JR Sport Brief Hour 3

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Additional terms apply. That means somebody in Mexico or everybody in Mexico who's able to listen. I don't know how you listen to it, but thank you. You can always tune into the show on your local CBS Sports Radio affiliate. You can stay locked in on the free Odyssey app. A U D A C Y. Shout out to folks listening on Sirius XM Channel 158 and everybody locked in on a smart speaker.

All you have to do is ask it to play CBS Sports Radio. Typically, I get started at 10 p.m. Eastern, 7 Pacific. But if you paid attention to any of the news today, maybe you've heard, maybe you haven't. This is going to be, well, tonight, tomorrow will be my last two shows here. At this time, tonight and tomorrow are my last shows here for 2023 because starting on January 2nd, the JR Sport Brief Show is moving.

I'm basically moving from talking to people who refuse to go home to their families to people who are considering not going home to their families. The JR Sport Brief Show starting on January 2nd will begin at 6 p.m. Eastern time, 3 Pacific. And so we got today, we got tomorrow and that's it. I'm going to be gone for about a week and a half and then we'll get things all set and up and running with the, I don't want to call it the new version of the JR Sport Brief Show.

I ain't new, I'm the same old damn guy. Shout out to Genuine, I'm not the same old G. But yeah, thank you to everybody who's been tuning in and been locked in. Thank you to our producer, done an excellent job this week, Andrew Scarpacci. Super producer and host, Dave Shepherd. He's going to be back with us tomorrow for what will be the final show of 2023. Final show before the time switch. And so we got a lot to do between tonight and tomorrow.

We've already had a full show here on this Wednesday night. We gave you an update on Jim Harbaugh. We're finding out more details about what led to his earlier suspension this year.

Not the sign stealing, but the, how can I say this? The ladder suspension was for sign stealing. And the one from earlier this year was because of recruiting violations.

So we got more details there. Also got some reports that the Chargers might be interested in bringing in Jim Harbaugh. Let's see what happens with Harbaugh's team in Alabama when they play each other on January 1st. The New York Jets finally gave us some word that Aaron Rodgers, yes, he'll be activated onto the main roster so he can continue practicing, but he will not be playing this season. Rob Salah also gave word that Aaron Rodgers is going to commit to the New York Jets, at least for now, for two more seasons. Mike Tomlin making excuses for George Pickens not blocking.

I think Mike Tomlin is just trying to keep him out on the field so he can try to win another game, try to move that record to 8-7 against the Cincinnati Bengals. We heard from Tuatanga Veloa letting the media know that, yeah, of course Tyreek Hill helps me out, but just because Tyreek ain't playing, I am no bum. And then we talked about Ben Simmons. News flash. Ben Simmons is still out. And the Brooklyn Nets gave us an update on a guy who does not play basketball. And so we're going to continue on with the show. If you want to talk to me, it's 855-212-4CBS.

That's 855-212-4CBS. You should know this by now. At least here on CBS Sports Radio, I've been doing it for almost four damn years. It's the top six list.

It's something that I've been doing even longer than that, dating back to 2009 on YouTube. Every Wednesday night, a top six list. A different reason, a different set of athletes. And tonight will be a little different because not only am I going to give you a top six list of my favorite athletes for the year 2023, this is going to be the last top six list for 2023. This is going to be the last top six list for this shift in particular before I move up starting on January 2nd. So this top six list is special. It also happens to be my list.

There ain't no scientific, there ain't no stats, there's nothing basing this up besides how I feel. This is going to be a top six list of my favorite athletes for 2023. Last night, we talked about Kaitlyn Clark. We talked about Angel Reese. We know a few weeks ago, we got Deion Sanders being named sports person of this and sports people of that.

Forget all that for tonight. It's about my list and then I'll get yours too. Well, not your list, we'll get number one. And so without wasting any time, I'm going to give you a top six list of my favorite athletes for 2023. Where is the fancy top six music?

Six, five, four, three, two, one. It's time to get JR's latest top six list only on the JR Sport Brief. It is the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. Yeah, like, yeah, thank you for turning it up. I like it loud.

Always like it loud. Anyway, it's a top six list favorite athletes for 2023. We've had a lot of personalities, a lot of individuals who have shined and been around for multiple reasons, a lot of reasons why I like them.

And I'll share that with you now. And we'll start off with this number right here. Number six. I don't know if this guy likes what he does. I don't know if this guy loves what he does. He is one of the best at what he does.

And he seems so uninterested with what the hell is going on. My sixth favorite athlete for 2023. It's Nikola Jokic. We have found out so much about this dude over the past six months.

It's hilarious. We know he won an NBA championship. We know that he was finals MVP. We know that he was putting up numbers that we haven't seen since Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell. This man is a five time All-Star. He's now an NBA champ. This man is almost once again averaging a triple double. Nikola Jokic numbers this season. 26 points, 12 rebounds and 9.4 assists. He's a center playing point guard. He looks like he's moving in slow motion because he is. And he's still busting everybody's ass.

And remember what I told you? It doesn't even seem like he cares. He has two MVP awards.

I mean, could anybody argue if he won a third last year? We know it went to him B. And he's just like, man, I don't need to be bothered with any of this crap. I guess Nikola Jokic goes home and he puts his head down at night and goes, stupid Americans.

Anyway, you want to know how much he cares? When the Denver Nuggets won the NBA championship early this year, when he was the finals MVP. A couple of minutes after the victory at his press conference, they're like, man, I know you can't wait for the parade, right?

And Nikola Jokic, well, he wasn't enthusiastic. Listen to this. So I'm curious what you are feeling right now. And if you're looking forward to a parade coming up in Denver. When is parade?

Thursday. No, I need to go home. OK. Yeah, he's just the man wanted to go home. And then he went to the parade and he had the time of his life and then he went to Vegas and at the time of his life. And then he went back home to Serbia and had the time of his life with his horses.

Racing the horses. Shout out to Nikola Jokic. So good at his job.

He just he just shows up, goes to work and leaves. And he's one of the best. I hope he averages a triple double.

That'll be a whole lot of fun. Very unique player. Nikola Jokic is at number six. It's a countdown. What's the next number? Number five. My top six favorite athletes for twenty twenty three. I like this next guy because he actually left. I like this next guy because he actually hung him up for good. Man, the greatest quarterback, most accomplished quarterback.

This and that. It's Tom Brady, man. The dude is 46 years old.

It took him going, I don't know, eight and nine with the Bucks and to finally get the hell up one out of here. He retired and he came back and then his wife. I'm not going to say his wife left him. Ain't none of my business. They got divorced.

His public business is all over the place. Tom Brady looked like he lost, I don't know, 20 pounds. I'm glad that he left. Got to make some room for the new blood, Tom Brady.

It was nice watching you be competitive and bust people's asses forever. But it was nice to see some new folks in there. It was nice to see this pop up on that early morning, early this year.

This is Tom Brady saying goodbye for good. Morning, guys. Get to the point right away. I'm retiring.

We're good. I know the process was a pretty big deal last time. So when I woke up this morning, I figured I just press record and let you guys know first. So I won't be long winded. You only get one super emotional retirement essay.

And I used mine up last year. So I really thank you guys so much to every single one of you for supporting me. My family, my friends, teammates, my competitors. I could go on forever.

There's too many. Thank you, guys, for allowing me to live my absolute dream. I wouldn't change a thing.

Love you all. I love the fact that the beginning, I'd say, hey, I'm retiring for good. Good for him. We saw him adopting cats and playing football with his son. And good for Tom Brady. I mean, you got like three hundred and twenty five million dollars waiting on him from Fox. Yeah, this man ain't coming back. He's done.

Most conversations were silly, if you ask me. Yeah. Congratulations, Tom Brady, one of my favorite athletes for twenty twenty three for finally leaving. Thank you, Tom Brady. I got him at five on the list. Hey, what we got next?

Number four. Oh, it's this guy again. Oh, the guy making seven hundred million dollars. Who's not even going to do half of what they pay him this upcoming season? It's Shohei Ohtani. Man, wouldn't you wouldn't you love to be paid for something that you can't do for a year?

Like we're going to pay you this amount of money, even though we know you can't do half of what we're paying you to do. This man has a torn UCL in his arm, or at least he did. He's only going to be able to hit this season. They're deferring almost all of his paycheck into the next 10 years after the first deal is over or after the deal is done. Congratulations, Shohei Ohtani.

Oh, not bad. The guy can also hit forty four home runs. He can also steal bases. He can also bat for average. He can also strike people out when he's healthy. What's not to love or like about Shohei Ohtani? And he's so mysterious. He doesn't speak English publicly.

Maybe once or twice. He just wants to be known as a baseball player. He may get all this money. They say he makes like 50 to 60 million dollars in endorsements. Who needs the Dodgers money?

I can wait for the Dodgers money when I'm retired. This man is going to buy the island of Japan, all islands of Japan. Congratulations to him. We don't have any audio from him in English. My apologies.

Can't help it. But they did have some cool audio on KTLA via my friends in Los Angeles when Ohtani signed. You didn't know this.

Maybe you did. Kobe Bryant recorded a video to recruit Shohei Ohtani when he was coming to America the first time. God rest Kobe's soul, he should have listened to Kobe instead of going to them bum ass angels.

Listen to KTLA. We're learning the Los Angeles Dodgers had some help when it came to recruiting Shohei Ohtani. According to ESPN, Kobe Bryant filmed a minute long video back in 2017 to help the Dodgers recruit Ohtani.

When he first joined the major leagues, the team never had a chance to show him the video because he signed with the Angels. This time around, the team showed Ohtani the message. Ohtani told ESPN it was, quote, strong and touching.

Yeah, I'm sure strong, strong and touching. God rest Kobe's soul. Shohei Ohtani number four on my list. My favorite athletes for twenty twenty three. Shohei number four. I can't wait to see what he does and I don't know what year we're coming up on.

Twenty twenty four. He won't be pitching. Let's see what he can do in Dodger Stadium as a batter.

Should be fun to see. Shohei Ohtani number four. What's the next one?

Number three. Let's stay in the city of Los Angeles. Let's go a few miles south of Dodger Stadium.

Let's go to downtown and let's go to crypto dot com arena. The home of the Los Angeles Lakers in the home of number three. LeBron James, one of my favorite athletes for twenty twenty three. It's amazing to see what the hell he can keep on doing. He gets a bad rap, especially for what he's done in his career. The expectations at the beginning of his career prior to getting drafted in 2003.

His health. It's nuts. People want to look at his finals record and go, oh, he only has four championships. Oh, man, this guy was going to the finals as a kid when he had no business going there.

Give me a break. Broke Kareem's all time leading scorer's record earlier this year. LeBron James now played more minutes than any human being ever in the NBA. LeBron James still busting ass here. He's going to be 39 years old next week. And he's still doing this. He said that he's trying to fight. He's trying to give father time.

It's first out. And then I want to see him play with his kids. That's it. If I could see Tom Brady throw a pass to one of his kids. I hope Tom Brady played forever. I want to see LeBron James plays with play with his kids.

That would be like unbelievable. His career is is a storybook. And the fact that he hasn't had none of this jackassery that we have from some of the other players is kind of wild. You don't got to agree with everything LeBron has ever said or done.

You shouldn't agree with anything or everything anyone's ever said or done. But his accomplishments as a basketball player, his resume is nuts. And then he got eliminated by the Nuggets and then he teased retirement. He wasn't retiring.

And then he told everybody at the SPs, yeah, be happy. I'm not leaving anywhere yet. Listen to this. When the season ended, I said I wasn't sure if I was going to keep playing.

And I know a lot of experts told you guys what I said, but I'm here now speaking for myself. In that moment, I'm asking myself if I can still play without cheating the game. Can I give everything to the game still? Truth is, I've been asking myself this question at the end of the season for a couple of years now.

I just never openly talked about it. I don't care how many more points I score or what I can or cannot do on the floor. Real question for me is, can I play without cheating this game? The day I can't give the game everything on the floor is the day I'll be done. Lucky for you guys, that day is not today. Oh, lucky for us, it's not done.

Yeah, I want to see how far you can take it. You know, I think Tom Brady squeezed everything out of him that he had. And LeBron obviously is not done yet.

And it's nice to see that Anthony Davis is staying healthy. I don't know. Maybe he's on LeBron's diet.

I have no idea. I got LeBron at number three on my list. Top six favorite athletes for 2023. If I got LeBron at number three, what's the next number? Number two. This guy, you ain't gonna catch him speaking English publicly either.

You don't need to. Because he speaks with his feet and the world understands football. His name is Lionel Messi, the dude who came over to the United States of America to participate in MLS. The man who's making, I don't know, 50 to 60 million dollars playing for Inter Miami. The man that is helping to usher in and accelerate the growth of soccer in America ahead of the World Cup in 2026. Which, by the way, is going to take place here in America.

I can't wait. I mean, Messi comes in and they got him shopping in Publix. Messi comes over and he wins another Ballon d'Or. And I know this don't have nothing to do with this year, but he also won the World Cup the year before. And yeah, Messi just a cool dude. Just busting ass and and raising awareness for soccer in America.

I love it. And oh, yeah, by the way, speaking of other people's lists, I'll acknowledge this one. Messi was named Times Athlete of the Year.

Listen to their fancy reasoning. The reason Messi stands out is because of the football fever that he brought to the United States and really to the world throughout the year. Messi's had better statistical years than 2023, but starting late last year, he won his first ever World Cup.

That's true. We cannot stop talking about the World Cup final. It lived up to the hype and then some. It was a crowning achievement of Lionel Messi's singular career. And since that time, everything he's done has just been incrementally more important and more relevant to sports fans around the world. Yeah, like like coming to America.

Yeah, not not Eddie Murphy or Sinio, but coming to America and just being amazing. Just drop it and goals for into Miami like there's no tomorrow when he had been playing soccer just about all year long. I want to see what Messi does next year. And he he really is an appetizer for the World Cup.

It should be a lot of fun. And it's cool to see the growth of soccer here in America over the past just decades. No, it's one thing for for when Pele came over with the cosmos. It's another thing for Messi to come over now in the age of social media and to just see soccer's growth. It's a fun thing. Shout outs to Messi.

Shout outs to the MLS for making it happen. It's the JR Sportbree show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. We're going to take a break. And when we come back, I'm going to tell you about my favorite athlete for 2023. I'm going to tell you who sits at number one here on this list. It's the last JR Sportbrief top six list for 2023. Number one on the other side here on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR Sportbrief on CBS Sports Radio.

You're listening to the JR Sportbrief on CBS Sports Radio. Honestly, JR, you're the beast. You're a beast among beasts. And thank you for your show.

You're a monster. Call in now at 855-212-4CBS. It's the JR Sportbrief show on CBS Sports Radio. I'm sharing with you the last top six list of 2023. I'm sharing with you the last top six list as I air and broadcast in this time slot January 2nd.

The JR Sportbrief show will start at 6 p.m. Eastern Time, 3 p.m. Pacific. And so to wrap up the year, I wanted to share with you my top six favorite athletes for 2023. So people that I like, people that I've enjoyed this past year. And before I give you number Uno, let me give you a quick recap before we went to break. And number six, I gave you Nikola Jokic, a guy who can show up to work like he doesn't want to be there and be the best.

What a pain in the ass, right? And number five, I gave you Tom Brady. It's like he squeezed everything he had out of his right arm. The man was stressed on and off the field. And then he finally retired.

Thank you for that on the way out the door. Yeah, I put him on the list because he finally quit officially, really. And number four, one of my favorite athletes in 2023, Shohei Ohtani.

Yeah, he blew out his elbow, blew out his arm. He was still able to get a 700 million dollar contract that they're going to pay him 700 million dollars over the next 20 years. And then he's making 50 mil off of endorsements. He doesn't even need their money up front. Congratulations to him.

What a deal, right? And number three, I gave you LeBron James. Yeah, I'd be sick of LeBron James ready for him to go to, but he's still annihilating the record books. He's still playing at the top of his game. Yeah, he ain't the same exact dude, but it's still ridiculous how good he is. And then I want to see him eventually one day play with both of his sons in the NBA. That would be a wild sight to see.

Wild, OK? And number two, I gave you Lionel Messi. This man actually decided every now and then I have to go. He really came over to the MLS.

He's like, yeah, what else do you need me to do? I gave I got eight Ballon d'Or's. I'm the top soccer player on earth. I finally won a World Cup so people can leave me alone in Argentina.

The man can't go outside in Argentina. They'll mob him. And he's like, yeah, I'll go to America, live in Miami and then bust everybody's ass. Nice. And he's hoping to set the stage for the World Cup here in 20, 20, six. That's going to be a lot of fun, too.

Let's see what other superstars decide to come over and let's see how much the game continues to grow here in the States. Shout out to Lionel Messi. I got him at number two on the list and then he goes to Publix just like me. Who am I fooling?

That man don't go to Publix. Nice publicity stunt. Congratulations, Messi. And so, yeah, it's a top six list.

I'm giving you my favorite athletes for 2023. If Lionel Messi is number two, that leaves us with number one. This is not it's not Lionel Messi. It's it's not a man. Well, damn it, if it's not a man, it means it's a woman. It's not a basketball player.

Well, I shouldn't call a woman an it. She is not a basketball player. She happens to be the highest paid athlete, female athlete here in the year 2023.

She is only 19 years old. She has finally broken through the glass ceiling to pick up her first major when she won the U.S. Open. My favorite athlete for the year 2023.

Is Coco Goff. Pretty damn amazing for someone who turned pro in 2018. She's been right there but hasn't gotten over the hump, was right there beating the Naomi Osaka's of the world.

But now and back in September, finally winning the U.S. Open, beating Sabalenka out in Queens, New York. She let everybody know that she's arrived. And I think how she conducts herself as a 19 year old, just just you don't hear squat about her.

Yeah, replace the word squat with something else. You don't hear that about her either. She's there with both her parents and her family. And she's from here in Georgia training down in Florida. She's going all over the world, the world's highest paid athlete.

And for right now, and I hope this never happens to be the case. It doesn't appear to have gone to her head. She still seems like a 19 year old busting ass in tennis. And then she just picked up the first one and that there are likely more to come. And so it was a little surprising, but also appreciated when after she won the U.S. Open. Yeah, we got we got like five minutes of her being sweet, thanking her family, thanking her supporters, thanking everybody. And then I like this part. This was a little bit of the like Darth Vader ish, the little bit in the back of her brain. This is the competitor finding out how she gets motivated.

She was on ABC, ESPN, and she was just like, oh, I forget the haters either. Listen to this. Honestly, thank you to the people who didn't believe in me. I mean, like a month ago, I won a 500 title and people said I would stop at that two weeks ago.

Two weeks ago, I won a thousand title and people were saying that was the biggest it was going to get. So three, like three weeks later, I'm here with this trophy right now. So, you know, I tried my best to carry this with grace and I've been doing my best. So honestly, to those who thought we're those who thought we were putting water on my fire, you're really adding gas to it. And now I'm really burning so bright right now.

I appreciate that. You get a little bit of a peek into her competitiveness as she's grown and as she matured. And at 19 years old, both physically, emotionally, she's going to continue to grow. Like we haven't seen the final form of Coco Gauff.

And this is what she's been able to do before she's even old enough to buy a drink. Shout out to Coco Gauff. I got her at number one as my favorite athlete for the year 2023. Let me give you a quick recap. And number six, I gave you Nikola Jokic. And number five, I gave you Tom Brady. And number four, I gave you Shohei Ohtani. And number three, I gave you LeBron James. And number two, I gave you Messi.

And number one, I gave you Coco Gauff. The phone lines are open. That's 855-212-4CBS.

That's 855-212-4CBS. This was the last top six list for this year. This was the last top six list as I exist in this time slot. And so I'm going to take your calls. Who was your favorite athlete here in 2023? This was mine. Mine's going to have to have a damn thing to do with yours. And I only want one.

Don't call me up telling me about five and six guys. Give me your favorite athlete one for this year. I'm going to get to your calls on the other side of the break. I'm going to ask Marco Belletti and get his thoughts next hour.

We'll do the same thing with Andrew. But right now, yeah, it's time for a News Flash with Marco Belletti. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. It's the great JR, man. Your show's so awesome. I appreciate listening to you on a regular basis, my man.

Call in now at 855-212-4CBS. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here on CBS Sports Radio. I just brought you a new top six list. It's a top six list that will wrap up the year 2023. It's going to be the last top six list that I do in this slot because the JR Sport Brief Show is moving to 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 Pacific, starting on January 2nd. Tonight's list, I wanted to give you a wrap up. My favorite athletes, my top six favorite athletes for the year 2023.

And let me give you a quick recap. At number six, I gave you Nikola Jokic. At number five, I gave you Tom Brady. At number four, I gave you Shohei Ohtani. At number three, I gave you LeBron James.

And number two, it was Lionel Messi. And at number one, I gave you the 19-year-old Coco Gauff, who also happened to be the highest paid female athlete on earth here in 2023 after she just won her first major, picking up that U.S. Open victory back in September. How she carries herself, how she has carried herself, I think is admirable, especially in the sport of tennis for someone who's only 19 years old and turned pro in 2018. The sky's the limit for her, and I hope that she can continue on the trajectory that she's on. Amazing what we've seen so far from her. I hope it stays that way. 855-212-4CBS, that's 855-212-4CBS. Coco Gauff is number one on my list.

You can feel however the hell you want to feel about anything. And so I'm going to ask you to give me your favorite athlete for 2023. Emphasis on athlete, not athletes, with an S. Let's go ahead and talk to Debbie from Arizona. You're on CBS Sports Radio. What's up, Debbie? Good evening. Well, okay, I'm going to answer your question first. Favorite would be Brock Purdy.

Okay, good deal. I know he's in the MVP conversation. I'd give it to McCaffrey, but Brock Purdy, nice.

Let's see if he can come back full circle from that torn ligament in his elbow. I agree. Now I have a question, if I may, sir. Sure, go ahead. A minute. A minute?

Can you do it in like 20 seconds? We got a lot of people here. Go ahead. Based on the fact of all the young people now making money in colleges, what are your thoughts on them receiving some kind of life coaching? I think they already receive, I don't want to call it the equivalent of life coaching. I'll put it to you this way, Debbie. I don't know too many people running around that just have a full-time life coach throughout the course of life, but I would guess that a lot of these student athletes who, let's be real, they're probably athletes before they're students, I think a lot of them receive some type of counseling when it comes down to money.

Unfortunately, some of us get a little bit more education when it comes to finances sooner than later, and I don't think the student athletes should receive any other special treatment outside of the information they already get and receive. Okay. Okay. Thank you, sir. Have a good night. You as well, Debbie.

Thank you for calling from Arizona. Yeah, I would think somebody's going to tell the kids, hey, you got to pay taxes and don't be a jerk. I think we all hear that at some point in life, right? You get a job. The first thing you learn is, hey, I'm making, I don't know, a hundred bucks a day. No, you're not.

No, you're not. The government going to take some. And then you got to pay bills.

I think most of us learn that it's just a matter of, you know, if you can learn some of the fine print where you can actually make and keep some money. Eight five five two one two four. CBS is eight five five two one two four. CBS. Who's your favorite athlete for twenty twenty three?

Craig is here from Arizona. You're on the JR Sport Brief Show. You are a great sports psychologist. I'm going to miss you because I can't listen that early in the day, but I'll find you.

And thanks for everything this year. Here is a quiz for you. Listen to this. My top two. So I want one.

But they they both have the initial CC. I don't know. Sabathia. He don't play no more. I don't know.

Wasting time. Craig, we got a lot of people. Just tell me.

And Corbin Carroll. Oh, well, OK. Representing Arizona. Yes. I know his girlfriend, by the way.

Have you? Never mind. Yeah, he's great.

He went to the World Series. Yeah, that's right. But anyway, thanks for everything this year. Merry Christmas to you as well.

Craig, thank you for the kind words from from Arizona. CC was another CC. CC, so who sees initials a CC? Andrew, you got you spoke to the guy. Well, is he another CC there that you.

What the hell did he say? And Clark to me over the phone. Caitlin Clark. OK. All right.

Well, yeah, that'd be another CC. We talked about her last night. Corbin Carroll, too. Pretty amazing what he's going to do.

He'll be the next great a small guy in Major League Baseball. Eight five five two one two four CBS eight five five two one two four CBS told you Coco Goff is my favorite athlete for 2023. Let's go ahead and talk to Gary. He is calling from Mississippi on the JR Sportbreeze. Show us up, Gary. Hey, man, how are you doing this morning?

Good. Mine for this year is Ronald Acuna, Jr. Just the stuff he does on the field. You know, power, speed, defense, the new rule changes that basically baseball put in really fit what he did. And, you know, I mean, first person in history to have a 40 home or 70 stolen bases. And he's just, you know, even at 26, he's already got four All-Star games in an MVP. He doesn't get hurt, man. He's on trajectory to be one of the all time greats. And he just I like the way he plays the game, like the way it represents itself.

Absolutely. And I mean, for a guy who already tore his ACL a couple of seasons ago to come back and finally be at full strength. I don't think he missed more than five games this past season. It to me, it's just like, well, damn it, bro. How do you how do you come back and follow up the season that he just had?

So I'll be real interested to see what Ronald Acuna does this upcoming season. And Gary, I appreciate you for calling from Mississippi, man. Thank you. Yes, sir. Thank you.

No doubt about it. Eight five five two one two four CBS. I got Coco Goff, my favorite athlete for the year 2023. Let's go to Joe.

Joe is calling from Boston. You're on CBS Sports Radio. Congrats, my brother. I love the show. Well, thank you so much. I appreciate you. No problem.

I just want to answer your question before I get on my quick topic. One of my favorite athletes right now is Jalen Brunson, man. I love the way the kids show his heart. He just elevated his game to the next level, which is a guy that was underrated. I think right now he's one of the top players in the league. Yeah, it was nice to see him drop that 50 spot. And I'm sure the Mavericks are still mad. They let him go. Absolutely.

Absolutely. Now, the other what I wanted to get into is real quick is Justin Fields with Chicago. Now, listen, he can be a special player and I believe he will be in this league. Now, I have been having issues with some of the conservative play with Chicago. They played a little because if they put the gas to the pedal and continue to attack rather than conserve for like three points and try rather than going for seven. They just play conservative, which is I think that's what's holding them back.

If they just kept pressing to go in and just get it done. I think they can win these games because they've lost a lot of games by just being conservative and settling for three in like the last game they played. They didn't kick the three in the win, you know, which is could have gave him a field goal that probably could have made a difference in the last game. They played Cleveland.

Yeah. Well, I mean, they choked that game away. Joe Flacco basically gave them that game until Joe Flacco decided to go ahead and take the game back. I think unfortunately for Justin Fields, we also have to keep in mind that he did have a couple of games that he didn't participate in because he couldn't grip the football. And so I really feel like the Chicago Bears season has this was supposed to be an evaluation of Justin Fields the entire year. You know, I didn't have no expectations for the Bears.

It was can we trust and hope that Justin Fields is going to be happy? Can we count on him throughout the course of the season? How's he going to progress?

And then I feel like we were talking about the kid who showed up half the time to class. You know, you don't have no answers. So unfortunately, the Bears are in the position that they were in now. And I could be wrong, but I expect them to move on from him. That's that's my thought.

I could be wrong and it's possible. But now let me just mention this before I go. You know, you got to go fast, Joe.

We got a lot of I got to I got I would if I was them. I would stay in Pat. I would get Marvin Harrison at the first pick. Then I would get a top O lineman on the second pick. And if it doesn't work out with Chicago, send him to Atlanta Falcons on the trade.

Well, that would make sense. I think what also makes more sense is not paying Justin Fields a crap ton of money and kind of getting a rookie quarterback on a rookie deal and filling out things from there. I think you still have some options, Joe. I appreciate you for calling from Boston. It's the JR Sportbreeze show here with you on CBS Sports Radio 8 5 5 2 1 2 4 CBS.

That's 8 5 5 2 1 2 4 CBS. Yeah, I told you Coco Gauff, my favorite athlete here for the year 2023. We have heard Ronald Acuna Jr. Man, man, who the hell else did we hear? Come on, Andrew, help me out. Do something. Say a name. Corbin Carroll. Yeah, I didn't expect Corbin Carroll.

I don't think America even I still think a lot of America don't even know who he is. Look at me. I forgot that the guy's name was mentioned until Andrews said it to me.

Anyway, I'm going to get some more of your calls. It's the last top six list for the year 2023. And Coco Gauff is number one for me, at least top athlete here.

This ain't no dispute in this. She's the top female earner in the sports world for this year. Twenty three million dollars.

Sixteen million of that money is coming via endorsements. Oh, she's raking the dough. It's the JR Sportbreeze show here on CBS Sports Radio. I'm going to take more of your calls and we're going to keep on rolling. Man, I'm trying to have fun before I switch my shift.

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