11-7-23 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 3

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Hola! Wow, that was a quick two hours in which we spent way too much time talking about the Jets. I know it's the job, but sometimes sometimes I feel like it would be more fun to talk about a team that or a situation that wasn't negative and frustrating. Those are definitely the ones that tend to get more attention. The squeaky wheel, right? That's the one that gets the oil. And if you apply it to our business, it's generally the negative and the dramatic and the headlines that make you want to bang your head against the wall to get more of the attention.

Stop talking about it. And then there's Aaron Rodgers on the sidelines. So he's caught on camera telling Derwin James to give him a few weeks. For better or for worse, give him a few weeks.

I think he's just teasing us, and I'm pretty sure he said it knowing there were cameras trained on him and people who would then try to read his lips. I don't think so. What are the chances he actually comes back and plays in a regular season game?

Well, our Jets insiders said none, really. But if they make the playoffs, well then, sure. That's the hope. I suppose that's the hope for the Jets.

Is that the hope for everybody else? You want to talk about a spectacle? Oh my gosh. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. We've got multiple polls ongoing at the same time right now. Monday MVP, which stretches back to our Sunday night show.

So now we're talking, not quite 36 hours, but close. And then we're thinking about TD of the Week. We had to come up with two other options besides Dobbs and Stroud, who, by the way, are dominating the Monday MVP ballot.

So you can go and help to break that. It's not really a tie, but you can pick a side. I actually voted for the Kansas City touchdown just because I thought that was the jaw dropper. The miracles, the comebacks, the rallies, with a few seconds to go, those are amazing.

How often do you see something like what we saw from the Chiefs in Frankfort? So I voted for that one. It was more of a pity vote. Do you ever do a pity vote? Have you ever gone on a pity date before? No, but I get it, but no. Okay, well maybe it's just a thing that girls do. I hope no one's gone on one with me. Yeah, but that's the point is you would never know.

True. The idea is that you go on a date with someone because you feel badly for them. They asked you, they got up the nerve, and you're kind of sad for them that they won't really have many dates throughout the course of a year. So you go ahead and you accept the date request so that they're happy and they can feel good about themselves.

But then what? But then you inevitably say I'm the person who's being pity dated. I'm going to text back the next day, whatever, hey, I had a great time, want to do it again, and then just ghost it? No, I don't ghost people. I refuse to do that.

I think it's just disrespectful and it's inconsiderate and it's awful. So no, I don't ghost people in business. I don't ghost people personally. But I would tell you that I was washing my hair and hope that you got it. I see. I was washing my dog's hair.

Very busy. My dog needs a shot. I actually have used Penny as an excuse in the past because, I mean, her schedule is pretty strict now with the insulin. She's been on insulin for almost two years.

Can you believe that? It's almost been, wait, two years? A year? No, it's been almost two years because she started on the insulin not last January, but the January before. So yes, it's been almost two years. That's also about the time I promised her she'd never have to take another trip to Houston.

Whoops. So she's still on insulin. She's not as exuberant about getting the shots anymore. Now I have to tempt her with a treat. She'll only follow me into the room if she knows there's a treat. She does not enjoy the shots, and I feel bad. I try to move the point around where I do the injection, but I'm sure that it doesn't feel good.

I mean, it's quick, but it's a sharp needle, and I've accidentally stuck myself with it, and it does not feel good. So she knows what's coming now and doesn't love it, but she doesn't run from me. She runs from me when I pick up the donut collar. Oh yeah, she'll never stop that.

Right. Penny turns 14 in 10 days. 10 days, and that dog will be 14 years old. It's amazing. It is amazing.

I haven't yet told her about what's to come. Also amazing that in 10 days it's only a month until I get married. Yeah. What?

Stop it. Wow, one month. One month, holy crap. But can you guess what came in the mail on Monday?

Can you guess? Hmm, I know your invitations came already. Oh gosh, those have been sent out, yeah. We've already received all the RSVPs. Actually, everyone has RSVPed.

Wow, nice. Except for one friend that got angry at me because the... This is a real thing. I'm not kidding about this. She got angry at me because the invitation was not addressed to both her and her boyfriend. So, not married.

Yeah, right. And it's not as though I told her she could bring a plus one, but she got upset at me because the invitation wasn't also addressed to him. No.

No, I swear. And I tried to explain to her. Now, this is over text where things get misunderstood.

But I think I was pretty clear. I said to her, I wouldn't be inviting him. I'm inviting you if you would like to bring him as your plus one. But I barely know the man. I'm not inviting him to my wedding. I'm inviting you to my wedding.

Yeah. And she got very upset. But we're together and he's my life partner.

And weddings are about love. And then, speaking of ghosting, again I wrote back and I said, that's fine. You can bring him. He can come. He can come, but the invitation is for you. Never heard from her again.

Wow. I'm assuming that's a no on the RSVP. That's pretty standard procedure.

You invite your friend and a plus one. Like you said, they're not married. They're not an item.

No. Right. So I wouldn't have addressed the envelope to Mr. and Mrs. Right.

I wouldn't have addressed the envelope to her and to him because I don't know him. It's honestly the same thing though. Right. I addressed it to her. Right. I don't get upset over that. Oh no. She is clearly upset because I haven't heard from her since. And that was two weeks ago.

And she has that RSVP. So I guess that's a no. Wow. Right? That's shocking. I had no idea about the wedding politics. I think you're 100% in the right in that one. Well, yeah.

I'm not even sure what I would, what could I have apologized for? I don't know. I don't either. I don't know. That's pretty standard.

I don't know. Right. And all of the envelopes were addressed to the people that I know.

Now, if I knew both of them, then they, the, or if they were married, then it was addressed to both. But in some cases I've got female friends who are coming without their significant others because it's right before Christmas. It's expensive to travel. They can't get away.

They've got kids or pets or whatever, whatever. So yeah, no one else had a problem with it. But.

That's strange. I might've violated some wedding etiquette. No. No, that's on her. Don't worry about that. So all of the, all that to say, the RSVPs have all come in except for hers.

But I think I can read between the lines. So anyway, back to the question, guess what came in the mail on Monday? Guess what I woke up to on my front doorstep?

Woke up to arrangements of some sort? Not picking up the flowers on Tuesday. The flowers are gorgeous. Maybe I'll share some photos of the flowers. They're silk flowers because in the wintertime, regardless of whether or not you're in Houston, in the wintertime, it's hard to get fresh flowers and then it creates a whole nother headache on wedding day. So I had researched it.

Mom had researched it and we decided to go with silk flowers and they are perfect. You would not tell. You would not know that they aren't real. They're incredible. In fact, my aunt said to me, I didn't know they were purple roses. Nice. That's good.

Yeah. So the flowers will be picked up on Tuesday and I will then have them. I mean, you got your dress over the weekend. Jay actually asked me to see a picture.

The first time Jay had asked to see a picture of the dress. Thank you. But no, I don't trust you. You give things away. So you're not allowed to say anything else because, well, you know, it's a secret for the groom.

And he does try to cheat and listen for information on the show. No hints here, Bob. I'm sorry. No hints here.

None at all. But what I woke up to on Monday. I'm stumped. Are you? I think so.

Food related? Not six weeks out. This is six weeks out. Invitations check. Dress check. Flowers check. Yep.

What am I missing? Wedding rings. I forgot you ordered. Yeah. So you got them?

Yes. Wow. How are they? They are gorgeous.

They're so pretty. They're matching. But is it bad if I already tried mine on? I don't think so.

It came right? I mean, you got to just peek a little test. I sort of didn't mention that to Bob. I'm not sure.

Should I dump it? Maybe. No, maybe he expected it. He probably will. I'm sure he will try his on too.

I have to fly to Houston in a couple of weeks for our walkthrough at the venue with our coordinator. And I asked him, did he want me to bring the rings with me? And he said, yes, yes, yes. So I'm, I'm confident he's probably going to try his on too, but I didn't wait for you. Are you going to tell him that you, or like when you get there, you'd be like, let's try it on now for the first time. And pretend. No, I wouldn't lie to him. I wouldn't lie.

That's a bad precedent. But yeah, I did try mine on. How does it fit? Perfectly. There you go.

It's so pretty. Anyway, got them. Can't lose them.

Oh no. Can't lose them. When I fly with them, they will remain in my possession. Maybe in my hands.

Don't put them under. They're going to travel. No, no, no.

I'll be traveling only with a small carry on anyway. But yeah, that was kind of fun. So as I took a photo of them to send to Bob, I thought, holy crap, those are wedding rings. This is real. That's what my friend Casey said. She's like, oh my gosh, it's real.

Yes, yes it is. It was not a fake wedding. But could I tell you something that is, well, real, but also not as exciting as wedding rings? Just this story. I've been waiting to tell you guys this story.

This is crazy because it never happens, except when you don't want it to happen. My washer died over the weekend. My, actually it died last week. My washer, as in my clothes washer, not my dishwasher. I'm not sure which would be worse, actually, but my clothes washer died. I inherited it.

Well, I didn't do that. I bought it with the house when I purchased my home in 2020. I had no idea about the age of the washer. All I knew is that it's a washer. It's got a dryer on top of it.

They're stackables and they were whirlpool and they were digital. And so I was happy with them and they were running well until the washer just stopped. Apparently the motor died on the washer. And this happened, of course, at the most inconvenient time, because who wants to buy a new washer right before you're getting married?

No one said no one. Anyway, I started to do my research. Come to find out the washers discontinued and to get the part for it was going to cost far more than just getting a new washer. So I decided that I would find a washer and just get a relatively cheap one to install. And that way we could get through because Bob has a full size washer and dryer and we'll set it up in the house whenever he gets there.

Though we do have to build a room for it, but none of that is anything you need to know about right now. So the washer, because it's discontinued, I couldn't buy a new one of those or even find a used one of those. So then I start looking for the size that will fit in the closet where it's located.

Oh, there are two models of washers that will fit in the space and that are still large enough to hold the dryer on top. Man alive. Full of options. Yeah, full of options. It was great. So I bought one and I kept telling myself, I'll get the frequent flyer miles. It's fine.

I'll get the frequent flyer miles. It's totally fine. Anyway, set up the delivery. Desperately needed to do laundry on Saturday.

This part of the story is still unbelievable to me. I race to the grocery store on Saturday morning, as in race. I leave my house before 7 a.m. I race through the groceries. I forget my goldfish. I don't have goldfish to eat at nights now.

It's just it's a travesty. And I get home. So I'm getting notifications on my phone that they've loaded the washer onto the truck, that they're out for delivery. And then finally, I get one that indicates we're in your neighborhood. Well, at that point, I'm still 10 minutes from home and I'm freaking out.

Right. So I race home. Not a lot of traffic. I get back to my house. Oh, keeping in mind, the delivery window was 8 to noon, 8 a.m. to noon.

I get back to my house at 807. No truck. Nothing. I check the tracking. It says that the washer has been delivered.

Oh, no, there was no washer sitting anywhere on my property. And again, no notification that they had been there. Nothing. I call dispatch. Dispatch tells me, oh, they waited for you 15 minutes and then they left.

Well, that's B.S. because I got there at 807 and there was nobody there. Anyway, he must have marked it delivered, even though it was not delivered on. I'm sure there's an app and you can can market delivered, even though it was still on the truck and not delivered.

What are the chances? Come to find out they got there early. So before eight o'clock, parked outside my house, waited until eight o'clock. Called by home phone and obviously I wasn't there. Called my phone.

Sent out. There was no more email or text message. But they said they waited 15 minutes. But what they really did was get there early, wait for five minutes after eight and then leave. So I missed them by a couple of minutes.

That's it. What are the chances that the washer gets delivered or is available at the very first moment that the window opens? That never happens.

Ever. When you hear a window eight to 12, you assume just automatically it's going to be maybe even after 12. Oh, yeah. You think automatically it's going towards the latter half of that. Hopefully it'll get here by 12. Probably looking more towards one o'clock. They come before eight o'clock? Yeah. And wait for 15 minutes and leave right after eight.

That's but that's not that's they should have stayed had to stay contractually by 15. Yes. Right. If you're home at 807 ish, then they show you're still in that 15 minute waiting.

You would think you think so. The truck is gone, as is my washer. So I can't do any laundry on Saturday.

I'm pretty disappointed. So they set it up for a new delivery window on Sunday. Seven to eleven. Guess what time they showed up? Ten thirty. Of course. Right.

Of course. And you're ready at seven. I was ready at seven. I had walked the dog and I was back in the door at six fifty five a.m. So this is what I mean about not taking advantage of the extra hour of sleep when we turn the clocks back. No, I was out the door before it was light.

And this is even with the time change. Get back to the house. Wait, wait, wait, wait.

No notification. Had to skip church. Couldn't get to church to teach my kiddos because the washer didn't come till ten thirty.

Now, here's the kicker. Guy comes into the house. He puts the washer down where it's supposed to go. Oh, keeping in mind there's still a dryer sitting in my kitchen.

Right. Like it's just it's just hanging out. Max and relax it in my kitchen because it's it has to go back on top of the washer. So he connects, I'm using my air quotation, the washer by attaching the two water hoses. But the drain hose that comes with the washer is not long enough. So he tells me you're going to have to get another drain hose.

It'll have an adapter on the end and you can then connect it to this one and put it around the corner to where it drains. But guess what? He left it for me to do stuff. So the only thing they did, I waited two days. The only thing that the crew did was bring in the washer.

That's it. Dryer still in my kitchen. Don't ask me how I'm going to put that back on the washer.

Dryer still in my kitchen. Washer doesn't work. I did order a new drain hose that has an adapter. But Jay, how in the world am I going to am I going to attach the drain hose to the wall? The hell's a drain hose? When the water is draining out of the washer, it has to go somewhere.

Where would I start to put that in to untouch that? Yeah, he kind of pointed to the back wall. It's back there.

Oh, thanks. So the free installation that comes with this particular company isn't free installation at all. I have to buy a hose.

Now I have to install it myself. Are you kidding? Do you dare me? Oh, no, don't dare me. Don't dare me. YouTube.

How to install a drain hose. Oh, my gosh. This is the TV stand all over again.

It's just wrong. Oh, no, I put the TV stand together and I crushed it. You did.

You did. But then I had to have somebody help me move it because it was 70 pounds. And I had to have a friend help me put the TV on top.

But I did the TV stand all by myself. Do you really think it's a good idea for me to attach a drain hose and then try running water through it? I think that they should do that because that's their professional installation. Yeah, but it's not happening.

They're not doing it. Can you, like, text them back? Be like, hey. Oh, yeah, I'm going to text him back and be like, hey, I got the drain hose. Can you come install my washer now? And how about the dryer? Someone's got to put that back up.

The thing is, exactly. Well, I have a friend who's a plumber. So I think my go to is to ask him if he can come check and make sure the drain hose is attached. And then, oh, would you help me put the dryer back on top? By the way, there's this dryer in my kitchen.

I don't mind it, but if you could help. Oh, so really, what was the point of racing home on Saturday morning, missing the window? What was the point of staying home on Sunday morning? They could have just put the washer outside. Honestly, right? Yeah, they didn't do anything anyway. It was in the box. They could have just put it outside. Maybe they were mad.

Oh, my gosh. Mad? It's not my fault you didn't stay until age 15. Yeah, you were early. I didn't ask you to get here on the bright. Before 10 o'clock would have done. Okay.

Oh, of course. What are the chances when I need when they when you need them to come early? They don't when you need to become later, they don't. And then when they show up, they can't attach it anyway because you're missing a piece of hose.

And then they you're missing out when you get it. I'm just kidding. You're missing a hose.

Just wrong. Yeah. So now I'm on my own. You're so well, you're on your own. See, I didn't tip him. Was I supposed to do anything?

Sure. Well, they did bring it in the house. Oh, what a mess. He didn't want it on his truck anymore.

That's why. All of this just in time for a wedding. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. That's h y d r o w dot com code fit 500. Basketball season is finally back and Bet QL is ready to help you win more consistently this year. Bet QL is an absolute game changer. If you're looking to find trends to help you win, make smarter bets on spreads, totals, player props and more. Bet QL has already helped over 300000 people with powerful analytics and community insights. Don't airball your opportunity this basketball season. Visit Bet QL dot com for their free daily analysis today.

That's Bet QL dot com. You got to get rid of this old Backstreet Boys T-shirt. Tell me why. Because it stinks, boys. Tell me why. I've watched it so many times, but the odor won't come out.

Tell me why. No, you tell me why I can't get rid of this odor. Have you tried down the rinse and refresh? It doesn't just cover up odors. It helps remove them. Wow, it worked, guys. Downy Rinse and Refresh removes more odor in one wash than the leading value detergent in three washes.

Find it wherever you buy laundry products. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. This was a great team. And I think I told the guys, I said, you know, as you move forward in your careers, you should want to create teams like this. You should use your leadership to create an atmosphere like this.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. That is the voice of Craig Council. He was the manager of the Milwaukee Brewers. In fact, a long time manager with the Brewers. But in a move that definitely sent shockwaves through baseball, he is now with the rival Cubs staying in the NL Central. But out of nowhere come the Chicago Cubs to lure Craig Council. Entice him with a contract that is the richest in history for a baseball manager. And so he is eschewing the offers from the Brewers as well as from the Mets who wanted him. And he takes the place of the now fired David Ross.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. We knew that Craig Council was going to have his pick. He is widely respected for not just what he did on the field, but his leadership and his work with the union during his playing career. And he's carried that forward now. He said that he understands how critical it is to try to lift, inflate, increase the value of managers and the contracts that managers sign. And he certainly has done that. He's more than doubled his previous salary.

How about that? The Cubs more than doubled his salary with the Brewers. He was making three and a half million dollars per season.

Now he's making eight million dollars per season for a baseball manager. We know the Cubs are one of the most popular franchises in baseball. And they were even before they ended their World Series drought.

But once they did, it became even more popular. Now almost everyone from that team is gone. The team is completely turned over. And now that includes David Ross, who was a member of that team that won the World Series in 16. But just got fired.

Can you imagine how he feels? Blindsided. Like he's a member of Survivor, where he's competing on Survivor. I mean, I know that they faltered towards the end of the year and didn't make the postseason. But the fact that they were even in contention.

Exactly. They had no dreams of the postseason going into the year. No, and it wasn't just the wild card. It was also for a while there, they were within striking distance of the NL Central title, which ultimately went to Craig Council and the Brewers. But yet they fired him specifically to hire Craig Council.

Wow. And he was lured to Chicago, the north side of Chicago, with a record-setting five-year, $40 million contract. Most everyone inside the baseball world expected that he would return to the Brewers. Now his contract had expired, which is why he was in line for a new deal. He would return to Milwaukee or he would head to the Mets. And to make matters worse, the owner of the Cubs was quoted just over a month ago calling David Ross our guy.

Oh, it's the dreaded vote of confidence. Terry Francona, who's since retired, was the previous high average annual salary for, I feel like we're talking about quarterbacks here, for managers at $4.5 million, but this is $8 million. Wowzers. And so Chicago makes way for Craig Council, lures him with this very gaudy deal, and now he can try to get the Cubs back to the point at which they are relevant. He's a, well, not quite a Milwaukee native, but he's a Wisconsin guy and he was home.

He won three division titles while he was there, and they made the playoffs five of the last six years. Imagine how the Brewers feel knowing that Council is headed to Chicago. But beyond that, I would say this is really about David Ross getting blindsided.

Goodness. So that was one piece of news for Major League Baseball on Monday. We know the award finalists now, and it's two of the Rangers, two of the World Series champions in the American League, along with Shohei Ohtani. And then as we knew in the National League, it would be a pair of Dodgers and Ronald Acuna.

So no surprises there. But of the six finalists, only two of them were still playing in the Fall Classic. So yeah, Corey Seeger, who won the World Series MVP, and his friend, longtime friend Marcus Simeon, who's on the other side of that double play combo. Those guys are both MVP candidates. And then Shohei Ohtani. Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts, along with Ronald Acuna.

So no major surprises there. Cy Young in the American League, Garrett Cole of the Yankees, Kevin Gossman of the Blue Jays, and Sonny Gray of the Twins. And then in the National League, Blake Snell, who is a free agent, by the way.

This would be his second Cy Young. Logan Webb of the Giants and Zach Gallin of the Diamondbacks, who of course won the pennant in the NL. And he had that no-hitter into, what was it, the sixth inning in Game 5? It was Game 5 of the World Series.

Gosh, how quickly those details start to fade. So that's awards ceremony for Major League Baseball or awards season for Major League Baseball. And then the last piece of news, and this kind of revolves around Shohei Ohtani because he is the name, is a very impressive list of free agents heading into this offseason, unless of course they would accept the qualifying offers. But you've got Shohei, Snell, who we just mentioned is a free agent, Sonny Gray, Matt Chapman of the Blue Jays, Josh Hayter, always funny to say that because I'm sure people think I'm saying H-A-T-E-R, Josh Hayter with a D of the Padres, and then Bellinger, Cody Bellinger of the Cubs, a former NL MVP himself, and then Aaron Nola of the Phillies. And right now the qualifying offer is $20.325 million for a year.

Goodness. So the players can either take those one-year deals and return to their teams, or they can go ahead into free agency. I don't know, I'm thinking about it. Can't imagine many of these guys would take the one-year deal. Now it's fully guaranteed money and maybe gives you another year to decide what you want to do, and you don't sneeze at $20 million, but for the most part I think these guys should be able to make longer-term deals that would amount to more security and certainly more money when you factor in that baseball contracts are 100% fully guaranteed.

It's Deshaun Watson, but all over the league. Even if they get traded, the contract is the contract. And so whoever takes on a player like a Max Scherzer, for instance, that has a fat contract, now I do believe the Mets are paying for a good portion of it. That was kind of the idea behind the trade. But yeah, the contract goes with him. It doesn't become null and void simply because he got traded.

Could you imagine if Shohei Ohtani decided to take the one-year deal and stay with the Angels? No. No.

Just bad business. Even though he's dealing with the Tommy John issue, or did he not decide to have the surgery? No, he probably had it already. He's definitely not pitching next season, but he's supposed to pitch again in 25. And he's supposed to hit.

Yeah, he's going to hit. I just wonder how that's going to take away from the money he would get in 24. Yeah, that's one way to look at it. But I think of it as, do we know he's going to come back in 25 with that dual ability as good as it is? So maybe I take the money while I can. Right, so there's the question.

That's actually a good point. So if you're Shohei Ohtani, you know you're only going to hit next year. You take the 20 and a quarter, a little more than a quarter, 20 and 3 eights, you take the money, you have another year to get healthy, to rehab, and then feel like you can go into the 25 season, and you can ask for higher offers because you're fully healthy. Does that make sense? It does, yeah. You could, but then again, they're still not going to see you pitch this season, but theoretically you will be going into that next season with your full capacity. Well, and if he wins another MVP, his stock is just as high, right?

Yeah. So those are kind of the big baseball storylines. Tori Lovello, he gets a new contract extension, so he's staying with the Diamondbacks. The Mets hire a person who no one's ever heard of, except for those in the Yankees dugout. It is weird, if you're the Mets, why are you hiring someone from the Yankees?

And also, why not just me? You're Steve Cohen, you have millions of dollars to spend. Why not hire, well, why not copy the Cubs move and hire this high quality, big name manager? My theory is that the Mets, because the Mets have been linked to Craig Council for pretty much the entire season, and they just hired David Stearns as their president of baseball a few weeks ago, who was the Brewers guy, and Stearns and Council have been linked for so long. So everyone thought that that was destined to happen, Council to the Mets. I think the Mets, that $8 million a year number came from Steve Cohen, who offered that to Council, but I don't think Council wanted to come to New York and be the Mets manager, so then the Cubs maybe in order to lure him kind of matched that. So I think the Cubs ended up matching the Mets, actually. Gotcha.

Okay, but all of that to say, if you're the Mets and you have that kind of money to spend, why are you going with an obscure name off of the Yankees coaching staff that has no managerial experience? Right, yeah. Once they didn't get Council, why this was the... Why hurry?

Yeah, why are you hurrying? Yeah, that surprised me. It really did. All right, vote for not just Monday MVP, which we'll reveal in the final hour of the show, but also the after-hours touchdown of the week. The poll is now live on Twitter, After Hours CBS, on our Facebook page, too, and then we're asking you, halfway through the season, the good, the bad, and the... Well, the word you can't say on Facebook, ugly, through the first half of the season. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast.

To the beat of the rhythm of the night, night, night, night. Here on After Hours, we like you as much as you like us. Nominate Amy Barnes as the chef curry of the airwaves. Hi, Amy. Relatively new listener. Absolutely love your show.

Woohoo! Hey, Amy, thanks for taking my call. It's my first time calling. I'm the first time caller. I've enjoyed your show. You are, by far and away, the freshest face and voice on the radio right now. To the beat of the rhythm of the night, I dance until the morning light.

Amy's taking your calls at 855-212-4CBS. I dance until the morning light. Well, hopefully that gives you a pick-me-up. You know what's really cool? We still hear from people all the time who have just found the show and love it. We've been on the air now. Well, I've been on the air.

Jay's been with me for a couple of years. I cycle through producers like some people cycle through water filters. No, just kidding. That would be like three months.

Are you supposed to change your Brita filter every three months? Something like that. Let's see.

Let me see if I can come up with a better analogy. What's something that you use and get rid of every couple of years? Not jeans. Oh, a pair of running sneakers.

There we go. In fact, that's even more frequent. I go through producers like some people go through sneakers. And Jay's almost outlived that window. So I'm not sure what that means about you. Although, to be fair, Jay once told me that he would never be caught dead doing this job in five years. That is not what I said. Okay, maybe not those express words. But you did tell me that you had zero desire to still be doing this job in five years.

No, I again didn't say that. Jay, are you lying right now? I'm not a pair of sneakers. It's just kind of like it's in the closet. I'm always there.

I'm not going anywhere. Oh, like my pasta sauce. Something like that. For those of you who don't know the pasta sauce tale, for Jay's first birthday that I actually celebrated with him, February of 21. Yeah. Over two years ago, I gave producer Jay... Wait, 21 or 22? Now, see, I don't want to overstate. I think it was 21 because I started... Nah, you started in the summer of 21. Damn it.

Doesn't sound nearly as good. Okay, in the winter of 22, Jay's coming back from Mexico, went on a trip with his family, right? Yeah, this is 22. I turned 30. I put together a package of some of my favorite things for producer Jay in honor of his 30th birthday. Actually, he got two gifts, but I gave him one big fat box full of some of my favorite things that I knew he would like. One of them, because he's Italian, crazy me, I thought this was actually be something he would need or use. He'd be interested in a bottle of my favorite pasta sauce, a jar of my favorite pasta sauce.

It's in his closet. All I want is to have the pasta sauce back. That's it. That's all I want. I'm going to use it.

No, you're not. You're using it as a decoration. It's not meant to be a decoration.

That was an expensive bottle of pasta sauce. I want it back. I'm using it. I'll trade you. I'll buy it back from you. You said you can't get this one anymore, right?

Exactly. Not in my regular Walmart. I have to order it online now. I know what I have. Oh, Jay, that is just wrong.

It's just so wrong. The fact is he goes months without even thinking about the pasta sauce. It's in his closet. Put it in the kitchen where your mom and your dad can use it. No, then they'll use it. Exactly.

That's the point. It's mine. It's mine. What was I doing? I should have known better than to use an expensive bottle of my favorite pasta sauce on producer Jay. There was a lot of other goods in there which I have used and enjoyed. Right, they're gone. But no, not my pasta sauce. I'll trade you the hiking poles you gave me for the pasta sauce.

No. Just kidding. For my birthday, Jay gave me a really cool pair of hiking poles which I used about a week and a half ago. Nice.

When I went hiking with Bob and my brother. They're great. I love them. They're orange. They blended with all the colors on the trees in the fall. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio.

We're asking you at the midway point of this NFL season, which is not so in and of itself, where is the good, the bad, and the U-G-L-Y? You ain't got no alibi. You're ugly. Mac is a frequent listener to the show, so not one of the newbies because here we've been on the air now 11 years. Eleven years on January 1st, I will have been hosting After Hours. Wow, that makes me old. Eleven years and some of you are just finding the show for the first time.

But that does not apply to Mac. He says the good, my former Buckeye, CJ Stroud. The Jags, also the good. Which they didn't play last week or this weekend, so people kind of forgot about him. But yes, they're on a five game win streak. The bad is the Patriots. The ugly, the way Josh McDaniels was ruining the Raiders. Let's see.

This comes from Crazy Granny. I don't know if that's her given name. Good is Jacksonville Jaguars and Trevor Lawrence. Bad is the New York Giants, Daniel Jones. These are just a couple of the responses on Twitter, After Hours, CBS. You can also weigh in on our Facebook page, Jay. Good, bad, ugly. I always give everyone else the chance to respond. And I don't then get to you and let you steal their thunder.

They usually do the opposite. So what are your good, bad, ugly? Good, D'Amico Ryan's in Houston. Everyone's saying CJ Stroud, which is obviously amazing. But I think D'Amico Ryan's, he's solidified that team. They look like they're all playing for a purpose now.

I think the culture's really changed there in Houston. Do you think I should put Brock Purdy back in my starting lineup in fantasy or leave CJ Stroud? Probably ride with CJ Stroud. How did I get CJ Stroud in my league? It's a 12-team league. How did I get CJ Stroud? I would not have dropped him. I was just saying this weeks ago how I like Stroud in fantasy and then this solidifies it.

Yeah, I mean, Purdy, I think he'll bounce back, but Stroud's the hot hand. Mmm, 470 yards, 41 points of fantasy this past weekend. Wowzers. Gotta win that. I hope you won.

I did. Going away. The bad, I'll say the nonstop quarterback injuries. I mean, how many quarterbacks a week do we see go down? And it's just, I don't think it's good for the league. It's not good for teams. I don't want to see nine rookie quarterbacks starting in a season, so that's the bad.

And the ugly hasn't happened yet. I think it's getting there. I think Justin Fields' situation in Chicago is going to get really ugly because they're not going to win. They're going to get a top pick again.

Is Eberflus going to be there? Are they going to choose Fields? Are they going to draft a new quarterback?

I think that gets ugly before it gets better. But do you think it's ugly because of Justin Fields? No, I just think the situation is going to get ugly where fans are going to want Fields. Other fans are going to want a new quarterback.

The organization has to decide if they're going to want Eberflus or go a new direction. And if that new direction wants Fields or they want a new quarterback, I think that whole thing is just going to become a mess. You know what's interesting, and it's got to be part of the conversation, is whether or not you count on Fields because of his style of play. He keeps getting hurt, in large part. Now, some injuries can be freak. But yeah, if he's going to continue to follow his instincts, and his instincts tell him to run, his instincts tell him to get out there and get on the edge and make a play midfield, and he's certainly extremely athletic.

Puts himself in harm's way. Yeah, that means there could be more injuries in the future, which is obviously not what you want when you're putting all this money into a starting quarterback. The good, the bad, the ugly. What is it, halfway through the NFL season? Well, Monday Night Football provided some of that. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio.