Howard Beck: What are the Celtics title chances?

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See terms at discover.com slash credit card. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Here's the other surprising part. With guest host Kirk Morrison. Buckle up, he's gonna put on a show. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. What steals the show is when Del Tuco just left. The Rich Eisen Show. Earlier on the show, Bill's offensive tackle Deon Dawkins. Senior Steelers writer for the athletic Mark Cavalli. Still to come, senior NBA writer for the ringer Howard Beck. And now, billing in for Rich, it's Kirk Morrison.

Check, check, reload, reload. Tight left, tight left. We shift into hour number three of the Rich Eisen Show. Kirk Morrison here. Fill it in for Rich, man. Brock with Del Tuco. TJ, man. Always great to be with you. It's been a fun show, man.

First couple hour. We got the breaking news. Aaron Dono. We've got all the NFL news has been coming fast and furious with trades where there's players and now picks. We've got that going on.

Minnesota Vikings, Houston Texans. They've made a big trade. So, we got into all of that and then right now, you got like a little golf going on. A lot of these MC double-A conference tournaments are happening right now. Is it really upsets in the NCAA, in these conference tournaments? Look, you got team that are there in one city. They just playing a little round-robin. You'll get the automatic qualifiers.

You have all that. So, I'm gonna watch a little bit of the early parts of the madness before we get into the real March Madness, the tournaments next week. But there's also the NBA that's happening right now. And the NBA is actually going on and that's why I needed my guy Howard Beck, the senior NBA writer for the ringer to help me out to get the notes and news that I need because I'm gonna, I hate to say it, put the NBA on a little bit of a hiatus only because NCAA is gonna take away from the next couple of weeks. So, Howard, man, appreciate the time.

Thanks for coming in, brother. The NBA right now, obviously, kind of takes a backseat to the NCAA tournament. But there is some stories, some storylines that are going on. And obviously, I want to start right here because the best team in basketball right now is the Boston Celtics. They seem to be the team that everybody's saying they should be hoisting that trophy. I know, look, Denver is the reigning champion but the way that the Boston Celtics have been constructed, they seem to be the best team right now that can threaten for that title.

They absolutely do, Kirk. The Celtics have been in a role all season and I feel like if people are sleeping on them, and maybe like you, people will sleep on them for the next couple of weeks while they're just watching college basketball, the NBA will still be there when you get back. It'll be alright. Adam Silver might be a little bit alarmed at your your framework.

It's okay. The Celtics are, from the moment they added Drew Holliday and Chris Staps Porzingis. Porzingis has been banged up often on this season. But everybody's believed, on paper at least, possibly best five starting five in the league, possibly the best one through six in the league. And I don't think anything that's happened this season should dissuade us of that notion. And we always go into a season feeling like the defending champ unless something has befallen them.

They lost a player, an injury happens. They're usually the benefit of the doubt team to win it again. This is one of those great years where we can look out at the West and say, you know what, it's really competitive, but the Nuggets are still the certain favorite in the West. But we've got this team looming in the East that not only is having a dominant season, they might be the only 60-plus win team in the NBA held, they might get to 65, but they have the goods. They've got the requisite star power, the requisite scoring punch, and diversity of scoring options. They clearly have the requisite defense. They're a team that you can look at and say, I can't wait to see if in fact we get the matchup that we're expecting, Denver and Boston in the finals.

I cannot wait to see how this plays out. And in part also because, look, the Celtics have been kind of lurking, looming, threatening to be this team for the last several years, and we forget how young Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum still are. But they've been together for so long and have made the finals, they've made conference finals multiple times, that they almost feel like this team that people are suspicious of because they haven't broken through. And, you know, they've never been more primed now to finally, not only make the finals again, but potentially beat whoever it is across the way there for the championship. You know, Howard, there's a couple questions here on this one, but I'll start with the first part because the NBA is on a great job with their play-in, right?

The play-in, right? Seeds seven, eight, nine, and ten. It almost feels like we're gonna focus the next couple weeks in the Western Conference that play-in.

Seven, eight, nine, and ten seeds. And maybe we are going to ignore what's been going on in Oklahoma City. This is a very young team, a very young roster. You watch them last night versus Dallas Mavericks. They win again. Now they're the number one seed, obviously, in the Western Conference.

Why are they this good? Are we ignoring this team? And do they have a legitimate shot at going deep in a playoff run being this young? Yeah, I mean, part of the reason we're fixated so much on the play-in, especially this year, in the last couple years, is especially in the West, right? It could be the the Lakers and Warriors, Steph and LeBron, sitting there waiting for someone as a seventh and eighth seeds against, perhaps, two very young seeds at the top. Because it might be Oklahoma and Minnesota in those top seeds. Oklahoma, which hasn't been to the playoffs in four years and hasn't made it with this young group.

Minnesota, which has made the playoffs but hasn't won a series yet. So there's this axiom, Kirk, in the NBA. And I'm very much a believer in this, having covered the league for a long time.

Generally speaking, youth does not win. And generally speaking, you have to take your lumps. You make the playoffs. You get spanked by a more seasoned team.

You come back the next year. Maybe you win a round or two. And there's a progression to this, usually. But not always. And the Thunder and the Timberwolves are both really interesting in that they feel like complete teams. And they have the requisite depth.

They've got the requisite combination of scoring punch and defensive tenacity and some great individual defenders. On paper, there's no reason to believe that the Thunder or Wolves are just kind of there just to make an appearance and gently step away to let LeBron and Steph have the stage again. But it will be one of the ultimate tests of this age-old NBA axiom about whether or not youth can win, especially when you go up against veterans. Because if it comes to pass that it's, say, Thunder and Wolves against Lakers and Warriors and whatever combination that might be, that's a phenomenal test.

But I will just say, as the last thought on this is, absolutely positively, this is not some accident. The Thunder and the Wolves are legitimate. All the youth aside, and all my belief in age-old axioms aside, I do think both of these teams have great potential to make very deep playoff runs. And do they have enough to knock off the Nuggets in the end when that moment comes?

That's the bigger question. But these teams are absolutely legit and incredibly talented. And Shea Gildas-Alexander is an MVP candidate right now. Senior NBA writer for the Ringer, Howard Beck, joining the Rich Eisen Show, Kirk Morrison filling in for Rich.

And look, I agree with you. And they're playing an exciting brand of basketball, watching the Thunder, especially watching Anthony Edwards, especially I'm here in Los Angeles. And that last little West Coast swing that he had playing against the Lakers, playing against the Clippers, you know, he showed he's one of the more dominant players in the NBA. But man, it's hard to ignore the 7, 8, and 9 and 10 seeds. Phoenix, Los Angeles, Dallas, and the Warriors. The crazy part is, Howard, two of those teams aren't going to make the playoffs just because of the way that the play-in is going to be. Two of those teams will not be in the playoffs. If you had to guess right now of those four teams currently as it sits in the play-in tournament, who should be worried that they probably won't make it? Well, and just for mathematical purposes and just to make sure we're not overlooking anything, the Kings and Pelicans are on the bubble.

One of those two teams could slip to the play-in and they could be the ones to not make it also. I don't think that's gonna happen. I don't even know how to handicap around that, Kirk. I have always said never bet against LeBron. I would generally say never bet against Steph. I am loath to be betting against Kevin Durant, especially when he's flaked by Devin Booker and Bradley Beal in Phoenix. There's a lot of veteran star power in that play-in range that, to your point, may not make the playoffs. And the idea of a playoff bracket that doesn't include Durant or LeBron or Steph or two of the three of them is just unfathomable.

But we may be seeing that sometime soon. The team that I'm I'd be a little worried about right now in that group is actually Dallas. Luca got banged up the other night.

We'll see how long he may be out. As good as they've been with him and Kyrie, they're a little inconsistent. I don't know that they have enough defensively to really hang with some of these other teams. And so the Mavericks are a team that I think are vulnerable. And the Suns, their big three really hasn't played that much together since they brought them together a year ago or last summer.

Durant obviously first and then Beal. But injuries have disrupted their whole season and their ability to really establish that chemistry. And you see it sometimes show up in fourth quarters. They've been, I believe, statistically one of the worst or the worst fourth quarter teams in the league. And a lot of that has to do with, I think, the fact that it's a lot of my turn, your turn when you've got these three big stars who haven't played together enough to get a feel for how to execute sometimes.

And yes, all three of those guys can manufacture points out of nothing. But you don't want to rely on that possession after possession in important playoff games. And so the Suns, I think, are a team that's a little vulnerable in that regard. Just a couple more minutes here with Howard Beck, the senior NBA writer for the Ringer. You know, Howard, next couple weeks, obviously I've said it before, the NBA will just kind of keep playing and keep trucking along.

But obviously we talked about the Boston Celtics, number one seed obviously in the East. What do the Milwaukee Bucks have to do over the next couple weeks for you? What do you want to see from them? Obviously Doc Rivers, now the head coach, and it started off slow, has gotten better. It looks to be their formidable opponent to maybe take down the Boston Celtics. But what do you want to see more of or what haven't they done since Doc Rivers has taken over as head coach?

It's nothing that they haven't done. I just think that the Bucks, from the moment they made the deal for Damian Lillard, they obviously traded defense for offense and swapping out Drew Holliday for Damian Lillard. And they've lost some depth over the course of the last year as well.

And so their margin for error just isn't very high. And the good news since Doc Rivers arrived, and yes it was a little bumpy at the beginning, but they seem to have really found a way to maximize the Lillard, Giannis combination, those guys playing off of each other that I think they're featuring that more. They've been able to establish a little bit better chemistry between the two of them and leverage their respective talents to the max.

And I don't think that that was happening before under Adrian Griffin. And so I think the Bucks are a much more believable team as a contender now than they were a month, a month and a half ago. But you know we're still gonna come down to are they good enough to beat Boston? And it's fascinating Kirk in the East frankly because the Celtics are such an obvious favorite in the East. We're now down to saying well who's most likely to make the run to the conference finals to face them? And the fact is the Bucks have a very strong case, the Cavaliers have made a strong case for themselves over the course of this season, quietly having a really strong season despite a lot of injuries. The Knicks, if they can get healthy, are you know a decent bet to make a deep run.

And the Sixers are sitting there looming, not just the Sixers are looming and sinking. I don't know if you can loom and sink simultaneously but they're not in a very good way right now without Joel Embiid. But if Embiid comes back as I think they're expecting sometime you know mid to late March or maybe by mid April you know no one quite knows. It's been kind of a bit of a mystery with Embiid's status. But if he's back and if they haven't sunk too far, plug Embiid back into that lineup and the Sixers are gonna be right back in this conversation as well. Last one for you Howard is I know we've got Nikola Jokic you know joker fatigue when it comes to the MVP but you mentioned already Shay Geologious Alexander's definitely put himself into that category.

Anthony Edwards as well with the Minnesota Timberwolves. How do you see this thing kind of playing out over the next couple weeks? Because this is a regular season award. How do you see this kind of going down the stretch for the NBA's MVP? Once Embiid went down I think all the momentum swung to Jokic as the clear-cut favorite and I don't think anything that the Nuggets or Jokic have done has dampened that in any way shape or form. All the respect to Shay Geologious Alexander who's having an incredible season, to Anthony Edwards who's having a great season, to Jason Tatum, to you know any number of others. Kawhi Leonard has got the Clippers back in the contention conversation in the West. But Jokic, the combination of just the nightly production, the way he consistently elevates his team and it's the fact that the Nuggets are still one of the best teams in the league and yes the record matters.

It's just gonna be really hard at least for me to talk me out of having Jokic at the top. Now that said things do change sometimes down the stretch of a season and I never put any of this stuff in ink too soon and we've got a good month or so before ballots are even going to be available to us. So there's a really strong field as there always is but as of right now it feels like they're all jockeying for position two through five as opposed to being in true contention for number one.

But as I say there's still you know good fifth of the season or so left we'll see what happens. Look I'll be watching a little bit of college basketball over the next couple weeks. I'll keep my eye on the NBA but I'll also keep an eye on the Twitter page or the X page of Howard Beck. He's at Howard Beck on Twitter formerly known as X or X formerly known as Twitter that's what it is.

Anyway senior NBA writer for the ringer. Man Howard I appreciate the time my brother talked to you soon. Thanks for having me and it will always be Twitter to me. Yes there it is. That's another word that's another we're gonna take all the tallies it's always gonna be Twitter.

They appreciate the time Howard. Yeah excuse me it's always gonna be Twitter. I keep going back cuz some people say like oh it's the X and you know just on X I just.

You're acknowledging the insanity if you call it that. I know man I'm trying not to. Apparently Don Lemon kept calling it Twitter to Elon's face and he canceled his show. Got him canceled.

Wow man. Well I need to make sure. So on X at Howard Beck.

I'm Kirk Morrison on X. With all of this crazy NFL news crazy NFL news trades acquisitions free agency the draft upcoming so yeah the draft is not until the end of April what the 27th what's the dates on that Brock? 25. The 25 through 27 or 24 through 27 one of those dates. 25 to 27.

25 through 27 so. In Detroit. Before the draft starts I'm like I've already compiled a list fellas I've got five games that I already want to see right now before the draft so I'm maybe doing a little bit of work for the NFL already so hopefully they're watching because these are the five games I definitely want to see they're already lined up to happen but these are my five primetime games I want to see for sure and then I got some other games and I need your help but we're gonna play a game Thursday Sunday or Monday what day should those games be on that's coming up next right here my list coming up on the Rich Eisen show Kirk Morrison fill it in for Rich. Looking for an assist with your credit card but can't get a hold of anyone? Luckily with 24-7 US-based live customer service from Discover everyone has the option to talk to a real person anytime day or night yep you heard that right you can talk to a real human in customer service anytime sounds like a real game changer if you ask us make the right call and get the service you deserve with Discover limitations apply see terms at discover.com slash credit card if you need to hire you need indeed indeed is your matching and hiring platform with over 350 million global monthly visitors according to indeed data and a matching engine that helps you find quality candidates fast and indeed doesn't just help you hire faster 93% of employers agree indeed delivers the highest quality matches compared to other job sites according to a recent indeed survey with indeed everything hiring is all in one place and it makes it so easy leveraging over 140 million qualifications and preferences each day indeed's matching engine is constantly learning from your preferences the more you use indeed the better it gets join the more than 3.5 million businesses worldwide that use indeed to hire great talent fast and listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility at indeed.com slash podcast just go to indeed.com slash podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about indeed on this podcast terms and conditions apply indeed.com slash podcast need to hire you need indeed ladies will be alright I know you guys I know I know especially you I know y'all waiting for us to fall and yeah waiting y'all been doing over there in the east without LeBron nothing that's cool I mean we'll be alright as long as y'all don't win and we win I'm good for a Laker fan you're not doing any winning either look man all right we'll stay at the house with me then chill out you know what the best part about Godzilla king of the monsters what is it we destroy Boston in the movie just level it I love it it's so many references it's a Laker fans dream Godzilla king of the monsters oh my gosh Dodger fans too because obviously the Celtic standard yeah and the ranch it's in Rams well Lakers Lakers a golden dragon is my favorite Laker delusional Laker fan is my favorite that's cool what are you guys called you Celtics I look oh shit I'm not here for your Boston me I'm here for all okay thank you speaking of somebody who's from New York City and a diehard Yankee fan I would take it in liquid form and inject it into my veins but you really don't have much of a position right now to carp on a Celtic fan as a Laker fan you just really are you don't know no no I know that but you don't have like you're out of position under the boards right now you're you're reaching in you're going over the top I'm call I'm like kind of calling the foul right now and I'm sorry look that's fine that's it just you don't have much I am a Los Angelino I'm a Los Angeles Laker a non Laker fan will never see me sweat I will die with the Golden Army they will bury me at center court and I will not let a Bostonian get under my skin you know welcome back to the rich eyes and show radio network I'm sitting at the rich eyes and desk that's right furnished by Granger with supplies and solutions for every industry Granger has the right product for you so call click Granger calm or just stop by earlier on a program in our number two we had Mark Cavalli who was the senior Steelers writer for the athletic he came on and we're talking Steelers a little bit and he was talking about Russell Wilson had his introductory press conference today in Pittsburgh so the first time that Russell had a chance to meet the media but the biggest question was what you hear a clip here about Russell Wilson and why he came to Pittsburgh with the opportunity to start a quarterback I'm in here with the mindset that you are the start I come in the mindset just being the best version of me every day you know it's I think that's always the plan what we're trying to do is you know for me you know I want to help our football team win I think that's the job of the quarterback you know role is to help help help the Pittsburgh Steelers win and that's always been the goal every day and so you know the goal is to you know get more trophies and to do the do everything we can to win I'm sorry to follow up just but you saw me you had options you know this time of your career but was it important you to find a place where you felt you could be the star yeah I think every day you wake up you you you look forward to you know helping the team win I think that's just honestly my focus right now you know I've been fortunate to you know be in this league for a long time and I've had you know a lot of success and a lot of some cool things but there's more to do and that's where my head's at that's where his head's at his head is he's done some good things in this league he wants to now lead the Pittsburgh Steelers so that's what he wants to do so I think the bigger question is this Russell Wilson has always had a sign off like it's the sign off what will the sign off be because with the Seahawks it was was that go Hawks he would always go Hawks and then last year we all know what last couple years it was Broncos country let's ride let's ride but Russell didn't have that sign off today so everybody's trying to figure out this sign off so he didn't necessarily have a sign off but he did do a little sit-down with Steelers I believe TV our Steelers media I should say maybe this could be a precursor for a Steelers social media maybe he kind of gave us a little hint at it here's a little Russell Wilson Steelers social media what's up stealing nation just sign baby fired up to wear the black and gold here we go here we go here we go here we go here we go earlier they had a video of him from a barbershop K getting lined up and he ended it with Harry here we go so but but isn't that black and gold here we go I mean here we go Steelers here we go is he stealing is he stealing from Dak Prescott here we go Steelers here we go here we go here we go here we go I mean come on man like really black and gold here we go so that's what he gonna do on Sunday night right we're talking to he's over there on the sideline and there's press conferences all this press conferences I appreciate the time Russell all right black and gold here we go I can't picture that black and gold here we go black and gold here we go I thought it was gonna be hey Steelers country let's wield Steelers country let's feel that's poor Pittsburgh paints right the paint black and gold let's so I think that do you think that Russell Wilson wakes up in the morning and like looks in the mirror and like practice that he wakes up in the morning like brushes teeth splashes his face he's all done he looks up in the mirror black and gold here we go yeah probably I mean that Broncos country let's ride it's gonna be that classic dog that is Broncos country let's ride here we go I like that it's catchy it's gonna catch on but black and gold here we go here we go better win better win black and gold here we go well I will tell you this I've got top five games I want to see and maybe Russell Wilson maybe on one of them let's get to my top five let's go here we go I get a little background bed a little music there we go I got you it's an NFL music go to there we go yeah of course coke that's not even my top five it's just five game five games that I cannot wait come on see here we go put the list up I'm ready uh one at a time okay one at a time so at a time number one we already know I can't wait for the Steelers at Broncos oh it's already in a book says these games are already set we know that the Steelers will be traveling to Denver we just don't know when the game will be but I can't wait for the return game because you can't really call it a revenge game is it is it a revenge game I would say you know but it's a return it's kind of a dozen percent revenge so they tried to screw them over man that you tried to say if you if you don't take this trade that cause out of your contract we're gonna sit you and bench you and our brothers caught it would cost us a what 89 million dollars then to actually play you like we would rather eat 89 million than to have you on our team so I guess I guess you know what I'm corrected this is a revenge game so that's one of them Steelers at Broncos all right another game I can't wait to see Steelers at Falcons that's another sneaky now good game right now you're gonna tell me on Wilson versus Kirk Cousins in Atlanta I like this game because we got two quarterbacks and honestly they're still playing and people have a belief that you can still win a championship with Kirk Cousins and Russell Wilson it's just Raheem Morris Mike Tomlin I'm just telling you it's gonna be more sunglasses in there than anything right in the Mercedes Benz don't yeah I can't wait to see it out that's this is mirrored my my games that I want to see okay my third game I can't wait to see the hardball yeah Baltimore Ravens yeah at the Los Angeles Chargers this is already on the docket okay so we already know that this is one of the games that I cannot wait to see it'll be Jim taking on John and we remember the last time that these two coaches connected it was in the Super Bowl and John Harbaugh's Baltimore Ravens defeated Jim's San Francisco 49ers can't wait for that one another game that I can't wait to see and this is a revenge game I think the Atlanta Falcons going to Minnesota to take on the Minnesota Falcons think about that this is the Kirk Cousins revenge game I can't even see Kirk Cousins being a revengeful guy like oh come on guys you know but it is it's the Kirk Cousins revenge game what kind of reception does he get in Minnesota because remember he was leading the skull chant during the you know during certain times of the year good one right right so here we go like that's a good revenge game or is it not enough bad blood between the two is it because obviously there was a number they didn't meet the number for Kirk Cousins always when you I mean he was there for a long time like right six seven years so only one playoff win hmm a lot of good stats though and this is remember these are all games that I want to see before the draft happens because when the draft happens it's gonna be some players there could be some trades there could be more moving parts but so far these are the five games that I will be keeping an eye on there's some others I'm not say this is all of them but here's another one Eagles at Giants we already know we're gonna get this game anyway it's a division game but I can't wait for this one right Saquon Barkley's return to MetLife you're gonna get booed that's see that's why I want to watch cuz is he gonna get booed for sure or do they understand now right that's what I want to see Matthew Stafford still mad that they booed him Matthew Stafford went to Detroit for a playoff game and they booed him it was loud yeah so then I made as another list guys this was just five games I want to watch but these are five more games that I have and I need your help bonus game what does it sound like to you does it sound like a Thursday game okay Sunday night football game okay or a Monday night football game all right all right this may be an easy one the Houston Texans Texans versus the Tennessee Titans tight Sunday night Thursday night or Monday night aren't interesting to me so that's a Thursday that's Thursday right sounding real Thursday is so Amazon get ready I feel like color scheme uniforms color rush uniforms in there so that's looking real Thursday yeah all right no doubt okay Super Bowl 58 rematch Sunday Chiefs at 49ers Sunday why why Sunday Dale to Sunday right Mike you get it yeah TV show biggest eyeballs boom done so you don't want to play no no Monday day boom that you want to put that on Sunday night okay so that was the Super Bowl 58 rematch I don't know Kirk I might say Monday night that's now okay well what about the AFC rematch game Ravens at Chiefs Sunday Monday or Thursday Ravens at Chiefs is that a Sunday night game is that a Monday night game or Thursday that could be the Thursday night season opener hmm that's true that could be you want to have a little more meaning cuz I don't want you one of your top teams to start off oh and one just like that yeah that's what happened last year the Lions beat the Chiefs you didn't think the Lions is one of your top teams going into the chief's is gonna be one of your top teams you didn't expect the Chiefs to lose that nobody thought the Lions were gonna have the season that they had they had Lions one and we're like oh hey it's a city on for a rocky road but it made for a great you know Sunday with that one that could be the season opener season opener wit NBC doing the season opener that's like a Sunday game on Thursday I don't know how it worked I'm with you bro I just don't know how I worked out with the NFL schedule we got another rematch so we had an AFC rematch a Super Bowl rematch now the NFC rematch 49ers at I'm sorry Lions at 49 that's sounding real Monday night that sounded Monday night to me that's not Sunday night that's not Thursday that sounds more Monday night is right that on Sunday afternoon another game that I looked at the other day Cowboys at 49 ers oh I mean is that a Sunday 405 to play that game process when it comes to 49ers a cowboy is this still a good game or every time we always reference the game to the 90s and we still think that we're gonna get that again because if you think about it the last couple of 49ers Cowboys games have been actually duds remember last year that was a curb stomp but before that the games were still I mean the playoff game was I think this is Sunday night you think it's Sunday night ish or it's protected or protect or gets protect as we know the other networks that might be there might be a protect them could be Tom Brady's week one game oh I keep forgetting about that that's trading Kevin Burkhardt one yeah week one Cowboys at 49 ers let's go okay I like that yep could be and then like I said this is just my list like this night ish Monday night ish Sunday night you know to me like what you gotta think though honestly a lot of the divisional games we already know right those are the ones that you know each team is gonna play so you kind of can put those anywhere Cowboys Giants that's always gonna be that right you know is it Rams 49ers to me I mean those games you can put kind of anywhere pretty but Sunday are those are difficult my eyeballs deal to foe yeah that's why I was saying to Chris the flexing makes it even crazier because well I mean that takes it out bad one towards the end they can always pull the better one and which is kind of like but if you've protected that game like we're Brett you're right with Brady in the booth Fox is gonna be they're gonna be really having like we got to protect like how to protect so so we're a game before 25 Eastern kicks I have to be protected yep Amazon's gonna want their games but I think the draft is going to give us some insight some intrigue some exciting players obviously like quarterbacks yep does Chicago so what happens now Chicago dress Caleb Williams like we all think Caleb Williams is gonna be in some national television game I think so but then I feel bad for Marvin Harrison how much do we put the Arizona Cardinals on national you know they get there one Thursday night that's it man you think that that's it what about the Pats the new-look Pats don't even put us on the new-look play 17 games at one o'clock on Sunday no need for anyone to see what's going on okay that's how you feel I mean hold on they played 17 games last year let's just say each game took three hours I wasted 51 hours in my life last year it was terrible so you just probably just play at 1 p.m. Eastern let's just get it out the way 1 p.m. Eastern that way I can watch it on the I can watch it on my phone I'll be in again I'll be hosting for rich again I got a couple more dates down the road so I have some more you know my list that I compiled in my head we could play the guessing game who gets what meaning that who gets the primetime max okay how many games listing last year the Chargers got the max and yes nuts I'm like why and it backfired on me but this year it changes it would horrible I mean I'm saying who's gonna get the max who's gonna get the most primetime game right I think Chiefs always remember we flat out the Chargers were so bad last year remember we flexed out of a game I remember we flexed out of a game between the Chiefs charges yep we flexed out of it that's how bad it is so yeah we're gonna go through that all right okay all right man let's wrap this thing going up man last segment coming up Kirk Morrison here filling it for rich get you caught up with the last-minute news before we get to set up for a great weekend more coming up here on a Rich Eisen show welcome to talk about all the ultimate smallville rewatch podcast title transference aired October 27 2004 director James Marshall writers Todd Slatkin Darren swimmer I really like this episode and I'm surprised that you don't like it as much as you thought you did I actually respect your opinion more than I respect my own in general when you say things are good and I check them out they are jump in now or catch up on any of the past seasons of talkville on YouTube or wherever you listen named one of the best personal finance podcasts the stacking Benjamin show with Joe and his friends makes financial literacy fun I got an email today from the Len panzo comm HR department I find really interesting I'm an employee of one and at this company so but somebody from the HR department sent me an email telling me that I had a raise but I just opened the attachment I could see how much my raise was make sure you click on the links that are in there too oh absolutely I can't wait this is I'm excited find out more by searching the stacking Benjamin's podcast wherever you listen what is going on with you Jim Brock Meyer and Brett Musburger is my Musburger face you can't put that to bed Richard you know why you can't put it to bed okay cuz he's a punk that's why Brett Musburger is a pun K punk the man is a thief okay Brett Musburger is a thief how so stole my line what line was that this is for all the tostitos remember that these are all the tostitos remember when he said that everybody in the business not not funny everybody in the business knows that was my line but he went ahead and used that's what I always yell when I climax inside of a woman or when I'm just when I climax all by myself and ever since then now I have to yell out the ruffles have ridges and it's not it's not the same thing here is Brett Musburger how are you Brent hey rich rich I'm great listen I'm so proud of you guys for trying to help resurrect little Jimmy brick Myers career we all know the problems we all know the problems that he had in the past he says that you stole all the tostitos from him Brent from back I got paid I got paid by a company to drop the name I got three tostitos for a week what are you talking about okay you know rich it's really interesting to browse as we started these sin here in Las Vegas and that brick Meyer was having trouble getting the job so so he called our executives and our general manager he interviewed brick Meyer and asked him about dad a three-team parlay and and our and our boy Jimmy he thought that that was two hookers with him in a Morris town hotel you know Jesus we would have loved to help him out but yeah I wish him the best he's so delusional and listen let him go at it we're all the tostitos baby back here on a rich Eisen show man finishing things up man a great show so far fellas I appreciate the time as always a little bit of news to get to saw that Mike Vrabel for the former head coach of the Tennessee Titans will be now a consultant is that what they call a consultant with the Cleveland Browns so basically what that means is that I'm gonna serve as a consultant so I can help and talk with you guys but the Tennessee Titans are still fitting the bill you know their foot in the bill they still paying your boy cuz I did see one of the a executive who executive or coach I'll say that I don't like to put guys out there at the combine I said man hey good to see you man sorry the way things ended always I hey I'm still getting paid the next three years okay there it is so that's how it is for some of these guys but this is a consulting role for Mike Vrabel so yeah I'll keep my eye out on the news this weekend but I do want to have this discussion with you guys because it was kind of funny over the next week and a half we are going to try to fill out our brackets or next week I say in about next week NCAA tournament is now here March Madness is election Sunday is here and I think we're all excited because it still has this fun this to it of filling out your bracket but I've heard this conversation over the last couple weeks and it to me is really it's fun to really have now because I am more excited and more intrigued to watch the women's college basketball tournament than I am the men's college tournament because I can honestly say I've watched college basketball but I can name maybe men's basketball maybe one or two guys but yet when it comes to the women's game like I know the women players more and this is a tribute to the women who have been around the game for longer than one season I can't tell you who the four four-star guys over at Duke or North Carolina and no clue but I can tell you on selection Sunday I can't wait for the women's bracket because I want to know where Juju Watkins is planning it I want to know where she playing it where is USC playing it I want to see where Cameron Brink in the Stanford Cardinal where they look where they land well obviously I think Kaitlyn Clark in the Iowa Hawkeyes where will they be playing page backers yes page back I can't where does angel Reese and LSU Flau'jae Johnson where does LSU play it yep right South Carolina I can't wait to see Don Staley Camila Cardoso now I know she got to sit out the first game you know people coming out of the stands and we're talking about a little fisticuffs in the game last week but still sometimes it's necessary to over two million people watch that game by the way it's great the SEC Women's Conference Championship game wild so I'm excited to see the women's game this year and watch how it all plays out and who are the new stars that are going to emerge in this women's college basketball tournament because you're able to fall in love with stars who you'll get a chance to see next year now we know we won't see Kaitlyn Clark she's already kind of declared for the draft so this is kind of her farewell song right her swan song she's out she's going to the WNBA but Paige Becker said hey I'm coming back I'm gonna be back so now I'm like okay is UConn now the favorite for next year I mentioned Juju already who's scored 51 points this year you know for USC so that's what I'm excited about but the men's game obviously is still there you have your blue bloods but I just can't name any players I I try to but I'm made I'm kind of lost because I don't get a chance they're there for one year and boom they're in the NBA right and now so that's what I'm doing over to this weekend this weekend I'm gonna have a couple more names for you if you text me on Monday yeah I'm have some pics oh my guy over over at a Tennessee that's it and also reason why I know the guy at Tennessee Dalton connect was because I watched the Tennessee game on a flight and I was like oh this guy's pretty good okay I'm telling you I am lost when it comes to and um the guy I just know because he's a big dude at Purdue Eddie hey you've been there for like forever right he's like oh yeah yeah like seven foursome see that's what I say oh yeah yeah the big guy at Purdue I should know I should know because I did his game Sunday Zach yes I'm calling him Eddie go yes big dude by the way seven four three hundred I did read that he's coming he's probably maybe the first back-to-back player of the year AP player to you like unanimous because he was last year he's really good so he may get it again this year they better not lose in the first round exactly so there's gonna be some stories that we're gonna see over this weekend obviously we're seeing some teams punch their tickets I'm a watch remember last year my alma mater was in it San Diego State we were in the national championship game I had an amazing time at the Final Four last year in Houston this year the Final Four for the men's game will be in Phoenix Arizona the women's game will be in Cleveland Ohio so I have both of those down so I'll have my eyes on both of them but this what this weekend is all about for me watching the little college basketball the players championship is going on right now as I'm getting ready to dust off the the golf the golf club you found him you see them every day and they look it's like you know you want me come on because the minute I pick them up I don't put them down yep so like it is a life changing thing like it's like once I do this is but I always have to wait until the time change you have to because now we get more sunlight you know you can stay out a little bit later and then as we start to get the longer days cuz I'm an early tee time guy I like that early time too yeah because you know what your schedule fluctuating you got a little radio TV here I'm not I can't stick to an actual tee time sometime right so I'm like okay where can I get on tomorrow and you already know in Los Angeles I don't know who's possible oh it's impossible to get anywhere in LA impossible actually trying to crack down on this by the way cuz they're up there there's bots people who are these bots that go online and take all of the tee times and they sell them on a third-party website I've heard of this so they are cracking down in Los Angeles yes they're scalping tea time and people laugh and I said like man you know how hard it is it was like man if you come up over here to Cleveland I get you on tomorrow I get you on the day at 3 o'clock I get you on tomorrow at 8 a.m. I said you you come to LA with that holy crap just been traded to the Eagles yeah can't even just see the Anderson and Adam Shefter have it can he pick it to the Eagles Wow Wow well that's your country here we go I tried to explain the rich all week that there won't be no quarterback competition has just been traded to the Eagles to the Eagles black which opens the door black and gold here we go let's open the door for what we all thought from the beginning Russell Wilson Russell Wilson the starter Oh who's his backup now Justin feels I'm telling you it opens the door now black and gold here we go black and gold here we go we try that would be the perfect plan with the succession you get Russell Wilson with Justin feels behind them oh come on man Kirk but the thing is we tried to tell rich and very adamant Russell Wilson will be the quarterback and rich was very like sure that this was gonna be a competition and rest was gonna have to beat Kenny out and I kept laughing on air he's like I'm telling you I'm like no Russell Wilson's gonna be the star is rich awake okay so that's how you are into Friday retiring and we're ending with the trade Steelers are sending quarterback Kenny picket to the Philadelphia Eagles and a pick swap sources tell Espen once Pittsburgh signed Russell Wilson picket preferred that he moved on here we go sure did kind of you know social media he was not into so pick swap so pick swap me they may switch like seventh round picks sixth round me I wonder what it's gonna be so sixth round pick so right now currently who's on the roster at quarterback outside of Russell Wilson nobody cuz Mason Rudolph signed with the Titans I don't see I gotta see it's happening way too fast and absolutely yes my Google Doc has already been updated I mean yes thank you NFL by the way NFL is the great it is amazing so if you go to the Steelers roster it's now they could pick it is traded it's just Russell it's just Russell Wilson have one quarterback on the roster I'm telling you if I'm Justin Fields I get on the phone now send me to Pittsburgh send me to Pittsburgh let him battle it out this happened because I was literally trying to end the show to asking you guys this question are we 1000% sure the Bears are not gonna trade that pick or not what do you mean 1000% sure that they are drafting Caleb Williams and they're going to keep that you don't draft Caleb Williams you're fired yeah that's just what it is just be on the franchise you got it just you're you're making that pick already it's already done like it's not about like oh let's get more weapons for just no I got to keep my kids in private school I gotta keep my wife here I'm drafting Caleb Williams cuz you know why at least gives me two more years and trap Justin Fields bruh hey man you're looking for work in about a year I mean that's not no shot to Justin Fields I rather do that and if I'm wrong I'm wrong I get another opportunity I agree with you but I mean they tell it's a question that's been going around Twitter so we had to ask you know you gotta ask we started with Aaron Donald retiring we end with Kenny Pickett to the Eagles man everybody have a great weekend weekend is Kirk Morrison signing off the Rich Isen show I can go movies TV shows books podcasts and more it's what women binge with Melissa Joan Hart and her friend Amanda Lee we have Lauren Bosworth with the hills so what is like your number one question from fans the primary question I still get asked was what is it real in 2024 to me is a surprising question to get because I feel like everybody has been through the reality TV gauntlet at this point what women binge wherever you listen