Latest / The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views / Grading The FIVE Philly Sports Teams (PST Episode 627)

Transcript

Grading The FIVE Philly Sports Teams (PST Episode 627) · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

0:42
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show, the longest
0:45
Speaker 1: running weekly Philly sports podcast show in the world, twelve
0:49
Speaker 1: years strong, and we have an abbreviated show for you
0:52
Speaker 1: this week. We have some vacations, we have some illnesses
0:55
Speaker 1: here at the PST podcast show this week, but we
0:58
Speaker 1: do have a great discussion with one of our friends
1:01
Speaker 1: as we dissect, analyze, and grade all five major Philly
1:06
Speaker 1: sports teams this week. We hope you enjoyed the discussion.
1:09
Speaker 1: Hopefully we're going to be back next week with a
1:13
Speaker 1: full slate of an agenda for our main show, but
1:16
Speaker 1: in the meantime, enjoy this discussion right now with our
1:19
Speaker 1: awesome guest. And with that being said, I know we're
1:24
Speaker 1: gonna have to take a break, like right off the
1:25
Speaker 1: bat right here. We gotta do it. We gotta do it.
1:27
Speaker 1: But when we get back, I'm gonna have my friend
1:30
Speaker 1: coming on and joining us here stick with us.
1:35
Speaker 2: And now on the table.
1:39
Speaker 1: And joining us from Fox Sports. Phillies the Gambler love
1:44
Speaker 1: having him on to talk Philly sports. We have the
1:47
Speaker 1: one and only John Jansen. How you doing, Buddy, I'm
1:50
Speaker 1: doing good.
1:51
Speaker 2: I'm doing good. Phillies making moves. So the Phillies giving
1:56
Speaker 2: up runs. But one of good things training cap It's
1:59
Speaker 2: the most exciting time of the year. And I'm a
2:01
Speaker 2: wrestling fan too, So Summer Slim this weekend. I'm excited
2:04
Speaker 2: about two nights of good wrestling. So yeah, really good,
2:07
Speaker 2: exciting time of the year for sports where there's a
2:09
Speaker 2: lot of hope, optimism and of the such.
2:13
Speaker 1: Absolutely you are a young pup my friend talking about
2:16
Speaker 1: Summer Slam. I was at Summer Slam nineteen ninety the
2:20
Speaker 1: major ben steel cage match between the Warrior and Ravishing
2:24
Speaker 1: Rick Rude. I was third row. If you watch that,
2:30
Speaker 1: if you like go to Peacock and you put that
2:32
Speaker 1: on right at the beginning, there's power and glory against
2:36
Speaker 1: the Rockers. Sean Michael had a knee injury, so like
2:38
Speaker 1: they you know, they made it seem as though, you know,
2:41
Speaker 1: Hercules chain was going right into his knee, wasn't able
2:43
Speaker 1: to get into the ring. But you'll see something, yeah classic,
2:46
Speaker 1: but you'll see where I'm going with this. You'll see
2:48
Speaker 1: some dopey kid with a Rockers homemade poster that he
2:53
Speaker 1: was right up above his head. I was like, wow,
2:56
Speaker 1: it was I twelve years old at the time.
2:58
Speaker 2: Or No.
2:59
Speaker 1: Just turned thirteen years old at the time, So that's me.
3:03
Speaker 1: Folks summer.
3:05
Speaker 2: How devastated were you in the rockers.
3:07
Speaker 1: H I was not happy about it, John, I was
3:10
Speaker 1: not happy about it at all. And then the following
3:14
Speaker 1: pay per view, Bless my Dad's Soul took me up
3:16
Speaker 1: to Hartford, Connecticut.
3:18
Speaker 2: Hartford, did you go to the Excel Center? It was
3:21
Speaker 2: that's what it's called now, but I.
3:22
Speaker 1: Think I think it was the Yes, I think that's
3:24
Speaker 1: what that's what it is now, But it was the
3:26
Speaker 1: Hartford Civic Center at the time, and it's where the
3:29
Speaker 1: Undertaker was great unveiled.
3:31
Speaker 2: I have a great Hartford story because I got I
3:34
Speaker 2: was I did easy women's basketball, I covered the play
3:36
Speaker 2: by play, Yeah, and I got stuck in Hertford, Connecticut.
3:39
Speaker 2: It's the only time w w E rawl has ever
3:41
Speaker 2: been canceled. We didn't do a show because there was
3:44
Speaker 2: two feet of snow, and so I was stuck in
3:45
Speaker 2: the hotel next to the arena. All the w WE
3:49
Speaker 2: wrestlers and of course the ukon a EC women's basketball team.
3:53
Speaker 2: It was wild awesome.
3:55
Speaker 1: That is awesome. That is awesome. Yet having the opportunity
3:58
Speaker 1: to see the debut of the Undertaker in the WWF
4:01
Speaker 1: at the time. I mean he was on the million
4:03
Speaker 1: Dollar Team. It was a surprise partner in that Survivor series.
4:07
Speaker 1: And he goes to give you the Undertaker. The Undertaker
4:10
Speaker 1: comes out with his first manager. It wasn't Paul Bhre,
4:13
Speaker 1: it was brother Love. I cannot believe we are talking
4:16
Speaker 1: about this right now as we need to get into
4:18
Speaker 1: the world of Philly sports here, dear Heavens. A trip
4:21
Speaker 1: down memory lane for sure.
4:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, don't get me started with the wrestling. Wrestling, I
4:26
Speaker 2: can go too deep.
4:27
Speaker 1: Yes right, well, hey John again, appreciate you coming on.
4:31
Speaker 1: It's great to see you, great to talk to you.
4:33
Speaker 1: We want to grade where our Philly sports teams are
4:36
Speaker 1: at within this discussion right here, my friend. Let's start
4:40
Speaker 1: off with a team that I think could be the
4:41
Speaker 1: easiest I think to grade, and that would be the
4:43
Speaker 1: Philadelphia Eagles. They are the Super Bowl champions. They had
4:47
Speaker 1: a real nice draft, and when we look into the future,
4:50
Speaker 1: whether it's a certain offensive and defensive positions, as well
4:54
Speaker 1: as what future draft picks are slated to potentially do
4:58
Speaker 1: in the potential they have there, future looks pretty bright.
5:01
Speaker 1: I think for the Philadelphia Eagles. I'm wondering what you
5:04
Speaker 1: give them in terms of their grade. What would you
5:06
Speaker 1: give this team an organization and why?
5:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, obviously it's an A plus. Obviously we go tiers,
5:13
Speaker 2: it's s tier, it's God tier. Yes, And it's not
5:16
Speaker 2: just coming off of the super Bowl. It's what do
5:18
Speaker 2: you do after that? What does your team look like
5:20
Speaker 2: after that? How are you able to try and repeat
5:22
Speaker 2: the success that you had, especially when they lose a
5:24
Speaker 2: lot of pieces. But that's where the great comes in,
5:26
Speaker 2: like A plus amazing organization because even though they lose pieces,
5:30
Speaker 2: there is either somebody waiting in the wings, like an
5:32
Speaker 2: anticipation of we know this player is leaving. We know
5:35
Speaker 2: how to keep a roster healthy. So when somebody does leave,
5:37
Speaker 2: we have somebody behind him that we have developed, we
5:40
Speaker 2: feel confident in the talent and can can step up
5:42
Speaker 2: and be a significant player. And I think right now
5:45
Speaker 2: we're kind of seeing that a really good example of
5:47
Speaker 2: that with Marrow Ozemo, who has looked incredible during camp.
5:51
Speaker 2: I know Zach Berman has talked about a lot that
5:52
Speaker 2: Ojamo has looked like one of the standouts of training camp,
5:56
Speaker 2: and that's an amazing thing that Milton Williams, who looks
5:59
Speaker 2: like he could end up being like an incredible NFL player,
6:02
Speaker 2: has developed really well stepped up now. Ojemo comes in
6:05
Speaker 2: the same way Williams came in a couple of years ago.
6:08
Speaker 2: So it's just that healthy turnover that the Eagles are
6:11
Speaker 2: able to consistently get good free agent signings, even a
6:14
Speaker 2: bad one in bryceof still doesn't hurt all that much.
6:17
Speaker 2: They get good free agent signings, good contracts, healthy contracts
6:20
Speaker 2: with really good players that they still are getting paid,
6:23
Speaker 2: but they're doing it in a way where they're able
6:24
Speaker 2: to pay more players but also be able to continually
6:28
Speaker 2: rotate and cycle through different kind of developmental players and
6:31
Speaker 2: developing them enough that they become either Pro Bowl talents
6:34
Speaker 2: or significant contributors for a team. So, like that's a
6:37
Speaker 2: plus to me that they're able to do this, and
6:39
Speaker 2: that's a healthy organization. That's the healthiest football team, not
6:43
Speaker 2: just in terms of injury, but like healthy in terms
6:45
Speaker 2: of they are able to consistently put together a championship
6:49
Speaker 2: contending product and doing it through draft picks and all
6:52
Speaker 2: these other means. I don't know if there's any other
6:54
Speaker 2: football team or NFL team I have seen do that
6:57
Speaker 2: well in a very very long time.
7:00
Speaker 1: A plus for me as well from everything you just said, John,
7:03
Speaker 1: but the fact that you have the growth in Howie
7:06
Speaker 1: Roseman that we've seen over all of these years. The
7:10
Speaker 1: fact that, yes, well there's certainly ego within the realm
7:14
Speaker 1: of front offices in terms of you know, there's only
7:17
Speaker 1: thirty two of these positions in the world. But the
7:19
Speaker 1: fact that he's been able to learn and he's been
7:21
Speaker 1: able to develop plans of action and to be able
7:24
Speaker 1: to have that formula that you were just talking about
7:27
Speaker 1: and continue to implement a year after year, having an
7:30
Speaker 1: open mind about the talent that is coming in, how
7:32
Speaker 1: it can be developed by the coaches who he knows
7:35
Speaker 1: are solid in terms of what they are able to
7:37
Speaker 1: do with players. I mean, this is just it's an
7:40
Speaker 1: A plus organization from top to bottom here.
7:44
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it takes a lot of trust too, Like
7:46
Speaker 2: you have to trust one thing. They have to trust
7:47
Speaker 2: that the trust Ozamo to take that step up. I
7:50
Speaker 2: have to trust JALBX Hunt to take that step up.
7:52
Speaker 2: Jeremiah Trotter Junior in the absence of the Kobe Dean
7:55
Speaker 2: because of the injury. But they're bringing in Jahad Campbell.
7:58
Speaker 2: They have to trust Makouba, who's come in as a
8:00
Speaker 2: second round draft pick, or even Sidney Brown to step up,
8:03
Speaker 2: Cooper Rejen to take some reps, Dori Jackson or Keey
8:05
Speaker 2: Ringo to take the outside spot. It's all things that
8:09
Speaker 2: are good. But they really trust themselves, I think, with
8:12
Speaker 2: getting draft picks, especially in the middle to late rounds,
8:15
Speaker 2: developing and then using them as significant contributors in their
8:18
Speaker 2: third fourth years, like the last couple of years remaining
8:21
Speaker 2: of the rookie contract. Ye, it's a very good thing.
8:24
Speaker 1: Absolutely, all right. Well let's move on. Next up the
8:28
Speaker 1: Philadelphia Flyers. They have a new head coach and Rick Tockett.
8:32
Speaker 1: They made some moves this offseason to shore up some
8:34
Speaker 1: young talent, and they also had a pretty interesting draft
8:38
Speaker 1: as well. This is a team with the amazing and
8:41
Speaker 1: I say that we haven't even seen a fully developed
8:43
Speaker 1: yet Matt ve mitchkov. I love what he was able
8:47
Speaker 1: to do on the ice. He was so fun to
8:49
Speaker 1: watch this past season, and he's only going to get better.
8:52
Speaker 1: You know, he's looking to continue to develop more as
8:55
Speaker 1: this team in his organization, they want to become Stanley
8:57
Speaker 1: Cup contenders in the next few years. There's young talent,
9:00
Speaker 1: there is a core. What grade do you give this
9:03
Speaker 1: Flyers team an organization? And why?
9:07
Speaker 2: Yeah? I think this is one where we're gonna have
9:10
Speaker 2: to see towards the end of the season, like how
9:11
Speaker 2: much it all is going to pay off. But like
9:13
Speaker 2: so far BB plus in that they are taking steps.
9:16
Speaker 2: It seems like the necessary steps, the right steps. This
9:18
Speaker 2: isn't a stalled rebuild. This isn't a fast paced rebuild.
9:22
Speaker 2: This is we especially being able to trade up and
9:25
Speaker 2: get two first round draft picks in the draft, and
9:27
Speaker 2: seems like they get pretty talented players, but in one
9:30
Speaker 2: of them I know is off going to college. But still,
9:32
Speaker 2: like you have this influx of talent, you know that
9:35
Speaker 2: this rebuild isn't going to take too long. You're not
9:38
Speaker 2: stalling in it, You're not waiting for it to happen.
9:40
Speaker 2: This is something that is going to happen I think
9:42
Speaker 2: pretty naturally, and naturally sooner rather than later. So I
9:47
Speaker 2: think the rebuild is going in a very healthy way.
9:50
Speaker 2: They seem to also have the right coach in place.
9:53
Speaker 2: I'll give Brier and Jonesy credit. They have a vision
9:58
Speaker 2: I think of what this team will look like I
10:00
Speaker 2: guess at the end of the day, is it maybe
10:03
Speaker 2: the right way this team is being there, or the
10:05
Speaker 2: the vision works. I'm not sure because I still think
10:07
Speaker 2: there is some you know, still some flyer stuff there. Yeah,
10:12
Speaker 2: they do rest on like they're in an old school
10:14
Speaker 2: type organization, and I think they are changing, but there
10:17
Speaker 2: still is that part of them that they still can't
10:19
Speaker 2: let go of. So I'm not sure if that's going
10:22
Speaker 2: to hurt them more or not in the long run.
10:24
Speaker 2: But it does seem like they made a lot of
10:26
Speaker 2: necessary changes and they do have much more I think
10:32
Speaker 2: of a vision of where they want to take this.
10:34
Speaker 1: I'm at a B plus. I'm right around that area
10:36
Speaker 1: with you. Why because of that vision? How many years
10:39
Speaker 1: did we have to deal with Chuck Fletcher? You know,
10:41
Speaker 1: Danny Briere has been that breath of fresh air that
10:44
Speaker 1: US fans have wanted. The plan of action is here now.
10:48
Speaker 1: Is he gonna hit on every single move? No, but
10:50
Speaker 1: thus far, I think a productive And you go back
10:54
Speaker 1: to that word trust you were talking about with the
10:56
Speaker 1: Eagles players. You know, I think the players are going
10:59
Speaker 1: to end up trust and have been trusting Danny Brierre's
11:02
Speaker 1: vision for where he wants to take this team and
11:05
Speaker 1: this and the players. Understanding the world of hockey, you
11:07
Speaker 1: know that things aren't going to be you know, reset
11:09
Speaker 1: in one year even two years. But that vision, in
11:12
Speaker 1: that plan is what we have been seeing from brier
11:15
Speaker 1: I give it a B plus for sure.
11:18
Speaker 2: Yeah again in order for it to get better, uh
11:21
Speaker 2: like a A plus. You know, some of these movies
11:23
Speaker 2: are gonna have to work, And I think that's where
11:25
Speaker 2: you give Howie Roseman, like I guess we are giving
11:28
Speaker 2: Howry Rosemand kind of the benefit of the doubt, thinking
11:30
Speaker 2: like Ojamo is gonna make movie with Jalen, Yeah, so
11:32
Speaker 2: we can give them the benefit of the doubt because
11:34
Speaker 2: everything is worked. The flyers that were still remain to
11:37
Speaker 2: be seen. But I think for the most part, it
11:39
Speaker 2: seems logical and reasonable what Brierre is doing. So with
11:43
Speaker 2: a guy like that who doesn't have a lot of
11:45
Speaker 2: GM experience, who hasn't run a team, you're kind of
11:48
Speaker 2: concerned with does he go too far into moves? Is
11:50
Speaker 2: it like things just looking consistent or maybe giving up
11:54
Speaker 2: too much for things at times? But I think in
11:57
Speaker 2: consistency would be the big part of an inexperienced GM.
11:59
Speaker 2: So far, it seems reasonable the things he's done, and
12:03
Speaker 2: that logic I think has put them in a good
12:04
Speaker 2: enough place that I think they can compete somewhat. But
12:08
Speaker 2: at least it's you can see that there is a
12:10
Speaker 2: clear path to being able to compete more within the
12:12
Speaker 2: next year, two three years.
12:14
Speaker 1: All right, Next up here, John, let's get into the
12:17
Speaker 1: Philadelphia seventy six ers. Here, they drafted VJ edgecom. They
12:22
Speaker 1: have Tyres Maxi as the leader of the future on
12:26
Speaker 1: this team here, Yet we still have that trepidation about
12:29
Speaker 1: Joel Embiid, Paul George and where they're at in their
12:33
Speaker 1: careers from a health standpoint. I mean, we know the storylines.
12:36
Speaker 1: It seems a year after year, month after month, week
12:39
Speaker 1: after week. Here at the end of July as we're
12:42
Speaker 1: recording this heading into August, you know what is Joel
12:45
Speaker 1: Embiid's health going to be? And even Paul George as well.
12:48
Speaker 1: Daryl Morey, I mean, honestly, he really stepped in shit
12:51
Speaker 1: when he when he got the number three overall draft
12:55
Speaker 1: pick this year at the draft lottery. I'm wondering what
12:59
Speaker 1: your grade is going to be for this team and
13:01
Speaker 1: this organization. Mine might be a little bit shocking for
13:05
Speaker 1: you when I give it, But I'm wondering what is
13:07
Speaker 1: yours based on where the seventy six ers are right now,
13:11
Speaker 1: what this offseason has meant for the future.
13:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the off season was solid. You get VJ. Edgecombe,
13:19
Speaker 2: which seems like from what I've seen, the shot is
13:22
Speaker 2: going to be pretty good enough. The shots could like
13:24
Speaker 2: he can end up being a really good two way player. Yeah,
13:26
Speaker 2: a really good wing player, good wing defender with some size,
13:30
Speaker 2: a little bit smaller like he tends to be more
13:32
Speaker 2: of a guard, but still like he's a good enough
13:34
Speaker 2: athlete that he should be able to guard most wings
13:37
Speaker 2: and he can maybe be a bit of a three
13:39
Speaker 2: and D for them, which is what they need. The
13:42
Speaker 2: biggest problem, though, is you have this ESPN story come out,
13:45
Speaker 2: this feature, which is really well done by ESPN. I
13:47
Speaker 2: forget the writer's name, but he did a great job
13:50
Speaker 2: of talking with him being a really profiling where he
13:52
Speaker 2: is at in his career and all the things that
13:53
Speaker 2: have happened to lead up to where he's at, and
13:56
Speaker 2: the one thing that really took note of it takes
13:59
Speaker 2: him so long, and it is a long, hard process
14:03
Speaker 2: to get him ready to play basketball. Yeah, Like it
14:06
Speaker 2: is really extremely There is a trainer that has to
14:08
Speaker 2: be there almost twenty four to seven to make sure
14:11
Speaker 2: this guy can go out on the floor and be effective.
14:14
Speaker 2: That is only going to get harder. It's going to
14:16
Speaker 2: get more difficult, and there's going to be times where
14:18
Speaker 2: it's just nothing is going to work. So that's where
14:22
Speaker 2: I go maybe a CC plus, like I at least
14:25
Speaker 2: see the right pieces around himbid. But the whole problem
14:28
Speaker 2: is your franchise player, the guy that's going to make
14:30
Speaker 2: the whole thing work, the guy that will win you
14:32
Speaker 2: a championship if you ever do. I just don't know
14:35
Speaker 2: if he's going to physically ever be able to do it,
14:39
Speaker 2: just because this body seems like it's already breaking down.
14:42
Speaker 2: It's already hard enough task to get him to play
14:44
Speaker 2: in the first place. Yeah, and the older he gets,
14:46
Speaker 2: the harder of it.
14:47
Speaker 1: I gotta tell. I gotta tell folks out there too.
14:49
Speaker 1: We are going to be doing an entire podcast dedicated
14:52
Speaker 1: to the process at some point with my co host
14:55
Speaker 1: Eric and Lenn. We are going to be doing that.
14:57
Speaker 1: It is going to be very detailed. We're hoping to
14:59
Speaker 1: do that with in the next few months. Here when
15:01
Speaker 1: everybody's schedules can sync up. I'm actually gonna go with
15:05
Speaker 1: a grade of a B. And the reason why is
15:09
Speaker 1: one because of the draft. Because, like you said, John,
15:12
Speaker 1: I think it was a very productive off season for
15:16
Speaker 1: where this team was what they needed this season. You know,
15:20
Speaker 1: you talk about VJ. Edgecomb, you talk about you know,
15:22
Speaker 1: even what we saw with adem Bona. I mean there
15:26
Speaker 1: is some talent there. How much is he going to
15:28
Speaker 1: be coming off the bench. We're not one hundred percent sure.
15:31
Speaker 1: Yet where I'm going with this is there have been
15:35
Speaker 1: a number of failures over the years with this Sixers organization,
15:39
Speaker 1: a number of draft picks that have not stuck, a
15:42
Speaker 1: number of just complete bombs and whiffs. Yet this team, Yes,
15:47
Speaker 1: this past season was horrendous by all accounts, but this team,
15:52
Speaker 1: I think, even coming into this season, still has the
15:55
Speaker 1: opportunity to be a playoff team. And I think because
15:59
Speaker 1: of that, even given Joel Embiid's health, given Paul George's
16:03
Speaker 1: health as well, I think the fact that they can
16:05
Speaker 1: still be viewed as a playoff team and who knows
16:08
Speaker 1: about getting out of that second round, I still think
16:11
Speaker 1: there's something to be said for that, even after all
16:14
Speaker 1: the whiffs after all the years, after all the players
16:17
Speaker 1: who've decided that basketball was not for them, whether it
16:19
Speaker 1: was Mark kel Foltz or Ben Simmons. And the fact
16:22
Speaker 1: that Joel Embiid still here after all these years, and
16:26
Speaker 1: yes he is not a healthy guy, and like you said,
16:28
Speaker 1: the fact that it takes him so long to get
16:31
Speaker 1: ready for the season. I think it's a bee, you know,
16:36
Speaker 1: for me at this point where this team is at
16:40
Speaker 1: and where they could be going in the future.
16:42
Speaker 2: Yeah, And that's where I don't disagree because that's where
16:45
Speaker 2: the compliction happens with me, because, like I get one
16:48
Speaker 2: of the big things with Daryl Morey coming into the season,
16:50
Speaker 2: I think one of the bigger problems has been just athleticism,
16:53
Speaker 2: younger athletic, and especially getting players that could play two ways.
16:57
Speaker 2: They don't have a lot of that. Like Maxie McCain
16:59
Speaker 2: are one way players the offense only Max. He's got
17:01
Speaker 2: a little bit better on defense. But you don't really
17:04
Speaker 2: have two way players, and so they're able to get
17:06
Speaker 2: this really athletic, like one of the most athletic players
17:09
Speaker 2: of the entire draft, who could jump out of the gym,
17:12
Speaker 2: who has this decent shot that you can really work
17:14
Speaker 2: with and so far it seems like they can develop
17:16
Speaker 2: shooters or have a good eye of finding good shooters
17:18
Speaker 2: after Maxie McCain. But then also like they do get
17:22
Speaker 2: a younger player, Like all of this is really great
17:24
Speaker 2: and you know, everything around the beat is good. It's
17:27
Speaker 2: it just sucks that the question is will the body
17:29
Speaker 2: ever cooperate? And that's like what the unfortunately with the
17:32
Speaker 2: bottom line is. But if you're taking Toto account, like
17:35
Speaker 2: what does the roster look like? And with everything that
17:37
Speaker 2: you had and the Sixers had, you know, how do
17:39
Speaker 2: they do this offseason? Like, yeah, I thought Darryl Moore
17:41
Speaker 2: did a great job and it's everything kind of the
17:43
Speaker 2: Sixers needed. Now it's just up to a thing that
17:47
Speaker 2: unfortunately just seems like it's never going to work out.
17:49
Speaker 2: And again that's the health of Joel and bid.
17:51
Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely, all right, Well let's move on here to
17:54
Speaker 1: a team that has sometimes forgotten about here in Philadelphia,
17:57
Speaker 1: and they shouldn't be the Philadelphia Union right now at
18:00
Speaker 1: this point in time of us recording this, they are
18:02
Speaker 1: a top of the Eastern Conference in Major League Soccer.
18:06
Speaker 1: Tyberibo is having an amazing season and he is really
18:10
Speaker 1: the engine of this team, a team that we all
18:11
Speaker 1: thought would be in the basement during this twenty twenty
18:14
Speaker 1: five season. If you go back in the podcast feed
18:16
Speaker 1: or if you're watching on YouTube our table talk interview
18:20
Speaker 1: show from this past week, we specifically got into the
18:22
Speaker 1: Philadelphia Union and look, while they desperately need to improve
18:26
Speaker 1: their goal scoring capabilities because Ty Berribo he can't do
18:30
Speaker 1: it all, they are still a title contender. Here absolutely
18:34
Speaker 1: surprised us. I am giving the Philadelphia Union a straight
18:38
Speaker 1: up A at this point right here, what grade would
18:41
Speaker 1: you give this team an organization? And why John So Yeah, and.
18:44
Speaker 2: A good thing with scoring two Mikail Hua just came
18:47
Speaker 2: back and gave him gave us some really good minutes,
18:49
Speaker 2: So that's a great thing. And he's a good goal scorer.
18:52
Speaker 2: That's one of the more difficult things to replace him
18:55
Speaker 2: because they never really had to begin with. And so
18:57
Speaker 2: when they had guys like Caranza and Gotz Daganua at
19:00
Speaker 2: their best really scoring a lot of goals. Once that
19:02
Speaker 2: went away, especially God's dag and Caronza when they both left,
19:06
Speaker 2: it wasn't really hard like where do they go? And
19:08
Speaker 2: Ty has been really great. Owa being back is a
19:11
Speaker 2: really good thing. Some of the guys again getting older,
19:14
Speaker 2: like Quinn Sullivan, giving him a lot of good, good
19:16
Speaker 2: playing time. I still think that with the Union and
19:19
Speaker 2: they they've done great. This could have been a worst
19:21
Speaker 2: grade because this was the biggest change the Union made
19:24
Speaker 2: really in a long time, because it seems like they
19:26
Speaker 2: had everything in place. Ernst and Jim Curtin seemed to
19:28
Speaker 2: work really well, but that working relationship expired and Ern's
19:32
Speaker 2: Tanner like made the move and it was a really
19:34
Speaker 2: shocking move. It was a really surprising move considering how
19:37
Speaker 2: good Jim Kurtin has been. But it seems like at
19:39
Speaker 2: this point it seemed like it was a necessary move
19:42
Speaker 2: and a good move, and so yes, I give Ernst
19:44
Speaker 2: Tanner credit for that. And it seems like now that
19:47
Speaker 2: things are some of the players are being utilized in
19:49
Speaker 2: the way that ERNs thought they were going to and
19:51
Speaker 2: they're performing a lot better. Tie wasn't with Jim Curtin,
19:54
Speaker 2: he is now. But the problem is and always going
19:57
Speaker 2: to be the problem with the Union. Their best chance
20:00
Speaker 2: was winning that Cup a few years ago, and really
20:03
Speaker 2: the big problem was they didn't have money coming up.
20:06
Speaker 1: They don't spend money, they don't spend money.
20:09
Speaker 2: So until they do like be b minus like great.
20:13
Speaker 2: We've seen the Union be able to do this, take
20:15
Speaker 2: players that are either younger home a lot of homegrown players,
20:19
Speaker 2: taking players internationally that are going to be a lot
20:21
Speaker 2: of money, but finding good fits and playing well. This
20:24
Speaker 2: has already happened before, so this is nothing new. What
20:28
Speaker 2: is going to happen and what happened last time is
20:31
Speaker 2: once you reach a certain point of the season, especially
20:34
Speaker 2: in the postseason, and you get into these games and
20:36
Speaker 2: you start narrowing down teams, some of these teams are
20:39
Speaker 2: going to have players that are making a lot more
20:41
Speaker 2: money and a lot more talented than the players you have,
20:44
Speaker 2: and sometimes that gap just is never going to be closed.
20:47
Speaker 2: They were so close to it, and the only reason
20:50
Speaker 2: that gap was even a little bit too wide for
20:52
Speaker 2: them not to win is because Gareth Bail. Gareth Bail
20:55
Speaker 2: came off the bench and won the game for him.
20:58
Speaker 2: So until that happens for the Union, and you know,
21:00
Speaker 2: I believe that they're good, and I believe that can
21:02
Speaker 2: maybe even win the Eastern Conference, but at a certain point,
21:05
Speaker 2: just the lack of spending on players, as I'm seeing
21:07
Speaker 2: the MLS spend more and more on international players and
21:10
Speaker 2: really top end players. I just don't know if the
21:13
Speaker 2: Union can compete once it gets to a certain point
21:15
Speaker 2: of the season.
21:16
Speaker 1: Yeah, you make some really good points there, I thinks,
21:19
Speaker 1: b Area, I actually think that's fair when you're looking
21:21
Speaker 1: at the overall picture of where this organization is at.
21:24
Speaker 1: What you just said, John really reflective of what we
21:26
Speaker 1: were talking about on the table Talk podcast this past week. So, Buddy,
21:30
Speaker 1: before I let you go first and foremost, why don't
21:32
Speaker 1: you get out all your social stuff where folks can
21:36
Speaker 1: find you online before we get into our final Philly
21:38
Speaker 1: sports team here, tell everybody where they can follow you
21:40
Speaker 1: out there.
21:41
Speaker 2: Yeah, really easy. I'll keep it short. Just to add
21:43
Speaker 2: J Jansen thirty four on Twitter going to be doing
21:46
Speaker 2: a lot more with college football. I'm a Heisman voter,
21:48
Speaker 2: so I'm nice is going to be doing a little
21:50
Speaker 2: bit more college football than I usually do. Just really
21:53
Speaker 2: leaning all into that. So yeah, just follow me at
21:55
Speaker 2: J Jansen thirty Awesome.
21:56
Speaker 1: All right. Finally, the Philadelphia Phillies. This team is an
22:00
Speaker 1: up and down throughout this season, and it as of
22:02
Speaker 1: us recording this their second in the NLE East. Despite
22:05
Speaker 1: a number of pitching challenges this year with Aaron Nola
22:08
Speaker 1: being injured for so long since May, Jose Alvarado being suspended.
22:14
Speaker 1: Just a couple hours before we are talking here and
22:19
Speaker 1: got together here, a trade was made. Amazingly enough, there's
22:24
Speaker 1: gonna be another bullpen arm here. John, my buddy Eric
22:27
Speaker 1: and I were talking about it as well before bringing
22:29
Speaker 1: you on board. But when folks listen to this, the
22:33
Speaker 1: trade deadline will have passed. So I just wanted to
22:35
Speaker 1: throw that out there when it comes to this Philadelphia
22:38
Speaker 1: Phillies team again, a team that's mostly been in first
22:41
Speaker 1: place in the NL East, but again those ups and downs,
22:45
Speaker 1: whether it's the bullpen runners in scoring position is still
22:49
Speaker 1: an issue with this team, some batting as well. What
22:52
Speaker 1: grade would you give this Philadelphia Phillies team this season
22:54
Speaker 1: and why.
22:56
Speaker 2: I would still So it's really tough because, like if
22:59
Speaker 2: you're just gonna great off the off season moves, the
23:01
Speaker 2: off season moves are terrible. Max Kefler joining Roman are
23:04
Speaker 2: really bad. It seems like they should have just signed
23:06
Speaker 2: Jeff Hoffman. They would have been okay, but they end
23:09
Speaker 2: up rectifying that and they do get a really great
23:11
Speaker 2: closer and Duran, so he comes in. They have one
23:14
Speaker 2: of the best closers in baseball now, one of the
23:16
Speaker 2: best relief pitchers. I don't know if they don't necessarily
23:18
Speaker 2: use him as but I just I can't an organization
23:24
Speaker 2: that's continually it's near the top of the National League,
23:27
Speaker 2: that's continually in contending conversations, like I get there are
23:32
Speaker 2: some things not to like about the Phillies. And I
23:34
Speaker 2: know when people are gonna hear probably the great I
23:35
Speaker 2: give it, I'm just gonna say it. I'm gonna give
23:37
Speaker 2: him an A And I know, yeah, I know people
23:41
Speaker 2: are gonna hear that in like question. But like all
23:43
Speaker 2: these flaws and Dave don Browskin do this and that.
23:46
Speaker 2: But this has been one of the best teams in
23:48
Speaker 2: baseball for three four straight years now. And I know
23:51
Speaker 2: we are in the end of July, beginning of August.
23:53
Speaker 2: It is the is the worst part of the season
23:55
Speaker 2: the gauge teams because there are trade deadlines happening, and
23:58
Speaker 2: a lot of trades happening, a lot of movie pieces
24:00
Speaker 2: like this is just about to get started. Like nothing
24:03
Speaker 2: is even heated up yet for these teams in terms
24:05
Speaker 2: of division races or anything in terms of competing for
24:09
Speaker 2: any Pennants, but they have they are in a position,
24:13
Speaker 2: and they have a roster that looks like Look, the
24:15
Speaker 2: Dodgers have problems. They have had lulls throughout the season
24:18
Speaker 2: and have had bad parts of this season. The Cubs
24:20
Speaker 2: have had bad parts of this season. There is no
24:22
Speaker 2: team in baseball, not even Detroit, who has looked like
24:24
Speaker 2: the best team in baseball. They've looked terrible as a late.
24:26
Speaker 2: There is no legitimately great, consistent team in Major League Baseball,
24:31
Speaker 2: and the Phillies are no different. So, like looking at
24:34
Speaker 2: the rest of the landscape, yet like they're they're competing,
24:37
Speaker 2: They're they're right there in it, and it's it's a
24:39
Speaker 2: roster that could absolutely contend for a National League yea
24:42
Speaker 2: for a World Series and not knowing how the trade
24:45
Speaker 2: deadline finishes, and just knowing what happened now, like they
24:48
Speaker 2: should have the pieces necessary to do it. So I
24:51
Speaker 2: just I don't know, Like, yeah, some of the moves
24:53
Speaker 2: aren't great, and sometimes there are things to be critical of,
24:56
Speaker 2: but I can't blame an organization that's continually near the
24:58
Speaker 2: top and one of the hardest sports to be consistent.
25:01
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, folks. If you don't agree with John and
25:05
Speaker 1: myself on it on our grade of an a for
25:08
Speaker 1: the Phillies Philadelphia Sports Table at gmail dot com. Shoot
25:11
Speaker 1: us off an email. We'd love to read it here
25:12
Speaker 1: on the show and respond to it. John Buddy, it
25:15
Speaker 1: was great talking to you. Thank you so much for
25:17
Speaker 1: taking the time. As always, always great conversations about our
25:21
Speaker 1: teams that were following here in the world of Philly sports.
25:23
Speaker 1: Come back join us down the road. I'd love to
25:25
Speaker 1: have you back on the show.
25:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would love to be back on maybe a
25:29
Speaker 2: full on wrestling Showooh.
25:31
Speaker 1: We could just go right through that late eighties, early nineties.
25:35
Speaker 1: I would love it, my friend, let's do it, and
25:38
Speaker 1: that's going to do it for us this week. Make
25:40
Speaker 1: sure to share the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show with
25:43
Speaker 1: your friends and family members who may be Philly sports fans.
25:46
Speaker 1: You can always head on over to Philadelphia Sports Table
25:48
Speaker 1: dot com to access all of our podcasts or any
25:51
Speaker 1: major podcast platform on your device. We appreciate our guests
25:55
Speaker 1: taking the time to join us every week to help
25:58
Speaker 1: make this podcast happen and to give us great content,
26:01
Speaker 1: and ultimately we appreciate you. Take care and have a
26:04
Speaker 1: great week, and we'll catch you next time