Episode Transcript
[00:00:07] 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 and featured on Spaces. Spaces is through Suit Today and Village Media, and 91N is a YouTube channel where you can check out video editions of the Game Sports podcast. And that is only video editions of the game. But if you're looking for audio, if that's what you'd like to hear instead, we're on Spotify, Apple, Google, Amazon. You just search us the Game Sports Podcast, we're there. Audio, video, we're there for you. For social media, it's Tick Tock, Instagram, Facebook. At the Game Sports Podcast, we're in our 10th anniversary of the show. It actually started before 10 years. It was called Coffee with the Coach, but we transitioned to the Game sports show in 2016, and now it's 2026. Basic math, January 5, 2026. We have just passed our 10th birthday of the Game Sports podcast now, and obviously we have the original OG still with the show and we have some newcomers that are part of the family. Okay? And speaking of one of those newcomers, fairly new. Fairly new, okay. He's got a year or so under his belt now. Okay. He's got some time. All right. And he's joining me right off the hop to get into top shelf it is Brendan McCarthy. Brendan, my friend. How's it going, stud?
[00:01:23] Speaker B: How's it going, buddy?
[00:01:24] Speaker A: I'm enjoying a nice local brew. Not going to say their name yet because they're not a sponsor. Okay. But I'm enjoying a nice local brew. Right now is relaxing, getting ready for a big weekend because I am coming to Toronto and I am watching Mitch Marner's return to Scotiabank and to Toronto this upcoming weekend as the Leafs welcome Vegas. You know what? I have a short week at work. The weather sucks. Snow blowing sucks. Snow sucks. But you know what? A lot of things to look forward to this weekend. So I'm flying, man. I'm feeling good. How you doing, man?
[00:01:55] Speaker B: It's minus.
Feels like minus 20 in Ontario.
Brutal here. Just can't even go outside to catch the mail.
[00:02:07] Speaker A: It honestly feels like it's minus. Holy outside. Holy F word. I won't swear yet. We're not. We're not. We're too early. We're too early in the show to be. To be swearing. I. I'll say that. But you know what? It's cold. It is the same here. The chills. I just. I can't. I. I just want summer already. It's still mid January. So long ways to go. A long way.
[00:02:28] Speaker B: Hey Dave, you mentioned that you're going to the game Friday night in to. Do you think Marner cries?
[00:02:32] Speaker A: I want to say what's the over under on that? I'd like to know those odds. I think he cries at the video tribute. 100%. 100%.
[00:02:41] Speaker B: I think he'll cry. What do you. What do you mean by over under? Like the amount of seconds he's crying.
[00:02:48] Speaker A: Yes. I should explain that. Right. I don't like when he's crying like if it's going to be beginning or like if it's going to be multiple times. Is it going to be at the beginning of the game when he's in warm ups, if he's going to do it at the tribute or if he's going to do it at the end? Like I think he's going to tear up when he's at warm ups doing his usual little warm up and he's in there. He's going to look around, he's going to see some fans, some kids that are wearing Marner jerseys, that are leaf jerseys. I think that's going to give him like a little, A little tear. So the over under is how many times he cries is what I'm saying. I think he's crying twice beginning and for the.
[00:03:19] Speaker B: I see. Yeah, I think he'll be. Yeah. Face business mode for the lead up warm ups first period and then when the acknowledgment comes, I think you'll see number 93 shed a few tears and that's where I think it'll be. It's going to be tough. There will be some cheers and some claps and an ovation. But I, I do think people generally are pissy and I think the booze will have the edge just slightly.
[00:03:44] Speaker A: Okay. They won't always remember what you've done in that pride. Like let's look back at that Carolina game. You probably wonder what Carolina game, not David Ayers. I'm not remember. I'm not talking about that game. I'm talking about that next gen game in the afternoon where Marner and Matthew scored eight goal, eight seconds apart. They came back, it was like a 76 game. I can't remember. And it was like electric and like those Moments and Moments 2019. Exactly.
[00:04:08] Speaker B: Right before COVID Like look at the.
[00:04:10] Speaker A: We gotta think of the moments that what he has done in Toronto. There's a lot of regular season memories that Mitch Marner has provided but no playoff success. And I don't think people are going to forget what happened last year mostly so he will get booed a lot. But that video attributes the time where people put away their swords and then it's right back to the Boobirds as soon as the puck drops again after that tribute.
[00:04:32] Speaker B: Yeah and with the. Yeah man, they've been playing a lot of hockey. The game against the Wild last night, I'll give them a pass. Five games in the last eight nights.
[00:04:42] Speaker A: Right.
[00:04:42] Speaker B: They're playing a lot of hockey and I will say the schedule has been tough. Really, really tough. They seem to be a stretch on the road and then back for a bit. You know they're on home ice now. That was their first game of a five game home stand. They got a couple big ones coming up. They got to find a way to beat the Red Wings tomorrow Wednesday race recording this January 20th. And then you got Mitch's return which will be really weird and emotional for both sides. That's kind of a coin flip. And then you got the ABs on a Sunday at home at 1:30. And I know they beat the ABs recently in overtime in their barn but you got to think the ABs will be, will be hungry and ready to rock. And then you got the Sabers who currently own the second wild card spot on the Tuesday.
And then you go out west for Kraken Knucks, Flames, Oilers I think three or four games out west, Davey. And then it's see you later, say goodbye to the guys who are going to Italy and then it's a break. So the next week or so I think you're really going to get an idea of where is this team at. I'm still not convinced that they're going to make the playoffs just because how awful the year started. They, they've been playing great since Christmas I think first or second best record in the NHL since December 23rd or something like that. But I'm just not convinced yet. Think I know at the onset of the season I was saying, you know, the standings are drunk. It's starting to tighten up a little bit and you know it's going to be a dogfight finish for the wild card spots. The Leafs really need to woo some people including the fans over for them to believe that they can then they can get in.
[00:06:20] Speaker A: I agree and I, I think you get into, into a hole that bad there's not a lot of teams that come out of it. Some have recently the Oilers have and the St. Louis Blues came out of it and won a cup. And I'm not saying that's going to happen, but you have to go on a tremendous run and this is the time that the Leafs would have to go on that run to really solidify where if they are going to be, if they're for real or if they're, if they're contenders or if they're pretenders, which will definitely change the outcome when it comes to the deadline. Okay. That's where it will be very interesting, especially leading up to Olympics with the roster freezes and whatnot, obviously. Speaking of which, great transition here for that. Anderson gets sent over to Vegas, who I get to watch in the next couple nights, which will be great. It seems that, you know, Vegas is always in on getting somebody and training for someone and pulling from the cop plays because you know, Petrangelo's hurt or Stone's going to LTIR or this person's sick. This person gets an injury that's out to the playoffs. Game one, they're coming out of the tunnel. But at the end of the day, this is a, this, this is a trade. Vegas really bolsters that decor. And if you're the Western Conference, it's not wide open.
I'm sorry, it's not wide open. Look at the Minnesota Wild. Look at the Vegas Gold Knights. Look at who's the best team. The Colorado Avalanche. Okay. Like you gotta. And you know what's wild? This might be a very hot take and I'll say it. I don't think the Colorado Avalanche have the best, best roster on paper in the Western Conference.
On paper. I, I know, but there's players that make players around them better that really set the tone. And they're, they're the compliment to players. You know, they're the potatoes to the meats, they're the appetizers to the main meal. Nathan McKinnon and Cal McCarter are world class generational talent. McKinnon or McDavid? That's a question I'm going to ask you later on. I know we kind of already touched on that last week. We're going to talk about that in a second or in a bit before we wrap up. But I don't think Colorado has the best roster on paper. But they're one of the most exciting, imbalanced and most dynamically put together team in the National Hockey League, which is why it's working. And you know who does have a good team on paper? Vegas. They do. Florida Panthers. When they're healthy, they do. That's why they've won back to back cups. Tampa Bay, they still got some Smoke in there. The Leafs, very good team on paper. Very good team. Just hasn't been put on the ice this entire entire season. Right. And look at Minnesota Wild. I love their decor. Brennan Quinn, Hughes, Faber, Spurgeon. I, I'm. I watching them the other night. I think that team is fantastic. Minnesota, I think they're a top six guy away from being true contenders in the West. It might be a Stanley cup favored next to the Avalanche if they can add to that team. Bill Garrett spent a lot of money and trade some moves out already.
My point is, Brandon, to say this is that the Western Conference think that there's your favorites. And I don't think the Oilers are going to be able to come out of that Western Conference this year. I don't and I, and I honestly don't think Colorado has the best team on paper in the Western Conference. I think other teams do, but Colorado is the best team in the West.
[00:09:21] Speaker B: So what are you pinpointing then on Colorado?
[00:09:23] Speaker A: Like NHL.
[00:09:26] Speaker B: That lacks.
[00:09:28] Speaker A: I feel like the, the Avalanche are, are. Are still a forward away, but they're not. You know what I mean? Like, I feel like they need a forward. They still need a. Another name in there in the second.
[00:09:40] Speaker B: Bring cadre back, you know, like Landiscog.
[00:09:43] Speaker A: That went down, you know, that opens up some cap space. Is Panarin. Panarin, the guy that Colorado has to bring in. I think that's something that needs to be discussed and really looked at. I think Colorado can need that. That extra top six guy who's a difference maker. This know. But here's the problem. Like the Leafs, the Colorado Avalanche do not have a lot of assets to trade. But do they need to Brendan? That's what I'm saying. So what I'm pinpointing is I think they're a forward away from being here, but they're already here because look at their record, right? So it's, it's really, it's really hard to understand that team because I feel like on paper they're not the best, but you have Nathan McKinnon and Kale Makar and that makes the players around you better. And maybe they don't need to add.
[00:10:25] Speaker B: I think top to bottom, they're a fantastic team and it's not one of those situations where like, oh, this team's going to come back to earth or something like that. Like, they are a juggernaut. And I agree. I don't think the Oilers are going to get by them. And they also got to deal with a couple other big Teams in the Central as well, like, they could. Right? Dallas, Mini, like, Mini had their way with Toronto last night. Oh, my God. And you know, yeah, the west is going to be a dog fight in the playoffs, right? But, yeah, I mean, look at. I think the. The Olympic break can be good and bad for some teams, right? It's. It's a lot of hockey for the guys that are going to Olympics, right, Where most of their teammates are like, all right, sweet.
[00:11:07] Speaker A: We're.
[00:11:08] Speaker B: We're flying out February 5th. We're going to Bahamas. See you later. Enjoy.
[00:11:12] Speaker A: Right.
[00:11:14] Speaker B: So it's. It's a little bit tough in a way to, you know, for guys you want to reset. And I'm sure some guys that are going, of course, they're proud and honored to represent their country, but my goodness, I'm sure, like, they're humans. They're probably a little bit envious of the depth. Guys that are just like, all right, well, see you later. So we'll see. I mean, I could see Colorado maybe, maybe just leveling out a little bit more, and then, you know, then there's a trade deadline and then they just gear up for the playoffs. But I don't think they're a team that's going to, like, come back to earth. You might see some players at, like, like, you'll just know they're like, a little bit maybe wary or. Or slow just because of the amount of, like, you know, like Celebrini, McKinnon, McDavid, like, you know, human.
[00:11:59] Speaker C: Right?
[00:12:00] Speaker A: So that.
[00:12:01] Speaker B: That's going to be a factor as well. But, man, I. I've been itching to get your opinion on that goalie fight last night between Adelkovic and Bobrovsky. That was retro stuff.
[00:12:13] Speaker A: Like, if you're a goalie, you know, you have. You're stuck in your crease the entire game. You're facing rubber, getting shot at in the face by pucks all night, shooting at 100 miles an hour. Okay. You know, if there's an opportunity where another goalie is getting into a scrum and you think that, you know what, I'm going to be able to drop the mids of this lad. You don't think every goalie wants to just skate across and have that moment going past the top of the circle, blue line, red line, and going to that goalie saying, we're going chump. That is. That was epic to see that happen. I. I love it. I. You can't take. I know people. This is a hot take. You can't take fighting on A hockey you can't like, like it's just like you can't. I know it's a hot take. I don't want to get into that topic right now. I'm not here to get into that. We're here to talk about the goalie fight. On that point. I loved it, Brandon. I, I, I, I don't want to say I wish I saw more of it but like it was great. I, I love.
[00:13:05] Speaker B: Considering you had the. Well, considering you had the. Now last night Sharks, Florida stole the show.
[00:13:10] Speaker A: Big time Sharks in Florida stole the show. Two very prestigious hockey markets. Just kidding. Definitely one team is back to back cup champs, the, you know, the national champion. A lot of sport opportunity yesterday. There's been a lot of great sports to watch. You know, there's a lot in October's great, December is great. But January you got the national championship, you got the NFL playoffs, then you got the NHL. That's tightening up because teams are really starting to distance themselves. The MLB offseason picks up, but the MLB offseason has just been insane for the past month. Plus like there's been a lot of sports to dive into. But that goalie fight was just a cherry on top of, you know, I, I'm sad I didn't watch that live. I'm sad I had to watch that on social media. I would have loved to be watching that mid game and saying let's go, let's get into it. But two surprising fighters. Brandon, I didn't think that maybe Nadaljevic, okay, it's something about that guy. Okay, maybe, maybe him. But Bobrovsky, I didn't think he would drop the nets. He wasn't on my, he wasn't.
[00:14:06] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean we haven't seen a goalie fight since 2020. Battle of Alberta, I think it was Talbot and Smith against Buffalo, wasn't it?
[00:14:17] Speaker A: That's great stuff. That's great stuff. But I do want to get your opinion on one thing as I know Connor is going to be jumping on very shortly where we're going to be talking strike zone. Jordan Trudeau will not be joining us tonight. So one thing I missed, I didn't talk about the agenda on the show. So if you've gotten this far, I'm going to tell you top shelf to begin. Strike zone, second in the pocket, third. Okay. There's your agenda. If you, you can, you can see the description below about the layout of the show. Anyways, so if you needed to know the agenda, you can always look there. Just a little hint. But I wanted to get something and you don't have to dive into it too much but obviously TSM had a very, a very good interview get uploaded today. And I don't mean good interview and like oh, it's a feel good story. Okay. But TSN has, you know, has broken a lot of stories. There have been some reads and stuff. You can go to Rick Westhead. We, you know, you can talk about. I can't remember the, the female that interview with.
So with Linus. All Mark, I don't. We don't need to dive into the. The full story. Everyone knows what it is by now. It's not that it's old news but you know, there was some acquisitions. Okay. There's some accusations. Sorry about. About him and the team and players in general. Let's just keep it very simple like that. And when I, I want your feedback on the situation Brandon, where you want to touch on in there. My only feedback to it is I think people got to stop. Like this social media nonsense is wild all the time, man. And it's unfortunate that it's the world that we live in a lot that people post one thing and then it just catches on and it just. This led to something that's so unfortunate for Linus. All Mark. I feel so bad for. For him. The Senators, a team too that's just going through it this year a little bit and now look at the locker room turmoil.
I believe it was Jake Sanderson, if I remember correctly. I should have had this written down, but he called out his own goaltender saying that we need more than 10 saves a night.
This team is, is like not because of this with Linus, but there's been a lot of spotlight on Ottawa, a little bit extra. But I think this interview, Dean Linus's emotion in it was you could just written on his face and how upset he was at everything.
It's. It was a great interview to check out. I don't know if you have anything you can share about it or touch on.
[00:16:31] Speaker B: I was just watching it actually before we started and I will say it's incredibly difficult to, to come out and do that knowing full well it's going to leave SportsCenter and make headlines on social media. So seeing Linus do that and the, the bravery it takes to do that, you know, I, I commend him for, for actually agreeing to do that interview. Must be really tough. And I'm not sure. I'm not going to speculate. I don't know what he's going through right now, but it seems like a lot, and he's, he's dealing with a lot of heavy stuff. So all I'll say is that I, I, I wish him good health and wish him and his family peace and love. Yeah, I mean, I had a chance to listen to it, actually, before we started recording Dave. And I'll just say it takes a lot of courage and bravery to actually come out and do an interview with, you know, a reporter. And, you know, it's, it's heavy, heavy, heavy emotions that he's dealing with. I don't want to speculate too much on it, but I will just say that, you know, I'm wishing him peace, love, and good health and the same to his family as well.
[00:17:41] Speaker A: What I'll add to that is, look, we're in the world of media and people. It's unfortunate. You want to try to get clicks, traffic. You want to try to, you know, get that break there, or people just feel that they know something or maybe they. Something goes to the river Mill. You know, before you post something online, you know, first off, make sure that it's something that you would want, something posted about yourself. And ultimately, what I really dislike and, you know, we're going through a lot of spots in the world that are very. I'm not getting into that piece, let me tell you. This is a sports podcast. But you know what? There's. It doesn't hurt to be kind and just mind your own business. I won't swear I'm keeping it clean. All right. That feels so bad for Linus. And no matter what, whatever situation, he's off the ice for, as you said, bread. And I'm wishing him health as well. And for him to come out and talk to somebody. I'm glad that he did. And I hope the person that spread this out and all this started. Hope you're taking a real long look in the mirror. You should be ashamed of yourself. How's that? That's what I'll keep it at. So Brennan ending that on a serious note. So we usually don't do that. So one thing that somebody asked me on text today, just a friend said, you guys haven't done something in a while. And I said, what's that? He's like, you haven't done an NHL redraft? And I said, wow. Yeah, we have not. So the last one that we did par and I was a 2006 or 7. I have to look back. So we are going to resume them next week. We'll get back to getting our redress going People liked doing that and I appreciate that. Follow up that you caught that. We don't do that anymore. That's appreciated. We will Definitely, as requested, 60 seconds to 120 seconds out of our segment to make sure that we get you some redrafts up until when we complete that segment. We've been doing that since 79 or when there was the first draft. So we got to make sure that we finish. We have to finish all the redrafts. So we are going to get those out for you and get those completed, complete it. We'll, we'll give the listeners what they want. And Brandon, when I'm in Toronto, I'll shoot you a text next this weekend, my friends and thank you for taking the time as always each week.
[00:19:48] Speaker B: All right, Dave, Cheers.
[00:19:50] Speaker A: So that's Brennan, ladies and gentlemen. Brennan McCarthy with with myself doing top shelf. Now, without further ado, I'm sure there's a lot of people, a lot of people waiting for this segment on this show.
Let's Mylanta. Last week, Hunter, you and I said what are the chances that both of them are going to sign? And I said, I think I said both. I didn't get predictions right on who you said. One and one went right away. As soon as the show was uploaded, someone decided to be a sellout and get $60 million and go to the Dodgers. Okay. Then there's somebody else who decides to say, okay, I'm going to take 42 million to the New York Mets and that's Bull Bichette. But you know what? I want to start at bow. Surprisingly, I want to start at bow. I want to start. Okay, hold on.
Connor Henderson. Let's introduce him. The rookie. The rookie of the year. If you know, you know the man, the myth, the legend. This is strike Zone. Connor, my friend, how are you?
[00:20:49] Speaker D: I'm doing great. I'm doing great, Dave. I'm doing much. I'm doing much better.
Either the, either the J's, J's or.
[00:20:57] Speaker A: We'Re doing right now, I'm gonna go to. I'll transition to both. It seems based on some contacts I was reaching out to a couple people and luxury of getting sports and it seems that the Blue Jays didn't even give Bo an offer that interested interested him at all. It seems like I don't have any numbers.
I don't know but I had somebody tell me and I'm not allowed to name them because some people he could be searchable. Let's say that he heard under 25 million per season that the Blue Jays offered over a course of eight years. Eight years. 25 million is what I was told. And look, that security, that's a fair bit of money, okay? But the Phillies I heard was around 28 to 32 million.
[00:21:40] Speaker C: Over.
[00:21:41] Speaker A: Over 10 years or around. That is what I think. That's public knowledge now.
[00:21:47] Speaker D: I had heard 200 for seven years.
[00:21:50] Speaker A: 200, okay. 200 for seven years. Okay. So there you go. But the Mets decided to say, oh yeah, here you go, here's 42 mil.
Here's $126 million for you. Okay, how's that for three years? Here you go, Merry Christmas. And then you can leave and go get more money from the Phillies. Then when you go back to free agency. I want to say that I'm upset and sad that he is leaving the Blue Jays. As a fan, I said that on my clip that we just uploaded on Tick Tock recently. You can check that out.
But I don't blame him if it's true that the Jays didn't offer him any money. But secondly, do you blame them for leaving for that money?
Connor, I would do this.
[00:22:28] Speaker D: I would do this.
[00:22:28] Speaker A: Does security really matter in baseball? Really? Like if you're getting 126 million over three years, 326 Benjamins that you'd be getting in New York, you're going to tell me it matters when you have that in your bank account after three years? No, no, no.
[00:22:41] Speaker D: It's high amount to justify not going for the 42 million dollar signing bonus. It's instantly in your account and in three years, you know, you've made your 120, you're doing fine. And Bo has opt outs too. So if he has an incredible year, he can look for a more secure deal literally at the end of this next season if he wanted to. And yeah, it, it really hurts. I think it hurts more so knowing that, that Tucker went and then Bo was there and you figure out, well, jeez, if the Jays are big on Tucker, they certainly have the resources to secure Bowe and nothing doing.
[00:23:19] Speaker A: I think the Bo signing, if you think of the Jays, Yoko Okamoto, you have Ernie Clement there. You have some pieces there. That doesn't change the dynamic of this team. And Nemila coming up, there's a very good prospect that they have. People just don't remember like he's very good and that he's coming up. And some people are forgetting, well, what about Cody Bellinger? No. Joey Loafer? Fido? Do people forget that this guy played 54 games and batted 350 last year. Like this isn't the problem. This team is special in its own way. They've added in a good way. They need to continue to add in places that would be. Don't get me wrong, Kyle Tucker Bellinger, I would welcome with open arms. But. And Boba Shed. I wanted him back. And yeah, sad, annoying like I mentioned, but I don't blame him. Farewell and good luck. Like I said, that is your call. You went after that money. Good for. For you. It's sad that I don't get to see you in Toronto anymore. But you. You made a decision for you and your family and another path in your career. I can accept it. For some reason, I'm accepting it more than I thought I would. But if you're a Jays, I think you got to pivot. You still got to make some additions because the Dodgers still are doing things. They're still doing things.
[00:24:26] Speaker D: And the Jays were a really good offseason leading up to the bow news. So it's. It is a bittersweet moment because you lose him for nothing. You do. One of the best contact hitters in the game, if not the best, walks out the door at a premium position, shortstop. You'd like to imagine he'd be healthy by the time next year rolls around and he could either take more reps at shortstop or if he's your second baseman long term. Either way, he's such a great hitter. The Jays would have loved to have him in either spot. Now going to the Mets, their entire infield is just stacked with Lindor and Semyon. They've got three shortstops basically at third, second and short, and they look fantastic.
It's. It's a really tough pill to swallow, but it sounds like you're actually handling it better than.
[00:25:14] Speaker A: I'm handling it. All right. I still feel like this is the team in the AL to beat. It's. It's still very well put together. I don't think the Jays are done. I still think they do something in there. And speaking of teams that aren't done, more contacts news. Apparently the Dodgers are in a Freddy Peralta on the Milwaukee Brewers. I can't anymore. But Kyle Tucker. We'll go to that. Won't spend too much time on it because it's a little. Not older, but it's still a bit older, but. 60 million per season? Are you kidding me right now? Connor, look, this is going to lead to this point because we love scandals, we love news. This will be the last point that we get into today maybe lockout. So I'm going to you both Tucker and is there going to be a lockout in baseball? Because you know what? I think there is going to be a lockout in baseball. Connor. I think we're seeing it. I think it's coming. I think it's coming very quickly. It's coming.
[00:26:02] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah, the dog.
Just about everything they can do to force that situation basically by saying look, we're so successful, let's just see how far we can push the envelope before people start asking serious questions. And for the players, they're getting their money so why would they ever turn this down? It's the fans that are really struggling with it and rightfully so. I mean Jesus, what other major sports league can you have a situation where a team like the Dolphins Rogers can sign the number one free agent in the league for like the third year in a row and that free agent Kyle Tucker with $60 million is single handedly earning more than some other team's entire payroll. It's crazy is it is in and Kyle Tucker's a really good player but relative to the Dodgers, he's what, their sixth best player? Fifth, maybe not even. I think you could, I think you could name at least five guys on that team that are better than Tucker and he's making 60 million DOL. It's, it's just a, it's a luxury of riches, modern day dynasty and it begs the question when does it end, the lockout?
[00:27:11] Speaker A: Like teams have the ability to spend money. So I don't know if you could touch on it a little bit more, just kind of educate like this piece to listeners who may not know. The luxury tax in baseball is a little bit, it's, there's not, it's not a salary cap, there's luxury tax. And if you want to touch on that piece because the Dodgers have a limited money, the Rogers too Rogers a set. The Blue Jays.
If the Blue Jays had Bo, Kyle Tucker, Shohei Otani, you know that I would be sitting here right now going oh yeah, I don't give a, I don't care. Right? I'd be seriously, I don't care. I'm excited. I'd be going like this. I'd be swinging things, I'd be excited. Right? That's my mouse pad. Just everyone knows and but you know what? Because it's the Dodgers and they beat the Blue Jays when the Jays were two outs away, maybe I'm a little bit sour but at the same time, luxury. Let me get on point back on point luxury tax. And if there is a lockout, is it possible to implement a salary cap in baseball that's reasonable for all teams to manage? Because the Dodgers payroll and money is a lot different than the Tampa Bay Rays. Then the Pittsburgh Pirates. Right. The Blue Jays are even up there. Yankees, these teams have money. Other teams don't have that ability.
[00:28:22] Speaker D: Yeah, it's different than other sports where in the NHL there's the hard cap system, in the NBA there's an apron system. The NFL also kind of, I don't quite understand their payroll window. But for the MLB it's a luxury tax where when you cross a certain threshold you have to pay a surcharge that kind of gets filtered down to the poverty franchises and it's sort of goes back to the league to redistribute. But I don't know if you can roll it back now even if there were a lockout in 2027, the genie's out of the bottle in the sense that you can't take away the contracts that the players currently have with the team. As far as I know they can't, they can't cancel those agreements between team and player. Now could you institute a 500 million dollar hard cap and say okay la, you can't go that high knowing that all those smaller market teams are never going to come close to sn that in the next 30 years anyway. Or let's say 15 years with inflation anyway. Maybe that's one way to handle it. I think you need to do something because this is just, it's, it's ludicrous. It's, and it's one of the, the best examples of a big market team that is also smart with their money. Like they're not throwing cash at guys who like aren't worth it. Like these are, these are quality players that they're signing both domestically and from Japan. With guys like Roki, Sasaki, Yamamoto, it's, it's crazy. They've, they've basically dwarfed pretty much other team and the only reason why teams like the Mets can keep up is because their owner is also ridiculously rich themselves. But yeah, I, I think you, you should consider at some point, you know, they, they've pushed it the ball too far. And.
[00:30:08] Speaker A: If you say you push the ball too far, maybe they swung too hard. I don't know. Just get a little pun for strike zone. Honestly, I think. You know what, Connor? It's been one heck of a strike zone season and we've had more off season news than we've ever had on the show and it's great for show it's great. I am really annoyed at the Dodgers I dislike them I want to use the other word but I'm I said I was going to be friendly on this show today I'm in a in a good mood. I'm going to Toronto this weekend there's going to be a lot of booze at that rank that I go to on Friday so I'm trying to keep the save the boo birds and save all that for Friday night as the Vegas host Toronto in that game you're going you're going I'm there on Friday honestly anyway Brandon and I had the over under on two tier I said he's gonna cry twice warm ups when he sees kids wearing his jersey then cry during the tribute but he's gonna get booed out of that arena I I have a prediction he's gonna get booed out of that rink but oh it's because he already got booed in Vegas so the thing is back on point the I really love the season for the Jays it's heartbreaking that you lose when you're two outs away from the World Series. I would rather have lost that game 10 nothing I don't care what anyone says I would rather have lost that game 10 nothing I really think that the Dodgers ruining baseball I'm not saying that it is it's not their fault that everyone wants to go there it's not their fault that they have all this money to spend I just think the MLB has to take a little bit of action because you know this is not a good situation. You have all these players that are signing in LA they don't want to be in other places. Pittsburgh Pirates's payroll doesn't even equal the Dodgers one player payroll. You have Shohei Tucker you have Sasaki Okamoto you have Glass this Dodgers rotation and bad order and closer to set up man is absolutely ridiculous. It's what you make in a video game with the salary cap off and in the world of baseball money funds off in franchise mode you just don't have a it's unbelievable and the play the Blue Jays off season still yeah Heck yeah. Heck yeah. Like like still great doesn't it's still a lot of lot of things to go and players still to go like Cody Ballinger not saying he's going to Toronto but the there's a lot to happen and the last thing I'll leave you with Connor I I'm not I'm not I'm not watching, I'm not watching. I'm not watching baseball. I'm sorry. It's. It's not a thing. But I really.
And this is another thing. So two things. Eric Skubel. Okay. What's your thoughts on him and these rumors and Paul Skeens. What they're saying is that Paul Skeens might be the first 70 to 80 million dollar pitcher if he hits the open market because of way baseball's coin right now. So I want your reaction about Skeens and Scubal before we let you go.
[00:32:46] Speaker D: Okay? Okay.
I am, I am of. If you could recoup assets by trading them before the season starts, you do it. And that's not to say that I wouldn't love Skubal and the Tigers long term. It's more to say I don't have faith in the team as constructed to actually make a push with him. They had him in Game 5 in the playoffs elimination game and he pulls himself after six innings and all he needed to do was pitch a seventh and bridge the Tigers to their, to their closer will vest and they would have advanced but instead he pulls himself out of the game and with that he pulled himself out of my heart. So I think I'm firmly on the can you get prospects for him? If so, then, then trade him. I don't think they will though. I think that they're going to run through the season and if they're in striking distance of the playoff spot they'll just, you know, march forward and get eliminated in round one or two and then he'll be on his way. As for Skeens, Jesus, if he signs with the Dodgers or something like that, if Kyle Tucker doesn't spark a lockout then the Skeens one would because I don't think there's a more popular player in the MLB right now than Paul Skeen and I mean he'd be worth the money. He's a number one overall pick who quickly got into the mlb, dominated and has not looked back. We haven't seen this sheer dominance from a young pitcher like that in a very, very long time.
[00:34:12] Speaker A: Very good takes, Connor. Thank you. I, we talked Bo, we talked Tucker, we talked Jays, we talked Dodgers, we talked Scuba, we talked Tigers, we talked all of the things needed to get everyone up to date. But there's one thing that we did miss that we got to give a shout out to. Let's leave it on a good note because we also talked big thing on lockout that I think is going to happen in the mlb. But we had two players get inducted to the hall of Fame today. Carlos Beltran and Andrew Jones got inducted into the Baseball hall of Fame and they joined Jeff Kent as the newest members of the 2026 hall of Fame class. Little bit of a clap there to leave on a. On a good note. I can remember Beltran and Jones and obviously Jones is on I believe is drafted as playing in in Arizona. Believe. Correct me if I'm wrong. I'm not looking at anybody. I'm going off memory here. I believe he has a son who's a top prospect. I know he has assignment he's playing. I just forget the team. All right. Call me out. Comment below. Okay, I'm not popping that up. So there's top seven free agents remaining. It looks like that we're going to have to wait to see from that is well Cody Bellinger, you got Framber Valdez, who's still available. You got Chris Bassett, you got Luis Arise, you got Lucas Julito, you got Suarez, who's there. You got a lot of names that are still on the board and also the trade market where apparently Freddie Peralta is going to be going to Los Angeles Dodgers. And that's not a joke, ladies and gentlemen. Apparently that is happening. That might be a thing as their front runners to get them. That is unbelievable. Milwaukee. Don't. Don't do it. Milwaukee just don't contribute to this nonsense. You know, it also blows my mind before that you go. The Dodgers have the top rank ranked farm system. Like what. What the. I didn't. I didn't say it. Top ranked farm system. They bought every player under the sun. They're gonna cause a lockout. This is video game nonsense. This is video game. This is literally franchise mode in the show when you trade for all your picks and you're just that guy that stacks your team. I can't block out coming 2027. Book it here. But the Blue Jays are World Series champions next year and the Dodgers eliminate start crying and that's what ruins baseball because the Dodgers start crying and they cause a lockout because then they go into next offseason they trade for Paul SK and they do all these things and that's what causes the lock on 27. Early prediction. Okay.
[00:36:28] Speaker D: Because from the game sports podcast.
[00:36:31] Speaker A: So no, we'll find someone else for you, my man. You can ask hike. There's a lot of options. You can come join in the pocket. We'll get you to join some football action. You'll love it with us. All right. Connor, thanks for taking the time, my friend. We'll be in touch. We'll be in touch.
[00:36:44] Speaker D: Have a good night, Dave.
[00:36:45] Speaker A: Yeah.
Justin Hoel, my friend.
My God, this show, I'll tell you, we talk top shelf. Trudeau couldn't join us last minutes. We had to pivot. No Chaka puck action. I know Trudeau was messaging me, but not. Not a lot of updates to provide on the Chucka puck anyhow, as what he said. But he made that joke. He said there was always something to talk about. So we missed Trudes this week, but lots of content that we have to cram within an hour between the NHL. My hair is all wonky right now. And you got strike zone. You got. We got in the Pocket football in college football championship. Like, coaches getting fired, players like, what's going on? So let me introduce and let's pick where we want to go here because there's a lot of news to touch on. This is in the Pocket, partnered with Sports Center Bar and Grill. Sue me. Ontario's best sports bar over five years in a row and best wings as well. And original OG with the show since in the Pocket kicked off where him and I were co workers at the casino here in Sault Ste. Marie. The one, the only, Justin Hoel. Hike, my friend. How's it going?
[00:37:48] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, especially the Bills firing their coach Monday morning. Like, you got. You're right. We got a lot to. A lot to dive into here. I mean, there was a couple games where. Well, not a couple. There was one game specifically where it was like one team was just like trying harder to lose than the other team. Just turnover after turnover after turnover. It was like the Pillsbury aisle in the freezer at the grocery store. Like, yeah, yeah, it's crazy, crazy weekend.
[00:38:14] Speaker A: Okay. So like I said, there's a lot that we got to fit in with in time. So I'm just gonna spick it out that we know is new.
[00:38:20] Speaker C: Lose.
[00:38:20] Speaker A: And we're going to go off that. So McDermott gets fired as the coach, The Bills get eliminated, the Niners get embarrassed. Patriots are for real. Denver loses their starting quarterback. And I, they have their backup going in for the next game. That's just. I drew up a quick blank there. They. Honestly, you have Darnold in there, got Stidham in there.
[00:38:42] Speaker C: You got.
[00:38:42] Speaker A: I believe that's how you pronounce his last name. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Got it. And of course, Drake May in there. When I. When I. When I think of this year's Final Four Okay, Final Four. And I did that with quotations because Matt Stafford's in there. The only guy that you know has, you know, I don't want to say has experience, but has experience because these other guys are some young lads coming in there, and they're not the Final Four that I predicted to be there. So you got the Final Four there with the Rams, the Seahawks, the Patriots and the Broncos. You got a backup quarterback going there. You got Darnold going in there. You got Drake May. Like I said, in Stafford, you have McDermott getting fired. You have Josh Allen rumors. You have Josh Allen's game against the Broncos where people think, is that a catch? Is that not a catch? The Broncos winning that game by field goal where he looked like you thought Allen was going to break through.
The Texans just did. Couldn't keep up with that. Patriot, like the Patriots are for real, which hurts me to say. And I don't know where the Steelers would have got absolutely embarrassed by the Patriots if they played them. So that wouldn't have been a good game. You know, obviously, Harbaugh goes to the Giants. That's another thing. That's a piece of News. You have McDaniel getting interviewed by every team in this under the sun for her four teams, it looks like Tomlin, I've heard nothing. Indiana wins the national championship. Like, there's a, there's a. There's all the football news that we're going to try to touch on. And the first thing I'll go into is I want to go to the Bills Broncos if I can. That game was so heartbreaking. It made me so, so sad for Josh Allen. Man, I, I really feel like the Buffalo Bills are missing out on a chance and they, in that game, I think, did get take away from them. And I know Joe Burrow had his opinions on X saying that, you know, that wasn't or that wasn't a catch. I don't know. Justin, I honestly can't sit here. And there's no bias here. Everyone knows I'm a stage, A Steeler fan. You're a Cole fan. There's no, there's no bias here. I really think that that was a catch. I'm so convinced that that was a catch in that game and that that would have led the Bills to get a Super or super bowl field goal to go on to, to move on, to go play in the end, at the, in the conference championship.
[00:40:54] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, I don't want to dwell on the whole is it a catch, not a catch thing. Too, too Much. I mean, let's preface it with the Bills had plenty of opportunities through that game to win the game or to maintain a lead through the game. The turnovers, that was a disaster. If we're not going through these turnovers, we're not. We're not in the position to talk about the catch or the pass interference after the catch in question. The catch is what it. I mean, is it a catch? Is it not a catch? I'm 50. 50 on it, to be completely honest. I mean, I think it's a good defensive play. I don't necessarily know. It's still a live ball. The ball never hit the ground. Did Cooks have possession of it? The definition of possession, depending on who you talk to on any given day, the last couple days, changes. So it's really hard to determine. I. I've gotta. I gotta get off the fence and pick an answer. So I'm gonna say I think it's a good defensive play. I think the pass interference they called after that against. Against the Bills defense was kind of more horseshit than anything else. They let them play the entire game. There was a lot of hand contact between the receivers and the secondary. And then all of a sudden, in overtime, they're calling the game completely different, as we saw with that call. So that one burned me a little more than the catch. No catch. Like I said, I think it's a good defensive play more than anything else. The receiver didn't really have enough time to establish possession, but the ball never hit the ground, so the ball is still alive. Cooks would have had to maintain possession on the ground for it to be a catch. And I forget who grabbed it, but the guys, the Broncos players, run away with the ball, so the ball didn't hit the ground, so it's not a dead ball. Cooks didn't maintain possession, so it's not a catch. I guess my default answer is that defense wins and it's the Broncos ball.
[00:42:40] Speaker A: I really. I really think that that game was just so heartbreaking, though, and it's okay to have a difference opinion on that catch. And the passer fear is such a good point that you bring up, because when I was sitting there, it's just. I felt like you could just. You could just. They felt like that call by the ref just feels like all the attention was on. He wanted it, it seems like, taken away from a very good football game. That was my favorite football game of the weekend, by far, the Seattle game. You could take a snooze. That was a joke. Who is Sam Fran? Who is this? Who is this team? Who is this team? Why are you here? That's what I was saying about San Fran. Why are you here? Who are you? Don't know who you are.
[00:43:21] Speaker C: But I think with San Fran, the gas just kind of, I mean, they were running on fumes for the better part of the, I would say November, December, I mean, with the injuries they had on both sides of the ball. McCaffrey was never truly healthy. McCaffrey, I think at this point in his career, is never to. Going, going to be truly healthy through an NFL season. You're, you're probably getting eight to 10 games out of them in the regular season and then preserving them for the playoffs. They ran out of receivers. I mean, KD went down, Fred Warner's gone. It was a rough go and Seattle was, wasn't as beaten up going into the game. First and foremost, Seattle's defense has been firing on all cylinders for weeks now and, and that offense just pops off sometimes. I mean, some through the season, Seattle's had some rough games on offense. Like the Colts game was a bunch of field goals. There wasn't much back and forth. Their offense just didn't get going. I'm not saying the Colts defense was the be all and end all. That's not where I'm going with that. It just sometimes Sam Darnold, no matter where he is, it doesn't. Sometimes he doesn't get going. But it seems right now in Seattle, they're dialed in. Losing Charbonnet to injury is a rough one. They did have a nice one two punch there with Kenneth Walker and, and Charbonnet, but I mean, next man up and the Broncos are in a waivers position, losing their quarterback. So losing your running back and still having a 1A or a 1B in the backfield is, is pretty nice. Quarterbacks, you don't necessarily always have a 1A and 1B. You have 1A and then like two zed. That's just the way the NFL works, guys. It works. Guys don't get.
[00:44:56] Speaker A: I maybe shouldn't count out the Rams because Matt Stafford and you know, the Rams just feel like it looks like they're, you know, finding ways. But when I watch the Patriots play against the Texans last week, this weekend, past just that. Geez. Just the. Yes. And Drake May didn't even have a good night.
May had a, had a, had a rough game. Imagine if he had a game. Imagine if he was actually the Drake like the May that we have been seeing most of season. Texans would have been. They would have had to pull the white tower like the white towel, like Roger Nelson. They would have been in the Seahawks 49ers realm. That's exactly where they would have been. I if I'm the Broncos, you're in trouble because you don't have bonix. You could say Sean Payne how much you believe in your backup quarterback and how Nick Foles did it with the Eagles or whatever way you want to look at it. This isn't then pal. This isn't no. I don't see this being the same. I We're going to have our predictions in a bit about who wins what, but Patriots and Seahawks, it's both those games were just absolutely unreal. The Rams and Bears had a good matchup. It was very exciting to watch. But I have never felt more bad for a quarterback in football. I'm talking football than Josh Allen the other night. Like I that you could just see the defeat and the comparison I like to use to Josh Allen is exactly where, you know where I'm going to go with it. When I see the when and no, not the Dallas Cow Cowboys are not the Toronto Maple Leafs. Here's your hockey reference for in the pocket this week. The Buffalo Bills. Josh Allen is the Toronto Maple Leafs, not the Cowboys. I'm sorry to people that burst their bubble, but I think and I'm sorry people think it's nuts. I know they fired McDermott. They're going to look at a different coach. I think Josh Allen may have played his last game as a bill. I'm going to say that to you.
[00:46:35] Speaker C: No, he's. He's too valuable to the franchise. And the franchise, I hope, knows that. Some of the rumblings you're hearing are McDermott expressed some concerns to the owner and general manager like weeks before the playoffs that the team didn't have enough talent, that they needed some more talent to maybe to maybe get over that hump. You know, I mean we can go back almost every week on the show that I've been on this year talking about this. Josh Allen's needed a wide receiver. Not a scrappy wide receiver. Not. And that's not no offense to Brandon Cooks. Brandon Cooks is a good receiver, had a great career, but he's on the back end of it. Brandon Cook should not be Josh Allen's go to guy in overtime in the playoffs when you're trying to get to an AFC championship game when it's your team's window to win because the Chiefs are gone, the Ravens are gone, all the boogeymen are gone. And somehow still there was no. Josh Allen. Had a bad game. I think we can all agree on that. But there was no one, I mean, aside from James Cook, there was no one to bail him out. He had no help. He's got great tight ends, but you could take him out of the game. You know, he's got no one on the outside, so it's a bummer. It's a bummer for the Bills, it's A bummer for McDermott. McDermott was the easy choice. Low hanging fruit, however you want to say it. Long tenured coach, you know, maybe we just move on from him. It's maybe the GM saving his job. I think the GM should be the one to go, personally. But it's rough, I think. I don't think Josh Allen leaves. I think he's a lifetime Buffalo Bill. Especially with them moving into a new stadium next year. They're not going to get rid of the guy that's pumping jerseys out the door. They got to pay for that building somehow. But rough one for the Bills. It sucks. Sucks for Bills fans. And to do your hockey comparison, I honestly think that the Bills are the Edmonton Oilers. You gotta, you gotta. You got a guy and you give him nothing. We got a goalie from the scrap heap. Here you go. Hopefully you can kill the world. Like I can make it to the Stanley Cup Final, but I can't stop it too.
[00:48:32] Speaker A: So I say, Dave, you're crazy. It's the Cowboys in the Leafs. You know what, that's a very good point, Justin. I didn't even look at that. Bang on there. Bang on. All right, we got some games to talk about this week that we'll keep as we don't dive into too much. But any final thoughts about the games this week or any news about McDermott? I don't think it's gonna be. Someone's gonna be out of a job for long. Just like I'm always waiting anxiously where Tomlin's gonna go next. But I think he's gonna take his time more than some of these other coaches might. But I think someone like McDermott's not going to be out long. You know, Tomlin's gonna be wanted places. Harbaugh is already on the Giants. So if you can touch on Harbaugh, that some of the open coaches that are still available and that this coaching carousel continues. And what do you think's gonna happen?
[00:49:11] Speaker C: Well, I. The Harbaugh of the Giants thing I think is cool. It gives the Giants some credibility, especially with the young guys. They got up and coming. I mean, they got an older, more experienced veteran coach to. To manage the locker room. I think that's. That's nice. I think they gives them some stability for those guys to grow as a team together because, I mean, next year will be the first time they're healthy all together, hopefully through a training camp and into the season. It's exciting times, honestly, for the Giants. The Tomlin thing, just to touch on that a little bit, I believe because he left the team, the team didn't fire him, and because he has time left on his contract, someone would have to trade for him. I think that's how that works. He just can't take another job.
That being said, we know how valuable the draft picks are in the NFL for a couple months of the year, aside from, you know, the combine to draft timeline. The rest of the time, draft picks don't mean anything. It's like fantasy football. And then I think the Dolphins hired the packers defensive coordinator to be their head coach. And then I think Tennessee was moving in on someone today, too. I forget who I read that was. But yeah, McDaniel, like you said, is interviewed absolutely everywhere. I think he's just been flying around all week and a lot of what, Washington. Washington. No. KC hired B Enemy back as their offensive coordinator because they're expecting Maggie is going to get a head coaching job somewhere. So that's. That's pretty well what I got there.
[00:50:33] Speaker A: For the coaching carousel, we got Robert Shayla.
Sorry. Who the Titans end up hiring just last night.
[00:50:41] Speaker C: Makes them. Yeah. So he was what, jets head coach back to San Francisco, Shanahan as a defensive coordinator. And now he's on to Tennessee. All right, well, good for him. I mean, Tennessee's got some pieces there.
[00:50:54] Speaker A: But uphill battle, forfeit, trade forum. They'd also. They could also mentioned when I was researching that piece, because I heard about that, the trade piece. But obviously draft picks too could be involved and that's how you would trade for Tomlin, if not a player. So I'm sure Pittsburgh would welcome that for something that someone just. Just left. Take something for nothing. Nothing. All right, this week, Justin, we got the Patriots, we got the Broncos, we got the Rams, we got the Seahawks. Give us a little preview and then slide us into our pickup.
[00:51:21] Speaker C: All right, well, I mean, New England, Denver gonna be a tricky one. I think. Denver's defense, really good. New England's defense, really good. Denver's offense, I mean, Stidham looked good in the preseason. A lot of Broncos fans I've talked to have Been surveying the people this week so far. Said that they liked Jared's did him in the preseason. He looked okay. Maybe he was a little better than Bonix. But Bonix is a Sean Payton favorite. That's fan perception. I don't know. I'm, I'm really reaching on that. But again the Broncos defense is really good and the Patriots we saw last week against a good Houston defense still make mistakes. Drake may isn't, isn't perfect. I think some people would agree with me out there that the Patriots maybe aren't as an experienced of a team that they'd like seeing go to the Super Bowl. They'd like to maybe take their lumps a little more. Not liking the rebuild going as well as it did with the Mike Rabel acquisition. But I think, I mean the better quarterback and the better defense is going to win and I think it's the Patriots I going to have a rough go there with that one. The Rams Seattle is a little trickier. I mean this is act three of this series we're seeing this year because their division opposed moments as well. Rams have been a heck of a team. Matt Stafford potentially like honestly maybe mvp, really low key MVP candidate this year because I mean no one, no one talked about the Rams going through the summer. No one was. The Rams weren't a flashy team. The Rams have kind of just been rebuilding since the soup. They're around, they're good. Sean McVeigh does his stuff with the team but I mean quietly devonte Adams went there in the off season. Their defense has been rock solid. They got some killer linebackers there. D line has probably re established itself since Aaron Donald retired. Well that, that was a big, big hole to fill there and those guys have done a really good job. The Rams are a good team but like Seattle's defense is like reminiscent of the Legion of Boom era defense right now. They're, they're all over the place. They're ball hawks, they're hard hitting. And then to complement that, Seattle special teams have been unbelievable too. I like Shahid there right off the, the start of the game on the weekend. Getting a touchdown when you have that ability too and then your offense can just go and pound the ball. JSN was unbelievable out there on the weekend. He was an absolute madman. Charbonne went down. That's fine. Pass to me for 200 yards. That's cool. I'll figure it out. So when you, when you have those options and Seattle's just a little quicker, a little flashier, a little More exciting. I think the Rams, it's been a long season for them. They've had to fight for some other wins. They've had to fight for where they are. I, I think I'm going to give a prediction here. I think it's a New England, Seattle Super Bowl. I know a lot of people are probably going there but it's crazy to say that I didn't, I didn't think, you know all season even last week I didn't think we'd be saying New England, Seattle. So I don't know. Let's see what you think.
[00:54:14] Speaker A: You know I was him and ha and I'm going to go quick quickly about New England and the Broncos before I get into the Rams and Seahawks in when I think about New England, it pains me to say but only because Bonix went down and I know that the Broncos are high on their QB2 but I think losing Bonex is what changes my decision.
And New England just watch them play the Texans. No teams for real ladies and gentlemen. And they've been for real. They're. They're here for a reason. So that's not news. But I think the Broncos not having bo necks and just the way the Patriots have been playing football. Drake may having a week off last week. He's gonna have a week on this week now I think he's a little bit pressures there but not because look at what you've done at a young age. You know you have big, big shoes to fill with Tom Brady and the Belichick but now you got a new era there in New England and you get to make your own story there in New England. I think he's going to ride that out. So New England's going to defeat the Broncos and that score is going to be 28:17. Patriots, the Rams, Seahawks. Excited to talk about this one. I was going back and forth and you know I'm not a Sam Darnold not believer. I think he's a great quarterback. He's really found his way in Seattle and that team around him is great. You mentioned the defense Legion. They're back. That team's so exciting. But I'm going to go on another side of it. I feel I want to go with the warriors here a little bit. I'm not calling them the Warriors, I'm just saying the warriors that they battled all year and you know the Devonte Adams, you got some veteran presence on that team. Team with Matthew Stafford, teams that have made it, they know how to win these games and I feel like Speaking of lumps, you're only. I don't think you're going to see two young quarterbacks in the super bowl this year. I feel like you're going to have a veteran and then you're going to have a young guy and then that young guy is going to have to learn the hard way. And I'm not saying he's going to lose when he gets there, but I think the experience here is what's going to really help new the LA go against Seattle on the road to help win this football game. And I know the odds are quite against them, but when I, when I think of someone who can be in a good situation and high pressure and really slow down the game and really come up in the moment, it is Matthew Stafford and Lions fans, it probably pains you to hear because obviously your outcome this year didn't go where you could have imagine. If you would have had the season you should have had super bowl would have been wide open for you to win. But the Rams, I think are going to defeat the Seattle Seahawks and they're going to win 24 to 21. It's going to be a close game. It's going to be an exciting game. I think it's going to be the most exciting game of the weekend. And experience going to take over youth here. Justin, you got to give it to him. You're going to have a Rams, Patriots, Super Bowl. Because you know what? We don't need to see another New England Seattle one, especially if they're running on the one yard line.
[00:56:50] Speaker C: If you know, you know, bad joke, bad joke. I mean, I get it, I understand where you're going, but bad joke. Rough. Rough one for Seattle fans out there. Yeah, I mean we've pretty well done the pick them there and we know where we're going. You've pretty well won the pool this year. So I'm not even gonna last. I got absolutely obliterated last weekend. I think I got one right. Maybe. Let's check. Let me double check here. Hold the. No, I got them all wrong last weekend. Every single pick wrong.
So yeah, rough go for me in the. The old pick them this year but you know, always next year. Always next year. You want to, you want to touch on that college game a little bit? See, I mean that Mendoza run was absolutely bananas. I think that's, that's my one takeaway from that. And he's going to sell a hell of a lot of Raiders jerseys. I mean I should have said Raiders like Chris Berman there, but I didn't but yeah, I mean, with Tom Brady involved in the Raiders, you saw Brady lurking around at that game last night. I mean, Mendoza seems like a pretty solid piece as long as the Raiders don't screw that up. You know, they get the right coach in there. Like, he seems like a. Seems like a good, solid quarterback.
I don't, It's. I mean, that Indiana team was bananas this year. The run they went on.
And the game was tight last night. It was a lot tighter than I think anyone at least I mentally gave it credit for. I thought that Indiana was going to come through and absolutely blow the doors off Miami. Miami fought through that game and it was tight. It was, it was a good. It was the best Monday Night Football game I saw all year. And it was college football, college football, national championship, don't get me wrong. But the best Monday Night Football game all year.
[00:58:37] Speaker A: What I'll, what I'll mention is when I saw this game and I watched Indiana absolutely blow the doors off Alabama, then absolutely blow the doors off Oregon, I said Miami doesn't stand a chance because Alabama and Oregon, I thought were better than Miami. And the way Miami battled in that game yesterday kept the game. The defense, they, you know, going into the third quarter you were down 10, nothing. But they battled back and even the fourth getting a couple touchdowns to try to make that game interesting. Indiana, though, it was just too much 16. And this Indiana team was something special. And that is great for that football program who had a lot of bumpy roads, a lot of bumps in the road is what I should say in the last decade plus. And you know, Mendoza was just great to watch in that game. He's a talent. He's like to see how that transitions to the NFL style. And I'm glad that you mentioned the Raiders because I think that's also where he's going. It's funny that you mentioned Tom Brady as well. That's actually who I thought would be a good fit for the Raiders was Mike Tomlin, to be honest with you. But when you have a young quarterback, I don't think Tomlin's a fit for a young quarterback. You and I talked about that already, but we can't forget he helped groom Ben Roethlisberger. So maybe it's a revitalized Mike Tomlin, but nonetheless going on point. Indiana was the best football in the nation for a reason, and they proved it. Not just because of win this championship, that team watching. Even in the moments of where Miami was battling back, Indiana was able to fight back and keep it up and keep the momentum. They didn't let that game slip away when they were up 10, nothing going into the third. And the exchanges, the exchange touchdowns. And you're going into their up 17 to 7 and you're going to the fourth up a touchdown and a field goal, 10 points. Miami, you know, and you. You're able to battle and contain that momentum. That is the sign of a good team. Good teams find ways to win. And that is what I saw in Indiana. And it wasn't from the offensive side. The offensive side was obviously good. He got 27 points, but Mendoza only threw 186 yards. I say only because for a standout quarterback like that in college football, usually throwing more, you know, Miami really contained that passing game from Mendoza. And you had the rushing yards. Ack only had under 100 yards. He had 79 yards where Fletcher had 120, I believe, yards and a couple touchdowns. So the run game was really working for from Miami in that game. And you know, I really feel that the. The big turning point obviously was in the third quarter. And I had to make sure that it was when Joyce punted and it was blocked and it was covered for a touchdown by Indiana. That is where. When I watched that game on that punt, punt recovery, if you will, that is where the turning point of that game was. I had Indiana go up 17 to 10. Was no. 17 to 7. Sorry, 17 7. And that was the moment in that football game where Indiana, I think, started to show where this is our game. You know, obviously you had a touchdown. The fourth. They exchanged. Mendoza rushed for a touchdown. They exchanged touchdowns. The fourth. But that punt, that was. That block punt was the difference maker in that football game. Unbelievable. National championship game. It's great. And hopefully Oregon can get there next year with the returning quarterback and having two studs at quarterback with Dylan Raiola and obviously more returning in Oregon. So got a little bit of a quarterback duel there in Oregon. It's going to be interesting to see. But this was a great Miami. You overachieved. I didn't think that was going to happen, but it was just great. All in all, Justin, this has been more of a lengthier in the pockets, but we only have a couple of these left. We have next week.
Wait, usually. Usually we take the week. We take the week off. All right, we take the week off.
[01:02:18] Speaker C: Whoa.
[01:02:19] Speaker A: Everyone put away your swords. I didn't forget. For the Pro bowl, we don't talk about.
Jokes aside, we usually take a week off next week. The following week we'll have our super bowl preview show and then we will have our super bowl reaction after that. So there's two more episodes left of in the Pocket for this seasons of in the Pocket. So if Justin has time, maybe he could jump on a little hockey segment or something next week. But we may not see Justin until the following week nonetheless. Justin, this has been a pleasure as always, my friend.
[01:02:46] Speaker C: Yeah, good. Good to be here as always. And you know, I'm looking forward to another interesting playoff weekend. Honestly, who knows what's going to happen at this point. It could be we could have any combination of teams in the super bowl and I'll have to start doing my research on random winter Olympic sports so I can come in and give a preview post super bowl on.
Maybe some bobsled. Maybe I'll learn about bobsled.
What else? I mean, hey, we gotta curl. We did curling briefly on the show. So I mean, I think curling we could touch on that with some knowledge base on it. What else? That maybe we'll learn about that weird ski one where they come down the hill and it looks like they're blowing their knees out continuously. Just smashing their knees into their chest. Yeah, just back and forth. Let's just blow. I don't understand that. Maybe we'll learn about. We'll pick a couple Olympic sports, we'll learn about them. I'll come in, I'll do a little bit on it. There we go.
[01:03:41] Speaker A: I have to give you the live on scene or on a reaction with Brad Jacobs says hopefully he takes home a gold medal for us. Friend of the show and good friend of myself. It's going to be an interesting Olympics. I'm glad he brought that up. Very excited as that's just around the corner. That's Justin Heiko. Ladies and gentlemen. This has been in the Pocket. This is presented by 91N. Featured on Spaces as well is the game sports podcast. But in the Pocket is partnered with gonna make sure I get my words right. SportsCenter Bar and Grill. I want to say thank you again to Justin. I want to say thank you to Brennan. I want to say thank you to Connor. It's been one heck of a show and it's been enjoyable to talk about all the happenings in the world of sports just this past week alone. If you're tuned into the show, it's your first time. Hey, hit like, follow, subscribe. We appreciate it. Interact, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook at the game sports podcast.
[01:04:34] Speaker C: Okay.
[01:04:34] Speaker A: Can't miss it. Audio, Spotify, it's wherever you want to find us. You can. You can search it in Chad TPT for a thing. Want to hear something weird? I saved this for the last end of the show. I did it the other day I did another search except this time I did it in Gemini instead of chat GPT and I noticed said the Game Sports Podcast located in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, formerly the Game Sports show, has been around since 2016. I knew that information and then it said Booyah. My wife and I were quite creeped out. AI is really freaking me out. And I guess Booyah has been affiliated with the show. It's been around for 10 years, so that makes sense. I thought everyone would get a good little laugh at that. So point is, you can find us anywhere and please don't hesitate to interact and follow along with us. And Featured on Spaces. I can't forget that hockey and Hockey and sports on Spaces through Village Media and Sioux today. But again, 91N is where the video editions are. Audio is wherever you want to locate us. So until next week, I'm here to remind you, keep your stick on the ice, swing your bat, schedule touchdowns, drain your threes and shoot your shots. Booyah.
