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Speaker 1: Time to talk Steeler coaching search with Mike de Fabo

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Speaker 1: of The Athletic Mike, I'm told you've been told that

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Speaker 1: Mike McCarthy isn't just one of a bunch of candidates,

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Speaker 1: that there's a very realistic chance he gets hired.

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Speaker 2: Please do expand on that.

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Speaker 3: Well, I think a.

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Speaker 4: Lot of people saw Mike McCarthy and they thought, you know,

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Speaker 4: maybe the Steelers are doing their years or buddy of

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Speaker 4: favor and just getting his name back in the news cycle.

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Speaker 4: And that was kind of throwing around a little bit

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Speaker 4: in the media. But from what I understand, it sounds

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Speaker 4: like he is a legitimate candidate for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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Speaker 4: His relationship with Omar kh and Andy Widel goes back

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Speaker 4: to nineteen ninety nine or two thousand when those two guys.

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Speaker 3: Were on the Saints' staff and.

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Speaker 4: And Mike McCarthy at that time was the offensive coordinator.

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Speaker 4: And so I think that I'm not saying he's going

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Speaker 4: to be the guy. That's not what I'm saying at all.

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Speaker 4: But what I'm saying is I think he's going to

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Speaker 4: be on the short list and that they're bringing him

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Speaker 4: to Pittsburgh not just as a court courtesy, but to

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Speaker 4: hear his thoughts on quarterbacks offense, how to get them

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Speaker 4: out of their current situation where they're kind of spin

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Speaker 4: their wheels struggling to find the answer to the successor

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Speaker 4: after Ben Roethlisberger.

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Speaker 2: What would be the pros and cons of McCarthy a's coach.

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Speaker 4: Well, the biggest prom let's just start there, and it's

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Speaker 4: the obvious one. He's sixty two years old. I don't

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Speaker 4: think the Steelers have ever had a coach at least

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Speaker 4: dating back to Chuck Noll. He retired before his sixtieth birthday,

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Speaker 4: so they've never had a coach that old. Traditionally, the

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Speaker 4: Steelers like to bring in a young, up and coming

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Speaker 4: guy and he's in place for a couple decades and

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Speaker 4: that provides a stable foundation for this franchise. So I mean,

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Speaker 4: I think the danger would be you bring him in,

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Speaker 4: he is a retread, he did get fired recently, and

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Speaker 4: in a couple of years you're looking for another head

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Speaker 4: coach once again. The advantage would be just offense, it

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Speaker 4: would be This is not a particularly strong class of

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Speaker 4: candidates this year, which is one of the unfortunate things

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Speaker 4: about Mike Tomlin making the decision to step down versus

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Speaker 4: the Steelers choosing and kind of having a candidate lined up.

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Speaker 3: So you know, he has.

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Speaker 4: Worked with Brett far if he's worked with Aaron Rodgers,

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Speaker 4: He's worked with.

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Speaker 3: Many quarterbacks in the past.

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Speaker 4: So I think that that would be the main thing,

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Speaker 4: is that you would be betting that he could fix what's.

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Speaker 3: Been a broken offense for really the better part of

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Speaker 3: a decade.

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Speaker 1: Would he be seen as a way to get Aaron

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Speaker 1: Rodgers to return, because the Steelers appear to want that.

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Speaker 2: I know the locker room appears to want that.

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Speaker 1: But a story broke today that Rodgers has a long

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Speaker 1: standing grudge against McCarthy that takes back to San Francisco

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Speaker 1: when McCarthy was the coordinator passing Rogers in the first

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Speaker 1: round of the draft to take Alex Smith instead, And

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Speaker 1: that sounds ridiculous, but Rogers is every bit that petty,

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Speaker 1: as we know.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that.

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Speaker 4: I think Rodgers' relationship with McCarthy has evolved. I talked

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Speaker 4: to our Jets writer recently and apparently Rogers was telling

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Speaker 4: people as recently as a couple of years ago, if

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Speaker 4: he ever was going to play for another team, he

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Speaker 4: want to play for McCarthy again, And I don't know

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Speaker 4: that necessarily the Steelers are thinking thinking that, like Rogers

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Speaker 4: is so important to them that they have to get

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Speaker 4: McCarthy so then they can get Rogers.

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Speaker 3: But I think that they are also looking at.

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Speaker 4: The current landscape the quarterback and I think that they're saying, like,

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Speaker 4: there's not a great option in the draft. What was

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Speaker 4: supposed to be a really strong quarterback class in twenty

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Speaker 4: twenty six now looks a lot weaker than expected, with

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Speaker 4: either guys dropping out or guys not developing as expected.

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Speaker 4: To me, I'm almost thinking that maybe twenty twenty seven

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Speaker 4: could end up being the target for when they land

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Speaker 4: that rookie quarterback.

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Speaker 3: So I guess to summarize it, it's not.

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Speaker 4: Necessarily like they need Rogers so badly that they need

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Speaker 4: McCarthy to get him.

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Speaker 3: But I also don't think they would see it as

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Speaker 3: a negative.

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Speaker 1: And Art really is desperate to win a playoff game,

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Speaker 1: isn't he. I mean, you look at the moves he

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Speaker 1: made the Steelers made in the prior offseason, and I

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Speaker 1: honestly expect more of the same for the team to

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Speaker 1: get even more veterany if that's possible.

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Speaker 2: As opposed to moving forward.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I wouldn't agree with that approach. I've been pretty clear,

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Speaker 4: and but don't you feel like, unfortunately, if you end

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Speaker 4: up bringing in a veteran coach and a veteran quarterback,

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Speaker 4: you are choosing your.

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Speaker 3: Past, and that's not the past that I would choose.

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Speaker 4: I think that they're well overdue to turn over this roster,

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Speaker 4: to get younger, to put themselves in a position. Even

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Speaker 4: if you're going to draft that rookie quarterback in twenty

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Speaker 4: twenty seven, surround him with the right pieces, continue to

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Speaker 4: build up that offensive line, make the defense younger, so

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Speaker 4: that this quarterback is coming into a good situation instead

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Speaker 4: of the danger would be if you don't accomplish anything

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Speaker 4: with veterans, as you haven't done for the last half decade.

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Speaker 4: You know, this young quarterback comes in and all of

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Speaker 4: a sudden, the defense ages out. You're trying to rebuild

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Speaker 4: off a defense and the receiving corps while this quarterback

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Speaker 4: is still.

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Speaker 3: In his rookie contract.

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Speaker 4: By the time you pay the quarterback, if he's any good,

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Speaker 4: you know, then where do you stand.

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Speaker 3: So I think it's time to start rebuilding.

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Speaker 1: And turning over this team. We're talking to Mike Tfabo.

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Speaker 1: Mike brought to us by Armstrong the Internet. You can

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Speaker 1: con on the people you can trust, that's Armstrong one

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Speaker 1: wire dot com if.

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Speaker 2: It's not McCarthy. I kind of like Chris Shula.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I know bubcus about him, but it's a

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Speaker 1: safe choice, kind of a choice that a lot of

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Speaker 1: teams would make if they were in a similar situation.

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Speaker 1: I like Shieldhouse two of those two, which you sense

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Speaker 1: the Steelers like more? And how much does the Rams

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Speaker 1: still being alive in the playoffs and them not being

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Speaker 1: able to interview them in person impede what they're gonna do?

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Speaker 4: Well, I'll answer that last part first. I don't think

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Speaker 4: that the Steelers are going to make this higher within

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Speaker 4: the coming days. I think that they'll at least give

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Speaker 4: themselves an opportunity to interview Chris Shula and Nathan Shieldhouse.

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Speaker 3: In terms of which one I would.

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Speaker 4: Choose, you know, I think Shula is a little bit

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Speaker 4: more experienced because he's thirty nine years old. The problem

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Speaker 4: the problem with Shieldhouse is he's thirty five and he's

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Speaker 4: never even been an offensive coordinator at this point, and

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Speaker 4: really he I think he has the traits and I

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Speaker 4: think that he has the experience as a former quarterback

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Speaker 4: at Illinois. He's been in you know, anything McVeigh touches

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Speaker 4: turns to gold on offense. He has that going for him.

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Speaker 4: He seems to be a very charismatic young guy. I

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Speaker 4: just don't know if he's quite ready right now. I

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Speaker 4: think maybe in two three years it might be time

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Speaker 4: for him, but maybe not right now. Shula I like

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Speaker 4: just because I think that it makes more sense for

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Speaker 4: what the Steelers have done. He would be a defensive guy.

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Speaker 4: He would be younger than forty thirty nine, has some experience.

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Speaker 4: The Steelers last year had the NFL's highest paid defense

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Speaker 4: and didn't get enough out of it. Chris Shula has

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Speaker 4: the NFL's second lowest paid defenses.

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Speaker 3: Is getting a lot out of it.

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Speaker 4: I mean a lot of the turnovers and takeaways in

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Speaker 4: the most recent games. I credit those to coaching in coverage,

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Speaker 4: disguise and things like that. And so I think, in

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Speaker 4: an ideal world, like if they're seriously considering Mike McCarthy,

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Speaker 4: what I would love is you bring in Schule as

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Speaker 4: the head coach, and then you say, Mike McCarthy, you're

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Speaker 4: the associate head coach. Slash offensive coordinator. I don't think

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Speaker 4: that that's going to be possible. That seems like a

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Speaker 4: pipe dream. But that seems like a better circumstance than

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Speaker 4: some of the.

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Speaker 2: Others, you know what.

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Speaker 1: You know, it's funny, Mike, because that's exactly what they

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Speaker 1: should do and what both parties should want. But ego

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Speaker 1: would get in the way in each of the two

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Speaker 1: men thinking the other ones usurping them.

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Speaker 3: Exactly. And that's the problem with this.

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Speaker 4: It really at the highest levels, there can be a

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Speaker 4: lot of power struggle, and I've heard of people getting

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Speaker 4: fired or moving on or other stuff just because they

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Speaker 4: felt like someone was getting too much credit and they

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Speaker 4: were really the one that was the builder. I mean,

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Speaker 4: it's happened within this organization, it's happened within other organizations.

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Speaker 4: And that's the problem when you bring into guys like that,

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Speaker 4: how do you make those guys work together?

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Speaker 2: Who are the top three candidates in your mind right now?

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Speaker 4: I think I think Flores is up there. I think

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Speaker 4: Flores is within the discussion they're meeting with him today,

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Speaker 4: and I don't think that that's a coincidence that he's

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Speaker 4: one of the first guys they brought in. I think

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Speaker 4: that Shula, as we mentioned, is going to be within

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Speaker 4: the mix. And I think Mike McCarthy, if I were

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Speaker 4: to name three guys right now, I think that those

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Speaker 4: are the three leading guys.

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Speaker 3: But again, I think that this is I think it's

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Speaker 3: possible this continues.

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Speaker 4: To evolve because right now they aren't able to interview

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Speaker 4: Shula or the RAMS guys in person if they are interested,

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Speaker 4: and this is something I don't.

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Speaker 3: Have the answer to. Mark in Clint.

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Speaker 4: Kubiak or Dance Joseph. They aren't even allowed to interview

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Speaker 4: them until this weekend as well, and they missed the

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Speaker 4: window to virtually interview them, which is why they haven't

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Speaker 4: been discussed at all. So I think that this will evolve.

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Speaker 4: But if you were asking me right here, right now

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Speaker 4: out for three names, those would be the three names

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Speaker 4: I'd give you.

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Speaker 1: See, Flores is the one guy I wouldn't hire, just

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Speaker 1: would not. He's a head coach who mangled it the

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Speaker 1: one chance he had, he made a mess up.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, And I mean I agree with you, Mark, because

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Speaker 4: here's what I've I've talked with our Vikings writer and

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Speaker 4: here's his analysis of Flores. Great scheme guy, you know,

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Speaker 4: kind of like a mad scientist when it comes to

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Speaker 4: innovating and doing some different things. But in terms of

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Speaker 4: standing in front of a room, he's a bit of

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Speaker 4: a challenging personality and not for everybody. And I know

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Speaker 4: that he butted heads with Menca back in the day,

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Speaker 4: and I think he's butted heads with other players in

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Speaker 4: the past, and so I think that would be one

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Speaker 4: of my concerns with him. As much as I am

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Speaker 4: in love with the idea of what he could do

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Speaker 4: to this defense from a schematic standpoint, there's more to

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Speaker 4: it than that.

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Speaker 3: And R. Runey even mentioned that.

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Speaker 4: He said in his press conference a week ago that

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Speaker 4: leadershi is among the biggest things he's looking for. And

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Speaker 4: that's one of the areas that I questioned floy as

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Speaker 4: the most.

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Speaker 2: Should the Steelers be embarrassed by New England?

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Speaker 1: They lost Brady in twenty twenty, they lost Belichick in

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty four, and here they are back to being

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Speaker 1: a power almost immediately in the AFC Championship Game, and

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Speaker 1: with a franchise quarterback. How can the Steelers not look

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Speaker 1: at that and feel ashamed?

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Speaker 4: I agree with you, Mark, and what they should do

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Speaker 4: is see the Patriots as a model, and the Patriots

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Speaker 4: realized that Bill Belichick was too old, realized that it

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Speaker 4: was time for a divorce, kicked him out the door,

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Speaker 4: were proven right by Jordan Hudson. They brought in Jared Mayo,

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Speaker 4: realized very quickly they had made a horrible, horrible mistake,

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Speaker 4: corrected their mistake, brought in the right guy and Rabel

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Speaker 4: and more importantly than anything else, they found their quarterback.

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Speaker 4: And they did so with a young guy who's going

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Speaker 4: to stabilize the franchise for the.

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Speaker 3: Next decade and a half. And I'm it's so over.

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Speaker 4: I feel like Mark, like you ask your parents you

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Speaker 4: want a dog, and instead of bringing home a puppy,

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Speaker 4: they just keep bringing home this this dog from the

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Speaker 4: pound that's like fourteen years old.

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Speaker 3: And you just have to.

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Speaker 4: Watch this dog die and you have to. You think

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Speaker 4: it's it's kind of fading, but you just have to

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Speaker 4: watch it go all the way out and go, yep,

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Speaker 4: now it's totally done. Now we've got to put this

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Speaker 4: dog down once and for all. We did it with Ben,

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Speaker 4: like we watched it happen with Russ. I just don't

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Speaker 4: want to be sitting here covering the final last gasp

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Speaker 4: of Aaron Rodgers to say once and for all. Yet

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Speaker 4: everybody knows officially officially that Aaron Rodgers has done. Can

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Speaker 4: we at least try something different and try to get

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Speaker 4: a younger quarterback in here?

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Speaker 3: Now?

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Speaker 2: You make me miss my dog Mike from when I

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Speaker 2: was a kid.

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Speaker 5: What for you?

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Speaker 1: I still can't believe Tom with quit, except I do

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Speaker 1: believe Tom wu quit. Is there any chance he coaches

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Speaker 1: anywhere in twenty twenty six, I've been told Noah, I've

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Speaker 1: been told it's very unlikely he works.

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Speaker 2: On TV either.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: I think it's very unlikely that he coaches next year,

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Speaker 4: very very unlikely. I think, you know, even Christian Koon

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Speaker 4: said on his podcast that in that final meeting with

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Speaker 4: Mike Tomlin and his players, he told them he didn't

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Speaker 4: want to coach with another team. Art Rooney underscored that

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Speaker 4: point during his press conferencing. You know, let's not talk

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Speaker 4: about compensation and trade. It seems like Mike isn't interested

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Speaker 4: in coaching in the near future. So I think that

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Speaker 4: legitimately Mike is ready to get away for a little bit.

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Speaker 4: And whether he entertains TV or not maybe depends on

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Speaker 4: the size of that paycheck. But I even even the

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Speaker 4: idea of him going and coaching Josh Allen, which would

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Speaker 4: be awfully enticing. I would do that for any amount

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Speaker 4: of money. I just don't think that that's in the

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Speaker 4: cards for Mike Tomlin right now.

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Speaker 1: Of the coaches who lost their jobs, which one should

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Speaker 1: feel the most hard done by, who got a raw

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Speaker 1: deal getting pushed out?

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Speaker 3: Oh that's a good question. In a weird way.

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Speaker 4: I want to stick up for Mike McDaniel, but I'm

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Speaker 4: not totally sure because TUA was kind of thrust on

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Speaker 4: him and Mike mcdan daniel is known as a pretty

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Speaker 4: good offensive mind, and I think with a different kind

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Speaker 4: of quarterback that he handpicked, he might have the best

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Speaker 4: chance of having success.

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Speaker 3: At the same time, he's a pretty goofy guy, and

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Speaker 3: I don't know.

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Speaker 4: He kind of kind of strikes me as one of

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Speaker 4: those guys that's like good coordinator, not the right head coach.

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Speaker 3: But I think that I think he might be my

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Speaker 3: answer right now.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, mine might be McDermott, because you know, he did

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Speaker 1: good in Buffalo and took Josh Allen and he was

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Speaker 1: a really raw and certainly developed him. Not I mean,

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Speaker 1: Josh Allen had all the talent, but he wasn't fool proof.

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Speaker 1: But I got to tell you, I'm worrying. McDaniel goes

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Speaker 1: to Baltimore and maximizes Lamar. I think he's not a

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Speaker 1: likely hire there, but he's got a shot. They've interviewed him.

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Speaker 1: And I laughed too when I got like Rex Ryan

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Speaker 1: with a friggin foot fetish and those billboard sized team calls.

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Speaker 2: Mike McDaniel weird. I mean, come on, looked in the mirror.

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Speaker 4: Very well said by you, Mark. I completely agree. Rex

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Speaker 4: Ryan is so annoying to me. He just keeps trying

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Speaker 4: to get his name back in the cycle and keeps

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Speaker 4: trying to convince people that he could be a good

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Speaker 4: coach again, all because his dad was once a great coach,

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Speaker 4: and so he then inherited whatever last name and then

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Speaker 4: thought that made him entitled to be a head coach forever.

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Speaker 4: I agree with you with Rex Ryan, and I also

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Speaker 4: agree with McDermott. You were right on the money there.

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Speaker 4: I mean this the problem is the roster. The problem

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Speaker 4: is Josh Allen turned the ball over four times. I

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Speaker 4: don't think that I'm putting that on on McDermott at all.

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Speaker 4: And somehow the GM survives through all this with a

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Speaker 4: bad roster, but the coach is the one that goes.

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Speaker 1: Mike has always great stuff. Greg work at the Athletic

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Speaker 1: and we'll talk next week.

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Speaker 3: All right, sounds good, Mark, thanks for having me.

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Speaker 1: That's Mike Defabo from the Athletic. Up next, we want

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Speaker 1: calls on the fifteens again. Your thoughts that Mike McCarthy

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Speaker 1: seems a very legitimate candidate. And at the bottom of

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Speaker 1: the eye will have Connor Clifton, the Penguins defenseman. It's

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Speaker 1: smart Madden Show one O five to nine.

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Speaker 2: Then I use a bunch of pillows and I swore.

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Speaker 3: The exit one oh five nine.

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Speaker 1: And that McCarthy knews boy that he's a legit candidate.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I guess we kind of knew that, but

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Speaker 1: here de Fabo confirm it. Yikes, it'd just be running

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Speaker 1: it back. Cabali just tweeted that they get McCarthy. They're

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Speaker 1: running it back. Art thinks this is a good team.

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Speaker 1: Art thinks that can win in the playoffs. Art's desperate

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Speaker 1: for playoff win. What they need more than a new

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Speaker 1: coach is a new owner. Uh, let's go to Jim

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Speaker 1: in the car. Jim you're on with Mark.

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Speaker 3: Hey, Mark.

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Speaker 6: The only reason I could see that they would be

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Speaker 6: hiring McCarthy is I'm not sure how Coward's coordinators were

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Speaker 6: when he was hired, but when Tom Win was hired,

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Speaker 6: he had a good set of experienced coordinators.

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Speaker 3: And if you bring a young.

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Speaker 6: Defensive or offensive minded coaching here with no coordinators, no

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Speaker 6: franchise quarterback, it's gonna be an awful heart spot for.

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Speaker 3: A young guy to succeed.

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Speaker 6: Where when Tomlin came in, he hit the franchise quarterback.

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Speaker 3: And two experienced coordinators.

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Speaker 2: Well, yeah, but.

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Speaker 1: You got to start somewhere, you know what I mean.

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Speaker 1: It's not the Steelers should forget about this year. Their

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Speaker 1: philosophy should no longer be now, but it always will

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Speaker 1: be and that's what holds them back. Look at what

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Speaker 1: New England's done to rebuild in the same time the

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Speaker 1: Steelers have just treaded sewage.

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Speaker 2: It's it's embarrassing. Let's go to Chris. Chris, you're on the.

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Speaker 3: Air, can you hear me?

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Speaker 2: I can go ahead quick?

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Speaker 1: All right?

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Speaker 3: Uh?

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Speaker 4: First off, what an honor it is to be able

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Speaker 4: to continue to listen to uh Pierre Maguire with his

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Speaker 4: hockey talk.

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Speaker 3: It's truly the best in the business. But the reason

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Speaker 3: for my call is I've been hearing the idea of.

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Speaker 4: The Penguins possibly making a move to trade for Jason

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Speaker 4: Robertson of the Dallas Stars.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, they're not going to do that. Goodbye, that's just stupid.

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Speaker 1: They're not going to trade. What would you have to

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Speaker 1: give up to get this big score a bunch of

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Speaker 1: first round picks.

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Speaker 2: It would be total debt. That's what you want, not

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Speaker 2: what they're thinking about.

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Speaker 1: Gonna talk to Connor Clifton off the Penguins next on

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Speaker 1: one oh five nine.

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Speaker 7: It's they show weekday mornings at six on one OX.

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Speaker 2: From the one oh five nine the ex Weather Center.

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Speaker 2: This report is sponsored by Horrible Terrible The X at

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00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:31,720
Speaker 2: one oh five nine, Sid Sid How.

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Speaker 6: You doing for all your fans out there?

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Speaker 8: We're checking in with the bellas you know. It's twentieth

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Speaker 8: year in the in the league in Nasal Hockey League.

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Speaker 2: What are you doing to flight in year twenty?

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Speaker 8: I just hang with Cookie. You watch the documentary here? Uh?

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Speaker 8: You got this football game going?

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00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:50,040
Speaker 3: Just hang out football game going?

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00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:51,600
Speaker 2: Is there a secret wife?

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Speaker 5: Is there a secret WiFi that I haven't gotten yet?

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Speaker 1: My guest right now has added some byte on defense

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Speaker 1: for the Penguins, and he's pretty good with a microphone

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00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:04,760
Speaker 1: interviewing his teammates too. As you just heard we welcome

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Speaker 1: to the program, Connor Clift and Connor. I saw those

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Speaker 1: interviews you did on the plane. I couldn't do your job,

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00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:12,359
Speaker 1: but maybe you could do mine.

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Speaker 8: Hey, Mark, thank you for having me. I don't I

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Speaker 8: don't think so, you know, I was just someone got that.

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Speaker 9: Idea and I went around it was It was honestly

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Speaker 9: a tough crowd, but we had some fun with it,

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Speaker 9: so so it was a good time.

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Speaker 1: Now it's a tight race for the playoff spots, but

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Speaker 1: this seems like a loose team that's got to help, Like,

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Speaker 1: like the guys are together.

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Speaker 8: Yeah, absolutely, absolutely, we're in. We try to play out

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Speaker 8: there as a five man pack. And obviously the standings,

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Speaker 8: I mean, right now, it's about points.

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Speaker 7: It's about winning.

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Speaker 8: I think the way the East is gonna shake out,

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Speaker 8: it's gonna be tight to the end, and we know that.

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Speaker 7: So these these points, you know, these.

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Speaker 8: Games right now are just as portant as those early

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Speaker 8: April games where where hopefully we're in the hunt of

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Speaker 8: that number one metch spot. But right now, yes, it's

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Speaker 8: about winning, about points.

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Speaker 1: Stress have the Penguins become a bit more physical lately, Connor,

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Speaker 1: even sid level of the guy at Seattle yesterday is is.

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Speaker 2: That kind of what you're seeing too?

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Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean we don't we don't want him doing

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Speaker 7: that too much. Obviously, we like we like him playing

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Speaker 7: with the buck. But uh, yeah, we're in it together.

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Speaker 7: We're playing hard, and we've been all year.

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Speaker 8: We've been getting better and better. Obviously we had a little,

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Speaker 8: uh little losing streak going there, but you know, it's

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Speaker 8: important to face that adversity together during the year.

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Speaker 7: And I think we're in a great.

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Speaker 8: Spot right now with whatever thirty something games left to play,

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Speaker 8: mid thirty games left to play, so we're gonna keep

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Speaker 8: building and keep trying to get better.

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Speaker 2: Now.

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Speaker 1: Obviously playing with a degree of edges part of your game, Connor,

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Speaker 1: the Penguins aren't historically a physical team. Do you feel

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Speaker 1: that's your job specifically to add some of that.

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Speaker 8: Yeah, I think that's I think that's how I made

443
00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:02,560
Speaker 8: it to the end, honestly, kind of out compete. My

444
00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:05,480
Speaker 8: whole philosophy is out competing, and I try to bring

445
00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:07,680
Speaker 8: that every day, and the physical part of the game

446
00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:13,000
Speaker 8: has always been always been there for me. I think

447
00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:16,200
Speaker 8: I don't really value how I if I'm playing well,

448
00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:18,760
Speaker 8: it's it's not because I'm getting points.

449
00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:20,120
Speaker 7: It's it's because I'm doing the small.

450
00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:22,959
Speaker 8: Details of the game, you know, throwing hits, killing plays,

451
00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:26,600
Speaker 8: breaking out puckswell, blocking shots, playing those like part minutes,

452
00:21:26,760 --> 00:21:30,040
Speaker 8: you know, PK. That's kind of how I see it,

453
00:21:30,119 --> 00:21:33,080
Speaker 8: and I just try to be the best version of

454
00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:34,840
Speaker 8: myself out there, and I think that's how it can

455
00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:36,880
Speaker 8: help the Pittsburgh Penguins.

456
00:21:37,119 --> 00:21:39,000
Speaker 2: What was that win like at Seattle yesterday?

457
00:21:39,119 --> 00:21:41,800
Speaker 1: Not that it was easy because because the kracking kept coming,

458
00:21:42,119 --> 00:21:43,920
Speaker 1: but it seemed like you guys were in control. It

459
00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:46,879
Speaker 1: seemed like a relatively solid all sixty minutes.

460
00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:49,800
Speaker 7: I think that's the great assessment. I think.

461
00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:53,680
Speaker 8: Obviously we dealt with some blown leads in the third

462
00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:56,160
Speaker 8: and it's it's no secret, we know it, We've talked

463
00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:59,120
Speaker 8: about it. But I think that game right there, it's,

464
00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:00,960
Speaker 8: you know, we go up, I think it was too nothing,

465
00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:03,960
Speaker 8: and they score that goal and there's there's no panic,

466
00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:07,840
Speaker 8: like we're okay. And I think earlier in the year

467
00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:11,320
Speaker 8: we grip those sticks a little too tight and and

468
00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:13,000
Speaker 8: we'd kind of take our foot off the gas and

469
00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:15,280
Speaker 8: try to play more defense, and and that's not us.

470
00:22:15,359 --> 00:22:17,720
Speaker 7: We want to go play play with the fuck.

471
00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:19,960
Speaker 8: In their zone. And and yeah, no games eas but

472
00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:22,000
Speaker 8: last night it was a good win for us.

473
00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:23,600
Speaker 7: But like you said, a full sixty.

474
00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:29,199
Speaker 8: Yeah, definitely gutsy winning like points are everything right now

475
00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:29,760
Speaker 8: for our group.

476
00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:33,000
Speaker 1: We're talking to Connor Clifton live from Calgary Pens at

477
00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:35,840
Speaker 1: the Flames tomorrow night. Here all the action right here

478
00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:39,600
Speaker 1: on the X. Carlson's out now, the tang's day to day.

479
00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:42,400
Speaker 1: That's a lot of quality minutes. Haw's the Defense Corps

480
00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:43,199
Speaker 1: gonna deal with that.

481
00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:46,720
Speaker 7: Yeah, I think.

482
00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:50,400
Speaker 8: It's just the next man up mentality. Obviously, Carl goes down,

483
00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:55,840
Speaker 8: you know, last week, that's big time situation, end minutes.

484
00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:59,359
Speaker 8: And obviously he's.

485
00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:01,240
Speaker 7: Carl's going to be call all right, We're obviously gonna

486
00:23:01,240 --> 00:23:01,640
Speaker 7: miss him.

487
00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:05,440
Speaker 8: And now our next big dog goes down. I don't

488
00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:06,520
Speaker 8: know what hit status is.

489
00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:09,840
Speaker 7: I we'll see, but obviously.

490
00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:12,320
Speaker 8: You know, I think collectively, as as a six that

491
00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:14,280
Speaker 8: are in there, we're gonna have to step up. Everyone's

492
00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:15,680
Speaker 8: gonna have to pick up a couple of minutes here

493
00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:20,160
Speaker 8: and there. I'm definitely a good challenge for our group.

494
00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:23,320
Speaker 8: And and like I said, I talked a little bit

495
00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:25,040
Speaker 8: about the adversity.

496
00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:26,840
Speaker 7: You gotta face during the year and you gotta you.

497
00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:29,880
Speaker 8: Gotta go through it, you know, and and hopefully we're

498
00:23:30,320 --> 00:23:31,479
Speaker 8: we get the two points tomorrow.

499
00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:34,280
Speaker 7: Obviously a big back to back, so starts tomorrow.

500
00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:37,400
Speaker 1: Uh, the right side of the defense, would like yourself

501
00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:40,760
Speaker 1: with with Carlson and Matanga, do you feel more pressure

502
00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:43,320
Speaker 1: to move the puck more and better? Because that's their

503
00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:45,560
Speaker 1: game And I know all you guys want to stay

504
00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:49,199
Speaker 1: within yourselves, but still somebody, it seems, would have to

505
00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:49,960
Speaker 1: do a bit more of that.

506
00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:55,680
Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, that's always I mean, you don't you want

507
00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:57,239
Speaker 8: to be yourself at the end of the day, I'm

508
00:23:57,280 --> 00:23:59,800
Speaker 8: gonna go out there, I'm gonna play. I think for me,

509
00:23:59,880 --> 00:24:01,920
Speaker 8: I got a couple of different partners, you know, the year,

510
00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:04,440
Speaker 8: but definitely, even in the last couple of games, I'm

511
00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:06,960
Speaker 8: I'm just trying to be the best version of myself

512
00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:10,879
Speaker 8: and and and obviously I'm now that I'm playing a

513
00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:13,720
Speaker 8: little more consistently, I'm I'm building that confidence. I'm making

514
00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:17,840
Speaker 8: good clean breakout passes and and and making some plays.

515
00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:21,119
Speaker 8: And obviously we got a really good forward group, so

516
00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:22,760
Speaker 8: we like when they have the puck and they have

517
00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:25,480
Speaker 8: their speed and they're able to you know, create things.

518
00:24:26,560 --> 00:24:30,200
Speaker 8: As for you know, missing guys like Carl and Lotang,

519
00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:34,800
Speaker 8: it's they're they're pretty special players.

520
00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:36,320
Speaker 7: So like, I'm not gonna go out there and be

521
00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:36,920
Speaker 7: either of them.

522
00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:40,600
Speaker 8: But yeah, like what you said, we're just gonna all

523
00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:43,040
Speaker 8: be ourselves and and and collectively, we're gonna pick up

524
00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:45,960
Speaker 8: those minutes of those situations and and and and we'll

525
00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:46,399
Speaker 8: be okay.

526
00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:50,240
Speaker 1: Now, you scored against Columbus on Saturday, first goal of

527
00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:52,679
Speaker 1: the season, but then right after that you had like

528
00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:54,600
Speaker 1: a partial breakaway. I think it was coming out of

529
00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:56,480
Speaker 1: the box. I'm I'm not sure that what the way

530
00:24:56,480 --> 00:24:56,919
Speaker 1: you wanted.

531
00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:03,600
Speaker 7: No, I didn't, No, it didn't. Me and me and

532
00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:05,119
Speaker 7: Geno we got that. It was a little bit of

533
00:25:05,119 --> 00:25:05,760
Speaker 7: a two on two.

534
00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:08,800
Speaker 8: I had a little break I don't get too many

535
00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:10,000
Speaker 8: like those half breakaways.

536
00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:11,200
Speaker 7: I probably could.

537
00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:13,679
Speaker 8: Have taken it and you know and shoveled one on

538
00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:16,879
Speaker 8: net for my backhand, But in my head, I'm thinking

539
00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:18,880
Speaker 8: Gino is gonna be wide open on the back door

540
00:25:18,920 --> 00:25:20,960
Speaker 8: opening up for a one time or so, like as

541
00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:22,280
Speaker 8: soon as I kind of took it to the net

542
00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:23,960
Speaker 8: and as soon as I turned and peeled off until

543
00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:26,639
Speaker 8: Gino was was pretty much next to me and not

544
00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:28,080
Speaker 8: where I thought he was gonna be.

545
00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:30,480
Speaker 10: I said, oh boy, I think he's gonna be a

546
00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:34,399
Speaker 10: little mad at me, and then we ended up going

547
00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:37,600
Speaker 10: for a change, so we've ended up getting nothing out

548
00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:39,960
Speaker 10: of it. So I wish I could go back and

549
00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:43,680
Speaker 10: make another play, but that feeling a I didn't want

550
00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:45,359
Speaker 10: to shovel one on net and get a whistle and

551
00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:47,159
Speaker 10: have Gino be wide open on the back door for

552
00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:51,160
Speaker 10: a tapping, and then I prefer what I did than

553
00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:52,040
Speaker 10: that and miss that.

554
00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:54,960
Speaker 7: Obviously, I wish I redid it, though, Hey.

555
00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:55,760
Speaker 2: You'll get another chance.

556
00:25:56,440 --> 00:25:59,600
Speaker 1: You've been a regular throughout your NHL career Boston Buffalo.

557
00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:01,680
Speaker 1: You had to wait a bit and work a bit

558
00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:03,200
Speaker 1: to get into the line up here.

559
00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:05,159
Speaker 2: Was that a tough adjustment, Connor?

560
00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:07,560
Speaker 1: And what did you feel at the time you had

561
00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:09,480
Speaker 1: to show them?

562
00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:12,400
Speaker 7: Yeah, yeah, it's definitely different. I've been scratched here and there.

563
00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:16,520
Speaker 8: I mean the past couple of years a little bit,

564
00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:19,320
Speaker 8: you know, two three games something like that. But I

565
00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:22,000
Speaker 8: mean it's been I don't know, probably six years since

566
00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:25,800
Speaker 8: I've had this extended of of absent playing.

567
00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:29,359
Speaker 7: And yeah, it's you just you just deal with it.

568
00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:32,760
Speaker 8: I mean, I'm I'm a I'm a pretty positive guy

569
00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:34,960
Speaker 8: by trade, so I just get you know, kept my

570
00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:37,479
Speaker 8: head down, tried to be part of it as much

571
00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:39,320
Speaker 8: as I could. Obviously, when the fellows are going out there,

572
00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:42,200
Speaker 8: they're playing every night. You know, practice kind of turns

573
00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:45,760
Speaker 8: into your game, so you're gonna have to be ready

574
00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:48,879
Speaker 8: to play at any given time without getting the game reps.

575
00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:54,679
Speaker 8: And yeah, it's an adjustment I think. I mean, I'm

576
00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:57,879
Speaker 8: proud of how I dealt with it with a little

577
00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:00,440
Speaker 8: reflection here, but yeah, it's obviously hard.

578
00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:03,679
Speaker 7: But again, I'm I'm a positive guy.

579
00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:05,520
Speaker 8: So I'm gonna go out there, I'm gonna I'm gonna

580
00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:07,199
Speaker 8: do my job, and I'm gonna try to put my

581
00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:10,160
Speaker 8: best foot forward. And yeah, obviously I got in because

582
00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:13,000
Speaker 8: a couple of injuries, and and I'm pretty happy with

583
00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:15,040
Speaker 8: where my game's at right now. Obviously a lot more

584
00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:17,840
Speaker 8: building to go, because I guess I'm probably only about

585
00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:20,600
Speaker 8: twenty games in, but yeah, I think I have a

586
00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:23,200
Speaker 8: lot more to give and and and I'm excited for it.

587
00:27:24,119 --> 00:27:26,240
Speaker 1: What's it like playing for Dan Mues in his first

588
00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:28,720
Speaker 1: year as head coach? It seems like he's implemented a

589
00:27:29,119 --> 00:27:31,600
Speaker 1: pretty good structure and foundation.

590
00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:34,159
Speaker 7: He has.

591
00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:36,600
Speaker 8: He's he's he's been on it the whole coaching stuff.

592
00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:39,359
Speaker 7: Has been on it from from really even even the

593
00:27:39,400 --> 00:27:41,080
Speaker 7: week before you know, training camp.

594
00:27:41,119 --> 00:27:43,240
Speaker 8: Everyone's there and skating and trying to get ready for

595
00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:46,600
Speaker 8: day one a camp. But he was it was funny

596
00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:48,879
Speaker 8: he was sending us a he was telling us he

597
00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:52,560
Speaker 8: would send us like a different strategy basically, like he'd

598
00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:54,680
Speaker 8: send us the four check a video the night before

599
00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:56,680
Speaker 8: the day camp, and then that next day we would

600
00:27:56,720 --> 00:27:59,520
Speaker 8: kind of implement it and work on some specific drills

601
00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:02,760
Speaker 8: in practice, just just a couple of minutes video. And

602
00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:04,760
Speaker 8: then you get the first one, it's like twenty one minutes.

603
00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:07,080
Speaker 8: You're like, oh wow, that's a little long, Okay, whatever,

604
00:28:07,119 --> 00:28:09,439
Speaker 8: we'll watch it. Next one's twenty five minutes, you know.

605
00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:11,480
Speaker 7: So they're so.

606
00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:18,680
Speaker 8: Dialed and detail oriented. So it's been I mean, he's

607
00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:21,880
Speaker 8: obviously doing a great job. We're ready to go every night,

608
00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:26,280
Speaker 8: and and we put ourselves i mean, I guess we're

609
00:28:26,320 --> 00:28:29,240
Speaker 8: forty whatever games in at this point. We put ourselves

610
00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:30,400
Speaker 8: in a great spot.

611
00:28:30,359 --> 00:28:31,280
Speaker 7: In the playoff picture.

612
00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:35,000
Speaker 8: Obviously, the East is right now is is pretty unique

613
00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:35,480
Speaker 8: and crazy.

614
00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:38,000
Speaker 1: I don't think that I've never seen the standings like

615
00:28:38,080 --> 00:28:40,000
Speaker 1: this or no kidding, and I've been around forever.

616
00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:43,760
Speaker 2: It's it's it's unbelievable, right, and I mean just comment

617
00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:44,080
Speaker 2: on that.

618
00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:45,880
Speaker 7: I mean, it's early to play that game. Oh, if

619
00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:47,400
Speaker 7: this team loses, next team loses.

620
00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:49,480
Speaker 8: Every the games are going to play out, whether we

621
00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:52,760
Speaker 8: root for someone or not. So we'll check the standings.

622
00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:54,040
Speaker 7: In the morning and not worry about that.

623
00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:59,240
Speaker 8: But obviously right now, you know, we're every point matters

624
00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:02,920
Speaker 8: for us, and we just want to continue to kind

625
00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:07,440
Speaker 8: of play and battle and steal those points and hopefully.

626
00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:09,640
Speaker 7: There's a little breathing room, you know, when you have.

627
00:29:09,640 --> 00:29:12,160
Speaker 8: Single digit games left. But we're far from that, so

628
00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:14,080
Speaker 8: we got a lot of work to do now.

629
00:29:14,120 --> 00:29:17,520
Speaker 1: You played college hockey Atquinnipiac, which is a terrific program.

630
00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:19,840
Speaker 2: What was that like for you? Developmentally?

631
00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:22,320
Speaker 1: I always find the choice that players make in their

632
00:29:22,400 --> 00:29:27,360
Speaker 1: youth between say juniors in college to be very intriguing.

633
00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:30,920
Speaker 8: Yeah, I think it was the perfect spot for me.

634
00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:35,480
Speaker 8: And I mean, I don't think I don't think I'd

635
00:29:35,480 --> 00:29:38,120
Speaker 8: be here today talking to you and have the career

636
00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:40,600
Speaker 8: that I've had if it wasn't for Quinnipiac.

637
00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:42,360
Speaker 7: I can't.

638
00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:46,280
Speaker 8: I can't talk better about it. I mean, obviously i'd

639
00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:49,520
Speaker 8: stay for four years and give I was eighteen freshman,

640
00:29:49,600 --> 00:29:53,239
Speaker 8: so obviously that's always a hard to do because it's

641
00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:57,640
Speaker 8: it's so much different from like junior hockey, and I

642
00:29:57,720 --> 00:29:59,560
Speaker 8: kind of go in and I'm young, and you just

643
00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:01,360
Speaker 8: find your way and you keep trying to get better.

644
00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:07,800
Speaker 8: And obviously I had a rand pechnalled read cashers.

645
00:30:07,320 --> 00:30:08,400
Speaker 7: Our d coach and Billy Reagan.

646
00:30:08,480 --> 00:30:12,160
Speaker 8: They they work with you individually, like we're we ran

647
00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:14,680
Speaker 8: this a little trap in the nutral zone so that

648
00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:18,800
Speaker 8: it was highly effective in all four years. So we're

649
00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:22,000
Speaker 8: really good at that. But then just just the individual game,

650
00:30:22,120 --> 00:30:24,680
Speaker 8: trying to bring you up and and and get you

651
00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:25,840
Speaker 8: to the best version of yourself.

652
00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:29,200
Speaker 7: And that was huge part of my development those four years.

653
00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:32,400
Speaker 7: So yeah, I couldn't speak high enough about it.

654
00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:34,240
Speaker 1: So what do you think about a career in the

655
00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:36,920
Speaker 1: media once you're done playing this this little viral moment

656
00:30:36,960 --> 00:30:37,920
Speaker 1: you have, people love it.

657
00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:40,600
Speaker 8: I don't know, I'm a little too awkward for the

658
00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:42,400
Speaker 8: camera and the mic all the time. Every once in

659
00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:45,520
Speaker 8: a while it's good, but uh, yeah, it was.

660
00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:48,120
Speaker 7: It was fun. I mean, it's a lot easier going

661
00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:52,080
Speaker 7: going around to your teammates, even though they it was

662
00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:52,760
Speaker 7: a tough.

663
00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:53,200
Speaker 8: Crowd in there.

664
00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:53,840
Speaker 3: I won't lie.

665
00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:55,000
Speaker 7: Some guys are.

666
00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:56,160
Speaker 8: Some guys are giving me some meat.

667
00:30:56,200 --> 00:30:57,160
Speaker 7: I don't think they were.

668
00:30:57,720 --> 00:31:01,320
Speaker 8: I knew about it a couple of days before. But

669
00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:03,520
Speaker 8: I'm not gonna go around warning them, begging him for

670
00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:05,200
Speaker 8: an interview, you know, I'm just gonna throw them on

671
00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:06,000
Speaker 8: the spot.

672
00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:06,840
Speaker 7: And see how they respond.

673
00:31:07,120 --> 00:31:08,600
Speaker 8: Yeah, it was a little bit of a tough crowd,

674
00:31:08,680 --> 00:31:11,000
Speaker 8: but you know, maybe if there's the next time.

675
00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:13,120
Speaker 7: We'll get some we'll get We'll get some of those

676
00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:13,600
Speaker 7: guys on.

677
00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:16,440
Speaker 8: There, especially the tang he he. He gave me the

678
00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:17,320
Speaker 8: cold shoulder there.

679
00:31:17,960 --> 00:31:18,960
Speaker 2: Well, that makes you feel better.

680
00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:21,040
Speaker 1: He's given us the cold shoulder once in a while

681
00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:24,400
Speaker 1: as well. Connor, great stuff. I appreciate you taking the time,

682
00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:27,280
Speaker 1: especially on the road. Good job yesterday and good luck tomorrow.

683
00:31:28,160 --> 00:31:29,280
Speaker 7: Thanks Mark, appreciate it.

684
00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:32,800
Speaker 1: That's Connor Clifton defense from the Penguins. Check out that

685
00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:35,880
Speaker 1: that thing. It's on Twitter on Pens inside Scoop my

686
00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:39,440
Speaker 1: buddy meshes Twitter feed. Connor Clifton talking to the boys,

687
00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:41,520
Speaker 1: and might I say, and I should have said this

688
00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:44,600
Speaker 1: to him nine out of ten times. That sort of

689
00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:47,760
Speaker 1: thing sucks out loud, but Clifton pulled it off, and

690
00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:51,120
Speaker 1: good for him. It was very entertaining. All Right, it's time.

691
00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:53,480
Speaker 1: Now is the time to ask Mark anything? My God,

692
00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:56,800
Speaker 1: how the time flies uh eight three three four one

693
00:31:56,880 --> 00:31:59,440
Speaker 1: two w XDX call eight three three four one two

694
00:31:59,560 --> 00:31:59,960
Speaker 1: w x D.

695
00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:03,200
Speaker 2: And h ask Mark anything.

696
00:32:03,280 --> 00:32:05,360
Speaker 1: Or you can leave a talk back via the microphone

697
00:32:05,360 --> 00:32:10,040
Speaker 1: app UH microphone icon at the iHeartMedia app one O

698
00:32:10,160 --> 00:32:11,560
Speaker 1: five nine the X and.

699
00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:14,440
Speaker 2: To got oh, got TX and one.

700
00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:24,480
Speaker 1: Thanks to Connor Clifton for joining me. Thanks to Emma

701
00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:26,240
Speaker 1: on the Road with the Penguins for setting it up.

702
00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:32,120
Speaker 1: That's our eleventh Penguin Guest of the Year. TV don't

703
00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:37,120
Speaker 1: have eleven Steelers, the B team don't have eleven Pirates.

704
00:32:37,600 --> 00:32:41,160
Speaker 1: We cover hockey like nobody else. We cover our team

705
00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:44,560
Speaker 1: like nobody else. So if you're a Penguin fan, keep

706
00:32:44,600 --> 00:32:47,520
Speaker 1: it right here. And if you're not a Penguin fan,

707
00:32:48,560 --> 00:32:51,320
Speaker 1: I got no use for you. Time not to ask

708
00:32:51,400 --> 00:32:54,720
Speaker 1: Mark anything. Brought to us by People's Natural Gas People

709
00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:59,240
Speaker 1: Safe Reliable Natural Gas Energy, People's Hyphengas dot Com. Let's

710
00:32:59,280 --> 00:33:02,240
Speaker 1: go to Dick and Chill Dick your own double m.

711
00:33:02,840 --> 00:33:07,080
Speaker 4: Yeah, do you have the same love hate relationship like

712
00:33:07,280 --> 00:33:09,840
Speaker 4: I do with Awful Announcing, Because yeah, I hate to

713
00:33:09,920 --> 00:33:10,360
Speaker 4: go to.

714
00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:11,120
Speaker 3: It so much.

715
00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:13,440
Speaker 2: With the ads I go to it all the time.

716
00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:17,120
Speaker 1: I think seventy five percent of it is useless drivel.

717
00:33:17,480 --> 00:33:19,400
Speaker 1: Twenty five percent of it makes a good point. I

718
00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:23,560
Speaker 1: haven't even talked about a great column they very briefly.

719
00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:27,320
Speaker 1: They posted the other day about poptimism, the concept of

720
00:33:27,360 --> 00:33:32,720
Speaker 1: poptimism that what is popular must necessarily also be the best,

721
00:33:32,760 --> 00:33:36,040
Speaker 1: which of course isn't true. But that's the way dumbass

722
00:33:36,080 --> 00:33:39,440
Speaker 1: America thinks these days. And by the way, just to

723
00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:44,240
Speaker 1: speak in general, America has never been dumber. I mean,

724
00:33:44,280 --> 00:33:46,640
Speaker 1: it is the dumbest stage of our country's history. It

725
00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:51,120
Speaker 1: is indeed headed toward the movie Idiocracy. But yeah, mostly

726
00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:54,160
Speaker 1: I hate Awful Announcing. But again, some of it's pretty good.

727
00:33:55,280 --> 00:33:58,120
Speaker 4: Call out everyone's mistakes, but every one of their articles

728
00:33:58,120 --> 00:34:00,200
Speaker 4: has like ten spelling mistakes.

729
00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:03,920
Speaker 1: Very well, put, let's go to Mike and Gibsonia Mike,

730
00:34:03,920 --> 00:34:06,040
Speaker 1: you're own with double M.

731
00:34:06,240 --> 00:34:08,880
Speaker 9: Hey, thanks, great interview with Connor. By the way, thanks

732
00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:12,879
Speaker 9: and good good shout out about Idiocracy. I agree that

733
00:34:13,880 --> 00:34:18,560
Speaker 9: self awareness is an all time low. But my question is,

734
00:34:19,160 --> 00:34:23,560
Speaker 9: why do defensive backs have like two mouthpieces dangling from

735
00:34:23,600 --> 00:34:25,520
Speaker 9: their face mask and one sticking out of the top

736
00:34:25,520 --> 00:34:27,120
Speaker 9: of their helmet and they don't wear any of them.

737
00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:28,920
Speaker 2: I've never seen that? Is that true?

738
00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:32,080
Speaker 9: I think, I mean, you know what, I you know

739
00:34:32,120 --> 00:34:32,840
Speaker 9: what I usually do.

740
00:34:33,160 --> 00:34:35,560
Speaker 1: I think they probably dropped the spare of mouth guards

741
00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:37,960
Speaker 1: onto the field occasionally to try to trip up the receiver.

742
00:34:40,920 --> 00:34:41,759
Speaker 3: I guess I don't know.

743
00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:42,600
Speaker 7: It doesn't make sense.

744
00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:43,600
Speaker 3: They look dumb.

745
00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:46,560
Speaker 2: Let's go to Eric and Toledo. Eric, you're own with double.

746
00:34:46,400 --> 00:34:48,320
Speaker 9: M super genius.

747
00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:49,680
Speaker 2: I know you've mentioned this several times.

748
00:34:49,719 --> 00:34:51,520
Speaker 4: I've never actually heard the details, though, But how was

749
00:34:51,560 --> 00:34:53,080
Speaker 4: Willie Stargel rude to your mom?

750
00:34:53,760 --> 00:34:56,760
Speaker 1: Okay, it was nineteen seventy one. We took a family vacation.

751
00:34:57,000 --> 00:35:02,000
Speaker 1: My family was me, my mom, my grandmother, and my

752
00:35:02,080 --> 00:35:05,399
Speaker 1: aunt so three ladies, two of them old. We went

753
00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:10,919
Speaker 1: to Toronto for the Hockey Hall of Fame, Cooper's Ton

754
00:35:11,040 --> 00:35:15,040
Speaker 1: for the Baseball Hall of Fame, then to Montreal where

755
00:35:15,080 --> 00:35:18,319
Speaker 1: we were supposed to see a pirate's double header and

756
00:35:18,360 --> 00:35:20,120
Speaker 1: it was the last game of the series.

757
00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:22,919
Speaker 2: The last two games a doubleheader and it got rained out.

758
00:35:23,520 --> 00:35:25,120
Speaker 1: So we made that trip all the way up there,

759
00:35:25,120 --> 00:35:27,719
Speaker 1: and niked to see any games. Now, we did get

760
00:35:27,719 --> 00:35:30,239
Speaker 1: to see the Forum, the Canadians legendary rink, and I

761
00:35:30,239 --> 00:35:36,000
Speaker 1: got to meet Rocket Rashard in a restaurant next to

762
00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:38,480
Speaker 1: the Forum. We just happened to go into and I

763
00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:41,640
Speaker 1: spotted his picture on the wall, you know, among the

764
00:35:41,640 --> 00:35:44,160
Speaker 1: Canadians legend. I said, hey, Mom, that guy's sitting right

765
00:35:44,200 --> 00:35:47,359
Speaker 1: there and Rocket mister Richard could not have been more

766
00:35:47,400 --> 00:35:50,319
Speaker 1: gracious and he signed the menu. But he said to me,

767
00:35:50,320 --> 00:35:52,400
Speaker 1: give me your address and I'll send you a picture.

768
00:35:52,840 --> 00:35:56,279
Speaker 1: And I did, and he sent me four or five

769
00:35:56,440 --> 00:36:00,200
Speaker 1: autographed photos that I still have. I mean that you

770
00:36:00,880 --> 00:36:03,000
Speaker 1: could not have a better experience as a hockey kid.

771
00:36:03,320 --> 00:36:05,359
Speaker 1: But then because the game got rained out, we went

772
00:36:05,400 --> 00:36:07,759
Speaker 1: to the airport. Because I was a big autograph kid.

773
00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:11,640
Speaker 1: Got autographs, by the way, not after I was sixteen.

774
00:36:11,640 --> 00:36:16,360
Speaker 1: No autographs after that, but we got autographs, and Willie

775
00:36:16,360 --> 00:36:18,640
Speaker 1: Stargell was very rude to my mother. My mother said

776
00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:21,600
Speaker 1: she was making small talk. We came up here for

777
00:36:21,640 --> 00:36:24,080
Speaker 1: our vacation. We came up here to see you guys play,

778
00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:27,560
Speaker 1: and it got rained out and she goes and he goes.

779
00:36:27,600 --> 00:36:29,520
Speaker 2: That's bs, lady, you were just up here on your

780
00:36:29,520 --> 00:36:30,360
Speaker 2: e fing vacation.

781
00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:34,879
Speaker 1: It was just shocking. Oh, Willie Starts was a piece

782
00:36:34,920 --> 00:36:35,400
Speaker 1: of crap.

783
00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:36,520
Speaker 2: He was in debt.

784
00:36:36,520 --> 00:36:38,959
Speaker 1: He was just a scumbag, and I find out about

785
00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:41,040
Speaker 1: it earlier. But the lesson to be learned there, Eric

786
00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:45,520
Speaker 1: is when you're a prominent person, never be rude to

787
00:36:45,560 --> 00:36:47,839
Speaker 1: a young kid's mother because that kid might wind up

788
00:36:47,880 --> 00:36:50,319
Speaker 1: having a microphone.

789
00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:51,800
Speaker 3: I love it. Thanks to Virginia.

790
00:36:51,920 --> 00:36:52,279
Speaker 2: Thank you.

791
00:36:52,520 --> 00:36:55,640
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a true story. I mean, COMMENTE was so

792
00:36:55,800 --> 00:36:59,440
Speaker 1: COMMENTE overheard it. COMMENTE gave me a ball and signed up,

793
00:36:59,440 --> 00:37:01,920
Speaker 1: which I still have. That's how upset he was. Well

794
00:37:01,960 --> 00:37:04,080
Speaker 1: he heard that. I mean, why would I make this up?

795
00:37:04,120 --> 00:37:04,279
Speaker 3: Now?

796
00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:07,120
Speaker 1: How many years later? My god, I've told this story

797
00:37:07,160 --> 00:37:10,080
Speaker 1: a bunch of times. Get your calls in now. Still

798
00:37:10,120 --> 00:37:12,359
Speaker 1: got some time for ass mark anything. Always a fun

799
00:37:12,440 --> 00:37:15,920
Speaker 1: part of the program. A three, three, four one two

800
00:37:16,120 --> 00:37:22,319
Speaker 1: w XDX. Really the stories I experienced, you know, even

801
00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:23,640
Speaker 1: before I got in this business.

802
00:37:24,040 --> 00:37:26,240
Speaker 2: Is it any wonder I got in this business.

803
00:37:26,880 --> 00:37:29,719
Speaker 1: Let's go to a talkback.

804
00:37:30,520 --> 00:37:34,200
Speaker 11: You have two questions for you. It's fair to judge

805
00:37:34,320 --> 00:37:36,960
Speaker 11: Chris Schula based on his last name because his grandfather.

806
00:37:37,360 --> 00:37:40,279
Speaker 11: Shouldn't we also look at his father, Dave Shula, who's

807
00:37:40,360 --> 00:37:44,319
Speaker 11: terrible with the Bengals. Second question, what, uh, jumping off

808
00:37:44,320 --> 00:37:46,960
Speaker 11: your discussion on soup, what is your opinion at Gumbo?

809
00:37:48,200 --> 00:37:51,879
Speaker 1: Uh, wasn't Mike Tomlin Mike Tomlin Mike Schuler the coach

810
00:37:51,880 --> 00:37:52,480
Speaker 1: who was crap?

811
00:37:52,760 --> 00:37:54,600
Speaker 2: The Shula that was a crap coach. I forget.

812
00:37:54,600 --> 00:37:57,480
Speaker 1: But yeah, I mean, I'm not judging Chris Shuler by

813
00:37:57,480 --> 00:38:01,200
Speaker 1: anything but his record, uh in his coaching career, and

814
00:38:01,239 --> 00:38:03,480
Speaker 1: I don't think it would be fair to do otherwise.

815
00:38:04,280 --> 00:38:06,880
Speaker 1: Gumbo's unbelievable. Tom and I should have brought it up

816
00:38:06,920 --> 00:38:11,640
Speaker 1: in our soup discussion. Gumbo the kind of spicy New

817
00:38:11,760 --> 00:38:14,719
Speaker 1: Orleans kind, Oh God, the two best places to get that.

818
00:38:14,960 --> 00:38:17,720
Speaker 2: There's a place locally, what's it called. I forget.

819
00:38:18,600 --> 00:38:21,200
Speaker 1: It's kind of in Lawrenceville, somewhere in there. It's great,

820
00:38:21,239 --> 00:38:22,839
Speaker 1: but I've never gone there. I never had, and I've

821
00:38:22,840 --> 00:38:25,239
Speaker 1: been told it's great. But the two places I go

822
00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:31,480
Speaker 1: to regularly are Mike's Oyster Bar at the Orleans Casino

823
00:38:31,520 --> 00:38:35,680
Speaker 1: in Vegas and god, I forget, oh, just the Oyster Bar.

824
00:38:35,760 --> 00:38:38,680
Speaker 1: It's called the Oyster Bar at Palace Station in Vegas.

825
00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:41,839
Speaker 1: I go to one of those places every single time

826
00:38:41,840 --> 00:38:44,319
Speaker 1: I'm there for their gumbo, and it is just delightful.

827
00:38:44,960 --> 00:38:48,520
Speaker 1: Let's go to Antonio, Hey.

828
00:38:48,360 --> 00:38:51,560
Speaker 5: Mark, I lived like an hour and a half away

829
00:38:51,560 --> 00:38:54,479
Speaker 5: from Pittsburgh all my life, and I know, like there's

830
00:38:54,480 --> 00:38:57,040
Speaker 5: some good place to live in Pittsburgh and bad place

831
00:38:57,080 --> 00:39:00,839
Speaker 5: to live in Pittsburgh. Where would you recommend somewhere that's

832
00:39:00,880 --> 00:39:04,560
Speaker 5: like cheap enough but like so relatively a good place

833
00:39:04,600 --> 00:39:07,040
Speaker 5: to live if somehere were to move there.

834
00:39:07,160 --> 00:39:11,560
Speaker 1: Well, not where I live, but but but yeah, I mean,

835
00:39:11,600 --> 00:39:14,239
Speaker 1: I I mean, I don't know. I mean, whenever you

836
00:39:14,400 --> 00:39:16,719
Speaker 1: answer a question like this, it sounds like you're speaking

837
00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:20,320
Speaker 1: out against the places you don't mention. Uh, Lawrenceville seems

838
00:39:20,320 --> 00:39:21,799
Speaker 1: to be the up and coming neighborhood. I think it's

839
00:39:21,800 --> 00:39:26,040
Speaker 1: getting in the little pricey, but not overly. So you

840
00:39:26,080 --> 00:39:30,080
Speaker 1: know what the North Hill School district, Westview, there's where

841
00:39:30,080 --> 00:39:33,759
Speaker 1: you want to go Westview. It's it's a nice neighborhood, affordable,

842
00:39:34,040 --> 00:39:34,960
Speaker 1: good school district.

843
00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:37,879
Speaker 2: Go to Westview. Let's go to jam and Angahela Jay

844
00:39:37,880 --> 00:39:38,719
Speaker 2: your own double.

845
00:39:38,600 --> 00:39:44,360
Speaker 1: M hey Mark, good day, I said, good day.

846
00:39:44,360 --> 00:39:47,200
Speaker 12: So I man, I hate to ask you, but seriously,

847
00:39:47,560 --> 00:39:50,560
Speaker 12: why does Adam Shefter break all of the NFL news?

848
00:39:50,880 --> 00:39:51,200
Speaker 12: What is?

849
00:39:51,280 --> 00:39:51,440
Speaker 7: What?

850
00:39:51,480 --> 00:39:52,360
Speaker 12: How does that work?

851
00:39:52,600 --> 00:39:54,879
Speaker 2: I'm not sure he breaks much news at all, Brov.

852
00:39:54,960 --> 00:39:58,720
Speaker 1: I think he presents like kind of random stuff because

853
00:39:58,800 --> 00:40:02,319
Speaker 1: you know, he's gone from a hardcore reporter to a

854
00:40:02,400 --> 00:40:05,640
Speaker 1: gossip monger. And that's not necessarily his fault. Those are

855
00:40:05,680 --> 00:40:08,640
Speaker 1: the expectations of his employer because they want him to

856
00:40:08,640 --> 00:40:11,160
Speaker 1: fill time and space all the time. But I mean,

857
00:40:11,600 --> 00:40:13,680
Speaker 1: you know, he he kind of breaks news that's already

858
00:40:13,680 --> 00:40:15,160
Speaker 1: out there a lot of the time, don't you think.

859
00:40:15,200 --> 00:40:18,120
Speaker 2: I don't think he's Walter Cronkite by any means.

860
00:40:19,280 --> 00:40:21,879
Speaker 12: No, that's true, but it seems like he's always hey, per,

861
00:40:22,239 --> 00:40:26,200
Speaker 12: you know, per Adam Shefter, This team is hiring this coach.

862
00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:27,600
Speaker 2: Yeah whatever.

863
00:40:27,760 --> 00:40:33,000
Speaker 1: Like, here's the thing with Twitter, it doesn't matter who

864
00:40:33,040 --> 00:40:36,480
Speaker 1: gets the information first, because once one person has it

865
00:40:36,760 --> 00:40:38,160
Speaker 1: and immediately goes to.

866
00:40:38,200 --> 00:40:41,960
Speaker 2: Twitter, and uh, you know, I don't. I don't know.

867
00:40:42,080 --> 00:40:46,440
Speaker 1: There's no such thing as journalism in my business anymore,

868
00:40:46,480 --> 00:40:48,640
Speaker 1: at least not much of it. And I'm an opinion

869
00:40:48,640 --> 00:40:50,160
Speaker 1: guy at this point in my career, but at one

870
00:40:50,200 --> 00:40:54,920
Speaker 1: point I was somebody who abided you know, did game stories,

871
00:40:55,000 --> 00:40:57,600
Speaker 1: you know, did story stories that abided by the rules

872
00:40:57,960 --> 00:41:01,279
Speaker 1: of journalism. But but now it's more about opinion, and

873
00:41:01,320 --> 00:41:04,719
Speaker 1: it's more about being first than it is about being right.

874
00:41:04,760 --> 00:41:07,920
Speaker 1: I'll give you a casion point. Defabo did that great

875
00:41:07,920 --> 00:41:11,399
Speaker 1: story about reconstructing what happened in the Steelers' locker room

876
00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:14,080
Speaker 1: when Tom Win told the team he was stepping down,

877
00:41:14,520 --> 00:41:16,920
Speaker 1: and by all accounts, he got it exactly right. Certainly

878
00:41:16,920 --> 00:41:19,160
Speaker 1: no player has come out to say that might cut

879
00:41:19,160 --> 00:41:21,640
Speaker 1: it wrong. But what made it stand out is it

880
00:41:21,719 --> 00:41:25,239
Speaker 1: was actual breaking news. It was actual journalism. When's the

881
00:41:25,320 --> 00:41:29,960
Speaker 1: last time a Steeler reporter broke a big Steeler story

882
00:41:30,040 --> 00:41:32,160
Speaker 1: like that? And the answer is they almost never do,

883
00:41:32,280 --> 00:41:34,680
Speaker 1: because that's not what they're there for. They're there to

884
00:41:34,760 --> 00:41:37,920
Speaker 1: regurgitate and be buddies with the organization.

885
00:41:38,239 --> 00:41:39,399
Speaker 2: At least that's what they want.