Lakers Sold Again!, Mark in Murky Wa(l)ters, & Who's Dead or Alive in the MLB

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign. [00:00:04] Speaker B: What's up everybody? Welcome back to Sources from the Sofa. We have Aaron, Jason and myself, Rome for a. I don't know if it's a special podcast or an urgent podcast, but once some big news broke today, I'm like, we gotta jump on the pot anyways. It's been a week, so why not we'll just lead off with what happened earlier. It's Wednesday night, August 12th. Earlier today, as I was waking up from a daze, recovering from my drive back from Southern California, taking my daughter back, I saw something on X. I got a notification on my phone saying that the Lakers are being sold for $12 billion. And I said like, what do you mean? I thought this was already done, you know, didn't think much of it because the source or like the, you know, the notification where it came from, it's hit or miss. You know, sometimes they spread real stories, sometimes not. And I couldn't tell if it was like a legit one or not or like a knockoff that had like the same logo. It was a basketball related X account. I go on ESPN right away and see it's breaking news. And this is as you know, the AM shows are starting to end it and then the 9am radio talk shows are starting to begin. And I couldn't fucking believe it. I'm pretty sure myself. You guys, we were all shocked with the announcement that Josh Kushner, Bob Iger, previous CEO of Disney, who just completed his second stint, they're not as good as the first one. And there's like a whole bunch of drama behind that as well. They bought the Lakers for $12.5 billion. If you guys remember, Lakers were sold last year, not too long ago for $10 billion. And that was Mark Walter, the same gentleman that owns the Dodgers, him and the Guggenheim Group. I do know people at the Guggenheim, they're kind of connected with some brands that I worked with down in Hollywood that, you know, that's in Nordstrom's and Barney's and some high end fragrance lines, you know, as I spent some time with some record labels there. So I kind of know some of the people there, at least in the fashion industry, but not so much this new era of what they built up over the past 10 or so years, I would say 15, I think is when they entered the sports arena market. And now they got a quite impressive portfolio here. But to flip an organization like the Lakers, it is one of the premier organizations you can have in sports. There's only a handful of these that are like, this is like Must have. It's. It's just always. It's iconic, it's legendary. It's really hard to lose the appeal. That's how phenomenal the organization is. And there's only, probably only one or two that you can, you know, speak about on that. Same caliber in the NBA, maybe one or two in the NFL, one or two in the Premier League. It's a very elite group here. And the fact that Mark bought it last year, paid a premium and there's some concessions made that Jeannie Buss, and she's still the governor there for at least five years to kind of keep the tradition going. And then 12 months later, or whatever it is, paraphrasing here, he flipped it. And not only that, he made two and a half billion on top of that. Kind of blew everybody out of the water. Because this is not something that you flip. You don't flip a Lakers brand, you don't flip a Knicks brand. You, you buy it and you keep it for as long as you can. That's why these brands hardly become available. Look at the Celtics. They barely sold recently. And we're gonna break it down piece by piece because it is a pretty big deal. But first I want to get your guys initial reactions and then we'll kind of reverse back of how we got here. What I read up on, on what Mark Walter is going through and why this kind of led to the surprising sale. And we're gonna. The NBA dude has his hands full because it's not been a good year cycle of news. You have Ishbia having some problems with the Suns. He just lost a big fortune. The mortgage market is tanking right now, and no one's really talking about it. He lost a big part of his fortune. You have the new owner of the Portland trailblazers. This guy's Mr. Cheapo, Mr. Chief Skates, you know, talked a whole bunch of shit and then now he's just cutting mascots and cheerleaders and people that barely make $10 an hour out of the arena, you know, hoping to probably relocate us somewhere. You have the Dallas Mavericks owners, Mark Cuban, having sellers remorse, selling the organization to who he thought were some upstanding individuals. They're loaded. But money doesn't buy you the same type of pedigree, the same type of passion that a lot of these previous whatever sports used to be the owners. That's a dying breed now because now we're having this new wave of private equity. We'll get into that. VC billionaire, tech AI money. It's breaking Things up and it's inflating a lot of things. The housing markets, obviously, sports franchise. Because that's something AI can't replicate. Right. Anything that has a human experience that's going to be booming in valuations for a few years. But initial reactions first. And we'll come back. Aaron, Jason, what'd you think when you first heard it? Did you think it was real? Do you think it was. What were you doing? Go from there? [00:05:38] Speaker C: I think I was a little more awake than you were, what it sounds like. But I mean, the first thing I think, I think Ramon Shelburne is the first tweet I saw. [00:05:46] Speaker A: She is. [00:05:47] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:05:47] Speaker C: About it. So I mean, for that she's, I don't know, she's one of the more plugged in people to the Lakers. So that's, that's, that's, that's a source you immediately know and trust and yeah, it was the same for me. Rome, a little bit confusion, like, didn't they just sell? Did it not go through? Are we, are we just realigning stuff? But where it was at and, but no, it's, it's a brand new ownership group. And yeah, I think overall confusion and, and surprise. And then the bigger thing was like this wasn't even like rumored or grumblings that like, hey, this team's on the market. It's just like, okay, it's just all of a sudden sold and it's all of a sudden worth $2.5 billion more over the course of like a little over a year because I think it was June last year that they, that Mark Walter bought it. And now we're August, so 14 months later we're selling it for 12.5 billion. Just, you know, think about when Ballmer bought the Clippers from. I've drawn a blank on the sterling for Don and Sterling. Wasn't it just for like 2 billion or something like that at that, at that moment in time or something like that. And that was like. And overpay. He's like basically just like paid cash. And now we're talking about the Lakers. Now the Lakers obviously more valuable than the Clippers, but you know, at this time, was it $8.5 billion more or whatever it is like I, I mean, just kind of an insane price. And then when you see who's behind the money, I mean, Bob Iger, obviously CEO of Disney, you know, one of the more, you know, biggest recognizable names. Yeah. Fortune 500 company, you know, he said, steered Disney into the biggest that had ever been, you know, on his first run kind of brought it back in different ways in his second run, but still, you know, still more successful than the downfall. So you're talking one of the biggest CEOs in the game. So he's definitely got the cash flow. And then the. I don't know the gentleman's first name, but he's Kushner, who is the brother of the president's son in law. The other portion, who is. You mentioned the private equity and yeah, I just think it's just interesting because for Mark Walter to sell the team, it seemed very logical when Mark Walter bought the Lakers because, oh, he's had all this with the success with the Dodgers. We're buying the other like blue chip piece of, you know, branding and name requisition to the city of Los Angeles. You have Lakers, Dodgers, like that is. That is la. Those are the two teams of la. With all due respect to the Rams and Chargers and Kings and whoever it is, like Lakers and Dodgers are it. And so you put together this consortium of stuff and you know, we were chatting on the pod, like, Mark Walters Co. Owns Cadillac's F1 team. They own Andretti Global Racing. And so they have a massive portfolio of big, you know, big name sports franchises. But just the LA focus between these two is like, okay, cool is, you know, the perspective, synergy between the two markets. You get these owners that have bought light clubs, you know, multiple sports in a city and things like that. She expected more. So it's shocking that he goes there. But then now you get your conspiracy hats on. And I don't know how deep you want to go into this Rome, but [00:08:53] Speaker B: like, we're gonna go deep, baby. I am down to go deep. [00:08:58] Speaker A: That's what she said. [00:09:00] Speaker C: At a high level post. I mean, you may have more facts on this. At a high level. Like what I saw is September last year, the FBI was searching Walters planes and had seizures and questions about Guberheim's reported revenue to outside parties. [00:09:15] Speaker A: Right. [00:09:16] Speaker C: In February, the Manhattan prosecutor subpoenaed things for Walters insurance companies over, you know, undisclosed loans made to some Walter businesses. Then in July, Bloomberg reported that the Manhattan prosecutors and the SEC are probing Walters insurance companies. And so basically you have all this federal interaction and then all of a sudden links to the president. Just buy this company out of nowhere for $12.5 billion. Like that's kind of. I'm not gonna say it's under the table, but it's a pretty quick sale when it comes. So like do all the. I mean, so if you're connecting the dots, I saw the Brian Windhorse meme of like, you don't have to be like a G type thing going up like this of like, huh, where are the connections of oh, you're getting federally, you know, investigated. And now we'll sell this thing over here, you know, is all of a sudden did all these federal things go away? And then, I mean Aaron even mentioned before as well too, you know, is, you know, is there a cash flow problem with, with Walter and Guggenheim? Because I mean these aren't small purchases. And so is this the easiest way to make two problems go away where, hey, I can remove federal pressure on me but also get, you know, a huge influx of cash flow to the other businesses? [00:10:25] Speaker B: Aaron, what were your initial thoughts before we go backwards a little bit? [00:10:29] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean I was a little shocked. I was on the freeway in traffic listening to the Dan Patrick show and they go, you know, the Lakers have been sold. I'm like, that's, that's old news. Right? Right. And there's like Ramon Shelbourn's. So then I was like, I gotta go to ESPN and Rome like you said. Bam. It pops up. Breaking news like her sold for 12 billion. Now it's what 12 and a half billion to, you know. So I was like, whoa, like this is kind of shocking and starts going into the story and stuff. And as you guys mentioned, look at both the dodgers here in 2012 for 2.15 billion, which is a still now looking at that, who knows what he could get for them on the market. Probably 6, 8 billion, maybe even close to 10. Who knows the way they've been doing business or for what? Yeah, I mean it's, it's interesting because 14 months, like Jason pointed out, then you turn around, make a two and a half billion dollar profit. [00:11:24] Speaker B: I mean it's really good. [00:11:26] Speaker A: The group that buys it, we know they were interested in Vegas, one of the two or three finalists. [00:11:31] Speaker B: Right. [00:11:31] Speaker A: Looking at the cost of that, I was getting north of about 10 billion. I guess they're going to want to build an arena there too. I don't know what's wrong with T Mobile, but maybe they want to build a new arena there. So cost wise to build your own arena, they got the baseball stadium. You're probably looking at about the same, right? 12, 12 and a half billion for everything. And hey, maybe like Jason's onto something. Maybe Walters is feeling some pressure here. Maybe this is a buddy of his who we know, Bob Iger has been wanting to kind of get in and Buy his own team. It's not a surprise. He's been. Been wanting to be an owner and one of these things. And the Walter Group, look at the Dodgers, is basically their baby. They've bit. They've bit that thing up from the. When it was at a rough spot there in 2012. Now that they've won multiple World Series, the Lakers, I mean, yeah, it's franchise historic and stuff, but they're kind of, you know, in the middle of where they're going to go. You can sell them here for the two and a half billion dollar profit, as you guys mentioned. Maybe that helps pay off some of these loans that seem like they're pretty steep. I mean, two and a half billion to pay off some loans. But what I think, what is the group worth? What is their. I think their value is worth, what, like 200 billion, 220 billion or something like that? [00:12:45] Speaker B: A lot. So it's really hard. It's not a cash flow problem. But we'll go back to that. [00:12:50] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, it wouldn't make sense that it would be. [00:12:52] Speaker B: It's more valuable thing. [00:12:54] Speaker C: Last year I think that Guggenheim was worth 345 billion, but TWG Global 40 billion. But overall at LA, at that point last year, it was said Mark Walter was worth personally 12.5 billion when he bought the Lakers. [00:13:10] Speaker B: Yeah, I guess we can segue first targeting. We can either go back with like some of the rumors, we can kind of go back about Guggenheim, we can go back about Mark, about some of the things that have been popping up with the Bloomberg thing. Which way you guys want to go first? [00:13:26] Speaker A: Whichever one you like. Rome? [00:13:28] Speaker C: Whichever one you want, man, you're. [00:13:30] Speaker B: It's just a lot. It's just a lot. Well, I wasn't too happy because basically I was kind of skeptical when Mark was buying it. Anyways, I know he's done a great job with the Dodgers, but honestly, man, going to a game's expensive. Everything with the Dodgers expensive. You have a lot of deferred contracts. Like, I'm just thinking like, dude, when is this gonna, like blow up in our face? That's what I'm thinking. Right. And you know, I. They hire really good people. Everyone's up on this Dodger, you know, bandwagon train. It's always been a good organization, but they just tightened everything up and just solidified everything from top down. So he's gonna do the same thing to the Lakers, right? They got rid of the two bus brothers. Jeannie stayed on board. Jeannie had an agreement with Mark to stay on as the governor for at least five seasons. That was the agreement. So she can still handle or, like, have a hand on basketball operations. [00:14:19] Speaker A: I do. I do believe part of the new ownership group is going to honor this. [00:14:23] Speaker B: Said they're going to honor it, but they also had a phrase. That's our initial intention, but things happen. [00:14:28] Speaker A: Like, I don't like that things change. [00:14:31] Speaker B: Doesn't sound good. The Bus family still owns about 15 to 17% of it, so they're not completely out, but, like, their piece just got so much bigger. So how do we get here? I guess let's go back to Mark, you know, because he entered the sports world initially trying to get into basketball. He's not a basketball guy. He made his money on, like, insurance and some of these other companies. He had a different company and slowly became Guggenheim Partners. They were never a sports entity at all. They initially tried purchasing the Clippers when they're having a bidding war, and that's when Ballmer ultimately won out. He paid a higher fee for that then when the Dodgers were going through bankruptcy. Right. We all remember that, Dale, because that's why they have the awesome TV deal they have now. He just provided a bidding war because this was go to auction. Well, he gave the final bid. He said, take it or leave it to the McCourts. You know, I worked for them, of course, for a couple seasons. It was a bad situation. But the McCourts, once he saw the final offer, he's like, no auction. The auction's off. Congratulations on the new Dodgers owner. You know, so. So if you look at Mark now, nobody knew that the Bus family was selling either. It was kind of like backhanded deals, you know, backdoor deals, rather. And then we were kind of shocked that they bought, you know, Jeannie sold the Lakers. It was kind of shocking. But a lot of the things with the Lakers, too, lately have been backdoor deals. The Luca trade ad going away. [00:16:03] Speaker C: This. [00:16:04] Speaker B: So allegedly, you know, to Ramona Shelbourn. I guess these guys, Kushner and I and I are. Kush is the bankroll because he has all the money. They were definitely the leading candidates and the favorites to land the Las Vegas team. But the price was supposed to be, like, around the 5, 6 mil. That's what the NBA wanted. But as interest was gaining, you know, popularity, that price is going up. And now you're thinking, like 9 billion for an expansion team. That seems a little crazy with no brand equity. That. That is ridiculous in the first place. That's how inflated prices are. So you have to go back to, like, a few financial articles. They got word that Mark might be interested in offloading the Lakers. If they reached out how they found out who the knows. And that's when they reached out that Sunday and said, how, how about we buy the Lakers? Because if you're going to pay that price, you might as well buy an iconic brand. And they're not too far off from it with the private equity thing. Thankfully, the NBA and all these, you know, the NFL, they have a rule of how much private equity can own an organization. So only 20% of the money can come from the private equity. So Josh or Jared? It's not Jared. It's Josh, right? [00:17:18] Speaker A: It's Josh. Yes. [00:17:19] Speaker B: Okay. He's funding a lot of it. Igar, which is really funny. He's not a Lakers guy. He actually owns season tickets to the Clippers. And he's from New York. He's a New York Knicks fan. So why the would he want the Lakers? That's what I don't like. And the fact he's gonna be kind of front and facing kind of makes me feel a little uncomfortable. Right. [00:17:37] Speaker A: Kind of. You're kind of scared of he's gonna do what he did with the maps. Right. Where that owner really didn't want the Mavs, but just. [00:17:43] Speaker B: Well, you didn't do a great job with Disney the second time around, dude. Like, like their stock tanked a lot, you know, and it's pretty. [00:17:49] Speaker A: Disney had a lot of problems when he came in the second time. [00:17:52] Speaker C: The stock tanked, but he left. I think. I think there was a lot of different factors there too. It was also hard to argue. He's not one of the most successful CEOs there ever. [00:17:59] Speaker B: He's very successful. Yeah. Well, he also had a. A successor at Disney. Allegedly. He kind of sabotaged his role so he can come back. You know, you can kind of dig into a whole bunch of that. That's like a financial plot that we're not prepared for. But, you know, that it just makes me really uncomfortable. Then Kushner, you know, that's a name that doesn't resonate very well in Los Angeles, especially because of the Trump family. And we don't know him. We don't know Josh. I have. You know, they're saying that they have different political views from the rest of the Kushner family, especially the one that's married into the Trump family. Whatever. It's. It's still new money and it's not from a basketball loving organization. And that's what's kind of like making me think like, dude, this might be the beginning of the end of like a lot of sports teams as we know it. By the time we're old and gray, it's going to probably be all private equity money and just super rich billionaires that don't know about sports and they're just it up for the rest of us. And like that it's, you know, to me this kind of feels like a slow death kill, right for sports and some of the brands that we know it as we know it. [00:19:11] Speaker C: I think, I think you're behind on that. Rome. I think this has been happening already. It's just finally hitting close to home to you. Because if you look at, if you look at who is paying $12 billion for something, like you can't be like independently wealthy and pay like, you know, $50 million for a franchise anymore and like, and have this love and passion for the sport, like the amount of people on earth that have the amount of money these things are going for. And the commissioner's job of these sports is only to get offers that's going to increase value of franchises across the league. So that's why you're talking about Las Vegas getting into that like for 9 billion without any brand equities because like, hey, you want to get into this club with guaranteed increases in revenue. I, you know, I think I've said on the pod before, baseball was in danger of being the first sport where, hey, the value's not going up because remember the angels, R.D. moreno put them up for sale. No one wanted to buy them because they probably weren't going to be worth more than what R.D. moreno bought him for. And there's no commissioner on anyone's watch is they can allow like a declining value of one of these assets that are out there. And so yeah, Rome, I think we've been there. I think it's now you're hitting, you know, you're hit, you're hitting it in where it's for you, for the Lakers. But think about Europe and some of the teams that, where all the investment goes into these, into these European teams from you know, Middle east money and everything like that of what it did. I mean, how far away from you are from Saudi Arabia just buying a team? I mean there's a lot of things in like charter agreements that don't allow that. But at a certain point, I mean you could look at F1. We talk a lot of F1. The Qatari government mostly owns McLaren, you know, and all these other like sponsors, all this investment outside. And so you're talking about, you know, international money coming into sports. You're talking about all these, all these different banking type things. Whereas, I mean, you're to the point where like you don't even know where a lot of this money is coming from. And they just put a figurehead out there. So you missed Bob Iger being the figurehead. Well, he ain't paying the 12.5 billion, but that's the name going on there. I mean, even to think about Mark Walter, I didn't even hear that name. It was Magic Johnson that bought the Dodgers early on, which I didn't like, remember. Yeah, it was, oh, Magic Johnson's buying the Dodgers. That's what everything's about. That like you didn't even hear Mark Walters name a ton of the news. [00:21:28] Speaker A: It was like Johnson owns about like six teams now from like 12 different sports. [00:21:33] Speaker C: Right. And so I think, I mean it is basically a consortium of money from private equity that's going to come in and they're going to put a figurehead on it. And so yeah, and, and I think there's a lot of stuff and I don't think we're prepared to talk about the Boston Red Sox and there's been a lot of stuff on them with the Fenway Sports Group and how they operate that team because they're part of a consortium that owns, you know, a NASCAR team. They own Liverpool. And what they do is like, hey, they're about maximizing profit and so they're not doing anything collectively. That's going to be anything for the sports fan. It's, can I get value out of this? I don't care about winning the World Series, but is this team competitive enough to make the playoffs and maximize ticket sales throughout the year and be just good enough? And that is going to be what private equity stance is not about winning the World Series. So Romeo, I think, I think we're there and it's just going to be like how many teams are going to have this? I mean you've got a lot of [00:22:28] Speaker B: different, I think for it to happen, I think for it to happen though with like the biggest brands now like Liverpool, I'm a Liverpool guy, Boston Celtics, you know, grumbling's about that organization. But now the Lakers, I'm like, holy, like I, I don't know what to expect anymore. Really quick, let's, let's go back a little bit because Mark Walter, when he bought the team, you know, since so much of it can only come from A private equity firm like Guggenheim, you know, where's the rest of the 8 mil going to come from? You know, only two can come from Guggenheim and whoever else joined it. I don't know if you guys remember, but on X there was like a lot of rumblings like oh, this is like dirty money, this Saudi money. I guess that was the rumblings in NBA circles as well. Like all this stuff is just starting to come out slowly. How is he so liquid to make this transaction happen so fast? Now going back to his business dealings, insurance companies, which in my opinion insurance companies are all big rip offs. They charge you a fee to insure you, but they use that money to bankroll all the your other investments. That's why insurance companies make a lot of money. [00:23:35] Speaker A: It's just, it's just insurance is a fraud, man. It is 100. [00:23:40] Speaker B: So what happened was there's a whistleblower within Guggenheim that said that they were borrowing money against some of these insurance companies that we're not supposed to go to privately owned companies within the same group or something like that. I'm paraphrasing. So you know, don't come at me with like details, you know, if you guys can better break it down, please do. But that's not, you're not supposed to do that. You know, there's a certain way how you can reinvest money, but to buy more toys, so to speak, or assets that are not initially part of the investment group like that, that's a big no, no. So there was I guess a couple months ago, privately, Mark has been reaching out to investors already to raise some capital to pay off some of these loans, to pay off some of these things such as the Lakers and other things. And I'm guessing the money got mixed up, a lot of money got mixed up. And this DOJ thing is really real. And so the reason why Josh and, and, and Iger found out that he might be willing to sell is because he has to pay off these loans or get rid of them. Otherwise it's full indictment and maybe this helps it go away or like lessen the punishment. He's not selling the Dodgers, he's not selling the Sparks, he's not selling the Women's Hockey League, he's not selling other assets. But this was enough to kind of, this was like the latest purchase, unfortunately. [00:25:13] Speaker A: So is it, is it probably getting rid of them now? Because I mean obviously at 10 billion in. But he wasn't really like fully, his full system not really involved yet. I mean he's only been A year? Yeah, kind of. Whatever. I'm not, you know, I haven't got this thing established off the ground yet. I don't really have a quote unquote, championship, organization, team right now. So, hey, let's just make this deal like you said, Rome, lessen the pressure, have some money to pay off whatever kind of loans, these cash problems he's got going on or whatnot. And like you said, water under the bridge. You know, if you pay the money [00:25:51] Speaker B: back, you know, that's part of restitutions and like in, like. Yeah, in the legal system. So I'm guessing this is like an automatic. Pay the certain investors and certain accounts [00:26:00] Speaker A: off right away, at least 75, 80% of the people happy, and then I'll figure out the rest later. So. [00:26:06] Speaker B: So, yeah, yeah, probably. [00:26:09] Speaker C: Probably didn't heard he gave the President of the United States a World Series ring two weeks ago when they visited the White House. [00:26:15] Speaker B: You know, maybe. Maybe that's. [00:26:18] Speaker A: Maybe that's when he brought it up and said, hey, you know, would Josh be interested? Let's. Let's reach out. [00:26:25] Speaker B: Yeah, I don't know. This is like one of the craziest, [00:26:29] Speaker A: you guys, but, yeah, private equity, that's. That's basically taken over. Like you guys were saying, it doesn't feel like ownership really cares about the fans anymore. It's about profit. Right. It's no longer like, hey, I want to win championships. It's more of, like a business of how can we bring in the most revenue. And if it, you know, screws the fans over, so be it. We're making a dollar, making a profit. I mean, we didn't talk about this last week, but, you know, FIFA got in trouble with this, right? They were trying to go to a private equity and all that. UEFA fought back. [00:26:59] Speaker B: It was Josh's company. [00:27:01] Speaker A: They shut that down ASAP real quick. So, yeah, so again, you got to be careful about how much you can sell, how much influence they may have. But, you know, that's. That seems to be the future. We are going. And, you know, we talked about, like Jason said, it's been going on for a while. Just the figures were, you know, two billion, four billion. What? The commanders Washington sold for what, six and a half billion, what, three years ago? Those numbers are only going to go up and up. I mean, I heard the Cowboys today maybe get evaluated at 15 to 18 billion if they wanted to sell. So, I mean, if the lakers are worth 12 and a half now, where are they going to be in 2040 worth at least 20 I think a [00:27:42] Speaker B: bubble's going to burst eventually. This can't keep on going like this. [00:27:46] Speaker C: It will be. I mean, it's going to be. I mean, I think you start looking, it's going to be the next TV deal. Like when, when it, when does TV not become, you know, the overwhelming amount of revenue? And when did the network stop going? I mean, I think they're lucky right now that live sports, when it comes to, you know, eyeballs and everything like that, they can sell advertisement for. Like, we watch sports live, we don't watch on delay. So it makes more, it makes more appointment viewing than regular television does at this moment. And so, yeah, is there cycles that go. It's going to hit a boiling point. I'm curious just looking at the NBA, the situation in Portland right now because you got this new owner that comes in and he wins the Stanley cup with Carolina, but he's pissing everyone off in Portland because, you know, doesn't let, you know, bench or bench players travel and he's cutting all these different costs up there. And now, you know, basically, you know, threatening, I don't know, maybe to leave the city of Portland because of the submarina deals and going. And is that a team that moves to Vegas and you're talking about the Portland Trailblazers, which is like, I mean that's, that's, that's kind of like synonymous with basketball. Like there's these cities and like they just have like one team or just like two teams. And like Portland, it's the Trailblazers where it's at. And so hey, it doesn't matter. Hey, money wise, it's not going to work. Is there going to be a city that's going to pay to build this arena? You saw in baseball a little bit with the A's and what these owners are. And I mean that owners, not even the A's owner isn't even like as rich as some of these other guys are in the way they're doing stuff. So yeah, Roman, I think it's always been, you know, it's an owner's like play toy to the side. Some are more fun than others. Like Ballmer is like, yeah, you don't care. He's just gonna, he's gonna blow money up and the dude wants to win and you know, potentially do some corrupt things on the side. Pay Kawaii under the table. [00:29:29] Speaker A: Honestly, Palmer's got to be the happiest guy that this story came out. Clippers, dude. [00:29:36] Speaker B: Well, for a little bit. But hey, the NBA overall is in deep, man. They haven't been handling this very well. Pablo Torre keeps on uncovering more stuff. You know, the story's a lot more [00:29:51] Speaker A: juicier than the Ballmer and just Kawhi Leonard. Well, [00:29:56] Speaker B: so, ig, I was getting hammered by some people as well, because some people were talking shit. Like one of my friends, he was telling me, you know, bye, bye, Laker fans, whatever. All this, you know, Trump owns, owns you guys now. I'm like, well, like, what about your Clippers? He's like, it's just another day for us. Who cares if Bomber get kicks out? What's new? It's been a lifetime of mutiny. [00:30:21] Speaker C: But, well, Bomber ain't getting kicked out. It's just going to be. They're going to decide whatever, like that guy's. [00:30:27] Speaker B: It'll be a year suspension. [00:30:29] Speaker C: I think it's just too wealthy. It's just because, I mean, you don't, you don't hear a peep from any other team or any owners about this situation because they know they're there. There is, there is other skeletons in people's closets that they ain't gonna be talking about for how they take it for the team. [00:30:45] Speaker B: Clippers will take it for the team. And then Kawhi, who. Who knows what happens with him. [00:30:49] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, but it's interesting. I mean, I think Aaron and I have talked a lot about just the baseball side of things. Like, I'm, I'm very. It's gonna. The collecting bargaining agreement for baseball is very interesting to me because baseball is kind of the one sport right now where the money matters. The Dodgers. You know, Rome doesn't want to admit the competitive advantage they have with their, like with the, the deal they got with their TV deal. That's basically unfair versus everybody else in the major leagues. But if you talk about start capping these. But, yeah, okay, whatever. But if you start capping these teams, which is what the owners want in that sport, you know, you start getting to cost certainty, which is things that make valuation better for teams and potentially like, this is what the players are fighting against. And so if they shut the sport down for a year to get that, and then that helps baseball consolidate TV rights, helps them control costs. You know, is baseball a nice thing where that's, this is the next way to make those valuations go up, because I think baseball was in a position over the last five years of, hey, these things can't sell and can't increase in the, you know, the valuations like the other sports are [00:31:59] Speaker B: one interesting thing. About the expansion with the NBA. I guess when someone buys into it for any leak, that money goes straight to the owner. So they kind of divvy up that whatever. 8, 9 million. So everyone gets ballet. [00:32:12] Speaker C: Split it 30 ways. [00:32:14] Speaker B: Yeah. I guess the irony here with the NBA, the valuations have increased ever since this new CBA. And it's. The new CBA has the product on. On the court, tremendously. You're seeing Oklahoma City having to tear down their team a little bit piece by piece. [00:32:32] Speaker A: Once. Once the CBA up for the NBA. 2031. When is it? [00:32:38] Speaker B: I don't know. Jason. [00:32:41] Speaker C: I'm looking. [00:32:42] Speaker A: I want to say 2031. 2032. I could be wrong. [00:32:45] Speaker C: Through the 2030 season. Expires June 30, 2030. [00:32:49] Speaker A: Okay, so that's what I thought. They have to have a new one by 2031, so. All right. [00:32:53] Speaker B: I can't remember what else I want to cover with this, though. It's just shocking to say the least. And I'm really curious how entangled Walter's financial dealings have become, because I'm. I'm gonna try to subscribe to the Financial Times to learn more about this stuff because there's like a lot of articles on it now, but you have to pay to get in a little paywall. [00:33:17] Speaker A: Gotta play. Gotta pay to play. Rome. You gotta pay to play. [00:33:20] Speaker B: It looks like everybody knows it, but nothing else is in danger. You know, as of now. [00:33:28] Speaker A: Now we'll see how nobody's rabbit hole goals. [00:33:32] Speaker B: Like the fact that they just like pick the Lakers and they. You know, no one sells a team like that after a year. So it's really shocking. I. I know back in the day when the NFL first started or the NBA or probably every other organ, you know, league, they traded teams on the poker table right here. I'll give you my team, you take my team. Let's trade arenas. Like that was the norm. [00:33:58] Speaker A: I think that's what the. I think that's what the Lakers do, man. They just have a cup of coffee and hey, you want A.D. you want Luca, Cool. You can have them. Hey, you want the Lakers for 12 and a half billion. You want. You want the Lakers? You want Vegas with your choice? I'll take the lakers. [00:34:11] Speaker B: All right. [00:34:11] Speaker A: 12 and a half billion. Deal. Done. [00:34:13] Speaker C: I'll draw it up at that point in time. I mean, these things are like, you know, it's. It's at a level where, like, you're rich to own a team, but like, if you look at like the Jerry Buss thing, this Guy was like fledgling money to try to keep things afloat. And this was just his whole passion project. And then it's. It's a family business. Like the Bus family is not independently wealthy. I mean, if you look at, you know, I'll bring my Chicago Bears into it. The McCaskey family that owns them, they like they don't have any independent wealth outside the Bears. [00:34:43] Speaker B: The Bears are just rich from the team. [00:34:45] Speaker C: Yeah, seven, seven to billion. And they're not, they're not cash rich. It's just equities, you know, it's just valuation rich off. Off of where it's at. So these aren't going to be family businesses no more like they were before, where you get somebody that's kind of all in. Like it's going to, you know, it's going to be a billionaire family. It's going to be like a consortium of people, but you're not going to have that type of passion around it. [00:35:06] Speaker A: Now this still has to get approved by the, the NBA owners and everything, right? I think they vote on it in a few weeks. [00:35:12] Speaker B: I think they were going to prove them. Yeah, they're going to prove them becoming new owners of an expansion. So I'm really curious who the new expansion team is going to or the potential two new expansion teams are going to go to. [00:35:23] Speaker A: Well, it sounds like. Well, I mean, I haven't heard much about Seattle because no one obviously, like we're talking about, you know, Vegas going for 10 billion maybe. I mean, Seattle, they got to build a new arena over there too. So Maybe Seattle's what, 5, 6 billion? So who knows who wants to go there? And like you guys are saying, there's a Portland. Portland's had issues with that arena for a while. I mean, the Sacramento Kings, I mean, yeah, they got that. Was it Golden Cookie arena, whatever the hell the name is of the place is now Golden Spoon, whatever they call it Sacramento. You know, they were always a team that was, you know, back when the Maloofs owned them. They remember Vegas, they wanted to move them to Vegas once they had the Palms Casino and all that back in the early 2000s and they gambling and all that was kind of a, you know, was frowned upon then. [00:36:11] Speaker B: Right. [00:36:11] Speaker A: We didn't have what we have now where basically every five commercials is go to FanDuel, go to DraftKings, go to King. Pinning your bets. [00:36:22] Speaker B: Yeah, Going back. So I guess the two of Walter's companies, Delaware Life Insurance and Clear Spring Life, they're controlled by Walter. They didn't disclose the private Credit holdings backing other companies controlled by Walter and his ventures. So there's a little bit of tax fraud here, a little bit of mishandling. The fact that he got the SEC and. And the doj, it's probably a big deal, and it's probably, like, a pretty big paper trail, too. It's hard to erase that one because it's so much money. So we'll see what happens to him, but Pretty big blow. Pretty big blow. We'll see what happens to the Lakers. Any other comments about this or you guys want to put 2 cents about anything? [00:37:10] Speaker A: I'll just say, Roman, I was reading up on. Obviously, I don't. You said we don't think he's going to sell the Dodgers, but if he does happen to sell the Dodgers, that would void. If he wanted to show a Otani's contract, he has a stipulation if Walters was to leave that he could void his contract to become a free agent. So there could be some other, you [00:37:34] Speaker B: know, what's he gonna go. [00:37:36] Speaker C: He's only. He's only been paid, like, $10 so far from that contract. All that money's, like, due, like, 30 years from now. [00:37:42] Speaker A: Walters can't pay it. You know, he might want to get out. You never know. They do. Oh, well. It's like a billion in deferred payments as of now. [00:37:51] Speaker C: The guy's just getting, like, DraftKings money deposited into account for him right now. That's all he's gotten from the Dodgers so far. [00:37:57] Speaker B: Hey, man. [00:37:57] Speaker A: His interpreter still betting from the cell. His interpreter's still betting from his account from the jail cells, last I heard. [00:38:03] Speaker B: I don't get to talk to you during the day because you. You have, like, a real corporate job, you know, unlike me and Aaron. But we were talking, like, I was asking Aaron if He's seen this 30 for 30, this new dock on, like, the. Whatever. It's about Shohei and his interpreter. And I. I think they thought it was gonna make Shohei look better. But I'm watching clips of it, and it doesn't look good. It doesn't look good at all. I'm just thinking, like, take this thing down, dude. And so I was thinking about other conspiracy theories, right? Because we have a lot going on in sports. But now I'm starting to think maybe MJ did get in trouble for gambling. And David Stern says, take a break, all right? Step away, because we can't kick you out. You're Michael Jordan. You basically saved the league. So he stepped away, maybe took a little bit longer than he wanted to. And then he came back. I think the same thing happened with Shohei, because you just can't kick this guy out of the league, okay? Gambled. He's a degenerate. I don't know. That's just my theory. But the 30 for 30 doc does not do Shohei and his team any favors. And that's just my opinion. And I. I'm a big. A big show. Hey, Dodger guy. It's not good. [00:39:17] Speaker C: I just find it hilarious because our entire adult life, heck, even our childhood, all I heard was about. And if I'm looking at Aaron in the screen right now, I don't think we're on YouTube right now. But Aaron's got this Pete Rose jersey behind him right now. And my entire. My entire life on sports talk radio, it was like an annual debate on letting this man into the hall of Fame because manager, he. He gambled on baseball. Literally the amount of, like, gambling stuff, sponsoring, like, players doing it. Like this prediction market fiasco. Like, I'll be honest, I was naive to the fact that all of a sudden my DraftKings account became eligible in all 50 states. And I'm like, well, what does that mean? Because in California, they said we. We had a proposition no to sports gambling. [00:40:05] Speaker B: I don't know. [00:40:06] Speaker C: Cool. I can make a prediction that the White Sox are going to win tonight. [00:40:10] Speaker B: That's how they do it. Yeah, it's a prediction, not an. It's stupid. Dude, she's the one that broke the whole thing open. And now they're getting sued by New York. New York's a really tough district. New York attorney, whatever, man. [00:40:24] Speaker A: If you walk away, they sue you. Stay out of that state. [00:40:30] Speaker B: I like New York. [00:40:33] Speaker C: Yeah, but I. I don't know, man. It's just. It's just funny where the sports act. Because, I mean, you just think it's all these years talking about Pete Rose Gambling hall of Fame, and now it's like, it's the players. It's this and that. I mean, the only positive is that, like, the guys they've caught because, you know, if you gamble on one of these things, it's so traceable. Versus, like, having my private bookie that I like you know, dropped a couple grand off in a back alley. [00:40:56] Speaker B: Having a bookie. Like, how come people don't use bookies anymore? Like, why are you doing it all online to, like, some affiliate of affiliate, you know, like a cousin. Cousin. They're putting bets, but they're always like, oh, you know, Rozier is going to get Two steals and foul out in the third quarter, like, you know, have an injury with, like, six minutes left is like, why would you make bets like that? You idiots. Do something a little broader. [00:41:21] Speaker A: I mean, the problem is they're doing bets, but they're betting, what, like 100k? Yeah, like, that's the problem. Right. I mean, that's why they used to have. I mean, they may still have it. They have runners in Vegas and books where each runner would go for a guy and bet two grand here, two grand here, and you go to 10 books, you get 20 grand on a game. But, you know, they caught on to that eventually because they realized, you know, the Bob guys were using runners and these guys, and then they tracked them and were able to figure out, like, hey, these guys actually got about 50 grand on these games, but they got it separated between, like, 12 different books and 12 different runners coming around and collecting money. And they figured out, hey, these are. These guys are working for. [00:41:59] Speaker B: We've all seen in the movies back in the day when you. When other betters find out that you cheated everybody else, you got all the money because you called a knockout in the third round when the guy was, like, a championship boxer. You better make out the back door right away, otherwise you're getting your ass beats. [00:42:13] Speaker A: You got your ass Peter killed if you didn't take a die. Exactly. Yeah. Hey, you go down in the fourth Rome. You go down, and then when you don't go down, hey, you will be going down later for sure. [00:42:25] Speaker C: Aaron's the resident UFC correspondent, but there has been several fights. I don't think it's talked about enough that. Yeah, books right now, because there's been some, like, weird swings and lines and stuff. Yeah. Into the fight. And so just taking off the book of, like, where some of these, like, bets are going. So they've. [00:42:41] Speaker A: They've. Yeah, they've gotten two or three guys busted. I mean, because, I mean, a lot of times, like you said, you don't know training camp of guys got hurt or not. Right. I mean, in the NFL, NBA, we have to reveal that stuff. UFC fighting, you don't. Like, if you're supposedly hurt or not hurt, they don't say anything. So, like, Jason just pointed out of a trainer or a guy in a camp knows somebody and leak something like, hey, dude, dude's got like. Like, McGregor. If somebody was to say, like, hey, dude's got a torn meniscus going in this fight, I mean, obviously, I don't know if he did or did not. There's Rumors, maybe he did. But hey, you know, you're gonna go 200k on the other guy because, hey, he got. The guy gets kicked in the leg once or twice. All of a sudden he's buckled, and then boom, he's down. And then everybody's like, oh, hey, like, dude just got kicked real hard. But no, he came in with already pre injured. So, yeah, I mean, they have busted some guys, but Jason pointed out, I mean, some line. Most of the lines don't change. But now the FBI, the line makers and all this are like, oh, you were minus. You were minus 200. Now you're plus 150. Yeah, that. That shit just doesn't happen. [00:43:51] Speaker B: I would like to kind of look into, like, what program that they're using because they use a lot of AI predictive stuff now to kind of see if any outrageous bets happen. And, like, they pick it up right away. Or like independent state regulars pick it up and then notify the National Commission. Like, it's nuts. I just don't know how they would catch some of these obscure bats out of nowhere. Because to me, like, you gotta. [00:44:09] Speaker A: That's why you gotta have a bookie. You gotta have an agent. [00:44:11] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [00:44:12] Speaker A: And then he gives you a limit, and then you just got to be good and you got to pay your limit and make sure you get paid. That's the only thing. Because that's hard to track on that, you know, secondary kind of market where you got a guy that's like, you show up, Rome, you're a bookie. Here's 50 grand on the cash. And I got my action. [00:44:30] Speaker B: Maybe we should start a source from the Sofa Underground betting thing. Just kidding. Scene gets edited out. Oh, man. Anyways. Disappointed. The Lakers got sold again. It's weird, it's odd. A lot of Laker fans not happy. One of my famous friends, he. He's a producer. He posts on Instagram saying that he's looking for a new team. Now it's like, I don't know, man. I'll wait and see what happens. We still got JJ Redick. Sub Palinka. [00:45:02] Speaker A: I do have a prediction for JJ Redick, but I'll wait till the NBA season comes around for that. [00:45:07] Speaker B: Rome, what's the prediction? [00:45:10] Speaker C: Said he's saving it. [00:45:11] Speaker A: I'm saving it. [00:45:12] Speaker B: You piece of. All right, I'm looking forward to it. [00:45:15] Speaker C: I don't know, though. You're gonna be saving that in the middle of football season. Man, we ain't gonna be talking about that. [00:45:20] Speaker A: All right, I'll give. I'll get no, no, I'll give it to you now. [00:45:23] Speaker B: There is a lot of NBA movement. We're gonna be doing some NBA stuff. We have to. [00:45:27] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. You know, I did. [00:45:29] Speaker C: It depends how good the Bears are. I'm gonna be honest. I won't care. I don't know if the Bears are rocking and rolling in October. I won't care. [00:45:35] Speaker A: Bears will be fine. I'm not worried. I'm not worried about Bears. They are a little bit banged up, but I'm not too worried about the Bears. But I'll give you. I'll give you my J.J. redick right now. Roman want it? [00:45:47] Speaker B: It's up to you. [00:45:48] Speaker A: Okay. I mean, this is my prediction. I think we. We've kind of talked about. This will be JJ Redick's last year coaching the Lakers [00:45:58] Speaker B: and he will move [00:46:00] Speaker A: in and become the new GM following this year with the Lakers. [00:46:04] Speaker B: Ah, probably move. Oh, well, okay. [00:46:09] Speaker A: That's what I. I believe will happen. I believe the team's not good enough. He'll be frustrated now that all the changes in ownership and stuff, they've already fired half the front office and brought in their own stuff. [00:46:20] Speaker B: Oh, everyone's gone. [00:46:22] Speaker A: Yeah, I think. I think we talked about it before. To me, he's like a Steve Kerr and Brad Stevens just kind of the reversal. He'll do. A Brad Stevens go from coaching to the front office. Steve Kerr went from GM to coach. I think JJ Redick fits better there, and I think he can mold the organization more better the way he wants than from the sidelines coaching. He's not going to have a fun year. It's going to be a bad year for the Lakers coming up, too. [00:46:43] Speaker B: A bad year. [00:46:45] Speaker A: I give you two predictions right now. [00:46:46] Speaker B: A bad year. [00:46:47] Speaker A: A bad year. [00:46:48] Speaker B: Get the out of here. [00:46:50] Speaker A: Okay. [00:46:50] Speaker C: I mean, I don't think this is a particularly. I don't think it's a particularly hot take, but Romeo Roman, you're talking a little about, like the Dodgers come in or when they keep the ownership. When Walter. Walter came into the Dodgers and he revamped it and it was run well and this and that, you know, just reorganizing everything. It's not a particularly hot take, but I would say that the Lakers are one of the more poorly run organizations the last 20 years, and they're just living on Kobe and LeBron. [00:47:16] Speaker A: Oh, oh. [00:47:17] Speaker C: Once Kobe and LeBron. [00:47:18] Speaker B: Once Bus died, it kind of all went down because, like, basically just them [00:47:23] Speaker C: getting LeBron is the only thing that kept them afloat, like post 2010, basically. [00:47:29] Speaker A: But I Mean, if you go back and look at kind of even the old doctor Bus stuff. To be fair, though, we've been ran that way. But they just had a genius in Jerry west that covered everything up. And then once he left, you know, did pretty good, you know, sleep at the switch. Mitch. [00:47:45] Speaker B: Yeah, he really tanked after that. [00:47:47] Speaker A: Honestly, he was not that bad, but he did pretty good. Nobody could live up to what Jerry west did, but he was not that bad. [00:47:54] Speaker B: Well, it's hard to live up to Jerry West, a Pat Riley. [00:47:57] Speaker A: But yeah, I mean, you have What, Genie Buss, Ms. Rambis. Remember Ms. Rambis to Kurt Ramis's. Whatever the hell they were doing, they were like Genie's, you know, right hand. That was always the laughing stock of the NBA. [00:48:09] Speaker B: Yeah, I don't like that either. I, as I told you, Aaron off before, I think if Jeannie was running the Lakers and Jerry Buss, Dr. Buss was still alive, at least just alive, just sitting on his couch, sitting in the suite. But Jeannie had full authority to do what she could do. I think she would have ran the Lakers a lot differently just knowing her dad had the support there. I think without the dad there, you know, you kind of lose a part of you. She lost a little bit of confidence. You know, everyone's attacking her. Everyone wants to be her friend. You know, she made some mistakes. Maybe she kept Rob Plinkin a little too long. I, I, I don't know. You know, they obviously held on to Kobe because, you know, he sold tickets after, after the kill, Achilles let him go, but they didn't really need to give him $80 million either, you know, because they weren't sure I was going to come back, so. [00:48:59] Speaker C: Well, I would have said regardless for Genie, like, they basically wasted I don't know how many years with the two brothers running the team into the ground. And so it's always when it comes back. I mean, I love the HBO show succession. And it always comes down to, like, whenever these generational, you know, mavericks come to actually step by side, was he. Because I think it was an absolute disaster the entire time. That's the reason Genie took over, because it was like everything was going, like, wrong. And to a certain point, they both ran into the ground and there was no success. And that's when she kind of reclaimed the throne on it. [00:49:33] Speaker B: They, they were beefing a lot, but the, I can't remember his name, though, but the bus guy that ran the, the scouting department, he's the one, like, that's the reason why they've been hitting home runs like even like the second round. He, he ran it and he did a great job. He's the only one that actually knew basketball. [00:49:49] Speaker A: And they got rid of him too, right? [00:49:50] Speaker B: They got rid of him. [00:49:51] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:49:51] Speaker B: But he, he was only bust, but I can't remember. I mean, the Lakers. [00:49:55] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, I know what you're talking about. Yeah, I think he did a pretty good job. But the Lakers, I mean, they have the least amount of what front office people for scouting, analytics, all that stuff up until. Right. Basically the Walter group came in and stepped in and was actually upgrading that to kind of like you mentioned, realm run it like how the Dodgers are ran. But yeah, I mean, like you said, I mean the Lakers have been from a front office point of view, a laughing stock in the NBA behind, you know, closed doors and other groups. [00:50:26] Speaker B: 20 years. [00:50:27] Speaker A: But look it, they had the Kobe. They still won some championships even after they moved off shack with Casal. They got fortunate. The COVID year to win. I call it the COVID championship, but no one cares. Move on, you know, so they got that. They also got the NBA cup, if you want to count that. [00:50:46] Speaker B: So yeah, I mean, keep it rolling, dude. [00:50:49] Speaker C: That'll be worth More in 20 years. I know, it's my, that's my, it's my dying thing. It's like it's 20 years. You're going to be talking. I mean the Knicks, we, you know, they won two championships this last year. You know, they won the, the double. [00:51:00] Speaker A: They are the real, they are the real NBA champs. I mean that, that's finals. [00:51:05] Speaker C: That's going to be a talked about thing, man. They talk about in Europe winning the treble and everything like that. You know, it's like, hey, you won the ins. You know, you won the two championships. [00:51:12] Speaker B: I get the cups in, in European soccer. I just don't get the cup in basketball yet. I don't know, it's just not clicking for. [00:51:18] Speaker A: Well, a. The problem with that too is it starts like three weeks into the season and no one even knows because no [00:51:25] Speaker C: one's watching the NBA because football's on. They're just trying to get somebody to watch football. [00:51:30] Speaker B: So let's take a quick break. We'll come back and talk a little baseball and wnba. We just got done talking about Mark Walters and the Guggein Group selling, liquidating the Lakers for $12.5 billion a year after they acquire them from the, from Genie Buss and the Bus family for ten and a half billion or ten billion, whatever it is. I don't know a lot of stuff there. So go check it out. Talk a little bit about Mark's financial dealings. Not in detail. We're not financial analysts, but we kind of poke our fingers where we can talk. About what? About the Dodgers. About the NBA having a big old media crisis. More. More or less. With all the drama with all the new owners on board. We didn't even touch on the rosier stuff or the. Or the bedding and the kawaii. I don't know if we touched on Kawhi stuff we did last week. [00:52:28] Speaker A: Right. Yeah, [00:52:33] Speaker B: but we'll switch gears. [00:52:34] Speaker A: Betting scandal stuff. We'll wait that. That changes month to month on alleged tax here, alleged text there. [00:52:41] Speaker B: Allegedly. Chauncey Billups is really good friends with Bob, but I don't think Chauncey's gonna be near a basketball court anytime soon though, so. [00:52:52] Speaker A: Hey, I wanna, I want to count it out. He might have some videos. They were recording a lot of these games too, so that's true. Assistant coach to JJ. I wouldn't be surprised. He's already got Nate McMillan's Scotty Brooks to name a few. [00:53:08] Speaker B: I think the big winner lately and all these deals, everything happening, all the drama, all the dramas around the NBA and now the MLB more or less because everyone keeps on talking about this impending lockout. The players associates is not going to accept a cap. Allegedly. MLB definitely wants something in place a little stronger than what they got now. People love what the NBA did because they kind of raised values, but it's also really hard to kind of maintain teams. So maybe they can find a good striking balance. But speaking of NBA, let's talk a little bit about the WNBA before we talk a little bit about baseball because the WNBA has had a lot, a lot of drama as well. Not a good year for anything basketball related. They're getting pummeled in the media and I think it's like a lot of rage bait. So I just want to talk about it really briefly. Sophie Cunningham, they call her MAGA Barbie. She is on the Indiana Fever, teammate of Caitlin Clark, the college phenom. Out of Indiana or Iowa, right? Iowa. She was injured last year. This is her third year scoring, throwing up assists, having great three point shooting outages. Indiana is having a breakout season as far as like scoring at a pace that no one else has ever done it. They've hit 100 points, I think 14 or 15 times and they're hitting about 15 to 30 threes in any point in any game. They blew out the New York Liberty just this past week, just beat the shit out of them. This is the second time that they beat them by more than 20 points. And you know, I have a friend, she has season tickets to the Sparks. And she, and she told me, like, look, the WNBA games are a lot of fun if you, if you don't mind seeing a lot of missed layups. And so when I went to a game, it was quite a bit of missed layups, but it was entertaining. It was great. But then you have some new girls that are kind of big ballers and there's a new rookie, she's a passing sensation, almost like a John Stockton like, player. And it's pretty fun to watch. It is exciting. But what do we hear about. I used to watch definitely more WNBA basketball before this season, but now it's just kind of drama filled. And is it shocking though, because it is a women's league, they can't even stay on subject and talk about basketball. They have to talk about everything else surrounding the actual product. Sophie Cunningham made some comments to ESPN magazine about how transgender should not be allowed in the wnba, or at least biologically male humans playing in women's sports. I don't know how you guys, I don't think we've ever really talked about this. I talked about it briefly with some of my friends here in San Francisco. And, you know, I have a daughter, so I've kind of changed my stance a little bit and some of my friends did not like my take recently. I am kind of with Sophie, at least not having biologically born males that have transitioned to become females play in women's sports. That's just my opinion. I do think there's some type of advantage, especially after you've gone through puberty. And at the same time, I don't think it's some epidemic. I really don't think there's just guys like, oh, I'm going to get a transition, become a girl and just go dominate a woman's sport. I think that's overblown. I think it's just rage bait. And the amount of trans people in the country is very low. We're talking about like less than 1%. It's very small and very few of them are actually playing sports. So I don't think it's a very big deal. We can talk about bathrooms and all this other stuff. A lot of these, like, assaults that are on women, they're not coming from transgendered people. They're coming from straight biological males. And that's like a whole other topic. But going back to the Sophie thing. People have not been liking what she said and saying that she's not providing a safe space for trans. And she never said that. She just says that's her stance on sports. So I kind of want to touch a little bit about it. If you guys want to, you guys don't have to. I kind of said my two cents about it, but that's been the headlines a lot on espn. All these news articles and they're just rage baiting. I don't know if you guys saw Sophie, man, she got, she's getting beat up on the basketball court. And these refs in the wnba, they suck. We thought NFL refs were bad. We thought NBA raps were bad. We thought umpires were bad. WNBA refs are some of the worst refs in all of sports. [00:57:33] Speaker A: Didn't we talk about this last year? Like, WNBA refs get paid like 20 grand a year. [00:57:38] Speaker B: It's like, I don't know what it is. [00:57:39] Speaker A: Yeah, they get maybe it was like 40 grand, but it's, it's basically nothing. So that's why they're just out there. Like, they don't give a crap. So, yeah, it's a big issue. [00:57:52] Speaker B: And Sophie has gotten some pretty big hits. You know, she was bleeding a few times. Same thing with, with Caitlyn. And you know, fans are booing and they're wearing trans shirts and it's fine, you know, support, you know, sections of, of the population that are not really well represented or they don't have a chance to protect themselves. I'm all for that. But I do believe Sophie has a right to say her comments. And as I think, like, just because you don't agree with it doesn't mean it has to create all this veteran, funny enough, Enos Kantner, he's kind of poking fun at it and I think it's kind of hurting it. It's. It's not really helping it. But he, he said he's declaring for the WNBA draft next year because he fits all the requirements to go play in the day. [00:58:33] Speaker A: You had two, right? [00:58:35] Speaker B: Who's the other guy? It's some guy that had like, phobia who can't go on trains and planes. [00:58:42] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Ex Iowa State player. Drawing a blank on the name right now. But yeah, really good collegiate player. Did not have a great NBA career. I believe he's running for office or senator or something in Minneapolis too. Right. So, yeah, yeah, I, [00:59:05] Speaker C: it's just a big grift, man. Like, I just know any way we cover this issue, like, like, you Said Roma. I. I support everyone to be able to live their life the way they want to live it. And I think this issue gets in sports is just totally over polluted. And it's a grift by talking heads on news outlets for whatever particular news, you know, channel you watch and turns into a debate where there's actually no real cases in professional women's sports or even if we're talking collegiate, we have like one, you know, I know of the one person and I'm not going to give them the name that has basically become famous because she finished in fourth place in some college swim meet. I don't even give the time and space. But like, literally you've created this whole rage bait market for that type of stuff where like, I think, as you said, Sophie has the right to say what she says. She's in the top of her field when it comes to women's basketball. And the people that do support trans rights have, you know, their opinions on it. Well, could support it too. But we're talking about, as you said, there's no one in the WNBA that's. This is. We're talking about a topic that doesn't even affect the league at this point. And I think all over women's sports right now, like, I get the need to protect women's sports, but literally we have created this national issue that has political juices that is not even like remotely something that is affecting people in the way on sports. I get there's all sorts of different things about, about the tran, about the trans community and things that impact them and stuff like that. But when it comes to sports, man, like, we're just talking like, I think even Jesse Waters from Fox News, like, it like went viral. He's like, I don't even know why we're talking about this. Like, it's. [01:00:53] Speaker B: Oh, I love that. [01:00:54] Speaker C: Yeah, it's like. And it was basically like he, he dropped, in wrestling terms, he dropped the gimmick because he stopped being like the white, the, the right wing commentator he was and just stopped it for a second. It's like, hey, you're supposed to keep this up and talk about this for an hour. Because this is what, like we're rage baiting people that are watching, you know, Fox News and something like that. But it's like, it's not an issue. Like it just we're making something that's bigger, whether it becomes sports, where we're just talking about people that are playing a game and none of this stuff, you know, who wins and who Loses and, you know, our guesses here and there or even real issues that are affecting this country when it comes to jobs and other crises that are impacting us. But we're spending just so much time talking about this nonsense. [01:01:35] Speaker B: It's just. [01:01:35] Speaker C: I don't know, it's just. It's just funny to me there. I just, I just, I don't like the, the grifting of this issue where it is not in the impactful thing of like, WNBA and then people like Enos cancer and these other people. Like, cool. You're just, you're just being a clown to be a clown. Like, that's. That's all. That's. [01:01:50] Speaker B: I was thinking too, but people were actually giving it, like, oh, see, it's. You know, I. [01:01:55] Speaker C: No, you're being. He thinks he's being smart and clever and being a clown to be a clown. Like, it's not funny. Like, I'm glad you think it's funny and everything like that and whatever. You know the history and you can, you can say what you want, but, like, yeah, cool. It's not funny. That's not where it's at because I, I checked the. By the bylaws, and nowhere does it say that such and such can be in there and go like that. [01:02:14] Speaker B: It's like, okay, I, I think the other guy that was supposed to play in the NBA, he says, oh, well, you know, I, I can't ride planes or I can't do this and that, because I just. I just realized, like, it's because I'm transgender and, like, he doesn't understand what transgender is. It's just like they're making a mockery of it and, like, it kind of makes it even worse. But now all these people that don't understand it either are thinking, like, everyone, any guy who says they're transgender can just go play in the W or go play, you know, women's sports. Like, that's not how it works. Really. [01:02:45] Speaker C: No. And it's just more. And not to. I mean, obviously, we're on. We're on a podcast speaking on our stuff on sports and our takes on sports on a daily. On a weekly basis or whatever we're doing here. But like, everyone. Ill informed person on a microphone that's got like, the dumbest opinions possible. And when it comes to stuff like this, where it's like, it's. Whatever. It's. It's. Honestly, I. It's bad for the WNBA because to me, the WNBA has had a lot of growth and we're not talking about like, like the Rome. You watch more WNBA than me and Aaron, like the Minnesota Links are like a great team with a great star player that I don't think has been referenced on any sort of national media like whatsoever. The Indiana Fever because of Caitlin Clark. And there's, I think there's real conversation about how inept the WNBA commissioner is, why this, and why this league's not getting more positive press in a way that's highlighting the exceptional athletes that the WNBA has. I mean, you made the joke about the missing layups and stuff, but I mean, this league has taken steps if you're looking 20, 25 years ago and, and, and to get like, if you want to get business transaction on this, you know, we're talking about NBA franchise guy going for 12.5 billion. Okay. The WNBAs were like, hey, if you're trying to, if you got a little less money, if you're a, I guess a multi millionaire or, or a low end billionaire, hey, this is where these franchises are going to be. Start work making more money. But you need somebody in place from a commissioner standpoint that is out there. And we're talking about actually what's taking place on the courts, whether it's the terrible refereeing or, you know, what's going on for the, the great performances in women's basketball they have. But instead anything we're talking about, the WNBA on a national level is about this issue which is just, you know, a grift for people to talk about. [01:04:27] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, the WNBA to you guys's point, I mean popularity player wise now is at the best skill I'll set it ever. But unlike the NBA, the WNBA does not highlight its stars. Right. It's like it does not protect its stars. It does not highlight its stars. It's out here basically always race baiting and everything. Like, oh, Caitlin Clark this, that, and you know, everybody in the media is like, oh, she gets special privileges because she's white. She should be getting this, that, this. It's a bad look for the WNBA either. [01:05:00] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [01:05:00] Speaker A: The wnba, skill wise, player wise, by the women in that league now is the best it's ever been. They need to get real officials out there. I mean, you could watch some games and it's like they don't call anything. And then, you know, Sophie Cunningham gets that. Was it a flagrant foul? Busted lip, whatever she got. Yeah. And it's like, well, I mean, shouldn't that be like a flagrant 2 automatically for like 3 games? Whatever it is. But yeah, I mean that's the wnba. They've got their set of issues, and then you got different coaches and GMs coming out and, you know, whatever, supporting whether or not trans or men can play in the wnba, whatnot. Look it, biological women play in the wnba, biological men play in the NBA. It's a real simple thing. And that's where I stand on that. [01:05:53] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, and the. And the other thing, you know, talk just where this league, Aaron, hit it, right? [01:05:57] Speaker B: You're not. [01:05:58] Speaker C: You're not advertising the stars. But the other thing, that's been like, the narrative control from the wnba, it's been like, it's an unfortunate conversation about race a ton within this league, too, as far as, like, how they're promoting different things and, and what it is, especially with Caitlin Clark coming through. And then there's a lot of political people that are, like, putting pressure on Caitlin Clark to be more vocal about certain issues and this and that. And, like, expect more from, like, athletes. Like, some of these people are pure, like, grinders in the game, in the sport they play, and not worried about making, like, social statements and things like that. And again, it's where the narrative control of when it comes to the WNBA isn't there. And not highlighting, you know, the exceptional athletes and the great stuff that's going on within the league. [01:06:44] Speaker A: Yeah, but I think a lot of that has to do with media, right? Because everybody's asking about. No one's asking. Hey, Kaylin. Hey, you had a great game. What. What were the defensive pressures, what you saw in a game? Nobody asked these players that. They just ask them about, hey, who. What side politically you're on? Who'd you vote for? President? Do you believe in trans rights? It's like, why don't you ask me about the game? Hey, what were you looking for on this defense? What matchups were you seeking out? It's none of that stuff. Obviously, that's where the WNB needs to be. Support your players, support your stars, the coaches, GMs, everybody gets. Get better management referees in the league. And look at the WNBA like, you guys touched on. I mean, you could probably buy a franchise 25 years ago for what, 25, 50 million. Now it's, I think Rome, you said it's up to about 250 million to get your foot in the door. So. And who knows? I mean, if Valkyries, if it continues to go up, you'd be looking at a WNBA franchise being worth maybe even 500 million one day, which for a, had never made a profit ever for the first 25 years of its existence. That's pretty good. [01:07:49] Speaker B: Dodgers have been slumping horribly baseball since the trade finally caught a win yesterday. Snell looked good. X if you're on X, dude. Everyone thinks that the Dodgers purposely have every player injured to kind of save themselves for the playoffs and then miraculously has a full pitching staff. And so I was kind of going off a little bit today, like, oh, yeah, they just faked this surgery thing, you know, but in hindsight, I'm thinking like, well, you know, we don't know if actually anyone has actually gotten a surgery. It's just all media reporting, right? So I don't know. I was kind of. I was trying to figure out how to view it from all the conspiracy theorists about the Dodgers, but it's pretty funny. Boston Red Sox, they've been slumping a little bit as well. The Mariners slumping. It's been like a weird midseason drift. And I'm kind of curious like, where. [01:08:45] Speaker A: Jason, you see that? Jason, let me pause right here. Rome. All these teams slipping, but no love for the White Sox. No love for the Braves who just keep on winning. Come on, Rome, let's start the segment over again. Let's go. [01:08:59] Speaker C: We don't, we didn't want to talk that if the playoffs started on Monday, the Dodgers would have been playing in the opening round in the National League where the White Sox would have had a first round by. I'm just saying this is a team that. I'm just saying this is a team. [01:09:14] Speaker A: Jason, you sent Rome a message. He just overlooked it and said, not a chance in hell. [01:09:20] Speaker C: Yep. [01:09:22] Speaker A: And I looked at it and I said, God damn, the team to the left of there won the World Series. Took care of Rome's piece of junk. Dodgers probably will do it again this October. So White Sox, Braves. I think I called that World Series like two months ago when I said the White Sox and Braves were serious contenders for the World Series and go back in May and look at that. [01:09:44] Speaker C: Listen, we're going to have to drag Rome to Chicago and Atlanta and do the road pod from the parking lot at 35th and Shields on the south side of Chicago. You know, when the Dodgers go home and then, you know, I'm not going to talk a bunch of crap. Aaron on the Braves, but if the 121 lost White Sox from two years ago, then win the World Series this year, baseball will shut down. Because [01:10:10] Speaker A: it's got to be fair. It's got to be. No doubt the proof will then be, [01:10:15] Speaker C: yeah, you don't need to really spend any money to win the World Series because this team was historically at epic proportions bad. And in two years they've called up 14 plus people. This year the White Sox have made their major league debut off their 26 man team right now. And they are in first place in [01:10:31] Speaker A: the ALC Cali market. When they were like started the season, I want to know who the guy was. That pit six figures down on the White Sox predicted them to win. [01:10:41] Speaker B: White Sox 4th best record American League. Tops in the Central. Better than everyone else in the, in the West. Pretty impressive. 62, 57, 4 and 6 in the last 10 though. So they haven't been winning all that much in the past 10 games. [01:10:57] Speaker C: Braves, I mean they added, they had a tough stretch, man. They, they, they played the murderer's row of, of different people between the Yankees, the Red Sox, the Rays and the Yankees. [01:11:07] Speaker B: Pretty exciting actually. I really liked watching that. [01:11:10] Speaker C: Yep. So I mean, yeah, it was, it hasn't been the best run for the White Sox, but they held their own definitely against a, you know, a very. This was the stretch that could have taken them out. And they had a big, you know, the Red Sox series was the most unfortunate. They got swept by the Red Sox. They almost salvaged the Last 1. Took 2 out of 3 from the guardians as they've slipped down. You know, obviously you mentioned the Yankee series took two of the race. So. And then. Yeah, so they're, they're in a tough stretch of the schedule. I think it'll definitely come down to this ending point where the White Sox are going to start playing. You know, they got Detroit, they're going to play the Cubs again. They do got a makeup game with the Aaron's Braves. We're doing a little one gamer on Thursday the 20th. You know, just makeup from earlier in the season from when the White Sox beat the Braves in the first two of that three game set and the third one was rained out. So you know, but the White Sox got some, they got some games coming up, but it's tight. The Central's getting a little tighter down there. The Guardians were the ones pushing them and now the Twins and the Tigers have snuck into that race. [01:12:12] Speaker B: Yeah, I saw the Tigers when they were in town to play the Giants. That was a pretty fun game on Sunday. Was that Sunday? I think it was Sunday. I think it was a day game Sunday. By the way, man, watching the Giants play in person, just seeing some of the miscues with base running and like that, I'm like, no wonder why this Team has lost a lot. I just. I will say this before we go back. This is the first time I've seen the Giants lose because I used to like buying tickets. I used to go about like 20 or 30 games a year. Because they lose two or three games, tickets go on sale. These are bandwagon fans up here in the Bay. This the first season it's actually been hard to get tickets because they've still been consistently sold out. Very rarely is it offered at a discount price like you're still paying, you know, up to 100 bucks upstairs. You know, if it's really good opponent. But really impressed the Bay Area fans lately with still going to a lot of Giants games despite the team losing. I'm not sure how people feel about the coach about Buster. There's been like a lot of drama here about some comments, you know, about Jesus and Trans and all that stuff. They. They've been. It's been a whirlwind over here in the media over here, but pretty impressive going back. The White Sox with a three and a half game lead in the Central gaining a little bit of push, but it seems kind of comfortable to me. You got Twins and Tigers tied and then guardians not too far back. I think they got that lock in though, right? Because basically the two wild cards are going to Yankees Red Sox in that combo. I. I don't see them falling off Rays do they hold on to lock in the East Astros. Weren't they in second or third not too long ago and they kind of surged in the past month or two. [01:13:53] Speaker C: I mean they were. I mean they were in fourth or I mean toilet. I mean. Well, I guess athletics. [01:13:59] Speaker B: I thought athletics were winning. I thought. I know the Mariners have been tanking. [01:14:04] Speaker A: Athletics been bad probably the last two months. [01:14:08] Speaker C: Yeah. But the Astros to start the season weren't great. [01:14:11] Speaker A: No Astros Astros have turned it on of late. Texas is kind of been banged up of injuries in Seattle. Disappointment for them for sure. [01:14:22] Speaker B: What's up in Seattle? Like why are they stinking up to join? They are minus. They are nine games back from 500. That's crazy when they just dominated last [01:14:33] Speaker A: year probably the last 10 six straight losses. [01:14:39] Speaker C: Cal Raleigh was an MVP candidate last year and I mean at this point he was close. I don't. They weren't going to do it but at a certain point he was like going to be designated to the minors at a certain like I don't even for real money. Homework did. Oh, Cal Riley's been terrible this year. I mean I don't. You Know. [01:14:54] Speaker A: Yeah, at one point. I mean, Cal, he's batting. He's batting eight right now.159 batting average. [01:15:01] Speaker B: That's not good. [01:15:02] Speaker A: 12 home runs, 43 RBIs. He's only played in 86 games. [01:15:07] Speaker B: So just a bad year because he's. He's gotten better every single year. And then he had that definitely, like a hell of a breakout year last year. [01:15:14] Speaker A: Well, what injury did he have? Do you guys know? Remember? I don't remember if it was a lower body. [01:15:19] Speaker B: I'm catching up, dude. So I'm catching up. [01:15:24] Speaker A: He played. I'm looking. He played 159 games last year and hit.250. Obviously. He hit 60 home runs, so he's gonna miss that. He's gonna play at least, probably 40 games less than he did last year. So. [01:15:39] Speaker B: But yeah, he's been bad out of. So since you sent me that stat, Jason, or you sent us a little meme with where it's showing the White Sox having identical records at various points with the Braves when they won that year a few years back. How are you feeling going down the stretch? We're in mid August. We still got a lot of baseball to go, but it looks like things are actually a little bit tighter than what I thought. Especially in the West, I gotta imagine. I don't even know what's going on in Texas. [01:16:08] Speaker C: I mean, they're solid, but not great. The west just wasn't, you know, the Mariners underperforming. Texas has kind of been, you know, teetering around.500. I mean, go back to your point a little bit. Rome, you know, just from the White Sox, you're saying it's locked in like, I don't think anything's locked in. Like a bad. A bad 10 days right now puts you outside the playoffs really, in any of these positions. I mean, the Rays really beat the only team at 74 wins. It's kind of like a little bit above the fray. The Yankees are kind of close at. At 68 wins, but even they haven't been, you know, the greatest of. Yeah, I mean, they haven't been greatest as of late. So, I mean, you. You have a very close race where a week a. A bad week or two can put you out of it. So, I mean, likely you're going to get the Rays, Yankees and Red Sox coming out of it. So you're going to be fighting for one wild card out of the Central and the West. And so, I mean, you basically got Rangers, Twins, Tigers, guardians. I mean, even technically the Blue Jays at fourth in the AL east are still kind of it, too. So, I mean, there's. There's a lot to play when it comes to with these additional wild cards in the al, and no one's just above and beyond where on the flip side, you know, to get into it, you'll talk through it. You know, the Braves, the Brewers, the Dodgers, you know, all really good. The Cubs, they're pretty good, too. The Phillies have been pretty well on a tear since they got. They made the managerial change. Haven't been great as the last 10, but, you know, they were a team that saved their season. Yeah. [01:17:34] Speaker A: Dodger guy never wins in the playoffs, so I ain't worried about him. [01:17:37] Speaker C: Is he a Dodger guy? He's a Yankee guy, bro. No one says Don Mattingly. He's a Dodger guy. [01:17:43] Speaker A: Dodgers threw him under the bus for Dave Roberts, too, man. They did. [01:17:46] Speaker B: I. I like Mattingly. [01:17:48] Speaker C: I think you. So going back, I think the American League, I think, is very much up for grabs when it comes to who's going it. And it's gonna. It's really going to be down to these weeks and down the penny stretch [01:17:56] Speaker B: of like it's just six weeks left. [01:17:59] Speaker A: Yeah. Last week in September. Last week in September. [01:18:03] Speaker B: All right, let. Before we go to the National League, let's go through the American League real quick. I want to do just like we did in. In football. They're done. We're doing a done list right now. First tier. So anybody from the American League West? I. I assume the Orioles, Angels. [01:18:21] Speaker C: Done. You said American League West. You start with the Angels. [01:18:23] Speaker B: Oh, sorry. [01:18:23] Speaker A: Let's go. [01:18:24] Speaker B: American way. Sorry. Angels, Athletics. Are they done? I'm guessing they're done. [01:18:28] Speaker A: They're done. [01:18:29] Speaker C: They're done. [01:18:30] Speaker A: They don't even have a first name. They're just the Athletics. They're done. [01:18:33] Speaker B: They are, dude. Mariners. I'm gonna say they're done. Nine games under. No way. [01:18:41] Speaker A: They're cooked. Well done. They're done. [01:18:43] Speaker C: They're done. [01:18:44] Speaker A: They. [01:18:44] Speaker C: They were selling off of the deadline. [01:18:46] Speaker B: All right. Central, Royals, done. [01:18:52] Speaker A: All right. Yeah, they're done. [01:18:53] Speaker B: Guardians. [01:18:55] Speaker C: Nope. Everyone else is alive. Guardians, Tigers, Twins, White Sox, all alive. [01:18:59] Speaker B: Got it. Orioles and Blue Jays. Are they safe to knock off? [01:19:06] Speaker A: They got touched with the wild card. [01:19:08] Speaker C: I think there's. Yeah, they're still in the wild card. I don't take either of them away. [01:19:12] Speaker B: None of them away. [01:19:13] Speaker C: No. [01:19:14] Speaker A: All right. [01:19:15] Speaker C: I don't. I don't think the Orioles get in. [01:19:17] Speaker A: Yeah. But I don't think about the Orioles. [01:19:19] Speaker C: But I don't think you can rule them out. [01:19:21] Speaker A: They just lost one of their pitchers. [01:19:24] Speaker B: I don't get in, man. What happened? [01:19:27] Speaker A: The heartbreak of losing that World Series, man. [01:19:30] Speaker B: Well, that's. That's a big heartbreak, dude. [01:19:32] Speaker A: Once you lose, once you lose something like that, man, it takes years to recover. People just don't realize it. It takes years to recover. [01:19:39] Speaker B: I mean, I remember Falcons, what it's [01:19:41] Speaker A: like to lose that super bowl, man. They still ain't recovered. [01:19:43] Speaker B: They should have won that one. Dude, I was so pissed. I lost a lot of money in that game. All right, so we got four teams already knocked off in the AL going to the nl. So we got Braves. Who has the best record in the league right now? Is it [01:20:01] Speaker A: the best record in the National League? [01:20:03] Speaker B: So Ray's got the best record overall. And then you got Brewers. [01:20:07] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:20:09] Speaker B: And then Dodgers and Braves tied. [01:20:11] Speaker A: Tied. Yeah. [01:20:13] Speaker B: Braves have been 7, 7 and 3 in their last 10. Dodgers 4 and 6. But I feel like what. [01:20:19] Speaker A: And that's coming off a three game sweep of the Royals. Yeah. [01:20:23] Speaker B: Because they were. [01:20:23] Speaker A: I think we already done so. Yeah. Yeah. Dodgers had lost what, seven in a row before they got lucky against the D backs. [01:20:33] Speaker B: They lost a lot of games, dude. It's been rough. [01:20:38] Speaker C: The problem with the Dodgers is like, you just don't buy into it because they're still, you know, still eight and a half up in the West. They're still one game out of best record in the league. [01:20:47] Speaker B: Getting guys back now, coming back glass come back soon. [01:20:52] Speaker C: This is what all, you know, the imbalance of this thing is. You don't, you don't feel, you don't feel just not starting two of your three stops starters or whatever like that purposely. [01:21:01] Speaker B: Now you sound like the X guys. Now you sound like the guys on X. Like, oh, snails. [01:21:05] Speaker A: Look, they're not doing it. They're not doing it purposely. I had Glass now, he was doing good on my fantasy team. I was in third place before that piece of went down. So yeah, I've got, I got no love for that guy. [01:21:16] Speaker B: Oh my God, dude. [01:21:17] Speaker A: I got no love for him, man. [01:21:19] Speaker C: You gotta get, you gotta, you gotta get the Moneyball pictures. Like I got to see as a [01:21:23] Speaker B: gm Aaron, this guy be just chipping guys out left and right, man. [01:21:26] Speaker A: Now I've definitely ship out. I definitely ship him out. In fact, that's why I got traded with Daniel. [01:21:31] Speaker B: Some Dodger people are also joining in on the, on the conspiracy saying like, look, they've seen the Dodgers put Drive Kershaw into the ground year after year. He just pitched Too much. So now they learned their lesson. Now they got all these aces. They're going to save them to the postseason. [01:21:47] Speaker C: Yeah, it's, it's not a conspiracy, it's what's happening. They probably are legitly hurt, but it's like, I don't got to rush them back. I can. [01:21:53] Speaker B: They don't got. [01:21:54] Speaker C: I can give an extra two weeks. I can, you know, we can, you know, get them out there and you stretch them out and get what it is. I mean that is, that is the competitive advantage of being able to buy. They have like four frontline starters and you don't need to do it. That's, that's, that's what you buy is depth. If like, you know, if one of these other teams, we talking the muddled Al, the AL playoff picture. You lose a top line starter, you're probably screwed. And, and you're not making the playoffs. [01:22:21] Speaker B: And so that's got rid of school. [01:22:25] Speaker C: I mean that's. [01:22:26] Speaker A: Well, he hasn't looked good for your Dodgers really yet Rome, so that's probably why. [01:22:29] Speaker B: But it's okay in the last outing. [01:22:31] Speaker A: But look at the Dodgers. Yeah, they got an eight and a half game division lead, but the Dodgers. Here's a concern for me with the Dodgers if, when they do get in the playoffs, one thing about Arizona and San Diego, they both play the Dodgers well, they can beat them. They both beat the Dodgers against the Dodgers in the playoffs and I believe one of the two will beat him again if they can get in and get healthy as well. Blake Snell. For me, I don't think the Dodgers really were milking him. This is a guy that usually takes a long time to get revved up and warmed up. Usually it's pretty bad for about a month or two. So hopefully they get him going here. [01:23:05] Speaker B: Do you hear about his rehab stint? [01:23:07] Speaker A: I, I don't care what a guy does in single A, Double A and Triple A. I don't care about you at the big league level, man. [01:23:12] Speaker B: He's talking about like it's Salt Lake. It was hard to get his pitches off. He's like, oh, like, like that. They're calling for a fastball also like, like a breaking or a curve. I couldn't get any pitches right. He's like, honestly, if I had a, if I was just starting off my career and I was in Salt Lake, I'd probably be, not be promoted to the major leagues. It was like really funny. [01:23:30] Speaker C: I like, I like. Or Rome, I like that he doesn't follow any baseball, doesn't know what's going on. Thing was like, hey, did you hear about like the minor league reports out of Salt Lake? [01:23:38] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, Come on. The only minor league report Rome I care about is like my minor leaguers is like 19, 20 years old that's getting ready to come up to the majors. Not some guy that's 35 years old that's been making 20 million sitting on his ass for the last six months because of elbow or shoulder injuries. You know, Blake Snell, all he does is jump teams in the West. He goes to the Padres, he goes to the Giants. Heck, next in two years, be pitching for the Diamondbacks. They like them old guys you can pitch over there. [01:24:04] Speaker B: Dimebags do like old Dodger pitchers. [01:24:07] Speaker C: They just take old. Any pitchers over there. Well, they have, they have Bum Gardner too. Just all the old AL west pitchers as you're going to take them, right? [01:24:14] Speaker B: And they always squeeze out like, like six good months. Have it. And then, and then they give him a new. [01:24:18] Speaker A: They get one good year out of you. Mer Kelly, Zach Gallon, Rodriguez. You got Rodriguez now, huh, Jason? [01:24:25] Speaker C: I got Rodriguez. [01:24:26] Speaker A: I got on my team last year for five earn run. Now he's down to 2.2. [01:24:31] Speaker C: Man, I got, I got Mike Soa too. [01:24:35] Speaker A: Can't stay healthy. [01:24:37] Speaker C: Yep, two Soa, 2.9, two er, Rodriguez 2.70. All right. I told you my, my bargain basement Moneyball pitching staff, it's number one I [01:24:47] Speaker A: had on my team. Rome couldn't perform, so I had to cut them. And they go to Jason's team. [01:24:52] Speaker C: A level, it's called leadership, Aaron, you know, they're just, you know, you know, you got to bring the best out. [01:24:57] Speaker A: I showed them the three rings and they got scared and couldn't perform. [01:25:00] Speaker B: I know that snarl when like Aaron has it. How bad is your team doing right now? Dude, in that league, it's bad. [01:25:05] Speaker A: But I did, I did pull off a trade like 20 minutes before the deadline. You know, I am one of the best closers in the game. You saw that, Jason. I pulled off that trade for Andy Pawhez. [01:25:15] Speaker C: I thought it was a good trade. Aaron offered me a solid straight too. I had to decline. It was, but it was, it was a good trade. [01:25:23] Speaker A: You could have got a bonus today. Rome, what do you offer? Hit three home runs today. [01:25:28] Speaker C: Yeah, I, I don't remember what you offer, but he wanted Jared Jones and Quinn Matthews, which. [01:25:35] Speaker A: And I offered Bergman and what is it, the other pitcher from St. Louis, McGarver, I think his name is, or something like that. Yeah. [01:25:45] Speaker C: So Was. It wasn't a bad trade. I'm just. I'm just very. You know. I'm on a budget here, Rome. I'm very cap conscious. I'm not the Dodgers. So I got to look at contracts and everything. We're going. [01:25:53] Speaker B: Are you serious? Are you still leading? [01:25:55] Speaker C: Oh, I'm still leading. [01:25:56] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:25:56] Speaker B: What's the leaf? [01:25:58] Speaker A: Are you gonna win it, Jason? Because I'm sure you probably broke down all the numbers. Are you pretty much safe to win it? Have you broken down the numbers? Have you looked at it real close yet? [01:26:05] Speaker C: I haven't. I haven't. Because, Aaron, we get the roster expansion. That's scaring the hell out of me. [01:26:09] Speaker A: Rome. [01:26:09] Speaker C: I'm still up 13 and a half points over second place right now. So I'm sitting very comfortably. There is a very tight race for second place right now that's taking place in the league. So that's why Aaron. Aaron was trading some of the other contenders. I. I don't know, Aaron. I. I feel like I'm pretty locked in across the board. But the. The roster expansion scares me here in a couple weeks where I think I need to drop like $700 to get my team up to 40 players. [01:26:32] Speaker A: It's 700, but you get 50 back. So it's only 350. That's only 350. If you look at it that way. [01:26:38] Speaker C: I get 50 back. This is a rule. I didn't know. [01:26:41] Speaker B: What the hell does that mean? [01:26:41] Speaker A: Well, you win the league. You win. You win 50 of the money. [01:26:44] Speaker B: That's. [01:26:44] Speaker A: So if you get. [01:26:46] Speaker C: Yeah, I'm hoping for a couple zeros. But you know. 00 zeros behind this one. [01:26:51] Speaker A: Well, you're gonna get what, six teams expand? Yeah. I think you're gonna get six teams that expand. So how fully they expand, we'll see. But I think Bob. Well, I. I don't think Bob's gonna expand. But you never know of him. Nez. I don't believe he'll expand. I'm not. And you know Robbie won't as well. [01:27:12] Speaker B: I can already taste that porterhouse and full rack of rib dinner. [01:27:16] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. There you go. Listen, Jason did say he was on at the Wood ranch. He did say. [01:27:22] Speaker C: I said. I said you can get the two item combo at Wood when you got the barbecue. [01:27:29] Speaker B: Go to the wine too. [01:27:30] Speaker A: I don't remember anything about the two item. That's just. Yes. That said. He said that's what he likes. That. [01:27:35] Speaker B: Yeah, like. No, we got. We got tape on this. [01:27:38] Speaker A: Hey, it's already two to one majority rules here, man. [01:27:41] Speaker B: Say we get to pick five bottles of wine. My ears. [01:27:43] Speaker A: My ears were working perfect on that segment. [01:27:46] Speaker B: I was like, I'm gonna remember that one. [01:27:48] Speaker C: Yeah. Definitely didn't say five bottles of wine, but a couple. You guys can get the two barbecue combo, just like me. It's the dinner of champions every Friday night. [01:27:56] Speaker A: Hey, you're. You're right, Rome. This guy has got that target cred, man. Can't spend over 150 bucks at a damn mill. [01:28:05] Speaker B: It's a dollar bin, dude, giving us dollar bin deals. You can't trick us, bro. [01:28:13] Speaker C: I haven't won anything yet, man. You can't put the cart before the horse. [01:28:16] Speaker B: That's true, that's true. [01:28:17] Speaker A: I mean, he said you're up with 13. It's been as close as like 8 or 9. So it will be close. But like I said, I think. Jason, I haven't looked at the numbers, but likely will win. [01:28:26] Speaker B: All right. [01:28:27] Speaker C: The. The biggest viability room. I talked about it. I have o', Neill, Cruz, James, Wood, Juan Soto on the injured list. So talking three of my four, he's [01:28:38] Speaker A: like the Dodgers here, man. He's got all these guys coming back. [01:28:42] Speaker C: Yeah, hold it out. [01:28:43] Speaker A: So the. [01:28:43] Speaker C: The perfect scenario will be that I get all of these guys back first week of September in the roster expansion. So I expand. I expand the rosters naturally, through activating, you know, three of the National League's best. [01:28:56] Speaker B: I'm excited to see how you guys shit goes down the line. All right. Going back to National League. Let's knock off some teams here that are dead. We can just cross them off. Rockies, guaranteed. Giants, guaranteed. [01:29:10] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. Yes. Oh, yeah. [01:29:11] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:29:12] Speaker B: We got Pirates, which, let's talk about skins real quick because he's. He's been having issues losing velocity on his throwing arm. And I. I don't know if you follow Kurt Schilling, man, this guy has been talking a lot of smack for about a year where he. I guess he noticed some mechanics on. On the skiing a year ago, and so he's going to have issues this upcoming year, and it's all coming true. And now shilling is like doubling up on that stuff. I. I don't really know all the details. I. I didn't really dig in further. I was just kind of surprised to see shillings tweets come on my. On my timeline. But you guys got any juice on that? [01:29:48] Speaker C: No, but, I mean, is it mechanics or just like. We have the overall assumption that at some point, every pitcher that throws 100 miles an hour is going to eat Tommy John surgery and get hurt. [01:29:57] Speaker B: Maybe that's what it is. [01:29:58] Speaker C: I don't. I mean, I don't know. I mean, it hasn't been as good. I wouldn't. If we're talking about the Pirates, it wouldn't eliminate them. They're not dead. I think the entire NL Central still in. It went from the wild card. The Pirates do. It's a little bit of a stretch, but I think that's what we talk. I talked about o', Neill, Cruz for my fantasy team, getting him back in the lineup as soon as possible. I think he's starting his rehab assignment. You know, there's a little bit of a push there, and they got a small window. They got. They got some good guys. You know, overall, like, Pittsburgh's got some talented people. Ashcraft is another pitcher. They got Jared Jones. You know, I'm just listening guys in my fantasy team, for that matter. That's why they're going to do good here. But, you know, there's some talent overall from the Pirates organization. I just. They didn't do anything splashy, like at the deadline. That's going to be like, okay, they're going to be a big, you know, World Series thing. I mean, it's a team that's good. If they make it, they're gonna get knocked out the first line. But I think they're still alive right now. I think for the next couple weeks they'll probably be really crucial. And when they get our Neil Cruz [01:30:49] Speaker B: back, weren't they around 500, like, I could have sworn they were like, in third place in that. In that division not, not too long ago and then now like, what, two last ten? [01:30:56] Speaker A: I got him dead. Rome. I got them dead. I got him dead. I'm safe. Pinning them there. Just like skiing's velocity in his arm going down. So are the Pirates. They just can't win right now. Injuries, their pitching staff's not great. They're not used to being here for the moment. They're not ready for it. The Pirates are done. [01:31:14] Speaker B: Pirates are done. So you're declaring them dead? How about the Reds? Because Reds are only half a game up the same. [01:31:18] Speaker A: They just lost Hunter Green. Love the guy won a championship with me. But they're done. [01:31:24] Speaker B: Okay? [01:31:25] Speaker C: They are done. [01:31:27] Speaker B: So, Jason, you would say the Reds are done, but Pirates still alive. [01:31:32] Speaker C: Yeah, I. I just think there's more potential in guys that the Pirates are getting back on it. [01:31:36] Speaker A: I mean, Jason just said he's got a ton of players on the pir. If they're done. His team starts going down like, that's just all it is. That's all it is. [01:31:48] Speaker C: It's a little biased. I don't have. I don't think I have any Reds in my roster. That's why I don't care. [01:31:53] Speaker A: But, yeah, they're done. That's all. You gotta ask, dude. [01:31:57] Speaker C: Well, I, I will just say, like, I've watched two Reds games the past two days as they played the White Sox. They got basically like one hit today by Luis Castillo. They did come back last night and win on. On Pope night, which wasn't happy about that. We had the big Pope giveaway at the White Sox game, but I think. [01:32:13] Speaker B: Giveaway some holy water. [01:32:15] Speaker C: You got the whole pond if calf, man, with a White Sox logo on it. Check it out, man. It's some good stuff. You know, you get one. [01:32:21] Speaker A: You get one of those things, Jason, or what? You got one. [01:32:24] Speaker C: I. I may or may not be on ebay, you know, scouring see what's just there. I wanted to go out there for the game, but there's a good chance I come back. Maybe we. We get that for the, The, The. The pennant run here. [01:32:35] Speaker B: Make it words dinner. All right. It's a little tight on the east, just like it is in the American League. Mets. [01:32:44] Speaker A: Oh, they're done. [01:32:45] Speaker C: Mets are done. [01:32:46] Speaker B: The worst team money can buy, as I think someone called them. [01:32:52] Speaker C: Speaking of owners, that may be. That may be the last big pure billionaire that just comes in like, and just like, I'm just like reckless as hell with my money and everything like that. [01:33:00] Speaker B: And then the same thing. [01:33:03] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:33:04] Speaker B: HP is like our, like, like a, like an old school rich billionaire. At least we got that going. [01:33:09] Speaker C: I can't say that though, because I need Justin HBA to buy the White Sox already. So I, I need. I need his brother to spend a little extra money. [01:33:16] Speaker B: What is the deal? Because we talked about last year, he's already funneled like, like what? Like 5%. Like, is that the deal in place? [01:33:23] Speaker C: He's already putting money he owns. I mean, I want to say he owns. [01:33:28] Speaker B: Like he has the option to purchase it. I think, like, because he's friends with the owner. Right. Like in five years. [01:33:34] Speaker C: It's not like it. Yeah, there's a, there's a, there's a, There's a gradual thing where he automatically has the right to buy. [01:33:40] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:33:41] Speaker C: In general, because I, I mean, he may own like 40 of the team already. He. I think he is the largest single individual holder. But because the Jerry Reinsdorf's Kids, whole percentages total combined, that keeps Jerry in control. But, yeah, there's a path to him to buy. And he's been looking at land in a certain part of an old railway in the city of Chicago for a new stadium site and stuff. So I think there's a likelihood he's gonna, you know, build his own stadium. He owns the land, etc. Etc. But I don't know. If you keep talking the mortgage stuff maybe doesn't happen. [01:34:17] Speaker A: Yeah, it's not good. It'll turn around. It's gotta turn around. [01:34:22] Speaker B: All right, so Mets are done. Nationals. I actually haven't heard too much news about them, but they're not too much better than the mats. [01:34:32] Speaker A: I got like. I got like three pitchers on their team. They all designated them for assignments. So, yeah, they're done. They're done, man. [01:34:41] Speaker C: James Wood also, also out. I. I just think tough. [01:34:45] Speaker A: I. [01:34:45] Speaker C: Because I think when you're looking at the playoffs right now, if we're going to narrow this down a little better. [01:34:49] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:34:49] Speaker C: You know, you got. You got the division winners, Braves, Brewers, Dodgers, top three right there. So then you need three more out of this group. You got the Phillies, you got the Cubs, you got the Padres, Diamondbacks. [01:35:01] Speaker A: Do you think, Jason, that the brewers, struggling a bit here, can hold off the Cubs? I think you still. You still like the brewers that win that division. [01:35:10] Speaker B: I know. [01:35:12] Speaker C: Yeah, I still like the Brewers. I'm just. [01:35:16] Speaker A: I don't know. [01:35:16] Speaker C: I know I'm speaking biased on the other side of the city right now, but I just. I just. I don't believe in this Cubs team. I think they may be. There's just some holes there that are [01:35:25] Speaker B: just not good against Chicago. [01:35:29] Speaker A: Go crazy for a Cubs, White Sox, World Series. [01:35:32] Speaker C: Oh, shut it down. I mean, I mean, I think. I think this has been one of the best baseball summers for the city of Chicago and for both teams being as relevant. [01:35:40] Speaker B: Resurgence, man. You got both baseball teams doing well. The Bears are relevant in national discussion. I met some people from Chicago. I always run to people from Chicago here in San Francisco. And I could always tell, like, oh, like, where are you from? [01:35:54] Speaker A: Baseball got a lot of mixed people from all around their realm. [01:35:59] Speaker B: They do, yeah. But the last lady I met, yeah. Her husband kept on saying that she won't still shut up about the 85 bears. And it's been 40 years. [01:36:13] Speaker A: Wow. [01:36:14] Speaker B: It's been really fun. [01:36:16] Speaker A: Touch with Jason. [01:36:17] Speaker B: Yeah. They were married for 46 years. An older lady. She's a big White Sox fan. So we're talking a little about baseball and then. And then the Bulls. But she was like the, you know, management there. And then. Then the Bears came up and then. And then the husband was like, you know, laying down like some grenades there, like, talking how she wanted to shut the up about the 85 bears. I was like, all right. [01:36:40] Speaker C: Every. Every city's got the team that, as much as you love sports in Chicago, there's going to be one team that's above and beyond the Bears being relevant is. And Bears winning is the biggest thing. And so that there's nothing beat that. Six Bulls championships doesn't even, you know, it's. The Bulls are the biggest deal in the 90s nationally and stuff like that. The Bears with, you know, the Bears win the super bowl is going to be the biggest thing ever. [01:37:02] Speaker B: That's crazy. I would think that the Jordan Bulls are, like, a lot bigger. [01:37:07] Speaker C: Jordan Bulls are great. I was like, but when you think of the city of Chicago right now, the Bulls have been irrelevant for 26 years, 27 years, who knows? And. But, like, the Bears are just timeless. That is. That is the city's team. I think, through and through baseball, you got a little bit of a divide. But you think of. Think of all the championships. Cubs won the World Series. It was great. It was a huge moment. I was like, but you are as much who's Talking about the 2016 Cubs World Series right now as much as people are talking about the 1985 Bears. [01:37:33] Speaker B: I like that World Series. Indians should have won that one actually, though. [01:37:38] Speaker C: You should have. [01:37:40] Speaker B: Okay, so we got Rockies, Giants, Pirates, Reds, Mets, and Nationals all done. You guys got Braves, Brewers, Dodgers, all locked in. [01:37:52] Speaker A: I'm gonna take the Cubs. Rome. Yeah, I'm gonna take the Cubs. [01:37:56] Speaker B: Okay. [01:37:57] Speaker A: I believe. I believe in them. I think they're pitching staff, their lineup's better and a better manager. So. Yeah, I like. I like the Cubs. [01:38:07] Speaker C: He was a better manager when he managed the brewers, but since he went to the Cubs, not a better manager. [01:38:13] Speaker A: That's right. [01:38:14] Speaker B: He is from the Brewers. That's crazy. Oh, man. Brewers was actually like my dark horse to go to the NL CSS year. [01:38:23] Speaker A: Well, they went there last year. Roman laid an egg against the Dodgers. So. [01:38:27] Speaker B: Yeah, but this. This is different. You know, the. The Dodgers, I strongly feel like it's all about vibes in that locker room and, like, how they're feeling. They need to go in hot because they. This team can't turn it on for. Dude. I don't need to see another dramatic Toronto Blue Jays series. Like, I want them to get hot the right time and just blow throughout the whole playoffs. Get me another chip. I'll be happy. I don't need to see this team struggle with all that money. Just singing down the train. Dude, this team's getting older. Bookie Mess is getting older. [01:38:55] Speaker A: They got some bad contracts. [01:38:57] Speaker B: Now they're up because now they're trying [01:38:59] Speaker A: to get hurt now. Well, they're always, they're always bad. When we, we've talked about, we talked about. [01:39:04] Speaker B: That's why they want to do the cat. That's why they want to do the seven year thing, which I'm all for it though, because I don't want to see 10 year contracts. I don't see a 13 year contract. [01:39:11] Speaker A: You brought up Mookie Bats. He's. He's going down every year. He's still signed 3, 20, 30. [01:39:16] Speaker B: It might be a little blimp, but the signs are pointing that he's on the way down. [01:39:19] Speaker A: Yeah, it's not a blunt man. The numbers say he sucks. I'll say it right here. Ohtani still seven more years on his Dodger here, though. [01:39:27] Speaker B: I can't look it, look it. [01:39:29] Speaker A: Mookie Beth is on my fantasy team during his prime years. I love the guy. Then I got rid of him like anybody does, and people overpay for him. That's smart cap management. The Dodgers don't want them. I mean, they're paying this guy $50 million a year and his numbers suck. 50 Kyle Tucker, his numbers suck. [01:39:44] Speaker B: Dude, I, I would have never got that. [01:39:46] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, their best contract deal is really probably with Max Monster, and the guy's only getting like 12 million. [01:39:51] Speaker B: Kyle Tucker got a hit at the Dodger game and everyone started cheering. [01:39:55] Speaker C: Yeah, but again, y' all can afford a terribly bad contract for a guy to hit like two something with like. [01:40:03] Speaker A: But I will say this about Kyle Tucker. We know he can perform in the playoffs. We can only perform in the World Series based off what he did in Houston. So that's really what they got him for. [01:40:10] Speaker B: We'll see. We'll see. All right, wild card. Oh, go ahead, Jason. [01:40:16] Speaker C: I was gonna say a little bit of your dark horse, if you really. I think, I don't know if you can consider the birds of dark horse. I think the Phillies are actually the dark horse of there right now when you look at there. Because I think it's a team that can go on a run and they, they got some pitchers, they definitely got some hitters that can hit in some big moments. It's a team that obviously Wasn't great to start the year. But if you're looking at a team that can go toe to toe with the Dodgers and some of these other teams that can do it. Been a little bit, they could do it. So I think if you're looking for the dark horse in the National League, that's a team that's going to upset people and you're going to understand why. Because like, hey, this team's like 11, 10 games worse than there is. Like, so I. The National League is very compelling to me because as favorites of the Dodgers are, I think the Braves are a great team. They've had, you know, tremendous building of that team. The brewers and the Cubs both grew good as well. I think Aaron's point is absolutely valid about the Padres and Diamondbacks potentially having the Dodgers number. But I think the Phillies are also a great team. So they're. [01:41:09] Speaker B: I don't know the other number, but they match up well. [01:41:13] Speaker C: Match up well. That's. That's a fair assessment. I, I just think there's some, there's some sneaky stuff within the scenario that, like the Dodgers aren't an automatic layup unless they're cheating. Like you're talking about he keeping guys to the side. [01:41:25] Speaker B: Yeah, they're not hitting well. [01:41:27] Speaker A: Dodgers do have issues. They got problems. We'll see if they get it right. Phillies are an interesting team. They could, you know, they got hot, got cold again. They got back to what, three, three and a half games of the Braves. Now they're back nine and a half. To me, the two dark horse teams. Jason touched on it. Padres, Diamondbacks. I think the Diamondbacks. I said, look at both these teams play well against the Dodgers. They can both beat the Dodgers. They have the last two times really the Dodgers been beaten in the playoffs. [01:41:55] Speaker B: It was by the backs and backs won that year. [01:41:59] Speaker A: And Carbon burns getting ready to come back too. He's pitching. So Zach Gallon may be back. So Arizona could be getting some pitching. Joe Musgrove coming back possibly here for the Padres. We know that bullpen has been nasty. Jackson Merrill's getting real hot. He's on a heater right now. Those two teams to me are very dangerous. And if the Dodgers roam, like you said, can't hit, get cold, could be problems from them. But yeah, if they get the pitching, look at Yamamoto. We know it's going to be good school ball. We'll see what he does. Snell up and down. How, how good will his arm be? How ready is it? We saw him break down kind of in the World Series against the Blue Jays. Yamamoto, build them out there. Ohtani already said it's not going to pitch glass now he's like glass. He could break any second. So I'm not worried about him. Ima chin hell, that guy goes to the minor leagues every two months. So look, the Dodgers do have issues. They got problems. This for them. They gotta win a World Series maybe now because we could be looking at the salary cap and they got some really, really bad contracts. Will Smith, they gave him a 10 year deal. He might not be, he'll be in a wheelchair catching here in the next five, six years. [01:43:07] Speaker B: He was doing great. Then all of a sudden he just got angry this year. It's ridiculous. [01:43:11] Speaker A: He's got a neck problem, dude. He's, you know, looking up at all the stars, making more money than him. It makes it make some of these guys depressed. [01:43:18] Speaker C: You know what, Aaron? You just jog my memory on somebody. If they actually did the salary cap, you remember, I. I think it was the NBA after like a cba. Like basically every NBA team had like basically a free buyout thing where like you could buy out a player's contract because it didn't count against the cap or whatever like that. [01:43:36] Speaker A: Okay, yeah, sounds familiar. Yeah. [01:43:39] Speaker C: I was like, I want it from a baseball perspective is it's like, okay, we can, we can pay off Mookie's contract like off the books. But like it, you know, it's not gonna kind of against our cap number. Like we, we can outright release them. [01:43:50] Speaker A: They're already not paying these guys. They already have like a billion dollars we owe you payments. [01:43:58] Speaker C: I'm very interested the logistics and how you apply the cap because it's like where the Dodger is going to be sitting. Like they have all these escalators of all these contracts paying later dates. Like how is that going to work into the financials before they would be against the cap? Because man, you're going to come do with all this money and like I'm so, I'm, I guess I will be surprised of the cap because I'm just like, how does the Dodgers, you know, I mean they could be the only one that's on this ownership group even negotiating this stuff. But I think that's an interesting situation on like where the cap's at and like where, where would they be up against it in 2029? [01:44:32] Speaker B: My worry is they get close to going bankrupt again. They go down with Mark Walters and then we end up with, I don't know, whoever owns the Trailblazers. [01:44:47] Speaker A: No, I think whoever comes in, if that situation were to happen, I think they, they get a good ownership group. But yeah, I mean, look at bets, bad contract. Kyle Tucker is the last two years of that deal. Player option. Right. I believe on that deal. [01:45:05] Speaker B: I don't know, I just remember it was ridiculous. Three years. Well, it's a four year too much money. [01:45:09] Speaker A: It's a four year, 240 million dollar deal. I believe. Years three and four player options. [01:45:14] Speaker B: That's disgusting. [01:45:15] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:45:16] Speaker B: I hope he declines. I hope he goes somewhere else. [01:45:18] Speaker A: I don't, I don't, I don't. The way he's playing right now, I don't seem declining 60 million. [01:45:22] Speaker B: Well, no, because I mean he could have. [01:45:25] Speaker A: I mean we're gonna give him like a 4 or 500 million dollar deal. [01:45:32] Speaker B: I, I don't know if they would have, but it was in the works though. [01:45:35] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean that's, that's the problem too with not really having a salary cap. Like, the Dodgers spend a ton of money, but all these other teams have to give bad contracts to keep good players and it kind of really screws them. I mean, look at Vlad Guerrero. I mean he's having a terrible year and he's what, signed for another 12 years and 560 million. [01:45:54] Speaker B: Celebrating that last year though. Yeah, he had a good year, good postseason. They were celebrating it. [01:45:58] Speaker A: But yeah, you have a great season and you're like, well, we can't let this guy walk because then our fans are going to hate us. [01:46:03] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, someone pointed out the Dodgers, yeah, they're getting good players, but they're also taking a gamble with giving players that are pretty injury prone, pretty still like lucrative contracts as if they didn't get hurt and hoping for the best. [01:46:17] Speaker A: They've been doing that a lot with their pitching. A lot of these guys that they get have always heard Blake Snell is always hurt. Glass now is always hurt. Yeah, Glass now hasn't pitched more than probably 15 games in the three years he's been with the Dodgers in any one season. Wild Snell, he's only made two starts this year. [01:46:35] Speaker B: He was due for a down year. [01:46:39] Speaker A: Yeah, Snails always got a down month. At least in the season. At least. [01:46:43] Speaker C: But he's gonna, but he's gonna like, you know, flame. [01:46:45] Speaker A: He'll be good in October, right? Yeah, he'll be 4, 0 with a 1.29 earn run average and everybody be like, oh my God, Blake Snell, you're so great. And then that two weeks after the World Series, out six months, shoulder fatigue, that's gonna be the. That's gonna be the news again. [01:47:03] Speaker B: This guy seems stoned all the time. Blake Snell. Every interview I see this guy, he does. This guy's like low key, cholo vibes, pretty funny. All right. We talked a lot in this pod. We knocked off some teams from the ML. So we'll update that as we move on throughout the season. Maybe we'll just update that like, in two weeks. I'm pretty sure we're not gonna see much movement until then. [01:47:24] Speaker A: I think around expansion time, September 1st, roster time, we'll have a good idea. I think who's probably still in the mix and who's out. But I'm 99 confident that the teams that we said are dead will remain dead. That's not going to be like the Bengals who kind of rise from the dead and, you know, kind of put some scare into us. Like, in football. I don't see any team doing that here. [01:47:46] Speaker B: Before we go, any two cents on any rumblings in the NFL training camp? You got some preseason games. Pretty exciting hall of Fame game. Oddly enough, [01:48:00] Speaker C: I think the biggest thing about the hall of Fame game, I think it was like, it had 7 million viewers. It was more than like, like the Stanley cup finals and world price. [01:48:10] Speaker B: I didn't watch just. [01:48:12] Speaker C: I didn't either. Like, I just refuse to watch football this time of year. I like, every person I talk to is like, I'm, I'm prime into baseball. Formula one's coming back in a couple weeks. Like, football will consume us for all this time. Like, I, I won't. I won't give the preseason and knowledge. [01:48:28] Speaker B: I don't need another one. [01:48:30] Speaker C: Yeah, I get, I get a little bit of like, what's gonna. I'm gonna care about with the Bears and things like that, but, I mean, I just can't go through it. But yeah, just. It just speaks to football being king. That the hall of Fame game that no one even cares about just outdraws. Like, it's just we, we can talk about any other sport. Like, football really is one of them. Is. Is one. And it ain't even close to what number two is. [01:48:52] Speaker B: Any feedback on anything, Aaron? That kind of caught your eye so far. NFL Kyler Murray winning the job, Not a surprise there. [01:48:59] Speaker A: Rome. I mean, I think once he signed there, we knew he's going to get the job. I mean, preseason injuries, obviously, from all teams right now, that's always concerned a lot of like, I think Romy talked about a lot of offense, defensive linemen going down. Yeah, so really no quarterbacks yet. I you know running backs game paid this year. Yeah and it was funny you know when we first started this show going on now our third [01:49:24] Speaker B: year. Yeah. [01:49:25] Speaker A: And I told, we all said look man, it's just ups and downs. Running backs are important. And now all of a sudden they couldn't get double digits in the millionaire category. Now they're getting 14, 15, 17 million bucks again. And that's just how it goes, right? It gets you, you'll start searing an interior offensive lineman aren't important. And then five years later centers will be making 25, 30 million dollars again. But agree I'm, I keep an eye on it news wise. I don't watch any preseason NFL football, college football that Labor Day weekend, that's when it really kicks off for me. And then we follow with the NFL Week 1. Rome will be in Vegas here in two weeks for Circa. So we will kind of get all the vibes from everybody what's going on here. Everybody's kind of scooped from the NFL football. So why we're you know, hanging out in the 100 degree heat in the pool, drinking the, the free booze that Derek Stevens and Sturk hook us up with. [01:50:20] Speaker B: Got nothing else. Besides if you guys don't know, the substation in Santa Clara has its own X account documenting all the victims that is claiming Niners. I don't know who the you hire, [01:50:35] Speaker A: bro. Don't you drive by that thing a lot? Maybe that's why you're back and knees jacked up. Don't you drive by that substation. I mean you might have a claim there. I mean personally I come on in there's even being a follower you get hurt of that account. [01:50:50] Speaker C: So we, we talked about the Clippers. I'm a big fan of Pablo Torre and what he does. He tweeted a couple hours ago [01:50:59] Speaker B: fresh some pot. [01:51:01] Speaker C: Well he, he tweeted a pod the podcast art for his Pablo Tori finds out deep dive tomorrow and it was a Niners picture but I believe it's Colin Kaepernick. But for me the first thing I thought of is, is Pablo going into the substation. And I just think that is what we need Pablo to find out because this is going to be buried under the rug in every which way. But this is, this is one of those things that I just, I feel it's real because it's the only thing to explain on why the Niners are [01:51:33] Speaker A: so I believe it's real too. Yeah, I believe it's real as well. [01:51:36] Speaker B: I think It's a real thing, man. I. It's just too many injuries, man. [01:51:40] Speaker A: It's real enough now that it's. It. It's mentally affecting players regardless that they want to acknowledge it or not. It's there. [01:51:47] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:51:47] Speaker A: Real quick. [01:51:48] Speaker B: Kyle Shanahan. That whole story about his accent is getting a little weird now. [01:51:56] Speaker A: So he admitted to it being his fault, right? [01:51:57] Speaker B: Well, he's going against a police report. You know, I'm pretty sure they're not too happy about. They're probably covering his ass. And now the insurance companies. [01:52:05] Speaker A: There was no out. There was no alcohol involved. So. Or drugs. So it's an accident. [01:52:10] Speaker B: It's still someone at fault. Now he's blaming Tesla automatic driving. How it faulted. [01:52:17] Speaker A: All right. I just bring the stuff. Station room. Might as well. It gets everywhere. Rome. [01:52:22] Speaker C: Was the Twitter account electrical? Just called electrical substation, I think. [01:52:26] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. I think so. Yeah. [01:52:27] Speaker C: Okay. It responded to the Pablo Torre tweet. Said thank you all for tagging me. I wish I could shoot beautiful electrical tentacles like some kind of super substation. But unfortunately this isn't me in this picture. It looks like AI but someone can fact check me on that. [01:52:42] Speaker B: So it's funny. [01:52:44] Speaker C: Yeah, [01:52:47] Speaker B: it's some funny, man. I. I love social for that stuff. All right. I think we covered a lot, guys. We have F1 coming back. NFL is gearing up. We're gonna do preseason. All that. You know, predictions division by division. NBA. We're definitely gonna be covering that because there's a lot of drama going down. We're just getting started. [01:53:13] Speaker A: Really, man. We are. Football's around the corner. We got the contest coming. College football will be back in it again. [01:53:21] Speaker C: So gonna need Rome to just do a little research this year when he's doing some picks. [01:53:28] Speaker B: We can go back on those picks. Dude. I wasn't a good role. [01:53:30] Speaker C: Can we. We can go back when Aaron needs to submit the picks at like 12 o' clock on a Friday. And we're just trying to get a hold of you wherever you are. Disappearing in in the bright lights of San Francisco. [01:53:40] Speaker B: It's because I'm driving down the five actually looking up stuff and. And. And doing it through my little simulator. [01:53:46] Speaker C: Speaking of the person who like really trusts Tesla and the auto drive. [01:53:51] Speaker B: I don't trust. [01:53:53] Speaker A: But yeah. [01:53:54] Speaker B: Yeah, no, I. I did have the auto drive for a little bit on mine. And that thing almost hit like a bunch of cars going down the five. I'm like. I'm just better off tricking and driving at this point. Like this. Like this Is. This is pointless, dude. Like, I'm a really good driver, though. I'm a really good driver. [01:54:15] Speaker A: Tony. Romo, I mean, Rome, take it easy, man. Change that E to Romo and bam, you're in the same boat. [01:54:21] Speaker B: You know what? Here's another rant. I don't see what Tony Roman did wrong. I don't know why CBS hasn't cut him off like that. I. I saw the videos. He did pretty good. He was really respectful to the police officers. You know, he was stretching before his. His sobriety test. He did fine. You know, so what? He blew a little or whatever he got, you know, let him be in the booth. That guy's hilarious. I thought he was doing a good job. I don't know why. Like, they're, like, kicking him off to the side. I really don't want to hear what on the. On, on the one team. I'm sorry. [01:54:50] Speaker C: I, I. Well, I mean, Tony's been under the heat the past couple years where he was super exciting early on, but they. I think this is the reason to replace him. [01:54:58] Speaker B: Well, I heard he was. Might have been tricking in, in and around the job. Not at the job, but we don't know. [01:55:05] Speaker A: We all know Romo would be out. Like I said, Rome. He'd be out the night before. He just. He didn't get as crazy as the Mark Sanchez. He just didn't get as crazy as him. [01:55:14] Speaker B: And now crazy Sanchez. I thought he. He was pretty good on tv, too. What'd he do wrong? [01:55:21] Speaker A: But then he's like, the wrong drugs. He got caught on another TV camera that he did not select so good on. [01:55:29] Speaker C: Aaron, I think you're familiar. I don't know if you are. Rome, do you know who Jason Benetti is? [01:55:34] Speaker A: Jason Benetti. [01:55:36] Speaker C: He's the former White Sox play by play announcer. He's play by play for the Tigers. He does college football. [01:55:42] Speaker A: Oh, he got busted on that hot mic. [01:55:47] Speaker C: No, not about the hot mic. You're talking about the guy from the Reds. [01:55:50] Speaker A: Okay. [01:55:51] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:55:51] Speaker C: Tom. Tom Brennan. No, Jason Benetti. He was on. He was. I was listening to him on an episode of the Dan LeBatard Show a couple months ago and stuff. And so Jason has, like, he basically has, like, a limp and stuff like that. And he's kind of got, like, a lazy eye a little bit, and so incredible announcing voice. One of the best in the game. And he said his, like, the reason he never, ever takes a sip of alcohol when he's driving anywhere is because he can't walk straight. And his Eye doesn't go. And so he's like, I would fail a sobriety test even if I'm perfectly, like, sober overall. He's like, I can't walk straight. I can't. I can't follow the eye if you're going from here or there. And then someone kind of chimed in the show. He's like, yeah, I couldn't do the Alphabet backwards. So it's like, I don't know, man. Like, you know you're terrified of a sobriety test. [01:56:38] Speaker B: Yeah. Stand on one foot and hop around. You do that, you fatty. Like, oh, come on. [01:56:44] Speaker A: You don't know. You could have a bad knee. You could have a growing. Your back could be sore. [01:56:48] Speaker C: Rome's got the best up knees, bro. I don't think he can. I don't think he can walk in a straight line. [01:56:52] Speaker A: You got to decline it. You got to decline the line. [01:56:55] Speaker B: I. I passed my sobriety test with flying colors. Still got arrested. It doesn't matter. [01:57:00] Speaker A: They don't care. [01:57:01] Speaker B: They don't care. [01:57:02] Speaker A: Just go out there and ask for your attorney and plead the fifth and get me out of here. [01:57:09] Speaker B: Exactly. I'm not gonna incriminate myself anymore. Any other final comments? [01:57:18] Speaker A: Two hour show, Rome. I think that's probably the longest since our debut about two years ago when we did our NFL breakdown preview for the first episode. [01:57:28] Speaker B: We've had a few two and a half hour pods, dude. Definitely a few. Especially during football because I'm cussing and pounding shots while I'm editing it. I know it. That's what I'm dreading the most about football. I'm like, I'm gonna shut you guys up at one point. Chase is gonna have definitely at one point a 35 minute rant on the Bears when, like, it was. They had a bye week. They weren't even playing. They're like, he's gonna be like the WNBA except for football. [01:57:54] Speaker A: Well, I mean, Romo, since you're talking about Jason's Bears, I mean, the week. Week one schedule is great because it's a Jay Z bowl. We get Bears, Panthers, week one. So I'll be interested to see who's taking that game. Jay Z, boy. Week one, Bears versus Jason's Panthers. The Jay Z goal kicks off week one. [01:58:17] Speaker C: That's a deep cut, Aaron. That's a deep cut from last season. [01:58:21] Speaker A: The only man that believed in the Panthers all. [01:58:24] Speaker B: He was right. He was right. [01:58:28] Speaker A: Will he take him week one? That's the big question. [01:58:30] Speaker C: Absolutely not. Bears by 60. [01:58:34] Speaker B: There's a funny Raiders fan that's on the. You know how it's not the Dan Patrick show. I can't think right now. The NFL guy, Rich Eisen, he always does fans doing predictions for, like, win losses and he has a Ranger guy on there. [01:58:49] Speaker A: The Jazz guy that goes on there is pretty funny, too. [01:58:51] Speaker B: The Raiders guy this year, I thought he was like, oh, man, there. [01:58:54] Speaker A: There. [01:58:55] Speaker B: Got four losses and like, we're only like. [01:58:57] Speaker A: Like they're. [01:58:57] Speaker B: They're seven and four. This guy's actually more realistic. Wrong. Still hasn't. Finishing 12 and five. Like, unbelievable. Unbelievable. I can't wait to kind of go over the schedule with you guys. [01:59:10] Speaker A: Week one. [01:59:11] Speaker C: NFL is the best. Everyone's irrationally confident of where their team's at. [01:59:15] Speaker B: I hate week one. I don't like betting on week one. [01:59:17] Speaker A: I love week one betting. One of my best weeks in the year. [01:59:20] Speaker B: Is it? [01:59:21] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:59:22] Speaker B: What's your worst week, though? What? Week two. [01:59:24] Speaker A: I love week one this year. [01:59:26] Speaker B: I haven't even looked at it, to be honest with you. I'm still absorbing the NBA schedule a little bit. [01:59:33] Speaker C: The NBA schedule? [01:59:34] Speaker B: Well, they just announced the. The marquee games. [01:59:37] Speaker C: Oh, all the. Dude, no one's watching the Christmas Day games. Everyone's gonna be watching football. Bears, packers, one o', clock, Christmas Day. [01:59:43] Speaker B: Everyone's talking about Christmas. Like, what a long day it is gonna be, you know? I don't know, man. [01:59:50] Speaker C: Well, feedback taken. Rome. All right. We're not going to talk as much. Maybe this year. We're not re. You know, reviewing every single game. You start narrowing it down. Like, these are the games you need to review. I'm saying it. We just. Hey, we review the Bears game every week. Okay? Then you pick four other games. Listen, all right, The Bears in Formula one, they bring the. Bring the listeners to the pot. [02:00:08] Speaker B: I'm just saying, you know, Formula one has been. [02:00:10] Speaker A: Formula one is a proven fact. I don't. I don't know about the Bears. [02:00:16] Speaker B: I think one of our best clips is about the Bears. Can't remember. [02:00:22] Speaker C: We'll get some more this year. Ben Johnson wants the scoring record. That was his big, big, gay interview today. [02:00:27] Speaker B: That's tough, dude. Yeah, I said that. I don't like that. I actually don't like him saying that. A little too much bravado for me. [02:00:33] Speaker C: Nah, we need it. All right. Feel. Feel good about this team. [02:00:37] Speaker B: You feel good about it? [02:00:39] Speaker C: Yeah. [02:00:39] Speaker B: You want to do an early preseason prediction right now, on record? [02:00:43] Speaker A: No room. It's too. It's too early for that. Bears, too. I feel very good about the Bears. Too. [02:00:49] Speaker B: How about your Packers? [02:00:50] Speaker A: Not so much. [02:00:51] Speaker B: Not so much. All right, well, I'll do it then. Long pod. [02:00:57] Speaker A: I. I will. I will say this. Rome. I definitely will not have. I think two years ago I called Packers, Texans in the Super Bowl. I'm just saying that now. That will not be my super bowl prediction. When we do our predictions. I'll break. I'll break that out right now. [02:01:13] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. Okay, great. [02:01:16] Speaker A: At least one of those teams not [02:01:18] Speaker B: Stroud's on the hot seat this year. This is last year in the NFL. He's done. He's done. He's out. [02:01:25] Speaker A: Hey, easy, J.J. mcCarthy. Easy, easy. There. [02:01:30] Speaker B: Really hasn't got a fair shake in Minnesota. I don't know. Let's see how Kyler Murphy does. [02:01:36] Speaker A: There you go. [02:01:40] Speaker C: Mid season form. [02:01:41] Speaker A: Already practicing that one at the old comedy show. [02:01:45] Speaker C: But it was. But it was Kyle Murphy, not Kyler Murphy. [02:01:50] Speaker B: Oh, was it? [02:01:51] Speaker C: Wasn't it Kyle Murphy? [02:01:52] Speaker B: Man. [02:01:54] Speaker A: Hey, I don't care. As long as I hear Murphy, I'm happy. [02:01:57] Speaker B: Yeah, there you go. All right, I'll do it. Source from the sofa Catch on Apple podcasts, Spotify. Thank you. For those that have been listening, our viewers have been doubling and tripling every single week during the off season, which is great. We're really excited. We promise to eventually get some stuff open on video as well on everything else. But thank you for the love. Guys, we are out.