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That is true. I am Jim Rome. And And the Jim Rome Show is presented by my pals at FanDuel. Appreciate them very much. And we are on Westwood One.
We are also on Sirius XM. We are also on our YouTube channel. By the way. That whole thing about the break takes, it's true. The focus groups have spoken.
What do you want me to do? They're focus groups, all right? It's research, it's data, analytics. You want me to argue with that? I can't.
Also, on the Rome TV channel that has eight platforms. I'll pick that up in a minute. Right now, I've got something way more important to do. No offense, chat. We are joined right now by a former major leaguer.
He played 12 years in the bigs, including six with the Atlanta Braves. He won a gold glove in 2007. He is in his ninth season as the Braves lead TV analyst, also a national MLB analyst for Turner Sports and host of the Pure Athlete Podcast. I'm talking about Jeff Francor. Jeff, really good to have you on the show, dude.
How are you doing? Tim, I'm great, man. Glad to be here. I'll tell you this, though. I'm a suffering Falcons fan right now.
I'm two weeks in, and I'm thinking, what are we going to do? My man, you are too. You are a suffering Falcons fan. All right, so the good news is you have the Braves. The bad news is you have the Falcons.
And four days from now, we don't even know who their quarterback is. Dude, can you break this down? What's it like to be a Falcon fan? And where do they go from here? Man, I will tell you what, ever since we blew the 28-3 to lead, and that is tough for me to talk about, we just have not been able to get it right.
And I love Matt Ryan, but he should know it better than anybody. Until we get a quarterback in there that can play. We're sitting there with Drake London, Bijan Robinson, Kyle Pitts, and we have no one to throw it to him. It's frustrating. No, right?
You got guys. What good is it if you have nobody to get all those studs the ball? Exactly. Jeff, real quickly, like as an athlete, that 28 to 3, I mean, yes, that's always going to be a part of the legacy. Yes, if you had anything to do with it, it'll always stick to you.
But how hard is it to get beyond something like that? No matter who you are. I think as an organization, it can be tough. And the way that it happened just slowly. We all know if we would have just ran the ball one more time and kicked a field goal, we probably are Super Bowl champions.
And we had the best field goal kicker that year in the game. You know, Matt Bryant had not missed, I think, but maybe once all year.
So. It is what it is, but you know what? It's baseball postseason coming up.
So let's move on. I got you. We can move on. I won't belabor that, but I want to sympathize with you. Jeff Francori joining us.
All right.
So the Braves clinched the division for the seventh time in nine years. What stands out to you about the way the team has played in September and the momentum they have heading into the postseason, which gets underway next week?
Well, Tay, all the talk had been at the lack of starting pitching. And Tyler Malley, who came over from the Giants, has been the best pitcher on the market since the deadline. If you go look at the numbers, what he's been able to do, I know Scoobel, I know Clay Holmes. They've had moments where they've been great, but Tyler Malley has not had a clunker yet for the Braves. It's seen six, seven innings every time he's gone out there.
So you throw that behind Chris Sale, and then the way that Grant Holmes or Martine Perez, look, Perez is sitting here pitching on Baro Todd, man. He's like, he's just out there throwing changeups at 83, just shutting people down.
So I actually think this team has a lot more momentum than people think coming into the playoffs. And they're kind of the one no one's talking about, right? The Brewers, obviously, we know how great they are. The Dodgers are primed. Again, I've said until someone beats them, they are the team to beat.
But you look at the Braves, and I'm like, no one's talking about them. I kind of feel like they're going in at a good pace, man. You put Chris Sale up against anybody in a game one. All right.
So, number one, if nobody's talking about you and you're playing now, well, that's a good thing. That's Good place to be. I was going to ask you about the Brewers and Dodgers, and I will. Sale's the guy that I wanted to ask you about. The dude's 37.
His ERA is 2.18, third lowest in all of baseball. Question is: how is this guy still doing it? And given how long he's done it, do we have to now consider this guy literally one of the filthiest lefties ever? That good? I think so.
I mean, you ask any of those guys that have faced him. He threw a complete game shutout against the Dodgers that night at home in Atlanta about three weeks ago. And I think if you watch that game, the way that Otani, the way that Freddie Freeman, two of the best lefties for me in baseball, struggled to time him up, whether it was a slider, the fastball. This guy has all the attributes. And I'll tell you the other thing, Jim, you miss about this guy.
He competes his butt off when he's out on the mound. I mean, he is a true competitor.
So he takes that ball, game one. And the other thing for the Braves they have going for him, Ronald LaCunha Jr. starting to heat up. And if you add him with Michael Harris, with Matt Olsen, with Drake Baldwin, man, it becomes a scary offense again. If it all comes together at the right time, they're a really scary team.
Jeff Francori joining us. Hey, Jeff, what about this? I talked to Brave Skipper Walt Weiss back in June when the team was getting hammered by injuries, and he said it. He said, look, we're going to be fine. As soon as we get right, we'll be fine.
And he was right. What has Walt brought to it since he went from bench? Coach to manager, like what's it been like in the clubhouse and how effective has he been? What makes him a difference maker?
Well, I think we all know this. Walt Learn played under Bobby Cox, right? Played under Tony LaRussa, all these great managers.
So, what I love about Walt is you asked any of those players, Jim, in June when the train was coming off the tracks. He was the same dude coming in, saying hi to guys. And let me tell you, players notice that. If you have a manager that comes in and he's panicking, he's changing the lineup, he's sending guys up and down. Baseball's different, man.
It's 162 games. And those guys like continuity. They like to know their role. And I think Walt has done a great job. Look, I'll go back to this offseason.
I don't think Walt was the Braves' first choice. I think there were other guys in the mix. That's why it took a long time. But as I told Walt in spring training, man, I know Brian Snicker, the former manager, they're real close. He told them the same thing.
You don't have to be the first choice, but show them you're the right choice. And I think Walt's shown that this year. We've seen that before, right? You don't have to be the first choice. The first choice is not always the best choice.
Now, another guy, you mentioned the Brewers, like, Jeff, for instance, I love Pat Murphy, hell of a manager. They're having a great year once again. Let me ask you this, though. Given the fact that he's a good person. He's been manager of the year in back-to-back seasons.
Could you argue that it should be Walt this year, especially given the fact that he took over a team that was 10 games under 500 last year? Man, I think you could, but Jim, if Pat Murphy wins 100 games with this Brewers team in a national league that's loaded, let's talk about it. You know, I know I'm doing the American League for the playoffs. You could flip a coin right now. I think the Rays have the top thing, but after that, I don't even know where I'm going to be in October, right?
But in the National League, you have some elite teams: the Cubs, the Braves, the Phillies, the Dodgers, and the Brewers just continue to win baseball games.
So, man, if they win two more games, it's 100 wins. I don't know how Pat Murphy doesn't get that. Fair enough. Jeff, what about the American League? Is it a coin flip?
I mean, there's a lot of parody, and it's close. Is it a coin flip, or is somebody in your mind separated from the rest? I will tell you this, Jim. The Rays are fun to watch. I have not watched a lot this year until the last month, knowing that, you know, we're going to be doing the Rays for the postseason.
So I have zeroed in on this team. They're one, two, three in the lineup are as good as anybody in baseball. Their starting staff, I got a chance to spend about 45 minutes with Kevin Cash two weeks ago when the Rays came to Atlanta. I went down there, wanted to just talk to him, and he said, dude, I got the greatest job. No one cares about us.
No one wants to talk about us. And yet, all we do is show up and win baseball games. He did tell me the only thing he's worried about in the postseason is in the bullpen, the lack of strikeouts. They don't have high-leverage strikeout guys. And we all know this in the postseason a lot of times.
You've got to be able to get those strikeouts. But with that being said, man, I mean, they have showed, they've taken everybody's best punch. I'll be in New York tomorrow. I'm doing the Rays Yankees the second game. Who knows?
We might get a bad second game. Me and Brian Anderson were Texan, because if the Rays went at 105, it's the ball game. And so who knows? Half those players might be drinking beer by the second game, but I do know. This that the Rays are very, very good, but it'll be interesting because obviously you're going to have the Yankees Red Sox playing with them.
And as much as you love Tampa and their story, game one down there will be. Tons of Yankees fans or tons of Red Sox fans.
So it will be interesting to see how that series takes shape. It's such good points, Given. You will get either one of the fan bases down there. Speaking of New York, Jeff, Aaron Judge, back on the injured list. He's dealing with a calf injury.
He says he'll be ready for the playoffs. Given the uncertainty, though, surrounding the big dude and the Yankees' other issues, what is your confidence level for the Yankees as they head into the postseason? They got to have Aaron Judge. He has got to be in that lineup and he's got to be a presence. And I will tell you this: I don't care how good you are.
You saw when Aaron Judge came back, right? Three months off. He struggled, struck out a whole bunch. That's going to happen. You're facing elite pitching.
And now you stick him in a postseason where you haven't faced that type of pitching.
So I think it's important the last day of the season that he gets four or five at bats for the Yankees. I truly believe that. He needs as many reps as he can get. The question is, right, is how healthy is he going to be? How, how, what percent?
But I do know this, whether he even, I say this with Chipper Jones, Jim, all the time. Like, Chipper, even if you're in the lineup, you might walk twice and that gives us a better chance to win ball games. I think for the Yankees to get where they want to go, they have elite starting pitching. Aaron Judge has to be in that two or three hole. Chipper was the best.
I miss Chipper. I'm thinking about your years and those teams. In fact, Jeff, can you humor me with this? Because believe it or not, it may seem like I know I've roamed. I've done this a million times.
There are people who don't know what I'm about to ask you. Greg Maddox, all right, an icon, obviously. Everybody knows it, but not everybody knows the icon that he was off the field. Can you share this one more time? Can you share the story about the kid or anytime a kid that was repping some scumbag parent that wanted the autograph to resell?
How would Greg Maddox sign that baseball? How do you approach that?
Well, with me, he would sign Jeffrey Dahmer number 31 and keep moving. And I mean, I tell people this all the time: Maddox was one of the greatest teammates you could ever ask for, dude. He'd spend an hour, he actually spent. Two days with Bryce Elder last year. He flew out to Vegas to work on his cutter.
But Maddox would sign for every kid. But if there were adults that were trying to be sleaze bags and trying to send the kids up to get it, Maddox would fish them out every time and would put them in their place. It was the great that group of Braves, man, and with Bobby Cox, like that was just, you want to talk about showing up every day and having fun, Jim. It was easy to go to work. I mean, Glavin didn't go with Charles Manson 48, did he?
No, no, no, Glad was too respectable to do that. Not once he went for the kill shot. Hey, aren't those guys? As long as those guys had their bats out, and by bats, I mean golf clubs, they were good, right? Like that staff was so amazing, but man, they need to play golf.
They needed that, didn't they? Everything revolved around the golf. They would fly in late or early to wherever they had to go on off days to make sure they could play. I always tell the story: my rookie year, my third weekend, dude, we were in San Francisco. That Sunday game, I threw two runners out for Smoltzy and I hit a home run off Noah Lowry.
In the shower, he's like, Hey, you play golf, right? And I'm like, Yeah. He's like, You brought your clubs. He said, We got on a helicopter. We got to Arizona.
We went up to Payson, Arizona, played 54 holes on an off day. And I'm like, dude, that's my favorite game ever in the Big Leagues because it got me in the golf group. And that's all I wanted. Dude, 54? You got 54 in?
We played sun up to sundown, man. 7 a.m. first tee off, and we would play the last two holes in the pitch black. Hey, man, the secret to effective pitching, man. Play as much golf as you can.
Jeff, one last doubt. I mentioned your podcast, Pure Athlete, but the brand goes well beyond the show itself. What can you tell us about the platform? And then who is it designed for? It's designed honestly for mostly parents because all these parents, I'm sure you've heard horror stories.
I have four kids, Jim, 13 to 5.
So I'm coaching every night at the park. All these parents think their kids are the next Chipper Jones or are the next Jay Finch on the softball field. And our big thing is, man, don't you want to have a great experience with your kids? You want them to learn how to overcome adversity, how to work hard, how to work for something, how to struggle, put the work in and come back. And at the end of the day, that's what we're promoting on this show.
I'm not telling kids, don't go chase your dream, but parents, have realistic expectations for your kids and learn the right thing through sports, how to be a great teammate, because those are things no different than in your job, right? The way you treat people that work for you, the producers or whatever. That's the stuff that matters down the road.
So, Britt and Brad and myself, a pure athlete, we've done it for four years, man, and we're trying to just tell people, enjoy the heck out of competing. And if you get to high school and you have an opportunity, now take that chance and go for that dream. But that's a very Small group of people. You know, it's so funny to say that. We had this conversation, Jeff, just last week, and I said both of our boys played high school baseball, and that's all I ever wanted.
If they got beyond that, great, but I just wanted to make sure they were a part of a team so they could learn all the lessons that come along with being part of a team and learning the work ethic and doing what you have to do to take care of your mind and your body and to win with class and lose with class and all these things that you're preaching on the platform. Let me ask you this before you go: Was it not like this when you were on the come up, or did money change everything, or was it always like this? Were parents like this when you were coming up? You know, I think the parents have always been like this. Unfortunately, now there's so many organizations that are making money off this and they're just going to start another team and another team.
You know, Jim, when we came up, there were maybe two teams and you either made those two teams or you played rec ball. No one started another team.
Now it's just starting another team, starting another team. And I'll also say it's the parents' job. I had great parents, man. You know, they, they, they, I played, when I played baseball, I played baseball. When it was football season, I played football.
When it was basketball, I played basketball.
Now these dudes are doing it year-round. And we want to talk about the injuries. These kids are never getting arrested, man. 13, 14, 15-year-old female males, they can't be on their feet working the same thing every day.
So I just think the money has become such a grab that these parents are going to buy into it. We're trying to fight that. Tell the parents, like, hey, you control what your kid does because you know what's best for them. Yeah, not only that, but it's sorry that your life didn't work out the way you would hoped it would work out. Stop living through your kids vicariously.
Sorry that yours didn't work out. I used to say to my kids, like, my life worked out great. Your mother's life worked out great. We do not need to live through you, but you do need to learn the difference between right and wrong. And it's gonna be your journey and travel your journey.
Hard work will help. Hard work works. But there's that too, but. Anyway, for those who want to find pure athlete, where do they find it? You just go to pureathlete.com and pureathleteink.com.
And we got great lots of great stuff, great athletes, great coaches. And like I said, man, it's for fun. These 10-year-old kids flying from Atlanta to LA to play baseball. And I'm like, go to the beach for two weeks, dude. Go play in the ocean, throw, do the free play.
That's how we all got better, right? Tackle football in the backyard. You learn, you're either going to do it or you are going to be invited to play. Hey, one last slide. Do you want them to specialize or do you want them playing multiple sports?
I'm personally a multiple sport guy, but I do understand when you hit eighth, ninth grade for some kids, if I want to play in high school, I need to specialize. I got no issue with that, but make sure you're resting and you're doing other stuff. Don't throw year-round, right? Get your body, work out, do all the things.
So, we have all that stuff on there that lets these parents into know different ways you can navigate the journey. Great information. He is the Braves Lead TV analyst, also a national MOV analyst for Turner Sports. Jeff Francora joining us. Jeff, really appreciate you, man.
What a great catch-up. Really good to talk to you, man. Thanks so much for doing that. That was fun. Thanks, Jim.
You're the best, man. You too, Jeff. You are the best. No one better. Jeff Francor.
Great conversation, great energy. You can see why he's done so well both on and off the field. Appreciate that time so much. All right, some great conversation information for you. Go ahead and react to it.
Telephone number is 1-800-636-8686. To recap, like he said, the American League's wide open. Wide open. National League is going to be really interesting. Who do you got?
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Alright, so. Like I said, I remember the first time I was held accountable. I think I was three. And my parents disciplined me. See, the thing about you clones, or specifically, chat.
Not the clones. Specifically, chat. I know there's nothing in the world you love more than you. I know there's nothing in the world you love more than doing what you do in chat. I encourage it.
And then seeing what you do in chat, show up on our break takes.
However, we're always trying to refine and improve the product. And I've always kind of had an issue with the break takes. Like when they first started fine. But we've been doing this for a long time now. We have to improve them.
That's why we've been putting more video and more of me, but I haven't eliminated you. But I'm trying to figure out a way to do it. No offense, you still have chat. You can still do what you do in chat. It doesn't mean it needs to make the break take.
So I'm like, maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm being unfair. Let's do some research.
So again. The focus groups are brought in. I show them your feedback and submissions, and then I show them a blank page. It's kind of like an experiment with rats. You know, it's like a rat experiment.
Like, if you give the rat this, will the rat go through the maze? Not that you're rats, but Anyway, you know what I'm saying. The focus groups overwhelmingly preferred a static screen without trying to decode what the hell it is you do and say. I'm sorry. It's empirical research.
It's data. It's third party. It's objective. It's legit. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings.
They liked a static screen with my logo better than they liked what you say. And incredibly, you don't like that. Nor are you accepting that. Let me give you some of the reaction. At two paws, focus groups equal idiocracy.
Petri dishes. Allen. 90 90 31. Reminder, focus groups thought that New Coke was a hit. At Totally Rexel's That focus group were educated folks and not clones.
They obviously have not listened or seen the show. They're frauds and thieves. Signed that guy, KO'd by Buzz Aldrin. You're a coward and a liar and a thief. And you're on your back, dirt nerd.
A drunky C Sam quote: I am ignored by my wife and kids.
Now this. Bro, I'm sorry about your wife and kids. You can still be in chat. You can still be a member. You can still super chat me.
You can still engage with the others. But, but, it doesn't mean that you're going to end up on the break takes. In fact, you're not. The focus groups have made their point clear. I've seen all the data, I've gone over it.
I paid for it. It's good research. You're ignored by your wife and your kids and now this. Wow, bro. Things are not going well for you.
JR D 816 clone Out this research firm. Doing faulty focus groups. I don't need to. It's an extremely reputable firm in our industry. used by many.
Eric in Florida. Ask your focus group about the rat fam. I don't need to. I've given them plenty of... Data and samples of your work, quote unquote.
I don't need to ask them about the rat fam or the piece of crap fam or anything else. Fidel Lopez, 5133, Jim. How do I get in your focus group? It's a focus group. I I'm not letting you clones in the focus group because you all say, Oh, it's incredible.
Listen, you act like I I'm not subjecting you to anything that I haven't been subjected to. I've been in this business a long, long time. Believe me, focus groups have dissected and torn apart this show and me personally. I know it hurts. You're just not used to it.
You've never been subjected to it. I have. I know. I'm not subjecting you to anything that I have not been subjected to myself. It never feels good.
But it's important. And it's legit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. More Soulless ginger clones against focus groups. Don't hate the focus group.
Don't hate the messenger. Don't hate the focus group. Look in a mirror. If your submissions were better, maybe we would have gotten different information back from the focus groups. At 24-inch dubs, you telling me?
Focus groups didn't like fart and monkey jokes. Basically, the research that I got back from them, they didn't like anything you had to say. Not just those two things. But it was so overwhelming. It's like a bat to my head.
They don't. I hate to say this, chat. They don't like you. That way Your submissions, they don't like you. Like they were getting kind of.
heated about it. Like they were starting to take it personally. I can't even read this guy's handle. Part of the problem. I can't read your handles.
And neither could they. Rome. You're showing the focus groups the wrong takes. Oh, that's the problem. I had to sift through.
And sort out the good takes from the bad takes. You know what I just did? I just ran it on a loop, I just subjected them to all of it. At me tube er Rome had to take break takes out back and old yeller it. I didn't have to, I didn't want to.
But I had to find out. And I found out. Stucknut, what are we supposed to do? Doing break takes now. Take a break?
No. You know what you can do? You can refine whatever it is you're working on. Or, you know, you can do, you can look at that screen that says the Jim Rome Show. Back in a minute.
The focus groups did and they liked it. Or On those rare break takes where we show a reset of an interview, you can see that because maybe you had missed it. Yeah, Mark Moda. Rome. Obviously, that slappy focus group doesn't know who we are or even who the hell you are.
They're hurting, not helping Rome. I understand this stings. I understand. You don't like being told that your content is not very good. You know what, though?
Here's the thing. I've been trying to set you straight for a long, long time, and it's not working. You needed to hear it from somebody else. You ever see this in life? Yeah.
You're you're not hearing it from me. Obviously.
So I went to an objective third party. And I said, listen to them. You're not listening to me. You don't give a damn what I have to say. Fine.
I'm going to farm it out to an objective third party. And the third party has spoken. The third party likes the static screen better. That one, if you're watching on the screen. Rome.
The Jim Rome Show. We'll be right back. I'm not taking chat away. You're more than welcome to do it. But you're not entitled.
You know, the problem is you're entitled. I was just going to say, it's not your inalienable right to be a part of the break takes. I'll even use you on the show. But man, don't be so greedy with the real estate. I'm going to give you a chance to earn your way back to the break takes.
How about that? But the focus group is spoken. Juan is in Maui. Clones do not understand focus groups are made of people who are actually smart and with good taste. Thank you, Juan.
Thank you. Polly in Baldwin Park. Jimmy. Can you tell your focus groups to give it another two weeks before removing break takes?
Well played. Two weeks! No, no, I gave them many weeks of watching. They've had their two weeks. That's the thing.
Jim Breaktakes were doomed from the beginning. The show mantra has always been: more roam and less clone is good for the show. Craig in Idaho. War Team Content. Man, they just keep coming.
Gary in Central Ohio, Romy, I for one commend you for relying on analytics when deciding what you show on the break takes. I will be thinking of you when we hang our analytical NBA Championship banner next month, signed at Gary Atkinson. Kenny Atkinson, I mean, Gary in Central Ohio. It's not the same thing, man. Analytically.
See, we have data you guys don't have. I I'm not making it up. I actually do have data that y'all don't have. I'm just saying, I kept saying, Do better, do better, do better. I need more.
I need more. I need to fix that part of the show. And it didn't get better.
So, I'm like, okay, maybe it's me. Maybe I'm jaded. Maybe I'm not giving them enough credit. I'm going to go to an independent party. Focus groups.
I'm going to show this to somebody else. A lot of it. And it did not resonate. Clones, you don't even want to know what the score was. You don't even want to know what the reaction was.
You don't even want to know what the comments were. I'm just saying it did not go well for you. I'm trying to protect you, clones, alright?
So instead of pushing back and getting all outraged about it, I'm trying to protect you from what they actually said. Because what they actually said was not pretty.
Alright, so. Let's just keep moving. Let's just keep moving. All right, still ahead. Your telephone calls, your reaction, Jeff Brom coming up at 2:20.
Monday is an ATP day. How about the Ask the Pros? I've got more thoughts on the NFL. I've got thoughts specifically. On the Bucks?
I can't believe my guy Baker Mayfield lost to the creep. The monkin acting like he won a Super Bowl, throwing F-bombs around, stomping off. All of that's still ahead. You're listening to The Jim Rome Show. We know that looking for a home in today's market can be tough.
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Okay. One more Jeremy Lanza On chat, quote. Focus groups just lobbed an Absolute piss missile at the chat. Absolute piss missile up the sidelines.
Alright, so. The thing about the focus groups and this, and I'm sure the radio audience is like, wow, how much time we get spent on this? Not much more time. Not much more time. You know why I'm not gonna spend much more time on this?
Because if you haven't been paying attention, those of you in chat that are so unhappy about this, that are taking this so personally, we've been running your takes. on the break takes for the last three break takes. Have you not noticed this? This just in. Brick.
There are no focus groups. Nobody has seen your horrible takes. I made it all up. I'm not taking them away from you. There are no focus groups.
I didn't pay for it. There is no data. There is no research. We started the show off with a technical difficulty and couldn't get it in. And I thought to myself, oh, you know, be funny.
I'm going to tell them that it's not a technical difficulty. I'm going to tell them that you're not good enough, and the focus groups made the decision.
So Ah, you're fine. Your crappy submissions. And by the way, they've gotten better since I brought this up.
So that worked. Not only did I get an organic bit out of this. But it actually got you to sharpen your takes. It worked. But no, there are no focus groups.
You are still part of the break takes. You're welcome. You still get to participate. It was just a joke. Further evidence of just me playing around once in a while.
Like, I'm going to do this and see if they buy it. And the the funniest part was We played these, we played your submissions through the break takes for like 40 minutes, and you still kept crying about it. You weren't even paying attention. All right, back to the show. Adam Schefter with this breaking news.
Falcons named Michael Penix Jr. their starting quarterback for Thursday's game in Green Bay. All right, so we've been waiting on this. I mentioned earlier that we're four days out, and we don't even know he's playing quarterback. And now we do.
Penix apparently feels comfortable enough now that he's willing to give it a go. Good. Good, because you know why? They need to find out what the hell they have in this guy because those that are there now are not the ones that selected him. They need to know.
because it's going to be a good quarterback draft and they need to know whether or not they have a quarterback.
So the guy's got to play.
So that just in. Let's go to the phones. We go to Los Angeles. Matt. In LA, Matt.
What's going on, dude? How are you doing? I'm a roaming. Thanks for the vine. From Oakland to Las Vegas.
to Irwindale to Los Angeles. You're welcome, you pukes And for all you raiders, haters, I got one thing to say. RAIDER What up, Raider Nation? We're living lovely, even if it is only about to be week three. Because, like Jimmy said earlier, the NFL's better when the silver and black A jack is handling beers.
We Freaking Kubiak. Kirk freaking cousins, the adults in the room that the Death Star has been devoid of.
Now, Gary Kubiak's son, Gary Kubiak Class Act, Red Lobster Ally, winner and champion, has come to the dark side to revive our always proud Raider franchise. Unlike some noted Nepo baby failures of the past, namely Mike's, Shula, and Lombardi. No. So I gotta give Bacon Face and the pumpkin haircutted freak some credit. I mean, for real.
But a 2-0 Raider starts not why I called, Jimmy. I called. Because Matt Tober is in route. In route, like Leatherface, be it that Chainsaw Massacre in freaking Texas, or Dennis Connor, or even Bonito Santiago Sandpaperface for that matter. The Dodgers are coming under the guise of one Dr.
Dave Roberts. The three peep begins. Mattober is coming in mere days, you dense-minded derelicts. More sprinkles in Bichita. Purchase of a cornstalk wall and foundation to hug.
How? War IRA Craig and I Ray Wells panhandling at yesterday's Charger game and having Silk Bra throw a chicken bone in their panhandle cup. but unwar focus group beeks. Outro. Wow, damn, Matt's been saving up.
Matt, the longer Matt goes between phone calls, the more vitriol, and the more, well. Matt does math things.
So Matt's got Mattober coming up. We know about Mattober. Mm-hmm. Which means the Dodgers are in the postseason, which means normally not, but the Raiders are back.
So you knew Matt would be coming with a certain energy. Raiders 2-0, Matt Tober coming up, postseason for Major League Baseball getting underway next week.
So, Matt, Matt was spitting fire. Go ahead, Albie. Much to the consternation of the clones. Racking don't worry clones. You got your break takes back.
Man, that was so funny. You see how pissed you were? When I took something from you that I didn't actually take from you, and I blamed it on the focus groups when there are no focus groups. You know what you know what you should do? And so we can all come together.
You should join me. In trying to make the world a better place by contributing to my foundation, cough. Cockfighting Across America. Make a donation. Help get kids off the street.
Help get kids off the street. But Having them attend cockfights. That's my gift to you. After having some fun at your expense by pretending to take away your chat submissions. I invite you to join me.
as we all come together. It was established in 2007. Cough. Cockfighting across America. Oh, one more thing.
Every father wants their daughter to get into adult films.
Now I'm done.
Now I'm done.
Yeah, piano's nice. What's going on, man? What's going on, man? No, they don't. What's going on?
Let's go to Santa Barbara, Ryan, in the 805. Good to have you on the show, Ryan. What's going on? How are you? Romi, my homie, wasabi from another mommy.
It's Ryan. From F being your brother, the Puppet My brother. I love the energy. I don't like that colour. I know you have no idea what just happened.
And I love the energy. Ryan. You got to know the show. I think you know the show. One of the only rules on the show.
Is do not restate who you are and where you're calling from, or you're going to get run. I made it very clear. Let's go to Ryan in Santa Barbara. Ryan in the 805. What's going on, my dude?
Romy, my homie. It's Ryan in Santa Barbara. I know, Ryan, I just said so. That's why that rule exists. Very few rules.
Habitate don't suck. Don't tell me how old you are. And don't reset your name and where you're calling from. I'm trying to keep this thing moving. Yeah.
This guy understands. This guy knows. I love getting a call from this guy when it's not a beef day, Miles in Charleston. Miles, what's going on, dude? Hey, Rome, what's up, dude?
Listen, I was in Houston on Friday night to watch the Braves clinch at Minutemaid Park or whatever dumb name the stadium is called these days. And let me tell you, Jim, outside of Houston's ballpark in Houston on Crawford Street, there are all kinds of people selling Braves merch. And the stadium, the ballpark is filled with Braves fans. Correct me if I'm wrong. Did Houston not win the World Series just a couple years ago?
And that wasn't even the cheating World Series. Their fan base should be slapped in the face, Jim. Completely lame. It was a home game for the Braves. That terrible AL West where the team that wins up being under 500 war teams making the playoffs that actually have a winning record and unwar the Houston Astros in the city of Houston because they are terrible out, Jim.
All right, Miles. Good to hear from you. Nice job. They did clinch. Part of the reason why.
Mm-hmm. Well, the reason why we had Jeff Rancor on because they have clinched now seven times in nine years. And as Jeff said, you know what? They're healthy. They're playing well.
They're pitching well. They're a team to watch. Milwaukee's a monster. The Dodgers are still the ones to beat until somebody takes them down. But the Braves are dangerous.
As he mentioned, Akuna is getting hot. It's just the right time. All right, hour three coming up. ATPs, do not forget about that. I'm looking for your Ask the Pros question.
I've got more thoughts on the NFL. I got way behind because of. The focus groups. Uh I'll give you some more NFL thoughts at the top of the hour. Jeff Braum coming up at 220.
Plenty more still to come. You're in the jungle. I am Jim Rome. Good to be with you on a Monday. Nice to have you here.
We'll come right back. My dough never sees a freezer. Faye Hollis makes the biscuits at Hardee's. I'm up at 5 a.m. every day making biscuits from scratch.
Easy there, biscuit lady. Ought to create the Hardee's $2 for $5 breakfast menu. Try the new Oscar Meyer bologna biscuit, sausage and egg biscuit, smoked sausage biscuit, biscuit and gravy, or a cinnamon roll. The $2 for $5 breakfast for a limited time only at participating Hardees. I got up early.
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