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

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

0:00
SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome to another exciting edition of Pittsburgh Sports Memories Current Events.
0:06
SPEAKER_00: Um, we're covering the month of April at this time.
0:10
SPEAKER_00: My name's Steve, and I'm joined by Um Tim Hannon.
0:15
SPEAKER_00: And uh yeah, the goings on since we last talked to you in uh last time.
0:20
SPEAKER_00: Um we'll look at um the Steelers.
0:22
SPEAKER_00: Hey, they've had a somewhat busy free agency season, and they actually for the first time ever, I don't remember the Steelers.
0:30
SPEAKER_00: Somebody ranked them number one out of all the free agency.
0:34
SPEAKER_00: They signed Michael Pittman Jr., Rico Dowdle, Jamel Dean, Brisker, some kind of name Brisker, Asante Samuel Jr.
0:44
SPEAKER_00: Cool.
0:44
SPEAKER_00: Is he still good?
0:46
unknown: I don't know.
0:46
SPEAKER_01: Well he's he's we re-signed him.
0:48
SPEAKER_01: He was on the team last year.
0:49
SPEAKER_00: That's what I thought.
0:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's what I thought.
0:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
0:51
SPEAKER_00: I don't remember him being all that great.
0:53
SPEAKER_01: And they signed the kid from Tennessee too, that Joseph Day, who's the defensive lineman.
0:57
SPEAKER_01: Brisker's a safety from who's from here that they signed from Chicago.
1:01
SPEAKER_01: Jamel Dean's the cornerback from Tampa.
1:04
SPEAKER_01: That's that's a huge signing because now they've got potentially two, you know, like shutdown level cornerbacks, and then and then Pittman.
1:12
SPEAKER_01: Like, my goodness, I can't believe we finally got a second wide receiver, but it only took three years, but we finally got there.
1:20
SPEAKER_00: Uh I don't know.
1:21
SPEAKER_00: Just because you win March doesn't really mean you're gonna win in November.
1:25
SPEAKER_00: So we'll see how it goes.
1:27
SPEAKER_01: Of course.
1:28
SPEAKER_00: I mean, but you can't be too disappointed with I think Rico Dow, uh the running back from Carolina, he's pretty good.
1:35
SPEAKER_00: Like he's kind of like an exact replica of what's his name from last year, um, Kenneth Gainwell.
1:41
SPEAKER_00: So he's more physical than Gainwell, that's for sure.
1:44
SPEAKER_01: Well, I think they wanted to go back to the the like the Najee Harris, like like what um what Warren had with Najee Harris, where Najee could be like the first and second down guy, and and you could spell in Warren a little bit more.
1:59
SPEAKER_01: Um and I think I think that's what they get with Dowdle.
2:02
SPEAKER_01: He's kind of a he can kind of be a workhorse a little bit, and and so that was a good signing.
2:07
SPEAKER_00: They were all are they gonna cut their third round pick from the last year?
2:12
SPEAKER_01: Caleb Johnson, he'll still be there.
2:13
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you need you know, I mean he's kind of in the doghouse because he very fostered that one kick, but yeah, yeah.
2:20
SPEAKER_01: And you always have injuries, you never know who's Calen Warren's.
2:23
SPEAKER_00: Well, these running backs, yeah, never gonna last the season.
2:26
SPEAKER_00: So right.
2:27
SPEAKER_01: But but they like you said, Steve, you don't you don't know it's March, but like they they had a need.
2:32
SPEAKER_01: They lost Gainwell, they needed a running back.
2:34
SPEAKER_01: Daldo's a great, a great signing.
2:37
SPEAKER_01: They absolutely had to have a wide receiver too.
2:40
SPEAKER_01: They traded like nothing to get Pittman because the Colts had had signed that other receiver, Pierce, so Pittman was expendable.
2:47
SPEAKER_01: And then like getting another cornerback, that was another huge need, and getting a safety.
2:52
SPEAKER_01: Like these were all needs that they could have filled in the draft, and they still will draft, I'm sure, a receiver and probably a safety too.
2:59
SPEAKER_01: But now you have guys uh it it it was I I really liked it.
3:04
SPEAKER_00: They didn't really give up anything for Pittman, so no, it was a 6'7 swap.
3:09
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was just that Colts just needed to dump them.
3:12
SPEAKER_01: Now the elephant in the room is you still don't have a quarterback.
3:16
SPEAKER_00: Well, that's what I was gonna say, Tim.
3:17
SPEAKER_00: Are you a fan of the X-Files?
3:20
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
3:21
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
3:21
SPEAKER_00: Do you remember how they used to play up that storyline of will they won't won't they between um who is it?
3:27
SPEAKER_00: Uh Mulder and Scully.
3:29
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, are they gonna get together?
3:30
SPEAKER_00: Are they not gonna get together?
3:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
3:32
SPEAKER_00: Well, that's how I kind of feel like we are.
3:34
SPEAKER_00: We're in an episode of the X-Files where where Aaron Rodgers finally get together with the Steelers again.
3:40
SPEAKER_00: Uh I I I have no idea.
3:42
SPEAKER_00: Once again, I've I I think you could probably play whatever I said from last season, last year at this time.
3:49
SPEAKER_00: So I know that's completely up to Aaron Rodgers.
3:52
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I guess who are they gonna play a quarterback if he doesn't show I will Will Howard?
3:56
SPEAKER_00: Are they just gonna mail it in with Will Howard?
3:58
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't look like it if you're picking up Michael Pittman.
4:01
SPEAKER_00: They're not they're not trade for uh for Kirk Cousins then I I don't know.
4:06
SPEAKER_02: That that so that so so that's the point.
4:09
SPEAKER_00: That's what you're kind of down to.
4:10
SPEAKER_00: Like if if they don't sign Aaron Rodgers, you better go after Kirk Cousins or I don't know.
4:17
SPEAKER_00: That guy from the 49ers signed, didn't he?
4:19
SPEAKER_00: The guy that was the Patriots draft pick a couple years back.
4:23
SPEAKER_00: Mac Jones.
4:24
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
4:25
SPEAKER_01: Well he they'd have to the 49ers would have to trade him.
4:27
SPEAKER_00: They could get they could get Kenny Pickett back.
4:29
SPEAKER_00: He just went to the room.
4:30
SPEAKER_01: No, he's already he he'd just sign with somebody.
4:33
SPEAKER_01: I can't remember.
4:34
SPEAKER_01: Carolina.
4:34
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
4:35
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they they the the problem is they they you're right.
4:38
SPEAKER_01: If Rodgers doesn't come back, they're not just gonna go play Will Howard.
4:42
SPEAKER_01: He's never taken a snap in the NFL.
4:44
SPEAKER_01: Will Howard might have at least a a chance to like get more playing time or earn shots?
4:50
SPEAKER_00: I think I think they're gonna cut Mason Root off, quite honestly.
4:52
SPEAKER_00: I don't think they're gonna cut.
4:53
SPEAKER_01: Well, they they maybe, but I think if Rogers doesn't come back, I think Mason's your opening day starter.
4:59
SPEAKER_01: Because who else is gonna do it?
5:00
SPEAKER_01: Like to your point, and that's the problem because they haven't they haven't planned well.
5:04
SPEAKER_01: We we did a whole episode about this.
5:06
SPEAKER_01: When Ben retired, they did not plan well in the years before he retired.
5:10
SPEAKER_01: They they they panicked, not panicked, but they like force picked Kenny, and that didn't go well, and so it set him back another few years, and here we are with Rogers really is probably their best bet for next season because they're not just gonna throw in a guy that's never taken a snap.
5:26
SPEAKER_01: Right.
5:27
SPEAKER_00: Well, maybe they're gonna draft a quarterback, maybe they're gonna draft it's it's a pretty deep quarterback class this year, isn't it?
5:33
SPEAKER_01: Right.
5:34
SPEAKER_01: Even if they draft a quarterback, who's it like that guy from Alabama, the kid from Alabama, maybe.
5:39
SPEAKER_01: Again, it it it just like Will Howard, they're not just gonna throw him in.
5:43
SPEAKER_01: So you have to you can you can say like we got to build for the future, and they do, but regardless, they don't have somebody to play this season.
5:50
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so it's either gonna be Aaron Rodgers, Mason Rudolph, or like you said, Kirk Cousins or somebody like that, and that's not very exciting.
5:58
SPEAKER_01: You know, so every every when you're excited about oh, Rico Dowdle and Michael Pittman and things are really coming together, it's hard to get excited about this season.
6:06
SPEAKER_01: It would be nice if they would have had a plan, if they would have had like a guy that they drafted two years ago that's like the you know, the the the guy in waiting, and then then it would fit.
6:16
SPEAKER_00: Like a Jordan Love or somebody like that.
6:18
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
6:19
SPEAKER_01: Well, that's what that's why I said in that episode we did.
6:21
SPEAKER_01: You know, Kansas City, Green Bay, Baltimore, all these teams drafted quarterbacks when they already had the the veteran starter, and that's why they succeeded and we didn't.
6:33
SPEAKER_00: Hey, by the way, you want to know a fun fact, Tim?
6:36
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
6:37
SPEAKER_00: The Jets are paying both Justin Fields and Aaron Rodgers parts of their salary this year.
6:44
SPEAKER_01: As much of a mess as the Stewart have made of some things in recent years, you'll never come close to approaching what a complete joke the New York Jets are.
6:57
SPEAKER_00: Well, on that note, uh we'll switch the hockey.
7:00
SPEAKER_00: Yay, Penguins.
7:02
SPEAKER_00: Uh Crosby got hurt again or still hurt from the Olympics.
7:07
SPEAKER_01: No, that was a new injury.
7:09
SPEAKER_01: It was a different leg.
7:10
SPEAKER_00: Oh, it was a different leg?
7:11
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
7:11
SPEAKER_00: Uh Mulkin is hurt after he got suspended for deciding to try and decapitate another player with a stick.
7:20
SPEAKER_00: Uh, but you know, despite all that, the penguins got a critical win in the shootout versus the Senators.
7:26
SPEAKER_00: Hey, there's a new idea.
7:27
SPEAKER_00: Win a shootout, Tim.
7:28
SPEAKER_00: Can you believe it?
7:30
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
7:30
SPEAKER_00: And it was the new guy, the Ben what's the name?
7:33
SPEAKER_00: Ben Kendall.
7:33
SPEAKER_00: Ben Kindle, yeah.
7:34
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
7:35
SPEAKER_00: Um, but the Penguins still have a lot of like season-long questions that they're I don't know.
7:40
SPEAKER_00: I don't think I think they're not gonna go far if they do make the playoffs.
7:44
SPEAKER_00: Number one, the goaltending is still a big, big question mark.
7:48
SPEAKER_00: I think it's gonna be a question mark for a couple years until they till hopefully this rookie pans out in the minors, and then they give up a lot of short-handed goals.
7:58
SPEAKER_00: Why?
7:59
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
8:00
SPEAKER_01: I I can answer that one.
8:02
SPEAKER_01: It's because they're young.
8:03
SPEAKER_01: They're young and they're grow it's growing pains.
8:06
SPEAKER_01: That you're right, Steve.
8:07
SPEAKER_01: Their ceiling for this year, I think, is like the first round of the playoffs, and that's fine.
8:11
SPEAKER_00: Like no one in whatever Maybe it'll be like that year they the Penguins first made the first round and lost to the Senators in like five games.
8:18
SPEAKER_01: That's what I hope too.
8:20
SPEAKER_01: I really do, because I I think there's better, better times ahead.
8:24
SPEAKER_01: They're they're young, the coach is young.
8:26
SPEAKER_00: They they can still miss the playoffs, Tim.
8:29
SPEAKER_00: And that's that's another thing that's kind of scary.
8:31
SPEAKER_00: So as of right now, this date, there are 10 games left, and the penguins are sitting at 88 points.
8:39
SPEAKER_00: Excuse me.
8:40
SPEAKER_00: Um the according to AI, 95 points is the safe threshold to make the playoffs.
8:46
SPEAKER_00: So, what do they need?
8:47
SPEAKER_00: Seven more points, and you get two points for a win.
8:50
SPEAKER_00: So, I'm guessing they need to win five games, four games.
8:54
SPEAKER_00: I would say five games to be extra safe.
8:57
SPEAKER_00: So they got to win half their games to just make the playoffs.
9:01
SPEAKER_00: Because Columbus has been on a tear, so Columbus is right behind them, and I guess the Islanders aren't far off.
9:08
SPEAKER_00: So they could just miss the playoffs.
9:11
SPEAKER_00: And remember when in November, when I said where you finished then, they had finished what one point out of the playoffs in November.
9:18
SPEAKER_00: So maybe that rule will hold true to an extreme fashion where they missed the playoffs on the last day of the season.
9:25
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, that's entirely possible.
9:27
SPEAKER_01: It's it's quite a log game for those last couple of playoff spots.
9:31
SPEAKER_01: I was looking at that yesterday at the standings, and it's it's a log game.
9:36
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, maybe they don't make it.
9:38
SPEAKER_01: It would be nice, it would be nice to see them make the playoffs.
9:41
SPEAKER_01: And like you said, or like you know, even if it's a first round exit, it's to me that's still a huge accomplishment.
9:46
SPEAKER_01: People thought they were going to be just so awful this year, and and I think you you got to play some young guys, you've got to see some future hope.
9:56
SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, the Penguins are five, three, and two in their last ten.
10:00
SPEAKER_00: So I think if they do if they replicate that in their next ten, they're probably in the playoffs, Tim.
10:06
SPEAKER_00: Agreed.
10:07
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
10:09
SPEAKER_00: So it's not like out of this question or impossible to do.
10:12
SPEAKER_01: They just can't fall apart.
10:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there's like a a stretch where they play four games in like five days or something like that, and they play a lot of teams that are out of the playoffs.
10:24
SPEAKER_00: So if they can win those games, that might get them into the playoffs.
10:27
SPEAKER_00: So we'll see what happens.
10:28
SPEAKER_00: Hopefully, Crosby comes back.
10:30
SPEAKER_00: If Crosby and Maul can come back, that really gives them a good chance to make the playoffs.
10:35
SPEAKER_00: So uh how about them Bucks?
10:38
SPEAKER_00: Are you ready for some baseball, Tim?
10:42
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
10:43
SPEAKER_00: Well, um in a in a in a like uh what would I saw?
10:47
SPEAKER_00: Like a um want to say, like, you know, in a preview of things to come, you know, and uh the singer forgot the words of the national anthem before the game.
10:58
SPEAKER_00: It was in New York, and it was on NBC, Tim.
11:01
SPEAKER_00: Wow, NBC got baseball back.
11:03
SPEAKER_00: Lucky us.
11:04
SPEAKER_00: Of course, they showed the Sid Bream sliding in the home thing, because I guess I was on NBC.
11:10
SPEAKER_00: Um uh so the Pirates go on to lose to the Mets 11-7, and the bad news is Skeens, Paul Skeens, the Pirates' ace only goes one inning and gives up like five runs.
11:20
SPEAKER_00: And when I saw that, I thought, oh, this is terrible.
11:23
SPEAKER_00: Boy, he must have really stunk.
11:24
SPEAKER_00: And so I had recorded the game and I went back and I watched it, and it wasn't as bad as it looks on paper.
11:32
SPEAKER_00: He wasn't like super sharp or dominating, but the Mets fouled off a lot of pitches, and really the key that allowed those five runs was a combination.
11:41
SPEAKER_00: Paul walked a couple people, which hurt him, but that one batter for the Mets had like a 12-pitched bat versus him, so and to um more importantly, O'Neal Cruz misplayed two fly balls.
11:56
SPEAKER_00: One that was an easy pop-up, oh, was in the sun.
11:59
SPEAKER_00: Okay, yeah, you're a major league outfielder, make the catch.
12:02
SPEAKER_00: The other one was more difficult, but he made the mistake of the ball was hit right at him and he took the step in instead of taking a step back.
12:10
SPEAKER_00: And this is like, you know, people, oh, it's only one game out of 162.
12:13
SPEAKER_00: And I'll give you that for the team as a general, but I think the thing that concerns me, and I think O'Neill Cruz is a bust.
12:23
SPEAKER_00: I I just I just don't see it.
12:25
SPEAKER_00: I just don't see it with him.
12:27
SPEAKER_00: He did get on base once, but he struck out a couple times, and just the way he plays center field, they maybe they can DH him, maybe they can hide him in right field.
12:36
SPEAKER_00: I I don't know.
12:36
SPEAKER_00: I think they got a place find a place to hide him because he's such a defensive liability, and but they need his bat.
12:44
SPEAKER_00: So um Brandon Lowe, the new um second baseman, hit two home runs in his first two Pirates of bats.
12:50
SPEAKER_00: So that's a bright spot.
12:52
SPEAKER_00: So that looks like they'll probably be better like that.
12:54
SPEAKER_00: Um thoughts on the Pirates' loss?
12:58
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so we're we're recording this with only one game into the season, and that was like you said, not at least they scored runs because that's something they couldn't do last year.
13:06
SPEAKER_01: But skiing's getting rocked.
13:08
SPEAKER_01: And Skeens will be better than that.
13:09
SPEAKER_01: Like that's not going to be the the whole thing.
13:11
SPEAKER_00: I don't think the world he pitched in the world baseball classic and was his dominant self.
13:16
SPEAKER_00: And they were saying, well, maybe you know, he was kind of still early on in the season.
13:20
SPEAKER_00: Normally the pitching is still kind of feeling itself out.
13:23
SPEAKER_01: It's one game.
13:24
SPEAKER_01: But but what in terms of like their prospects for the season, Steve, what do you what do you what do you think the ceiling is for?
13:30
SPEAKER_00: I think they I think they win like they're around 500.
13:34
SPEAKER_00: They are they're one game over, one game under, and that's probably gonna not get them into the playoffs.
13:39
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
13:39
SPEAKER_00: We'll we'll we'll see how the red I mean I I th I I agree.
13:43
SPEAKER_01: I think they'll be like right on I think they'll be like the Penguins.
13:46
SPEAKER_01: Where like like at late in the season, they'll still be in contention and maybe they're like right in in the mix or like right outside of the mix.
13:57
SPEAKER_01: But though I think I think that they could because I think the Reds got into the playoffs with I want to say like 84, 85 wins last year.
14:04
SPEAKER_01: And the Pirates had, I think, 72 wins.
14:07
SPEAKER_01: So I mean it's not inconsistent.
14:10
SPEAKER_00: If they go to 82, 83 wins, that's not yeah.
14:13
SPEAKER_01: Well, well, and and you know, like you said, like adding like the the like O'Hearn and Lowe and and the DH guy that they added, you know, they added like three significant upgrades to the to the to the batting lineup.
14:27
SPEAKER_01: You know, if they have a good pitching rotation, Jones will hopefully come back at some point this year.
14:33
SPEAKER_01: Who knows what happens with Griffin?
14:35
SPEAKER_01: I know they they sent him down, which is fine.
14:38
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of like if this goes this way or if this goes the right way or if this goes the right way, I think that they could legit be in the playoffs.
14:46
SPEAKER_00: I really think that they have Well the Reds, like you said, the Reds made it last year, so then again, maybe the Reds are better this year, too.
14:53
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
14:53
SPEAKER_01: I mean, there's that.
14:54
SPEAKER_00: But I just I just think that they're this just I think the Cardinals are gonna stink though, which is weird.
14:59
SPEAKER_01: It is weird.
15:00
SPEAKER_00: And the Brewers lost a bunch of people too, like to the Mets.
15:03
SPEAKER_00: Like I noticed that.
15:04
SPEAKER_00: Like a lot of Brewer players are playing.
15:06
SPEAKER_00: So maybe the Brewers won't be as good.
15:08
SPEAKER_01: So maybe there's an opening for sure.
15:10
SPEAKER_01: And the and the Pirates, to their credit, I I rarely, rarely ever give the Pirates credit.
15:15
SPEAKER_01: They made some good off-season moves, they spent some money, a little bit of money.
15:19
SPEAKER_00: For them, that's well, a hundred million.
15:21
SPEAKER_00: That's the f they said it's the highest ever in franchise history, but how much are the you know, how many billions are the Dodgers spending?
15:28
SPEAKER_01: So sure, sure.
15:30
SPEAKER_01: But again, for them But that's baseball.
15:32
SPEAKER_01: Yes, for them it's it's it's progress.
15:35
SPEAKER_01: And I think again, if if the pitching is as strong as it was last year, especially Skeens, obviously, then they can get in.
15:43
SPEAKER_01: And then if you get into the playoffs with a guy like Paul Skeens.
15:46
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and like a one-game how many times have we were talking about that that you know, players that kill Pittsburgh podcast, you know, you get a Madison Bubgardner in the playoffs, or Jake Arrietta, yeah.
15:58
SPEAKER_01: Or or going back to the 90s, Tom Glavin and John Smoltz and Jose Rio, like there were so many pitchers that just knocked us out of the playoffs for years and years and years.
16:10
SPEAKER_01: And if you get into a six or you know a five-game or seven-game series and Skeens is pitching, you know, three of those games, that's that's a pretty good chance to win.
16:19
SPEAKER_01: So, so I don't know.
16:20
SPEAKER_01: We'll see.
16:21
SPEAKER_01: Again, we'll you're right, we'll see what happens.
16:22
SPEAKER_01: But I'm actually optimistic, and I'm sure I'll get let down because pirates.
16:28
SPEAKER_00: Well, shifting to politics.
16:30
SPEAKER_00: We don't talk the very much at all, if ever, politics on this podcast, which I think is a reason if you're listening, you're probably listening to it.
16:38
SPEAKER_00: So don't hold this against us, the next part, because all the political opinions that are wrong are Tim's, and all the political opinions that are correct are mine.
16:47
SPEAKER_01: I don't even know if this is really politics.
16:49
SPEAKER_01: This is really just well, go ahead.
16:51
SPEAKER_01: You talk about it.
16:52
SPEAKER_00: All right, so if you haven't heard um the Rudy rule is being challenged by the Florida AG, which Florida has become kind of a bastion of I don't know what the I don't even know what to call it.
17:04
SPEAKER_01: I I I just think that I just think the AG in Florida Just grandstanding.
17:08
SPEAKER_00: It's grandstanding.
17:09
SPEAKER_00: It's absolutely because he wants to overturn the Rooney rule.
17:13
SPEAKER_00: And if you aren't familiar with the Rooney rule, is it requires, doesn't you don't have to hire them, but you have to at least interview one minority candidate.
17:21
SPEAKER_00: And you know, you could say, you know, that there's been some guys have been hired because of that.
17:27
SPEAKER_00: I mean, was Mike Tomlin a strictly, you know, DEI hire?
17:31
SPEAKER_00: I don't think so.
17:32
SPEAKER_00: I think they follow the rule and they are so impressed.
17:35
SPEAKER_00: That's what Dan Rooney said.
17:36
SPEAKER_00: He said, hey, sometimes you bring a guy in, they really impress you, and maybe you wouldn't have interviewed him in the past.
17:41
SPEAKER_00: I think this rule's a reaction to Tony Dungey never even getting a sniff of a coaching jog back in the 80s and 90s.
17:50
SPEAKER_00: So I mean, they're looking to overturn the Rooney rule.
17:53
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I could see the other side of it too, is like when people say, Well, there aren't enough minority coaches in the NFL.
18:00
SPEAKER_00: Well, what's the number of minority coaches does it take getting hired till you're not racist?
18:06
SPEAKER_00: So I it's it's not a good great rule, is where the fact now you just have teams interviewing guys just to check a box, like they're not really serious about you know these people.
18:19
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, the the Florida AG, that's that's a lot of grandstanding that he's doing this just to like make headlines, but it doesn't mean that the that he's necessarily wrong.
18:32
SPEAKER_01: The role, like you said, Steve, it was well intentioned.
18:35
SPEAKER_01: It was probably needed at some point because, like you said, Tony Dungey, that was a great example.
18:40
SPEAKER_01: But what happens when you implement a role like that is that then people just follow the role.
18:47
SPEAKER_01: Okay, you say I have to interview this one person.
18:49
SPEAKER_01: Check, I did it.
18:50
SPEAKER_01: Now I'm gonna hire the person I really wanted.
18:53
SPEAKER_01: So it it it now could it work?
18:55
SPEAKER_01: Could it, like you said, like in like the Mike Tomlin, like, oh, we would have never even interviewed him, and then when we did, we were very impressed.
19:02
SPEAKER_01: Maybe.
19:03
SPEAKER_01: Um, I think nowadays you you kind of know it's not like you know, oh, you never even knew that this person existed.
19:10
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, maybe it's even when was Mike Tomlin hired, like 2009, 2007.
19:16
SPEAKER_00: So there wasn't maybe the social media or I don't know.
19:19
SPEAKER_00: You would think in the NFL everybody knows everybody.
19:21
SPEAKER_00: There's only 32 teams or yeah, yeah.
19:24
SPEAKER_01: I I I I just I I I get it.
19:26
SPEAKER_01: I get it, it was well intentioned.
19:28
SPEAKER_01: I think it's fair to ask, is it really doing the what you were intending it to do at this point?
19:34
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I the problem is is like you get Lovey Smith being interviewed over and over again for no reason, or Terry Rabitsky was another favorite.
19:41
SPEAKER_00: Like, let's just keep interviewing him because you know we gotta check a box here.
19:45
SPEAKER_00: So Yes.
19:46
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
19:47
SPEAKER_02: So so I it it's a fair question.
19:49
SPEAKER_00: Which isn't fair to the team, which isn't fair to the person being interviewed, which you know, can we just interview people on merit?
19:56
SPEAKER_00: But we don't live in a perfect world.
19:58
SPEAKER_00: We and if you think the Rune world is gonna make things a perfect world that you're just you know mistaken.
20:06
SPEAKER_00: You're you're living in a fantasy world.
20:08
SPEAKER_00: It's never gonna be perfect.
20:09
SPEAKER_00: People are gonna make decisions for reasons that you don't agree with.
20:13
SPEAKER_00: Hey, you can always stop watching football and watch politics, I guess.
20:18
SPEAKER_01: And and the problem is you can't and you're right, Steve, you can't change human nature.
20:22
SPEAKER_01: If if an NFL owner and I don't think any NFL owners are like this, but they could be.
20:27
SPEAKER_01: If an out NFL an NFL owner was just at his core, a complete racist, and just I I don't want anybody leading my team that's not you know white, then they they could still do it.
20:40
SPEAKER_01: Like no one's gonna stop them from being like, oh, I you know I interviewed Lovey Smith, but yeah, he just wasn't the best candidate.
20:46
SPEAKER_01: Oh well.
20:47
SPEAKER_01: Right.
20:48
SPEAKER_01: I I you you can't you can't stop human nature.
20:51
SPEAKER_01: I think that these things like this are are nice attempts to try to make progress where they saw a lack of progress.
20:59
SPEAKER_01: I get it.
21:00
SPEAKER_01: I I think it doesn't.
21:02
SPEAKER_01: I really doubt that it's doing what you intended it to do at this point.
21:07
SPEAKER_00: Fair enough.
21:08
SPEAKER_00: Well said, Tim.
21:09
SPEAKER_00: Well, that's it for the uh this edition of Crossfire or the I don't know.
21:15
SPEAKER_00: Nice nice current reference.
21:18
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, from like 30 years ago.
21:20
SPEAKER_00: This edition.
21:21
SPEAKER_00: I can't think of it.
21:22
SPEAKER_00: I don't even know.
21:22
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to.
21:23
SPEAKER_00: There isn't even any of those shows anymore.
21:25
SPEAKER_00: Like what a review.
21:26
SPEAKER_00: I mean five.
21:29
SPEAKER_00: I guess there's the five on Fox News.
21:31
SPEAKER_00: That's the closest.
21:32
SPEAKER_01: There's I see I always see people posting clips of like people screaming at each other on CNN or Fox News or whatever.
21:38
SPEAKER_00: I I guess they still have those roundtable shows, but they just I can't stand.
21:44
SPEAKER_01: I I stay away from all that stuff, Steve.
21:46
SPEAKER_00: It it it it's everybody's gonna say, okay, this person's gonna be for this person, this person's gonna be against this person.
21:52
SPEAKER_00: Right.
21:53
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter if this person cured cancer, if that same person cured cancer, or if that same person like just did you know killed 50 people, right?
22:02
SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, this person's gonna be for it, this person's gonna be against it, and that's disingenuous.
22:07
SPEAKER_01: And that's and that's why we like sports because it's an escape from that kind of garbage.
22:12
SPEAKER_00: Well, we all know Tom Brady's really evil.
22:17
SPEAKER_01: We can all agree on that.
22:18
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
22:20
SPEAKER_00: Or the Cleveland Browns should never win a Super Bowl, and that's just that's just the fact.
22:24
SPEAKER_01: Or the New York Jets are a complete joke.
22:28
SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you for tuning in for our current events.
22:31
SPEAKER_00: Uh, leave us a comment on Facebook, uh, tell us how we're all wrong and you're all right, and whatever else, and uh, we'll catch you next time.