After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 1

Serena Williams is not riding off into the sunset just yet. I'm so glad we have her around for at least another night, another match, because we got to see the joy. And certainly the fans were going to give Serena a proper welcome and a fond, affectionate, raucous goodbye if this was the last match for her, no doubt. But the idea that they got to cheer her in a victory, to me that's more fitting. And to see the way that she was showered with praise and appreciation for everything she's meant to the US Open, to American tennis, to the sport globally, I'm glad it came in a win. Because what have we seen her do the majority of the last 20 years, 20 plus years actually, we've seen her win. 23 singles titles at the major level, including a handful of US Opens, but more than that she's won everywhere in the world. She's won in a unique, powerful, explosive dominant style. Serena and Venus revolutionized women's tennis with their athleticism and their power, but they also have won a bunch of doubles titles together. Tennis will never be the same.

It's similar to the effect that Tiger Woods had on golf. And for her to be celebrated and walk off the court a winner, maybe this is the last time, maybe it's not. At 40 years old every match now is a different challenge, and while she's a straight set winner on Monday night in front of a sold-out crowd, roughly 24,000 people, there's no guarantee that she will continue to win. She knows that.

The crowd knows that, which is why so many people are anxious to catch one last glimpse. But she's not done yet. And I think it's amazing that on this stage, which may or may not be her final competitive tournament in the sport that she's rewritten over the past two decades to walk off the court a winner at least one more time. I think it changes not only the narrative, but man, for her, either way she's moving on to the next phase of her life, but this is always what she's cared about, winning. It's her competitive fire and spirit that gave her an edge on the court for so many years, in addition to her physical tools. Congratulations to Serena.

One more win, at least, at the US Open, and we'll hear from her coming up. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. We're live from the Rocket Mortgage Studios.

When you need cash out of your home and a simple way to get it, Rocket can. You can find me on Twitter, ALawRadio. Also on our Facebook page, After Hours with Amy Lawrence. There's certainly been plenty of traffic and plenty of your running commentary. I would have to say most of it commentary without being informed, but I suppose that is how social media goes for the majority of people these days. Truth and information are, eh, they're relative and they're optional when it comes to social media, but at least we try to give you the facts and to give you a thoughtful exchange and present multiple angles. So if you missed our conversation about the Buffalo Bills and what happened with their punter over the weekend, that conversation is up on our podcast, but also on both Twitter and Facebook.

Our phone number is 855-212-4227. We had a bombshell from the NFL on Monday afternoon. This was, well, it was what greeted me in the first few minutes of me being conscious and awake and remembering what I do for a living. It's that time of the year where you can't wake up slowly, meaning when I wake up, right? So I don't sleep when most people do. I sleep usually until mid-afternoon. It's a good day.

I sleep until four o'clock Eastern Time and this time of the year, even more so when we get to NFL Sundays and then Mondays, this time of the year there's no waking up slowly. The second I open Twitter, the second I open my CBS Sports app, in your face, everything is in your face. It's not even technically football season yet, pro football. I mean, we still have a few days left. Our fading summer, we still have a few days left, but man, the spin cycle and the buzz, the anticipation, and the fact that the NFL has turned into a bully in the center ring of the circus, you get out.

No, you get out. It's just, oh my goodness, I can feel it already. I can feel it in my gut.

I can feel that tension and that anticipation. And to that end, as I say, major bombshell coming from the Bay Area, even people who cover the San Francisco 49ers did not see this one coming. I don't know if the Niners saw this one coming either.

Seems like this was their best option to salvage a plan that has not worked out the way they expected. Jimmy Garoppolo will remain with the Niners, maybe for the entire season. And so we'll get the reaction of one NFL insider coming up, as well as a former NFL QB who is a Super Bowl winner, and he just finished his radio show for the Visa Network in Las Vegas. So Sean King will join us at the top of next hour.

Actually, we were both at my previous network at the same time, so it's been a while since we've crossed paths, but I'm looking forward to a few minutes with Sean. Be interesting to see how this plays out on the field, because if you are Kyle Shanahan, are you giving Trey Lance all the space and all the room he needs to try and fail? What if the team starts slowly? What if the offense has a poor first month and there are some growing pains? Do you then turn around and pull Trey Lance and put Garoppolo back on the field? We know this is a team that expects to win.

They went to the NFC Championship last year in Los Angeles against the Rams. Say what you want about Garoppolo's skills. No one's saying he's Aaron Rodgers, but his teams win. When he's on the field, the team wins, and isn't that ultimately the name of the game? Sure, stats are nice and all. They're flashy, but stats don't win Super Bowls. Again, thinking of Aaron Rodgers.

It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. In Major League Baseball, oh, we have one more giant step toward baseball immortality. And the next pitch to Albert is hit high and deep to right field.

Backing up to the track, looking up and it's gone! Home run Albert Pujols, number 694. And he took it the other way, and he's now had more home runs off of more different pitchers than anybody who's ever played this game. And the Cardinals had two more runs. Albert Pujols does it again.

That is the call on Cardinals Radio. Awesome to finally get another home run. And the reason I say finally is because we had gone over a week without a dinger by Albert Pujols, and I was starting to get a little nervous.

I know that's not fair. There's plenty of time left. There's a month left in the regular season, and the Cardinals will be playing in the postseason. Right now, they're sitting on 129 games. So they still have 32, 33, 33 to go if we're 162.

Yeah, 33 games to go. Plenty of time, plenty of real estate for Albert Pujols. But I want this so desperately for him and for baseball that I'm relieved, also ecstatic, that Albert hits number 694. Now two behind Alex Rodriguez, but forget that. Six away from 700 and baseball immortality. Now I have a bone to pick with you at the Great American Ballpark.

I get it. The Reds stink. They've only got 50 wins this season, but the Cardinals are in town. Okay, maybe you don't want to go see an NL Central rival, but Albert Pujols is in the lineup. Jay, take a wild guess how many people were in the ballpark. Did you see the, I don't know if you saw the empty outfield.

I haven't. I'll take a guess in Cincinnati. I'll go with like 12,000, 15,000, that range. 11,051 fans was the announced attendance. It was so unbelievably empty. Oh my gosh. If I lived anywhere near there, I would have gone to the game just to see him.

I get it. The Reds stink and they got pounded. Tyler O'Neal with two more home runs. This is a red-hot Cardinals team that's won 13 of its last 16, but there are some pretty impressive players and streaks going for the Cardinals right now, not to mention you might have an opportunity to see one of the last home runs that Albert Pujols will ever hit, and only 11,000 showed up. There are entire sections of the upper deck that don't have a body in them. That is, I mean I'm stunned by that. If for no other reason than it's Albert Pujols.

Wow. I mean wait till you see, I don't know if there's a still photo that you can grab of the outfield or Albert Pujols hitting that home run. Maybe there's like a camera angle that's behind him that shows the outfield J.

Our show Twitter is after hours CBS. As you hear on Cardinals radio, not only is it 694 for Albert, but he now has homeward off more pitchers in big league history than any other player. He snapped a tie with Barry Bonds. 450 pitchers, although if it's me, I'm thrilled that I was a part of history, and yeah the support not only from his teammates, not only from the Cardinals fan base, and there were a few of them there in Cincinnati, but even the support from people around the majors and outside of baseball. Right now it's a buoy for Albert Pujols.

It's pretty special you know I think you know I appreciate you know the history and what I've done for this game and I mean at the same time it fits on you you know the energy of me last night you know the illustration and our fans you know the way that they're being going up every time I get to the play I mean it's pretty special and that fits you you know with the energy and what you need so obviously you know sometimes you're gonna come through and last night you know I didn't come through for the team but we end up having a win you know came back and fought and we won the game so but it's really special you know it means a lot to me and right now I'm enjoying it and that's what I'm gonna continue to do you know the rest of the year. We're having a blast watching him do what he's doing. He's swinging the bat well. He came out tonight again and got the base hit and then the homer backside but he didn't hit that hard. He's putting together a nice season. It's fun to watch. It's really crazy honestly you know the guy's a walking legend living Hall of Famer you know he broke another record tonight you know it seems like every time he's hitting the homer right now he's breaking records and he's pretty close to a big one too so you know hopefully you can keep getting these ABs and get to 700 that'd be pretty cool. Tyler O'Neill one of the hottest hitters in the NL Central maybe the National League overall he had a couple of home runs three RBI member he had that the go ahead homer so tie-breaking homer I think on Sunday and so between him and Nolan Hernado and this chase for 700 with Albert Pujols not to mention the way that the Cardinals are playing right now as a team really this winning and this hitting is contagious. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio speaking of contagious the I know I don't think the losing for the Yankees is contagious but I do think this offensive slump that they slide into unexpectedly here and there the one that causes Aaron Boone to slam the table that also big as a team sometimes they can feel the pressure we've heard Aaron Boone refer to the Yankees as getting tight you know in their last two games over the weekend Saturday and Sunday remind me who they were playing Oakland thank you that's right there on a West Coast swing so they were taking on the A's one of the worst teams in baseball they had won the first two games partly with the return of Sean Carlos Stanton and then Garrett Cole pitching really well but they end up going so unbelievably silent with the bats on Saturday and Sunday in 11 innings on Saturday they have one hit one hit and only four hits on Sunday in yet another loss now here they are in Anaheim for a series with a lot of star power and yes Aaron Judge hits home run number 50 but they still don't generate enough offense around him to support their pitchers or to get back on the winning track now in fact the big home run of this game on Monday night did not come from Aaron Judge due to game in the fifth next pitch swings and drives one deep into right-center field this ball's carrying deep and this one is out of here no hey Oh Tony is just in his 29th home run of the season angels are back on top oh yes they are in fact that's the go-ahead Terry Smith on angels radio so yes Aaron Judge number 50 which is a huge number and a big deal notwithstanding the Yankees lose to the Angels four to three and now have yet another losing skid this one may be modest but still three losses is three losses in a row and the fact that they've lost all three two teams with losing records that also speaks volumes aggravating anytime I lose so you know I don't care if it's who you think we should beat or not you know we got a you know we got a we got to pick ourselves up and and some big leagues you know and that angel team is playing really well right now okay whatevs I get it the Angels are a lot better than their record indicates but these Yankees are not gonna win Jack these Yankees are not gonna win a World Series these Yankees are not scary at all they have pitchers who can give them an opportunity to win right they have pitchers who can go out there and give quality starts they have a very strong bullpen most of the time Clay Holmes just came back from the IL or Aldis Chapman's got a infectious tattoo but for the most part I their pitching's okay Frankie Montas was making yet another start tonight he wasn't pounded by any stretch of the imagination so he has settled down after the trade and the what was it four starts with an ERA of near nine but he only allowed he does allow the four earned runs all of them but he goes six innings that shouldn't be an issue for the Yankees because they've got one of the best run differentials in baseball but it's not nearly as high as it used to be it's still the best in the American League but there are times when the offense legit disappears gone in a cloud of dust where are the Yankees it's like a game of where's Waldo where's the Yankees right in front of us yeah it's right in front of you but sometimes it's dormant I don't know I'm speaking from someone who's outside baseball but I can't imagine anybody's too afraid of this team still with a seven-game lead over the Rays and the Blue Jays an eight-game lead over Toronto in the AL East but this is not how the Yankees want to play as they enter the stretch run or look ahead to October we have a lot to get to we're going to break from team sports though to hear from Serena Williams a victor on the US Open hardcourts for at least one more time and then top of the hour Sean King former NFL QB Super Bowl champion will join us from Las Vegas glad to have you with us it's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio you are listening to the after-hours podcast today I gave all I could do you know today maybe tomorrow I could have gave more maybe a week ago I could have gave more but today was what I could do and at some point you have to be able to be okay with that and I'm old and that's that's all I can do I can't change time or anything this is after hours with Amy Lawrence I think looking at Serena's career we could all say she's made the most of her time but she has different plans for the future we have already heard her talk about the fact that she wants to explore different business ventures the fact that she wants to give her daughter a sibling I don't know if you saw the the match that she played on Monday night or if you've seen the videos of the photos but her her sweet daughter as well as her husband and other members of her family were in the crowd there at the US Open at Arthur Ashe court and so is really neat to know this is not only a family affair but it's a celebration more than it is a sad parting and yes tennis will miss her again I use the analogy of Tiger Woods the same way that golf misses Tiger and his constant presence but she's not going to disappear if you know anything about Serena if you followed her career you know that she is a winner and pretty much everything she tries so why would it be different at this point I prefer the word evolution because I feel like I'm at a stage of my life where I'm not necessarily retiring I'm just evolving from tennis and I do feel different I think I was really emotional in Toronto and Cincinnati and it was just it was very difficult and not saying it's not difficult now it's extremely difficult still because I absolutely love being out there and the more tournaments I play I feel like the more I can belong out there and that's a that's a tough feeling to have and to to leave knowing that the more you do it the more you can shine so but it's time for me you know to evolve to the next thing I think it's important because there's so many other things that I want to do and etc Serena mentions the emotions and you hear it as we begin the segment with her following her Wimbledon exit well on Monday night she had a victory at the US Open and the fans not only emotional to match her emotion and intensity but soaking it all in recognizing that this is the best opportunity in New York that the fans will have to be personal with Serena this is the one of the biggest stages in sport and it's one where she has played extremely well and if it's this is the end this is the last we see of her but you don't want to waste the opportunity it's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio she's still not really giving a straight answer about whether or not this is her last tourney yeah I've been pretty vague about it right yeah I'm gonna stay vague cuz you never know I like that I like the fact that she is going to remain vague she was definitely emotional though there were tears in her eyes huge smiles lots of the fist pumps and the yells which is what we've come to expect with her because of her intensity and there's something else that she'll take away from this first round win I think when I walked out the the reception was really overwhelming it was it was loud and it was it was um I could feel it in my chest and it was a really good feeling it's a feeling I'll never forget and so I really am yeah that meant a lot to me I was just thinking like is this real really and and at the same time I'm also thinking you know I still have a match to play and I want to be able to to play up to this reception almost and it was so loud and I just was overwhelmed in a good way and yeah but at the same time it's like you have to be focused and you have to be laser focused and and that's what I needed to do and that's what I tried to do I think that her legacy is really wide to the point where you can't even describe it in words like she changed the sport so much she's introduced people that have never heard of tennis into the sport and I think I'm a product of what she's done I wouldn't be here without Serena Venus you know her whole family and I'm like very thankful to her and I I was like trying to figure out how to submit into words but I honestly think that she's like the biggest force in the sport and that's not like intentionally trying to like make Federer and Nadal smaller I just think like she's the biggest thing that will ever be in the sport I love that what a tribute from Naomi Osaka going back to Sunday Serena is not done the swan song is not over she gets to walk off center court a winner on Monday night and if you were following social media well you know that anyone and everyone is taking the opportunity to be part of it to catch part of it to celebrate what she's meant and sometimes words will fail but I think her smile her emotion her presence that's worth it so please tune in to her match on Wednesday we'll have more from Serena coming up a little bit later on top of the hour former NFL QB and Tampa Bay Super Bowl champion Sean King will join us from Las Vegas he's with the Visa Network now and he's a good talker I can't wait to hear what he has to say about Jimmy Garoppolo we'll get the deets coming up with Ian Rapoport as well as a little more from the baseball diamond you know the drama you know the drill when we get late in August it's August 29th by the way this is your last Monday night in August let that sink in for a second it's after hours with Amy Lawrence on Twitter a law radio also on our Facebook page you are listening to the after-hours podcast 49ers take over on the 24 yard line looking to tie the game Mitchell goes in motion out left Jimmy looks right Jimmy has a long time throws for the end zone it is caught in the back of the end zone by George Kittle touchdown San Francisco this is after hours with Amy Lawrence as it turns out we're still going to have Jimmy Garoppolo as a member of the San Francisco 49ers the restructured contract being the big story coming from the NFL on one of the last Mondays before the season officially kicks off it's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio we'll get the opinion of former NFL QB and Super Bowl champion Shaun King when he joins us at the top of the hour from Las Vegas and Visa Network but here are the details and the reaction of Ian Rapoport on NFL Network truly an unbelievable thing that this is where we ended up with the 49ers making it very clear publicly that they're moving on from Jimmy Garoppolo his trail answers team he didn't even practice with the team but they talked and they talked and they maintained such a good relationship that they're able to bring Jimmy G back on a contract that makes sense for all sides if he plays if he starts he gets paid if he doesn't he gets really good backup money and you know essentially can now kind of re-enter the locker room with his head held high did a lot of great things for the team was about a stand-up a player and person as you can imagine so any comes as the backup and if something happens to Trey Lance or he is not what they thought he steps right in if you get to mid-season and Lance is better than you thought they could just trade Garoppolo for what they wanted to originally which is a really high draft pick an incredible situation that ends like this but the actual actual end has not yet been told so we'll see where Trey Lance is by the end of this year interesting I mean what a plot twist it blew up around four o'clock Eastern one o'clock San Francisco time and it's a restructured contract so this means both the team and Jimmy had to agree to make this move remember he was playing the final year of that big deal that the Niners gave him after he was traded from the Patriots and it was set to pay him roughly twenty six million dollars which was maybe part of the reason why the Niners hadn't found a trade partner yet but also was going to be fully guaranteed if he was on the roster week one so the Niners were staring at a couple of unenviable choices cut him and get nothing for him but avoid paying his fully guaranteed salary and or if you trade him no doubt the team that you traded him to would expect you to pay some of that salary or keep him and pay it all so they found a happy medium but this I find this part to be fascinating the restructured contract includes a no trade no tag clause so the Niners had to give up something they took some of that money back from Garoppolo's contract the cap hit is sizable less but they also have lost the power to trade him anywhere they want him to go to me that wrinkle is so so interesting and it speaks volumes about Garoppolo's desire what he values most and as I've said multiple times over the course of the last few months it speaks volumes about who he is as a teammate as a leader and as a man no one complains about Jimmy Garoppolo in that Niners locker room no one no one's using back channels sources leaking that he's a bad teammate or he sucks as a leader or he's in a bad mood or he's trying to sabotage Trey Lance or that they don't want him around that's not coming out none of it is coming out of the Bay Area compare that to the situation with Baker Mayfield and how sources and former teammates and current teammates are using either members of the media or social media to trash him and whether or not they're being truthful or they just have an axe to grind they still make headlines no one said a peep negatively about Jimmy and that's a credit to him it's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio obviously Jimmy wants to start but at this point there are no starting jobs available the one he's likeliest to get or the opportunity to start is more likely to happen in the Bay Area than anywhere else right Trey Lance is still raw we know all of his athletic prowess we've seen a lot of his power and explosiveness touted by the Niners not to mention we've seen it on the field in the limited sample size that we have but we also recognize that he's young and that the Niners drafted him as a project last summer or last spring excuse me he was never expected to be their starter in his rookie year now you think about Garoppolo and his track record with the Niners and the fact that he's steady Eddie you know what his ceiling is so he's maybe not as high risk as Trey Lance but he's also not as high reward but if he's going to start anywhere he'd have to wait for a guy to get injured or wait for some other drastic move right he's closer to starting again with the Niners and I hope Trey Lance works out but quarterbacks get injured and in the case of the Niners and I'll say exactly what I said last year now it's not the same situation obviously because Trey Lance is QB one now but the Niners have championship aspirations their roster has a ton of star power and they like what they've got on both sides of the ball so because they're a team that expects to be part of the mix in both the NFC West as well as the NFC and the playoffs as a whole well it's good to have a steady Eddie as a backup that you can rely on you know what you get with Jimmy Garoppolo you can find me on Twitter a law radio also on our Facebook page after hours with Amy Lawrence I shared a photo on both Twitter and Facebook and actually on Twitter it was just a couple hours ago because I'm on this kick right now where I'm always looking up clouds are my favorite subjects to photograph it's been that way for a couple of years but even more so this year and so I this is me everyone else at the ballpark is looking for their beer is looking at the players is watching what's happening on the field I'm the one who's looking up and waiting for the clouds to be in just the right position to serve as a fantastic subject for a new photograph so I shared this photo and Jane I shared it on Facebook on Monday morning so you can check that out after hours with Amy Lawrence I know some of you commented on my clouds but I just shared it on Twitter a little while ago a law radio clouds are even better at the ballpark they're so photogenic have you ever noticed how clouds are so photogenic they make me happy especially when they're all different colors and when the Sun is involved but I actually preferred taking photos of skies that have clouds because they give it depth and character if you've never seen my Twitter profile page my header so not my photo although they were taken in the same place my header picture on my actual profile page is the craziest cloud photo I've ever taken my mom says it looks like aliens descending from the sky it was a storm rolling in on Atlantic Beach in North Carolina and it is scary and I was standing right underneath it taking a photo there's no filter in that photo at all I don't do filters know that but I just don't use photos that I don't like but I do not use filters ever looks amazing and when I used to have snapchat I would I would do filters every now and then just for fun but my camera on my galaxy it's an s10e if you must know is so dang good that I don't need filters I mean that's what the sky looks like also why would you want to change what the photo is you know when we took that picture that you just posted at the Mets game remember we were saying how the sky even in the sky like didn't even look as good as it did in the picture that you took it's definitely a glorious photo but I but you know Jay that I don't do filters no no you never do I don't want to in fact even when I take photos of me no I don't generally take post photos I don't like but sometimes I take photos without makeup and sometimes I take photos with a hat on and sometimes I take photos that are just what they are and I don't change them I don't like to be fake I am what I am and the clouds do not need any filter that's for sure so yeah you can check that out that was fun and Jay was there too that was on Saturday we were there for the Mets old-timers game and it was my thank you Jay's a big Mets fans was my thank you to Jay for putting up with me and the show for one year certainly his popularity has ballooned because you all love him a lot more than oh it's so true you know it's true everyone's on your side it's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio again we'll talk about quarterback things but we'll start with Jimmy Garoppolo and Shawn King joins us at the top of the hour free battery testing free battery charging and replacement batteries that fit your needs that's what makes Auto Zone America's number one battery destination get in the zone Auto Zone so social media also our YouTube channel Jay and I are going to do some double duty because as I get set for vacation and when I say vacation I mean checking the bleep out come Wednesday morning I'm out I know I'm not going international like Jay did or actually my sister-in-law and my brother are finishing up a vacation in Iceland and the photos that she sent me on Monday so Monday is a milestone birthday for my sister-in-law and we had already done a kind of family party as a surprise for her in early August but she and my brother had planned this trip to Iceland they love to travel they don't have pets the kids are are out of the house so they can kind of pick up and go whenever they like which is a little bit of a source of envy for me but my sister-in- law and I are planning a trip to the Holy Land in Jerusalem sometime in the next couple of years once penny is no longer with us but for now she's still with me anyway so they're in Iceland and you want to talk about photos Wowzers they were sending some pretty amazing photos so anyway that the the I we were too I don't know what we're talking about what were you just talking about we were talking about shoot clouds yeah clouds yeah but that's not yeah it's met I don't know no it wasn't that it was something else I had a point I was going somewhere with that story and then I got sidetracked you know me my brain is like a plate of spaghetti right so think about Lee big long strains of spaghetti slathered with your favorite sauce whether it's marinara or whether it's some cheese sauce milestone birthday and I yeah I pull a one piece of spaghetti off the plate and a bunch of other thoughts come jumbling off the plate and crumbling off the plate so I have no idea whatever I'm sure I'll figure it out Sean King is next here on after hours with Amy Lawrence CBS Sports Radio