[MUSIC PLAYING] Fan Morning Show, 4759 of the fan man on his prank gunning. We're one of the NFL season now in the books. I think there's two things that we can say definitively. We're on one game. I think I have one more that you're not thinking of. I'll just say mine first. OK. The football's so good, thank god you're back. Sorry, let me just hit that hat again. Goes without-- No. False, because I said it 8,000 times yesterday. I was just so giddy. I think it's still the favorite in both the AFC and the NFC to see a Super Bowl rematch. Like both the Chiefs and the Niners look really, really good. It's betting odds, 1,000. Yeah, who wouldn't bet on a Super Bowl rematch? And I think we can definitively say two teams are horrible. I think the Giants are horrible. And I think pretty clearly the Panthers are horrible. Like maybe the Raiders are bad, and maybe the Broncos are bad, and maybe the commanders are bad. But I think there's only two definitive. They're bad, and it's the Giants, and it's the Panthers. There will be more teams that are fighting to prove. Hey, hey, we stink just as much. They got to go out there and unearn it, earn it. I don't know what the right term is. But they got to go out there and show something to prove that you are as listless and directionless as either of those franchises. Yeah, some of the teams that we think are bad, and maybe are 0 and 1, are actually going to end up being pretty good, like maybe even playoff teams. But there will be somebody in that mix that is, I guess, in the mix to be one of the worst teams in the NFL. Like maybe, God, maybe it's the Browns. Titans? Titans are in the mix too. Will Levis. Yeah, God, and dropping too. That is truly the funniest thing I've seen in the NFL in a long time. Mike Tomlin used to have made me laugh a lot. He had this propensity for talking about getting out of the stadium as though someone was going to keep him there against his will. That is no longer the funniest thing in the NFL. Will Levis dropping to his knees? I imagine going, no! Oh, 100%. There's a no. That's coming out as well. This one looks like Andy in Shawshack. Andy defraying famously killed his wife. He looks like him in the rain after, like, ah! Except that was like freedom as opposed to pain. Although maybe Will Levis felt free at that moment. It's like, I can do no worse! Of the rookie quarterbacks, only Caleb Williams picked up a win. No, what a great... God bawled out. They were all bad. And right, like, everybody's sharing the stats for not only, like, some of the greatest quarterbacks in the NFL's first game, like, their first year, like, Peyton Manning through all the interceptions. God. He's awful, horrible. When Trey Wingo yesterday reminded me that we hadn't seen somebody win their first start as the number one pick since. Not Derek Carr, but his older brother, Gavid. Oh my God. That makes me feel a thousand years old. Yeah, you don't want your quarterback to be wearing gloves on his throwing hand. No offense to Teddy Bridgewater as well. A little bit of offense. Yeah. A little offense, like, I'll be honest. For me, you don't have to have some. I'm putting it on there, offense. Yeah. I mean, what are the odds that none of these rookie quarterbacks are good? Like, one, OK, we're not doing this, we'll react. I'm saying, yes, yes, yes. Like, is it pos... I said it's possible and likely that at least one is a complete bust and, like, out of the NFL in five years, but is it possible that they're all bad? We haven't seen Drake May, we haven't seen Michael Panex, we haven't seen JJ MacArthur, and we won't see JJ McCarthy. And maybe we'll see Michael Panex closer, sooner than we thought. Trending. Yeah, I mean, Kirk Cousins has all the money. So he's not just... Maybe he's going to be signing up to do season two a quarterback after that. He's like, I got some time with my hands. But is it possible that none of these guys are any good? There's so many of them. No, it... And honestly, it's not about the number of guys for me. Like, Bonix throwing in there, who, by the way, I'm not stunk as well. Like, it's not about the number of... It's not about the number of guys that stunk. It's about what I've been told about Caleb Williams. Like, I thought the Trevor Lawrence hype was unseemly of this guy's so good. And then I remember watching him like, look, he plays on one of these loaded college teams. I've seen this movie before. He looks very good, goes to the pros, we'll see what we have. The Caleb Williams hype was on a completely different level from even that. It wasn't, it was different than the Andrew Luck hype, but that's kind of the way I had to go back to how a guy's been anointed as not just the number one, not just that there's no debate about this, but that he will be a stud in this league. He's getting comp to Patrick Mahomes. And that's not like I were far removed from it. We watch Patrick Mahomes every Sunday do special things but then people are telling us Caleb Williams is supposed to be that. I just, I know people miss on these things. I refuse to believe everyone in football is not wrong. So that's the reason why it's honestly just comes down to, there's no way all the football people were wrong. There's no way. >> Somebody's going to be wrong. >> For sure. >> And it's going to be loud wrong. >> Loud. >> All right, time now for our insider brought to you by Don Valley, North Lexus, where you can expect excellence online and in the showroom, visit DonValleyNorthlexus.com. Talk to Mike Jones, national NFL writer at the Athletic. How's it going, Mike? >> How you guys doing this morning? >> Doing all right. So we just saw Aaron Rodgers complete a game, almost complete a game. I mean, he was removed because it was a blowout by the end of it for the Jets. First time is a Jets quarterback. It is all right. He had a couple of moments for sure. At what level do the Jets need him to be to compete for an AFC title? >> Well, if the defense is going to suck as it did last night, they're going to need him to play like out of his mind. That was the most concerning thing to me. I expected that we were going to see some flashes, but we were going to see some Russ from Aaron Rodgers and from that offense because, look, they've been practicing together, but they haven't had real game speed action. And he had four snaps in this whole operation last year. So I thought they were going to struggle. I really thought their defense was going to be better. I mean, the thing that's most ridiculous about this is Robert Salah coached against Kyle Shanahan during their days in Houston for like three, four years, and then in San Francisco for like another three years. He knows his offense. He knows their tendencies. They've talked about how it was a daily chess match and how it was difficult for either one of them to get an edge together. Well, he definitely did not look like a guy who had any idea of how to position his guys to stop that offense. They had a backed up running back and he was out there rushing for 140-something yards. So their defense didn't get pressure on the quarterback. They didn't get the stops. They couldn't force any turnovers. They lost the time of possession battle. Pretty handily. So that was the thing that was most concerning. And I don't know if you guys watch the Manning cast or not, but Peyton Manning was just beside himself like, this is not how you take care of a 40-year-old quarterback. (laughing) Which is hilarious, plus he was really true. He was accurate. So Rogers needs to go out there, take care of the football and make some big throws on third downs, but he really needs his defense to step up and to force and take away to get off the field. That way he doesn't have to feel like he's got to throw and score 40 points a game for them to have a chance to win. - Yeah, I was not certain of what we'd see from Rogers. And I'll be honest, like, especially if it's gonna look like that, I'm very curious about what the version of Aaron Rogers looks like come week 13, 14, 15. Games start getting colder. More of the turf games have kind of added up for him. I can see a world where it's a different version of him. What you got last night, I think certainly competent enough for sure. I want to flip to the other side of things. You know, we've had so many conversations about the 49ers and Brock Purdy specifically with. You got to give him his credit, he's doing it. But look, this is really a Shanahan creation. All the credits should go to Shanahan. And I want to be clear, I'm not saying this to diminish what Christian McCaffrey means. You don't find a touchdown for 13, 17 straight games, whatever it was because you're not talented. But how do you see the game from Mason last night and look at like the 49ers are just a plug and play machine? Does that make you feel any differently about McCaffrey? Does it make you just give more credit to Shanahan? 'Cause I think we spend so much time focusing on what Purdy is in that offense. But I mean, you see Mason come in and have the game he has last night. It makes me wonder kind of about everybody, honestly. - Yeah, well, I mean, I think it's a little bit of both, a little bit of all of that. Look, Purdy has got to make the decisions and deliver the ball one time and execute the offense with the right precision. And as we saw with Kyle Shanahan's teams in San Francisco, they had Jimmy Garoppolo who had some limitations, but they still made it to the Super Bowl. And even when Jimmy Garoppolo wasn't in there, his backups were decent, but Purdy, he's found a guy who's the perfect fit. Now, if you remember his dad's offenses in Denver, yes, they had Torel Davis, but there also were years where, look, you plug in a different running back and they're gonna get similar production. And when he was in Washington, I covered that team. Some of those teams, and there was a year they had a dude named Ryan Terrain, another guy named Roy Halloo. And I'm trying to remember who the third guy was. - Well, and Clinton has had about 15 names that season as well. I know not the point you're making. - Right, right, right. And there was another year where they had Larry Johnson and Willie Parker, you know. And for some reason, that Mike Shanahan was able to get a lot of production out of all those guys. But Christian McCaffrey gives you an added dimension. - So, yes, did Mason rush 140 yards? Yes, would Christian McCaffrey rush for that? Probably so, but what he brings you in the pass game and the way you're able to move them out and line them up with a receiver, line them up with the slot and all that stuff, that's the extra stuff that Christian McCaffrey gives you. Now, the good thing for Kyle Shanahan is there's gonna be times that we'll probably see both of those guys on the field at the same time once Christian McCaffrey is back. So it's a little bit of the creation of the offense and the system and also tip your hat to Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch for their ability to identify talent that fits perfectly with their system. Because we see a lot of teams who'll draft a guy that seems pretty good, they get them in their system and he just doesn't fit. So it's a little bit of everything as they have this recipe and they put it together and produce the success that they have. - Who's the bigger favorite to get to the Super Bowl? The Niners or the Chiefs? And the Chiefs seems like an obvious answer but the depth of field in the AFC seems way better than the depth of field in the NFC. - Yeah, I mean, I still think that, I mean, it was clear what we saw last Thursday night, the Chiefs are still the class of the AFC. They just continue to find guys and plug in, look, they got another dangerous weapon and Xavier Worthy, who they just drafted, looks like they hit on a guy with, you know, where she writes last year and, you know, their Pacheco running back, they just continue to evolve their team and the way that you need to, where other teams, it's a struggle. We have not seen Baltimore be able to hit on wide receivers that can consistently contribute. You know, they've got Derrick Henry here, but they had, you know, running back by committee, trying to get the job done in previous years. So the Chiefs are still a step ahead of everybody in the AFC. In the NFC, I do think the 49ers have a good chance. They just have to stay healthy because if you lose Trent Williams to an injury or say you lost McCaffrey, yeah, last night was fine, but once teams are able to start game-planning for the backups, then how do they do? You know, so I think they have a very good chance. They've got to stay healthy, but I think that the Eagles are going to be very tough. They've got to worry about them. We'll see what happens with Green Bay before Jordan loves injury. I thought they might be a team you have to worry about as well. Yeah, the Eagles in Green Bay, I mean, it's so funny. Of course, they play each other on their Friday night game in Brazil and just with it being, you know, weird travel, start of the season, neutral site. I think it's hard to not take anything out of it, but it's just hard to know exactly what to take. But I think those teams are kind of almost polar opposites of them. The Packers, I feel like I have a certainty of what they are. I have some questions about just how high-end of a team they can be. I'm certain they're pretty decent, especially if love is there. The Eagles feel like the exact opposite. It was like a magic eight ball to me watching that game. It's like, who knows what's going to happen? And apparently the answer is, Saequan Barkley got them back on track. Are you just a believer that the Eagles are back now because it's so hard to see a team fall off a cliff the way they did in the back half of the season last year. And then to think they're going to have just right of the ship and be back. How do you look at the Eagles? And is it as simple as Saequan fixed them? Well, okay, they didn't lose their horses last year. They still had A.G. Brown. They still had Davante Smith. They had Sweat who rushed for 1,000-something yards. The problem with them was they did not. Nick Siriani was not able to continue to evolve his offense. It was like the teams, their opponents figured out what they wanted to do. And they weren't able to stay a step ahead of them like they did in previous years. Brian Bantz and the offensive coordinator became the scapegoat. But, and so did Jalen Hurts, to a degree. But in reality, Nick Siriani knew that he did not have the answers. And that's why he went out and got Kellen Moore. So now they've got a talented offensive coordinator to go with Nick Siriani. He does have a good offensive mind, but just needed some more answers. And they add Saequan Barkley to go with the talented wide receivers that they already have. And they've got a good tie-down. So they have what they need. Now they have a little bit more of an evolution with their playbook. And so if they can get their defense, which has got a really good coordinator now, and Vick Sanjio, instead of a first year guy that they had last year, I think that they're back in the running where they need to be. Because, look, like I said, talent evaluation, talent, they didn't really lose a lot outside of like Jason Kelsey. Fletcher Cox retired. Both those guys were getting up there. They had young guys that they were grooming to take over whenever that happens. And so now they're ready. So I think that we might see the Eagles and make it actually Super Bowl. Who's more likely to move off their high, highly paid, big money quarterback first? The Browns with the Sean Watson or the Falcons with Kirk Cousins? Can I throw Daniel Jones in the mix as well, please? Well, then we know Daniel Jones, like, I mean, good Lord. You know, he signed that $140 million deal. And then he's done two touchdowns and eight interceptions and played in seven games. They really should have moved off of him this year. You know, the problem with the Sean Watson, who is just still a shell of themselves, but he's played in 12 games in the last three years combined, his dead cap number, if they were to cut him, his dead cap number for next year is like 118 million. And the number for the year after that is like 50 million. So you can't cut him and nobody is going to trade for him. So they're kind of stuck. I'm very curious to see what they wind up doing. They've got a hope that, okay, he knocks off the rust and he can finally put something together. But there's also pressure that you've got to win if you were Kevin Stafansky. And you've already shown that you can get Joe Flacko off the couch and make a playoff run. You got James Winston, who's got a big arm and can play well. Sometimes he keeps both teams in the games 'cause he throws the wrong guy sometimes. But he can get the job done better than what we're seeing to Sean Watson do. So I'm really curious how that's going to play out. Kirk Cousins, I think is going to be fine. He hadn't played last year. He only played half the season in Tori's Achilles. He's back, it's a new system. It's very familiar with what he knows. But it's a different system, different personnel. The offensive line did not play well. So I think that, look, these teams, because now nobody plays in much of the preseason, it'll take three or four weeks before teams start to hit their stride. So once we get to week four, we'll see how Kirk Cousins looks. I still think that Michael Pinnock's Jr. has a ways to go. We might see him in some packages here and there, but I don't think that they'll be panicking quickly and move off of Kirk Cousins sometime this season. - A lot of talk about rookie quarterbacks every year. I want to look at a couple of second year guys. We had a matchup that I think it's entirely possible at the hit tail end of the season. We're looking at for divisional tiebreakers between the Texans and Colts there. I mean, CJ Stroud answered a lot of questions in his first year. Anthony Richardson didn't really have the opportunity to do so just because of health. But I mean, the stat line wasn't overly impressive, but the eye test. I mean, he just popped there. What do you make of those two quarterbacks in the AFC South? And do you kind of expect them to be dueling for the next kind of half decade here at least? I know Trevor Lawrence is there, but it just seemed like the Jags have had so many kind of stops and starts along the way. - Yeah, well, I think with CJ Stroud, you're hoping that he can take another step forward. And the Texans were really smart because we've seen a lot of teams that'll be like, okay, we've got our quarterback. We're going to be fine now and they don't do anything. Jacksonville is a team like that. They got Trevor Lawrence. And then it was like, okay, what did you do to continue to build around him? And we have not seen Trevor Lawrence really find that consistent game changer level. He had a little bit of a hot streak. His first year with Doug Peterson two years ago. And then last year we saw a real regression. And this all season they lost Calvin Ridley and they didn't really go out and get him another number one wide receiver. I think they drafted one, but we'll see what he is able to do. Now, the Texans on the other hand, they said, okay, CJ Stroud, you're really good. You are our guy. We've got a lot of young talented wide receivers, but let's go out and get another veteran game changer and Stefan Diggs to go with you. And let's go get some talented guys to add veterans and free agency for our defense. So they're continuing to set the table around their young guys. So he's going to continue to grow. The pressure will be, yes, he's got expectations, but he has better talent around him while the young guys also develop with him. So I think that we'll continue to see him to ascend. Anthony Richardson is going to be really interesting because he played four games last year and then he had the shoulder surgery. So he's got some rust to knock off. But that Sunday, this past Sunday was his knock off the rust game. Pretty good. Yeah, I think it was like nine for 21 or something like that. But he had completions of 54 and 60-something yards. He's got a big arm. He's got to work on his touch a little bit on the shorter to mid-range throws. But it looks like the ability's there. He looked like Cam Newton because he's rushing for touchdowns powering through running over defenders. So I think that you do have a guy there that if he can stay healthy, can be a guy to really leave that team and there'd be great duels and shoot outs between those two teams. But I think the Texans are still a little bit ahead of them. But it's going to be definitely fascinating to see how these young quarterbacks develop. God, that 60-yarder to Alec Pierce might have been the play of week one from Anthony Richardson was ridiculous. Mike, this was great. Thanks for doing this. All right, thanks. You guys have a good one. Mike Jones, a national NFL writer at The Athletic and our insider brought to you by Don Valley, North Lexus where you can expect excellence online and in the showroom, visit donvalleynorthlexus.com. Okay, let me make you make a very difficult decision. Mm. And with like no information, really. It's just like a shot in the dark. But I, you've done me, well, you know me. I'm like, that's great. I can say I had no information afterwards. Yeah, so there's no wrong answer to it. I mean, it'll play out and you could be dead wrong. Okay, might be dead if I take the bullet, though. So I got to make a choice. Gun to your head. Okay. Anthony Richardson or any of the rookie quarterbacks. (laughs) 'Cause at least we've seen it like in spurts from Richardson. No, I still, again, like maybe this is dumb with me. I still think every football person in the history of the world would probably take Caleb Williams over him, just him alone. If you remove, if this is like remove Caleb Williams from the field, I'm taking Richardson. Straight up. Like if it's remove Caleb Williams from the field, I'm taking Richardson. Jayden McDaniel's gonna, he's gonna die, or Daniel. So I always want to call him McDaniel's 'cause I'm 95 years old apparently. He's gonna die before he becomes a successful NFL quarterback of like, just by getting smoked in games. Like he's been not worried about that with Richardson. Drake May, it's like, I don't know, Patriots ain't even starting him. So what do they think? McCarthy, game manager type, go and play for the Vikings. That's probably gonna be Kirk Cousinsey. Feel like best case scenario, which is not the end of the world. But not like the highest of high ceilings that you're signing up for. So, and Bonyx out, Pennix out. Like yeah, I just, if it's anybody but Williams, I'm taking Richardson. - Yeah, I'm taking Caleb Williams before like CJ Stroud or something. - No, no, 'cause I've seen it with CJ Stroud. - Yeah, I know, but we've seen it a little. - No, but that was like, I know, it was the whole season. - Look at this cute little playoffs, I know. - Look at these cute little big throws. - And buddy, I love them. Like I still close my eyes, you can picture that bomb, Josh Allen unleashed in the playoffs last year, okay? Like I love that he has the big arm being so toolsy. And again, if you take any of those other guys, yes, 1000%, you just drop them in last year's draft and I'm the commanders, take an Anthony Richardson, I am. But Caleb Williams, again, like they can't, they can't all be so wrong. - Even if they're all a little wrong, it's still probably gonna be better. - They've, a lot of them have been wrong. - Yeah, but there hasn't been a like Ryan Leif level, just can't do it number one. - Yeah, Zach Wilson was number two. - Number two. - Number two. - Oh, I know, that's like a whole. - I mean, I mean, I heard from, I think Tony Romo said, like these guys, they're inseparable. And Trevor Lawrence has been okay, I guess. - Yeah, but he, yeah, right, okay. But it's not the like, boss, the boss, Ryan Leif, and right. - Who went to, by the way, also not one one. - Yeah. - Right, so. - Yeah. - Yeah, I, yeah, I just, Anthony Richardson to me, it's just like, if I was a cold fan, I'd be ecstatic. - Oh, I, it's funny, like, buddy, on my kids, you know, tee ball dad, I'm talking to, it's like, yeah, you like, I got Anthony Richardson in fantasy. - No, I see. - And he's just so excited about it. - But at the very least, yeah. - No, but I'm so excited. It's like, Anthony Richardson is so exciting. I do not want to hear about anybody's fantasy team. - Yeah. - I don't hear about Anthony Richardson. He's pretty exciting. I have to get this in here. It's the most non-sequitur of all time, but there's nowhere else to put it. So, Jeff Darlington, right? He's our man on the scene at the Tyree Kill Arrest. He's our man on the scene at the Scotty Scheffler Arrest. Thank God he doesn't cover baseball. 'Cause if him and Nick Castellanos, wherever in each other's orbit, the world may end. Like, that would actually be World War Z. It's like, the war of the world's aliens are coming, all that stuff. So, just like, good job at you, ESPN. Jeff Darlington, tremendous reporter, don't have him. Like, I don't even want him covering the dolphins if the fillies are around the area the dolphins are gonna be in. I don't like it. - It's a great point. - You got it, or get them together and let's, let's get nuts, let's see what happens. (laughing) - That is nuts, God. It is amazing to me. We won't digress too long. - Okay. - This is obviously one of the biggest stories in sports who's across over into the news part of sports. - Yeah, he was a Tyree Kill Arrest. - He was just on arrest. - Detainment. - Right, he was just on CNN Monday night. - Yeah, yeah, I did an eight minute interview on CNN, but it's incredible to me that a police officer would use that type of force knowing that, like, there's a body camera on them. - Yeah? - Yeah, no, that takes a, like, not a level of hubris. - Do you ever sometimes, like, I wear a hat all the time? Do you ever forget you have a hat on? - Sometimes. - Do you think it's like, same kind of thing? - Maybe. - Honest, like, I'm trying to think of a reason. I mean, you're talking to a man who did forget his entire work bag today. Like, God in the car, I was like, oh, all the things I need for work? No, don't need to bring that in the car, obviously. - Well, I mean, it's because you're just a font of knowledge and you don't need any internet to do the show. - No, I need it. - No, you did. - That's really it. - Jeff, give me your computer. - Yes. - He was kind enough to get in. Anyways, 'cause I wouldn't be able to read this. One of the biggest touring comedians, Tom Segura, heads to Scotia Bank Arena on September 28th for his stand-up comedy tour, Tom Segura, come together. And we're giving away tickets all week long to enter all you have to do is tune in to the fan morning show, listen for the code word, then text the code word to 59590, standard message and data rates may apply. Today's code word is tour, text tour to 59590 right now to enter for your chance to win, giving away another pair of tickets tomorrow. But if you don't win with us, secure your tickets at ticketmaster.ca. - That's the last time I'm gonna say this, but, like, Tom Segura is very funny. - Yes. - That's my birthday. Somebody should tell me I'm going to that show. - Just that, like, I'm just like, clearly we've, like, have access to some tickets. - Your birthday September 28th? - Yeah, we don't, like, like, yes, is that a problem? - No, no, no, my son's is the 29th. - I know, we've talked about this. - Oh. - I have a buddy who's born on the 27th. Do you want to get him on the horn? Paul Henderson scored the famous goal in '72 on the 28th? - No way. - Yeah, I had a hat when I was a kid. It's like, I wish I could find it now, 'cause it's the funniest picture. It just has a picture of Paul Henderson, but it's like, he looks like the queen in it, 'cause it's meant to look like old timing. It just says, like, summit series, what I would give to find that hat. - All right. - Guarantee my parents through it away, though. - So an old hat and Tom's secure a ticket sounds like a good birthday gift for you. - Honestly, 10 out of 10 of both those things gave to fruition. - Imagine your wife is listening. - Oh, definitely not. - All right. When we come back, we'll talk to Adnan Burke of MLB Network as the fan morning show continues, Ben Anna Springgunning sports at 5.9 of the fan. - The best Blue Jays show out there, period. - Blair and Barker, be sure to subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. (buzzing) - Either we'll come, Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America's rolled by like an army of steam rollers. It's been erased like a blackboard rebuilt and erased again, but baseball marked the time. It's field, it's game, it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all the ones who's good and they could be again. Oh, people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come. - Bad morning show, sports at 5.9 of the fan, Ben Anna, that's Brent Gunning. Huge sports connection, obviously, to James Earl Jones who died at the age of 93. Field the dreams, like this guy was prevalent in our lives in many different facets, for sure, forever. And I think if you ask somebody to name the person whose voice you would most like to have, like he's on the short list. - Yeah, definitely. Like Liam Shriver up there too, for sure, but yeah, absolutely on the short list. All right, let's bring in Dan Burke of MLB Network and host of the Cinephile podcast. Yeah, James Earl Jones, he had the pipes, man. - You got it, buddy? - Yeah, oh, we got you. Go ahead. - Maybe we can. - Yep. - Oh, I was just saying, James Earl Jones had the pipes, man. Anybody in movie history have a better voice than James Earl Jones. - No, it's amazing, Ben. You think about his career. And I was looking back at what he's done. He was in a, you know, some called the Great White Hope. He was in, you know, everyone knows who he fences 'cause it's Dan's Earl. And Viola Davis won an Oscar beat. He was in the original play. I won a Tony Award for fences. But you're right, nobody knows that stuff. They know the fact that he's the voice of Star Wars and he was Mufasa and he had that great phaso-profondo voice. And he was also the voice of this is CNN. And Amazing story by Ty Burr, who's an incredible film critic, one of my favorites. He said for the original Star Wars, James Earl Jones got it paid. It was for two hours and he got paid 7,000 bucks. Think about that. Star Wars, the original, Darth Vader. Well, the most iconic characters ever. That's a two hour job for seven grand. We're good to go. Now, thankfully did work out some residuals with regards to Empire Strikes Back. And I think it was Revenge of the Sith as well in 2005. So, you know, obviously we're totally Jedi as well. So he was known for that. But Mufasa was the Lion King. That was the first thing my wife said. Like, think how many people can have a peel across generation. So somebody who's in their 50s or 60s, again, they might know some of his stage work of the movies in the 70s, roots, of course, the miniseries. But then like a millennial would know him 'cause the Lion King, like it's amazing to think James Earl Jones is rich and range. And yeah, a heck of a loss, but a heck of a run. '90s, Kareem, man, that's amazing. Well, look, we didn't even make you feel the dreams, of course, I was gonna say, for all of us baseball fans, that speech alone is incredible. Yeah, and the other thing too is it's like, you know, maybe this is revisionist history a little bit on my part, right? But it's like, we're very used to the idea now of like, okay, you know, inside out too is coming. And it's like, yeah, there's a bunch of celebrities that are voicing all these characters, right? It's like for Lion King, not that he was the only one in that, but it's like, it was such a, it was a little bit of a different time to be able to kind of be a guy who's in like a sci-fi movie like Star Wars, and the voice of, you know, like Pure Evil or whatever, is Darth Vader too, you know, what he was able to do for that. It is incredible. And then yeah, feel the dreams. Like maybe, dare I say, like the most impactful baseball movie of all time, like, it's not what he was able to do. And yeah, I think just anytime you have sports fans and that it's remarkable. - No, and it's a great word for Phillip James. Impactful, 'cause you're right. How many baseball ways have nominated for best picture? Like, you know, there are non baseball fans who are well aware of field of dreams. Or they're, you know, Kevin Costner fans to build this just love the idea of it. The fact that there was a game played at the actual field of dreams, it majorly baseball game. I mean, I can't think, you know, I love Major League or Bad News Bears and any other baseball way, but feel the dreams as far as the impact I'm with you. And everyone always remembers his seat as chance, man. The whole people will come seat. I mean, that's incredible monologue. I mean, I've seen that written out as a poster. You can just read the whole speech and people will come, right? People will almost definitely come. It's this great speech about optimism, obviously, and it's about baseball and believing in oneself. And you're right also about, you know, lying came back in '94, you're right. That was still the precipice of stars lending their voice. I remember Robin Williams, of course, did the genie in a lad, and he kept making jokes after those things. You've never been better. I've been this actor for like 20 years. And like, oh, when you're a blue guy, we can't see you, you're incredible. But at that point, it was still like stunt catching. It wasn't something you saw all the time. It was a big deal to have someone with his gravitas and his baritone as a voice of Mufasa. - Yeah, an incredible life and an incredible career. I want to give people some context as, because there's so many people, I think, in the city of Toronto last Friday that felt like some feeling like on the back of their neck, like this-- - Yeah, I texted Ben, I was like, this is weird. What's going on? - And people are like, that's weird. I don't know what, that was because Adnan Virk was in the city of Toronto ever so briefly for TIFF. What was going on with TIFF? And why were you here? - Unbelievable, boys. My buddy Randall Thor, one of our my dear college friends, RT directed a film called "40 Acres." And it's fantastic. And the debut of the world premiere happened Friday night. So I had to be there, of course, with all my old liars and buddies, of course, our friend, Kaby, and a few others as well. And it was awesome, man. I mean, just to be able to be, I mean, I was supposed to watch the red carpet, but I think I saw the red carpet. I saw Randall walking at least. And I mean, we used to go to TIFF as, you know, when we were in Ryerson, the '96 to 2000. So think about that, 28 years ago, we were going to TIFF. I remember the tickets were $14.50, and we're like, that's insane. Now, thankfully, Randall got me a comp. I have no idea how much the ticket was. Five, 40 bucks, 50 bucks, who knows? But it was awesome. Yeah, Daniel Deadweiler stars in it. She was in tail, the Netflix film, which came out last year. She got a Golden Globe nomination. Probably should have gotten an Oscar nomination, but she plays this mother. It's one of these dystopian thrillers. And it's shot in Sudbury. I like the fact, by the way, he mentions that it is Canada, like sometimes often we know Canada is subbing for somewhere else. But they say, here we are in Northern Ontario. And, you know, there's cannibals on the run, trying to chase them. And the best thing I could tell them, and I told them to Randall afterwards, he was getting mob always people, and hopefully some prospective sales coming for the film, and US distribution, and all the rest of it. But I said, you made a really good genre movie. So young males will like it, 'cause you get the blood, and the guts, and the glory, and heads blowing up. But then you've got a really compelling mother-son story. And Deadweilers are legit great actress. And I said, she's in a movie called The Piano Lesson. And I was like, I know, I've already seen it. That movie's coming out this fall. I do that to Netflix film as well. That's another August Wilson adaptation, again, the guy who wrote Fences, and Sam Jackson's in it. And Samuel Jackson is getting a lot of best supporting actor buzz as is Daniel Deadweiler for supporting actress. So I told RT, I said, this is gonna work out beautifully, because she's gonna get an Oscar nomination, and they'll go, what else has she done? Oh, she did this crazy thriller that was shot in Sudbury. Oh, it took up 40 acres. We're gonna see that movie too. Let's blow that on Netflix as well. So it was a really cool experience, man. You guys don't like to see your friends accomplish great things. And to be a filmmaker, and to make his first movie of 48, it was awesome. And by the way, shout out to Porter Airlines. First time flying Porter, I flew Friday morning, hour and a half to get there, right downtown Toronto. Very smooth and convenient as far as costumes were considered. The next thing was like, oh, God, go into Canada. It couldn't have been easier. Five minutes, just one. And through costumes, like K.A.M. Passroom, like Green Card, had a couple of French vanilla cappuccinos from Tim Hortons, had a coffee crisp, fun head by all. Oh, good for you. I need to choose my friends better. I was gonna say, you know what it's like when your friends do something great? It's like they scored in Shini. Like, when your friends are making movies a tip. Yeah, it's like my guy got a permanent teaching gig. Shout out to him, for sure. Like, very proud. It's just a little different. (laughing) Yeah, very ridiculous. Well, it was funny. At one point, I was thinking, like, there has to be, there has to be some envy within the crew, right? Like, thankfully, the rest of us are all, you know, very well accomplished, but you're right. I mean, of eight friends in this dark group called the Heart Eight, they're gonna be one or two that are like, I wish I made that damn movie. (laughing) It was pretty cool. What a crew you run in. Anyways, all right, let's talk some baseball. 'Cause we kinda, I mean, this qualifies as news because Boboshette has not said anything this explicit before about his intentions to be a Toronto Blue J for the rest of his career. Doesn't mean anything until something happens as far as a contract is concerned. But yeah, we've heard plenty from Vlad about wanting to be a Blue J for the rest of his career. Never before have we heard Boboshette say that same thing. And he said it to Shydevidi in an exclusive. Should the Blue J's want him to be a Blue J for life? Should they want to sign him to, I don't know, the Corey Seager 10-year, $325 million deal? No, emphatically, no, to me, that gives me Adjutia to both of great Richard Lewis. No, it's sunny, guys. If he'd asked me six months to be, he'd only sign one or the other. I would say, "Oh, Boboshette, for sure." You know, he's led the league in hits. He had to be a batting champion. He plays a premium position. He may not play at a premium level, let's be fair. He's probably an average defender the way most of the metrics go. But he's playing a premium position and he's young, athletic, et cetera. Like, "Hey, that's my guy." Whereas Vlad, I'm like, not sure how the body will age. You know, it hasn't been able to match the stratospheric 2021 season. That can be a little bit enigmatic. I'm like, "Yeah, I'll go with Bob." And now it's completely flipped. And I'm like, "No, give Vlad the money, are you nuts?" Like, he's gonna have $300, $300, $100. And I look at the Red Sox deal with Raphael Devers, which was for $313 million. Like, "Okay, I think this is what Vlad is smelling." Like, "All right, I'm your guy. "I'm the face of the team. "You give me 10 years, $3.50 and $3.20 that come there." Kind of to your point, Ben, with the senior money. Whereas, Bishad, I'm like, "Hang it a second. "I cannot commit that kind of money." When you're coming off a season but you had a 590 OPS. Like, you play the 80 games and hit four home runs. And I get that you were hurt, but you were also ineffective. Like, it's one thing, like Roy Lewis doesn't play it. It's not what he does. He's great. - Yeah. - Firebox is the same thing. Like, it's not like these guys are ineffective and injured. They're injury prone, but also excellent players. Bob had a terrible season and he was injury prone. So I just, I couldn't do it, Ben. I couldn't commit right now. That kind of money, those kind of dollars, those kind of years. Now, that might cost me some money. There's no question of Bo ends of having a phenomenal year next year. And also now I do have to give him 10 for 300, okay? I'm willing to take that risk if I was blue to his management. I can't commit that kind of money when a guy's coming off a down season like that. - Yeah, it's just so hard to, like, you know, I think if the shoe was on the other foot and it was like, hey, you were gonna wait and see with Vlad. I have so much more certainty in believing what he has said, not one time, but every single time throughout his career. Like, I'd feel so much more comfortable with that. With Bo, I understand the comments he said and I think you have to take him at face value. It's also super interesting timing when another guy's about to get a ton of money in the org that you've been directly compared to. And it's coming off a down season. It's just, that's the idea of playing poker. And I'll throw this at you. How much do you think the equation changes if it's not Atkins and Shapiro making the decisions? And there's a different front office. Like, I think that goes into it a lot as well. - Oh, without question. I mean, remember the trade deadline and my buddy, Jake Peavey and I are together on a city. Keep saying that Jay's should trade Bo or trade Vlad or trade Gossam or whatever. 'Cause he goes, hey, your team is not very good. You're not gonna be good. And I said, well, I would disagree with that first of all. I know they made the playoffs last year season. It's been a down year, yes. And that's been changed. But I wouldn't just wholesale sell the entire team in stink for four years. Like, that's not, I wouldn't agree with that. I don't think Jay's manager would do that quite frankly with all the renovations, the money they poured in like no. But to Jake's point, what I said to him was, I don't know if they could make those moves 'cause the guys running the team may not be running the team next year. Why on earth would you trust Shapiro and Atkins to potentially trade Vlad at the trade deadline if in six months you don't believe they'll be running the team? Now again, I don't have a crystal ball that Rogers is gonna do. And Shapiro's comments when he spoke in early August, as we said, did not sound like he was looking to make a change. He believes in stability and all that kind of stuff, whether or not that flip service will see. But I couldn't imagine a more catastrophic situation if I was a Toronto Blue Jays fan than if the entire management team comes back as presently constituted. If it's Shapiro, Atkins, Schneider, and neither of a lot of ball gets re-signed. That is an absolute worst case to ever play. I'll be like, wait a second. So you had a bad season. At last check, you're like 19 to 500. And you guys did nothing? Like, I know you're gonna sign some players. Okay, you're not gonna get Soto, but whoever you get, sure. But you're gonna go, you're gonna run it back? Same president, GM manager and star players, both entering their walk-years. I'm like, oh my God, that would be awful. So I think part of the reason why they didn't pull the trigger on some of those moves is that Atkins may not be the man in charge. Or they just want to see what the return could be this offseason. But, again, it would give me severe agitate. I was a Jays fan, so you're right, plan. I don't know if those guys are gonna be calling the shots in 2025 and beyond. - You know who's agitated? Giants fans, because they bet on the wrong guy. It's a quarterback instead of the running back. Who you got now? Your Eagles got your division foe, Siquan Barkley, and all he did was score three touchdowns in his Eagles debut. It's what a weird season a year ago, 10 and one. And then losing all those games, including the only playoff game they played against a box team that's not exactly a world beater. I mean, does one game like put you all the way back to, okay, I think the Eagles are good now? - Yeah, it's funny, but all but disconnect, relatively speaking, we've heard it coming at a camp between Siri and it hurts that they just haven't been on the same page in the season-style part last year. I'm like, the fact that there were 10 and one last year of finished 11 and six is still mind-boggling to me. And already, I was raised in eyebrow with Siri anything. He didn't play any of the regulars in the preseason. Like, I kind of like it. So I'm like, I hate the preseason too, like it's pointless. But I'm like, yeah, people have like a couple snaps just to get ready, but you know, to Siri and his credit, the last couple of years, they started what? Five and oh, eight, no. Eagles always got up to good starts. Now, I was worried about that game, Banks. I go, God, you're playing in Brazil against love in the Packers, sexy new pick, you know, on the rise, but Barkley was great. I mean, God, three touchdowns and it hurts was fine. It's funny. I was like, well, now hurts will be the second or the third best player offense player on that team. 'Cause it's between Asia and Brown. It's take on Barkley. Those guys are studs at their perspective positions. Do you find it still going to look good? So Vicki Andrews got some work to do as the Packers went up and down, but ultimately a 34-29 win in Brazil. I'll take it, take a deep breath, and then Monday night football against the Falcons. Which by the way, I don't know what he cares, but we have a big issue right now. Direct TV, which I've been a loyal subscriber for 14 years, did not come to terms with Disney slash ESPN. So right now I'm without Disney slash ESPN. So Monday night football, next you can't have to go to like the local sports ball. The local Shulish Joe's as it were here in New Jersey. Just to go lunch and that's okay. Think about that. Get out there with the unwashed masses. It'll be good for you, Adnan. That is nuts though. It doesn't matter what you pay. You can't watch ESPN in the United States. That's, that's, that's. Quite frankly, un-American, honestly. Feels a little un-American. Honestly. Adnan, always a pleasure, buddy. Good to hear from you. See ya. - I appreciate it, boys. One last thought. I sat next to Cabbie for the movie. And Cabb has a habit of always falling asleep in movies. So I turned him and I said, listen, you're not gonna fall asleep. And by the way, I was the one who was up since five. And it took the morning flight. So I was worried. And he had taken a Cabbie pill. Just to ensure he's gonna be okay. So the question to both of you, have you ever taken a Cabbie pill prior to watching an hour and 40 minute movie? Just to make sure you don't fall asleep. No, but I have full stop falling asleep in movie theaters before. - I've never, yeah. - I'm with Cabbie. - Either I'm sleeping or I'm watching. I can't imagine like your friend's movie at the Toronto International Film Festival falling asleep. - Tough luck. (laughing) - Good move by him. Taking the caffeine, it's hard, that's intense. - Work what you think. I snored, I snored for the second act. But other than that, I thought it was brilliant. - Yeah, you gotta lie if you fall asleep. If that's the situation. Buddy, see ya. - All right, thanks, boy, take care. - All right, I'm Dan Burke, MLB network. Very far away, it seems. - Yeah. - Okay. - The moon connected via TIG-Can, hard to say. - It's official now, Nick Robertson has signed a one year deal worth under a million bucks. $875,000, just a one year deal. - Yep. - So he'll, there'll be like, there's a piece of drama, which is like, not a significant piece of drama, but with something hanging over Leaf's Camp, it would have been one of the major storylines. It's done, it's in the rear view. I wonder if it indicates anything about like, "Hey, maybe Max Patch Ready is not in the mix. "Maybe if you were more in the mix, "maybe you'd be less inclined to get it done with Nick Robertson." I don't know, it's just, it's for such a small amount. - It's basically, like, that's what this is to me. It's like, I would imagine the way this poker game has gone, I guess it's not poker, it's negotiation, but we like to call it poker. I imagine how this goes as the Leaf's gone, "Hey, like Nick, we like ya. "Maybe you don't believe us, but we like ya. "And we think you can have a role on this team. "And you will do it, making 860K or 875 " whenever the number ends up at Nick Robertson goes, "Okay." But like, what if there was not six figures in my contract, and there were seven, and I made over a million dollars. They go, "Yeah, probably not." And then they sat there looking at each other, and Nick Robertson said, "All right, trade me." And they said, "If somebody offers something for you, "and here we are." This is exactly how I expected to play out. The entirety of the time, with the X. I did wonder aloud if somebody would have taken a flyer on him at like, "Yeah, give 'em one, two, five. "It's no comp." I would have done that if I was one of these middling off and some teams. The Leafs clearly were totally fine with waiting out that possibility. And then Robertson, I think there's an element of, "Okay, I wanna go into camp, not with this thing, "having gone right up to the absolute wire." I think this is his part of saying, "All right, I took my shot. "I asked for my trade. "I had a contract negotiation. "It didn't go my way." "Hey, swing in a miss." If he's a baseball player, he'll still do it one more time and have a shot, okay? I think that this is just exactly the way this was gonna always play out. - Yeah, there are a favor at all in the potential. Our offer sheet thing is interesting, 'cause yeah, there's no risk, really, for somebody with cap space to sign up to a million dollar deal, which would have been accepted. - Even if they got up to a mill five. - Right, there's no comp. There is something, like, you do, as much as it's all business with the offer sheets and the RFA things, like do you wanna use that bullet? - Yes. - You wanna have that? Like, you wanna go be that general manager that offer sheeted Brad for living's RFA's for Nick Robertson? - I actually kinda go the other way. It's like, Brad's for living probably goes, "I'm okay, you got me there." And then that guy gets to go into his fan base who, let's be honest, does not matter where it is. It goes, "Messing with the Leafs!" Sarah goes, "Yeah, a hero's journey and for living." Like, okay, yeah, 10/8, 10. - What's he gonna do? - Yeah, he can't, 'cause I have no drop X or a cap space. - And he's gonna go, and what? He's gonna be the Craig Conroy in this situation where all these pieces, the Leafs are selling, he's not gonna give to some team 'cause they offer sheeted Nick Robertson. - Okay, so then why didn't it happen? - I genuinely don't know. I think a big part of the reason is that most of the teams who are in that spot, it's just easier to find young forwards that you can squint at and think, "Maybe this can be something." - How many of them scored 15 goals in 50 games making or just play an 11 minutes a game? - I'm venturing none is the answer to that question. But I think that if you're, again, like the teams I keep thinking about or teams like the Ducks, the Ducks are 12 young forwards in a trench coat trying to be a man. It's like the Flyers, they have a ton of young forwards that they wanna give all that opportunity to. I think that's the reason why. And honestly, I keep going back to it, but the Blue Jackets, like they, he's just factually gone. - Yeah. - There's a hole there. I don't know why they wouldn't have kicked tires on something like that, honestly. - And to your point, fair question to ask, like, what's wrong with the player? Why aren't people kicking tires? - No, we've gone too far with the Nick Robertson thing where it's like, I understand his limitations. Guess what, so does he. - He has a mirror, right? - He sees his brother every off season, yeah. - He gets it. - Yeah, his brother probably gives him a nugget, tosses him on that. - You don't think Sheldon Keith had many a conversation about, hey man, let's shore up the 200 foot game. - And guess what, like, he didn't shore it up, but he took strides in that part of his game. - We've gone too far with it. - Agreed. - The most important thing as a forward is putting the puck in the net, okay? It's the thing that you get rewarded for most when it comes to your market value. - Yes. - It's, you can't win a game without at least one of them. - No, it's true, no one's ever won a zero to negative one hockey game. - Yeah, and okay, some guys have outlier scoring years. There is no, show me the number that shows me that Nick Robertson's 15 goals in limited sample was something that is not repeatable upon giving more opportunity, right? Like, just mathematically, there is an argument to be made that, well, one, you play 82 games, which is, well, considering his injury history, maybe the number one knock against him and again, goes to the size of it, but shooting percentages are like 14%. We've gone too far. Like, I understand the player's not a perfect player. - Yes. - Few are. - Agreed. - If you're gonna take one skill, you're like, give me one thing that you do well. Put in the puck in the net. - Pretty good. - Pretty high up the list of things that I would want my forward to do, and he has done that. Now it's the first time in his NHL career that he's done it, but he just kept doing it, right? Being a healthy scratch, occasionally, getting no power play time, he put the puck in the back of the net. I don't discount the possibility that playing 82 games, like, oh, God forbid, 12, 13 minutes, he can score 20 goals, then what are we talking about? - Yeah, we're talking about a 20 goal guy at less than a million dollars, and you know what, that is a big old win for Brad tri-living. And guess what, you need wins in a cap league. It can't be, show me the team where it happened, where every cap player just played exactly to the value that they're worth. Doesn't work that way, doesn't. You need value. Robertson's a guy who could maybe give it to you. - Yeah. - I got so fired up talking about it. God, leaves your back, baby. - Not yet, even, but still. - No, they're back. We got news, they're back. - Yeah, signed up for it, just making less than a million bucks. - That's great, yep. - All right, we'll be back tomorrow with another edition of the fan morning show, and at a Sprinkling Sportsnet 5.9 event. - Good morning. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) [MUSIC PLAYING]
