2-8-24 After Hours with Amy Lawrence Podcast : Hour 4

A Peanut Butter M&M's Production. In a world where Super Bowl winners get the world's admiration and a fancy ring, but the runners-up get nothing, one retired cop returns. That's one retired quarterback. Read the script.

Oh, sorry. One retired quarterback returns to claim what's his. Um, that's claim a ring with diamonds made from M&M's peanut butter, but you're on a roll. The Ring of Comfort coming soon to a Super Bowl new you.

Okay, picture this. It's Friday afternoon when a thought hits you. I can spend another weekend doing the same old whatever or I can hop into my all-new Hyundai Santa Fe and hit the road. With available H-Track all-wheel drive and three-row seating, my whole family can head deep into the wild. Conquer the weekend in the all-new Hyundai Santa Fe. Visit HyundaiUSA.com or call 562-314-4603 for more details. Hyundai, there's joy in every journey.

2024 Santa Fe available early 2024. After Hours takes on Las Vegas for the first time. In Las Vegas for Super Bowl week, we're excited to be doing this together. My first trip to Vegas, I'm already overwhelmed just walking through the airport. It was about a par five golf hole from my gate to where the concourses all came together in a central hub and I passed at least three sets of gambling machines. Jackpot. The people actually stop.

They don't care about getting to their baggage or a car or where they're going. They stop, they sit down, they just start dropping money. Ka-ching! From the home of Super Bowl 58, it's After Hours with Amy Lawrence.

Sponsored by Southern Recipe. We asked you for Vegas vibes music and you sent us dozens of playlist options. We've gone Rat Pack. I haven't heard Elvis this week. I think we're gonna have to bring in Elvis, the big guns for our final show coming up on Thursday night. But we've definitely worked in everything from Katy Perry to the Rat Pack.

We've had some Frank Sinatra. Of course, for our conversation with the Air Force Thunderbird pilots, we had to have Danger Zone from Top Gun. Did you guys hear them say they were big fans of Top Gun Maverick? I was thinking they were thinking they were going to poo-poo it and say it wasn't realistic, but we know that Tom Cruise is meticulous and a perfectionist when it comes to how accurate these flight scenes are. Whether we're talking about the two Top Gun movies or we're talking about any of the stunts and the work that he does in Mission Impossible, he wants to make sure they're as realistic as possible.

In fact, he's been known to go hard with the various actors and make them do it again and again and again until they get it absolutely right. So it was cool to hear that they really enjoyed Top Gun Maverick. That was fun. So last hour, it made me totally jealous between Colleen Wolfe getting a chance to fly with the Thunderbirds and then the actual front two pilots, Commander Nathan Malafa and his left wing Zachary Taylor. You guys check out the photos as well as photos of Colleen and Solomon Wilcox and Mark Ingram and we've got photos and videos from inside the Mandalay Bay Casino because isn't that what people come to Vegas for a lot of the times? We've got all kinds of goodies for you on our social media.

So on my Twitter, ALawRadio, oh did I mention Dirt Dogs? And also on our show Twitter, After Hours CBS, though Jay and I are kind of sharing and retweeting. And then on our Facebook page, After Hours with Amy Lawrence. It's pretty nutso, but it's great to have Colton running our audio equipment back at CBS Sports Radio headquarters. Jay is literally spending the entire show here in our studio at 98.5 HD2 The Bet, working on production. Some of the music and the audio that you hear coming in and out of breaks, posting photos himself and going through all of his reels that he can share on social too. And he says he's going to have an option on YouTube, maybe a montage of videos on YouTube. So check out our YouTube channel as well.

Subscribe to it. That makes him happy after all his hard work After Hours with Amy Lawrence on YouTube. And I just got this tweet in response to the photo with the Thunderbird pilots. Mama Apple. This is cool.

I think she's a teacher. What a great interview. I'm sharing the picture with my students today. Oh, I'm so glad you liked it.

Thank you so much. It means the world to me because that had to be one of my favorite conversations. If you look at the photo I put up, I'm giddy. And for some reason I'm gesturing. My hands are in the air.

But they said they really enjoyed it as well, which is a compliment that is overwhelming. If I didn't embarrass myself talking to two US Air Force Thunderbird pilots, then life is good. Coming up in 15 minutes here on the show, Boomer Esiason, former NFL MVP, longtime analyst who's done I think 30 Super Bowls. He will join us live before he does his show from Radio Row. So it's funny, we're both in Las Vegas, but he's doing his show from Radio Row. He does the morning hours.

Oh my gosh. Pacific Time morning show. It begins at 3 a.m. in a largely empty Mandalay Bay Convention Center and Radio Row, which right now is like a ghost town, which is why we're here at 98.5 HD2 The Bet. It's our local affiliate. So we thank Odyssey and CBS Sports Radio for setting us up here. We haven't really talked much about the game.

We will with Boomer a little bit, but with Boomer always we get off the beaten path as well. But every day some of the Chiefs and some of the Niners are sitting in front of the microphone and they're answering questions. I don't know if you heard the exchange between one reporter and Brock Purdy about how he resembles Lee Harvey Oswald. Maybe we'll get to that before the back end of the hour, just because it's so goofy and Brock was really taken aback. But there is prep going on. We're not doing it on Radio Row.

No, we're trying to bring you as much entertainment as we can. But the two teams are holed up and they're about an hour away from the strip. They don't want the teams anywhere near the strip. They're practicing at UNLV. I know the Niners have had an issue with their practice field. They're practicing up there, out there.

Our cab driver told us it's about an hour away from where we're staying at the Luxor and Mandalay Bay. So they're essentially sequestered. They're not practicing at Allegiant Stadium, which is right next to our location. Nah, they're going through their paces and they're holed up and actually in a football bubble.

And so to hear them talk about football is a little bit jarring and yet it's important, right? Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs offense have just gone through their worst statistical season since he became their starting quarterback. Now remember, they were high octane.

They were high powered. He's won two NFL MVP awards, not to mention two Super Bowls and been to a third with him as their quarterback. But it was a bad season for the Chiefs offense. A lot of theories about why that played out in such a way that they led the NFL and dropped passes.

Is it because of a bunch of new pieces, right? Only Travis Kelce being a real veteran of the roster. Is it because they didn't have Eric Bienemy? I'm sure that people out there don't think he's a valuable part of the offense or what they did, but you cannot quibble with the production or even the numbers.

Bienemy goes and works in Washington for a year. The commander's offense was awful. It's not all his fault. If you don't have a quarterback, you got a whole lot of nothing, but they traded away a bunch of pieces. So he gets fired after Dan Quinn takes over as the new head coach. Bienemy apparently was visiting the Chiefs before the AFC Championship in Baltimore.

I think there could be a reunion in the offing. The Chiefs were never better than when Andy Reid and Eric Bienemy were working together on the offense. Now, the last couple games, we've seen that offense take an uptick.

We've seen that offense play a lot better. They weren't rewriting the record books against Baltimore. Remember, in the second half of the AFC Championship, they did not score.

They were shut out. Well, that offense, physical, tough, stingy. Same thing that you could say about the Niners. Did I say offense? I'm sorry. The Baltimore defense, stingy, tough, physical.

They give you nothing. Those are all qualities that mark the Niners' defense. So as Patrick Mahomes looks ahead, he knows that this next test is the stiffest of all. That's exactly what it is. They play as a collective unit together. Everybody's together.

Everybody's on the same page. It probably speaks to the linebackers in Warner and Greenlaw. They have everybody on the same page every single play. They know when they can take chances as a secondary because maybe they have a blitz or they have certain pressure dialed up. They know when they need to play their covers the exact right way. That's what it takes in order to be a great defense. They do a great job of it. Obviously, when the D-line is going, it makes everybody else play better. It's going to take our best effort.

I think that's going to be the biggest thing you see on film. It's going to take us playing perfect football, playing hard, playing physical in order to win this football game. We have to continue to do that.

Now, they have done that. The offensive line has played better. They've worked Isaiah Pacheco into the offense in a way that he's extremely versatile and he finds seams or he catches passes out of the flat. He's been a great weapon for them. I actually think he's the key. When he's healthy, the Chiefs offense is so much better, but they're going to have to play extremely well in the trenches.

They can't drop passes like they did all of the regular season. It's still Patrick Mahomes, right? Andy Reid, you've still got Patrick Mahomes. Spags and I have been around a long time.

We're not getting younger, but we've seen a lot of quarterbacks kind of come and go and he's a heck of a player. You're right. I've been fortunate to have some great ones. Spags been on a couple of those teams where you've had these great guys that could play the game, see the game. It's just special.

It passed right up there at the top of that list. Remember AD Reid, I don't know if he was the offensive coordinator or the quarterbacks coach when Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers won a Super Bowl. He's worked with Hall of Famers and now he's worked with another future Hall of Famer in Patrick Mahomes.

It's really neat because Andy's indicated this, but you can see it as well. He loves two things, football and cheeseburgers. Oh I'm sorry, he also loves his family. He's a big family guy, but he still has a passion for football and I'm not at all surprised that that's been reignited, rekindled, even extended because of Pat. Because the abilities of Pat to see the field, to extend plays, to elude pressure, to stay upright.

Now he does scramble, but that's not what he wants to do primarily. To make any throw in the field, oh and to avoid Justin Tucker's kicking tee that is attempting to trip him up in the AFC Championship, he's a beaut. He's one of a kind in every way and he and Andy Reid are one of sports old married couples. They're so good together, they finish each other's sentences.

I mean this is the type of match that is championship caliber as we've seen and it's cool to hear the two of them talk about each other. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. We've got one more day on Radio Row, that's Thursday afternoon. Still working on a time for Oscar De La Hoya, but Jay's really excited because he lined up Bobby Flay. Jay, Bobby Flay. Do we get to talk about food with Bobby Flay? Oh absolutely we do. Apparently he's going to bring us his new menu. Stop it! Oh wait, do you think there'll be samples?

That would be incredible, I hope so. I'm not going to lambaste him if there are no samples, I really am not. Can I request samples? You could actually, a late, a last minute request, a late request.

Accept samples here? People are not talking about Brock Purdy the way they are about Patrick Mahomes. We don't really know why. We've asked a variety of people, why is Brock the object of such ire and criticism and how about doubt? And yet his teammates continue to rave about him. Everything from Christian McCaffrey who calls him one of the best guys he's ever played with.

How about that? To the guys on the defensive side of the ball and how about the Chiefs? Chris Jones, the great pass rusher. He's got respect for the Niners QB as well. He's a warrior man. Just seeing what he's been doing for the San Francisco 49ers. You know they take a quarterback out who was getting them to the to the Super Bowl and Jimmy Guapala at a guy like Brock Purdy and he does numbers for him. He does everything right man.

You know what I mean? He's one of those quarterbacks that does everything right and he's a warrior. You see what he was able to do last week when it was down and for them to come back he played a huge part of it whether it's him rushing or throwing into tight pockets. So that just shows you the resilience that that guy has and the leadership he has on that team. Remember there were a couple first down runs for Brock Purdy.

In fact if I remember correctly they each went 21 yards and one of them was on third down when they had to keep moving the ball against the Detroit Lions as they're climbing out of that hole. He's got great instincts but also he uses the weapons around him. Would you rather have Brock Purdy chucking high and overthrow and trying to make everything happen.

Be a gunslinger as opposed to winning with the guys around him. You make mistakes when you get fast and loose with the football and with the execution. Brock Purdy hasn't made a whole lot of mistakes in the last game and a half right. He didn't love his start against the Green Bay Packers but we've seen two now incredible second halves. So I think there should be no more questions about Brock Purdy. His head coach Kyle Shanahan actually has him as well as Christian McCaffrey as MVP candidates so not sure how that works with all the criticism but yeah to have both of those in the backfield that's cool.

It is unusual I mean I think to get to where we have been to where we've gotten and to do it at the level we've had you should have some players and I know we got some defensive guys up for some awards too but having both of those guys in the run and the pass game what Christian does in both and really what Brock's done in both they've both been unbelievable and on the biggest parts of our offense. So the game is coming up captain obvious. It's just funny because I really haven't thought about it much over the last couple days. You know what else I haven't thought about though I have heard her name on the wind at Radio Row. Every now and then you'll hear snatches of conversations.

There's people all around us all the time. No joke you'll hear it Taylor Swift. Swifties. Taylor. Taylor the NFL. Taylor Swift.

Travis Kelce. It is still one of the very very lightning rod topics right that that sounded awkward. It's one of the it's one of the most talked about headline storylines among not just the football crowd but among the people who are working Radio Row which includes PR people and radio hosts and podcasts and digital and all that jazz. Yeah so it's everybody it's not just radio hosts where you hear it and and I've kind of forgotten all about it for now because we're so honed in on what we're doing but it's very prominent. Oh there's the one I was looking for it's very prominent on Radio Row even in snatches of conversations as people pass us by.

So we kind of giggle at it and go back to what we're doing. Straight ahead our friend I'm sure he'd prefer to be identified as NFL MVP more than our friend but he's great. Boomer Esiason he's always game to jump on the show. He does it live every week that we're on Radio Row. He's been doing it for years and we'll see how awake he is at 2 20 a.m pacific time when he joins us next. On Twitter ALaw Radio lots of photos videos on our Facebook page as well.

Check them out because we're pleased to share them with you. It's after hours on CBS Sports Radio. A peanut butter M&M's production. In a world where Super Bowl winners get the world's admiration and a fancy ring but the runners-up get nothing one retired cop return. That's one retired quarterback read the script. Oh sorry one retired quarterback returns to claim what's his. Um that's claim a ring with diamonds made from M&M's peanut butter but you're on a roll.

The ring of comfort coming soon to a Super Bowl new you. Okay picture this it's Friday afternoon when a thought hits you. I can spend another weekend doing the same old whatever or I can hop into my all-new Hyundai Santa Fe and hit the road. With available H-track all-wheel drive and three-row seating my whole family can head deep into the wild. Conquer the weekend in the all-new Hyundai Santa Fe. Visit HyundaiUSA.com or call 562-314-4603 for more details. Hyundai there's joy in every journey.

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Choose from tons of conflict-free diamonds both natural and lab-grown then pick your ring setting and metal. Shop the James Allen Valentine's Day sale and get 25% off with promo code podcast that's 25% off at JamesAllen.com promo code podcast. We are at 98.5 HD to the Bet. It's our home for these shows during Super Bowl week because we like the acoustics a little better inside an actual radio studio not to mention access to computers and equipment that we know will work and we are busy in here from segment to segment. We're posting photos and videos so check it out on Twitter after our CBS on my Twitter ALawRadio. I see your comments your replies your support and encouragement pop up it's it's like a a non-stop news feed which is really cool we're glad you're so engaged and then our YouTube channel as well named after the show we'll have a montage at some point but Jay is working as fast as he can so subscribe to our YouTube channel because that makes him happy and it is his birthday month.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence. We actually are waiting for Boomer Esiason so he's getting ready for his show coming up at the top of next hour his New York morning show on our local affiliate in New York WFAN. I know they have to get makeup and everything else not to mention it's 2 22 in the morning and so I can understand if there's a little mix-up either way we're waiting on Boomer Esiason and we'll take him whenever he calls in Colton is staring at the phone right now no doubt but we've done everything from the dirt dogs we did it if you haven't seen the photos those are up on social and yes they were worth the walk though I could only eat that once in my lifetime. I had carne asada fries and they were piled high with guac and sour cream and the meat and I inhaled it because it was the first meal we'd eaten in over 12 hours but definitely couldn't do that more than once the thing is though you walk miles and miles in Las Vegas even if you're only going say three city blocks you walk about three times that because you're going up stairs and across the bridges and down the stairs and through hotels and around landmarks and in and out of different buildings where if it was a straight line you'd be there in five minutes but you can't do it that way because of all the traffic and the buildings and everything else and we're at the south end of the strip for those of you who are familiar with Las Vegas so Eric says this on our Facebook page hope you brought two pairs of shoes that's a must because you'll walk miles. Jay how many pairs of shoes do you think I brought? How many did you bring well I know two for sure because that we had a a minor mishap today what I don't know which I had to walk an extra four miles oh you offered you offered well of course when you leave the radio row you gotta anytime you step out of that room once you if you want to go back in even just to go to the bathroom if you say if you left out the bathroom to go back in you gotta go through security again which of course is through the labyrinth of the underground maze and then up again and then down again and then zigzag and then you parachute it to another area it's crazy but how many shoes I'll say four okay so I actually brought five pairs of shoes and one pair of flip-flops because of all the different outfits I need for work so three different outfits professional for radio row if you haven't seen the photos you'll see also clothes for work and then I've got we've got the party the cigar party coming up on Thursday evening with Mike Ditka and Ron Jaworski and so for that reason we have to have another outfit that's a little dressier so not fancy fancy like cocktail or semi-formal that would be more wedding I brought a jacket good for you I'm excited to see no no I'm wearing a dress a dress with a very shimmery scarf and heels so I would say that you're you'll fit right in there are people I know like Mark Singleton the VP of Rudolph Foods who is helping to get us here sponsoring our trip through Southern Recipe Pork Rinds he's wearing jeans and a coat so he wears a button down with a coat but he wears it over jeans and cowboy boots he's from Texas so that's his style that's his jam right yeah no problem so you're gonna fit right in and he says that there is everything there are people dressed to the nines and there are people who are a lot more dressed down but not cash cash that was his text not cash cash not cash cash that's the official phrasing I'm not that hip but I think I got you are you excited it's your first chance to meet Bob oh I'm psyched I can't wait I've been thinking about it all week Bob is flying in on Thursday afternoon uh it's a good thing that he waited until Thursday because I would barely have seen him for the last couple days it's been so long we've been in our room not barely barely at all yeah the room looks like a cyclone hit it because I've got stuff everywhere anytime and then it's just like a second to like get like get a breath or whatever like change yeah no it's been really cool the experiences if you have not seen Beast Mode Marshawn Lynch the photo is up on Facebook after hours with Amy Lawrence he was holding court and that's pretty much what happens when you get a well-known former or current athlete Cam Newton we heard him before we saw him he was surrounded by a mob of people watching him do his radio show or his I guess it's a podcast fourth and one and we heard him laughing and yelling before we saw him and then I said to Jay Cam Newton is right over there actually so I was able to sneak a couple photos of him Cam Hayward was recording a conversation with his former Steelers teammate James Connor right next to us so I got a photo I could have reached out and touched Cam Hayward in fact I was listening to him talk to James and I was laughing and he was laughing at me laughing at him yeah so we had a good time so we've seen Marshawn Lynch in the mall Beast Mode cameras and a crew there of course everywhere he goes Cam Newton Cam Hayward James Connor Max Crosby who is a mountain of a man you think Cam Hayward is big Crosby is taller and is just he's ominous I mean he's he's really intimidating he also looked even more tatted up in person which I didn't think was possible because he looks like he's completely covered on tv but he had more tattoos than I even thought Jay's favorite moment was be honest when you found out that standing right behind you was your new favorite quarterback my guy Baker yeah I said to Jay because Jay was facing me and Baker was walking right behind him Jay your boy Baker and I had to be really quiet about it because I didn't Baker was that close he could have heard me so I said your boy Baker is right behind you so Jay very proud of him sometimes he freaks out didn't do it just nonchalantly turns around realizes he's taller than Baker Mayfield and looks back at me with this with this astonished look on his face oh yeah there he is yeah so Baker Mayfield was walking around with just a couple of people and doing various interviews and a lot of the current and former players are here for the NFL honors which take place Thursday night here in Las Vegas and Baker was probably also here well he was here for the Pro Bowl and the skills competition I don't know if he stayed a lot of these guys are partnering with various charitable projects or in the case of Mark Ingram the American Gaming Association we actually heard from Mark Ingram earlier on the show but we're going to bring back part of him ripping the NFL because how long is that by the way so we may have to move here because I'm not sure what's going on with Boomer and again I know his schedule's busy in the morning so what if he calls us our next segment and we don't have time that's the only thing so moving parts when you're on radio row and you're in Las Vegas so again find us on Twitter after our CBS or my Twitter a law radio and then also on our Facebook page lots of photos and videos and the entire show is podcasted with all of our guests separately okay well do you want to try it here so Mark Ingram you ready with that long time NFL running back and I'm well you call you're the producer Jay you make the call what should we do Colton there's no sign of Boomer yet right okay and I have not had an email from his handler this week so maybe we'd have to push the next time because we're at a time we're gonna run out of time okay so let's do this here so let's swap here and let's bring back this chunk from Mark Ingram because he raved about Nick Saban I talked about his time at Alabama now that he's a college football analyst on Fox he was great but he got really passionate when I asked him about the league devaluing running backs and his reaction to weigh the NFL now views running backs well for one they it's a passing league now for two they like to do running back by committee and for three they use your production against you so it sucks because any other position if you catch 150 balls for 2500 yards they're like oh we're gonna pay this man more than anything else back up the dress yes yes back up to being strong if you're a DN and you get paid for 300 snaps you get 19 sacks they're like oh back up the truck but if you're a running back you get 300 touches and you get 2,000 scrimmage yards they're like oh maybe he has too much wear and tear on his tires now maybe he won't be able to do it again but look at what Christian McCaffrey is doing with the Niners look at even like Saquon Barkley he was on a franchise tag but the Giants are clearly a different team when he is healthy and playing as opposed when he's not they pay other players but they don't want to pay the catalyst who makes that as you go for that offense Josh Jacobs the same way like it's just unfortunate what they're doing to the running back position and I think it's going to have greater ramifications than what it is already I think some of the younger players who are in middle school or high school who are running backs I would encourage them to change their position okay play corner play receiver be an athlete do something go to a different position because if you have the good fortune and the talent to make it to NFL you're not going to get paid because they are devaluing the position it's one of the most devalued positions in the league right now unfortunately Derek Henry's a free agent yes he was the highest paid running back in the NFL he is worth his weight in gold he can still stiff arm any defender yes unfortunately unfortunately he was never the highest paid running back right unfortunately even though he was the rushing title guy like at least twice but McCaffrey and Alvin I think were the two highest and Nick Chubb too yes yes and fortunately Nick Chubb was able to get a bag because we saw the detrimental injury that he sustained last season and fortunately Alvin and and Christian got their money you know but it just has to be the perfect time before running back you have to go to the right system to a coach who likes you to a team who likes you to a team who will utilize you to get enough production but not have too much production where they hold it against you so it's like a double edged sword for running backs and with the CBA how it is set up you won't be able to you know do anything about it for another whatever five years when they renegotiate the next CBA right so it sucks right now for the running backs but all they can do is control what they control and you have to be able to do everything you have to be able to come out the backfield catch the ball prove your value as a pass protector run inside run outside you have to be a jack of all trades and not be a one-trick pony and I think that's what you have to do in the NFL to be able to be valued as a running back position. Mark Ingram did not hold back now he's recently retired played 12 seasons in the NFL at the running back position if you remember he was with the Saints then he was with Baltimore right remember he was big trust and how much he was always touting Lamar those are some of our favorite post-game press conferences when he and Lamar were in the same back field together he sort of retired in 2023 not on purpose but then was able to realize his dream going back to when he was in college got picked up by big noon kickoff on Fox and so we talked about his broadcast career now budding broadcast career his first year and also a lot about Nick Saban so I'd encourage you to go back and listen to that conversation with Mark Ingram from our podcast we'll post the links on Thursday but all you got to do is google After Hours with Amy Lawrence Podcast and you'll see various options whether it's Spotify or Apple or Omni or Odyssey our parent company something else that he and I talked about the amount of money that is estimated Americans will bet on the Super Bowl he said 23 billion dollars I'm speechless that's it's an astronomical amount of money it's monopoly money that I can't even really wrap my brain around but that's how big it's gotten now and with sports wagering legal in more than half of the United States not to mention Vegas there are a bazillion ways to Sunday that you can place bets but with the AGA the advice that he was giving is about knowing your limits and betting responsibly and that's important too because I think people get caught up we're seeing it here in Vegas it's everywhere it's so easy to get caught up and to kind of ride the wave again podcast available right after we get done every weekday morning on Twitter A Law Radio on our Facebook page After Hours with Amy Lawrence we're still hoping for our friend Boomer Sizem but if not we'll get him on our final morning of the week we finally get to connect with Mark Singleton of Rudolph Foods he actually invited Jay and I to a dinner with the Hall of Famers they have here in Las Vegas this week Steve Largent and Kellen Winslow but we had other commitments and we desperately needed to eat something but that was on our list right you guys have given us so many food suggestions and we had to at least check one off the list before Friday when we head to our big brunch after the Mob Museum so we did that but we also had to to run into a store I went into Target just to find something that wasn't fried so I picked up a salad I picked up a big container of fruit a couple of yogurts one of which I was just eating a few minutes ago two apples three bananas and I feel much better about my life now that I've got some food that isn't put on a fryer and isn't fattening I've had more fries in the last 24 hours than I've had in probably the last seven weeks oh seven months gosh I don't I don't eat a lot of fries as much as I love them it's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio especially not now that I've signed up for another half marathon in under two months I shouldn't be eating all those fries I'm telling you though the training is great just walking around the city of Las Vegas training for half marathon we haven't gone anywhere but the south end of the strip oh my goodness all we've done is Luxor Mandalay Bay we walked over to the MGM Grand and the Tropicana had to go around it to get to Dirt Dogs it's in a food court for heaven's sakes if you haven't seen the photos they're up on our social as well what we found out Jay this is kind of crazy right next to the MGM Grand if you're looking south the mountains are in the distance it's really neat my favorite amazing backdrop you've got MGM Grand and the Tropicana are right next to each other and they're just south across Vegas Boulevard from Mandalay Bay and Luxor okay so you and I we see the Tropicana we walk by it we're going over to the MGM Grand I took a picture of the the lion that's out in front right and it gets really crazy there there's a ton of foot traffic the traffic traffic the congestion was unbelievable so you're at that point you're across the street from Allegiant Stadium and T-Mobile Arena where the Raiders and the Golden Knights play and just so you know for reference purposes Michelob Ultra is in Mandalay Bay that whole complex that's where the WNBA champion aces play okay so all of those teams are right there and what we found out from our lift driver they're actually knocking down the Tropicana and that's where they're going to build the new stadium for the A's should that move forward holy crap you're talking about not even one square mile and five stadiums there's already so much traffic there's already so many shops and malls and souvenir places and hotels and sites I can't imagine shoehorning another stadium in there but that's where they're going to put the A's so we were blown away when he said that it's again right across the street and kind of down a little bit from Allegiant Stadium and then you've got T-Mobile that's up actually almost directly across the street right actually if you check out my Twitter A-Law Radio or our Facebook page I posted a photo of it's the Statue of Liberty not the real one but it was funny because there we are at the south end of the Vegas Strip and we see the Statue of Liberty a replica so there's actually a hotel called New York New York which we think is comical because we came all the way to Las Vegas and here we are staring at New York New York but it's set up to look like Times Square so there's a Hershey store and there's a bunch of other there oh there's a roller coaster there's a bunch of other elements to it that are made to look like a mini Times Square and then the Statue of Liberty which does not reside on Times Square yeah she's not in the middle of the city she's in the middle of a river from it but yeah my god like six or seven miles anyway so it's kind of funny that that uh we you know we're standing there looking at New York anyway right behind the Statue of Liberty kind of up the hill a little ways is T-Mobile Arena so one square mile and they're going to put the A's and the Raiders and the Golden Knights and the Aces and then there's all these big hotels with concert venues and beaches and everything else the traffic itself that alone is a problem but then think about the number of bodies that are trying to navigate as as Jay and I have figured out you don't go straight line you don't just walk down the sidewalk you can't you go up and over the road down the road then back up and over another set of of stairs and stairs and bridges though so our cab driver also told us this he said from north to south end the strip is about four and a half miles and so me naively I exclaimed oh I can do that we can walk that he said but the problem is you have to zigzag back and forth walk in and out of hotels and other landmarks it actually doubles in distance so you can't walk the straight four miles you can't do it you can't walk down Las Vegas boulevard because they they have closed off parts of the sidewalks and again landmarks and various buildings that are blocking you and so they make you go up and over and then you walk a little farther and you go back over to the other side you're zigzagging he said if you walk it the way that they've designed it it's eight miles all right so I guess we won't be walking from the north end of the south end uh though we will be experiencing some of the the north part of the strip Bellagio Fremont Street I know is old Vegas but that's where we're going for the mob museum I actually am going to Treasure Island to see Cirque du Soleil on Friday night with the hubs so that's our date night which will be fun so we'll see other parts of the strip but it's not easy to get anywhere and Jay and I we've seen not only did the number of bodies inside the Luxor Mandalay Bay mall and and convention area quadruple because the NFL experience opened on Wednesday so there are now it's wall-to-wall bodies we could walk through on Tuesday without much trouble we actually got lost got turned around whatever whatever you can't walk now without having to sidestep and dodge and it's a steady street chief's jerseys and the niners jerseys all coming in now it's like herding cattle I mean there's that many people that are going through this mall from building to build well from hotel to hotel and then we get out for the first time it was like we see the sun the sun finally dawned on the Vegas strip it was really cool I was actually taking photos from my hotel room I'm on the 23rd floor of the Luxor which is the pyramid and the sun from the various angles shining on the golden structure of Mandalay Bay but then the mountains in the distance it's really pretty an Allegiant Stadium is off to the right uh so that's my perspective as well again I'll share some of these photos when we have an opportunity but what I was seeing brake lights non-stop sea of brake lights it's Wednesday evening when this is happening and the wall-to-wall bodies we're going to get Thursday oh you and I are I'm going to get claustrophobic with the number of people it's going to be a little bit like the mall of America where we're surrounded by people so it's going to continue to increase in terms of the numbers of people who are coming in which means the traffic is hideous and there's no real public transportation in Las Vegas other than buses or shuttles but they're gonna have to sit in traffic too yeah there's a monorail that really only goes among the MGM properties so I think walking is probably the best option if you're going under a couple miles but again it's not easy as Jay and I found out we were going maybe what I would say maybe a quarter mile yeah maybe and it took us 20 minutes now great we didn't know exactly where we were going on the way out on the way back it took us maybe 15 but yeah to put an a stadium in that same space just think of traffic and brake lights today I mean I know the Super Bowl's in town but it's but it's Wednesday it's not it's February it's not exactly like warm and nice here in the summer baseball 81 times a year that stadium's gonna have 55,000 people coming out of it into this already congested crazy area I don't know it's gonna be mayhem mayhem mayhem is right like football it's right here but it's only eight times and it's a sunday everyone knows the drill all right avoid that area on the sunday the hockey games not as much it's a little further away but this where this is gonna build this a stadium it's it's it's a huge congestion area and it's just gonna let out more and more people it's the very bottom if you will the very south end of the strip but it's right there with all the other stadiums and so I don't know how they're they're gonna do it it but it's cool it'll look awesome having a baseball stadium right there on the strip but but the locals it's gonna be like and I won't speak for you but like me I avoid times square like the plague hate times the number of people and the traffic and the cabs and the congestion and the tourists and the people who don't know what they're doing no thank you I don't want anything to do with times square and now you get that same feel at least at the south end we haven't done any other part of the strip because we've been so busy but the south end is insane it's too crowded and it's just and also just in terms of the stadium and all the just the brake lights and the cars not being able to get out if you're you know there's not everyone coming to an A's game is going to be in live in vegas it's going to be people from the other parts of nevada who are driving in it's going to take four hours just to get out of the city of vegas traveling in uh so see there's other things to talk about besides taylor swift but we heard this exchange with uh reporter travis kelsey oy i don't how can any self-respecting sports reporter ask these questions i'm going to assume this is not someone who works in sports she's all in man she's all this she's a chief's kingdom she's part of chief's kingdom 100 and uh you know you asked me how how it is and to be honest i'm i'm learning throughout this all you know i'm just kind of on the on the the plane ride just cruising trying to figure this thing out on the run man he's figuring out what it's like to date someone who is his worldwide renown someone else asked travis who gets a ring first him or taylor are you kidding me first of all do you expect him to answer the question that would be wrong you don't tell as someone who got engaged not that long ago and then got married you don't tell anyone else unless you're talking about family friends who are going to help you orchestrate it before you tell her she's going to get a proposal oh my gosh oh he has two rings yeah seriously so that had to be somebody who doesn't work in sports but i don't know how you can pose that question with a straight face it's so invasive and intrusive and just rude it's a plain just question to try to get a headline grab thank you yeah you think so anyway someone asked that question i never would have done that excuse me thank you so much for all of your responses on twitter after hours cbs on my twitter a law radio check out the photos and videos also on our facebook page bobby flay on thursday and we're still hoping for oscar day lahoya it's after hours with amy lawrence from vegas right here on cbs sports radio a peanut butter m&m's production in a world where super bowl winners get the world's admiration and a fancy ring but the runners-up get nothing one retired cop return that's one retired quarterback read the script oh sorry one retired quarterback returns to claim what's his um that's claim a ring with diamonds made from m&m's peanut butter but you're on a roll the ring of comfort coming soon to a super bowl new you okay picture this it's friday afternoon when a 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