WEBVTT - HR 2 - Brian Metzer 0:00:09.030 --> 0:00:13.389 When asked about Major League Baseball's looming labor stoppage and 0:00:13.410 --> 0:00:17.790 the upcoming World Series between Tampa Bay and Milwaukee, President 0:00:17.810 --> 0:00:22.000 Donald Trump said, nobody cares. In fact, I believe we 0:00:22.020 --> 0:00:23.860 have the audio. It's a little hard to hear. It's 0:00:23.880 --> 0:00:26.380 sort of being yelled off mic, but you can make 0:00:26.420 --> 0:00:26.680 it out. 0:00:31.250 --> 0:00:31.890 I think it will. 0:00:32.670 --> 0:00:36.280 That is going to happen. 0:00:36.340 --> 0:00:43.040 OK, let's let's do it. Nobody cares. There it is. 0:00:43.260 --> 0:00:43.750 You heard it. 0:00:44.460 --> 0:00:48.010 President Trump says nobody cares about baseball. The president of 0:00:48.030 --> 0:00:51.550 the United States of America says no one cares about 0:00:51.590 --> 0:00:52.730 America's pastime. 0:00:53.750 --> 0:00:54.270 Is he right? 0:00:54.270 --> 0:00:56.270 412. 0:00:56.270 --> 0:01:03.360 833, to have that backwards, I do. 833-412-9939. Is the 0:01:03.400 --> 0:01:06.869 president right? Does no one care about the World Series? 0:01:07.350 --> 0:01:12.170 Does no one care about the looming lockout? 0:01:12.190 --> 0:01:14.610 833-412-WXDX. 0:01:16.150 --> 0:01:19.840 Beyond Greater Tampa Bay and Milwaukee, the state of Wisconsin, 0:01:20.880 --> 0:01:23.179 Trump might be right about the World Series. It's not 0:01:23.200 --> 0:01:26.559 like the Brewers and the Rays have any significant fan 0:01:26.600 --> 0:01:30.800 bases whatsoever. outside of their own markets. America loves to 0:01:30.840 --> 0:01:33.220 complain that it's tired of watching the Dodgers and the 0:01:33.260 --> 0:01:34.820 Yankees in the World Series every year. 0:01:34.840 --> 0:01:36.800 The ratings say otherwise. 0:01:37.550 --> 0:01:39.870 My bet is the TV ratings for this fall classic 0:01:39.910 --> 0:01:43.310 will sing a very different song and will probably lend 0:01:43.370 --> 0:01:45.990 a lot of credence to what Trump just said right there. 0:01:47.430 --> 0:01:51.490 Regarding the pending lockout, though, I'll disagree with Trump on 0:01:51.530 --> 0:01:55.910 that front. Every baseball fan in America is going to 0:01:55.970 --> 0:02:00.110 care about what happens with the lockout. It may keep 0:02:00.170 --> 0:02:03.370 the sport away for a few months, for an entire season, 0:02:03.390 --> 0:02:07.130 like we saw with the NHL back in 0405. And 0:02:07.330 --> 0:02:13.190 hockey fans worldwide cared about that because everyone knew that 0:02:13.230 --> 0:02:17.250 the result was probably going to mean a salary. 0:02:16.810 --> 0:02:19.430 Cap floor or the dissolution of the league. 0:02:20.090 --> 0:02:22.510 People cared about it because they knew it meant a 0:02:22.590 --> 0:02:27.010 league with competitive balance and an injection of enthusiasm for 0:02:27.030 --> 0:02:29.440 a lot of fan bases in cities that had none. 0:02:30.100 --> 0:02:30.799 With a cap. 0:02:31.800 --> 0:02:33.060 Or you're going to get a league that might not 0:02:33.100 --> 0:02:34.720 come back as we knew it if it came back 0:02:35.160 --> 0:02:40.650 at all. If Trump's no one cares quip was directly 0:02:40.690 --> 0:02:44.430 meant about the lockout because fewer people care about baseball 0:02:44.470 --> 0:02:47.030 than they used to in some markets around the country. 0:02:48.240 --> 0:02:50.870 That's accurate. I think that's the case in this one. 0:02:52.150 --> 0:02:54.990 But that's because after so many years of being a 0:02:55.070 --> 0:02:58.369 farm team for the rest of Major League Baseball, many 0:02:58.410 --> 0:03:03.329 Pittsburgh Pirates fans won't be weeping about missing midweek games 0:03:03.389 --> 0:03:06.030 in mid-August when the team is at best struggling to 0:03:06.090 --> 0:03:11.370 maintain relevance in the wildcard race and simply flirting with 500. 0:03:11.370 --> 0:03:15.290 For those reasons, I could certainly understand why John Q. 0:03:15.370 --> 0:03:18.970 Bucko fan would be rooting for an extended lockout that 0:03:19.010 --> 0:03:21.100 results in a salary cap instead of some sort of 0:03:21.320 --> 0:03:24.080 quick fix so we can have opening day in March 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:27.720 again with a CBA that doesn't have much teeth to it. Personally, 0:03:27.820 --> 0:03:29.260 I'd stand right next to that guy. 0:03:30.520 --> 0:03:31.040 I'm with him. 0:03:31.740 --> 0:03:35.710 I would rather see lost months of a season and 0:03:35.750 --> 0:03:38.430 a CBA with a cap and a floor than I 0:03:38.490 --> 0:03:44.240 would a new CBA with no real backbone. Give me 0:03:44.300 --> 0:03:47.180 the lost months. Give me the lost time, but give 0:03:47.220 --> 0:03:53.970 me a real CBA. Again, 833-412-9939. But it's nearly impossible 0:03:54.270 --> 0:03:57.160 to separate the topics from each other entirely, isn't it? 0:03:57.470 --> 0:04:01.630 You can't logically have a conversation about the perceived need 0:04:01.670 --> 0:04:05.130 for a cap without mentioning that two low payroll teams 0:04:05.490 --> 0:04:07.270 with a combined 201 regular season wins are. 0:04:09.030 --> 0:04:11.170 Are now colliding to play each other in the World Series. 0:04:12.650 --> 0:04:15.470 That's in spite of the fact that Milwaukee is Major 0:04:15.510 --> 0:04:19.969 League Baseball's smallest market and Tampa had the fifth smallest 0:04:20.130 --> 0:04:24.070 opening day payroll at $ 88 million, which was $ 11 million 0:04:25.029 --> 0:04:29.120 lower than Pittsburgh's even. Yet there they are winning 16 0:04:29.120 --> 0:04:31.460 more games than the Pirates and winning the American League 0:04:31.480 --> 0:04:36.520 Championship Series. The Brewers also won Pittsburgh's division with 103 victories, 0:04:36.740 --> 0:04:40.180 which was the most in baseball. So, no, a cap 0:04:40.920 --> 0:04:45.940 isn't essential to winning in Major League Baseball. However, it 0:04:46.020 --> 0:04:49.940 is usually essential to maintaining a team that does win 0:04:50.200 --> 0:04:53.099 for an extended stretch. Just look at the Penguins and 0:04:53.140 --> 0:04:55.799 how they came out of that lockout in the NHL 0:04:56.220 --> 0:05:00.100 and won for a long time. Look at the Pirates, conversely, 0:05:00.600 --> 0:05:04.720 who built a National League playoff team from 2013 to 15, 0:05:04.720 --> 0:05:09.380 then started selling key pieces to other teams. Kudos to 0:05:09.400 --> 0:05:12.120 Tampa Bay and Milwaukee for threading that needle. They've both 0:05:12.180 --> 0:05:15.060 been good for the better part of two decades, despite 0:05:15.600 --> 0:05:19.040 different general managers and managers and different generations of players. 0:05:20.300 --> 0:05:24.190 The Pirates, though, as a converse to that, went from 0:05:24.190 --> 0:05:25.390 1979 to 1990 without a playoff appearance, from 93 to 0:05:25.380 --> 0:05:26.530 2012 without having a winning. 0:05:26.250 --> 0:05:29.089 Season at all, 93 to 2012, every single one of. 0:05:28.290 --> 0:05:41.190 Them sub-500s, And then he had from 2016 to present 0:05:41.230 --> 0:05:46.530 day with eight losing seasons and no playoff appearances. The 0:05:46.570 --> 0:05:50.950 Rays and the Brewers have avoided such extended funks lately 0:05:51.010 --> 0:05:53.860 because they're just more nimble organizations. 0:05:54.940 --> 0:05:56.200 They're better front offices. 0:05:57.330 --> 0:06:01.680 In 2017, Milwaukee was an 86-win team, and they missed 0:06:01.700 --> 0:06:04.620 the playoffs after finishing second place in the division. 0:06:04.980 --> 0:06:07.380 Since then, though, they made the playoffs. 0:06:07.220 --> 0:06:11.859 Every season since 2022 when they also had 86 wins. 0:06:12.080 --> 0:06:13.080 That's a real good run. 0:06:14.020 --> 0:06:16.740 Seven of the last nine years, Tampa Bay has either 0:06:16.800 --> 0:06:20.940 made the playoffs or won 90 games. Both clubs have 0:06:20.960 --> 0:06:24.980 managed to sustain. They're the exceptions to the rule. Like 0:06:25.010 --> 0:06:27.279 I said, their front offices are very light on their feet. 0:06:28.140 --> 0:06:33.440 They got organizational infrastructure that is able to breed repeated success. 0:06:33.480 --> 0:06:35.980 The Pirates don't, and that's their fault. That's not Major 0:06:36.000 --> 0:06:39.099 League Baseball's fault. That's not the lack of a cap. 0:06:39.540 --> 0:06:44.460 But getting a cap is certainly better than not. I 0:06:44.500 --> 0:06:48.029 look at hockey as an example. And I imagine that 0:06:48.070 --> 0:06:51.270 with a cap, the Brewers and Tampa would keep winning 0:06:51.350 --> 0:06:53.970 in a cap system too. They just wouldn't have to 0:06:54.050 --> 0:06:57.160 spend as much effort trying to force the stars to 0:06:57.200 --> 0:07:03.220 align every offseason. Also, a cap would protect worthy franchises 0:07:03.720 --> 0:07:09.219 like Tampa and like Milwaukee from this widening economic gulf 0:07:09.780 --> 0:07:12.830 with major market teams due to local revenue streams and 0:07:12.850 --> 0:07:16.530 their ability to pay deferred contracts. So, I disagree with 0:07:16.550 --> 0:07:20.310 the president there. I don't care all that much about 0:07:20.350 --> 0:07:22.880 the current iteration of Major League Baseball going away for 0:07:22.900 --> 0:07:26.440 a while, but I do care very much about what 0:07:26.560 --> 0:07:28.600 it will look like when it comes back. 0:07:29.240 --> 0:07:32.060 That, Mr. President, I do care about. 0:07:32.080 --> 0:07:35.120 833-412-9939. I'll ask you, is the president right? Is Trump right? 0:07:39.570 --> 0:07:42.420 No one cares about baseball. No one cares about the 0:07:42.450 --> 0:07:46.480 World Series. No one cares about the lockout. Is he 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:51.000 right or do you actually care? I won't care if 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:53.440 they miss some games. I won't care if they miss months. 0:07:54.160 --> 0:07:56.520 I do care about what comes out at the other end. 0:07:56.680 --> 0:07:57.240 I care a. 0:07:57.400 --> 0:08:00.660 Lot because if they get a cap floor system, it 0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:03.790 changes everything. If they don't and they come back with 0:08:03.830 --> 0:08:11.510 some sort of spineless continuation of whatever already exists, then 0:08:11.540 --> 0:08:13.500 I'm not going to care about the sport. 0:08:14.040 --> 0:08:14.820 I'm going to care about it. 0:08:14.840 --> 0:08:17.720 I'm going to be as passive as I've been in 0:08:17.780 --> 0:08:22.160 recent seasons. You can also tweet me at Tim Benz, PGH. 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:24.520 Before we go to break, I wanted to play that 0:08:24.790 --> 0:08:27.790 soundbite as well from Big Cat. He was on the 0:08:27.810 --> 0:08:30.550 DV morning show. I mentioned it earlier, but we've got 0:08:30.590 --> 0:08:32.610 the audio now. We pulled it off the podcast page 0:08:32.650 --> 0:08:36.719 at DVE's website at dve.com. This is Big Cat talking 0:08:36.760 --> 0:08:40.180 about the number of games in Europe, including the Steeler 0:08:40.200 --> 0:08:42.820 game coming up on Sunday against the Saints in France. 0:08:44.900 --> 0:08:46.960 I hate it. Why are we doing it? Why are 0:08:47.059 --> 0:08:50.600 we doing this, Big Cat? It's so stupid. 0:08:50.640 --> 0:08:55.600 It's also so stupid just simply because... The NFL is 0:08:55.630 --> 0:08:57.660 the greatest sport to watch on your couch. 0:08:57.820 --> 0:08:58.470 Yes, I get it. 0:08:58.500 --> 0:09:00.620 Going to a live sporting event is really cool, but 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:02.500 I think we can all agree we've all been to 0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:05.579 NFL games, a bunch of them. It's not a good 0:09:05.640 --> 0:09:08.780 product when you're in person. The tailgate's fun. Going to 0:09:08.800 --> 0:09:11.900 the event of it is fun, but actual watching the 0:09:11.940 --> 0:09:14.800 game with the stoppage, not being able to see anything, 0:09:14.820 --> 0:09:19.140 it's not fun. This is the sport that's built for TV. 0:09:19.540 --> 0:09:21.860 Why are we then playing all these games in Europe? 0:09:22.240 --> 0:09:24.820 It doesn't grow the game. If anything, you can make 0:09:24.840 --> 0:09:27.479 the argument it does the opposite. If you want to 0:09:27.540 --> 0:09:30.420 grow the game in Europe, give everyone the red zone. 0:09:31.880 --> 0:09:34.490 Give every single person in France the red zone channel. 0:09:34.800 --> 0:09:38.190 That will grow the game. And maybe they'll stop rioting, too. 0:09:38.230 --> 0:09:39.930 They'll be too busy with Scott Hansen. 0:09:41.490 --> 0:09:42.429 Which is a great line. 0:09:42.790 --> 0:09:47.439 But he makes a really strong point that Everything that 0:09:47.480 --> 0:09:51.860 the NFL is based upon is based upon television. So 0:09:51.900 --> 0:09:55.020 try to put the hook into the European fans with television. 0:09:56.070 --> 0:09:57.989 The going to the game part is not the best 0:09:58.050 --> 0:10:01.460 part for the NFL. but the nfl looks at growing 0:10:01.480 --> 0:10:04.240 the game as let's put a big party on and 0:10:04.250 --> 0:10:06.620 get a bunch of foreign fans to show up and 0:10:06.700 --> 0:10:10.500 pump revenue into us that way by the event but 0:10:10.559 --> 0:10:13.000 honestly you want to hook them with the good stuff 0:10:13.440 --> 0:10:16.920 the good stuff isn't the event in person the good 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:20.660 stuff is the event on television So he makes a 0:10:20.679 --> 0:10:23.500 real strong point. You want to grow the game in Europe, 0:10:23.920 --> 0:10:28.440 grow it with your outreach of the television side. The 0:10:28.480 --> 0:10:32.680 amount of games in person is just residual. That's residue. 0:10:35.030 --> 0:10:35.209 Get 833-412-9939. 0:10:35.210 --> 0:10:35.730 We can talk about that. 0:10:38.660 --> 0:10:41.010 We can talk about that Wall Street Journal article that 0:10:41.030 --> 0:10:42.770 we were speaking about before about. 0:10:42.710 --> 0:10:45.350 Slowing the game down too much even on TV and 0:10:45.390 --> 0:10:45.670 how the. 0:10:45.630 --> 0:10:49.170 TV market, excuse me, the TV product might be hurt 0:10:49.290 --> 0:10:52.390 as well because NFL games are just lasting too long 0:10:52.410 --> 0:10:54.340 and the pace of play is way too slow. That's 0:10:54.400 --> 0:10:57.200 tough to sell to European fans. And I do want 0:10:57.220 --> 0:10:58.900 to hear from baseball fans of the Trump thing. 0:10:59.440 --> 0:10:59.880 Is he right? 0:11:00.740 --> 0:11:03.720 Do you not care at all about baseball coming back 0:11:03.740 --> 0:11:06.780 from the lockout, the lockout itself, or the World Series? 0:11:07.350 --> 0:11:13.020 There's a lot of highfalutin holier than now preach from 0:11:13.040 --> 0:11:16.660 the old school that, that I've said, we want Tampa 0:11:16.700 --> 0:11:19.370 Bay and Milwaukee in the world series for, you know, 0:11:19.590 --> 0:11:21.569 decades now, this is what we want. 0:11:21.610 --> 0:11:25.030 We want the small market teams to succeed. Okay. Here 0:11:25.070 --> 0:11:28.410 they are. You're going to watch. I'm real dubious of that. 0:11:29.050 --> 0:11:31.540 It sounds good to say it because it feels good 0:11:31.580 --> 0:11:33.760 to root for the little guy. When I got two 0:11:33.800 --> 0:11:37.230 little guys in it, you're going to bother watching. You 0:11:37.250 --> 0:11:39.130 like the quality of play from the Brewers and Rays. 0:11:39.309 --> 0:11:41.170 They don't have the star power, so you turn it 0:11:41.190 --> 0:11:43.850 on the television? This is kind of time to put 0:11:43.870 --> 0:11:47.089 your money where your mouth is, so to speak. Tweet 0:11:47.130 --> 0:11:49.390 me at TimBenzPGH on that front as well. When we 0:11:49.429 --> 0:11:53.600 come back, Steelers and Saints in France on Sunday. There 0:11:53.620 --> 0:11:55.520 are a lot of lessons to be learned from that 0:11:55.580 --> 0:11:57.559 Tampa Bay game. We'll have them for you next on 0:11:57.559 --> 0:12:03.910 105.9 The X. Brian Metzer, the Penguins Radio Network, coming 0:12:03.950 --> 0:12:06.220 up shortly to talk about the Pens game tonight, which 0:12:06.240 --> 0:12:09.400 you can hear here on 105.9 The X. Faceoff against 0:12:09.440 --> 0:12:13.120 the Panthers coming your way at 7. Pre-game at 6. 0:12:13.120 --> 0:12:16.740 And we've got the Hockey Night Show at 5.30. A 0:12:16.940 --> 0:12:21.290 couple of tweets coming in about our baseball conversation, if 0:12:21.309 --> 0:12:24.910 you missed it. President Trump says no one cares about baseball. 0:12:25.010 --> 0:12:27.390 No one cares about the lockout. No one cares about... 0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:28.640 about the World Series. 0:12:28.860 --> 0:12:29.400 Is he right? 0:12:29.580 --> 0:12:31.500 I think he might be right about the World Series. 0:12:31.640 --> 0:12:33.660 I don't think he's right about the lockout. I care 0:12:33.700 --> 0:12:35.620 a lot about what's going to happen with this lockout. 0:12:36.020 --> 0:12:37.480 I don't care how many games they're going to miss. 0:12:37.900 --> 0:12:39.250 I care what it looks like when we come out 0:12:39.260 --> 0:12:39.990 the back end, though. 0:12:40.179 --> 0:12:45.709 I really do. What do you think? 412-833-9939. This is Jim. 0:12:46.250 --> 0:12:48.929 He says, I don't know one person who cares about 0:12:48.970 --> 0:12:52.370 Major League Baseball, let alone if they lock out. Baseball 0:12:52.429 --> 0:12:57.970 is dead, especially the younger generation. Between video games... gambling 0:12:59.210 --> 0:13:04.000 and the wider spread the easier proliferation of getting your 0:13:04.030 --> 0:13:07.059 hands on watching your team any night anywhere out of 0:13:07.100 --> 0:13:10.760 market games I think that has helped the younger generation 0:13:10.980 --> 0:13:13.400 stay around it's not like it used to be that's 0:13:13.460 --> 0:13:17.700 for sure younger kids tend to like NBA college football 0:13:17.780 --> 0:13:21.080 pro football more than they do Major League Baseball for 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:25.969 sure but especially with like the star power that exists 0:13:26.130 --> 0:13:27.890 in between the players, the. 0:13:27.809 --> 0:13:29.550 Dodgers, the players, the Yankees. 0:13:30.150 --> 0:13:32.620 Kids are attracted to stars these days, and Major League 0:13:32.630 --> 0:13:37.240 Baseball is doing a better job of marketing stars individually. 0:13:37.260 --> 0:13:39.920 You can see that even on a lesser level here 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:42.980 with Skeens. You know, Skeens had been playing in a 0:13:43.000 --> 0:13:45.100 bigger market. He'd be an even bigger star than what 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:48.020 he is now, but he plays here. That said, they 0:13:48.059 --> 0:13:50.280 still get his face out there a bunch nationally, don't they? 0:13:51.040 --> 0:13:54.559 So I do think that keeps young people involved. But 0:13:54.660 --> 0:13:58.100 generally speaking, yeah, that's an issue. And I think part 0:13:58.120 --> 0:14:00.239 of the issue is it can't just be kids in 0:14:00.280 --> 0:14:03.319 New York and L.A. and Boston who feel like in Chicago, 0:14:03.580 --> 0:14:05.460 who feel like their teams have a chance to win 0:14:05.500 --> 0:14:05.859 every year. 0:14:06.679 --> 0:14:10.280 That's why it's important. You know, it's true. He sends 0:14:10.320 --> 0:14:10.660 a tweet. 0:14:11.320 --> 0:14:13.500 Get ready for Trump to try to force a deal 0:14:13.870 --> 0:14:15.590 just when the owners have the players on the ropes 0:14:15.610 --> 0:14:18.260 during the lockout. Oh, I can see that happening. I 0:14:18.300 --> 0:14:20.979 can see that happening, although he'd probably be on the 0:14:21.020 --> 0:14:23.940 side of the owners, I would think. But yeah, whatever 0:14:24.020 --> 0:14:25.900 side he's on, he'll probably get in and muck it 0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:26.520 up at the end. 0:14:27.460 --> 0:14:30.380 But I thought of that. You're not the first person 0:14:30.400 --> 0:14:31.760 to think that. I thought that. 0:14:32.640 --> 0:14:34.550 It's like if you saw his face when the guy 0:14:34.590 --> 0:14:37.130 was yelling the question from the background, he wasn't ready 0:14:37.170 --> 0:14:37.830 for the question. 0:14:37.990 --> 0:14:40.530 He hadn't thought about it. But you could see the 0:14:40.570 --> 0:14:41.330 gears turning. 0:14:42.140 --> 0:14:43.720 This is something I'm going to have to have an 0:14:43.780 --> 0:14:46.120 opinion on at some point and let everybody know what 0:14:46.160 --> 0:14:49.560 my opinion is. And whatever his opinion is, I'm sure 0:14:49.580 --> 0:14:55.620 it's going to come at exactly the wrong time. Fansville412 says, 0:14:55.990 --> 0:15:00.250 you know Trump is an idiot, right? Well, yeah, but 0:15:00.270 --> 0:15:02.510 is he wrong about the World Series? I don't think 0:15:02.530 --> 0:15:04.950 he's wrong about the World Series. I don't think a 0:15:04.970 --> 0:15:07.150 lot of people really care about the World Series result. 0:15:07.790 --> 0:15:10.290 They might like the style of baseball. They might like 0:15:10.390 --> 0:15:12.860 the concept of two small market teams being in it, 0:15:13.410 --> 0:15:14.800 but I don't think they're going to be invested in it, 0:15:15.130 --> 0:15:16.410 and I sure don't think a lot of people are 0:15:16.430 --> 0:15:17.000 going to watch. 0:15:18.270 --> 0:15:20.260 And this is a tweet on a slightly different topic. 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:22.920 This is what we were speaking about before, that tweet 0:15:22.940 --> 0:15:25.560 that Trey Essex had about the quality of football and 0:15:25.580 --> 0:15:27.500 how the quality of play in the National Football League 0:15:27.540 --> 0:15:31.080 is down, and he said the quality of coaching is down. 0:15:31.640 --> 0:15:32.860 I think it's overcoached. 0:15:33.000 --> 0:15:35.000 I think the quality of coaching is down because they're 0:15:35.020 --> 0:15:38.520 doing too friggin' much of it. And they're setting themselves 0:15:38.580 --> 0:15:40.960 up for failure, these coaches, in a lot of situations. 0:15:41.860 --> 0:15:45.000 Jack sends a tweet. He says, a big reason why 0:15:45.020 --> 0:15:47.540 it is less enjoyable is because of the interruption in 0:15:47.580 --> 0:15:49.920 the flow of the games due to the increasing number 0:15:49.940 --> 0:15:52.610 of penalties. Look for those to go down because the 0:15:52.710 --> 0:15:55.420 NFL is first and foremost a TV show and the 0:15:55.470 --> 0:15:57.570 games are running long, too long. 0:15:58.070 --> 0:15:58.630 Well, we'll see. 0:15:59.070 --> 0:16:02.869 If the length of the game interrupts the flow of 0:16:02.910 --> 0:16:05.850 the ratings, then yeah, you're on to something. If the 0:16:05.890 --> 0:16:08.110 ratings stay the same, then the NFL doesn't care if 0:16:08.410 --> 0:16:10.830 you're watching for a longer period of time. Hey, then 0:16:10.850 --> 0:16:12.890 you're helped because you're watching for a longer period of 0:16:12.930 --> 0:16:15.210 time and you're waiting to see if your bet cashes 0:16:15.290 --> 0:16:18.390 in to see if your team covers the spread in 0:16:18.810 --> 0:16:21.730 three hours and 32 minutes as opposed to three hours 0:16:21.770 --> 0:16:24.550 and 11 minutes. They don't have a problem with that whatsoever. 0:16:25.570 --> 0:16:28.110 Then Jack sends, ironically, the same link to the Wall 0:16:28.130 --> 0:16:31.890 Street Journal article that we were talking about before. So 0:16:31.970 --> 0:16:36.220 you could tweet as well, at Tim Benz, PGH. Jerry 0:16:36.240 --> 0:16:39.020 Dulac was on with us earlier in the show. Jerry's 0:16:39.090 --> 0:16:43.010 in France covering for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and for the 0:16:43.050 --> 0:16:46.870 Steelers radio network, the Steelers game in France against the Saints. 0:16:46.910 --> 0:16:49.070 And I think there's a lot of lessons to be 0:16:49.110 --> 0:16:52.040 learned from that game against Tampa that the Steelers better 0:16:52.140 --> 0:16:56.560 apply to that game against the Saints. And the first 0:16:56.680 --> 0:16:58.700 one that comes to mind is pretty clear is that 0:16:58.740 --> 0:17:02.620 Jeremy Bernard has to be the number two receiver, regardless 0:17:02.660 --> 0:17:05.750 of who comes back healthy. I felt that way even 0:17:05.790 --> 0:17:09.389 before he had the 87 yards and 11 catches against Tampa. 0:17:09.430 --> 0:17:12.790 Now it's an arguable. DK Metcalf is the first wide 0:17:12.810 --> 0:17:18.740 receiver option. Bernard is No. 2. Then Pittman, then Wilson, Skorodnik, 0:17:18.840 --> 0:17:22.179 whoever else, when they get healthy. Even if you want 0:17:22.200 --> 0:17:24.459 to bring Pat Friermuth in the conversation at tight end. 0:17:24.500 --> 0:17:24.960 We should. 0:17:25.820 --> 0:17:29.340 Bernard, though, needs to be Robin to Metcalf's Batman, and 0:17:29.380 --> 0:17:31.030 I don't even know if Metcalf's a Batman. 0:17:31.050 --> 0:17:31.770 He might be a $ 33 million Robin. 0:17:34.040 --> 0:17:37.699 But Bernard makes Metcalf better in a way no one 0:17:37.770 --> 0:17:40.350 else has since he became a Steeler. 0:17:41.830 --> 0:17:43.770 Now, he wasn't getting real deep shots. 0:17:43.790 --> 0:17:47.570 I mean, actually, 1.5 air yards was the average depth 0:17:47.609 --> 0:17:51.430 of target for his 12 targets, Bernard, that he got. 0:17:51.970 --> 0:17:54.780 And none of them was deeper than 9 yards on Sunday. 0:17:55.320 --> 0:17:59.699 But he drew enough attention from Tampa Bay's defense that 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:02.580 they finally loosened up some of the coverage on Metcalf 0:18:03.190 --> 0:18:05.810 And then Metcalf went from two catches for 12 yards 0:18:06.210 --> 0:18:09.290 to 81 yards in the second half of nine catches. 0:18:10.109 --> 0:18:12.390 So Bernard had something to do with that. 0:18:14.619 --> 0:18:19.760 Number two, Rico Dowdle, he still needs carries. In his 0:18:19.800 --> 0:18:22.480 first two games with the Steelers, Dowdle, I thought, was 0:18:22.520 --> 0:18:26.640 a victim of circumstance. And those circumstances were crummy run 0:18:26.680 --> 0:18:29.150 blocking and his toe injury, or his foot or whatever 0:18:29.170 --> 0:18:29.430 he had. 0:18:30.990 --> 0:18:31.910 Dowdle's a good back. 0:18:33.619 --> 0:18:36.920 And the Steelers are fortunate to have him as another 0:18:37.080 --> 0:18:42.950 option alongside Jalen Warren. Warren is incredibly easy to root for. 0:18:43.050 --> 0:18:44.990 He's hardworking. He's versatile. 0:18:45.030 --> 0:18:48.129 He's tough. He minds his own business. He's quiet. He 0:18:48.190 --> 0:18:52.629 only cares about winning. He's undervalued. He overachieves. He's catnip 0:18:52.670 --> 0:18:53.340 for Yinzers. 0:18:53.940 --> 0:18:58.560 He is a Stiller prototype Yinzer catnip member for the 0:18:58.600 --> 0:19:03.530 fan base to root for. But Dowdo is good. And 0:19:03.830 --> 0:19:06.990 I think that he's a nice off-season addition. He's got 0:19:07.430 --> 0:19:10.690 a couple 1,000-yard seasons under his belt. He's got kinetic 0:19:10.770 --> 0:19:15.040 explosiveness and straight-ahead runs. Plus, he was more noticeable in 0:19:15.100 --> 0:19:18.600 regulation Sunday. He averaged over 5.5 yards a carry on 0:19:18.660 --> 0:19:21.640 seven attempts, 40 yards. Warren ended up with 78 yards 0:19:21.660 --> 0:19:25.100 from scrimmage, but 34 of that was in overtime. I'm 0:19:25.140 --> 0:19:27.220 a fan of Warren's just like everybody else. He should 0:19:27.240 --> 0:19:29.420 probably get two-thirds of the touches. 0:19:30.100 --> 0:19:31.060 Any more than that, though. 0:19:31.680 --> 0:19:34.840 For a back who's 5'8, 215, that's a lot of 0:19:34.880 --> 0:19:38.050 exposure to fatigue and fumbling and injury. 0:19:38.619 --> 0:19:39.869 So don't forget about Dowdle. 0:19:39.890 --> 0:19:44.310 Despite Warren's significant early season hot streak, now that Dowdle 0:19:44.350 --> 0:19:46.929 is healthy again, they can't just put him in dry 0:19:47.010 --> 0:19:49.810 storage in case Warren gets hurt, which for a while. 0:19:50.200 --> 0:19:53.520 appeared to be the thinking. I'll give you one more. 0:19:53.560 --> 0:19:55.560 This is another lesson that needed to be learned from 0:19:55.580 --> 0:19:59.820 that game against Tampa. How they used Ramsey, that's exactly 0:19:59.859 --> 0:20:03.600 how they should be using Ramsey. The more conventional they 0:20:03.660 --> 0:20:06.090 are with Ramsey, asking him to only cover guys in 0:20:06.109 --> 0:20:08.629 the secondary, the less bang for the buck they're going 0:20:08.650 --> 0:20:08.930 to get. 0:20:09.450 --> 0:20:12.050 That's not his strongest suit. It hasn't been for a while. 0:20:12.550 --> 0:20:12.949 I get it. 0:20:13.369 --> 0:20:15.510 Cornerback depth has been thin recently. 0:20:15.550 --> 0:20:19.350 Now Echols is out. But Jamel Dean is back. Coming 0:20:19.369 --> 0:20:20.850 off a strong game. Dillon Everett. 0:20:21.550 --> 0:20:25.530 His learning curve doesn't appear to be too steep. Asante 0:20:25.570 --> 0:20:28.350 Samuel is capable. And I know Joey Porter Jr. 0:20:28.410 --> 0:20:31.429 Is gone. But free up Ramsey anyway. Let him blitz. 0:20:32.650 --> 0:20:33.450 Let him freelance. 0:20:34.330 --> 0:20:36.310 Let him create havoc at the line of scrimmage in 0:20:36.330 --> 0:20:39.859 the backfield. He had 10 tackles on Sunday, 9 solo, 0:20:39.859 --> 0:20:43.300 2 sacks. In the long run, that'll help him when 0:20:43.340 --> 0:20:45.940 he stays deep in coverage too because it's just a 0:20:45.980 --> 0:20:48.619 very different look that the opposing offense is going to 0:20:48.660 --> 0:20:49.380 have to account for. 0:20:49.440 --> 0:20:51.760 But let Ramsey be Ramsey. 0:20:52.080 --> 0:20:54.680 Let him be the moving chess piece he was always 0:20:54.770 --> 0:20:57.390 meant to be when you got him here last year. 0:20:58.750 --> 0:21:00.710 So those are three lessons that I think the Steelers 0:21:00.790 --> 0:21:03.149 had to learn from that game against Tampa that they 0:21:03.190 --> 0:21:05.870 got to apply against the Saints, Browns, and everybody else 0:21:06.290 --> 0:21:08.870 moving forward. Back to Hockey Talk when we come back. 0:21:08.910 --> 0:21:11.690 Brian Metzer, Pittsburgh Penguins Radio Network. If you're just tuning 0:21:11.730 --> 0:21:14.390 in to the Mark Madden Show, we played Kyle Dubas' 0:21:14.869 --> 0:21:17.560 sound bites earlier from his press conference today, and we 0:21:17.600 --> 0:21:20.740 will again during the Hockey Night Show coming up at 0:21:20.740 --> 0:21:25.179 5.30 in advance of the Penguins game against the Florida Panthers. Tonight, 0:21:25.240 --> 0:21:29.460 Tim Benz filling in for Mark. Today, the diagnosis for 0:21:29.600 --> 0:21:34.470 Ben Kindle, a vasovagal episode. which is something that causes 0:21:34.510 --> 0:21:38.129