Soxcast 8.29

Mom, you ruined the podcast!

Well, we'll just keep going.

Ryan, it's been like five months.

Yeah, sorry about that, guys.

If there's anyone that's still, like...

Listening?

Listening, yeah.

Maybe we should check...

Besides Ryan Cutter.

Number one fan.

And Eric Kale.

You know, it's before when we were doing episodes more, like, often,

we had emails from, like, England and stuff like that, across the pond.

Yeah, and...

That just doesn't happen anymore.

Yeah, we don't even get...

We've gotten three emails last week, so...

It's okay, but for, you know, a show of this professional nature,

we'd love it to be better.

Well, let's face it, it's gonna get easier now that we have XC.

I mean...

Cross-country.

Don't speak.

Alright, so...

Yeah, we'll come to you, like, we'll try once a week during...

At least the next week.

At least once a month.

Through the baseball postseason.

Yeah, um...

We got a lot to talk about, uh...

We'll just talk about the Red Sox, because, I mean, seriously, that's the best thing.

Because they swept the four-game series against the White Sox.

Yeah, well, I mean, we're...

We have to talk about how the entire season has gone, because...

Ups and downs.

Last time we did it, we were, you know, comparing spring training players, and, like...

That had, like...

Things have changed so much.

So many questions have been asked.

So many questions have been answered.

So many...

So many people have...

I mean, we're looking at...

So many people have overestimated J.D. Drew.

Yeah, J.D. Drew has been a huge disappointment.

Seven home runs.

Um...

In August.

I mean, that's horrible.

Seven home runs of, what, 40-something RBIs?

Yeah, it's not good.

And he was gonna be their number-fifth hitter.

I mean, the curse of the number-fifth hitter continues.

And even...

Just put Mike Lowell in the number-fifth spot.

Even...

He's having a terrific year.

He's been, like, 320.

Big Poppy...

We have a team of RBIs.

Big Poppy and Manny are having down years.

Although...

Poppy's been hitting lately.

And Manny had a home run last night.

But he came out in the seventh inning because of back spasms.

Yeah, so...

And, you know, they had an off day before that, too.

So he might be injured.

Like, he might actually be seriously injured.

It would...

It would be legit to think that he's gonna go on the disabled list.

Mm-hmm.

Um...

Which isn't really good, going down the home stretch, but...

No, but if he's healthy, we're gonna...

At this point, we can assume we're gonna make the postseason.

That's very safe.

Unless...

Like...

Unless our entire starting rotation, like, breaks all their arms.

It's like...

It's like some freak accident.

I mean...

Both left and right.

We have such a...

We have such a good starting rotation.

And that's what we said at the beginning of the year.

That our pitching was far superior to the Yankees.

Uh-huh.

Even if our offense wasn't.

And that's proven true so far.

We've had a dominating bullpen.

Yeah, and we haven't even talked about Okajima.

Because we didn't know who this guy was.

Yeah, we thought...

Last time we talked, he's really proven himself to be...

Maybe one of the best set-up men in baseball.

Oh, easily.

Yeah.

Easily.

He's been dominating.

And Papelbon just continues last year's dominating...

Always.

He's been dominating before that arm injury.

Mm-hmm.

But really, um...

We acquired Eric Gagne at the break.

And he's been horrible.

He's been eh.

He's been worse than that.

He's blown two saves.

He's been awful, but...

He's cost us a couple games.

He has...

Recently, he's pitched a couple scoreless innings.

So, I hope that will continue.

I'm sure.

I mean, he's not a bad closer.

He's not a bad...

He's a Cy Young award winner.

Yeah, I mean...

I mean, it's reasonable to believe that

it's gonna take a while.

It's gonna take a little while

to get used to that setup role in Boston.

Yeah.

I don't like...

I don't like the fact that Terry Francona

immediately inserted him into the setup role

when Okajima was just doing so well.

Yeah.

That must...

You know, because that...

Not only because of Gagne's struggles,

but because, you know,

it takes away some confidence from Okajima.

He's probably thinking, you know,

all of a sudden,

wait, I thought I was the setup man.

Yeah.

Although, I don't think...

I don't think Okajima's gonna let him

phase him too much.

No.

He's probably...

He's pitched well.

He hasn't really had...

I can't even remember a bad game that he's had.

Yeah.

Since his first game.

Yeah.

I mean, I remember that

we watched the home opener...

Or, no, the season opener

against the Royals.

And, I mean, he came in

and he gave up a home run

on, like, his first pitch

in the Major League Baseball.

I was like...

You don't do that.

Oh, God.

This guy's gonna be horrible.

And then that has been

far from the case.

He's been dominating.

Yeah.

Really, it's just been

their offensive struggles.

I mean, Kevin Euclid

has cooled down.

A lot.

Really, he's ice cold.

He was batting 330.

Like, 330.

He was batting 330

as recently as a month ago.

He's down to under 300.

Yeah, he's, like, 290 now.

That's not good.

No.

Big Poppy has...

He has been picking up

the slack lately, but...

He's still hitting for average.

He's batting 320.

He went for, like,

50 games, maybe,

without hitting a home run

against a lefty.

Yeah.

Which, you know,

that's not good.

Nope.

Padroia.

Padroia's been

a pleasant surprise.

Yep.

And Mike Lowell, too,

having a great season.

Yeah, maybe one

of his best seasons,

except for that 45

home run of the year

he had in 2003.

Yeah.

Julio Lugo and J.D. Drew

have been disappointments.

Yeah, although Lugo's

been batting better.

Yeah, that's true.

Actually, Julio Lugo

has been picking up lately.

Because he was batting...

He had the worst,

was that July?

He had the worst

July possible.

Yeah, just...

It was horrible.

You just felt bad

for the guy.

And he's been

picking up lately,

probably hitting around,

like, 240, 250.

Yeah.

Baseball's such

a streaky sport.

You see those kind of things,

but maybe not to the extent

that Lugo's been

for such, like,

a rollercoaster ride

up and down.

I feel better about Lugo

than I do with Drew,

but I'll just say that.

Yeah, I'd say that, too.

I feel like he fits in better.

I mean, Lugo at least

plays with intensity

and plays with heart,

and you can tell he's trying,

and he gets 100% in.

Lugo, I'm really

not worried about him.

No, I'm not.

Definitely not.

He's as good of a

defensive player

as Gonzalez was last year.

And, um...

Yeah, that's probably

safe to say.

But, of course,

Gonzalez has just

helped you so much

with the glove.

But I'm not worried

at all about Lugo.

Um, I'm much more

worried about Drew

because, if you look at it,

last year,

we had the same problem

with Beckett, kind of,

coming to a new city,

kind of struggling

a little bit.

But Beckett last year

showed a lot of signs

that he was going to be

a brilliant pitcher.

He was like,

he had really good games.

And Drew's had, like,

three maybe good games

where you see him

actually, like,

pulling the ball

or going the other way.

But other than that,

he just has these

feeble at-bats

and horrible swings.

I mean, you can't get any...

It's hard to get

It's hard to find

any positive evidence

that he's going to be

good next year.

He certainly hasn't lived

up to his lucrative contract.

Yeah, it really is.

Insane.

$14 million a year,

that's a waste.

But I really,

I listen to a lot of guys

bash Theo Epstein,

especially guys

on the radio

and guys on TV.

But he's made

some good moves.

I mean,

Dice came on to Zaka

is, what,

13 and 11

with minimal run support.

I mean,

his run support's

been horrible this year.

And he's still,

he's a,

he's a frontrunner

for Rookie of the Year

along with Okajima

who Epstein also got,

went out and got.

I mean,

he made the

Beckett trade happen,

which, you know,

he traded...

Although some people

dispute that

because that was

during the time he was

catching his leave

of absence.

People say he was

involved in that deal,

others say he wasn't.

Well, if he was,

I mean,

they traded the

NL Rookie of the Year

for a possible

Cy Young winner.

So, I mean,

you gotta do that,

I think.

I think that's a...

And boy,

Ramirez is having

a great year.

He is, though.

He's having a great year.

And,

if you look at it,

it would be great

to have a nice

shortstop right now,

but, you know,

a number one pitcher

that's gonna win you

like four or five games

in the postseason,

that, you know...

That's huge.

That's fine.

And, um...

And going back,

you can't criticize,

like, you cannot

criticize the general

manager of a team

that's in first place

by seven games

as we speak right now

on the afternoon

of August 29th.

I hear people

complaining about

how he traded for Gagne.

I mean,

how can you complain

about him, like,

loading up one of the

already best bullpens

in the league

to making it

one of the best,

the best bullpen

in the league?

Yeah, and some people

said it was only

Jermaine Dye

or Eric Gagne,

and he picked Eric Gagne.

That wasn't the case.

Yeah, it was...

They gave the best

offer to the White Sox,

and the White Sox

chose to extend

And, of course,

the White Sox now

are in last place.

Yeah.

That's right,

in back of the

Kansas City Royals.

This is a team

that's only two years

removed from winning

the World Series,

and it's not like

they had a fire sale

like the Marlins did.

Yeah, they just...

You remember in the Marlins

in, like, 2003

and back in 1997,

the last two times

they won both times,

they offloaded everybody.

Yeah.

Well, there's a couple

reasons for that.

I mean, first of all,

they got some great

career years out of

players in 2005,

like Scott...

Krasinski.

Scott Krasinski.

I mean, it was a...

Yeah, he had a great

postseason.

And then, I mean,

you also look at it,

the rest of the divisions

improved immensely.

Oh, yeah, it's probably

the toughest division

of baseball.

If you want to look

at the NL West,

you can, but the AL Central

is a really tight way

I think there's more

talent in the...

in the AL Central

than in the NL West.

Yeah, I think the NL West

is just close.

All of the National League,

I think, is watered down.

If you look,

the three best teams

are the Phillies,

the Braves, and the Mets,

all in the same division.

Yeah.

Nobody else can compete.

And it's a shame

that one of those teams

isn't going to make

the playoffs,

and they probably

deserve to, but...

I mean, the East is...

I mean, the Central

is just pathetic

in the NL.

Anytime the Pittsburgh Pirates

aren't in last place,

you know something's wrong.

That's for Angleheart

out there.

No, but I...

I feel like

I feel confident

that the Red Sox

can probably win...

go deep in the playoffs,

probably.

Oh, yeah, and this is

the first time

in recent memory,

at least for me,

that we have a lead

of the division...

Yeah.

A lead of the division

I feel safe about

going into September.

Yeah.

I think it happened

in 1999,

and we were in front

by, like, one or two games,

you know, an iffy lead.

Yeah.

But the Yankees

aren't going to sweep

the series with

Beckett going tonight

and...

Schilling.

Is Schilling going?

Yeah, Schilling's going

in the season finale.

The series finale.

Yeah.

Yeah, with that pitching,

they're not going to

sweep the series.

Even if they take

two out of three,

we're still seven games up.

We're playing the...

We're playing the

Devil Rays a bunch.

We're playing some bad teams,

and we're also playing

some good teams,

so we're not going to, like,

completely just fall out.

We are playing...

The Yankees went through

a streak that month

where they made up the ground.

They brought it to four games.

They played

the Kansas City

Devil Rays.

Just, like, a combination

of the worst teams

in baseball.

And, um,

we...

A lot of people forget about it.

We were the second-best team

in baseball, so

it's not like we played horribly

and the Yankees

just took advantage of it.

They played better than us.

They played, like,

something like...

They were 17-4

since, like,

the All-Star break.

Yeah, it was crazy.

I mean,

we didn't do as well,

but we still did pretty good.

Mm-hmm.

Um...

So, yeah,

in the playoffs,

we have a legit chance

of going far.

Anytime.

If you look at the...

White Sox in 2005,

they had maybe

the best starting pitching

possible.

And, you know,

they went all the way.

It wasn't

close.

Well, we have, um,

Beckett,

who's a proven

big-game pitcher.

You only need three.

And if you look...

Who do you think

our fourth starter's gonna be?

Wakefield or

Lester at this point?

Well, Lester's down in AAA,

so it's not like

I'm like Lester at all.

And considering the year

Wakefield's having,

16 wins,

he's tied with Beckett

for the Major League Baseball.

That's just because

he's gotten a decision

in every single start

that he's pitched in, though.

But,

instead, it's true.

And he's gotten

a lot of run support.

Dicegate hasn't gotten,

I mean...

Yeah.

I'm sure if the run support

was a little more

evenly distributed...

Dicegate probably...

Dicegate deserves

16 or 17 wins.

Oh, definitely.

Definitely.

He had a streak

where he,

in three straight starts,

you know,

he only gave up

one or less runs

with combining

two shutouts in there.

I mean,

if you wanna look at Dicegate,

you can look at his

strikeouts.

He's in the top five

in the league

and his ERA,

which is very good.

Around three, right?

Yeah.

And he...

The only thing left

for him, I think,

is to prove that he can

pitch the big game

because he is 0-3

with a 6.23 ERA

against the Yankees

this season.

And he hasn't pitched

in the playoffs before.

Yeah, I'm not really

worried about that, though.

I always worry about

Wakefield in the postseason,

though,

because that means

you have to use

Mira Bigbelly

instead of Veritech.

Although,

I'd say it's a safe bet

that Mira Belly

will not be in the

Red Sox next year

because Kevin Cash

looks like he can

deal with that knuckleball.

Mira Belly's a fan favorite,

though.

Every time you see a guy

of that magnitude

step off the team,

you're disappointed.

Not very good.

Do you remember

that ovation?

He's not good.

Do you remember

that ovation he got

when he was limoed

to the ball field

two years ago?

Wait, when he tagged up

late and then, like,

wobbled home

and got tagged out?

Yeah.

But, like,

it's so weird.

A backup catcher

can have that

big of a following.

Did you see that thing

online, Dougie's Day?

Yeah, that's hilarious.

It's so funny.

Yes, if you're looking

for a good time

on the internet.

Just call Ryan up

if you're looking

for a good time,

but if that doesn't work...

No, that's not funny.

You can just

Google search

Dougie's Day

and it is hilarious.

It absolutely

tools on Doug Mira Belly.

It's hilarious.

It's so funny.

But, yeah,

because Kevin Cash

seems to be pretty good

at handling the knuckleball

and, I mean,

he at least

looks athletic

and

he's playing out

that slug.

He's not that slow

and that bad

at hitting.

Doug Mira Belly

does dent the green monster

though, often.

Hey, how did we get rid

of Dave Murphy?

I missed that.

He dealt him

for a Garnier.

So he was part of

the Garnier deal?

Yes.

He's been having

some really good games lately.

Well, I mean,

I think that

Epstein's not an idiot.

I mean,

he knew he was

dealing away

a good prospect.

Same thing with

Hanley Ramirez

if he did

deal that away.

And with Clay Meredith,

I'm trying to think

of other prospects

he's traded away.

Well, he's kept

Jacoby Ellsbury.

That's all I care about.

That's a great move.

I mean, Jacoby Ellsbury

looks like the real thing.

But, I mean,

Coco Crisp

hasn't been that bad.

He's played

phenomenal last year.

Yeah,

last year was

You know,

maybe he had

just a bad finger.

He broke the finger

early in the year

and, you know,

you bat with your hands.

So, like,

Well, last year

was just a bad year

for everybody.

And he's played

some great,

great defense.

Coco Crisp.

Yeah.

He's played

some phenomenal defense.

And his average

is up to, like,

280, 290.

So, he's not horrible.

No, he's a poor man's

Johnny Damon.

He can steal bases.

I mean,

he has the

weak arm for that, too.

Yeah.

But, no,

I think

I think it'll be

the Red Sox,

probably the Indians,

I think the Hold'em,

and I think the Angels.

And, I don't

I think the Wild Cards

are a toss-up.

I really do.

Because I don't

I don't think the Yankees

are that much better.

I don't think the Yankees

are that much better

than the Tigers.

Mariners.

The Mariners are pretty good.

They're

they're a dark horse.

You don't think of them

at all when you think

about a good team.

Oh, no.

They're predicted.

I mean, we're talking

there's talks about the Rangers

making the playoffs this year.

And look at them.

They had a huge fire sale.

No.

I would have to go

with the Tigers

and the Central

after they're showing

over the weekend

against the Yankees.

Pure domination.

So,

almost as bad

as the Red Sox

against the White Sox.

And, of course,

the White Sox

aren't nearly as good

of a caliber of a team

as the Yankees are.

Yeah, that's true.

So, I guess

that's pretty much it

for the Red Sox.

Yeah, we've covered it.

We'll

we'll

we'll talk about them later

when they're

hopefully in the playoffs.

I mean, if they blow this lead

then

it'll be one of the worst

chokes in

Red Sox history,

certainly.

There was like a story

that like in 1978

we blew a huge lead

or something.

Like, no.

No, I don't think it's true.

I think it was a fairy tale.

And, like,

who's that guy

I think you're in denial.

Bucky

Bucky Bleepin' Dent?

Who is that guy?

Aaron Bleepin' Boon.

Who's his fairy tale character?

You know, we could make

a whole infield

of people that have screwed us.

If we put Buckner at first

and Graffinino at second

then those would be

two guys split.

We wouldn't have won

the series, though.

With Graffinino?

Yeah, we were down

two games to none.

One game to none.

That game put us in the hole.

That was the

And D.U. Ellis

was pitching Masters League.

That's a great

That's nice.

That's a great

That's a nice Woolly Mammoth.

Then we put

We put Bucky Bleepin' Dent

at shortstop

and Aaron Boon

at third base.

Two little

pinch-hitting snubs

that, like,

loop home runs.

Actually, Boons

was kind of a rocket.

Boons was a high fly ball.

It only lands in, like,

the fifth row, though,

right down the line.

So disappointing.

Manny.

Where was Manny?

You should have made that catch.

Moonshot Manny.

He was probably, like,

taking a nap or something.

Alright, so

another team

that could certainly

connect with

and contend for

a championship

is the Pats.

Right now,

they're, like,

a one-to-two favorite.

So, you know,

high expectations.

The only reason

I don't like that

is because, like,

it's just, like,

more of a margin

for them to fail

and, like,

if they mess up,

it'll be horrible.

It's just because

they're used to

the underdog role

from the first time

they won the Super Bowl

a couple years ago.

They've been the underdog,

like, every single time.

Yeah.

But, I mean,

they had such a bad

loose loss to the Colts

last year that

Belichick is certainly

on a mission

to win now.

I was at that game.

You were.

I was at that game.

You were at that

fateful day.

Yeah.

Boy, it was really loud

in the Dome.

That's all I remember.

I sat next to this

bouncer from Las Vegas

who had a large sum

of money on the Patriots

and, boy,

he was really silent

when the game ended.

So, like,

I don't know.

He was a Seahawks man

at heart, though,

so you know

how that worked out.

That'll be good

this year, though.

The Seahawks.

They'll probably win

the, uh...

What division?

Just the West, I guess.

I guess.

They'll be a good team.

We haven't even talked

about Randy Moss

and Donnie Stallworth.

They're both gonna be

terrific because

Moss is such a deep

threat.

He runs the vertical

route so well

it'll open up the middle

for a quick,

quick, agile

wide receiver

such as Stallworth.

Yeah.

I mean, they

completely...

Think about it.

This team went

to the championship

game last year

on, on

Ricochet,

Bug-Eyed Caldwell.

Ricochet, Bug-Eyed Caldwell

and, like,

the...

Jabbar Gaffney.

He was the Jets scrub

and he came to the Pats

and was a 100-yard

receiver during the playoffs.

I mean...

It's so funny

that that can happen.

Yeah, and our number one

wide receiver last year,

uh, Caldwell,

is now the number four

wide receiver

behind Welker

and the two guys

we just spoke about.

And Welker,

he's a great

possession wide receiver.

Yeah, he is.

Um...

We're gonna...

Brady's gonna throw

for a couple 400-yard

games this season.

Guaranteed.

I mean, with the

receiving corps they got

and the fact that they

don't have, like,

a legit number two

running back.

And, yeah,

and the fact that they

have, uh,

legit a, uh,

cream puff division.

That's true.

You know,

they get to play

the Bills,

the Jets,

and the Dolphins

twice a year.

That's just...

That's not fair.

I mean...

So, they went out,

they signed...

They signed...

They signed, uh,

Stallworth and Welker.

And, what,

they traded, like,

a fourth-round pick

or something

for Randy Moss.

Yep, and we haven't

talked about, um,

Adalias Thomas.

Yeah, they signed

Adalias Thomas.

Just adding to the defense.

Junior Seau signed

another one-year contract.

Junior Seau came back,

yep.

And DeSante Samuel

finally reported to camp.

Yep, yesterday,

signing a one-year deal.

He took the franchise tag.

And I'm thinking that

they agreed to, like,

a long-term contract

after that or something

because I don't see

any other reason

why he would have

reported to camp.

Well, except for the fact

that, if you look at it,

uh, he loses

a couple million dollars

for each game.

And since,

if you hold out

past the deadline

for the first game,

I think there's a rule

you can't play until, like,

the tenth game of the season.

And so that's

almost ten million dollars

that he's losing

and his agent's cut of that

is, like,

another million dollars

at ten percent.

So his agent's

gotta be saying,

you know,

I'm not sure if I can

really afford this.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

And his agent

was working with

the Pats, actually,

to get him back

into camp.

Um,

Richard Seymour

is in great shape,

I guess.

He's still on the

PUP list,

but I think that's

probably just Belichick.

Yeah.

And the Mind Games.

The Mind Games.

He looks,

he's huge, though.

He's buffed up

in the offseason a bit.

Yeah.

He had a disappointing

season last year,

I think.

I didn't notice

his name enough.

He made it to the

Pro Bowl again.

Wasn't he our

only Pro Bowler?

Yeah.

No, Matt Light

was our only Pro Bowler.

He chose not to be

in the Pro Bowl.

Oh, but he's still,

you know,

he's still in the Pro Bowl.

Oh, yeah, he got it.

Um,

but, you know,

I didn't notice

his name called.

Oh, yeah, the only reason

he was such a playmaker,

our 2003 championship season,

he had, like,

six forced fumbles

and one return

for a touchdown.

He was great.

He was such a playmaker.

Well, I mean,

that's the reason

he was in the Pro Bowl.

He got voted

to the Pro Bowl last year

is because everyone

knew his name.

I mean,

that happens all the time.

Yeah, it does.

In baseball,

that happens.

Like, all that's brutal.

I mean, Manny Ramirez

was going to be

a starter in the All-Star game.

Jason Giambi last year,

batting 198,

made it to the All-Star game.

It's horrible.

It's so stupid.

But, I mean,

that's a different debate.

You know,

that's the All-Star games, though.

It's a fan-chosen business.

So, of course,

they're going to pick

their favorite players.

But it's disgusting

how Brady didn't make it.

Not a big deal, though.

I'm sure he's not really

faced about it.

He had a baby.

So that's why

he doesn't make it.

That's why he doesn't make it.

And a baby.

The initials are Jet.

G-E-T.

What?

Go on.

I don't remember

the full name, actually.

Crap.

What's his last name?

I think it might be

Thomas or something.

Because it would...

It's not his kid.

Well, it is his kid,

but they're not married, so...

Bridget, why would...

Isn't that Moynihan?

Yeah, our assistant

just handed me the paper.

It's John Edward

Thomas Moynihan.

So, yes, it's Jet M.

This is the same guy

who was walking around

New York

with a Yankees hat on.

Disgusting.

In the offseason.

I mean, maybe...

Maybe he just wants

to kill his baby.

Like...

What?

You can't rule that

out of the question.

Oh, my God.

Ryan.

Tom Terrific

does not kill babies.

We should start...

Let's start that rumor

right here.

Tom Terrific

guest stars on

Family Guy and Simpsons.

Tom Terrific

kills babies.

No, he's gonna

kill some other...

He's gonna kill

some defensive backs

this season

with all those

options he has.

Nice, Joe.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, I'm good.

Um...

Wait, so do you

want to talk about

how you lost

in Madden 08

as the Patriots

in...

What were they?

A 97 overall?

Nobody wants to hear this.

To the 66 overall.

Nobody wants to hear this.

Let's talk about

my two clutch victories.

Oakland Raiders.

Let's talk about

my victories

when I'm down by six

with eight seconds to go.

I pick a pass off.

Fourth and long.

Pick a pass off.

Run it back.

67 yards.

Juke out

Peyton Manning

and run it back

with Asante Sammy

for the win.

Peyton Manning.

Has a history of

stinking in clutch situations.

Except for, you know...

Except for last year.

Except for the most...

What have you done

for me lately?

You should know that.

It's true.

As a sportscaster,

you should know that.

You should grill the people

who aren't performing.

It's all right.

Bill Belichick,

his only goal this season

is to beat the Colts.

And he will do so

with medicine.

Do we have a Monday night

football game against them?

No, we don't.

It's against the Bills,

I think.

It's a horrible...

I know it's like a bad...

Like, it's not a good...

No, no, it's not.

It is a good...

It's against the Cowboys.

I don't know

where I got the Bulls from.

No, the Bills from.

But it's against the Cowboys.

That's a pretty good one.

Do we play the Colts?

Yeah, we play...

Oh, we play the Colts.

That's the rivalry game.

Oh, we play the Colts.

All right, let's see.

Running down the schedule,

we start the season

with the Jets.

Win or loss?

Oh, win.

Yeah.

I mean, yeah.

I was kind of joking.

After the playoff game,

I mean, seriously.

Yeah, that wasn't fair.

Kind of.

We kind of killed them.

You know, it was close.

I'll give the Jets credit.

It was close until

the fourth quarter.

And then we really

piled it on.

We did.

So you have to say win.

So that's on the 9th

of September.

Week 2,

we got the Chargers.

Tough game.

That's a loss.

I say that's a loss

because they certainly

are going to be

much more pumped up

for that game

than we are going to be.

And you can't say

they won't because...

All right, close game,

loss.

Yeah.

Close game, loss.

So 1-1 right now.

Bills, definitely a win.

Week 4, Bengals.

This could go

either way, too.

I don't know.

They have a pretty...

pretty poor defense.

Their defense is not

very good.

And, I mean,

I just remember

the Pats actually

blew them out last year.

I mean, it wasn't

very close.

Yeah, but that was

because of Corey Dillon,

though.

He had a great game.

Hey, who says

Maroney can't have

a great game?

I mean, he had...

No, he had a good

game against...

No, Maroney had

the good game

against the Bengals.

He had like a...

like a hundred

and something yards.

Dillon had three

touchdowns.

But Maroney had

more yards.

He had that

six-stiff arm.

I remember that.

I remember Tom Smolsky.

Tom Smolsky was

talking about that.

Great guy.

Shout out.

Tom Smolsky.

Browns.

Not close.

Browns.

Wait, no, wait.

57-1 victory.

According to

Timmy Englehart,

the Browns will win

the Super Bowl

led by Brady Quinn.

He's not even

starting in the

final preseason game.

Fry is.

Alright, Cowboys.

I gotta say one.

Our Monday night

game is against

the Ravens, by the way.

Oh.

Alright.

I just swore it was

the Cowboys.

Winning against the

Cowboys.

Probably winning

against the Dolphins.

Redskins.

Probably a win.

Colts.

Loss.

You think that's a

loss?

Loss.

Probably.

Although, I don't

know.

It might be the same

case as the Chargers

because I think the

Pats are definitely

going to be much

more pumped to win.

I'm going to have

to give it a loss

because if you look

at it, it's week

nine and we

hadn't had a bye

week yet.

We're going to be

banged up by then.

That's true.

Colts have a bye

week in week four,

so they'll be more

rested.

That's true.

Then we have a bye

the next week.

That's a bye week,

of course.

Moving on,

Bills win

Eagles.

That's a tough

game.

That's a tough

game.

I think it

probably could go

either way.

I think the Pats

will probably win,

but it'll certainly

be a close game

whichever way it

goes.

Yeah.

But I'm going to

hand it to the Pats.

If McNabb starts

the season off like

he did last year,

people are in

trouble.

He had such a

good beginning.

Oh, definitely.

Yeah.

He's so good.

But then that

Monday night game

against the Ravens,

another tough game.

They were a

playoff team.

Yeah, probably

a loss.

I don't know.

It's just so,

there's so many

good teams that

could beat,

that have the

potential to beat

the Pats.

Oh, yeah.

You can never,

like, and we're

probably not going

to, up to now

we've predicted

that we're going

to sweep the

season series

against the

Bills, the

Dolphins, and the

Jets.

And that's

probably not

going to happen.

Although, well,

I mean.

Because, you know,

the Dolphins beat

us this year.

And they weren't

even close to a

playoff contender.

Yeah, and the

Jets beat us.

But they were a

playoff contender.

But we killed,

we crushed some

of the playoffs.

Yeah.

It's, it's tough

in football.

It is.

I mean, if you

don't know what

kind of injuries

we're going to

have over the

season.

If Tom Brady

goes down in the

first game, we're

going to be

screwed.

I have my

faith in Castle.

Brady would be

the best Drew

Bledsoe as a

backup per person

possible.

Alright, so.

You know how

many people think

Brady's overrated?

It's kind of

underrated.

Like, if you

look at, if you

look at the

cheater, like,

you know how

us Boston fans

like to say

the cheater is

really overrated.

Yeah.

But he's clutch

and he has the

ring, so.

It's the same

thing with Brady.

And like a ton

of people outside

of New England

think that he's

really overrated.

No.

I don't think

that's true either.

Because, I mean,

how can you be

overrated?

If you have three

Super Bowl rings

with like, like,

they weren't, it

wasn't like he was

playing with like

great teams.

I mean, he was

playing with like,

they were always

the underdog.

In 2003 and

2004 they weren't.

I, I'm pretty sure

they had the spread.

But 2002 definitely

they were big

underdogs too.

Yeah, and Brady

had a couple of

huge drives in a

big pressure

situation.

Yep.

And of course

that 2003 Super Bowl

was so good.

Probably like the

best Super Bowl I

can remember.

Yeah.

Or I guess that was

that was in 2004 I

guess.

It was the 2003

season.

Against the Eagles?

You know, that was

the 2005 Super Bowl.

Oh, I thought the

I thought the Eagles

one was awesome.

Nah, it was against

the Panthers.

Eagles one sucked.

That was like

20 to 17.

Did you know that

the, it was, it's

the most watched

telecast ever?

No, High School

Musical.

No, High School

Musical 2 is the

second next to the

Such a bad movie.

I watched it.

Don't speak.

I watched it.

Don't even say that,

dude.

But it wasn't, it

wasn't horrible.

It was like, it was,

you could watch it

and still live.

I mean, it wasn't

horrible.

I can't think of

you anymore.

Okay.

Alright, so we

still have Steelers,

Jets, Dolphins, Giants.

At the Giants is

going to be a tough

game, I think.

Oh, the rest of

the games are

probably victories.

Probably.

I mean, the Giants,

they did fall apart

last year.

They did fall apart.

They did fall apart

last year.

And they did lose

T.D. Barber, but

Eli Manning is not

a very good quarterback.

No, he's shown

hints of greatness.

He's nothing like

his brother.

His brother jumped

right into the league

and was successful.

Oh, yeah, he's great.

So, yeah, the

Pats are, they're

not going to be a

wild card team.

No.

They're definitely

going to make the

playoffs.

Yeah, and they're

probably, it'll be

close between them,

the Colts, and the

Chargers for who

gets the first run

by.

Yeah, out of those

three teams.

So, right now, I

think the Chargers

aren't going to get

it.

I really think the

Patriots are going

to go 13-3, 12-4

at the worst, and

probably get that

bye.

Yeah, probably.

And, I mean, if

they make the

Super Bowl, I don't

see them losing to

any team in the

Super Bowl against

an NFC contender.

I mean, I don't

know.

The Bears, no, they're

not going to lose to

the Bears.

No.

If you look at it

last year, the Bears

were so bad.

Maybe just because

they're a quarterback,

because their defense

is terrific.

Oh, and their

return team is really

good, solely because

of Devin Hassler.

Yeah, but it's

always like that.

Rex Grossman is so

bad.

He's such a bad

quarterback.

He can't even

handle the snap.

He reminds me of

Chris Daigle.

A reference not

many of our

listeners will get,

hopefully.

That's true,

actually.

He's so bad,

though.

He is bad.

So many

interceptions.

He is probably the

worst quarterback ever

to go to a Super

Bowl.

Oh.

I would easily say.

Oh, easily, yeah.

And you look at it,

it's only because the

Bears are in the

NFC, and because

they have such a

good defense, their

defense is stacked.

They're in that

NFC championship

game against the

Saints.

Their defense were

such playmakers,

were covering so

many fun ones.

Yeah, that was

probably because

Reggie Bush pissed

off Brian Urlacher

with his little

point.

But no, the

Pats should have a

legit chance to win

a Super Bowl.

You'd have to say

that.

Anything less than

making it to the

NFC championship

game is a bust.

Oh, definitely.

Easily.

Look at how much

money they spend

in the offseason

off the AFC.

Yeah, but you

can't go any

farther than that.

You can't say

making it to the

Super Bowl because

you never know

what will happen.

Yeah.

Like, look at

last year.

You know, we gave

up like a 20-point

lead.

It was horrible.

Yeah.

Alright, and so

I guess we can't

ignore the elephant

in the room.

The Celtics.

They're so good

now.

The Bruins are the

elephant in the room.

Yeah, Paul Pierce

doesn't even come up

in conversation about

the Celtics anymore.

I know, because

why talk about

Paul Pierce when

you have Ray Allen,

KG, and James Posey?

Right.

Who else?

Who else is coming

out of retirement?

Who am I thinking

of?

Well, let's just

take a look at the

team.

Like, during February

when we did our

last Sox guest.

Mm-hmm.

Al Jefferson.

In the middle of

the second worst

losing streak in

team history.

Yeah.

I mean, Al

Jefferson was not

playing as much.

He was hurt,

actually, probably.

They had, like,

so many just, like,

bad players, like

Brian Scalabrini

and, like, Sebastian

Telveir.

Scals is a great

player.

EO Ratliff, Paul

Pierce, and Wally

Zervak were all

hurt.

Mm-hmm.

And now, all of a

sudden...

The core of a

mediocre team.

I mean, we're

going, we're, we're

in the Odin-Durant

running, and we

don't get Odin

or Durant.

I can't believe

we've got the

fifth pick.

I, I, I mean, it

sounds stupid.

Do you remember

that viewing party?

Were you watching

it on TV?

And then they

showed that guy's

face.

Yeah.

Like, that's

exactly how I felt.

I was watching

with my dad, and,

like, I was like,

all right, dad, if

we see green, we're

just running out of

the room.

We're turning the

TV off and running

out of the room.

And then they, you

know, number five,

he turned the card

over, I saw green,

like, that was it.

I was done.

But, like...

Number five?

It's just, it's

ridiculous, like, it

almost seems like

that it was, that

it was like, like

someone made it that

way, because we

were obviously losing

on purpose.

I mean, at the end

of the year, like,

Ryan Gomes and

Al Jefferson were

like, setting out

games with, like,

injured thumbs and

stuff.

I was like, we were

clearly trying to

lose.

But, you know,

I mean, you still,

like, we were that

bad.

I mean, we needed

that pick, and it

seems like the NFL,

the NBA took it

away from us, because

like, there's just

something fishy about

it, because the

Grizzlies got the

worst pick that they

could get, and we

got the worst pick we

could get, and we

were the main two

teams clearly trying

to lose.

Oh, yeah, five and

four.

And the Trailblazers

almost made the

playoffs last

weekend season.

I mean, it just

looks fishy.

They were what,

Trailblazers were

like the eighth?

Um, spot?

Yeah, they were in

the mix.

They were in

contention, but they

were still in the eighth

spot, which is the

middle of the pack.

They only had, what,

like a five percent

chance?

Yeah, it was

something like that.

That's so awful.

That's so disappointing

for me as a fan.

But then, I mean,

we were talking

about, like, what,

drafting Yishian

Leon, maybe trading

Pierce or something.

It's a seven

footer.

Just looking for

that, looking for

the future, but

we're still, clearly

Celtics fans are

sick of that, and

they're wanting to

win now, so

Danny Ainge

traded Zerviak, and

a promising, a pretty

good guard, Delonte

West.

Um.

Definitely.

And Jeff Green.

Rondo will mature,

though.

He'll be fine.

Yeah.

For Ray Allen, who's

a prolific scorer, a

great player.

Great shooter.

That's what we were

lacking.

As well as a big

man.

Yeah.

We were lacking,

when your team is

the second worst

team in the NBA,

you're lacking a lot

of stuff.

Oh, definitely.

I mean, what is,

Pierce isn't like,

he's such a

rare, rare, rare

player, like, you

can't, he's hard to

put in a category,

because he's, I mean,

he's a pretty good

shooter, but he's not

a great shooter.

He's a jack of all

trades.

Yeah, he can do a

lot of stuff.

He's probably like,

an 8 out of 10 at

most things.

Oh, yeah.

Um, and then.

He's so, like,

underrated.

He never comes up

in like, he's probably

in the top 15 players

in the NBA, and he

never comes up in

those kind of

conversations.

Well, now we'll

know this year,

because, and then.

That's true.

We'll see if he's a

winner this year.

Yeah, we're.

I mean, he's like

the best core he's

ever had around him.

Oh, definitely.

It's, let's see.

Kevin Garnett, Ray

Allen, uh, are a

little better than

just Antoine Walker

and Tony Batte.

Yeah.

And then, you know,

the, the Kevin Garnett

trades had kind of

died down, and I

didn't really see it

coming when it

happened, but we

traded, like, our

entire team for

Kevin Garnett.

We traded.

That's true.

I mean, if.

We traded, didn't

we trade, like,

three starters?

We could trade, yeah,

we traded Ryan

Gomes, Al Jefferson,

and Theo Radliff.

I mean, that could

be.

I did like Al

Jefferson.

That could be two

forwards in the center

right there.

And then we should

trade Sebastian

Telfair and Gerald

Green.

Don't care about

either.

Actually, Gerald

Green is key to the

team for winning the

slam dunk contest.

I would like to

point that out.

But, you know,

Sebastian Telfair

night at the

Garden just didn't

work out.

Yeah, and then, I

mean, really, the

only two players you

regret, and those

two picks, we had

to trade two picks.

We traded our

pick and the pick

we got in the

Wall of Serviac

trade.

And the only thing

I really regret

losing is, well,

obviously, Big Al

and Ryan Gomes,

because I think that

Big Al is going to

be a great power

forward someday.

Even though he did

the majority of his

scoring as the

number one

go-to guy in the

team.

He had great

numbers last year,

don't get me wrong.

Like, great

rebounding numbers

that aren't a fluke.

But don't be

misled by inflated

scoring numbers,

because he took a

lot of shots he

shouldn't have

taken in double

coverage.

And he was the

number one option

of a very bad team.

So, he's still not

a very great scorer.

He's an awesome

rebounder.

He's a phenomenal

rebounder.

He is a good

rebounder.

I mean, if you

look, Kevin Garnett

is a little bit too.

He's kind of a good

player.

He's okay, you know.

He's a pretty good

player.

Averaging 2010,

like the last 10

years.

He's a solid

player.

He's a good

player.

And I think Gomes

is going to be

a good player.

Not a great

player, a good

player on a winning

team.

Yeah, like a guy

coming off the bench

to score some

points.

Like, not a

Robert Ory in

playing style, but

in like clutchness.

Yeah.

As in like role

playing.

Yeah.

I mean, if you, I

think if he went to

the, he would

certainly help a

team like the

Suns or the

Mavericks or the

Spurs.

I mean, like, he

wasn't great on, he

wasn't good on the

Celtics because we

didn't need him

then.

Like, if we had, if

we still had him now,

that would be, that

would be really good.

Yeah.

He was of no use

to us last year

because we didn't, he

was a starter because

we were so bad.

But we also, who

else did we add?

Like, Scott Pollard

and Eddie House.

Don't we have

Scott Pollard right

now?

Some pretty good

role players.

Yeah.

No, we just added

them now.

Yeah.

So some pretty good

role players.

We just signed

James Posey.

I heard we signed

Bruce Pollard.

No, but we did sign

James Posey.

That's a pretty good

deal because he's a

good defender.

He is a defender.

We also signed

Brandon Wallace out

of, he was a, he was

a rookie free agent,

I think.

Yeah, he was.

Undrafted.

The only real issues

that are showing

point guard is

Rajon Rondo, and I'm

not saying that he

can't be good, but he

needs to prove that he

can be good.

I mean, he certainly

has the capabilities

to be a very good

point guard.

He showed some, like,

flash.

He showed a lot of

skills.

Yeah.

That's what he showed.

He showed speed,

quickness, and ball

handling.

He's really good.

He can't shoot

very well.

No, you're right,

and he wasn't a

great passer, but you

can teach passing.

You can't teach speed.

That's true.

You can't teach

speed, and he has

it, so.

And Kendrick Perkins

is our center.

He's kind of another

guy, like, that would

be a good role player.

I don't think he's

a very good starting

center, but.

No, Tommy Heinsohn

loves him.

That's all I care about.

In the Eastern

Conference, I think

you're going to be

all set, I mean.

Oh, yeah.

I say at least

number three seed,

because we'll probably

win our division.

We should.

Yeah, we should win

our division, so that

makes us an automatic

three seed, maybe a

two or a one.

Maybe not a one,

because we're

because Pistons are

so charismatic, and

you have to go

against solely

LeBron James on

the Cavaliers.

LeBron James and

four other players

they found in, like,

the parking lot.

Well, that's why

they have not been

able to shut down

LeBron James.

He always has huge

games against him, and

that's why they brought

on James Posey, who's

a good lockdown

forward defender, as

well as Brandon

Wallace, who's a

really good defender,

or showed signs of

being in training

camp.

I haven't been

following.

Um, well, I mean,

they've clearly

upgraded their roster.

Their defense is better

from those.

No question.

There was nowhere

to go but up.

Yeah, it's true.

Unless they treated

Peters for, like,

Dan DeGaullean.

Or Dickie Vitale.

And, I mean...

I heard we're

trying to get Tom

Heinsohn out of

retirement to play

point guard.

We were trying to

get Reggie Miller, but

that didn't work out.

I really don't know

how effective he

would have been.

It would have been

a pretty good score,

I guess, off the bench.

Because I guess his

body was still

alright, but...

Mentally, he thought

he couldn't do it, so...

He's not going to

come back.

But, I mean, I don't

think...

I mean, he certainly

would have made a

difference.

But, I think we're

going to be able to

still contend for a

championship without

him.

Yeah, I think so.

We're going to take

some calls right now.

Just kidding.

So, we've pretty

much covered

everything, I think.

Ryan, you're going to

Ryan showed his

vast knowledge of

the NBA preseason.

Yes.

Brandon Wallace.

Great guy.

What a guy.

I still don't...

I don't know.

It's still such a

toss-up in the

Eastern Conference.

I mean, the Bulls,

I think they're

capable of winning.

I mean, the Cavaliers,

I guess.

Yeah.

The Pistons.

It'll be tough.

So many good teams.

There's so many

bad teams.

They're all, like,

the same level of

badness.

They're all even.

Yeah.

Solid point.

Do a rant.