Speaker 1: Yo, dirty work on the air.
Speaker 2: Adam Copeland off today because we got counter-programming going on.
Speaker 2: If you're looking for a little 49ers pregame action, I
Speaker 2: got you covered. It's Adam Copeland, John Dickinson on KSFO
Speaker 2: right now, live.
Speaker 1: From Tim's apartment.
Speaker 2: But because there's a Giants game going on tonight, me
Speaker 2: and the one and only Rick Tittle got you until
Speaker 2: 545 before the Giants take on the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Speaker 1: Rick, what's going on, my man? Well, I have a
Speaker 1: little announcement to make, Derek. What's that, Rick?
Speaker 3: I've been inspired by a Turkish basketball player. I've changed
Speaker 3: my name to Rick Tittle Freedom, and I would like
Speaker 3: to be called that from now on.
Speaker 1: So respect me. Okay, I will do that the rest
Speaker 1: of the show. Actually, I have another announcement. Oh, two.
Speaker 1: I've changed it again. I want you to call me.
Speaker 1: That quickly? I want you to call me Jan. Just
Speaker 1: Jan the rest of the time? Jan 6th.
Speaker 4: Oh, gotcha.
Speaker 1: Okay. That's a good second.
Speaker 3: Actually, I was either going to do that or after
Speaker 3: a certain baseball player, I was going to be Dave
Speaker 3: Maga Den.
Speaker 1: All right, I'll let you talk now. Yeah, can I
Speaker 1: just go with Jan 6th the rest of the show?
Speaker 4: Is that fine? Yeah. So Mr.
Speaker 2: 6th.
Speaker 1: Uh, as, I mean, you and I grew up diehard
Speaker 1: Raider fans.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And it's only right that we get, we do the
Speaker 2: Raider perspective. You know, Copes and JD are doing a
Speaker 2: Niner pregame. Why don't we do a Raider pregame for
Speaker 2: those fans that are still longing for the Oakland Raiders?
Speaker 3: I think the flamethrower will melt if we talk silver
Speaker 3: and black.
Speaker 1: Oh, come on, man. Did you not just hear me?
Speaker 1: They're doing the show from Tim's apartment. This thing's over.
Speaker 1: It's the state of radio. That sounds like the Don
Speaker 1: Rickles thing. Your life is over.
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, from dirty work. So how you been, Ricky?
Speaker 2: What is tickling your fancy in sports these days? Well,
Speaker 2: I'm super excited that the Premier League has started again.
Speaker 2: And my team Spurs got off to a bad start.
Speaker 2: That's the Premier League, Rick.
Speaker 1: Premier League. Yeah, what did I say?
Speaker 2: No, you got Premier League of the Prem. I know
Speaker 2: more about soccer than you do, which I did, which
Speaker 2: I do not. You prove to everybody when we had
Speaker 2: you on during the World Cup. You you definitely know
Speaker 2: your stuff.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: When I wrote for a newspaper and I worked it.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: But whatever.
Speaker 3: It's they they beat. They were in the League Cup.
Speaker 3: They beat Charlton yesterday. They got Marmush over the line.
Speaker 3: And so I'm feeling a little bit better. No one
Speaker 3: knows what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1: It's all good. A couple people. Did you watch the
Speaker 1: Giants collapse yesterday? You know what?
Speaker 3: I felt really bad. I was actually listening. I was
Speaker 3: in the, where was I? I was in the car,
Speaker 3: but I was listening to John and Dave on the flamethrower.
Speaker 3: And when Drew, the little guy from Tennessee.
Speaker 1: Oh, Drew Gilbert. Thank you.
Speaker 3: Drew Gilbert hit that ball off the wall, almost a
Speaker 3: grand slam.
Speaker 1: I thought it was over too, yeah.
Speaker 3: Nine to three. And I'm like, wow, they're going to
Speaker 3: finally have their first sweep. And it was just, it
Speaker 3: was one of those collapses where, and I can say
Speaker 3: this now because the Giants have won three World Series
Speaker 3: since then, but I was at all seven of those
Speaker 3: games in 02. And in Anaheim, starting the eighth inning,
Speaker 3: it's five to nothing Giants. Dusty gives Russ Ortiz the ball.
Speaker 3: You know, you got Rob Nen, you got all these
Speaker 3: guys coming in. Scott Spezio, three run home run. I mean,
Speaker 3: it just, it sort of felt like you were watching
Speaker 3: something bleed to death on your front lawn. And you
Speaker 3: were in a straight jacket, like Hannibal Lecter with, you know,
Speaker 3: clockwork orange, forcing your eyeballs open, like watching something.
Speaker 1: Fava beans with a nice can tea. Very good.
Speaker 3: No, it was just, it was one of those things. Like,
Speaker 3: even if you're not a Giants fan, you just feel
Speaker 3: really sorry.
Speaker 1: Oh God. Yeah.
Speaker 4: Yeah. Sorry. Sorry.
Speaker 1: Is it all right now?
Speaker 3: But it was, it was horrifying and you almost feel like,
Speaker 3: can we just, Like, start the offseason right now instead
Speaker 3: of playing for another month.
Speaker 5: I know.
Speaker 2: Well, me and Cope said the postgame yesterday, and our
Speaker 2: reaction was, this is not rock bottom.
Speaker 4: Like, yes.
Speaker 1: That's not rock bottom? Well, I mean, like, think about
Speaker 1: the season. Think about other moments.
Speaker 2: Like, they waved the white flag months ago. And I
Speaker 2: would say that when you're 25 games below. 500, I
Speaker 2: can't say that's rock bottom. I understand that that win,
Speaker 2: or sorry, that loss was demoralizing. But in the grand
Speaker 2: scheme of things, in the season they've had, I can't
Speaker 2: say that's rock bottom. I think that's below rock bottom.
Speaker 2: I think that's Brad Pitt with 50 feet of crap
Speaker 2: rock bottom.
Speaker 3: That's the kind of thing where people who don't even
Speaker 3: understand baseball are like, what are you doing?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I know.
Speaker 1: But you know what? I said this yesterday, and again,
Speaker 1: like how quickly it happened, it was shocking. But I
Speaker 1: wasn't surprised by the outcome because.
Speaker 5: I still was.
Speaker 1: These are big leaguers.
Speaker 2: I understand. Have you seen the lineup they're putting out
Speaker 2: these days?
Speaker 4: I know.
Speaker 3: They're flying squirrels. And I'm not talking about AA Richmond.
Speaker 3: They're literally flying squirrels. It's hard to get a uniform
Speaker 3: that small.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: But still, it's just it was amazingly I mean, it
Speaker 3: was almost like you're watching something and it's so morbid
Speaker 3: and it's almost like voyeuristic, like you feel bad.
Speaker 1: You're watching it.
Speaker 3: And John and Dave were kind of like, I mean,
Speaker 3: it's hard. When those guys get incredulous, they're like, I
Speaker 3: don't understand what's happening right now.
Speaker 2: Well, the best medicine for a demoralizing loss is just
Speaker 2: to get back at it today, and the Giants will
Speaker 2: do that against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Pre-game at 545, first
Speaker 2: pitch at 645. Today we'll be joined by Sam Gordon,
Speaker 2: who was covering the Warriors for the SF Chronicle. Now
Speaker 2: he's covering the Raiders for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. We'll
Speaker 2: talk to him at 250, along with Rich Aurelia at 450.
Speaker 2: We'll get his thoughts on yesterday's demoralizing loss. But we're
Speaker 2: exactly two weeks away, Rick, from the 49ers and Rams
Speaker 2: facing off in Australia. How do you feel about American
Speaker 2: football in Australia?
Speaker 1: I think it's great to spread the religion. I think
Speaker 1: it's probably taken too long.
Speaker 3: But in the grand scheme of things, I think what
Speaker 3: the NFL is waiting for outside of having, because Goodell
Speaker 3: kind of mentioned having two teams in London.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And if you think that's weird, I mean, if you
Speaker 3: think about how big London is and how many soccer
Speaker 3: teams they have, and you think about New York having
Speaker 3: multiple teams, it makes every sense in the world for
Speaker 3: London to have two teams. You're going to have that
Speaker 3: NFL division, and then they're going to play each other.
Speaker 3: Then they'll come over here probably for three weeks to
Speaker 3: a month. And then if you do the road trip
Speaker 3: over there, three weeks to a month. But the thing is,
Speaker 3: is that division is going to stink because the only
Speaker 3: people that are going to.
Speaker 1: Go there are people who get drafted by the whatever,
Speaker 1: the Amsterdam. London Silly Nannies?
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 3: Yes, the London Mary Poppins. It's going to be really
Speaker 3: hard to get those people to go. It was hard
Speaker 3: enough to get them to go to NFL Europe, but
Speaker 3: that was their only recourse at the time. But I
Speaker 3: think the thing about having a football game in Australia,
Speaker 3: that's mostly just for merch and stuff like that. They're
Speaker 3: never going to have a team there unless somebody invents
Speaker 3: how to beam you down there like Scotty.
Speaker 2: No, I don't see that happening, but London is on
Speaker 2: the horizon. Roger Goodell talked about it a couple weeks ago,
Speaker 2: as you said. I just don't see it where it's
Speaker 2: going to be multiple teams. I think, like, we could
Speaker 2: talk about this for a while now. It sounds like
Speaker 2: the Jacksonville Jaguars are going to move to London eventually.
Speaker 3: Well, Shahid Khan owns Fulham Football Club at Craven Cottage
Speaker 3: there on the West End. And, of course, the Jags
Speaker 3: play two games a year there, it seems like right now.
Speaker 1: It's a great thing. They say Jaguar.
Speaker 4: Jaguar?
Speaker 1: Jaguar. I always wonder how people here say Jagwire. Where
Speaker 1: does that come from? That's me. You say Jagwire?
Speaker 4: Yeah. Wow.
Speaker 1: The AP wire and Jagwire. I'm sorry. How do you
Speaker 1: say it, Rick? Jaguar. Jaguar. No, I just say Jaguar.
Speaker 1: You should see how I say Tennessee Titans. How do
Speaker 1: you say that? Like I have to like really pronounce it. Well,
Speaker 1: you hit the T's. How would you say Rick Tittle then?
Speaker 1: Rick Tittle. Oh, we say it with D's. But I'm, well,
Speaker 1: I'm just. It's Rick Tittle. Yeah, Rick Tittle.
Speaker 4: Yes.
Speaker 1: Hit that Tittle very hard. Very slowly too.
Speaker 4: Yes.
Speaker 1: And yeah, the FCC don't, somebody just drove off the road.
Speaker 1: It doesn't exist on the station anymore. Have you listened
Speaker 1: to this show?
Speaker 3: Somebody with a three-piece suit and a monocle just drove
Speaker 3: off the road. But no, I mean, Shot Kahn, by
Speaker 3: the way, is a great American story.
Speaker 1: An immigrant. Everybody's Shot Kahn. Do you know how... Not bad.
Speaker 1: Shot Kahn. Shot Kahn. All right, sorry. He made his
Speaker 1: money off mufflers like Tommy Callahan. You don't... Oh, yes.
Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Motown, mufflers.
Speaker 2: Did he have to have the same situation where him
Speaker 2: and David Spade had to go like town to town
Speaker 2: and sell brakes?
Speaker 4: They did.
Speaker 1: Please, Dan Aykroyd, save our company. I make parts for
Speaker 1: the American worker because I am one. You kind of
Speaker 1: look like Dan Aykroyd. Has anybody ever told you that before?
Speaker 3: Well, hopefully the earlier one, Wild and Crazy Guy, not
Speaker 3: the one now.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: No one's ever told me that now. Well, I'm the first. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I usually get Ernest Borgnine.
Speaker 4: Okay.
Speaker 2: Wow, the references already. Did you interview him back in
Speaker 2: the day, Rick? I never got Ernest Borgnine, unfortunately, no.
Speaker 2: I got Ed Asner right before he died, though.
Speaker 1: Does that count? Close enough. All right. 70s.
Speaker 3: If anyone was ever on a love boat or a
Speaker 3: fantasy island, then.
Speaker 1: It's jury duty to do my sports show.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Today I had Owen Wilson, who's an actual. I was
Speaker 1: just about to ask you about that.
Speaker 2: So I always love it when you post who's coming
Speaker 2: on your byline show.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a nationally syndicated show. Yes, great show. But
Speaker 1: don't listen to it. Listen to KMBR. Well, either way.
Speaker 2: But I love that you get wide-ranging guests. And it
Speaker 2: could be like, you know, some pop sensation.
Speaker 1: From, I don't know. Pick a place. Austria, whatever. And
Speaker 1: then you get like Owen Wilson on. So what was
Speaker 1: Owen Wilson up to these days? He has a new
Speaker 1: movie out called Runner. He kind of plays a bit part.
Speaker 1: But you know what's weird is a guy like that,
Speaker 1: that's the first time I've had his brother, Luke, who's
Speaker 1: really funny. I like having him on.
Speaker 3: But when you interview someone and you know their voice perfectly,
Speaker 3: but it's not because you know them.
Speaker 6: Oh, wow.
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. It's just like, Wes Anderson was my roommate
Speaker 1: at UT. I don't do a very good Owen Wilson.
Speaker 1: But anyway, it's just weird to hear. I wrote Rushmore.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So when I will get literally Russell Crowe, Chris Pratt,
Speaker 3: Michael P. Jordan, Ewan McGregor, I get guys like that.
Speaker 1: Heavy hitters, yeah.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: But then you have to do like Dick Hertz, who's the,
Speaker 3: you know, or whatever, Phil McCracken, some pop star.
Speaker 1: Are these porn stars?
Speaker 4: No, these are.
Speaker 3: You have to like do a little bit of uh
Speaker 3: favors yeah we'll give you these three nobodies oh i
Speaker 3: got you for that yeah so a lot of times
Speaker 3: i'm like why am i interviewing this guy and my
Speaker 3: boss will be like well he's no one wilson he's
Speaker 3: the guy that got us chris pratt and i was
Speaker 3: like uh okay are.
Speaker 1: We any closer to a wedding crashers too i don't
Speaker 1: think so oh man i know i would love to
Speaker 1: see it though I mean, yes and no. There's a
Speaker 1: lot of sequels these days, and I'm like, you kind
Speaker 1: of missed the boat on that one. Todd, it was
Speaker 1: a gift. I'm taking it with me. Yeah, exactly. Great movie.
Speaker 2: I don't know if we need to know what happened
Speaker 2: to life after they crashed their last wedding.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Well, there's some, I mean, if it's just a money spinner, no.
Speaker 3: If it's actually super clever, awesome, then yeah. How many
Speaker 3: of those do we have these days, though, with sequels? Well,
Speaker 3: it's like Dumb and Dumber 2. There's no way you
Speaker 3: could hold up to it, so you might as well
Speaker 3: not have done it.
Speaker 4: It's a cash.
Speaker 1: Grab for, honestly, Carrie and Jeff Daniels. I watched it.
Speaker 2: I did not.
Speaker 1: I didn't watch When Harry Met Lloyd. I didn't watch
Speaker 1: Dumb and Dumber 2. I didn't watch that one either. Yeah.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Let me know when the show starts and we'll talk
Speaker 1: about interesting stuff.
Speaker 2: Well, we can definitely talk sports today because you and
Speaker 2: I have interesting perspectives working in the Bay Area for
Speaker 2: quite some time. You obviously longer than me, but Raiders
Speaker 2: and 49ers history. We can talk about classic games or
Speaker 2: even do some trivia. Our guy Danny Dunn has compiled
Speaker 2: some questions you can ask later on the show. We
Speaker 2: got good bits today. We got a grab bag. You
Speaker 2: asked for that. We're going to do some grab bags.
Speaker 2: No sports personality improv.
Speaker 4: No SPI. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's all you, man. You're great with the impersonations.
Speaker 1: I'm hit or miss.
Speaker 2: I can just do like a Stephen A. Smith from
Speaker 2: time to time. You can do a good John Miller.
Speaker 2: I could do a good John Miller. And we may
Speaker 2: talk to John Miller later on the show.
Speaker 4: Oh.
Speaker 1: For our little Giants pregame, our talkback. That was me
Speaker 1: that just went, oh. No, that wasn't a drop or anything.
Speaker 1: And I'm sure we'll get to. That wasn't Farhan. Your
Speaker 1: thoughts with the Niners this week.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Off the field.
Speaker 4: Gen York.
Speaker 1: All time, all time story. I feel really bad for them.
Speaker 1: I do too. You can't like in the words of
Speaker 1: Ray Ratto, you can't deny the story is hilarious. Well,
Speaker 1: I mean, I hate to kick a guy when he's down.
Speaker 1: I know, I know, I know.
Speaker 3: You know, it's just, to me, that's the story. You
Speaker 3: tell it, and then after that point, there's nothing more
Speaker 3: to report, really. I thought it was interesting, though. Somebody
Speaker 3: asked Kyle yesterday. It was a two-part question. It was,
Speaker 3: first of all, so how does that change things around here?
Speaker 3: And he's like, it doesn't at all. He's never even
Speaker 3: been at camp. And then one guy said, so I
Speaker 3: saw Al Guido walking around. Is he in charge now?
Speaker 3: And Kyle's like, no. No, nothing changes.
Speaker 1: I'm in charge. I guess people have to ask, like,
Speaker 1: why are you even asking that question? It's like, yeah.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, we'll talk about that and how it, I don't know,
Speaker 1: impacts the football team. I think 0%. 0%. Yeah. So
Speaker 1: there you go. There's the segment right there. But we'll
Speaker 1: talk to Sam Gordon. We can air static during that segment.
Speaker 4: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2: We're going to talk to Sam Gordon, who covers the
Speaker 2: Las Vegas Raiders at 250, Rich Aurelia at 450. Let's
Speaker 2: talk about the Giants loss yesterday. All-time bad Giants loss.
Speaker 2: All-time bad Giants season. You trust in Buster Posey right now?
Speaker 1: We'll talk about it next. We want to hear from you. 415-808-5627.
Speaker 2: It's Rick Tittle, Derek Papa, Dirty.
Speaker 1: Work, the alternate broadcast on The Sports Leader.
Speaker 5: Now back to Dirty Work with Copes and Depop on
Speaker 5: 104.5 FM and 680 AM The Sports Leader.
Speaker 1: As Pagan delivers.
Speaker 7: And a splitter strikes him out swinging. That one just
Speaker 7: was the prototype of the splitter, tumbling down and ending
Speaker 7: up well down below the knees. For the Giants, the
Speaker 7: chance to sweep a three-game series disappears. They were just
Speaker 7: three outs away from doing it with a six-run lead,
Speaker 7: and they could not do it.
Speaker 2: Sounds of yesterday's demoralizing loss. Giants blow a 9-3 lead
Speaker 2: in the top of the ninth. Lose 10-9, the Cincinnati Reds.
Speaker 2: It's dirty work on Thursday. Rick Tittle, Derek Papa. If
Speaker 2: you're looking for a little 49ers preseason action, I got
Speaker 2: you covered. It's Adam Copeland and John Dickinson on KSFO
Speaker 2: right now, live from Tim Webb's apartment. So if you
Speaker 2: want to listen to that, click over to that. The
Speaker 2: broadcast will be on there as well. But me and
Speaker 2: Rick are holding it down until we get to Giants
Speaker 2: and Diamondbacks. Pre-game at 545, first pitch at 645. And
Speaker 2: it's good they're playing a game today because yesterday was tough.
Speaker 2: This whole season's been tough, Rick. But yesterday, I get it.
Speaker 2: Like some fans are going to say that was the
Speaker 2: lowest of the lows. It was rock bottom. Worst loss
Speaker 2: in Giants history. I wouldn't go that far with any
Speaker 2: of that. My whole thing is, yes, yesterday sucked. And
Speaker 2: I feel for Giants fans. But they waved the white
Speaker 2: flag a long time ago. And there's been a lot
Speaker 2: of low points. I remember when they got swept back
Speaker 2: to back in series against the Philadelphia Phillies and the
Speaker 2: Tampa Bay Rays.
Speaker 1: There were other moments where, I.
Speaker 2: Don't know, there's been so many. Sometimes I forget. They've
Speaker 2: blown so many leads. It's just where the bullpen has
Speaker 2: been just awful. It's been an all-time bad season. And
Speaker 2: I know that Tony Vitello is trying to build upon
Speaker 2: something for next season. And that's why yesterday was tough. Yes,
Speaker 2: you're up against it with the lineup that you put
Speaker 2: out there. But you want to have some good wins.
Speaker 2: You want to have baby steps to something bigger for
Speaker 2: next season. But am I going to act like yesterday
Speaker 2: was the biggest loss in Giants history?
Speaker 1: Absolutely not.
Speaker 3: Well, you make a great point about how it's not
Speaker 3: like the NFL where you have to chew on it.
Speaker 3: And especially if you lose on Thursday Night Football, you've
Speaker 3: got to chew on it for 10 days. You get
Speaker 3: to come out today, which helps. But the thing is, yesterday,
Speaker 3: even the Reds knew that they lost. That's the thing.
Speaker 3: They know they're not going to score six runs on
Speaker 3: the top of the ninth, as bad as the Giants are.
Speaker 1: They're not going to give up. They're going to try.
Speaker 1: But they know they lost. They got one foot on
Speaker 1: a plane.
Speaker 3: But when you are so bad, and everyone knows you're bad,
Speaker 3: you got a rookie manager trying his hardest. The umpires,
Speaker 3: I don't think, respect him very much. I guess you
Speaker 3: got to earn it. And then you take it to
Speaker 3: a level that we haven't seen since 1901. So no
Speaker 3: one alive has ever seen this.
Speaker 1: When you go.
Speaker 3: To a, like, you think you're on the bottom floor
Speaker 3: and then you go to this basement that you didn't
Speaker 3: even know was there. That's when it starts to feel sickening.
Speaker 1: You know, before it's like, ah, we suck. Lots of
Speaker 1: teams suck. The A's suck.
Speaker 8: Right.
Speaker 1: The Rockies suck.
Speaker 4: Whatever.
Speaker 1: You're lame.
Speaker 3: You know, whatever you want to blame it on. But
Speaker 3: when you do something so preposterous. is that I almost
Speaker 3: feel like you should give the fans their money back.
Speaker 3: I mean, it was just, they're not going to do that.
Speaker 3: They're not going to do that. But I mean, in
Speaker 3: a way it's sort of like, I remember at the
Speaker 3: Coliseum when Nick Foles through, I think it was seven
Speaker 3: touchdowns and then they benched him because they thought we
Speaker 3: have to let, this is getting out of control.
Speaker 1: Now was it Riley? Who was that racist receiver? Oh,
Speaker 1: Riley Cooper.
Speaker 4: Yeah. I remember him. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1: He went to a country concert and he said the
Speaker 1: wrong word. Um, yeah, on purpose.
Speaker 3: Um, but I remember I came down from the press
Speaker 3: box and I just stood on the concourse as I
Speaker 3: grew up in section one 28 row 32. That's where
Speaker 3: my dad has season tickets all through the seventies. And
Speaker 3: I just stood there and it was almost like, this
Speaker 3: is so horrifying. I can't believe what I'm watching.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: It's theater of the absurd.
Speaker 3: It's whatever you want to call it, but that that's
Speaker 3: what the giant, and that's why I couldn't stop listening.
Speaker 3: of the flame story yesterday and listening to John and
Speaker 3: Dave as they described it. And we know John Miller,
Speaker 3: if you do stupid base running, he'll say.
Speaker 1: That was the worst base running in the history of baseball. Fantastic.
Speaker 4: Cool. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So, uh, yeah, I.
Speaker 3: And look, you know, it doesn't matter as you say,
Speaker 3: because they wave the white flag, but they took it
Speaker 3: to a new level of futility that none of us
Speaker 3: have ever seen in our lives.
Speaker 1: No, I totally get that. I'm not saying it doesn't matter.
Speaker 2: I think it matters for Tony Vitale and everybody in
Speaker 2: that clubhouse right now, because yes, even though they wave
Speaker 2: the white flag to them, there's still season to be had.
Speaker 2: There's there's games to be played. So I totally get
Speaker 2: it from their perspective and Tony should be pissed off.
Speaker 2: The whole team should be pissed off for what happened yesterday.
Speaker 2: But like, For us as, you know, sports talk radio
Speaker 2: hosts to say, like, that was an all-time bad moment,
Speaker 2: it was. But as far as this season, I've seen
Speaker 2: a lot of bad moments. And when we reflect on
Speaker 2: it when the season's over, yeah, you're going to remember
Speaker 2: that bad loss, but.
Speaker 1: There's been a lot of bad losses this year. This
Speaker 1: bullpen is terrible. You know who I blame? Who do
Speaker 1: you blame? Jay Stengler.
Speaker 2: Well, you really can't blame Tony Vitello because he was
Speaker 2: thrown out in the first inning.
Speaker 3: Jace Tingler was the manager for the worst inning in
Speaker 3: 125 years of Giants baseball.
Speaker 1: I just thought I'd throw that in.
Speaker 4: That is true.
Speaker 1: He didn't play, but he was the skipper.
Speaker 2: And you also made a good point. I thought that
Speaker 2: he was thrown out way too quickly. Do you think
Speaker 2: that umpires are not respecting Tony Vitello?
Speaker 5: No.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: It's pretty apparent.
Speaker 3: I feel bad for Tony because I think he's just way, way,
Speaker 3: way too much of a nice guy. He seems too
Speaker 3: milquetoast to me. Well, did you hear the call when
Speaker 3: he got thrown out? He wasn't very nice to the umpire.
Speaker 3: I heard every word, but do you see how he
Speaker 3: said it? He said it like he was backing up.
Speaker 1: You know what I mean?
Speaker 3: It wasn't like some Gene Mock, Billy Martin type of
Speaker 3: get-in-your-face type of thing.
Speaker 1: Earl Weaver.
Speaker 3: It was sort of like, I'm going to come to
Speaker 3: kind of the on-deck circle, and I'm going to say,
Speaker 3: F you, that was dumb. F you, and now I'm
Speaker 3: walking backwards. What did you want? You wanted to get
Speaker 3: in his face? I wanted him to get his money's worth.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And that doesn't mean throw all the bats and balls
Speaker 3: and pull up third base and pretend it's a grenade.
Speaker 1: And yeah, when's the last time we saw that?
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Well, I'm, I'm just saying if somebody throws you out,
Speaker 3: you get in their face and you, you, and if
Speaker 3: you're going to, if you're going to swear and act
Speaker 3: like a jackass, get your money's worth because a lot
Speaker 3: of these umpires are just these guys, you know, they
Speaker 3: make longshoremen blush the kind of language that they hear.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So in, in a weird way, I think you're going
Speaker 3: to earn your respect by not acting milk toast.
Speaker 1: You know what I mean? And just being like, Hey, you,
Speaker 1: you're really dumb.
Speaker 4: F you.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 4: Bye.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, it started with him saying, make the
Speaker 2: right call. And then he was tossed and then he
Speaker 2: went livid. And I totally understand that kind of livid. Well,
Speaker 2: From what it sounded like on the flamethrower, yeah, he
Speaker 2: was a little pissed. But I think that he's toned
Speaker 2: it down a little bit because the perception of him
Speaker 2: coming into the bigs is he's this crazy guy from Tennessee,
Speaker 2: and he goes into the fans or the other stands
Speaker 2: with the fans, and he's very volatile, and he says
Speaker 2: what he feels all the time. And I haven't seen
Speaker 2: that this year. I think he realizes I've got to
Speaker 2: be more professional. Someone probably got to him and said
Speaker 2: he can't act that way with the Giants.
Speaker 3: I just think you, and it just, remember you can
Speaker 3: take the kid out of Richmond. You can't take the
Speaker 3: Richmond kid.
Speaker 1: I need to talk about yourself.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: You gotta, you need someone who's a Mac. You know
Speaker 1: what I mean? A Mac daddy, just a Mac. You
Speaker 1: need somebody that, you know, is going to be the man.
Speaker 1: And I'm not saying he's not a man. I'm not
Speaker 1: trying to say anything bad about him. I feel bad
Speaker 1: for him. I think he's a very bright baseball mind.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: But you know, you think Bob Melvin would have walked
Speaker 3: to the on-deck circle and say.
Speaker 1: Screw you, a-hole, and then leave?
Speaker 4: No.
Speaker 1: He would have stayed out there for a little bit
Speaker 1: of time.
Speaker 3: Oh, he wouldn't have turned his hat around, but he
Speaker 3: would have gone out there and made sure that spit
Speaker 3: got on his glasses.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but he's been, I mean, Bob Melvin's been in
Speaker 2: this game for quite some time, so he has experience.
Speaker 2: I think that Tony Vitale is getting his feet wet
Speaker 2: and yeah, he's going to learn how to run a bullpen.
Speaker 2: He's going to learn a lot of things in this
Speaker 2: league that honestly, I don't think he's gotten the chance
Speaker 2: to because this team has been so bad. Like honestly,
Speaker 2: how much do you blame Tony Vitale for this season?
Speaker 4: None.
Speaker 2: And that's crazy to think about when we went into
Speaker 2: this season and he comes in as an inexperienced manager
Speaker 2: and they're 25 games below 500 and it's not his fault.
Speaker 3: I said on these airwaves, when you guys had me
Speaker 3: on in the spring, I said, who in their right
Speaker 3: mind would think the Giants would be better this year?
Speaker 1: Who, who, who? That was my owl impression. Who, who, who?
Speaker 1: It's pretty good.
Speaker 3: Yeah, because there was no reason. If you just looked
Speaker 3: at the lineup, forget that they're in a division with
Speaker 3: the Padres and the Dodgers. And look, the Diamondbacks are
Speaker 3: trying to get that last wild card. But if you
Speaker 3: just looked on paper, why would you ever think that
Speaker 3: they would be better than a 500 team? 500 was
Speaker 3: the best they could possibly be, and that's what they
Speaker 3: had been doing for year after year after year.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So why would you think? And they go, well, now
Speaker 1: we've got a full year of Rafi. We've got this
Speaker 1: and that. So it was hopeful thinking. But I looked
Speaker 1: at it, and I'm no genius. We all looked at it,
Speaker 1: and we were like, you have to be realistic. There's
Speaker 1: no way they're going to be a winning team with
Speaker 1: this lineup. I didn't think so.
Speaker 2: I thought that the offense would be better, and they
Speaker 2: definitely scuffled the first, God, how many months of the season.
Speaker 2: And then Rafael Devers has turned things around, obviously. People
Speaker 2: were down on him. People were obviously down on Willie Adamas. But, yeah,
Speaker 2: it really was the bullpen. And, yes, there were times
Speaker 2: where Tony Vitello made questionable moves, but that's going to
Speaker 2: happen with a rookie manager, especially coming from college.
Speaker 1: Can I ask you because— No, you may not.
Speaker 3: Maybe I'm not watching close enough because there are guys
Speaker 3: who step over the line. That's two mound visits. Or
Speaker 3: like when Boshi said Mattingly stepped on the mound in Miami,
Speaker 3: that's two mound visits. There are things or like when
Speaker 3: Kapler and Philly said, give me the right hander.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: No one's warming up. So you can have that.
Speaker 3: And there was a thing earlier this year where like,
Speaker 3: did you raise your right hand to your left hand?
Speaker 3: It turned out that was a misunderstanding. That wasn't even
Speaker 3: his fault.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 3: Or when he goes, why would you do that replay?
Speaker 3: And it's like, it's the eye in the sky. The
Speaker 3: guys in the booth tell him to.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 3: So has he done one single solitary thing? egregiously wrong
Speaker 3: as a manager outside of, you know, pitching changes.
Speaker 1: Has he done anything boneheaded? I would say, and Danny,
Speaker 1: correct me if.
Speaker 2: I'm wrong here, was it Caleb Killian he put out
Speaker 2: there three days in a row? Was that the, remember
Speaker 2: when people were talking about that early in the season?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I believe it was Killian.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was the one thing where I was like,
Speaker 2: you're sending your reliever out there, your closer out there
Speaker 2: three days.
Speaker 1: People were questioning that move.
Speaker 3: Well, how many pitches did he throw the two days prior, though?
Speaker 1: It was a questionable move, especially when he was dealing
Speaker 1: with injuries. That's not boneheaded.
Speaker 2: It's not boneheaded. I wouldn't say anything was boneheaded. I
Speaker 2: think it's just growing pains. I think it's where you
Speaker 2: don't have a lot of experience as a manager. You're
Speaker 2: going to learn these things on the fly. Even though
Speaker 2: he has a ton of experience on his staff, whether
Speaker 2: it's Chase Tingler or Ron Washington.
Speaker 1: They fired Bjorn Borg. What's up? Hector Borg. Oh, yeah,
Speaker 1: Hector Borg. Yeah, exactly. What'd you call him? Bjorn Borg.
Speaker 1: Bjorn Borg.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: But, yeah, people were kind of like, why would Buster
Speaker 2: announce he's coming back next season?
Speaker 1: Because that was always part of the plan. He started
Speaker 1: the hip with Buster.
Speaker 2: And honestly, if they're going to fire Tony Vitale, then
Speaker 2: Buster needs to go too, but that's not happening.
Speaker 3: Well, this is the thing. Like, so just, we already said,
Speaker 3: you're going to talk Raiders later. So Mark, when Mark
Speaker 3: Davis took over, he's like, I can't be the guy
Speaker 3: that fires you after one year.
Speaker 1: I don't want to be known like that. And so
Speaker 1: he'd have a guy. He's done that quite often. Well,
Speaker 1: now he has.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So I'm sure Buster's like, I'm not going to be
Speaker 3: the guy that goes out on the limb, makes this
Speaker 3: great reach for a college guy with no pro experience,
Speaker 3: never rode the buses, was never in the minors and
Speaker 3: then just fire him. because I don't want to be
Speaker 3: that guy and I want to show that I was right.
Speaker 3: Or do you say, no, it takes a big man
Speaker 3: to make, to admit he made a mistake, but I'm
Speaker 3: of the mindset that you could have taken Miller Huggins.
Speaker 3: I mean, pick one of the great managers of all time,
Speaker 3: Casey Stengel. You could put him with this team and
Speaker 3: how many more, if you have the best manager in
Speaker 3: the history of baseball, what.
Speaker 1: Do they have three or four more wins?
Speaker 3: This is not on Vitello, but I don't think it's
Speaker 3: a good look that he's kind of milk toast.
Speaker 1: That's all I'm saying.
Speaker 2: No, I hear you on that, and I think that
Speaker 2: a lot of Giants fans will say, well, put Bruce
Speaker 2: Bochy in there, put Dusty Baker in there, and they
Speaker 2: have a winning record.
Speaker 1: Absolutely not. No, not unless they're going to pitch and
Speaker 1: hit very well.
Speaker 5: Exactly.
Speaker 2: Rick Tittle, Derek Papa, we got you until 545 when
Speaker 2: the Giants take on the Diamondbacks. We're taking your calls, 415-808-5627.
Speaker 2: Your reaction to yesterday's loss, the Giants blow a 9-3
Speaker 2: lead in the top of the ninth. We can talk
Speaker 2: about that along with your faith in Buster Posey. And
Speaker 2: who's the most trustworthy GM in all of Bay Area
Speaker 2: sports right now? Where does Buster Posey fall on that list? Tittle, Papa,
Speaker 2: Dirty Work on The Sports Leader.
Speaker 1: Who, who, who?
Speaker 5: You found Dirty Work with Adam Copeland and Derek Papa.
Speaker 5: Where no job is too dirty on KNBR, The Sports Leader.
Speaker 2: How's it hangin'? Dirty work on a Thursday. Adam Copeland,
Speaker 2: he's got pregame duty for the 49ers and Raiders tonight.
Speaker 2: You catch that broadcast on KSFO. We're holding things down
Speaker 2: with Rick Tittle today. Take you up until 545 for
Speaker 2: some Giants D-backs action.
Speaker 1: By the way. Oh, turn that mic on.
Speaker 3: By the way, on the Golden State Lumber and Shroom
Speaker 3: text line, the 916.
Speaker 1: Hey, that's my job. Agrees with me.
Speaker 3: He says he should have gone ape on the umpires
Speaker 3: three or four times by now just for respect.
Speaker 1: It was about respect. That's what Tony Vitello is looking
Speaker 1: for these days.
Speaker 3: Well, you shouldn't have to earn respect that way. But
Speaker 3: with those dumbass umpires, that's the way you have to
Speaker 3: do it sometimes.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, it's going to take some time for him.
Speaker 2: But honestly, you can't blame the loss on him yesterday
Speaker 2: because he wasn't out there. We're taking your calls.
Speaker 4: 415-808-5627.
Speaker 1: On the giants.
Speaker 2: Debacle yesterday the collapse in the ninth inning let's go
Speaker 2: to the phone lines but the gt in oakland gt
Speaker 2: you're on with tittle and pop up.
Speaker 9: Created a review at brother rater fair to lives on uh.
Speaker 4: what that.
Speaker 9: But seventy-five i was there to brother like right after
Speaker 9: they treated bay yet he was all that we call
Speaker 9: it the cursor here bobby partner because what he got
Speaker 9: there That's when you heard the complaint about no one
Speaker 9: can hit home runs there, where Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Cepeda,
Speaker 9: even Jim Ray Hart hit 30 home runs there. So
Speaker 9: thank you for bringing up the 70s Giants. And this
Speaker 9: team is probably just as bad.
Speaker 1: Might be even worse. Who was your favorite guy? Was
Speaker 1: it Mike Ivey, Chris Spire, the Count? Who was it?
Speaker 9: I couldn't stand any of those guys.
Speaker 1: Thank you for the call, Jeff. Yeah, I mean, you
Speaker 1: know who I liked? I liked the Sheik, Mike Sadek.
Speaker 6: Oh, yeah?
Speaker 1: Yeah, good guy.
Speaker 4: Nice.
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, I mean, this might be an all-time giant
Speaker 2: season as far as losses. I was talking to our guy,
Speaker 2: John Curlin. He was like, I just don't want them
Speaker 2: to lose 11 games this year.
Speaker 1: Or, sorry, 11 games. We're way past that.
Speaker 2: 100 games this season. And I hear some people be like, whatever.
Speaker 2: At this point, who cares? 100 losses, it is what
Speaker 2: it is. That is an all-time bad season, and one
Speaker 2: that you will remember.
Speaker 3: It's mostly for the fans. It's not like, I mean,
Speaker 3: when you go through and you go like, oh yeah,
Speaker 3: the Tigers lost 112. Like every team has those embarrassing seasons.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 1: But it's mostly just for their own fan base to
Speaker 1: suffer with.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 1: But I get what Curly's saying is a lifelong San Franciscan.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 1: No, I mean, I get that. Like there's a point
Speaker 1: of pride.
Speaker 2: And I think Tony Vitello wants to build it up
Speaker 2: right now. You hear him the last few weeks, they
Speaker 2: lost a game. I think it was against the Rockies
Speaker 2: on a Sunday where he was like, it looked like
Speaker 2: we were a junior college team out there. Hmm.
Speaker 1: And he said, I was a Juco guy.
Speaker 4: So I know.
Speaker 1: Well, yes, but you case. Okay. So you don't like
Speaker 1: that though. No, that's fine.
Speaker 3: But you, I like Tony. You want a little more
Speaker 3: red ass. No, I like Tony Vitale. I just think
Speaker 3: if you're going to get thrown out, don't go. You
Speaker 3: know how, like in an NBA team fight, there's like
Speaker 3: a guy who's six, eight being held back.
Speaker 1: Hold me back, man. Hold me back by a five
Speaker 1: foot eight. Brill creamed ref.
Speaker 8: Yes.
Speaker 3: Like if this guy, you know, if Billy Barty wasn't
Speaker 3: holding me right now, I'd be whooping y'all behind. You know,
Speaker 3: just go out there and actually, it's like you lose
Speaker 3: your game check when you get thrown out.
Speaker 1: Go out there and rip that guy.
Speaker 3: If you think he was wrong and he's getting it wrong,
Speaker 3: and I understand, and for people who don't know, sorry
Speaker 3: if I'm patronizing you, darling, but you can't complain about
Speaker 3: balls and strikes.
Speaker 1: You can be thrown out immediately.
Speaker 3: And it's almost like Aaron Boone.
Speaker 1: That wasn't even me! That was the fan behind me!
Speaker 3: You know, he's always getting thrown out. That was one
Speaker 3: of my favorites. But, you know, it's it's just like,
Speaker 3: come on, get it right. And so what a good
Speaker 3: empire would do is you give a glare, you give
Speaker 3: a glare and then they say, stop chirping.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Tony, Tony, I'm going to run you. I'm going to
Speaker 1: run you. Shut up. Shut up.
Speaker 4: No.
Speaker 1: You don't just. He's not getting that his first year.
Speaker 5: No.
Speaker 1: It's just like, what'd you say? Get it right. Bye-bye.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Have a nice shower. No. I hear you.
Speaker 2: I think that maybe he needs to show a little
Speaker 2: more emotion, but then again, it's tough where he's known
Speaker 2: from that, from the college ranks.
Speaker 1: Let's go back. Let's go back out to the phone lines. 415-808-5627.
Speaker 2: If you want to get in the conversation, let's go
Speaker 2: to Todd in Fresno. Let's talk about the Giants bullpen. Todd,
Speaker 2: you're on with Rick Tittle and Derek Papa.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm coach pitching and a guy in the bullpen
Speaker 4: coaching at the JUCO level. I can tell you, if
Speaker 4: we played like.
Speaker 3: Some of the Giants games, we probably would have different
Speaker 3: guys playing the next day.
Speaker 4: The next day we'd be practicing until dark. So it's
Speaker 4: a little bit different, I know, in the bigs. But
Speaker 4: the bullpen, I look at these guys, they all throw hard.
Speaker 4: These guys, I mean, they're all 96, 97, but it
Speaker 4: just looks like they're the same guy that goes out there.
Speaker 4: Every guy looks the same. Nobody pitches to a strength.
Speaker 4: There's no differential.
Speaker 6: I mean, with Tyler Rodgers, at least you had somebody
Speaker 6: that was a little bit different than.
Speaker 4: The other guys. Right. And there's just no change.
Speaker 6: And for people to say, well, hitting's harder today because
Speaker 6: you face a different guy, well, it's not harder when.
Speaker 1: You face their bullpens.
Speaker 4: No, exactly.
Speaker 3: And you know, in a lot of ways, people say
Speaker 3: it could be easier because people throw so hard right now.
Speaker 3: You're not even dealing with more breaking stuff.
Speaker 4: No, exactly.
Speaker 2: And we appreciate the call, Todd. I mean, the bottom
Speaker 2: line is like we talked about it for months now.
Speaker 2: The bullpen is awful. It's been that way for quite
Speaker 2: some time. And going into the season, we questioned the bullpen. And,
Speaker 2: you know, just going back to Buster Posey going on
Speaker 2: with Murph and Marcus saying like, well, what do you
Speaker 2: want me to go do? Go get Edwin Diaz. And no,
Speaker 2: I don't have any restrictions on who I can offer
Speaker 2: money to in the offseason. They neglected the bullpen, and
Speaker 2: they wanted to do that because they were banking on
Speaker 2: Randy Rodriguez to come back next season. They didn't care
Speaker 2: about the bullpen. They didn't care about the pitchers. They
Speaker 2: wanted the offense to score runs, and they were slow
Speaker 2: out the gate. So this is where they're at right now.
Speaker 3: By the way, as a personal aside here, you did
Speaker 3: ask me on, so I'm going to give you some.
Speaker 7: Ready?
Speaker 4: Sure.
Speaker 3: When that guy said practice in the dark, it gave
Speaker 3: me chills because when I was playing football in college,
Speaker 3: my position coach, I was a DB.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 1: He's like, all right, we're going to practice in the dark.
Speaker 1: And we're like, we don't have any lights on. If
Speaker 1: we're just practicing in the dark. Not bad. But it's
Speaker 1: standard time, right? So it gets dark at 5.
Speaker 3: He drove his Jeep, and he was one of those
Speaker 3: jackasses that had, like, floodlights on the roll bar.
Speaker 1: You know, I drove a Jeep. Did you have? A
Speaker 1: Jeep Wrangler. Did you have floodlights on the roll bar?
Speaker 4: No, I didn't.
Speaker 1: I just wanted to make you feel weird for a moment. Okay, thanks.
Speaker 3: And my brother drove one, too. What a horrible car
Speaker 3: that thing was.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Just bumpy as hell.
Speaker 3: But anyway, he drove out onto the practice field, turned
Speaker 3: on the lights, and we did practice in the dark.
Speaker 4: Nice.
Speaker 1: Yeah, not nice.
Speaker 5: Oh.
Speaker 3: No, but anyway, it gave me a chill. But back
Speaker 3: to the show. Let me know when we come back
Speaker 3: from the break. I won't tell stories anymore.
Speaker 1: Going back onto the phone lines. But I know what
Speaker 1: he's saying. Oh, there's more?
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, just the whole thing about, you know, junior college.
Speaker 3: There are so many great junior college. I mean, look
Speaker 3: at in the back. I mean, Bryce Harper went to
Speaker 3: junior college in Vegas.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Bob Melvin, when he was at Cal after his freshman year,
Speaker 3: he's like, well, I got to wait two more years
Speaker 3: to get drafted, but I want to get drafted now.
Speaker 3: And they go, well, you can go to La Canyada.
Speaker 3: And then get drafted in a year. He goes, okay,
Speaker 3: and I'll do that. There's some great Juco players.
Speaker 1: Real quick, you.
Speaker 2: Brought up Bob Melvin a few times, and you know
Speaker 2: him going back to the A's days. Do you think
Speaker 2: they should have stuck with him? The way I think
Speaker 2: you're kind of alluding to it is you think that
Speaker 2: maybe they should have stuck with him for another season, no?
Speaker 3: Well, I love Bob, but he wouldn't have done, like
Speaker 3: I said, he'd probably have three or four more wins.
Speaker 1: It's draws.
Speaker 3: There's double-digit guys that have made their debuts, They got
Speaker 3: a guy who I thought was the Nebraska quarterback throwing
Speaker 3: a ball to who Irving fryer, who dropped it in
Speaker 3: the national championship, Turner Gill. No, it's Turner Hill. Like,
Speaker 3: you know, you got a, you got a hunter mints.
Speaker 3: You got a guy named, you got a guy named message.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: It's almost like this. It's if they had better names,
Speaker 3: it'd be a better team. That's that's right. It's a
Speaker 3: parallel universe of bizarro names. And that's what we.
Speaker 1: Have right now. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 4: Exactly.
Speaker 2: We'll be joined by Sam Gordon of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Speaker 2: Talk a little Raiders with him. But let's finish up
Speaker 2: these phone calls. Let's go out to Jeff in L.A.
Speaker 2: He thinks it's not Vitello's fault. Jeff, you're on with
Speaker 2: Rick Tittle and Derek Papa.
Speaker 4: Hey, guys.
Speaker 6: Derek, first and foremost, my best, best wishes to your dad.
Speaker 1: I appreciate that, man. Thank you.
Speaker 4: Yeah, more than anything else.
Speaker 6: I'm another 70s guy, so you got the gray hairs today, guys.
Speaker 8: Nice.
Speaker 6: And really, yeah, and I'm thinking, I've been thinking it's like,
Speaker 6: Who are the greatest managers I've seen in my 50-plus
Speaker 6: years of watching baseball? Guys that really made a difference. And,
Speaker 6: you know, you go back to the Earl Weavers, Miss
Speaker 6: Sparky Anderson, Billy Martin, certainly. Then, of course, for us,
Speaker 6: Bruce Bochy and, you know, and Dusty Baker. None of
Speaker 6: these guys could win with this team. Maybe three, four wins, maybe,
Speaker 6: you know, honestly. So I don't put this at Tony.
Speaker 6: It starts to me at the very, very top. It
Speaker 6: starts with management picking a head of baseball operations who
Speaker 6: had no experience. And then that guy goes and he
Speaker 6: hires a manager that had no professional experience. I don't
Speaker 6: think you need to connect the dots here. I don't
Speaker 6: think it's that complicated guys. I don't know why they
Speaker 6: would not have just gone to one of the great
Speaker 6: franchises like Milwaukee or like Tampa or Cleveland and get
Speaker 6: the number two guy at one of those places and,
Speaker 6: and pick them. I don't, I really don't understand it.
Speaker 6: And then guys, last thing, you know, if I were
Speaker 6: a reporter and, I would be asking Buster, if I
Speaker 6: could get one question, I would say, Buster, you ran
Speaker 6: three world championship pitching staffs from starter, from number one,
Speaker 6: all the way through the bullpen and all the way
Speaker 6: to the closer. And then you went and did what
Speaker 6: you did in this offseason or didn't do what you
Speaker 6: didn't do in the offseason. How could you possibly have
Speaker 6: thought that this would have been a solution? I'd love
Speaker 6: to know what his answer is.
Speaker 2: No, I appreciate the call, Jeff. And the answer is
Speaker 2: he was restricted on what he could do this offseason.
Speaker 2: He could say all he wants that he wasn't, but
Speaker 2: he was. That's my belief. Well, also, at the beginning
Speaker 2: of the year, you look at the bright spots. And
Speaker 2: Logan Webb, Robbie Way is a pretty good one, too.
Speaker 4: Yes.
Speaker 3: And you kind of think, all right, that's the hard thing.
Speaker 3: We got our two guys. And Landon Roop started hard.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: And how do we fill that out now?
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And, you know, the closer situation wasn't rectified. But, you know,
Speaker 3: as you say, like you want to go out and
Speaker 3: get Edwin Diaz. If you just want to go for
Speaker 3: the name. Now, sometimes you remember Sabian's lunatic fringe thing
Speaker 3: about getting Vlad Sr.
Speaker 4: In here.
Speaker 3: Sometimes there is a guy right in front of you
Speaker 3: you think will make it, but you get to a
Speaker 3: certain point in the season where you have guys like
Speaker 3: Buddy Kennedy making stupid throws like he did yesterday. I mean,
Speaker 3: it's just like, well, who the hell's Buddy Kennedy? And
Speaker 3: then you look up his baseball card and.
Speaker 1: You're like, oh. And look, he's in the big leagues
Speaker 1: and we're not. Congratulations. And he's not trying to mess up.
Speaker 1: He's trying to do it.
Speaker 4: Of course, of course.
Speaker 3: But this is, and this is why the talent In
Speaker 3: American sports, we have over 30 in baseball. Most leagues
Speaker 3: have more, 32. The talent is so watered down now.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And I was looking at the Brewers who are last
Speaker 3: in home runs, but they're 50 games over 500 because
Speaker 3: they pitch so well.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And they're third in batting in all of baseball with
Speaker 3: a 254 average.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Like back when baseball was our only sport and you
Speaker 3: had like 12 teams. Now that was segregation going on too.
Speaker 3: You got to put that in, but all the best
Speaker 3: athletes play baseball. And as I forgot what year it was,
Speaker 3: but as a league, I think the AL hit 300
Speaker 3: as a league. Now that sounds like a pioneer league
Speaker 3: stats now where no one can pitch. But it is
Speaker 3: amazing now how much we just, I remember a name drop.
Speaker 3: I talked to Steve Garvey and he said, if he
Speaker 3: hit a home run and struck out the other three times,
Speaker 3: he would be humiliated to go back into the clubhouse
Speaker 3: and face his teammates. And now that's a great game. Hey, man,
Speaker 3: you hit a home run. Who cares about the three Ks?
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 2: That's just the way the game is right now. One
Speaker 2: last call. Let's go out to Coach Rick in Morgan Hill.
Speaker 2: Coach Rick, you're on with Rick Tittle and Derek Papa.
Speaker 5: Hey, guys.
Speaker 4: Appreciate you taking the call. And again, all the best
Speaker 4: to your dad, man. We're there with him. We're supportive.
Speaker 1: Appreciate that, Rich. Thank you.
Speaker 9: I wasn't aware that you lose your game check when
Speaker 9: you get tossed.
Speaker 4: Does it go to charity?
Speaker 9: Do you guys know where it goes?
Speaker 1: I don't know that, Rick. I didn't understand him. Thank
Speaker 1: you for the call, Rich. He was asking when you
Speaker 1: get tossed, you don't get a game check. That's the
Speaker 1: way it's supposed to work, yeah.
Speaker 4: All right.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Did not know that either.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, that's unfortunate. You don't get paid, so don't get
Speaker 1: thrown out.
Speaker 2: And the Giants are 0-4 when Tony Vitello is thrown
Speaker 2: out this season. So has it gone in their favor?
Speaker 1: How much is a game check for Vitello? Do we know?
Speaker 1: I'm not sure about that one. Okay, we'll get our
Speaker 1: staff on that. Danny, look that up for us. A loader. Oh,
Speaker 1: he's long gone.
Speaker 4: Oh, yeah, yeah. Come on.
Speaker 1: Oh, okay. Come on, yeah. He's listening. He's listening. 2.50
Speaker 1: in the afternoon. He's long gone, man.
Speaker 7: Text us.
Speaker 2: He's preparing for Stanford Pre. Listen to my riveting interview
Speaker 2: with Andrew Luck. You can find that on thesportsleader.com or
Speaker 2: thesportsleader app.
Speaker 1: Can I just throw this in, too?
Speaker 4: Sure.
Speaker 1: Just for fun. Throw everything in.
Speaker 3: Because it was cool to see Lund. And we know
Speaker 3: the circumstances of him coming in were not what we
Speaker 3: all wanted.
Speaker 8: Of course.
Speaker 1: Of course.
Speaker 3: And I remember he and I, before Super Bowl 50,
Speaker 3: we hosted a Wounded Warriors event. I remember that. Didn't
Speaker 3: Snoop Dogg appear at that? Snoop Dogg was supposed to
Speaker 3: appear longer. Left at halftime.
Speaker 1: No, he left after 10 minutes.
Speaker 2: Oh, okay.
Speaker 3: And he took a check. So that was not very cool.
Speaker 3: Come on, Snoopaloop. No, he needed gin and juice. I
Speaker 3: don't know. Throw in a joke. But anyway, my my
Speaker 3: point is and he didn't ask me to say this
Speaker 3: obviously i've never seen a guy do more prep for
Speaker 3: a show oh johnny one i remember over at the
Speaker 3: fm station it would be hours and hours and hours
Speaker 3: and hours after his show and he would be there
Speaker 3: i go what do you because i was doing a
Speaker 3: night show what are you doing here yeah getting ready
Speaker 3: for tomorrow So I'll just throw that out, that I
Speaker 3: have a lot of respect for the guy, not just
Speaker 3: as a good host. And as he said, this isn't
Speaker 3: how we wanted to get him back.
Speaker 6: No.
Speaker 4: Obviously.
Speaker 1: But no one puts more effort into a show than
Speaker 1: that guy. Oh, absolutely. Jean-Len's the best. You know who
Speaker 1: else is the best? You. Sam Gordon.
Speaker 2: Sam Gordon from the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He'll join us next,
Speaker 2: talking some Raiders and some 49ers. You can find that
Speaker 2: broadcast at KSFO. It's Rick Tittle, Derek Papa, on the
Speaker 2: Esports Leader.
Speaker 4: One day.
Speaker 2: One day, some of the kids from the neighborhood carried
Speaker 2: my mother's groceries all the way home.
Speaker 8: You know why?
Speaker 1: It was out of respect.
Speaker 5: Now, back to dirty work. Adam Copeland and Derek Papa
Speaker 5: in the KNBR Casino Matrix Progressive Jackpot Studios. Casino Matrix
Speaker 5: Progressive Jackpots are here.
Speaker 1: Where are you?
Speaker 5: Just drop in.
Speaker 1: Please play responsibly.
Speaker 5: Call 1-800-GAMBLER.
Speaker 2: We got the Raiders and the 49ers squaring off tonight.
Speaker 2: You can catch that broadcast on KSFO. And to get
Speaker 2: the Raider perspective, let's join an old friend, or let's
Speaker 2: talk to an old friend, Sam Gordon. He used to
Speaker 2: cover the Warriors for the Chronicle. Now he covers the
Speaker 2: Raiders for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Speaker 1: Sam, what's going on? You're on with Rick Tittle and
Speaker 1: Derek Papa. How are you doing?
Speaker 4: What's up, fellas? Doing well. Happy Thursday.
Speaker 8: Looking forward to the Battle of the Bay tonight at
Speaker 8: Elysian Stadium.
Speaker 4: So excited to be out there. And always great to
Speaker 4: be on the airwaves with KBR.
Speaker 2: Does it still feel like the Battle of the Bay
Speaker 2: to you, though, Sam, now that the Raiders are in
Speaker 2: Las Vegas?
Speaker 8: Not quite, you know, not quite, but I will tell
Speaker 8: you my time in the Bay, obviously, I covered the
Speaker 8: Raiders a little bit. I wasn't, you know, the front-facing
Speaker 8: beat writer before I got out to San Francisco to
Speaker 8: cover the Warriors for the Chronicle. But I spent, you know,
Speaker 8: a little bit of time covering the team, and I
Speaker 8: was on the periphery of our coverage here at the RJ.
Speaker 8: I think having gone to the Bay and being there
Speaker 8: for a while and getting an understanding of what what
Speaker 8: the Bay, what Oakland doesn't have anymore now that the
Speaker 8: Raiders are here gives me, I think, a little bit
Speaker 8: of perspective that, hey, maybe it's not what it necessarily
Speaker 8: used to be, but there still is, I think, a
Speaker 8: little bit of significance between this matchup. And I think
Speaker 8: that significance is really going to be highlighted. I mean,
Speaker 8: we'll see if it comes to pass, right? But that
Speaker 8: second Sunday in November at Levi's Stadium, the Raiders' first
Speaker 8: time up there for a regular season game since they've left.
Speaker 4: To Las Vegas.
Speaker 8: I believe it'll be the first time playing in San
Speaker 8: Francisco since 2018. So that, I think, Uh, we'll feel
Speaker 8: a little bit more like the battle of the Bay. Um,
Speaker 8: but not, not quite what it used to be. There's
Speaker 8: no question about that.
Speaker 2: No, there'll be a big moment when the Raiders come
Speaker 2: back to the Bay area. But, uh, we also, what
Speaker 2: happened this past weekend, Sam, uh, walk me through what happened.
Speaker 2: So Ashton Gentry collides with a player on the Raiders
Speaker 2: indoor practice facility. Gentry can't put any weight on that leg.
Speaker 2: gets helped off the field, and then the Raiders have
Speaker 2: a prayer circle. Turns out it's just an ankle sprain.
Speaker 2: How bad was the vibe in practice on Sunday, and
Speaker 2: does it sound like he'll be back sooner than later?
Speaker 8: Oh, man, it was, I mean, the reaction to Ashton
Speaker 8: Gentry going down, yeah, it suggested that this was something
Speaker 8: more severe than what it ultimately was, a right ankle
Speaker 8: sprain of some degree.
Speaker 4: So it was tough to see.
Speaker 8: We didn't have the greatest vantage point. We're behind that
Speaker 8: back end zone line on the baseline, so to speak,
Speaker 8: of the practice facility.
Speaker 4: And the play was going away.
Speaker 8: From where we were And you just kind of see
Speaker 8: gently out in the flats and daring, you know, the quarterback, Darian.
Speaker 4: Porter out that way. And yeah, he was down.
Speaker 8: There was music playing, got quiet. And lo and behold,
Speaker 8: the team is silent, you know, joined in prayer and, and,
Speaker 8: and he needed some help to get off the field.
Speaker 8: And the vibe was not good. I mean, the vibe wasn't.
Speaker 4: Good at all.
Speaker 8: They were, I think just again, seeing, gauging the reaction
Speaker 8: from the players and, a lot of whom saw that
Speaker 8: thing up close, certainly from a better vantage point than
Speaker 8: we saw it. If you, when you're reacting like that,
Speaker 8: it suggests a serious, but all things considered, you know,
Speaker 8: just a right ankle sprain of some degree. I still
Speaker 8: don't think there's a necessarily a firm timetable on a return.
Speaker 8: I don't think a returning week one has been ruled
Speaker 8: all the way out, but all things considered given what
Speaker 8: it looked like and what it felt like, you would
Speaker 8: have to say that the Raiders, you know, we, we
Speaker 8: asked Clint Kubiak about it the other day, like where the,
Speaker 8: where the prayers answered and, And he said, you know,
Speaker 8: God works on his timing more or less and his
Speaker 8: timing for Ashton Gentry figures to be early in the season. Nothing,
Speaker 8: nothing that is, you know, super concerning.
Speaker 4: At this point.
Speaker 8: And certainly nothing that is as bad as it looked
Speaker 8: to be gauging the reaction because it was definitely applied
Speaker 8: in there. Definitely morose for that part of practice and onward.
Speaker 1: Sam, Rick Tittle here.
Speaker 3: And obviously the Raiders offensive line was horrendous last year.
Speaker 3: And then you had Gino with no time. It was
Speaker 3: the recipe to be the worst team in football. And
Speaker 3: so Miller is healthy. We like JPJ. They went out
Speaker 3: and they spent all the money on Linderbaum, highest paid center.
Speaker 3: Spencer Burford probably at left guard. But I want to
Speaker 3: ask you about right tackle because I think a lot
Speaker 3: of Raider fans thought when they drafted Trey Zune that
Speaker 3: he would come in and start over Del Mar glaze.
Speaker 4: What?
Speaker 3: And usually you say, well, who cares about right tackle? Well,
Speaker 3: there's a defensive end on that side too. So what's
Speaker 3: going on at right tackle.
Speaker 9: Yeah.
Speaker 4: It's been DJ glaze the whole preseason.
Speaker 8: I mean, I don't think, I don't think there's been
Speaker 8: a single snap that he hasn't taken with the ones
Speaker 8: we know about his struggles last year, the penalties he's
Speaker 8: beaten for sacks and whatnot. He did not have a
Speaker 8: great year, but he is going to get the first
Speaker 8: crack at it. The coaching staff is, as there's been
Speaker 8: a little bit of rotation at right guard with, uh,
Speaker 8: With Jackson Powers Johnson and Caleb Rogers, I think still
Speaker 8: very much in competition for that spot. Although if you
Speaker 8: were to aggregate all the reps from starting training camp
Speaker 8: onward to today, Jackson Powers Johnson has taken, you know, more,
Speaker 8: certainly more reps than Caleb Rogers. But it's been DJ
Speaker 8: Glaze at that right tackle spot every single day running
Speaker 8: with that first group. I know a point major point
Speaker 8: of emphasis for him. This off season was conditioning and, and, and,
Speaker 8: and just getting his body together and, and, and working
Speaker 8: on his hands. He, you know, he shared with us
Speaker 8: that boxing was a focal point for him this off season,
Speaker 8: because you know, learning how to use your hands a
Speaker 8: little better and working with those. So he's going to
Speaker 8: get his first crack at it. I think that being said,
Speaker 8: I think the third round pick last year, Charles Grant
Speaker 8: has had a nice preseason, you know, repping at that,
Speaker 8: that swing tackle spot. He's had some big blocks. on
Speaker 8: the left side that opened up Mike Washington for some
Speaker 8: long runs and has just shown growth and development from
Speaker 8: year one where he was a pretty raw rookie taken
Speaker 8: out of a lower-level school and developing in this training
Speaker 8: camp under this coaching staff. So if there's somebody that's
Speaker 8: going to put pressure on DJ Glaze, that's, that's who
Speaker 8: it's going to be. But right now it's been, it's
Speaker 8: been DJ glaze running with that first team. Trey Zune
Speaker 8: has been repping across the offensive line, but snapping the
Speaker 8: ball lately with that, with that second team. And still
Speaker 8: don't think they're necessarily decided on a position yet. So
Speaker 8: ultimately the trajectory of the season in so many ways,
Speaker 8: including when Fernando Mendoza is, or isn't going to play
Speaker 8: is defined a lot by that offensive line. They don't,
Speaker 8: they don't want to put him out there in a
Speaker 8: situation where he's going to get, you know, where he's
Speaker 8: going to get smoked back there. And I think he's
Speaker 8: taking a little bit of punishment playing between that second,
Speaker 8: you know, playing behind that second team offensive line here
Speaker 8: in the preseason, they want to make sure that thing
Speaker 8: is in sync, at least that, you know, the best
Speaker 8: of its ability, I would imagine before he's out there,
Speaker 8: it's going to be better than last year. Like you mentioned,
Speaker 8: because of Colton Miller on that left side, being healthy
Speaker 8: because of Tyler Linder bomb, but I think still the
Speaker 8: ways to go before this thing coalesces and before they
Speaker 8: know exactly what they have up front on the offensive side.
Speaker 4: Of the ball.
Speaker 1: Talking to Sam Gordon on the UMA guest line.
Speaker 2: That was going to be my next question, Sam, is,
Speaker 2: you know, a lot's been made of Fernando Mendoza, obviously,
Speaker 2: with the first overall pick. Glenn Kubiak has said he's
Speaker 2: not ready to name a starting QB just yet. He
Speaker 2: did say when training camp started that Kirk Cousins will
Speaker 2: be the starter for now. And that's, you know, everything
Speaker 2: that he said has been, well, we want this guy
Speaker 2: to grow. We want Kirk Cousins to be in there
Speaker 2: for the first couple of weeks. Mendoza has looked good
Speaker 2: at times and bad at times during the pick six
Speaker 2: against the Houston Texans. Would you expect them to stick
Speaker 2: to the plan at this point where it's going to
Speaker 2: be Cousins for the first couple of weeks and then
Speaker 2: we could see Mendoza later on?
Speaker 8: Yeah, I mean, I don't think there's been anything that's changed.
Speaker 4: I don't think the calculus has changed at this point.
Speaker 8: After the preseason opener, Kirk Cousins and that first-team offense
Speaker 8: go right down the field.
Speaker 4: Against the Arizona Cardinals.
Speaker 8: Clint Rubio came out and said it's Kirk Cousins' job
Speaker 8: to lose, and that has... I don't think there's anything
Speaker 8: that's ha that's happened in practice that has caused Kirk
Speaker 8: cousins to lose the job.
Speaker 4: I think to your point, we've seen the, you see.
Speaker 8: There's been various throws, various junctures in the preseason where
Speaker 8: you see the number one overall pick package that Fernando
Speaker 8: Mendoza offers the size, the arm strength, the anticipation willing
Speaker 8: to take a hit, you know, the, the, the poise,
Speaker 8: I think after, after the mistakes he's made in the
Speaker 8: preseason or when the drives haven't been solid, you've seen
Speaker 8: him settle and develop a rhythm.
Speaker 4: So I think all the, there are all kinds of.
Speaker 8: Encouraging signs about the way he's developed, but at the
Speaker 8: same time, right.
Speaker 4: Just like there's been.
Speaker 8: In the games and practices, you'll see him be laid
Speaker 8: over the middle. There'll be an intersection here or there.
Speaker 8: There's just not quite the smoothness and the, you know, the,
Speaker 8: the experience that, that Kirk Cousins brings to the position
Speaker 8: at this point, Kirk Cousins, I think no question about
Speaker 8: it has been the better quarterback during training camp at practices. He,
Speaker 8: he had an efficient drive during the preseason and that
Speaker 8: though the staff definitely likes out for Nando Mendoza has
Speaker 8: been developing the, the, the, the camaraderie he's developed with
Speaker 8: his teammates, the way he's gaining a command.
Speaker 4: Of of the huddle.
Speaker 8: They don't want to put him in a position to
Speaker 8: be unsuccessful. This isn't about the first week one or,
Speaker 8: you know, first three or four or five or six
Speaker 8: weeks or first eight or nine weeks for that matter of, of,
Speaker 8: of his first season. Like if they get this thing, right,
Speaker 8: they set this thing up, right. It's about 10 to
Speaker 8: 15 years of quarterbacking that the Las Vegas Raiders haven't
Speaker 8: certainly haven't had during.
Speaker 4: Their time here in Vegas. And that the Raiders and the.
Speaker 8: Franchise hasn't, you know, haven't had probably since Rich Gannon.
Speaker 8: That's the hope, right? Is that Fernando Mendoza can provide that.
Speaker 8: for 10, you know, the next decade, 10 to 15
Speaker 8: years for that franchise. So they're not going to rush anything.
Speaker 8: They're going to make sure he's ready to go. And
Speaker 8: as long as Kirk cousins is effective, which he has
Speaker 8: been during training camp, I don't, I don't see any
Speaker 8: reason to deviate from the plan. Now, of course the
Speaker 8: variable is right. Kirk cousins is 38. He's three years
Speaker 8: removed from an Achilles injury. And he's at the stage
Speaker 8: of his career where it can go at any time
Speaker 8: for a veteran quarterback, where there can be a major
Speaker 8: job off. And I performed very well down the stretch for.
Speaker 4: The Atlanta Falcons.
Speaker 8: I think that's part of the reason he got that
Speaker 8: payday with the Raiders and put himself in position to
Speaker 8: be a starting quarterback again at age 38. But you
Speaker 8: have to consider the, the, the injury risk and all
Speaker 8: the different variables, you know.
Speaker 4: The offensive line still has to protect him too. Right.
Speaker 8: You like the way he's able to get the ball
Speaker 8: out and all those different things and the experience that
Speaker 8: he has. But again, Of course, that, that variable is
Speaker 8: always in place for any player, but certainly one at
Speaker 8: this stage of their career. So yeah, don't expect them
Speaker 8: to deviate from the plan. Cousins has had a strong
Speaker 8: training camp. Mendoza's had his ups and downs, but they
Speaker 8: liked his trajectory. And I think it's, I think a
Speaker 8: positive trajectory and no reason to rush him out on
Speaker 8: the field until this thing is ready to go until
Speaker 8: they feel like this thing's coalesced around him and that
Speaker 8: he has an opportunity to be successful and to develop
Speaker 8: in games the way they want them to.
Speaker 3: Sam, I wanted to ask you about Clint Kubiak. And
Speaker 3: of course, this is his rookie year as a head
Speaker 3: coach in this league. But I mean, I went to
Speaker 3: so many press conferences and you just these false dawns,
Speaker 3: whether it was Joe Bugle or Norv Turner or Lane
Speaker 3: Kiffin and Tom Cable, Dennis Allen. I mean, the list
Speaker 3: goes on and on the McDaniels Pierce. And the trend
Speaker 3: is you will fail. So why is he the guy
Speaker 3: unless you don't think so? But why is he the
Speaker 3: guy that's going to break this trend? of guys who
Speaker 3: could not get it done for the silver and black.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 8: It feels like he's in the guy in part because
Speaker 8: for the first time in a long time, there seems
Speaker 8: to be organizational continuity. There's no quick fix. They're not
Speaker 8: trying to rush this. They're not trying to infuse, you know, short-term.
Speaker 4: Talent and, and, and and pass their way into the playoffs.
Speaker 8: Like I think there was an understanding with the way
Speaker 8: the season went last year and where things are at
Speaker 8: this year, that it's finally time to embrace a tried
Speaker 8: and true rebuild. I don't think there's pressure on pink.
Speaker 8: Who we have to come out there and go 10
Speaker 8: and seven this year and fight for the playoffs and
Speaker 8: make the playoffs. This is a rebuilding roster with a
Speaker 8: lot of young players with a rookie quarterback that, that, with,
Speaker 8: with that, you know, playing behind a retooled offensive line.
Speaker 4: That was the worst in the NFL last year.
Speaker 8: That has a lot of work to do on the
Speaker 8: defensive side of the ball that, you know, you have
Speaker 8: a coach coming in, establishing a, a culture like there
Speaker 8: there's alignment there with, with the way this thing needs
Speaker 8: to go. And then, you know, you talk about just
Speaker 8: the pedigree he's coming off of a super bowl with,
Speaker 8: with the, with the Seattle Seahawks as the offensive coordinator,
Speaker 8: where he pretty much called the perfect playoffs. I mean,
Speaker 8: you got the absolute, you dial up a game and
Speaker 8: a game plan where Sam Darnold outplays the NFL MVP
Speaker 8: where the running game's not there.
Speaker 4: And you get the, you know, the apex Sam Darnold.
Speaker 8: And then in the Superbowl manages that thing perfectly gets
Speaker 8: their own game going, plays behind a great defense. And
Speaker 8: then just say, you know, a great understanding of, of
Speaker 8: what is required to win that game.
Speaker 4: So yeah, they've had obviously coaches.
Speaker 8: You don't become a head coach in the NFL without
Speaker 8: some level of pedigree, but he's all ball all the time.
Speaker 8: I mean, he's not there to win any press conferences.
Speaker 4: He's not there to, to, to have a great soundbite.
Speaker 8: He's there to put a culture in place with the
Speaker 8: backing of John Spitek and ownership to take his time and, building.
Speaker 4: This thing the right way.
Speaker 8: And right now they're, they're in a position where it's
Speaker 8: about developing young players, getting as much talent as possible,
Speaker 8: but building something for the long haul and not putting
Speaker 8: pressure on him to succeed or to win or unrealistic
Speaker 8: expectations about where they are roster wise in a loaded AFC.
Speaker 8: They're embracing the rebuild. They feel like he's the guy
Speaker 8: to do it. And so far, you know, the early
Speaker 8: returns is one training camp. We But the tenants of
Speaker 8: his falter, I think, are being established, and he's got
Speaker 8: buy-in from the top down. So that's all you can
Speaker 8: do at this point through the preseason. You've got to
Speaker 8: go out there and obviously do that on the grass
Speaker 8: in the fall and continue to build. But I think
Speaker 8: there's a lot of optimism in that building about what
Speaker 8: he has the opportunity to build, and it helps having
Speaker 8: a number one overall pick of quarterback where there's alignment
Speaker 8: in place, allowing him to take his time to develop
Speaker 8: to build this thing for the long haul. That's the
Speaker 8: position he's in, and that's why I think there's a
Speaker 8: better chance for him to succeed than the previous head coaches.
Speaker 2: A couple more minutes with Sam Gordon on the UMA
Speaker 2: guest line. We're not going to see Kirk Cousins tonight.
Speaker 2: We're not going to see Fernando Mendoza. Pretty impressive performance
Speaker 2: by Aiden O'Connell in the second half last week against
Speaker 2: the Texans. Would it be fair to say that at
Speaker 2: this point the Raiders most likely won't keep three quarterbacks
Speaker 2: and tonight is a showcase game for Aiden O'Connell?
Speaker 8: I think it's still very much on the table that
Speaker 8: they keep three quarterbacks. I don't know if that decision
Speaker 8: has been made yet. That being said, I think if
Speaker 8: there's a trade that they like, there's teams that could
Speaker 8: use a backup quarterback for sure. And Aiden O'Connell has
Speaker 8: proven to be very capable of that. He's got 17
Speaker 8: games of starter experience. He was smooth the other night.
Speaker 8: Like you mentioned, he's been through a lot of ups
Speaker 8: and downs in his career, being a part of this
Speaker 8: franchise the last few years in the state, even keel
Speaker 8: and put himself in the, you know.
Speaker 4: The best, best positions possible.
Speaker 8: I think it all goes according to plan, right?
Speaker 4: For all the parties involved.
Speaker 8: This is a one year deal for Kirk cousins, Fernando
Speaker 8: Mendoza's the starter going into 2027, like he's going to
Speaker 8: need a backup and maybe you keep a no panel
Speaker 8: with the, the idea of him being the long-term backup here.
Speaker 4: In Las Vegas.
Speaker 8: I don't think you can rule that out entirely. I
Speaker 8: think there's still a number of ways this thing can
Speaker 8: go now, but, but they're not, they're not just going
Speaker 8: to give them away. They're going to, I think you
Speaker 8: need to find fair value, whatever they find to be fair.
Speaker 8: I don't, I don't exactly know what that is. I
Speaker 8: don't know about the fifth, sixth round pick fourth round pick.
Speaker 8: I don't know what you could necessarily get from at
Speaker 8: this juncture in time, but I do know that he's
Speaker 8: a solid, solid, steady, reliable backup quarterback that has had
Speaker 8: a quality camp that wants to be a starter in
Speaker 8: the NFL at some point.
Speaker 4: So maybe, you know, in his mind there, it doesn't
Speaker 4: make sense to, you.
Speaker 8: Know, to sign or be the long-term backup here in
Speaker 8: Las Vegas. Maybe there is an opportunity out there where
Speaker 8: he can play his way into a starting position somewhere else.
Speaker 8: But I think it's still a showcase game for him
Speaker 8: tonight or not. Like there's still short of a fair offer.
Speaker 8: I think there's still a chance that the Raiders, you know,
Speaker 8: keep three quarterbacks going into the season. You can always
Speaker 8: potentially move him. In the middle of the season, if
Speaker 8: Fernando Mendoza is out there earlier and Kirk Cousins is
Speaker 8: the backup and they feel good about that situation, not
Speaker 8: necessarily something they have to figure out in terms of
Speaker 8: his future right now. But yeah, if the pick is right,
Speaker 8: if there's the right value, I'd say more likely than
Speaker 8: not that they keep two quarterbacks, but they're not going
Speaker 8: to give them away.
Speaker 4: So that lends itself to the possibility of there being three.
Speaker 2: And last one for you, Sam, just real quick. You
Speaker 2: covered the Warriors back in the day. You also covered
Speaker 2: the Minnesota Timberwolves. How do you envision John the Kaminga
Speaker 2: fitting in with the Minnesota Timberwolves?
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's a great question.
Speaker 8: I think he's a great fit, a great fit for
Speaker 8: what they.
Speaker 4: Want to do.
Speaker 8: It's a totally different brand of basketball and stylistic archetype.
Speaker 8: And he fits in with, you know, they're a downhill
Speaker 8: team with length and that defensive culture with Rudy Gobert
Speaker 8: back there and Jade McDaniels and a lot of athletes
Speaker 8: and a lot of wings. And he is going to
Speaker 8: get a real runway at the four spot with a
Speaker 8: team that wants him. I mean, you see in the
Speaker 8: reports that Anthony Edwards was heavily involved in his recruitment.
Speaker 8: He's been down there playing pickup basketball with J McDaniels
Speaker 8: and Chris Finch and Tim Conley got a look up
Speaker 8: close at what Jonathan Kaminga did in the Western conference semifinals,
Speaker 8: you know, going on a year and a half ago
Speaker 8: now pulled off the bench, not playing in the Houston
Speaker 8: series and score getting buckets efficiently against the top level defense.
Speaker 4: Like they clearly liked what they saw.
Speaker 8: I think he's going to be in a position where
Speaker 8: he's going to have a real guaranteed role for the
Speaker 8: first time in his career. And he wants to be
Speaker 8: a part of a winning environment. He left money on
Speaker 8: the table to go to LA. He left the city
Speaker 8: of Los Angeles on the table to go to Minneapolis,
Speaker 8: which that's probably a first in, in, in terrible of
Speaker 8: history and, and the opportunities there for him, the fits
Speaker 8: there for him.
Speaker 4: I think he's going to be able to play to
Speaker 4: his strengths.
Speaker 8: Get up and down in transition with a mellow ball
Speaker 8: leading with, with, with pace. He's going to be in
Speaker 8: a position where he's going to be able to defend
Speaker 8: with versatility. And he's going to have a backstop or
Speaker 8: a seven, two backstopper. That's still one of the best
Speaker 8: room protectors in the league. So I think it's a
Speaker 8: great fit. The wolves needed somebody to, you know, to,
Speaker 8: to man, the four spot he's going to, He fits
Speaker 8: their identity.
Speaker 4: He fits what they want to do stylistically.
Speaker 8: And it's an opportunity for him to maximize a real
Speaker 8: 30 minute a game role that he's never had in
Speaker 8: his career, potentially turn that into a payday in Minnesota
Speaker 8: and somewhere else.
Speaker 4: And, you know, he signed the deal. The Wolves are
Speaker 4: giving him the opportunity. Now it's on him to do
Speaker 4: the rest.
Speaker 8: And put those tools that we saw flash throughout his
Speaker 8: tenure at the Bay to maximize those tools in a
Speaker 8: situation where there's championship expectations in Minnesota, where they feel
Speaker 8: like they can compete for the title.
Speaker 4: They want him to be a part of the calculus.
Speaker 4: I'm excited to see it.
Speaker 8: I think Tim rules with the changes they made, the
Speaker 8: stylistic brand of basketball with a mellow ball at the
Speaker 8: helm and Anthony Edwards next to him are going to be,
Speaker 8: you know, box office next year. And one of the,
Speaker 8: one of the top teams in the NBA and uh,
Speaker 8: it's a great opportunity for him, but it definitely is
Speaker 8: on him to show what he hasn't showed yet in
Speaker 8: his NBA career.
Speaker 4: And that's consistency, uh, for.
Speaker 8: An 82 game season, doing things, doing things that, uh,
Speaker 8: that drive winning.
Speaker 2: That's our old friend, Sam Gordon catches work on the
Speaker 2: Raiders in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Speaker 1: Sam, thanks for catching up, man.
Speaker 4: Anytime, fellas. Appreciate you guys.
Speaker 8: Enjoy the game tonight and definitely can't wait to catch
Speaker 8: up the second weekend in November. I've had that trip
Speaker 8: circled since I got back to Vegas. It's going to
Speaker 8: be a great one and looking forward to seeing you
Speaker 8: guys in person.
Speaker 1: Looking forward to it, Sam. Thanks as always, man.
Speaker 2: You catch that interview that just happened on theesportsleader.com or
Speaker 2: theesportsleader app.
Speaker 3: Always good talking to Sam. There was one thing, though,
Speaker 3: I'll say, though, and I understand. And by the way,
Speaker 3: he's a great guest because he can talk.
Speaker 4: Oh, yeah.
Speaker 3: And, you know, people who do this for a living,
Speaker 3: we like people who can talk and have good content
Speaker 3: like that.
Speaker 1: I like to stay silent sometimes.
Speaker 3: This whole thing about having a good front office structure. Well,
Speaker 3: Tom Brady hiring his friend from Michigan, Spy Tech.
Speaker 1: You keep saying that you don't like this guy, huh?
Speaker 3: I'm just saying, what are the results? The worst team
Speaker 3: in football. the worst team in football. Now they've done
Speaker 3: so many smart things. They signed Linderbaum like the draft
Speaker 3: so far, but I'm just saying, I've seen these false Dawns,
Speaker 3: you know, and it's hard sometimes with my fellow Raider fans,
Speaker 3: because they're so myopic. They always think that the Raiders
Speaker 3: are going to win the super bowl every year. And
Speaker 3: that's why after the draft, I remember I caught so
Speaker 3: much heat because I said, why would they drive Damon Arnett,
Speaker 3: a guy who hates football?
Speaker 1: And they're like, Oh, he's great. When they were going to,
Speaker 1: he loves guns.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Um, there was TJ watt and Jabril peppers on the board.
Speaker 3: And I was like, please, please, T.J.
Speaker 4: Watt.
Speaker 1: No, Garyon Conley, who was accused of gang rape.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was.
Speaker 3: So it's just I'm not saying any of those things
Speaker 3: will happen again, but I'm just saying I'm so pessimistic.
Speaker 3: And I saw them. I went to a Super Bowl
Speaker 3: that they've won. So I've seen the glory days. I'm
Speaker 3: glad I've been to the mountaintop. And I appreciate Raider
Speaker 3: fans who've never seen them do jack. I really respect them.
Speaker 3: But this whole thing about, oh, look at all these
Speaker 3: clean-cut dudes. You are the worst team in football, Holmes.
Speaker 3: You got Carroll and you got Geno Smith and you
Speaker 3: thought that would work.
Speaker 1: So, I like Mendoza. I like Kirk Cousins. I'm just saying,
Speaker 1: we all like it right now. But to say, oh,
Speaker 1: now they've got a good structure. No, you don't.
Speaker 3: Your structure was the worst team in football last year. So,
Speaker 3: you don't have a good structure yet.
Speaker 8: All right.
Speaker 2: Well, I'll ask you more about this with the expectations
Speaker 2: with the Raiders and and the 49ers later on in
Speaker 2: the show. But when Rick's doing the show with us,
Speaker 2: we got to have some fun. And no Adam Copeland today.
Speaker 2: He's doing the show from Tim Webb's apartment. You know,
Speaker 2: Tim's got a turtle that he's been caring for for
Speaker 2: about 20 years now.
Speaker 1: He calls him Oatmeal. He's part of the broadcast. I
Speaker 1: thought you were just kidding. They really are in his apartment? Oh, no,
Speaker 1: I'm not even kidding. They're literally at Tim's apartment doing
Speaker 1: the show.
Speaker 3: I know that you guys got me today. How bottom
Speaker 3: of the barrel is KMBR right now?
Speaker 1: Oh, well, come on. Just look around here, dude.
Speaker 2: But yeah, they're doing the show live from Tim's apartment,
Speaker 2: so they're doing the broadcast there. But Tim had to
Speaker 2: come back here because he left something behind. It was
Speaker 2: this potato sack looking thing. And on the side, it's
Speaker 2: got this initials. Maybe it's initialism.
Speaker 1: It's the NBA grab bag. NBA grab bag.
Speaker 5: That's right.
Speaker 1: We're doing it twice in one
Speaker 2: Week with Rick Tittle, Derek Papa, Dirty Work on the
Speaker 2: Esports Leader.