It is. The J.R. Sport Brief Show? On the Infinity Sports Network. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia.
Thank you to everybody listening all over North America. You could be here in Georgia with me. You could be in Los Angeles. You could be in Portland. You could be in Boise.
You could be in Tennessee. You could be in. In Des Moines. You could be at Montreal. Shoutouts to Chicago.
What's up, Baltimore? And Houston? Alabama, Florida. Main Thank you for being here. Thank you to our producer in New York City, Ryan Botcher.
This show gets started every weekday, 6 p.m. Eastern. Three Pacific. We talked about Shador Sanders getting a start. getting the first preseason start.
For the Browns. Everybody else on the Browns is either old or dropping like flies. Enter Shador. Got starters getting it going for the Panthers. The Cincinnati Bengals are putting their starters out there as well for the first couple of games so they can.
Not start the season 0-3 again. Jordan Addison suspended for the first three games of the regular season. That D UI from last year caught up to him. Oh, yeah. Can't wait to see what Rasheed Rice's suspension looks like.
He's probably going to get six games. Kyron Williams. He didn't get suspended. He got a new contract. Three years, thirty-three million dollars.
James Cook, hands on his hips with the Buffalo Bills, saying, Where's my Money.
So we've discussed a lot. Hard Knox debuting tonight with the Buffalo Bills on HBO. If you've missed a minute or a second of the show. Go ahead and hit Rewind. on the Free Odyssey Act.
You can always listen live on your local Infinity Sports Network affiliate. If you got SiriusXMH Channel 375, if you have a smart speaker, ask the speaker to play. The Infinity Sports Network. We talked about the Eagles and Matthew Stafford's back. We had a great chat with Matt Perino, who covers all things Buffalo Bills on the beat.
And we have more to get into. If you want to call up the show, you can. 888-710-4ISN is the number. That's 888-710-4ISN. You can find me online.
I exist. I am at JR Sport Brief. That's at JR Sport Brief everywhere. on social media, and saw a lot of football, of course. Preseason is getting really Turned up.
All the teams are going to be in action following the Hall of Fame game last week. between the Lions and the Chargers.
Now we're getting closer.
So the action. Man, it really stinks. One end, it's like August fifth. I'm like counting down days until summer is over. But then we get closer to football, which I certainly Appreciate And so it's it's y you got to enjoy every day.
As it comes by. You don't want to start missing. The finer things in life. 888-710-4ISN is the number. That's 888-710-4ISN.
Speaking of missing anything. Man, we found out. It ain't no big deal to me. It's certainly a big deal to probably tons of NFL players. The NFL has decided to ban A particular substance during the course of games.
The NFL has said. No mas. To smelling salt? Yeah. Biana, have you, Botch, you ever smell one of those things?
Nope, and I will refuse to because I see no reason in it.
Well, you know what ammonia smells like, right? Strong. Yes, very strong.
Now, can you imagine that in a. A packet of capsules that just wake you the hell up? Ugh. It's horrible. I don't get it.
Well, I mean, if you're out there beating somebody's ass for three hours on a Sunday, and you need to get going before a play, then you you might need to get rolling. Ironically, this isn't anything that the NFL announced publicly, and why would they? George Kittle was on the NFL network. He basically walked on to set. They were doing some interviews.
NFL Network is live at their training camp. And George Kittle just decided to walk up. I think they were interviewing Fred Warner. And George Kittle broke the news that the smelling salts were banned. Listen to this.
I honestly just came up here to air a grievance. Oh, our team had a memo today that smelling salts and ammonia packets were made illegal in the NFL. Wow. And I've been distraught all day. Illegal?
Yeah, he even said he's not practicing anymore. I considered retirement. Yeah. So they failed. Wow.
I bring that back for George Kittle. Yeah, so we got to figure out the middle ground here, guys.
Somebody help me out.
Somebody come up with a good idea.
Somebody's on you. Airing of grievances. Yeah, that's all I had to get out there. I'll get that off. Is it every before every drive is a drink?
I'm in every drive. I'm sure that's a brief. I'm in every drive. In between every play, he's too much sauce that pulls out the sauce. Yeah.
Well, it feels like the energy's still out here, though. No, definitely, definitely, but I missed those already. But they have some outlawed practice. No, no, we don't have them out practice.
Okay, sorry. Just a little bit. That's all right. That was my only grievance. But besides that, you guys look fabulous.
Fred, it's all yours. At what point in time? Do you take so y crack open so many smelling salts? That you're immune to it between every drive. What are we doing here?
And so the NFL actually put out a memo that has now, of course, been publicized. It says in 2024, the FDA issued a warning to companies selling ammonia inhalants. And then the NFL continue on. The FDA noted potential negative effects. From use.
They also, ammonia inhalants, have the potential to mask certain neurological signs and symptoms. Including Some potential signs. of concussion. As a result, the NFL Head, Neck and Spine Committee Recommended prohibiting the use of ammonia inhalants for any purpose during play. in the N F L.
In light of this information, effective for the 2025 NFL season, clubs are prohibited. from providing or supplying ammonia in any form at NFO Games. And then the NFL is like capsules, inhalers, in a cup, any form. of smelling salts. Done.
The prohibition applies through the entirety of all NFL games. That means pregame activities. Half time. and applies on the sideline. and in stadium locker rooms.
And so if you want some smelling salts, You better do it before you show up to the stadium. I don't know how much good it's going to do you before or after. I don't know. You know, who the hell's sitting around cracking open, smelling salts? After work.
I don't know. People are having a beer, not smelling salt, so. I I can understand this. I mean, the NFL has has touted for years about how much they care about Brain care and health care and CTE and whatnot. Uh this would be a logical step.
If you just got concussed. If you just got knocked the hell out. And the first inclination is for you to, you know. crack open a capsule or smell some salts. And the next thing you know, you're awake and alert, then it could potentially mask.
A concussion. I don't want to say this is minor business. And to be honest, I'm surprised that it took this long for the NFL to do so. But I mean, who's opining who's screaming about smelling salts. Outside of of George Kittle.
I I mean, we've seen plenty of photos of guys that Alvin Kamara utilizing smelling salts. Max Crosby Smelling them. Bacha, I've seen coaches. on the sidelines who get a whiff and then they they shake their head and now they're awake. Yep, shout out Adam Gaze.
He was known for doing that a lot. Oh my god. Adam Gaze was cracking open the capsules? All the time. Is that why his eyes did that at the press conference?
Maybe, or it could have been some other things. Oh yeah, I think it might have been some other things. I think most definitely. Uh you think this is a big deal or a small deal? In The moment now, I feel it's a small thing.
But maybe these players do get a rush of adrenaline that makes them play better during the game. I I doubt it'll make any significant changes, but I guess For the health of the players, it's a good thing. Yeah, and I The players are adaptive. I think all things considered, once you get into the game and you don't have it available to you, you'll get over it. You'll get used to it.
I don't know. Maybe George Kittle will start drinking coffee on the sidelines instead of. you know, having smelling salts. I I don't know. I've never played in the NFL.
I've never hit a guy. I've never had to worry about it. But I can imagine that having a dependency on it to kinda wake up and and kind of get shocked into life. They'll find something else to do. And you know, I don't think the product will suffer.
I think this is a minor issue, at least from the NFL's perspective. The players will adjust. I mean, it's different. I don't even know how many years ago it was, maybe a decade or so? Major League Baseball They banned dip.
Wha what was that, ten, fifteen years you think, Botch, or maybe longer? It had to be at least... 15 years ago. But they found alternatives. And there's still sometimes you see people in the dugout where it's like.
That's oddly suspicious amount of sunflower seeds. You think you think guys are still cramming nicotine into their mouth that way. Oh, yeah, there's 100% like Zins or other stuff like that in the darkouts. But Dip itself, I think there's maybe one or two guys that try to sneak it every now and then. Oh, my God.
Yeah, well well. Players adjusted, right? There was a, I'm not going to say there was a massive uproar about it. But It it it changed. And I don't I think the NFL players will be perfectly fine with the uh missing out on on smelling salts.
Like most people like have coffee in the morning, or people have coffee all day long. Macaffinate. And then there comes a point in time where you've had too much caffeine and now you need to move on to something else.
So. I don't know. George Kittle will uh He'll go out there and figure it out. 888-710-4ISN. That's 888-710-481.
4ISN. A couple of things are taking place today. The NFL banning smelling salts. And then we are staring in the face Of the newest edition of the NFL's Hard knocks. as Botcher mentioned earlier in the show.
We didn't have no offseason addition to embarrass a team like the New York Giants. I have no idea who they're going to highlight throughout the course of the season. I will not be watching. But in the summertime I watch Hard Knocks. I don't know.
Maybe I sound like a jerk. I'm interested in seeing the inner workings of a franchise, of an organization, even though it's for show. You got guys getting cut. I remember it was groundbreaking when we saw that for the first time, more than. 20, 25 years ago.
And some of the best episodes have been They've helped elevate some players. Rex Ryan is still on television. After being on hard knocks, I remember this guy was coaching in Jets. He was ticked off. And he had to yell at his guys and then he wanted a snack.
Do you remember this? Listen.
Now there's a difference between having fun and being a jackass. Our defense. was a jackass when we went to Hostra. Eating a bunch of cheeseburgers. Before we go stretch and all that.
That's being a jackass. You can be a world champion, but not like this. We won't win it. We'll sit back and say, why didn't we do it? We didn't do it because where were our priorities?
How about our offense? When are we going to put it together? When are we going to put it together? Can we not run the ball down their throats every snap? Can we not throw it anytime we want to f ⁇ ing throw it?
Let's make sure we play like the New York Jets. and not some f slack team. That's what I want to see tomorrow. Do we understand what the fk I want to see tomorrow? Let's go to eat a goddamn snack.
Yeah. Bacha, there's irony in him saying, we can't be a championship squad eating. hamburgers and cheeseburgers before we stretch. And then he finishes his entire speech by saying, Let's go get a snack. Hey, they showed like on the So they had like a whiteboard of like all their team meetings and all the timings.
And then nine o'clock in like bold red lettering, it said snack in all caps.
So it was like, okay, this must just be like a team bonding snack thing. Yeah. Well, I mean, Rex Round, of course, there's bonding around food, of course. Either food or feet. That's Rex Ryan's thing.
Man, that's not the only major quote that I remember from Hard Knox. This is pretty cool. A couple years ago, Carl Nasser, but I don't think he's in the league anymore. But he was playing for, I believe, the Browns at the time. And he was giving out financial advice.
He was telling these guys how to not lose money. Listen to this. Who here knows what compound interest is? This is real shit. Financial advisors are everywhere, okay?
They'll take your money and they'll take 1% of everything you got. You're like, oh, it's 1%. It doesn't matter. I know it matters. It matters.
I'll take a lot. Because if you learn this yourself, you can make. billion dollars. We got a lot of money right now, right? This is the easiest equation to make you rich.
You have a million dollars, and after seven years of getting 10% on that money every single year.
Okay, you're making money off of it, you're gonna double it after seven years.
So you double your money every seven years for 42 years, you get 64 times your original fing money.
So you got a million dollars, you can end up with 64 million dollars by the time you retire. Nice. If you don't turn that And I remember that, the guys he was teaching them in the room. Carl Nassau about he might be counting somebody's money to day. Remember the first hard knots with the Baltimore Ravens featuring Ray Lewis.
Ray Lewis was.
Well? I'm not going to say he's crazy because I don't need Ray Lewis beating my ass. He's very nice every time I've spoken to him. Listen to Ray Lewis talk about football. This is the first ever hard knocks.
My passion is when a person speak about a linebacker, the first name come out their mouth is Ray Lewis. The way he changed the game, the way he played the game, when he stepped on the field, there was no question that he came to work every day. When people write about me, they write what they think they know. They think that I'm heartless. They think that I'm this gladiator at all times.
I'm this warrior, and that's the way I carry my life. off the field in the neighborhood. It's not. Yeah, my heart is pure. I'm probably the most humblest person you'll ever know.
I love kids. I love being around people. Oh, well. Oh, how about this? Charger signed Keenan Allen a one-year deal, $8.5 million.
He's going. He going back? Damn okay. And Justin Herbert.
Well, good good for Keenan Allen. Spent them years with the Bears and now he's And he's back with the Chargers. Good. You know, Bachana, I think about it, why didn't we get the Chargers doing hard knocks? Wouldn't we be great with Harbaugh?
Uh I think it If I had any more harbor than the press conference rants, uh-oh, uh-oh, here we go. Where he just, you know. gives random quotes and random stories for about two minutes at a time. Yeah, I think I would go insane. W wouldn't it be fun watching him and his players get sick of him?
No, that'd be fun. No, because he pe the players don't get sick of him. Because in a weird way he's entertaining with these stories, but they go on for so long. It's the same thing over and over and over. Didn't he say becoming the Chargers coach is like a baby being born?
Remember that?
Something like that. He made a reference to like. Martin Luther King Jr. It was just a lot. Yeah, let's get him on hard knocks.
Next year, next year, let's get him on there. I'm down for it. Yeah, we've had some nutty figures. Didn't the Raiders have hard knocks when Antonio Brown burned his feet in the Cryo Chamber? Yep, it was the whole.
Thing where he wouldn't, he didn't have a certain helmet, so he was trying to find a new helmet. Then he was mad at, I think, Derek Carr. And then he got his feet frozen. And then he got cut, I think, in the same hard knocks. Yeah, and now he is on the land.
He still has this warrant out for his arrest, doesn't he? Yep. He still does. He is MIA. He's got his bots tweeting for him on his Twitter page, and he's out.
And so he hasn't been on social media, nothing active. He that his social media account. I'm pretty sure 97% of it. is just like people who are hired to make it Dumb tweets. While he's just earning profit from it.
Oh, my. Oh, my. See, I was about to say. Yeah. You read Antonio Brown.
I don't follow or look at a lot of this stuff because I feel like it makes you dumb. His his account is is a prime example.
Okay, he's tweeting about the adult objects that have been thrown onto WNBA courts. That is literally his last tweet thirty minutes ago. And outside of that, Yeah, he's uh I Yeah, I got too many brain cells to be keeping up with Antonio Brown. Yeah, it's all impression farming.
So it's all like. stuff to get attention. Oh, it's disgusting. Which is a is unfortunately is a lot of the things. Uh online.
Yeah, he might need the money for for bail sooner than later if they ever get their hands on him. God only knows where he is. Um You know? Uh speaking of objects. This is Antonio Brown being confused on hard knocks a few years ago.
Listen to this. You wanna see it? Are you sure you wanna say that? You look like you're walking a little funny. Yeah, my feet is pretty much getting circumcised, right?
Right? Yeah. For real. Like circulation? Yeah.
No. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, with the new skin, yeah. Exactly. Yeah, it's kind of like a pullback right now.
It doesn't happen, unfortunately. Yeah, got circumstances on my feet, you know. Hopefully my feet born again and I freaking go run faster. Feel sorry for me later. Thank you.
He yeah, he's an He's an interesting fellow with a warrant out for his arrest. Yes, he was referring to uh the feet that he burned up, um Yeah. I don't Pray for that man. He needs all of it. 888-710-4ISN.
That's 888-710-4ISN. We're going to take a break when we come back. We know Antonio Brown, he is never playing another down in the NFL. I'm going to tell you about a guy who is returning. He just got booted from a high school.
I'll explain. It's the JR Sport Reshow Coast to Coast on the Infinity Sports Network. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief. It is the JR Sport Brief show on the Infinity. Sports network.
888-710-4ISN. That's 888-710-4. Four I S N Let's think about a few things gone from the NFL. At least for now. Smelling salts have been banned.
As of today, the NFL put out a memo letting the league know: all you players, no more smelling salts. at any point throughout the course of a game. When you show up to the stadium, You ain't using them things. It's over. Find something else to be stimulated by, okay?
Also gone from the NFL, at least for the first three games of the regular season. Jordan Addison. Wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings opposite Justin Jefferson. He's gone. Had a DUI last year, has been placed on probation amongst a few other things, a fine, taking a class and whatnot.
And the NFL said, hey man, you're gone. For three. Games. They're gone.
Now I can tell you about somebody. Who's back? Teddy Bridgewater back in the NFL. Coached his high school team to a state championship. Then came back, and well, I can't say he really played in the NFL.
He really didn't play at all. For the Detroit Lions last year, but he came back and he pretty much said that he was going to go back and coach the team again. That didn't take place. As of today, Teddy Bridgewater has signed a contract to be a backup quarterback for Baker Mayfield. and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But it was only a few weeks ago. that we learned at Teddy Bridgewater, he didn't return to high school to coach. Ultimately, because he was suspended. Remember this report from CBS Miami? Former dolphin Teddy Bridgewater has been suspended as Miami Northwestern's high school football coach for providing players with impermissible benefits.
Bridgewater was flagged for social media posts encouraging donations to cover transportation, meals, and recovery-related costs he paid for the students last season. That led to an investigation by the Florida High School Athletic Association. Bridgewater led the team to a state championship last year. Yeah. I mean, that's the silliness of of athletics.
And I get it, you don't want to have one team having uh You know, advantage over the other because your coach is an NFL QB. And so he can go into his pocket and get rides home for everybody. He can buy lunch. But there comes a point in time where there's nothing wrong with giving somebody a leg up.
Sometimes common sense. gets lost. And a lot of that. And so Teddy Bridgewater is back. And how much is he going to play?
Uh I think if you're the buccaneers you hope not a lot. You can certainly be a good presence in the locker room. You can certainly be available if uh You know, Mr. Baker Mayfield is not available. And Baker Mayfield, well, he's been dealing with a sore hand.
He got a bruise on his hand. Matter of fact, Todd Bowles He gave an update On both QBs. Todd Bowles never won to uh It utilized a lot of words for everything. This is what he had to say first about signing Teddy Bridgwater. He brings us a wealth of experience at that spot.
Obviously, we don't have it. Kyle's been here a few years, but he hadn't really played. Obviously, we have the new guy just coming in, so. We need the extra arm. We think we need some experience in that room.
And the more experienced, the better. I mean, does he know who his players are? He said Kyle Kyle Trask he's referring to, the former Gator. And then the other guy is Michael Pratt.
So you have Teddy Bridgewater in there. At least you know he's not going to completely throw. the game away. But what's up with Baker? He got a bruised hand.
Now, apparently, he's back. Let's hear what Todd Bowles, Mr. Enthusiasm, had to say. I mean he was sharp. He was throwing the football.
It's like camp days. They never ended. He was very good on his reads as far as understanding where the blitzes were coming from and knowing where to go with the football.
So I was happy about that.
Okay. Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Certainly making some moves here in the offseason.
Well, at least I think the biggest one on the offensive side of the ball, drafting a Meka Ibuka out of Ohio State. That's going to be pretty good, especially as Chris Godwin. Tries to come back from his knee injury. I mean, they re-signed him to a contract, so they're expecting him eventually to be healthy. And the Buccaneers, they're going to be competing once again.
I would say they're probably favorites. In the NFC South, depending on what happens with the Atlanta Falcons, God only knows what Pennix Jr. is going to do. And so the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are probably a safer bet. I would expect that the Carolina Panthers are also better.
But then all three teams are going to be beating the living hell. out of the New Orleans Saints. Despite anything you might hear, they are hoping, wishing, and praying. That they get their hands on Arch Manning. Yeah, the Saints are in full-on.
Tank mode. Bacha, how do you feel about these Buccaneers? They should win the South again, right? They should easily win the South to me. And then on top of that they should at least win one playoff game.
Wow, okay. You no no faith on the Falcons, huh? A little bit of faith, but to be fair, I can't trust a second-year quarterback who wasn't really. A superstar his first year either.
So if he if he Michael Panix comes out there and surprises us. Cool, but I at this point The Buccaneers should make the playoffs and should win one playoff game. Should. I mean, it's amazing when you look at Baker Mayfield and what his last two seasons have looked like. I think last year he went over.
Yeah, he did. 41 touchdowns, a tied for second in the entire NFL behind Joe Burrow. And the year before that, I think he had 35, 36. Only at 28. 28 and 10.
And so it Watching him go out there and throw the football, yeah, it it's nice. I can look down the field and go, hey, there's Mike Evans. I can throw him a ball. That he did not have. out in Cleveland.
But they wanted to run the football, and here he's in a different offense, showing a whole hell of a lot more. Of what he did when he was out there playing in college in Oklahoma.
So to see the advancement of Baker Mayfield's career. It seems like yesterday, like he was on the Panthers. He was out there playing on the Rams for like a stretch, just trying to. work his way into a starting job and he got one. With the Buccaneers, and he has certainly made the most of it.
And so, good on Baker Mayfield. And if he continues to have success, I think I said this the other day. he will become unbearable.
Somebody mentioned winning a Super Bowl. If Baker Mayfield ever wins a championship, He's gonna have, and maybe rightfully so, he will have the biggest chip on his shoulder ever. And Browns fans are going to have to look at this and just go. Of course us of course it's us. We got the guy.
We let the guy go. And the next thing you know, we're back in the toilet because we wanted to draft, or at least. No trade for a pervert. And there you have it. A couple of teams paid for that.
going after Deshaun Watson. The Falcons paid for it with Matt Ryan, he gone, he now retired. And then uh well Browns paid for it big time and The Buccaneers or the beneficiary were Baker Mayfield. It's funny how things work out sometimes. 888-710-4ISN.
That's 888-710-4ISN. You know what? When we come back from break. I want to talk about a couple of things that that have worked out. One for Baker, not for Baker Mayfield, but one for another quarterback.
I guess he's looking for another lease at life. That's Geno Smith. And then we had an amazing story coming out of Major League Baseball. I'll tell you what it is on the other side of the break. But right now, it's time for a news flash.
What's going on in the world? Here he is. It's Rich Ackerman. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief. It is the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on the Infinites.
A sports. Network. eight eight eight seven ten four is n That's 888-710-4ISN. You know what? This is a good opportunity.
This is a good time to tell you about the defensive player of the week. Brought to you by the Navy Federal Credit Union. Our members, they are the mission. The defensive player of the week is Quinn Priester of the Brewers. This man pitched seven innings.
Gave up one run last night. Against the Atlanta Braves, where I am. A priester. He's now 11-2 on the season. He has an ERA of 3.15.
This guy didn't really get a chance after Coming out of Pittsburgh had like one or two starts with Boston before he got traded. and now he's lighting it up for the Brewers. The team, not the guy. Bacha, the guy called last week and said, What did he say? We're not showing him enough love or something like that?
That was yesterday, I think, where he was talking about how. Jacob Mizarowski and Isaac Collins are probably the top two favorites. Oh, there was no, there was a guy last week about the trade deadline. I don't know. Were you here every day last week?
No, you missed the day, right? I missed Tuesday last week. Oh, no, this was the day of the trade deadline. A guy called, and he was mad we didn't talk about the Brewers. Yeah, 'cause they did nothing.
I remember that call now. And I just saw Trurio is going to be out another, what, two weeks now? Three weeks? Probably at least. He purchased hamstring.
Minimum? Minimum? Well shout outs to Priester though. Excellent uh baseball name. 888-710-4ISN.
That's 888-710-4ISN. Ironically, right before we went to break, we talked about Teddy Bridgewater signing with the Buccaneers. We talked about the starting quarterback for the Buccaneers, Baker Mayfield. and how now that he has exited Cleveland, He's found success. He had to stop by Carolina.
He had to stop by Los Angeles. But last season it got through forty-one touchdowns. For the Bucks he's only up and up. It's like you leave Cleveland and good things happen. Ask LeBron.
And God bless LeBron for going back home ultimately. But we got a good story. That is also coming out of Cleveland. This is uh It's heart warming. Nick Enright, This man is a relief pitcher.
For the Guardians, he just started his career. And he just had his first career saved last night. against the Mets. Big freaking deal, right? There, whatever.
Here's the big deal. This man has been battling Hodgkin. Lymphoma. That's cancer. The guy has been going through several rounds of immunotherapy.
And he still has to do more. at the end of the season. He has an ERA. of about two.
Now, we've had Athletes who have battled back. and come back. From cancer. Bacher, who was the White Sox closer? Liam Hendricks.
Yeah, Liam Hendricks. And now and then he wasn't getting death threats at the beginning of the season separately from that too? Yeah, it was the he was just bad with Austin. Yeah, and he's this guy's been an all-star multiple times. He's come back from cancer.
I believe he had testicular cancer. Uh but to know that he is actively doing this. This is his rookie season. It's just. It it's admirable.
A couple of weeks ago, we talked about Jim Abbott and what he did from a physical disability standpoint. To go out there and throw that no-hitter years ago, and now he has a documentary that just aired on ESPN. These are stories that just supersede and go beyond sports. He was on MLB Network last night, Nick Enright was, and he talked about what the save means. You know, it's been a journey to get here, that's for sure.
And I think what my journey has done is given me a great perspective, allows me to slow some things down when I'm out there because any situation that I face on the ball field pales in comparison to the stuff that me and my family have had to go through these last three years. And so for me, it's being able to bank on that and being able to just, you know, slow things down. He continued on. He said it was all A dream come true. For me, it's these last couple of years especially have been I've gone through a lot of adversity and just everything that's gone on.
And so for me, it's being able to reflect on those in these moments I'm rootin' for him. I don't know about them guardians. I mean, they're Uh kind of run of the mill at this point in time. I don't I don't think they're going to be able to catch up. uh to the Tigers at any point in time.
But I I'm certainly rooting Uh for him. A L Central is. I don't want to call it a nap time division. Bach, are you paying attention to anything out there? In the AL Central.
The twins sold everybody. They're trying to sell the whole damn team, you know? Yeah, and you can see that when they Just try to offload one of your best players for basically nothing. At least the White Sox, they uh. They got more than five wins.
That's a plus, right? Yeah, but they're a mess too. They didn't trade any of their. Potential stars besides like Louise Robert should have been moved. Their manager's not falling asleep in a dugout.
That's good. Yeah, but he's not winning games either, so it's not really beneficial.
Well, can it be any worse than La Russa? I'm trying to think of why you are so miserable. Hey, I'm just saying, Tony LaRussa made the playoffs his first year with the White Sox. Why the hell? Anybody, he had no business being there.
He was falling asleep in the dugout. That's true. But I also followed the sunk. He had to leave because he was old. He didn't fall asleep because the team sucked.
He fell asleep because he was old. Eh, a combination of everything. Brad. He fell asleep because he had to leave the team because of health issues. He shouldn't have been there.
Why did he get hired? Because Jerry Reinsdorf is just like, I know him. And Jerry Ronsdorf is old. Like what are we doing? Come on.
Shout outs to the White Sox. They've won more than five games this season. That is a. That is a plus. Yeah, this this division is there for the Tigers to uh to lose.
Oh my God, look at this. Speaking of old. You see Pete did you see Pete Carroll today? I did we do. You know, he's wearing shades inside or maybe it's outside.
He's wearing shades at his press conference. He He looks like he's in witness protection. What's his deal? It can't be that bad, I mean, in Vegas yet, right? Yeah, but like Vegas, different personality comes out, you know?
Oh, so now he's just uh we're gonna see Pete Carroll in the hangover or something like that? Yeah, high roller. Yeah, maybe.
Well, they need to stay away from gambling. We've seen how gambling is uh Destroying all types of athletes, but it's going to be fun to see what the Raiders do. this year. Not really. This is nothing I The Raiders are an interesting team.
Because we know Pete Carroll is not going to be around for the long haul. And we even know Geno Smith. Is not going to be around for the long haul. They are both. basically babysitting.
the franchise until Tom Brady goes I found somebody or a couple of guys who I think can be here. For the next 10 or 15 years. It is not 73-year-old Pete Carroll. It is not Geno Smith. God bless him.
He's had a career resurgence. Didn't look like he was going to do anything. you know, coming off of his career with the New York Jets, But then he's been able to to turn things around. And it's kinda crazy. Geno Smith actually spoke to the NFL network.
He wasn't wearing shades like his head coach. And Geno said. Like, yeah, they're a bunch of people who don't believe in us. It's like, Gino, you just got there. Shut up.
Listen to this. You know, I'm always the guy who, like, I believe that the game gets settled between the white lines on game day. But, you know, from my vantage point, we got a really, really good team. And I think we're going to, I don't know if we'll shock anyone inside of this building, but maybe shock some outsiders. And so, you know, but it's good.
Like, let them sleep. I don't want them to see us coming, man. We're just working. We're just working in the shadows right now, you know, getting our game right. And when it's time to go into those bright lights, I think we'll be ready.
Oh, come on. You got to already compete. With Patrick Mahomes, good luck. You got to compete with Harbosh Chargers. I don't imagine that team getting worse as he moves into his second year.
You are the Raiders, man. And before you got there, I get it. Nothing to do with you. Knew everything, new coach, knew all things. They won four games last year.
And so, if you want to take a look at winning four games and you can go out there and improve, then by all means, Gino, then sneak up. on everybody. What I'm looking forward to the most when it comes down to the Raiders What the heck is Ashton Gentee going to do at the next level? That's it. Like, I'm not paying all that much close attention to anything else.
Because I see them being an an average team. I mean, they can't go back to uh you know, Josh McDaniels era, that that was a complete disaster. But nobody's thinking about no Raiders.
So, Gino, congratulations on your new check, your new money, your new team. But the expectations there are are pretty low. Can't expect them to be low going into the future, especially with Tom Brady running the damn show. And that's pretty much what Geno said. Yeah, Tom Brady being around works, it helps.
Man, it's great to not have to compete against him anymore, but also, you know, I think just to have a guy to lean on. Like Tom, I mean, this is the best of the best. This is the best that it gets. And, you know, so when he speaks, you listen. And so, just to have a guy like that to lean on, just to talk to, kind of shoot, shoot the crap with.
Sorry, you know what I mean? Just, you know, hang out with Tom Brady. I mean, that's just a cool thing, right? But he's done a great job with this organization. And so far, he's really helping the quarterbacks.
He's helping me out. He's a mentor. We talk almost every other day and just, you know, talking about everything from leadership to how to game plan during the week to throwing mechanics. He's just a guy that, you know, he's really lending himself to the team. And it's something that we're grateful to have.
Man, I'm taking Denver over them too, bro. I mean, the Raiders are just, they're not going to be as bad as they were picking up four victories. But there's no expectation from the Raiders. Speaking of news. How about this?
We got this news last week, but now it's been made official. ESPN is acquiring the NFL network and red zone rights From the NFL. ESPN is acquiring the NFL network and other NFL media assets. including the television rights to their Red Zone channel. in a deal that will see the NFL get a ten percent equity stake, In ESPN.
And so that came out and was leaked last week. It was officially announced about an hour ago And uh No big deal to me 'cause I I don't watch the red zone channel. I don't I'd rather flip back and forth between all the games. than just sit around waiting on somebody to tell me what I need. To pay attention to.
And I guess from an ESPN perspective, I don't watch ESPN either. I just watch the games. Yeah, I just watch the football. Bacha, do you care about this? I do.
Red zone has been a staple for me, especially when the Jets are one bad or on later. in the day. I watch Red Zone just because I like watching every game. And then every basically important play just for fantasy purposes.
So I'm big into that.
So but I'm kinda mad now it's on ESPN because I don't know if they're gonna keep it commercial free. And that's an issue. I doubt if they want to make money off of it, right? Or maybe they can they can sponsor all throughout the the show, maybe, right? I don't know, this sponsored by this, this play sponsored by that, I don't know.
They had that like with the Red Zone now this year with like I think it was Verizon. And even still, it wasn't. It just felt off.
Well, let's see. ESPN has the opportunity to ruin multiple things: the red zone network. They have the opportunity to screw up inside the NBA. We'll see what happens there. ESPN acquiring the NFL network.
I wonder how that changes the content. We'll see. ESPN already in bet with the NFL even more. It's the JR Sport Pre-Show on the Infinity Sports Network. We come back so many stories throughout the course of the day.
We're gonna wrap them all up in a nice bow for you. It's the JR Sport reshow, the Infinity Sports Network.
