Gwynn & Chris On Demand
9.13.24 Gwynn & Chris 4 pm: JD Wicker joins us!
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Visit mlb.com/atbad for details. Blackout and other restrictions apply. MLB trademarks usually permission. And welcome into the 4 o'clock hour. It is the Gwen and Chris show here. Chris Elo, Tony Gwen Jr. in San Francisco. He'll be back with us for our big five at the bottom of this hour. Matt Scraib is alongside here, the Odyssey Palace studios. Lovely day in San Diego. Finally cooled down here the last couple of days. Everybody should be happy about that. Another thing I'm happy about, and I'm pretty sure all Aztec for lifers are happy about, is the Aztecs moving into the PAC-12. After all, the Aztecs have been trying to get into the PAC-12 for years, and years, and years, and years, and years. Kirk Kenny brought this up yesterday. It goes all the way back to when it was the PAC-8. Scraib, I know you probably was before you were born, the PAC-8, and San Diego State tried to get in then. And they brought in Arizona and Arizona State, and then went on from there. But at long last yesterday came the news that the Aztecs were in. And JD Wicker, athletic director at San Diego State, joins the program. First of all, thank you so much for your time. I don't know how you have the time to fit us in. You've been busy. But congratulations JD, first and foremost. Chris Scraib, you appreciate the time and the well wishes. It's been an eventful couple of weeks, but excited to have this behind us. And now the real work begins. Yes, indeed. I think all of us could hear the emotion in your voice yesterday. I didn't get a chance to get out to the press conference, I had the show, but listen to it. And just could hear how much this not only it meant to you and San Diego State, but you could tell all the work that went into doing something like this. And it's got to be very gratifying to get it done. Yeah, no, I mean, yesterday was a culmination of, gosh, eight years, it'll be eight years in October that I've been athletic director. And you think about all the ups and downs that we've been through, initiatives, contract negotiations, COVID, stadium builds, really warm days when stadiums open, the Pac-12 imploding, a national title game, it's just a lot of ups and downs. And to get to this point and to be able to just have such a positive impact on the San Diego State fan base, our institution, and our community means a lot to me. And yeah, it means a lot to all of us. And I think I'm speaking for most Aztec alumni when I say that JD Wickers with us, athletic director at San Diego State. JD, how do you kind of view this development in your mind going forward? Or is it too early to tell? I can't believe you haven't thought about, I know you have, they've thought about where this may or may not lead you in the Aztecs. Kind of, how do you couch it at this point? Yeah, I mean, your goal is to play at the highest level, to have that opportunity. And this is the next step in realizing that goal, so we'll finish putting together a great Pac-12 we think will for sure be the fifth best conference out there. And with goals of reeling in the big 12 in the ACC over time and provide our student athletes, our coaches, our staff, our fans, our alumni, those opportunities still compete at the highest level and to be successful while doing that. Talking to JD Wicker, the Aztec's athletic director here on 97-3, the fan, and you just started answering what I'm about to ask, but is San Diego State gonna be involved with the process of recruiting or maybe talking to schools about getting into the conference? Yeah, the six of us are working on all details as it relates to 2026 and beyond. So obviously membership is part of 2026 and beyond. So we've now begun the process of working with the conference office and consultants to figure out who those next schools would be that we would reach out to and hopefully have them join the league. And you do that and then you get ready to get a television deal done. It's a great time to be in the market. CW and Warner Brothers Discovery, T&T, TBS True. TV are all kind of new players in the market to go with the other ones that you know, ESPN, Fox, CBS, NBC. So we're excited for the opportunities in front of us and think this was a great move. JD Wicker, San Diego State, the Aztecs, and the PAC-12. It really does sound pretty good after all this time. JD, I mean, we all felt so bad when it fell apart to no fault of San Diego State's. Just everything happened at once in this school left and that school left and everything and you guys were almost in. Did you ever get to a, you know, how low did you get at that point? And did you ever think you could get back to this point? 'Cause I gotta be honest, this came as a little bit of a surprise to a lot of people. I don't think we were expecting to hear this news, you know, right now. - Yeah, you know, I guess fourth, 2023 will definitely be a date. I won't remember that was a really tough day for, you know, myself and everybody else. I was, you know, I've said it a number of times, I was in a hotel room and can't know IO and as we were there for the induction of, you know, Aztec and Charger legend, Donna Coriel. You know, such an exciting weekend to then, you know, get your, you know, feet cut out from my knees. So it was hard. It was a good, you know, it really took a while to recognize that, you know, it was a grieving process that we were going through, but our staff rallied. Our coaches, our student athletes rallied and, you know, we had a really good year last year and, you know, something was going to happen. Oregon State and Washington State are two phenomenal programs, great brands out there. And, you know, we knew that we wanted to be associated with them and, you know, we're excited with what we've got now. - Talking to JD Wicker here as text athletic director about joining the PAC-12 here in 2026. And I want to ask about the sports individually, but it's going to be great for every sport within the school. It's going to help everything grow. But I think many people are very excited about the Aztecs basketball team getting into a conference like the PAC-12. What can that do to help move the basketball team now, maybe into one of those programs where people are talking about it throughout the entire country? - Yeah, you know, I think the makeup of the league, again, you know, we're obviously the standard bear, the Mountain West, but Boise State who, you know, has kind of been our, kind of our biggest foe as you look at wins and losses over the last couple of years in such a great rivalry, but they've been at the NCAA tournament Colorado State's been in the NCAA tournament. The Cougs were in the tournament last year and Oregon State made an elite eight run a couple of years ago. So you've got good programs. And then, you know, it is something that is important football as we know is the driver within the NCAA. The basketball is a huge component. And that certainly will play a role as we, you know, look at who's next as we fill out this electoral conference. - J.D., I read your comments about the big 12 and where that all was. And in reading those comments and made perfect sense to me why you wouldn't want to join under those kinds of circumstances, can you just explain, I wanted to give you the platform to kind of explain it to some people and say, well, they could have gone into the big 12, but you really couldn't go into the big 12 under what they were offering. - Yeah, we would have been at such a competitive disadvantage. And, you know, some people say, well, you'd have to see the table, but it would have been at the little kids table. So you have to, by the time, you know, we would have potentially gotten a full share. It would be, you know, six to eight years behind. Everybody else, that much further behind. You're competing against those people day in and day out for those resources, whereas, you know, we have a better shot, you know, currently in the Mountain West and then going into the Pac-12 to get that group of five CFP slot. We probably have a better shot than 40 of the A4 schools out there. So we're thrilled with what we've got right now. We're gonna keep building it. You know, everybody we talked to, I told, I was like, look, we deserve a full share. You look at all that we've done at San Diego State. We've got a $310 million football stadium. We've got the best combined record of, you know, football and men's basketball, anybody in Division I. We went to the national title game. We've been to, you know, 12 out of 13 straight years. I think for 11 out 12 actually went to ball games. We were eligible during the COVID year and didn't go. So why wouldn't we deserve a full share? 28, you know, largest DMA. We own our, you know, we are in Diego from, you know, that football and basketball standpoint. So we're, you know, that's what we felt. But, you know, we weren't gonna go into a place that we couldn't be successful. - Not that you need this JD, but you have my full support to go now around the country and steal a bunch of teams from everybody else's conference since they stole them all from our conference to begin with. So good luck, happy hunting out there. We are excited and I can't wait for this. I, you know, being in the PAC 12, it's a great stuff for San Diego State. And I, I have the confidence with you and everybody else putting this thing together that, you know, it's, you're gonna pick up five or six other schools and they're gonna be fun and it's gonna make a great conference that we all can be proud to be in. Thanks for the time. Appreciate you squeezing us in. Now go back to work. - Yeah, I appreciate it very much. Appreciate the time. It has been a minute since we got together. So glad I got to spend some time with y'all. And then we'll go see if we can, how to beat the cow bears this weekend. - Yes, good luck this weekend for sure. Absolutely. Thanks JD Wicker right there. Athletic director at San Diego State Aztec for life. JD has done it, done all right. You know, Jimster came in and, you know, I think he helped get the corner turned a little bit along with Steve Fisher's work and, you know, Brian Dutcher and the basketball program. But JD Wicker's taken it to, you know, new heights since he's been the AD, got the stadium. I mean, we've marveled at that. It's gravy. No one can build anything here. You can't build anything in San Diego. - But he was able to build a stadium. - He's got a stadium built, you know. - I want to know what, how do you get into being a flag director? It sounds kind of fun actually. It's, I'm sure it's extremely stressful and not as fun as I think. - Can't imagine how many people must be trying to get, you know, leave a message on your phone. - Oh, I can only imagine that it's insane and mean. - Meeting something and folk halls and. - Yeah. But I was shocked by this story when it first came. I saw it, I think I was flipping around channels on Wednesday night and it was on the bottom line on like the SEC network. I was watching an old football game or something. I was gonna say, what? - I don't know, it caught my eye. And I was like, well, wait, what? And it said, you know, Boise State, San Diego State, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State to join the Pac-12. I was like, wait, where'd that come from? - Yeah, out of nowhere. - And the next thing I honestly ran to my computer to look it up and make sure that was correct. And the next thing I know, everybody's talking about it. - Just imagine in the old days, this is not a shot at you. But in the old days, Chris, you would have had to wait until the next morning to open your paper to see that that. And then you would be like, what in the heck? Wasn't in the paper the next morning. It was, no, it was not in the paper the following morning after I saw it. It was online. ESPN was quoting sources is saying it was true. - Oh, so they didn't publish yet. - There hadn't yet been a story in the UT. The first stories came out today after yesterday's press conference. - To get everything confirmed. - Right, with this new information highway, as it were. - The information era. - I was able to get it much sooner. But I'm looking forward to it. You know, somebody works with the women's basketball team. You know, first of all, I like Boise State. That's a top notch program. And here's the thing that he said. You might bring in some school, hopefully you can steal a couple of names that are names already. - Yeah. - You know, if you can steal whoever it is, bring Arizona's back, bring Cal and Stanford back, bring whatever. But there, look, there's other schools out there. Texas San Antonio's not a household name. - It's not. - San Antonio, though, is as big a city as San Diego. It's, you know, as a state of Texas. And those programs there in football and basketball are getting bigger and growing. There are other schools that wanna sit at the big boy table. And they've never really been given that opportunity. They get shut out by the powers that be. - Well, I know that this may be a place where everybody can come together. And then, as he said, start closing the gap on the ACC. Start closing the gap on the big 12. And, you know, make yourself legit. - I can't remember if we talked about this in a breaker on the air earlier, but I was reading a bunch of stuff last night. And I saw that Sacramento State and UC Davis are gonna be trying to get it in no offense to those schools. - Yeah. - But that doesn't interest me if I'm a current member of the PAC-6. - It doesn't interest me under the current construction of what Sacramento State is or whoever. - UC Davis has a good football program, but it's not going to be CFP. - Call football playoff level. I understand that, but college football, in general, has gone from 110 schools to about 135 schools. Of those 25 that have come in to Division I over the last 10 years, some of them are pretty good. Liberty. - Liberty? - Right, I mean, I'm just giving you a couple of central Florida. You look up, these teams are in orange bulls. You know, they've been there. They're not winning the national championship, I get that. - But are they able to do that every year? It doesn't seem like it. - I don't know if there's too much money at Georgia and too much money at Alabama and Notre Dame and Ohio State and Michigan for anybody over to challenge those schools, maybe they're just is. - What about Colorado State? What do I think about them? - Yeah. - Do you think they're big enough name? - You went there. - So. - Your wife went there. - I know. - I was thinking like basketball, they have a good program, right? They're football programs. - I know. - So, so. - San Diego State was in the final game. Legit. (upbeat music) Oh my God, three hours before the first pitch the pottery lineup is out for tonight's game against the Giants. We'll take traffic and then we'll give you that lineup. Tony Gwen Jr. before he departed, predicted that David Peralta and Elias Diaz would both be in the lineup tonight. We'll find out if he's correct when Gwen and Chris continues. 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(upbeat music) All right, here we go at 422. Thank you to JD Wicker, John David Wicker. He is the athletic director at San Diego State. They are now in the Pac-12. I've seen some of the snickering about this move from some of the Aztec fans out there. I've seen lots of snickering, you know, and there's gonna be naysayers to almost everything that's done, but I'm... Personally, I'm a lot more excited about what is possible now than I was three days ago when I knew I was staying in the Mountain West Conference. - Exactly. - Wasn't going anywhere there. I wasn't gonna do anything for me. So let's see how it turns out. I mean, you wanna go ahead and judge, you shouldn't judge yet. The final report is not in. - Yeah. - They're one of six teams. They have to have more than six teams. Let's see who else they get. - I really think-- - Let's see where it goes from there. Let's see how much money they can get in TV contracts. - In the Big 12, like that is high level football. And I know that people disagree with me on this, but I would much rather go to a Pac-12. That's not as strong as the Big 12. So my program doesn't get buried by these huge programs that we have no chance to compete with financially. I mean, you got schools like, what is it, Oklahoma's not in the Big 12 anymore. - No, Oklahoma and Texas have left the Big 12. - Yes, but you still got schools with major budgets that San Diego State can't match. And I think that's a big deal 'cause I don't wanna be the doormat of a conference forever. - Here's the thing that I liked what Kurt Kenny said yesterday about it. And I was, if you try to join a club and it had 18 whole golf course and they said you can only play 12, you wouldn't join. - No. - You know? - You're only getting-- - You wanna be a member. - Yeah, you wanna be a full member. - You're a member of the club. - You're not just kind of a member. You know, you can only have salad and then you must go home. You cannot have an entree. - Yes, yes. - Sorry, you're only worthy of a salad. - Talk about arrogant people. The people at the Big 12, man. - Yeah, well, that's a money thing, though. - Exactly. - It's all money grab. - It's all money grab. - It's all money grab. - So, you know what? I say good for the Aztecs and I'm excited now. Like to see what happens. You know, we'll see. Maybe at the end, I'll say, well, it didn't work out the way J.D. was hoping it would. Maybe I'll look and say it worked out better than we all thought it would. - I have a feeling that this stuff is way more difficult than we could ever imagine to get figured out. - Can't be simple, man. Can't be simple. Steel floor to state in Clemson. But you said you wanted to keep it. Oh, man, I forgot to ask him. I wanted to ask him if he was gonna try to keep the Pac-12 to the West Coast. - I think they can say that, but let me just say this. If Florida state in Clemson. - Come on over. - I'm tired of suing the ACC. - Come on over. - And say, yo, we like to play in the Pac-12. You'd probably have to consider it. So I don't know that he can answer that yet. - Yeah, I'd rather see permanently one way or the other. - I'd rather see progress than nothing at all and saying where you're at. - This is progress. - This is progress, right? - Yeah. - Maybe down the line, the next stop is the SEC for the Aztecs because of this. I'll say this about the Aztecs and the SEC. I think we could kick Vanderbilt's butt during the SEC. - I don't know if you could. - Just kidding, of course. - Vanderbilt is bad. - Wait a minute. - For most part. - Did we not kick Alabama's butt in the game that mattered the most? - Okay, you're right. - And the history of our program. - Are we talking basketball? - Absolutely. I'll take the basketball team all day. - Darn right. - Darn Tooten. - Scramb. - Darn Tooten. - It's Darn Tooten. Big five's coming up here shortly. - Can you, okay, so they have a college football playoff ticket, right? Is that what Tony's talking about with the Golden Ticket? - Well, the Pac-12. - Yeah. - As long as they can get up to, you know, eight to 10 teams, I think they would still hold on to a spot. - Yes. - So that makes it worth it right there. Like Tony said yesterday, they have the Golden Ticket. - Right now they can win their conference and not be chosen because they're not the highest ranked team of all of the group of five. - But if they did it in the Pac-6 or 10 or whatever, then they would maybe get the ticket. - Let's see how it all plays out. - I know, we're getting ahead of ourselves. - We are. Let's get the Padre lineup in. - Oh yeah, that's right. - 'Cause we're in the fight. - They forgot about that. - Tony Gwen Jr. ought to be the manager of the Padres. He called it exactly. He said he thought David Peralta and Elias Diaz would be in there tonight. And they both are. Luis Arise is moving to first base this evening. Arise has a 10-game hit streak in those 10 games. He's had multiple hits six times. This guy is kind of fun to watch. - He is fun to watch. - Fernando's batting second in right field. Pro-Fars in left, Machado's at third, Croninworth at second, Bogart's at short. Jackson Maryland center. Peralta DH, Elias Diaz, catcher. There's your lineup against Logan Webb and the Higante's. - I like what Tyler Wade said earlier about Manny Machado. - Oh, how it makes him angry. - Kind of makes me angry that he just makes it all look so easy over there picking up those ground balls. - I can understand that. - He does do it effortlessly. - He does. - He really does. - He really does. You're right. - Nobody should be able to pick up a ground ball that easily. All right, 7.15 is the start for the Padres and the Giants. I mean, Sammy Levitt's pregame show at 6.15. - Slackers, not even here yet. - Did you see the Arizona State football coach last night after the game, they played Texas State, I believe it was. - I think you're right, yeah. - Texas State. - Yeah, Texas State. The Bobcats. - Right. - Arizona State football coach on the field after the game. - I didn't see any of this. - The guy doing the postgame interview on the field. Little hesitant because there was confusion at the end of the game as to how much time was on the clock. - Okay. - Was there still a second to go? Was the game over? Did Arizona State win? Or was there gonna be another play? The guy's interviewing the Arizona State coach who's obviously agitated 'cause he's not sure what the referees are gonna rule and where this is all gonna come down. The guy asked him a question, "Hey, how 'bout the game and blah, blah, blah?" You came back and you know, you're proud of your team. Something like that. The guy goes, "Honestly, I'm only doing this interview "so I don't get fined." - Oh. - Just told him straight up. - Oh. - I don't know if that was the kindest thing to say, but it was the most honest thing to say. - Sir, what? How hard is it to answer those questions? - He said what I just told you, he said. He said, he pulled Marshall on Lynch. I'm just here so I don't get fined. I'm just here so I don't get fined. And then they put a second back on the clock and then he went stick and started running after the referees. And anyway, it was all over. Arizona State ended up winning. And as they're broadcasting the finish of the game, this was my highlight. Not the coach telling the sideline guy that he's only doing the interview to avoid a fine. Here was the highlight for me. Arizona State was led tonight by quarterback Sam Levitt. No way. - Yes way. - Sam Levitt does the Padres pre and post game show and plays quarterback for Arizona State. - You're wondering where he is right now. He's probably still flying back in. - He's practicing. - Flying back in. - That's true. I didn't even think of him. The victory last night for Arizona State. - I wonder, man, we gotta ask Sam Levitt. - Well done, Sam Levitt. - All right. He's got the pre game showing about 45 minutes. We've got the big five next on Gwen and Chris. (upbeat music) - Look about 436 at the time, Chris. Tony Goode Jr, San Francisco, Padres and San Francisco, Matt Scraviolon, side Odyssey, Palace Studios. We gotta check some traffic scrape. Then we got a big five on our horizon here. Lots of good stuff to discuss. - We do. Yes. - You ready for it? - I'm ready. - This time? - Just waiting for my cue. - Yeah. - Okay. - I'm like a dog being let out of a cage. - Go, I'm gonna throw you a bone. - Throw it. - Fetch. (upbeat music) - It's that time of the show. - When we check on the latest in sports, only the most important topics and questions are brought to light. - Stop what you're doing and listen. - These news stories will astound and amaze you. (groaning) The one, the only. - Oh my God. Who the hell cares? - The big five starts now on 97th Ray The Fan. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - We are in the spectrum guys. - Padre season, as you know and as we've talked about, so I'm gonna force you to predict something. - Number five. - And it's going to be this. The Padre's have 15 games to go and they need to win, win, win to keep themselves in the playoff hunt. Chris, what is their record over the final 15? - How about nine and six? I mean, I think they're gonna do fine. I don't think that they're gonna have another streak like the one that carried them to the top of the wild card standings. But if those nine wins are against the right opponents and that would I think I hope include two out of three over the Diamondbacks at the end, yeah, I think they can still get where they wanna go. Which is the top wild card spot. You know, I'm not gonna predict any kind of collapse. I don't see how this team collapses. 15 and two is a little hard to, or 13 and two. I guess it's hard to predict over 15 games, so. - Solid nine and six and, you know, let's take our chances in October. - All right, Tony, I know it's hard for you to predict, but what is their record over the final 15? - I think 10 and five, nine and six will be their records. Five series left, giants, Astros, White Sox, dodge on it, it's 15 games. Yeah, I think they go nine and six. That's what I'll finish with. They go nine and six, they finish first or second, and we either at home, or my guess is in Arizona for a playoff series. - Hmm, I would rather it be at home, so. - Number four. - Just for my two cents on everything. Now, I know that we've talked to offense, but I do think we need to talk about this in the Big Five, and it's about two at Tongva by Lowell, even the game after his concussion. Now, this is the third time he has been diagnosed with a concussion during the game. Mike McDaniel and the Dolphins don't wanna speculate, but now the major talking point is Toa should retire, and his contract is a little confusing in regards to this. The deal includes $167 million guaranteed for injury, 43 million of which has been paid already this year. If he's medically cleared to return to football but opts to retire, he will forego the remaining $124 million guaranteed injury settlement that he'll get. If he's medically forced into retirement, he has a right to collect all of the $124 million remaining. So, Tony, what do you think is the best course of action for Toa going forward? - Whatever Toa thinks the best course of action is for Toa. I love that everybody is concerned and want the best for his well-being moving forward, but it's none of our decisions. And it's one thing to be asked, what advice would you give him? - It's different to me to just be weighing in and throwing your opinion out there when it's not even close to being anybody's decision. I think in all of these cases, none of it is straightforward. You get a concussion. Some one guy may have six concussions and bounces back and it's not that big deal. Another guy may have one and it takes him a full year to recover. It's always scary to see those type of deals, but I think ultimately the decision will be left up to Toa and how he feels about it moving forward. - Chris, what do you think Toa should do? - Well, first of all, the irony is not lost on me. That the guy he ran into is Demar Hamlin. - That is a crazy story. - Demar Hamlin had every person on earth decide what he should do with his future before he was ever even out of the hospital. Demar Hamlin has decided the best thing for him to do is to strap back the pads and go back and play football. That's what he wants to do in the face of nearly dying out on a football field. A lot of people thought he should never take that risk again, but you know what, some people might, I don't know, do something, whatever it is, dangerous, climb a mountain face or something and have a terrible injury and they might want to get back up and climb back up that mountain again. And other people might say, no, that scared me too much. I'm not doing it again. You just don't know what's going on in his mind. So Tony's right. This is gonna be his decision. I think the doctors are gonna have a huge part in it. I think they'll give him as much information as they can. My guess, I watch this guy play probably as close as anybody. He tries to make plays even when they're not there, including the pick six that he threw last night, including the play he got hurt on. That was a fourth down play. He knew that if there was any prayer of getting back in the game, he had to put his head down and get the first down. Everybody keeps saying, well, he should have slid. He should have slid. But he can't do that if he cares about trying to still win the game. And that's what drives this guy. So I do think that if he's medically cleared, I do think he'll want to come back and play some more. I just think that that is where it will wind up. But for me to sit here and speculate what he should do, it's way too early, and there's not enough information being had. If a doctor tells him to a, you get hit like that one more time, you're going to go, you're going to have irreparable damage. Then he'd be an idiot not to step out. So it's a tough question. It's just too early. - Things be very interesting to see how doctors handle this because it determines a lot for both sides. - I think we're putting far too much on this because it's to him. You know what I'm saying? He isn't different from a lot of football players who have multiple concussions. I think the issue is when you have these concussions and then you start getting hit lighter and you're all of a sudden still having these, that was a pretty, pretty hard car accident that he got into right there. It wasn't like he got tapped. So this is, I mean, anybody who, whether you had a concussion or not, could be concussed in that very same play. I don't, I think we are putting a lot more on this because it's Toa and he's had a couple of these. But he's not the first guy to have multiple concussions and come back and play. - I think Trey Eggman had, to his count, eight to 12 concussions, maybe more. - Probably more, right? - Yeah, he doesn't even know some of the ones he had. - Steve Young had a lot of concussions. - These guys are doing fine at this point in their lives. We don't know, but Tony's right. It's different for everybody. We just don't know yet. - Well, Antonio Brown weighed in and said that he should retire. - Of course he did. - Yeah. - Well then- - That's number three. - Your decision's been made for you. - That's settled for you. - AB. - AB is making decisions. We've heard of tipping pitches, but I don't know I have ever heard of the catcher tipping his own pitcher's pitches. - So glad you brought this up. - The Minnesota Twins released minor leaguer, Derek Bender yesterday. After the single A catcher tip pitches to opposing hitters and official with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed, the official spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation after ESPN was first report on everything. According to the report, Bender playing for the, oh, this is one of my favorite names. Fort Myers mighty muscles told multiple hitters on the Lakeland flying tigers what kind of pitches were coming from starter Ross Dunn on September 6. No reason has been given as to why he did this, but Chris, how bad is this? - Yeah, no, there's definitely been a reason. - Oh, it's okay. So the article I read earlier today, there was no reason, but what's the reason? - Reason was reportedly 'cause he wanted the season to end. He did not want his team to go further or- - I'm sorry, what? - The games had playoff implications and he was ready to go home. - I am stunned, stunned. - That might be the excuse he gave and it is a little stunning. Let me ask you this, do they have betting odds on these minor league games somewhere? - I mean, let me go up, but I don't know if they do. And I'm just throwing it out there 'cause the only thing I can think of that would get me to do something that idiotic or get somebody to do something that idiotic would be if there's some sort of gambling angle on this. Or maybe he just literally doesn't like- - Well, the question changes because I didn't know that he did for that reason. - What was your original question? - Well, how bad is this thinking like? - Okay. - But now that I know that he did it for a reason and to hurt his team, he never gets a baseball job again, right? - No, he's out of baseball and he probably wants to be out of baseball. Sounds like I'm gonna give Tony the- - Yeah. - You sound like you got a lot. - I gave you my- - I do, I got a lot on this because he's not the first player to be accused of this, it happened. I won't say the guy's name, he's long retired by now, but he was accused of giving fellow country men the signs. And he got, he got ratted out by the Empire who happened to know Spanish and he told the coaches. And it happened if I'm not staking in the pottery organization back in the day. However, that guy also went on to become a big leader and played, you know, quite a few years. So think it might be a little quick to say that he never plays again. I will share this with you. My, I got drafted in 2003 of June, June 2003. And remember, you played a whole college season prior to that. So you roll into June, you finish the rest of the season. It's a lot of baseball for the first time you've ever played. And I will admit this, we got to the end of the season and I was gassed. And I remember sharing with Prince, I remember Prince shared with me, like, man, I did not want to go to the playoffs, I'm ready to go home. But once the game started, your competitive juices flow. And the last thing you want to do is be making outs on purpose. No matter how tired and much I wanted to go home, once they laced them cleats up, all that went away. And we, and we had as much as we didn't want to go, we ended up going all the way to the championship before we lost. So, you know, that thought is not one that is, especially for guys in their first year as this guy was, is not one that is, is a rarity. However, to then actually go through with those thoughts is a completely different thing. And I mean, how, how stupid do you have to be? And I'm, and I'm being honest, like, you worked your rear end off to be a six round pick. You got six figures out of working your rear end off to possibly be a big leaguer one day, only to then risk throwing it away because you couldn't play an extra, I don't know, another month of the season, maybe. It's, it's, it's beyond just dumb. But I always said that because this is happening to you. - I mean, I do understand the psychology of it, but, but what I don't understand is following through on it. - Exactly, exactly. It's, it's, we all have thoughts that are fleeting in are unacceptable and, or, you know, spur of the moment. - Yeah, when the guy walks in front of you in the crosswalk and you go, you know, maybe I'll just knock this guy off. - Exactly. We don't, we don't follow through with that, right? Like, I think that's kind of the point here. - It's a daydream. - Yeah. - I, I, I totally get being tired. I've been there, I was there. But, you know, once I got to the field and I put the cleats on, I'm like, and it's time to get in the on deck circle. I was like, oh, okay, yeah, no, I ain't going out like that. Like, you ain't, I'm not just gonna make out. So I got just, I couldn't do it. - I want to hear from those opposing hitters when they're like, did you say curveball? - Okay. - Be a little surprised. - Yeah, that would be surprising. Wow, did not expect for that to be the reason. If this guy takes one more step slower across this crosswalk, that's it. - I'm pushing him into traffic. - Oh, yes. I thought that way too many times, guys. - Number two. - Like, I mean, we've all had somebody, we've all somebody cut you off and you'd be like, oh, I just want to run right into the back of the vehicle, but you don't do it. - Yeah, if you had a, that's when you want to have a, - The grill art. - A rental car. - You want to have either a grill or a rental car. - And then what you do is you follow them home and then you sit outside their house for a little bit and then you tell them that they were wrong. - Well, you extrapolate this all the way out. Oh, nevermind, nevermind, that's not what I do, everybody. This is also a bad story. Georgia Cornerback Daniel Harris became the latest Bulldog to be arrested for driving violations last night. He was cited for numerous offenses, including having no proof of insurance, materials that reduce visibility on his windows or windshield, driving without a seatbelt, having an unregistered vehicle and reckless driving. He was released shortly before midnight after posting $10 bail on each of those charges. Per the incident report, attained by the Athens banner Herald, he was cited for going over 100 miles an hour while passing two other cars in the rain. So this is not the first time a Georgia football player has been in trouble for driving related incidents. Since offensive lineman Devin Willock and recruiting staff Chandler LeCroy were killed in a street racing related crash in January 2023. Over 25 people from the program have been arrested or cited for driving related offenses. Tony, I didn't really know what to ask here, but are the collective incidents going to be a stain on head coach Kirby Smart's legacy? - Yes, they are going to be. Just ask Urban Meyer, right? He had all those incidents. It kinda got pushed under the rug at Florida. Then he went to the next place and it seemed like it started up there as well. You know, I think these things can have a lasting effect if there's no change, right? I mean, I use Urban Meyer as an example because at Utah it's pretty quiet. I can't remember very many incidents of any there, but with Florida it started to pile up. Then he went to Ohio State and more things started to pile up. And what it seems like is if you're not careful and you're having the type of success that these coaches have, some of the things like this fall through the cracks early and then they become bigger issues, right? You start to have bigger issues and then it's tough to kind of rebound from that. I think after Urban Lev, you saw it went what, Florida, the Ohio State and then the Jacks were the last kind of straw. Did he coach anywhere else in between there that I'm missing? - I don't think so. - Wasn't he with like young-- - No, he started his career at Bowling Green. - Bowling Green, that's eight, ahead of Utah. - So, I mean, yes, these things can start to fall you and 25 is, and they're all seem, listen, you've already lost two, there's already been two life loss. I get really under the watch of Kirby Smart and then you have all of these repeated driving violations. I don't know what it is about the bulldogs and driving. Somebody doesn't, how are they getting licenses, they know how to drive? - Well, he didn't have one, he didn't have one, yeah. - Well, they're not getting licenses, apparently. - No, he had no proof of insurance, he had no seatbelt. - It just seems like, you have to start, part of your job as a coach Chris and I have talked about this is you also are molding or trying to mold young men to be productive citizens. And it's not that he's not doing that, but there are quite a few in his programs that are falling short of that. And so, you know, I'm all four guys making mistakes, but when it seems like a program is having the same mistakes over and over again that you don't see every program having, I think that's, you start to kind of, and Tana start to kind of come out the head a little bit. - Chris, is this gonna be a stain on Kirby Smart's legacy? - I think it's gonna be part of it, you know, this is a bigger problem, obviously than just Georgia. I can't believe that, you know, nobody gets arrested at any other school. Georgia is the most high profile school. So that may have a little something to do with it. Henry Ruggs went to Alabama, Tyree Kill, drives like a maniac. - Oklahoma State. - Yeah, Oklahoma State, who was the other guy was thinking, oh, the Rashi Rice last year. I mean, there's a lot of, you know, and that's only football, but there's a lot of these athletes and people in general. I don't think everybody who was just buying me at 120 miles an hour in the freeway is in pro-athlete. So I shouldn't blame it all on pro-athlete. You know, unfortunately a lot of these people feel, you know, that they're indestructible, athletes or not. And obviously this kid is among those. If I was Kirby Smart though, and I don't know that he's capable of this because he seems ultra, ultra, ultra competitive, but it's high time that he starts taking some of these guys down, off the roster, or at least out of playing time. You've got to threaten something that's gonna mean something to these kids. And, you know, to get up there and say the next guy that, you know, next guy that gets pulled over for something, I don't care what the circumstances has, you're not playing for five games. Again, it may not stop it, but that's the only thing I think he can do, and I don't know that he's done that. - Yeah, I think ultimately the same things that makes these guys great are the same things that can get them into trouble at times, and you got to find a way to kind of harness that, if you will. - Yes, number one. - That's how you almost knock my computer off the desk. - Shouhei Otani is three home runs in two stolen bases away from becoming the first player to ever go 50-50, and according to Brom Walker, head of modern collectibles, he said the 50th home run ball could fetch upwards of $200,000, so people were paying a lot of money for these tickets in the outfield of these Dodgers games. Now, I'm not gonna ask about the price of the ball or anything, but Chris, he's currently three home runs in two stolen bases, as I said. What is he finished with? - Well, he's still got a series in Colorado to end this season, so. If it gets worrisome for him, he's got that as a fall back. - That's a good point. - His last three games, I think they also have one at home against them, a series at home. He's gonna go 52, you know, 50. I think once he gets to 50 stolen bases, I think he's gonna save his legs for the playoffs. I don't know that he'll push that unless it's something, you know, in a hit and run. So I wouldn't be surprised if he lands right on 50 stolen bases, but home runs, he's going over. He's gonna hit five or six more. And it's gonna be something we've never seen, and it's gonna win him in the MVP award. And he may not be the last guy to do it, but he's gonna forever be the first to do it. And I haven't read something in the LA Times yesterday, guys, from our friend, Bill Plasky. And Plasky gets out on the limb sometimes. - Yes, he does, much Plasky had to say. - Plasky's suggestion is if the Dodgers need three outs in the playoffs or World Series. It's high time for Show Hay to start pitching again and get some key outs. - Interestingly, he might be close enough to being able to do that. - You're throwing off the mound in the bullpen. - So, you know, maybe that's a weapon that the Dodgers still have that we don't know about, but I thought I'd bring it up. But yeah, he's going 50-50, and he deserves to do it. He's been absolutely incredible. - Tony, what has he finished with? - 51-50. - Wow, just barely getting in. - I think you start to press when you know you have these things and it usually prolongs these situations. So, yeah, I think it's 51-50. It'll probably be Homer, 51, bags 50. I think Chris is right. Once he gets to 50 bag, we might shut it down. But I do think for everybody, for everybody who goes through these things, that pressure starts to mount. And there's gonna be like a, or it's gonna be like a, what is the Homer watch? Or a bag watch is gonna be at the bottom of the screens. We're gonna be, I think, as we get towards it, I think that's gonna weigh on. And so I think it will, I think it'll get to it, but I think it won't be like, you won't blow the record out the door. - Understand one more thing about how hard it is to hit a home run. I mean, these guys make it look easy. Aaron Judge is not Homer in three weeks. - That's exactly what they even figured this. - And that's Aaron Judge. - Right. - So, you know, you can't, Bonds was the only guy I've ever seen who could do it. Tony says, you know, I feel like hitting a home run and there it went. - Oh, Tony, yeah, it's gonna be tougher than maybe people think. - All right, that is it for the big five. We still have an hour and 15 minutes to go. It's a little bit of a later-quining trip today. - Let's go, let's go. - So I don't know what's gonna happen in the final hour. - Bring something to the table, will ya? - Me? - You. - It's better over here. - Now at T-Mobile, get four 5G phones on us and four lines for $25 a line per month when you switch with eligible trade-ins. All on America is the largest 5G network. - Minimum of four lines for $25 per line per month without a paid discount using debit or bank account, $5 more per line without auto pay, plus taxes and fees and $10 device connection charge. Phones would be a 24-monthly bill credits for well-qualified customers. Contact us before canceling entire accounts to continue bill credits or credit stop and balance on a required finance agreement too. Bill credits and if you pay off devices early, ctmobile.com. - Trying to figure out what to eat for dinner yet again? 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