The Killer B's: Joel Blank & Jeremy Branham
09/18 Hour 1 - CJ Stroud Being Performative Or Real With Caleb Williams
(upbeat music) Shop Macy's VIP sale going on now. Use your coupon or Macy's card and take an extra 30% off the latest fall trends from designers that rarely go on sale. And save 15% off skincare, makeup, fragrances and more. Plus, shop fall specials for even more great deals on top brands at Macy's. Savings off regular and already reduced prices, exclusions apply. (upbeat music) ESPN 97-5, presented by Zadok Jules. KFNC 979HD 2, Mount Bellevue, Houston. A gal media station. - The Killer Beast. - ESPN 97-5 and 92-5 proudly present. The Killer Beast. - It's definitely a fan of the Killer Beast. - Don't sweat the technique. Now from a Veritex community bank studios, review the fastest three hours in Houston sports radio. Here's Joel Blank and Jeremy Branham. - Ooh, what a face down. Hey, how are we doing? - He is blank. I am Branham and is Brian behind the glass and it is a Wednesday edition of the Killer Beast on ESPN 97-5 and ESPN 92-5. A busy show coming up today. We'll do some stress and in blessing at 4.30 again. It is National Cheeseburger Day. - National Cheeseburger Day. Will you partake? - I thought about it. - Who's to say I haven't already? - I already have. - Really? - Patty melt from Waterburger. - Oh, okay. A little patty melt. Nothing wrong with a little patty melt. There's a couple of washed up pictures for the Astros who's washed up the most. Bobby Slowick's taking some shots. Oh, he's too conservative. Oh, he's blowing first down on fire or blowing it up, whatever. And then people are taking some shots at CJ Stroud being nice to Caleb Williams. So we'll get into all of that. But we have to start with this game that was drunk last night. This Astros game, I haven't seen a regular season game like that in quite some time. You had a little bit of everything. You had Hader revenge game. San Diego booing him. Bad umpiring behind the dish. Schulis Jose Altuve. The Astros win an extra inning game. Hector Neris, Hunter Brown. You forget about it. He pitched yesterday. He was pretty good. Jerrickson Profar said he didn't get hit. Umpiring said, yeah, you did. He didn't. Yesterday's game was the wildest regular season game that I can remember. It really had so much extra intensity. You know, everybody always says, well, this one felt like a playoff game. It felt like so much more. It felt like there were so many different subplots within this game. And there were so many twists and turns. And you just, you, not that you were on the edge of your seat because it was so damn late that you were staying up to watch every last minute of it. But when you were looking at it, you're like, how is this thing going to end? Because every time, you know, the Astros take the lead on a wild pitch and then there's another wild pitch. And then it's just so many different subplots, but it was amazing to watch how it all unfolded. And there is, you're right. There's so many things to get to because of the fact that, look, Hunter Brown did pitch very well. He made one mistake, but he looked like the kind of guy you want, you know, along with Fromber at the top of your rotation. And this team got a much needed win on a night when the Mariners got it handed to them. And it gave you a little bit more level of comfort. As you go down the stretch for the final 11 game. - Yeah, thank you to Aaron Judge. Aaron Judge was fantastic for the Yankees yesterday, had four RBIs like in the first two innings. So that was awesome. That was outstanding. Way to go. Way to go, Aaron Judge. What's more than a playoff game though? - I think that normal playoff games have intensity, but most all of it is just like high leverage situations and, you know, just the game itself. This had all, you know, an intense game, but then it had so many different things with the umpires and the different situations and everything else that it just had a little added extra oomph. - Okay. - You can nitpick me all you want, but that's-- - I just never heard of something to find as more than a playoff game. - I don't know if umpire buffoonery is, you know, the extra oomph, or at least not what I'm tuning in for. - Sometimes there may be one, but like the multiples at the level of incompetency was ridiculous. - Not to go full bend bows, but that was maybe the worst umpire game I've seen in five years, 10 years. - No. - I mean, the Al Tuva thing, I mean the strike zone all day, like you mentioned the one mistake by Hunter Brown, but Chado should have been standing on first base. There was two pitches that the umpires missed, one more egregious than the other, but obviously the thing with jerks and pro far, that would have been if the Astros hadn't been able to hold on and win an extra as thanks to Kyle Tucker bringing in and run and holding on with the bases loaded, that would have been the most frustrating loss of the season. - It was a wacky game. It was a wacky game. - Between the strike zone, the blown calls, the wild, we haven't even mentioned the wild pitches, how many wild pitches were the last night, or pass balls, whatever they called them, but that would have been the most frustrating loss of the season had they not been able to hold on. - The umpire liked to interject himself. We didn't even mention the hater thing. Hater comes, he's on the mask. As soon as he steps on the rubber, play, like everybody knows that, you step on the rubber, you engage the game. Play ball, you're the whole but umpire, you're saying that, as soon as he steps on the rubber, play ball, you're allowed two disengagements with runners on base. Like what are you doing? And that was Justin Verlander's like grief too. Like he was yelling at the umpires, let's go. Maybe because he's old too and he likes to get to better earlier, but he was like, "Hey, you're icing my pitch." - I look, I don't know, I'm not gonna sit here and make excuses for hater, yanking a slider and throwing it to the backstop and hitting the bull, but I would have liked Hater to just come into the game and throw as opposed to wait around for five minutes on like figuring out the rule book, a rule book timeout, when that was obvious. It was extremely obvious. - Yeah, no, you're absolutely right. And I think that good on his spot after the game, pointing out that he knows the rules, he studies the rules, why don't they know the rules? They should have known the rule in that case. And he really was iced at that point. He threw a couple, but at the same time, I think they timed it out to be something like four, four and a half minutes. That's an excuse. - Yeah, they had to go to New York. - Well, yeah, and it was just so unnecessary. I mean, especially with both TVs, telecasts, had it right there. You can see the disengagement. It's quite simple, it should be quick, but yet it just kept going on and on forever and you're like, "What the hell are they doing?" - Yeah, that was ridiculous. - And the irony is it's the same crew that where Bregman got hit in Cincinnati, that they went to replay, which clearly showed he got hit to say that he didn't get hit. Like, what are they doing? - Yeah, I like that hater got the victory yesterday by going for it. Yes, it stunked that he threw the wild pitch and tied the game, all of that. But he was dominant in the ninth inning. Actually picked up the victory. And then I was remembering the quote that Joe Musgrove gave at the beginning of the year in April. Said having a closure that you can go out there and rely on for more than just three outs is huge to us here because we know about the hater rules. We knew that he wasn't going multiple innings without a contract. So Musgrove threw that shade to Hater and then what did Hater do yesterday in the win? You got four outs. He went more than one inning. As Joe Musgrove is sitting in the dugout with an injury, by the way, who can also not give you more than anything right now. - Yeah, I didn't see him. I didn't know he was in the dugout. No, he was in the dugout. He was in the dugout getting a front row seat on Josh Hater going more than one inning. What did Suarez do last night for the Padres? Went one inning. - Yeah, it was, I didn't know more than one. - Got three outs. Musgrove earlier this year, having a closure that you can go out there and rely on for more than just three outs is huge to us here. Which closure last night went more than three outs? Josh Hater. Josh Hater got four, Suarez got three. You idiot, you idiot Joe Musgrove, idiot Joe. - Yeah. - Sleepy Joe. - Look, I hate to be the Bendy Bose after the game, but just the fact that you had multiples and so many different instances where between the home plate umpire and just the umpiring crew, they couldn't get it right. They didn't know the rules. They were doing everything in their power to be a bigger part of the game than the two teams playing it. It was just an embarrassment on so many different levels. And I don't understand like, here's the thing. And I saw that Rosenthal was the one guy trying to stick up for them, that there wasn't clear and definitive video evidence to show that Altuve actually got hit. Well, here's the other thing. When you get hit in other places and a lot of times when it involves the foot, they also examine the ball to see if there's polish or something on the ball to show that the ball hit the foot. No one ever took the ball. No one ever looked. Machado grabbed it, eventually threw it to first and then Lord knows what happened to the ball. But then the same way a guy pulls down a wristband, pulls his batting glove off or shows, "Hey, it's red right there. "It shows you that I got hit." And a lot of times the umpire will say, "Oh cool." And take that into consideration. They thought he was showing him up so they tossed him. Well, you can't take off your cleat in your shoe to an umpire and expect to stay in the game. Why not? It depends on how you-- Why not? Because you take off your shoe and you take off your sock to an umpire, that's automatic ejection. That's a no-brainer. But if there is legitimately, your toe is like red and you can see that you got hit. See, I-- So you're gonna tell the umpire, "Hey, I'm gonna take off my shoe. "I'm gonna take off my sock. "Look at me, you made a bad call." It's automatic ejection. I'm not telling you. It's routine. I don't have to tell you you made a bad call, but if I tell you-- What do you think it's doing? I'm telling you, because if I show you my foot and it's got a big red mark on it or it's swelling up or whatever like that, then it legitimizes the fact that I'm not trying to-- You're legitimizing that you think he's wrong. He is wrong. I know, but it's an automatic ejection. I disagree with that. You can't take off your cleat in your shoe to show an umpire you got hit whenever he said you didn't and expect to stay in the game. So you could go with a batting glove or a wristband or a pull up your sleeve. If you did it with a batting glove, you're probably gonna get a jacket. No. If the home plate umpire said you did not get hit and then you immediately take off your batting glove and put it in his face to show your hand, you're getting ejected. I don't think so. Absolutely you are. I've seen it in the past where guys say, because they wonder if it's the bat handle or if it's the glove, that they'll take the glove off and show me that there's a red mark on their wrist. How many times in baseball history have you seen a player take off their shoe and their sock to show an umpire that he missed the call or they stayed in the game? So I don't know, 'cause we've never seen someone take off their shoe and the sock in a game before, but I've seen multiple guys do it with wristbands, batting gloves and things to show that their skin, that to show up with a ball mark or whatever, I've seen umpires check the ball for scuff marks from a shoe. If they're in question, if the umpire wants to figure out, okay, I'm not sure about that one. Let me see the ball to see if it's gonna help me make my decision. But whenever an umpire has made the decision and you do anything to show up in umpire, you're getting ejected. Anything to show up in umpire is gonna be an ejection. I mean, if he's like, you're saying, like jamming at his face and everything like that, but if he's not willing to listen and you take off your shoe and your sock and just point down to say, my toe wouldn't look like that. If I didn't just get hit, I don't understand how that's showing him up. - What do you mean he didn't understand that? - It's proving his point. - That's showing somebody up, whenever you're proving your point. Like if you're telling somebody that they're wrong, like if you were saying like some, if you were talking about spelling a word and you were a hell bent that this is the way that you spell a word and then I Google it and I show you, I'm showing you up. I might be right, but I'm showing you up. - Okay, whatever, I don't think, I think showing up is like, you know, you're cussing, you're demonstratively pointing and screaming and you're doing things to like tick the umpire off, but if you're not gonna give him the time of day, - You don't think taking off your shoe and your socks gonna tick him off? - It's proving your point that you're right. - Does it prove it? - Will it tick him off? Why doesn't it prove it? - Because you don't know where that mark came from. You can't definitively say it came from the moment in question. There's no way to know if that didn't happen in batting practice, if it happened in working out. To me, the thing that made the most sense where the umpire should have used common sense, I heard them say this on the broadcast last night. If Jose Altubia has no motivation to stand there in the box, if he doesn't think he's been hit, 'cause if he stands there in the box, he's getting thrown out. The only reason Jose Altubia in that situation would stand there and not run towards first base, if he's hit, he thinks the ball's dead. - Well, this is the second-- - That should be the common sense the umpire should use. - Well, we saw that the first time, 'cause it's the second time it's happened to him this year, that he winced the last time when he's, and that still didn't do any good, that they just, they weren't gonna reverse it. - What bothers me about that play is that it's not reviewable. - That's awful. - That to me is the stupidest thing about that play. Like, yes, the umpires should get that call right. Like, are they gonna make mistakes? Yes, was that one of the worst umpire games we've seen in recent history? Yes, but there is replay to fix umpire mistakes in baseball. Like, there's replay in all sports to fix mistakes that officials make. Why is that one not reviewable? - It should be. And that's where, you know, like, we see this in a lot of times in football and in basketball, they get with the competition committee, almost immediate, at least, and say, as soon as we can, we need to change this. There's no doubt now, we've seen it twice with the same guy, that they have to at least be able to review it. And the other thing is, if we're using review to get the calls right, the Braggman play, and then even the pro-fire play, if you can't see that, and you have more video angles, and you have the combination of both telecast videos, telecast camera angles, and all that stuff. And at the end of the day, you still don't get it right, then what the hell are we doing? - Yeah, it honestly almost felt like that year that we lit the referees and the NFL review past interference, the past interference calls, and they just seem to decide as a collective, we're not over tuning anything. There's no way you can look at that pro-fire play. They all even pro-farts telling me up. I didn't get, there's no way you can look at that and say, "Oh, you got hit." - I don't know how the review missed that. Like, they must not be looking at the ball. Like, they must not be looking at the ball. It still has the appropriate spin. Like, if that ball, like, if it just like grazes you, it's gonna change a little bit. Like, it's gonna change its course a minor amount. Now, yeah, I mean, I, that was a bad call. - And this is again, the second time we've had to deal with this with the Astros, because when Braggman got hit in Cincinnati, it was clear as day that it hit his forearm, and then after replay review, they don't think he got hit. How are we not getting that ball right? - See, I don't think that that, that wasn't that they didn't think he got hit. I think that was, it's not 100% conclusive, which is why I kind of hate replay. Like, I personally don't think it should be 100% conclusive. Like, why should the call that's made live in real time by guys with the naked eye that sometimes aren't very good? Why should that Trump slow mo way down instant replay? Like slow mo instant replays to be way more accurate when you're trying to make what you think is the right call versus the life call. I hate that it has to be 100% conclusive. I think that's dumb. - That's brutal too, and I think in all sports, the fact that you have to go with what the call was on the field or the court, and then you have to, it has to be conclusive or 100%. I think that's BS too, because I think that if you do take the time, if replay is final objective is supposed to be to get the call right, then get the call right. And use it as many times as you have to in big plays, or especially in tight games with situations like this to get the call right. Because that's what we all want. At the end of the day, there wouldn't be bitching on either side if you got it right. If you could see after replay, pro far didn't get hit, make the right call. I don't care what was called on the field. It's pretty clear cut when you look at the replay. He didn't get hit. - Yeah, that was a bizarre game. We haven't even got to like any of it. So let's talk more about this game on the other side. Wacky is regular season game in quite some time. We'll get your thoughts on it as well. It is a busy show. CJ Stroud, presumptuous and performative. Bobby Slowick, taking some heat. Blessings stress and coming up later as well. 713-780-ESPN, the HRMP listener line. You can find us on Twitch, switch.tv/ESPN97-5 on YouTube at ESPN Houston. Twitter, ESPN 975. Blankers at Pac-Man Joel. Brian's at SAGP by BMAC. I'm at Jeremy Branham. It is the bees on ESPN 97-5 and ESPN 92-5. Hey, sports betters, Branham here to tell you about my favorite sports market casino. And that's betUS.com. Football's back so it's time to get in on the action. I endorse one sports booking casino and that's betUS. If you want a game plan to win this season, check out betUS. BetUS went large for you this season with a massive offer. A 125% sign up bonus in your first three deposits. That's right, 125% bonus in your first three deposits. BetUS offers value. Other sports books simply do not gamblers insurance. Crypto bonuses, casino bonuses, plus they have all the products you need, competitive odds, parlays, live betting, odds boost, and prop betting. When you're ready to lay down your bet, give your bet an edge. Why not combine your sign up bonus with knowledge? Get that knowledge with expert analysis, picks and predictions on all major sports on their very own betUS TV. Get started at betUS.com. Give 'em a call, 1-800-MY-BET-US. BetUS is where the game begins. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) You found that Killer B's, live from the Veritex Community Bank Studios. Here's Joel Blanken, Jeremy Branham. B's, CSPN, 97-5, ESPN-92-5, 7-1-4-8. Branham thinks she's right about everything. Bro is a D, very punchable voice in face. How do you look at this face and wanna punch it? I can't, like voice, I'm with ya. The D, sometimes. Do I think I'm right about everything? 90% of the stuff, definitely about this. But how do you look at this face and wanna punch this face, blankers? I know that you've never wanted to punch this face. I know that you've never, Brian, you've never wanted. How do you look at this thing? This thing right here, a voice, I mean, a face for radio, a face really for billboards. How do you face for modeling, if I was taller, I'd be a model. How do you look at this face? I'm a delight. How do you look at this face and wanna punch it? A face for radio and a voice for print. I don't get that part. I don't get that part. I don't get that part. I don't get that part. I mean, there's been a noise voice. There's been a few times. There's been a few times for me. I see what you're saying because it's kind of like, you know, it's not a voice is like, you can't see a voice. I know it's, but you hear a voice and you wanna punch the person with that voice. I mean, I'm a lover. I'm not really a fighter, you know. What's your love violence? I mean, Pharrell's got a voice that I can't stand. Really? Yeah, so you're thinking of a different Pharrell. I'm talking about the sports radio for you. Oh, I don't know that. Yeah, it's gravelly. It's like listening to sandpaper on wood. Same thing with, I'm not trying to read a guy that was in late nights on the sports grid. I'm calling, anyway, I'll ask some, maybe I'll do it. There's some voices you wanna punch. There's some guys who've tried to copy Pharrell that have that same kind of gravelly voice that... Yeah, like you can't punch the voice I get it, but they have a voice and you wanna punch the person with that voice. But I don't understand the texture. Yeah, most of what you said is correct, texture. And we'll put this in mean text on Friday. But you can't punch this face. No one's ever wanted to punch this face. 7, 1, 4, 8, 3, 1, 1, 8. Really, Joel, really? Blaine says Altubay knew he was getting ejected. That was intentional and definitely showed him up. He was mad. I don't know if he's talking about the umpire being mad or the... I don't think Altubay knew that. I don't think Altubay cared at that moment. I think it was going to be... Altubay knew he was being ejected. Yeah, Altubay was going to get his money. Yeah, he was going to get his money's worth. He knew he was gone. As soon as he was ejected, Altubay was like, kind of slumped his shoulders and walked away. Yeah. Like, he 100% knew you can't take off your shoe and your side. I think he... And expect to stay in the game. 9229, going with the call on the field after replays, just a cop out for the umpires. I agree. I think it's stupid. Like, how is that better? How is life called better than slow-go replay? The idea is that it has to be 100%, right? But whether or not it's 100% is in the eye of the person watching it. So it's completely subjective and it ends up falling just back on, like you said, the live call when we get a much better look. Instead of one instance happening in a flash of a second, now you're having to remember and see everything in real time versus 100 angles slow-mo, you're going to get a much better depiction of what happened with the replay. Yeah, to me, it's just like, I don't care about if the umpire gets his feelings hurt because I'm reversing his call. At the end of the day, if it's about getting the call right, then use every technological piece of resource that you have to get the call right. And then I'll live with it. But when the naked eye and the people at home and the replays we're getting clearly show us one thing and they go with the other, that's why when they showed the react and the dugout when everybody was pretty convinced that, look, that it's going to go the Astros way. And then all of a sudden between Verlander and Dubon, you've got two different versions of the same kind of holy bleep, what are you doing? Yeah, I don't think that it should be clear and conclusive. I think you should be able to watch the slow-mo replay and make your best decision at that point. So there'd be a lot of bang, bang plays. They're like, it's not quite, or I mean, it could be a hit by pitch, like the Pro 4.1 yesterday. They didn't overturn that because they weren't 100% sure it didn't graze his arm. But after watching the replay, you're 98% sure. You're 99% sure. You should probably be 100% sure, but clearly they were not because they kept the call in the field. It shouldn't be 100%. It should be greater than 50%. Yeah, it's just, again, when you see it and whether, and you can't leave it in the umpire's hands, but someone just has to have the authority and the end say to just be able to say, I'm watching what I've seen regardless of what was called on the field, that's what I see and that's what the call is done. End of story. That's the way they should do this. I'm with him. We have to mention Greg Castinger. Greg Castinger gave, do you see him blow a bubble when he flipped the ball to second base? What a, what a slow gangster. I know, I didn't even know that. He blew a bubble as he's flipping the ball to pain you. Like how, what a pimp. Like, who does that? Who does that? Greg Castinger's awesome. I love that guy. Like, he flips it while he's blowing a bubble making the play of the year. I was like, how two of me doesn't make that play? I'm just gonna say you know that. - I didn't know that. - That was the, my first thing I was gonna say after you were done with the bubble was, the real first question is, does Al-Tube make that play? 'Cause they might have been a blessing that Al-Tube got thrown out because Greg Castinger made a play. I don't think Al-Tube makes. - Well, it's also a blessing that Pro-Fart did end up on first because it made the play much easier for Castinger than it had happened to throw to first. - I wouldn't go that far. I much rather have Pro-Fart at the play with runners at the corners and one lead to any Machado at the play, but you know what a Pro-Fart does, maybe Pro-Fart just strikes out. There's no play at all. - I'm just going with what actually happened. If, with that ball hit by Machado, it's a much easier play to flip it to second than throw to first. - You can't say what actually happened 'cause Pro-Fart is it bad didn't happen. - No, but okay, we had bases loaded with Machado up. In that moment, that ball hit by Machado that Casinger then turned it through to Pina. That throw from Casinger's butt to Pina at second, much easier than trying to get it to first. - No doubt. - No doubt. - And if you don't get the runner first, the tying runs score. So I actually played in the ass with the playing mind. - I'd rather have Pro-Fart at the play with runners at first and third than Manny Machado at the front of the mouth loaded. - I'm just talking about with the actual result though. - Do we think that the positioning might have been different if he wasn't on first base in terms of where Casinger was playing? But if he was not on first base, the inning's over. You already win, you get the third out with Pro-Fart. That's why I'm having some trouble with this scenario here because you can't have another situation. There was two outs. If Pro-Fart doesn't get hit by a pitch, well, what happened in his played appearance? Like, what happened there? Like, did he pop out? Did he drive in a run? Did he hit a bomb? - Yeah, I'm just dealing with what was actually in play when Machado was a bad. - Kinda, because you're not dealing with what happened like what led to that if Pro-Fart didn't reach? Or did reach? See what I'm saying? - I'm 100%. - Yeah, but we 100% know they win in the case of Machado comes up with Pro-Fart's own. We don't 100% know they win if Pro-Fart continues to be a bat. - Yeah, but if you're giving me-- - Every result less than that is. - Pre-inting though, you give me the option. You have a one run lead and Jerrickson Pro-Fart is at the plate with runners at first and third and two outs. Or Manny Machado is at the plate with the bases loaded down by a run with two outs. What should you take him? - I'm 100% without replay telling you that I take, I want to face Pro-Fart. I don't want to face Pro-Fart. - And every scrap, everybody would. Which is why it was kind of dumb that Jerrickson Pro-Fart was so angry. Like it was super selfish by Jerrickson Pro-Fart. - That was all about him just wanting to be the guy. - Yeah, super selfish by Pro-Fart. Not that he had any say in it, but it's like, hey, Jerrickson, we kind of want the Manny Machado situation. The winning runs now at second as opposed to first base. So that was bizarre. He was F bombing the umpires. - He was the whole way off the field. - That was insane. - Yeah, it was. - He was actually on his way to first base and off the field. He was pointing at the two different umpires and screaming at both of them. So before the game was even over, as he was forced to go to first base and didn't want to go, he was talking to the first base umpire and bitching at him. And then after the game, he just went nuts on all of them. - Yeah, the 70/10, it was hilarious that the only reason Gray's out there is because of how two base foot. Gray had the line of the post game too. He said as soon as Jose, how two base started to untie his shoe, I went to pick up my glove. 'Cause he knew that Jose got to be ejected, showing his naked foot to the umpire, which is funny too, 'cause you know how a two base super conservative. He doesn't like his bare skin to be shown. And here he is showing his foot, showing that hairy left toe. - Don't think that Rosenthal didn't write about the fact that he was, yeah, here's the guy that didn't want to unbutton his shirt, but was willing to take off his shoe inside. - So the barstool, barstool, I don't know. - Oh yeah, barstool ready with that. I'm trying to bring in buzzers to it. - It's angry. - Anger will make you do crazy things. We got the Mitch and Hunter Brown. The Hunter Brown's performance gets buried in all of this. You mentioned earlier that the umpire screwed Machado on that three O count, which was a terrible call, which might have indirectly, and then eventually directly screwed Hunter Brown, 'cause you give it the two run homer there. What'd you think of Hunter's performance? - I thought it's great. I thought that that's exactly what you want out of a guy that you're one to up on top of your rotation. I thought that he continues to prove that whatever happened early in the season, we're so far beyond it. You trust him, you believe in him. You know that he's a badler and that he's got great stuff. I loved what I saw out of him last night, 'cause that is a really good hitting lineup. And he was battling all night long and dealing, and I was extremely pleased with the performance. - Yeah, I thought he was really good. He was fired up after he struck out a rise, which was unbelievable pitch. A little cutter gets it to the top corner of the zone. A rise was kind of like trying to, you know, deak the umpire a little bit by flailing out of the box, 'cause he knew he was close. - He was trying to drill the pole. - Oh, it was unbelievable. And then he was fired up. Like, I couldn't figure out what he was saying. - Whatever he was saying. - Yeah, I fired up though. - 'Cause at a certain point, that's when he went down the tunnel. It's like, I think he probably didn't want it to go to, you know, hear everybody have him still continue to yell. But yeah, he from the time that he stepped off the bump all the way down the stairs, he was screaming and yelling and very, very animated. It was great. - He was, I mean, yeah, he was chirping. He was chirping. I thought he pitched really well. He looked good, still super confident with him at the top of the rotation. Only other thing that I have, and then you guys can jump in here too. Yiner Diaz was awful. Yiner Diaz was awful. He had two, and I know he had the base hit late with a runner at first base, but he had two situations. First inning, I can't remember the other. Maybe seventh or eighth inning. - It was later. - Late in the game. He had runners at first and third, less than two outs, twice, twice. He's up there, flailing away, chasing pitches out of the zone, first and eighth inning, first and third with less than two outs. Swinging at everything, non-competitive at bat, I think I could have had a more competitive at bat than Yiner Diaz in the first and the eighth inning than Yiner Diaz. That's incredibly frustrating. Play discipline is the reason that Yiner Diaz is not the best offensive catcher in all of baseball. He might already be, but he might not be. It would not be an argument. If that dude had played discipline, he would be the best offensive catcher in all of baseball. He'd be one of the best offensive players in all of baseball, and he'd hit 30 home runs. Yiner Diaz needs some play discipline, because that had bat in the first and the eighth, should have cost the Astros the game. The minute that the eighth inning at bat was over, and the fact that he didn't look like he had any kind of a plan going up there, and you're right, he was just chasing the pitches that were teasers on the corner going way outside. My first thought was to the conversation we had yesterday, and that was, I'd move Bergman up, and I'd move Yiner down. I would just move Yiner back behind the top five, or top four, and I would move Bergman back up, because one thing we know about Bergman is he has really good concept of the zone, and he's very selective, and especially the fact that regardless of how good Yiner has been with runners in scoring position, I would make the switch. - Yeah, I mean, that's fine. That's not gonna make Yiner a better hit. - No, it's not. - This is more, for Yiner to take the next step in his career as an offensive player, he needs to step up in that department. Jose Altuve did. Like, Jose Altuve, two of a first couple of years in the bigs had zero, and he still doesn't have great play discipline. He's actually regressed this year, but his play discipline, years three through 10 in his career, so much better than years one than one and two, and I think it's a reason that he found power. Yes, he changed his approach a bit, but it's hard to hit home runs when you're swinging at everything. Do Yiner and Jose Altuve have elite contact skills? Yes, is that the reason that they swing at every single pitch that's thrown to them, even if it's two feet out of the zone? Yes, are they capable of hitting 300 with that discipline and that approach? They've proven it. They've proven that they are capable of doing that, but if Yiner Diaz wants to be a 30 home run guy, he's got to stop, because you can't do damage with pitches out of the zone consistently. If you got to be a 30 home run guy, you have to swing at pitches that you can do damage with, and in situations like that, first and third, one out, why is the pitcher going to throw you a strike if you're going to get yourself out? They stink and walk Kyle Tucker on a two-two count to get to Yiner Diaz. They do not respect Yiner Diaz. They do not fear Yiner Diaz, why? Because his play discipline sucks. And this is what we were going through with Peña a year, a little over a year ago or early in his career, where we kept saying the same thing, where he just could not resist the temptation of chasing and flailing on breaking pitches, middle out and out. And it got better. And whatever he did, and he altered his swing a little bit this offseason, and he's continued to get better. It's the same kind of trajectory you need to see out of Yiner, because sometimes it happens in spurts, but man, for the most part, he just can't lay off the temptation of that breaking pitch middle out to the corner and corner and out, and it almost constantly puts him in a hole and makes him look silly. - All off season, Yiner, improve your play discipline and use that first base mitt to learn how to play first base. Now, the Astros did move Yiner down below Breichmann today, but no Kyle Tucker. So Yiner's still in the clean-up spot. Al-Tuvay, you weren't on Breichmann, Yiner. Al-Tuvay's D-H-ing too, that big toes, rather than a single-ton-pania Hayward-dubon Myers. The lineup is the Astros go for the series against the Padres tonight in San Diego. First pitch, 605, 605 in that game. All right, 713-780-3776. CJ Stroud, he's being called presumptuous. He's being called performative. Is he? It's the bees on ESPN 97-5 and ESPN 92-5. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) You listening to the killer bees with Joel Blanket, Jeremy Branham. On ESPN 97-5 and 92-5. Broadcasting live from the Veritex community bank studios. People are texting us. They're the people that have punchable voices. Paul Galant has come up. Rene Glaze Branham said, "Well, doctor, Jake Asman, the most recent one, those texts didn't, David Spade, has a punchable voice." I'm not a big David Spade guy. - It's a punchable face in general, I think. - He said punchable voice. - I know, but I'm just saying I'm adding on to that. I think y'all have a punchable face. - Yeah, I think he does too. All right, 713-780-ESP-N. Maybe one of the clowns that's gonna come up this segment maybe has a punchable voice too. All right, did you catch the CJ Stroud, Kayla Williams, the exchange that they had after the game. Kayla Williams, Stroud, shaking hands, like all quarterbacks do at the end of a game. Shroud started talking to him. Kayla Williams kind of pulled away. Shroud grabbed him kind of aggressively, kind of aggressively. Here's that conversation between Stroud and mostly Stroud and Kayla Williams. - Good job out there, bro. - Yeah, keep going. I'll take them on stage. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Learn from those mistakes and everything that you got, bro, is there you already, bro. You're gonna be held the player in his league. All right, boy. - Appreciate it. - All right, what do you think of that? What do you think of that little interchange? - You know, I like the fact that CJ is, you know, he's just trying to mentor him a little bit 'cause he's already, he's been through it. I felt like Kayla Williams was a little flippant. I get it, you lost the game. So maybe, you know, the way you compete, you just didn't want to hear it at that point. I just didn't think it was a good look for Kayla Williams, but at the end of the day, it is what it is. - See, I saw a lot of people saying that too. I didn't think it's a bad look for Kayla Williams. Like, Kayla Williams just got beat up, got hit over and over and over repeatedly, just lost a tough game. CJ Stroud and Kayla Williams are the same age. So like, CJ Stroud talking to him, like he's his grandpa. Like, if I'm in Kayla Williams beat CJ Stroud for the Heisman, like two years ago, Kayla Williams was up in the stage except in the Heisman, the runner up, the bridesmaid was CJ Stroud. So like, if I'm in Kayla Williams shoes there, I'm probably not here for that either. Like, I'm probably like, okay, man, I don't need to hear the advice from you. It would kind of be like if Jake Aspen was giving you advice on how to do radio. Like, how would you handle that? Like, seriously, like I'm not saying that like you should. - Well, I get it. - But how would you handle that? Like, I can understand Kayla Williams not being overly vocal and friendly in that moment. - To be honest, I would, you know, if the cameras are on me and you know that it's a big moment like that, I'm just gonna nod my head. I'm gonna politely say thanks. I'm gonna walk away. You know, obviously I'm gonna feel a certain kind of way about it, but I think that a lot of times too because we're not in that moment, but you have an image, the player's association, the quarterbacks have their own kind of association. We're they're the ones that started this a long time ago to make sure each quarterback at the end of the game does this and then it became a media thing. And now it's kind of like an expected thing to where you just kind of, you fake it. - Yeah, but I've been going up and like giving each other dap and like shaking hands is one thing, but then for one guy to give you a lecture on like how you should be using your rookie year, when you probably think you're better than the other guy, quite frankly, do I think Kayla Williams better than CJ Stroud? No, of course not, obviously not. Does Kayla Williams thinks he's better than CJ Stroud? Probably. And it's probably what makes quarterbacks good. Is that arrogance, that pride, that ego where I am the best? So, and like I said, Kayla Williams was the Heisman. CJ Stroud was his runner up. So Kayla Williams probably views Stroud as an equal, and best as an equal. He certainly doesn't view CJ Stroud as, you know, his idol, his hero, as somebody that he's looking to, to get advice from and CJ Stroud's giving advice when Kayla Williams isn't asking for it on the heels of a tough loss when he got repeatedly hit and hit and hit time and time again. - I get the last part of that. I get the fact that, you know, if you're a competitor, you hate losing and you're probably not in a great mood, but at the same time, I think that if you're talking about a guy that's gone through a rookie season in the NFL already, and you know, where is it coming from? It's not from a gloating, I don't think it's like-- - But it wasn't asked for. - You're right. - It was not asked for. - It's not like I'm trying to act like I'm above you or anything like that. It's more like I've been in your shoes a year ago, and so, you know, if I can lend you this. Now, you're right. - I'm not saying Stroud's in the wrong. I'm not saying Stroud's wrong here. I'm saying that Kayla Williams shouldn't be looked at as like handling the situation poorly or as a negative towards Kayla Williams. - But I think you read his facial expressions and the kind of the kind of flippiness that it looked like he was disinterested and just didn't, he wasn't there for it. He didn't want to hear any of it. I think that's where, you know, you listen, you look him in the eye, you listen to what he's got to say and you're like, okay, cool, good bye. But there, it just seemed like the body language and the reaction, there was a little bit more to it. But I also understand if you're a competitor and you lost, you probably just want to get to the locker room and you definitely don't want to do that. That's, let me say this, that's a conversation where if it happens in the tunnel or after the game when they're in their street clothes and he's going to the bus and you're going home, that's different. - Yeah, I'm not a big fan of giving advice when it's under asked for though. Like, it does, like, it gives off the appearance that you're putting yourself on a pedestal and that you're like, you know, holier than now. So I can see where like Williams is coming from and I can see also, Mike Florio is on 610, the score in Chicago earlier today in Bernstein's one of the hosts, I forget who his co-host is, but Bernstein has this thought that CJ Stroud a bit presumptuous, a bit performative with that conversation with Caleb Williams. - You mentioned CJ Stroud and I'm sure you've seen the video and you've heard the sound of CJ Stroud pulling Caleb Williams over and offering him unsolicited advice. We were debating this of where Stroud is coming from. I found it to be a little presumptuous, if not performative on his part for, I think it's one thing, what do you think the protocol is for when you can give advice like you're an OG quarterback in that moment after a hard fought NFL game? If you're the same age as a guy to go over and treat him like he's your kid, I could understand if Caleb Williams was like, look, I may hear this from Aaron Rodgers, I'm not hearing it from you. - Well, on the other side of it too, look, I think there's a segment of the media and the fan base that wants to find fault with anything and everything Caleb Williams does. So it distorts our view and our reaction to what he does. I try to watch objectively, yeah, he seems like a guy who just lost a football game and really isn't interested in getting a lecture at midfield about basic obvious stuff. He's writing, I mean, I don't need to hear clichés, I want to go change my clothes and get the hell out of here. So, yeah, I think some made too much of it, but you're right. At what point did CJ Stroud become Tom Bray? That's, he's not there yet. So I think it's just a weird thing all around. I think it's not CJ Stroud's place to preach to a guy who's just one year behind him by the way of experience. And from Caleb's perspective, you know, look, you just lost a game. You really, you know, you don't want to hear it. But I wasn't surprised. I was disappointed, but I wasn't surprised that the knee-jerk reaction by most was, oh, who does Caleb think he is? - No, that wasn't my reaction at all. - That's good there. - Now this has been deleted, by the way. 670, the score has deleted this video from their social, for for whatever reason, which I think is probably Florio's doing because if you're 6'7" to the score and everybody's like responding to this, you want that, that's why I think it's Florio. - You think it's because of his NBC? - No, I mean, Florio chases impressions too, but I don't think that he wants to have impressions on something that he doesn't own. So it's like, if this is gonna be something that is controversial and becomes a firestorm and it's not happening on, you know, his Twitter hand or his website, he like doesn't want to get caught, like in that. So I think it's Florio's doing, 'cause I don't think there's any chance 670, the score in Chicago, who is looking to get social media engagement is deleting that video whenever it's doing numbers. - I could see Florio go on his own podcast or whatever like that and do it to get the, but I think the other thing that I would think about when you ask that was he also may be worried about what he said and how CJ reacts to it, knowing that CJ's gonna be around for a while and be one of those guys, if he feels like what he said is gonna create some kind of a wedge between him and CJ. - All right, so do you think that this was presumptuous? Do you think that this was performative? Those were the words used about CJ Stroud and his exchange with Caleb Williams. Stroud presumptuous and performative, 7-1-3-7-8-0-3-7-7-6. It is the bees on ESPN 97-5 and ESPN 92-5. My colleague, U of H class of 1990, go Cougs. Chris Fisher over there as well, great people in HR&P. 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So let HR&P take on the demands of human resources and eliminate your HR burden so you can get back to growing your business. Give it a call right now, 281-880-6525 and let HR&P customize a plan for you, 281-880-6525 or check them out at HR&P.net. That's HR&P.net. ♪ University of Kentucky SPN, 97-5 ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ You're locked in with a killer bees on ESPN 97-5 and 92-5 ♪ ♪ Live from the Veritex Community Bank Studios ♪ ♪ Here's Joel Blanken, Jeremy Brandt ♪ - All right, so CJ Stroud, presumptuous, performative, would you say if presumptuous, would you say it's performative? Stroud was doing to Caleb Williams. - I don't believe that it was either one of those things. I believe that, I believe that CJ, I think it was coming from the heart. I think that CJ, we know a lot of things about him, we're learning more every day, but I think that kind of with his upbringing and his love for the game and his desire to like do everything football and live and die football, I think that he feels a certain way about the game and maybe he felt differently about the relationship with Caleb, then Caleb felt about him, but I don't think it was from a bad place. I think he meant well. - It's definitely not performative. Like 100% saying performative is blasphemy, quite frankly. Like this is who CJ Stroud is, for better or worse, is it annoying to other quarterbacks that maybe aren't friendly with CJ Stroud? Okay, I can get how that would be annoying or put off, like that would be something that would be, you know, a turn off for you. 'Cause it's like, yeah, like none of us love taking advice from people that we don't think are, like we don't respect, right? Like if somebody you don't respect's coming up to you and like, oh, you should do things this way. This is how you should do it. Like Twitchers, hey, this is the segment you should have here. This is the segment you should have there. Like that's not gonna be something that you're going to love. So I can understand the presumptuous part of that. Felling to observe the limits of what is permitted or appropriate. Perhaps Caleb Williams who feels like an equal with CJ Stroud, both the same age, Caleb Williams was the Heisman, CJ Stroud, the rookie, someone texted in, say rookie of the year, greater than Heisman, certainly at the NFL level. Rookie of the years have better careers than Heisman Trophy winners, certainly. So I would agree that rookies of the year greater than Heisman's when you're talking about how it translates to NFL success. But from Caleb Williams' shoes, could Caleb Williams feel like the guy who's the same age as him, a guy who he feels like is an equal, that it's a bit inappropriate following a loss that you're hunting me down and then giving me this advice that's pretty cliche. I could see how it is a bit presumptuous. - 'Cause I think that, you know, and I think you kind of touched on this, but I saw floating around on Twitter, a lot of different players and ex-players talking about this too. Saying that, you know, from a defensive players perspective, if Ray Lewis comes up to me after a game and wants to say something to me, I'm probably gonna be all ears. - Yeah. - You know, if Patrick Mahomes came up to say something to Caleb Williams, he's probably gonna be a little bit more dialed in, respectful, and kind of care about it. - I don't think Caleb Williams was a jerk here either though. Like, Caleb Williams, hey, great game, and like, dap them up, and then like, he thought it was over, started to walk away, and she's just like, hey, listen, and I mean, he stayed there and listened, I don't think Williams was a jerk. - I thought his body language and-- - He lost. - He was upset if he lost the game. - Yeah, I get it, but from my personal opinion, I thought that his body language was a little, I mentioned it earlier, I thought he was a little flippin' with it, but I think that there's definitely gonna be a different level of our different reaction and a different level of attention if it's someone like you said, like a future Hall of Famer, or someone at the top of their game, or had been on the top of their game, because it's gonna hit differently with all their experiences because it's a career, it's not a year. - Yeah, all right, 7-1-3-7-8-0-E-S-P-N, performative to me is ridiculous though, like throwin' at it, like this is who CJ Stroud is for better or worse. Calling it performative is outrageous. Presumptuous, I think there is a little bit to that, 7-1-3-7-8-0-3-7-7-6. Let's go out to the HRMP listener line, Garrett, you're in the hive with the bees, what's up, Garrett? - Hey, what's goin' on, guys? Yeah, he's from Stroud and I'm actually en route to the studio for our Blessner Stroud and segment here at 4.30, but yeah, so I've been, you know, in tune with this all day, and to me, the real word is genuine. I mean, us as Texans fans know CJ Stroud better than the rest of the national media, and to me, this has been a problem like all off season with all these podcasts where all this, you know, crap talkin' was goin' on and it was just, you know, friends being friends. People that don't know CJ that well are taking it the wrong way because he's being a jerk, and they're doing the same thing in this situation too. You know, all he's doing is just tryin' to offer help being genuine, and the way I look at it is if you flip the rolls around, if it was CJ Stroud, the rookie, and Kayles Williams was, you know, the second year vet that's comin' off into rookie of the year, I don't see CJ Stroud having anywhere near the same reaction that Kayle Williams had. I see him being all ears and being willing to learn every bit of information he can, and that's what he's done the entire time. And then to your point earlier, Jeremy, I suspect that the post was deleted because CJ Stroud's mom actually, quote, tweeted it, and, you know, herself being pretty frustrated with it. She said that, you know, since when is encouraging lecturing, FYI, black men can get along too, always tryin' to create a narrative, stop at LOL. So, I mean, I think that's why Florio deleted it because, you know, I agree that it was, you know, pretty outlandish of his take on that. - Yeah, appreciate the call, Gary. We'll see you here in 30 minutes with some stress in our blessing. I don't understand why it has to be a racial thing. - Oh, I agree. - I guess it could have very easy, and I'm not saying that Garrett's saying that. Garrett's not saying that. He's just throwin' in some added information there. If this was Drake May doing it, to me it's the same conversation. Like it shouldn't matter that aspect of it. 713-780-ESP. - I agree though that I think that if the roles were reversed, I think CJ would listen. I don't think CJ, I think CJ would be- - If Drake May- - No, no, not Drake May. - Well, Wyatt, what's different about that? - Okay, but I'm just- - What the hell is a race component? - No, I'm sayin' whoever the quarterback is, if they'd been through it for a year, or they had been through more than CJ in the NFL, and they offered that up to CJ. - Bryce Young starts later in the year, they don't play, but just don't doubt this scenario. Or it's last year, last year. Zach Wilson, let's say CJ Stroud doesn't get concussed. Zach Wilson beats the Texans, which he did. He comes up to CJ Stroud after the game, and starts telling him how he should play quarterback in the NFL. - I think that you have to have a certain level of success. I think to do that. - I think that's the take though, is like where, why these guys from Chicago are saying, has CJ Stroud hit that amount of success, or he can be acting like this? Because I agree with you. I think there is an amount of a level of success. If you're Tom Brady, you can do this to whoever you want. If you're Peyton Manning, you can do this to whoever you want. If you're Pat Mahomes, you can do this to whoever you want. Can CJ Stroud after one year in two games be doing this to whoever he wants? - Yeah, that is a fine line. And I think that's open for discussion. I think maybe CJ, again, I don't think that there's a, it's hard to say, I don't think there's a bad bone in his body from this perspective of doing this with the wrong idea. - I agree, no one's saying that. - But you're right, Chicago was a little bit. - Right, but yeah, and again, you're gonna be protective of your guy too, because your guys just getting started. And I think that they would be idiots if they didn't say, I hope that he gets the career trajectory so far of CJ. But when you look at it, yes, there is an element too that I can understand that with CJ getting all the attention he got after his first good year, and people saying it might be the best rookie quarterback season in the history of the league, that the podcasts on top of that, the extra attention for that, everybody making sure they mentioned the stuff that he said that maybe he did get a little big for his britches in the fact that he was there too soon. I mean, maybe he's gone a little too far in the eyes of some. Like, that's William. - That's the point. I think that's the point of the conversation is like what level of success does he have to have, or maybe even age does he have to have to be able to, I'm not saying that he can't be able to have this conversation. But had this conversation and then 100% of the time that it is accepted. Like, I'm not blaming Caleb Williams for not accepting this. In no way is this performative behavior by CJ Stroud. This is 100% who he is. I 100% agree that he was genuine with what he was doing. At the same time, Caleb Williams doesn't have to be about it, though. Caleb Williams doesn't have to be there. He doesn't have to be, you know, hey, you know, give me all this wisdom that you have great CJ Stroud. Oh no, we have to bow down at your feet. Like, that's where I think the Chicago guys are coming in at. Like, who was CJ Stroud to be able to lecture all these quarterbacks on how to be great at being an NFL quarterback after a game or a year in two games. 713-78-03776. I think you're not gonna love this. If Adam Clanton came to you and was like, this is how you should do radio. How would you accept that? So like, I think that there is a little element of that for Caleb Williams. 713-78-03776. Back out to the HRP listener live. Dave, you're in the hive with the bees. What's up, Dave? Hey, guys, listen to this. Like you say, I don't think-- I think CJ meant well for sure. I think you're a little tone deaf. I tell you, a better thing for him to have said would have been, hey, look, you know, top game. First year in this league is tough, even for guys like us. Kind of be an equal with him. Because, hey, one guy, he won the hive in trophy, you know? He's not, you know, it's kind of treated like an equal, not like, you know, I'm here and you're down there at this point. That's just my thought. Appreciate it, Dave. I could see a little bit of that. Like, CJ Stroud in that moment was definitely talking from a place of authority. No doubt. Like I-- I think it might have been-- There might be a little tone deaf. Authority might be the wrong word to use, but it's almost more like, hey, I'm a top five quarterback in the league and you're still not. Yeah, I think there's definitely a case to be made that CJ was a little tone deaf, that he didn't, you know, work the-- know the room a little bit better and realize there might be a time and a place for that somewhere down the road, but basically just say, hey, keep balling, keep doing what you do, keep pressing. That's cool, but it kind of went too far. Yeah, and I'm not saying that CJ was wrong with anything that he did. Right, I'm not either. I'm more defending Caleb Williams. What'd you call it, Flappet about it? Flappet. Flappet. Like, I'm more defending him being Flappet about it. I have nothing wrong with what CJ Stroud did, but I'm also understanding of the argument in the Chicago guys of R.U. Tom Brady. So like, what level does Stroud have to hit for this to be accepted by every single quarterback in the NFL? 713-780-3776. It is the bees on ESPN 97-5 and ESPN 92-5. The ESPN 97-5. Shop Macy's VIP sale going on now. Use your coupon or Macy's card and take an extra 30% off the latest fall trends from designers that rarely go on sale. And save 15% off skincare, makeup, fragrances, and more. Plus, shop false specials for even more great deals on top brands at Macy's. Savings off regular and already reduced prices, exclusions apply. [MUSIC PLAYING]