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JR SportBrief Hour 4

JR Sports Brief / JR
The Truth Network Radio
March 15, 2024 10:03 pm

JR SportBrief Hour 4

JR Sports Brief / JR

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March 15, 2024 10:03 pm

Steelers new players speak l Aaron Donald calls it a career l MLB season beginning in South Korea l This Day in History

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Old Man Winter here. If I had it my way, it would stay winter all year long. Short days, wind chill, black ice, and a good polar vortex.

Heaven! Wait, is it getting warm in here? Your cold snap is over, Old Man Winter. Spring has arrived.

Spring. Spring is here, which means it's the perfect time to get away in the Hyundai you've always wanted. Visit the Hyundai Getaway Sales Event, where you can get great deals on all of our award-winning Hyundai models.

Like the tech-filled Tucson and Kona, as well as the spacious Palisade. Enjoy wherever you go with the peace of mind that comes with America's Best Warranty and 3 years or 36,000 miles of complimentary maintenance. But hurry in, these deals won't last. Add more joy to your journey at the Hyundai Getaway Sales Event. Now get 0% APR or up to 1,500 bonus cash on the Hyundai Tucson, now during the Hyundai Getaway Sales Event. Offers end soon.

Call 562-314-4603 for details. It is the J.R. Sportbree show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you so much to our producer. Chris has holding it down this Friday, holding it down in New York City. And thank you to you, wherever you might be listening, for tuning in to CBS Sports Radio. I'm only going to be hanging out with you for one more hour. The J.R. Sportbree show gets going every single weekday at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Pacific.

So whether you happen to be on the East Coast, the West Coast, anything in the middle, anything over an ocean, anything over a border. Thank you for listening. You can do so on the free Audacy app, A-U-D-A-C-Y. You can listen on your local CBS Sports Radio affiliate. You can tune in on Sirius XM Channel 158. You can lock in on a smart speaker by asking it to play CBS Sports Radio. Or you can go to CBS Sports Radio dot com.

So many ways to listen to the show. And then we still got free agent movement, by the way. Looks like Tyrone Smith is going to end up with the New York Jets. Help protect Aaron Rodgers. If Tyrone Smith is still healthy, if he still has some gas left in the tank. Eight time Pro Bowler, All Pro, been with the Dallas Cowboys since 2011. I hope he's healthy enough to protect Aaron Rodgers. Where the young guys at?

Get some help out there for the man. Aaron Rodgers is one step away from. Well, we saw what he was one step away from last year.

It's unfortunate. Look, we've had a busy show. We talked about free agent movement in the NFL. We got the press conference earlier today from Russell Wilson. We learned that Aaron Donald is going to retire.

Kenny Pickett wanted a fresh start. He's going to be moving on from Pittsburgh. He's now going to be playing for the Eagles.

Correction. Unless Jalen Hurts gets injured. He won't be playing for the Eagles, but at least he'll be on their roster.

Right. As a matter of fact, let's take a listen to Russell Wilson, the man who said, I'm happy to be here with the Steelers because of their history and longevity and and all of that good stuff. Let's listen to the boilerplate PR statement from the press conference of Russell Wilson. Well, super grateful to be here, obviously, to be a Pittsburgh Steeler. It's a great tradition to be able to compete and to be able to go to go to work with these guys every single day is the gift of this game.

Enjoying the process of it all. And the reason why I wanted to come here, because I want to be able to win championships with Coach Tomlin and these guys in the locker room. And, you know, we've got some amazing players, you know, guys like Cam Hayward, a guy who's been man of the year, a guy who's impacted so many people. I got to talk to him for a little while, you know, before, you know, during this process. And and then obviously, you know, Mr. T.J. Watt himself, you know, a guy who really should be defensive player.

I don't know how many times, I don't know, maybe his third, fourth time could have won it. But just a tremendous athlete, tremendous player, a tremendous competitor. Guys like Minka, you know, George Pickens and just so many other great players along the way to see some guys like Fire Muth and and and Somalu in there.

And just, you know, just it's a great place to be grateful for the opportunity to be able to get after it. And, you know, and and do what we what we what we came here to do. And that's to win football games. Hey, Patrick Queen was there, too. I know everybody cares about Russell Wilson, but one of the best linebackers in the NFL, he showed up. He's now a member of the Steelers. And when asked, why the hell did you decide to leave Baltimore to come play for the rival? He was like, hey, it's this guy right right here. It's Coach Mike Tomlin. Listen to this interaction right here. That man standing right there.

I think just the organization itself, known for winning, known for great defense and got a bunch of stars over here. So I just want to be a part of that, come be that extra piece to try to win again. You should be different or trained for you. Exactly. It's going to be weird. But I mean, you know, I want to be that villain. I won't be that guy.

So I'm looking to do some stuff to them. He'll get used to it. He'll get over it. When the checks clear during the football season, he will be perfectly a OK.

Someone who's deciding to walk away. He happens to be from Pittsburgh. He ain't playing no more.

Played at Pitt, by the way. Is Aaron Donald. The news broke earlier today, and we've heard this since he won that Super Bowl against Cincinnati. We heard the rumors about him hanging it up.

But today it finally rang true. Aaron Donald put out a nice video package, a career recap on social media. And this is how I heard the news via CBS Sports HQ. We got breaking news on the NFL, some surprising news when it comes to Aaron Donald.

A surefire Hall of Famer has announced he's set to retire after 10 seasons in the league. Donald's a three time NFL defensive player of the year, most recently back in 2020. He's spent his entire 10 year career out there in L.A. with the Rams being named to the Pro Bowl 10 times with eight first team All-Pro selections. Donald also led, if you remember, the Rams that victory in Super Bowl 56, able to get that ball away from Joe Burrow at the time, getting them that Lombardi and helping them in the big way.

But for the franchise's first championship, you got to go back to 1999 season. But Donald set to call it a career after a very long, luxurious one out there with the Rams. Put him in a Hall of Fame. Yeah, he has to wait the five years, but put him in a Hall of Fame.

Hurry up and get it done. What are we waiting for? I love football players who still go out there in a violent. I love football players who are out there who are dominant.

I love football players who manhandle and abuse the opposition. Aaron Donald would pick up offensive linemen off of their feet. Aaron Donald would move offensive linemen off of their spot.

He would throw and push one offensive lineman into the other one. Aaron Donald was a beast. A matter of fact, Michael Strahan, another great defender, a Hall of Fame defender in his own right.

Michael Strahan was on the I Am Athlete podcast, and he was not shy in saying. That Aaron Donald. Could be the best defensive player the NFL has ever seen.

Listen, get that on tape. Aaron Donald is probably the best interior defensive lineman ever in the history of the game of football. Told you that ever in the history of the game, how we long and I sit there and watch that cat. Nobody can touch that dude. Nobody. Right. That dude is unbelievable. Warren Sott was close. That dude is. Don't insult Aaron Donald.

Right. Don't insult Aaron. Aaron Donald is going to be 33 in a few months. All things considered, if he wanted to still play, he could probably still go out there and do so at a high level and still be one of the best interior defensive linemen and still be one of the best defenders in the game. He's decided to walk away. I mean, he spent the past couple of seasons letting everybody know that he's interested in acting, that he has interests in some other business ventures.

And we'll see what happens. With Aaron Donald, I don't want to completely close the door because he's young. I mean, I guess wouldn't it be a dream to play for the Steelers or being out in Los Angeles, going to two Super Bowls and winning one?

Is that enough? Like he doesn't have a damn thing left to prove to anybody. Maybe I'm speaking selfishly as a fan. I'd love to see him put on the black and yellow. I'd love to see him be a member of the Steelers.

But that's just me. Good luck to him in his retirement, whatever it's going to encompass. Can he act?

I have no idea. Maybe Aaron Donald will be the best action star that we've ever seen in life. I can tell you in my lifetime, he is he is definitely one of the best defenders I have seen. I was small. I was little growing up in New York, having seen and listened to Lawrence Taylor and how he would go out there and wreck and destroy people. I think he had some some added help, if you know what I mean.

I think we know his issues with drugs very well documented. He was ferocious. One of my early vivid sports memories is when Lawrence Taylor broke Joe Theismann's leg. OK, what a welcome to the NFL for me as a guy got his leg broken by Lawrence Taylor. I could think about Deion Sanders. I could think about Reggie White. I could think about Aaron Donald.

Those are individuals that I remember watching growing up. We talked about Reggie White earlier this week. You know, I said he was one of the most impactful signings that the NFL has ever seen when he decided to go from the Philadelphia Eagles and go play for the Green Bay Packers three years later, helping them win another Super Bowl. It's crazy when you think about defense. The NFL is changing today. There's more offense. It's wide open. The NFL wants to entertain.

It wants to keep people safe. You can't tackle a guy at the knees. You can't tackle a guy high. You try to hit him with the shoulder.

They're saying you're trying to hit him in the head. The NFL rules are changing. You know, we're not in the era of Deacon Jones and Mean Joe Green and my main man, hard hitting Ronnie Lott.

Like, them days are over. I mean, even to think about Ray Lewis. Ray Lewis, one of the best linebackers of all time, one of the best defenders in recent generations.

If I want to talk about the past 25 to 30, 35 years, Ray Lewis is in that conversation as well. It's just a different league. I'm real interested to see how the NFL continues to evolve, how it moves into the future.

Knowing that things are a little bit more, let's just say, loosey goosey, like the physicality isn't there the same way. I don't want to say Aaron Donald is the last of a dying breed. We still have amazing players. We have amazing defensive linemen who get to the quarterback.

We have the T.J. Watts of the world. But if you want to talk about a dude playing in the middle over center, Aaron Donald was just he was moving mountains to cause damage in the backfield. And even if he didn't get a sack, this man was a disruptor and changed, changed whatever the hell the offense was trying to do.

I'm going to miss Aaron Donald. He was like a video game character. He was like the boss at the end of a game. You got the him and you got an accomplishment.

Or if you got through him, you accomplished a lot. Eight five five two one two for CBS. It's eight five five two one two for CBS. We got Greg from Michigan. You're on CBS Sports Radio. What's up, Greg? Hey, chair. Mr. Positive, thanks for taking my call.

Yes, I like you. I'm devastated, but I'm happy for the man. Aaron Donald, top three greatest defensive players. And what's so unique about him, chair, is that he wasn't that massive of a man.

Six foot two, six foot two and a half, two hundred eighty five pound solid. His agility, his power, his explosion, his acuity for the game. Wow. You know, wow. David Deacon Jones, him, L.T., Reggie, JJ, you're right there as the greats of all time.

And I used to marvel watching Aaron just, you know, how he would get in shape for games and his training regimen and how quick and explosive he was. Wow. Wow.

Just a sad day, but a good day. And I'm I'm glad that he's going off in the sunset. Definitely on top, my friend. Oh, without a shadow of a doubt.

And thank you, Greg, for calling for Michigan. Yeah. You think about him physically. He wasn't you would think someone who had his numbers would look like. Julius Peppers or that he'd be Calais Campbell, defensive tackles, defensive ends, outside linebackers, guys who are basketball tall.

Six five, six, six, six, seven. Aaron Donald, it's like he had the benefit of a low center of gravity. He was not short by any stretch of the imagination.

Six one, six feet. He's just built like like a tank. He's stout. He's solid. There was no moving him.

He was the one out there doing all the moving. And so the Rams are going to miss him without a shadow of a doubt. I think the league is going to miss him. I'm going to miss his highlights.

I'm probably going to sit around and watch Aaron Donald highlights on YouTube because, look. We're supposed supposed to be a nonviolent society, right? We don't want violence.

We don't want people putting hands on each other. The NFL is controlled violence. It's a sport. It's athletics outside of boxing and MMA. Yeah. You could beat somebody up on the football field.

You can't. You can take out your frustration on the field. Well, when it came down to Aaron Donald, watching how he just would take down linemen that were bigger than him. Heavier than him. Taller, wider, fatter. It's an amazing sight to see.

And do yourself a favor. Go look up Aaron Donald highlights on social media. And one of the best defenders in the NFL is walking away at 32 years old. Congratulations and good to him. Let's see what he does with the rest of his life, because at 32 years old, with the punishment that he dished out and didn't necessarily take. He's going to have a long life, God willing, in front of him.

Let's see what he does. 8 5 5 2 1 2 4 CBS. That's 8 5 5 2 1 2 4 CBS.

You can find me online at J.R. Sportbrief. When we come back on the other side of the break. Something that's not long. The format that we have for the college football playoff and we have some financial details. But what the next version of the college football playoff is going to look like. And then I also want to tell you about the Dodgers.

They are starting the season earlier than anybody else, along with the Padres, because they are in Seoul, South Korea. We'll talk about it. I'll give you some details.

It's the J.R. Sportbrief show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. Old Man Winter here. If I had it my way, it would stay winter all year long. Short days, wind chill, black ice and a good polar vortex.

Heaven. Wait, is it getting warm in here? Your cold snap is over, Old Man Winter. Spring has arrived.

Spring. Spring is here, which means it's the perfect time to get away in the Hyundai you've always wanted. Visit the Hyundai Getaway Sales Event, where you can get great deals on all of our award winning Hyundai models. Like the tech filled Tucson and Kona, as well as the spacious Palisade. Enjoy wherever you go with the peace of mind that comes with America's best warranty and three years or 36,000 miles of complimentary maintenance.

But hurry in. These deals won't last. Add more joy to your journey at the Hyundai Getaway Sales Event. Now get zero percent APR or up to fifteen hundred bonus cash on the Hyundai Tucson. Now during the Hyundai Getaway Sales Event.

Offers end soon. Call five six two three one four four six zero three for details. You're listening to the J.R. Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio.

It is the J.R. Sport Brief show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. Eight five five two one two four CBS. Speaking of everything Pittsburgh, we talked about the Steelers. We talked about Aaron Donald's retirement. He's from Pittsburgh, North Carolina. They're going to their first ACC title game since twenty eighteen. North Carolina just beat Pittsburgh.

Seventy two to sixty five. Yeah, we're getting towards the conference finals and selection Sunday. Going to be a busy weekend, isn't it? For everybody. And I already told you this.

If you didn't believe me the first time, listen to me very carefully. I can't wait for the women. I'm looking forward to the women's tournament a whole lot. Before we went to break, we talked about Aaron Donald. And speaking of the playoffs, a couple of days ago, we talked about the college football playoff, the expansion. We know it's expanding to 12 teams. We know that there's a possibility that they expand even more in twenty twenty six.

One thing that we do know. They have a new television contract that will start to kick in in twenty twenty six. And this is a contract with ESPN.

That's worth one point three billion dollars. The SEC and Big Ten are going to get about 30 percent of this money. And so what we've heard is that there's likely to be an expansion to 14 teams.

And with this amount of money, I can't imagine why they would not expand. I'm not in favor of it. I think it's pretty ridiculous that we know we're going to have a 12 team playoff later this year or for this upcoming season and then next year.

And in twenty twenty six, we have no idea how wide the field is going to be. A 12 is still a ridiculous amount. If you're asking me, 14 is just ridiculous. Anything else after that side outside of that is just it's just nuts. I'm not I'm not a fan.

I'm not in favor of any of it. Eight five five two one two four CBS. That's eight five five two one two four CBS. Mitch, he's calling up from New Jersey. Mitch, you're on CBS Sports Radio. What's up? What's happening, Joe?

Good show. Thanks for taking the call, brother. So now that Rams have two issues, they want to get a call right for the future.

The strap is in place forever. And now they need a different tackle. This kind of going by surprise. I mean, I thought Aaron Donald, he still has a lot left. Maybe wants to follow Jim Brown or Michael Strahan. I enjoy his work.

Hopefully he can do something less stressful in the body. Because I think he's he still has it. But you're you're surprised that Aaron Donald retired.

Yeah, yeah. It came out of nowhere. I mean, I know he's threatening. I thought it was like maybe a money grab when he threatened a couple years ago after that Super Bowl win that he wanted to leave on top. I know it's hard to get to two in a row.

Maybe he was staying in 10. Now. The Rams are OK, but they're not really ready to get another title. Yeah, they've had they've had their time. Look, I think at this point they have they shot their shot like they went for broke and they acquired all the talent, the Ramses of the world. They acquired Matthew Stafford. They gave up all their draft picks. They brought in an old Doug Beckham Jr. who ultimately got hurt again in the Super Bowl. And they won it like that was that was the peak.

That was the apex. The Rams are treading water. And this past season was a little bit of a surprise that they they even had the success that they did. But I'm not I'm not a fan. I like the fact that they got a new wide receiver to hold things down for years after year with Puka Nakua.

But I'm not I'm not sold on the Rams. Cooper Cup. Cooper Cup is, I think, washed up, man.

Come on. He's had he's had too many injuries. He's not at his peak. He has peaked as a player.

And when you're Cooper Cup and a lot of what you do is reliant on route running and your legs have now kind of betrayed you a little bit with injuries. My point is the Los Angeles Rams, the next time that they have legitimate success, the next time that they are legitimate contenders, Matthew Stafford will not be on the team. It's more than likely that he's going to be retired as well. So, look, the Rams are rebuilding. Hell, yeah, they need a quarterback for the future. There's no such thing as replacing Aaron Donald. They need defenders.

But this is going to be a long process for the Rams. Without a shadow of a doubt. I don't think Jimmy G is the answer. Is that low-income?

Well, he's just wearing that shirt ties when you think. Come on. Come on.

Come on. They'll be driving. Of course, not this year. Then next year, I like they're going to they're going to be hit.

They're going to be hitting the skids sooner than later. Hey, Mitch, do yourself a favor. Don't even think about the Rams because they ain't doing nothing.

Nothing worth it. OK. OK. And think about my retirement. It's 15 days. Time goes so fast. You're retiring in 15 days. I did 15 days ago. It's full. I remember I spoke to you.

Oh, wow. Call me. Call me tomorrow afternoon on the fan. I'll be on after the Yankees, OK? I'll try. Yeah. OK. You too, Mitch.

Thank you for calling from Jersey. That was a funny one. He's like, hey, I don't think Jimmy Garoppolo is. Yeah, he ain't the answer for nothing. Jimmy Garoppolo isn't the answer for nothing unless you you want a guy to get hurt.

Who's most likely to get hurt? Him. Yeah.

Jimmy G, if you're not familiar, he's going to be the backup in Los Angeles for Matthew Stafford. Whoopty doo. Oh, yeah.

By the way, he's suspended to start the season because of PDs, which I think was. Marijuana, I think. I'm not sure. I'm not certain. I do not know.

But the way it's been described that he had a prescription, but he didn't have a waiver to use it makes me go marijuana. I'm just making one plus one equal to I do not know for sure. Eight five five two one two four four CBS. Let's go to Wooster, Massachusetts, and talk to Susan. Susan, you're on CBS Sports Radio. What's up? Hi, Jay. I have a new nickname for you. Please.

What is it? The great one. The rock. The great one.

You are the best. I think you remember me, but I'm not going to get into it. Your husband. No, no. You're the one. You listen to me.

You listen to me instead of your husband. Right. I remember you. All right. Listen, wait a minute.

He didn't talk to me for a month, OK? Oh, no. I have duct tape on my mouth. All right. Wait a minute.

Sorry. Great one. You are the great one.

But you know what? I watched this guy. He's amazing with the ball in his hand. You know, I tell you, I just I'm enthralled by him.

OK. Remember, I told you I love great players. Kevin Durant.

I named Jimmy Butler and then Mike Kyrie. I mean, he's playing his heart out. And with Lucas and him together, I just think it's a wonderful. I know they're not going to win it. But I want them to play their best. He's doing everything he can. And he's getting kudos from a lot of players. Great players. Yeah, I know. Yeah. He had 36 points last night.

I think it was the point with the ball in his hands, how he passes. I watched for this. Yeah. You know, I just watch everything about him. He's one of the greatest guys I've ever seen. Now, people are going to boo me. All right, boo me. But that's how I feel. Yes, Susan.

And I don't I don't think there's there's there's any debate. And thank you so much for calling from one of the things before I go. Go ahead. One other thing.

Yeah. The media take a poll from all your people that love you. The media sucks.

They're crime jobs. They're fraud. They're all in it for themselves. They never tell the truth.

Where is it? Who is the accountability for these people? They can just say anything over the airway. That's why we like you.

You do your homework. You're knowledgeable. You don't just say things together.

You know, oh, he said this and that. No, you're very good. That's why you're the great one.

The media should look at you. Thank you. Well, thank you, Susan. I appreciate you for calling from Worcester, Massachusetts.

Thank you for the kind words. A lot of people have loved to hear what you just said, especially this week. Now, when it comes down to Kyrie Irving. Yeah, we know Kyrie Irving is great. We know he's spectacular with the basketball. He is one of the most exciting players. He's one of the best small players that I've ever seen in the NBA.

It's just a matter of if and when he's been available to play. And a lot of times his comments, whether it be about the size or the dimensions of the earth, his covid vaccine stance or the suspensions or the not playing or not showing up or saying that he's going to stay with the Celtics and wants to retire there. But leaving he's he marches to the beat of his own drum.

And there's nothing wrong with that. But a lot of times he's he's been a distraction for the teams that he's played with. And so that's why Kyrie Irving doesn't get the love when you add the distractions and then you unfortunately add some of the injuries. This is why Kyrie Irving just doesn't get his just do. He has been one of the best players in the NBA.

And I don't know, maybe he'll be appreciated when he's gone. 8 5 5 2 1 2 4 CBS is 8 5 5 2 1 2 4 CBS. And I'm sure with Luca dealing with a little bit of a hamstring, I know Kyrie has been very excited.

To handle the ball and basically do whatever the hell it is that he wants to do. This portion of the show is brought to you by Wesley Financial. Stuck in a time sharing one out.

Contact Wesley Financial Group now and get a free time share exit information kit at Wesley Financial Group dot com. It is the JR Sportbree show here on CBS Sports Radio. We are going to take a break. When we come back on the other side, I'm going to fill you in on something that is taking place on the other side of the world. Hey, Marco, if I say other side of the world, is that something that Kyrie would agree with or disagree with? Oh, with him, I'm going to go with disagree because I think that's his knee jerk reaction. To say other side of the world, right? Just to disagree.

Whatever you say, he's going to disagree. OK, well, there's something going on on the other side of the world. In South Korea, the Dodgers and their 700 million dollar man, he's going to play baseball a little closer to home. I'll explain. We'll talk about it and then I'll fill you in on something that took place this day in sports. And we got to go back more than one hundred years. I'll tell you what it is on the other side. And then guess what?

I saw a ghost today on the news in Chicago. His name is Sammy Sosa. He spoke and this time he remembered English. The JR Sportbree show on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the JR Sportbree on CBS Sports Radio.

It is the JR Sportbree show on CBS Sports Radio. Oh, you better get used to this music. You're going to hear it a lot over the next several weeks. By the time I come back with you on Monday. It's going to be all about March Madness selection. Sunday is coming up. We're going to know who the hell is playing on the men's side, the women's side. Oh, it's going to be a lot of fun. Workplace Productivity next week is going to be in the crapper. People are basically going to do a lot of quitting, a lot of watching of basketball, a lot of bracket checking.

And they're going to hope that they've made themselves some money in the tournament. We'll see. 855-212-4CBS. 855-212-4CBS. What a busy show. Talked about Aaron Donald. Russell Wilson had his introductory press conference. Kenny Pickett gets traded to the Eagles. Man, we got we got Mike Brabel, who's now a consultant for the Cleveland Browns. We got we got Juwan Howard. We talked about this earlier in the show. Juwan Howard got the boot as the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines.

That's unfortunate. One of the most memorable things that took place with Juwan Howard is. When he tried to beat the hell out of that assistant coach over at Wisconsin. Poor guy recovering from a heart procedure, but damn, that's the most memorable thing is college ranks are certainly changing, aren't they? Jimmy Garoppolo has a job backup quarterback for Matthew Stafford in the Rams. Mason Rudolph also has a job. Mason Rudolph is now a member of the Tennessee Titans. Tyrone Smith is going to be protecting Aaron Rodgers for the New York Jets.

I hope that he's healthy enough to go out there and do so. And I told you, we got something getting ready to go on on the other side of the planet, on the other side of Earth. That's going to get everything started for the Major League Baseball season. The Dodgers, the Padres, they are in Seoul, South Korea.

Getting ready to play a couple of games to start the year. Great marketing. Shohei Ohtani is from Japan. But if you know anything about geography, Seoul, South Korea is a little bit closer than Southern California. And so, look, Major League Baseball is doing an excellent job with marketing as its 700 million dollar star gets a little closer to home. And as the Dodgers arrived at the airport, of course, it was a madhouse when Shohei Ohtani arrived. And he arrived with his new wife in Seoul, who happens to be a basketball player from Japan.

So Shohei Ohtani, just everywhere he goes, this man is a rock star and well deservedly so. Before the regular season gets started between the Dodgers and the Padres, the teams are going to be playing exhibition games against some of the local teams out in South Korea. So this is going to be a fun watch. And if you do want to tune in, the games start on Wednesday and Thursday. The regular season for baseball starts Wednesday and Thursday between the Dodgers and Padres. So if you want to get up early at like six Eastern, like three Pacific, if you don't want to go to sleep, you can tune in and watch some baseball before you get locked in on all of the college basketball that's going to dominate the daytime and the nighttime. It's a real, real busy time in the world of sports.

Let me ask you this, Chris, man, you out here coaching baseball, you're giving tips, you're helping people out. You won't wake up and watch the Dodgers and the Padres? Probably not.

Damn. Not that not that important, huh? It is important. I love baseball. It was my first love in regard to sports, but I need my sleep, man. I'll I'll watch the the eight to nine minute highlight packages that Major League Baseball puts out on YouTube.

And they do a great job with those two. So I'll be sure to tune in that way. Ain't nothing wrong with watching a two and a half, three hour game in eight minutes. Not too shabby.

I'm not mad at you. Let's see what Shohei Ohtani does. I'm not a betting man, but I would bet that Shohei Ohtani is going to hit a home run in one of those two games.

I mean, it's just that's just how things work for this dude. Shohei Ohtani's things fall into place for him. Same guy that blasted a ball through the Tokyo Dome roof.

Yes, it would have surprised me. He's he's a beast. He makes no sense. He is a he is a beast. I will assume that he's going to go out there and try to put on a show. Can't wait to see what he does when he's healthy enough to go back out there and pitch as well. And speaking of baseball, this happened a little bit closer to home here in the States in Chicago. Sammy Sosa. Yeah, you don't hear too much from Sammy Sosa. You don't see too much of Sammy Sosa. His appearance has changed.

His skin is lighter. You don't hear from him. You don't see him, certainly with the Cubs in Chicago.

And things really hit the wall when it was alleged via The New York Times that he failed a drug test, that he took steroids back in 2003. Now, we have since seen Sammy Sosa in Congress and testifying and he's at a congressional hearing and all of a sudden he didn't speak English. He could not communicate.

He could not answer any of the questions. And he is it's been rare to see Sammy Sosa out in public. He's actually in Chicago right now for an autograph signing, an autograph session. And so he was chatting it up and I say chatting it up very loosely because it got very uncomfortable. With the media and one of the reporters from Fox 32 asked Sammy Sosa about being back in Chicago and possibly reconciling with the Ricketts family and maybe getting back together with the Chicago Cubs. And Sammy Sosa said, yeah, I'm a grown man. I can admit my mistakes. And then he was asked about one specific mistake about taking steroids and Sammy Sosa just kind of, well, don't don't take my word.

Listen to the conversation. Is it time for you and Tom Ricketts to sit down to get back into their good graces? Well, like I say, you know, I'm a mature man. I think that it's a possibility that we can do that.

I'm open. I don't have a problem with that. You know, I have like I said, I have a lot of misunderstanding in the past, but now I'm a real man.

I feel great. So I recognize my mistake. So, hey, why not? Are you telling me that you recognize the fact that maybe you did do steroids? This is like I say, this is not a question that I expected from you.

Oh, man. And then he was asked again kind of about it. He's just like, listen, this is this is not something that I'm doing as a part of the interview. And then Sammy Sosa walked away. And by the way, Sammy Sosa sounds like he's learned a whole hell of a lot more English.

Sounds like perfect English to me since that congressional hearing where all of a sudden he had amnesia about everything. It's crazy what what Sammy Sosa and Mark Maguire helped do for the game and they would just juiced up like they may. I want to say they made baseball fun to watch. But after the strike, they certainly did. Home run records.

It didn't matter. I remember just just waiting, waiting for the Cardinals to play, waiting for the Cubs to play. It didn't matter who they were playing, what time they were playing. If Sammy Sosa was up the bat, you wanted to see it. If Mark Maguire was up the bat, you wanted to see it. And this predates cell phones. This predates video cell phones.

Like you had that you had to be at home, you had to be somewhere in front of a television set to watch. And this was appointment viewing whenever they were up there. And so it doesn't look like there's going to be any reconciliation between Sammy Sosa and the Chicago Cubs. But at least he's in Chicago signing autographs.

I know what he won't be doing anymore of. Sammy Sosa, he ain't going to be talking to no media if he's not trying to answer any damn questions about no about no steroids. That was a hell of an awkward pause. Thank you, Sammy.

Thank you for the entertainment. The J.R. Sport Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. We'll have a lot of history made over the next several weeks with March Madness and we're going to have more free agent signings.

I presume we're getting warmed up for the NFL draft next month. But for something that took place this day in sports history, March, we got to go back March 15th in 1912. Cy Young. Yes, that Cy Young Cy Young retired this day in 1912. I want you to listen to this courtesy of the National Baseball Hall of Fame because it encapsulates what Cy Young did when he called it a career. One of the most consistent and durable pitchers the game has ever known. Denton True Cy Young won 511 games, almost 100 more than any other pitcher in history. He won 30 games five times and topped 20 wins, an astounding 15 times. In 1901, Young had his best season and became the fledgling American League's first superstar, leading the junior circuit in wins, strikeouts and E.R.A.

In 1903, he won two games in the first modern World Series to help Boston to the championship. Young was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937. Man, you know what I can say about the pitchers now? We've said this a lot.

They get paid a whole hell of a lot more. Cy Young retired in 1912. This dude still has more wins than anybody. 511 and we know the game has changed multiple times, has gone through multiple generations, multiple phases over the past 112 years. I mean, the closest dude we have in the modern era. Is Greg Maddux, 355 wins.

All right. And man, Greg Maddux pitched 23 years to get there. Nowadays, they don't even care who wins the ballgame. Pitchers don't even pitch long enough to pick up a win. Hey, go give us four innings. Hey, let's find five guys to piece the game together. They don't care.

They don't care too much. Game has changed. And just thinking about a pitcher pitching 22 years and having 511 victories is insane. Times change, errors change.

And I think Cy Young's record is one that will never, ever, ever be broken. It's the JR Sport Reshow here with you on CBS Sports Radio. Look, we have wrapped up another week. It's been a busy week. Hey, Chris, thank you so much for your help today and also Wednesday. Appreciate you, man. And I appreciate you. It was a lot of fun getting a little evening showtime. It was it was great. I enjoyed it.

Well, thanks. You got any plans for the weekend? I'll be right back here tomorrow working on the fan, doing newsroom tape. And then I'm probably just going to be hanging out on Sunday, enjoying St. Patrick's Day with the family.

Rangers hockey at one. And then we have Selection Sunday. So I'm gearing up for that. Keep him busy, man.

Well, listen, you deserve it. Come back to work tomorrow. Make your money tomorrow afternoon. I'll be on the air in New York City after the Yankees play. Yeah, I can't wait to talk to a complaining New York Yankee fans after the Yankees finish up. And so I do Saturday afternoons in New York City. You can tune in on the free Odyssey app if you're not in New York. I presume you're not listening in New York right now unless you are in New York. But you can also always catch me weekdays here on CBS Sports Radio. I'll be back, of course, here Monday, 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 Pacific. Thank you so much to Mr. Hess. Thank you to everybody tuned in all over North America. If you missed a minute of the show, hit rewind on the free Odyssey app. The J.R. Sport Show here on CBS Sports Radio. It's done, but do not move.

Bart Winkler is coming up next. You'll be well, be safe, be smooth, be cool. Have a great weekend. Thank you.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-03-16 00:16:55 / 2024-03-16 00:33:57 / 17

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