After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 4

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I absolutely dig it. Centerfield. And it's also Universal Opening Day! Woo! I feel like we need fireworks today. There's going to be fireworks around Major League Baseball coming up on Thursday.

Wow. Happy Thursday to you. Good morning if you're just waking up.

There's a lot of reasons to be excited. Jay and I are celebrating Opening Day by going to a hockey game, but whatevs. Don't do what we do.

Do as we say. It's hockey. It's hockey, baby. We've been spending a bunch of time on the NBA as it comes to a crescendo at the end of the regular season. Also, some really incredible moments last night that we will get to. Kevin Durant returns. Drew Holiday with a career performance.

And don't look now. We've got a brand new entrant. Entrant? Entry? Either one. To the playoffs.

Long time coming. So we'll get to that. Plus we're asking you, if Lamar Jackson and his family say, Yo, Mike. Yo, Jerry. Yo, Annie. Yo, Susan.

There's got to be people out there listening by those names. What should I do? I need some advice.

I need some outside counsel. Thoughtfully, what would you tell the guy to do or what do you think the best advice should be? So I'll share mine because there's a couple of pieces of advice I have for him.

And you can find us on Twitter after our CBS, ALaw Radio for me, and then also on our Facebook page. So this is kind of funny, actually. I don't know if this is going to hurt us. I guess I don't really care, to be perfectly honest. At this point, whatever. If you want to impersonate me on social media, feel free. In fact, I do think there's a couple of ghost Facebook accounts out there that actually have stolen pictures or used pictures of me from the Internet and kind of pretend like they know what, you know, who I am, what I'm doing, whatever.

So it's relatively amusing. On Twitter, our blue checkmarks are about to go away. I don't know if you all know this, and let's be fair, there are people out there now who have like 20 followers who are buying Twitter checkmarks, Twitter verification. It used to be that you could only get it through a recommendation or through an application process.

You had to be a public figure of some sort. And there was a level of followers that you needed to be able to gain a blue checkmark. Again, it was this really clandestine process where for years there'd be some people, I went without a blue checkmark, probably the first like three, four years that I was here. And people kept saying, why aren't you, why don't you have a blue checkmark? Finally, the company went after it and got one for us on our show account, but also for me personally. I've been duped lately, and I gotta be really careful, Jay has too, by people who have blue checkmarks because they purchased them, not because they're legitimate or because they're professionals at what they do.

And so right now blue checkmarks mean nothing, which is why I don't care about mine going away. The company, Jay, what are the chances on April 1st, which is tomorrow, Friday, oh no wait, I'm sorry, Saturday, April 1st, tomorrow's March 31st, duh. What are the chances that the company comes to us or maybe sends a blanket email, hey, anyone who needs a Twitter verification, let us know, we'll front you the $8 a month.

That'd be nice. No, you didn't use my question, what are the chances? I would guess low, but.

You would guess low. Because not only am I allowed to, about to lose my verification, but so is our show account. I don't know if that's gonna hurt us on Twitter, I have no idea.

And honestly, it's not worth it to me to pay the $8 a month, I am not paying that myself, hell to the no, I'm not paying that myself. Well, I mean, if everyone is able to get it and, you know, there's suddenly an influx of thousands to not millions of blue checkmarks, then what's the point of it anyway? Right, do you think anyone will notice or will be misled? So maybe we encourage people to go to our Twitter and to join us and they don't see the blue checkmark and they think, oh, no way. I think maybe initially there'll be some restraint to non-blue checkmarks or is this the real deal? Non-blue checkmark brigade.

Yeah, but, cause you know, we're always, the Twitter user is trained to see the blue checkmark and immediately associate that with a verified account. I'm pretty sure you just said boo, boo checkmark. Boo checkmark? A boo checkmark. A blue checkmark? Boo checkmark. Well, that's what we're gonna do on April 1st is boo checkmarks. Boo the checkmarks, baby. I don't know, I think eventually it'll, probably won't even think about it and the checkmarks will just become, don't even look at it on the handle.

Beware of getting duped. A lot of our listeners now send us tweets and there's a blue checkmark and I think, oh, and then I realize it's someone who's purchased it, clearly. This is one way that Elon Musk apparently is going to make more money.

Actually, Twitter is hemorrhaging money and so this is a way that they're trying to like stabilize their finances. But now he's saying that if you have to have a verified account in order to vote in polls and stuff like that, which is... Vote in polls or create a poll? I think both now. So this is our last chance then to put up a poll these next couple days. Today and tomorrow.

If what I'm reading is correct, yeah. Okay, let's do it then. Let's do our last poll. Let's do, let's make it go 48 hours. That would put us to April 1st. What if they cut us off? They might. So with the polls, you don't get grandfathered in?

Your poll doesn't get grandfathered in? Immediately shut down. Immediately cut off. Axed. Like an arm just taken off, wasn't it? See ya. A machete.

You get macheted. All right, well, let's make it, can we make it a 36 hour poll? It would go... We should make it a week poll. No, we can't because it'll get axed. We could see. We could test the theory here.

I'm just axing. Yeah, we could test the theory. Let's do that.

Let's go 48 hours. So let's do the poll around Major League Baseball opening day. What's your, what's your anticipation level for baseball?

Well, it's here. What's your excitement level? Your energy level?

What's your energy level around baseball, around opening day, which I think has its own hashtag. So we could go sky high energy level. We could go, I just want to use meh as an option. We could go sky high energy level. We could go.

Hmm. What's not sky high, but lukewarm, relatively engaged. We go sky high.

Then we'll say engaged with my for my own team or just like engaged. Then we'll say lukewarm. No, I feel like meh is lukewarm. No. So we'll say meh and then we'll say what day is it?

Like as our fourth option. How about that? All right.

All right. So then we'll see whether or not this poll withstands the purge. It's the purge. It's the purge, Jay. Is that a really terrible TV show? It's a movie, a series of movies.

Oh, first one was OK. And then they didn't really need to make like six others. This is Twitter's version of the purge. We're all about to get purged. Do you think Adam Schefter is still going to have a blue checkmark?

Again, like I don't know what they're going to mean. Is Jim Rome still going to have a blue checkmark? Like if he's got one, but then, you know, some other guy who just has a paper route has one. I don't know.

What's the difference? Are you making fun of people who have paper routes? No, I would love for a paper guy to get a blue checkmark, but I'm not going to follow him for football. Jim Rome still has a blue checkmark. I don't know if he's planning on paying for his blue checkmark.

Hmm. This is going to be fun, actually, to go through and see who's who's not willing to pay for the blue checkmark. I'm raising my hand right now. I'm not paying eight bucks to Twitter.

Are you kidding me? The second that social media cost me money, I'm out. Goodbye. Will there be checkmark shaming going on, you think?

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You too can follow us on Twitter and find out what happens when the blue checkmark brigade takes over and we get left in the dust. Eat my dust. It's going to be fun, actually. I'm not really a big fan of doing what everyone else is doing.

I've told you before, if the majority of the world is doing one thing, I'm generally breaking out in hives and running the other direction. So I don't need the blue checkmark. Have it. Jay, you can have my blue checkmark.

Just take it. That's all right. You're good without it?

I'm all right. Do you even use your Twitter account? I use it like actually all the time just for like news. Perusing?

I'm more of a ghost follower, if you will. Yeah. I think somebody should go and check Jay's previous tweets to see if there's anything inflammatory from when he was 13 or something. I don't think so. I've gotten through that.

No rap lyrics? Maybe I should go back. Yeah, you should go back. You should check it because, you know, you can get fired now for things that you tweet when you're 13. Just be careful.

Don't want to offend anyone. It's After Hours on Facebook as well. We're asking you what advice would you give to Lamar Jackson and his family? And we'll get to that coming up a little bit later in this hour. But we told you a very special moment.

Now, it did not happen in Northern California, but it happened a little north of that. And it was a moment that certainly caught the attention of enough Kings fans who made the trip to Portland. Then sets a screen in the right wing. Monk comes to his left, finds Fox, steps into three and scores the triple. The Aaron Fox, first three-pointer he's made in six attempts tonight. He now has 15 points. Driving a kick by Monk.

Fox has it on the right wing. Going to try another three. And he scores back-to-back three-pointers. The Aaron Fox from downtown, now two of seven, has 18 points.

Feibel on a run to the rack. Blocked by Alex Lynn. And that brought the Kings bench up in unison. Nice block by Alex. Fox feeds the barn, swings to the corner. Malik's open for three.

He scores the triple. And the fun is now being enjoyed by Kings fans. We have only 12.8 seconds remaining. And Kings fans, we can see them in all areas of the arena. A lot of purple on their feet, chanting, light the beam. Well, in a matter of five seconds, it will be lit in Sacramento.

The horn sounds. And for the first time in 17 years, 16 seasons of frustration. 16 years of wandering in the desert, looking for that oasis. The Kings have finally found the sparkling waters, the palm trees.

It's not a barrage. It's the real deal. Sacramento has clinched first-round home court advantage in the playoffs that will be starting in a couple of weeks. If you've never heard the man known as G-Man, Gary Gerald, do a basketball game, that's him. And he is the Vin Scully of the NBA. 3,000 games he's called.

3,000 plus now. But just a few weeks ago, actually, I think that he called his 3,000th game behind the mic for Sacramento Kings Radio Network. Since 1985, he's been their play-by-play announcer.

And he is, he's vivacious, he's vibrant, he's fun, he's got a great sense of humor. The teams love him. And this is his opportunity as well to call playoff games again.

I wonder if he thought, maybe I'll never get back to the postseason, never get a chance to do another game in the postseason. But you go where your team goes after 16 losing seasons and all of these years out of the playoffs, the Kings are back. They go 18 of 48 from beyond the arc, on the road in Portland.

This wasn't even a contest. I don't know what happened in Portland. I just think they stopped playing. Well, they're missing a lot of people, but maybe they got really discouraged by the fact that their arena was filled with chance for light the beam.

Light the beam. Keegan Murray is a rookie, but he now has the new NBA record for three-pointers made by a rookie. And he's experiencing the success of Sacramento Kings basketball in his first season. It's just the effort that a lot of our, a lot of the front offices put in throughout the years. Just the people that have been here. We've had really good teams, I think, throughout that 17 years.

And I think this one just exemplifies all of them. So it's really cool to be on this team. We're all excited, but we know we have a lot more to do. Keegan, I like the fact that he's got a perspective on history because he's not been there. Right. But a lot of these guys haven't been there. It's a relatively young team, but it also has a brand new head coach.

And herein is the piece that matters so much. Mike Brown. Spent seven, eight years with the Warriors. Won multiple championships as an assistant coach. Learned under Steve Kerr, Bob Myers as the general manager.

A winning culture, a winning system. Now remember, he had previous head coaching experience with the Cavaliers, with the Lakers. He's well known. He's established. But taking this kind of step back from head coaching, joining Steve Kerr's staff.

A different perspective. He also did step in when Kerr was away from the team, whether for the back issues that he deals with or for illness. I'm so happy for Mike Brown. He brought credibility. He brought equity to that locker room and a formula, a formula that works.

But certainly the guys had to buy in. Sixteen years was the longest playoff drought in the NBA. But in addition, after the Mariners made the postseason last year, it was the longest existing playoff drought among the four major pro sports. Football, basketball, hockey, baseball. That drought is now over. I need to figure out what the next longest drought is.

That's actually a really interesting question. Do you think it's the Jets? It could be the Jets.

It could be the Jets. What are they, 10 or 11 years now, running on 12 years? There's got to be another one that's longer than that, no? We're going to have to look that up. That's pretty good. It's pretty good, did you say?

It's pretty good. So the Kings are back in the postseason. Mike Brown's a big reason why. All of what he brought to the table gave the Kings a leg up, and then they finally found the right players who would buy in. The fans have been phenomenal. The electricity that they bring, not just the Golden 1 center, but even when we're walking around out in the streets or out in public, the fans have been great. They sure are deserving of this. I know not only myself, but we want to give them a lot more than we've given them so far already because they're more than deserving of it. When you have a fan base that's as intelligent, rabid, passionate about not only their team, but their city too, you can feel it's a prideful thing. You just want the world for them, and you're excited about it.

We want them to celebrate, but we also know that they expect more from us, and we expect to hopefully give them more. Mike Brown is a championship coach. He's won multiple rings, and he knows how to get it done, and he knew that inside our locker room. We were much more than a playoff team, and we all knew that from the start, so any expectations that anyone had on us, we had more expectations.

That's just the mindset that we had going through this year, and we're just trying to keep this rolling. If you don't know the superstar tandem, maybe you think it's early to call them that, but if you don't know the star tandem for the Kings, it's time that you familiarize yourself with De'Aaron Fox and De'Montez Sabonis. If you follow the NBA and its trades, you know, he was actually flipped for Tyrese Halliburton last season, and there were a lot of people who looked at that, prognosticators, and said, that's a mistake. And he has been awesome.

He and De'Aaron Fox have been tremendous together. They were both all-stars this season. Then we're talking about guys who have championship pedigrees, right, like Mike Brown. Harrison Barnes is on this team, still on this team, brings that knowledge of what it takes to win.

A third option is a score. Then they draft Keegan Murray, who was the, oh shoot, was it the summer league? He was the summer league MVP, maybe? If I remember correctly, he made a big splash in Vegas. And so Keegan Murray, thank you Jay, gets into the NBA and is a sharpshooter, and now has the new NBA record for three-pointers made by a rookie. I think Donovan Mitchell had it before.

Malik Monk, Kevin Herder, these are both veteran guards. I think one of them predicted that the team would make the playoffs when they first got into town. It wasn't just that, though. It was the winning season, and now it's the postseason.

So light the beam, baby. The West is a total scrum behind the top three teams, which right now are Denver, Memphis, Sacramento. It's not just ending the playoff drought. It's, hey, we're third in the West, a force to be reckoned with. It's kind of nice when you fly into the radar, though.

It's helpful because you don't have nearly the pressure. But pretty soon, fans will know the Sacramento Kings. All right, speaking of the West, the number four team, the Phoenix Suns. Oh, and their longtime announcer, Al McCoy, who is in that same, he and Gary Gerald are, they're just a different breed, different era, different generation, just different stock. Both amazing tenures as announcers at their craft. And so Al McCoy at the mic for the Suns last night at Kevin Durant returns and makes his home opener, or his home debut, finally.

Good to have you with us on Twitter, ALawRadio, for as long as you can find us. And then we've got a poll up gauging your interest in the upcoming games that actually will take the field in mere hours. This is the fun part.

I always find that amusing. Opening day, yeah, you think, let's go out to a ballpark, let's re-engage, get ready for summer, have a ballpark frank, a beer, whatever. But the thing is, in the northern cities, like New York, where the Yankees are hosting the Giants, and I know this firsthand because we live in the New York City area. It's going to be first pitch temps in the low 40s with wind chills in the 30s. So bundle up. Four episodes of thundersnow.

Actually, there was snow in my neighborhood when I left last night. So we've got our poll up about your energy level for MLB opening day and then your advice for Lamar Jackson. It's all happening at the end of March. It's After Hours with Amy Long.

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You are listening to the After Hours podcast. Gets it out to Devin Booker. Booker goes down inside. Here's Duran for a shot.

Good. Count it. He's fouled. Foul will be on Gobert. And Devin Duran hitting the hoop will go to the free throw line. Payne setting up for the Suns offense. Drives right side. Gets in underneath the basket. Can't shoot it. Dishes out on top to Duran for three. Just keeping behind the line.

Mid-range game isn't working. Suns lead it. Duran with 16 points for the Suns. Bounce pass comes on between the circles to Chris Paul. Paul stops.

Goes inside. DA for Webber. Dan Green from Paul. Suns up by eight equaling the biggest lead they've had in the ballgame tonight.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. That is the voice of Al McCoy, the legendary Suns announcer on their radio network. Kevin Duran finally makes his home debut.

And get what? The Suns are 4-0 when he is on the court. Now the challenge is keeping him on the court. Though this last injury, the ankle was a freak thing where he slipped and he rolled his ankle. That was warm-ups right before he was supposed to make his home debut. So he told, I think it was Roz Gould on Woody, he told her, I think that's off this report on ESPN, that he was just so thrilled he didn't turn his ankle or have any other malady happen in pregame warm-ups. So he's supposedly on a minutes restriction.

We'll see how long that lasts. And he did start out rusty. He began over six. Longest, drought is a strong word, but most number of shots he's taken without making one to start a game this season. Ultimately finishes five of 18 in his 29 minutes.

So he has 16 points and eight rebounds. And the spark is there to be sure. He actually admits that he was a little nervous going into this game. Felt good. You know, miss playing, miss being with the guys.

So good win for us and we needed this one. But yeah, I felt good being out there again. Try to settle in as much as I can. My teammates look for me. Cam got me two open threes, which, you know, was good for me.

I left him. So just getting comfortable, get more comfortable and, you know, hopefully I'll knock him down next game. You know, every day just try to be the best that I can in the rehab and focus on that. And when I'm ready to play, I'll be ready to play.

So I'm looking forward to keep building. I was just saying that to the guys in the locker room that it's hard for me to get sleep today. It was hard for me to stop thinking about the game.

And sometimes you can want it too bad and you come out there and play like, you know, start rushing and start taking, being uncharacteristic. So for KD, there's a lot of anticipation. He's missed most of his time in Phoenix, three games since early February. Before that, he was injured in his dubious exit with the Brooklyn Nets.

So he wasn't playing then either. And as much as he loves to hoop, as much as he desires to be out there, I don't always love some of the moves that he pulls. But that's his prerogative. He's a grown man. He does love to play basketball. And it seems like when he's out there, his reentry is nearly seamless every time. Now, I know he went over six, but did anybody really believe that he was never going to score again?

No. I mean, this is Kevin Durant. So to see him back out there and to know what the Suns are capable of, they have not lost when he has played as a part of that lineup. And certainly for Monty Williams, you're just thrilled to have the guy on the court and healthy and upright. If you look at the shooting numbers, you're like, that's not Kevin. It's his first time, fourth time playing in who knows how long. I mean, you guys would probably know. But I think the way he stayed with it when he hit the three in the third quarter, that's Kevin.

He's not going to run from those types of shots. Devin Booker, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant. That right there is an impressive triumvirate when you're thinking about experience, when you're talking about the scoring potential. Yes, but not just that, the ability to share the basketball. This was a victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves, who were one of the hottest in the league. But you also throw in DeAndre Ayton, who they didn't have to give up in that trade with the Brooklyn Nets.

And then coming off the bench, too, generally they have a different guy who could give them some help. But Cameron Payne's had a real night. Well, he's had some real good games.

I'm trying to think if he's been super consistent. There's been some good stretches. Anyway, good win for the Suns. Right now, still sitting in that fourth spot in the West.

Though their perch is precarious. We talked a bunch about the standings and about the Eastern Conference. But it's because of what the Miami Heat are going through and the fact that the Sixers are playing some of their best basketball. But we've got to talk about the number one team in the East and actually the best record in the NBA right now.

Because it featured a career performance by Drew Holliday last night. Milwaukee going the other way. Holliday's into the front court. He wants that shot. Spins into a defender.

Try to feed it inside. Came right back to him. It has been that kind of night for Holliday as he gets it to drop. He's got a career high 42.

Here's Holliday. He's going to cast up a three and he cans another. He is a flamethrower.

Drew Holliday, a flamethrower and a battle ram all mixed together. Giannis takes the feed now from Allen. Draws the defense of Niesmith.

Spins around him. This is going to be an easy two-hand dunk. Punishing dunk from the Greek freak right over Jalen Smith. Take that. Giannis, the outlet feed ahead to Holliday. There it is.

Off the window and good. That hookup says it all. Those two stars have shined brightest tonight. Giannis with the triple double, 38 points, a career high 49 now for Holliday.

Can he do it against Jordan? Backs his way in. Fades.

Fires. Yes, sir. How about a 50 piece for the veteran, Drew Holliday, the sixth in Bucs history to do it. That's Dave Koehn on Bucs radio. Drew with 51, eight assists, eight rebounds. Then you have Giannis with this insane triple double, 38, 17 and a dozen assists. But to be fair, the Pacers didn't put up much resistance.

The Bucs shot 62 percent. But I have to tell you, as much as I enjoy watching Drew dominate, and I do, he's one of my favorite two-way players in the league. I love his maturity, his depth, his versatility, his leadership, what he adds to that team. He can score, yes.

He doesn't care about being the center of attention. He is happy to facilitate for Chris when he's out there and for Giannis, but he's a glue guy. And like most high-level quarterbacks in the NFL, he, as the quarterback of the Bucs, makes everyone else around him better. That's what he does. He's just a solid, was a better than solid.

He's a great player on both ends of the court. So I'm a huge fan, but I take exception to how he described last night's game in Indiana. Honestly, I felt like it was a must-win game. I was just taking the opportunity to skip it.

I'm a lot of driving to the basket, getting to the paint, trying to get fouled, but really just being aggressive because I know how much we needed this game. When did you know you had it tonight? When I woke up.

When I woke up, I love that. Drop the mic. Valley Sports Wisconsin there, and yeah, not a must-win game. Not a must-win game. However, you don't want to drop a game on the road to a lesser opponent. Not this time of the year, especially if you do value that number one seed. And right now, they are sitting pretty up three on the Celtics and Bucs tonight.

National TV, TNT, of course, of course. I'm going to assume, well, you know what happens when you assume. Don't assume that all the stars play.

Maybe they don't. Six, seven games to go. Five, six games to go for most teams now in the NBA regular season. So good stuff from Drew. We asked you a question about your advice for one Lamar Jackson. I've got a couple pieces of advice.

I don't think you would like them, but I'll offer them. And we had some really good calls earlier, a lot of you weighing in on Twitter or Facebook. Just friendly advice, not acrimonious, not rude, not inappropriate.

Just, hey, maybe look at it from this perspective. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. We've been with Lamar, you know, I've been with Lamar as a coach and players and coaches and all of us in the organization have been together for, what, five years now, you know. We've been through some crazy things, some amazing moments, some tough moments, challenges, ups and downs together. We've hugged in the locker room after wins. We've hugged in the locker room after losses. Those are things that last forever.

Those relationships never change. So this is part of it. It's part of the story that's being written and everybody's writing the story. But I just appreciate that it's been handled with class. Lamar's handled it with class. Lamar's under contract and that's the guy I want to see be our quarterback. That's my guy.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. I feel like the peppy music belies the seriousness of the situation. Huh. At least John Harbaugh remains peppy and optimistic. Not so for a lot of other people around the league that Lamar and the Baltimore Ravens can find some type of common ground. I said it earlier, I'll say it again, what I've learned about negotiating and what I have been taught about the art of negotiating is that when neither party is 100% happy, you know that you've found common ground. Right, so Lamar Jackson maybe doesn't get everything he wants.

The Ravens end up paying more than they initially anticipated. Right now, it's a stalemate. Lamar has his family around him. But in my opinion, and because I have a very supportive family, a very passionate family, my brother, all I have to do is say a couple words about work and he starts yelling about just in general. He gets very defensive on my behalf.

My mom says the same thing, I tell her to stay off social media, Mom, don't go look at that crap. It doesn't matter. My family is obviously on my side.

They see everything through me and because they love me. That doesn't make a great negotiation. You've got to take emotion out of it. And I would have thought that Lamar wasn't an over-emotional sensitive guy until recently. So advice for Lamar Jackson, I'll start. We're taking some of your thoughts on Twitter, ALawRadio, as well as on our Facebook page.

This After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Lamar, you have nothing to prove. Get off social media unless you're promoting a product. Get off social media unless you're promoting one of your friends, a teammate, saying congratulations on their contract. Take the high road.

But also, more than that, keep your cards close to your vest. It does not benefit you to air all your grievances like you're Baker Mayfield on social media. And Baker learned his lesson. Baker learned his lesson. He's become less of the I gotta clap back guy. I gotta bid farewell to the Browns before they bid farewell to me.

We're seeing this pattern with Lamar and it's not just Lamar, it's other athletes too. It's a bad idea. You have nothing to prove. And you can't prove it on social media even if you did.

That's the point. Public figures cannot win the battle on social media. It's why I don't even bother to fight them.

People ask me for advice for young broadcasters. I tell them, choose your battles. Social media is not one that you can win nor is it worth your time. Get off social media. At least choose not to fight your battles there.

You have nothing to prove and it doesn't benefit you to take to social to state your case. That's my first piece of advice. Stay quiet. If you have to vent, vent to your family. Vent to your friends. That's what I do. I do not air my grievances in these four walls here in the studio and I do not air my grievances publicly.

That's what family and friends are for. You can't win that fight, Lamar, and it's not worth it. You come across looking like an emotional girl. Looking like you're desperate is probably the wrong word.

I just don't love fighting your battles publicly. Especially when all the Ravens have said is, we love this guy. He's our guy.

So second piece of advice. I say take the deal. If it's still available.

I hope it is available. I hope the Ravens have still made the offer available to him. Now remember, they can negotiate through July 7th, I think. Don't quote me on that date. But I think if you're under a franchise tag, you can continue to negotiate and try to come to some common ground and a compromise by early July.

I think that's the date. And I'm not saying that by taking the deal, you have to admit you don't think you're worthy of a fully guaranteed contract. This is business.

Take the emotion out of it, which is why an agent would help. What are your options? If no trade partner comes along, what are your options? You play under a franchise tag, which pays you less than what you would have if you signed the three year deal. Three years, $133 million.

Guaranteed. That's a lot over $100 million guaranteed. And because it's a shorter term deal. You can then take another one in a couple of years. You're only in your mid 20s.

You got a prime window here. Take the deal, take the $100 million plus guaranteed, the $44 million per year, which is just under what Patrick Mahomes makes. Great that it's not what Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson make, but we already know what the Packers and Broncos did in those situations.

It wasn't smart. It's not what Deshaun Watson makes. Take that out of the equation.

It's an aberration. The Browns will rue that contract, no doubt. The Arizona Cardinals went over the top for Kyler Murray.

Look what that has turned into. Those contracts, to me, smack more of desperation. $44 million per year is more than Josh Allen. It's more than Matthew Stafford, who's got a Super Bowl win. Lamar Jackson does not want to sit out.

That would be the worst possible choice. Either sign the franchise tag and play your ass off this year and prove to everybody you're the same quarterback that won the NFL MVP. Stay with the Ravens because they've got an offense that is supposed to be built around you and because it's going to be your best option. Whether it's the franchise tag or you take that three-year deal, in two years if you play great and the Ravens perform well and you stay healthy, there's another really fat contract coming for you.

And in two years, the going rate for a starting QB will be even higher. Do not give up your gig. Do not give up your starting quarterback job.

There's only 32 in the NFL. They go quickly. Don't give yours up over pride. I know you already said goodbye to the Ravens fans. Say hello to them again. Whatever you do, don't even think about sitting out. If you have to play under the tag, fine. Play. That's how you prove it to people. That's how you show people what you're worth.

That's how you gain respect. You play. Please play. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. A couple of minutes before the top of the hour, we know it's Major League Baseball opening day. We're just hours away. Actually, I just freaked Jay out.

I looked at my phone. So Jay and I live in two different directions. He lives east. I live west of New York City. And very often in my neighborhood, it is a good 10 degrees colder than it is in Manhattan, which is where our CBS Sports Radio studios are located. Right now in my town, the wind chill is 18 degrees. Perfect weather for opening day.

Prime for baseball. The Yankees fans better bundle up. And not just that, but Boston's also hosting. You've got a bunch of northern climes that are hosting. Chicago's hosting today. St. Louis, which may not be cold, but can get cold with a bunch of, Washington's hosting today. I was just going to say with a bunch of wind chills and different weather.

So yeah, there are some cold weather cities here that you need to bundle up for. Speaking of Boston, this is kind of cool. Corey Klueber making the opening day start for the Red Sox.

And he tells Sirius XM MLB radio it is special. I think it should be fun. You know, like you said, we have a place in Massachusetts, so we'll have that going for us.

It'll be convenient in that regard. But also, you know, playing for a team with an organization and, you know, the history that the Red Sox have and stuff and everything that comes with that. Being able to play half the games at a place like Fenway Park is something I'm looking forward to.

It's definitely an honor. You know, I've done it before and it's a really fun day to pitch. Obviously, you know, opening day is special regardless. Pitching on that day is also really fun. I've had it both ways and they're both really enjoyable. I just think it's awesome. The tradition, the pomp, the circumstance, the excitement, the buzz, the infinite possibilities.

Now it could drop off very quickly. You could get cold if it's 18 degree wind chills, but at least it's opening day. Bruce Bochy, by the way, sends Jacob DeGrom to the mound for opening day. You're talking one of the elite pitchers in the game. We're excited about announcing this.

I know it's an honor for him, you know, how humble he is. So, you know, he's on schedule to go opening day. Early, you know, we had to hold him back a little bit, but we think he's good to go. Seven hours from now, the first games will begin in the nation's capital and in the Bronx, followed by Boston and Chicago and Tampa Bay and then Texas. That game is actually between the Phillies and the Rangers and Jacob DeGrom against Aaron Nola. I love all these early matchups. Watch us have scores on Thursday night that are something like 24 to 3, just because.

That's all it took, 24 to 3. Take our poll. What is your energy level for opening day? Because it's here, peeps. It's on Twitter, After Hours, CBS or my Twitter and then Facebook. And we're back tonight. It's going to be awesome. After Hours on CBS Sports Radio. Boom!