11-1-23 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 4

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Follow and listen on Apple Podcasts. Good morning to you. Happy November. I can't believe it. I can't believe it. Coming out of my mouth it sounds very foreign, but this is in fact the first morning of November and we are reunited. I was not with you last night.

Oh, actually I guess I have to shift that now. This is what happens when you do an overnight show nationally. I was not with you Monday night into Tuesday morning, so yesterday morning. I had to use a sick day.

I was preparing for a medical procedure and going under the knife. Thankfully, all went well and I felt better pretty quickly. I appreciate all of your tweets. So many of you sent messages. Once again, just overwhelmed with the care and concern that you show for me personally as well as for my family and I really do appreciate the support.

Thank you. It was wow. It was amazing to hear from so many people and I really didn't make a big deal of it. I didn't want to do that, but I put something out there on Twitter about how I couldn't eat because I was fasting and the medical procedure then took on a life of its own, but everything went well. I was nervous about the anesthesia. It had been a long time since I was in college since I had had any type of anesthesia, but it went well and I was actually only under for 25 minutes.

I think the procedure was really quick. I had no frame of reference for time. I had no idea how long I'd been out when I finally came to, but when I realized I could hear voices, I got a little nervous. I actually said, instead of, hi, I'm awake or how did it go or anything like that? I said, I can hear you talking.

Is that okay? I actually thought I was still in the middle of the procedure and had woken up like something out of Grey's Anatomy or ER. I'd woken up in the middle of the procedure. So thankfully that was not the case because the nurse assured me right away that we were done. So it was quick.

I was already talking to the doctor 25 minutes after they put me under. So thank you again for all of your kind words. Always greatly appreciated and it's good to know that I was missed.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. I guess I came back at just the right time. Holy cannoli. It was a Halloween full of tricks or treats. Actually, it was a Halloween full of tricks and treats in sports, depending upon your perspective, your rooting loyalties, the sports that you follow. There was something for everyone and the breaking news coming just minutes before we got on the air about four.

Well, three hours ago now. So the news broke not even four hours ago from the NFL that trumped everything else after another embarrassing, humiliating, nationally televised performance. The Raiders decided enough is enough. Garoppolo out of the gun. There's the snap. Garoppolo back. Garoppolo going to get hit.

Yes, sir. Again, Alex Zanzoloni got him. I think we had some opportunities to make more plays than what we did and we just didn't convert on them.

So there was probably a number of reasons for that. Honestly, I don't know what to say at this moment. I truly don't. I wish I had the words to, you know, to say something that's not going to get blown up in the media and taken out of context.

So I'm gonna just, I truly, I just don't know. Devante Adams, for the second time in a month, extremely frustrated, really doesn't say a whole lot. Normally, even when things are bad, he tends to keep his emotions, even keel, but also keep his frustrations to himself. He does not want to be a headline for the wrong reasons. He does not want to criticize teammates or coaches.

He doesn't want to be negative in front of a microphone. And yet the last couple of times we've really heard from him, the passion has been mixed with frustration. It's been disappointment. It's been confusion over what the heck is going on.

It's gone from bad to worse. And for that reason, when I say the Raiders have seen enough and have had enough by the Raiders, I mean, their owner, Mark Davis, putting out a statement late on Tuesday night, firing both Josh McDaniels and GM Dave Ziegler. It's not stunning because it happened. It's stunning because of the timing. This is how quickly Mark Davis decided to pull the plug on the Josh McDaniels era.

And yes, if you could see me in the after hours, super secret home base, I am in fact using my air quotations a year and a half. That's it. That's all that he had wanted to see.

That's as long as it lasted because he could not stomach anymore. And just to reiterate how these two got the job. For those of you who may not remember, Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler were both hired in January of 22.

So not quite two years ago. Uh, and the, the, the reason for their hiring was to take the team to the next level, right? The, the reason for their hiring was to take a playoff team that at the time, uh, had gone, well, it had gone through a season full of adversity, uh, from the Henry Ruggs situation and how devastating that was in real life. We're not talking football, but real life into the John Gruden.

Resignation because of the emails, uh, that were released surreptitiously leaked by the NFL or some other source. Uh, and so the team itself had kind of been left for dead, if you will, in 2021, uh, as Gruden leaves, we end up seeing rich Versace, the special teams coach takeover, and it's Derek Carr and it's rich Versace and its other leaders in that locker room that keep the team moving forward. Um, and it really was an emotional time for them. Um, obviously they had no choice but to pull together and they did it very well, but it had to do with the leadership of those two men specifically, as well as other veterans in Las Vegas, they made that transition to Las Vegas and everything's all new. And then they get these two bombshells in the shells in the middle of the season. And yet somehow they finished with double figure wins and they made it to the playoffs as a wild card team. The reward for that was an interview, whether or not Mark Davis ever intended to, to look at rich Versace as an actual candidate for the job, but was an interview for Versace, but ultimately a hiring for Josh McDaniels.

Um, and so McDaniels, according to Mark Davis is supposed to take this team to the next level, build on what they did in 21, when yeah, they, they were almost a ship without a rudder there because their coach was gone. Uh, and of everything they'd been through, they had to, to mentally toughen up. Uh, they had to emotionally come together and support each other.

The chemistry was there because they were doing it for the man on the right and the man on the left. It wasn't about personal accolades. It wasn't about whatever awards they might win.

It was about pulling together and supporting one another. And you know, that's what Derek Carr does extremely well. In addition to chucking the football, uh, he's also a guy that inspires leadership and that inspires devotion. Uh, there never was a quarterback in that Raiders locker room, uh, whoever took every win and loss more personally, but whoever wanted to win it, who has ever a more dedicated to the uniform and to the guys that he played with and for, which is why when Josh McDaniels benched him at the end of last year and decided that they were going to move on from Derek Carr for him to say that he and Derek had mutually decided it was better for Derek to be away from the team than to be with the team through the end of the season.

I knew it was total crap. I didn't like that decision when it was made, but Josh McDaniels was given free reign to try to, to change the roster and bring in a quarterback that he wanted because he's the offensive guru, right? All those years in new England as the offensive coordinator under Bill Belichick, working with Tom Brady. Um, he knew Jimmy Garoppolo, of course, uh, Jacoby Myers, other guys, even Brian Hoyer, uh, putting together this kind of makeshift Raiders staff and trying to, trying to use the forward motion from 21 when they weren't supposed to do anything. Uh, they've got Devante Adams, they've got Josh Jacobs. He reportedly thought they were going to get Tom Brady as their quarterback this season.

That did not happen. And so, uh, a banged up Jimmy Garoppolo who was limited in training camp or preseason and is on and off the field. That was their next choice. It is too easy to blame the putrid offense on Jimmy Garoppolo. It's not entirely his fault though. Certainly as a quarterback, he bears a lot of the responsibility, but for some reason, Josh Jacobs has been a non-factor.

Maybe sometimes it's about the matchups and the defenses that they're facing. Um, but it doesn't seem like he was put in the positions to succeed. Doesn't seem like he was put, uh, in, into sets or given the opportunities. Now, granted, he made his own noise in the off season. He was away from the team. He was trying to get a new contract. He was disgruntled. And so he hit the ground running quote unquote, a little bit late, but he's never really found a flow this season.

And then think about Devante Adams. And again, we do not hear from him very often. Uh, he keeps this frustration to himself, but it wasn't just Monday night in which he was again, uh, opening up about his emotions.

This goes back to middle of October when he finally decided that he'd had enough and had to say something. I'm a human being and I have extremely high standards for myself and this offense. So it's, to me, it's not just about, you know, I'm sure people are thinking like, you know, well, they won the game, they won the Packers game, you know, why is there an issue? I mean, you see why it's an issue, you know, y'all should know who I am, know what I'm about at this point. My benchmark is not wins and losses is greatness. So when I go out there, I expect to be able to have that ability to put that on tape and have the, uh, an influence on the game. And that's, like I say, every week, that's my purpose for being here.

I'm not here just to hang out and, you know, like I said, come here to hang out with Derek and all of that stuff from last year, came here to win and to do it the right way. Except both Jacobs and Devante Adams have been underutilized and not, and not utilized effectively, right? Uh, for most of the season Devante and that was from middle of October. Uh, but Devante had a couple of really impressive highlight reel touchdowns in the first three games of the season or so. Um, but really they haven't been able to incorporate him very well into the offense. Since then, he hasn't caught a touchdown pass since week three. Uh, Josh Jacobs, he actually led the NFL in rushing last season, doesn't have a hundred yard rushing game yet. Um, and you think about, again, the slow start is partly on him, but that game against the Buffalo Bills where he has minus two yards, and that's a blowout. For some reason, this team, the Raiders, has individually talented pieces that do not come together as a team, as a seamless unit and seamless, maybe too strong because it's early because Jimmy Garoppolo just got there and he's been on and off the field.

Maybe that's an unfair standard. Except that he knows Josh McDaniel's and he knows the offense. Um, and, and for Devante Adams and Josh Jacobs, these are two guys who have a ton of experience and are incredibly talented. And yet for some reason, uh, they don't all come together.

How about the Hunter Renfro piece of this? Uh, he's a former pro bowler, uh, has only 10 catches this season. As I look at the stats, um, last year had over a hundred catches. Why can't they find a way for these pieces to mess and mesh and come not mess.

It is a mess mesh and come together. And yet it, we haven't seen that even though Josh McDaniel's is supposed to be this guy who is an offense whisperer, if you will. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS sports radio.

If you miss the breaking news and likely if you're up at this hour on your Wednesday morning, happy November to you. Well, you know, uh, by now that the Raiders have fired Josh McDaniel's and Dave Ziegler after a year and a half. That's it. I think for Mark Davis, he needs to take some responsibility in this area as well. Granted, not every NFL head coach starts out with his very first job and makes a huge splash. But what we'd seen of McDaniel's previously was a couple of years in Denver, where it went horribly wrong. His decisions about the roster and the personnel backfired and he didn't last very long. It was a major ego issue there too. There were some personality clashes with some of the stronger personalities on the team. Um, but it didn't last very long. He went back to new England briefly, accepted the job with the Colts a couple of seasons ago, and then backed out before the season started leaving Jim Irsay and the Colts high and dry. So there was a bad rap about that.

And I think deservedly. So. Mark Davis decided that instead of going with a guy like a rich Passat, who had helped to bring the team together in intangible ways with chemistry, with leadership, with cohesion, with. The type of buy in that you need from a locker room. Those were all things. Those are all qualities we saw with the Raiders in 21 instead of going in that same direction and trying to build with the people he had. And I understand, but Satya didn't have much head coaching experience. He had essentially the games he took over from John Gruden. He was a special teams coach.

I understand wanting to make a big splash, but to take the parts of your roster and the parts of your locker room that were that were full of character and that made you what you were, that gave you identity and to get rid of those in Versace, who then landed with the Green Bay Packers as their special teams coach. And then Derek Carr, too. He was the longest tenured Raider.

He was heart soul Raiders and the locker room followed him. And he was not the reason for the reason that the Raiders did not succeed in 22. In fact, even before Josh McDaniels, the offense has not been the issue. The defense has been a major problem, but Mark Davis wanted to make a splash. He thought Josh McDaniels could take that offense to the next level.

And so not only does he bear responsibility, but he also allowed McDaniels to kick Derek Carter the curb. And there's been no forward motion. There's been no consistency and really been no rhythm or groove at all to the offense. Since then, they lost to the Bears a couple of weeks ago. The Bears think about that.

Tyson Bajan credit the Bears, but you know, he's an undrafted Division Two product against this team full of veterans on both sides of the ball. I said this earlier about the Raiders. If you had a fire sale or maybe a yard sale and you make all the Raiders available, there are a lot of pieces on this Raiders roster that could fit into the other teams, other locker rooms, other rosters, and they would be glad to have these guys because they're they can produce.

But for whatever reason together and this, it comes back to leadership, it comes back to the voice, it comes back to preparedness, it comes back to identity. They've had none of that under Josh McDaniels. And the only guy that really gave them any identity was Derek Carr, and he got booted. So Josh McDaniels is gone.

The offense is the worst in the league. And now they have to start all over again in the middle of the season. Who knows what that means for the veterans. So that major breaking news in the hour before we went on the air a few hours ago. So just before 11 o'clock Pacific just before 2am Eastern, we also saw a bunch of moves at the trade deadlines, the commander seemed to signal that they are heading into a full rebuild as well with their new ownership. And speaking of them, their history is rich, it's storied, it's one of winning and championships.

And they've got some incredible Hall of Famers, some names to remember in the past. They're starting fresh again. So we're going to look at the commanders a little more closely, not just the present, but also the history with a friend who will join us coming up next. Thanks so much for hanging out with us. Good morning to you. It's your hump day.

It's the first day of November. You can find me on Twitter A-LOL radio, also on our Facebook page. I'm Kate Abdo, the host of Kicking It, a new weekly show from the CBS Sports Galasso Network where Clint Dempsey, Charlie Davies, Mo Adoo and I connect with the biggest personalities from global soccer and beyond to learn about their journeys and what makes them tick. This is the place for football fans to hear unfiltered conversations with the game's most familiar faces. So what you waiting for?

Follow and listen to Kicking It on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. We'll have more to say in the days that come, but today I want to leave it here to our team and the incredible fan base in Washington. A new era of Washington football is here. It's time to get to work. I know what I got to do and ultimately that comes down to winning and it's not easy. There are 31 other owners that are good at what they do.

There are 31 other cities, but it's on me and it's on our ownership group to deliver and that's what we're going to do. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. One of the new owners of the Washington commanders going back to just before the start of the season when the team sold for more than six billion dollars and considering what happened with the commanders before the NFL trade deadline on Tuesday seems to spell more changes in the wind and it sounds like a decided rebuild is on the way for this Washington fan base yet again. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio to talk about his beloved Washington football team. We are thrilled to welcome to the show for the first time Mike Richman, a journalist, an author, an editor. He's got a brand new book out which we will talk about, but Mike I would love to hear your reaction to not just the new ownership with the commanders but also the moves made at the trade deadline that seems to signal they're heading into rebuild.

Yes it does Amy and thank you very much for having me on. I think that it certainly is a signal of a rebuild. I wish they had gotten a little more from Montez Sweat, a second round pick. I think he's worth a lot more than that and maybe even a first rounder. I think he's not an elite pass rusher at this time, but I think they could have gotten a little more. Chase Young is a different story. I mean he's missed 22 games in his in his career so of course I would have liked to have seen them get more for him too but there's no way they could have kept both of those on and and pay both of them with this other top defensive lineman they have Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne and so forth.

They just you know in the salary cap era it's just not not conceivable they could do that. How do you feel about seeing this team start over again? Oh it's just you know I was looking watching the Eagles game on Sunday and reading all the comments. Well we got robbed of a call in the second half. There was a drop pass by the Eagles on a critical drive that scored a touchdown on that the Redskins didn't challenge. I'm thinking okay yes the Eagles complain about that you know all these different complaints. It's just total you know monotony and repetitiveness regarding things that have happened over the years with this team.

They just don't have the firepower. They don't have the players and they haven't had it consistently you could say probably since the joke gives one era. I mean this is the same story over and over again so what happened against the Eagles I'm not surprised they just don't have the depth to compete with organizations like that and this is the same story that's happened over and over again. It doesn't matter the ownership under Dan Snyder. Yes they had their problems under him but we're seeing the same thing now with you can't blame it on the new owners. I mean they're going to you know put their stamp on the organization in the well they already are with this trade but in the postseason as well with a new coach if not before that so but it's just the same story over and over again to respond to your question. It's very very disheartening for a lifelong fan of the organization such as myself as somebody who saw the the glory years under in Joe Gibbs won and also of course knowing about the the George Allen era was was a very successful era in the 1970s. Mike you've mentioned a lifelong love affair with the team so you understand the various iterations I hear the frustration but what hope do you see or feel with the new owners? I said this as soon as the the ownership swap happened when they came on board new ownership they don't necessarily define the the success of a team.

I mean you of course it starts with the owners they need the new front office people the correct front office people they need the the right players or and that those players have to gel it's not just the owners though the owners so it's going to take a little bit of time and but I'm not just just putting it on the owners it's got to be the entire organization you need that that front office as well the you know getting the right the right player players in there and the right player personnel decision makers so I hope that that addresses that question. Mike Richmond is with us joining us from the DC area he's a journalist he's a biographer he's an editor and he's an author he's got four books including a brand new one entitled George Allen a football life but he also wrote the Redskins encyclopedia he wrote about Joe Gibbs. How much has your passion for the team fueled your writing? I've got a lifelong passion for the organization I mean I grew up in the Washington DC area Montgomery County Maryland so around the age of 10 I really became fixed on the on the George Allen coach Redskins that was 1971 was his first season in Washington and I just I mean I would you know just I live vicariously through those players and and George Allen himself so that's when my my love of the team really first started and it just grew from there and I followed the team of course through the Joe Gibbs one era three Super Bowl wins and they were one of the elite franchises in the league at the time and I chose journalism as a career so I combined those two interests in terms of pursuing all this literary work this is my my fourth book that I've written on George Allen's I mean that I've written and this one is on a biography on George Allen. Mike we're so glad to have you with us here after hours with Amy Lawrence CBS sports radio the book comes out today Wednesday November 1st what's your emotion like right now? I am very excited about it yes it does today is the official publication date of the book and it's been a long time coming I started this several years ago and I mean I've had it in my mind for a long time that I wanted to write a biography on on George Allen I wanted to I wanted to do the definitive biography and through my other literary work like I wrote the Redskins encyclopedia and of course I there was a bio on George Allen in the book but I he deserved a lot more I mean his his life needed to be explored because I mean he was one of the the top coaches in the league at the time in the mid-60s to the through the mid-70s and you know he was up there with with Lombardi and Shula as one of the elite coaches in the league and yeah so I thought his life needed to be explored and I wanted to be the person who did it and it certainly is coming has come to fruition and I'm extremely excited right now well congratulations on publishing another book and one that you're very passionate about you're also a storyteller what's one story that embodies who George Allen was as a coach he was well there were a number of eccentricities about him and a number of of traits that really defined him he was wasn't the first workaholic coach in the league but he was a 24-7 coach and back in that era there weren't a whole lot of them I mean he learned from from George Hallis and Sid Gilman Hallis was his top mentor and that that really defined him I mean he would work so hard he he was like a such a detail-oriented coach he as the thing goes he would want to know more about his opponents than they knew about themselves and and really I mean that's impossible but but when you come to think of it but that was that was his goal he really wanted to know so much and and those that approach by him it played out so often on the field I mean his players would in so many different interviews with his players they would tell me they just knew the the tendencies of the opposing team so well and they knew the signals and whatever the place I was going to be called the positioning of the opposing players and that was in large part because of George Allen so I think that's a characteristic that really really defines him well. Mike Richmond has a brand new book out today actually so we congratulate him on the release of George Allen a football life a representation of a passion for not just a franchise but also an admiration for this coach who's a Hall of Famer and never had a losing season in the NFL when you were researching and and trying to decide what stories to tell and what aspects of his life and his coaching to include how how did you navigate that process as you put this book together considering that you could write two or three volumes? How did I break it down? Well I pretty knew pretty much knew from the start you know how I had it outlined in my mind you know how I want to approach this that it was a chronological look at at Allen I went all the way back to his youth when he was he's from the Detroit area and interestingly I'll just touch on one thing from his youth which really I think you asked me about what defined him as a person I back in his his very young days I mean you could tell that he was he was a hard worker back then I mean he grew up during the Great Depression and he had to make money for his family his his father struggled his his mother really didn't work so he had to make money for the family and he went out and he he did what he could you know he was you know he would try different types of work to bring in money and and he was very successful at it and and you could tell that he kind of had a type a personality the type a personality in him was was actually starting to form even back then so but in terms of the the structure of the book I looked at it from from man and and then he his college coaching years which started at at Michigan and then and then into the actually his first pro coaching stint was as an assistant he was with the Chicago Bears as an assistant first as the head talent scout and then as the defensive coordinator and this was from the late 50s through the mid 60s and then his first head coaching stint was with the Rams and then came on board with the Redskins of 71 then he coached in the USFL and then he was chair of the president's council on physical fitness and sports under Reagan and then his very last coaching season was at Long Beach State in 1990 and he literally his his he died doing what he loved doing as a head coach of Long Beach State so in that respect yeah it was just a full chronological look at him and I you're right I mean I could have written a lot more there's a lot in there anyway it's a 560 page book I really did dive into the life and coaching exploits and the eccentricities like I said of George Allen he back to his detail-oriented nature he wanted every minute of the day to be able to focus on football for instance he consumed a lot of ice cream his nickname was ice cream because he wanted something that was easy to swallow and would not would not take up a lot of time so he could focus on football that was George Allen I like the man more already I would read the book just based on that considering his love for ice cream although I suppose we have two different reasons for loving ice cream Mike Richmond is joining us here on after-hours CBS sports radio the brand new book is out today George Allen a football life all right to bring it back to your lifelong love affair with this franchise it's sold for a record number going back a few months ago I mean over six billion dollars it's obviously a franchise with a rich history part of that George Allen you mentioned George Gibbs or excuse me Joe Gibbs it goes way back how confident are you the Redskins slash commanders can find that same glory again I'm hoping I mean like like many all other you know Redskins fans like myself we're holding out hope we you know the Dan Snyder era was very very frustrating for all of us and we we are just hoping that they're going to regain that that player that they had during the Joe Gibbs one year but you you know very well Amy that the game is is different today and that there's you know what free agency and and whatever you you have to have that that correct chemistry on the team and there's there's a science that goes into it I'm not saying that the chemistry didn't exist back in the Joe Gibbs one here either of course it did but there's a different process that goes into it today and the players aren't around as long on the teams I think that's the major difference they've got to get the right players in there and back to what I was saying in the loss of the Eagles on Sunday they they just don't have the right bodies right now I mean they have talent on that team I mean Tara Mcclaurin Jonathan Allen I think the quarterback the young quarterback today he's promising so but they need all those players everybody's got a gel in that squad I'm holding out hope I hoping that this this new ownership group will will get the right player personnel people in there will get the the right decision-makers in there to draft and and get the correct free agents in there that they need I think based on Josh Harris's history in ownership of other teams and other sports you can at least know that he will make that a goal all right so this is an awesome opportunity if you are a commander slash Redskins fan for a long time to pick up this new book George Allen a football life brand-new from Mike Richmond just published today and it's the fourth of his books that revolve around this franchise for which he has an incredible passion the website is Mike Richmond journalist.com a veteran journalist and author and biographer Mike Richmond journalist.com Mike it's great to have you with us thank you so much for listening to the show we're really cool to be able to talk to you congratulations on the book thank you very much Amy I certainly appreciate you having me on and I really enjoyed the conversation awesome thank you Mike so for that reason now that even more timely not just about the book coming out today with Mike but how about the two moves that the commanders made in advance of the trade deadline certainly seems to signal that they are cleaning house that they're going to start fresh obviously have salary cap concerns and who to pay and how much but that does not bode well if they're hitting rebuild mode again it does not bode well for Ron Rivera and his coaching staff all right you can find me on Twitter a law radio our Facebook page too I will go back and answer a bunch of your questions from ask Amy throughout the day on Wednesday it's after hours CBS sports radio you are listening to the after-hours podcast we have time a team it could be PG's night Kawhi's night could be Russ's night you know and just you know just playing the game you know Kawhi doesn't care about numbers you know he's just he wants to win this is after hours with Amy Lawrence Kawhi Paul George Russell Westbrook James Harden PJ Tucker you want to talk about some veteran guys who bring a lot of life a lot of basketball a lot of experience onto the same floor now how does it work well that has yet to be seen we do not hear from our Clippers insider law Murray who joined us a couple hours ago that the two newest acquisitions James Harden and PJ Tucker will likely be on the court for their next game it may take a few more days but and even though the guys couldn't speak directly about the trade James Harden was in the building last night in LA he's reportedly ecstatic as of course because he got his own way again and James Harden once more is motivated to try to win a ring because he landed where he wanted to go it's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio this trade with the Sixers took about four months or so it's been rumored it's been talked about it took another team in the mix in Oklahoma City to be able to get it done but ultimately Daryl Morey gives James Harden what he wants and that's my fear and I liked hearing from Ian Eagle on Sirius XM NBA radio because I wonder when the shine and the novelty will wear off when the honeymoon will end similar to iron when James does go from team to team he is engaged at least out of the gate he wants to show everyone that he's still the same guy he does the the kinds of things that you look for and being a facilitator and being a good teammate and when he got to the Nets that stretch that he had before he started having some hamstring issues was remarkable he was playing MVP type basketball then the injury issues and then as we know it was you know the back end of the quasi bubble when they were playing in arenas but not full arenas and there just was a weird vibe ultimately if my memory serves it was when Kevin Durant went down with an injury that James Harden said hey I'm done I I'm out I I didn't sign up for this I don't really like what the plan is you know at that point he was not necessarily showing up and ultimately I think a team recognizes okay we're past the point of no return there's no convincing him he is done and Philly got to that place he's showing up because he wants to get paid and ultimately he was never gonna suit up again for the 76ers and this is where we are will it be good initially I think it could be I really do but when the smoke clears I don't know what this is gonna look like for LA. I share those same concerns with Ian Eagle again on Sirius XM NBA Radio but at least right now Kawhi and Paul George and Russell Westbrook and he's played with Russ before maybe they can reunite a group of veterans he's from Southern California so we'll see how long he's okay with being maybe not just second fiddle but third or fourth fiddle on the Clippers that trade not yet official but it is close it's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio you didn't have to watch the entire game four of the World Series to know that the Rangers are still locked in offensively to know that Corey Seeger and Marcus Simeon at the top of the Rangers lineup seven RBI last night they power a five run second inning a five run third inning and with Andrew Heaney holding the Diamondbacks at bay while he was on the mound for the first five innings you now have the Rangers one win away from their first ever World Series championship in franchise history the only thing I'm thinking tomorrow we're gonna come out and play our best game I don't mean to cliche that but it is that's how you look at it you don't look where you're at and you focus has to be on tomorrow's game going out there and doing all you can to win a ballgame and that's where we have to be thinking that's where our minds have to be if you would ask me when I was a kid if I'd be playing in the World Series at all I'd laugh at your face but being one way is super special and we can't let our guard down we know what they're capable of and we got to take it one inning one pitch at a time tomorrow and hopefully we can finish this off tomorrow never more important than in the final game to keep it as myopic and as broken down as possible meaning one pitch one at bat one half inning one defensive stand just step by step by step can't think about the end game the finish line the the goal the shiny object that's the World Series trophy no you've got to stick with the moment like be in that moment and the Diamondbacks will be a tough out especially in Phoenix but man the Rangers are right there Bruce Bochy as well as Jonah Heim you here there and the team they put together that has fought through adversity all season and they're still road warriors they're still road warriors finally the big news breaking right before we went on the air Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler out in Las Vegas Mark Davis really impatient but here's what dawns on me it's one thing to fail miserably and certainly the first year and a half with them in Vegas has been a miserable failure it's another thing to flame out and fail in an area that's supposed to be your wheelhouse in an area where you promised that you could deliver namely offense the offense has gone from middling to bad to the worst in the NFL under Josh McDaniels even though he's got pieces that would be valuable on any other roster not just Jimmy Garoppolo and I know he's heard but he's been a winner it's about Devante Adams and Josh Jacobs and Hunter Renfro and even pieces on the defense they've gotten worse offensively literally one of the worst in the NFL and so when you fail you better make sure it's not an area where you promise to deliver and ultimately Mark Davis had seen enough and just couldn't stomach anymore so we'll see what happens moving forward whoo Halloween was full of tricks and treats in the world of sports thanks for hanging out with us from the super secret home base I'm Amy Lawrence it's after hours here on CBS sports radio boom this episode is brought to you by FX is a murder at the end of the world starring Emma Corinn Clive Owen and Britt Marling Emma plays Darby Hart a sleuth and tech savvy hacker she joins an exclusive group invited to a retreat when one of the guests is found dead Darby must prove it was murder before the killer takes another life FX is a murder at the end of the world now streaming only on Hulu