Episode Transcript
[00:00:06] Speaker A: Booyah. And it's time for the Game Sports Podcast is Your host, David McCaig Jr. The game is powered by 91 Network. 91N is a YouTube channel that the Game Sports Podcast video content is featured on as well as other podcasts. So make sure you check that out so you can see our faces. Maybe you're on it now. If you haven't like follow and subscribe, please do so. The game is also featured on Spaces. Spaces is through Village Media and Sue today. Space. Spaces is now expanded outside of just Sault Ste Marie, but you can find the game through the Sault Ste Marie Spaces through hockey and Sports. But you can also find any space that you want to be a part of and interact with. Now the Game Sports Podcast can also be found on all audio and social media channels, Instagram, tick Tock, you got us on Facebook, you got us on Spotify, Apple, wherever to search at the Game Sports Podcast. Okay, you'll find us. And if you haven't followed, liked or subscribed, if you haven't commented, interacted with any of our posts, especially on Tik Tok, please ensure that you do so. Now tonight's agenda, we have an action packed show. We're going to have Strike Zone, we're going to have Chuck a Puck and of course we're going to have in the Pocket because now ever since after Labor Day, we are back with our normal routine weekly episodes. And there's also more great things to come with the Game Sports Podcast and I got a lot of verified content coming for you here on the Game Sports Podcast as we continue forward, forward now. Very excited to, you know, share this content with you. I can't yet everyone post here on the Game, especially this current co host who's going to join me just momentarily knows that I get, I get the itch to tell you about all this great stuff but there's been a lot of good news based on the plans that we have here on the game going forward the remainder of this year. So make sure you keep an eye on all of our content and yes, one of them I will spoil. The special edition shows are going to be making a comeback. Highly requested. But of course I needed to take a little bit of time. I moved, I got a child, a lot of things going on. And speaking of that child, I still haven't showed him on here but he has been approved to be on the Baby of the Year voting that you can check out on for N4 Variety magazine. And right now he's in first place as we're speaking on September 16th at 7:08pm My son Arlo is in first place and voting right now in his group and the top 20 go on. So now with him finishing first, I'm not sure if that'll mean he'll finish top 20 if he does, whatever the case may be. But let me tell you, it'd be very exciting if we get those winnings. Yes, for his future education. But we also plan, my wife and I to donate to the animal shelters here locally in Sault Ste. Marie as well. So just making sure that we let you know of that. This isn't just for fame, his picture, this is also to give back to our community. Now, without further ado, the agenda today, as I mentioned, we're starting off with strike zone here on the game and pretty soon you're going to see a nice flashy picture or graphic that says strike zone. And maybe me swinging and missing in the past or Connor throwing a pitch, who knows what that graphic's going to be. But I have the one, the only, the rookie of the year if you know, you know, the ever handsome wearing a Pokemon shirt that gets me absolutely fired up right now just like this retro J shirt. Connor Henderson, my friend. Connor, how's it going?
[00:03:22] Speaker B: I'm doing great, Dave. Sorry for jumping on a little bit too soon. Really hope that your son gets some votes here for the competition and looking forward to talking about ball heading into the playoffs here. We're just around the corner with the.
[00:03:35] Speaker A: Playoffs getting there and I know you're going to be a very, very much a married man very soon. I know you and I are going to connect about that further off air but nonetheless you're a married going to be a married man very soon. So very exciting times for you too, my friend. Hopefully that was okay to spoil on here. I didn't ask your permission to. I just went out and said it. So we'll know off air if he liked that or not. But nonetheless, you know, we're talking strike zone. That's why we're here and you and we are obviously following a very strict time on this show. Okay? So this is, this is wild for me. Everyone that knows me knows following time is yes, I can follow it, but when it comes to this, vibrate my mouth if you're watching video because you move my hands sometimes hard. So Connor mentioned playoff baseball. But before we get into that car, there's some news today that broke out. It seems that John Schneider, he needs confirmed that Boba Shet will not play another Game in the regular season for the Blue Jays until the playoffs he mentioned. Now let me remind you the Jays haven't clinched a playoff spot yet. Okay. Now it, it'd be a pretty monumental collapse if they didn't. Maybe not monumental but it would be a little bit of a collapse, pretty close if they didn't at least make the playoffs. But Boba Shet is going to be out for the remainder of the regular season. But at the end of the day, as bad as that hurts the team, I think at the same time it's okay because it's been next man up for that Blue Jay lineup and yes, has played well at short short form in his replacement.
Extremely good defensive ball player. Ernie plays all over the ball field. Barger plays third nowfield. Like I said, next man up for the Toronto Blue Jays but I don't think it's a bad idea to that he's out for the rest of the year. I think it's just more of a tactic to make sure there's no further injury. Connor but that's just me being suspicious.
[00:05:13] Speaker B: Yeah, no, I, it doesn't hurt especially with somebody so valuable in terms of next man up. We saw that just the other night with the Blue Jays bringing up Trey Yaskiewicz from the minor leagues. This pitcher is incredible Dave and how about that? That split fingered fastball falling right off the table. He pitched five innings in his debut start. This rookie Pitcher just turned 22 years old and he racked up 9Ks, only giving up one run.
[00:05:41] Speaker A: His release is very unique. I didn't like, like his, it's that over the top kind of flow throwdown. I don't know who used to do that. I kind of looks familiar. I was almost thinking Doncho Willis a little bit but I don't think John shows a lot more exotic, I want to say the word exotic. I don't know why but he had a very unique pitch. But Savage just looked comfortable and he has a very unique release. Connor and I might throw the batters off a little bit especially you know, being a new pitcher in the league.
[00:06:08] Speaker B: He's 6 foot 4 and I think what the analysts were saying is since he comes straight over the top it works really well in both playing the split fingered fastball off of his regular mid-90s fastball I'm told and I didn't, I didn't see it myself from, from the angle but I'm told that he actually takes a shorter stride to home plate than a lot of pitchers do nowadays which typically is not as Good for the perception. On, on a fastball, usually the closer you get to home plate. If I throw 95 and I'm letting it go 6ft away versus letting it go 7ft away, that extra foot gives you more perceived velocity. On a fastball you apparently only throws 6 foot 2 inches. 6, 2. Towards the plate where some other pitchers are closer to 6, 5, 6, 7.
[00:06:57] Speaker A: Interesting.
[00:06:58] Speaker B: But he has that over the top motion and it plays really well where the fastball feels like it's coming on top of you and and then the split fingered fastball is coming on top of you and then falls right off the table.
[00:07:09] Speaker A: It's beautiful pitching and it was a good moment to see his dad tearing up. I love those moments when you're proud. Those proud father son moments. Maybe it's now the father in me, I'm not sure. But I can tell you if I did that release Connor, you know where that ball would go right flat down on the ground.
I'd probably fall. I'd love to try it next year for fun. But now the Blue Jays obviously continue their series against the Rays. The Rays has been always a tough opponent for the Blue Jays. Very, very tough. They play them very well. But we don't just talk Blue J here on the show. There's some news on the other Jays. Thanks for bringing up Trey. I almost would have forgotten to, which is a shame on me for doing that. But you know the, the Tigers, the potential AL Final 2 matchup that we have been waiting for since. I, I don't, I, we've never seen it. I, I've, I've. You've, I don't know if anyone has ever seen. I don't know if the Jays ever played the Tigers. And as a, as a, as the ALCs, I don't think that's ever happened. So I would, it would be. And if I'm not looking it up, prove me. I don't care if I'm wrong or right. The point is I haven't seen it. So that's my whole selfish point to it. Norris Connor, that would be so exciting to see. Conor and the Tigers right now are behind the Blue Jays in the al, which again, big turnaround this year for the Jays after Santander went down. Just pointing that out. So no offense, but Detroit Tigers, man, this is a team that last year in August looked like okay, we're in for it for another couple of years here and said, oh my drink. And they just pivoted. And then this year kept riding that train. And I think Connor Works going to see now I think we have a very high chance of seeing the Jays and Tigers in a final two. And how epic would that be, my friend?
[00:08:44] Speaker B: Man, I'd be so excited actually. I nearly had a heart attack the other day. Tarek Skubal, all star pitcher for the Tigers and their best player went out early on his last start with some pain in his in his side and and apparently all reports are that he's fine. But similar to the bow news that you'd reference.
[00:09:02] Speaker A: Get him down.
[00:09:03] Speaker B: Oh my God. And apparently he's expected to make his next start and part of me is just like treat it like a rehab start or something because you don't want him to get hurt this close to the end of the season. He won the Cy Young last year and he pitched arguably better this year. So you know you can't ask for more from him. To get a Jays and Tigers series would be phenomenal.
[00:09:23] Speaker A: That is the guy that I'd be afraid of that whole series because he can pitch likely two, maybe a third. You know, you're in the playoffs, you're pushing some arms a little bit, right? If I'm the Tigers, you're sitting school. Don't play them. You guys have the division as Tigers. I'm talking Tigers organization here. You're looking you in the face. Do not pitch them. You don't need to. You're not in a division race. Really. You guys have very good breathing room. What's the amount here? I'm gonna take a quick peek. Six and a half. Six and a half.
A little bit tighter than it did last time we chatted but still it's not like the Jays Yankees, which now I say that's 5 gains back the Yankees. There's a little bit of breathing room. It's close but you still want to take care of your players, right? That's big. And the Tigers have dealt with a lot of injuries this year from that pitching side scubal Craig Jackson as well. Jackson was one, I believe.
[00:10:09] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:10:09] Speaker A: Job went down. I believe there's one more that Reese.
[00:10:12] Speaker B: Olson was hurt for a while for them and he was a dependable starting arm. Casey Mize, shockingly, their former first overall pick who had both back and arm injuries in the past has actually been healthy this year. So that's one bright spot in their rotation.
[00:10:27] Speaker A: Overall first overall pick. Now that the al there's a lot in that we can talk talk about here. The Mariners looking real good. That trade deadline was great for the Mariners. That got them over that edge. I don't want to see Houston get in there. I'm not a Houston guy. People know that. Not a Houston fan whatsoever. I'd love to see Seattle get in there, especially with some Canadian taste in their organization. And no, I'm not meaning Julio Rodriguez, D and Sarah before or whatever. Jordan Hudima. Sorry? Jordan Hudima. I'm talking about Josh Naylor being there. Just so everyone, completely clarify that M. Map rash. Fun fact. Another Canadian on that team. Yeah.
[00:10:58] Speaker B: I think Josh Naylor was in my draft class and for some reason he got picked and I didn't. And it was really upsetting.
[00:11:04] Speaker A: Yeah. Like, no. Doesn't make sense. I've pitched.
[00:11:06] Speaker C: I've.
[00:11:06] Speaker A: I've pitched. I've played with you. Haven't pitched with you. Played with you. And. Yeah. How you didn't go above. It's fine. There's a lot of people in the suit that we could have went further. I talked about your buddy Colton Reed. The guy is the best pitcher in town. I don't care what anyone says, but don't tell him that. He might actually. You know what? He wouldn't let that go to his head. He's not that type of guy. But the National League now, though, the brewers have been my biggest surprise. Connor, I'm happy. I love the Brewers. I've. I've watched the Jays play there, and I remember. I think I've told you the story, but long story short, Kirk, I called it when he went up to play Curio at a homer in the game. I bet the guys in front of me, four guys. I said, kirk's gonna hit another bomb here. He's like, what if you're wrong? I said, I'll buy you all four beer. My wife looked at me, said, $80. What are you doing? I said, but if I'm right, you gotta buy me three beer. My wife won, and you gotta buy me nachos. Kirk. Next pitch gone. And they went past it, and I stood up and I shook their hands to make the bet. And I was so jacked. I was hollering, and people around heard me make the bet, and they said, pay the guy. Pay that. It's a little thing. And the guys got up. He owns a brewery. Lake eleven Brewery. Actually, it's fun fact. Learn about him. But he went to go get me my four beer and nachos. I went with him. He's like, pick your drink. Good man. Milwaukee fans. Milwaukee fan base. Awesome. But the Milwaukee brewers leading the way in the nl. The Dodgers look beatable, Connor. They look very Beatable right now. And the Padres, you know my love for the Padres knocking on the door, saying, hey, let me in. But the National League, I think, is wide open, my friend.
[00:12:25] Speaker B: Yeah, it really could go many different ways. Last year, the Dodgers obviously were the juggernaut, and this year they actually added and yet have taken a step back due in part to injuries and in part to just underwhelming performances. I think most notably from their supposed rookie phenom, Roki Sasaki, who has lost about 10 miles per hour on his fastball. Totally couldn't hit the strike zone. And that's one disappointing spot for the Dodgers. They don't look as tough as they did last year.
[00:12:53] Speaker A: No, and I'm not mad about that. I don't care. I'm mad about that. Take your 46 million, Shohei, and just win once and call it a day. So rich. So rich. So the one I. I talked a lot here. It's about teams around the league. I feel bad for Paul Skeens every day. Every day that I watch him on the mounds and here, you know, he's such a stud. I'm a big Paul Skeens fan. But nonetheless, I want to leave it over to you, Connor, for any kind of more as we get towards. Our time's flying here. We're already at 20 after 7, so I want to leave the floor to you on any items you wanted to bring up. Because if we're talking playoff, we sort of. We talk about teams looking good, but we never really talked playoff picture. Do you want to get into a little bit of the playoffs before we wrap up or anything else that you'd like to dive into? And we can table that another time if you'd like. Sure.
[00:13:36] Speaker B: I think just the one thing that I'd like to suggest or focus on is the Jays weaknesses this year. I was curious on your take. I know we've gone back and forth on in the past of whether their weakness was with the bullpen or whether their weakness was with the rotation itself.
They had always, you know, been able to generate runs and then finally they had a rotation and then they couldn't generate runs. So I'm curious, what do you think heading into the playoffs is the Jays biggest weakness that they should hopefully try to shore up here heading into their run?
[00:14:07] Speaker A: It's not hitting. I'll. I'll say that right now. I think the offense, it's not no 2015 hitting bombs every second, third, fourth, fifth batter, as I said, you're worried about teased. He. I don't Want to turn and break my back. But they have guys who can do that, right? This is a team that can. There's a small ball kind of that power hitting type team that Shapiro likes to build like he did kind of in Cleveland when they had success, didn't win, mind you. Miles draws of the world. The Ernie Clements of the world. The that those are depth guys where it's next guy up like I said. So strength is hitting. I thought earlier in the year the rotation was because of the high ERA numbers and kind of getting had to win games nine, six or losing big. And at the deadline I thought they really improved the bullpen. But you know what? There's been some, some, some it's concerning times when Hoffman goes in in that ninth inning, I'm like put anybody else in there but him. You might even think about putting me or Connor in there before that. I don't know how maybe, maybe Trey is savage in the playoff run. Has to be the closer. Imagine that pressure. That would.
But that was going to be my suggestion last week, but I forgot to mention it. So my weakness that I'll highlight for them is the bullpen. Right now I'm really hard to almost say pitching but their pitch has been good. I like Barrios been consistent. Gosman's gotten better Erzer higher era but you know what, he's a dog out there. Shane Bieber's been a great ad. So like there's nothing to flare there except the bullpen with hitting being so strong in their defense being absolutely wild. It's. It's hard to beat a team that can beat you 9, 8 on a given night. But the bullpen and he used to go on there start closing games and with Jeff Hoffman letting up what, 15 home runs in the ninth inning, whatever it is, some wild stat and blowing well over 12 saves. Those are 12 wins that the Jays could have had right now and that would have them 17 games up over the Yankees if in a perfect world. Right. So now if a closer does a 90% job, you know that's got what you got to take and Hoffman's not on a 90% trajectory. He's I think at a 70% rate, I could be wrong. But he's not doing his job as a closer and that's a concerning point for the Jays. So I'll switch that to you as someone for our Tigers fans and Tigers listeners before we, you know, get to towards the conclusion. What do you think the Tigers weaknesses would be?
[00:16:21] Speaker B: I think honestly, and I don't know if the the numbers would even match this up, but I am afraid of their ability to score runs. I think why I feel confident more in their pitching is because with AJ Hinch, he's so good at managing the, the rotation in the pen that I have a lot of faith that he'll be able to gamify his way into low scoring games. What we need is to make sure that their hitters stay hot and they don't have a lot of star power in their lineup short of guys like Riley Green.
[00:16:50] Speaker A: So let me say this, let's get this prediction out there because we're gonna do a playoff pitch preview later.
I love our pro preview show, it's great. But I want to do a little teaser. Well, do you actually think we'll see the final two on the AL side be the Jays and Tigers?
[00:17:02] Speaker B: Oh, easily. Because I feel like it's the most entertaining answer and therefore fate and destiny must make it happen.
[00:17:09] Speaker A: I agree, I agree. Now look, I. Not to say that I was biased. I got a J shirt on it. I understand. But look, this, this team, like, it just feels, this feels right for like a Detroit to Toronto type year to nuke it out to Duke it out is the word I'm looking for. It's hit nukes and five game series. Just grueling, you know, just a grueling series that's just entertaining. Having Sault Ste. Marie residents, Toronto resident, Detroit Windsor, the battle, you know, the battle that we need in such a, you know, sports is a good takeaway for a lot of negative that we may see in here as of late on the outside, which this is not a political show, which means. But it's sports is what brings us together. I really find a lot of. And baseball, this is the most beautiful time of the year, let me tell you that. And one thing. So as we wait for Jordan to come in, still he's fashionably late as usual. As you know, he's eating into his Chuck A Puck type. So nonetheless, the Angels, Mike Trout, Connor, look, you and I have talked about this. Now one's two, three. I think this might be the fourth or fifth time in consecutive years get he needs to go, okay. Like he needs to go somewhere where he is gonna, you know, flourish. You know what, he grew up a Phillies fan and I don't know where Schwarber is going next year if he's going to make bank or stay with the Phillies. But you know what? This is a team where I think Trout would fit nice on early. Way too early prediction, way too early change you got to move Trout. This team is going nowhere with the Angels right now. And I think you're wasting somebody who arguably could be the best player of his generation, especially when or if healthy, and he's not seen a lick of players. Playoff base. I almost said hockey. A lick of playoff baseball, essentially, in his career. So I think you got to move the guy, Connor. You got to move the guy.
[00:18:49] Speaker B: Yeah. And like, let's call a spade a spade. Mike Trout has not had the best season by Mike trout standards, right? 30, 34 years old.
I think his batting average is in, like the 230s or something. I like. I think he's been. He's been struggling this year in terms of contact. I think the power numbers are just, meh, like in the low 20s.
Get him. Get him out of town next year, please. I mean, at this point, though, who's going to take that contract unless he's, you know, exceeding where he's at right now? Just recently, I saw him playing a game against the Seattle Mariners. Brian Wu, Electric pitcher, struck him out to lead off the game. And it just got me thinking, oh, man, poor Mike Trout, just stuck in. In purgatory. Did he make a deal with the devil where you get to be the best player of your generation, you get to have all the money, but then you are just stuck. Never winning.
[00:19:42] Speaker A: Stuck.
[00:19:42] Speaker B: Never.
[00:19:43] Speaker A: And they're not gonna. They're not gonna succeed. They're not gonna succeed. I don't see that team getting any better. Having a quick turnaround there in la, and I think the time to win now. Jays, Tigers, Phillies, Brewers. But the brewers aren't touching that recipe, nor the Jays. I don't think the Tigers, well, Tigers maybe could dive into some Paul Skeens, squeeze stakes down the road, depending on what happens with Scubal. But Phillies listening to you. Please reach out to Trout. He went to your parade when you guys won back. That's a fun fact. Mike Trout went to that parade when they won. So get the guy in Philadelphia, okay, and out of the LA Angels and save him. Maybe he'll come back, give you two great years. But what does it matter? You're the Phillies. You got money. Get that guy out of la. Now, as I sit here, I did promise a little bit of Chuck a puck action, so I'll probably dive into that a little bit more independently.
As you know, we wait for Trudeau. I can start it off. Or we might be missing Trudeau here today, as in the pockets just around the corner as well.
So, Connor, any final thoughts on strike Zone, we gave you a little extra time. Any final thoughts before we let you go?
[00:20:44] Speaker B: None for me. Dave, I hope you have a good rest of your show, and we'll see you next week or potentially the week after as we gear up for playoff baseball.
[00:20:51] Speaker A: Playoff. And I love your shirt, my man. Come on.
Come on. Gotta catch them all. I love that. That's so great. So great. Connor, again, thank you very much. This has been strike zone, and we are gonna get right into Chocapac. Thanks again, Connor. We're gonna get into Chuck a Puck. As Jordan Trudeau is reaching out to me. We're gonna get five minutes with Jordan Trudeau, and as we get into Chuck a puck. Welcome, Jordan Trudeau, my friend. Sorry about the complications on our end. You know, let's. We. It's. It's. It is what it is, my dude. We had a very long segment last week, so it's good. We're gonna do a little bit of an express Chuck a puck right now, and I want to give you the floor for it. I want to give you the floor to bring up any updates for the Sault McGrounds or the Ontario Hockey League major junior scene that you want to share and react with our. With our viewers and listeners before we dive into some football action.
[00:21:39] Speaker D: All right? Yeah, sounds good. Yeah. So I think biggest thing about this week is definitely the start of the season. Definitely excited to get things going. We'll see what the lineup looks like on Friday. Should be an interesting lineup.
And, you know, I. The. The article that came out today about Brady Martin by Jerry Liscom Jr. I think was a very, very interesting article because it mentioned some key points. One, that Brady Martin is fully expected to come back to the Sugar Hounds this year. That sounded like it was pretty set in stone. So barring any experimentation by the Nashville Predators, it sounds like it. It sounds like he's coming back.
[00:22:26] Speaker A: Sorry.
[00:22:27] Speaker D: It was Peter Ricci that. That posted it. Jerry posted it on the website, but Peter Ricci wrote it. It was the greyhound.
[00:22:32] Speaker A: That's. I was just looking. I was looking at the two greyhound side. Yeah.
[00:22:35] Speaker D: But, yeah, obviously, you know, Brady, like the. The greyhound's biggest advertising piece of the year. Brady Martin, obviously the most popular player, goes on to read that he might be one of, if not the most skilled player in the league this season, which he could. He's definitely going to make a case for that. And Brady Martin himself, he. He thinks big. He wants to take a run at the Memorial Cup. He says that right in the article. So I think if you're a fan, that should get you excited for this year because I think it's a sign of things.
It sounds like this team believes they can make a run out of it, which they look very, very impressive in preseason. So, you know, it sounds like they have confidence themselves, which is, which is great. And you know, all the points are true. They do have a lot of skill. They do have a lot of returning skill. They have a lot of new skill that they've brought in this offseason. So like there's a lot of pieces in this Greyhounds team that is impressive, skilled, physical, but also with the talent and skill piece along with the physicality that some of those players bring is then that's going to be huge. So that should get you excited. I think in terms of even if the Greyhounds don't receive some players back from NHL camps, I think you're looking at a 20 weekend to start the season.
[00:23:52] Speaker A: You know, and that's so quick we're getting into, you know, when it comes to this season. What I looked at the, the article with the question questions and answers with media members and just to clarify, the Game Sports podcast is a part of the media family too. So I did have a question why I wasn't on those questions. Look, Richie Cochimlio look, that's this is their thing where we haven't been involved in that since we've done media back when Scott was a part of the show, even since 2016. So I want to make sure that I, you know, clarify that. You have Peter who's been independent media, Brad who's with SU today and Jansen who's a part of the Soostars.
Obviously we're a podcast, we're a different direction but nonetheless I love what they brought up and they really highlighted Chase Reed on there as their top NHL draft prospect. Look, everyone knows who my favorite hound is next to Brady Martin. I've been a Chase Reed fan and you know, at the, the weekend and the season for the, for the, for the Sioux Greyhounds troops, I want to give you and I know it's shorter on time and we're definitely going to dive into more. We have reactions next week we could do further diving but I want to do predictions before we let you go here on Chakapak. I want to do what you think this year will be emplacement and standings for the Greyhounds and a finish. What that finish will be a first round exit, third round exit, Memorial Cup OHL championship. A non bias of these two St. Marie Grahams that you and I are going to do that we're realistically going to see you don't have to give a record with numbers. We're not going to dive into that. But I want to know what you think that they're going to finish in the season if they're gonna make the playoffs or not and if they are, how far are they going? And the fourth point Hounds leading scorer at the end of the year.
[00:25:31] Speaker D: Hounds leading scorer. You know what? I'm gonna go with Marco Mignosa barring an injury and that's only because Brady Martin will spend probably most of the fall with Nashville and then he'll definitely be going to team Canada for training camp. I'm assuming he's going to make it that team. For just by numbers alone it sounds like Marco is probably going to be around a lot more.
So with Marco Minosa I truly think, I think the west division up for grabs. The Greyhounds, I think they can finish second at a minimum in the conference and if not definitely top four. And anything can happen with. With six second round picks and a multitude of fourth round picks to use at this deadline. I, I think, I think they can win an OHL championship.
[00:26:15] Speaker A: Oh, you're calling it. There it is. I was waiting for that. Okay, so I'll go with mine and you know I'm going to be transparent with mine. Okay. And I'm not going to say who I think or predict is going to win. Leading scorer. I'm going to go with Magnolia too. That is actually who I had hired him because I know Brady Martin's a favorite but you mentioned the reasons that might hinder his and limit his games played. So that's one. But shut out to Brady Martin, little fun thing. Chase Reed. I'm going to put him in as the top OHL defenseman. Why not just going to throw that out there this year. Why not? That's happening. But with their finish in the standings I'm going to go with the Suku Greyhounds finishing second. That's actually where I had them. And losing in the third round, not saying to who, not giving a prediction. But a deep run by the Greyhounds this year is what we're going to see. And you know what? It's not going to change anything for next year. Even if Brady Martin departs, his next departure is next season. We'll see a Memorial cup and OHL championship next year in the sioux. That's my 2027 is the year for Sioux Samuel. This is the year of excitement and get ready for some. Some push and some just overall. Let's go here with the Sioux Ste Marie Greyhounds. So that's my prediction now. Trudes, any final thoughts before we wrap up here? Chuck a puck. I'm sorry, again, a little bit shorter today. Connor stole some of your time. We couldn't get you on here on time, but we dove into.
I had my little reaction beginning, but we talked about the upcoming season briefly with a couple games and predictions. Any final thoughts you want to bring table before we let you go?
[00:27:45] Speaker D: Come on out. Watch this season. They're gonna be fun to watch.
[00:27:48] Speaker A: And the three people because Hike has logged in as he waits for in the pocket. These are the three faces on the media passes that I have currently in my truck. Okay. I've seen your faces a lot today because I've had to look at my glove compartment a couple times just to grab a couple things out of it. So I've seen your faces multiple times today. But nonetheless, you will see us around the rink, myself and Trudes in particular in Hike. Different. You'll see us around. Stop. Talk to us, interact, be a part of the content. If you see us filming, you know, if we have. Even if we have these little microphones on that we're going to be having. Don't be shy to pull us aside. And Hike can actually verify to you before we go the story of Joe Thornton. As I followed him into the bathroom, he could just shake his head and say that that story was true, that I did follow Joel Thornton into the bathroom. Yeah, that happened.
[00:28:32] Speaker C: It's a top top five creepy McKeg moment.
[00:28:37] Speaker A: As. As Hike was waiting in the bathroom and even Joe Thornton's kids were waiting for him, wondering, what the heck's one? None. Nonetheless, Trude's my friend. I'm sorry that again, we were a little bit shorter on time next week. We'll be back and we'll actually have you at the opener next week so you can steal some time from Connor next week.
[00:28:53] Speaker C: Perfect.
[00:28:54] Speaker D: Sounds good. Yeah.
[00:28:55] Speaker A: Love that.
Thanks, Truths. Thanks for jumping on, my friend. We'll talk and we'll see you around the rink this weekend and we'll chat next week.
[00:29:02] Speaker D: Cheers.
[00:29:02] Speaker A: Justin Heik. Now you heard his voice. I got to give him the perfect introduction. We. I'm waiting to still see EJ Log on. The guy is selling cars. The guy's busy. He's promised to be on this week. I didn't. I know I mentioned him. I believe I had mentioned him. But obviously if he's unable to make it On. He works a very inconsistent schedule. You will have me and Hike get into a discussion within the pocket here, but let's introduce him first. Give him a proper introduction here. Justin in the pocket time. Dude, it is week three. How's it going, my friend?
[00:29:32] Speaker C: I think you know how it's going. I don't think. I haven't been 20 since 2009 with Peyton.
[00:29:38] Speaker A: Man, he was your quarterback.
[00:29:40] Speaker C: And we blew it in the super bowl to the Saints with an onside kick there.
[00:29:44] Speaker A: I almost thought that was Andrew Luck at that point, but that was 2012. I can't even remember now. When was it?
[00:29:49] Speaker C: Yeah, Luck, I believe, was the 2013, I think, is when he.
[00:29:55] Speaker A: Yeah, that's so sad about his career.
[00:29:58] Speaker C: Might be 20. I gotta look that up because I know we had Kerry Collins for a bit.
[00:30:04] Speaker A: That name just made me go down a memory lane there. That's hilarious.
[00:30:07] Speaker C: Yeah, there's a run of real good quarterbacks there. Kerry Collins, Curtis Painter, the hefty lefty was there for a bit, but I'm pretty sure he backed up Peyton. If you don't know who the hefty lefty is, look it up. You won't regret it. Great. Absolutely. Great story.
[00:30:21] Speaker A: And you know what? Like, there's a couple toilet bowls this week just because of quarterback injuries. But you know what? Overall, this.
It's been a pretty interesting, enjoyable couple weeks. Not really. The Steelers. I'm not wearing a Steelers shirt today. That was a tough loss, if you're a Steeler fan last week. Overall, a great week. The Chiefs are 0 and 2. Maybe that's the conversation.
[00:30:40] Speaker C: I don't. The Chiefs have come against two pretty good teams. I mean, that's just. Let's just be honest. The Chargers are. They're moving right now. Like, Justin Herbert, football guy. John Harbaugh, football guy. You get two football guys together, head coach, quarterback, that's gonna breed good things in your locker room. I mean, like, you saw it again last night. Their defense was out there headhunting Cleo Mack. I don't. I don't. I haven't read an update on what happened with his arm today, but I don't think that's supposed to happen. That's. So hopefully he's all right. I don't think he is, but hopefully there's, you know, no broken bones or anything, but. Yeah. And then Philly. I mean, like, Philly's hot. They're defending super bowl champions. They got the swagger. Like, what do you. What do you say to that? I mean, they're the defending champs. They're 2 0. I mean, three, you know, 20 against the Chiefs in the last three games.
And the Chiefs don't really have a lot of receiving threats right now with Worthy being out. Rice suspended for street racing. Travis Kelsey's just having a hard time out there. I don't want to be too. I was critical on him last week. I'm not going to lay it on again this week. I said my piece. He's just having a rough go. He's the only target out there. So obviously he's got guys all over him the whole game.
[00:31:51] Speaker A: All over him.
[00:31:52] Speaker C: Pacheco. The run game hasn't really gotten going. Like, Mahomes was out there trying to do it himself. Against the Eagles.
[00:31:57] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:31:58] Speaker C: And you don't want to put a guy like that in a position to take hits like that. It's weak, too. And then, I mean, I guess to kind of segue this into what was an. A pretty decent game this previous week. The Cincinnati Bengals giving Joe Burrow the Andrew Luck treatment. Absolutely. Giving him 0 protection.
[00:32:13] Speaker A: 0. That O line is Swiss cheese. Swiss cheese.
[00:32:17] Speaker C: Like, you can't just find five big guys somewhere to just protect them.
[00:32:22] Speaker A: The replacements did with Keanu Reeves. They found guys. Anyone could be found. There's guys that would line up to go.
[00:32:28] Speaker C: Like, I just. I don't understand. Like, it's frustrating because I've been. I've lived through it once and now I'm watching it with someone else. And maybe I'm frustrated because I drafted him and now he's gone. But you gotta. You put all that money in your receivers. You got Joe Burrow out there. And now, I mean, you paid a defensive end an absolute boatload of money when you realistically probably should have spent that on your offensive line. And now the Bengals, I mean, probably have blown their chances at the playoffs this year.
[00:32:54] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:32:54] Speaker C: So.
[00:32:55] Speaker A: Yep. And you lose Joe Burrow that long. The guys had, you know, some injuries occur that messed them up over. Now, the Ravens were running away with that division anyway, and I'm saying that as a Steeler fan. But now this opens the door for the Pittsburgh Steelers because you play the Bengals, you play these teams that you, you know, you want to make a run this year, this is where you got to capitalize now. This is where. All right, now we got to go at least for second in this division because I don't think first is going to be reachable, especially with Jackson and Henry, and Henry's all. That's just gross.
But Joe Burrow I feel so bad. Like, this was a team that is how many now years away from. From removing the Super Bowl? I believe it's the third.
[00:33:33] Speaker C: I think it's three now. Yeah.
[00:33:34] Speaker A: Yeah. And this is a team that when they made the super bowl the year after, this is a team where I said, oh, shit, like they're gonna. There's gonna be a Super bowl in Cincinnati. Arguably, like, I thought they were favorites to. Not favorites. They weren't really favorites, but I was going for them to win.
[00:33:50] Speaker C: Since they lost the super bowl, they've got progressively worse, worse.
[00:33:53] Speaker A: And you don't see that too often, especially with the team that is looking more so on the. What do you call it?
They weren't rebuilding. They were young guys. To Chase Hendrickson. Yet Burrow, you had guys there. You're like, this is how we win a championship. This is the type of team that you win a championship with. Injuries have interfered.
Attitudes. Attitudes are just as bad too. Like Chase, I think it was Chase. I think there's one more that wasn't great either. I don't know why I'm drawing a blank on who it was. Nonetheless, this is a team of just more issues than it has to. Like more problems or. Or more kind of. I don't know. The word I'm looking for now is, but they have more issues and solutions or they have more problems and solutions. That is kind of what I'm looking.
[00:34:38] Speaker C: Forward to say then. The window to win isn't like you don't have a super long time in the NFL. Like you've signed your receivers long term. Now you're kind of cap screwed. Like to make some moves to get some offensive linemen. I mean, it's turf toe that Burrow has now, I believe.
[00:34:55] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:34:55] Speaker C: So I mean, I don't know that that's an absolutely devastating injury. It's not like Andrew Lux lacerated spleen, you know, So I guess the ability to come back is there. But I mean, Burrow, I think has to go to the front office a little bit and stick up for himself. Okay. If you want me to be your guy and you want me to stick around, like, you gotta. It's great that I got guys to throw the ball to. I need three seconds at least three seconds.
[00:35:17] Speaker A: And I'm just sitting here. So you guys know making my picks for the week in advance because I forgot to do that. If everyone's knowing kind of why I etiquette here. If you're seeing me on video, the I speak because I just looked at the Bengals Right. And he looked at the Bengals. They play the Vikings.
And JG McCarthy is out for the Vikings. Okay? We still have Jefferson to throw the ball to and options on that end. But the Bengals, without Joe Burrow, they're not making the playoffs. They're not. They're not sniffing. I'm sorry, they're not sniffing playoff football. They're not going to. I think this is a team that's really mightily going to struggle. And I think if I agree with you, if I'm Joe Burrow, I'm going into that office and saying, look, fix or get me out of here.
You know, we've seen players in too many sports, you know, have the problem of where they're stuck with the team during very good points in their career. Burrow's still young, but can still hit that prime of his career and be effective. And look at Mahomesai fit in. We just talked about with Connor before Truez came on Conor Henderson, we talked about Mike Schrout with the Angels talking about that sport. People that wasted their primes on teams. I'm concerned about Connor Bedard's future with the Chicago Blackhawks. Right. Like, there's. You can talk about any sport and pick a guy who's young. Bedard's a much different example than Joe Burrow is. But Joe Burrow is a guy who made the super bowl, has been battling injuries, has no protection. And you said it just a few moments ago. You've lived it. You've seen it with Andrew Luck, and he literally just said, I'm out. I can't play anymore. I'm hurt.
[00:36:46] Speaker C: And honestly, I don't think that it's not fair to have the player do that. I don't. The Colts didn't do right by Andrew Luck by having him look at the team through a couple preseason games, go, no, I'm not doing this again this year. My ass kicked. Yeah, like, that's. You can. That's. That's the sign of a bad franchise. I.
I'm gonna say it out loud. I've been living it for a while now. I mean, EJ's had the quarterback nightmare that absolutely no one wants. It's just shitty management.
[00:37:14] Speaker A: And you know what? There's people that have, like, the. The parsons of the world with the Green Bay packers, what with the Steelers, you know, you. You can go down these guys that are animals on defense. And Watt isn't nice. These guys aren't nice when they go and they sack every game. They're rushing the passer and you know, with Joe Burrow being in the situation that he was in, and I don't know why last week, I kind of forget who they played last week. I'll try to draw a blank. The Jaguars. That they played the Jaguars last week. And then if you look over at week one, they played the Browns.
Those two defenses aren't animalistic. Like. And don't get me wrong, the Steelers defenses wasn't. Was Swiss cheese week one, but that's a very mean Pat and injured right now. But Patrick Queen, Watt, these guys that are animals, they will. They would have ate him alive.
[00:38:06] Speaker C: And again, he has to play them twice a year like Miles Garrett, Roquan smith in Baltimore, T.J. watt in Pittsburgh, he's got those guys. Six times.
[00:38:16] Speaker A: You said Baltimore. You mentioned Baltimore.
[00:38:18] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:38:18] Speaker A: Just mentioned.
That's what I was thinking of. Yeah.
[00:38:22] Speaker C: No. No one in that division messes around. All those defenses hit hard. I mean, you could think back to the 2000 Cincinnati Bengals. That was one of the nastiest defenses you've seen in a long time. Ask Trent Green about it.
That division's nasty. And if you're not going to protect your investment, they. I don't know. I. It's frustrating. It's frustrating to watch.
[00:38:44] Speaker A: It is. It is. Maybe. You know what? Jerry Jones, you have Dak Presa. If it doesn't work, make a little flip for Joe Burrow. Get Joe Burrow and a cowbo. A cowboy star. I feel like he would fit that bill over there in Dallas, but ain't.
[00:38:55] Speaker C: Gonna happen back to California, I think is the.
[00:38:58] Speaker A: Maybe even the Raiders could use.
[00:39:01] Speaker C: Actually, never mind. He was. He was lsu, not California.
[00:39:04] Speaker A: Yeah, lsu.
[00:39:05] Speaker C: Yeah. All right.
[00:39:06] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:39:06] Speaker C: So my bad. New Orleans could use quarterback.
[00:39:10] Speaker A: I think right now. That's. I'm glad we went to Joe Burrow because we went down with turf toe. I said that out loud. You know what? I'm not gonna lie. If those of you who don't know what turf toe is, okay, it sounds like.
[00:39:21] Speaker C: It sounds like a stupid injury, but.
[00:39:23] Speaker A: It sounds like stupid. My. My wife was like, what the hell is turf toe? And it's not like she does. She's like, I've never heard of this. Right. If you look. You can look at a lot of things, so to kind of break it down. I've even made a note to myself, okay, Because I. I've heard about what it is, but I even had to do a little bit of more digging to kind of see. But it's ligaments, it's tendons and soft tissues. In the joint of your foot. Stretch or tear, if I have it correctly. It's. It's basically tears with your ligaments and, and your tendons in your foot. And it is painful. I don. Know. But I've heard friends, I've heard people have it. Friends have played football and it's not. It's actually a common injury that you would see in football and it, it sits, it sits you down for a while. Just look at Joe Burrow. It's not a fake injury. It's not like you wrote a note with. To your teacher in school, so you need the day off because you're sick or you know, you want to play hooky. You're. You're literally, you're done for a bit.
[00:40:12] Speaker C: That's a painful injury and it's one of those things. It's kind of like a bad cold where like there's no, you know, it could be three months, it could be six months, it could be a month. There's. Everyone's going to recover from that differently and you don't know how bad it is. So it sucks. It sucks for him. I mean he had a great training camp. The receipt like that offense seemed to be motivated. If you have Chase Brown in fantasy, he's probably going to pile it on now this year.
[00:40:35] Speaker A: Yep. Yep. He should. Right? And this, now, this division though, just came a two. A two dog race and it was where it could have been, a three dog race with the Bengals being in the. Sorry, Browns, I didn't really see you getting there this year, but unfortunate for the Browns fans. But I. This is still unfortunate. I love how we, I know we went into this a little bit extra, but protect your quarterbacks, organizations, protect your investment. Joe Burrow, get the heck out. Find somewhere else. Ask to get the hell out of there. Because he should. He deserves better.
[00:41:05] Speaker C: I mean, I'm not, I'm not talking from a high horse here or anything, but the Giants had an absolute garbage offensive line. Saquon said it. I mean, we've all seen it. Now look at Daniel Jones behind an offensive line. Like, look what it does. That's all, that's all I'm saying. It's the same guy. He looks, we're looking at a guy who looked like, you know, the 2002 Daniel Jones again when he had an offensive line. You know, I get you. That's. I don't know. I'm speaking for the Hoggies here. Just. It's. What. It's such an overlooked position on some teams and some of these teams Got like marquee players and they don't. They're not even. Why would you draft them if you're not going to invest in them? It's like buying a new truck and just parking it at the steel plant. Letting it rot, never washing it, you know.
[00:41:47] Speaker A: And if you know what the steel plan is for people outside the sue, it's our most. It is our biggest employer in Sault Ste. Marie and obviously we're a steel town and it's a steel plant Just, just kind of ensuring to educate you for those that are outside the sue. You may have known but they're just giving you. And if you set it outside and keep it parked in there. People don't like bringing their new trucks to the steel plant.
[00:42:06] Speaker C: That.
[00:42:06] Speaker A: All right. Then the big reason is because you, your, your vehicle will get rocked.
[00:42:10] Speaker C: Gross.
[00:42:10] Speaker A: It's gross. Gross. Yeah. So. So here. You know what? Hike now as we get into that was the big news out of out of week two. We're hitting week three now and there's a few. I would say there's like I said, some toilet bowl matchups and some matchups where we know people are just going to get blown out of the stadium and it all starts with the Thursday nighter to be honest with you. But we'll get into that in just a few moments. You know what? I think it's fair if we do go before predictions to go around the horn to talk about your toilet bowl games. Gotta say two of the week and your one trophy game of the week. And I already think we're gonna have the same answer for this. But give your two toilet bowl games of the week this week.
[00:42:51] Speaker C: Well, I mean some cock upoopoo out there. There's a bit out there. There's just gonna be like a couple one siders. That's what like that. Minnesota, Cincinnati could be okay. Jake Browning's all right. He kept that game interesting. But Minnesota has Carson Wentz and let me tell you, Carson Wentz sucks. That's. That's all I got. I have not seen a player like a guy who's supposed to be the leader of your team kill the vibe in a locker room faster than him when he opens his mouth and then he goes out in the field and plays and it's like man, he should have just kept talking. It was better.
Hey, that's how I feel about Carson Wentz. You'd know two time super bowl champion as well with the Eagles when he wasn't there and sitting on the bench with Kansas City. So that's that's my jab at Carson Wentz there.
[00:43:39] Speaker A: Love it.
[00:43:41] Speaker C: But honestly, like the other one, I kind of think that Buffalo Miami game is just going to be a sandwich on Thursday.
[00:43:47] Speaker A: What is like, you got to pick the over on that game. You gotta pick the.
[00:43:50] Speaker C: Like, the Dolphins are bad and I don't, I don't like, there's not just one thing you look at and like Miami really has to improve there. It's like, no, the whole team. Team has to improve even hn there. I mean, you should. If your offense sucks, the running back should still get something. And he's just even. He hasn't really done much. Tua looks scared out there.
[00:44:16] Speaker A: He's overthrown away from being retired.
[00:44:19] Speaker C: Well, how do you like, how do you overthrow Tyreek? Like, I feel like if it's within 5 to 10 yards of him, he can figure it out. He's one of those guys. He's still like an elite speed guy and they're just not doing it. Like they just. I don't know. The Miami's rough to watch. I think honestly, if we're gonna have another side prediction here. First coach fired Miami Dolphins.
[00:44:39] Speaker A: Oh, I love that. I'll take that. I agree with you on that. I agree with you on that. So, you know, for the game of the week, what would you give? What is the game of the week?
[00:44:48] Speaker C: I. I think we're probably both gonna have the Monday nighter circled. Baltimore, Detroit, that. That should be a banger.
[00:44:54] Speaker A: Absolute banger. This was the game that I said the lions would be 2 and 1. Just giving away my prediction earlier, I thought they'd be 2 and O to this. To this point, but obviously didn't happen that way.
[00:45:05] Speaker C: I'm also slightly intrigued by Philly and the Rams. I don't know what kind of team the Rams are yet, but they've been in every game. I don't. I'm not willing to count out Matt Stafford. You know, Philly's got to have a bad game sooner. I know it's only Week 3, but the Rams seem like one of those teams that's just going to be hanging around all year and we're going to get to the end of the year and be like, like Rams were that good. You know, just one of those.
[00:45:29] Speaker A: I love that a toilet bowl is Bengals. Vango. Bengals. Bengals. Yeah, Bengals. Vikings. For me, the other kakapoo poo game that. I love saying that word for some reason. Just loving to say it.
Not the Dolphins and Bills. I just, I think that game's gonna be funny to watch. I'm going to be entertained to watch a 5221 like the Lions last week. It's gonna be a 52 to nothing match up that game. Just take the over on 50 points because the Bills that week but the game that I'm looking at, I'm not really, you know like I want to watch that to be transparent with you is the Texans and Jags. I'm not a fan of that game this week. I is it fair to call Kakapoopu? No. But the Falcons Panthers are also in my toilet bowl this week too. Likely over the Texans Texans and Jags. But I just want to take a jab. The Texans and Jags. It's not a matchup. I'm going to be flipping on Game of the week is the Monday nighter is 150% the Monday nighter and an underrated entertaining matchup. For me this week is going to be the Broncos Chargers. Like I something about the Broncos in a game and the Chargers something just to look look at this week. Okay. Just just hear me out on that and just say give it a chance to watch. I think it's going to be a pretty good football game. Game.
[00:46:47] Speaker C: The Broncos are fun to watch.
Very fun to watch. Minimal comments on the game on the weekend. I've had some heated debates with people this week about that game winning field goal penalty call.
[00:46:58] Speaker A: Love it.
[00:46:59] Speaker C: But the Broncos are a good team to watch and honestly like that. If that Colt Broncos game had unlimited time, I think they'd still be playing going back and forth because they just kept scoring.
[00:47:10] Speaker A: It was so entertaining to watch.
[00:47:11] Speaker C: It was a good one.
[00:47:12] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:47:12] Speaker C: I'm saying the Broncos I think are I definitely agree with you on that one. That might be a sneaky good game.
[00:47:17] Speaker A: That that's and that's my hot take for the week. I look and like I said 50 I think the bills are getting over 50 points. I'm not kidding.
That's not crazy. The Lions got 52 on the Bears last week and I know I spoiled my pick and I'm almost thinking of changing my mind on that pick between the Lions and Ravens. But I shouldn't. I've learned on this show that you keep to your instinct and go but because I have the Lions winning the super bowl this year. Okay, but that that aside, we'll see what my picks are as we're going to get to them very momentarily. I gotta give overall Justin, before we get into our picks out of 10 last week and your preview for this week out of 10, like what do you think the entertainment value is going to be? 0. The worst 10 being the best last week and what you predict this week is giving you a random question.
[00:48:00] Speaker C: Yeah, that's a weird one. Last week was pretty entertaining to be honest. I mean the two games Monday night I fell asleep during the Houston game and I woke up during the Raiders game. It's like, well this is awesome. It wasn't because it was 12:30 and I slept on the couch, but you know, it was awesome that there was still football on. I give that one like 8 out of 10 last week.
[00:48:20] Speaker A: Okay, okay, okay.
[00:48:22] Speaker C: The Thursday night it was a bit of a doubt. I thought that was gonna be good. But Washington just yucked it out this week not as entertaining. I think we're like, aside from the the Monday nighter saves it. So I'm gonna give it a seven. That's we got this week is a seven.
[00:48:37] Speaker A: I got six last week and I think we're getting a five this week. I'm a hard scorer. That's a little bit hard. And the Monday nighter is the reason why I'm giving it a five or jumps up a few points. I have that game circled to sit on my couch and just enjoy a quarterback offensive show all around. It's going to be, it's going to be wicked.
[00:48:56] Speaker C: I think you're underrating the division matchups this week.
[00:48:59] Speaker A: I think so. And I hope I'm wrong. I hope I'm wrong because as I sit there and potentially eat my chicken wings as I usually do on Sundays, my wife and I like to do some football food each Sunday. It's going to be something to enjoy for sure.
[00:49:09] Speaker C: So.
[00:49:10] Speaker A: Or hopefully there's more to enjoy for sure. But I know the Monday night is going to be something that might save my wings for Monday night.
So.
Hike. This week we our predictions getting towards the tail end. We did use a little bit of time talk about Joe Burrow and within the pocket our main content that we talked about is last week hot points, this week caught points and we get into predictions that's been in the pocket for the last nine years and in between we fill in the gaps with some comments that come out of our ass. Okay. And there's even a three and a half hour episode out there that I hope no one ever finds from our sponsor Sportscenter Bar and Grill & Partner SportsCenter Bar & Grill with her in the pocket segment shout out that I didn't give anybody at the beginning just so everybody knows. My apologies. Drop the ball there. Maybe Frank and you know, throw something in my head when he sees me at the Sports Center Bar and Grill the next time. But nonetheless. Hike this week, our predictions as we get into our pickup. Y' all love when you take it away, my friend. You had a good week last week. Again, it's looking Hike is out of the gate hot. As a Colt fan, he's enjoying life. As a Pickham fan, he's enjoying life. Just all sorts of hot right now. Now.
[00:50:12] Speaker C: Yeah. DraftKings didn't like me last week either. We'll put it that way.
[00:50:15] Speaker A: You're 29 and three right now.
Sorry, I gave that away. I gave that away. Sorry. Go. This is your floor.
[00:50:22] Speaker C: That's all right. We're gonna. We'll go. Let's do the. The scoring here and then I'll get into my picks. So. Hikes. Picks in first place with a five point lead. 29 and three right now. Looking good. That's a good one. Very good lead the the David decision in second with 24 points. 24. Eight. Very respectable defending champ in third place, the broken wheel, E.J. russell.
22 points. 22 and 10. And we're gonna call him the gambler Tyler Willette. 20 points. 20 and 12.
[00:50:55] Speaker A: If I could say you're 91.
Like, look, if you're looking to make some money off of sandals.
[00:51:01] Speaker C: The first time, first time in my life I've been 91 in anything I.
[00:51:05] Speaker A: Second, that's that I usually hop around 75 all year. So if I, if I can stick at 75 all year, maybe we can make it interesting. But five point leads, nice and comfortable right now. You know what I mean? For you it's a. It's a good.
[00:51:15] Speaker C: Yeah.
Well, I always have a bad one though, where I just make these off the.
[00:51:20] Speaker A: Everyone does, though. Everyone.
[00:51:22] Speaker C: And no one discourages me because they want to see the chaos happen. That's. I get it. I understand. Like it all right into the picks here. I mean, I'm just eating up time. Buffalo over Miami on Thursday. Green Bay over Cleveland. Indy over Tennessee. Cincy over Carson Wentz. Pittsburgh over New England. Philly over the Rams. Tampa over the Jets. Washington over the Raiders. Geno Smith looked awful last night.
[00:51:47] Speaker A: Sure did.
[00:51:48] Speaker C: Atlanta over Carolina. Jacksonville over Houston. Chargers over the Broncos. Seattle over the Saints. Dallas over the Bears. I'm not sure. Arizona over San Fran. That's it. I'm locking it in.
And here's my. This is where things get wacky. The Giants over Kansas City in the Sunday night are what the Hell. And Detroit. Detroit beaten Baltimore on Monday.
[00:52:11] Speaker A: Love that you did that. Thank you for doing that. Because I'm not as. I'm not as nice. I'm hoping my picks wrong.
[00:52:16] Speaker C: And then. So we're gonna do the. The tiebreakers Monday night. Detroit 41, Baltimore 38. And I'm just an absolute banger of a game. Sunday Nighter, KC17, the Giants 21. And most points, Detroit, fewest points, Carolina.
[00:52:31] Speaker A: Love that. Okay, so in the obvious Thursday nighter, but let me. Before I give my prediction for the third for the list, do the Dolphins have a shot at all? No. Smid. Okay, good.
[00:52:40] Speaker C: Absolutely not.
Unless Josh Allen and James Cook and Bosa get lost somewhere and don't make the trip. Like, I just.
Honestly. It could be. It could be a good game. Like, it could Prove me wrong. Prove me wrong.
[00:52:56] Speaker A: This isn't the Dolphins that beat Tom Brady. This is the Buffalo Bills. Okay? I just can't. They just destroyed the jets last week. They put up 40 plus on the Ravens. This is going to be a bad. Bills over the Dolphins. Packers over the Browns. Colts over the Titans. First time I picked the Colts in seven weeks.
[00:53:13] Speaker C: Let me pick the Colts in nine years.
[00:53:15] Speaker A: Yeah. The Vikings over the Bengals. Sorry. The Steelers over the Patriots. Eagles over the Rams. Bucks over the Jets. Commanders over the Raiders. Same reason as you. Falcons over the Panthers. The Texans over the Jags. Chargers over the Broncos. It was hard for me to pick that game. Game. Not gonna lie. I was. I know the Chargers are heavy favorites, but something about that game. The Seahawks over the Saints. Definitely. Cowboys over the Bears. The 49ers over the Cardinals, despite Brock Purdy being down. The Chiefs over the Giants. Look, the Chiefs aren't going on three. There's no way. Right. There's no way that that's happening. The Ravens over the Lions. And that broke my heart to say this week because this is what the week. I thought the Lions would lose almost their 1 1. I thought they would lose no more than two games this year, but they might lose Both their first two out of three games because the Ravens are just absolutely studs. 38, 31. Ravens over the Lions. The 32 for the Chiefs, 6 for the Giants. Who scored the most points this week? The Buffalo Bills. The least this week. And don't forget I said the Giants would get six. The least are going to be the Dolphins. It's gonna be. I'm gonna tell you right now. I'm gonna tell you. It's gonna be. I'm gonna give a score prediction because you know What? Let's do that before we wrap up a score prediction for the Dolphins and Bills. I want to laugh about it. I'm not kidding. I'm gonna go with 54 to nothing. I'm not kidding. I'm just saying. 54 to nothing. The dolphins. Let me retract. 54 to three. The dolphins will get one field goal. 54. Three will be the score in the Bills and Dolphins game prediction.
[00:54:43] Speaker C: I figure the Dolphins get like two or three field goals. That's. That's about it. Yeah.
[00:54:48] Speaker A: Okay. You're being nice.
[00:54:49] Speaker C: Well, I don't, I, I can't see, here's my logic on this. I don't see them getting to 54. Only because Buffalo's going to be running the ball the entire second half to just kill the block and go home.
[00:55:01] Speaker A: Good point. The Lions didn't do that. The Lions. Well, I guess kind of they did against them.
[00:55:06] Speaker C: Here's the thing. I'm gonna swear here. I'm gonna say it out loud.
[00:55:09] Speaker A: I said I swear twice.
[00:55:10] Speaker C: The Lions had to have a you game after that loss in week one. They're not a bad team. They're not a bad team. They got shell shocked. And I'm willing to bet that Dan Campbell just chewed their asses out after I get like, that's not them. We all know that's not them. The team is healthy, they're back. They've basically returned. Everybody. They're gonna be a juggernaut. And if they, they're either gonna win this week and go on a tear or they're gonna lose this week and they're gonna go on a tear and be a problem. Like, that's unless there's injuries. I, I, I'm not a Lions fan, but I watch a lot of Lions games because of our proximity to Michigan and I just like, they're a wagon. That's plain and simple.
[00:55:51] Speaker A: They're Super Bowl. They're winning the super bowl this year. Telling you, that's my prediction this year. I forget who you picked to win this year.
[00:55:57] Speaker C: I think it was the Lion.
[00:55:58] Speaker A: Yeah, I think we both, I think we both did. Look at that, Lions. Look at that. All right. Hike. This has been in the pocket. This our partner within the pocket is Sports Center Bar and Grill. The game Entertainment Media is powered by 91Network and featured on spaces. I want to say thank you to Connor Henderson. Thank you to Jordan Trudeau. Sorry that your time was cut short. Trudes for strike zone and chuckle puck, respectively. This has been in the pocket. Hike. Any final thoughts for the pocket before we round up or anything you want to mention to our viewers or listeners.
[00:56:25] Speaker C: Dolphins fans, maybe pick a neutral team this year.
[00:56:28] Speaker A: Find that. Find that middle team that you might. You know what Steelers look at. Nah, I won't even. I won't even lie. It's hard to steal a cheer for the Steelers sometimes because we've. I think everyone's going to jump on either Steelers wagon as a fan of them or you might have to jump on the Colts wagon.
[00:56:42] Speaker C: It's okay to have a favorite player and like that team. It's fine. We're not judging.
[00:56:46] Speaker A: Yeah, not at all. I had a team. I had somebody leave a team team. Our former person on the show stopped cheering for the Buccaneers and started cheering for the New Orleans Saints and then the Buccaneers won the Super Bowl a couple years after that. Hiked last because he knows exactly I'm going with. And if that individual listens to this episode, which I know he does listen, we might be getting a text message and that's fine because we haven't heard or seen his face on the show in over five years.
That's. I won't say it. I won't say if you know, you know, if you know, you.
[00:57:13] Speaker C: I saw him at the Cora Mary's game on Friday.
[00:57:15] Speaker A: It. That's great. Love that. And he's. He's also having a child, that individual. So congratulations to him. You know we like obviously with us not mentioning the name, we'll leave it at that. But this has been in the pocket and next week we're back, same time. Hike has been consistent with his time on time and here the other lads. Conor Tru is getting used to this organization because Gagger doesn't really follow this and it means business this year and Hike knows that it means business. I'm just tripping, keeping Trudes and Connor out there. Just kidding, fellas. But Hike, I want to thank you again, my friend and we'll be back here same time next week.
[00:57:48] Speaker C: Oh yeah, absolutely. No problem, love. Coming on and just going to shout out Sports center for a quick second here. They got some new pastries going on in the freezer. I grabbed some of their Persians on the weekend. They are a million out of 10 having gone to school in Thunder Bay and having like that affinity to those, the Persians, which are basically exclusive to Thunder Bay. Like a cinnamon bun kind of with a nice fancy strawberry whipped icing on top.
[00:58:11] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:58:13] Speaker C: Absolutely unbelievable. SportsCenter's got him in the freezer. Make it there before me on Friday.
[00:58:17] Speaker A: Love that. Great. Thanks Special to Frank. And I got to remind listeners that Arlo is going, my son Arlo is going for baby of the Year. Currently in first place. Justin in his group voting closes in just over eight days. The top 20 go to the national voting where Arlo could be for all the voting to be on the COVID of Variety magazine. So if you are listening to the show, please take a moment to go check out my personal Facebook page or reach out to this show's Instagram or Facebook page and I will send you a link directly. Just a simple one free vote takes three seconds to do. I timed it essentially so you can do it. I know there's been a lot of people supporting and like I said, the winnings that we're going to receive, yes, towards Arlo's education, but we're also going to be donating to local animal shelters here in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, just so everybody knows that as well. So we're doing it for a good cause, not just to pay for our son's education. We, we believe in giving back to the community. So check that out. It is baby of the Year through variety magazine, babyoftheyear.org and you can vote for Arlo McCaig. I'm gonna give him a shout out and one day I'll play this back to him and he'll roll his eyes and chirp the hell out of me. That's great. Now without further ado, I want to thank you again to Justin and to everybody. Make sure hit like, follow and subscribe on all of our platforms, anyone and Spotify, wherever you find us. We'll be back here next week, same time. And good luck to the Dolphins. You're going to need it this week, but overall, I hope everyone enjoys their week. Hope it's another great week of football and sports. Hockey is just around the corner too. And next week we will have. The return of Top Shelf is back next week, ladies and gentlemen. So we got Top Shelf. We'll have chuck a puck, strike zone and in the pocket next week. I just flashed my thing. I don't know why. We'll have a four segment show next week and guess what? In an hour. See that? If we can do that. And until next week, I'm here to remind you, keep your stick on the ice, swing your bats, catch your touchdowns, drain your threes and shoot your shots. Booyah.
