The Jason Smith Show with Mike HarmonJason and Mike are joined by NFL Insider Jason Cole to talk about Caleb Williams, the Steelers and Aaron Rodgers. The latest CFB playoff controversy! Plus, a great debate on SGA being the new "Face of the League"
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Hello, Welcome inside, Happy Wednesday, I mean outside of the great state of Minnesota. Happy Wednesday.
It's the most anticipated Angels game since The Naked Done.
The Jason Smith.
Show with my best friend Mike Harmon, and yeah, it is that kind of night tonight. For over forty years, tyro Rex's been helping customers find the right tires or how, what and where they drive. Shipped fast and free back by Free Road, has a protection with convenient installation options like mobile tire installation. Tire Act dot Com is the way tire buying should be. So here's where we are right now, Game five of the Western Conference Finals ye Oklahoma City Thunder Minnesota Timberwolves. If you were to add the spread for live game betting right now, it would be a tie However, we don't do that, so instead it is a sixty seven to thirty two lead for the Thunder over the Timberwolves. The Thunder lead by more points than the.
T Wolves have.
That's where we're at right now. Eleven minutes ago in the third.
Quarter, the Timberwolves have three more turnovers than they have made field goals.
Yeah, yeah, none of this is good for Minnesota. I mean, Anthony Edwards came out aggressively. None of this is good.
Yes, he missed a lot of shots, and he missed a lot of shots, and Jaden McDaniels he's seeing three rims.
I usually say shoot for the middle one. I don't think that it's been a good strategy. That's not been a winning structure. But Edwards at least is going out swinging right. I think it was ninety nine percent of all bets this afternoon. We're on him to hit his over of twenty six and a half points, and he may get there. It's gonna take some work, as he has nine yeah nine at the halftime live live line was plus thirty one.
You know, it's here's the thing like this game you can talk about, you know, teams that Quinton come out and all this. This is one of those games where you could tell from the jump Minnesota is mentally done right, like, but the game is on the schedule, so we have to show up and play, because that's kind of what it's been. One team has been sharp smelling that we can go to the NBA Finals, the other one playing on the road, not nearly desperate enough.
And this is this is what happened.
This is why sometimes I go, BOYD, do we really need that fourth game when a team goes up, Like if a team goes up three to one and they're going home, like that could be the end of that should be it. You know, if it's three to one going on the okay, you never know. A team comes back and they play, then you force a game six, okay, but three to one, a team going home up three to one, you could just end the series right there.
Well, here here's the funny thing, right is I'm in the car and I'm driving here to the Fox Sports radio studios and you know, sitting in traffic on the four h five and game starts. First possession for the t Wolves misshot, couple of offensive rebound rebounds, and it gets back out to Julius Randall who hits a three point shot.
I'm like, all right, here we go, here we go.
All right, you got a three point shot, Julius Randall activated.
That was it. That was the That was the high point of the half.
Now when he finishes three of seven, Uh, he had four turnovers and he's sitting at a next robus minus thirty one right now, but ineffective, uh and invisible in virtually every possession thereafter. Like that was your high point, because then they got boat raced and all of a sudden.
It was a double digit lead. Just like that.
You finished the first quarter down twenty six to nine, and I started looking at the baseball slate, Well, the Dodgers already played. They lost bullpen implosion. We were going back and forth on that s Socks Mets games over like all these day games.
Oh, screwed Kershaw. We'll get to Tanner Scott and his five. Scott at five, he got that fun here fundy count already they did. Kershaw went five, and you and I were texting, like, he went five innings, this is exactly won.
He was great. And then Tanner Scott comes in and yeah, his post game was great.
He's like, yeah, State, but I did enough and I made some bitches and it's unfortunate that it went that way. Like this is tell this switch you really think, Clayton, I could read your mind. But that all of that to say, a lot of the big baseball games were already off the board for today. So I'm like, all right, really leaning into this t Wolves uh and Thunder game that the Timberwolves are gonna go down swinging nah nah wildcats.
Man, this is like a little.
Cat hanging out in your park park parking spot, just waiting for you to come home and then staring you down.
If the NBA wanted to say, I mean really, if they said, okay, it's a seven games best of seven, but if a team is up three games to one or three games to none and they're going home, like that's it.
Are you gonna start doing other metrics too? If they've led this series? No, no, no, the total minutes is a three to one margin, if to have that here too.
If it's a if it's a three, If no, it's it's got it's got three two. If it's three one or three to zero and a team is going home, then okay, now on the road is different. Three two is still potentially there for you. But three to one or three is it Like, No, we're done. We're not showing up. We're barely getting on the plane. So I mean, if the NBA listen, we don't want to waste anybody's time. We don't need to do this. We can seah.
We we just have a lot of stuff happening. We just have that.
No, you gotta do make goods to the TV partners and the way, and you got to give the money back. Nobody's given any money. You can still go to the arena.
No, No, well, what are you gonna do? Play Paul the Jump.
You go to the arena, right, and it's a party and you're and and you're giving away you know, you're giving out the Western Conference final trophy. You're giving and you're it's a big party and they play music and stuff and there's games and maybe there's you know, face painting or you know, crafts.
In the event that the series is declared over, you will get a special concert by an A, B or C list artist, depending on who's available at last minute.
Yeah, I mean you turn it into like okay, instead of the game.
It's gonna be kind of like a carnival and here's a Motley Crue cover band. You get a cover bed and you bring out a dunk tank and stuff. Yeah, I'm all right, we're going to the finals, and I'm excited.
We have a party.
But you can't have the players or coaches and the dunk tank. They might catch cold and all of a sudden they're at a disadvantage.
For the next round. No, no, no, no, you don't put the You don't put the players in.
You put like other people in. You put like, oh hey, let's get the PR department in. This really start getting uh kind of like all the anonymous quote unquote phone calls that tip people off as to where C and D list celebrities are gonna eat lunch. So it's the same thing kind of like, uh, you know, we gotta we gotta get some quasi local celebrities to go sit in the dunk tank. And you have your opportunity. You don't like the local weather man, Yeah, and how's your time to dunk him?
Channel not. Here's Lloyd Lindsay young coming in here. You can dunk him. Everybody. What do you got, Frostburg?
This game's hurting my eyes.
But question for you, Yeah, sure, close your eyes, don't look. Don't look, be like at the end of Freight Raiders, the Lost Dark, don't look.
Married, don't look look, don't look at the Covenant.
What's the only thing that sucks more than the Timberwolves tonight?
That's a loaded question for this early in the evening. Do you want me to do you want me to blow your response? Or do you want me to say?
What is it? You gotta go? What is it? Okay? All right, go ahead?
So I ask you? You really knew it? I know exactly what you're gonna say. I know anything worse than the timberwolves tonight?
All right?
Well, hang on, hang on, give me piece of paper so I can write it down. Hartman, How do you not have paper? I always had paper. Today I figured they'd be it. Run Okay, turn your MICU. I'm gonna tell you what Frostburg's gonna say. Turn your mic off, turn your micl Okay, Frostburg, I told him what I said. You're gonna say. Go ahead, ask again?
Do you know what sucks more than the timberwolves tonight? No?
What sucks more than the timberwolves tonight? The bleeping Lakers. He's zagged down if they lost to this team that's getting drunk by thirty that's fair point. That is not what I thought you were gonna including the parade for Edwards. I think we were bolt. We were both guessing the same thing. No, Armin, what did I say, Frostburg was gonna say?
Scott? Yeah, I thought you're gonna say ten Scott. Yeah, oh no, I'm not wasting my time. I really don't. It's gonna wear it bleep and.
Ruin kshaw day. Yeah, the Lakers think about it. They got manhandled by this team that's getting blown out by thirty something.
Yeah, it really, it really makes the makes This series wasn't even close.
No, no, not no, not no, not even there's one game with the Thunder just said we need we need a break, we need to relax.
Here.
Game three, we're just gonna kind of a couple of mom made it nice for the people. Yeah, hey, and let me say this right, the other big thing, right, because obviously this game is over right, You're we're gonna talk about the Thunder going to the finals. We'll preview thunder Pacers tonight. But let me just say.
You're not dead yet.
Okayan McAfee's got beef with that New York celebrities. Uh, let me say this because I really want to say this. Yeah, because I would be embarrassed. Please NIX, don't show up like this tomorrow. Give me a big, gutty, concerted effort to extend the series. You know, because if you do, the Pacers will put it away and go home to try to win Game six.
You know, the the the.
Officiating is going to be on your side because the NBA wants another game. I don't show up tomorrow like this, Show up like you want to win, be gritty, be gutty, give it one more time and then hey, we see what happens for Game six. But don't show up like this tomorrow.
Do we have confirmation of Scott Foster eating a pastrami sandwich down the street from Madison Square Garden?
Yeah, I'm like, are you doing a game? I'm just waiting for the call. I know I'm gonna get it right here. I just sit outside the port authority. Are you coming or going? He's like just waiting on a call. I don't know. The beginning, the beginning of the movie would be like him, like out with a really attractive woman on a date and it's like, hey, they just get back to her place and then he gets a text and he goes, I'm.
Sorry, baby, I gotta go. But but I thought we lie. I thought we were gonna have fun. I like you, and.
He goes, now, I need to tell you about who I am, and he takes off your class. He goes, they call me the Extender and.
He jumps out the window.
But the entire time like he's you know, as he's talking it out right, he he's getting the page. It's almost like he's got to go to a life saving You must really have you know, your hostage negotiators up. Nope, I'm the Extender. I'm the Extender. You know what out the window? Who the Nicks are?
The last shot is her looking out going, Oh, I was on a date with the Extender. I'll call you like it's like, how would have like a deadpool vibe the Extender? And when when Adam Silver calls, I gotta go, that's it. Are you the original Extender? No, Dick Pavetta was the extender before me. Now I'm the Extender and I will pass this on at some point to someone else.
He bequeathed me this title. It's like a Bond movie. Who's the next Extender?
No, Tony Brothers there, no, no, no, Dicky Nick Pavetta, Dick Pavex. That's was his nickname, Dick Pavetta to Scott Foster, to Tony's good there you go, there there it is right there like the green lanterns. To bring it back to Ryan, will this circle be unbroken?
Look?
They put up fights in some of these games, right, even the last game it will ended up being a two point margin, and it was into the final possessions, but then to absolutely no show here, careless turnover after careless turnover, bad possessions and shots and look, fast break points. We lamented your Nicks and their inability to work anything in transition yesterday in their humbling loss to the Pacers. It's much the same here. It's basically a no show in fast breakpoints, Thunder getting back on defense, filling the lanes, creating those anxious moments, bad passes, the extra pass that finds its way at somebody's shin, and all of a sudden we're on the on the ground, you know, rugby scrum for the ball squirts out of bounds and we're going back the other way. I mean, it's just been a pathetic effort up and down.
But congratulations on a job done.
Ullas Randall just hit a three.
It's a twenty seven point game now, so half time plus thirty one, I'm feeling pretty good if I had plus thirty one at.
Half tavy at half times plus thirty one? What about the plus eight and a half I start just next to show up win tomorrow night. Give Let let us all have give everybody another couple of days. You never know what could happen.
Maybe instead of Pop's Halliburton who got bannedo'ld be Tyre's Halliburton. We'll get banned for some reason. Who knows, I don't know. And maybe they have a chance. That's the only way they have a chance. But let let let's show up big. Let's show up big for Game five. It's at home. It'd probably be the last time we see shallow May Instiller in all unless you just get the game five and it's all empty and it's all people like those are just regular billionaires. I don't know who they are in those seats. We're all the superstars, they're not all They quit on the next Okay, I mean I grant it, I'd buried them last night, but still, hey, wait a minute, wait a minute, so there what one more game? Show up gritty, because they do that, they show up that they're gritty, they're gutty, they don't quit. This is a team that doesn't know the meaning of that. They're the They're the night from Python that keeps getting arms and legs chopped off, going come on, coomebye, still got still gotcha? Show up like that tomorrow night, Show up like that one more time.
That's all. That's all I ask.
Now.
What would be comical is if all of those A list actors are replaced by people that have just been in mob movies. Just see if you can have an intimidation factor baseline, the guys that are still left around from you know, the Sopranos and Goodfellas and you name it, they're all sitting there court side and doing the evil eye.
Okay, maybe you get Joe Pesci. I mean I don't know.
I mean, you got all sorts of guys that you didn't. Did he retire to no, no, But he did a TV show recently. He did He did one with Pete Davidson, my cousin Pete, Little Pete. No, Okay, exit, I've brought a fresca exit Swallen Dumb, Jason Smith, Mike Harmon live from the Fox Sports Radio Studios.
Ready for a new job.
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Two and a half to go in the third quarter.
It is an eighty five fifty seven lead for the Thunder over Minnesota. It's basically been a thirty point game since they had the opening tip. So we'll continue to talk about the Thunder as they make their way to the NBA Finals, but right now, joining us on the hotline for big stories in the NFL that surround Caleb Williams and Terry Bradshaw, longtime NFL insider. You can check them out on thirty third Team. He is on Twitter at Jason Cole sixty two. He is a Hall of very Good voter. It is Jay Cole. What's happening? Man?
You know they've narrowed the number of people who can make the Hall of Fame to a what I would say is fame famous level. And you continue with this very good thing. That's annoying.
Well, listen, there are view you let in very good players every year to the Hall of Fame.
What's gonna get higher ratings the NBA Finals between Okay see in Indiana or a typical Jets game this year?
Oh?
I got it.
Well, you say typical Jets game? Like, what is that?
Like a game where it's like ten to nine throughout, they miss a field goal and a triple doinks off the.
Upright, and they're calling for the return of Salah.
Yeah and Rogers Yeah, oh.
Sure, yeah yeah. I just that sort of a typical Jets game, Isn't that? At this point?
I think, I think, I think the Jets get higher ratings.
I would agree, I would the only thing to higher rated it could be the Caleb Williams running out for for the home opener.
See what see how much booing he gets at the home opener.
You know, I'm glad you brought that up, because that's that's one of the big stories today. Caleb Williams, who, of course part of the Seth Wickersham article that we talked about a week ago.
And books, not an article of a book, a.
Book, sorry, in a book talking about all the quarterbacks talk to quarterbacks in high school, college, the NFL guys who retired, you know, great great angle for a book. And we found out that Caleb Williams and his dad didn't want to go to Chicago, wanted to go any place else quarter we all which.
We all knew before last draft, but they were being honest about it.
Yeah, okay, where quarterbacks go to Die was the big quote attributed to Caleb Williams. Bud he winds up getting drafted by the Bears anyway, and here he isn't today he said, no, no, no, I love being a Bear. Jake Cole like, I mean, I know, I know, I know. But if he doesn't start out like a house.
Of fire, Harmon, Harmon's not good. Harmon's not great.
I mean, but at this point he's kind of come to realize that this is just how it's going to go for my teams.
But no, Harmon's not here.
Yeah, but Jay Cole Smith, for the last eighteen months has told me, I'm in the era of good feelings. Everything's wonderful. You're gonna be talking about super Bowls and championships and buying all sorts of merch. So he set me up to just cut me off at the knees.
Well, no, I didn't do anything.
No, you did all that I didn't know about this book was gonna come out that wow, that all that Caleb Williams and his dad were all over with quotes attributed to that not someone heard someone say it, Ago says, Hey, Caleb Williams dead told Seth Rickerson this.
This season has been submarine faster than the Hunter, redoff over.
So is it?
Ben Johnson saying, you idiot, you've killed us right before our Spoilerlert.
Yeah, it's pretty much what the season is going. It's gonna be it's gonna be really great.
DJ Moore saying, now the world will tremble at the sound of our rockets.
No, you idiot, you've killed us.
Sean Connery is a Russian. Was always awesome, wasn't it.
Yeah, yeah, you've lost another submarine Admiral.
Okay, that's Caleb Williams.
I don't even know who's quarterbacking for the Vikings and they've got better odds than the Bears to win the North.
This is so classic J. J.
McCarthy and the Unknown. But it's the Bears. It's the Bears, is what they do.
It's the Bears since Luckman died, since Luckman quit, right, that's about right, it's about forties, right, eighty years before you were, before your your dad was maybe born. It was like this. It's bad, man, it's this is not good. It's it's not it's not good because there aren't a lot of there aren't a lot of people in Chicago who are necessarily feeling Caleb Williams last year with the painted nails and the crying and the holding the ball way too long and all the other things that went with it. And now he's got to deal with this like, yeah, it's yeah, I'm not sure that he has the mental toughness to put up with what's going to rain down on him if unless he is perfect this season, Like he's got to complete his first two hundred and thirty five passes before they accept him something like that, you know, two thirty five or two thirty five, What do you guya go like six games without throwing it, without throwing an incompleation?
Well, I mean with the past chart they had last year, that would work really well, Jacob.
It's all within five yards of the line of scrimmage, with.
All the the deep routes that they ran, although he makes the longer given how far he drifts in the pocket backwards. Yeah, he does two things that I know is like, it's not only does he just retreat constantly and try and throw off his back, but he retreats in what is not a straight line. Have you ever noticed that like, yeah, he drifts to one side of the other so that the offensive tackle who's in front of him generally has no idea where he is, so he doesn't know which way to block his guy and totally leads the offensive lineman blind in the in the process of this.
So what you're saying is he's retreating better from these comments than he is when he drops back to pants.
Yes, pretty much, pretty much.
Hey, but Ben Johnson is a wizard.
That is. That is a fantastic interpretation of this situation. Maga. It's it's almost as it's like this compared to the cavalier nature of Aaron Rodgers and his approach to playing football this year. But good, Mike, don't know, I'm not sure I sling it. Yeah, Like that's really gonna work in Pittsburgh, Yeah, where they they take their football very seriously.
Now, you mentioned Aaron Rodgers, and this brings us to the Terry Bradshaw comments from yesterday, which are just absolutely hysterical. He does an interview in which he talks about the Steelers and what's going on with Rogers ending up in Pittsburgh, and he says, it's a joke to me, this is a joke that guy needs to stay in California, go somewhere and chew on bark and whisper to the gods out there. So Terry Bradshaw does not want Aaron Rodgers in Pittsburgh.
This is basically the John Elway comments, what is it, you know another forty years later or something like that, forty two years later, Well he can just go play baseball, play base Yeah, he wants to be in California. A yeah, don't do that, you know, like, that's my that's our man, Bradshaw. I would take it seriously, except that this is how Bradshaw's just made a living for for forty years, just ripping other people. And in all fairness, Aaron Rodgers. As much as I like Aaron Rodgers, I love to watch him play. You know, dude, you got to decide what you want to do, you really do. You just you got to decide. You got to commit. I mean, it's the end of May. This whole thing that you think, oh, I'll just show up in July and I'll be I'll be good man, It's going to be all right. But that just doesn't work. I mean you should have learned that, you know, last year with the Jets, like you weren't ready to come back. It wasn't good. You weren't on the same page, or you know, give your teammates. You weren't on the same page much of the time until really, what was it about week twelve or thirteen that he started to look like he was on page with guys by that team or by that time the season was over, you know, it was truly what he's round up, you know.
But that's the thing that gets me about him is that as as much of a drama king as he has been throughout his career, right, he's always okay, look, I know what I need to do on the football field. And I felt like last year and now I'm like, does he really still want to play? Does he still have that like I'd forget about. Oh, Pittsburgh is gonna get him. He's gonna make his make a decision and we'll see if he's, as you know, can improve on last year. I just go, how is is he really going to show up and be this? Is this mentally not locked in and you're expecting this to work where you have Aaron Rodgers who just doesn't even feel like he really wants to play at this point.
You're completely correct. Your alternative, though, is Madson Rudolph.
Well, look, I'm not saying the Steelers know what the hell they're doing, because clearly the NFL has passed them by which we've talked about plenty of times.
But I mean still, I mean, like I would, I would say, Oh.
I'm not sure. I'm not sure i'd buy that. Okay, I did buy that. They have a quarterback problem. Okay, and I've had one for five years now.
Yeah, because they can't even the quarterback.
Hey, I inherited Ben Roethlisberger and things were great for thirteen years. Now we have to pick some Oh wait, we can't do that really well, we keep picking the wrong guy.
Can I ask something, who does pick quarterbacks?
Well?
In the history of this, like pack name a team that's that's really good at it.
Packers hit thirty times thirty years.
No, man, the Steelers had been really good picking quarterbacks for a long time.
The guy, really they only picked two, they picked two guys.
Yeah, but when you pick the right guy, it's good. You're good for fifteen Cordell was pretty gay.
I understand, I understand, I understand what you're saying, okay, I'm not, but like no team has outside of like earning a Corsi who took Elway and Eli and what Andy Reid is consistently done with quarterbacks, you know, by getting them to play to the to the best of their ability right and pick guys. You know, McNabb had a good career, obviously, Mahomes is on a Hall of Fame path. It gets Alex Smith, turns him into a good player. The other guys along the way you had good careers like Kevin Cobb and an Aj Feeley. You know, those guys played the maximum of their ability. I'm not saying that they were really good players, but they maxed out right. So so Andy Reid has done a really good job with quarterbacks historically.
Sean Payton's a groat job too.
He said, here, take up, We're gonna eat ninety million dollars in all kinds of first round picks to get out from right.
That's kind word of a guy who's bad. We don't know if this guy, we don't know if Bonex is really actually that good.
The Bonex was pretty good, loud going by the one year last year, he's pretty good.
That bruise guy was pretty good too.
Yeah, but can we just pump the brakes on? Like all of a sudden, He's like, he's got this long history because more often than not, people are like Al Davis picking quarterback, and Al Davis is in the Hall of Fame, right or Hall of very famous, So I would like to call them Al Davis's history of taking first round picks quarterbacks in the first round is Mark Wilson, Todd Marinovich, JaMarcus Russell.
Boy, all you have to do is go back to the Jets like in the last ten years, and you could have said the same point, are you right you want to go NFL?
A story he wanted to show you could span decades.
I can. I can show you. The acknowledge is let's take the Bears since luckman, Okay, stop it, are.
You already clubbed me? Why are you coming back for seconds?
It's eighty eighty years of complete inconfidence, including Rick Myer, who's beyond incompetent. Okay, like it's just been It's look, it's really hard to pick good. It's really hard to pick them consistently. You're lucky you pick one who's really great. If you happen to get two that are very good.
You know.
Again, of course he's the only one who's ever picked two quarterbacks who won Super Bowls, the only guy in the history of the league whoever did that. And one of those two he actually never managed, like Elway was traded before he ever had a chance the team that had Lway on it. So, you know, thinking about it in that perspective, he went and got l Wait, he went and got Eli that, you know, so he identified two great, great quarterbacks. Nobody else in the history of the game has ever done that. It's just brutal, That's all I can say.
He great quarterback. I'll play that back to him.
Hall of Fame time, absolutely, no, no, no, okay.
I held up his bargain. Wait a second here, okay, and you take any quarterback and he wins two Super Bowls for you, He's held up his inner bargain. He's done a great job. Is that worthy of being in the Hall of Fame? Different, different argument. I think that is going to make the Hall of Fame one day. I just don't think it ain't going to be this year, especially, And it's going to be really hard if they continue to have these rules the way they have them where it's going to be hard to get more than like four or five guys in in any given year.
You know.
They they made it really tough to get guys like I'm not sure where we're going to get another coach in and we have home Grin Shanahan was in BELLI check waiting.
I mean Tom Coffee.
Yeah, that's all.
He's on Twitter at Jason Cole sixty two. That is at Jason Cole sixty two. Thanks as always joining the round up.
J Cole. Oh, we had sick Luckman, said Luckman conversation. Yeah, but he came back to hit me again.
I was already getting attended to my wounds and he's circle around the block and came and kicked me again.
Let's find out what's trending right now in the wide world of sports from Martin Wise and what do you got for us?
What I got right now?
The kids call it B two A happening down there in Oklahoma City right now, Oklahoma City leading the series three games to one and leading this game one hundred and one to.
Sixty nine nine just under nine minutes left in.
The fourth quarter on the Oklahoma City thid the things we have three.
Players in double figures.
Shay Gillis Alexander with thirty four points, Chat Holmgren and Jayden Williams combining for thirty seven. On the Oklahoma City side.
Let me sorry to Minnesota sided things.
Julius Rendel having a little bit of a bounce back game, But can you say that when you're down by twenty one points?
Are thirty one points? I should say?
And Anthony Edwards has nineteen points on eighteen shots, one for seven from three. Minnesota looks like they will not be advancing or bringing this thing back to Minnesota for a Game six and the NHL Game five.
It was a Hurricane to nothing lead at the end of the first period.
At the end of the second period, it was Panthers three to two. Now it's tied all up three apiece just under nine minutes left in the third period. Florida, of course, leads that series three games to one. Carolina trying to keep Jason Smith happiness. They alive there in Major League Baseball.
Both my teams are down three to one. I don't know who's got a better shot right now. I have no idea. Hey, just know this, I'm rooting for you. Past Oh thanks man, I'm rooting for you from the heart.
Bottom of the ninth inning, the Blue Jays finally get on the board. This was scoreless for the longest, but two to nothing lead over the Rangers as Texas tries to win that one in the bottom of the ninth. Bottom of the third, and then the Yankees lead the Angels one to nothing.
Bottom of the fourth. The Nationals have a five nothing.
Lead over the Mariners again, one oh three to seventy two, just under eight minutes left in Game five of the Western Conference Finals. Game five of the Eastern Conference Finals much more interesting, three to three, just under eight minutes left in the third period.
Back to you, guys, thanks a bunch Martin, Jason Smith, Mike Harmon live from the Fox Sports Radio Studios. Coming up next, we got the play of the day and huge drama out of college football. Wait, doll, we tell you that's next right here, Jason and Mike Fox.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven pm Pacific, Fox Sports Radio.
The Jason Smith Show with My best friend Mike Harmon.
It's okay to be the bad guy. I go to the.
Bathroom, I come back. Carolina's losing great. Great Any other games stayed the same though, Yeah, no, it's trying to miss anything with Oklahoma City and Minnesota.
I think someone told the Thunder though, that what the halftime spread was, because they're still defending and aggressive on every possession, celebrating every maid shot like it's the first.
Thunder lead Minnesota one oh six seventy four with five minutes left. This game has been over since midway through the first quarter, but we will be previewing the Thunder and the Pacers NBA Finals coming up in a few minutes. But time now for the Play of the Day. Play the Day, of course, is brought to you by tire Racks. For over forty years, Tyrack's been helping customers find the right tires for how what where they drive ship fast and free, backed by free road hazard protection, with convenient installation options like mobile tire installation tirerack dot Com the way tire buying should be. And with that, justin Frostberg, you have the play of the day for us.
Speaking of first guys, I don't think I ever pulled a highlight from White Sox TV.
Oh boy, is it just because the White Sox one today.
No, yes, maybe so here's so this is the play of the day.
I should be pulling highlights from their broadcast every day if we're gonna get gold like this. Okay, this is Bennett Tendy's home run call from White Sox TV.
If you're ready, I'm not ready, but okay, reality TV show. Oh gosh, well, I mean I really I used to watch The Bachelor quite often, but I've kind of gone away from that.
Wait a minute, Andrew pet attending he is gone yard a solo home run here in this eighth inning, as the White Sox offense continues to pour it on sixth home run of the season for Ben attending, I'm gonna give you mine.
Mine is Benny Bob right.
Okay, so not expecting a hit. Hey, we're the White Sox. We can talk about The Bachelor with whoever.
I don't know who.
That's a guest is in studio with that, But I get bringing guests in. Hey, it's the White Sox. Let's bring some people. Let me I don't, I don't, I don't know. Maybe he's a reality star. I don't know, but you could tell clearly White Sox Radio network not expecting a hit in that situation, Why why we have a hit? We got to talk about the game for a second. Now, let's get right back to it. Okay, the Bachelor, let's go. Yeah, it goes back to Shriffin doing his thing. Well, I took over for Benetti when he left, and.
That dude was a double shy of the cycle and they disrespected him like that.
Don't you have to talk about the game at some point you're on the White Sox broadcast. Okay, it doesn't. We don't even need we even say we're at the game. We could just think we're doing a podcast.
See that.
But that's one thing that for all these years being a long suffering up two thousand and five is light years, light years away, is that Hinsdorf always had the ears on the broadcast.
So have you got critical?
He was on you and you were gonna hear about it, and it was gonna be made publicly known that you got your dressing down because you know the sanctity of what you're doing. I mean, this is he didn't care there anymore either. How many at the gate, come on, it was Aaron was this? It doesn't it doesn't matter. It's like the Bob Buker line. I don't think you can say that, Harry, Why doesn't matter? No one's listening.
The guy's like, oh hey, we got it.
Wait a minute, this is like breaking news. We had a break in new program in here. You know, we had this whole ten minutes cleared out to talk about the Bachelor with our guests, and instead, odd how I got to talk about that pesky baseball. It's in the wayaseball. It's like Rodney Dangerfield and back to school. You know, these classes could be a real inconvenience to your college life.
Now.
I get it, he's hitting just above two hundred on the ear, but you still have a job.
Man.
Uh So that was the tire rack play of the day. You can't just farm it out to other people. They're paying you to talk. What are you doing bringing in all these other random voices and getting away from the task at hand. No, No, we're gonna we'll revisit that again, because that's too much fun to not. I got to figure out who the hell he's talking to. So, speaking of college, big stories in college football the last couple of days about the potential expansion of a college football playoff. Like we told you a year ago, twelve is great, it's going to be sixteen. It looks like it's getting to sixteen. And you've seen some talk from the SEC and the Big Ten about expansion and about about the expansion of sixteen teams and you know, sanke for the SEC and the Big Ten that they've talked about, Hey, we would kind of like any expansion to guarantee more spots to the SEC and the Big Ten. We kind of carry college football. We want to see that. Now today there's been an added story that you know, Brian Kelly talking about how the SEC needs to play the Big Ten every We see games like that every year. Right, So all of this happening as we get ready for the play the SEC, the Big Ten, the two biggest.
Conference in college football.
They want more spots guaranteed if we're going to make the playoffs, going to expand the playoffs. You know, listen, some things are just very basic and and and that's where I'm gonna go here because I've had it with the SEC and the Big Ten and there holier than thou attitude that we're really college football. You know, you know what you know what shut up. I'm done. I'm done with you guys saying we're really the best. And I don't know why you wouldn't do that because.
We're on it.
You know what, Then go do what I said you were going to do a year ago. Go have your own playoffs. SEC in the Big Ten, form your own high level of college football, play your own season, have your own playoffs.
Do it right.
There's no rules in college football. You can go do it.
There's there's no one making sure that there's stuff followed for the health of college football. Now, olllege football is the wild West. Things change every five seconds. So go do that because clearly you want to. Clearly that's where you're at. And I've had it with there. Oh, we're really pushing college football. You know, things go in cycles. The SEC didn't have a team playing for the national championship last year. Yes, they had teams in, but oh, we should have had more.
You know what.
No, No, I'm sorry you didn't get it. You have enough teams in play Morgan, but our conference is so good. No, I've had it with them. I've had it with both of their attitudes and they can both you know, go do your own thing. Then go do your own thing.
Well, it's thing.
Greg Sank is the de facto commission commissioner based on what the SEC has been this last decade plus run of titles and teams deep into the playoffs. So yeah, it's he's become the voice when you haven't decided as a collective to find that single figure. Right, You've got people on the broadcast side and have to deal with the broadcast rights and rankings or whatever, but you've never said, hey, we've got a commissioner for everything. No, every conference has one what are you gonna have money in the bank?
Match?
And the guy that gets up to the ladder and gets the briefcase, he's the guy that gets to make decisions for the next year.
I mean, that's kind of where we're at with this.
So for the Big ten and SEC either flexing their muscle and their TV deals and until the rest rise up to challenge them, flex all you.
Want, exit up about a Fresco exit swollen dumb Jason Smith my card.
Now, I've had I've had it with that, and.
We've had it with the NBA Western Conference Finals step big start points shot booming. It's like, wow, I'll tell you Okay, so the Thunder are headed to the NBA Finals. I have a week and a day off. Game one of the NBA Finals is next Thursday. Their first time in the finals since twenty twelve. And again, when you have three MVPs over a twelve year span, I think you're underachieving. I think you're under it. KD and Westbrook and SGA, I think you're underachieving.
Wait, we're the little engine that could. Now you've had three MVPs over a ten year span.
A lot of stars on that squad, and you had James Harden. You couldn't hold onto them.
Okay, a lot of James Harden.
Uh.
Now, look, this was a game that was long decided. Basically, Look, the Thunder got out to a lead and the Tea Wolves packed it away. You can tell when teams know coming in, yeah, we'll put up a little bit of a fight. When things start going our way, we know we're done. And the Tea Wolves just absolutely knew they were done in the middle of the first half of this game, right, And it was just they never threatened, They never really pushed forth with some kind of push Like what I said at the beginning of the show. If the NBA wanted to put in a rule that if you're up three to zero or three to one and you're going home for a game, we can end the series. Circus vargas, we don't need to play it because it's a waste of everybody's time because team's down three zip, three to one going on the road. Forget it, forget it, you're not you're they put it away, and it's a waste of television, a waste of space.
We had games like this.
So if the NBA wanted to set now three two no, no, no, and and three two if that the if the and three one three zero, if the team down is playing at home, no, we'll keep that going. But three to one or three to zero, if that team down is going on the road, okay, no, No, the series is all you can clinch getting that third win of this series. If you're up by two or more games and you're going home for the next game.
Is it replaced with a live theatrical version of Scooby Doo and the Kiss, you know, rock and roll Mystery or something that way you get I'm telling.
You know you everybody that still bought tickets gets to go to the arena for a big party, and they have certainly there's a bounce movie, there's a bounce house. Yeah, there's face painting, there's crafts. You can make bracelets, bands, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah.
So maybe some karaoke. There's a big contest side. Folks might not.
Likee be, but you gotta make it a family friendly atmosphere too as well as you gotta have something for everybody, gotta make it nice for the people.
You still come out.
The players still have to show up and make appearances. Maybe they signed some monographs.
Thinking they get the Western Conference Finals trophy and they get you know, they they that's what that's what they do. They we're just gonna anoint you because there's a lot of time off. Now, it's not like you don't have to worry about well, there's a celebration.
Here's no a week off. Oh you're good. No, you get to go and do that a week that's how that's you. That would be more.
Entertaining, more entertaining, and would be more it wouldn't be as big of a waste of time.
Yeah, this was awful.
I'd rather watch this instead of the Pro Bowl, Right, So we have that but if you want to hear hear.
Psycho circus thing. Yeah, I'd rather watch that, not this game. Not this game.
I'd rather watch a practice. Here's that, not a game, not a game, not a game. Here's how it sounded at the end with thunder TV.
Ninety four of the final of thirty Point Route. Not a single day went.
By this season, but Oklahoma City did not hold the best record in the West. And now this historic, relentless thunderstorm has unstoppably, emphatically and officially earned the Moniker Best in the West.
Okay, yes or no? Was that written down and he read off it written?
Now?
That was a WWE pro. I had that ready and packed and I was waiting for him to tell me. He was at the Hartford Civic Center on Saturday night. I think a Tethan door. One hundred percent he had that call. And maybe he wrote it at halftime because.
You know it in his mom's basement.
But I'm like, okay, playing it. There's no way that wasn't read off the card. I play it one more time.
One four ninety four of the final of thirty Point Route, and the paper not a single day went by this season, but Oklahoma City did not vote the best record in the West, and now this historic, relentless thunderstorm has unstoppably emphatically and officially earned the Moniker Best in the.
West, unstoppably emphatically. Now that's all written down. That's all written down.
Either that or he was channeling Jackie Childs from Seinfeld your the late great Dusty Row.
Your face is my case hard times. All right, I'm gonna write this down so I get to say it, and I get to use all the adjectives I want to indubidably. Yeah, I had this, I had this horus up and I just put those words in. You see all the stuff I had there, emphatically, expeditiously. So what's what? What's a big takeaway from a game that was not in doubt over the course of the past two and a half hours. Matt Pinto on the line. But Matt Pinto, he was a he was a Clippers guy for a while, Right, pretty sure he's that bad?
Yeah? Pretty sure?
Wow?
Wow, Frostburg off the top rope? What was worse? What was what was worse that? Or Tanner Scott today? What was you want to come say that to my face?
Yeahd he worked for the Hornets and Somehaw day.
Yeah. I don't know how many I'm gonna have left. But that's the thing. You can't waste a Curshaw day, and he did. You probably have you get me all rolled up?
Smith?
You probably have. I don't. I don't know that you have twelve Kershaw days.
Yeah.
I was gonna say if you said it at ten and a half. Are you getting the double digits?
Man?
Yeah, that's tough. Yeah, that's tough.
Man.
Right back to the out look.
You now we're pondering the meaning and life. Look what happened now we went going from a burial today.
Life was better than this game show up.
Put that up on the big screen instead. Man, face painting, I'm an expert.
I did it for you.
Barkley and Kenny Smith get their faces painted instead.
That would be kind of cool. You literally have the cloud mask for whatever you look like. Elsa. Yes, I got the Elsa face paint. I look awesome.
They gave me a little sparkles that yeah, okay, But like the ice trails.
Sure.
We've had the conversation the last few nights about how listen if you're really the face of the league, or someone people want to make the face of the league. And Ann Edwards, you got to show up, right, will up more and Ann Edwards coming up later on this hour. But I told you, why did I pick the Thunder to win? Why did I pick the thund Look, I know that SGA was going to be a more consistent superstar throughout this series, and he was, and SGA had and SGA was there and led the Tea, led the Thunder every single game, right, I mean it was that this is a guy that gets rewarded with the MVP in the middle of this series, and he shows everybody why he was the MVP in the NBA this year. Thirty one, thirty eight, fourteen and the loss okay, I got not to say it was a throwaway issue. Thirty forty and thirty four Okay, he led them to the NBA finals and and Edwards had two games at least where he didn't show up. And I don't know that he really knows offensively when he needs to push when he doesn't. Right like that that's the whole thing with Ann Edwards. But yet still always so athletic, and he's so good new and he and again and he has the sweatband on his arm like Jordan, and he's Jordan.
He's Jordan.
You want to really have an a real good face of the league conversation about who could be at This is your guy, Sga is your guy. This is a guy who suddenly has led the thunder as you'ord Matt Pinto say, not a day out of first place.
This year, he.
Wins the MVP. They are into the NBA Finals and will enter as an overwhelming favorite to win this series. He's in probably five games. SGA has shown in a very short amount of time, still twenty five years old, that he is the best all around player playing in the game right now. That is exciting. That is someone that you can push and say, hey, this guy is really just getting started. He just wins the MVP. Now he's really just getting going. Everybody loves him. Everybody loves Sga. He doesn't have any detractors. Everybody says, well, I wish he would do this more, he would do this.
He would do this.
He has universally loved This is your face of the league in the NBA.
Well, I mean you have the obvious of the free throw merchant. Well, he didn't need to do it today because they beat the absolute snot out of these guys only had to go to the line four times, So that's always in the back pocket. And that's the thing to remember, right, is that it's there when you need it and you can lean into it.
And certainly Anthony Edwards in this game tried to. He just didn't get.
The calls, at least early on when it was still a kind of a game. But for SGA, the only thing that comes against him is he's playing for the Thunder. Well, if they go on a run. And this is where it gets interesting, right, is where we've been talking about parody and where the league is and trying to figure out power shifts and balances, and whenever a team starts to look like they're coming together, it's like, are we crown them?
And it's gonna be all right. There's a dynastic run.
It has to happen, and then it falls apart after a year, a couple of guys get hurt.
And we move on to the next shiny object.
Thunder with all their draft picks, with a young core, they're not going anywhere for a while.
So now this has the opportunity to ges date and I like that. It gets to just build to that point as opposed to you're the guy, which is what we do usually after a series or a couple or a month and a half of basketball, like we.
Did with Edwards.
Didn't mean we didn't like him last year, but all of a sudden, the playoffs has a couple of monster performances.
It's like, yeah, crown that guy. He fits the suit.
Going back to the Johnny Bravo reference that you know, desegremate and all of that stuff. But it's the the idea that it can build to make him the guy.
Right because we've had Jo Kitchen, there's an appreciation.
But he's seven feet so no matter what else he does, he's seven feet. He's not a guy that everybody knows stuff about except he's got a couple of brothers and that he likes to hang out with his horses.
That's it. That Okay, what do you do with that? You got Yannis?
Like, there's always that arms distance with the international guys for some reason. By the way, SHA's Canadian, So is that a problem. Now you can still be good because are we going to acquire them? Because then that makes it easier for him.
Well, that's a big bargaining chip for Cannaba said, hey, you can't, you can't have SGS.
Well, I don't know. We gotta go back, we gotta come back with somebody negotiation. I come back with something. But to your point, I mean it's now on the table.
Assuming they go and they take care of business against We'll just say for sake of argument, they.
Uh, and then coming into next year they'll be the prohibited favorites unless there's some substantive change that happens out of the blue that this core returns and will be ready to defend their title. And you still have draft picks to go and fill in anything that you perceive to be holes. It's a very dangerous place for the rest of the Western Conference.
SGA is your face of the league. I mean there's really there's no there's nowhere, nowhere else to go because he checks he checks every box that you want from a guy. You want somebody who is exciting, Yes, who's dominate?
Yes? Is he interesting when you hear him talk? Yes.
Do his teammates love him, yeah, every interview he does, his teammates stand with him.
They love the guy.
Really, this this it's always been about team. It's like, I've got my guys with me.
Yeah, I I I don't know why we keep pushing and why the push to make Anthony Edwards happen or somebody else happened, Like this is like okay, you're you're really looking too far and now here it is is maybe this is the anointment of him getting to the finals, which is probably gonna win. Okay, all right, here's GILDI is your face in the leagu Yeah.
The word annointment sounds like it hits the year wrong.
But I would say this for the Anthony Edwards, you know, those that push that part of the narrative. It's just the easy one to one video comparisons because SGA is smooth as hell, but it's not a lot of explosive plays right gets to the rim, gets to the foul line. We talked about it earlier in the series. Is there such a thing as a quiet thirty eight points?
He's a guy that does it fairly consistently.
Yeah, right, it's I guess goes to some of the Jokichen and other players of that ILK where it's all right, they get their stats, but it's not gonna dot the highlight reel like it becomes the long storytell to get to all right, watch watch how surgical this is over the course of a game versus hey, here's John Morant flying over people like he's evil, and evil flying over would be you know, centers and those trying to stand in the way. So with SGA, we don't have a lot of those. Ah, that's a nice looking layup. Okay, he dun't today. And it became a high light. Well immediately it was like, hey he doesn't.
You know, not every one of Jordan's highlights was always something where it was hey, look how great. Sometimes it was just hey, I'm coming down. I'm been a fifteen foot jumper. Okay, but counts just like the others. And I mean that's a that's a killer there. I mean, it's just a different to be. But it's just a different cell point.
Now, right, that's thirty years of lore and the way the game was digested versus our short attention span theater.
And now you have a hole for who is.
The next you know, we went, we went from Jordan to a little bit of Kobe to Lebron and now what it is now Lebron is going Jed. This is your guy man, this is your guy
