 9: And a lot of people, you know, that I hear
• 40:11
  Speaker 9: answer that question or talk about it are saying, well,
• 40:14
  Speaker 9: you know, just this vibe is different. Or maybe they're
• 40:17
  Speaker 9: asking players, what's the, you know, what's different about the
• 40:19
  Speaker 9: vibe this year? Or I think even Pat Murphy was
• 40:22
  Speaker 9: asked that yesterday when we talked to him at the workout.
• 40:25
  Speaker 7: And vibes are great.
• 40:27
  Speaker 9: And it's a great word. And especially like, I feel
• 40:30
  Speaker 9: like our age group uses that word a lot and
• 40:32
  Speaker 9: that's fine. But this team to me, why is this
• 40:35
  Speaker 9: team different? it's not because of the it's last year
• 40:38
  Speaker 9: was kind of a magical ride. It was the year
• 40:40
  Speaker 9: after Bob Euchre had passed. And so there was like
• 40:42
  Speaker 9: kind of like the Euchre magic narrative and they were
• 40:45
  Speaker 9: also good.
• 40:46
  Speaker 7: They won 12 in a row.
• 40:47
  Speaker 9: They won, you know, they, they had these long winning streaks,
• 40:50
  Speaker 9: 10 in a row, like they are 14.
• 40:52
  Speaker 3: I don't know exactly.
• 40:53
  Speaker 9: I can't remember exactly, but they had two really long
• 40:55
  Speaker 9: winning streaks and that was magical. And some of the
• 40:56
  Speaker 9: ways they are winning was incredible. But this year it
• 41:01
  Speaker 9: kind of, all that is aside to me, This year,
• 41:06
  Speaker 9: this team is just solid top to bottom. They have
• 41:10
  Speaker 9: a really good bullpen. They have a really good lineup.
• 41:13
  Speaker 9: And they have really good starting pitching. And they have
• 41:15
  Speaker 9: really good defense. And it's just a really good baseball team.
• 41:19
  Speaker 9: And so when people ask me that question, I'm like,
• 41:23
  Speaker 9: this team is just a really good baseball team.
• 41:25
  Speaker 7: They have guys at the back end. They have a top.
• 41:27
  Speaker 9: They're one and two starters that'll start this weekend against
• 41:30
  Speaker 9: either San Diego or Chicago.
• 41:31
  Speaker 7: And then you've got the defense at all.
• 41:35
  Speaker 9: Whether it's Cooper Pratt, who came up this year at shortstop,
• 41:38
  Speaker 9: or Joey Ortiz, who then moved over to the third base,
• 41:40
  Speaker 9: is fantastic defensively. And Bryce Turing is a platinum glove winner.
• 41:43
  Speaker 9: Jake Bowers is having a career year at first. And
• 41:45
  Speaker 9: Luis Lara, who came up in early July, making a
• 41:48
  Speaker 9: name for himself, exceptional defense.
• 41:50
  Speaker 7: Or Sal Freelick, if you put him out there, gold
• 41:52
  Speaker 7: glove winner himself.
• 41:53
  Speaker 9: And then Garrett Mitchell, he's playing longer into the season
• 41:56
  Speaker 9: than he ever has and showing his true potential. And then,
• 41:58
  Speaker 9: of course, the superstar who's budding in front of our
• 42:00
  Speaker 9: eyes in Jackson Curio, That's your lineup. And then, oh, yeah,
• 42:03
  Speaker 9: Jacob Mizorowski, Logan Henderson's been one of the best pitchers
• 42:06
  Speaker 9: in baseball this year. And then you have the bullpen
• 42:09
  Speaker 9: with Emre Uribe and Trevor McGill closing it on the
• 42:10
  Speaker 9: back end when you also have Aaron Ashby and other
• 42:13
  Speaker 9: guys who can fill in in those middle innings.
• 42:15
  Speaker 7: I just think top to bottom, this is such.
• 42:17
  Speaker 9: A good team that that's why this can be the
• 42:20
  Speaker 9: year because they're better. They're better than everybody at 162.
• 42:24
  Speaker 9: Why can't they also be better than everybody in October?
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's that top-to-bottom nature of the roster, of the bullpen.
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: There are so many options they can turn to. You
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: get a guy like Jake Bowers, the bat-speed darling, who
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: all of a sudden emerges, puts it together over the
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: course of a full breakout season. And, oh, yeah, you
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: can platoon him with Andrew Vaughn, who's hitting around 300.
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: It's just marvelous what they build and what they did
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: this year. And yet now it boils down to best-of-five.
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: and the Brewers wait for the winner of this Cubs
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: and Padres series. I was going to ask you who
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: you would rather face from a Brewer perspective. To me,
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: the obvious answer is Chicago. But to you, I don't
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: know if there's a different perspective on it just based
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: on the way the pitching kind of maps out and
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: honestly how good the Padres looked in all phases last
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: night and for most of September.
• 43:11
  Speaker 7: Yeah, San Diego is that hot team.
• 43:14
  Speaker 9: There's always that hot team that comes in to October
• 43:17
  Speaker 9: and they're red hot. And look, as much as the
• 43:22
  Speaker 9: Padres are getting kind of that, they're the hot wildcard team.
• 43:25
  Speaker 9: There's almost always a hot wildcard team that comes in
• 43:28
  Speaker 9: that just takes the lead by storm.
• 43:30
  Speaker 2: And the Brewers always run into them. The Brewers always
• 43:32
  Speaker 2: run into them.
• 43:34
  Speaker 7: It does seem that way.
• 43:35
  Speaker 9: I mean, yeah, there was a point there where every
• 43:37
  Speaker 9: team they had lost to in the, I think up
• 43:40
  Speaker 9: until the Mets in 24, every team. So there's only
• 43:43
  Speaker 9: been one year From what I remember, there's only been
• 43:45
  Speaker 9: one year where the Brewers have lost to a team
• 43:48
  Speaker 9: in the playoffs and they have not made the World Series,
• 43:51
  Speaker 9: that team.
• 43:52
  Speaker 7: There's only one year.
• 43:53
  Speaker 9: So you think about that, you think about 18 there
• 43:56
  Speaker 9: in the NLCS against the Dodgers, Nationals in 19, Braves
• 43:59
  Speaker 9: in 21, Diamondbacks, the sixth seed in 23, the Mets,
• 44:02
  Speaker 9: the sixth seed in 24, didn't make it all the
• 44:05
  Speaker 9: way there, but they obviously got past the Brewers.
• 44:06
  Speaker 7: They were the one team that didn't in last year
• 44:08
  Speaker 7: NLCS against the Dodgers. So you're right. They do seem
• 44:11
  Speaker 7: to hit that hot team.
• 44:13
  Speaker 9: It seems they might this time, depending on what happens
• 44:15
  Speaker 9: tonight and maybe tomorrow. For Brewers fans, that series against
• 44:20
  Speaker 9: the Cubs last year was incredibly emotional. I think for
• 44:24
  Speaker 9: the team, it was emotional. Pat Murphy admits that still,
• 44:27
  Speaker 9: that they really didn't bounce back from the emotions of
• 44:29
  Speaker 9: that five-game series against the Cubs because of Craig Council
• 44:33
  Speaker 9: and Pat Murphy.
• 44:33
  Speaker 7: And not that they don't like each other. They're actually
• 44:36
  Speaker 7: really good friends.
• 44:37
  Speaker 9: But of course, Brewers fandom saw their guy go across
• 44:40
  Speaker 9: the street to the rival.
• 44:42
  Speaker 3: And so I.
• 44:44
  Speaker 7: Say this all the time.
• 44:45
  Speaker 9: When I walked into the building for game five last
• 44:47
  Speaker 9: year in October between the Brewers and the Cubs, it
• 44:49
  Speaker 9: felt like the weight of the world was on that game.
• 44:51
  Speaker 7: It just felt like the Brewers absolutely had to win it.
• 44:53
  Speaker 9: And I think that emotion carried over a little bit
• 44:56
  Speaker 9: to maybe the stagnant nature of their offense in the NLCS.
• 45:00
  Speaker 9: But this year, I think it'd be a little less
• 45:02
  Speaker 9: emotional if you played the Cubs. It would still be emotional,
• 45:05
  Speaker 9: but I think you've learned from that last year. And
• 45:09
  Speaker 9: the Cubs are not as, yeah, they're just not as,
• 45:13
  Speaker 9: I still think they're maybe as good as last year.
• 45:15
  Speaker 9: I think that bullpen is obviously has been hindering them
• 45:17
  Speaker 9: all season long. They don't have that huge one-two punch
• 45:20
  Speaker 9: by any means in the rotation. The Brewers went nine
• 45:23
  Speaker 9: and four against the Cubs this year. So all that
• 45:25
  Speaker 9: being said, I don't think the Cubs are winning the
• 45:26
  Speaker 9: series in San Diego. And I think the Padres and
• 45:28
  Speaker 9: Brewers are probably going to play in the NLDS starting Saturday.
• 45:31
  Speaker 9: And it's a little bit of a tougher matchup. The
• 45:33
  Speaker 9: Padres went four and two against the Brewers this year
• 45:35
  Speaker 9: in the regular season, including a sweep at Petco Park.
• 45:37
  Speaker 7: Now, the Brewers didn't play well in that series. They
• 45:40
  Speaker 7: lost two of those three by one run.
• 45:41
  Speaker 9: So I don't think it's necessarily going to tell you
• 45:43
  Speaker 9: all of what's going to happen if these two teams
• 45:45
  Speaker 9: meet starting this weekend. But on the other hand, I
• 45:48
  Speaker 9: do think that Brewers are going to have to face
• 45:51
  Speaker 9: a hot team. But again, Brewers are really good in
• 45:54
  Speaker 9: all facets of the game. They're going to come in
• 45:56
  Speaker 9: rested with their guys ready to rock and roll. So
• 45:59
  Speaker 9: I like the Brewers' chances against anybody.
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: We're talking MLB postseason with Hunter Baumgart, Brewers reporter and
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: pregame host with Fox Sports Radio in Wisconsin. Four wildcard
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: series started yesterday. Four teams could be eliminated here tonight.
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: Of the one to nothing leads that we see across
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: the wildcard series right now, which one feels maybe the
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: safest and the shakiest?
• 46:22
  Speaker 7: Ooh, that's a good question.
• 46:25
  Speaker 9: Um, as far as leads go, like teams that are
• 46:28
  Speaker 9: up 1-0, um, I would say the safest is the Padres.
• 46:33
  Speaker 7: I just, the Cubs are, for the Cubs to.
• 46:35
  Speaker 9: Win the next two games is going to take, it just,
• 46:39
  Speaker 9: San Diego was rocking last night.
• 46:40
  Speaker 7: It just, the home runs right away.
• 46:42
  Speaker 9: It just seems that San Diego is clearly going up
• 46:45
  Speaker 9: and it seems the Cubs are going down and this.
• 46:47
  Speaker 7: Might be the end of the Cubs season.
• 46:50
  Speaker 9: So I would say it's, they are probably the safest,
• 46:53
  Speaker 9: the most, the shakiest lead. I'd probably say White Sox
• 46:57
  Speaker 9: just because I'm like, they're, they're fun to watch and
• 47:01
  Speaker 9: they're a fun team to follow and kind of that
• 47:03
  Speaker 9: underdog to root for. But I just, this is totally
• 47:07
  Speaker 9: new to them and they're kind of, you know, figuring
• 47:09
  Speaker 9: out their way. And so I, I, I think they're probably,
• 47:12
  Speaker 9: I guess the shakiest lead. I think the Yankees probably
• 47:15
  Speaker 9: finished off the Red Sox. I think the Phillies could
• 47:18
  Speaker 9: put it just, it kind of depends on what happens
• 47:20
  Speaker 9: obviously the rest of today. But I think I'd say
• 47:24
  Speaker 9: if I were to say the shakiest lead, the White
• 47:26
  Speaker 9: Sox simply because they're the only road team that And
• 47:29
  Speaker 9: so all the other home teams have the lead right
• 47:31
  Speaker 9: now coming into today, and the Astros could win two
• 47:34
  Speaker 9: at home.
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: A lot of our listeners are going to be tuned
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: into that game, which is starting in just a few
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: minutes from now, actually. And look, the vibes couldn't be
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: much worse in Houston at the moment. You've got some
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: really slow starts in big games for the Astros this year,
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: especially in game one with AJ Blue Boss struggling. The
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: puzzling move, I thought, from Joe Espada, turning the ball
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: over to Brian King in the high leverage spot early
• 47:58
  Speaker 1: to try and keep it close. That obviously didn't work out.
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: And then you've got some comments from... Sosa and a
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: couple of other players post game about how the fans
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: maybe weren't as loud, weren't as raucous, maybe almost calling
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: them entitled in certain ways. But it doesn't reflect too
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: well on either the fan base or the players who
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: obviously didn't perform in the matchup yesterday. With Hunter Brown
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: on the mound against Sean Burke tonight, it feels like
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: a much bigger game than normal for the Astros. And
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: I'm not just saying that because it's an elimination game.
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: It kind of feels big for their trajectory as a whole.
• 48:32
  Speaker 9: Yeah, I mean, there's been a lot of obviously Dana
• 48:35
  Speaker 9: Brown's out, obviously the rumors about Espada and what's going
• 48:38
  Speaker 9: to happen after the season and just getting in at 500.
• 48:41
  Speaker 7: Like there's been it's been a really, you know, you
• 48:44
  Speaker 7: know better than I do.
• 48:45
  Speaker 9: But it's just the trials and tribulations that they have
• 48:48
  Speaker 9: unfortunately had to had to endure this year. And you're
• 48:52
  Speaker 9: playing a team that really doesn't know any better.
• 48:55
  Speaker 5: Right.
• 48:56
  Speaker 9: Is playing with house money. the white Sox lost 102
• 48:59
  Speaker 9: games last year. So this team is like.
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: Hey, we're here.
• 49:01
  Speaker 9: We might as well win a couple of games and
• 49:03
  Speaker 9: look at happen. So like they, they got, obviously it
• 49:05
  Speaker 9: was disappointing for them to be one game out of
• 49:07
  Speaker 9: that division win.
• 49:08
  Speaker 7: Cause they had the tiebreaker over the guardians. He could
• 49:10
  Speaker 7: have had that by.
• 49:12
  Speaker 9: So you're, you're playing a team a little bit with
• 49:14
  Speaker 9: house money and obviously they got the 1-0 series lead.
• 49:16
  Speaker 9: I don't believe any team has come back from down
• 49:19
  Speaker 9: 1-0 to win a wildcard series yet. So that would
• 49:22
  Speaker 9: be a first if Houston were able to do that.
• 49:24
  Speaker 9: And I just don't know if I see Houston being
• 49:26
  Speaker 9: able to do that. Is the White Sox lead the
• 49:29
  Speaker 9: shakiest of the four?
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 49:32
  Speaker 9: But man, just with how inconsistent Houston has been, I
• 49:36
  Speaker 9: also thought it was puzzling that they used Josh Hader.
• 49:38
  Speaker 9: Like I get in a game, you want to keep
• 49:40
  Speaker 9: it at three runs, but that was an interesting move
• 49:42
  Speaker 9: as well to at least, you know, maybe not save
• 49:44
  Speaker 9: him for, for maybe a close or a lead today.
• 49:48
  Speaker 7: So just something to keep in mind there as well.
• 49:51
  Speaker 9: So, but boy, it is, it is, there's nothing like
• 49:55
  Speaker 9: playoff baseball and yeah, that not good when, when you
• 49:59
  Speaker 9: have some people calling out the fans like that, that
• 50:01
  Speaker 9: also doesn't bode well with fans for sure.
• 50:04
  Speaker 2: I'm with you on the hater thing.
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: I'd have gone with somebody else and maybe gone to
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: him if runners were on in that ninth inning and
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: you felt like you needed him to keep the game closed.
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: But we'll see if Houston ends up needing him in
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: both games two and three, should they come back and
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: turn that series around? We've got a lot more to
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: get to with Hunter Baumgart. Let's sneak in a break,
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: come back and talk more MLB postseason on 13 Under
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: the Zone and the iHeartRadio app. Great to have you
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: with us on this Yacht Rock Wednesday. Jay Kerman in
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: for Craig Way. And it's great to have Hunter Baumgart
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: with us talking MLB postseason. Hunter's the Brewers pre- and
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: post-game host with Fox Sports Radio Wisconsin.
• 50:43
  Speaker 2: We haven't talked about the Dodgers yet.
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: What do you see as a potential obstacle or limiting
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: factor for them as what the oddsmakers say is a
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: prohibitive favorite to win their third consecutive World Series?
• 50:57
  Speaker 2: And obviously your club is one of those obstacles, the Brewers.
• 51:00
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 51:01
  Speaker 9: I think I, it's hard to win three straight championships.
• 51:06
  Speaker 9: So maybe that gives you a little hope. Otherwise, like,
• 51:09
  Speaker 9: I don't know, like the, the, the attitude around the Dodgers,
• 51:13
  Speaker 9: at least in Milwaukee is obviously quite unique because it's
• 51:16
  Speaker 9: the small market and it's, it's kind of the, yeah, well, it's,
• 51:20
  Speaker 9: if you lose the Dodgers kind of, it is what
• 51:22
  Speaker 9: it is.
• 51:22
  Speaker 7: It's annoying because you know, it's just, but that's how
• 51:25
  Speaker 7: baseball works.
• 51:27
  Speaker 9: Um, but I do think they're a little, I don't know.
• 51:31
  Speaker 9: It's hard for me to say they're even a little vulnerable.
• 51:33
  Speaker 9: Like at times this year, they've looked vulnerable, but in October,
• 51:36
  Speaker 9: they've just shown time and time again to play their best.
• 51:39
  Speaker 9: And this time of year, and they, they're speaking of hot, they,
• 51:42
  Speaker 9: they were hot in September and they, they, uh, kind
• 51:46
  Speaker 9: of cruised, uh, very well.
• 51:48
  Speaker 7: I mean, played very well down the, down the last
• 51:50
  Speaker 7: few weeks.
• 51:51
  Speaker 3: Of the season.
• 51:52
  Speaker 9: So, uh, it is hard for me to say, especially
• 51:55
  Speaker 9: with the acquisition of school that, uh, They are not
• 51:58
  Speaker 9: a favorite over whoever they play. Does home field advantage,
• 52:01
  Speaker 9: if they play the Brewers, factor into it?
• 52:04
  Speaker 3: That's possible.
• 52:06
  Speaker 9: Last year, unfortunately, it didn't work out for the Brewers.
• 52:08
  Speaker 9: In that sense, they lost game one by one game
• 52:10
  Speaker 9: and then just couldn't recover in the series. If that
• 52:13
  Speaker 9: goes a little differently, and Pat Murphy was actually saying
• 52:15
  Speaker 9: that yesterday, like maybe if that game.
• 52:16
  Speaker 7: One goes a little differently, who knows what happens last year.
• 52:21
  Speaker 9: Does home field advantage play to the, I think the
• 52:23
  Speaker 9: Brewers are in a better spot now to beat the
• 52:26
  Speaker 9: Dodgers than they were last year. I also think, you know,
• 52:30
  Speaker 9: and if, if, you know, if, if I'm sad in
• 52:32
  Speaker 9: a week because the Brewers somehow lost to the Padres,
• 52:36
  Speaker 9: I think the Padres, if they're hot enough, a team can,
• 52:39
  Speaker 9: can get hot. And especially the Padres who know the
• 52:42
  Speaker 9: Dodgers so well could be a threat. I just, If
• 52:46
  Speaker 9: I were a betting man, would I bet against the Dodgers?
• 52:50
  Speaker 9: Probably not because it's just hard to do that. But
• 52:52
  Speaker 9: it's also hard to win three straight championships. And for
• 52:54
  Speaker 9: that reason alone, maybe it's why a team gets them
• 52:57
  Speaker 9: this year.
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: We're talking with Hunter Baumgart from Fox Sports Radio, Wisconsin.
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: He hosts pregame coverage of the Brewers as well as post.
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: You can hear it on the iHeartRadio app. Personally, I
• 53:06
  Speaker 1: love following local broadcasts in the postseason. It captures the
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: emotion so well, and I can't wait to tune in
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: once the Brewers start up on Saturday. We haven't talked
• 53:14
  Speaker 1: about the American League much, and you mentioned the betting
• 53:17
  Speaker 1: angle of things. I kind of brought that up with
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: the Dodgers, but I thought this was interesting. reading earlier
• 53:23
  Speaker 1: today that the Yankees have actually moved ahead of the
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: Rays in terms of their World Series odds after winning
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: game one of the wildcard against the Red Sox last night.
• 53:32
  Speaker 2: Do you agree with that? Are the Rays maybe getting
• 53:34
  Speaker 2: disrespected here?
• 53:35
  Speaker 7: I think they're getting a little disrespected there.
• 53:38
  Speaker 9: I think, you know, hey, when Ben Rice hits two
• 53:40
  Speaker 9: home runs and Cam Schlittler does what he does, six
• 53:43
  Speaker 9: and a third 10 Ks, and then you say, oh, well,
• 53:46
  Speaker 9: they didn't even have Aaron Judge and they might have
• 53:48
  Speaker 9: Aaron Judge coming up. Like that, I get it. I
• 53:51
  Speaker 9: get what they're saying. And plus, they're the star-studded team, right?
• 53:54
  Speaker 9: The Rays are very much the Brewers of the AL,
• 53:56
  Speaker 9: and the Yankees are very much the Dodgers of the NL. So,
• 54:00
  Speaker 9: you know, yeah, yeah, I think I said that right.
• 54:02
  Speaker 9: But either way, you get what I'm saying. So I
• 54:05
  Speaker 9: think that's, it seems, that that is really the ALCS
• 54:09
  Speaker 9: when those two, if those two meet here in the ALDS.
• 54:12
  Speaker 7: Like, that's what's unfortunate.
• 54:14
  Speaker 9: And I do hope, you know, who knows how long
• 54:16
  Speaker 9: the lockout goes and all that happens, you know, this offseason.
• 54:19
  Speaker 9: But Look, salary cap. OK, we can figure all that out.
• 54:23
  Speaker 9: Can we just like maybe recede after the first round? Like,
• 54:25
  Speaker 9: can we can we do something simple to like throw
• 54:27
  Speaker 9: that in as something we do?
• 54:29
  Speaker 7: And I saw that they were going to discuss.
• 54:30
  Speaker 9: The playoff format and they have all these different ideas.
• 54:33
  Speaker 9: I actually love this format. I just think the receding
• 54:37
  Speaker 9: would be really good, like they do in the NFL.
• 54:39
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 54:39
  Speaker 9: If you're the one seed like the Brewers and the
• 54:41
  Speaker 9: Phillies somehow meet the Braves or whatever it is. in the,
• 54:44
  Speaker 9: in the, uh, American league, if the white Sox win,
• 54:46
  Speaker 9: the white Sox should play the Rays and the Yankees
• 54:49
  Speaker 9: or red Sox should.
• 54:50
  Speaker 7: Then play Cleveland.
• 54:51
  Speaker 9: Like that, that's just how this should go. Um, and
• 54:55
  Speaker 9: I don't really know why they didn't do that at first.
• 54:57
  Speaker 9: I feel like that's a logical next step to this
• 54:59
  Speaker 9: playoff format.
• 55:00
  Speaker 7: I love six teams getting in.
• 55:02
  Speaker 9: Um, but I do think that that is probably a
• 55:04
  Speaker 9: logical next step and that would help, you know, the
• 55:07
  Speaker 9: Rays then in their quest for a title, but man,
• 55:09
  Speaker 9: that's going to be a good series.
• 55:11
  Speaker 7: If that does indeed happen, uh, It's.
• 55:14
  Speaker 9: Hard for me to not pick the Yankees in that series,
• 55:17
  Speaker 9: but that's probably because it's just the pedigree of the Yankees.
• 55:23
  Speaker 9: But when you look at the body of work that
• 55:24
  Speaker 9: the Rays have put out there, they're the number one
• 55:26
  Speaker 9: seed for a reason.
• 55:27
  Speaker 1: I'm kind of with you there with one exception. I
• 55:30
  Speaker 1: think if you're a lower seed and you go win
• 55:33
  Speaker 1: at a different opponent for the wildcard series, two out
• 55:36
  Speaker 1: of three, you maybe deserve the benefit of the bracket
• 55:39
  Speaker 1: opening up in your favor, having earned that. But I
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: totally get what you're saying about the receding angle, especially
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: in a year like we saw in the American League,
• 55:48
  Speaker 1: where you and I were trying to pick out teams
• 55:51
  Speaker 1: to kind of emerge from the hodgepodge. I guess Cleveland
• 55:54
  Speaker 1: and Boston were the answers to that. We'll see how
• 55:57
  Speaker 1: much of that translates over to this October. All right,
• 56:00
  Speaker 1: real fast, because we've got a couple more minutes left
• 56:02
  Speaker 1: with Hunter Baumgart here, who covers the Brewers. Give me
• 56:06
  Speaker 1: a couple players that have the most to gain and
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: maybe the most to prove this postseason for you.
• 56:13
  Speaker 7: Oh, for the Brewers specifically?
• 56:14
  Speaker 3: Anybody.
• 56:15
  Speaker 7: Oh, that's a good question. Most to gain or most
• 56:20
  Speaker 7: to prove?
• 56:21
  Speaker 2: Most to gain.
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: I'm going Miguel Vargas with the White Sox. Kind of
• 56:26
  Speaker 1: the embodiment of their team, proving they belong. Can he
• 56:29
  Speaker 1: prove that he can be the face of a star?
• 56:32
  Speaker 1: You can say a lot of the same about Jackson
• 56:33
  Speaker 1: Churrio in Milwaukee.
• 56:35
  Speaker 2: Maybe that's your answer.
• 56:37
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think, you know.
• 56:41
  Speaker 9: So it's especially fascinating coming into this offseason because of
• 56:45
  Speaker 9: the pending lockout and the salary cap discussion and all
• 56:48
  Speaker 9: of that. But can a small market team, you know,
• 56:51
  Speaker 9: we've seen in the past, obviously, it's not like small
• 56:54
  Speaker 9: market teams never win. But when you look at the
• 56:56
  Speaker 9: actual champions, especially as of late and the teams that
• 56:59
  Speaker 9: are making it right now, it does seem like there's
• 57:01
  Speaker 9: a lot of big market, a lot of big payrolls
• 57:03
  Speaker 9: that have made it right. Whether it's Yankees, Dodgers a
• 57:05
  Speaker 9: couple of years ago, Yankees or Blue Jays, Dodgers last year.
• 57:09
  Speaker 7: Can a Rays, can a Brewers get to the World
• 57:11
  Speaker 7: Series and win it? And I think that that.
• 57:14
  Speaker 9: Can prove not just, you know, maybe on the player's
• 57:18
  Speaker 9: side of things, if that were to happen, but it
• 57:20
  Speaker 9: also proves that the formula with which they work works.
• 57:25
  Speaker 7: To win a title.
• 57:26
  Speaker 9: And it hasn't yet for this iteration of those teams.
• 57:30
  Speaker 9: And so I wonder if that is kind of something
• 57:33
  Speaker 9: to prove as far as players go. Vargas is a
• 57:37
  Speaker 9: very interesting one because he's kind of an emerging star.
• 57:39
  Speaker 9: And can you get it done in the postseason? It's
• 57:41
  Speaker 9: hard for me to say that any of the White
• 57:43
  Speaker 9: Sox have something to prove because this is their first
• 57:45
  Speaker 9: time there.
• 57:46
  Speaker 2: I was more saying him for most to gain.
• 57:47
  Speaker 7: Ooh, most to gain. That's a real, Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh,
• 57:51
  Speaker 7: for sure. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I, I heard you wrong.
• 57:54
  Speaker 9: That's a, that's a really good point because a lot
• 57:57
  Speaker 9: of these White Sox honestly could, could have, have a
• 58:00
  Speaker 9: lot to gain from, from, from advancing like that. I think,
• 58:05
  Speaker 9: Jackson Churio is becoming a star when he talked about
• 58:07
  Speaker 9: him with the Milwaukee Brewers. And we saw his game
• 58:10
  Speaker 9: tying home run with two outs in the ninth inning
• 58:11
  Speaker 9: against the Cubs a couple of weeks ago. And that's
• 58:14
  Speaker 9: just what we're seeing. And what I kind of see
• 58:18
  Speaker 9: is the emergence of Jackson Churio in Milwaukee is just
• 58:21
  Speaker 9: seeing his confidence at the plate in a big situation.
• 58:25
  Speaker 9: And that's what I can't wait for in the postseason
• 58:27
  Speaker 9: because he's had success in the postseason last year against
• 58:30
  Speaker 9: the Cubs.
• 58:31
  Speaker 7: Two years ago against the Mets like he's it.
• 58:33
  Speaker 9: Is postseason so far this is third year in the
• 58:35
  Speaker 9: league he's had success and can he continue to build
• 58:38
  Speaker 9: on that and then the team success will also help
• 58:41
  Speaker 9: that as well I think it's going to be fascinating
• 58:44
  Speaker 9: to how the Yankees and Aaron Judge is viewed as
• 58:48
  Speaker 9: well and and he is maybe the most one of
• 58:51
  Speaker 9: the more to prove in the AL should they advance
• 58:54
  Speaker 9: through this wild card series so there's a couple of
• 58:57
  Speaker 9: names for you I think it's For teams, it's just
• 59:00
  Speaker 9: going to be fascinating because there are clearly, you know,
• 59:03
  Speaker 9: Yankees and Dodgers, like you just mentioned, the favorites. But
• 59:06
  Speaker 9: can one of these other small market teams lower payroll
• 59:09
  Speaker 9: teams over? make it to the World Series and win it?
• 59:12
  Speaker 7: We'll see.
• 59:13
  Speaker 1: Your World Series prediction in 2026 is?
• 59:16
  Speaker 7: Oh, gosh.
• 59:22
  Speaker 9: If there's ever a year that the Brewers were going
• 59:23
  Speaker 9: to do it, it's probably when they win 103 games
• 59:27
  Speaker 9: because it just shows how good they are. Um, so
• 59:30
  Speaker 9: we'll go Brewers out of the NL, uh, and we
• 59:33
  Speaker 9: will go out of the AL.
• 59:35
  Speaker 3: Hmm.
• 59:36
  Speaker 7: I am going to go. It's hard not to, I'm
• 59:40
  Speaker 7: going to go Brewers Yankees in the world series.
• 59:42
  Speaker 9: And what the heck we're going to say that the
• 59:43
  Speaker 9: Brewers win their first world series, uh, in six games.
• 59:48
  Speaker 2: I can get behind that a hundred percent. That's Hunter Baumgart.
• 59:52
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much for stopping by and joining us and
• 59:54
  Speaker 1: good luck with the post season. I hope it's, I
• 59:57
  Speaker 1: hope it's a fun and long journey with lots of
• 59:59
  Speaker 1: twists and turns. I won't take a side hosting this
• 1:00:02
  Speaker 1: show with Craig, who's a Dodger diehard, but, uh, I'll
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 1: just say, I hope to see those two teams meet
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 1: in the NLCS.
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 9: Yeah, no, that would be a, that would be a blast.
• 1:00:11
  Speaker 9: See if the birds can get their revenge. Good luck to, uh, Hey,
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 9: the Texas Longhorns, good start to the year. From those
• 1:00:17
  Speaker 9: of us watching in Wisconsin, that's a good start to
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 9: the year under our thoughts.
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 7: But good luck the rest of the way.
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 1: Big win for the Badgers as well. I know you
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: guys have needed it with Green Bay's slow start. So
• 1:00:29
  Speaker 1: sorry to end on that sour note.
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's okay.
• 1:00:32
  Speaker 7: Badgers, big win. See if the Packers can bounce back.
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 7: Always appreciate it, Jake.
• 1:00:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we'll check back in soon.
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 3: Thanks, Hunter. Thank you.
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 2: Back with more in a moment on Sports Radio AM 1300,
• 1:00:40
  Speaker 2: The Zone.
• 1:00:51
  Speaker 1: Okay, closing in on the top of the hour here.
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 1: We've got one hour to go here on the Craig
• 1:01:02
  Speaker 1: Way Show. Sports Radio AM 1300 The Zone. Jay Kerman
• 1:01:05
  Speaker 1: here filling in. Craig will be back tomorrow as well
• 1:01:08
  Speaker 1: as the rest of the week. But we've had some
• 1:01:11
  Speaker 1: crazy developments in this Braves-Phillies wildcard series in Game 2.
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 1: This series, it's a shame in hindsight that it's been
• 1:01:21
  Speaker 1: on during the workday for so many baseball fans because
• 1:01:24
  Speaker 1: it has brought the drama. First, while we were talking
• 1:01:28
  Speaker 1: to Hunter, in the bottom of the seventh inning, off
• 1:01:32
  Speaker 1: of Christopher Sanchez, Drake Baldwin came to the plate with
• 1:01:36
  Speaker 1: two runners on and one out and hit this fly
• 1:01:39
  Speaker 1: ball in left field that was misplayed by Bryce Harper
• 1:01:43
  Speaker 1: to bring home the go-ahead run for the Braves.
• 1:01:47
  Speaker 3: Baldwin to right. Harper.
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 10: Oh, it's over his head. Oh, my.
• 1:01:53
  Speaker 6: Here comes Murphy to score.
• 1:01:59
  Speaker 1: The Braves would add on one more with a Matt
• 1:02:01
  Speaker 1: Olsen sacrifice fly. That makes it 3-1 Atlanta off of
• 1:02:05
  Speaker 1: what was ruled a double, but really was a pretty
• 1:02:07
  Speaker 1: bad misplay by Bryce Harper in right field. He should
• 1:02:11
  Speaker 1: have caught this fly ball. Again, the Phillies, with him
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 1: playing more defensively this year in right field, have being
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 1: one of the teams that have struggled with outfield defense.
• 1:02:23
  Speaker 1: You want Harper's bat in the lineup, yet you also
• 1:02:26
  Speaker 1: have Kyle Schwarber already at your DH spot. He's got
• 1:02:28
  Speaker 1: to play somewhere, and his defense has not exactly been stellar.
• 1:02:32
  Speaker 1: So Bryce Harper obviously was looking for a chance at redemption.
• 1:02:37
  Speaker 1: In the top of the eighth, with the Phillies down
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 1: by two, Kyle Schwarber started off with a 447-foot tank
• 1:02:42
  Speaker 1: off of lefty Dylan Lee.
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 2: That made it 3-2. Then Bryce Harper came to the plate.
• 1:02:52
  Speaker 3: Vice to right.
• 1:02:53
  Speaker 2: We are tied. The Phillies go back to back. You
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 2: hear the Philly fans pretty well.
• 1:03:10
  Speaker 3: That's Joey Votto on the on-field there with Peacock. Him
• 1:03:13
  Speaker 3: and Clayton Kershaw. I've really enjoyed hearing their insights. Anthony
• 1:03:17
  Speaker 3: Rizzo as well on the Yankees series. Those recently retired players.
• 1:03:34
  Speaker 1: Perhaps future Hall of Famers that are down there providing
• 1:03:36
  Speaker 1: the analysis at field level in these Peacock boots where
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 1: they've got each team's analyst joining the play-by-play voice.
• 1:03:45
  Speaker 2: It's made for a lot of chatter on these broadcasts.
• 1:03:47
  Speaker 1: They're a little busy with the four voices, but I
• 1:03:50
  Speaker 1: think you're starting to see them kind of grow and
• 1:03:52
  Speaker 1: get chemistry together. I hope that the Game 2 broadcast
• 1:03:56
  Speaker 1: tonight both bring all of those same insights and allow
• 1:03:59
  Speaker 1: a little more space for the game to breathe and
• 1:04:01
  Speaker 1: let the crowd in to a postseason game. Remember I
• 1:04:04
  Speaker 1: told you at the beginning of the show how rare
• 1:04:06
  Speaker 1: it was for a righty to hit a home run
• 1:04:08
  Speaker 1: to the opposite field off of Johan Duran, who doesn't
• 1:04:11
  Speaker 1: give up many home runs to begin with, the Phillies' closer. Well,
• 1:04:14
  Speaker 1: Braves lefty Dylan Lee hadn't allowed a home run to
• 1:04:17
  Speaker 1: a lefty all season long.
• 1:04:19
  Speaker 2: Steven Nesbitt reports that from The Athletic. So the Phillies,
• 1:04:22
  Speaker 2: what'd they do?
• 1:04:23
  Speaker 1: They tied the game with back-to-back left-on-left home runs. Katie Wu,
• 1:04:28
  Speaker 1: the Dodgers writer for The Athletic, said that Lee has
• 1:04:31
  Speaker 1: only given up three homers and 71 appearances in the
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 1: regular season.
• 1:04:35
  Speaker 2: He just served up back-to-back dingers.
• 1:04:37
  Speaker 1: Tie game, and you heard Matt Vaskirjian point out on
• 1:04:39
  Speaker 1: the call and Joey Votto as well, the retribution for
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 1: Bryce Harper after his defensive blunder in right field allowed
• 1:04:45
  Speaker 1: the Braves to take the lead. Katie says, welcome to
• 1:04:48
  Speaker 1: the postseason where everything you did in the last 162
• 1:04:50
  Speaker 1: games truly does not matter.
• 1:04:56
  Speaker 3: Incredible.
• 1:04:56
  Speaker 1: Incredible moments here in the Major League Baseball postseason. As
• 1:05:00
  Speaker 1: for that game right now, it's in the bottom of
• 1:05:03
  Speaker 1: the ninth. 9-1-2 hitters come into the plate for the
• 1:05:06
  Speaker 1: Atlanta Braves. Andrew Painter, who pitched a scoreless eighth for Philadelphia,
• 1:05:12
  Speaker 1: he is on the mound. And the Braves went to
• 1:05:15
  Speaker 1: Didier Fuentes, one of their rookie relievers, who we heard
• 1:05:18
  Speaker 1: about early in the year. And he's come on for
• 1:05:23
  Speaker 1: Rysel Iglesias, stranded inherited runner with two outs in that
• 1:05:28
  Speaker 1: top of the ninth. And now he is potentially in
• 1:05:32
  Speaker 1: line for a win after getting Trey Turner to pop out.
• 1:05:35
  Speaker 1: And the Braves at the plate, hoping to walk it off.
• 1:05:39
  Speaker 1: What a series that has been. And we will certainly see.
• 1:05:42
  Speaker 1: Keep you posted on it. We also have more to
• 1:05:46
  Speaker 1: discuss regarding the Yankees and Red Sox series. We're also
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 1: just five minutes away from the top of the 4
• 1:05:52
  Speaker 1: o'clock hour, which means the start of Astros-White Sox.
• 1:05:57
  Speaker 2: Game two, do or die for Joe Espada's team.
• 1:06:00
  Speaker 1: All sorts of reports have come out today over whether
• 1:06:02
  Speaker 1: or not Joe Espada is coaching in his last game
• 1:06:06
  Speaker 1: if the Astros lose today. Joe in his third season
• 1:06:10
  Speaker 1: as the Astros manager, but the final year of his contract,
• 1:06:13
  Speaker 1: John Heyman reporting that it's unlikely he continues with the
• 1:06:16
  Speaker 1: Astros unless they.
• 1:06:17
  Speaker 2: Make a deep run this year.
• 1:06:19
  Speaker 1: Now, you have to point out some of the shortcomings
• 1:06:23
  Speaker 1: with the Astros roster with the starting rotation, struggling, the
• 1:06:28
  Speaker 1: lack of depth to account for some of the injuries
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 1: that they've suffered in the last couple of years. The
• 1:06:33
  Speaker 1: Athletic and Ken Rosenthal reporting that both Joe Espada and
• 1:06:38
  Speaker 1: Don Mattingly are essentially managing for their jobs in the
• 1:06:42
  Speaker 1: same afternoon.
• 1:06:43
  Speaker 2: Welcome to postseason baseball. Buckle up. We'll keep you posted
• 1:06:47
  Speaker 2: on that.
• 1:06:47
  Speaker 1: We'll also get to some NFL injury notes and high
• 1:06:50
  Speaker 1: school football coming up.
• 1:07:10
  Speaker 5: All right.
• 1:07:11
  Speaker 1: Back for our number three, our final hour of today's
• 1:07:15
  Speaker 1: three-hour show. My name is Jay Kerman, in for Craig Way,
• 1:07:18
  Speaker 1: who is attending to some personal things, out speaking with
• 1:07:23
  Speaker 1: a class at UT today, among others. He will be
• 1:07:26
  Speaker 1: back for tomorrow's show. And I know he's got his
• 1:07:30
  Speaker 1: eye on the baseball games going on right now, just
• 1:07:32
  Speaker 1: like we do.
• 1:07:33
  Speaker 2: Braves and Phillies in extras, top of the 10th inning.
• 1:07:35
  Speaker 1: Remember, no runner starts on second base in extra innings
• 1:07:40
  Speaker 1: for postseason baseball. So we could have a game that
• 1:07:46
  Speaker 1: goes into the late afternoon on our hands. We are
• 1:07:50
  Speaker 1: getting to that point now on this Wednesday afternoon. Didier
• 1:07:53
  Speaker 1: Fuentes just struck out Kyle Schwarber, Braves and Phillies. Atlanta
• 1:07:57
  Speaker 1: leads the series one zip. Best of three, Braves looking
• 1:08:01
  Speaker 1: to stamp their ticket into the NLDS against the Dodgers.
• 1:08:05
  Speaker 1: We've also got the Astros underway. I can tell you
• 1:08:08
  Speaker 1: Chandler Rome shared a photo just now. The Astros beat
• 1:08:10
  Speaker 1: Ryder of the Athletic. I mean, it is about half
• 1:08:14
  Speaker 1: full at minute may or excuse me at Dyken Park
• 1:08:17
  Speaker 1: in Houston for this playoff game.
• 1:08:19
  Speaker 2: I know that the time can be difficult.
• 1:08:23
  Speaker 1: For fans to get to the ballgame at 4 o'clock,
• 1:08:26
  Speaker 1: but there's not a lot of enthusiasm. The vibes are
• 1:08:29
  Speaker 1: not so great in Houston around the Astros. We talked
• 1:08:32
  Speaker 1: about that a little bit with Hunter Baumgart in the
• 1:08:35
  Speaker 1: last segment, and we will see if Hunter Brown is
• 1:08:38
  Speaker 1: able to get things turned around for the Astros in
• 1:08:41
  Speaker 1: that series.
• 1:08:41
  Speaker 2: Today, the White Sox took game one, the winner of
• 1:08:43
  Speaker 2: that series.
• 1:08:45
  Speaker 1: Moves on to take on the Cleveland Guardians in the ALDS.
• 1:08:51
  Speaker 1: The other series, which started last night, we haven't talked
• 1:08:55
  Speaker 1: about too much, the Red Sox and the Yankees. What
• 1:08:57
  Speaker 1: Cam Schlittler is doing on the mound. the second-year pitcher
• 1:09:01
  Speaker 1: from the Boston area, is pretty cool. He is now,
• 1:09:08
  Speaker 1: by striking out 10 batters last night over six-plus innings
• 1:09:12
  Speaker 1: of scoreless relief, he joined some rarefied air in two ways.
• 1:09:16
  Speaker 1: Schlittler is who got the win for the Yankees in
• 1:09:20
  Speaker 1: their 9-0 shutout victory over the Red Sox, fueled in
• 1:09:24
  Speaker 1: part by Ben Rice's big grand slam, as you can
• 1:09:28
  Speaker 1: hear on Michael Kay's radio call.
• 1:09:30
  Speaker 8: The runners will go, start the merry-go-round, 3-2-2 outs. Bayo deals,
• 1:09:37
  Speaker 8: driven deep to right center field. That is better than
• 1:09:42
  Speaker 8: a triple, a grand slam for Ben Rice and the
• 1:09:45
  Speaker 8: Yankees blow it open. What a night for Rice as
• 1:09:49
  Speaker 8: he jogs around second, slowly making his way to third.
• 1:09:54
  Speaker 8: And he has put together an extraordinary night here in
• 1:09:58
  Speaker 8: the playoff game.
• 1:09:58
  Speaker 2: The Yankees waiting for him at home plate.
• 1:10:01
  Speaker 8: And this place is up for grabs with the Ben
• 1:10:04
  Speaker 8: Rice Grand Slam.
• 1:10:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that was what made it 9-0 and put the
• 1:10:08
  Speaker 1: ball game away. You heard Michael Kay on the call
• 1:10:10
  Speaker 1: there say it was better than a triple. He pointed
• 1:10:13
  Speaker 1: that out because Rice was a triple shy of the
• 1:10:15
  Speaker 1: cycle coming to the plate for that last at-bat. But
• 1:10:18
  Speaker 1: it turns out the Yankees didn't need all those insurance runs.
• 1:10:20
  Speaker 1: Cam Schlittler shutting the Red Sox down. Mention the history
• 1:10:24
  Speaker 1: he made. He was only the second pitcher in Major
• 1:10:28
  Speaker 1: League Baseball postseason history to record at least 10 strikeouts
• 1:10:32
  Speaker 1: in two of his first three career playoff experiences. The
• 1:10:35
  Speaker 1: other person who did that, Steven Strasburg, went on to
• 1:10:38
  Speaker 1: become the World Series MVP back in 2019. Now, he also,
• 1:10:45
  Speaker 1: by notching a scoreless outing, not just the 10 strikeouts,
• 1:10:48
  Speaker 1: but a scoreless outing with 10 plus strikeouts, joined the
• 1:10:52
  Speaker 1: this group of pitchers who have done that multiple times
• 1:10:56
  Speaker 1: justin verlander the hall of famer future hall of famer
• 1:10:59
  Speaker 1: who retired this year did it three times he's the
• 1:11:02
  Speaker 1: only one here's who's done it twice sandy kofax kevin
• 1:11:07
  Speaker 1: brown randy johnson cliff lee and cam schlittler he's performed
• 1:11:14
  Speaker 1: in the biggest moments and he was asked about how
• 1:11:16
  Speaker 1: he can do that after the game yeah.
• 1:11:19
  Speaker 10: I mean again the job's not done we gotta get
• 1:11:20
  Speaker 10: another win tomorrow but I mean, it's very well known
• 1:11:25
  Speaker 10: that if you want to be a legend, which is
• 1:11:27
  Speaker 10: obviously the goal, you got to do it in the postseason.
• 1:11:30
  Speaker 10: So go out there and have dominant starts and put
• 1:11:34
  Speaker 10: the team in a position to win. And that's kind
• 1:11:36
  Speaker 10: of the most important thing. I thought a lot of
• 1:11:37
  Speaker 10: guys today did a great job of that and we're
• 1:11:40
  Speaker 10: definitely heading in the right direction.
• 1:11:42
  Speaker 1: You heard Hunter and I talk about the Yankees still
• 1:11:44
  Speaker 1: missing their MVP and Aaron Judge. Here's Cam Schlittler responding
• 1:11:48
  Speaker 1: to the MVP chance that he got at Yankee Stadium
• 1:11:51
  Speaker 1: last night.
• 1:11:52
  Speaker 10: Yeah, I mean, we already got an MVP in this
• 1:11:54
  Speaker 10: locker room. He's won three of them. So, I mean,
• 1:11:57
  Speaker 10: if he were in there this whole season, he'd probably
• 1:11:58
  Speaker 10: have it. So, I mean, it's a good feeling. I
• 1:12:02
  Speaker 10: wouldn't say I am an MVP, but, I mean, it's
• 1:12:06
  Speaker 10: good to kind of embrace, you know, that fact from
• 1:12:08
  Speaker 10: the fans. And just knowing that, you know, they trust
• 1:12:11
  Speaker 10: me and they have full confidence in me to get
• 1:12:12
  Speaker 10: outs is kind of really all that matters.
• 1:12:14
  Speaker 2: And that confidence is warranted. Schlittler now in the postseason, 2-1.
• 1:12:18
  Speaker 1: 0.87 ERA over three appearances.
• 1:12:22
  Speaker 2: And mentioned he was from the Boston area.
• 1:12:24
  Speaker 1: I'm sure we'll hear that a lot if the Yankees
• 1:12:26
  Speaker 1: advance to face the Rays, who would await in the ALDS.
• 1:12:30
  Speaker 1: Six career starts against Boston for the Massachusetts native Schlittler.
• 1:12:34
  Speaker 2: 0.47 ERA in six starts. 38 innings, 49 strikeouts.
• 1:12:42
  Speaker 3: Incredible.
• 1:12:43
  Speaker 1: He's brought his best against the team he grew up
• 1:12:45
  Speaker 1: rooting for. Hey, speaking of reunions this week, we've got
• 1:12:49
  Speaker 1: the Titans taking on the Ravens. And that carries a
• 1:12:53
  Speaker 1: little extra significance for Ravens running back Derek Henry, who,
• 1:12:57
  Speaker 1: of course, spent some of the best years of his
• 1:13:00
  Speaker 1: career in Tennessee. The team who originally drafted him out
• 1:13:03
  Speaker 1: of Alabama, the former Heisman Trophy winner. He hasn't had
• 1:13:07
  Speaker 1: a lot of love lost for the way things... ended
• 1:13:10
  Speaker 1: in Tennessee. It's been a common thread, players and coaches,
• 1:13:13
  Speaker 1: that the Titans have let walk out the door. Part
• 1:13:15
  Speaker 1: of the reason that they're in the situation they're in
• 1:13:17
  Speaker 1: now in one of the bottom five or six outlooks
• 1:13:21
  Speaker 1: in the NFL, you could argue. And here was what
• 1:13:24
  Speaker 1: Derrick Henry had to say on his departure from the
• 1:13:26
  Speaker 1: Titans ahead of their matchup this week.
• 1:13:29
  Speaker 3: Nah, they shit me out.
• 1:13:30
  Speaker 6: Really?
• 1:13:31
  Speaker 7: I mean, I know I'm going to say it like that,
• 1:13:33
  Speaker 7: but it's always love.
• 1:13:34
  Speaker 3: But no, they didn't offer not at all. How did
• 1:13:36
  Speaker 3: that make you feel after everything you gave to that franchise?
• 1:13:39
  Speaker 3: I mean, I think it was bittersweet.
• 1:13:44
  Speaker 5: I think I knew the right ones on the wall
• 1:13:47
  Speaker 5: throughout that season, and they were ready to move on.
• 1:13:49
  Speaker 10: And, you know, good things don't last forever, so it
• 1:13:52
  Speaker 10: was time for me to find a new home.
• 1:13:54
  Speaker 3: And I knew what that home I wanted it to be, and.
• 1:13:57
  Speaker 1: It was here. Here being Baltimore, and he's been a
• 1:14:01
  Speaker 1: big part of their success in recent seasons as they
• 1:14:04
  Speaker 1: try to get over the hump in year one for
• 1:14:07
  Speaker 1: head coach Jesse Minner. That game is in Baltimore. The Ravens,
• 1:14:10
  Speaker 1: big favorites on Sunday afternoon in that matchup. Other NFL
• 1:14:16
  Speaker 1: injury notes to get to. Packers wide receiver Jaden Reed.
• 1:14:20
  Speaker 1: His season's over, and he's getting season-ending neck surgery. Tough
• 1:14:23
  Speaker 1: to see for the talented fourth-year wideout who has just
• 1:14:27
  Speaker 1: spent the better part of the last two years unable
• 1:14:29
  Speaker 1: to stay healthy, stay on the field. And Green Bay
• 1:14:31
  Speaker 1: will have to adjust to life without him. Working out
• 1:14:34
  Speaker 1: of the slot brings some good speed. It does create
• 1:14:36
  Speaker 1: some more opportunities, though, for former Longhorn Matthew Golden, who
• 1:14:39
  Speaker 1: had a solid night, 100 yards receiving and a touchdown
• 1:14:42
  Speaker 1: in that loss to Bajon Robinson, another former Longhorn, and
• 1:14:46
  Speaker 1: the Atlanta Falcons. that the Packers suffered last week. They
• 1:14:49
  Speaker 1: do get Kevin Zeitler signed for more help on the
• 1:14:51
  Speaker 1: offensive line. That's been a merry-go-round, a revolving door, whatever
• 1:14:55
  Speaker 1: you want to call it on that front for the Packers.
• 1:14:58
  Speaker 1: The Carolina Panthers didn't just lose to the Browns last week.
• 1:15:02
  Speaker 1: They also got pretty banged up, and injuries can hurt
• 1:15:05
  Speaker 1: double when they all pile up at the same position.
• 1:15:08
  Speaker 1: That's what's happening for Carolina at the moment at corner.
• 1:15:10
  Speaker 3: J.C.
• 1:15:10
  Speaker 1: Horton, Mike Jackson, not just their two best corners, but
• 1:15:13
  Speaker 1: two of the best corners in the division are injured today.
• 1:15:17
  Speaker 2: And they're both going on IR.
• 1:15:19
  Speaker 1: So that comes right before Carolina takes on the Detroit
• 1:15:23
  Speaker 1: Lions at home on Sunday night football this week. So
• 1:15:28
  Speaker 1: if you're playing fantasy football, owning a Lions receiver, you're
• 1:15:31
  Speaker 1: going to feel pretty good about that. The Panthers do
• 1:15:34
  Speaker 1: get a bye in week five. They'll get a chance
• 1:15:36
  Speaker 1: for some of those guys to get healthy. But after that,
• 1:15:39
  Speaker 1: they get the Philadelphia Eagles. Not an easy stretch of
• 1:15:42
  Speaker 1: schedule here for Carolina. And They'll be without their two corners, J.C. Horn,
• 1:15:48
  Speaker 1: who's an all-pro, and Mike Jackson, who stepped up a
• 1:15:51
  Speaker 1: little bit for them last year.
• 1:15:52
  Speaker 2: Some good news for the Texans.
• 1:15:53
  Speaker 1: Nico Collins is back at practice, as is Jadeveon Clowney. Houston,
• 1:15:57
  Speaker 1: of course, 0-3, getting ready to host the Dallas Cowboys
• 1:16:01
  Speaker 1: this weekend at noon. And Dallas comes into that matchup
• 1:16:05
  Speaker 1: at 1-2. We heard both coaches talk about it earlier
• 1:16:07
  Speaker 1: in this week. You'll hear some more from them later
• 1:16:09
  Speaker 1: in the week on this program as we bring you
• 1:16:11
  Speaker 1: a pretty good preview of On the Texans and Cowboys.
• 1:16:14
  Speaker 1: A matchup that means a lot to both. I think
• 1:16:16
  Speaker 1: if Houston goes 0-4. It's time to fully sound the
• 1:16:19
  Speaker 1: panic alarms. On a season that had high expectations. For Houston.
• 1:16:24
  Speaker 1: It's a big game on the week four NFL slate,
• 1:16:26
  Speaker 1: no doubt, one that a lot of you probably have
• 1:16:29
  Speaker 1: thoughts on. You can send us those thoughts via the
• 1:16:31
  Speaker 1: text line, 81530. Text the word Texas, followed by your
• 1:16:35
  Speaker 1: question or your comment. Standard message and data rates may apply.
• 1:16:38
  Speaker 1: If you want to hear your voice on the air,
• 1:16:40
  Speaker 1: we have that option for you via the iHeartRadio app.
• 1:16:43
  Speaker 2: Search AM 1300 The Zone.
• 1:16:45
  Speaker 1: Tap the red microphone that gives you 30 seconds to
• 1:16:47
  Speaker 1: leave us a talkback message of up to 30 seconds.
• 1:16:51
  Speaker 3: We'll get to.
• 1:16:52
  Speaker 1: Those after we get to our next guest, EJ Sanchez
• 1:16:55
  Speaker 1: from Dave Campbell's Texas Sports, a play-by-play broadcaster, is going
• 1:16:59
  Speaker 1: to dive into this. Lighter than usual, but still intriguing
• 1:17:02
  Speaker 1: slate of high school football coming your way this weekend.
• 1:17:05
  Speaker 2: Glad to have you with us.
• 1:17:06
  Speaker 1: Phillies, by the way, take the lead over the Braves
• 1:17:08
  Speaker 1: 4-3 on an Alec Boehm home run. And we'll shift
• 1:17:12
  Speaker 1: to high school football, then get back to some baseball
• 1:17:14
  Speaker 1: notes here on AM 1300 The Zone and the iHeartRadio app.
• 1:17:24
  Speaker 2: It's time to talk some high school football.
• 1:17:27
  Speaker 1: Here on this Wednesday afternoon, Yacht Rock Wednesday on AM
• 1:17:30
  Speaker 1: 1300 The Zone. Maybe not some blessed rains, but some
• 1:17:34
  Speaker 1: rainy skies in the forecast for the games this weekend
• 1:17:38
  Speaker 1: here in the Austin area. Here to talk about it
• 1:17:40
  Speaker 1: with us, our good friend from Texas Live, EJ Sanchez.
• 1:17:43
  Speaker 1: You've been a busy man this season.
• 1:17:45
  Speaker 6: Yeah, blessed to be busy, kind of traveling every corner
• 1:17:49
  Speaker 6: of this great state, but.
• 1:17:51
  Speaker 3: I wouldn't have it anyway. It's good to see you, Jake. Yeah,
• 1:17:53
  Speaker 3: great to see you.
• 1:17:54
  Speaker 1: Even if it's the bipocalypse, like Craig Tepper labeled it
• 1:17:59
  Speaker 1: yesterday in our conversation with him, which if you missed it,
• 1:18:02
  Speaker 1: it's over on our podcast page for The Craig Way
• 1:18:04
  Speaker 1: Show on the iHeartRadio app. And he also mentioned this, though.
• 1:18:08
  Speaker 1: It's not a bad slate in the Austin area. We
• 1:18:10
  Speaker 1: got some games we're going to dive into, but I
• 1:18:13
  Speaker 1: know this is a time of the year, every year,
• 1:18:15
  Speaker 1: where the slate gets a little thinner. And look, maybe
• 1:18:17
  Speaker 1: it gives us a chance to look at some teams
• 1:18:18
  Speaker 1: that we haven't gotten the chance to watch yet.
• 1:18:20
  Speaker 3: Yeah, no doubt.
• 1:18:22
  Speaker 6: I think Tep nailed it in terms of saying, hey,
• 1:18:25
  Speaker 6: 39% of the teams are not active, but go see
• 1:18:28
  Speaker 6: a different game. For example, I'm doing Pflugerville-Connolly and Pflugerville-Hendrickson.
• 1:18:33
  Speaker 6: Not the first Pflugerville rivalry that you think about. They
• 1:18:37
  Speaker 6: share a stadium. They both have NFL alumni currently in
• 1:18:41
  Speaker 6: the league.
• 1:18:42
  Speaker 3: Why not? Let's have fun.
• 1:18:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and look, that Hendrickson team raised some eyebrows with
• 1:18:47
  Speaker 1: a couple of wins they had in the non-districts. fun
• 1:18:50
  Speaker 1: matchup for you no doubt about it there's some some
• 1:18:53
  Speaker 1: 6a games I want to start with as we kind
• 1:18:56
  Speaker 1: of unpack this late this week the game that jumps
• 1:18:58
  Speaker 1: out Craig called it the game of the week in
• 1:18:59
  Speaker 1: the Austin area I I tend to agree with him
• 1:19:02
  Speaker 1: It's Round Rock and Westlake, Chaparral Stadium, tomorrow night. You
• 1:19:06
  Speaker 1: got numbers two and three in the Austin American Statesman's
• 1:19:09
  Speaker 1: area power rankings. Dragons got that 41-38 victory over Vandegrift
• 1:19:14
  Speaker 1: a couple weeks ago. Their only loss is against the
• 1:19:17
  Speaker 1: Weiss Wolves. Meanwhile, Westlake comes into this one at 3-1.
• 1:19:21
  Speaker 1: I want to go back to that Round Rock and
• 1:19:24
  Speaker 1: Vandegrift game. You look back at that a couple weeks
• 1:19:26
  Speaker 1: ago now, which team did that kind of show you
• 1:19:29
  Speaker 1: more about?
• 1:19:31
  Speaker 6: Uh, to be honest with you, I think it showed
• 1:19:33
  Speaker 6: me a little bit more about round rock. Um, I
• 1:19:35
  Speaker 6: covered that week one loss against Weiss and, you know,
• 1:19:38
  Speaker 6: I left that, um, impressed in some areas and also wondered,
• 1:19:43
  Speaker 6: you know, is round rock going to be one dimensional
• 1:19:45
  Speaker 6: this year? And so, um, temple always, uh, brings out
• 1:19:50
  Speaker 6: some good athletes who round rock had on week two. Um,
• 1:19:53
  Speaker 6: I expected that to be high scoring and it was,
• 1:19:55
  Speaker 6: I believe it was 49 to 37. Um, uh, I
• 1:19:59
  Speaker 6: think Vandergriff and Round Rock is always going to be good.
• 1:20:01
  Speaker 6: That goes back to, you know, when they were in
• 1:20:04
  Speaker 6: the same district. And we always look forward to the
• 1:20:06
  Speaker 6: end of the year in the previous district that they
• 1:20:08
  Speaker 6: were in. Because whatever you wanted to do for the
• 1:20:11
  Speaker 6: first 10 weeks of the year.
• 1:20:13
  Speaker 3: Do it.
• 1:20:13
  Speaker 6: It doesn't matter until the final week of the season
• 1:20:15
  Speaker 6: when the winner of Vandergriff and Round Rock usually went
• 1:20:18
  Speaker 6: on to win the district. So I tend to be
• 1:20:20
  Speaker 6: more impressed with Round Rock simply because I've seen the
• 1:20:24
  Speaker 6: growth week over week. And you always hear this in
• 1:20:27
  Speaker 6: college football, Jake, when you talk to coaches and media
• 1:20:31
  Speaker 6: members that say, hey, the first three weeks lies to you.
• 1:20:35
  Speaker 6: Who's better from the start of non-conference into conference? And
• 1:20:39
  Speaker 6: I think Round Rock has been the team to kind
• 1:20:41
  Speaker 6: of answer that bill the best.
• 1:20:44
  Speaker 3: I'm a little.
• 1:20:46
  Speaker 6: Dicey with Stony Point, who I guess can score a
• 1:20:48
  Speaker 6: couple of points, but I'm not sure if that was
• 1:20:50
  Speaker 6: a product of coming off of that Vandegrift win. But
• 1:20:54
  Speaker 6: to answer your question, Dom Stickler and Dylan Yeager starting
• 1:20:58
  Speaker 6: to turn that offense around is really what I look
• 1:21:02
  Speaker 6: to in that matchup.
• 1:21:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah, the old look-ahead, let-down sandwich for Round Rock last
• 1:21:08
  Speaker 1: week after the big victory over Vandegrift and then Westlake
• 1:21:11
  Speaker 1: coming up. A week from now, it's the first game
• 1:21:15
  Speaker 1: for the Chaparral's against any kind of local competition. They
• 1:21:18
  Speaker 1: were really expanding their horizons outside of the Austin area
• 1:21:22
  Speaker 1: and the non-district play. The loss at Prosper, then the
• 1:21:25
  Speaker 1: big win at home last week against Midland Lee. What
• 1:21:28
  Speaker 1: kind of a team do you get the sense that
• 1:21:31
  Speaker 1: Westlake has this season in terms of identity and what
• 1:21:34
  Speaker 1: their strength is, where their sausage is going to be made?
• 1:21:39
  Speaker 1: It's a.
• 1:21:41
  Speaker 3: An interesting dichotomy.
• 1:21:43
  Speaker 6: And the reason I say that is because there are
• 1:21:45
  Speaker 6: aspects that are old school Tony Salazar pieces in terms
• 1:21:49
  Speaker 6: of there's going to be five receivers that all end
• 1:21:52
  Speaker 6: up with double digit catches and nobody's going to be,
• 1:21:55
  Speaker 6: you know, sticking out majorly. On the other side of it,
• 1:21:59
  Speaker 6: the other piece of that recipe is usually they're squeezing
• 1:22:02
  Speaker 6: the life out of teams defensively where they're giving up
• 1:22:05
  Speaker 6: by the end of the district season, eight, nine, 10
• 1:22:08
  Speaker 6: points per game.
• 1:22:09
  Speaker 3: And that hasn't been the case.
• 1:22:10
  Speaker 2: Now they got one takeaway, one takeaway this year on defense.
• 1:22:14
  Speaker 3: And that's the part that interests me. I'm not going
• 1:22:17
  Speaker 3: to say concerns me because.
• 1:22:19
  Speaker 6: A lot of people have made, have worn the egg
• 1:22:23
  Speaker 6: on their face, begging against Westlake.
• 1:22:24
  Speaker 3: I'm not going to make the mistake right now of
• 1:22:26
  Speaker 3: doing it. But it's interesting.
• 1:22:29
  Speaker 6: I mean, they're young on the ground. Cooper Jones, their
• 1:22:31
  Speaker 6: starting tailback, is a freshman. Do you understand at this point,
• 1:22:36
  Speaker 6: we should not be talking about 2030. As if I
• 1:22:38
  Speaker 6: didn't feel old enough already, seeing a class of 2030
• 1:22:42
  Speaker 6: leading Westlake, beating Englewood early on in the.
• 1:22:45
  Speaker 3: Season, that's impressive.
• 1:22:48
  Speaker 6: So Cooper Jones is going to be probably that next
• 1:22:52
  Speaker 6: Jaden Greathouse type to come out of Westlake, where as
• 1:22:55
  Speaker 6: an underclassman, he's going to dominate. But I'm seeing this
• 1:22:58
  Speaker 6: Westlake team as closer, than they were last year to
• 1:23:02
  Speaker 6: their usual recipe, minus the dominant defense.
• 1:23:05
  Speaker 1: Okay, as I check my hairline for gray hairs poking out,
• 1:23:09
  Speaker 1: I turn the page. Before that, I want to know
• 1:23:12
  Speaker 1: who you're picking to come through that matchup.
• 1:23:16
  Speaker 3: Right now, it's tough to.
• 1:23:19
  Speaker 3: I was all in on my pick right before.
• 1:23:22
  Speaker 6: And then something about you and a microphone just makes
• 1:23:24
  Speaker 6: me go razor focused.
• 1:23:29
  Speaker 3: I'm going to take Westlake.
• 1:23:30
  Speaker 4: In this.
• 1:23:32
  Speaker 3: I like what Round Rock's done.
• 1:23:33
  Speaker 6: I really do, and by me taking Westlake, I hope
• 1:23:37
  Speaker 6: that they prove me wrong, but right now with Westlake,
• 1:23:41
  Speaker 6: the ingredient that they have is their schedule early on,
• 1:23:46
  Speaker 6: I think, prepared them for the type of offense that
• 1:23:48
  Speaker 6: they're going to see with Round Rock.
• 1:23:49
  Speaker 3: Round Rock wants to run the ball.
• 1:23:51
  Speaker 6: And on the outside, it's really Dylan Yeager between the hashes,
• 1:23:55
  Speaker 6: and I think Westlake can scheme that up just good enough,
• 1:23:58
  Speaker 6: and I think it's a time of possession game. I
• 1:24:00
  Speaker 6: think With the way that Westlake has run the ball,
• 1:24:03
  Speaker 6: and again, I have the stats completely up right now.
• 1:24:07
  Speaker 6: They're averaging five yards a carry amongst 15 different rushers.
• 1:24:10
  Speaker 6: If they can do that and keep that pace against
• 1:24:13
  Speaker 6: Round Rock, I think this is a 23-17, 23-20 type
• 1:24:18
  Speaker 6: of game. So that's the Thursday night marquee, and that's
• 1:24:21
  Speaker 6: a closer score than I think the computers will wind
• 1:24:23
  Speaker 6: up predicting.
• 1:24:24
  Speaker 1: Once we see those come down later on this week.
• 1:24:27
  Speaker 1: But there's also a lot happening in 6A on Friday night.
• 1:24:30
  Speaker 1: We're visiting with EJ Sanchez from Texan Live, Dave Campbell's
• 1:24:34
  Speaker 1: Texas Sports, where he broadcasts games every weekend. Let's head
• 1:24:38
  Speaker 1: over to District 24-6A where the Cedar Park Timberwolves are
• 1:24:42
  Speaker 1: 5-0 to start the season. They've already bagged a win
• 1:24:46
  Speaker 1: in their district opener. They're hosting Rouse. It's a new
• 1:24:49
  Speaker 1: chapter of this rivalry in some ways with Joshua Mann
• 1:24:52
  Speaker 1: now over at Belton. That's an impressive team with Gavin
• 1:24:54
  Speaker 1: Ross that I got to cover earlier.
• 1:24:56
  Speaker 2: Earlier in the year.
• 1:24:57
  Speaker 1: It's been a really nice start for Cedar Park, quietly.
• 1:24:59
  Speaker 1: The wins over Aledo and Waco Midway. David Cooper, I
• 1:25:03
  Speaker 1: pointed out before the season, the only returning QB in
• 1:25:06
  Speaker 1: that district. I maybe didn't expect 15 touchdowns and no
• 1:25:09
  Speaker 1: picks to start 2026.
• 1:25:10
  Speaker 2: How impressed are you with their start?
• 1:25:13
  Speaker 3: Probably not.
• 1:25:14
  Speaker 6: You would have been, I don't know what I would
• 1:25:16
  Speaker 6: have said to you, but I remember when we did
• 1:25:18
  Speaker 6: our game draft over the summer, And we wanted to
• 1:25:21
  Speaker 6: do Round Rock and Westlake and Link Travis.
• 1:25:24
  Speaker 3: And for good reason, we wanted to cover those teams.
• 1:25:26
  Speaker 6: And I think the last thing I said on that
• 1:25:28
  Speaker 6: segment was we are going to feel dumb, which doesn't
• 1:25:31
  Speaker 6: take a lot for you and I, but we are
• 1:25:33
  Speaker 6: going to feel dumb for not taking a Cedar Park game.
• 1:25:37
  Speaker 6: Cooper being the biggest piece of that. I mean, these
• 1:25:40
  Speaker 6: scores are ridiculous. 51 to nothing against New Braunfels, 56
• 1:25:43
  Speaker 6: to nothing against Leander, um, I have my eyes on
• 1:25:48
  Speaker 6: that October 9th matchup with Hutto, for sure. I think
• 1:25:52
  Speaker 6: that game will come down to who has the ball last.
• 1:25:55
  Speaker 6: But this is just Cedar Park football, man. I mean,
• 1:25:59
  Speaker 6: their defense has been everything you want it to be.
• 1:26:03
  Speaker 6: When you talk about Cooper, you also have to talk
• 1:26:05
  Speaker 6: about their experience on the ground. Kyson Pham, he's averaging
• 1:26:11
  Speaker 6: seven yards a carry right now. Averaged 7.2 last week
• 1:26:14
  Speaker 6: in the win over Leander. So similar to what I
• 1:26:18
  Speaker 6: said with Westlake, when there is a formula, Cedar Park,
• 1:26:21
  Speaker 6: going back to the.
• 1:26:22
  Speaker 3: Ryder Hernandez days with the black rain defense.
• 1:26:25
  Speaker 2: Now you're making me feel old.
• 1:26:27
  Speaker 6: Exactly.
• 1:26:28
  Speaker 3: And yeah, that was when we were cutting our teeth, man.
• 1:26:31
  Speaker 3: Wasn't it?
• 1:26:33
  Speaker 6: That's their formula. Their defense is playing outstanding. They're taking
• 1:26:36
  Speaker 6: care of the ball. They're hitting enough big plays. And
• 1:26:39
  Speaker 6: that's always going to be where Cedar Park thrives. And,
• 1:26:43
  Speaker 6: Right now in the Austin area, I think you have
• 1:26:44
  Speaker 6: to circle Cedar Park as another one of those.
• 1:26:46
  Speaker 3: Teams that you feel pretty good about playing near Thanksgiving.
• 1:26:50
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they get roused this week, like I mentioned, and
• 1:26:54
  Speaker 1: other matchups in that district standing out to me. Hutto
• 1:26:57
  Speaker 1: and Vista Ridge, if not only because it was such
• 1:27:00
  Speaker 1: a banger last season. Hutto needed all 11 catches, 220
• 1:27:04
  Speaker 1: yards from Jaden Fields to come back from down two scores,
• 1:27:07
  Speaker 1: win that one in the second half, 35-34. All the
• 1:27:10
  Speaker 1: Hippos have done this week with their sophomore, this year,
• 1:27:13
  Speaker 1: I should say, with their sophomore quarterback is hang 50-plus
• 1:27:16
  Speaker 1: in every game this season.
• 1:27:19
  Speaker 6: Not only their quarterback, My guy Anton, who has been great,
• 1:27:23
  Speaker 6: transferring over from Lake Travis.
• 1:27:24
  Speaker 3: Their leading rusher, Braden Childs, is also a sophomore. Hutto
• 1:27:29
  Speaker 3: gets three more years of this.
• 1:27:30
  Speaker 6: Now, of course, you subtract fields from that equation, but
• 1:27:34
  Speaker 6: this is a young group that is putting up all
• 1:27:37
  Speaker 6: these points for Hutto, and it's always kind of this...
• 1:27:40
  Speaker 6: I hate sounding like this because teams change year over year,
• 1:27:43
  Speaker 6: but there's just something in the DNA of these programs,
• 1:27:46
  Speaker 6: even through coaching changes, where we know Hutto's going to
• 1:27:48
  Speaker 6: put up a lot of points.
• 1:27:49
  Speaker 9: I mean.
• 1:27:50
  Speaker 3: Will Hammond is starting this week against Colorado.
• 1:27:52
  Speaker 6: I think the greatest performance I ever saw him, I've
• 1:27:55
  Speaker 6: ever seen in high school football was his 450 yards passing,
• 1:27:58
  Speaker 6: 200 yards rushing, something ridiculous like that.
• 1:28:01
  Speaker 3: So Hutto scores points.
• 1:28:03
  Speaker 6: I'm interested and I'm bought in right now to the
• 1:28:06
  Speaker 6: hippos because of the experience of fields. I think usually
• 1:28:11
  Speaker 6: you want to have, you know, your experience coming at
• 1:28:13
  Speaker 6: the quarterback position. They've been in offenses longer. But there's
• 1:28:16
  Speaker 6: something comforting about having Fields be the one to kind
• 1:28:20
  Speaker 6: of lead Childs and Antone in these big games. And
• 1:28:24
  Speaker 6: that's why I'm really impressed with them right now. And
• 1:28:26
  Speaker 6: they're against Vista Ridge. Vista Ridge has a couple of
• 1:28:29
  Speaker 6: decent wins. But right now, I think you'd have to
• 1:28:32
  Speaker 6: think that Huddo's going to be heavily.
• 1:28:34
  Speaker 3: Favored in that game.
• 1:28:36
  Speaker 1: In a playoff path for Vista Ridge in one of
• 1:28:38
  Speaker 1: the 3-6-8 districts, here in austin the 24 6a field
• 1:28:42
  Speaker 1: over these next couple years they got cedar park huddle
• 1:28:45
  Speaker 1: rouse and vandergrift to contend with they've got to pick
• 1:28:47
  Speaker 1: off one or two of those teams and that's if
• 1:28:49
  Speaker 1: they take care of eastview and leander it's not an
• 1:28:51
  Speaker 1: easy road for the rangers.
• 1:28:54
  Speaker 6: And that's a good Eastview team, by the way. I
• 1:28:56
  Speaker 6: know they're 2-3 right now. That was an Eastview team
• 1:28:58
  Speaker 6: that I was very impressed with in spring ball. The
• 1:29:01
  Speaker 6: thing is, you kind of run into that district. Eastview's
• 1:29:03
  Speaker 6: the only one that's keeping anything close with.
• 1:29:05
  Speaker 3: Cedar Ridge right now.
• 1:29:06
  Speaker 6: That opening week game, 21-6, I think everybody was kind
• 1:29:10
  Speaker 6: of like in a pick-em game, but people liked what
• 1:29:12
  Speaker 6: Eastview had coming back. The margin of loss, I know
• 1:29:15
  Speaker 6: that's not a thing, but it looks good against Cedar.
• 1:29:19
  Speaker 3: Ridge right now.
• 1:29:20
  Speaker 6: Not to mention 56-15 over Legacy Ranch. Um, you know,
• 1:29:25
  Speaker 6: you take care of Austin high. I, I think Vista
• 1:29:28
  Speaker 6: Ridge has.
• 1:29:28
  Speaker 3: Some good pieces.
• 1:29:29
  Speaker 6: I just think with Matt and Rose can only do
• 1:29:33
  Speaker 6: so much at the wideout spot for Vista Ridge, where
• 1:29:35
  Speaker 6: I think Hutto there, they, it's a track meet over there, dude.
• 1:29:40
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 1:29:40
  Speaker 1: You brought up the 21 to six opening week result
• 1:29:43
  Speaker 1: for Cedar Ridge. Um, Against Eastview, that's aged pretty well
• 1:29:47
  Speaker 1: for the Patriots, especially when you look at a Cedar
• 1:29:50
  Speaker 1: Ridge team that's only given up 80 points in their
• 1:29:52
  Speaker 1: five games. They're undefeated at 5-0 right now, a top
• 1:29:56
  Speaker 1: district 25-6A, and I'll be interested to see what they
• 1:30:00
  Speaker 1: look like in the big test coming up.
• 1:30:03
  Speaker 3: Cedar Ridge, this is one of the teams where I
• 1:30:06
  Speaker 3: hoped when you asked me to hop on, would we
• 1:30:07
  Speaker 3: be talking about it? Because I don't think enough people are.
• 1:30:09
  Speaker 6: Now, again, we all like to think that we're smart
• 1:30:12
  Speaker 6: in the offseason and say, oh, we're going to pick
• 1:30:14
  Speaker 6: this X, Y, and Z team. And none of us
• 1:30:16
  Speaker 6: picked Cedar Ridge, which is why I think it's kind
• 1:30:18
  Speaker 6: of flying under the radar, where everybody's kind of waiting to.
• 1:30:21
  Speaker 3: See, are they for real? Are they for real?
• 1:30:24
  Speaker 6: 34-16 over Ralston, putting up 70 on Vista Ridge.
• 1:30:30
  Speaker 3: 70 doesn't come along every day. I mentioned you, Vista
• 1:30:32
  Speaker 3: Ridge has some good wins.
• 1:30:34
  Speaker 6: I envision that Cedar Ridge will take care of business
• 1:30:37
  Speaker 6: against McNeil this week.
• 1:30:38
  Speaker 3: McNeil, they graduated so many.
• 1:30:41
  Speaker 6: I mean, when you talk about, I think there's single-digit lettermen,
• 1:30:44
  Speaker 6: not starters, single-digit lettermen coming back from last year's group
• 1:30:47
  Speaker 6: that narrowly missed the playoffs. After that is when we're
• 1:30:51
  Speaker 6: going to learn real quick about Cedar Ridge. They have
• 1:30:55
  Speaker 6: to go on the road to Lake Travis. I'm interested
• 1:30:58
  Speaker 6: in that game. In previous years, maybe I wouldn't have been,
• 1:31:02
  Speaker 6: but I am now.
• 1:31:04
  Speaker 3: For certain.
• 1:31:05
  Speaker 6: Patterson looks great for Cedar Ridge. You mentioned that defense
• 1:31:09
  Speaker 6: is fast. From the edge out, that is a fast,
• 1:31:13
  Speaker 6: fast defense. So I'm wondering, when you get into these
• 1:31:17
  Speaker 6: kind of grudge matches with the Lake Travises and the
• 1:31:20
  Speaker 6: Round Rocks and the Westlakes of the world, will you
• 1:31:23
  Speaker 6: be able to match it with physicality?
• 1:31:26
  Speaker 3: We'll have to see.
• 1:31:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I like what they've done on the ground so far.
• 1:31:30
  Speaker 1: Certainly that's encouraging from the the Raider perspective, averaging six
• 1:31:33
  Speaker 1: yards to carry in their five wins so far.
• 1:31:36
  Speaker 2: All right, so that's a little bit of the 6A.
• 1:31:38
  Speaker 1: Like I mentioned, a thin slate, but there are going
• 1:31:40
  Speaker 1: to be thin margins in these districts, so a lot
• 1:31:42
  Speaker 1: to watch before we're talking with EJ Sanchez from Dave
• 1:31:44
  Speaker 1: Campbell's Texas Sports. And we do need a break, but
• 1:31:47
  Speaker 1: we'll continue our high school football conversation after this. Well,
• 1:31:53
  Speaker 1: as we continue on this rainy Wednesday afternoon, I know
• 1:31:57
  Speaker 1: there are high school football programs out there scheduled to
• 1:32:00
  Speaker 1: play this weekend that are hoping those clouds stay away,
• 1:32:02
  Speaker 1: are hoping that the weather doesn't impact their games too much.
• 1:32:06
  Speaker 1: We already talked a lot of 6A on this lighter
• 1:32:09
  Speaker 1: than usual slate. EJ Sanchez from Dave Campbell's Texas Sports
• 1:32:13
  Speaker 1: is with us. Now let's get to 5A. College Station
• 1:32:16
  Speaker 1: and Georgetown. It's a game that I had in the
• 1:32:18
  Speaker 1: draft at the 5A level. No gimmicks today. Just try
• 1:32:21
  Speaker 1: to talk about this late, but I got to bring
• 1:32:23
  Speaker 1: back our off-season TV executive draft.
• 1:32:26
  Speaker 2: It's a big make or break week for me.
• 1:32:28
  Speaker 1: It's a crucible of sorts for my network because I've
• 1:32:31
  Speaker 1: got two games on this week's slate. One of them
• 1:32:34
  Speaker 1: is this matchup between College Station and Georgetown.
• 1:32:37
  Speaker 2: I know College Station bounced back from the Weiss loss.
• 1:32:40
  Speaker 2: They're coming off a win.
• 1:32:41
  Speaker 1: Over consolidated, they're back in the state rankings. Meanwhile, Georgetown
• 1:32:45
  Speaker 1: took a surprising loss to Hendrickson earlier on this season.
• 1:32:48
  Speaker 1: And you're wondering when things are going to start to
• 1:32:50
  Speaker 1: click here for Chuck Griffin's group.
• 1:32:52
  Speaker 2: Is it this week?
• 1:32:53
  Speaker 3: I don't know.
• 1:32:55
  Speaker 6: Just like you, whenever we go and look at the
• 1:32:58
  Speaker 6: Hendrickson game, the Thursday slates, they sometimes come and go.
• 1:33:01
  Speaker 6: And in our line of business, we look for the
• 1:33:03
  Speaker 6: marquee games. And that one in the Austin area wasn't
• 1:33:06
  Speaker 6: one that we circled. But I can tell you when
• 1:33:08
  Speaker 6: our eyes did perk up, Not only did they lose,
• 1:33:10
  Speaker 6: they lost by two scores to a Hendrickson team. That's
• 1:33:12
  Speaker 6: very solid, very good on the ground. That's a very
• 1:33:14
  Speaker 6: experienced Hendrickson team.
• 1:33:16
  Speaker 2: They gave up two big plays. They gave up two
• 1:33:18
  Speaker 2: big plays, and that really decided it.
• 1:33:20
  Speaker 3: That was it.
• 1:33:21
  Speaker 6: The thing that I think you're surprised about if you're
• 1:33:23
  Speaker 6: just a casual observer is that Georgetown didn't have their
• 1:33:27
  Speaker 6: big plays, and Hendrickson was able to hold them. That,
• 1:33:30
  Speaker 6: I think, is the big part. I don't expect either
• 1:33:32
  Speaker 6: of those teams to go back to that matchup. We'll
• 1:33:34
  Speaker 6: get off of it after this. I don't expect either
• 1:33:37
  Speaker 6: of those teams to be the ones to prevent big plays.
• 1:33:39
  Speaker 6: Neither of those teams have ever been known for that.
• 1:33:42
  Speaker 6: Unless you go back to the Samaj P. Ryan Hendrickson
• 1:33:45
  Speaker 6: days where those defenses were crazy. But I think this
• 1:33:49
  Speaker 6: Georgetown team right now is in flux trying to figure
• 1:33:53
  Speaker 6: out what is life post-Jet Walker. When you have a
• 1:33:57
  Speaker 6: talented young man like that that came in and was,
• 1:34:01
  Speaker 6: for the better.
• 1:34:02
  Speaker 3: Part of two years, 70% of your offense.
• 1:34:07
  Speaker 6: You have to find out how you're going to do it.
• 1:34:10
  Speaker 6: McDougal is fine right now. Four touchdowns, I think, and
• 1:34:15
  Speaker 6: five picks. You have to find something in the passing
• 1:34:18
  Speaker 6: game for Georgetown. Now, once again, they're doing their thing
• 1:34:22
  Speaker 6: on the ground. I mean, as a group, seven and
• 1:34:24
  Speaker 6: a half yards a carry. Weston Stewart leading the way.
• 1:34:29
  Speaker 6: But for College Station... That's a big rivalry win against
• 1:34:33
  Speaker 6: A & M Consolidated. I'm not going to lie to you.
• 1:34:35
  Speaker 6: That front seven is loaded for Stoney Pryor right now.
• 1:34:38
  Speaker 6: You have Zeron Benford. He's a Colorado State commit manning
• 1:34:41
  Speaker 6: the front lines. And Noah Symak gives College Station an
• 1:34:46
  Speaker 6: element throwing that I don't think they have had since
• 1:34:50
  Speaker 6: Arrington Maiden back in 2022, who's now at James Madison
• 1:34:54
  Speaker 6: right now.
• 1:34:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I was a little surprised to see only two
• 1:34:57
  Speaker 1: sacks for that College Station front in their first three games.
• 1:35:01
  Speaker 1: You saw that pressure, I think, start to ramp up
• 1:35:03
  Speaker 1: in the moments where they needed it, playing with the
• 1:35:05
  Speaker 1: lead late against that A & M consolidated team. It
• 1:35:09
  Speaker 1: turns out I should have just selected the district package.
• 1:35:12
  Speaker 1: I think I could watch a red zone channel of
• 1:35:14
  Speaker 1: District 12 5AD1 this year because you've also got... a
• 1:35:17
  Speaker 1: clean shoemaker team, but you saw Hank tough with Weiss
• 1:35:20
  Speaker 1: taking on A & M consolidated coming off a loss
• 1:35:23
  Speaker 1: this week. I know that's not the time you'll want
• 1:35:24
  Speaker 1: to see him, but what did you see from clean
• 1:35:27
  Speaker 1: shoemaker last week's game? And what do they need to
• 1:35:30
  Speaker 1: kind of do to get over the hump in these
• 1:35:31
  Speaker 1: matchups in this tough district?
• 1:35:34
  Speaker 6: Well, I'm seeing coach locks lose a bet somewhere because
• 1:35:37
  Speaker 6: he has a good group, a good talented group, and
• 1:35:40
  Speaker 6: you start your district slate off and somebody had to
• 1:35:43
  Speaker 6: But you start your district slate off with College Station.
• 1:35:46
  Speaker 3: Weiss, and A & M Consolidated. Silly. With Shoemaker, it
• 1:35:53
  Speaker 3: all rests on the development of R.J. Hicks.
• 1:35:56
  Speaker 6: They're a quarterback that is throwing to Tano Wooten, who
• 1:36:00
  Speaker 6: is a Dave Campbell Texas Sports three-star with Greg Powers.
• 1:36:02
  Speaker 3: He was our recruiting analyst. He was in the booth
• 1:36:04
  Speaker 3: with me last Thursday.
• 1:36:06
  Speaker 6: And that team generated some explosive plays.
• 1:36:09
  Speaker 3: Now, the thing about Shoemaker... they are very, very young.
• 1:36:13
  Speaker 3: A much younger team than A & M Consolidated.
• 1:36:16
  Speaker 6: A & M Consolidated, you think of that team that
• 1:36:18
  Speaker 6: doesn't really have windows, but more just has a kind
• 1:36:22
  Speaker 6: of a prolonged window sill where they're just plugging and
• 1:36:25
  Speaker 6: playing guys. Chunky Mooring looks like Chunky Mooring for the Tigers,
• 1:36:29
  Speaker 6: the highly recruited Division I running back.
• 1:36:33
  Speaker 3: I think this is a game of very.
• 1:36:37
  Speaker 6: Conflicting, contrasting styles, not conflicting, contrasting styles that I think
• 1:36:42
  Speaker 6: will be really interesting because Shoemaker can air it out
• 1:36:45
  Speaker 6: and throw Tatano Wooten on any big play. And A
• 1:36:49
  Speaker 6: & M Consolidated gave up those plays to Cash Adams
• 1:36:52
  Speaker 6: of College Station last week. So what A & M
• 1:36:55
  Speaker 6: Consolidated has shown, while they can pound the football offensively,
• 1:37:00
  Speaker 6: they're susceptible to the big play through the air, and
• 1:37:02
  Speaker 6: that's what Shoemaker has.
• 1:37:05
  Speaker 1: So that's going to be a big factor to watch,
• 1:37:07
  Speaker 1: I think.
• 1:37:08
  Speaker 2: In that matchup.
• 1:37:09
  Speaker 1: All right, EJ, a game that I drafted way back
• 1:37:13
  Speaker 1: in August, I think maybe it was late July when
• 1:37:15
  Speaker 1: we did our TV executive draft. It was my kind
• 1:37:18
  Speaker 1: of off the beaten path pick, but I think it's
• 1:37:21
  Speaker 1: going to turn out to be a pretty good one.
• 1:37:23
  Speaker 2: Liberty Hill.
• 1:37:24
  Speaker 1: And Legacy Ranch, never mind the fact that it's a
• 1:37:26
  Speaker 1: new rivalry with, of course, a second school opening in
• 1:37:29
  Speaker 1: Liberty Hill ISD.
• 1:37:31
  Speaker 2: But this is.
• 1:37:32
  Speaker 1: Also an important district game. What do you make of
• 1:37:34
  Speaker 1: this matchup? And also its placement on the calendar here.
• 1:37:37
  Speaker 1: This feels like it should be in late October, not
• 1:37:39
  Speaker 1: week six.
• 1:37:41
  Speaker 3: It should. It should.
• 1:37:42
  Speaker 6: But before I break it down, first of all, the
• 1:37:44
  Speaker 6: way both of these coaches have handled the rivalry has
• 1:37:47
  Speaker 6: been nothing but class, first of all. Like, if you
• 1:37:50
  Speaker 6: see any news clippings of either of these head coaches
• 1:37:52
  Speaker 6: talking about it, It is all, hey, we used to
• 1:37:55
  Speaker 6: be together. Only difference now is we're two schools. So
• 1:37:59
  Speaker 6: first of all, I had to throw that out there.
• 1:38:00
  Speaker 6: It's very easy to kind of take the cheese, so
• 1:38:03
  Speaker 6: to speak. But no, what I see with these two
• 1:38:07
  Speaker 6: is kind of teams, again, that have this similar makeup.
• 1:38:11
  Speaker 6: I think Legacy Ranch is a little bit more dynamic
• 1:38:14
  Speaker 6: through the air in Cunningham. Ramos has looked outstanding on
• 1:38:17
  Speaker 6: the ground. And Liberty Hill right now, if you go
• 1:38:21
  Speaker 6: and look through their schedule, there's a couple of tough results.
• 1:38:25
  Speaker 3: Right now for the Panthers.
• 1:38:26
  Speaker 6: I mean, I know it's non-conference, or non-conference, non-district, sorry,
• 1:38:29
  Speaker 6: flipping between high school and college does that to you.
• 1:38:33
  Speaker 6: But you saw Midland Lee, a seven point loss there.
• 1:38:36
  Speaker 6: And then I don't think anybody puts Liberty Hill and
• 1:38:40
  Speaker 6: Vandegrift neck and neck in the preseason, but that score
• 1:38:43
  Speaker 6: 45 to 14 against the Vipers in week three, in
• 1:38:46
  Speaker 6: previous years, You look for that to be a little
• 1:38:50
  Speaker 6: bit closer than 31 points.
• 1:38:53
  Speaker 3: So that's where I stand right now.
• 1:38:56
  Speaker 6: I mean, however you feel about the slot C is
• 1:38:58
  Speaker 6: up to you.
• 1:38:58
  Speaker 3: I'm not going to say anything.
• 1:39:00
  Speaker 6: I've made it this far in my career by not
• 1:39:03
  Speaker 6: being a controversial person. So whatever you want to do,
• 1:39:06
  Speaker 6: you can do with the slot C. The whole point
• 1:39:08
  Speaker 6: is four different rushers have at least 280 yards. Legacy
• 1:39:12
  Speaker 6: Ranch has a look against it. So I'm interested, very interested.
• 1:39:17
  Speaker 6: And also on this draft, this could make or break you.
• 1:39:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I struck out on my bass drop Brennan pick,
• 1:39:24
  Speaker 1: and I'm going to chalk that one up to the
• 1:39:26
  Speaker 1: injury bug. Vandegrift in that loss to San Antonio Johnson
• 1:39:30
  Speaker 1: didn't turn that into the type of game. I think
• 1:39:32
  Speaker 1: that says more about Johnson and the Jaguars than it
• 1:39:36
  Speaker 1: maybe does about Vandegrift, who has those, always has those
• 1:39:40
  Speaker 1: challenging non-district games. And we're going to learn more about
• 1:39:42
  Speaker 1: them in their district opener here coming up, but you're right.
• 1:39:45
  Speaker 2: It could make or break me.
• 1:39:47
  Speaker 1: And it's, it's interesting for me just to think about
• 1:39:50
  Speaker 1: legacy ranch from the moment that program starts, you have
• 1:39:54
  Speaker 1: to think there's a plan to stop the slot T right.
• 1:39:56
  Speaker 2: Right. You have to be thinking about it.
• 1:40:00
  Speaker 3: Half the kids have played in it.
• 1:40:02
  Speaker 6: Half the kids have defended it their entire lives up
• 1:40:05
  Speaker 6: until two years ago. So there's no, there's no issues
• 1:40:08
  Speaker 6: with it. The issue would be I don't even want
• 1:40:11
  Speaker 6: to call.
• 1:40:11
  Speaker 3: It an issue. The challenge is getting a look in
• 1:40:15
  Speaker 3: practice this week.
• 1:40:18
  Speaker 6: Does Legacy Ranch have that?
• 1:40:20
  Speaker 3: I don't know. I haven't been down there to practice,
• 1:40:21
  Speaker 3: but I would.
• 1:40:22
  Speaker 6: Assume that there's a pretty decent idea of how to
• 1:40:25
  Speaker 6: stop the slot team.
• 1:40:26
  Speaker 3: And I'm just so interested to see how this turns out.
• 1:40:29
  Speaker 3: I'm ready to see that community. It's always a.
• 1:40:31
  Speaker 6: That's how I got my start, was doing color, by
• 1:40:33
  Speaker 6: the way, for Liberty Hill football, who run the same
• 1:40:36
  Speaker 6: four plays.
• 1:40:37
  Speaker 3: Not great for a color analyst. But got to watch
• 1:40:40
  Speaker 3: off the ball. Center looks great. Center look great again.
• 1:40:46
  Speaker 2: Right guard might have fired early. Not going to say
• 1:40:48
  Speaker 2: anything about it.
• 1:40:49
  Speaker 3: Sorry, by the way. So my facial expression says how
• 1:40:54
  Speaker 3: I feel about the slots. But they run it well.
• 1:40:56
  Speaker 6: And I remember that community always showing out the fact
• 1:40:58
  Speaker 6: that that stadium is going to be split in half now.
• 1:41:00
  Speaker 3: It's going to be awesome.
• 1:41:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I can't wait to get the atmosphere in that one.
• 1:41:05
  Speaker 1: If you're going to go out to a game, I
• 1:41:07
  Speaker 1: know it's a little bit of a drive for some
• 1:41:08
  Speaker 1: of our audience here in the Austin area, but that
• 1:41:11
  Speaker 1: one might be worth it just for the atmosphere. Okay, bymageddon,
• 1:41:16
  Speaker 1: we've covered most of the slate this week. What did
• 1:41:18
  Speaker 1: we not cover that a fan may be looking to
• 1:41:20
  Speaker 1: expand his or her horizon can check out before we
• 1:41:24
  Speaker 1: let you go?
• 1:41:25
  Speaker 6: I think without anything specific, I'd go check out... a
• 1:41:31
  Speaker 6: game where there is a new restaurant that you have
• 1:41:35
  Speaker 6: been wanting to try. Cause there is something in the area.
• 1:41:38
  Speaker 6: I'm parlaying this Friday as by apocalypse plus try new restaurant. Well, look,
• 1:41:46
  Speaker 6: you might need food for a rain delay. You might
• 1:41:50
  Speaker 6: that I'm not looking forward to that, but yes, you
• 1:41:52
  Speaker 6: find wherever you want to go, find a new area.
• 1:41:55
  Speaker 6: I guarantee you there's a game going on.
• 1:41:58
  Speaker 3: And from there you have a good time. I mean,
• 1:42:00
  Speaker 3: But apocalypse, this happens every year.
• 1:42:02
  Speaker 6: And I think Tep said it yesterday where we knew
• 1:42:04
  Speaker 6: this was coming in March. And while everybody rests up,
• 1:42:09
  Speaker 6: this is a fantastic time to go stick with Texas
• 1:42:13
  Speaker 6: high school football and take your week off. Because after this,
• 1:42:16
  Speaker 6: district races are going to start heating up. Then you
• 1:42:18
  Speaker 6: go back to your games. It'll be nice to get
• 1:42:21
  Speaker 6: a breather.
• 1:42:22
  Speaker 1: Rubber starts to hit the road as we get to October.
• 1:42:25
  Speaker 1: He's EJ Sanchez. From Dave Campbell's Texas Sports, he's probably
• 1:42:29
  Speaker 1: in the lead, as much as I hate to admit it,
• 1:42:31
  Speaker 1: in terms of our TV draft.
• 1:42:34
  Speaker 3: I think Battle of the Lakes falling to the third
• 1:42:36
  Speaker 3: round is going to save me. I'm not going to lie.
• 1:42:39
  Speaker 6: I think both my fourth and my fifth picks weren't great.
• 1:42:44
  Speaker 6: Waco La Vega LBJ didn't turn out great for me.
• 1:42:47
  Speaker 6: That would have gotten flexed at halftime. But aside from that...
• 1:42:52
  Speaker 6: I think it'll be close by the end of it.
• 1:42:54
  Speaker 6: I think this all-Liberty Hill matchup is going to do
• 1:42:57
  Speaker 6: good things for you.
• 1:42:58
  Speaker 3: We'll revisit.
• 1:42:59
  Speaker 2: We'll get the final verdict. Thanks as always, EJ. Have
• 1:43:01
  Speaker 2: a good weekend.
• 1:43:02
  Speaker 3: Appreciate you, Jake. Have a good one, man.
• 1:43:04
  Speaker 2: We'll be back with more coming up on Sports Radio
• 1:43:06
  Speaker 2: AM 1300 The Zone.