Take 5 (Hour 2)

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Rocket can. The new format in postseason baseball is here and it starts tomorrow. And I know I was down in the dumps early in the week because my Mets team blew a ten and a half lead and they didn't win the NL East, but I have moved on that. I have purchased tickets for Saturday night. I'm ready to go, rock and roll, get all fired up for game number two. Between the Mets and the Padres, and we got a lot of baseball to talk about really for the next month or so as we try to see who's going to be going to the fall classic and winning the entire thing. So let's head out to the guest line right now and welcome in a World Series champion. It's a great job.

CBS Sports HQ is an analyst for the Red Sox as well, and that's Will Middlebrooks. Will, how you been? What's up, man? Good to be back. Well, good.

It's good to have you on and we appreciate you stopping by. So we've seen a lot of strategies here early on for the way that these pitching matchups are set up. Let's talk about them right out of the gate. First one, Max Scherzer going game one for the Mets against the Padres, and then at the Mets win, it looks like Chris Bassett will actually go game two. If the Mets lose game one, then they'll most likely run DeGrom out for game number two.

Do you understand what Buck Showalter is doing here? Yeah, my initial reaction was that I hated it, but the more I thought about it, it makes sense because I think they're facing Darvish Snell who fits really good down the stretch for the Padres and they're throwing the ball well right now. But I think it's actually showing confidence that they can win it in two because let's say they do win it in two games. Who do you get game one versus the Dodgers? DeGrom's ready to go game one and then you could possibly see him again for game five. So in a perfect world, they win this in two games and then you get DeGrom twice against the Dodgers.

That would be ideal. Now, it's hard to get behind the fact of if you go up one game, why not take the opportunity to just step on their necks right there and just win it? I'm not saying that Chris Bassett can't do that, but I feel like DeGrom is the guy to give you the best chance to win. And then all bets are off in game three, so it's like anything can happen in a one game series.

So I'm up in the air with it, but I definitely understand the reason behind it. If you were in the Padres locker room, and I don't think you need any extra motivation, it's the playoffs, you know what's at stake here, would you maybe be saying, wow, these guys think they're going to be able to be queued up against up and set us up the rotation so they can get to the next round and make it easier for them? Could that provide a little bit of an extra spark to the Padres?

No, not at all. This is the big league thing. Chris Bassett is a very good pitcher. It's not like they're bringing up a triple-A pitch against them in game two.

Chris Bassett has been very, very good. So I don't think the Padres look at it that way whatsoever. Who wins that series between the Padres and the Mets? The Mets. And when we started the show, you said you were down because the Mets blew the lead, they blew the division.

No, they didn't. The Braves won the division. The Mets 100 games.

Let's not forget about that. They're a very good baseball team. They have to play an extra round. They're going to have to go through the Dodgers. The Dodgers have a lot of question marks. The Mets can still win the World Series. I still have them beating to the in off the yes, but I do have them losing to the Braves. Well, that would be tough. I liked how you first started that off.

They could go to the NSCS and then you say losing to the Braves. Yeah, come on. Well, I thought we were better friends than that.

You know, friends are honest. Well, Middlebrook's here with us. So I know that you have an interesting take here on Quintana going for the Cardinals. A lot of people were surprised that he was their Game 1 starter up against the Phillies' Zach Wheeler. That game is going to get underway tomorrow at 2.07 p.m. Eastern with these funky start times in the Major League Baseball postseason. What's your theory on Quintana going?

I like it. So the playoffs are about who's obviously you have your set lineup and this and that, but for the most part, you go with the hot hand. And if you look at Quintana over, let's go back to September 6th, this first start of September, so he has six starts. He's only allowed to rerun over those starts total, at the most five hits in those starts. Who are two of the biggest catalyst bats in a Phillies lineup? Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber, two lefties.

And now you dig deeper in that. If you look at his numbers against the lefties over that span and through September and one start in October, he has a 0.8-yard rate and almost a 30% strikeout percentage and tons of weak contact, which plays because he loses one of the better defensive teams. Seventy defensive runs this year with his fourth in baseball. So I think it matches up well because number one, he's throwing the ball well.

Number two, he shoves against lefties and that's two of their biggest bats. Talking to Will Middlebrooks right now. Do you like the Cardinals in that series? It seems like.

I do. You know, they have their weak point as they're starting pitching. I mean, getting Jordan Montgomery was huge. The Yankees at the deadline, that helped their rotation a lot. I don't know how much they're going to lean on Wainwright or Flaherty because he missed a lot of the year. There's some question marks there, but I think in a three-game series, even though they're going up against Zach Wheeler and Aaron Noah, look, you got Boltzmann and Aaron Otto, two MVP candidates. Probably one's going to win the MVP and Aaron Otto's going to come in second place. So you're going to score some runs and I think you have enough pitching and, like I said, Canton is hot right now where they can win two games. Will Middlebrooks here with us from CBS Sports HQ.

This is Zach Gelb's show on CBS Sports Radio. I love that Poulos is back on the Cardinals for this final season. I could not have expected him to get this hot.

No one did. The 700 home runs was awesome. Just what's been your thought on this from being the former player and knowing what Poulos means to the game, what he's been able to do really the last month or two?

I love it. I think it's been good for the game. It's given something for people to watch other than just their team. They're going and watching someone else's team. I love when we get to watch someone else's at-bats during another game. You know, we saw that with Judge over the last couple weeks.

It's fun, man. We got to see Miguel Cabrera, 3,000 hits. We got to see 62 homers from a Yankee. We get to see 700 homers, what, 702?

Yeah, from Poulos. I played against him a ton. Just knowing the guy he is, how much work he puts in. He's done it the right way where he's never failed a test, never had any issues with steroids.

I love it for the game because of who he is and the person he is. You mentioned steroids. When it gets to the whole Judge conversation, I still look at Bonds as having the most home runs in an individual season. Some people, they tell me that, oh, it's Aaron Judge because he's done it the clean way.

How do you approach that conversation? Barry Bonds is still the home run king. He's 11 more than Judge.

Isn't that ridiculous to even think about? Can you imagine Judge hitting 11 more? It's insane, but Barry Bonds, as we know, he never failed a test, but it's the physical appearance. We know he used PEDs.

But he's also a product of his era. Same with Maguire, same with Sosa, same with all those guys in that era. Let's not forget, pitchers probably took it too. Barry Bonds wasn't the only guy to take steroids. He's still the home run king.

That's the era. We can't take that away. But that said, Aaron Judge doing this, the way testing is now and him doing this clean is very, very impressive. And the fact that he almost won a triple crown, which would have been the best triple crown of all time.

I wish he had pulled that off. But Arias came away with the... Well, I think he lost it. No, he had RBIs too, didn't he? Yeah, he just needed the average, which he lost by like four points, I think. If he had pulled that off, man, it's going to make the MVP talk. And no, don't corner me about the MVP right now because I don't know.

Whoa, what do you mean it has to be Judge? I love Otani, but Otani should not win the MVP this year. That's my initial reaction is it's got to be Judge, but then you look at the numbers. Dude, he's elite on both sides. He's not just good. He had the fourth best OPS plus in baseball and he had the fourth best ERA plus in baseball.

He was in the top four in pitching and hitting and he qualified as a pitcher with 162 innings pitch. Let's not get desensitized to his greatness because Aaron Judge has the seventh most home runs of all time, right? I'm with you. I'm with you. If Aaron Judge doesn't win an MVP this year, then you've got to give it to Otani every year. He's here because no one's going to top that. Here's the bigger thing with Otani. I really don't care about the MVP.

I do think it should be Judge. I want him on a different team and I want Trout on a different team too because the Angels, they have both. It used to be, oh, you have Trout. You can't make the playoffs.

It's ridiculous. We're getting robbed of that. Now we're being robbed of both Trout and Otani in the playoffs.

What do you think of this? Okay, so he signed that one year arbitration deal for 30 million. He's worth every bit of 45, 50 million, right? So do you think he signed that in hopes that maybe that's easier to move him and trade him? Potentially.

I would request that if I'm him. If he signed a six year, $300 million deal, it's going to be more than that probably, it's going to be a lot harder to trade that contract. But if he just signed a one year, $30 million deal, I feel like anybody would take that. Billy Epler and the Mets, I know Steve Cohen could afford it and Billy Epler knows him.

I'm all in. Otani and Queens next year. But they're not going to trade him. It's a joke. He's a cash cow for that. It's a business outside of winning.

They don't care about winning, obviously. And then when he hits free agency, he should leave. He should not stay. I agree.

I agree. What's your gut tell you right now, Will Middlebrooks, about Aaron Judge? Where's Aaron Judge playing baseball next year? Oh, the New York Yankees.

New York Yankees. They're going to give him a blank check and knowing him, he'll take less than... I mean, the fact that he bet on himself when he was offered 200 and I think $13 million.

Yeah, $30.5 million a year. He's like, no, I'm good. And then went out and did that with that pressure on him. That was insane. And I think he'll be...

I mean, why not sign him a six year, $300 million deal? You're the New York Yankees. You can do whatever you want. You're already over the tax per. So keep going. Keep going. Make him $50 million a year.

Load it up on the front. You don't have to pay as much on the back end for a DH when he's 36. But I mean, that body is going to age differently than, we'll say, a normal player. He's 6'7", 280.

That is not going to age well. But up until 35, 36, 37, he is still going to be an elite hitter and an elite player in this league. If you were him, would you go home and would you go to the Giants or not so much? No, no, no. You stay in New York. I mean, it's just different, man.

I know that's home for him. And there's a lot of... I mean, the Dodgers are arguably one of the best, I think, top four, top fives of like a seven year span of all time, the amount of games they've been winning. So there's good baseball out there. We don't get to watch it.

No one gets to see it on the East Coast because it starts at 10.10 at night. That's beyond why he should do it. But I just think he needs to be in this market.

He needs to be in New York and be the face of the New York Yankees for the next six years. Come on. It doesn't get better than that. I'm sorry. He's going to be disappointed if he goes to San Francisco, regardless if he gets to sleep in his own bed or not.

He can buy his own bed and put it in Manhattan if he wants. Well, Meadowbrook's here with us. How do you see the two AL series playing out between Tampa and the Guardians and then the Mariners and Blue Jays? Tampa and Cleveland, that's going to be a very interesting series. I think it's two teams that are a lot alike as far as low payroll and young talent go. I really like Cleveland. I'm going to take the underdog.

I'm going to take Cleveland in three. I just love Tito Francona. They play old school baseball, right? Don't strike out. They hit behind runners. They hit and run. They bunt guys over. They pick it on defense and they pitch. That's an anomaly in today's game.

And people don't know how to combat that sometimes because they don't see it every day. The fact that they won 92 games with the youngest team in baseball with one of the more old school coaches in the game, that's impressive. And Tito Francona's probably manager of the year. How about the Mariners and Blue Jays? Yeah, I'm going to Seattle. Toronto is a better team. I think Seattle has the it factor. I think they have the clutch factor and it just kind of seems like it's meant to be. I don't have them going to the World Series or anything, but the travel situation sucks. There's no way around that.

They got to go all the way across the country and then further north in the true north in Canada, right? So I'm going to go with Seattle and in three, I think Luis Castillo, like there was a big game. Game one.

That's why you traded for him to be that guy. And then I think X Blue Jay Robbie Ray gets hit around a little bit in game two by the Blue Jays because those right handed bats mass lefties. And then Logan Gilbert, I think, can save them in game three.

But like I said, Seattle just kind of has the clutch gene. They just find ways to win. They don't score runs. They're like 20th in run score.

It's not good, but they pitch and play defense and they just score when they need to. So earlier, Will Middlebrooks, before we let you run, you said you like the Mets and the Braves and the NLCS. You had the Braves going back to the World Series. Why are you down on the Dodgers? That's just more so confidence in the Mets. I think the Dodgers, they won 110 games. So I'm not shooing them away or anything, but they have a lot of question marks for a 100 plus win team. What Tony Gonsolin are you going to get from a forearm strain?

Is his stuff the same? What postseason Kershaw shows up? Tyler Anderson, great year, but he's only started one postseason game in his life.

That's a big deal. Craig Kimbrough, your closer, he's a flip of a coin. Those guys have been dealing with injuries the whole second half. So what is their... Bullpens are a big deal in the postseason because we're looking at guys coming into high leverage situations in the fifth. And then you've got to cover four innings.

So there's a lot of question marks. So I think the Mets are better built for their starters to go deeper in the game. And then I love Edwin Diaz to come in and close it out. But I think Atlanta takes them down. Atlanta is the most well-rounded complete baseball team in my opinion. Are they winning the World Series again? Yeah, they're going to play Houston in the World Series and win in the seventh. Why not the Yankees taking down Houston?

I feel like that's the question we ask each and every year. They have pitching issues. They had way too many injuries. I think Clay Holmes just had a cortisone shot in his shoulder. So he's supposed to be back. He has the days off because they get a bye. But what's he going to be like?

Who else? You're going to have to put Aroldis Chapman on your roster because you have injuries. You need him. He's so inconsistent. Is he going to come in and throw ten straight balls?

Or is he going to strike everyone out in nine pitches? You just never know. And I can't trust Garret Cole in a big game. Say that again? I can't trust Garret Cole in a big game. No.

Yeah, you're right. I think I like Severino. I would start Severino in game one, honestly. Wow.

How about that? I like Severino's stuff. I like Cortez in game two. I'm not taking anything away from Cole. Cole still has good stuff, but he isn't the same guy he was. And I don't want to get into the sticky stuff and this and that, but it's not just him.

It's a lot of guys that saw a big change in their stuff. He still led the league in strikeouts. Let's not act like he's having a bad year. He's just not as dominant as he was before. If you started Severino in game one over Cole, I think you may have ruined Cole mentally.

It would never happen, but you would ruin him mentally. That's a good point. That's a really good point. And I'm just stirring the pie as I stare at my Red Sox on my World Series right now. That's just what I do with the Yankees.

I just like the backstroke in their minds. But look, they have a lot of questions in their bullpen. Like I said, they're going to score runs. I actually think Judge goes off in the playoffs because that pressure just melted off of him. He's done with the whole 62 thing and all that's over. Now he can get back to his regular approach. Big part of the field. He's going to get pitched to again. He's not having a chase to try to make something happen.

And we're going to see Aaron Judge just like he was during the regular season. Alrighty. By the way, now we have to get down to some serious business. If your wife, Jenny Dell, needs some security to try to go after Nick Saban when Nick Saban wants her to ask a question that she already asked.

I will send you my resume, by the way, to be the security guard. Listen, if anybody can handle it on their own, it's Jenny, man. She's unfazed. She worked in Boston. She's got thick skin. She deals with me every day.

That may be worse. So she's unfazed by that. She's a pro. Were you watching that interview as it was happening?

Yes. Mouth on the floor. So you were not happy with Nick Saban? Look, this isn't a first time occurrence. He's not surprising anyone when he goes off after games. He's in the moment too. He's in the game. I never put anything past players or coaches right after the game.

Because you're still in game mode, right? So I'm not going to hold that. And Jenny said the same thing. She gets it. Jenny's nice. I don't know if I would have handled that in the same way.

That's why she's a professional and I'm just some jackass talking on the radio. Will Middlebrooks, thanks so much. You're the best, my friend. Thanks, man.

I enjoyed it. There you go. Will Middlebrooks joining us. So he has the Astros and the Braves in the World Series with the Braves winning it all.

And I can't say that he's wrong. Here's the only thing, though, about Atlanta, Ryan. I know they just won the World Series. They did a lot of celebrating for one of that NL East. I just wonder if there's a little hangover. I know they don't play for a few days, clearly. They don't play until next week. But I just wonder how you reel it back in, even though that's a team that has seen everything being a World Series champ.

You make a good point. They seemed very hung up on winning the division. And look, it was an incredible comeback. But also at the same time, winning the division is like step one of five. Like, OK, you won the division. Congratulations. It's not the end-all be-all.

And for their fans, especially, it almost seems like winning the NL East was kind of like hit the finish line when really this is the race just started. And it's Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio will come on back in five minutes. It's cash the ticket on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. All right. Let's start with college first, because I think it's a lot less complicated here. Number five. It's the same five teams that I've had for almost the entire year. Just the order continues to change inside the top five in the way that I've jumbled up these five teams. So number five, USC. Number four, I have put Michigan into that four spot.

That's been the same the last two weeks. Ohio State back in at three. Georgia, after that sloppy performance against Missouri, have dropped them down to two. And Alabama, with a backup quarterback still taking advantage of Picsui, they find the way to go to the number one spot.

So not a lot of change. USC five, Michigan four, Ohio State three. And then I just flip flop. Georgia and Alabama. Georgia back to the two spot. Alabama in at one.

Not really much of an explanation needed, but I'll take Kiki speak now. Forever hold your peace. Well, Clemson, nice win last week. Undefeated.

DJ, you looking like Notre Dame DJ you when he scorched him in that one game you played for Trevor Lawrence two years ago. Why no love for the Tigers? I have been reassessing my opinion on Clemson. I am now taking Clemson a lot more seriously than what I did prior to their last two games. I did not like what I saw early on against Wake Forest. DJ UNGULA was phenomenal against NC State. DJ UNGULA did play really well, but we're in a world of tiebreakers. And when I'm in a world of tiebreakers and I'm looking at that team that I put it in the fifth spot.

It's very simple. The conference they play in matters. The Pac-12 this year is a better conference than the ACC. So that is why for now I have kept Clemson on the outside looking into the top five. If conference is a tiebreaker, what about Tennessee playing in the best conferencing football, right? Great point.

Big reason there. I'm not going to put three teams for one conference in. And also when you look at Tennessee. Now they've been impressive. I'm not taking anything away from them.

But when we're talking about in the top five conversation, and I really like Hypel, I really like Hendon Hooker. They're undefeated. That goes a long way. But right now, those two signature wins that they've had. They don't look as good as they did a few weeks ago. So important wins. But Florida has not looked good ever since their upset victory against Utah.

And Anthony Richardson went from this darling like top five pick potentially to he hasn't been playing great football. And Pitt, Pitt just lost to Georgia Tech. So that's why I kept Tennessee outside of the top five.

Anyone else? No, that's it. Okay. How would you order those teams, by the way, one through five? I would go Bama one, Georgia two, Ohio State three, Clemson four, Michigan five and USC outside the top five. Yes. And you've been very big of the Trojans.

I have. But Clemson's resume is better. NC State's top 10 team. They won that game. Wake Forest is ranked when they beat them. USC's played Oregon State, which is okay. But other than that, they've really played no one. Now, you don't disagree, though, with my analysis that the Pac-12 is a better conference than the ACC? Overall, yeah. But right now, USC hasn't played any of the good teams. That's part of the issue. Got it.

Fair. Is the Pac-12 the second best conference in college football right now? We know the SEC is the creme de la creme. You have Bama and Georgia. And you have teams like Kentucky, who's good. Tennessee undefeated.

Florida still solid squad, right? Arkansas is a good team. So we know the SEC is the top dog. After that, is it the Big Ten? Or is it the Pac-12? I go Pac-12 because they're deeper and more balanced.

That's the perfect way to answer it. If I look at it as who has the teams that have the better odds to win a national title this year? Yeah, you throw Michigan and Ohio State, you got two. And then when you look at the Pac-12, Utah lost their only really big game this year. UCLA is undefeated.

Nice win last week up against Washington, who got the top 15. And then USC is that real hope. I really hope USC goes undefeated.

I don't know where you stand on that. I would love to see USC in the college football playoff in year one. Selfishly, I don't because I want to see Utah make the college football playoff. Oh, because that was your big take.

So I'm going to roof myself to be right. So with that being the case, sorry USC got to go down. But you've been jinxing. You've been jinxing a lot of the college football teams. But that doesn't stop me from still rooting for my picks.

What was your take two weeks ago and last week? The two teams that you mushed? Georgia was the best team by far in college football and no one else on their level. Almost lost to Missouri.

Yeah. And I said all four of my college football pick playoff picks are still alive. And then Oklahoma. That was after their loss to Kansas State. And then Oklahoma went and got steamrolled by TCU to bury themselves 10 feet under the ground. Now, your four picks before the year were Bama, Georgia, Ohio State, Utah and Oklahoma. Gotcha. And Oklahoma has already been removed.

Yeah. And I don't think Utah nor Oklahoma. Well, Oklahoma won't be. I don't think Utah's going to get in the college football playoff. Because Bama, Georgia both will. Ohio State will. Utah wins out there. Well, actually, that's not true. That's not true wins out there. Because if Clemson wins out, they get in there and they'd be undefeated.

Also start seeing a resume check, too. It's interesting. Twelve and one Utah versus 13 and 0 Clemson.

Yeah. It's going to be fun to beat. No, it would be easy. 13 and 0 Clemson would get in.

I do not. You're telling me the college football playoff committee is going to go with Utah with one loss over an undefeated Dabo, Sweetie and Clemson? If the ACC, if the NCAA is their best win and you have Utah beating USC twice. Clemson will get in. Clemson will get in. Beating two other ranked teams along the way. That resume is impressive.

First off, the record's better. And then second off, anytime you want to put a bigger brand in or you want to put a bigger coach in or a bigger story line to get more eyes to the television. There's one thing that that is used and I'm showing you my glasses right now.

The eye test. You think that would be a debate? Oh, yeah. I don't think it's easy.

That's not a lot. Let's go to the czar of college football. Ack, quick question. If Clemson's undefeated and Utah has one loss as a Pac-12 champion. Who gets in the college football playoff?

I say Clemson. Thank you. That's just because I think it's the history that even though these things don't factor in, even though these things don't do the eye test. That's exactly it. They say they're not supposed to. But I think they do.

Hickey, I would really love to live in a world that you live in. You don't look at things through money and through kind of the business side of college football. You just go over the resume. But this is what I don't understand. The 13 people picking the teams, what benefit do they get of revenue at ESPN? The 13 people in our room in the committee to partner literally do not get any money from the ratings.

So whether it does tenfold or twofold, they're getting the same amount of money. It's irrelevant. They get paid to make their picks. But who they pick is irrelevant. Then ESPN will say we need a new college football playoff committee. They rotate anyway. Get those guys out. They do that anyway. It's a new committee every year.

People shuffle in, people shuffle out. There's no motivational incentive for the 13 people picking. But you got to keep the TV partners happy. They do care about that. There's no TV partners, just ESPN.

Yes, keeping that partner happy is important for them. I don't think so. The contract's already locked in.

What are you going to do? You pick the four best teams. That's all there is. You think Brand has no and getting the most eyeballs on that game possible is no indication of the game?

No. You're picking the four best teams. We will agree to disagree on that. I got to go to the NFL here. This was the toughest Take 5 I've ever had to do with NFL.

The toughest. I did not put any team that's 2-2 in, and let me clarify. These are my feelings on these teams right now. A lot of these teams, or two of these teams, I do not think are Super Bowl contenders. But as Tom Brady said, there's a lot of sloppy football right now, a lot of ugly football. And I can only go with what I'm seeing right now.

At No. 5, I know they're coming off a loss to a tongue of eye low and not going to play this weekend. I can't crush them for losing to the Bengals. I didn't think they would beat the Bengals. They did beat the Bills. They did beat the Ravens.

I'm putting the Dolphins in at No. 5. 4.

Wow. I really have to swallow my pride here. The drama Dallas Choking Cowboys. They're 3-0 without Dak Prescott. 3-1 on the year. No. 3, Buffalo. 2. They're not dead yet. The Kansas City Chiefs. And at No. 1, the only undefeated team left in football, the Philadelphia Eagles.

How to take a quick now or forever hold your peace? What about the 3-1 Packers? No love for Rogers? They feel like 2-2. I've said that they're a Super Bowl contender. They feel more like a 2-2 team. They just took Bailey Zappi and the Patriots to overtime. So that's why I cannot put them in the Top 5 this week.

I almost did. I almost gave them the edge over the Dolphins, but when you're 3-1, you got blown out by the Vikings. Pats take you to overtime.

That didn't really sit well for me. Speaking of 2-2, what about the 49ers? Trust issues. Great defense. Top 5 defense. If Take 5 was only about defense, they would easily be in the Top 5. But offensively, I know they bounce back this week.

They beat the Rams. I don't know what to expect from Jimmy Garoppolo each and every week. He's the definition of inconsistent. I love Deebo. Deebo's really damn good.

We know that. Trent Williams is out. And Kyle Shanahan, even though he's a good coach, he goes through these stretches where things kind of do get ugly and then he usually finds a way to pull a rabbit out of the hat.

So heck of a bounce back win, just crushing the Rams. But they're too inconsistent for me to put them in the Top 5. How would you do your Top 5, by the way?

Actually, I think I would probably keep it in the exact order you have it, to be honest. Wow. Yeah, I think you're right on the Cowboys 100%. I'm with you on the Packers.

Their record says one thing, their place says the other. 49ers and Winter, they're too inconsistent right now. I think right now, 1-5 Eagles, Chiefs, Bills, Cowboys, Dolphins, in that order, I'm with you.

Now this is a pretty good sample size of football so far. And the fact that I have two teams that I can't see a way in them getting to a Super Bowl this year in my Top 5 shows me how bad the quality of football has been so far. Bills easily. Chiefs easily. Eagles easily. I can see them all going to the Super Bowl. Cowboys, no way. Dolphins, no way as well.

So that's Take 5. Zach Guilf show CBS Sports Radio. We will come on back and we got to get into this Draymond Green hole scenario with Jordan Poole.

Draymond Green punched Jordan Poole. You're listening to the Zach Guilf Show. He takes AutoZone America's number one battery destination. Get in the zone.

AutoZone. Did you see the parody story on Jordan Poole and Draymond Green and the reasoning and the parody story on how this fight did get all started here? You've been following the parody account for this one on Twitter. Not the account, but I've seen plenty of funny tweets hypothesizing what started the fight. So this Twitter account name ball from grace. It's got like fifteen hundred followers.

It did one of those things whenever you have a juicy story like this. That is serious, but not like serious, serious. They poke fun of it and they pretend to grab a screenshot from the athletic with the back black, you know, with the back background, black background. I know I couldn't say that with the white writing, making it look like it's an athletic article and they just write their own text in it. So once again, just so people don't say that we got ball sack sports, I know this is a parody account.

I know this is not real, but I laughed when I read the parody version of this. According to sources, Poole began telling teammates of his plan to use his lucrative new extension to install a pool at his house. It will be called, I'll call it the Jordan pool because it's going to be the goat pool, allegedly said. Everyone can come swimming my Jordan pool as soon as I get paid. Teammates soon tired of the joke, however, when he refused to stop telling it when Draymond Green eventually suggested Poole find some new material. Poole said, if you keep talking like that, you won't be allowed in my Jordan pool.

The statement then prompted Green to close his eyes and start swinging witnesses. Now, we know this isn't true. We know that this is a parody.

But I really wish this was the reason. Because yesterday, when this story gets dropped on the athletic, the actual story that Draymond Green threw a punch at Jordan Poole. That's all it basically said. It said more details to come.

And we never really got what the details were or why Draymond Green punched Jordan Poole. So when I saw this parody account tweet this out, I go, that is gold. And that's a different level of creativity only coming from an account with fifteen hundred followers. So that's a good job by this at ball from Grace account giving us all a chuckle.

Could you imagine that was actually true? Got a young kid, Jordan Poole. Yeah, you guys could all come swim my swimming pool. We'll call it the Jordan Poole would be great. Hey, hey, youngster, shut up.

We're sick and tired of the joke. Yeah, you just won't be able to swim in the Jordan Poole punch. I wish that was true. Now, that would be maybe the best sports story ever. I wish you told them, hey, hit five jump shots in a row. Boom.

There are some there are some good hypotheticals that would be just absolute Internet gold if any of them were true. Hey, I'm signing with the Celtics. Draymond Green.

Boom. Anyway, this is now the second time and we know Draymond Green is a provocateur. We know he loves being the villain, even if it's on his own team, starting up drama on his own team. But to get serious here for a second, we've seen a constant trend.

Guy gets a lot of attention. Guy then in line to either leave the team or get paid by the team. And Draymond doesn't like that uncertainty. Because when this happened with Kevin Durant, and there was a serious thought that Durant was leaving the team and the expectation he was leaving the team. Draymond is that we're sick and tired of you holding us hostage here. We won before you.

We could win without you. Now he ended up being right because I think Kevin Durant would love to go back to Golden State and may have even tried to do that this offseason. He had Steph talking about it. Not that that led to a punch, but it led to an altercation between Draymond Green and Kevin Durant. Now here you have a youngster in Jordan Poole was instrumental with the resurgence of the Golden State Warriors.

He's about to get paid in a big way. And all you know is that they were supposedly going back and forth and that this was brewing. And then Draymond punches Jordan Poole.

So I don't know what the reason is. But I'm not giving Draymond Green the benefit of the doubt and thinking that Draymond Green's actually in the right for punching Jordan Poole. If I had to assume and you know what happens when you assume you make an asset of you and me.

But if I had to put my life savings on the line. Since we haven't really got any clarity in the last 24 hours. This is just Draymond being Draymond and probably Jordan Poole didn't really do anything that was egregious or even out of line, Ryan. You're probably right. This does kind of lend another question I want to ask you. Ooh, is there a, there's a but here.

No, no, no. It's a real, it's a serious question. As you know, the GOAT debate in the NBA has always hotly contested LeBron and Michael Jordan. Is it time we put Draymond Green in that conversation? Because real GOATs punch other teammates. You're reaching there. When has LeBron ever punched a- Well, he hasn't.

So two out of the three. But that's why he's not in the, that's why most people don't consider him the GOAT. So can I give you advice on how to make a better joke? You should have went with some Steve Kerr kind of line of thinking here. Because Steve Kerr once got punched in the face by Michael Jordan. So maybe you could have used some Steve Kerr angle just trying to have you go back to the drawing pool. That Jordan Poole's going to be the next best head coach in the NBA in like 20 years? Potentially. I don't know if that's the joke necessarily.

Turn around, you know, if you're getting punched. Yeah. And just, I'm just saying, you got some work to do. Draymond and MJ, man. More in common than LeBron and MJ, that's for sure. That wasn't your best work here. You've done a lot of good work on this show, and I appreciate that good work.

But you were reaching more than Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock in the draft right there on that one. This is that Gilp show on CBS Sports Radio. Is this an issue? Or is this something that just happens in the offseason and then it goes away? I don't know. Now, did the punch land? He just threw a punch, was the wording in the report. Did the punch land?

Because I don't know about you. If I'm Jordan Poole and I got punched in the face, if I actually got punched in the face by Draymond Green, that's got to linger. Not excusing it. This is who... No, not punching, exactly, but... That's a different level. There's a different... Of really grinding some gears, right? There's a difference in stirring the pot, trying to get the best out of everyone, and certain tactics. And I think we've all done that, where you know you're being a jackass. When you throw a punch at a teammate, and Draymond, as good as he is, here's a hot take, he ain't Michael Jordan. That could create a little bit of awkwardness. Little bit of awkwardness. Now, does he carry over into the season?

I don't know. Come postseason time, are you able to sweep it under the rug, I would imagine. But Jordan Poole is a pretty significant player for the Golden State Warriors. Not only can he hit those outside shots, but he's also got some youth on those legs. Which can also ease up some playing time for Steph and Klay that you need just to be healthy for postseason. Played a big role in that championship.

So I just wonder how much longer this does linger. Let's hear from Bob Myers. Bob Myers says the Warriors will discipline Draymond Green internally.

Everybody's fine. Jordan practiced today, so Draymond didn't. And look, it's the NBA, professional sports. These things happen.

Nobody likes it. We don't condone it, but it happened. Draymond apologized to the team this morning. Jordan was there in the room. I was there in the room with the team, the coaches, the players. And we heard that.

As far as any suspension, punishments, we're going to handle that internally. He also got a wonder too, and I know Bob Myers said that it did not play a role. But he said contracts did not play a role that fueled this argument. Draymond in line to get one final big payday. You know Jordan Poole's in line to get a big payday.

Could there have been some bad blood there? Bob Myers said he does not believe contracts fueled the argument between Jordan Poole and Draymond Green. It is Zach Gelb's show on CBS Sports Radio. We return one of the legendary play-by-play men in the history of sports. Kevin Harlan, great job. NFL on CBS. Westwood won sports. NBA on TNT. He stops by the Zach Gelb show in five minutes. It's cash the ticket on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.