6-1-23 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 2

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That's BetterHELP.com slash positive. Hey, hey. Thanks for coming out to play with us. We got stood up by our guest. It actually happens every now and then, but since we didn't have a guest last night, that was just one of those nights where it was hard to find what we were looking for, weren't able to wrangle a guest for a last night show. Though usually on our hump show, we have asked Amy anything and we tend to get busy. And last night we were talking about the whale video. We can go back and talk about the whale video, I suppose. Just kidding. We've already got a ton of responses to tonight's show question.

And in light of, in honor of the Miami Heat being the only team in the championship. Jay, what are you doing? Oh my gosh, they're back here behind me. You goofball. Holy cow.

It's producer Jay, who's tried to derail the entire show. He's in here scrounging for paper towels because he's eating rotisserie chicken that I brought him. Do not touch the soundboard with those fingers. Don't do it.

Yeah, I don't know. You need to use wipes, not just, okay, David Shepherd, you need to use wipes, not just the paper towel. You still have chicken residue on your fingers. It's in there. It's in the nails now.

It is. I know because I ate the all the white meat off the rotisserie chicken then brought the rest for you. So speaking of getting stood up, poor Jay got stood up by his friends to have wings the other night. And so for that reason, I was getting a rotisserie chicken just because I had a bunch of errands and yard work to do tonight. So I didn't have time to cook. So I got a rotisserie chicken and said, Hey, Jay, do you want me to bring you half of it? Because I can't eat the whole thing. And he said, absolutely. So I brought you wings and legs. And now you're in there.

Sticky fingers and all. It's a lemon pepper rotisserie chicken. Can you taste it?

I can. It's delicious. See, you're a good friend.

Unlike my other so called friend. Thank you. Yes.

Yes, I am. That's I knew that's what you meant. But the problem is now your fingers are but you're gonna you know what if the umpires right now we're checking your fingers, you would get a warning and then get tossed out of a game because you have what's that called again? What's that?

The sentence? No, no, you've rosin mixed with spider tack. You have what appears to be sticky spider tack on your fingers. It was a little clumpy, but actually it's just rotisserie chicken.

And I know this because I was eating it earlier. It was tremendous. And still Star Wars is on TNT.

Don't ask me why. But Rogue One was on TNT while I was watching. So after doing the yard work and all my errands, I thought ah, I can eat my food with my fingers and watch Star Wars. This is like I'm five again. It just really does not get better than that sentence.

It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. So excited for the variety of answers we're getting already to our question. So again, in honor of the Miami Heat being the only team in the final four, we're talking hoops in hockey here, the only team in the final four who's won a championship before. So you've got not just the two with Eric Spolstra that go back to LeBron, D-Wade, Chris Bosh.

Remember D-Wade has three rings because he and Shaquille O'Neal teamed up for a championship in 2006. Wow, that was a lucky guess. Better to be lucky than good. No, it's not.

I'm good. I'm not so lucky. So yes, in 2006, I remember watching D-Wade and Shaq. I was rooting for them desperately because I was a huge Shaq fan when I was just getting in the business.

That was early, early in my network career. And so I enjoyed watching that one. The Miami Heat do have three. So they're decorated, though they haven't won one since the big three.

Ha ha. But the other teams that are still alive, Nada, Zilch, Zippo, Zero, also Rand's, always a bridesmaid, never a bride, Susan Lucci, for those of you who know the All My Children reference. So it got me thinking, how cool would it be? How cool will it be if the Nuggets win? If the Panthers win? And okay, Golden Knights, you haven't suffered long enough, but all right. And who else needs a championship? Who else needs a ring? Who else needs the bling in sports? Who has suffered long enough and hard enough and been disappointed, kicked in the gut, left for dead by our teams over and over again?

And yet we keep coming back. Who? Anybody want to go Seattle Mariners? They finally made the playoffs last year.

An incredible story. But I think they need the ring. I think they need the ring. So I'll go Buffalo Bills. I'll give you one in each sport and then you all can fill in the rest. I got the Buffalo Bills.

Hashtag Bills Mafia. I'll go Seattle Mariners in baseball. Jay, you want to throw anyone in there? Dexter Henry said the Jets, so you can't say them. Although you are not a Jets fan, so you wouldn't say them. They came to my mind. How about the Minnesota Vikings?

The Minnesota Vikings never won a championship. They've been in how many Super Bowls? Five? Four or five.

Four or five and have lost every single one of them? Yep. That's a great one too. I mean the Twins for that matter also, while we're in Minnesota, I feel like they make the playoffs almost every year and they just get bounced by the Yankees. Oh, they went through a bit of a drought for a while. Going back to, was it the Joe Mauer and who was the other one? John? No, Joe and... Oh my gosh. Shoot, what was the other guy's name? There were two Jay names, right?

Yes. Joe Mauer and... Morneau. Justin Morneau. That's right. Going back to those days when they were great and every year it seemed like they ran into the New York Yankees. They still keep running into the New York Yankees.

Alright, those are two good ones. I like it. Minneapolis Proud behind the double pane glass for producer Jay. It's after hours here on CBS 4th Radio. Yes, you can answer on Twitter, ALawRadio or our show Twitter.

And I love the fact that so many of you have a soft spot in your heart for the Lions. It's happening. It's all happening right now.

And then on our Facebook page too and there are flower photos to celebrate the end of May and May flowers. Let's go back to our phones here. 855-212-4227. Mike is in Jacksonville. Mike, welcome to the show. Hello, good evening Ms. Lawrence. I want to know if you're any kin to Trevor. You know what, if Trevor would like to leave me some of his money in his will, that would be assuming that he outlives me.

No, Trevor and I are not related. Okay, I just want to let you know it's a joy I enjoy so very much to listen to you bring positive energy in the early morning hours. Oh, thank you.

No problem, but my team obviously is the Jaguars, but I have another one because another caller hit that earlier and he actually made a rip about Jacksonville and Pittsburgh and I think we own Pittsburgh, but I'm thinking the Cleveland Browns. Yes, yes. I think they're due. Well, yeah, they're due, that's for sure. They've never won a Super Bowl, so they're definitely due. I think that there are a lot of owners, franchises around the NFL that would prefer them not win a Super Bowl as long as their quarterback is fully guaranteed, if that makes sense. It's not so much about Deshaun Watson, though there definitely was a furor when they signed him, but it's the idea that they gave him a fully guaranteed deal. So I think there are a lot of owners and a lot of franchises around the league that don't want to see the Browns win with him because then it might start a trend or might push that trend forward where you have to pay your quarterback fully guaranteed money.

Does that make sense? So I think there are teams out there that would prefer they not win it as long as he's still in town. Yes, and in the NBA, I was thinking Orlando Magic.

I mean, the Orlando Magic were a lot of fun with Shaquille O'Neal, a little bit of fun with Dwight Howard, but haven't been much fun since then. Although I do love Paulo Bancaro, he's great. Yes, he is. Alright, good to talk to you, Mike. Thanks so much for listening. Thank you.

855-212-4227, trying to give you the history as people generate answers. So the Jacksonville Jaguars, because I am a Broncos fan since age 13, I certainly do remember the Jaguars going back to the playoffs in 1996. So that was their first year as a franchise. They upset the Broncos in the divisional round.

It was the 1996 season, right? They actually got to the conference championship but lost to the Patriots. So they started off with a bang, and they did make the playoffs in 22, that we know. They lost to the Kansas City Chiefs. This most recent year, remember, they had that great surge at the end of the season, and they ended up winning what was a wide open AFC South because the Tennessee Titans didn't want it. They just, they decided they did not want to make the playoffs, and they were hemorrhaging quarterback issues. And so the Jaguars get into the postseason. Remember, they came all the way back after Trevor Lawrence throws, what was it, four interceptions in the first half. This is the Saturday night wild card game. They're trailing by 27 or some such nonsense in the first half, and they come all the way back and win one of the more exciting games. And by the way, that will be on Peacock Network next year.

Anyway, they have set the stage now. They lost to the Chiefs in the divisional round, but I think there are a lot of eyeballs because that division is wide open. The Jaguars are, I would say, one of those popular picks, even though it's May, June, one of the popular picks to be a nice surprise or a much improved team in 23, if you will. Remember before that, they hadn't been to the playoffs in 17 when they actually were a surprise run to the AFC championship. They lost to the Patriots there. That was the Blake Bortles year. Before that, it had been a decade. So they've never won a Super Bowl. They've never even been to a Super Bowl. And now I feel like they've paid their dues. Going back to the mid 90s, that's not paying your dues.

Jerks. I say that as a Denver Broncos fan who had her heart broken that year. So the Jaguars are a great answer in the NFL. 855-212-4227. Let's talk to Ray, who's listening in Chicago. Ray, what do you think? Chicago. Yes, Ray.

Serrano Maple is without a doubt. Oh, gosh. Oh, my gosh. You're so right. And you're the first person who said that.

You are so right. Championship ball. Oh, I guess that's all he wanted to say.

Ray in Chicago. That's all he wanted to say. It's a mic drop.

We actually heard the mic drop and then we heard me talking again. The Toronto Maple Leafs. Can we apply that to any Canadian hockey team or no? Because there's so many different fan bases north of the border. So maybe it's unfair to group them all together because they would be really angry about that.

They are really angry about that. But it's been a long time. I think it's also just the fact that they keep getting bounced in the first round. Not this year. They got past that home this year. But the past, what, six years, I think it was before this season. It was just all these great teams, all the money they spend and just can't get past the first round. That's tough. They didn't even get to hope. They don't get to dream.

They're gone in the first round. I've got to Google it. Look it up.

The last time that they actually made it to even the Stanley Cup final. Let's see. I'm finding it. Don't you worry. I got this. Paging down, paging down, paging down, paging. Oh my gosh. Paging down. Oh yep.

Last time they won the Stanley Cup final, the mid 60s. Oh dear. Okay.

We need to root for the, we need to root harder for the Toronto Maple Leafs. That is a good answer. Oh my gosh. Well, of course they were highly decorated in the 60s, but we weren't here. Many of our listeners weren't on the planet either. How many did they win in the 60s? They won 61-62 season. Well, actually they won three in a row. 62, 63, 64 and then again in 67. So that's four Stanley Cups.

A good decade. But someone's probably lost them. They're in a closet somewhere. They're dusty.

People don't realize that. Yeah, they're going to get, they're probably tarnished. The Stanley Cups from the 60s, they need to be replaced, outshined by some newer Stanley Cups.

But yeah, you're right. Here are their results. Let's see. Other than this year, obviously. First round, first round, qualifying round, first round, first round, first round, all exits. You have to go back to, oh, I mean, it's, it's a, it's a while before this year. Remember they hadn't won a playoff series in who knows how long, but they finally were able to win one this year. Just, that's not satisfying enough for Maple Leafs fans or for Canadian hockey fans.

I mean, they got such a good team too, just on paper. Who is it first, Toronto or Edmonton? I would say, if we're going just based off the roster as it looks right now, I'm going Edmonton. I think some changes are going to happen in Toronto. Waiting with bated breath, Maple Leafs is a great answer.

Ray in Chicago called up, said Toronto Maple Leafs didn't exchange pleasantries, hung up. That was it. All right, let's try another one. Kazos in Baltimore. Kazo, what do you think? Kazo.

All right, we've lost our Kazo. Let's talk to Mike who's in Atlanta. Mike, welcome to After Hours, CBS Sports Radio.

Yeah, first I'd like to say you're the perfect woman. Oh, thank you. You like Star Wars, you like hockey. That's it, that's all it takes.

Which is the top of the list. No, I was talking about the Philadelphia Flyers. They haven't won since, I believe it was 1975. Okay. Do they deserve it, do you think? No.

What now? Do they deserve it, do you think? Have they suffered long enough for it? We had Eric Lindros who was supposed to be the godsend and turned out to be a rock and then we've had some goaltenders in Europe. They're fantastic.

Get over here to the United States and they can't stop water. Oh, dear. Well, any time it's been, what'd you say, 70-something? I'm going to have to look it up.

I believe it was 73, 74, 74, 75. All right, I'm going to have to look it up because any time it's been almost 50 years or 50 years, it's time. Yes. And since I love hockey and I love Star Wars and that's all you require, I feel like you shouldn't have to look real hard to find a woman that meets those requirements, my friend. I mean, you know how to cook, you made that point. That's it. I could cook for you and put on the hockey on TV and then we could talk Star Wars and that's it for the rest of our lives.

Exactly. It sounds awful, but okay. May the force be with you. And also with you, my friend.

Thank you for calling it Atlanta. Could you imagine? I do love Star Wars and I do love hockey and I also enjoy cooking, but what's in it for me? You get to cook and watch Star Wars and watch hockey.

I get to cook and watch Star Wars and also put on the hockey for the hubs. All right. I mean, all right.

Let's see. Let's confirm about the Philadelphia Flyers. 55 seasons for them as a franchise and there has been no Stanley Cup since 74, 75, but they won back to back in 74 and 75. That was a long time ago. Again, if it's been almost 50 years, I would say it's probably time.

You're in the category. Man, the NHL was different back then. They were an original six, right? Were they original six? Flyers, no. No, they weren't.

Can you name the original six? Boston, Toronto. Yes. Montreal.

Yes. That's where I stopped. Chicago. Oh, Chicago.

The Rangers and Detroit. Oh my gosh. I named four of them.

Pretty good. I'm proud of myself. Thank you, Jay. See, Jay knows more hockey. He might be the perfect woman, but he can't cook.

I've heard that. He can not cook. All right, we'll get back to our phones.

855-212-4227. But you can also find us on Twitter after our CBS. But you can't cook.

Yes, I can. What are you talking about? Cam, I mean, you were so close to a ring. Maybe that would have changed everything for Cam Newton. Come on, man. I'm not 32. I'm not 32.

I can snort too. I mean, Sandra Bullock did it on David Letterman one time, so I feel validated. Yeah, thank you, Jay. So yes, Jimmy Butler is in search of his first ring. Now, not Miami's first ring, but his first ring.

But he's going to have to go through Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, who are into their first ever NBA Finals. So we're going to do a little bit of preview as we get set for the opener in Denver on Thursday night, June 1st. What?

How is it? This is a philosophical question. Probably rhetorical as well, because I'm not sure anyone has an answer. How is it that it can feel like time is going so fast and also so slow at the same exact time? It's going fast because it's the spring, and the month of April and May just went by as though I'm a dog sticking my head out the car window on the highway. That's what it felt like, and yet I'm waiting and waiting and waiting for the next opportunity to see Bob. And so for that reason, it feels like the days are crawling. How is that possible?

Can someone tell me how time can feel so fast and so slow all at once? I don't know. You're a very rich man or woman. You're not a woman, stop it.

No, whoever has that answer, I mean. I thought you said I'd be a very rich man or woman. What?

Don't do that to me. But it felt like that during the pandemic year, actually. In 2020, it felt as though the time was crawling. And yet it was also flying by. Yeah, it's a strange phenomenon. Do do do do do do do be a very rich.

Jay could be a very rich man or woman. Stop it. All right. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours podcast. What you watch depends on what kind of mood you're in. Sometimes you're craving comedies like Friends or South Park, and sometimes you're more into dramas like HBO's Succession and House of the Dragon.

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Here's the Jimmy on the Kaseya Sinner logo. Handoff to Duncan. Duncan, driving, scooping, flipping, missing.

Jimmy's there to clean it up. Heat up 83-82. I would like to say that I'm never rattled. I'm very calm. I'm very consistent in everything that I do, whether it's before the game, after the game, during the game. And I think when my guys look at me like that, they follow suit in every single way.

They're never shook. No matter what, we could be down. People could think that we're out.

And all of a sudden it's like they're right back in this thing. And it's because we do the same thing every day. We love being around one another. We want to see each other succeed. We really do enjoy when each other play well. And we're going to continue to do that. We're never going to get rattled. And we're going to see where we end up.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. That is the unmistakable voice and calm of one Jimmy Butler. He said it all along. We're going to be the first team to four wins in the Eastern Conference Finals. We're going to win game four. Oh, OK. Well, we're going to win game five. Actually, we're going to win game six.

Well, now we're going to win game seven. And not only does he bring a tude that is tenacity and is edgy and is spicy. Not only does he bring a great sense of humor. He's attacking. He's aggressive. He's unwavering in his confidence in himself as well as in his teammates. And he doesn't. He doesn't.

Get intimidated by any stage. I don't know if there's anything in this world that can intimidate Jimmy Butler. He seems like that kind of a guy.

Comfortable in his own skin. I'm sure we're related. Well, I was until today till I heard what he had to say about his pregame routine. So we share a love for coffee.

We share a love for the Backstreet Boys. But for some reason, he didn't mention either one of those things as he was talking about his formula to be ready for the opener on Thursday night. Just be drinking some water. Let's do some music. I think that's the formula.

You just got to listen to music, drink water, drink wine, play spades and dominoes. What are you going to listen to before game? Before game one? Probably Dermot Kennedy, honestly. He be having me grooving.

So Morgan Wallen too. Luke Holmes, Lauryn Hill. He goes, you know, Kirk Franklin.

You never know, but it's going to be something. Spice Girls. Yeah, he lost me at Spice Girls. I heard no Backstreet Boys in there. Spice Girls. I'm definitely disappointed. I thought for sure that Jimmy Butler and I had our own wavelength, our own alternate universe with coffee.

And I was sure he was going to be a Star Wars fan too. Huge fan of the Backstreet Boys. Well, I mean, see, it's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. We're asking you outside of these teams that are now on the championship stage and three of the four have never won titles. Denver has never even been in the NBA finals. So we'll hear from them coming up. Nikola Jokic, not the reigning MVP, but a lot of people looking at him as the best player in the world right now.

Depends upon your taste, your flavor, I guess. But he and Jamal Murray do form one of the formidable duos in sports. And they've been around hanging out, kind of practicing, shooting, getting healthy, feeling a lot of those miles slip off their shoulders and off their bodies. They got to be feeling fresh. They haven't played since a week ago Tuesday.

So it'll be nine, ten days by the time they get on the court again. And they are perfect at home in these playoffs, in this postseason. So they are definitely a team that has a home court advantage. A great team at home too. So it's going to be a tall order, but eh, what do the Heat care?

They don't. In fact, for the Heat, while I'm not going to say they're happy to be there, they certainly are that. But it's not as though, you know, they've been nominated for a Grammy and they're just happy to be nominated.

No, they plan to win it, but they're also not going to overlook or under or downplay how much it means for them to get to this point, considering everything they've been through. You're just really grateful, you know, for, for these kinds of opportunities. And this is a special group, you know, that this group has been able to overcome a lot of different things, handle a lot of adversity, setbacks, things that have not gone the way we wanted it to go.

And instead of having that collapse our spirit, it allowed us to develop some fortitude and grit collectively and give us something to rally around, which was each other. Eric Spolstra does have two rings going back to LeBron, D Wade, Chris Bosh. Eudonis Haslam's still on the team. He could win another one. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio.

A couple of your answers to our question from Facebook. Mike agrees with producer Jay about the Minnesota Vikings. No Super Bowl wins in franchise history going back to 1961. Four Super Bowl appearances, last one in 1977 though. So no rings for them. Maryland is one of the many who is saying the Detroit Lions with about seven exclamation points. Joe, same thing.

He's in Ontario, Canada. How about the Detroit Lions? Well overdue. Hashtag one pride. Another Mike on Facebook, the Cleveland Guardians and the Cleveland Browns who have not won their respective championships since 48 and 64 respectively, especially in the wake of the passing of the great Jim Brown. I'm sure that the Browns will be honoring him this season with a patch or some, some other display at the stadium. Let's see, Brett on Facebook.

I'd like to see the Diamondbacks win it for their radio play by play guy, Greg Schulte, who's retiring after the season. And actually, before I forget, I was going to do this a little bit later, but I'll mention it now because what I just read about Mike on Facebook with the Cleveland Indians, or I'm sorry, Guardians and the Browns. Jim Donovan has just announced that he has leukemia, that he's battling leukemia, leukemia. And I know he is so beloved, not just in Cleveland with the fans there, but of course, around the country, people recognize his voice. He's, he's one of the best.

So thinking about him and certainly we'll be praying for him as he battles leukemia. Eric on Facebook, Seattle Mariners or the Pittsburgh Pirates? That would make my season.

Let's see. Anthony says the San Diego Padres kind of closed last year and the Oregon Ducks in college football. Eric goes with Bills, Rays. I would like to see the Rays win it.

It just defies the logic in baseball. Bills, Rays, Sacramento Kings and the New York Rangers. How long has it been since the Rangers have won the Stanley Cup, Jay? 1994.

1994. John on Facebook goes with the Sabres. Ray says, I'm a Packers fan, but the Lions have been downtrodden for so long. I'd love to see them finally get a shot. Then he says second choice is the Jets.

I'm still a big Aaron Rodgers fan. Alright, so that's Facebook. We'll run through Twitter and producer Jay is retweeting them as well. Also flowers to make you smile on this Wednesday night into your Thursday morning. We'll get back to your calls too. I promise. John, Jonathan Cazzo, 855-212-4227. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence.

You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Jokic has it inside the arc, hands it off over to Casey, turns the corner, shoots over to Avis, jumper's good. That's a triple-double for Nicole Jokic.

That'll be his sixth triple-double in this year's playoffs. I don't think about MVPs anymore. And then I think it's people are just mean and saying that the beat shouldn't want it. I think he should want it.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Similar to what I said about the Miami Heat and Jimmy Butler winning the Eastern Conference Finals MVP and how that team doesn't care. I can just about bet most of what I'm worth, which isn't much, but most of what I'm worth, that Caleb Martin would rather have the championship and that ring and that trophy than he would have an Eastern Conference Finals MVP. Nicole Jokic said the same thing and the Denver Nuggets feel the same way. They're never going to be considered legitimate in the eyes of the NBA or its fans until they finally win the title. And Mike Malone has said as much. We can't just get to the finals. Great.

That's history. We have to win the whole damn thing because otherwise we wasted this opportunity. They were playing some of their best basketball, maybe their best basketball of the year when they swept the Lakers in the West Finals, but we haven't seen them on the court in ten days by the time we open the NBA Finals on Thursday night. But Nicole Jokic doesn't care about the MVP. He actually said, I think people are being mean to Joelle Embiid to say that Joelle shouldn't have won it. Regardless, that's regular season and I can guarantee he'd much rather have an NBA Finals MVP.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Nicole Jokic was saying on Wednesday that he models his game after Tim Duncan for a variety of reasons. And Mike Malone actually compares him to Tim Duncan, who obviously is highly decorated both individually and as a teammate. He's not trying to be something he's not. He's not trying to create a narrative other than I'm Nicole Jokic.

I play for the Denver Nuggets. I'm going to do everything I can to help our team win and I'm going to do it with class. I'm going to do it with professionalism and I'm never going to make it about me. Tim Duncan was a selfless superstar and I look at Nicole Jokic in the same vein. I think Nicole Jokic is a truly selfless superstar where it's not about him. He's not looking for people to look at me, tell me how great I am.

He's almost embarrassed by the attention. He just wants to be one of the guys in the locker room, have fun, work hard and win. So Mike Malone, he is an unwavering, he's a staunch supporter, unwavering in his support of Nicole Jokic. We all need someone in our lives who believes in us as much as Mike Malone believes in Jokic.

And he'll go to the mattresses for him. And so in Denver they've used a lot of the Jokic slights as bulletin board material. They've used a lot of those Jokic slights as ways to motivate the team as a whole because Jamal Murray will take up for him as well. And so when you hear a guy like Gilbert Arenas, an NBA vet, go on JJ Redick's podcast, Old Man and Three, Old Man and the Three, and talk about how nobody cares if Nicole Jokic wins a title.

That nobody, nobody cares? That's a strong statement to make, especially as someone who played in the league. And then he went on to say it was like Tim Duncan.

Nobody cared whether or not Tim Duncan and the Spurs got another ring because they were boring as heck. Jay is behind the double pane glass, furiously searching for it. Not cursing, he's not cursing. Oh, Gilbert Arenas is cursing, yes. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. It's working a couple more phone calls here. Kazo is listening in Baltimore. Kazo, we got you this time. Hello, how you doing?

I'm good, thank you. Okay, to a franchise, the home of the birds. First of all, the brilliant Baltimore Orioles, one of the best logos in sports. If you see that bird anywhere around the country, you know on anyone's head, you know where they're from.

You know the area that they're from. And brilliant, I say Baltimore Orioles because Mike Elias, he's showing you how you make a winning franchise. The Orioles are built up from the ground up.

The foundation is there. And I want to say the Baltimore Ravens, I want to say the breathtaking Baltimore Ravens because I believe in Lamar Jackson, number eight. And he is one of the great ones, if you ask me. He's like the great ones. He defies the odds and he makes the naysayers shut up. He is what you're saying.

This kid is asleep right now, but in his dreams, he's thinking about forcing that low body trophy, that trophy. He heard what you were saying in 2019 when he fried the Miami Dolphins for five touchdowns and the reporter asked him, what do you think of him? How does he feel about five touchdowns? He said, that's pretty good for a running back.

He is what you're saying. So guess what? Let's go with the Baltimore Orioles for the World Series, the brilliant Baltimore Orioles, and let's go with the breathtaking Baltimore Ravens with Lamar Jackson and this power offense leading the way. Doing it a little different than what we know Baltimore for is having a strong defense. So like I'm going to say this, let's go O's and let's go Ravens. All right, Kazo, I like it.

Thank you so much. I would agree with the Orioles for certain because they do need a championship. Not only do they have an incredible stadium and venue in Camden Yards, as he points out, they've got an iconic logo. In fact, I'm pretty sure I saw a Baltimore Oriole or I saw an Oriole, not a Baltimore Oriole. I saw an Oriole on my hike on Saturday. We hiked up to a lake and this bird flew by us with black and the orange trim. I'm pretty sure he was an Oriole.

Anyway, I do agree. They haven't won a World Series since 83. It's been a long time and they have patiently and steadily built the team into a winner. Last year was awesome to watch, though they did miss the playoffs. But I don't know that you're going to get a lot of people on board for the Ravens because they have two rings, even in this modern era.

They have the two rings in this current generation. Most recently, what, 10 years ago, right? 2013 was when they won their most recent Super Bowl. I remember that was against the San Francisco 49ers and the lights went out in New Orleans at halftime or early in the second half. Yeah, so they've been champions in the not too distant past. So I don't know anyone's going to feel bad for them, but not with Lamar Jackson.

So that part I understand, Kazo. Let's talk to, let's see, John is listening in New Orleans. Welcome to After Hours. Yeah, I grew up in Columbus. So how about the Blue Jackets?

Yeah, I thought they might actually make some noise. Was that two years ago? When did they take out the Washington Capitals? Two, three years ago? Yeah.

Oh, the Lightning. Yeah, they they definitely have been. They've been kind of flirting with the idea, but haven't been able to capitalize. There's some really good teams, obviously, in the Eastern Conference, so can be a little challenging. Yeah. Yeah, well, they've been in the playoffs just once or twice, so I just like them to be in the playoffs, you know, in the future.

I gotcha. Well, they haven't been, so I'm looking it up. They haven't been in the playoffs since the 1920 season, and they ended up in, so they have lost now four, no, second round. There's a second round appearance in there for the Blue Jackets.

I swear that had to be the one. Was that Tampa or was that Washington? Remember because there was one year where they they took the first two games. Oh, that might have been the year that Washington actually won the Stanley Cup.

They all blend together. They've run into Washington. They've run into Tampa. They did have four consecutive playoff appearances going back to 16-17 through 19-20, but yeah, in their franchise history. Now, they're barely 20 years old, but they haven't won a Stanley Cup, though they do have a fair number of appearances. Yeah, well, I'd like to see them win. I know it's quicker than some of the teams, but yeah, I'd like to see them win. I got you. I mean, Columbus has Ohio State, so that's huge, but this is their pro team.

That's the pro team. That's it. Well, I appreciate your call. So you're from Columbus originally?

Yeah, originally. All right, sir. Well, thank you so much for listening in New Orleans. I appreciate it. All right, thanks. Let's work in Jonathan here who's in Georgia.

Jonathan, welcome to After Hours, CBS Sports Radio. How you doing? I'm good. I want to first say that this NBA Finals matchup that's coming, I like to match up. Both teams are hungry, but I'm running with Miami.

Are you? Okay. Yeah, I'm running with Miami, but the team that I want to finally get a ring is my home team, Atlanta Falcons. Oh, gosh.

I'm so pleased, pleased to exercise the demons. Ever since the mysterious playbook being lost in Hartsville, Jackson, going to the Super Bowl, we ain't been right. We got robbed in the Super Bowl. So yeah, with the rebuilding that we have done, I definitely would like to see Desmond Ritter come in and prove the naysayers and the rest of the team.

We got some weapons. So you believe that Desmond Ritter is the answer. Post Matt Ryan, he's the, he's the man. I think so because I think that he came into the league grown and ready to play some football. I mean, I'm excited to see him get a full season under his belt.

I think that is critical where you're not competing for a job. You know it's yours as long as you play well and don't spit the bits, so to speak. Or what does Mike Tomlin say?

As long as you don't urinate down your leg. And since he did get a taste of it last year, it's nice though that they're validating him as the man and to have a full year. So the OTAs, the practices, going into training camp pre-season, you know you're the man.

It's a different type of a confidence that a young man can build and certainly the reps are critical for him now. Honestly, I think we probably would have made the playoffs if he would have been playing that Carolina game when Marcus Marietta threw it all the way to the top of the stadium out of God knows where. But I think that should have been the game that he should have played, that he should have been in. Well, you know, I'm not the coach.

I'm just a fan. Yeah, the NFC South was wide open. I think it's still wide open actually. If you consider the fact that it's all new quarterbacks and all new coaches in the last couple years, that division can be won by any of the four teams. I do believe it.

Yeah, but I think with the moves that we have made as far as defense goals and picking up the extra pieces and Bijan Robinson coming in, I honestly think with him, Algieri, and Cordell Patterson in the backfield, I think our rushing part of the whole spectrum of the rushing is really not going to be a problem at all. All right, Jonathan, I appreciate it. Thank you so much for your phone call. There's the music. We have to let you go, but I'd be on board with the Falcons.

They definitely need a championship in their franchise history. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio.