12.7.23 - JR SportBrief Hour 4

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It is the JR Sport Reshow on CBS Sports Radio. Happy Thursday night to you. Depending on where the hell you live, it might already be Friday morning. Regardless, I hope everybody listening to the sound of my voice gets much closer to Friday morning.

I hope you get close to the sun rising again. Damn it. Okay. I'm going to be hanging out with you for one more hour. My apologies for not being here longer. I've already been here for three hours.

I get started at 10pm Eastern, 7 Pacific. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. I'm right on Peachtree. I can't even speak. Peach Tree Street.

Too many C's, H's, T's, and Peachtree. Anyway, super producer and host Dave Shepherd is coming to you live from New York City. What a night we've had. What a day we've had. The NBA end season tournament finals is all set. Pacers are going to take on the Lakers. Tonight we had a Thursday night football matchup.

I thought it was going to be garbage. Score could have been three to zero and I would have been like, yeah, yeah, sounds about right. But somehow, some way both the Patriots and the Steelers, they were able to put up some points. And the Patriots win their third game of the season.

How pathetic. And they beat the Steelers 21 to 18. Bailey Zappi had three touchdowns in the first half and that's all the damn points that the Patriots had. If they would have played any longer, the team would have spontaneously combusted. Let me be careful before Shep hits the... Shep, you're not going to hit the dump button if I say that again, right? You said combust. Yeah, that's what happens.

855-212... I'm sorry. That's allowed.

Well, somebody said that they had a big O earlier today watching LeBron James and that was dangerous. Well, it was the context in which it was used and I care too much about your show and your career to not be too careful with that stuff, you know? Oh, do you... Let me not ask anyway. No, you can ask me anything.

I know you got a lot of calls. Yeah, but in the context of watching a basketball player, it cannot be a big old feeling. It can't. I don't feel that way, but I get it, I think. I mean, you can be...

I mean, I know that there's been a few times and I'm sure this has been the case for you, J.R., and I'm sure people can relate to this. When you, you know, people listening right now, of course, for Free on the Odyssey app and whatnot, when you're watching something and you are just completely taken back by like the greatness of a LeBron James in year 21 or a Tiger Woods in 2019 winning the Masters when he hadn't done it for more than a decade. And, you know, you get the point. You get the drift.

Giannis going for 50 points and doesn't make a free throw all playoffs and then goes 17 for 19 in game six. You're just blown away. And you feel like you're either in a daze because you can't believe someone just performed at that high of a level. But that's a very different feeling than feeling the kind of pleasure you do in the bedroom with someone preferably of your choice. But that feeling, it doesn't just have to deal with sex. It doesn't.

But the way he was describing it was like it was the tipping point of and literally the climax of that particular activity. And I don't think that's appropriate for the J.R. sport brief when I know how much you have earned in your career. And it all takes is one PD to say, man, why is why are they letting a fan talk like that on the J.R. sport brief? And we love Greg.

We love Greg in Michigan. But I don't want to jeopardize that. People should hear me speak when I'm not on the air. You sound the same. I don't say the same words.

You you you don't. I mean, yes. Have I heard you curse off air? I mean, you know, sporadically, but it doesn't happen often. Oh, yeah, I'm dropping them. You don't drop it.

I got the alphabet soup over here, bro. I can't recall the last time you actually cursed, by the way. So even I'm talking off the air. You never you never I've never had to. You know, it's amazing. Two plus years working with you. I have never had to dump you, man.

Yeah, because I'm a professional. You think I'm going to sit up here and say, wow, I say some wild stuff sometimes. But come on back. Hey, J.R., love, love the previous guy before you in this nighttime slot. Legend. So glad he's feeling better, by the way.

We love Scott for all CBS Sports. What happened to him? He was sick. Yeah, he had to get to have surgery.

He was like, you know, Scott had surgery. Yeah, he was he was basically 15 minutes. You know, without I don't want to get into too many details just to protect him.

But he was he was about 15 minutes away from dying. We just spoke to him like a month ago. I know. I know.

Shoot him a note. Yeah. You know, I appreciate that.

You know, I'm so glad you guys have the relationship you do. Yeah. Yeah. It was.

I used to see Scott in the studio when I was doing WFAN at night. Yeah. Right. Like he had to replace like a left valve like it was to go to the ER. It was really he almost he almost died.

Oh my God. Scott for almost died, which is which is crazy because he's a young man. And people know this listening to radio because you realize how young these guys are.

Ralph Sorella, who is Howard's longtime stylist, Howard Stern, obviously. He just passed away about 24 hours ago. Give us some good news.

The Patriots finally won a game. But the point is, the point to all that was I love Scott Farrell legend in this business. We probably dumped once a night. Because because I'm very listen, I'm very careful about what I say. Right. I understand that.

Scott loves Scott legend, but he would tow the line every now and then. Well, I ain't doing that. I'll just say, listen, somebody sent me an email a couple of years ago.

Hey, I like your show. You say ass too much because I feel like it because I can't say all the other words that I want to say. So I say ass.

And you can't say a four letter word after the ass, though. That I know we can't do. I've never said that. I know. And there's a person, you know. No, I'm not going to go there. I'm not going to go there.

I don't know what you're talking about. OK. There's a person we're going to play that some people might call that.

And yeah. Alex Rodriguez? Nope.

Nope. This guy goes by three names. Three names?

I said it. Who goes by three names? Juan Manuel Marquez. He's a boxer. He's in the he's he's in the media. And he's not the nicest human being in the world.

And he doesn't look out for everybody. Three names? And I'll leave it at that.

Three names? Yeah. Yeah. I have no problem. I have no problem saying this. Charles Barkley.

No. Charles Barkley is actually a great guy. I just saw Charles a couple of weeks ago.

Always a pleasure. He's actually a great guy. And so is Shaq. I mean, they have egos, but they're both great guys. Oh, they're great dudes.

Yeah. You know who's a good guy? He doesn't get the best rep, but he's actually a really good guy? Kenny Smith. Oh, I love Kenny. Right. Great dude.

I talk to Kenny too. Right. You know what?

At one point in time, I've threatened to fight all three of these guys for different reasons. Whenever your last show is here. Yeah. We got to get we got to get Charles Barkley on your show. Whenever your last show is, we got to get Barkley to come on. Yeah.

Well, yeah. I mean, he's been on CBS Sports Radio forever. Say again.

He has not been on CBS Sports Radio forever. Why not? Whose fault is that?

I guess it's the lazy producers here. Oh, wow. I'm just I see him every now and then.

Right. I don't I want to go tell you every place I see him. He just be minding his business. Is it a place where Lou Williams goes? Not the strip club.

OK, got it. No, just Charles. Charles. You know, just be outside like everybody else. Just mind his business and, you know, sitting back having a cold one. Nothing wrong with that. J.R., you know, the three three name guy I'm talking about, right? J.R., who's the who's an individual in sports that emphasizes that you call him three names every single time you come across him? I'm not saying you.

I'm saying you in a general sense. And he has to let everybody know in any situation. He's the greatest of what he does.

He deserves to get the most amount of money. And he is not exactly in the business of holding his hand out and helping people come up. Damn. Yeah, I said, are you expressing yourself? Who are you talking about? Stephen A. Smith. A is a name. Well, what does A stand for? Well, A is a word. It's A is a word. Of course it is. Of course it is.

Stephen A. Smith. But what is A? A is a word in the dictionary. That's a word. It's one of the most common words in the English language.

So what is that? Is that an abbreviation for his middle name? What is his middle name?

I don't know. I know. I know that in order for him to distinguish himself, he couldn't just go by his name.

He had to be, you know, all cute with it. So I don't even go by name. I don't even have a name.

I'm just J.R. from the J.R. sport. Well, I actually see now I actually know your name. I know your name. Most people do not.

I'm not going to say it. But yeah, I know you. I know you.

I know you're full. I know your full name. Let's put it that way. Well, that's that's perfectly fine. But the point is, I don't publicly go by name.

So you realize that I'm talking about him. I don't go by nothing. Most people know your last. I mean, for the record, we know it's not brief. Most people do know your last name.

Well, then you'd have to dump me every day. No. Brief? No. Sport Brief? Yes.

Some guy selling underwear. Well, we wouldn't have to. Yeah. I mean, you let most people know. Most people know your last name.

Most people don't know your whole name. It's a great name, by the way. Well, great. Terrific.

Yeah. What do we do now? We play Clue?

What are we doing? No, I'm just I'm just saying, like, I find it I find it funny that you do have a really nice sounding name and you don't use that. But you do use JR Sport Brief, which is catchy. But you would have to me the same kind of recognition and success if you just did your birth name.

That's just my opinion. The point is, is not to necessarily brand me. It's to brand the brand, man. No, I get that. So you are sport brief. I understand that. Why did you why did you call it sport brief?

I've never asked you that question. Because it's something that's applicable to everything that I've done so far. So in other words, you obviously are really good at talking about sports and you want to keep it brief.

Is that am I am I oversimplifying this? That was the idea on YouTube. I said, if I could do a sport brief, it could be on YouTube. It could be on TV.

It could be on radio. It could be on a shirt. And guess what? I've done that. Yeah, you've succeeded. You've succeeded at that, man. I've done all of it.

Yes, you have. So it worked out. And I'm just sitting here talking about your relationship, talking about a guy who can't say the big old word on the radio.

And I'm just chilling. Well, listen, Jared, when the Lakers are up 40 plus points against the Pelicans in a semifinal game in the NBA in season inaugural Vegas tournament. See, we got through that. And then you also have a situation where you had arguably the worst Thursday Night Football game of the entire season. And that's saying something, considering how lousy Thursday Night Football games are. Sometimes we got to deviate from those every once in a while. Yeah, a lot of games, the games today stunk.

Yes, they did. Like they sucked. If this was a good football game, you think we'd be sitting here talking about my name? Like, come on. Although I'm going to shut up now because I know we got a lot of people that want to, of course, talk to J.R. Spofrie.

Yeah, there's a lot of people on the line. But you know what? Since the game sucks so bad, let's just listen to these Patriots touchdowns because there's so few and far in between. This is from Ezekiel Elliott. What did he do? He caught a touchdown pass from Bailey Zappi in the first quarter.

Listen to this. This is all the Patriots radio network. Bailey takes the snap. He throws it right for Elliott. Makes the catch at the ten.

Turns it right back to five. A dive to the end zone. The Patriots with a touchdown take the lead on the game's first series here in Pittsburgh. I feel like I'm listening to the Kentucky Derby. The Patriots scored another touchdown.

How about that? A rarity. This is Hunter Henry. Three to the left, wide side of the field. Henry stands up off the right side. He's got three touchdown catches this year.

The snap, shoulder high for Zappi. Drops back. Throws back at the end zone.

Henry makes it up. He's got his fourth touchdown catch as the Patriots add to their lead. Oh, okay.

All right. There's two touchdown passes by the Patriots. Wow. Mack Jones, every touchdown pass, a little bit of his football career dies. Hey, Hunter Henry with another one.

Listen. High motions to the left. The ball on the right hash of the 24. Zappi off a play. Throws to the left. Henry in the end zone. Makes the catch.

Dives in. Touchdown, Patriots. The Patriots radio announcers have had nothing to be excited about all season long.

Nothing. Oh, yeah, and by the way, those are the only points that they scored. All in the first half. Twenty-one points. They scored nothing else. And they ended up beating the Steelers.

Twenty-one to eighteen. Shows you how much the Patriots, excuse me, how much the Steelers can do. They did nothing.

Nothing. 855-2124CBS. That's 855-2124CBS. Michael is calling from Arkansas. You're on CBS Sports Radio. What's up, Michael?

Hey, JR. Listen, I was reading an article about Steph, the phenomenal three-point shooter for the Warriors, who has extraordinary, in this article they said he has beyond extraordinary hand-eye coordination. And when you're talking about hand-eye coordination, you're actually talking about a neurotransmitter called dopamine.

That's the bottom line. Now, also, Steph Curry also has a bunch of oxytocin because he has, like, the best marriage in the world. And oxytocin and dopamine have everything to do with good marriages, good friends, sportsmanship, everything good, okay?

Okay. Do you have some of that stuff, too? You have some? Actually, just Google it. Just Google natural stimulation of oxytocin, natural stimulation of dopamine, natural stimulation of brain chemistry. Yeah, I know it comes out of my pituitary gland, but I'm asking do you have some? Well, yeah, depending upon the neurotransmitter. And so I'm into sports psychology, not that I'm a sports fan, but the psychology of sports is pretty interesting.

Yeah, I've heard. Are you a doctor? No, I'm just, because of life experiences, I just have a big interest in it. I'm an advocate for the homeless people, and a lot of homeless people have mental issues like schizophrenia. I've talked to you about schizophrenia. I have a guy in my program who is, oh, he just swears.

Every other word is a cuss word. Why? Okay, why are we talking about this again? Well, because of the fact that sports, you know, is hand-eye coordination, teammanship, sportsmanship, dopamine makes you want to be healthy. Where if you don't have dopamine, you're going to want to live a lifestyle that's unhealthy. And being healthy is very important in sports, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, correct. Tom Brady, you know, he was huge, you know, a huge help nut. I mean, he was so focused on being healthy.

It was amazing. Yeah, he didn't eat tomatoes. He's like, the tomatoes are not good for me, yeah. Well, cooked tomatoes are. You know, there is a chemical in tomatoes. When you cook them, it's okay.

But then also the skins aren't good. What? Hey, Michael, here's a better question. What don't you know about? Actually, I'm not that smart, but I have a teacher who is brilliant, and his name is Jesus, who knows everything about everything. Okay.

I didn't do that. So I totally listen to- Jesus. Yeah, a lot of people do. I ain't got no problem. Me and Jesus is cool, too, bro.

It's okay. I thought you were going to tell me about, like, Doogie Howser or something like that. Yeah. You like Doogie Howser? Yeah, oh yeah. Well, in the Bible, God says, I am the great physician, and I have medicine from the earth for your health. And so, you know, like, there's a bean called the velvet bean.

Just remember that. Velvet bean. Velvet? Velvet.

It's a bean from Indian places. Like a cake? In the fabric?

Right, right, exactly. Okay, all right. Go ahead. Velvet bean. And if you had a hundred pounds of velvet beans, you could extract five pounds of Supernatural Bi-Available Dopamine from it. All right.

I was going to say thank you. I'm just interested in the dopamine at this point. Yeah, well, velvet beans. You Google velvet beans, dopamine.

Okay. And this is so extraordinary that people in India, they eat a lot of these velvet beans, and it actually makes them immune to snake bites, even cobras and black mambas. Have you been to India? No. I have. I have never seen no velvet beans, but I'll look for it the next time I go, okay.

No, they use this velvet bean. No, no, I'm going to ask. It's okay. I'm going to WhatsApp some Indian friends of mine, okay? Oh, yeah.

No, they'll know about it. Okay. Well, thanks, Mike.

I appreciate you. What part of Arkansas are you calling from? Northwest Arkansas, and give a shout out to Hunter Henry. He's a Razorback, and he has phenomenal hand-eye coordination. He does. I heard that. Yeah, even back, you know, when he was a Razorback, man.

Yeah, that hand-eye coordination will do it for sports. Thank you, Michael. Have a good night. You're welcome. Thank you. Happy holidays, no doubt.

Velvet beans and dopamine. I'm going to put that on the shirt. Wow. That was a lot of great information. Chef, how much of that are you going to apply to your life?

Not a lot, but I appreciate the message. I appreciate how transparent he was about his teacher, and I felt like I was at a sermon. Did you? I did, yeah. Yeah, not me. I thought he was talking about something else for a while.

I didn't know what he was talking about. Anyway, it's the JR Sportbreeze Show here on CBS Sports Radio. I'm going to take a break. I'm going to find me some dopamine. It's in my body already, right? Shut up, it's in my body? It is. It doesn't need to be released? Yes, it is in your body, yes. I just need to release it?

Yeah. That's what I'm going to do in the commercial break, okay? I'm going to release my dopamine, and then I'm going to be back to take more of your calls if I'm still on the air. It's the JR Sportbreeze Show on CBS Sports Radio. Belichick needs some of this, he does.

You're listening to the JR Sportbreeze on CBS Sports Radio. Listen, you do a great job, man. Before I ask my question, I just want to say I've heard you a couple of times on here, you always have great content, and you've got a great sense of humor, and I enjoy listening to you. So I want to start out by saying that.

Call in now at 855-212-4CBS. You know, amongst all of the, I don't want to say coach bashing, but we've talked about Bill Belichick tonight, obviously Mike Tomlin, people are ready to take a big old crap on him. Michigan, and we had a caller mention this, I need Harbaugh to come coach my team.

I think it was the Steelers. Well, it's been reported by Richard Johnson that Michigan is in the process of trying to put together a contract with Jim Harbaugh, a potential five year $55 million deal to keep him as the Wolverines coach through the 2028 season. And this is the same Jim Harbaugh that has pretty much openly flirted with the NFL it feels like every single season. And so I don't know if throwing this dude $55 million is going to make too much of a difference, because I really feel like, you know, who's to say that the Raiders. Mark Davis doesn't just wake up one day and say, Hey, dude, his his six year deal is a 10 year deal.

I mean, we've seen it before who's to say that he's not not going to do that so I don't know if that's going to be the case. Jim Harbaugh I think still regardless of what happens is destined to go right back to the NFL I think it's an itch that he hasn't scratched 855-2124 CBS 855-2124 CBS. A gentleman named Orlando is calling from Tennessee. You're on the CBS Sports Radio, the JR Sport Brief Show. Hello JR thanks for the call man.

Sure, what's up. Hey, this time to tell them to leave. It's time for him to go.

It's time for him to be held accountable. We hadn't had any luck. Since we passed on Jayla hurts. I agree with Shep. It's the quarterback problem.

They pass on Jayla hurts, and we've been cursed ever since. That's the problem. All right. Well, thank you Orlando. All right. Yeah, I mean, well, there's a lot of people that passed on Jalen hurts and Jalen hurts is in the most polite of ways keen on telling you that they passed on him.

So is that really an indictment on the Steelers? I don't know about that. Glenn is calling from Toronto. You're on CBS Sports Radio. Hey, man, how you doing? It's been a while. I'm good, man. What's you got me on speaker?

Can you take it off? Yeah, just give me a second. Just let me give me back to you. You got about a one second. Two seconds. Glenn's a veteran. Glenn, you know better. That's that man.

That's a long ass time. He's still there. I didn't hang up on him. Hey, Wayne is calling from South Carolina. You're on CBS Sports Radio. What's up, Wayne? What's up, JR? This is Wayne Banks. Long time Pittsburgh steal a fan.

Okay. And love Mike Tomlin, but I don't think we'll win another game until they put the best quarterback we got on the field. And that's Mason Rudolph. Nobody fears picket or whatever his name is. And nobody definitely don't fear a Trubinski.

A what? Trubinski or whatever his name is. The one they got from the bill, Mitchell something.

The one that couldn't beat a backup quarterback tonight. All right. Okay. Well, thank you, Wayne.

I think Mason Rudolph can get us there. His helmet isn't stuck in his forehead no more? No, no, it's loose now. Okay, I'm just making sure.

I saw him get a helmet swung in his head. Thank you, Wayne. You be safe, okay? All right, you too now. All right, no doubt. Yeah, I saw Miles Garrett swing a helmet into his dome. Glenn, go ahead, man. Sorry about that, man.

Yeah, a couple things. First off, I've got an idea for the NBA in-season tournament. Do it like the actual FA Cup. Have teams from all over North America, not just NBA teams, make it a straight knockout.

It probably never happens. Teams from all over? I mean, what teams in North America? Like G-League teams, other leagues, and make it exactly like they do the F- Wait, wait, wait, wait. You want to see an NBA team versus a G-League team?

I'm just saying a straight knockout, open draw. Anyone can play anyone. I've seen things happen. I've seen third division teams in England being premier leagues. You think a G-League team is going to be an NBA team?

Probably not. It happens. Oh, okay.

Yeah, it's probably not going to happen. In terms of the Thursday night game, I was telling your man Shep, I'm a Patriots fan. I didn't even know they were playing because I work evenings and I didn't even know they were playing. Well, are you happy that they picked up their third victory? Are you happy about that?

Yes and no. Yes, because I'm a Patriots fan. I want them to win. But no, because the better the draft pick, the more- I honestly don't know what they should do.

Just draft or trade down and get like two or three draft picks because you're not one player away from winning. Is Belichick done? Is he finished? Is Belichick done in New England? This is- if the owner can convince him to stay on as a head coach and drop his GM duties, I would say he's not done. But I don't think he has the ego to do that.

Yeah, I don't think Robert Kraft is going to be on his hands and knees begging him to stick around, man. I don't think so. Yeah, I do have one question for you. Yes?

Okay, when it comes to Patriots, would you, if you get say the third pick, second or third pick, would you trade down to get like four or five picks because that third pick is going to be probably a very good player, would you trade down to get like the- Well, it depends on what quarterback would be available, man. I don't know. Yeah.

That's tough. I mean, the Patriots need a QB and unfortunately for them, Bill Belichick can't put- what's this guy's name? He can't put Mac Jones in a box and send him back to Alabama. Yeah, but also they need O-line help. They need- They need Jesus. They need to talk to our last caller.

Well, thank you, Glenn. Thank you for calling from Toronto. They need to talk to our last caller. They need that dopamine.

That's what they need. It's the JR Sport Reshow here on CBS Sports Radio. Somebody else who needs it, he lost tonight too. It's Damian Lillard, but I'm sure he would rather lose an experience here in the end season tournament than lose in the finals.

But then again, Damian Lillard, he ain't been there either. We're going to hear from Damian Lillard on the other side of the break. It's the JR Sport Reshow on CBS Sports Radio. I'm going to get more of your calls in. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. But I'm going to get off the radio and just want to let you know, I commend you for what you're doing, JR. That's great what you've been doing to speak and engage and talking to these college students. So we need more of that.

Call in now at 855-212-4CBS. This is the JR Sport Brief Show here on CBS Sports Radio. A little bit of a surprise that the Patriots were able to put up three touchdowns in the first half of their game. They didn't need anything else after that. They beat the Steelers 21 to 18. I'll tell you this though, this was surprising to see the Indiana Pacers just take care of the Milwaukee Bucks the way they did 128 to 119. This took place earlier in the evening because there were two basketball games at the same venue in Las Vegas. And the Indiana Pacers, their bench went out there and outscored the Milwaukee Bucks 43 to 13. If your bench can only score 13 points and the other team's bench can go out there and score 43, I think you're assed out.

It's really that simple. And now we even got the report that Bobby Portis, after the game, he decided to challenge the head coach, new head coach mind you, of the Milwaukee Bucks, Adrian Griffin. And decided to challenge his teammates to go out there and do better.

And we know this is a new team. Damian Lillard trying to mend and mesh with Giannis at Terra Cumpo. Yet, let Giannis get his points.

Let Damian Lillard be the closer. Tonight, Giannis had 37 points and 10 rebounds. Damian Lillard, 7 of 20 from the field.

24 points. It's an ugly game for Damian Lillard. Tyrese Halliburton, I told you about his 27 points and 15 assists. And at one point in time, after knocking down a big three late in the game, Tyrese Halliburton tapped his watch like it was, like he was Damian Lillard. And so Damian Lillard pretty much said, man, it's cool for you to do that, man, but, you know, be humble. Because there's going to be times when things do not go your way.

This is Damian Lillard talking about the playing tournament experience and taking that out. It's something to get up for. You know, it's some new excitement and, you know, a surprise in the end that everybody's kind of hunting for. And then you look at the, you know, the trip to Vegas and they roll out the red carpet, just all of the different things that they've made of it.

You know, you get to be a part of it and it's like, man, this is, you know, it's pretty special. I think more than anything, it's an opportunity for us to build from. You know, it gives us something to build off of, I think. And in some of the games where we've struggled most, you know, there's a lot of things that we can take away from it.

And each of those games is very similar, you know, in the areas that we struggled and the things that we didn't do well enough. Yeah, well, now he can go back to Milwaukee. I mean, what else? There's only going to be one more game on Saturday. That's the NBA end-season tournament finale or final. 8-5-5, 2-1-2-4, CBS.

That's 8-5-5, 2-1-2-4, CBS. Nick is here from Pittsburgh. What's on your mind, Nick? Hey, JR. How you doing, brother? Good. What's up?

Nothing. I'm a big fan. Listen to you every chance I get on my way home from work. I just want to discuss the Pittsburgh Steelers and Mike Tomlin a little bit. Listen, I'm more than raised in Pittsburgh. You know, I'm a big Steelers fan, always have been. But to be honest with you, man, the franchise is just stamped.

You know, we're at like a standpoint. Like, I'm just no longer a big fan of Mike Tomlin and his ways, to be honest with you. I mean, you know, yes, the man has never had a losing season. And he should be extremely commended for that. That is extremely hard to do.

And it has never been done. However, I mean, how many seasons has he gone 500 or, you know, now nine and eight? I mean, it's just it's middle of the road. I mean, I want to see some playoff wins. I want to see some deep playoff runs. I want to see Super Bowls. I mean, he hasn't won a playoff game since like 2016. They made it to the playoffs, the COVID season where Baker Mayfield and the Browns smacked them all over the place in a straight shootout. I mean, I'm just kind of getting tired of the complacency.

You know, I just want to see more. I think they need to just make some changes. You know, Matt, Canada was a step in the right direction.

But was he a scapegoat and all this? Because so far, you know, they're just losing games to two of the worst teams in the league. I mean, something's got to change, man. What do you think?

Yeah, I think you got to roll this out. I think it's less about Mike Tomlin and more about the quarterback that he has out there. That's it. I mean, it's one thing to have all these years with Ben Roethlisberger. And throughout his career, you know, he went through a transformation. He went from someone who would typically hand the ball over to the bus and Ben Roethlisberger would go through games and we live in a different NFL. You know, I'd look at games with Ben Roethlisberger. He ended up throwing the ball 18 times. And then, towards the end of his career, as they started to open things up, I mean, he's throwing the ball 40 plus times. It started to get ridiculous. And it's just real clear right now. And we watched this game earlier this week, the awesomeness of Jake Browning, C.J. Beathard. Like, nobody wants to see them out there, but the fact is, they were able to go out there and have decent games because they were throwing the ball around.

And if you don't got somebody who can do that, you're underwater. And Kenny Pickett ain't that guy to throw the ball around. I know there was so much criticism about him before he even got drafted. How big are his hands? Are his hands small enough? Are they going to hold up in Pittsburgh? I just know this. He stunk. I mean, and thank you, Nick, for calling from Pittsburgh. Mike Tomlin can talk all he wants about, oh, well, look at his crunch time numbers in the fourth.

Well, who cares? Maybe, maybe you don't have to reach desperation and crunch time if you're actually winning in the first three quarters. Like, why you got to give people heart attacks at the end of these games?

It's, it's wholly unnecessary. But the quarterback can't, can't take the lead, can't hold it. 8-5-5, 2-1-2 for CBS. It's 8-5-5, 2-1-2 for CBS.

Shep, so, so what's the deal? The, the people at TNT and ESPN, they just did, like, shows next to each other in any guest spots. They did guest spots, right? Yeah, so, I know Stephen A. and Mike Woburn weren't paid to do this, but just out of their respect for the NBA on TNT, they stayed after and did inside the NBA with Ernie, Charles, Kenny, and Shaq. And so I thought that was, to your point, JR, we don't see that all too often. Obviously, we know who the cream of the crop is in covering basketball, that being TNT. But it was cool to see them all together as a collaboration. No, absolutely, yeah. Well, let's hear, this is from TNT, right?

Yes, sir. So this is Stephen A. Smith and Michael Wilbon. They're hanging out with Charles Barkley and Kenny and Ernie and Shaq. Guys that we are friends with, guys that we've known for a long time, but rarely are at the same event at the same time are here.

Stephen A. Smith is here, Michael Wilbon is here from ESPN. Guys, it's been fun being on your show earlier. You guys were on ours, and thanks for sticking around, even though you're not working to be on this show tonight. It is an honor and a privilege to be with y'all, especially, and listen, everybody up here has been a brother of mine for the last 20 years. I mean, I don't like to admit this dude much, but I love y'all. I love the hell out of y'all, so it's just good to be here. And I just, I said this earlier, I just want to thank Mike Wilbon for being a friend, a mentor. You and Ahmad have always been there for me. I get y'all advice on all my business, but I want to say thank you.

I love you, brother. Were they chatting Kobe in the background? I guess they were, right?

Yes, they were. I was like, they're chatting Kobe? I don't know. I mean, I know they're in Vegas and they're far from Los Angeles.

Ain't nothing but a four-hour drive away, if that. Yeah, why not? People should chant Kobe anytime they get a chance, why not?

You know what? There's a hell of a lot of amount of people that you could chant for that would be inferior than Kobe Bryant, so good on them. Yeah, good for them. They could have been chanting Stephen A. Smith, right? Uh, when you have those other five guys on the table? No. Stephen A. Smith would be the last guy they would chant. Yeah. Michael Wilbon?

First? Over Stephen A., yeah. 100%.

100%. Stephen A., look, it's not even because I dislike the person. He's polarizing. Michael Wilbon is revered. Stephen A. Smith ain't revered. He's respected, I guess, right? For what he's done. He's known, and I think he's had success in his genre of the medium.

Yeah. But I wouldn't say he's well respected. I think he definitely has a platform, for sure. He's got influence on the sport. He's got an influence in sports. He's been doing videos where people are asking him whether he likes, you know, T and A, or T and A, and this is what he's sitting down doing right now. Right.

JR- He wants to host a variety show. That's why he's doing this. Yeah. I mean, I promise you, Vince Scully was not doing that at his peak. Ralph Willard was not doing that at his peak.

Frank DeFord was not doing that at his peak. They didn't have Twitter. They wouldn't have done it. They wouldn't have done it.

Oh, I wouldn't do it either. Right, that's what I'm saying. He's more in the business of being famous and celebrated than he is in actual journalism.

So Mike Wilbon, exact opposite. Well, I mean, he had a Philadelphia Inquirer a long time ago now, ain't it? Oh, yeah.

Yeah. Long gone. 855-212-4CBS. Ralph is here from Miami. What's up, Ralph? Good afternoon, Jerry.

Thank you for having me in your show. I want to- Are you okay? Christian, when he comes- Yeah, I'm okay.

I'm fine. Are you in the bathroom? Oh, no, Ralph, man, we're at the end of the show, Ralph.

You shouldn't admit that, Ralph. Was he peeing? What was he doing? What do I do now?

Just say- I don't know what to say. Well, Kevin is not in the bathroom. I know that for a fact, and Ralph is usually not in the bathroom either.

Ralph has much better calls than that. Go ahead, Kevin. We're at the end of the show, Kevin. Go ahead.

Hey, JR. I got the last call, right? You might.

Go ahead. You have the best sports radio show in America, I'll tell you this, yep. We don't- I'm crying right now, man, because you came on in 2020, man.

You have the best sports show in America. Well, thanks. Are you getting rid of me or something?

You know something I don't know? No, you are, man. I want to meet you. I want to meet you.

Front to front. So come to Atlanta. Come to Atlanta. Golly, I got to go to Buford, Georgia, or what? Buford? I ain't in Buford. I'm in the middle of the city, man.

You were down in Atlanta? Who? What?

Golly, dude. We got connected. We do. Hold on. Who's going to win the Super Bowl?

Weird question. Forty-niners. Oh, really? Forty-niners over the Ravens, okay? Okay. All right.

Deal. Is that it? No. That's not it.

It has to be it, because the show is over now, man. Okay. That was more rhetorical, Kevin. I still love you. I still love you. I always love you.

I love you, too. Let me know when you come to Atlanta, okay? Where you at?

Where you at, man? Where I'm at, the studio is in Midtown on Peachtree. Peachtree? Okay. Yeah, Midtown.

Peachtree Street. Okay. Yeah. Okay. I got you. All right.

Appreciate you, Kevin. Let me know when you come to town, all right? I'm easy to find. Might be? Might be?

No, not might be, am. Hey, Kevin. Take it easy, man. We got to roll. I love you. I love you, too, Kevin. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you, too. This is the last person that tells me that they love me today.

How miserable of a life do I have? I love you, JR. I love you, too, Shep.

That makes it better. You and him back to back. Nobody else will tell me they love me tonight. I will go and cry to myself to sleep. It's the JR Sportbree Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. I'll be back tomorrow, 10 p.m. Eastern, 7 Pacific.

Rich Herrera is coming up next. Thank you so much to Shep. I hope you'll be cool, be safe, be well. I'm Snoop Dogg, and I'm giving up smoke. I know what you're thinking, Snoop, smoke is kind of your whole thing, but I'm done with it.

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