The Killer B's: Joel Blank & Jeremy Branham
12/06 Hour 2- Who is At Large in the ACC?
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It's the Killer Bees. - On ESPN 97.5 and 92.5. - Here's Joel Blanken, Jeremy Branham. - Let's go straight out to the HR and P guests line being joined by Taylor McCart. Covers college football for CBS Sports, former Rice Out quarterback. Taylor, thanks for taking a few minutes, hanging out with the Killer Bees. College championship weekend begins tonight. Which of these championship games has the most of your attention? - Well, man, gosh, that's such a good question. - Thank you. - I've probably, honestly, in a lot of ways, the Big 12. And I know that that may not be the answer that a lot of people, I think they're obviously both in, or in Penn State, they're both in. I'm more interested in, you know, these matchups where it is when in your end situations, I think it's gonna be really compelling. And Iowa State Arizona State, I think is a, I think it's like a point spread. Right now basically a pick 'em. Last I saw Arizona State was a slight favorite, but that to me, I think it's gonna be a really compelling game. And then the other one, yeah, I'm gonna cover a lot of the group of five had mostly not in the west action for CBS this year. And so I got my eyes on you and I'll be in Boise State because I think that's another, the way that these teams are ranked right now. I think it doesn't really matter even if Army were to win. I think the winner of UNLV in Boise State gets a playoff spot. And again, as a group of five guy, like you mentioned, I mean, I played it right. I love that there is a group of five spot for these teams. So those two, and then obviously we'll have eyes on and be following the other Power 4 conference matchups. But those to me, just less impactful because those teams, Georgia, Texas, Penn State, Oregon, they're all in no matter what. - Tell, I'm curious, could there have been a better season long storyline and scenario to play out than the one that played out this year to promote the fact that this was the year to expand and that the expansion is perfect. And there's almost a discussion to be had about, could they go even further now because of the fact that it's so wide open and so many teams have a shot? - No, I think this, in a lot of ways, is exactly what you would have hoped for with regards to the year that they expand the playoff, you don't have real dominant teams, right? You don't have three or four that are at the top and then there's a clear separation with everybody else. I think you've seen one of the best examples of the year, Michigan and Ohio State last week. I think everybody assumed Ohio State playing at home, they were gonna win by multiple scores. I think a game like that, I think Alabama losing it, Vanderbilt, I mean, there's been so many throughout this season of games where you say, really I think anybody that gets into this field for the most part, I think really has a shot to win at least a first round game. And it wouldn't surprise me at all to see in the first round an upset or two, even for teams that are obviously gonna be at home, but I think it's a great example of why it's been fantastic to see the expanded college football playoff. I think it's also been awesome to see, we've got many fan bases we have that are still engaged in the month of the end of November and December. I mean, the fact that we've got Arizona State and SMU and UNLV, I mean, these fan bases that are still really engaged in the sport at the end of the year, I think that's healthy for the sport. I think it gets away from just having the top six or eight teams that every year is kind of this self-fulfilling prophecy or it's just those teams every single time. I also think NIL has helped that in some respects also. I think there's a little bit of sharing of the wealth, so to speak, of there are other fan bases that are able to pay up and you're seeing kids and talent go to different parts of the country than just the Georges and Texas and US fees of the world. - Yeah, and it's interesting too, 'cause that was the fear initially from the NIL, right? That all of the blue bloods would be able to stack all of the talent and there would never be the trickle down effect, which we are seeing. I think another beauty of the college football playoff is while there's still great debate, that's never gonna go away. They're always looking for reasons to debate, but it's less than the importance of those debates. To me, there's only two real debates heading into the final week before we found out what the bracket's gonna look like. The one that comes to mind is SMU Alabama. If SMU are to lose to Clemson, they are not the at-large in the ACC, SMU or Alabama for that final at-large. Where do you stand on that, Taylor? - Yeah, I think the committee this year, and it feels like it's selective data every year, but the committee has really hammered home the value of top 25 wins, the value of critical, important wins, and that's been the data point for Alabama that's been so important to them. Which I understand, and that's obviously huge, but SMU has some quality wins against ranked teams as well, and they didn't go lose at Vanderbilt. And I feel like with Alabama, that's been something that's sort of been lost, Vanderbilt's a bowl team out of the SEC, so it's not the bottom of the SEC, but sitting there with three losses, I think SMU, if they lose to Miami, there's already an argument being made that these championship games are to the detriment of the teams that are playing in them. 50% of them will come away with their loss, and either your cheating gets worse, or in the case of an SMU, you potentially lose out on the playoff. And I think you'll see in the future teams say, well, they're just not gonna play in the championship game then. So I'm hopeful that the committee, especially if it's close, I think worst case scenario obviously for SMU is if they get their doors blown off by Miami, then there is a case to be made even in that scenario that a three-loaf Alabama deserves to go in over them. But where I sit right now, I would have SMU getting in, and really none of those three-loaf teams, the Ole Misses, Alabama, South Carolina, I would have all of them on the outside looking in. - On the top side of this discussion, Taylor, I'm curious because of the fact that Oregon's been sitting on top, but the Big Ten has been very much a water. I'm a Big Ten guy and I just haven't been impressed with anybody other than the top two teams in the conference. And with that said, Ohio State has obviously shown its flaws. But as you get into this play, as we get closer to the playoff, is Oregon the clear cut best team going in, Texas is picking up steam, Georgia's getting ETN back. How do you see the top teams as being, and who do you think is your favorite to win it all right now? - Yeah, it's interesting that Ohio State, you talked about their flaws. Once they face a dominant front, and make no mistake about it would be Michigan's front seven, especially that defensive line, is still one of the best in the country. And they got exposed, meaning Ohio State, when they played Michigan and could not run the football. I think that's gonna be the recipe. Teams are gonna sell out to make Will Howard throw the football and beat them on the perimeter, 'cause they couldn't do it against Michigan. I think Oregon, you talked about, they've been at the top the entire year. It was a close game when they played Ohio State earlier in the year, but I think it's certainly Ohio State, still dangerous. I think it's Oregon, Texas and Georgia, to me, are really gonna come down to quarterback play, because we've seen when their quarterbacks are taking care of the football, both of those defenses when they're clicking, I think they're still two of the best teams, obviously, in the country. But turnover issues of Carson Beck and Quinn Ewers have been problems all season. I mean, Quinn Ewers almost really kind of single-handedly let A&M stay in that game a couple of weeks ago, and that, to me, I guess that was last week, that, to me, is the biggest concern that I have for Georgia and Texas. But on the flip side of that, I was in the building when Georgia came and beat the breaks off of Texas, that, in Austin and Texas, if that version of Georgia comes to play, Carson Beck, really just doesn't turn the football over. It wouldn't stun me at all if Georgia runs the table the rest of the way, and ends up being an international champion, because they still have that level of talent. - Taylor Descartes joining us covers college football for CBS sports, played as college ball here locally at Rice. To me, the second debate questions, the group of five champion, probably Boise State, you know, he's certainly capable of beating them tonight. And then the big 12 champion, the battle for that fourth seed, which of course, the fourth seed massive, because you get a first round by. Do you think it should go to the G5 if it is Boise State, or do you think it should go to the big 12 champion? - Yeah, it is the argument, and if you're Brett, you're Mark, that's exactly what you should be saying on behalf of the big 12 is pounding the table, saying in no scenario, should a group of five champion be ahead of us. And from a quality standpoint, top down, there's no question that the big 12 is the deeper, more competitive conference than the Mountain West. The way that, but what I would challenge the big 12 on is you did not have a very good season top down. You had some really bad teams toward the bottom. You had some Mountain West teams, a UNLV, for example, that beat a couple big 12 teams, Kansas that they've got to win over Colorado. So if you want to go game by game, I think the Mountain West at the top, with UNLV and Boise State, there was a clear separation between those two and everybody else in the Mountain West. But the majority of the Mountain West was down this year. I also go back to, and I know people are tired of hearing about it, but Oregon and Boise State earlier in this year, that was a one possession game, they really could have gone Boise State's way. They were in that game late. Ashton Gente had a sound performance in that game as well. I don't think we can just forget about that. And because of all that, I don't have a problem with Boise State, especially ending up with the four seed and getting a buy. But I can also, I completely understand big 12 fans sitting with the depth top down in their conference, despite even if you have a three-loss champion. I can understand saying, okay, what are we doing here? How are we possibly behind a group of five representatives? Taylor, I'm curious because of the fact that it's easy to do the top four teams in the country as you rattled them off and we all look at them. But Notre Dame was a team that I wasn't very impressed with early in the season. You didn't bring up Notre Dame, but it seems like they're starting to play their best football. How much of a chance do you give them to make some waves and have a chance to compete for this whole thing? Yeah, my concern is it's sort of similar to what we just saw Michigan do know how to stay. At some point, you're going to get a defense that's going to test Riley Leonard and make Notre Dame beat them throwing the football. And if you've seen the times where Riley Leonard has struggled some this year, I think it's been against man defense. I think it's been against tight windows and taking away his ability to run the football. And that to me, at some point down the line, he's going to be challenged. And I don't think you're going to have good enough quarterback play, a national championship caliber quarterback play from Riley Leonard. I think that is the biggest reason why, at some point, in the gauntlet that they have now, I think in some ways Notre Dame would be better served. If it was just the four total playoff or teams in the playoff where they just had to win two games, having to win because it will be four for them, right? There's no shot of them getting the buy. Is Notre Dame capable of beating four of the best teams in the country? I don't think so. Real quick, Taylor, before the horn, do you think Bill Belichick's capable of coaching in college, interviewing with North Carolina? Do you think it could work? Man, I got to be around him a little bit at the Manny Pascan Academy this summer. And he was, I had never met him. Wasn't like I got to talk to him a bunch, but just being him around the college guys, he was a totally different demeanor than anything I had ever seen from the outside looking in on the NFL perspective. I think it'd be fascinating. I'm not going to say that he can't do anything because maybe the best coach that's certainly in the NFL, the championship that he had with the Patriots. But it would definitely be a culture shift to now have to compete in the NIL game in North Carolina. Yeah, that would be it would be entertaining for sure. Taylor, thanks for the time. Enjoy your college football weekend. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you guys. Taylor McArk, Rice Al quarterback and college football analyst for CBS Sports. You think Belichick in college would work? I don't. I just don't think that he has the time and the patience to get into the NIL game and the transfers. And he coaches guys a certain way. And I'm not sure that's going to fly in the college game with how guys can leave as quickly as they want with no ramifications. I think Saban might even be a guy that tries to talk him out of it if it would get down to that. I don't think Saban would talk him out of it. I think Saban would give him a very honest answer of what the landscape is like. But I don't think Saban would be like, hey Bill, don't do it. From my personal intrigue in what I want to see in sports, I want Belichick to coach in the NFL. I wanted to chase Schuller's record. Second, though, would be coaching in college football. I'd rather see him coach a college football team than be on TV. I enjoy him on TV because you see a personality that you didn't think really existed for the hard, tough, no short answered guy that we saw for all those years. I just think, yeah, I don't think anybody talks to Bill Belichick out of a decision. But even Saban, today was on with McAfee. And it seems like that's part of the main reason why he got out of it to where I'm sure they'll have a conversation because they did coach together. But I want to see Bill Belichick in the NFL. And I think he'll have an opportunity. So if that's where he desires to be, he will have another opportunity in the NFL. Blankers has a question about the Golden Era. If the Astros window, what it is, next, it is the B's on ESPN 97.5 and ESPN 92.5. You're locked in with a killer B's on ESPN 97.5 and 92.5. Live from the Veritex community bank studios, here's Joel Blanken, Jeremy Branham. Astros, Golden Era, the window. We always talk about this window. Nicoceria would never. We talk about the window all the time with the Astros. Nicoceria, I mean, well, I don't know what windows are. But what's your question about the window for the Astros? My question is because I've heard several people, and this come up, especially as we get closer to the winter meetings, that if you trade away for the Astros this offseason, you trade away from her and/or Tucker, and you can throw Presley into it too, but Presley had a very lesser degree compared to those two guys with their contracts coming up, that the Golden Era is coming to an end, that it's closing. If you trade one or both of those guys, I've had friends of mine have that discussion. I've seen it on social media. To me, I'm a bit perplexed by that thought process, simply because of the fact that we've talked about how many guys are still on this roster. But we know that there's tough decisions to be made, pregnant right now, but also financials to come into play. But you know that even if Fromber goes away, your pitching staff has plenty of starting pitching. If Tucker goes away, which we both have said, that we don't think that the Astros are going to sign him long term, so before he walks out the door for nothing, if you do trade him, but you get a really good haul of prospects back, that to me, I think that it could actually help keep the window open because you can continue to win regardless of you know, at what level, I think they could win, they could get into the playoffs. And in a few years time, depending on what you get back from one, if not both of those guys, you could actually be in a better situation both financially and talent wise. - Yeah, I would make the argument where it actually keeps the window open longer if you were to trade Fromber and Tucker, 'cause I'm with you. What's the likelihood Kyle Tucker re-signs after next season? - 25%. - So there's a very high chance Kyle Tucker's final year is an Astros next year, unless they trade him. Fromber Valdez, chances that they re-sign him after the 2025 season. - Probably about the same. - Probably about the same. So very unlikely that either guy is back after 2025. So if those guys leave for nothing, how does the window not slam shut or close to as shut as possible after the 2025 season? - Yeah, if you were to trade them away, it does like lesson who you would be next year. Like the Astros chances of winning the World Series, should you trade Kyle Tucker and Fromber Valdez would go down in 2025. There's no argument there. But in terms of beyond 2025, would you rather have a bundle of prospects for those guys that you would trade away or would you rather have nothing at all? Like, and we talk about like player turnover with the Astros. You know how many guys are still with the organization that were around for the first championship in 2017? - Two. - There's two that are under contract, one of them is Lance McCullers who doesn't even play anymore. Jose Altuve is the only dude that plays on a regular basis that is still around from the 2017 championship team. Now, Private was on that team, but he's not currently employed by the Astros. Verlander was on that team, but he's not currently employed by the Astros. So you can make a case that Jose Altuve is the real only player currently on this payroll that was still around in 2017. Like you win in baseball by having good players over a long period of time. So I'm all for the idea of trading whatever is left to Kyle Tucker one year, the one year that is left to Frobber Valdez, in an effort to actually extend the window. I actually get triggered when people are like, oh, well, the windows closing, whenever those two are gone. No, like, why would that be the case? Like, to me, you can keep the window open forever. If you don't trade them, I think you're a bigger risk of shutting the window completely. - That's what I was saying. - Now, if they leave in free agency, I still don't think it completely closes, but it's much closer to completely closing than if you don't trade them at all. I'm all for the idea of trading Frobber Valdez and Kyle Tucker. I would trade every player unless I have a really good chance of re-signing them long-term whenever they're going into their final year. I would have traded. I would have traded. Brakeman, last off season. - This is your last chance to get something, I think, substantial for both of those guys, because as you get into the season now and you get closer to the deadline, now you know that it's a rental situation because they're gonna probably test free agency regardless, you're not gonna be able to get the kind of return. This is a chance for you to cash in because of the fact that you didn't cash in on Correa. You didn't cash in on Garrett Cole. You didn't cash in on a lot of the big names that walked out the door previously, but yet you do have guys that are gonna be here long-term that are either under player, under team control and/or in the case of like a yordon where you signed them to such a great deal and you have a surplus of starting pitching and you have some young players on your roster that have contributed very well to where you still have the ability to keep this thing going and maybe give yourself a little momentum and a nudge if you trade these two guys. And I think that you could say that, yeah, and I agree with you that for the most show, you probably are taking a half a step back in doing so for the upcoming season, but then if you do get creative because you take those finances off the books and whoever you get in return and what you do, you could still add a few pieces, maybe a few extra pieces then you were thinking and planning about being able to do in free agency to still keep this team at a very high level. - I've never really come up with a great analogy for like what this would be similar to, but I do look at baseball players as commodities, maybe that's wrong for me to do, but I look at them as commodities and whenever they're going to leave you, like you're losing any sort of return on investment that you're getting. The moment the Kyle Tucker's gone, like you're done making a profit off of Kyle Tucker, you're done making a profit off of Fromber Valley as the moment they leave. And I understand you get compensation picks, whatever. It's not going to be as good as whatever a trade would be for a bunch of prospects. So if you let Kyle Tucker walk, that commodity runs out, it expires, it is done, it is toast. So would you rather have that happen or would you rather use that commodity to trade for three other commodities that might be lesser, that might be lesser, but could eventually mature into being close to what those guys give you? For me, it's always don't let the commodity expire. And I would do that over and over and over and over again. The Rays have done it on a much lesser, like I actually think it'd be really good for a team that actually is willing to spend because now your bridges would be way better. Like the Rays have been winning in the most difficult division in all the baseball on an incredibly low payroll. One of the lowest payrolls in all the baseball, yet they're winning. How? Because of this strategy, because of this game plan. So if you put this strategy and this game plan together with a bigger payroll, I think you win at a bigger level. It's why I was ticked off that they let James-- - I was going to say, James, click coming from that to you would have been the guy to orchestrate all of this to keep this thing going for a substantial amount of time. It's obviously still a possibility. I think that the argument that I've gotten from some of my buddies is, yeah, well then, you know, but if you trade those two guys, then you really have no shot of winning it next year. If you keep them, even if they walk out of the door for nothing and the commodity ends at the end of the season, you still give your chance the best chance to win one more World Series this upcoming season, assuming that those guys are healthy. - Yes, see, I agree with that, not all the way. Like you do less than who you are as a team in 2025, but it's also baseball, where it's a bigger crapshoot sport than like football. So football, it makes sense to have like the stars versus trading them for a bunch of commodities and things like that. Baseball is about the complete roster, blah, blah, blah, blah. Now, if you were to trade them, let's just assume you don't get any majorly talent in return, which might be a reach. You probably get some majorly talent in return. You still have a pretty solid rotation. - Oh, yeah. - Even without Fromber Valley, as you're still going to roll out there, Connor Brown, Renelle Blanca was really good. You know, Spencer Araghetti, does he take a step up in your two? Now, you would probably sign another starting pitcher to throw into the mix as well. Luis Garcia is coming back, all of that. You played a bunch of games without Kyle Tucker last year and actually played your best baseball without Kyle Tucker. Now, you would be looking for a replacement that you could find in right field. Now, you could probably find a guy that's nowhere near as good as Kyle Tucker, but that can be the bridge to a guy that eventually comes up and then takes the position for six years. No, I'm in favor of this in a big way. I get triggered by the idea that trading them would close the window. I actually think it extends the window. I get triggered by the idea where they have to sign a bunch of players in order to keep the window. No, all you do stay competitive and then hope you get hot in October. - They have enough to do that. 'Cause like you said, I mean, we don't know when you're getting Javier back, but you've got guys that are coming back there. - I forgot about Javier. - Javier Garcia is coming back. You've got guys that are possibly in the mix as well as the guys that you already know should be right there in the mix. Like the guys you mentioned, from a pitching perspective, you've got one of the best closers in baseball. You've got Brian Abreu right there next to him who is dominant. You have a bunch of guys and a bunch of pieces offensively that with a lot of youth that have a lot of ability to where you're not that far away. So I think that rather than watch two more guys walk out the door and get absolutely nothing for them, I think that it's the move to make because you can still get better for this year if that's your desire and you wanna go spend some of the money or extra money in free agency. But regardless, the talent you get back, whether you end up packaging some of that talent or that talent ends up being contributors in the next couple of years. However, it may go down. I'm sure you're going to get a package worthy of players that are gonna contribute to this franchise for the next five to six years. - You own one year of Kyle Tucker or six controllable years of three different solid prospects. - So no brainer to me. - I think so. - You go with prospects. - And then you can do it twice 'cause you do it from number two. Texture Bow, if you trade them, does it matter? If you send them to an NL team or an AL team, I never really care about the trade partner. I'm always trying to find the best trade regardless of who the team is, but I can certainly understand the idea of not wanting to keep them in the AL. But if a team, let's just put the level of return on a scale of one to 10. If a division rival was giving me a 10 and then the second best offer was from a national league team and I'm getting a six, I'm giving them to the division rival. I'm taking the 10. I want as much a return as I possibly can get. I don't care where it's coming from 'cause my mentality is I'm winning this trade and by you making this trade, you're gonna be lesser than. - Yeah, and I think that you, again, Eileen, if all is apples to apples, I would love to keep them out of the division, I mean, out of the league and in the national league. But overall, I'm taking the best package I can possibly get. If I get prospects in a major league player or two from in terms of trading one or both of those guys that are gonna help me both right now and for the long term, well, that's what I'm after because I've got to believe that if I'm playing in the American league, that if I know what everybody is, but I also believe that I'm trying to do this so that I'm gonna be competitive for the next 15 years, not just for next season, if I trade them to a team that might be able to beat me. - Yeah, and winning the championship to me and baseball is more about giving your chance a shot, those up 10 years versus just one. You could have the best team in baseball one year, you could have the third best team in baseball for like seven years, which one's giving you more World Series titles? - I think it's option B. A texture we're too focused on players and he just spotted to take a progressive leap too. I think that's fair. I don't know. A spot is kind of mid to me. I don't dislike him, but I don't think he's like winning a bunch of games here. - I think from where he came from to what this team was able to do and he deserves credit for that, I think that it was a learning experience for him. And you want to believe that through those experiences, he's gonna be better next season. But yeah, I think that, do I think he's one of the best managers in the game? No, but do I think he gets it and he was good for this team as they turn the whole thing around? I do. - Seven one three seven eight zero, ESPN HR and P listener line. Who said it? Who's gonna win this week? Brian's gonna read to us, quote said by ESPN 97 five personalities. We guess who said it. It is the beast on ESPN 97 five and ESPN 92 five. - It's now time for super producer Brian McDonald, AKA Tremach. - I am rude. - To do his best to stump Joel and Jeremy. - Well, I'm stumped. - It's everyone's favorite segment. - Yeah, everyone loves it. - I know. - Yeah. - Who said it? - Who said it? He said it. - With the killer bees. - All right, who said it? Brian's gonna read to us five quotes said by ESPN and 97 five personalities. We guess who said it. We win last week. - We didn't play last week. - We did four. - Two weeks ago, we won. - Don't remember. - I don't either. - I remember we won. - All right, there we go. We won. - I think Joel always remembers us. - No, no, I remember we won. Okay, sure, sure. All right, quote number one. - Wait, wait, wait, time out. - We won. He was on remote. We were at, we were on remote as well. - Yeah, I think that was-- - Was it the twin peak show? - Oh, yeah. - Okay, yeah, you did win that one. - Yeah, okay, thank you. - You did a great night one. - All right, quote number one. "Why you asking, you're asking word salad GM. How's your quarterback been? What do you think he's gonna get? Let me start that one over. I put you to the front. I put you to the very front. All right, here you go. - Redo. - Why you asking, you're asking word salad GM. How's your quarterback been? What do you think you're gonna get from Nick? I'm fine with, man, I don't. And honestly, just pick up players and make good trades. If you do smart things with contracts, that's all I care about. I, I'm not gonna get, I'm not gonna get the reel from Nick. - This is a bit of a pretentious take. Like, what do you want 'em to ask? Hey, Nick, who you drafting coming up? It's kind of taking a shot at the media, really. - Joe? - I think it's either Joe or Lance. Joe's the first one that came to my mind. I thought it might've come from the Gs, but the more I heard the long quote, the more I kind of associated-- - Do you think Joe would take shots at the media? - Oh, yeah. - Our local media? - Oh, yeah, especially bloggers and people trying to make it perfect. - Fair enough. (laughs) Well played, sir. - Thank you. That was the funniest thing you've said all week. That was really well done. Oh, man. I'm torn on this one. You're leaning, Joe? - I mean, that was my, that was my initial reaction when I heard it. - Who plays a lot of, like, press conference sound? Because this is about Nick Serio talking earlier this week. Like, do the Gs play a lot of press conference sound? - Playing on the shows? - Well, I don't, I think everybody kind of does. I think the Gs do a lot, 'cause I think Paulie likes to hear his own questions sometimes too, and Paulie has a lot of questions. - The Gs do like to play the subpar sound too. There is that. - John, yeah. - I mean, you seem pretty, pretty strong on you. - Oh, that was just my initial reaction. I was gonna see how you reacted to it. - No, let's see, let's see if you got the hot hand today. - All right. - Let's do it. Joe George. - Why you ask, you're asking word salad, G.N. - Aren't it? - How's your quarterback, man? What do y'all think you're gonna get from Nick? I'm fine with, man, I don't, and honestly, just pick good players and make good trades and do smart things with contracts. That's all I care about. I'm not gonna get, I'm not gonna get the real with Nick. - I mean, Nick blasted the NFL this week. - I think this quote was, well, no, I actually, I think this quote was from Tuesday. It's been right up this time. - No, it was. I mean, Nick was, he was, I think Aaron Wilson asked him what he thought about Stroud's progression this year. - Yeah. - Yeah, but I mean, Nick will say some stuff. He'll say some stuff from time to time. No, he's word salad. - I think he did. I don't know, I think over the overall track record, it hasn't been much, but-- - He's usually guarded, but he'll talk. I mean, you gotta pay attention to it. Most of it's, most of it's word salad, but you'll throw a nugget in there and time it's time to tell. - No word salad in this market. - He does, I mean, we, we talks about windows and the lack of them. - All right, quote number two. - These, these, these, um, interns are really sticks in the mud. They're dull and boring with no sense of humor. Other than Alan, who I think is just, who knows where all the bodies are buried and we're gonna have to threaten him before he leaves. - This is definitely the morning show. And this, yeah. Or Dell, 'cause Dell has had it, he's had it. He's had it back and forth with Abigail. I heard-- - Is Alan even an intern here? - No, in the morning. - Really? - Yeah. - I've never met Alan. - He's a morning, 'cause I heard John and Lance going back and forth, I think, in this, I think I heard part of this conversation. - Well, I think the timing, well, I don't think that the G's are gonna blast interns 'cause Joe kinda hires them. - Right. - I've never met Alan, what's not gonna be us anyways? - No. - See, I think it's from the morning. - I think it's from the morning. I believe I heard this discussion. - That's a lot of these. Say it again, Brian. Look, how many of these there are? There's three of these. - Oh, yeah, there's three of these. These, these, these interns are really sticks in the mud. They're dull and boring. There's no sense of humor other than Alan, who I think is just, who knows where all the bodies are buried and we're gonna have to threaten him before he leaves. - I think two of their Dell and Lance. - Lance? - Yeah, let's do it, Lance. These, these interns are really sticks in the mud. They're dull and boring with no sense of humor other than Alan, who I think is just, who knows where all the bodies are buried and we're gonna have to threaten him before he leaves. - I feel bad for Alina out there finding out she's a stick in the mud for Lance just now. - Does Alina ever work in the mornings though? They might not even know who she is. - I don't know, yeah, that's true. - They might not know who she is. - Whenever you said intern Alan, I thought they were talking about a TV show. - Yeah, I've never met Alan either. - When they were talking about him, I knew who it was. - All right, 1-1, quote number three. He has a Scandinavian look to him. We've seen, we've all seen Andrew. If I was going to put something on him, I'd go, if you told him you're from Norway, I believe it. While I know you're from here, the great state of Texas, like, I think, 23 and me, Andrew Carlson. - What in the world? Why are they talking about Andrew? - Yeah, and who? - Yeah, why are you talking about Andrew Carlson, and how? How does that come up? - I don't know. - I can't give you the context. - You can't? - No, it wasn't. - Can you later? - Sure. - Okay, I didn't know if you knew it. - No, I knew it. I just, I think it might give it away. - Okay, fair enough. I don't think it'd be the morning. Maybe Dell or Paul? - Can I hear it one more time, please? - He has a Scandinavian look to him. We've seen, we've all seen Andrew. If I was going to put something on him, I'd go, if he told me you're from Norway, I believe it. Well, I know you're from here. The great state of Texas, I think. 23 and me, Andrew Carlson. - My name's Dell. - I was going to say Dell, except for he referred to it as the great state of Texas. I just don't think that Dell thinks Texas is great. - Yeah, I feel like those just kind of like, word fodder. I don't think he like actually put a whole lot of thought into it, like, 'cause that entire take isn't really about, you know, the greatest states. It's more about Andrew's work. I mean, I'll let you call him. - You okay with it? - Yeah, I mean, I was thinking Dell, I heard everything in it. - It's either Dell. - It's either Dell. - I'm good with Dell. Let's do Dell. - He has a scam. - We see. - What? - So why are they talking about Andrew Carlson? - They were talking about a, I think, - Oh my god, if you told me you're from Norway, I believe it. - They were talking about that Raiders kicker who was also named Carl Johnson. - Oh, yeah. - Yeah, he and she and Sean were joking if they're related, if Andrew deserves any blame for him missing three-fill goals. - That's funny. - Aren't there two Carlson's? - Yeah, there's a brother's green-baked cut one that's ever just go cut him and the other one's been the Raiders kicker. I mean, if it was gonna be Paul, Paul would have been talking about Tucker. - Yeah, cool. - Well, number four. Well, there's an, here we go. Well, there's an investigation. There is an investigation going on right now, but you know what? I'm glad they did it. You guys are gonna act like idiots, guess what? You get pepper sprayed. This is a regard to a Harv's mission, yeah. - See you again? - Well, there's an investigation. There is an investigation going on right now, but you know what? I'm glad they did it. You guys are gonna act like idiots. Guess what? You get pepper sprayed. - They're glad they pepper sprayed. - Joe George. - That's what I was thinking. - It just sounds like Joe George. - Yeah. - All right, Joe George. - Well, there's an investigation. - Oh, no. - There's an investigation. - It's always right now, but you know what? - I'm glad they did it. You guys are gonna act like idiots. - I can see the lack of compassion in a Granada statement, no doubt. - I'm glad they did it. - Man, he's calling me contrarian, and he says that. - Yeah? - Granada called me contrarian this week, and he's glad that they pepper sprayed a couple of college football players. - You know you could tell Granado, they just throw this crap out here for clicks. - Granada's just throwing that crap out there for clicks. - Just throw this crap out there to get clicks. - He called me contrarian, and he's talking about pepper spraying the players is okay. I am insulted. I'm insulted. I'm the contrarian, and he's talking about pepper spraying players is fine. That's insulting, Granado. - Granado is the father of the next college athlete. - Oh gosh. - You could get a bed okay? If JT got better, I don't think you would have-- - Dude, how does he have that take and call me contrarian? - I don't know, when you've got a father, you get one yourself. - My goodness. - All right, quote five, two, two, here we go. E-Mae, a man in Tari is the law firm that gave this team the energy and the dog they needed. I mean, Jalen and Jalen and Alpren are wildly talented players, but the dog comes from the head coach and those two guys off the bench. That's where the dog lives. - I have two in mind, but I wanna hear yours first. - I think Joe is one of them. I think Dell is the other one because Dell watches a lot of NBA. - My two are Deller Lance. - Lance does also watch NBA. Can I have a little more time, Brian? - E-Mae, a man in Tari is the law firm that gave this team the energy and dog they needed. I mean, Jalen and Jalen and Alpren are wildly talented players, but the dog comes from the head coach and those two guys off the bench. That's where the dog lives. - I hear Lance a lot. - I think it's either Dell or Lance. I kinda heard more Dell, to be honest. - So now we're toward. - Do you think he would use Lance three times? - I think nothing's out of the realm of possibilities with group. - I think it's Dell. - I'll let you call it. - Dell. - E-Mae, Armin, and Tari. - That's why I don't take the final shot. I choke. - I'm like Jalen's dream coach. - I could have sworn that was Dell. - Jalen and Alpren are wildly talented players. - I'm sorry. - But the dog comes from the head coach and those two guys off the bench. - The law firm mentioned and there was a couple in there that I've heard Lance use the expression before, but I just kinda had a feeling. - I'm gonna attempt SIBO this moment. I'm gonna learn from this. And we're gonna be better next week. We're gonna learn from this and never lose a game the rest of the month of December. That was my fault. - Calling me Ole Miss? - That was my fault. - Yeah, you're Ole Miss. We're like, well made. We have to change our condition behavior to college sports. Everybody's so up in arms about things that are happening and we just have to change our behavior. I'll tell you what I mean next. It's the BZSPN 97.5 and ESPN 92.5. - You're listening to ESPN 97.5. You're back with a killer BZ on ESPN 97.5 and 92.5. Life in the Veritex community bank studios. Here's Joel Blanken, Jeremy Branham. - I think we have to recondition how we take in college athletics. Gone are the days, we're like student athletes, gamers, work hard, students first, all of these things. A lot of people were talking about this LSU recruit. It was originally committed to Florida State and I guess reopened his recruitment, eventually ended up at LSU. And he just sounds over the moon that he's at LSU. Here was it, it was Solomon Thomas, I think his name is. He was talking about eventually signing with LSU. And a lot of people kind of didn't love the way that the soundbit sounded. - I had a conversation with the offensive line coach, the great guy on and up the field. And that was the kind of same vibe that I was getting from the offensive line coach from Florida State before. I think I made the final decision truly and I was really at peace with it. - How are you? - Was maybe yesterday when I was truly like, okay, this is more than just a commitment, like this is gonna be my life. I was waiting on the phone call today or you know, some determinant fact is that, you know, probably maybe, you know, to different schools. But I'm glad it's over, honestly. I was ready to get it over with, again, just, you know, really disappointed I can't get it for this day. - There you go, a lot of people heard that LSU commit, by the way, at this point he can't go to Florida State. You chuckled there, Blankers, why did you chuckle? - Because I actually had this as one of my car wrecks and we didn't have enough time yesterday. But when I heard this, the first thing that I heard was when he said it without saying it, he was waiting on a school to come with a little bit more money the day of the signing day to see if someone could change his mind or actually come forth with something more for him. - Probably, probably. Now, Florida State did fire their offensive line coach. So like, that's a factor too, potentially. But 95% chance it was about the finances. And this is why I feel like we need to recondition the way that we view college athletics. I saw like, there was a quarterback yesterday. I forget where, it might've been Cincinnati actually, where the press release was that they agreed to terms for him to come back again. Which is like, we all kind of like, look at that. We're like, oh, this is college sports. Can you believe that is happening? It's no longer college sports. Like, and that's where we have to recondition our behavior on how we view this. It's no longer college, they are pros. They're getting paid to play. That is the landscape of college athletics. It used to be taboo to say that. And you couldn't say that. Well, it's no longer that way. So you need to recondition how you view it all. It is about who's paying them. It is about where they're gonna get their money. It's all of these things. You had the Arizona state coach that after they won the game a couple of weeks ago, and even on the sideline, he's wearing the NIL collective on a T-shirt on the sideline. And he's talking about if you like Arizona state football, then this is our collective and where you need to go to give us money. It is pro sports. And like, we see these things in college sports. Like, oh, I can't believe this. I kind of get off my lawn. But when we see it in pro sports, we don't bat an eye. Like Solomon Thomas saying, you know, I went to the highest bidder, basically. Or Cincinnati quarterback agreeing to terms to return. When we see that in pro sports, we don't bat an eye because it's second nature. It is time for us to start viewing college athletics the same way that we view professional sports. They have budgets. They have payrolls. The players are more often than not going to go to the place that pays them the most money. Sometimes, not all the time, sometimes. But it's like free agency. So all that we need to do as the viewer and as the sport fan is condition our brains to think of it more as the big leagues than amateur sports. - You want to be quarterback? Who mid-season decides to bail on his entire team because he wasn't getting what he was quote unquote promised. Brett Bilo comes out yesterday on signing day and says schools have budgets of over $20 million a year for signing day to just throw at kids to make sure they get the guys that they want. That's the way that the landscape is going. Matt Rule starts out by saying to get a five star quarterback, you need at least $2 million. And then the kid transfers from or changes his mind from LSU to Michigan 'cause he's getting 10 and a half. All of these things should register with everybody that's a fan of college football to realize it's collegiate free agency, but they're all getting paid and they're going to be able to change team to team just like when you see hot stove leagues and free agency that we're talking about in baseball and football and basketball. It is gonna be the exact same thing unless anything changes with the combination of the transfer portal and NIL, that there is so much money being thrown around in college football right now. It money matters and money is getting the top recruits to wear the alums and who the people that have the money want them to go. - But why does that feel gross to some people? It feels gross to some people 'cause it feels wrong because it's college sports, student athletes, amateur athletes. It's no longer that way. So like just recondition your brain to now just realize that it is pro sports. Textor saying that he didn't go to Florida State because he was emotionally attached to Alex Atkins, the offensive line coach, kid loved him firing Atkins. We knew Thomas wouldn't sign. - Yeah, I did rule that in as a possibility. And this isn't really just a thought just because of that single player. It's the overall landscape and like the transfer portal and players entering the portal, like you liken that to free agency and the big leagues, which is exactly what it is, you just have to come to accept that if you're gonna continue to be a fan of college sports. - Yeah, and it really unfortunately, it sucks if you are some of the lesser than teams or you're not the teams that have the big bank rolls and the blue blood backing and all the different things that the big time programs have. It is a competitive disadvantage to some degree, but that is what it is right now these days. We came a long way from the days of saying, oh, the fab five generated all this money from Michigan and they never got a dime and they couldn't buy a pizza. And now it's completely flipped 180 to the standpoint of now, even if you never are good enough to play professional football, there's a chance you can get life changing money just by playing in college. - Yeah, I actually think that it actually helps parody because these guys who aren't playing at some of those bigger names, like they're seeking either A, playing time or NIL opportunity. Like there's a trickle down effect that comes from that. And Taylor talked about that earlier. Hey, Fez like there's more parody in college sports because of that and I actually agree with that. 713-780-ESP and let's go out to the HR and P listener line, Ray from the north side. You're in the hive, what's up Ray? - Hey, what's up guys? I appreciate you taking my call and enjoy the show. I just wanted to call about offensive linemen out of rain, high school. We flipped from the Florida State to LSU. It's the same high school that Hall, Chamber, Para, Michael, and Brian Dawson went to. What he's telling people is that he flipped because of the decision to get rid of the offensive coordinator and the offensive line. So I wanted to give some, I know a text that just stated that, but I know my best friend I grew up with is some place in that school. So I just want to give you all that info. Thanks for taking my call. - Appreciate for the input, right? Yeah, I mean, look, we're talking about more kind of the whole general landscape of everything that's going on in college athletics. But to me, I just, being honest in what I heard, the first thing that came to my mind when I heard his quote, when he decided to change his mind and the fact that he was waiting on some things the day of his decision. - Yeah, that's what free agents do, right? Like they take in all the information. They take in the information of, okay, this is the contract that's being presented to me. These are the people that within the organization program, in this case that I like. These are the coaches that I like. It's the same thing that a free agent would go through. Or maybe that sound bite from Solomon Thomas is being taken out of context, but it's still part of the equation whenever you talk about these guys. And then I also liken it to European soccer, quite frankly. Like you have these guys that get developed by some of like the middle teams in European soccer and then when they become really, really good, what happens? They get bought by the Manchester cities, the man used. I'm not really adept at professional soccer in Europe a whole lot, but the big brand names that have these gigantic payrolls eventually get them in the transfer window. It's very similar to college athletics these days. And look, some people think it's gross. It gives them the ick because it's not the college sports that they knew whenever they grew up. It is the reality of the situation though. And I think that if you recondition that it's pro sports, not really college sports, even though it is college sports, I think you're being a better mindset to enjoy it. And then also the idea, I quite frankly don't pay a ton of attention to the transfer portal. Like I just, okay, let's see what the roster is whenever it's time to go play ball. - Yeah, I mean, it's tough to keep track of kids these days. If you don't watch everything that goes on with a specific program because of the fact that in a lot of instances, to the example you gave but in a different way, if you've got a kid at a mid-major or a smaller school, but the kid has a hell of a year, chances are next year he's probably going to be playing up and he's going to get an opportunity to play at a higher level with a bigger school and probably going to get paid to do so. And that's just the way that the landscape has changed overall from a player's perspective too. I think it is a good thing from the standpoint of kids and their families now have a chance to actually cash in for the abilities that they have coming out of high school as opposed to crossing your fingers, staying healthy and hoping that someday you get a chance to play on a professional level. It's a different world. DJ B anime. I wonder how much NIO money DJ B anime would have gotten whenever he was running track at Louisville. - Maybe a couple thousand. - Maybe, maybe a couple thousand. DJ B anime covers the Houston Texans for ESPN, ESPN.com. He'll join us next. It is the B's on ESPN 97.5 and ESPN 97.25. - Guys, the word with the weekend coming up and all the college championship games coming up in college football, starting tonight for my bookie.ag, my bookie.ag is the place that I always tell you it should be if you want to put money down on any of the sporting events that you're watching on TV. 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