After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 4

I'm Larry Mullins, host of the podcast, Your Weirdest Fears, the show that explores the odd things that make your heart stop. I am so scared of the Grinch.

He is bad vibes. We talk to everyone from therapists to exterminators to lizard man. I was 25 when I actually got my tongue split.

I have one tattoo that covers my entire body. Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from. I'm Larry Mullins, host of the podcast, Your Weirdest Fears, the show that explores the odd things that make your heart stop. I am so scared of the Grinch. He is bad vibes. We talk to everyone from therapists to exterminators to lizard man.

I was 25 when I actually got my tongue split. I have one tattoo that covers my entire body. Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from. Good morning to you. It is a Thursday. For those of you waking up on the East Coast or maybe you're already in the car, maybe you're already at work. Ouch. I know that sounds funny, but I'd rather work all night than to keep your hours. You guys amaze me.

You are my heroes. Did I ever tell you? Never mind. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

I shouldn't identify myself when I built out a tune such as that. Our social media is hopping at this hour for a bunch of reasons. I heard a news item on my way into work, a news report, that Amazon Prime, like some other streaming services, is realizing that they've almost reached their ceiling when it comes to subscribers. Subscriptions are slowing down, meaning new subscriptions are slowing way down.

It's understandable. Not every family can afford the price and they're jacking the price because they have to pay for the NFL. And so it's going up over the last year for anybody.

They've kind of gone a 12 month cycle now and they're catching everybody, even those who were grandfathered in under the wire last year. And so instead they're trying to find more ways to get money out of their current subscribers instead of going heavy in pursuing new subscribers. Netflix has run into the same situation where they're seeing their subscriptions slow way down. And I've heard that about others as well.

So it's now become a challenge. Do you lower your prices so that you can lure in people who couldn't afford it at your current cost? Or do you attempt to find other ways to make money? I know that I have reached a limit of what I can afford on my monthly budget. And so I do have several streaming services, but I don't have them all.

My brother says to me all the time, you should cut the cord. But then when I go to his house, he doesn't have all the sports, right? Because if you add the various sports packages, they're almost always extra money for good reason, right? The leagues have negotiated these deals. The sports channels, they have to pay extra money for the prime time sports and for the big time leagues and games and events. And so because of that, they pass on the cost to their subscribers. For years, my previous network was charging a fee on top of, so charging a fee to the cable companies on top of what they were paying for all of the other networks. And it became this major point of contention where they're even, I'm sure some of you remember this, there were even cable packages and cable companies that were dropping ESPN because they didn't want to pay the extra fee. So sports always cost more.

They always cost more. And now with Amazon, it's a prime example. That streaming service went out and paid billions of dollars for football and the costs are going to go up.

And it's not just Amazon. It's Apple Plus now that's adding baseball. We've talked about ESPN Plus and even Disney Plus with some sports. Paramount Plus, which is CBS, also has sports. And theirs is mostly soccer, but they also have access to some of the NFL games. So more and more you're seeing this migration, is my word for it, away from traditional TV and onto these streaming packages.

And yes, it will continue. And in some cases, in many cases, it will be exclusive because that's how they make their money. That's how they can raise the rates for their advertisers.

But also because it's untapped revenue. I go back to something I heard Roger Goodell say. Gosh, it's been not quite 10 years, but but pretty close. He had it as a stated goal for the NFL. Twenty five billion.

That's the B word. Twenty five billion dollars a year in revenue. We'll see the updated numbers for the 2022 season at some point this spring when the league year resets and they start over again.

They're getting close now. The pandemic derailed it a bit. Of course, they lost a bunch of money like every sport did with empty stadiums. And because because of that, their salary cap dropped. And you know, there was a ripple effect for every business, every industry, every corporation. And sports was no different.

But they're back on the rise again. And those revenue streams, they're they're pouring in because the NFL is a cash cow. That's why Amazon's willing to pay billions. That's why you've got stadiums overseas that are willing to host NFL games. That's why you've got continually advertisers who will pay whatever it costs for them to have their their fancy new ads on the Super Bowl or on during the playoffs.

And you know what? That game between the Niners and the Cowboys last weekend, it wasn't even championship weekend. It was divisional weekend and it peaked at better than 51 million viewers.

That's a lot of eyeballs. There's a reason why advertisers and networks and streamers want to be partnered with the NFL. It works.

It freaking works. But it's costly to us. You all know this. If you go to stadiums and you buy tickets, then you pay for parking and concessions and everything else. So you understand there's a lot of money that's wrapped up in the NFL. Franchises are selling for six billion plus when the commanders finally sell. By the way, there is talk that Amazon, the owner of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, is attempting to buy or is at least in the final running to buy the commanders.

I don't know. Is that incestuous? Is that a conflict of interest? Anyway, so the cost is going to be astronomical.

So never feel bad for Daniel Snyder or the Snyder family. As Americans, we're feeling the costs and taxes are going to go up. The inflation is still high. Eggs cost six dollars for a dozen.

Oh, my gosh, I love eggs. It hurts me. So where do you draw the line? I know I'm having to look at my own monthly expenses and cut out where I can. Thank goodness Princess Leia will be paid off in a few months because that will really be helpful.

But everything's going up right. Groceries and gas. My mortgage went up again this year. Taxes are going up. So can we afford to pay for streaming services? And that's what Amazon and Netflix and some of these others are finding out is that Americans are strapped. A lot of Americans are strapped. They don't have the ability to pay extra for streaming services.

So we're asking you, where do you draw the line? Which services do you use and how do you watch some of these games? Do you go ahead and get the streaming services because you can't miss your Thursday Night Football? I mean, even Al Michaels could have missed Thursday Night Football this year and would have been OK with it.

But he was getting paid handsomely to be there. So find us on Twitter after our CBS or my Twitter's ALawRadio. A lot of you weighing in and I know Producer J is retweeting some of your responses. And then also on our Facebook page, just I would ask that you use appropriate language, please. That's named after the show.

Our phone number is 855-212-4227. It's it's fascinating to think about this. It's supply and demand. It's the power and the lure of the NFL. But it's also reality for Americans. Sports is entertainment. And for most of us, we have a limited entertainment budget.

And it has to be spread around for us, for our families. I mean, my dog has toys. She doesn't necessarily have TV to watch.

She's half deaf. So, you know, but we only have so much money to spend. The majority of us. So how do you figure out what and where do you draw the line? Again, good to hear from so many of you.

I think it's a common challenge for a lot of us. At this point for NBA games, at least unless I'm missing something. Do we have any NBA games that are on streaming? I don't know.

Maybe I've missed it. But you do have to get cable if you want to watch the games now on TNT or on TBS. Even a lot of the playoff games now have migrated to these different network channels as opposed to being on your over the air, your basic networks, ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC. It's more and more away from traditional TV. And I think we kind of got used to the fact that we need cable to watch sports. But now we got used to it and look, they're trying to milk more money out of us.

It's just wrong. True TV. I think I do have true TV on my network package. I don't have Nickelodeon, though.

That's one of the channels I cut out. No Nickelodeon in my house. No SpongeBob? Oh, there's so much SpongeBob on YouTube. Have you ever noticed? You can get SpongeBob anywhere.

Oh, I have. Jay loves YouTube. YouTube TV is getting Sunday Ticket. I mean, that's a huge, big ticket item for YouTube. The number of people who are going to subscribe to YouTube TV because of the Sunday Ticket is... Now that number, I'm going to be interested to see. Will they see this influx of subscribers or will people decide, OK, I can live without it?

And what is the cost? A lot of you are saying that YouTube TV is how you watch everything. And we see ads for it all the time in the middle of our sports, our sports events, our sports broadcasts. And so the YouTube TV cost is going to go up.

Are you going to stick with it? Or I highly recommend calling, speaking to the automated lady on the phone, telling her you're going to cancel, because I swear in some cases she may very well offer you a bargain, a bargain basement price. It's called our platinum package.

All you gotta do is ask. When I told Jay that on the phone, he was speechless. Like, what? No way. It just doesn't make sense. Oh, we're charging you this. Oh, I don't want it anymore. Never mind. We'll charge you less.

Don't worry. We'll charge you a third of what we were charging you before. It's that simple. All you had to do is say the magic word. Say please. Just say please.

Just ask really nicely. And we're willing to give you this bargain basement price. All right. So if you have TV and you were watching NBA last night, well, you saw another one of those performances from Damian Lillard that is jaw dropping. Same sitting on 56. Simons on the logo gives it up today. Hold the ball away from Vanderbilt. Double team gets around the defender. He drives, he attacks, goes up and under.

Yes. 58 for Damian Lillard. One more free throw here for Dane. 60 Damian Lillard's career high is 61.

He's got 60 for the fourth time in his NBA career. I think anytime you score 60 points is special. But I think this one, I just felt like, you know, it came pretty simple. You know, I thought I played the game as it should have been played. I knew it was a game that we needed to win.

So I came out with the mentality to attack and be aggressive. You don't get to see that very often, you know, to be that efficient. For a guy to score 60 points and only 10 free throws and make nine of them. I mean, you're thinking like this dude either has a certain amount of threes or and, you know, it was just incredible. I mean, how efficient he was.

He goes get seven rebounds, three steals, eight assists. I mean, he was all over the place. And we did a really good job of understanding who was hot and keep riding that hot hand. And this is fun, you know, to be able to watch greatness like that. That was that was incredible, man. Chauncey Billups talking about his superstar, Dame Lillard, who had a season high 60 points, second most in the NBA this year.

Brownie points bonus for you, if you can remember who had more than his 60 points. And it's funny that he says we did a good job of understanding how to feed the hot hand. OK, I mean, I feel like a fourth grader would know to feed Damian Lillard when he's making shots like that. I hope that you didn't have to instruct your NBA players to give the ball to Dame. Yeah, he was brilliant. He was in the zone, as the cool kids say.

I think I mean, I don't fall in that category. Twenty one of twenty nine and he hit nine triples and it kind of dawned on me. We were just last night or yesterday morning talking about how LeBron James had a career high nine threes and Dame's ripping them off like it's nobody's business. So, yes, he was he was taking on two defenders down the lane. He was Euro stepping across the lane. He was going up and under. He was stepping back. He was pulling up from beyond the arc and draining a three over a taller defender. They tried everything, meaning the Jazz tried everything to slow him down. And it's almost like he wanted them to dial up the degree of difficulty by adding more defenders.

They needed a box in one or a box in two, a triangle in two. So, yeah, he was awesome. Eight assists, seven rebounds, three steals as well. And it did come in a win. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio, down to the wire between the Grizzlies and the Warriors in the Bay Area, though Steph Curry was not around for the final 90 seconds.

We'll explain that in a second. Good thing Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole were. Almost two seconds shot clock game clock for Jordan Poole. Bad pass. Thompson with a catch, takes a dribble to three.

It's good! Klay Thompson nailed it with fourteen point one to go. He buried it. The Warriors go up by two and the Grizzlies call another timeout. Morant into the front court.

Camingo on him. Morant crosses him over, gets into the lane. Drops for Clark.

What a pass! Clark jams with two hands. Six seconds remaining. Timeout Warriors. Grizzlies tie it.

One twenty apiece. Ja Morant drew two defenders. Brandon Clark flushes it home. And we're tied. David Chanzel will throw it in. Draymond Green orchestrating.

Thompson curls right. He's not open. Pass to Poole inside. Layup is up and good! He scored it with a second to go. Zaire Williams will throw it in the baseline.

Waiting, looking. Throws into Bain. Bain will just chuck it down the floor. It's no good.

The Warriors get the win. Poole went backdoor on the baseline. J.P. has been much more solid the last five, six games. You know, he had a stretch there where he was trying so hard to make plays. He was making a lot of turnovers, taking a lot of bad shots. And I think he's been much better.

Just shot selection, decision making. Doesn't mean he's going to be perfect. But I think he had three turnovers early in the game and didn't have any the rest of the game. Thought he fought really hard defensively, battled out there.

So I thought he played a great game. Jordan Poole, Klay Thompson hitting those critical shots in the final, actually in the final 15 seconds. So Klay had the three and the ball got to him in kind of a bobbling fashion. But he was able to step around the defense and nail it. And he was fired up. And then Jordan Poole with the game winning layup sandwiched in between a dunk or sandwiched around, excuse me, a dunk by the Grizzlies.

So this was a fantastic finish. You're talking about some of the top stars in the Western Conference. Incredible back and forth. But where was Steph? Seriously, where was Steph? Well, he got ejected for chucking his mouthpiece. What are you, Draymond Green? And this has happened more and more to Steph, right? I think I can remember four or five times where he's got into trouble. It's actually written into the NBA rules that it's an automatic ejection if you chuck your mouthpiece.

And yet he has done it. Now, here's the thing. If the Warriors were working on, I don't know, another 60 win season.

Well, then you wouldn't be as nervous is the wrong word. You wouldn't be as worried about this temper tantrum of Steph's that does seem to flare every now and then. The Warriors have worked their arses off just to get back to 500. Right now, they're barely hanging on in that whole play in tournament format thing.

The 7-10 tournament, the 7-10 split. They can't afford to be given away wins or to be gambling with wins. And he's their best player. He's their MVP. And so this is a mistake he can't make. I come down hard on other athletes who lose their tempers and cost their teams.

And so I'm not going to make an exception for Steph Curry. He needs to know better. I understand there's a lot of fire. There's a lot of passion. But what do we talk about all the time when NFL players, they take off their helmets and slam them. Or they bump a ref.

You cannot do that. You're going to cost your team. Steph in this particular game did not cost his team the win.

But he very well could have. Also, on his own team, how often do people slam Draymond Green for the way that he lets emotions get the best of him. He gets two tees. He gets ejected. Then he's got to worry about too many injections because he's going to get suspended for a game. Going back to the NBA Finals against Cleveland when he got suspended. The rules should be no different for Steph Curry.

They should be absolutely no different. And Steph, obviously, should know better. And so he lost his mind over a call that he felt like should have been made or wasn't made. And that was it.

He had to watch the rest from underneath the stadium. Crucial time in the game and the way that our season is going. There's questions about the height and the urgency of how every detail matters. When you want something really bad, like just getting a win. Fourth quarter execution, clutch time type situation.

All that stuff does matter. So I reacted in a way that obviously put myself out of the game. Put the team in a tough place. The tensions and the energy around what matters and the sense of winning.

That's what it's about. Thankfully, we all responded. My teammates responded extremely well. Klay with a big shot. J.P. with the game winner at the end. Execution was great.

We needed that one. So there's a sense of urgency for sure. Kind of let my emotions get in the way. Alright, I get passion. Everybody's got passion for the most part.

If you don't have passion, you don't make it this far. But again, critics hammer Draymond Green for letting his emotions get the best of him. For the way that he barks at referees and other players. Steph Curry, his vice happens to be that damn mouthpiece. But how often?

You could do a video montage now of him chucking his mouthpiece. No. No. You cannot afford to leave your team like that. I don't care if you just won a title last year.

Your team is barely treading water. You need to stay on the court. It's a mistake he can't make. And so I'm sure that it pained him to watch for the last 90 seconds. I hope it did. I hope that he remembers it next time.

Alright, coming up. We've got John Kincaid, one of our longtime friends, former colleague of mine from Philadelphia. He'll join us in roughly 20 minutes here to talk Eagles and NFC Championship. But as we transition from here to there, a couple of actually funny Eagles. Well, is it funny when someone has their car stolen?

No, so please forgive me for that. But the reaction to an eagle having his car stolen after they won their game against the Giants. Was it a Giants fan?

Anyway, so that's kind of crazy. His reaction is funny. And Jason Kelsey is always a hoot. So a little bit of humor from the Eagles. And we're taking your responses to our streaming question. How do you use it for sports?

Where do you draw the line? Which apps do you use? And also take our poll.

What Super Bowl matchup do you want to see? Good morning to you. It's After Hours with Amy. I'm Larry Mullins, host of the podcast, Your Weirdest Fears. The show that explores the odd things that make your heart stop. I am so scared of the Grinch.

He is bad vibes. We talked to everyone from therapists to exterminators to lizard man. I was 25 when I actually got my tongue split.

I have one tattoo that covers my entire body. Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from. I'm Larry Mullins, host of the podcast, Your Weirdest Fears. The show that explores the odd things that make your heart stop. I am so scared of the Grinch. He is bad vibes. We talked to everyone from therapists to exterminators to lizard man. I was 25 when I actually got my tongue split.

I have one tattoo that covers my entire body. Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from. There's a lot to listen to.

So get started and download the free Odyssey app today. Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. The Philadelphia Eagles. First and goal of the two. High snap.

Give goes to Boston Scott. He pushes forward. He's in for the touchdown. The giant killer has another one. He just runs under everybody. He's powerful.

He's low to the ground. And he has the moves to get the ball into the end zone. It's just a three yard run, but it's a fantastic three yard run.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Meryl Reese on Eagles Radio as they are the number one seed in the NFC. It took them until the very end, the last week of the regular season to get it. But they were without Jalen Hertz.

He's back and didn't look like they missed a beat against the rival giants in the divisional round. Of course, it's a different animal when you're outside your division. And when you're taking on a team whose defense is just as tough and physical as the San Francisco 49ers.

Plus, they've got a variety of ways that they can hurt you. Similar to Philadelphia. The ways that Howie Roseman has beefed up their offense and built around Jalen Hertz. It's really impressive to see what they've done. And now here they are with Nick Ceriani still a relatively new head coach. And yet he's all the rage with the bling and getting the best out of his team. And the lit celebrations in the locker room. That's his description for it. Now he's even, well, I'll bet you that he was chastised by the NFL for talking about a pizza company that was not the one that officially partners with the league.

So now he's doing the company line thing. Anyway, this team is dynamic. Can they find ways to score? Can they find ways to control the ball against the Niners?

Because that's their style. They had, what was it, 200 something yards rushing against the Giants. They want to be able to control the ball and score multiple touchdowns on the ground. And Giants and Niners are not the same opponent.

I think that's fair to say yet. 268 rushing yards, over 400 total yards. Jaylin with three touchdowns last weekend.

But it's a different animal against the stingy Niners. When you win, you get asked to sign various pieces of memorabilia. Or babies.

Jason Kelce tells the story about an interesting autograph request after the Eagles beat the Giants. I'll sign a baby. Give me a baby, I'll sign it.

Yeah! Don't be that baby! I signed my first baby. Did you just sign it name? Signed it my name on the forehead and then did go birds on the cheek.

And I hope, personally, this turns into a thing. I would love to sign more babies. Keep the line out the door, man.

Bring the babies. I don't get asked for many autograph requests. Now and then I do, though. And this is so terrible of me. But the first time a little boy came up to me at a basketball tournament. I was doing play-by-play.

And he came up to me at a basketball tournament and he asked me if I would sign this piece of paper. And I laughed. I don't know why.

Because I'm an idiot. That's what I do. I laugh when I'm happy. I laugh when I'm nervous. I laugh when I'm uncomfortable. And so I laughed and his face was crestfallen. And so, of course, right away, oh my gosh, of course I will. Anyway, so now I don't laugh anymore. But if it was a baby, I think I might have to...

It'd be hard for me not to laugh. Bring me the babies. Bring the babies. Can we please keep that as a drop?

Bring the babies. It's interesting. I wonder if we took... I mean, there are various body parts that athletes get asked to sign. Which I think is, well, whatever. It can be tacky. But did you think he signed the baby with a Sharpie? I hope not. I mean, maybe like, I don't know what you'd sign it with.

Magic marker? Where are the parents in all of this? I don't know. Don't you think the parent was handing the baby to Jason Kelsey?

I do. I hope so. I mean, I don't think the baby... Well, then what do you mean, where are the parents? I'm sure the parents were right there. It's not the baby who's a Kelsey fan. It's the parents. I just feel like people are more reacting to Kelsey actually signing the baby than the parents letting Kelsey sign the baby or asking him to sign the baby. Or I feel like that's the bad job. It wasn't like his marker just ran across the baby on accident.

Oh, no, it's okay. Kelsey's just doing, you know, he's just signing the baby. But the parents are the one I feel like we really should be looking at here. You know what's funny? If you think of sibling rivalry or the number of siblings that are kind of at odds with younger brothers or brothers and sisters, when my little brother annoyed the crap out of me when we were growing up, I easily would have offered him to an athlete to sign with a permanent marker.

I don't know. I feel like he'd have the edge. Then he could be like, oh, Jason Kelsey signed me once.

I mean, that's quite the clout. All right, one more, because this is this is kind of crazy. But according I mean, I'm not laughing because CJ Gardner Johnson's car was stolen.

I'm laughing because he does a video and because he's he feels like he's got the upper hand, even though his ride was jacked. I know exactly who took my car. There you go. I heard that. Yeah. Yeah.

If you want me to, I can send you. It's good. I know exactly who stole my. Don't worry about it, we got you on camera. Wow. Wow. Where was that? That's how you are getting down and feeling.

Yes, the wind. Well, we did have to bleep out a few of his choice words, but see difference between me and CJ Gardner Johnson, if my car is stolen, I'm not making a video about it. But he apparently there it was in the lot, the Eagles lot, and someone jacked his car. And so there's obviously cameras everywhere and he knows who stole his car. But I'm I mean, is that is that what you would be doing, putting up a social media video if your car just got stolen? No, especially if I knew who did it and it would just be a quick find. There's no need to advertise that if I was him.

Maybe after the fact you put a tweet up, but like in the throes of emotion, you decide the first thing to do is whip out your phone? Not a great look, but the city either. Well, I mean, come on. Carjackings are happening everywhere, but we know Philly has a reputation.

So according to CJ, after the team beat the Giants and he had a great game, you know, he picked off Daniel Jones and the defense picked off Daniel Jones and the Giants were really limited. So there's a reason to be all kinds of excited. But instead of, you know, talking to the authorities or making sure that he gives all the relevant video to the people who need it now, he's he's on social shares on Twitter. Yeah. Well, I mean, why not? What? What is wrong with us as a society?

What the hell is wrong with us? I don't have those answers, unfortunately. All right. Coming up, we're going to talk Eagles. And also, why did Doc Rivers call the Sixers game against the Nets a party last night? John Kincaid, longtime friend and also one of my favorite radio hosts and colleagues in the biz. He will spend a few minutes with us before his own morning show in Philadelphia. It's after hours.

CBS Sports. I'm Larry Mullins, host of the podcast, Your Weirdest Fears, the show that explores the odd things that make your heart stop. I am so scared of the Grinch.

He is bad vibes. We talk to everyone from therapists to exterminators to lizard man. I was twenty five when I actually got my tongue split.

I have one tattoo that covers my entire body. Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from. I'm Larry Mullins, host of the podcast, Your Weirdest Fears, the show that explores the odd things that make your heart stop. I am so scared of the Grinch.

He is bad vibes. We talk to everyone from therapists to exterminators to lizard man. I was twenty five when I actually got my tongue split.

I have one tattoo that covers my entire body. Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from. I'm Larry Mullins, host of the podcast, Your Weirdest Fears, the show that explores the odd things that make your heart stop. I am so scared of the Grinch. He is bad vibes. We talk to everyone from therapists to exterminators to lizard man. I was twenty five when I actually got my tongue split.

I have one tattoo that covers my entire body. Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from. You are listening to the After Hours podcast. James Harden with five seconds to shoot. Driving on Royce O'Neal.

Double-A lamp. Bump and good. Klaxon came over, but Harden put it in. Twenty-three seconds to go.

Sixes by four. We didn't really play good. You know, they shot sixty percent from the field, I think Coach Doc was saying. But at the end of the day, those games are the ones you have to tough out and grit out.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. There definitely was an element of grit, but there wasn't a whole lot of defense. These two teams, Nets and Sixers, shot both of them well over fifty percent. So defense was optional, but there was a whole lot of the personal and extracurricular activity because for the first time, Ben Simmons was squaring off in a game against the Sixers with Joel Embiid. Plus you have James Harden. You know, James Harden and that whole thing.

He and Kyrie Irving. And so it was a lot of fun for the fans who were really getting into it with the jeering and the boos and letting Ben Simmons know they have not forgotten. We played Ben Skarn, Joel, and you know, everyone, it was like it was a party, you know, it was hilarious. Like that's when I turned to our coach and said, this is the boxing crowd tonight.

They want to see him drop the basketball, turn and duke it out, you know, but and they went at each other, which I think is fun and good. I love that. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Speaking of parties, John K.K., longtime friend, colleague, radio host, now he's with 97.5, the fanatic doing mornings in Philadelphia. We're pleased to welcome him for a couple of minutes before he jumps on his own show.

John, what do you think? Was it a party with the Nets and the Sixers? Yeah, but a party where nobody, the guest of honor was there to be jeered. It was almost like Kari being invited to the prom.

Very similar with Ben Simmons coming in and both of them should have been wearing a dress. Oh, hey, hey, don't be bringing girl analogies into this. You're speaking to a girl.

I forget that you're just always been one of the guys, Amy, which is great. And it's that Ben Simmons played last night, cowardly, and I'm not shocked. I'm not shocked. He doesn't want any part of Joel Embiid. He's petrified.

It seemed like he was hiding behind the locker, wondering if he was going to get the atomic wedgie. And he didn't play, but he plays with no aggressiveness anyway in the offensive end of the court. And I think the Sixers are very happy with the way that trade worked out.

Oh, I would say so, except that you're still stuck with James Harden in Philadelphia. And I don't know, man, he tends to disappear like poof in the post season. Well, it could be, I mean, he's, he had some, he's had many post season moments. I would say he's never been on a team that is necessarily as talented or as deep as this one. And right now this team looks like it is, look, Amy, I bang the drum every day.

It's been 22 seasons since this team got out of the second round. And anything less is a complete utter failure, disaster and declares the end of the process. So I understand the frustration when it comes to James and he knows they all know what's on the line.

I'm pretty confident though. I'm liking the way Doc's coached this year and I'm liking the energy around the team. When you say end of the process, does that include Doc?

He wasn't around for the beginning of the process. Yeah, Doc will be gone. They don't win a second round series. Doc will absolutely be gone. And every six or fan would then, uh, and I don't believe, by the way, I think Doc's done a great job this year.

It's not a really, really good job considering the injury situation and everything, but I believe that the Sixers would then try to go down to the main line and see if they could lure Jay Wright to come on and coach the Sixers. All right. John Kincaid is with us from Philadelphia. Certainly a lot more to look forward to when it comes to the Eagles, at least now it's more imminent into the NFC championship. And I got to ask you about your bold prediction. I know that you are one of those guys who has no problem putting yourself out there on Twitter in the last 24 hours, you wrote this, the Eagles will score 17 points by halftime in the NFC championship game. Why are you so sure against that Niners defense?

I'll tell you why. Well, first off, they average given up like 16.6 points per game. That's why I wanted to make it that, Hey, by halftime, the Eagles will already have eclipsed that because I believe that the, first of all, a lot of the number one defensive stats for the San Francisco 49ers have accumulated against a terrible schedule. One of the worst we've seen and where the Eagles came out of the best division in football.

And if Washington had managed to win game in week 17, every team in the NFC East would have made the playoffs a completely different challenge. But what I like is the fact is who gives up more plays greater than 50 yards in the NFL. The San Francisco 49ers, nobody has given up more passing plays of over 50 yards. Who gives up the most passing plays in the NFL greater than 30 yards.

The San Francisco 49ers who has the best receiving core left the deepest in this NFL playoffs. It's the Philadelphia Eagles and with Devante Smith and AJ Brown, I believe it will be a very super aggressive game plan coming right out of the box. They ran the ball 44 times last week, Amy, because that's how they knew they could beat the giants. They're not going to do that this week. They're going to come out with an aerial attack early and I expect them to make some big plays early and often, soften things up.

Then they'll be able to open up their running game, including some design QB runs. I'm very confident that the Eagles will be able to run their offense and I don't think this game is going to be like the giant game, but I do think that there's going to be an Eagles victory on Sunday. All right, so then if the Eagles have 17 by halftime, how many do the Niners have? My guess would be seven, something along those lines, because one of the things you see with Brock Purdy is, first of all, he faced the Cowboys defense last week and that was really impressive.

They're a good group. The Eagles defense causes much more pressure on a quarterback. The Eagles defense was 70 sacks. They chase people around like they're being pursued on an episode of Cops.

Oh dear. Brock Purdy, I believe, had two completions to the left of center all last Sunday. And Hasan Reddick is going to chase him towards that left sideline all day long. And the 49ers offensive line is good. It's nothing like the Eagles offensive line, so you're not talking about a dominant, dominant unit.

Dallas was springing leagues all day long. Purdy was running. The Eagles get 70 sacks for a reason.

There's a reason. They dominate quarterbacks. I think they're going to push Purdy to the left side of the field all day long. And I'll predict not one, but two interceptions for Mr. Purdy. Not a Purdy afternoon for him, if I can excuse that pun. Well, how many times are you going to use that on your show this week, do you think? I may have used it once or twice.

Why don't you stop checking me? Okay, so just to ask you about this again, with the offensive side of things, I actually believe because their O-line is so good and they would prefer to possess the ball, that whole ball control, run the ball. But you think that they're not going to do that early, that that will be a product of them being able to open it up?

It's going to be an aggressive, I think it's going to be an ultra-aggressive game plan. I think it's going to be throwing the ball downfield. I believe that will often, and as long as they can complete a couple early, 20-plus yard passes to Devontae Smith, 20-plus yard passes to, on the slants to A.J. Brown, then that softens things up for Dallas Goddard in the intermediate passing. Then, then you're running the ball. Then the quarterback draw works more effectively. Well, Dallas Goddard, despite the fact that he was out for a couple of weeks, did help me win my fantasy football championship, so I'm all in on Dallas, yes. Although you'll love this too, as a dog owner, all of the money that I won for the championship just went to a procedure for my dog yesterday, so easy come, easy go. God works in mysterious ways, baby.

He does. At least I had it. That's what I told my fam. John Kincaid is with us from Philadelphia.

All right, just a couple of minutes. I know you know hard outs and how they work. Why do you believe Jalen Hurts has a case for MVP?

I believe Jalen Hurts is the MVP. Oh, even with the days missed? Not even a question. He lost. The man was 14-1 as a starting quarterback. I mean, what do I need to see?

I mean, like what else? Does that not matter anymore? He was 14-1 as a starting quarterback. The game he lost, his team turned the ball over four times. I mean, it wasn't him. It wasn't him playing poorly even against Washington on that Monday night as a starter.

I have no idea. When you are cruising to a 13-1 record, you get the best record in the NFC. You're not the 49ers or one of those other teams that manages to lose a bunch of empty calorie games. He went out there and won every single start, I said, that Washington game. And more importantly, he has a fantastic balanced attack.

More of the offense is on him because of what he does with his legs, with his arm. I think he was brilliant this year. And I think he's going to show it on Sunday again, just like he did on Saturday night, when somehow Brian Dables getting votes for coach of the year.

I have no idea how that happened. When Nick Sirianni pantsed him. Can I possibly, pantsed him like we're in elementary school, can I possibly introduce you to a Patrick Mahomes whose team also had 14 wins and was the top seed in the AFC, now? They had 13. They had 13. The Eagles had 14. Didn't they have 13? I thought they were 14 and 3. They may have had 14 also. But here's what I would tell you, Patrick Mahomes is fantastic, Amy.

He's absolutely amazing. I do believe if you take Jalen Hurts off the Eagles, it's bigger than Patrick Mahomes being taken off the Chiefs. Interesting.

And that to me, that to me is the difference. But we'll see on Sunday. I mean, hey, I would love to see it. I would love to see it because I'm not going to sell the Chiefs short.

Everybody seems to be on the Joey, including my teenage daughter, who definitely thinks he's just the bee's niece, do they say that anymore? I will take, I still think Andy Reid may just show up for that Super Bowl. And that will be a talking point for the ages for Philadelphia. Absolutely. All right. Let's talk about his show on 97.5, the Fanatic in Philadelphia, starting in just a few minutes, a longtime friend. And that to me is more important than the fact that we have been colleagues for years. So find him on Twitter at John Kincaid, uncomfortable radio at its finest.

Thank you, my friend. I'll talk to you probably in two weeks. All right.

Sounds good. John Kincaid, he's so much fun. And we don't always do interviews that are in our final segment.

But this is when he was available for his show. Yeah. I'm an Eagles Homer. To be fair, even when he worked in Atlanta, he has always been an Eagles fan. He's always followed the Eagles.

He's very well informed and he knows to whom he preaches. All right. We're back tonight.

Have a great Thursday. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. I'm Larry Mullins, host of the podcast, Your Weirdest Fears, the show that explores the odd things that make your heart stop. I am so scared of the Grinch. She is bad vibes. We talk to everyone from therapists to exterminators to lizard man. I was twenty five when I actually got my tongue split.

I have one tattoo that covers my entire body. Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from. The Listening You Love is on the free Odyssey app. Your trusted local radio stations, coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience. Follow topics you care about, like leagues and teams, pause or rewind your local sports and news and add shows to your queue to catch up later. There's a lot to listen to.

So get started and download the free Odyssey app today. I'm Larry Mullins, host of the podcast, Your Weirdest Fears, the show that explores the odd things that make your heart stop. I am so scared of the Grinch. He is bad vibes. We talk to everyone from therapists to exterminators to lizard man. I was twenty five when I actually got my tongue split.

I have one tattoo that covers my entire body. Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from.