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Progressive Casualty Insurance Company, affiliates, and other insurers. Not available in. States, yeah. Who led the baseball guy in the building when you got a football game going on? We got Thursday night football tonight.
We got the Seahawks and the Broncos. Here, all I've been the last two hours talking nothing about this Dodgers Brewers game tonight and just the the dynasty coming to an end for the Dodgers. I think it's going to end tonight. I really do. Trent Rush back with you here on the Jim Rome Show, sitting in for Jim.
I will say this: when you want to talk football. I think that you don't want to hear from the baseball guy. You want to hear from a Super Bowl champion.
So we have called upon the services of Ryan Harris, who's going to be on the call for Westwood One tonight, Broncos and the Seahawks. And look, dress it up for us here on the show. Really, really appreciate that, Ryan. Way to go! Way to rise up!
You're making the host look bad. Come on now. You got the jacket. I got the tie. Together we're better.
Okay, together we're better. We'll split it down the middle. We'll be in some pretty good shape here. All right. Of course, great career with the.
For Broncos and your time in the NFL, and of course winning a Super Bowl, now this act as a broadcaster, getting ready for a game like this tonight, looking to see what Bo Nix can do against a really good Seahawks defense. It's been a bit of a struggle this year for Bo Nix. Before we get into just like tonight's game in general, just how would you assess the quarterback play so far this year for the Broncos?
Well, I think Bo Nix is a top ten, if not top five, quarterback. He's got an elite arm. I think two years ago he threw the furthest pass in the air for a touchdown, which went sixty nine yards.
So he's got all the tools that you want. And make no mistake, if he's if he's healthy at the end of the divisional game last year, where they beat the Bills, where he outduel Josh Allen, it's a very different AFC Championship game.
So I think Bo Nix is not only one of the best quarterbacks, but talking to him and being Around him, the past few years, calling the preseason with Steve Levy, he is just always about football. He is thinking about football, how to improve. I even loved his first interception. They said, "What happened?" He said, "Step back, threw it to the other team." So he has a process for failure. And oh, by the way, he just had his first kiddo, and I can tell you from becoming a dad in the NFL, you love football even more when you realize you can get a little break from being a parent for a couple hours.
That's why that's why I'm a sports talk radio host. I just gotta get a little break here. Gotta work.
Sorry, we love to stay. Yeah, yeah. We're all doing that, and it's an excuse to watch some games too. It's it's not bad. Yeah, but I want to get into Bo for a second because he had such a great season a year ago.
Ryan, the numbers haven't been the same this year. They just haven't been to this point for Bo Nix, and he has talked about that in the media and just kind of saying, "Hey, look." In some ways, it almost feels a little bit like a narrative of you know he feels. Like he's playing the same way. Have you seen any kind of difference from the Bonics you saw last year to the guy that you've watched this season? No, and that's a little bit of the issue.
I mean, last year Bo Nix started a little too excited every game for about five six games, and I talked to him earlier in the preseason. I said, "When when did things change for you last year?" And he's like, "Well, it's about week ten to twelve. I started feeling like this was my team, and I could make the calls, and I knew what plays were even coming as as the quarterback." So I still think he gets excited, and I'll tell you, it's hard not to. And you're in the NFL; they call your name, your school people, you're cheered, and there's. Flames going by your head while you're walking out, but you gotta find a way to breathe.
And Peyton Manning always said to us, "Hey guys, we're going slow, fast.
So everything we're doing, we're doing deliberately with intention and with anticipation. And that's just the next step that Bo Nix has to get to. I liken it a lot to Josh Allen. Like Josh Allen's not trying to win the game in the first quarter, but he is trying to win the game all four quarters, and that's where Bo needs to get to." I think about the start of the season that this Denver Broncos team has played, and it was really tough games. I mean, the loss to lose at Arrowhead, to lose at San Francisco.
All right, but you know, you beat the Rams, you beat Jacksonville already this year. You know, took care of business at home. As you're watching this Denver Broncos team and where they fit in in the AFC West, just kind of what kind of expectations do you feel like they can have now? Five games into this season. They can have the expectation to be in the playoffs and challenge the the Kansas City Chiefs to be the number one team in the AFC West.
Now, already they're going to need some help. I mean, the Chiefs are looking pretty, pretty, pretty good. Kenneth Walker too. He must be on those peptides or something. He looks like a fresh young man, even just after playing the longest than any running back did last year.
So, the Broncos absolutely have an opportunity. The Raiders are involved. Which, congrats to the Kubiak plan and latest Clint. Kubiak being a head coach, of course, his father was my head coach. But outside of the Chargers, everybody in the AFC West has a chance to make the playoffs.
But I think the Broncos are positioned to do it either as a wild card or as an AFC West champion. But they will need that help from a Chiefs team that does not look like it will falter. Very fascinating. The opponent tonight as well, and getting set for this Seahawks team. Their passing game defensively has been really good.
Of course, what JSN is able to do, and he's had a really good year. Just as you've been in game prep, getting set for this game tonight, just what have been some of your thoughts on on the Seahawks to this point in the year? They're struggling with both running the football and with taking care of the football. When I played at the Steelers with Mike Tomlin, he said, "When you carry that football, you are carrying the hopes and dreams of this team." And last week, one of the Seahawks dropped it just with no one around him as he was running for a first down.
So there's something going on where either they're not practicing the fundamentals or they're just not remembering them. But that's been a huge issue for the Seahawks. And then you got Sam Darnold, who has not been. The same since getting injured week one, which I don't think anybody expected him to be. But they're going to need more from him.
But I really think losing Jardarian Price to the for the Seahawks made a huge difference for them in that run game. They looked like they weren't prepared. They've got some guys, but not the guys they were counting on. And for a team that just came off the championship, you'd like to see a little more depth at that running back position. Possibly a trade coming here before the trade deadline.
Yeah, I mean, just coming off that absolute heartbreaker against. The Forty Nineers and a questionable loss, and that, and you know, Mike McDaniel McDonald was just like, okay, yeah, I mean, that's that's what the that's what they called in the field. We just got to roll with it. Maybe you want to see a little different reaction than that from your head coach. But in this stretch, to have to face the Niners now, go to Denver now, you know, you take on the Chiefs coming up after that.
Do you feel like this is kind of a early maker break kind of point in the year for this Seahawks team? They're certainly being tested in this first half. Have. I think the Seahawks and the Broncos. You're absolutely right.
I mean, this is a almost must win for these guys to stay in pace with the leaders in their division, and for the Seahawks, to your point, they have to respond.
Now that was a tough game, and I personally think the Forty Nineers are winning the Super Bowl. I can see it. I can see the recipe being cooked, and Keon Black's a wonderful addition.
So that's a tough. That's a tough game, and on a short week, both of these teams are coming in with four game win streaks on the six days or less.
So something has to give, but I'm with you absolutely. For the Seahawks to believe that they can still win and they can be in the playoffs, they have to win this game tonight, and it's going to start with taking care of the football. As a player, I just kind of want to get some of your thought on when you're getting ready for these short weeks and how everything just gets abbreviated to go play a Thursday night game. Just what's the process like as a player to get ready for a game like this?
Well, first, you love it because all of a sudden, these coaches who needed all this time to teach you all these plays can do it in two and a half days. Isn't that amazing, right?
So it's a lot less of the mental exercise of being a pro. You're not in these long meetings, and really, what happens? Coaches say, "Hey, we're going to take this game plan. These are our concept. These are the three things we want to do on third down.
If we have time, we're going to add to it. But let's go, boys, and get your bodies right." So it's more about recovery and and the mental work in walkthroughs. But you kind of love it as a player. It's a mini bye week. Not only do you get to go hang out with your family afterwards, but you get to get those coaches to condense their information and just give you what's necessary to succeed.
It's so funny. The coaches all have to hate it because it disrupts everything that they want to do. But I hear you. I can understand why the players would be into it. I mean, it does like the recovery part coming off the last game and quick turnaround.
I would imagine that still has an input. But I guess what you're saying is. The the reward outweighs the outweighs the risk before before the game and the rest.
Well, especially for the Seahawks, they want to play right now. I mean, one of the things in the NFL when you lose, you you you hate that week in between.
So if you have a loss and you get to go out on Thursday night and be the first team to try and rectify that, you want that as a player. And always look out for coaches complaining with all that free diet coke they drink. Come on, now life can't be that bad. You know, I I'm just fascinated by the NFC West. I think that it's a really interesting division.
The Seahawks team. Of course, you just mentioned the San Francisco Forty Nineers. That's the team that you think is going to win the Super Bowl this year. The Rams—they're two and three. But I personally, I see them.
You know, the schedule sets up for them to be able to go on a run right now. And that three-headed monster. You talk about San Francisco, though. What is it that you're seeing in this Niners team that tells you you think that they are the new favorites to win the Super Bowl? I think Kyle Shanahan has found his recipe of how to use his talent in the best way since he's been a head coach.
And to his credit, he's got the most talent now, right? And it's going to be about health moving forward. But you know, even in the first game against the Rams or last week against the Seahawks, you get a ten to fifteen yard run from Christian McCaffrey, and before McCaffrey can even stand up, Keon Black's coming out because it doesn't matter how many carries McCaffrey has in September and October, you want him in January and. Oh, by the way, you went out and got Mike Evans, Hall of Famer. Hello, you add him, you know, to Kittle, and all of a sudden you're rolling.
And I think the other piece that people miss is how physical the defense is. I mean, this reminds me of when they went to go play the Chiefs before they lost one of their linebackers in the pregame. But you got Dre Greenlaw and Fred Warner just playing monster football, just grown man violence out there, and not a lot of teams want to play that.
So you couple the run game with the passing game. In efficiency, in addition to that defense, and the Forty Niners, they're in it for the long haul. Ryan Harris is on the call. The game tonight for Westwood One. It's the Seahawks and the Denver Broncos.
All right, Ryan, give me some give me some idea of what to expect in this game tonight. You've done all the homework. You've done the prep. You're ready to go for the game tonight. You've watched the film.
What should fans be looking for in this game tonight, and how it's going to play out? I think the Broncos going to start trying to run the football, and we'll see how long they stay committed to that. I'd like to see them get under center, but look out for Cortland Sutton on offense and Jalen Waddle to have big nights. The Seahawks play kind of this zone man defense that's going to make contested catches every single time Bo Nix throws the football. Cortland Sutton's one of the best possession receivers, and Jalen Waddle has some of the best speed you're going to see in the NFL.
And conversely, for the Seahawks, I think you see. Sam Darnold, Cook. Yes, they got Jackson Smith and Jigba, but they also got the Super Bowl champion in Sam Darnold.
So I think he's going to rally the troops, and with a reduced play call sheet, he's going to be able to move quickly. But the key is going to be turnovers and special teams. Look out for Rashid Shaheed to have a big play in special teams, as he often does on Thursday Night Football.
Okay, you're set. That was it. You just did a rehearsal. The open. You're good to go.
You're ready. You're ready for the game, Ryan. Hey, I truly appreciate the time, the insight, and looking forward to listening to your call of the action tonight. Thank you. Fun to join you.
Peace. All right, there he goes. There's Ryan Harris. We appreciate him and great stuff there. All right, we got people hitting me up at Trent Rush Sports.
My name is Trent Rush. I'm filling in for Jim Rome today. Of course, you can call the show one eight hundred six three six eight six eight six. Email us Rome and Have a Take dot com. Hit up Jim at Jim Rome.
I gave you my X handle a moment ago. We were talking Jim Harbaugh a little bit earlier. Rogue News seventy eight ninety eight says Michigan. Parma, who's got it better than us? He looks like someone backed over his puppy.
Look, that is dark. That's that's not right. You know, I dropped off my two labradors over at doggy daycare on my way into the studio today. I I don't want to hear about the puppy stuff. I'm not going to be taking that here.
Robert Robert JMR72. I would take half the quarterbacks currently playing before Bo. He hasn't had a good. The numbers don't lie. The numbers have not been as good.
And you look at the way the season has gone for Bo Nix to this point. I know he was really good last year, and I just you know I'm going to trust what Ryan Harris is telling us and what he has seen. I'm going to trust his eye. He's watching the tape. He's really studying this stuff.
For me. It just hasn't quite been the same guy yet. That's why he's being asked these questions.
Now it's early. I mean, we're five weeks in. This is a huge game tonight. This is the game. If Bo Nix struggles tonight.
I think that, however many questions we're talking about now, with the way he's played at this point, I think that national television game. I mean, they're all national television games, but they have the prime time spotlight tonight of owning Thursday night. I think that a lot of those issues could be exemplified, exemplified here moving forward. I think we're going to see a lot more of that. This is here.
Here are some of Bo Nix comments. By the way, Bo Nix was talking a little earlier, just kind of assessing his own play this point in the year, and here he is. You know, playing good and playing bad—it's all, you know—it's a narrative, and I think it's honestly kind of something we we make up. I don't think you know necessarily I'm playing any different than what I'm normally playing. It's just every once in a while a ball bounces this way, or something will happen this way, and we'll get a pressure on this look.
When we had somebody open, I had to throw it away, and I wanted to hold on a little bit longer, and the guy was open. And next thing you know, stat line looks different. We're talking about something completely different. I mean. You look at the the passing yards.
First five games of last year, the first five games of this year, he is two hundred fewer six picks. It's less than he had last year. He didn't have any interceptions at this point. Season ago, six picks, three or six touchdowns, three picks to this point for Bo Nix. Completion percentage under sixty percent right now for Bo Nix.
Like he can say that we're making up some kind of narrative here, but the stats don't lie. And maybe he feels the same. Maybe he feels like he's the same guy. Maybe over the course of an entire and. NFL season, we're going to see Bo Nix getting back to what he is, but at the same time, I think right now.
We're talking about a Bo Nix that is not having the same kind of success, and I think that it's impossible to ignore that at this point. It's just kind of the way this year has gone for Bo Nix. You you cannot deny that it has not been the same kind of year for Bo. One eight hundred six three six eight six eight six. We're gonna take some calls coming up.
We're gonna get some of your reaction on X talking in the chat. Yeah, we're gonna get to some of that and a whole. More coming up here on the Jim Rome Show. Plus, some changes coming in college football. Oh no!
Everyone is taken by storm. What's happening in college football today? Are we overreacting? Maybe just a smidge. We're going to talk about that.
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Application times and rates may vary. What the world's happening in college football? The world's changing. We're going to explain when we come back. You're listening to the Jim Rome Show.
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So if your business is in it to win it, win with Shopify. Start your free trial today at Shopify.com/win. Kurt Ross, hang with you here on a Thursday and a very busy sports day today. Of course, you got Thursday night football tonight. Got the Seahawks, the Broncos.
Is is Bo Nix going to figure it out? Seahawks nemesis says, coming from a Broncos fan, Bo Nix couldn't read a freaking comic book. Dude is missing reads left and right. Gandalf the Straight responded, "Ooh, drama in the chat, Gandalf! Y'all were not saying that about about Bo last year, no, no, we were not.
Everyone was in love with Bo Nix and the progress that he had made last year." He thinks he's the same guy. He might be the same guy. Numbers tell a little different story.
So, of course, we got that game tonight—the nationally championship series with the Dodgers dynasty on the brink of disaster coming up. That's a eight Eastern tonight, five o'clock here in Los Angeles. Shohei Ohtani batting the leadoff spot tonight.
So, you know, and I had I had floated this here locally in SoCal that Dave Roberts might do that. I thought he might do it. Into Game Three, I think it's easier to do it going into Game Four because he looked a lot better in Game Three. Hit the ball hard, was on base three times, but sometimes the responsibility of being the leadoff man is isn't just about like putting pressure on you, but like Wanting to lead your teammates, I think there's something to that. Like Joe Madden used to do this all the time when a player was struggling.
He did it with Evan Longoria, where he he would put him up when he was having a tough go. Remember, he was with the Cubs. He did it with with Rizzo. He put Rizzo in the leadout spot just to jumpstart the bat a little bit. I could see maybe why Dave is doing that with Showe tonight.
I think Showe also is going to give you a chance. Plus, what's he doing well? He's getting on base. He's not driving in runs. He's Not hitting the ball out of the ballpark, but he's getting walks.
He's getting singles. It's okay.
So if that could be your table setter, like maybe you do want Shohei Ohtani up there at the top.
So that's how that's how Dave's going to go about it, going into this this game four, where the Dodgers, back to back defending champions, it could all come crashing down tonight. A team that they swept a season ago, trying to turn the favor here this evening. Again, my name is Trent Rush, sitting in for Jim Rome today. It is always an honor. To be with you here, doing this show.
Want to hear from the clones? Like that's I truly am. I saw somebody posted like substitute teacher. Yes, like that is I am the substitute teacher. It is your class.
I am just here holding down the fort. That's what we're about.
So, if you want to call and be a part of the show, give us a ring one eight hundred six three six eight six eight six. You can do that at Jim Rome. Hit us up on X Rome at HaveItTake dot com. Send an email. You can find me at Trent Rush Sports.
But let's go to Michael in Vallejo who wants to join us here on the show.
Now, hello, Michael. Hey Trent, thanks for taking my call.
So I called yesterday, man. I had a beef with all the conspiracy theorists. They were saying that the Dodgers were throwing the series because you know they want to save the the league from the lockout and all this other nonsense. And Jim kind of touched on it. And I know yesterday was a big day in sports history.
Like I told Alex, today is a big day in Dodgers history. It's the anniversary of the Curt Gibson home run. It's the anniversary. With the Justin Turner home run against the Cubs, so I have hope that maybe today something will light a fire under their asses, and we'll be able to pull this out. It'll give us some hope because I'm not ready to say goodbye—at least not yet.
It's been a great run. Nobody's going to take that from us. I know a lot of people try to discount 2020, but I mean. When you're at the top, every everybody's coming for you.
So, and these guys in Milwaukee—they're a great team. They they they've fought back every time we take the lead. It's like they have an answer for us. It's almost discouraging. You can see it in the players' faces.
But I'm not ready to let go. I'm you know the fat lady ain't singing yet. She might be backstage warming up, but she ain't she ain't singing. And it ain't over till it's over. I'm out.
Thanks, Michael. It's time to let go. And I appreciate your fandom. I appreciate you supporting your team. I appreciate you sticking with it because I also think that there's, I think there's two Dodger fans.
I think there is Dodger fan that watches in October that knows the names of players and likes going to the parade and goes to maybe a game during the regular season and you have your Dodger dog and you have a nice time and and you like watching your team win all the time and you wear your stuff and and yeah you know it's very fashionable it's cool to be a Dodger fan at least it was up until like the sixth inning last night. And I think that there's the real Dodger fan, the diehards, the rider dies that are with their team no matter what. That are going to get frustrated with moves that Dave Roberts makes. That are going to maybe call out some of the players that miss so much of the regular season, and then all of a sudden, miraculously able to make one start before the playoffs, a la Blake Snell. I think that there is the Dodger fan that wants to see this team.
Be better, play better, play a style of baseball that is conducive to the winning that you've witnessed over the last several years, and what truly has been a remarkable dynasty. And I know the Dodgers have spent a lot of money on this team, but you still have to go out and win the games. You still have to execute. And I'm not saying it's easier to win without the high payroll. Obviously, you have the high payroll, you bring in all the stars, but I do think that there is something to It's easy to get fat, and I'm not saying like physically.
I'm saying like metaphorically that when you have that cash, that fight, that desire, that drive, can dissipate. And I give the Dodgers a lot of credit, and I think Dave Roberts deserves a lot of credit. That has not happened with this team, and and they're not playing very good baseball right now. The Brewers are, but I do I I do think that there's two different kinds of Dodger fans, and I think Michael is is the second kind of Dodger fan that I'm talking about. That ride or die with this team, but you might want to figure out how to begin coping because it's over, buddy, Michael.
It's done. Maybe they win tonight. Maybe they even win tomorrow. Maybe they somehow get this series back to Milwaukee. They're not winning this series.
This Dodgers team is not capable of beating this Brewers team four games in a row. At least the way Milwaukee is playing. If Milwaukee stops playing this way and they look like the team that we saw in the NLCS last year, different story. I don't think that's going to happen because that Brewers team has not showed up at any point. In twenty twenty six, right now, okay.
I wanted to get to this, and I wanted to get to this a long time ago. We just had so many other things to get to in college football. ESPN's Pete Thamel reporting that college football playoff is nearing a deal to expand the field to twenty four teams coming in twenty twenty seven. First of all, that's kind of early; like that's next season. We've been hearing about twenty-four teams for a while.
We've been hearing about college football potentially expanding the playoffs for some time, and getting close to some of these final approvals to make that happen. First and foremost, I don't mind it. I don't mind it as long as other things change. First of all, Goliath has to make some room for David. I need to see.
If we're going to have twenty-four teams in the playoffs, I need my James Madisons, I need my Tulane's, I need my Boise States to still have a prayer at least early on. Or and I, you know, I don't know what classification the Pac-12 is right now, but you want to give those non-major programs an opportunity. To get into this playoff, and maybe they have some of their own kind of playoff that leads into this, and maybe it gets expanded in that way.
So some of those teams aren't taken up all the spots in the twenty-four. But Goliath's got to make a little room for David. That's one. Number two, this kills bowl season. Bowl season is dead, and it sounds like conference championship games are going to be dead too.
And honestly, that's okay because if you are going to have so many teams in the top two teams in you know in the Big Ten and the SEC, ACC, you know, and Big Twelve, probably two. Theoretically, they will all be in a 24 team playoff.
So it kills conference championship games, and to me, this kills bowl season. No bowl game is going to matter outside of a 24 team playoff. It barely matters now. By doubling the bowl games, or the teams eligible for bowl games, is going to only make it worse. That said, I think there's a way to save it.
I think you could save bowl season and some of the tradition.
Now, I'm not talking about the Rose Bowl, the Orange Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl, the big, the New York, the New Year's Six bowls. You can incorporate that into the playoff. Like that's those aren't the bowls I'm talking about. I'm talking about like the the Music City Bowl and the Pop Tarts Bowl and and these other the Poinsettia bowls. These are the bowl games I'm talking about.
I think there's a way to actually make them cooler. If you put them at the start of the season, make that week zero and week one, you're you're going to get great matchups. You're going to get really exciting games because as the college football playoff expands, the idea of Texas and Ohio State getting together to schedule to play one another that's going to go away. It's not going to matter anymore. You play.
You play your cupcakes. You play your three cupcakes. You play your conference schedule. And as long as if you're in the the Big Ten or the SEC, as long as you're in the top what they're going to put in eight. Like as long as as long as you're somewhere near 500, you're going to be getting into the playoff.
That's how it's going to play out.
So the idea of trying to schedule like a marquee matchup early in the season that's all going to go by the wayside.
So you don't have to play those games anymore, but where you could still play them, and what's going to be best for the college football fan, what's going to be best for the sponsors, and what's best for the sponsors ends up being what's best for the teams because they all like that money. You play some of these bowl games early on. That's going to make bowl games more interesting.
Now there's going to be lead up. There's going to be a whole summer of expecting you know what's going to happen in these bowl games, and you make it a big ticket event. You do your same bowl stuff that you would do in the middle of December.
Now you do it at the end of August or the first week of September. Maybe you move the college football season up a little bit.
Okay, it's going to be hot. Yeah, I get it, but there is a way to do this to where college football is actually going to be in better shape than they're in right now. Do I love all the changes? No. Do I wish that you know we still?
I like the four. I thought four was good, and I like the controversy that came with that. I don't like twelve. I don't like the continued expansion. But like, what am I gonna do?
Plant my flag and say, "Oh no, you know, am I going to be the get off my lawn guy that just gets grumpy every time the sport changes and evolves?" College football today is drastically different than it was five years ago. It's drastically different. That football was drastically different than the 15 years before that. This is an evolving, changing game, and if you can embrace that there is change, you can find solutions to make it better and lean into that change. If you fight that change forever, it's going to be increasingly difficult to be able to have any kind of status in the game to where you're going to be able to to see your event mean something.
If you have a really cool matchup to start the year. And keep some of these rivalries between conferences still alive, and you have you know you set up some early games where the Big Ten and SEC are playing each other in these designated basically preseason bowl games that actually mean something, as opposed to at the end of the year in December when all has been decided and now there's just a playoff going on and everything else is just ancillary. I think there's a real opportunity here, especially in the calendar. Think about the month of August. It's baseball and preseason football.
Well, if that turned into meaningful college football games instead of contending in December, where you have very meaningful NFL games that you're battling against, when you're talking about the NBA season picking up steam at that point, there's a lot more competition in December for college football. And I know college football has always owned that month, December and January. I know that that has been college football, but as interest. Continues to grow in the NFL and is showing no signs of stopping. Maybe it's best for college football to take advantage where NFL fans are caring less about than they used to, and that is the preseason.
Everybody, the care for the preseason continues to be in decline, and it wasn't very high to begin with.
Now you can have some impactful college football games at the start of the year. That might make this new college football playoff that much better, and all of those games will mean so much more. There is a way. Do I like it? No, but you are not going to fight it because if you fight it, you are going to lose.
The TV network is going to win. This playoff is going to happen. Lean into it and make bowl season better by putting it early in the year. If you have a thought on that, give me a ring. I'd love to hear some of your takes on this because again.
The show's about you. The show's about the clones. One eight hundred six three six eight six eight six. My name is Trent Rush, sitting in for Jim Rome today. The Jim Rome Show final segment.
Are we already there? Wow! Final segment coming up right after this here on this Thursday. This is the Jim Rome Show. You're listening to the Jim Rome Show.
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So if your business is in it to win it, win with Shopify. Start your free trial today at Shopify.com/slash-win. Is this Dave Roberts walk-up song going into his press conference tonight? Trying to figure out what to do with his Dodgers, chasing the Brewers three nothing in the series, on the verge of getting swept by the team they swept last year. You know, all I've heard like all year long is, ah, you know, the Brewers.
We've seen that before. We've seen that before. No, you haven't seen this team. You haven't seen this team that's going to wear your pitchers down. It's going to wear down Yamamoto.
Something nobody's done in the playoffs. They did it in Game Two. Got to Blake Snell. Hit three home runs off him. He hadn't given up any home runs all year.
Oh, his all year was nine starts. On my bed. You know what's crazy too? And Shohei Ohtani is going to bat in the leadoff spot for the Dodgers tonight. I think at some point we got to have a serious conversation.
About Shohei Ohtani, and I bring this up now because I want you to sit on it and think about it, and we can talk about this at another time. But right now, we're talking about Shohei Ohtani, and I think if I ask most of you, is Shohei Ohtani a Hall of Famer? You would all say, yeah, absolutely. He's in first ballot. It's done.
He's had an amazing five-year run. It's an amazing five-year run. There have been a lot of guys that have had amazing five-year runs.
Now, has anybody done it to the extent that Otani has? I think that Otani has had the best five years that anybody has ever had. Albert Bell had a five-year run, fifty homers, fifty doubles in a season. You know, his career ends early because the bad hip, but mid '90s, Albert Bell was pretty darn great. He's not in Cooperstown.
Juan Gonzalez won two MVPs in three years. Drove in 157 runs in 1998 for the Texas Rangers. Not a Hall of Famer. Really good run though. Ryan Howard had a five-year run.
MVP, World Series champion. You know the the numbers in the steroid era are really funny. 58 homers, 149 runs batted in. Back when RBIs meant something. Led the National League in homers twice.
Not a Hall of Famer. Great five-year run though. Jose Bautista. Fifty-four homers in twenty ten, forty-three the next year. Led the majors.
Obviously, not a Hall of Famer. In fact, he fell off his first year. Roger Maris isn't even a Hall of Famer. You know, the back-to-back MVPs, sixty-one and sixty-one. That wasn't enough.
He's not in. The standard is very high, and Shohei will be a Hall of Famer, but he wasn't able to pitch. To the level he wanted to this year, and maybe we're getting close to a point where is the two way thing even going to be still possible for him? As he continues to get older, it's only going to get tougher. He thought this was his year to win the Cy Young, and things were going really well first half of the season, and he broke down.
Who's to say that's not going to continue to happen for Shohei Ohtani? I look at him offensively, and obviously he's a mess right now. And I don't want to overreact to what's just happened in this two months. He went cold. That happens to players.
That's happened to everybody in this game of baseball. Baseball is cruel, man. Sport is cruel, and right now Shohei is feeling that. And he's got the weight of the world on his shoulders, literally, every time he steps into the batter's box. And tonight will be from the leadoff spot.
But at a certain point. Do you start to say, "Well, if the two way thing's not working, and he's not really hitting right now, he's right now he's a DH that's not hitting. He's got to pick up a glove. He's got to go to the outfield. He's got to figure out to play first base.
He's got to go somewhere, which is not going to be a very easy thing for Shohei Ohtani to do because right now he's a DH that's not hitting. Right now, his only job is to hit, and I wonder." How long this can continue for Shohei Otani as he tries to pursue this two-way thing? Because it can't go on forever. I don't want to take anything away from what he's done so far. He's won four MVPs.
He should have five. Should have should have had that MVP over Judge a few years ago. And I got a chance to be with him again. For those that don't know, I'm broadcast for the Angels. I mentioned a couple times in the show, but if you're just tuning in, I was with Shohei for six years, just about every single day.
Very hard to get close to Shohei Otani. Very hard to be able to break that wall and get to him and really know what he's about. We know he's a fighter. We know he's a competitor. We know that he always wants to do what's best.
But I think that it's also fair to say the optic is it looks like sometimes it's always about Shohei. If Shohei Otani really is hurt, and that is some of the chatter right now. And Dave Roberts said before Game Three that Otani was adamant about being in the lineup.
Well, if Otani's adamant about it, and he's struggling enormously for two months, and you still put him in the lineup, who's running the team? Is Shohei the one that's calling all the shots right now, or is Dave Roberts the manager? Who's making those calls? Who's making those decisions? It sounds to me like that's Shohei Otani that's making that decision.
And again, he looked better last night. Hit a ball really hard. Had a hit, a couple walks. Was on base three times.
So maybe that's why he's back in the leadoff spot for tonight's game. And you have to. We had Mark Trumbo on the show a little bit earlier, and he told us like you got to ride or die with your stars. And I. That's why I never wanted to see Otani benched.
But at the same time, I don't know that that was Dave Roberts' decision. He ends up being the one to wear that decision, but. Isn't there a pretty good chance that that was coming from Shohei? I just find that to be a very fascinating narrative to all this. And Otani is trying to do the noble thing.
I'm fighting through it. I'm going to go out. I'm going to get it done. I'm going to be the hero. Are you helping your team?
If Otani's on base three more times tonight, he's doing his best to help his team. The Dodger offense is struggling. And it's not just showing six for forty-one with runners on base, three for thirty-two with runners in scoring position in these playoffs. You're not going to win. In fact, they shouldn't even be here right now.
They shouldn't have gotten past Atlanta, having one hit with the runner in scoring position in that series.
So it's amazing the Dodgers have even gotten to this point with the lack of clutch hitting that we've seen from this team.
So I find it. Fascinating the Ohtani dynamic. I find it fascinating what his future is going to look like and how this is going to end up playing out. He's a Hall of Famer. I'm not saying that he's not.
He's probably going to be a first ballot Hall of Famer at that for putting together the five best seasons that we've ever seen. But are those days behind us now? And if they are, and the two way thing is going to be behind us at a certain point. Do you have to call upon Shohei Ohtani to pick up a glove and go play some defense and go find a way to help your team on another front? Anyway, we're going to find out how it goes tonight.
You got Game Three, excuse me, Game Four National League Championship Series coming up eight Eastern tonight. The Dodgers on the face of elimination, it is staring them right down. You got in the American League Championship Series. I think this is trending towards an upset. I still like Tampa to come back.
Tampa's the better team. Cleveland is the hotter team, and they got a three-two win today. Gavin Williams excellent on the mound, so they now take a two-one series lead over the Tampa Bay Rays. That it's worth watching. It's quality baseball.
You you might not think the markets are sexy, but it's good baseball. And I think what we might see if there's a World Series without the Dodgers, I think you're going to see a higher quality game that is played. We got the NFL tonight. We got the Seahawks and the Broncos in what feels kind of like—is it crazy to say that's a must-win for both teams this early in the year? Must-win gets overused, so I'm not going to say must-win, but I think it's a relatively pivotal game for Week Six, and it'll be very interesting with Seahawks coming off the heartbreak.
Bo Nix got to figure some things out going up against a tough defense in the Seattle Seahawks. That's going to be really fun to watch. You got the college football looking like it's. Towards expansion, twenty four on the horizon. It looks like for teams in the college football playoff, gotten a little bit of reaction to that.
Aaron in Iowa says twenty four teams is too many. The sweet spot is sixteen. He goes, "F them bowl games." I think the bowl games are cool. I just don't want to see them when bowl games don't matter. I want to see bowl games early in the season.
That's what I want to see: bowl games. I want to see it when we are really excited about the start of college football. I think that's going to be way more interesting. Want to thank some of the guests that we had on today for Jeff Levering to come on the show. We love Jeff Levering, voice of Milwaukee Brewers.
For Ryan Harris, Super Bowl champ, to join us. Mark Trumbo, ten-year big league. Bat slugger with the Angels, and he's doing a great show now as well. Alex, Tom, Lorne, Matthew, Alvin, all helping us out today. We really appreciate all of that.
And again, this show truly is about the clones. It is about you. I've had a lot of fun with you here doing this show. It's been fun connecting at Trent Rush Sports.
So you can follow me in the future. Would love to continue the conversation there. And we've had a lot of good stuff here. Fat kid loving cake, saying hey, great. A great day in the jungle.
Yes, it has been. Rogue news: seventy-eight, ninety-eight. Dodgers win huge tonight blowout. I don't know about that. I this to me looks like a beaten down Dodger team.
I almost wanted to say desperate, but I don't know that they. I don't know that desperate comes into play. I wanted to see desperate last night. I didn't see desperate last night. I saw defeated baseball last night.
These games, games one and three especially, were set up for the Dodgers to win. I mean, my gosh, even game two, even though Yamamoto only goes two and two thirds, like all these games have been winnable for the Dodgers. But every time the Dodgers get any ounce of momentum, Milwaukee has sucked it away instantly. This is a tough team. Milwaukee has been the best team in baseball all year long.
And maybe what we're seeing is going to set the tone for what baseball is going to look like in the future. Maybe there are some teams out there that are saying, "Wait a minute, the Milwaukee Brewers are doing what? They're second fewest homers in the league, but second most runs scored. They're about to defeat the Dodgers and end their dynasty and get in the World Series. And should Milwaukee get there, there's no question they're much better than the two teams in the American League." The the top five teams the National League are better than Tampa and Cleveland.
It's just the way the year has gone.
Now who knows what ends up happening in the Fall Classic when we get there? But right now, all signs are pointing to this Milwaukee Brewers team as being set up to be in the World Series, and they might just clinch it tonight for the first time since 1982. Crazy. All right. Get free Wix oil filter when you buy five quarts of Valvoline Full Synthetic Restore and Protect motor oil at O'Reilly Auto Parts.
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Looking forward to that. Should be. Lots and lots of fun. Hey, enjoy the football tonight. Enjoy the baseball tonight.
I hope you got two screens going on. And thanks for being with us again. My name is Trent Rush. This has been the Jim Rome Show. Take care, everybody.
The Dan Volantino Show. I think a lot of people are underestimating the Trump effect in this midterm. You've heard it yourself. Act like I'm on the ballot. Why is he saying that?
You think he doesn't know what he's doing? That is the X factor, folks. Elections are a math. That is it. This is not a football game.
If you vote, we will win. It is not complicated. The Dan Fanteano Show. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.
