In the Locker Room with Wolf & Starks (Pittsburgh Steelers)This is in the Locker Room, presented by Ford and brought to you by acro Sure, the official insurance and cybersecurity partner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, by Bett MGM, Huntington Bank, PNC, PEPSI, and by FedEx. Where now meets next? Now here's Craig Wolfley and Max Stark's.
All right, welcome to inside the locker room. That's right. This melodic voice is Max Stark and we have mister Wesley Euler as the as the sidekick here today. Craig is you know, Craig's got a little bug. We want to wish him well and wish him a speedy recovering to get healthy soon. But the locker room, well, we'll still locker rooming. So Wes, you know, thank you for always, you know, being there when one of us has to kind of you know, course in the show. But you know, I think you know, one of the cool things about that is, you know, we we have family and and so you are definitely that family member that we that we call when when the car breaks down, Hey, hey, can you come get me? I know it's like one am in the morning, but could you come? And you always and you always come through.
Hey, that's an honor. Thank you. I appreciate it. I like to think I'm like the the reliable family member and a good time family member, you know what I mean, Like, uh, you call me at once. Yeah, you call me thirty in the morning if you need some help. You can also call me at one thirty in the afternoon if you you know, if you've got some some good times you're looking to have and you know, kickstart a little party.
You know.
Look, look, good time, Charlie, if you will, Max So yeah, No, happy to be here. And I don't know if you talked to Wolf yesterday. I talked to him briefly on like he called me to apologize for being sick basically, and uh, and I was like, Wolf, like, you know, we got you, man, it's you know how he is. He like wants to be here and it's the last week of shows and he feels bad about calling off and all that stuff. But he sounded like he needed some rest and wasn't doing so hot. So hopefully he's able to get back before the end of the week, because I know it means a lot to him.
Uh.
But you know, I'm always always happy to fill in in the interim.
Yeah, no, absolutely, and I think you're right. But Wolf was texting me as I was at, like, you know, super Bowl opening night, like do it. He's like, so I'm like, Wolf, Wolf, it's okay. I'm like, you're allowed to be You're human. It's okay.
It happens, correct, you know, And you know, Max, there's some people that they're like, oh, I'm sick, I'm not going to be able to make it today, and you're kind of yeah, the cynic in your back of your brain is like, you know, like really, like, how sick are you? Like, I know, you just probably want the day off. Not with Craig Wolfley. If Craig Wolfly is calling off sick, I know he's hurting. He he is not one of those guys who's going to take a day off just to take advantage of it. He's one of those guys who, you know, like he's he's got to be really hurting to take a day off, we know, with with his personality and his work ethics. So hopefully he's getting some rest.
Yeah, hopefully he is. I'm sure he probably has this show turned on at the house too, so well, if it's okay, it's okay, you're all right, you can relax, it's all good.
Get some get some get some lasagna and some fluids, and you all right, we'll be all.
Right, exactly, So some lasagnia and some you who, you'll be fine, He'll be fine.
Is that is that?
Is that?
Is that a Stark's family recipe to help shake a to help shake a cold, A little little little glass of you who?
Yeah, you know, I had to think of something like just ridiculous liquid. So you who? You who fell fell right there?
I'll take it. I mean, I thought you would have gone with the ginger ale. But listen, I'll take some of you who. I'm not complaining well with la dagnya.
I don't know if you do ginger.
It's a good point, it's a very good point. You're right. The chocolate milk, I think would would slide in there more favorably.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're already in the kind of a dairy.
Mode Canada dry and lasagna, isn't isn't the best combination?
Yeah? Yeah, or even you know, it's just as it would be like that. But but I digress. That's one of those where you're like, no, I don't think that works. As I'm thinking about it and I'm like, I'm like trying to taste it in my in my brain, and I'm like, no.
It didn't mark not the right place you're looking for.
No, No, Well, I mean I think we kind of put the show out there. Obviously a lot of news yesterday. I don't know how you know, of course I called you know your show, and we talked about the Miles Garrett trade request. Also, what came down the pipe that last night was the you know, the news about Cooper Cup yes, about the team's desire to trade him immediately. I mean, how crazy is that. I've heard of some crazy things, but the team informing the player that they are looking to trade him immediately and then finding out like and then you know, like and then having to release the fact that they want to trade him, not that he wants he requesting a trade.
Mm hmm.
Yeah. It's you know, just when you think things can't getting crazier, things are going to be you know, a little fickle. This is one that kind of surprised me. I mean, like, what was your thought process when you saw that news and kind of read, you know, the post from Cooper Cup.
Yeah, I was surprised as well, because, like you said, I mean, I listen a team deciding to move on from a wide receiver who's going to be thirty two in the summer, even a wide receiver who's been as great as Cooper Cup has an important to the organization as Cooper Cup has. I don't think that part is necessarily shocking to people. That is just kind of business of the game, right, nature of the beast. But when you read his statement, and I don't think we have any reason to think he's lying or fabricating this, and he says, you know, I was informed that the team will be seeking a trade immediate lee. They will be working with me and my family to find the right place. I don't agree with the decision and always believe it was going to begin and end in LA. You know, it sounds like he was, you know, fairly blindsided by this, in fact, maybe completely blindsided. And that part is I think confusing to me because he did just have a good season. I realize, you know, he's dealt with some injury stuff over the last two years, but has played twelve games each of the last two seasons, so he has missed games with injury. But it's not like he's been playing two or three games things like that. Twelve games played each of the last two seasons. I mean, he had sixty seven receptions this year, max Six touchdowns over seven hundred yards. It's not twenty twenty one Cooper Cup who you know, did the Triple Crown and was the Super Bowl MVP in a outstanding one of the best individual seasons we've ever seen for a wide receiver. But he is still thirty one, gonna be thirty two this summer. He is still obviously a pillar of that organization has been for a decade. So yeah, just on the surface, moving on from a guy who's going to be thirty two before training camp starts at a position like that, that's not necessarily shocking, but for the Rams in this situation and where you think they would be loading this thing up to try and make another run at it with a guy who just had a productive season, albeit missing five games due to injury. Yet it's surprising kind of the timeline and just the you know, the quickness that it seems like they want to get this done and move on from one of the bigger legends in franchise history, and certainly in this iteration of the franchise since they moved back to LA.
Yeah, it's yeah, it's kind of like you said, it's blindsided, you know, to read the way that Cooper described it. But I think also, you know and kind of let me know what you think here. But it's kind of like signaling to the rest of the league, like, hey, when these compensatory picks come out, you know, have one or two ready for me. It's it's like, let me just get that news out here now, so we could just avoid all of the confusion or the hullabaloo about this. Let's just talk about it right now and let's just move on from this opportunity. So I'm like, okay, you know, this is something just like I thought when when Miles Garrett released you know, yes, he released his trade requests, doing that right at the top of the morning on rate. You know it, you know it for for Super Bowl week. Perfect timing, perfect timing because you knew that a teams are, you know, getting ready to gear up for combine. They just finished the Senior Bowl, right, So the evaluation process and free agency well before free agency starts. So if you need to clear cap and all this other stuff you have time to work on figuring out how you can afford Miles Garrett.
Mm hmm.
So it's.
From that standpoint. From that standpoint, it does line up, because you know, we're, what about a month away from the new league year starting, we have the Combine ahead of, then the draft shortly after free agency, about a month away when the when the league calendar turns over as well, and so yeah, I mean it does make sense from that standpoint. Like, if you're Miles Garrett, I think you're affording your team the luxury of, hey, I'm not going to spring this on you right before training camp when the off season is basically complete and you have no way to really plan and prep for this. If you're the Rams, it's like, hey, Cooper, we don't want this to drag out. We want this to happen again before the new calendar, before the Combine, before free agency, all these things, so that all parties involved can have the most time to assess the situation. I guess it does at least make sense from that from that standpoint. I think for all parties around, like if you're going to have significant and we can of course the significance of Miles Garrett requesting a trade and Cooper Cup being on the trade block aren't quite the same, but both significant. Well, let's get that done now. Let's get that ahead before the combine, before pro days, before visits, before the draft, before free agency. I think it at least makes sense from a timeline standpoint for all the parties involved.
Yeah, it does. It does. Now, whether you know, whether people are trying to be strategic or you know, funny about it, I don't think that's the case. I think both. You know, everyone's sincere about their desire for each of these positions. So I don't think you go in this to say it, ah, well he's trying to be messy or you know, the team's trying to be It's just like, hey, we respect you. You know, I respect you if I'm Miles Garrett the Browns. And then of course, like you said ram to Cooper, I was, you know, hey, this is how we feel. It's not you, it's us, it's not you, it's me type of deal. And and also hey listen, he stated, you know, Miles Garrett stated, I want to go to a winner, right, I'm here to win Super Bowl championships. I'm not here to go from Cleveland and Kenton. And you know the other thing is and I know we talked about this, but this is the locker room version, so I'm not so I know this is the first time the winners are here. In my opinion on this, you know, if I'm Miles Garrett, yeah, I've done everything I have. I don't owe it to the team if I've changed my mind after two years signing and I've busted out. I've held up my end of the bargain, but I don't feel like the other side has held up there. And that other side being players and the team ownership, have held up their endo the bargain to me, right, because we both make a promise story note to each other when we sign this contract, like you agree to pay me and and do your best to make this a competitive team, and I and I give you my promise that I'm going to give you all that I've got physically on a field in practice, show up when I have to play through hurt but can't play through injury. You know, like you take all these other stories like I want to. If I'm all in, I need to see that you're all in right. And you know the funny thing is, I mean for the Browns, they thought they were going to be all in with him when they signed that contract, and you take on the Deshaun Watson, you know trade that could have potentially tanked your franchise, and let's face it, I guess we could call it it has tanked the franchise as.
Yeah, doing one of the worst trades in American sports history.
It feels like, yeah, it has to it has to go there.
It doesn't doesn't feel like we're being hyperbolic to say that at.
This point, Yeah, because it is. You know, it is bad. So I think I saw that's where you know, even though he's a Brown, he's only a Brown for a little while longer.
That's right, That's right. And yeah, and I listen, I know, we I know, we got to get to al Varro here. But like I I do think this is the right way to handle it. Four miles Garrett as well. I know there's no love lost for him in this city. But at the same time, like I can say, I think he's doing this the right way. Like he has given seven years to the organization. He thinks that they are further away I think rightfully. So he thinks they're further away now than they have been. And again, he is not springing this on them right before the season starts or something like that. He's doing this very early in the process, saying, hey, we're just we're just realistically not compet eating for a super Bowl here right now. And I am, you know, not old by any means, but I'm you know, probably teeing off on the back nine of my career right now. I just finished up the front nine. I'm not a spring chicken anymore. I like, I don't have a problem with an athlete handling it this way. I think this is the right way to go about it.
Yeah, No, absolutely absolutely, And it wasn't this social media scrub I'm pouting in the corner type of deal. It's no, here's a professional letter, probably drafted by I don't know, chat GPT or something. It looked very professional. I don't think he hand wrote that agent agent GPT. Yeah, agent agent GPT is handling all negotiations because it has literally the entire history of law on its side. But but yeah, now, I think that's it was a professional, tasteful manner, and she went about it all right, we're gonna step aside because we do have the the Alvarro Martin coming up next, so we want to step aside pay some bills so we can afford to have mister Martin back on. You know, he's big time man. And we'll be back here inside the locker room after these rocial breaks.
This is in the Locker Room, presented by Ford and brought to you by acro Shure, the official insurance and Cybersecurity Partner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, by bet MGM, Huntington Bank, PNC, PEPSI, and by FedEx. Where now meets next. Now here's Craig Wolfley and Max Starks.
All right back inside the locker room here, and you know, just to kind of put a bow on things, you know, for the Cooper Cup situation, I get why the Rams want to move on, right. You think of the year that Puka Nakua has continued to have since the year before, so two years in a row, Puka has just been lights out for them, like a steal a draft gym, however you want to put it. They hit a home run with.
Him and did maybe maybe not not quite to this extent, but I mean It's it's like Antonio Brown vibes, you know what I mean, Like a day a day three wide receiver who you're hoping can contribute and make the roster and everything like that, but ends up becoming again not I'm not saying Poka Nakua is a B but he's also just completed his second year. I mean that's a that's a heck of a diamond in the rough.
Yeah, a heck of a diamond in the rough. You still got to two at well, who's your field stretcher? Yeah as well, so maybe you're looking at another dynamic pass catcher, right because I think two two is more of a slot guy that could that that will go to the outside just to run you know, streak routes. But you know, for Cooper, like you said, he's been injured the last couple of years, last last three years, it has only participated in a maximum of twelve games per season. So yeah, you're missing five games of regular season plus whatever playoff hopes you planned to have. Now, I will say this, when the Rams were in the postseason, you know what I'm saying, It's just like Cooper couple still injured because he didn't do anything that.
Is true that you know. That's a very good point because like in my mind, I'm thinking, if you're the Rams, you just had a whale of a situation in the postseason, like because of the LA Fires, you had to uproot your entire operation for a couple of weeks, not to mention just the personal strain and stress that that put on the players, the employees, the coaches, and their families dealing with all of that and uncertain living situations and everything as well. You navigate all that, you're supposed to host a home playoff game that you have to host in Phoenix, closer to Max Starks than the Los Angeles. You win that playoff game despite that, you know, against a Vikings team that was what fourteen and two in the regular season, fourteen and three in the regular season, fifteen and two, whatever it was. Then you go to still navigating all of that stuff in your personal life and in the day to day tragedy of what was going on in southern California, to travel cross country in a friggin snowstorm, and you still have a chance to beat the Eagles at the end of the game. Like, if I'm the Rams, I'm looking at this and I'm thinking, all right, let's run this back, Like, let's stack this thing up for one more year of Matthew Stafford. Look what we were able to do last year. We've got the veterans in the efforts in the Cooper Cups. Now with the young guys and the Jared Versus and the Puka Nakua's, like, let's load this And we don't have Patrick Mahomes in our conference either in the Chiefs that are seemingly this impossible monster. Let's load this thing up and run it back one more year. But the early indication from this move, I would think signals not to be the case. But you make a good point there, Max, I'm thinking too much of the history of Cooper Cup and not the now. And as great as he's has been and as fairly productive as he still was this year, he was not that guy for them in the postseason. And maybe that's kind of at the forefront of their minds.
Yeah, I think that has to be at the forefront of our minds. They're saying, man, look how close we got in spite of.
Right right, Like they're looking at the opposite Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, they're looking at the opposite way, Like, man, if we just tweak a couple of things here, you know, it might go our way. And so now we need to kind of start pushing more chips to the middle of the table, not all the chips, not like you know, when they first got Stafford and they were doing all.
Right, and Jalen Ramsey and all those guys.
Yeah, yeah, but I think you know it is worth saying, hey, let's look at this war seriously.
You when you were kind enough to join Motes and I yesterday for a segment from Radio Row, and obviously a large part of that conversation was around Myles Garrett. Motes and I had mentioned Buffalo as a possible destination. You mentioned the Washington Commanders, which I thought was a great one as well. If you're the Rams, would you be would you be interested? Like if you if you can move Cooper Cup and get some draft capital, do they suddenly become a player in the Is all this intertwined together?
Hey, Hey, let's stranger things have happened, right, And if you're going player for player trade, yeah, you have to throw a little bit something there at them. But at the same time, you know you're assuming a large contract yes, and Miles Garrett. Plus you know you're gonna have to re sign Miles Garrett. So it's like, how much are you willing to give up at the front end because that will now be your new floor for negotiations on the back end, right, So you have to kind of measure you rather see, hey, what's the market demand for him? Where does he fit into this equation for our team? If you're if you're you know, Team X, and you're trying to figure out, well, how do I frame this story? You know it has to be okay, we're a potential landings for us, and I know ESPN was like, oh Steelers, I'm like, no, we don't want him, don't worry about it. That's all good. If that's the best you have to offer, I will just starve. But for thirty other teams out there, I think this is something where you know, you have to take that deep self evaluation. Which is that time of year, right for the Steelers and you know, thirty other ball clubs you're trying to figure out how to plug in for you know, for power so you can start doing your research.
Right, you know, yeah, no doubt You're you're trying to like uh, I don't know. You're trying to get the syllabus ahead of time.
Here, Yeah, exactly exactly.
It was a really poor academic analogy.
Yeah exactly. It's like, hey, hey, when do I need to buy the cliffs notes for this class? Right? Oh? Do you remember those like university copy centers. You'll have those the best. Yeah, you're done, Oh my god, yeah, oh god. Yeah. I don't even know why I asked. I was like, you're a state school in West Virginia. Of course you did, just like I was at a state school in the state of Florida, and of course I did. Like sometimes you just you know, you don't retain it at all, so you need a little help, a little a little study buddy, and.
Of course age, you know the the And I honestly think that they scrapped this shortly after I graduated because we were taking so much advantage of it. But if you had a student ID, you could print anything and everything for free. So it was like, why why would I not print off every spark notes and cliff notes and and you know cheat sheet that I could find on Google? Why I would print off like twenty pages a day? I don't want to take any notes. I'll just print this all off online.
Man.
I was swiping that student I'd and printing stuff like I owned a Kinko's baby.
Yeah, yeah, exactly, And so glad you said Kinkos, uh, because they're still good to this day. I mean I go there all the time for my game boards and and all my stuff like Fregate, So yeah, I have it, have an affinity for FedEx Kinkoast.
You're talking like like your broadcast cards and everything that you use when you're calling games.
Yeah, correct, my broadcast charts. Nice, you know, And then of course you know, I go there for my notes. Of course I do do my shipping there, of course. But yeah, but but it's it's just like a one stop shop for me. And in fact, the fact that I could call there say whatever the team member's name is like, oh yeah hey Max, Yeah, we your email and we're working on it. I was like, thank you, thank you, You're so awesome. Max.
I was just thinking, who are you more on a first name basis with the people at Kinko's or the people at Delta.
Yeah, well American.
American that's right.
Sorry, sorry, Yeah, yeah, yeah, I would say I would say them and and and and the grocery store folks. We all are on a first name basis.
If you need Max is either at Kinko's or he's on.
An airplane exactly exactly. Now. The flight crew, you know, it's definitely different. But the gate, the gate crew, I've met every great gate combination possible at UH at the Phoenix Airport. So yeah, that's how much I fly that I remember gate personnel and people in the lounge and all that kind of stuff. But you know, it's funny. And of course, you know, what do I do. You know, when when when it's it's time is off, I go to a new city, like I am right now. So we hadn't talked about this for a field addiction out there. Obviously, I am down here in New Orleans for Super Bowl this week covering, you know, covering the game, and you know, I kind of wanted to brief overview of kind of my last twenty four hours if if you don't mind, I.
Would love to including the fact that I heard you on Sirius XM yesterday when I was driving into work. I was like, this is.
Great, Yeah, exactly there he is. You know what I'm saying.
Since since you and yes, since you and both didn't have a show yesterday. I'm driving in at a different time than I usually do in the morning obviously, and so I'm like, you know what, I'm gonna flip through these national radio shows, see what everybody's talking about, shows that I usually don't get to listen to, and I get the serious and what's it's Danny. What's his last name?
Uh a Mendo Lara, A Mendo Lara.
Yeah, And I flipped the serious Dan. That's what I always want to say, Yes, and then the former New England Patriot.
Yeah, not the formulae, but that, which is crazy because that's what I like, I had to fight that yesterday. I'm sure literally yeah, because it's like it's like it's like Laura, not Ola, you know what I'm saying, like at the end of it, exactly and so but but but Da is also because I used to do DA's show back when he he was on a Fox Sports radio on the East Coast. Used to come on his show every once in a while and just kind of do some preview stuff with him. So I was happy that he got he got red Rover and over to over to the big national boys. He's he's usually a mad dog radio.
That's right, That's right.
Yeah.
And so I was just I was flipping through yesterday and I hear, you know, it's it's Damon. I'mndall and I'm here with Max Starks on Radio Row. And I was like, oh, nice. Perfect. I was like, you know, I never really hear what Max has to say. Very often. I'm going to tune into this. He seems like he's on the side.
Hey, there's something about that guy, you know, he just he he has a knack for it.
And I don't hear this guy I speak very often. I better stay and listen.
Yeah, exactly, intriguing stuff, hard hitting journalist.
Walk me through because I mean the the radio row, you know, super Bowl experience and everything. It's a it's a pretty cool one.
Yeah, no, it's a really cool one. And you know, so I got in Sunday night, you know, and woke up early Sunday morning or Monday morning, and uh, you know, I am I am over. I would say I'm a mile away from the Convince Center downtown, Okay, so I'm not. I'm like, you're not in.
The middle of nowhere, but you're not in the thick of it either exactly.
So I'm not in the French Quarter right and I'm not in the Garden district, which is where everybody wants to stay. And then I'm not in central downtown like on the main drag on Poydrous, So we kind of sit off on Choppatolas, so it's about a mile away from the visitors. So I get I get my I get my my my credential, which you know, the NFL is like super secret agent man about about christ.
I was just gonna say, is it is annoying to get your credential for super Bowl week as it is for Combine week?
It is about as annoying. But thank goodness, one of our one of our producers was actually there early picking up theirs nice and so they were able to pick it up. So, you know, so I gotta give a shout out to my boy Tom Crest. Uh Chressychressey, you know, had my badge and uh so I called him when I got when I got to the hotel about eleven o'clock at night last the night before, and uh and he was there. He was there waiting for me, waiting, waiting to hand it off. Because you can't. So for Super Bowl creditions, you can't leave them in an envelope at the front desk, like like a lot of them. So you know how dan Quinlan usually gets my ID for away games and slides under the door, like you know, that's kind of a similar way. You have to be. You can't just leave it in an envelope now, mind you. In season when I'm doing college games, you know, if the producer or PA picks it up, they'll just is this an envelope? All right? Cool man?
I appreciate that, right, right, because they never know. Sometimes they're super strict about that stuff. Sometimes they let it slide too.
Yeah, no, there, and this time NFL super strict of course, you know. Having you know, the tragedy that happened during the Sugar Bowl terra car, you know, heightens things a little bit here, and so you know, you can appreciate the extra step in safety protocol.
As it should absolutely, yeah.
Yeah, And I mean, and here's a funny thing. So I've never seen so many additional like barricades up around the venue. Like the perimeter that they give for the Convention Center, the perimeter that they give for the stadium is pretty robust like, and you have specific designated media shuttles. If you have to go somewhere, you hop on one of those over at the convention Center, because that's that's really the way if you're if you don't want to walk, you know, driving, you know, they're like, hey, this will be faster, even though last night I don't know why a bus driver gets on the freeway during rush hour to go exactly a mile eight of a mile to be exact, if you want to get to technical eight tenths of a mile. But I was like, but I get it. Hey, you know the perimeter is different. You're you got to clear the other side of the stadium, do a lot of walking afterwards. But yeah, but okay, so let's lay out the day. So I get up, uh, walk over to the to the Convention Center for media row and get in there about an hour before the show with me and Da airing it out, and then we do the show. Obviously, the Miles Garrett trade falls down, so we talk about that, and then after that took a break because I was gonna be on the set right next door College Sports Radio doing what we call the show off campus, which is usually Chris Chowders at Rick Neuheisel. Yes, so we're doing it because Jacob and Jacob Hester and myself so Jacob Hester former L s U running backs, last fullback yep. And also and also you know, play for the Chargers for for a number of years as well. He was, actually he was. He was on that Chargers squad that we beat in eight on our run.
Nice.
Nice.
I'm sure you remind him of that often.
Yeah, Well, he reminds me of it all all the time, because it's like you broke my heart, like like I'm here at super Bowl week and I should have been right.
He thinks, Yeah, that's true. He thinks about it more than you because you think about the super Bowl triumphs and the good times where he's kind of hung up on the not being able to break through. Yeah, that makes it.
It's exactly the shortcomings that and.
They say next the losses, the loss is hurt more than the you know, the winds are enjoyable. So I get it.
Yeah, and you know he's him and I are, you know, really good buds for a long time. You know, I remember when he was at L s U playing against my Gators Florida.
I was ready, baby, you you.
Know you know what time it is.
I was at some point here.
There it is, there, it is. Let's not shy away from it. Let's fully that's the last it's the last week.
We got to leave it all out.
There exactly, exactly exactly because you know what, because we're cut from a different cloth.
No wait, hold on, sorry, jeezus, got it. That's on my backup board. I didn't normally, I got it up different clothe.
Yeah, there it is right there, all right. I had. Don't worry, future ones will be ready to rock and roll. But I'm ready now.
I got the back up, I got the I got the auxiliary, the over flowboard. That's what we'll call it.
Yeah, exactly, because you know, this is our last week. But you know we're not trying. We're not trying to get out of our own way like some people think.
Hey, you know, we got to get out our own way.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Arthur, we don't. Not not this week, not this week. Baby. When you know.
When Wolf, when Wolf asked me, you know, he said, I'm I'm down, I'm out, I'm sick, I'm this and that. But maybe I'll still come to work tomorrow you know what I said.
To him, absolutely not that, Yeah, exactly exactly. Wolf, man down, Man down. It's okay, it's okay to tap the helmet. It's okay to tap the helmet.
But but Max, you know, the moment that Wolf's back to full health.
Of putting the band back together, we're on a mission from God. Yeah, that's right, that's right. He will blues brother up in a heartbeat, you know with that one. All right, I'm.
Sorry, we're fun with sounders for the day.
Yeah exactly. We've now exhausted all of them, uh in the process. All right, Well, well with that, we'll we'll we'll reload and we'll be back with more here. I'll finish up talking about day one. Had a good time at the opening night last last night inside the Louisiana was Caesar Superdome. Is it Caesars?
That sounds fancy? It is the Caesar super Dome.
Yes, yeah, exactly, but not Little Caesar's super Dome.
So like like the Vegas one.
Clear the statement, Yeah, the Vegas like you know, industry.
Sure you get, I'm sure you get asked this all the time. But did Caesar actually live here?
Yeah? Exactly. It seems like a place that he would you know, it's a super dome. It's massive, yeah, exactly. Of course, of course a caesar would live in a super dope dome place thing. AnyWho, All right, we're just outside. We'll be back with more here inside of the Locker Room on the Steelers Audio Network.
This is in the Locker Room, presented by Ford and brought to you by acro Sure, the official insurance and Cybersecurity partner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, by Bett MGM, Huntington Bank, PNC, PEPSI, and by FedEx. Where now meets next? Now here's Craig Wolfley and Max Stark's.
All right back inside the locker room. We are at the bottom of our number one and then, of course you know power hour on the other side.
After this, I did my fault. We forgot we forgot our opening salvo.
Can't Oh we've forgot our salvo. Well, let's go ahead, fire it off one more time. On there we go.
You and I were talking about Vegas resorts and hotels during the break there. I mean, how about one for Treasure Island?
Oh yeah, absolutely, and the pirates show that no longer is you know, uh, there it is. Yeah, I mean just iconic classic Vegas. Like when that first opened, I could only imagine how crazy that was. Blast we're gonna have, you know, because you think of this city as you know, it's full of shows and entertainment inside the buildings. But they were the first one to bring it outside the building.
Right, because that was the pirate ship was there before the Bolaggio fountains, is that correct.
Before the Blaggio hotel. Yeah, before it was even a hotel. You know, the Treasure Island was there. You know, you had the Mirage connected, right, they had the little trolley tram that connected between the two hotels, and that was like the feature thing. They brought this live pirate fight out at the you know, early in the evening and people would gather. I mean the street would be packed and you would see that because that so here here we go, full disclosure, first time in Vegas. You know, sixteen year old Max no Way staying at Treasure Island, that's it and walking outside not knowing anything about this, right, because this is this is the pre Internet era of you know what I'm saying, right, or I should say that this is technically dial up AOL.
This is pre social media, pre before everything was on an Instagram reel a million times.
Yeah, before everybody had a cell phone. You know, back when it was it was like, yeah, you were, you were, You had to you know, you had to pay. Let's be honest, just back when life was magical, back in a simpler time.
They did, back in simpler times. But when King Author roam the land.
Exactly and joined by his very band of other Nights of the Round.
Traveled northward on the Vegas Strip to find the pirate ship.
It's like we go to find the pirate ship to take their booty, you know, I mean it, you know, it's it was. It was a fun time. And of course, like I'm young, I'm sixteen, man, this is like the lights, the buildings, the atmosphere now greater, Like you know, you're not gambling or anything, right.
But still you've never seen anything like that when you're that Well maybe you have because like Orlando, but needn't.
Still he got to that degree though, right, right, you got to go out to Disney, you know what I'm saying. You have to go.
You're not walk down the street.
Yeah yeah, so so full disclosure. Before it became Disney Springs, is what is now been rebranded as it was Downtown Disney, and they had a place called Pleasure Island, and there was an under eighteen club that was there that you could go to out of the Disney property. Dance club, right, yeah, dance club, Dance and Soda Club, right, you know what I'm saying. And so and so you did that. But of course Disney was like, oh, well, we don't want to promote the adult theme blah blah blah blah blah, and so they rebranded to Downtown Disney because they had too many kids hanging out without parents. So like, listen, we are a happy place. We welcome all kids, but you.
Know print supervision required.
Yeah I know there's sixteen and got a car, but you know we need a parent with you, bud okay? Oh, team bus passing right outside the right outside of my window right now. Probably the Eagles. I just I just saw the escort and the bus outside the window there, So yeah, the Eagles are right down the street from me. Their team hotel. Not sure where the Chiefs are, but.
How's that work?
Too?
Are they they using like are one of them using the Saints facilities and ones using two lanes? Facilities for the week, Like, how's that work?
Correct? Yeah, so one one team. I believe the Chiefs are out at the Saints facility and for the Eagles there at two Lane at their facility.
So those I didn't say somebody out in Baton Rouge, like that's too far.
No, yeah, no, that's that's too far. It's about our twenty twenty away.
Yeah.
So yeah, yeah, l s U you know, is definitely not in not in the footprint of of of the super Bowl for the uh.
Close but not close enough to be hosting.
Anything exactly exactly. So, but you know it going back to Vegas because that was last year's super Bowl site. That that's what That's what I'm gonna at least, that's what I'm gonna tell you guys.
This is what we're talking about.
Yeah, bring it full circle. You know, it was it was kind of one of those like especially last year, like it was the perfect place to host the super Bowl because of just the experience, the size and scale of it denoted what a super Bowl is, right, you know, it doesn't get bigger than Vegas entertainment wise, correct, in the in the US. So, you know, but I didn't know this New Orleans actually has the record for most hosted Super Bowl sites. Interesting, this is it's eleventh time hosting the Super Bowl.
Oh, New Orleans goes to eleven.
It goes to eleven, not just ten. Off speakers are different. They go to eleven.
It's louder on Bourbon Street.
We go to eleven, exactly, French Quarter eleven.
Yeah, and you're right. Miami is hosted a eleven super Bowls, but they've been at multiple sites, whereas they've all been exactly at the Superdome in New Orleans. That's a that's a fun little trivia pool there.
Yeah, exactly. So listen, you want to impress your buddies at the water cooler later, ask them, hey, quick question, you know, wrap rapid fire water cooler style. What sites those did the most Super Bowls get consistently?
And if they say Miami, you say, technically you're wrong because he's multiple sites.
Multiple stadiums. My friend, that's right. They were at the they were at the Old that's right there. We got we still got a couple of sounders out there, got a couple of them. Listen to the archives right there with that one last.
Week last week, the show we got to leave it all out there exactly.
Listen, listen, you will not be short on all of our sound beds that we have available to us.
Real quick for you too. Max. Treasure Island Pirate Show debuted Christmas Day, nineteen ninety three. Sweet Fountains of the Bellagio debuted October nineteen ninety eight. Wooo ooo, So about a about a full five years later. Yep, they they they cleared them. They did their u the Fountains of Bolagio, which cost forty million dollars to build. The Fountains of Bolagio still to this day, one of the most expensive fountains in the world.
Yeah, that that is wild, dude. That is yeah, forty million dollars for water.
Forty million dollars for a water fountain thirty years ago. Who imagine what that what that number would be now.
I don't even want to imagine, dude, that that that's easily easily in the nine figures.
I was going to say, probably pushing probably pushing a billion dollars.
Yeah, well, I mean, you know, you think about it, it's like to create that water. I would probably say, if I had to guess, I'd probably say about about a half about a half. That's bill.
That's what I was. I was thinking anywhere in the four hundred to six hundred million range somewhere in there. Yeah.
Absolutely completely agree about that.
So good investment.
Yeah, so yeah, exactly, good investment. Back then wait wait wait wait, wait to pull it way, to pull it out in the past, just forward thinking. Uh, and then of course you'd be an iconic moment in a movie. You know, was the Ocean Ocean? Right?
Oceans? I think it was, right, The first one was the first one. It's like the ending after that, after they pull off the heist and they all stand around there and like slowly fade away one by one. Yeah.
Yeah, they just walk off at the idiot. I forgot that movie first one because the second one was it was The Art Thief dude. Correct, Yes, yeah, yeah, exactly, so yeah, you're right, absolutely, But I mean iconic nonetheless, I mean, you know, that was the main backdrop for a lot of the shows, uh, or I should say backround for a lot of movies that had a Vegas theme to it. So, I mean, you know, it was kind of an iconic location right in the center of the strip, you know, because that's the other thing about you know, Belagio is right there in the middle of the strip, so it's the main thoroughfare between going from wind to Mandalay Bay, so it kind of is essential location. Of course they did the heist at Bolagio, so yes, that's That's also why Ocean was eleven was it was a perfect site for that one.
It was and a lot of people like and also I was just going to say that that movie too, I think kind of like opened the Vegas the Magic of Vegas Portal, you know, for a lot of people Vegas Vacation two. But it's like, you know, like if you're in I think if you're in R like relative age group max, you know, you and I are what about six about six years apart, like that Ocean's eleven and all that in Vegas. It was like, wow, like this Vegas place looks pretty cool. I'd like to go there one day. I'd like to see the fountains and the pirate ships.
Yeah exactly that that's where you put a little X on the map, like this is this is where I need to go. I need to go in at twenty one.
Yeah, pre everything being on social media time as well too. You're like that place looks. That looks pretty sweet.
Exactly. Back when paper maps ruled the world.
Exactly, you might be able to go on Google on dial up and get like six or seven images of the Vegas strip. That was about it.
Yeah, but but you couldn't print it out though. You couldn't print it out to pixel that in color detail. Yeah, you had. You had to go to Triple A and get the little trip tick.
You know, it looked like a game, looked like game Boy graphics there on your map.
Yeah, exactly. Oh god, that's that's too funny, man. But yeah, and also that's where they tried to do the draft during before COVID happen. The ideal was that they were going to do the draft on the fountain guy gondola up to the up to the stage, the floating stage out there.
You know they're going to do that. At some point they'll bring it back.
You got to come back around to that, because, yeah, that was a great idea. And then we were then of course, when COVID happened, we were treated to Roger Goodell in his basement doing draft picks. Yeah.
We should have gotten fountains in Blaggio. Instead we got Roger Goodell on a leather chair. I mean, that's like a that's worse trade. That's Deshaun Watson level of a bad trade, right there, I.
Tell you, yeah, exactly. It was. It was like it was like what you know what I'm saying, like seeing seeing the draft, knowing what. There we go kind of let that trombone play a little bit. But any who, all right, we're gonna step aside. We'll be back with the Power Hour. And of course I told you I was gonna preview it. I'm going to do it. I'm gonna talk about Super Bowl opening night. Uh. We come back at the top of our number two here inside the locker room. We'll be back with more here on the Steelers Audio Network.
