JR SportBrief Hour 3

It is the JR Sport Brief show here on the Infinity Sports Network. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia.

Super producer and host Ryan Hickey is coming to you live from New York City. Happy Friday. I hope you're good. I hope you're safe. I hope you are well.

I'm going to be hanging out with you for the next two hours. You can always listen on the free Odyssey app. You can hit rewind. You can hit pause.

You can do all of that. Thank you to people listening live and local on their Infinity Sports Network affiliate. Sirius XM channel 158 and everybody who has a smart speaker.

All you gotta do is ask it to play the Infinity Sports Network. What a show we've had already. We've been able to talk about JJ McCarthy. This man signed his rookie contract today. Good for him. We talked about Will Leviss. He is ready for the postseason. Man, have a positive record first.

Get over 500, OK? Matt Marchelle joined us. Talked all things college football. He came through courtesy of the Orlando Sentinel.

Thank you very much. And we talked about Major League Baseball and their rivalry week. Next year, they're going to highlight rivalries.

They used to do that on a daily basis. I guess not so much. Anyway, we have so much more to get into as the show continues on. Emory Hunt from CBS Sports HQ is going to come through and join us in about 20 minutes. Definitely want to talk to him about the subject matter that we're going to discuss in a second.

And then, you know what, before we get out of here, there's so many things to get into. Whether or not Kevin Durant is healthy enough to play. Pretty hilarious.

Not hilarious. The man's calf is still bothering him, but he practiced, which is good. United States of America takes on Sudan tomorrow. Let's see if Durant, if he doesn't play against Sudan and I don't know, that man may never play. Speaking of never playing, Tiger Woods is out again.

Did not make the cut at the open. You think he got on his private plane back to Florida already still hanging out there? Oh, you know, I think he's if not over the Atlantic Ocean, maybe already landed. Oh, you think he's back already?

I mean, what are you going to wait for? You know what? Wow.

Yeah. Why be sad out there? Let's hear from Tiger Woods, because earlier today he answered a question. Why the hell are you still doing this and you not good anymore?

Let's know what Tiger said. No, I loved it. I've always loved playing major championships. I just wish I was more physically and sharp coming into the majors. Obviously, it tests you mentally, physically, emotionally. And I just wasn't as sharp as I needed to be.

And I was hoping that I would find it somehow, but she never did. And consequently, the my results and scores were pretty high. Don't don't we all don't we all want to be in our physical peak or don't we all like you're a professional athlete? I get it. You're Tiger Woods. Welcome to the real world. Your body has betrayed you. All of the surgeries to his back, his legs, the leg that they almost had to amputate.

It sucks, but all good things got to come to an end. It talks about being in his physical peak. Being in his physical prime. I don't I don't want to see loser Tiger Woods, but it's his choice. It's not me. It's up to him, of course. I just I don't want to see loser Tiger Woods. Hey, you ready for him to hang him up? I am at this point, like it's just it's bad golf. He looks like he's in pain. He's not I mean, he's not even close to competing. I mean, just today alone, plus 14 through two days.

He's missed three cuts this year at the at the four majors. I just I get you love it. But it's also tough as a fan to watch someone that was so dominant for so long.

Now be on the the opposite, complete opposite end of the spectrum. It's hard to watch. It is. It is. It's. I don't want to say it's bittersweet isn't the word. It's just sad.

Like state like stay home. I get it. This is what you've done. This is what you've done your entire life. You're one of the most successful golfers ever. You say he's the greatest golfer ever. Think about what he's meant to the game and the money and the accolades and the fame. He's not going to catch Jack Nicklaus, but man, he just can't play enough.

That's it. His body can't hold up to play more golf. And so he pops up and he can't. He's not sharp. He's done. Good luck to Tiger Woods. I don't know what his choice and his decision is going to be. We probably won't see him playing golf until late this year.

What he does between now and then besides count money, I have no idea. Coach's son. Just coach your boy.

I think that'll be good enough. Anyway, speaking of speaking of an injured individual, he hasn't had as many injuries. He can still play at a high level when he's healthy. I told you, Kevin Durant, this man is on Team USA basketball, has not played one friendly yet.

Not one friendly. They play Sudan tomorrow. If he doesn't at least walk onto the court and put up a J. Like, when is he going to play? Kevin Durant actually gave an update on his calf today and he says, I'm taking it day by day. The practices just keep grinding, keep building.

Games like that around the corner. So I just want to take advantage of these days and have a practice. Do you think that you will be able to play either tomorrow or Monday? Oh no, I'll have to practice today. Just taking a day at a time.

OK, just taking a day at a time. Well, Steve Kerr also spoke today in London. Hey, Steve Kerr, is Kevin Durant going to scrimmage? Is he going to go back and forth, run up and down the court?

Tell me. I would love for him to play in a game, but we have to take it day by day. So he'll get some practice in today. We'll see where he is tomorrow.

Practice. Oh my God. Hickey, what is he going to do? Just play in the first game next weekend? They're just going to throw him out there? We're never going to see this seven foot man in the Olympics.

I mean, at what point, again, with the calf injury, do you even say, you know what, it's not worth it in general? They need to give him the Kawhi, but it's too late. You're right. Kevin Durant, Mr. Hole, he ain't getting any younger.

This upcoming season will be his, is it his age, 36th season? I think you're right. Come on. This man has blown out his Achilles. Mr. Hole here has had an issue with his feet.

It's catching up, OK? Kevin Durant, Kevin Durant is going to be 36 in September. You don't think they want him out there in Phoenix? Phoenix Suns are just garbage.

Hot trash if he's not out there. That's it. He answered more questions, by the way. Hey, hey, Kevin, are you concerned that you will miss playing in the Olympics completely? I don't know what else I'm saying, but I see progress every day. You know, it's one of those things you just got to monitor every day. And I see how I feel after I do certain movements and certain exercises.

So, yeah, but my thing is just keep grinding and see what happens. Oh, Kevin Durant has he has three gold medals already. He's probably whether he plays or not, he's going to get a fourth. 2012 in London, 2016 in Rio, 2021 in Tokyo, supposed to be 2020. And now here we are, 2020, what year are we in?

2024 with with Paris. Maybe maybe Team USA Basketball needs to chill out on just giving away. These opportunity, maybe they need to bring in guys who actually healthy enough to play.

And I get it. Kevin Durant actually played a decent season. He played he played more often than you would think. 75 games this past season for the Phoenix Suns. Maybe that's why he hurts now. Maybe he needs to rest. They don't make him like they used to.

It's sad. Kevin Durant, 435 career points. An Olympic basketball basketball history, more points than anybody ever.

You don't need to add on to that. He just needs to stay home and rest. The Phoenix Suns need him.

8 5 5 2 1 2 42 27 as 8 5 5 2 1 2 42 27. It's amazing how you have so many NBA players, so many basketball players. You breathe on them, they get hurt. And there's nothing easy about running up and down hardwood. Every day. Knees are cooked, ankles are cooked, bones, hips are done.

He's he's my guy. But you see Kenny to Jeff Smith, you see his legs. See all these NBA players. Charles Barkley got new hips. It is it is it is rough.

It is not fun going up and down that hardwood. Your body pays the price. Any professional athlete, your body's going to pay the price.

Ironically, talking about body's paying the price. I think Shannon Sharp has new hips. This Hall of Famer was on his Club Shay Shay podcast, and he was sitting down with one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. And Devontae Adams, who has been in a lot of trade rumors recently about going to the Jets and how the Jets would add him to their roster.

Given the salary cap restrictions, I have no idea. Even his agent shot it down. But Shannon Sharp brought up an interesting point. Shannon Sharp started to compare NBA and NFL players. Why? I don't know.

I guess he was bored. But he pretty much said that when you have to think of which athlete is better or which group produces the better athletes. Shannon Sharp. He stuck up for his own sport.

Take a listen to what Shannon had to tell Devontae. Football players are the most athletic. They can jump the highs. They can run the fastest. They're the strongest. They're the toughest.

Yeah. I'm not saying that other other sports, baseball or whatever sports. But I'm talking about if you talk about athlete for athlete.

Football, baseball, basketball, football. As far as vertical jump. Because we vertical jump standing still. They get a step. They run and jump. They get a run. Even for the combine.

For the combine. As far as flat out speed, ability. Oh no. Yeah.

It's not even close. These dudes, like I said, the physical aspect is just one piece. But then we get into the speed and, you know, they agile.

But just being able to move on grass is different. And plus y'all got like four plays in basketball. We got 150. We got a run. And a dude try to knock your block off. And we gonna change the play. You might get three calls in the huddle too.

These boys only be going to college for more than five minutes half the time in the NBA. So I don't know how much they gonna be able to retain like that. Yeah. We got too much going.

We got too much on our plate. Well damn. Hickey, I like how Devontae Adams calls some of the NBA players stupid. He said that in a very nice way. I like it.

I like it a lot. Not only are we more athletic than them, we're also smarter than them. Yeah. I was trying to figure that part out.

I'm like, wait a minute. What the hell does that have to do with anything? But besides that, I guess if you take a look at the skill position players, right? Like we can't. I can't look at an offensive lineman and just go, hey, this guy's more athletic than LeBron. That's not accurate.

You'd agree with on that, Hickey, right? Yes. If we're taking a look at skill position players, wide receivers, cornerbacks, if we want to compare them to NBA players, I think there are linebackers, I guess defensive ends too. Like somebody like Myles Garrett. Like what are we doing? Is Myles Garrett more athletic than, I don't know, Apollo Bonquero? I don't know.

What would you say, Hickey? That's weird, right? It's so tough. Like, because they just do so many different movements that like, I feel like it's very, like, it's hard to compare because what NBA players are good at, NFL players don't really use and vice versa. So it's like, it almost is like apples and oranges. Yeah. So he brought up the fact of NFL players being stronger. Yes, right? Yes. Absolutely. No doubt about it. Yes, they're, they're stronger. NBA players are throwing balls.

They don't, as long as you got lifting your legs to put the ball up in the hole, okay. And Kevin Durant's benching what, 100 pounds? Oh my God. Remember, remember that whole thing at Texas? They had a fit about what he could bench or not. What did he bench?

Do you remember? Nothing? I thought it was like 35s on each side.

So what is it, like 115? And he's like struggling to do it? This man shoots the basketball like a slingshot. He can shoot the ball from way off. What does he need?

And he has had one of the greatest careers ever. Can't bench press worth a damn. Doesn't need to. Probably has no chest. His chest is probably as flat as the floor you're on right now. Call him the Slim Reaper for a reason.

Don't, don't need that. Fast speed. I mean, the skill position players in the NFL. I mean, but they use, they utilize straightaway speed.

I mean, would they have the same quickness? Some of them. Well, yeah, I guess.

I mean, you see, did you see Lad McConkie around the cones? NBA players not doing that. It's different though. Do you think if you train some of the NBA players to do that, they'd be able to be on par? Probably. I mean, like if you think about like receiver DB, I would say it's, and basketball, those are very similar.

Well, you're cutting and weaving. You know, if you're a DB, you're moving your hips a lot and basketball, especially as a defender, you're moving your hips a lot. That's probably like maybe the closest comparison.

So I would say NFL, NBA, if you were to teach them, like, you know, the, the cutting movements for each sport, I think. They're so big. They're bigger than, they're taller than the football players. Most of them.

Most of them. I guess, yeah. It's like not that different. I think the cutting aspect. Yeah, you're right.

You're right. You know, like getting off the line of scrimmage, if you're moving your feet as a receiver, like they're also 6'5". The receivers, a lot of these guys, 6'4", 6'5".

So it's only like a few inches different compared to, you know, NBA wings. If you think about, but wouldn't you say some of the NFL players have this straightaway speed? We don't see basketball straightaway speed, really. Like who, like off the top of my head, we don't know who the fastest player in the NBA is. We can draw an assumption by somebody having a ball.

I'd say like John Moran right now. If you give this guy the ball on one end of the court without thinking of anybody else that's not worth a damn, he's probably the fastest guy from end to end with the ball. You go, oh, he's from here today and he dunked it already. But we don't, we don't see straight line speed in the NBA. I mean, we got, we got NFL players running 40s. I don't know how fast the NBA guys are running. I don't know. Does Victor, Victor Webayama doesn't need to run fast.

He takes three steps and he's at the end of the court already. I don't, I guess well-rounded athlete. I think I would agree with him.

But as you said, there's so many different things that they do. You know what? We're going to talk more about this and I'm going to ask this to Emry Hunt, who's going to join us on the other side of the break. Emry Hunt is going to join us to talk all things NFL and he talks college as well for CBS Sports. We're going to ask him this question, get his thoughts on the opener training camp.

We got a lot to get into. It's the JR Sport Brief Show, the Infinity Sports Network. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network. Man, NFL training camps are open. We got all of these media days and media weeks on the college football side. So we had to bring in someone who knows exactly what the hell is going on in all football.

We're being joined by Emry Hunt, founder of Football Game Plan, also analyst on CBS Sports HQ. Emry, how you doing, man? You good? I'm good, man. How you doing, man? I appreciate you bringing me on. Absolutely.

It's good chatting with you. You know, before we dive into anything, right before we went to break, we shared some audio from Shannon Sharpe. And he basically said NFL players are more athletic than NBA players. What say you about that? Hockey players are more athletic than assault.

You know what I'm saying? Because not only do you got to carry all that weight, you got to skate on ice. So that trumps everything. Maybe basketball players may be more conditioned because you got to constantly go up and down the floor at a higher level. Football players is more violent, more aggressive.

It's different levels of athleticism. But man, you wouldn't, if you told me hockey was number one, I would agree with you because not only do you have to skate, but also got to find the puck. And it's too much going on in hockey.

Yeah, that puck is small too, that small ass puck. Yeah, absolutely. This is why, Hickey, this is why Emry Hunt is a genius. But we knew that already. That's true. That's why we knew that.

Well, Emry, man. Now onto the football stuff. We've had a couple of teams that have opened up camp with their rookies. There's so many people taking a look at Caleb Williams and the Bears as they get ready for the Hall of Fame game. What are your impressions on Caleb Williams and the Bears and what they're going to do this year?

There's a lot of hype around. You know, and I understand why there's hype because you think about this Bears team and everyone focuses on the first overall pick, when in actuality, they were 7-10 and earned the 9th pick last year. And so they were in a lot of games that they probably should have won on the back end close games. They were very competitive within the division. And now you add, which I think Justin Fields is as good as Caleb Williams, so take quarterback out of the equation. There's a better team.

You bring in Keenen Allen, you bring in Aromah Dunes, you bring in Gerald Everett to go along with Cole Komet. It's impressive how much talent they brought in on offense. And when you look at their defense, they were strong on defense. They get after the quarterback, they turn the ball over on the back end, they're fast, they're athletic. But there's a lot of reason for optimism for Chicago, even with a rookie quarterback.

Emery Hunt is here with us from CBS Sports HQ. They certainly play in a competitive division. When you think about the Packers and what they're going to be able to do, you think about the Vikings today, you see McCarthy went out there and he signed his rookie deal. What are your thoughts on how competitive they're going to be up in the NFC North? Listen, I think when you're talking about Green Bay, Detroit, and Chicago, I think we'll see those teams split with one another. Now, they'll all sweep Minnesota, in my opinion, because Minnesota has the worst quarterback of the quartet.

And I don't want to say worst, as in he's terrible, I'm just saying if you're looking at Love, Goff, and Williams, you don't take any one of them over what they have in Minnesota. And so I feel like Minnesota still has a long way to go, but everyone else, you know, it wouldn't surprise me to see definitely two teams come out of the North. But you could even see three, with Chicago playing around at 7-C with a team out the East in Washington and a team out the West in Arizona. So this is going to be, normally we're talking about the AFC and how dominant it is, but man, I expect to see the NFC be a lot more competitive top to bottom this upcoming season. Well, Emery, it was a little bit of a surprise last year to see what the Rams were able to do. The 49ers suck the life out of every conversation, being in the NFC West, they're favored over everybody, you know, Arizona is trying to get back into relevancy. What about the Rams? I mean, Puka Nakua kind of lit the world up, doesn't get a lot of attention, and they won 10 games last year. Right, and I thought last year was Sean McVeigh's best coaching job, and that's even including him winning the Super Bowl and getting to one, right? When you think about McVeigh and at his core, he's a teacher, and he has the youngest football team in terms of his two deep on both sides of the ball in the league.

And he was able to get that team to play well above their years. They were playing competitive ball, they were winning a lot of games, played one of the best games of the year, I believe, and a losing cause in that game against Baltimore, but now you look at them as a young, experienced team coming into the season. So yes, that's another team that's in the fray. They could be in the mix. I don't want to get one of these playoff spots, but to win a division. And so when you think about the Rams, you think about Seattle, you think about what we're expecting from Washington, and you're only going to get one team out the south, but I look at the east, the north, and the west being super competitive that'll come down to week 17. Well Emory, do you feel that the 49ers, even with all of their talent, they're going to come back down to earth a little bit? It's going to happen organically because the Cardinals, no one's talking about how good the Cardinals have gotten going into this season.

I thought they drafted really well and did a fantastic job, you know, just acquiring talent. Plus, when you think about a full offseason going into the second year of the scheme with Kyler Murray, healthy, ready to go. You add a Marvin Harrison Jr., so yeah, you talk about the Rams and we talk about Seattle, what they have, they got talent. So organically, it'll push San Francisco closer to where everyone can catch them and maybe one team can usurp them. So it's not going to be San Francisco 14 and 3 run away with the west.

They're going to have to scratch and claw. Maybe we're talking about an 11 win, maybe 10 win San Francisco team that could still win the division, but we'll have to fight and claw their way all throughout the season to get it. Emory Hunt is joining us here at the JR Sport Preshow.

Emory is an analyst on CBS Sports HQ. Let's stay out west because if I think about Harbaugh joining the Chargers, it seems like it's a little bit of a reset. You think about the talent that has left and the younger talent that they've brought in, first and second year guys. Is this a slow walk over the next couple of seasons as he builds them up or can we expect a little bit more this year?

I think it's a slow walk because, you know, they're talented, but it's going to be a philosophy change out there. And it's going to look a lot like what he had in San Francisco when he took over with Alex Smith and he got the best out of Alex Smith. We'll see them de-emphasize Justin Herbert and not in a negative way, but they won't ask him to throw the football 40 times a game.

You bring that down to 25, you maximize his effectiveness, his efficiency. He'll still have the big arm to go deep down the field. They'll still hit those big touchdown plays deep, but you don't worry about him throwing that 4-4 interception with a game on the line.

Why? Because they revamped the offensive line. They've added depth in the backfield.

You got Gus Edwards out there. You got all of, you know, you drafted Blake Quam. I'm sorry, you drafted, I forgot who they drafted, but they grabbed another running back, right? So they added more running back. I think they did draft Blake Quam. But you add all these running backs to the mix and then you see a situation where, yes, they can, no, they didn't draft Blake Quam. And he's on the Rams. Right.

But here's the thing. Running the football takes some of the pressure off Justin Herbert and it allows them to play, you know, complementary defense. And I think that's the winning formula for the Chargers. When you think about the offseason moves, what's the biggest one? For the Chargers?

I would say, nah, in the league as general. I mean, we got Stephon Diggs who ends up going to Houston and now he's a part of there. We got Ridley who goes from Jacksonville.

He's now up in Tennessee. Is there a move that you've seen that you think is going to kind of tip the scales for one of these squads in the league? I hate to go chalk, but I got to go to the backfield.

And it's two places. Obviously, Saquon going to the Phillies. They're going to average 35 points a game. But the one that I feel like is really going to make a difference for the football team, mixing going to Houston. And the reason why Nixon, I think, was underrated in what he did for that Bengals offense. You had a game breaker in the backfield.

Someone that you had to account for, not only as a runner, but as a receiver. And you remove that from Cincinnati's offense. You throw that down to Houston where you mentioned Stephon Diggs, Tank Dale, a young gunslinger in C.J. Stroud, Nico Collins.

And what they were able to build. Their offensive line is good down there in Houston, way better than what's in Cincinnati. So now Houston has the ability to really deliver knockout blows with their run game and stay explosive in the passing game.

I don't think many people are talking enough about Joe Mixon going down there to Houston. Well, Emery, when you think about what they've done and expecting them to probably take another step. What are your top four or five teams heading into the season? Who has the best chance to walk away with the Lombardi? Listen, let's hang out in the AFC North right quick. Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Cleveland all going to the playoffs.

Cincinnati will have nine wins, but they'll miss the playoffs because you lose Mixon. You got some inconsistency with the offensive line and out that division, they have the worst defense. So when you think about that, that's three teams coming out the north. You're going to get one come out the west, which is Kansas City.

And when you think about the east, that's the one to watch. Because how much can you get out of Aaron Rodgers? And if Aaron Rodgers isn't there, this is an underrated move by the Jets. They bring in a Tyrod Taylor, who, you know, can give you some buckets. And so when you've got a guy that's better than what they had last year backing up Aaron Rodgers, they put themselves in a situation where they quarterback proof the roster to where it could be Rodgers, it could be Tyrod, but they're going to keep that offense going. You got Buffalo. So this is going to be funny in the Dolphins, but I feel like Baltimore, Kansas City, and I would say the Jets, just from a roster position, are the top three teams.

Wow. Well, let me ask you this, Emory. You had mentioned that you put the Steelers back in the postseason? They got there last year where you and I are quarterbacks. So now you had Russell Wilson, who didn't play bad last year.

And in fact, I will say this live on the air. Now, knowing what he went through and what was going through during that season, he should have won MVP because there's no way a person would have handled that properly like he did. But in all seriousness, he didn't play bad last year. They got two running backs. They got two tight ends.

They revamped their offensive line in the draft and their defense is still good for defense. And you got Mike Tomlin who doesn't have losing season. So and listen, if it's not Russell Wilson, then you got Justin Fields.

Now you add the same skill set of Russell Wilson, but in the more explosive, faster, younger package. Yes, Pittsburgh is going back to the postseason. Emory, I'm just looking for some controversy. I need I need Russell Wilson to give empty quotes and I need Justin Fields to look miserable on the sideline.

That's what I'm looking for. I get it. Listen, people will shut be shocked to hear the Cincinnati Bank was missing the postseason. But when you really think about it, the Browns are the one that could go from, you know, out of nowhere to get to the Super Bowl as well, because the show, I think about the last time we saw the Sean Watson play. Man played with a broken ankle, a high ankle sprain and a broke shoulder and came back and beat the Baltimore Ravens. Now he's healthy. His third year in this in this organization.

The Sean Watson don't look like the Sean Watson. They're stacked on both sides of the ball. Emory, last question for you. At the end of the Dallas Cowboys season, how long does it take for Jerry Jones to give Mike McCarthy to boot an hour, two hours, three hours or three days? He won't get the boot because they'll be going deep into the playoffs and deep. I mean, past the divisional round. I think we can see, you know, Dallas find themselves in the NFC title game.

Again, flip a coin. Philly, San Francisco, you pick. But I think Dallas can get there. What did they do? Why do you feel so so confident about the Dallas Cowboys?

What did they do? I feel like they've been sitting on their hands all offseason. It's about that Prescott.

Bring it back. Ezekiel Elliott gives them a pace setter in the run game so now they can close out games. And Mike Zimmer being their defensive coordinator, I am all in on Zimmer getting that defense together.

And they got two ball hawks at corner, so they'll be tough to beat. OK. You heard it first. You heard it here first from Emory Hunt. Emory, where can people follow you? All of your work with football game plans, CBS Sports, HQ. You're all over the place.

College, the pros, everything. And they can catch me Sunday morning at 1030 Eastern Time on ELF Game Pass as I'll be the broadcaster for the Hamburg C-doubles and Cologne Centurions of the European League of Football. I am all over the place, but they can definitely follow me on social media at that football game plan.

This man is a football ambassador to the world. You're going to be out in Los Angeles? Are you going to coach the flag football to in L.A. in 2028? I might dabble.

Have them call my people and we can set it up. Hey, Emory. Emory does everything. Emory, appreciate the time, man. I'll catch you on down the line, OK? Always, JR.

I appreciate you, bro. No doubt about it. That Emory Hunt. Yeah, he is. If it's football, he is on it.

I'm still trying to think. We do have. There's going to be flag football in the 2028 Olympics.

You did not hear me wrong. There's going to be flag football in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. We got breakdancing. Marco, did you know we got breakdancing in the Olympics this year?

Do they bust out the cardboard too or no? I don't think so. See, then it's not real breakdancing. Then I'm out. There's breakdancing and skateboarding.

There's break. Well, yeah. I mean. What? Go ahead.

What are we doing here? Like skateboarding. I get it. But like breakdancing? We can't get baseball in the Olympics.

Are we going to breakdance? Breakdancing is an athletic endeavor. I didn't say it wasn't athletic. I just said it shouldn't be an Olympic sport. Why?

Why not? The competition, right? There's a lot of things that are athletic.

Like? What's athletic that's not in the Olympics? Well, I mean, it's athletic if you're climbing trees.

No, I don't think we want to have an Olympic sport. Cleetraman? Cleetraman? What did I say?

Cleetraman? I mean, spur-lunking is athletic. I don't think we need to do that for an Olympic sport. No.

Hickey, what do you think about breakdancing? Olympic sport or no? No. You know what I hate even more than the fact that breakdancing is included? Do you know what they're calling it?

Like what the event is actually called? It's not called breakdancing? No. Okay.

What is it? Breaking. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's, yeah. What do you mean yeah? That's awful.

What are you competing in? Breaking. Breaking what? Breaking the music? It's slang. They've called it breaking, yeah. Oh, I guess I'm out of the loop.

That sounds like a terrible name. I don't know. I still want the cardboard. If you don't have the card, like, I mean, isn't that where it originated? Isn't that the heart of it? Isn't that the soul of breakdancing?

What do you want them to do? Hold it on 149th Street? Yeah. Yeah, I do. If I'm going to have a sport, I want to see it played properly. Oh, man.

We got to find the dingiest cardboard box. Can you play in breakdancing? Can you play? You compete in breakdancing. Can you play, can you play NASCAR racing? You don't play racing. Well, I get it, but I mean, all these other sports, you do it in the element, no?

So even if you don't do it on the street, I still want to have the same thing. I mean, baseball, you know, the dimensions. Football, you know, the dimensions. I need the, I need the cardboard. That's part of it.

Yeah, I'm looking at some images right now. And on cement! You know what?

I agree with you, Marco. They got a, they got a mat here. There's a mat. A mat? You know, it's a, it's a proper mat so you can- Cement. You don't hurt yourself. That's the whole point. Cement and the cardboard. That's what the cardboard's for. You're trying to concuss? Yeah, exactly. I'm not. I'm trying to give it what it, what it, what it is.

The feel, the essence, the soul. It's like asking LeBron James to compete on Blacktop. No! You're going to play on the hardwood. No, but see, the game was always played on hardwood.

That's- No, you're playing Blacktop Concrete. Yeah, but you, that's outside. We don't play basketball outside professionally. Well, where's professional breakdancing at? In the Olympics and you got to do it right.

You started from scratch. We can't have an Olympian pulling out a cardboard box to dance. We can't do that. You got to up it up a little bit. You know, we've already got Olympians breaking.

I say get the boombox, get the cardboard, and let's go. Did you hear about the, the, I think, I got to get the country right, uh, gymnast cigarette. There was a gymnast.

She got kicked off the team because she was smoking and drinking. Was it in China or Japan, right? Yeah, one or two. Like on the balance beam?

Or just in general? No, no, no, no, no. It just, like, like in a privacy of whatever. I don't know. That's a 10 out of 10 right there. If you had a Bogue in the mouth as you're doing one of those- If you're doing it while you're competing, I could see that being a problem.

If you do that in a hotel afterwards, who do you care? Japan's Olympic gymnast captain sent home from Paris for smoking cigarettes. Oh, that's, no, come on. Uh huh, yep. Come on. She got the boot for smoking cigarettes.

What kind of world is this? Mm hmm. Miari accepted the punishment. The Shoko Miari, her coach said her decision to smoke came from feeling the pressure of performing at the games.

And she, uh, hoped that people would have empathy towards her. Mm hmm. Look, man, if you're on the balance beam with a fifth of jack and a Marlboro in your mouth, I understand. That's a bad look.

Can't do that. Kids involved. This is a- You're in your own hotel? I don't need to know what's going on in room 227.

You do you. This is a part of Japan. This is Japan. This is their ban on smoking by all athletes who are representing the country. It's part of a larger movement by Japan to attempt to reduce its rate of smokers. OK, while Japan's figures have been dropping along with the rest of the world, Japan still sees a high rate of tobacco use. So, yeah, then she's 19. To complicate matters, it's illegal for the 19 year old Miari to smoke in Japan where the legal age of tobacco use is 20. Japan does not have its best gymnast. This is the most bizarre reason an athlete missing the game so far.

Thank you, SB Nation. She's not supposed to smoke a cigarette. She got punished. End of story. I'm disgusted.

As you should be. Gain presents a tale of longing and long lasting scent. Dear love of my life, we were on the 12B bus when I caught a whiff, a scent so fresh, so life changing, I had to find its source. I didn't know if you were the woman in the pink freshly washed cardigan or the retired mailman next to me, but I knew one of you was my soulmate. Ah, the scent of gain flings.

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It's the J.R. Sport Brief show here on the Infinity Sports Network. 855-212-4227. That's 855-212-4227. This portion of the show is brought to you by Ethos Life, the easy way to get life insurance in 10 minutes, up to $2 million in coverage with no medical exam and just a few health questions.

Get your free quote at Ethos.com. Not available in all states. Thank you, Marco Belletti, for coming through again telling us that they should do break dancing with a cardboard box in the Olympics. Marco Belletti not a fan.

I don't care if as long as they're dancing and doing stuff that I can't do, I'm cool with it. Also, thank you to Emery Hunt for joining us in the last break to talk things football. Hickey, Emery's different than all of us. Emery thinks the Dallas Cowboys are, dare I say, going to advance to the NFC championship game this century. That was a shock if I ever heard one.

Shout out to Emery. If you missed the conversation, go ahead and hit rewind on the free Odyssey app. Meanwhile, I told you that there was something said, speaking of Dallas Cowboys, that just kind of made me go, what?

Really? This is what we're doing? Stephen Jones, the son of Jerry, is sitting on a podcast, Scoop City, and he brought up something that we all believe and know is inevitable. The NFL keeps extending the season, and Stephen Jones says they're going to move the season up one day to 18 games.

Take a listen to this. I'm on the competition committee. We talked about this, knowing that it's probably inevitable. It's certainly, you know, I do know, you know, at the end of the day, the players, you know, enjoy the compensation that's coming their way, and they get, for the most part, half of every revenue dollar that comes through the door. And so certainly getting paid well. We all know when we go to 18 games, the revenue is going to jump and certainly should only help in terms of the money available to pay players and, you know, get players the compensation. Hickey, is that is that reasonable justification, like we're already going to make more money, so we're going to make you play an extra game?

That's what it sounds like to me. It sounds like an excuse, like we're already going to pay you more. And so we're just going to tack on a new game. I kind of took it as like, well, if you play another game, that's more money coming because now, you know, networks have to pay for an extra game that they're not paying for right now. And so I think you can, you know, wrangle up a majority of players to say, OK, we'll ratify this and go to 18 because most players are not making the big bucks. So, hey, an extra paycheck for them is a big deal. You know, I think that's kind of the selling point that he's speaking to to a larger part of the league to. The NFL CBA expires in 2030. 2030. I mean, and yeah, they'd have to come to an agreement between now and then, and I think they would.

And I think the players would say, well, you've got to give us more money. I don't. It's a tricky thing.

855 212 42 27. You're locked into the Gerald Sport Reshow here with you on the Infinity Sports Network. Everybody wants more, more, more, more, more. We'll get into this more on the other side. It's the Gerald Sport Reshow, don't move.