Hour 2: Another Wide-Receiver traded for a 1st round pick!

0:00I'm Sarah Turnie, and I'm Courtney Nicole, or the host of the Crime House original podcast, The Final Hours. Crime has impacted both of our families, teaching us how the last conversations, the mis-bred flags can change everything. On the final hours, we examine the moments before a disappearance, and the questions that never got answered. The podcast that puts the moments before a disappearance under a microscope. Listen to and follow The Final Hours, available now wherever you get your podcasts. Tomorrow night, six o'clock. Joe and Jack, welcome back. It is the midday show. Hugh Douglas, Joe Gillio, after we had a chance to participate in unique roles, moderating and asking questions at the first ever press conference in the history of WIP. We appreciate everyone who listened and is part of it. And of course, these guys are going to do it tomorrow night at 6 p.m. Joey Crawford will be there. Friend, Dumfee's going to be there. Mark Zumoff, it is a who's who. All right, we'll get back to the phone lines and your conversation on AJ Brown

1:01and have we over rid of this guy. But Hugh, we need to react as we, you know, a lot of times we'll air a press conference, right? We'll air Seriani or Topper or Dumbrowski or Mori, right? And then we come back and we react to what we just heard. Now, this one's a little bit unique because Hugh, we were part of that press conference. But what were your takeaways from Joe versus Jack? Uh, Devon's a bully. I tried to tell you we're ready for that read. I was extremely intimidated. Like, no, all jokes aside. Like, even though it was, it was very subdued, you could just tell when you're in a room of professionals that ask questions all the time, they don't wait around to see, you know what I mean? It's, it's, they're in, they're in game mode. Well, and you're lucky. I think you, particularly you lucky that I moderated because usually there's no moderating. They just, they elbow each other out for questions. Yeah, because I'm sitting around and I'm trying to grab the mic in there. Everybody's, you know, and I was like, I was like, wow. Yeah, Kyle, you, you couldn't see the perspective I had. Hugh got strong. I can hear Hugh getting just totally bodied to that question. It was like watching a six foot one guard get boxed out by some, some big guys. Yeah, it was, it was, it was very, very intimidating.

2:02But I'll tell you what, man, I will say this. You know, Dave Uram reached the room extremely well. And he asked the question that, like, I think, I think Dave was being nice because I didn't see it as him not taking his tears. It looked, he looked a little nervous. Jack, Jack looked a little nervous, man. Jack, Jack feels nervous to me and sitting next to him, he feels a little nervous. Joe feels very confident. Now, Joe's coming from a spot where I, he's the underdog, right? So he's, maybe he's, yeah, he's over, he feels he feels overconfident to me. Oh, well, when I say overconfident, I'm just saying he's confident. But there's the headline on this clip. Joe feels overconfident. No, I'm saying he's confident. He's definitely confident. But you know, when you talk about matching energy, like Joe's energy was on 10. Yes. Didn't feel like, didn't feel like Jackson was there. It is, it is kind of typical for the two of them, though, right? Like that they, they were on brand. Joe is a little bit over the top and what he thinks he could do. And, and I, you try to, you struggle sometimes to figure out, is Jack just quietly doing what he thinks he's going to do?

3:02Or is he actually deep down scared? I think he thinks he's above this. Well, I think you might be right on that. But unfortunately, he's in a two to series. It's like the favorite that it is being taken to death. That's, that's what he should have beat him in three if he was above it. That's what I'm thinking. And it's, it's, I don't know how to read. Because the person that I listen to on the afternoon show every day is very, very confident. And he's very concise and clear what he says. But the guy that was sitting at the press conference, man, he, he just seems like, he's hard to read. I'll just say that because I don't know the brain lights getting to fritz. Is that what you're, is it a question? I don't know. I don't know because, you know, in a moment like this, this is it. You know, this is for the bragging rights. Yes. I would think that, you know, knowing that, you know, you have 15 years on your side and you're, you're bigger that you can go into this and it's making it take you to. You can go into this and I'm thinking simple thing. If I was playing against Joe to camera, I'll just body just, just backing down in the paint and shoot layups, you know, all day because if it's making take it, that's what I would do because he's not physically, he's not going to match up with you.

4:02No, and I, I did sense there's a Joe is very confident, a little bit maybe over the top in his confidence. But I did, there's, sometimes when people are confident subtly, they let out where their confidence is not as strong. And he, he did mention his stamina might not be at the level it needs to be. I feel like Joe is, is telling us he's not 100% where he needs to be to play a full basketball game. I mean, that's all he probably going to be doing. I don't know. I mean, I don't know. I don't know. Yeah, choosing ones. So I do have in front of me here the full list of rules and I got to tell you after they, they've litigated these for about eight months. Look at, look at this, everyone. The list is too long. This is a pickup game. Like, look at this. This list is way too long for a game to 11 for a pickup game. So just to, to go over for everyone, to make it take it game, the game is to 11. You must win by two points. A one point for inside the arc shots to for outside. That would be what we think of as three. The three point line that will be used is the one closest to the basket. What does that even mean? That means they're shooting bunny sides. Do they have multiple three point lines at this college court?

5:05Like a, maybe a college for, actual college line and maybe an inside line for high school games. I don't know. No free throws. Fals will be called, but not resulting in a free throw. So that's why we invited Joey Crawford to blow the whistle just to, to do that. Okay. After the foul, the person that gets fouled gets the ball back at the top of the key and play or resume after a check. All right. So Joey Crawford is, is, is pretty important then because he gets to kind of reset the game. Egregious fouls are intentional fouls to the offensive player, not really sure what Joey Crawford's going to do on that because you think someone's going to get teed up by Joey. That, that would be entertaining. It would be the camera. Right. It cursed out the, people I know, Tennessee, I mean, Joey Crawford is not putting up with the camera's crap. I'll tell you that right now. I mean, he, he, again, he got chewed out by Jordan and Malone and all those guys. He's not putting up with the camera. The ball is checked after made shots, fouls and plays that go out of bounds. No checks after a miss shot. If you get a defensive rebound, you must clear it anywhere on the other side of the three point line. There's no shot clock.

6:05When, how long this game goes, which, which you're overrunner and how long this game goes? How long do you think it takes one of these guys to get to 11 points? Oh, I shouldn't take 30 minutes, shouldn't take 30 minutes, 45 hour. And if it's an hour, cut, cut the cameras, cut the mic. That's long. I would say about a half hour. All right. So you can react to the press conference with us. It was, it was pretty interesting being in there. I, I felt that room was tense. I felt there was a little bit more of a, um, I would say, uh, who I would say a little looser on one side than the other, jack side of the table, felt a little less loose. Yeah, they, they felt a little nervous. There was a lot like, I'm big on looking at energy, even as his handler there felt like he was a little, you know, like the, the, the fidgety jumping around, you know, like just like, you know, the leg twitching or whatever. It feels like there's a little bit of a trepidation on their side. It does. All right. Two, one, five, five, nine, two, ninety, four, ninety four. Before we get back to the phone lines, you can react to the Jack first show press conference and AJ Brown are we over, are just we overrating him.

7:07Do we have an NFL trade to discuss here? We do the Broncos just traded for Jalen Waddle. Oh, well, it looks like Miami got the Broncos 30th overall pick for Waddle. Wow. That's interesting. It is very interesting. So Jalen Waddle is a good receiver, too. Good receiver. Go on as good as AJ. Well, he had, I mean, okay, it's an instrument on that. It's a good receiver. I mean, yeah, Jalen's a good receiver. Not as good as AJ. Two things. I, he's never been as good as AJ has been. He is younger though. He's the Vante's draft class. Right? They draft in the same year. I don't think it's the same ceiling. Probably not. Two things on this. One, he's younger than AJ. So we'll see how much the age is the reason why they maybe they got that pick. I grew Kyle. He hasn't been as good as AJ Brown. But he is younger. And he, the other thing I wonder with with Jalen Waddle is is kind of like Devonte. Is there more to him, but he's been overshadowed by Tyree killed the way Devonte has been overshadowed by. I would probably say that is probably the case. And then, you know, working with two of two of us has not had, you know, two of us thinks.

8:07I mean, he. I want to see. I want to see. I want to see. I want to see him in that Sean Payton offense. I would like. I think that, you know, what they did this year and, you know, getting that type of receiver, I want to see what he looks like in that offense. That's what I'll say. I think they got a really good young receiver. So he's 27. He turned 27 towards the end of the season. So I guess he's only, what would that be, a year or two younger? A year, a year, a year. He's not that much younger than AJ Brown. Now, he's coming off a year, last year, 64 receptions, 910 yards, six touchdowns. Yeah, he hasn't been as dominant as AJ was. In fact, you go back four years ago. That was probably, gentlemen, Wattles best year of the year, too, was at his best. But 30th overall pick for gentlemen, Wattles, it's certainly interesting when we calibrate with the AJ Brown market. It's all right. 215, 592, 94, 94. That's a hot board. Let's go to Chris in middle town up on WIP. Hey, Chris. Good morning, man. What's up? Good morning, Chris. Guys, I got to make this real fast here. So let me just cook real quick, because I got a hop on a call in one and a half minutes. You go, go for it.

9:08You definitely have been whacked your head walking into the studio today, because listen, you've had some nonsense takes, but you called the AJ generational talent. That was ridiculous, yeah. AJ is definitely overrated by the Philadelphia fan base. He's not that good. He's not even a top 10 receiver in the NFL. You could take a look at the list. He's definitely not on there. And like you, but you saying Pukka, Nakuwa, wouldn't garner a first round pick. You just heard that Jerry Judy went for the 30th. I don't want to. I'm sorry. Yeah, Chris. Pukka would go for a one and a three. Yeah. You got to be cute. Literally, he would let this is a friend talking with a friend here, okay? You know, they say usually the body goes first, okay? And then the mind before he go to the upper room, dude, your brain is your mind for long gone and the upper room because that takes saying that he can't get a first round pick for Pukka, Nakuwa. Man, I've heard some dozees. I mean, Friday, you trash one of the great four horsemen reporters, and then today you're

10:12saying this nonsense, man, but all I know is this I got to go. But dude, Jack is going to mop that floor with that clown tomorrow. I'll be there. I'll be wearing my shirt, represent my guy, Jack Fritz, because the camera, dude, you're going to get cooked tomorrow. Have a good one. You got it, Chris. I know Chris had to go or coming out the pukka. I know, I know, I know crazy. I know Chris had to go, but I feel like I have to defend what I said, Pukka, Nakuwa was a fifth round draft pick, right? Yes. Jaylen Waddle was the sixth overall pick in the draft. I don't know if that doesn't matter. I don't think it matters. No, that's what I'm saying. And I never said it was the truth. I said, when you talk about what he's worth, even though he's played well, it doesn't, I don't think that a team is going to give you a first round draft pick for a fifth round draft pick. But I just want to know, once you start in the league, it doesn't matter where you're drafted anymore. Okay, but it, but it tracks what I'm saying, because Jaylen Waddle was the sixth round draft pick. Six overall pick. So it's, it was a six overall.

11:12Yeah. No one bringing his prime. Go for a first. No. No. That's it. That's a quarter back. Okay. Time of the example for some Antonio Brown and his prime. That's the example. That's the only difference. That's the only difference. That's the only difference. That's the only difference. Okay. There you have it. There you have it. I just think once, I don't know how long it takes, is it a year or two, three, once you get in the league, I just think the production decides how good you, what you're worth. Okay. Then you have it. I was wrong. I mean, you, you maybe, right? No. But when I'm saying is, when, when I, when we were talking about, I said, I, I don't think that you would get for a fifth round draft pick a first round draft pick. That's what I was saying. So you, I, I got proved wrong. Well, so I think it depends on how quickly into their career. Like if, let's say the Eagles to front pick next year plays well, I don't think a year later, how we could turn them into a first round pick. But what, if you become a star, I think almost a draft is, Pook is an established great wild receiver. Yeah. It's two years in a row. Is it three? I think it's three now. Right? It's 23.

12:13Yeah. It's three years in a row. Okay. I think once you get to a certain point, it doesn't matter. Now, I'll give you this, you, first round picks people hold on to what they thought of them long a while. Like, I don't know, is jail and wild really worth the first round pick? Well, it's the 30th pick. So, so a lot of people feel feel like that pick is more a second round pick, especially if you're talking about, if they were trying to get a receiver, and we're talking about there were 20 good received first round, like said, they were eight first round receivers in his draft. They might, they might not get, they're not going to get one with the pick that they have. So it makes sense to them. And there are that window where they haven't paid their quarter back yet. And they should try, I mean, they went to the title game last year. So they probably feel like they're one player. Why? We'll see if they are. We add to the element of the conversation we're having on AJ Brown. If jail and wild goes for, all right. So let's, there's two ways to spend the jail and wild going for a one. First way to spend it is we should get a one for AJ. And I'm sure how he's going to use that. The second way is if we only get two's or we don't get a one for AJ, what is the league telling us that he's not that good anymore?

13:15I mean, it's, they're telling us waddles, more valued, well, it tells me there's not that many teams in on AJ, which would, but I like, but we already went over this. Like, I think that's, it's pretty obvious why, because he, he specifically has destinations he wants to go. Well, that's hurting us. And yeah, it does, but that, that's why AJ's market is small. Yeah. So the Broncos are getting a fourth round pick back as well. It's not much, but it is something else going back the other way. Uh, oh, so what, waddle on a four for the one. Let's go to John and Alan Town. What's up, John? Yeah. You know what's overrated. What's that? Your opinion on AJ Brown? I don't even know if it's rated. Oh, it's not rated. I know a lot of people think it sucks. You're overrated. You're overrated. You, you, you, you, you are overrated your own opinion. That's the problem. Well, we kind of all do that. That's why there are. There are. So you're like, you're like a scorn lover. You know, like when you break up with a girl and it wasn't her idea and she talks trash on you later, let's say, let your bed and bed and you're ugly and you're small.

14:16Yeah. Wow. That's what you want. So John, maybe, yeah, you want to break up with him and make it ugly. So hold on. It's two things. One, maybe, maybe I have been with the same person for 20 years. So I kind of forget what this is even like. So maybe, maybe, maybe deep down, I am that person, but I kind of forget the feeling. So all right. Well, I'm with you. But John, the bottom line is he didn't play well last year. He doesn't look to me. Does when you watch him play, John, does you play well with the plays that would be a call to the quarterback can't throw the ball where you spray. Forget all that. Forget all that. John, forget all that. When he runs, does he look the same as he used to do you? He looked just fine. Now, when he had people on his back hip and the whole, the whole outside is open and the quarterback can't put it where it's supposed to be. Come on, Joe. John, I gotta, I gotta be honest, man, I, I, I don't think I have stories. He didn't get open as much as did last year, John. What do you watch? He was open, man. You have to throw the ball. A jail in the throw the ball. You can't prove that he's open or he's not, man.

15:18Come on. I watched the TV. I watched the games. What do you mean? He doesn't run as fast as he used to. John, I'm going to give you, here's what I want you to do. You can do it. You can do it if you want. You don't have to. Go back. I'm sure you can find on YouTube in 10 seconds, search Eagles Lions 2022. His first game is an eagle. Watch how that guy runs. He's not that guy anymore. He's declined. And I just, we, we are talking about him as if he's still a top five player. He's not. Everybody declined. That's my point. Five, but I'm telling you right now, I'm telling you as God is my witness. He is definitely a top 10 receiver in a bell. I know. Joe, you're, Joe, you're wrong. Okay. I might be, listen, here's what I would say. I would invite you to go watch the YouTube. Check it out, see what you think. I also, and maybe you had them already, John, good phone call. I would invest in subcorrective lenses. If you think he looks the same, your eyes are lying to you. Well, not that this is any better per se. But do you think it's possible? There's an element of, I mean, look, the offense last year was abysmal.

16:18It's very hard to get excited and up for something like that. You know how like in baseball, you talk about, you trade for this guy off of the white socks. Luis Luis Robert. You get him out of the bad situation. He's in a bad situation, but he, you know, he's not hitting too well. You're like, man, his numbers aren't that good. All of a sudden, uh, Andrew Vaughan, right, when he went to Milwaukee, all of a sudden, just like, now he's, now he's all of a sudden in a situation that he likes. He's taken it seriously. He's fully invested. He's playing well. You think there could be a little bit of that with AJ Brown, a little bit going through the motions last season. I mean, there is a lot of talk about his effort. That could have a lot to do with why it looks like he lost the step. It could be. He wasn't giving full effort. Not that that's, that's not that that's a desirable thing. But I'm just saying, at least in terms of who he is as an athlete, as a player, it could, that could be a part of it. Yeah. You could be. And none of us know the absolute truth. I know when my, he didn't look like he was running his fast. Either one, pick one. I mean, that's not, not gonna be good, right? Like he's not trying his heart or he's losing a step. And based on the injuries he's had, I don't think it's crazy to think he's lost a step.

17:20You may see it differently than I do. But again, he's still here and I'm watching other players that we would all agree have not been as good as him and the NFL get first round picks like Jalen Wattles. So to me, it's telling me the league is looking at him in a different way than we are. Maybe we're overriding him because we don't think he's as big of a headache as the league does. Maybe we're overriding him because he's not as good as we think he is. And, you know, whether or not you want to believe it, it's there. Go watch it. 215-592-94-94. All right. Have we been overriding AJ Brown? I think it's pretty clear. He's not the same player as he used to be. I think we, we keep talking as if he's top five guys, not really anymore. We also get to the W, W, W. Hey guys, this is Matt Norlander, co-host of the I on college basketball podcast with Gary Parrish. We are part of the CBS Sports Podcast Network and college hoops is turning toward what's going to be a phenomenal march. So be sure you are tuned into the show. We're going to be publishing at least four shows every week. Follow and listen to I on college basketball free on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcast. March is coming.

18:37Plus your reaction to Jack first show, the press conference that we aired right here on WIP. It is the midday show on sports radio 94 WIP sports radio W 90 90 sports radio 94 WIP. I'm not used to doing this this much. So that's why I'm not used to it. We're back on the air as you can tell like Joe's had a really you Douglas moment in this situation. So I am the one that's kind of quarterback in this show right now. And as soon as we started out, I screwed up the call letters, but I mean, hey, that's part for the course because this is not something that I'm used to doing. I think that now since Joe has started, I've been rubbing off on Joe a little bit that maybe I need to start getting ready to fill in to to actually hold on. What happened? Was that late? Yeah, he's a little late. Hell late. Well, I was about 30. I was about 30. I was about 30. I was about 90. I was about to do it. I was about to do it. But I said 92. And then I started. I was walking back down the hall and I heard his voice and I was like, oh, you know, just is just cutting something for a clip on social that was like, and then I saw I came back

19:41in and it was the same like the tone of your voice I heard in the hallway. I was like, hmm, yeah, and say call letters. All right. I didn't think I was going that long. You weren't sure. It was a short. Oh, okay. What happened? Yeah. He was fine. I'm sure. Yeah. I need you to play it back, but I don't want to hear what it said. I don't know. We don't have to hear it. No. We all do it. We all do. All right. Two, one, five, five, nine, two, 94, 94. It's not 92. Nine the game. But it is 94 WIP. Oh, it's good. Man. Every time. My favorite is we were recording the interview with Andy Reed a few summers ago. And you brought you and I was like, well, it's Andy's your guy. You probably should lead us in. And we acted like we were on the air recording and you're like, welcome back. I did you nine the game. Andy Reed here. And I was like, no. Because that's the only time that I've ever had to actually do that. Did you used to do it on your show? I used to do it every now and then. Every now and then. And you know, when I do it, it's just like, you know, it's like recall. Yeah. It's like, you know, because you'd never get a chance, I'd never get a chance to do it here. Or I don't do it here.

20:41So it was, it's, it's just natural. Yeah. Now I get it. Yeah. I got it. I do. All right. Your phone calls on all this. The Joe Verst Jack press conference. You reacts to do it. It was, it was quite a presser earlier. And there's some great photos out there as a two of them. It was like Don, it was like Don King there sitting there and the media did a great job, including Hugh Douglas asking the questions. That all starts tomorrow night at 6 p.m. And now we have the AJ Brown situation that's just festering here. Michael June. So buckle up everyone. And I am at the point where I think we've overrated AJ Brown. I think the league is telling us, Sheila Waddle just got traded for a one. We can't get what we need or want for AJ. Maybe he's not the player we think he is anymore. And the league is telling it to us day by day. Where do you come down on AJ? Are we overriding him? Hugh tonight, no overriding the significance of the game. It is the United States and it is. It has been in the sweat. It has been as well for the world baseball classic. Nobody saw that one coming. No, I would say most people would not have picked then as well. I think Japan was probably the favorite on the other side. And Venezuela knocked them out a couple of nights and go. So last night they win.

21:42They beat the Aaron Nola lead Italian team. I thought Nola pitch well again, though, here, which is great. You only gave up one, like gave up a big one, right? Good development. Yeah. I think Nola's pitched well this spring training. And it is a good thing moving forward. Now the other side, of course, is the United States. So we got Swarber. We got Harper. We're trying to win this thing tonight. Hugh, big picture question before we get into the game tonight. And really what, I think a big decision Mark DeRosa has for the lineup. How much does this matter? Like the good Nola, the not so good Bryce. How much are you taking from this? Because typically I think when we do this in this time of the year, like those of you Bryce and stop, for example, Bryce has had a great spring for the Phillies. It looks like he is on the verge of maybe picking up where he left off last year. But you kind of have to say it with a grain of salt because spring training is spring training, right? Yeah, you work on different things. You try to work on your craft and maybe at another beast until you're repertoire, you know, stuff like that. And when you're pitching or hitting, the guy you might be facing, unless you're watching every single app out of every game,

22:44either way, pitching or hitting. Are you facing another major league or are you facing a guy that's going to be in single A this year? So you get a hit, but who cares? It's just, it's hard to extrapolate and take anything from spring training and say that is going to happen the regular season. We've known that for years. Here, the world-based ball classic is similar, but it's not because for the most part, they're, they're good players, right? Like they're better than your typical spring training competition. And they care, right? They're, they're trying to win the pitch, right? The pitch are trying to get you out. They're not really working on things. They're, they're doing everything they can to get it out, same thing with the hitters. So how much does this matter? The good of Arinola, the not so good of Bryce. How much is the world-based ball classic making you feel something about these guys? You know what, John? Are you looking for a pro football podcast that doesn't put you to sleep with spreadsheets or insult you with mindless hot takes? Football is fun. Why shouldn't your football podcast be the same? Follow and listen to He the Call NFL podcast with Dan Hanzes and Mark Cessler. Wherever you get your podcasts. Let's say it like this. And I know as soon as I say it, you're probably going to jump. Follow me like a bunch of crickets.

23:44Can't wait. It, it matters, but it shouldn't. Because of, there are two things that going on here. Nola is in a position where, last year, but both of them are for this matter. In a position where they didn't have the season that you wanted. So you're trying to get a gauge as a, as a former player, you want to try to get a gauge on where you might be as far as your, your rehab or your health goes or just, or just getting your mojo back. And for Nola, it's probably more of that. And you know, like I've heard people talk about it when we were talking about the baseball class and how they were a little nervous because he looks good this early. You know, and it's like, you, you kind of worried about that because you know how he, his season normally go. Right. On the flip side, you have Bryce and, you know, the not elite thing and all this other stuff and he's not hitting well. So you're looking at that and you're like, oh, it's just an indicator of how the season is going to go. I would say honestly, it's, it all depends on, on how you,

24:45as an individual player, view this. You know, I think Nola is using this, this has a stepping stone to get him ramped up for the season. Bryce might not be and, and, but the unfortunate thing about it as a fan, we're looking at it and we're judging both of them from the same visuals. Yeah. You know what I mean? We're judging both of them. Like, oh, Nola looks pretty good. Does that mean he's going to have a good, better season? And then you're looking at like, well, damn, Bryce hasn't hit a whole lot. What do you got a double the other night or something like that? Yeah. So, so you're looking at that and on top of that is coupled with the fact that he complained about the lineup. He complained, well, he didn't complain. He talked about how it was last year and how there was no protection in the lineup. And now he's out there and into your point, he's missing fastballs. So there is some concern there, but it shouldn't be, you know, but these, these are the type of things that, you know, preseason games and things of that nature that could tend to get in your head a little bit. So I think it's interesting where you say there's, I think they're,

25:46it's natural to react to something you're seeing, especially if last year was something you didn't want to say. Let me give you an example. I don't even know off top of my head what Aaron Judges stats are in the world baseball class. I don't know. I know he's got some, he's got some hits, right? Aaron Judges coming off of another MVP season last year, right? So like no matter what he does, he walks out of this as one of the top two players in all the baseball. It doesn't matter because he's had, he's continued to play like that year after year. Bryce is coming off a year where he didn't play that great. So we have this trepidation about him anyway. Hell, Dave Dombrowse, he got on the microphone at a pretty famous press conference around here in October. It said he didn't think he was a lead anymore. He wasn't a lead last year. So when we watch him and he doesn't look a lead, it's going to stick. It's going to make you feel like, oh, geez. And I think Noel is the opposite. If Noel was coming off of a great season, you know, whatever, this, this wouldn't resonate. Like I throw four scoreless endings or four one run endings for team, and it'll be cool. But he's coming off a bad year. So he looks better. The fastball velocity is better. I think it's all in the, it all has to do with what we saw last set of these guys.

26:50And Bryce wasn't great. It's continued. It's not great. Noel was bad. And now it looks pretty good. So it's easy to kind of get wrapped in. Now here, the other part of this is tonight. So we got the championship game, USA, isn't it? And I think Mark DeRose of the manager, who obviously last week made an asset of himself, has a lot to think about today because there was a, they were talking on the broadcast on Sunday before the semifinal game about how he contemplated and thought about shuffle in the lineup because Bryce wasn't hitting. Bryce has been hitting second the whole time and he's got some guys in this lineup that have just started to hit a lot. And by merit, by like just how they've hit in this tournament, I could probably think of three or four guys that should be higher in the lineup and Bryce should be lower. So I'll just tell you what I would do. If I was Mark DeRose, I would drop Bryce Harper in the lineup tonight. I would start him. He still would play. I would start Bryce Harper. But I would not bat him second tonight. I think there's too many guys this lineup that have hit way better than I would put up higher and I would drop Bryce Harper in the lineup tonight. You know what's funny? I was just telling Kyle, like I was listening to somebody waxing poetic about Bryce.

27:54And when we were talking about it in the meeting, I was coming from the standpoint because you know I was getting ready and the TV was on, I was working out. So I'm the TV's on and I just heard him talking about it. So I really didn't realize who it was that was talking about. Who was it? DeRose. And my initial thought was when he said it, when I didn't know who he was because I was just, you know what they say? He was just talking about how great a guy Harper is and how, you know, he's the type of guy. He's a, he's a glue guy in the locker room and all this other stuff. It hits different now once I realized who he was talking about. It's the manager of the team. Yes. And to your point and to be fair, I am the type of person like to read in the certain things that might have been the kiss of death to what you were talking about because when you're talking about Bryce Harper in that way, you might be talking about it to ease the pain of dropping him in the lineup. So that's kind of where my head is now. You might be on to something. Maybe that is going to be the case tonight because like I said, after this debacle happened with you not knowing the rules and everything, you have to bring it home because it'll be

28:58a story, but it won't be as big a story because you want it all. Of course. Maybe more like, Hey, we almost, we almost blew it. Yeah. Right. It becomes a silly kind of funny footnote or talk about for years when DeRose will forgot the rules of the tournament. If they win, but if they lose tonight, it goes, you know, we think about that for a while. I just tonight is for a championship. You know, how much it matters? How much people are into it? I think the ratings have been higher than they ever have been. So obviously more people are into it. And I'm into it from the perspective of I want USA to win. And obviously the Bryce and Schwarber angle and Brad Keller in the bullpen, like we got a bunch of fillers on this team. If I'm DeRose, if I was Mark DeRose tonight, I would drop Bryce Harper in the lineup. I need to win the game. And Bryce Harper has not hit in this tournament. And I've got all these other guys that have hit in this tournament way better. And then as well as a good team, but a bunch of star major leagueers, Akunya, Jack Centurio, like they could play at Luis Arise that they could absolutely win this game tonight. If we don't play our best game, I would drop Bryce Harper 215, 592, 94 94. Should they drop Bryce Harper in the lineup tonight? How much does this whole thing matter?

29:58The good of Nola, the not so good of Bryce Harper. Kyle, what are you feeling as we get ready for a championship game? Yeah. Well, I mean, of course they should drop in the lineup. They got to win. It's one game. They got to win. They got to do whatever it takes to win. Yep. If you're on that stack of a team, Harper can't, you know, you can't moan and complain about being dropped down from two in the lineup to six in the Phillies lineup. Right. Like this is the all-star United States lineup. So, you know, he'll have to eat that turd. But it all matters in terms like with Nola Harper, both those guys, the way they're performing in the World Baseball Classic. It matters. If Aranola sucked during the World Baseball Classic, we'd be like, there he is. Hantic button time. That's the Nola we know. He's cooked. Same thing with Bryce. Like if he was going off, we'd be like, oh, here he is. Like he's showing Dave. He's motivated. Yep. You think I'm not elite? Like, here I come. And it's not really just about, you know, whatever, whatever Nola's ERA is over a six game sample size or, you know, a few game sample size or Harper's average or OPS over a six game sample size.

30:58It's sort of those little like underlying metrics that you look at that I think are either cause for concern or cause to get excited with the Nola thing. It's the fastball velocity. It's the way the movement on the Nuckel curve looks. And with Harper, it's not being able to hit fastballs. And that's both, I think that's an alarming trend that's going down. And if it were Nola and it were the other way and it was not a bunch of home runs again would be like, well, that's the same trend from last year. Exactly. From where they left off last season and Nola looks like he's going the other direction. Harper looks like it's more of the same. Yeah. And I know it's March and I know this, this is, it's a glorified tournament that they just created, you know, 20 years ago to make it. But they're trying. Like that's, that's what I, I take away. They're trying. The players are giving their effort to try to win. So when one guy is overmatching another guy overpower another guy, it stands out to one, five, five, nine, two, nine, four, nine, four, you can react all this with us here. AJ Brown have we overrated him? I think we have. Jayman Wattled has got traded for a first round pick. And I think most people would say, Jayman Wattled is worse than AJ Brown.

32:00Why can't we get a first round pick? I think we're overrated in the player and the league is telling us day by day the fact that AJ is still here. We're overrated him. And this Bryce Harper, Nola's stuff, it's specifically Harper, this, what we're seeing the WBC matter to you. And should they drop in the lineup tonight? It's here. I, when you said that you heard DeRose San TV about Harper being a good dude and a glue guy, it's, it's not easy to drop Bryce Harper in the lineup because he's Bryce Harper, right? Like he's chosen one and they had, you know, they recruited him onto the team. It's, he has got to play it in one of these in a while because of the injuries he's had. You, and you know, he could go off at any moment, right? Like he could have a big night tonight, but I got a win. I got to win the game tonight. And he hasn't been one of my best centers. I'm dropping the lineup. Ray in the Southwest. What's up, Ray? Hey, how you doing? Good, Ray. What's up? What's going on? I think it matters because after all season that he just had with Dombroski, first things for us didn't say he's not an elite player. He said he didn't have a elite season. Yep. When he didn't. You know what I mean? And then he made a big stink about it, making an Instagram and all that.

33:04And then when he comes off, he's still talking about a crime about it. And then he's showing us this. He's not hitting fastball. He's not missing sliders, he's not missing curveballs. He's missing fastballs. Two professional players, semi-professional players. So I think it matters and is going to carry on to the season. Ray at Mike. And you're right. You're right about the fastball. Like that's what's the concerning thing is anyone could go for for 24 in a six game thing, right? That happens. You could hit it to some bad luck. Exactly. And the fact it doesn't have a home run isn't as concerning as the fastball stuff. He's just getting. They're blowing 96 mile hour fastballs by him. And now every guy and every bullpen throws that in baseball. And he's the one that pushed for the major lagers to be in this event. Now he's pushing for them to be in the Olympics and this is his performance. It's not great. Would you drop in the lineup tonight? Yes. I like that, Ray. Ray wants a win. One more thing about AJ Brown. You got to understand.

34:04You're dealing with how he rose in it, right? What did he get for Sam Bradford? A one and a four. Okay. Was he worth that? No. Okay. He'd get for Carson once. A one and a three. You think Carson was worth that? Not a shot. Okay. AJ, he's getting a one and a two. So Ray. Good there. You're a good phone call, man. Good stuff. I like that. You know what? But to me, that's a great point. But there are two separate things. We could get a lot. Like, if you have a car that's breaking down and you get a lot of money for it because someone just needs a car, doesn't mean that car is going to keep riding well for the next two years. It might just fall apart. You just won. You just won, right? Do I trust it? How do you get a good deal? Yes. But I do think the fact that there's not much interest or big interest in this particular player or the car or whatever analogy we're using. It's kind of telling. Terrence. It's Springfield is up. What's up, Terrence? Terrence. Joe, Kyle. What's up, man? Terrence. What's up, pal? Guys, I rock coming hot today, guys. I got some good topics today. First of all, I'm going to let first know right now, if Joe the camera wins tomorrow, we

35:08cannot have any more jokes about him, but he's slow, but he can't run. We can't have no more jokes. We have to consider him an athlete at this point if he knocks off Jack. Well, so I think you're right on and we can't make too many jokes about Joe's athleticism anymore. But also, I think if Jack loses, we might need to tone down that Jack was a college athlete. I mean, that was will have been a very heavy emphasis for real. Yeah. If he loses to Joe, it has been stuff, for sure. Very plain, Joe. Very plain. And guys, as for the real baseball classic, man, shout out to USA, hopefully they get that W, man. But, guys, Bryce Harper, he cannot complain, like drop him down the lineup we have to, guys. It's a one game, one game, Terrence scenario, we've got to drop him down the lineup. And guys, he cannot complain, guys, he's a mistake lineup. And is it really, now, this is the whole topic for another day, we're going to go back to the Phillies team. Is it really about protection with Bryce right now? Or is it Bryce in his head right now, try to hit home runs every time I back?

36:08Because that's a whole lot of conversation about that protection thing we've been talking about over the last year, what Bryce Harper, he's in the stack team and he still can't hit. That's a problem. And that's the situation we talked for another day. AZ Brown, guys, he's definitely the foot off your face and absolutely overrated AZ Brown. And I love Justin Wilmington. I heard it called over day and he said, AZ Brown wasn't a cancer. Guys. How is that cancer? I call you a quarterback out, if they're not being a cancer, not running routes, if they're not being a cancer, going on social media with Jake Rondo and any complaining, is that not being a cancer? Guys, if you're complaining about your target, then I've been a cancer, if everybody's saying he's not a cancer, that's cancer activity. And I said to other day, that's the reason why I had to ask, not out of here yet, because teams probably look at that and what he brings to our team. He saw it. Jamar Chase. Yes. The year burles, he's hurt. Did we see Jamar Chase doing that kind of stuff?

37:09That's called being a team player. That's called being a star receiver on a team that's not complaining when he's not getting targets. He don't get that many targets when burles out the game. So guys, AZ Brown definitely overrated his older guys and we live up to the fact that he has knee issue, guys. He's getting older. He has knee issues. We don't know if he, if that's getting in his head, that's looking at him act out and last shout because he ain't the same player that he used to be and he's taking out other people or other players. I heard a caller earlier say that he didn't get the ball thrown to him. He was the lowest in separation and NFL. He's not getting separation at all. And he can't rely on the fact that he can bully his recruit back to the world because know what they're doing now. They're getting right back physical right back with AJ. So guys, he's definitely overrated. He needs to come back with a bounce back year. His career, a cylinder going up, it's not going to look too good for AJ Brown. And that might ultimately leave him in Philadelphia. That's why they're trying to get him therapy. They're trying to reconcile his relationship, whatever got to do for AJ Brown to get this

38:10guy to relationship back on course, they got to do something, guys, because right now the AJ Brown was in the last couple of years and not cutting it. He's not. Terrence, preach the phone call. Hugh Douglas shaking his head of Terrence. No, I don't think that we've made a lot about the, all of that, you know, Colorado's quarterback and stuff. He never, we knew who he was talking about, but he left it. It was more passive aggressive. If you want to say passive aggressive was made you upset, that's what it was. But when everyone knows what you're saying, that passive aggressive is kind of like a hiding behind ambiguity. Everybody saw it, Joe. We don't like to talk about it. I don't like to talk about it, but it was what it was because we, we get upset. I know what Jalen has accomplished. Jalen didn't play well last year. No. He didn't play well last year. That's obvious. And that's okay. We're not, I'm not trying to get rid of Jalen. I've said on numerous occasions that Jalen's the quarterback that I feel is the best for the Eagles at this moment, at this juncture. But the reality is this, this offense was struggling last year.

39:13It was a struggle bus for a bunch of different reasons. It's stuck, yes. It was for a bunch of different reasons. What AJ did was not what you're supposed to do, but to me, it was something that had to be done. He had to be the drunk uncle at the barbecue. So now, and every time I hear this, and I'm going to say this to the cows, come on, if people agree with me or not, it's become a situation where everybody feels, or I feel like when people talk about AJ, they feel like if we get him out of here, all the problems will be fixed. I don't believe that. No, I don't believe that. I agree with, I don't think that would fix all the problems. We create a hole that have to fix, right? So whether they sign a receiver trade for one or draft one, they'd have to fix a hole that they've created. But I don't think we'd be here if he wanted to be here. I don't think we'd be here if he was in a mouth content. Yeah. And that's a conversation that we've been having for the last couple of weeks. I don't feel as strongly as everybody else does about it.

40:13Let me just throw one thing in, because I call it earlier, and the Terrence was reacted to it on my targets. AJ did get a lot of targets last year, now, now, whether or not they were great throws by Jailon, or they were just kind of, you know, blah targets, I, you know, not every target's equal. I understand that. But he can't pretend, AJ can't pretend and get through the football throwing him last year. He had the 16th most targets in the league last season, and that was missed with missing two games. Between the two, I know the answer to this question, but you feel Devonte was the better or the two right? I thought Devonte played better last season. And you know what's funny? And you go look it up. You talk about the receiver rankings from last year, their 17th and 19th respectfully. In terms of catches, in terms of just overall receiver performance in the NFL last year, 17th and 19th. So that, that's why for me, I look at it and I'm like, okay, if AJ is that bad, he's not that far from what Devonte was. No, but he, what I want, so well, then you write about that. But then something's changed because three years ago, there was a gap. Yes.

41:13You get 20, 23. There was a gap. Now, you're right. I'm looking at the same stats you pulled up. They're, basically, they were even last year in terms of end of the season stats. And there was something that was said that I wholeheartedly believe because I lived this. When I went to Jacksonville and I played in Jacksonville, I hated it there. Like I hated playing there and I couldn't get behind, I'm not, listen, I was hurt and I'm not making any excuses. But being in that atmosphere and being in that environment affect the way you feel and affect the way you place. So when somebody said that, it got me to thinking about that and maybe it was a little bit of that as well. I think it's kind of, I think it's fair. So I think it's an interesting parallel. You in Jacksonville. You didn't feel comfortable, right? I hated it there. And it was hard, like, just going to work every day. You know how it is, you know, it's funny just as a side. It was a video that I saw on the internet, yes, they were guy. His wife was recording and she was like, my husband has been sitting in the car for

42:14hour. He's been off work, but he's just been sitting in the car for hour. So she wrote up to the car, she's like, what's wrong? She's like, what's wrong with you? You know, she's yelling and screaming, right? And she said, well, I'm sitting in the car with you. He said, no, he was not happy. He was not happy. It's the same thing. No, he, like when she said, she was going to sit in the car with him. It is the same thing. You're not happy in your environment. He went, he got off for work, the parallel is this. All right. You get off work. Let him land the plane. No, no. You get off work and you go home and be like, damn, I got to deal with this. It was very hard. He was trying to get away from it. He was trying, like, to challenge the wife and AJ's in the car. The work environment for him probably wasn't, you know, it wasn't what he wanted it to be. That's why I think the context of why we're here is important. Like we're talking about training him not because how he's thinking he can cash in on a guy. Like Darryl Mori said of selling high or like, you know, getting the most value you can out of AJ before he declines, they're here because AJ wants out.

43:16Yes. So like, I don't think this is illustrating to me that like that the Eagles view him as declining player. Like, AJ just, AJ thinks it's time to move on. And you know what else I'm sensing a little bit sense in a little bit. And I didn't think this was possible because we didn't win the Super Bowl. A little bit of Super Bowl syndrome with the way we're talking about AJ right now. That we never need them. Well, remember last season when we won the Super Bowl, all of a sudden it was wall sweat is going to be gone. Milton Williams is going to be gone. Everyone's like, they're not that good anyway. And they were. And they were. And now we're doing the same thing with AJ. Now all of a sudden that the writing's on the wall that he's about to be out of here. We're convincing ourselves that he's not as good as we thought he was. We're doing the same crap. Well, the part of that is the, the last image we have is that playoff game. I mean, the last image, it's hard to get that out of your head. I mean, it's really, it's hard for me. I mean, I didn't get the full effort. He dropped the ball. I mean, he just, he played that garbage, 215, 592, 90 for 90 for Devin's going to join us next. Her thoughts on the AJ situation, obviously the Broncos trade here and maybe the market for AJ, we overrating him. And we're a little, well, week away from Philly's opening day and the world baseball class.

44:19What should Team USA do with Bryce Harper? I would drop him in the lineup tonight. You take on Harper, the AJ stuff. Are we overrating him? A lot to react to. We'll do that with you and Devin next. It's the midday show on sports radio, 94 WIP. Looking for something smart, soulful, and full of heart? I'm Jen Hatmaker, host of For the Love. The podcast where we talk about what really matters. Love and family, faith and purpose. Every week, I'm joined by incredible guests for honest conversations that invite all of us to live with more intention, more laughter, and more connection. Join us on For the Love wherever you get your podcasts.