11-8-23 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 3

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Walk the dogs, school drop-off, meetings from 10 to 3, take kids to soccer, then no time left for a jog. If nothing else, the music will pump you up. I may not have anything interesting to say, in your opinion. Although we did just talk about an after-hours Zoom room, as well as a brand new after-hours giveaway, a swag giveaway. We're trying to decide how we want to do that, but we'll somehow make it work for you over the course of the holidays. We've got a lot of swag to give away, and we definitely want to connect with you over Zoom. I wish we could connect with all of you, but that's not possible. And so instead, we've got these options.

And then a brand new video before the end of the year. Those are our pledges to you. Plus, we always answer your questions on the Hump Show. Ask Amy anything is now just over a half hour away. Send your questions to our show Twitter, After Hours, CBS.

If you haven't yet voted for TD of the Week, that's on the same spot, same location. Man, Jay, we're getting inundated with questions. I hope you are perusing them and preparing ahead. Preparing all of it. Man, there's a lot of questions. Always are. I'm trying not to cheat.

I really am. So TD of the Week, Ask Amy anything on either Twitter or Facebook, After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. Coming up this hour, Brian Cashman uses the F word.

Ooh, I'm telling. No, seriously, Brian Cashman using the F word is actually comical. No, you're not going to hear him say the word, but you're going to hear the bleep and you're going to know exactly what he just he's had enough. He's had enough of people criticizing not just the Yankees, but the people for whom the organization works. And also he's tired of hearing about how the Yankees suck because they didn't make the playoffs this year.

I'm just saying. Yeah, I don't think I've ever heard him drop an F word before. He's usually so controlled and measured and thoughtful. He never I wouldn't say never. He generally doesn't allow his emotions to bleed into his words. Here's the funny part. Unless you are listening to the whole answer to the question, you wouldn't know because he just randomly drops it in there all of a sudden. You can tell he's a little agitated, but then just all of a sudden there's a wait.

What did he just say? So, yeah, it'll be fine. Just trust me.

But between now and then, we've got the latest in him. Q. B. News. To throw, look, a firing chase in the end zone. It's time for Q.

B. News on After Hours. Robert Sala meeting the media. It's not quite like coming to Jesus.

It's not that. But, you know, the New York media has got nonstop questions about the quarterback position after the Jets do not score a touchdown on Monday Night Football for all of the world to see after they were once again abysmal. I do mean brutal on third down. After multiple TV and radio shows in the New York area ripped Zach Wilson up one side and down another. Robert Sala once again having to answer questions about his young QB and his old QB.

It's After Hours here on CBS Sports Radio. What about Zach Wilson's performance? Coach, now that you watch the tape on Tuesday. Like I said, there's some good, some bad, some things that he can build off of some things he still needs to get rid of.

You know, whether you know, it's understanding when when enough is enough, understanding what defenses are giving you and just being a little bit quicker and saying no to things, if you will. He could be a lot better. It wasn't. But to just it's lazy to just put it all on him. You know, I think, like I said, it was a very it was collective all the way across the board. Agreed. I do agree that quarterbacks get far too much of the credit and they absorb far too much of the blame. It's never that cut and dried. And I like that Robert Sala underscores this. It's lazy to say this was all on Zach Wilson.

The offensive line is porous. It's like Swiss cheese. Actually, I went to Jersey Mike's on Tuesday afternoon because a friend of mine and I, we wanted subs for dinner. And one of the subs that I wanted has Swiss cheese. So I had to sub it out because I don't do Swiss cheese. It's the one cheese I won't eat.

And so for that reason, I was thinking about Swiss cheese. Anyway, the offensive line, it's had so many different rotations. Guys who were playing out of position, guys who were in spots on the line they've never played before. The line was terrible in the face of Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa and the Chargers pass rush. So no, it's not all on Zach Wilson. It's not.

But some of it is. What about the run game? Well, the Chargers can stuff the run a little more because they don't have to worry about Zach's passing attack. But honestly, they were able to get up and into his grill so quickly. And then there were times where he was waiting. He was waiting for something to happen and he didn't get rid of the football. He didn't throw the football away. He needs to be able to read defenses faster. And for that reason, there's a lot of criticism because he gets caught being hesitant or he just gets caught not knowing what's going on. And veteran defenses are making him pay.

But the question always comes back to regardless of what Zach does well or Zach does poorly, are the Jets considering a change at QB? No, because it'd be one thing if it was just him. Right.

It is easy thing to do. He's the most. Him and the play caller are the two most visible things. So when things aren't good, it's easy to blame them.

Right. It's easy to blame the people who are most visible to the camera. Well, we can all see the offensive lineman as well, but a lot of people may not know their names. So, yes, it's easier to blame the quarterback. Now, I would say it's easier to blame the guy who's making the big bucks, but that's not the case with Zach. He's still in his rookie deal. And I don't know if he gets another deal from the Jets. It's hard to imagine, but he's very young still.

So there is that part of it. And as frustrating as it is, the Jets have decided they're riding or dying, probably dying with Zach Wilson. Unless Aaron Rodgers could somehow be available, he was caught on camera telling Derwin James, give me a few weeks.

So, Coach Salah, what about Aaron Rodgers? He is working relentlessly to try to get back here. And, you know, he's he's awesome, man. But, you know, just like I've said a million times, just because he doesn't have to, he wants to. And I think it's a testament to his relationship with the locker room and how much those guys appreciate him and how much he appreciates his teammates. He's awesome for what exactly?

For rehabbing from an injury? The guy glows in the dark. No, he doesn't. He's awesome for showing up and being there on the sidelines with a headset. Come on. Now, as much as I do think there are plenty of athletes that would stay away, that's not unique to Aaron Rodgers. There are athletes who rehab and who so desperately want to be around their teammates.

But can we also just cut to the chase here? Aaron likes to be seen. Aaron likes to cause a stir. Aaron likes to be the center of conversation.

We're not going to give you the audio because it's now my previous network and I generally don't do that. But from his radio appearance on Tuesday, he was asked specifically about how he's doing. Is he back? He backpedaled like nobody's business.

No, he's not back and more than likely he is not going to play this season. So it's showy more than anything. It's him, I'm sure, wanting so desperately to be out there. It probably kills him. So for that reason, I feel badly for him. Probably kills Aaron that he can't play, especially when the team is ready made for an experienced quarterback.

But that's just how it happened. And so, yeah, he's not coming back anytime soon. A few Fortnite is what he clarified on his radio appearance. And he actually sounded a lot more dejected when he was asked about it because he couldn't give a more positive answer.

It's after hours with Amy Lauren. He is a tremendous human. Speaking of quarterback injuries, I do believe that if your quarterback runs more, there are more opportunities for him to get hit and more opportunities for him to be injured. And so for that reason, I worry about guys like, gosh, just name a quarterback who runs. Justin Fields is a great example. But Lamar Jackson has been significantly hurt the last couple of years.

And how about Josh Allen? He puts himself in harm's way as well. And so this caught our ears from Tom Brady in Let's Go about running quarterbacks and about Josh taking that into account. Someone like Josh, for example, that I see has this amazing ability that not a lot of guys have size, speed, strength.

I think sometimes he gets used and he wants to run it because he knows he can gain yards. There's a lot of confidence in it. But the only problem is, from my standpoint, you're putting yourself in harm's way.

And when you put yourself in harm's way, it doesn't take much, you know, to for someone to land on you. For example, I've had I separated my left shoulder. I separated my right shoulder. In fact, in a quarterback sneak, we played when I was at Tampa. I separated my right shoulder on a quarterback sneak on the goal on Milano from in the end zone, separated my right shoulder.

And it bothered me the rest of the season. But, you know, look, I was trying to gain one yard and gaining that one yard cost me eight weeks of arm pain. Now, in my mind, could I have given that to my 230 pound halfback?

Yeah, probably could have. Now, in the moment, I'm like, no, I got to get this ball in. So that's kind of the decisions you make as a quarterback. And I would love to see Josh save those for very special moments.

How about that? Every now and then you get these really insightful nuggets from Tom Brady, stories about his own career that we never knew. So when he was with Tampa, Milano, Matt Milano of Buffalo, hit him on a quarterback sneak on the goal line and separated his shoulder. And he says it happened multiple times throughout his career.

But more recently, into his 40s, he had to play the second half of the season with a separated shoulder. And so that's his cautionary tale for Josh Allen, but not just for Josh, for other quarterbacks, too. The moment you get out there and you become a runner, you can get hit like a runner unless you slide. That's the one caveat for quarterbacks. Unless they go into their sliding motion, they can't get hit.

But you're putting your physical body at risk. Wow. From Let's Go, Tom Brady along with Jim Gray. We'll hear more from Tom coming up. Also in the AFC, big news from Mike Vrabel because he will be sticking with the rookie at quarterback.

We're going to go with Will. We think that's the best opportunity for our football team right now. And see where he's at. I think Ryan will progress through here this week. I think and hopeful to be a backup for us and prepare as a starter. But that's where we're at right now. And shared that with the team and had a conversation with everybody involved.

So that's what that'll look like. Remember, Tennessee had four touchdowns from Will Levis, 28 points in his debut. And that was the most the Titans had scored going back to the end of 21.

So it's been a while. Ryan Tannehill, he's steady. He's a game manager. Obviously changed since he first got in the league with Miami, right?

It was the Dolphins. But he's got a ceiling. We don't know what Will Levis has as a ceiling yet. Only that he's athletic and that he started out really accurate too.

Already has 500 yards and four touchdowns, though he does have one pick. And he's energetic. And that's kind of what Mike Vrabel's been talking about. He brings a new energy to the team.

There's clearly something there. We want to be able to continue to work with them and progress and develop and win. And that's how you get better. You only get better by going out there and playing.

Especially at that position. So this will be a huge test for any quarterback going on the road. Nine rookie quarterbacks.

You keep hearing me say it. Nine rookie quarterbacks have started games this season. Though we won't see Jaron Hall this week because Josh Dobbs is taking over in Minneapolis.

But we will see Will Levis the rest of the way. The Rams have a new quarterback as well. So I'm not sure that we're going to get a rookie in that position. It was Brett Ripen last week. The Cardinals are expected to change to Kyler Murray this week so Clayton Toon won't start again.

So we'll get to the NFC West here in a second. But yeah, nine rookie quarterbacks. That's not great offense.

I know Will Levis had a phenomenal debut. But rookies give it and they take it away. You're going to get this roller coaster ride and you're going to get some really poor play. When you start a rookie, especially throwing him in where he hasn't had a training camp. He hasn't had a preseason. He's kind of going out there cold without a whole lot of reps in practice. So you can tell that some of the offense is watered down around the league.

That's for sure. Another one from Tom Brady on Let's Go. We like this because it's hard to see coaches get fired like his old offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. It's hard to see quarterbacks get injured and we've had a ton of that in the NFL this season. But then how as a player do you navigate those sudden changes?

I've seen a lot over the years and there's a lot of different reactions from different people. I was never a part of a season where we're in that situation as a team but a lot of teams are. So change is obviously happening every single week.

Daniel Jones tore his ACL. Guys have been lost to season-ending injuries and coaches now are gone. So you've got to be able to adapt and adjust and move on. And the people that step into those places, then they've got to go out and they've got to put. It's not like all the problems get solved when something like that happens. People are making changes and the team has to adapt as well as possible.

When a player leaves, coach gets fired, something happens to a family member. And you've got to adjust in your personal life. There's a lot of changes. So you've just got to continue to adjust and adapt the best way possible. And look, there's people that are still out there. You're on the battlefield. You're still out there going after it. You're still out there playing and you've got to keep fighting to the end. And that's what a true professional will always do. He'll show up and he'll give it his very best no matter what.

Because the reputation of a player to his teammates is very meaningful. Tom Brady on Let's Go, may a lot to react to. He's practicing, getting ready for his Fox gig. One of his co-hosts that we don't hear from him quite as often, Larry Fitzgerald. He's the other member of the triumvirate along with Brady and Jim Gray. And I love what he had to say about Houston Texans rookie QB C.J.

Stroud. I just love his poise. I really like that he never makes excuses.

The way he talks is always an inclusive nature as we are doing this. I'm playing for the love of the game and I want the city of Houston to be proud of the way we compete. The way he talks and brings community and togetherness to an organization is something that I really, really am attracted to. He's an Ohio State product. A lot of Buckeye fans and Buckeye alum coming out of the woodwork to support C.J.

Stroud. But I like what Larry had to say because he was the consummate team guy. We've got more from another Ohio State product who's changing teams coming up a little bit later here on After Hours. But one more. This is in the NFC.

Can't get enough of this story. Kevin O'Connell, head coach of the Vikings. What did he say to Josh Dobbs when they had that long embrace after Dobbs threw the game-winning touchdown again?

Who are they playing? Falcons. Thank you. I just told him I was proud of him. He didn't do anything that I didn't think he was capable of doing, quite honestly, when we brought him in. There was a reason why we identified Josh as kind of somebody we thought could not only come and be a great part of our team but could help us win football games when called upon. I did not know that would be 11 snaps into his first game with us. But I just told him he's in a place where we're going to love and support him and try to help him become the best version of himself as an NFL quarterback. Kevin O'Connell and Sirius XM NFL radio. I love it. I'm serious.

This is one of my favorite stories of the year. And I was already impressed with Josh Dobbs doing what he could to spark the Arizona Cardinals offense. But once Kyler Murray was off IR and getting ready to be back on the field for the Cardinals, he, according to the Cardinals, was expendable, Dobbs.

And so they shipped him to Minnesota. He doesn't practice even one time. Instead, he goes out there and he's letting his offensive linemen know his cadence during breaks before they get out there. He's got Kevin O'Connell in his headset the entire time so that O'Connell can translate Spanish to French for him essentially.

Help your boy out. Man, it's amazing. And this weekend, Dobbs will start as the Vikings host the Saints. Imagine what type of reception Josh Dobbs will get when he goes out there on the field for the first time. Also in the NFC, as I mentioned or alluded to, you've got Kyler Murray who is expected to start this weekend for the Cardinals.

And so that's something that you should look for. Cardinals are hosting the Falcons. And so Kyler Murray will return towards ACL in what, early December last year? So it's been almost a year. And then finally, the Rams give Carson Wentz another opportunity in the NFL. Remember last year when Matthew Stafford got hurt, they brought in Baker Mayfield. This year, the Rams have signed Carson Wentz to back up Stafford. Now, they did this during their bye week so that Wentz has time to get acclimated to the play calls and the offense. And we know that Stafford didn't play last week because of the torn ligament, or sprain ligament, excuse me, in his right thumb. Brett Rippon was, well, he was not Matthew Stafford.

And he got waved on Tuesday. And instead, yeah, life comes at you fast in the NFL. Instead, Carson Wentz is now in. So Carson played, he was drafted by the Eagles, right? Then he went to the Colts. Then he, no, not the Colts. Yeah, he went to the Colts. He did because he followed, he went to Frank Reich in the Colts. Was that before Washington? That was before Washington, wasn't it?

So yeah, don't make that face at me. Shane made me second guess myself. He was drafted by the Eagles. He was nearly an MVP there and then lost, well, he didn't lose his job. But he got injured and Nick Foles led them to the Super Bowl win. So Eagles, then Colts, where he's reunited with Frank Reich. And then he went to the commanders. And now, after half the year trying to remain relevant, he is now with the Los Angeles Rams as a backup.

All right. I mean, no shame in earning a paycheck as a backup quarterback in the NFL. He was an MVP candidate not long ago.

I just said that. He was an MVP candidate. He probably would have won the MVP had he not. Didn't he tear his ACL as well? I don't remember exactly.

I think he did. It was like December of that year in which the Eagles were the top seed. Yeah.

They were definitely good that year. Oh, man. But enter Nick Foles. I mean, talk about the consummate next man up story. The rest is history.

All right. Did you guys hear or see what the commissioner, well, maybe it's not even the commissioner. It's really just the stats have revealed about the pitch clock and the World Series. I'll share that with you.

And also Brian Cashman. He's salty. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours podcast. We'll be right back. We'll be right back.

Thanks for watching. They want us to win. They're invested in this franchise. They're invested in our team. And they're disappointed.

Certainly, I hear them loud and clear. We're disappointed, too. It's been a disaster this season. And, yeah, it's definitely a shock. Certainly, I don't think anybody on our side of the fence from our player group, from our coaches or manager or even outside the organization saw would have predicted this.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Brian Cashman in August sounded dejected, really down about the fact that the Yankees were not participating in the postseason and not just that, commenting on fan criticism and fan frustration and how the Yankees had become a target. And I don't want to say it's impossible, but it's tough. It's challenging to avoid radio and TV in the New York City market where you're inundated with cameras, with podcasts, with news articles. You have to be hiding under a rock not to hear the criticism of the Yankees. They are by far the most popular team in the city of New York, and there are a lot of options, but they're also the one that more fans love to hate, if that makes sense. So the Yankees are polarizing in and out of New York.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. I will confess that when I was growing up in New England, the Yankees were a team that I loved to root against. I took as much joy in the Yankees sucking, which didn't happen very often, as I did in my own team succeeding. So having grown up as a New Englander, you're taught to hate the Yankees. Though I will say, one of my very first baseball games, my first ever was in Cleveland as a kid with my grandfather.

My second one was at Yankee Stadium, the old one, not the new one. So I'd been there long before I recognized that you were supposed to hate the Yankees. Brian Cashman has gone from being dejected to being salty. He has had some time to regroup a little bit.

He's had some time to process and to think about the season, and he wants you to know that they are on the right track. They're on the right track, and you can take your criticism and stick it where the sun don't shine. I think we have good baseball people, whether they're pro scouts, whether they're coaches, whether they're the manager, whether they're the general manager, whether they're analytics guys. I think we have good people.

I'm getting permission requests all over the place. We just lost our bench coach to the Mets as a manager. I've got analytics guys trying to be poached to other clubs right now. Our player development program, no different than other places. But, again, reinforcement that we've got good people. I'm proud of our people, and I'm proud of our process. It doesn't mean we're firing on all cylinders. It doesn't mean we're the best in class. But I think we're pretty fucking good, personally.

I'm proud of our people, and I'm also looking forward to 24 being a better year than 23. You can hear it in his voice. His voice is raised up to a higher level, and I don't mean volume. I mean his octave.

You can tell that he's agitated from the beginning, and it got steadily more agitated over the course of his comments to the press on Tuesday. But then he just drops in. I think we're pretty bleeping good, honestly. It's like right in the middle of this rant about how great the people are, and other teams are trying to hire our people, and we're going to have a better season next year. I think we're pretty bleeping good, honestly.

I think we're pretty fucking good, personally. Oh, personally? Listen to him. That's not Brian Cashman, honestly.

That's not generally how he is. So, yeah, that was one that caught my ear. I said, Jay, you have to find this.

We need this. And so that was courtesy of a fired-up Brian Cashman. Hal Steinbrenner, who is the owner of the team, he actually did a Zoom call with reporters earlier in the day on Tuesday, and he admitted that he asked the players, as in the baseball players that he pays, the guys who wear the pinstripes. I guess Aaron Boone also wears pinstripes. He asked them their opinions of Aaron Boone as a manager. If a manager doesn't have the respect of his players, and the players don't want to play and win for him, that would always be a problem with me. But in talking to current players, as I told you I did, that's absolutely not the case. And that's a big deal.

You know where we just heard that? Mark Davis of the Raiders asking members of the team in the locker room their opinions, their impressions of Josh McDaniel's. Maybe not feeling like he was going to get an authentic answer from the coaching staff, and so instead he goes to the players.

And that's exactly what Hal Steinbrenner did, so maybe not quite so foggy a notion, or quite so foreign a notion. One more thing I want to share with you about baseball, and then we'll get to Ask Amy Anything. You've got a few minutes left to send your questions to our show Twitter. Jay, I just saw this on our Facebook page. When can we start trying to get the swag? Already. So after our CBS on Twitter or on our Facebook page, that's straight ahead. Jay's going to collect the last few minute questions here. That made no sense whatsoever.

He's going to collect your last minute questions here. But I wanted to let you know that Elias Sports Bureau compiled the numbers from the World Series in the postseason, nine inning games in the World Series, average three hours and one minute. Overall, games in the postseason, three hours and two minutes. That's down from 3.23 last year and 3.37 the year before that. Wowzers. And so we know the average time of the baseball game in the regular season was two hours and 40 minutes, really low, down to the lowest number since the mid 80s.

But we also know the faster pace didn't help ratings because Rangers and Diamondbacks was the least watched World Series in TV history. And on that note, Ask Amy Anything is next. You are listening to the After Hours podcast. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Time to ask Amy anything.

Sort of. Before you ask. I know Jay wants to know, although he may actually already know. I think we talked after I got it or maybe right before I did pick up the new drain hose for the washer. Get this. I got a hose at Lowe's. Lowe's gave me a hose.

Anyway, I have it now. And my friend Billy, who's a plumber, will be coming over on Wednesday afternoon to make sure the hose is properly connected so I can finally do laundry. My washer has been broken now for over a week.

And I'm not kidding you, Jay. I've got more dirty clothes than I have clean ones because I had laundry before that. And now the piles are so large. Plus, I had company last weekend, so I had sheets and towels and all that stuff. So, yes, let's hope by this time tomorrow night, double fingers crossed, because that does anything, that the washer will be operational.

The Death Star fully operational. I mean, I guess I got to start here then because Mike asked, is there anything worse than having a broken washing machine? Well, I don't know. Would you prefer a... See, the thing is, with clothes, you can wash them by hand, but it would take a lot longer. I guess if I had to choose, I'd rather have a broken washer than a broken dishwasher long term. But then what do you do? You have to go to a laundromat, which also stinks. So, nah.

I guess I'll go with broken washer. All right. Out. So, we'll do a little... Also, I just can't believe still that they left you hanging with that extension for the hose. No, they just left. Oh, yeah, it's back.

Yeah, they just left. He was like, sorry, can't connect it. Don't have the hose. See ya. Have a great day. Enjoy it, though. All you did was connect a couple of water hoses. You didn't turn it on. You didn't start it. You didn't... No.

Nothing like that. Sorry. Have a good day.

I gotta get myself a plumber friend for this occasion. You do. His name's Billy.

He's amazing. All right. So, we'll start here. A little teaser for this new third edition of Ask Amy Anything, Walk Down the Aisle, that we're gonna do in a couple of weeks from here. It's Jay.

Get the name right. Ask Amy Walks Down the Aisle, you dork. Ask Amy Walks Down the Aisle. So, we'll do a little teaser question here. All right. Jamie wants to know. She goes, all right. Almost one month left. How does she know?

That's impressive. Are you getting nervous at all? No. I'm not nervous at all about the wedding. I'm really not. There are elements around the wedding, for instance. I'm nervous about the dress. I just want it to be perfect.

I have it in the house. It's the seamstress did an incredible job. It's gorgeous. But, you know, on that day, I want it to fit perfectly. I want to be able to walk down the aisle without tripping.

I mean, there's all these things. I want nothing to happen to it because I have to drive it from New Jersey to Houston for the wedding. So, I'm nervous about that. Picked up the flowers on Tuesday evening.

They're absolutely perfect. Believe it or not, though, my mom is a ball of stress. She's like all stressed out about stuff. So, I'm the one who's keeping her calm.

What's that about? Yeah, I didn't think that was gonna be a thing. So, anyway, I'm not nervous about getting married. I'm nervous about different organizational elements, travel, that kind of stuff, my dog, but I'm not nervous about the wedding at all, no. I've never been more sure of anything in my entire life except my faith.

I'm telling you, people are right when they say, you know, you know, because there isn't one part of me that doesn't want to get married to this man that is the love of my life. So, yeah, I'm good. All right.

Awesome. We were talking about this a little earlier in the week with how now Halloween is over and we're transitioning into the new seasons. Seasons.

I like that. Stephen wants to know, what is the earliest you believe a Christmas tree should be set up in a house? First week of December. I usually like to enjoy Thanksgiving and give it its own space. I don't need to crowd Thanksgiving with Christmas. Part of my family, this is my brother's family, they decorate the day after Thanksgiving. It's their tradition.

And I've got friends who do the same. I like to let Thanksgiving breathe a little bit and then early December. So first weekend in December, I generally go get my balsam fir. It smells terrific.

So heavenly. So is that the same for Christmas music, Mike wants to know when you start listening to Christmas music? Nah, it's usually not until I get the rest of the Christmas decorations out. So I get the tree, I put it in a bucket, I let the branches settle, I put it in the stand, and I put lights on it, but then I generally don't decorate the rest of the house until the following weekend, just because gosh, that wore me out. I usually do Christmas weekend about mid-December. I'm sorry, Christmas music about mid-December. I can't stomach a month of Christmas music. It gets repetitive. Last one on the Christmas here, Matt wants to know, is it okay to re-gift?

Oh, absolutely. I re-gift all the time. Why should a gift that you aren't going to use and the money spent on it be wasted? What are you going to do, throw it away? No, give it to someone else. And I will say in one or two instances, I've actually told the original giver that I did re-gift it. Now, not for a couple of years, but just to say to them, hey, I wasn't going to use it, so I gave it away to someone else. See, if it were me and I was the giver, I would be okay with that. I would want to give you something different, but I'd be okay with you re-gifting it if you weren't going to return it and get the money back. I think re-gifting is actually a service to society. Someone else, you pay it forward to someone else. Someone's going to use it, right? Yes, someone should use it. Don't throw it away.

That's wasteful. All right. I'm very passionate about re-gifting.

This one I like a lot. This comes from Tom. He wants to know, what's your secret to getting out of bed when you're tempted to turn over and go back to sleep? Are you ready for this? It's very easy.

Yes. Penny, there is no rolling over and going back to sleep when you have a dog who is intent on staying in her routine. In fact, she's usually the reason I get out of bed earlier than I want to.

I've said this a long time, and this is not a secret. My family and friends know, Penny is a gift because... I wouldn't re-gift her. Penny is a gift because she came along at what was a really tough stretch of my life personally.

I've had her for 11 and a half years. I will readily admit, there are many days that I didn't feel like getting out of bed over the last 10 years, but because of the dog, I had no choice. She got me outside. I got fresh air. I got exercise. I had to take care of another being.

All of those things, to me, bring joy as well as energy. There are a lot of times when Penny was a rescue, she rescued me as opposed to me rescued her, right? She was a rescue in my life. Yeah, it's the dog. If the dog happens to be not around, it's coffee.

It's very simple. It's Penny and it's coffee. I should get me an animal for some motivation.

You have an animal. He doesn't require that much attention. He sleeps more than you do, though. He does. He does.

All right. He doesn't require that much attention. That's so mean. He wants to come hang out with you and you close your door. He gets mad at me sometimes when I try to play with him. I'm like, I throw the ball for him. He's like, what are you doing? I'm like, okay. I mean, he is the bulldog.

He doesn't really chase things. No. This one comes from Big Jim. He wants to know, have you ever charmed your way out of a ticket? So the proper answer would be no, right? Well, the honest answer is yes. One time, my absolute favorite, and I swear I didn't do this on purpose, I got stopped at a checkpoint and the police officer, he looks at my license, he checks and he comes back.

Has anyone ever told you you have beautiful eyes? Stop. I swear to God.

You're in. I swear to God. Anyway, I shouldn't swear to God. Sorry.

I swear. Anyway, yes, I have, in fact, charmed my way. I was nice to the officer, asked him how he was doing. Oh, please be safe. You know, when you're walking around the vehicle on the highway. I didn't say that. That would be obvious. But yes, just smiling and being kind.

And I did, in fact, get out of a ticket. Luna wants to know. Special charms for females. Yeah, I don't think that'll work for me. I don't think so either. But please try it.

Maybe. Luna wants to know, when you're cooking and baking, is the recipe from memory written down or a little bit of both? Yeah, it's a combination of those things. When I'm trying a new recipe, I stick pretty close to what's written down or these days what's on the internet. I find a lot of recipes by just searching the internet. And I like to try new things. But I stick pretty close to those particular recipe requirements. Once I've made it a few times, I go nuts-o with it. Like chili? Oh, dear. I put radishes in my chili last weekend. Jay, did you see my tweet?

It was suggested by a listener. And I thought, you know what? I don't have any other vegetables. Well, I mean, I had bell pepper and mushrooms. I thought, I'm going to try some radishes. How was it? Yeah, it was OK. It wasn't as crunchy as you would think, though, because once the radishes soak in the chili, they lose some of their crunch. But actually, I like radishes.

So it's good. Would you do it again? Of course I would. You know me. I like to get crazy with my chili. So once I know a recipe or it's my recipe, then I just kind of I pinch here. I, you know, I drop a cup in there. I get I get fast and loose with my recipes.

Yes. This comes from Mark. He asks, is there anything in sports after all this time working in the industry that still surprises you?

Well, yeah, the stories of how humans rise to the occasion when the expectations are extremely low. And Josh Dobbs is another example of that. That is unbelievable. The man never practiced with his team. They didn't know his snap count. They didn't know his voice. He didn't know their names.

He didn't know their names. And he still leads them to a win. I mean, those types of things cannot be measured by analytics. Give me some mathematical formula that tells you how Josh Dobbs was going to come in and lead the Vikings to a win on the road with a touchdown pass in the last 30 seconds.

No, there are no analytics that can measure human heart and desire and intelligence and the will to win or the will to succeed for the people around you. And I love those stories every time. Also redemption. When people have fallen flat on their faces over and over and over again. But then they end up as champions or they end up, you know, in some type of a victorious triumph. I love it. I dig it.

How many times in sports do you hear what do we say? You can't make it up or couldn't have written it better. Oh, amazing.

Couldn't have scripted it better. Right. This one comes from our friend James, who asked, what's your favorite hiking trail you've ever done? Oh, well, since I didn't get to do Mount Washington this year, it's on the bucket list for next year. I'm going to drag the future hubs with me.

I asked him to make his game for it. My favorite is still the three mountains that I climbed in the Catskills a couple of a couple of falls ago. Cornell, Wittenberg and Sly. Oh, slide, Wittenberg, Cornell and slide. Yeah.

Three mountains all over thirty five hundred feet, including one that was over 4000 feet, nine and a half miles. It took all day long and it was glorious. Oh my gosh.

I can't wait to do it again someday. All right. We'll end here with some rapid fire amusement park or music festival? Park tacos or wings, tacos, ice cream in a cone or in a bowl. Oh, I don't do cones. It's just a waste of sugar.

Just give me all the ice cream in a bowl. Disney Princess or Marvel superhero? Star Wars, Jedi networks, Amazing Race or Survivor? Oh, amazing race. I love it.

I want to do it. Control the weather or I just yelled and Jay got surprised. Control the weather or talk to animals. Oh, I think talk to animals.

Heart massage or back rub, back rub. Harry Potter or The Hunger Games? The Hunger Games, I guess. Last one here, Scooby Doo or Tom and Jerry? I'm wearing a Scooby Doo sweatshirt.

Let's go, Mystery Machine. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. This episode is brought to you by FX's A Murder at the End of the World, starring Emma Corrin, 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's A Murder at the End of the World, now streaming only on Hulu.