00:00 – Blues-2 Van-BLANKING-couver Canucks-1 — Robert Thomas is an all-star — Parayko continues to improve his offensive game

18:16 – Tommy Edman is undergoing a procedure on his wrist, are we worried he might miss some time to start the season?

36:05 – Former PGA Tour Pro Jay Delsing on the new revelations from Rory McIlroy

50:58 – TIOLI

1:08:31 – Fresh Take: Could a trade help the Cardinals find better balance between the run-producing vs. run-preventing aspects of the team?

1:22:45 – The View from Vitale: Blues radio analyst Joey Vitale breaks down his groundhog day-like hell scape during a Pengiuns’ 17-game winning streak

1:47:23 – St. Louis Blues C Robert Thomas joins the show to talk about his All-Star nod and the Blues continuing to fight through tough opponents

1:58:13 – Rush Hour Reset

2:06:48 – The Fight

2:19:48 – Post-Dispatch Cardinal Beat Writer Derrick Goold talks about the upcoming Baseball Writers Dinner, the Cardinals involvement in Cease talks and which bullpen arms could be in play this Spring

2:40:35 – Which win-and-in NFL team has the best chance to seal the deal this weekend?

2:53:20 – Rocc n’ Roll

Keep up with the show at: https://www.101espn.com/shows/the-opening-drive/

On 101 ESPN brought to you by suar 1 Gu down good morning everyone happy Friday and welcome to the opening drive on one 1 ESPN in St Louis where at 7:00 your time check brought to you by Clarkson Jewelers an officially licensed Rolex Jeweler Brook Grimsley wearing Thea hoodie Matthew Rocko is here I’m Randy carer great to have you with us

Good morning kids how we doing oh I’m doing great I missed uh the fancy memo this morning you are very well dressed today Randy well I I just have come to grips with the fact that in 2024 we are going to be on YouTube Every Single Day

On our air Alliance team YouTube channel you can go to 101n STL and find it on YouTube watch us every day and Brooke I just decided you know what the the peeps deserve more the peeps deserve to have Randy dressed up so uh every day for the

Rest of this week I’m dressing up for the first week of 2024 and I want to show people that I have a jacket and a shirt and a button- down shirt so yeah that’s that’s where I’m going what what is today yeah what is today again Friday

Oh okay so the week the week conveniently wrapping up where you don’t have to do this again I will say that um I if you walk up and down our hallways many days I dress like Jay Wright relative to some of the people that walk up and down our high our

Hallways oh my gosh what are you trying to say Randy everybody you mean everybody else is it in threepiece suits in the morning just saying at least I wear collared shirts sometimes not every day I didn’t yesterday okay but sometimes sometimes no it’s it’s you know what R that’s a

Great thing about radio I’ve told you before when I was a kid doing internships the thing and Matthew you’ll appreciate this the thing that swung me from TV to radio is I hate wearing ties I’m not a dress up guy at all I’m not a closed Horse by any stretch of the

Imagination and uh I think you and I probably share that Matthew you probably would make a you’d make a decision based upon whether you have to wear a tie or not right oh no I actually I love wearing it’s it’s actually something I’ve loved since I was a kid it’s it’s

What it was the only thing that I was younger that I actually like usually I would just like I didn’t care about my clothes but like I knew like I wanted to make sure like I had a nice suit and some ties ready to roll that if I needed

To go to like a dance or something like that I had option so I actually like wearing shirts and ties I I own for like suits I I own three suits I I own a grossly overweight suit just a regular weight suit and an underweight suit they’re all

Black it’s very versatile I’m very jealous about that with men because I feel like you guys can and you can get a little bit fancier with the ties and the undershirt all the different kind of stuff for women I remember in TV if I wore a dress accidentally you know I

Wore it one week and then the next I would get an email about it the comments constantly now if a man didn’t wear a tie on TV Randy that would cause a ton of emails I remember Cory Stark you know Cory Stark over there on Channel 4 if he

Wouldn’t wear a tie and sometimes it’s nice like on a Friday just a real little relaxed like no tie people would lose their I think Cory has gone cash well not cash but he doesn’t wear a tie all the yeah so you they try to do like a little Casual

Friday every my thing now is I I skew the tie more often and go no tie but always always little pocket square got to have that’s impressive pocket square going for you here’s what we have coming up on the show Jay deling is going to

Join us at the bottom of this hour a lot of stuff from Rory mroy this week Joe Vali with his weekly Friday visit plus post dispatch Cardinal beat writer Derrik G coming up at 9:15 the blues with a 2-1 win over the top team in the west last night the Vancouver van blank

Couver Canucks I just can’t figured the blues out is this the best win of the year is this is this her best win of the Year guys it’s another come from behind win so that’s their third of the Season there’s something there right some good

Wins I think so it’s I mean it’s this or the Stars win because I mean the Blackhawks win is a huge comp from behind win but they’re not a great talented team Vancouver is one of the best teams in the entire league Dallas Dallas is probably is the second best

Team in your in your Division behind one of the best teams in the league in in Colorado so yeah I’d say this is right up there with with the Dallas win as as the best of the season so far you you’re going against the team with the best

Record in the west the team that’s the highest scoring team in the NHL by a pretty significant margin by the way they’re shooting percentage the Vancouver’s shooting percentage is outrageous they lead the league in goals but they’re like 20th in shots it’s unbelievable I can’t so that’s a lot of

Puck luck the puck luck yeah the Dom lision will give them no chance in the playoffs anyway Conor garland from from the athletic Dom decision who oh he’s been right a couple of times I I don’t want to I don’t want to talk about him

Cuz he kind of predicted a lot of things about the blues let’s talk about our Blues then Connor Garland scoring 157 into the game on Vancouver’s first shot of the game one- nothing after a period but 422 into the second one of our guys stepped up perunovic now to the near

Sight Thomas in the middle the but nich he dropped it off to kyou back to Thomas to the far Wing Paro score Colton Paro 1538 to go second period AME 1 here in St Louis love that call Paro seventh of the year and set up on a beautiful feed by Robert Thomas Robby

Tommy yeah we are very excited for to mention that he’s coming on the show too he’s coming on the show he was highl NHL Allstar Randy NHL Allstar Robert Thomas making his first All-Star appearance and one of the things that Allstars do is in a tie game in the third period they step

Up for you up to KY now with Thomas KY tries to leave before but naich has to reach back for it it’s the defenseman coming on perunovic to Thomas he scores what a goal by Robert Thomas top Corner stick side two to one St Louis

Their first lead of the game 1157 to go third period Jordan Bennington would make that stand and the blues would win it by a score of two to one over Vancouver and guys coming off the two- game losing streak against good teams it was uh Colorado it was Pittsburgh last week

And now after the break Drew banister said they needed a couple of days just to kind of decompress they did and the reason I say I can’t figure this out I guess we just have to wait for the rest of this stretch but I like what I

See since the coaching change even with the losses aside from the Tampa Bay loss I like everything I’ve seen I like everything that I see too Randy and it does still feel like you’re kind of tiptoeing into being fully excited about things right you want to be really

Excited you have have to give him credit for everything they’ve done this is now the sixth win under Drew banister whatever Drew banister is doing message wise it is actually resonating with the players and that’s what you want to see that’s what army said when he made this

Coaching change right is that he felt like the message wasn’t working with Craig bruy anymore the message obviously had gone stale it wasn’t translating on the ice and now with Drew Bannister his approach seems to be working with the blues I thought it was interesting last

Week when we talked to Robert Thomas he kind of pointed out some of the differences and he brought up with Drew banister I guess his approach with pointing out things and having video evidence to back it up and maybe not as much of the yelling approach we’ve kind

Of talked about that with this younger players that maybe they need a different style of coach and whether you like it or not either way you like the results that you’re seeing right now from the team yep and Bobby Tommy by the way Robbie Tommy uh 36 even strength this is

A good stat from Matthew 36 even strength points in 37 games he’s top five in the entire NHL in that stat he only has as you might expect from a blue only five total Power Play points but he he’s terrific five on five and paral at all Defenders last night with three

Shots the defense has stepped up that’s another thing under Bannister is offens offensively because we’re talking hockey the defenseman have stepped up and neighbors with eight shots to lead all skaters Jake neighbors is also a really really exciting player to see I mean the way that he it’s his attitude as well

Sked everything that he’s able to do obviously helps the team but then I think his attitude and approach to things he’s just a very gritty player he is the quintessential St Louis blue he’s a hard worker he’s good on both ends of the ice I think he’s reaching that point

Now Brooke where with as much as he’s scoring and the effort and the fact that he’s becoming a fan favorite we might have to start be start calling him neighbors oh NE i g h b o u RS neighbors yeah cuz that’s how they say it in Canada is it really mhm

Neighbors that’s that’s how they go AB boot it over there up there I guess up there yeah until he’s old but Robert Thomas too I’m so excited for Robert Thomas first NHL Allstar for him to be able to get this and obviously he deserves it but that was the Robert

Thomas game for me last night and Robert Thomas has stepped up and we talked about this last year how he was an ascending player on the defensive end and that was a big complaint about both he and kyou well Drew Bannister talked last night and he didn’t have Robert

Thomas before this stretch as the blues head coach he talked about Robert Thomas playing the 200 foot game there’s just a lot of maturity like I think he’s he’s becoming a more mature professional hockey player and understanding what he needs to do as a player uh to give our

Team an opportunity of success and it’s I think the the offensive side comes very easy to him um obviously he has to work at it but he sees the ice so well um you know he’s shooting the puck a lot more like he’s built that into his game

The defensive side for for you know any skilled hockey player is always you know that that seems to be the always the the one thing that kind of legs a little bit you know in timing but I think with with Robbie like he he we’re starting to see

Him really mature and to you know a really good two-way hockey player here that can be relied on you know what’s interesting about those comments as I listen to it when we would ask Keith kachuck what Robert Thomas ultimately could be he said he could be Patrice

Berson who is a great defender regular selky Award winner reliable on both ends of the ice and when you hear that description you you could apply that to Patrice burra maybe that’s where Robert Thomas is headed maybe big Walt who uh kind of knows hockey maybe he was right

About that one uh yeah I think that big Walt does know a thing or two about hockey so Thomas continues to improve you have to be really excited about where he’s at and you talked about those numbers that Matthew was able to bring up there I think it’s safe to say that

Robert Thomas is Elite Randy oh yeah he is putting him in that Elite category no you don’t want to rock not yet we’re just going to be cautious no it was that Grant Francis who uh obviously does a great job with our pregame show and everything throughout a stat yesterday

Because banister mentioned that he’s getting that uh Robert Thomas is shooting the puck a lot more and Grant put out a stat really quick I’m going to find it on Twitter that this year at this time last year he had about 30 less shots on goal than he has this year wow

I mean he he really is starting to put the puck on that more let me get the exact numbers for you in a second okay and Conor Bard also named to the All-Star Team the Blackhawks young Superstar becomes the youngest NHL Allstar ever and the blues young players

Continue to succeed at the world juniors Jimmy snuggerud in USA playing for the gold medal today oh I sent it to you guys last night Jimmy snuggerud his shot oh man did you see what I sent back to you that I’ve have owned for many years

And I don’t know if you saw this Matthew a blues snuggy oh the marketing opportunity here Randy you put Jimmy’s face on a snuggy a blue snuggy and sell those yes there’s a huge opportunity there here’s the exact numbers through 35 games and then again this is from 101

ESPN’s Grant Francis on Twitter Robert Thomas threw 35 games last season had 49 shots on goal through 35 hit games this season he was at 76 shots on goal so again just about a 30 goal difference almost 50% more than last year or 100% more and it’s interesting because we we

Asked him about it for the first half of last season too why don’t you shoot more and now he is shooting more he’s got a great shot interesting news from the Cardinals yesterday big news uh Billy Joel and sting are coming in concert that’s what you want to talk about Randy

Huh yeah so uh thanks to a friend of the show John Shu who sent me a really nice note on on the Facebook and I really do appreciate that John and uh and I did by the way he he mentioned that I was going to the press conference not just to uh

Find out about the concert and see our mutual friend Joe Buck and talked to Bill dwit II thir and just had a great time over there but I did enjoy the free food the Cardinals know how to turn out food now and uh yeah people and John wasn’t totally

Thrilled with the fact that I was going to enjoy some of the Cardinal free food I I think he called you a scumbag for getting the free food yeah but that’s fine but because at times I am you know you guys have both witnessed it right I

Can’t be but uh anyway the I’m excited about the concert because Vicky Briant who does a sensational job over there of scheduling the concerts I was talking to Vicki and that’s her favorite artist too it’s my favorite artist and her favorite artist so we’re excited about having

Billy Joel come to town tickets on sale one week from today tickets on uh tickets not on sale tickets available for winter warm-up autographs today at just go to cardinals.com now the other thing about the Cardinals is that will Tommy Edmund be able to sign autographs at the winter warm-up oh yeah

That was the news that I was thinking that you about to drop first when you’re talking about the big Cardinals announcement not that Billy Joel and sting aren’t a big deal very excited you know even though I was trying to say that Adam way right maybe was opening

For Luke Bryan I was just throwing that out there Cardinals if you use that give me some credit on that but yeah Tommy Edmond apparently had to get wrist surgery so that was a little bit confusing because Randy typically if you have an end of the season press conference that’s something you could

Address at that point right and I thought that I had heard that it was said that everything was fine healthwise this off for the offseason for the Cardinals yeah and you you just wonder because we didn’t get that communication like Nolan arnado didn’t finish the season he

Finished on the IL so how serious was his injury what are what are some of the other injuries for players that didn’t finish the season that is you’re right one of the aspects that level of communication from the organization in communicating with their customers uh and hey it’s offseason surgery we don’t

Have to know that but it’ just be nice to know underwent arthoscopic surgery on his right wrist in October more on that and what the Cardinals are looking at in the National League now with one of the big moves that’s been made over the last couple of days by one of their Chief

Competitors for the national league penet that’s next time 101 ESPN Brook and Randy and yesterday the Atlanta Braves after acquiring Chris sail from the Boston Red Sox earlier this week signed him to a 2-year contract extension worth $38 million they were getting $17 million from the

Red Sox anyway in the trade and they’ve been able to get him under contract and Brooke I love the approach that the Braves are taking here and we’ve talked a lot about how that might be the Cardinal model when you have as many good young players as the Cardinals have

Maybe take the approach that the Braves have and get everybody under contract well Charlie Morton has talked about retirement he’s going to be 40 this off season or dur after this season uh Max freed is a free agent after this season he’s going to be 31 and has a lot of

Miles and a lot of injury issues not that Chris S hasn’t but I really like watching the proactivity of Alex anthopoulos and the Braves front office now I’ll preface this by saying that I think Chris Sale is a gamble but it’s a gamble a franchise like Atlanta can

Afford to take I don’t think the Cardinals especially where with where they are and we aren’t going to change their approach from a business standpoint they aren’t going to be in business to lose money I don’t think with the issues that they have not issues but with the age of their

Starters right now I don’t think Chris S is a gamble worth taking for the Cardinals 31 starts over four years before last season and I expect him to get hurt again I I would be a little bit disappointed actually if the Cardinals had acquired Chris Sale the

Exact same way the red uh the Braves did and then signed him to that extension because I would be worried about his ability to take the ball every fifth day 100% you would be but I think that there’s a lot of things to really look at with the Braves that you would say

Okay maybe there is some stuff here that the Cardinals could model after what is the way that you think that the Cardinals could at least now take away some lessons from the Braves the biggest thing is get your young players under contract if you’re concerned about future payrolls have cost certainty the

Braves have done that with if I’m not mistaken all eight of their starting players they signed Michael Harris Jun they’ve got aunia under contract no no they don’t have left field right now but they’ve got Riley under contract they’ve got arcia under contract they’ve got ALB under contract they’ve got Olson under

Contract they’ve got two catchers under contract plus Spencer Strider is signed for the long term too I would love to see the Cardinals take that approach and say Okay Michael Harris Jr’s or the second signed after his first year of play and it’s not like the Cardinals haven’t done

This but be proactive with people like win and Jordan Walker yes and Brendan Donovan and and Ivon Herrera and if you are confident in your scouting ability get those guys under contract so that you know how much you’re going to spend for them in 2027 well I think that’s

Interesting too because when we talk about sometimes how the Cardinals overestimate some of their talent and their value it also seems like they undervalue it in that way by not trying to figure out how to lock them up a little bit earlier before these contracts it doesn’t look like it’s

Going to slow down when you’re talking about Scott we talked with Greg aminger yesterday Scott Boris is so powerful now that he has basically just dictated how free agency has gone this past off season so why not work way ahead of it for these young players before they can

Even get to that point I know that a lot of them will have that a agent res representation anyways but I’m just saying before these big giant contracts they’re only get going to get bigger right Randy because there’s no way that all of a sudden that the Players Association which major league baseball

Their Players Association is so good is all of a sudden going to be like no we need to put a cap to this or there’s going to be a floor to this they’re never going to agree to any of that so let’s spin this forward then the Dodgers

Go out Trade for Tyler glass now sign him to an extension the Braves go out trade for Chris S sign him to an extension you mentioned to me that Ken Rosenthal has a piece up at the athletic this morning why don’t the Cardinals take this approach with a starting

Pitcher who has shown himself to be a stud Dylan CE Ken Rosenthal saying that the Cardinals have at least moderate interest it does seem like it so let me pull back up the story here for you so Ken Rosenthal put on an article last night you can go see it where he’s

Talking about Dylan Seas to the market right now and he says that teams who have the most sincere interests include the Orioles and I believe it was the Red Sox as well but then he also put the Cardinals in the list of teams who were interested in Dylan Seas I think it

Makes a lot of sense one whether it works out or not I do like the fact that the Cardinals are in this conversation Randy we talked about that it would be crazy they wouldn’t be doing their due diligence if they were not in this conversation for Dylan CE now what

Exactly that will look like is going to be the biggest thing there well there are a couple of things number one it would be foolish on the part of the Orioles who love their prospects and whose owner has said we won’t be able to keep our young players because

Financially we can’t do so unless the Orioles have changed their tune over the course of the last four months it’s because he said that in August Angelos did we won’t be able to keep young players that wouldn’t be a very sensible trade on their part it seems like they

Are still in the draft and develop stage you’d hope that with the Dodgers giving up two good prospects to get class now that they wouldn’t be able to match a Cardinals offer and the Red Sox I don’t know what they’re doing they they trade sale and they sign

Gio and they get a prospect a young second baseman that they’re going to play Von grum at second base it would CE is a number one starting pitcher unless unless they think okay they believe that sail isn’t going to be able to pitch for them they’re going to have to sign CE to

An extension too why not CE is a lot younger than Chris S I get it but when are you trying to win if you’re if you’re the Red Sox so my point would be the Cardinals would seem to be the team that has the greatest need for Dylan CE

Among those that you mentioned also the Yankees as a part of the conversation as well which they also needed it seems like that they were fully all in on trying to get Yamamoto and that fell by the wayside so now they’re probably having their focus more on Dylan CE this

Is a huge opportunity I feel like for the Cardinals and I’m at least encouraged in this article that the Cardinals are part of this conversation but do you think that there’s a point where the Cardinals do have a puke point when it comes to Dylan ceas I hope that

They make themselves puke whatever that puke Point that’s what we were expecting this offseason right right and here’s the thing and I know there’s a lot of fans it’s really polarizing to talk about Nolan Gorman but the Cardinals have the one chip that nobody else has

Has none of these teams have a young Slugger like Gorman to put in a deal for a number one starter and I know that it’s really hard to find hitters everybody’s always looking for hitters but the hardest thing to find as we know all too well here in St Louis is a a

Number one starter that can take the ball for you every every fifth day and you can call it win day and that’s what Dylan CE is what do you think about because this is an argument I see along with Dylan CE with what happened with him last year and we’ve said this over

And over again that the white socks were just a giant dumpster fire and of course it affected a lot of the players including Dylan CE for the people who think that Dylan CE is not an ace or that he could be in the front of your rotation he has been already he’s done

It I a lot of people think that he’s he’s not an ace for some reason really no he everybody within the sport thinks he is I know there might be fans that think he’s not but everybody within the sport thinks he is he walks in here as

The number one starter and all due respect which is deserved to Lynn Gibson Sunny gray but you’re going to have a different feeling Nolan arado Nolan arado will walk through that door in Jupiter dancing if Dylan CE is on the roster 100% same with Goldie right same

With u Tommy Edmond those guys will and by the way the coaching staff too they will go bananas if Dylan CE is on their roster 25 years old two years of control being able to have that because here’s the thing is being able to bring in that kind of starting pitcher because there’s

Still some question marks right we hope that Zack Thompson say if an injury HS happens that he can really improve and step into that role as a start of year there’s a lot of things that you hope for Dylan CE adds another level of security where you feel better about

Going into the season and so he the Cardinals are listed as an also ran right now but for lack of a better term right by Rosenthal he’s got Yankees one two as what was his sincere interest right so he has for sincere interest that has been expressed he has the

Yankees and Orioles and then while the exact list of suitors is unknown or not known excuse me it’s uh he has in here the Dodgers the Cardinals and the Red Sox are among teams possibly in the mix so hopefully that guy will wind up being

On our side that’d be great I think that changes the entire Dynamic of the franchise that changes the entire offseason conversation does because that makes the Cardinals even if the Cubs resign Bellinger and strowman if they bring those two back if Dyan ceases on this team MH the Cardinals are the

Favorites in the central I won’t say prohibitive but the Cardinals automatically become the favorites in the central with the pitching that they have now do they still need to add relief pitching yes but Dylan CE changes the dynamic 100% he does but now that you have that information too yesterday

We talked about it Tommy edman with his injury do you have any concerns about how this could be a domino effect for health and stuff in the Outfield I always have concerns about hitters wrists and the effect that it has on them because sometimes it can take a

Full calendar year depending on the severity of the injury we don’t know but the they say that he’s going to be ready with the and so my hope is that this rist was bothering him and affected his offense last year that’s what that’s what when I

When I S you the information last night in the group chat that’s immediately what you said back I was like well you know that would make that would make some sense wouldn’t it yeah he he had a 705 Ops last year uh his on base was uh

307 his slug was 399 so uh that is not what you would like to get from a starting outfielder so hopefully he’ll be back and healthy and ready to rock and roll for 2024 that’s what we’re hoping for yes we’re already getting a lot of text in I

Know that we have to go here to talk to J dely but we’re getting so many texts in about Dylan CE and saying that he just had had one great season also he is 28 not 25 for some reason I thought that he was 25 but he is 28 um still young

Because what would you say is the height for a starting pitcher typical height no I’m talking I’m talking about what with their potential oh yes Peak what would his Peak be as for a starting pitcher age wise oh yeah they Peak between 28 and 32 generally 33 something like that I think

That’s it uh okay so for that say he only had one great season MH I will counter with this would you take Sandy Al Contra on your team yes uh Sandy Al Contra was 14- n and won the sa young in 2022 otherwise uh N9 and 15 he did throw

205 Innings uh the year before that but had 50 walks uh last year 7 and 12 with a 4.14 I think with a young pitcher you have to look at what his upside is here’s here’s the thing if if the Cardinals took that approach okay long

Time ago took that approach oh he’s he’s only had one Good Year Chris Carpenter would have never landed with the Cardinals yeah that’s a good point so you you just you have to look at the variables and say okay does he have the stuff to be a number one every there’s a

Reason that teams like the Orioles and the Yankees and the Dodgers are interested in Dylan CE they know how to evaluate and he’s good trust me he he’s good that’s Brooke that’s Matthew I’m Randy coming up Jay delsing talking a little Rory here on the opening drive on 101 ESPN

This is Rocky with your sports center update driven by Johnny LOF Chevrolet and Johnny LOL Autoplex the blues with a big win over the Vancouver Canucks last night two won Robert Thomas a big game there an assist and the game-winning goal he was also named an All-Star for

The St Louis Blues Robert Thomas will be joining Randy and Brook later on on the show 8:45 also coming up later on on the show Blues talk with Joey vital and Cardinals talk with post dispatch Cardinals beat Rider Derek G coming up right now it’s Jay deling talking about

Roy mackery and the PGA that is your sports center update driven by Johnny LOL find your road shop 247 at lol.com and LOL autoplex.com are you you kidding me I’ve basically went through the last two years with this like altruistic approach of I’ve sort of looked at the

World in the way I’ve wanted to see it instead of just sort of you know going through life with three not with not not that I haven’t I’ve accepted reality basically like this is what’s going to happen and I was probably judgmental of the guys that went at the start and I

Think that was a bit of a mistake on my part because I know realize not everyone’s in my position or in Tiger’s position and you know you you get this offer and it’s you know what do you do it’s you know we’re all we all turn professional to to make a living playing

The sports that we do and um I think that’s what I realized over the last two years I can’t judge people for making that decision that is Rory mroy on the stick to football podcast and J delsing and I have uh been pretty staunchly behind Rory for the last couple of years since

The Advent of of Liv a lot of people have said go Rory when Rory would get up at those press conferences and kind of share our feelings but with his voice and now he is backed off and pretty much changed his mind Jay good morning how you doing this morning I’m doing great

Randy for a couple things I didn’t know Rory could moonwalk but he certainly could L walk now and and and I was not a tie guy either one of the fun things about playing golf my gosh if I cannot wear a tie the rest of my life this

Would be pretty cool and my first day when I go to UCLA in the golf shop and belir Eddie maren caten tie Oh how often it still didn’t work I don’t I I don’t I think I own two ties I own two ties I like to hear it good all right so uh to me this just sounded like and I know Rory wouldn’t couch it this way but it sounded like a concession speech by

Rory mroy it really did I I I I mean there there is some so I’ve been hanging around these guys gez a long long time and one of the things that I’ve never seen is people really apologize people really be self-analytical or or have or show much

Awareness and I and so I’m going to give Roy definitely brouts for that I mean he he said he was wrong he said he probably judged people incorrectly but guys that all of this what this really tells me is that our partners are the Saudis whether

We want to or not whether we like it or not and there’s nothing we can do about it unless we just AB absolutely bend over and give them golf well I just don’t think there’s any other way to do it yeah that’s the thing uh in my opinion that’s happened I I

Don’t think that we we need to we being America the PGA tour uh we we got steamrolled by the finances of Liv and the private investment fund and America has lost Gulf that that’s the bottom line yeah no I mean there I I mean Randy we had a gentleman’s agreement that

There was not going to be any more players poached before the 31st of this past year in 2023 and our commissioner decided to start engaging conversations with all of these PE firms and all of these I mean at one time I think we had over 10 um really wealthy really you

Know weighty companies that were wanting to be our partners and all this and it was obvious it just pissed him off I mean all he did then was keep adding $50 million increments to John ROM’s offer until he took it and then that’s a sign that said guys you don’t understand you

You meet with these other people and don’t bring me to the table this is going to continue to happen okay so the next question I have is Rory said that some of the flaws of the PGA Tour were exposed because the PGA Tour was asking for sponsors for 20 $25 million for a

Tournament and the return on investment wasn’t there ultimately do we reach a point where because the sponsors aren’t interested anymore Honda has they’ve left in Florida Wells Fargo has has left theirs uh somebody RBC threatened to leave in Canada so if sponsors aren’t there does golf just become the Saudis paying

Guys Without a real business but just playing essentially for Saudi money I mean Randy I guess I mean what we everything that I hold dear about golf is on the table here everything that Tiger Woods and Jack Nicholas and Arnold Palmer and all the greats that

Have come before is is on the table here this is probably the most important next six months in the history of golf if you’re without being overly dramatic I mean everything’s on the table here I mean at what point and and I said this to you guys last week at what point do

You look at the golfers and go you guys are grossly overpaid and look I who wants to say that I mean we’re talking about uh Brooke made a great comment about the players union and how they support the players and you know if the owners are willing to pay it they’re not

Overpaid but I mean our ratings and things don’t hold up to anybody’s and we’re g to you keep throwing this kind of money around and when when the business model starts going south Randy to your point and our corporate sponsors you know this isn’t viable for us

Anymore this stops making sense well so so does our business then and so yeah I mean the the thing that the Saudis can do is they can tell tell the PJ tour you don’t need sponsors we’ll just sponsor the whole damn thing MH yeah I mean and

Then and then what and then what sort of control do we do do we hand over to them yeah that’s a it’s just awful I mean it’s just there’s just a lot on the table here and I I I don’t I don’t know guys it’s um it’s a tough time for for

Golf I mean it it’s um guys are going to be making a bunch of money and if you’re just driven by money I mean look at it would be it’d be nice if if I I think I looked up of our 30 some odd sponsors guys uh 28 of them already do business

In Saudi Arabia I don’t think this is the fact that we’re taking this blood money to them is going to matter I I really don’t think may maybe a few but for the the the the gross majority I don’t think it matters yeah that’s a great Point well I know that we are

We’re getting very you know upset about all this and talking about this I do want to find at least some positive because of course it was a very short offseason that is one thing that I really enjoy about the PGA Tour and with golf is that it’s it’s kind of an off

Season but not really Jay because now you have some golf going down in Hawaii as we are starting this new season who needs a big 2024 oh gosh Brook great question I was GNA say who should we look for and I’m really I’m excited to watch edberg play

Uh the game he’s already come out of the gates and I’m buying myself time right now as I talk about him because I wasn’t prepared for that um let let me see um who needs a great 2024 I would I would have to say really interested to see how

Ricky fer follows up so Ricky fer was basically in the golf abyss and it was really it was really awesome to watch him come back and he he kind of oh gosh he kind of sheld his ego and got back with but Harmon that never usually happens once a player and their

Their coach break up it’s usually permanent and so that’ll be interesting to watch another great story to watch will be Gary Woodland so Gary is a great guy he’s from Topeka Kansas Gary had brain surgery and uh he had a benign tumor that was causing him trouble and

Giving him some seizures and things like that on his brain he’s actually healthy uh I was in Florida a couple weeks ago and I got to see Gary and and so he’s looking to try to play over in Hawaii so he’s going to be a fun um uh person to

Watch and and and see you know what what 2024 brings for him and I I would think that morawa because of some of his struggles now he was great in the Tournament of Champions last year but then during the middle of the Season really fell off and he did win uh once

Uh in 20122 but morala hasn’t turned out to be the guy that when he won his major that we expected he would be well he started off and that’s he’s the guy I couldn’t think of because I think he had a five or six stroke lead in this event

Last year and wound up coughing it up to John Ram um you know he started off so strongly guys with he’s he’s already won two major championships and what I think six tournaments on the five or six tournaments on the PGA tour and now he’s

You know kind of dealing with how how do I how do I maintain and um he’s it’s really interesting to watch him struggle with a short game like he had last year I mean if you watch some of the highlights of this tournament last year the final round I think he finished I

Don’t know three or four overp par and that’s a lot over par for this for this tournament uh and this golf course because of the the scores are super super low and he looked kind of unrecognizable for a tour player he missed a couple of chips where he didn’t

Even get the ball in the green or if he did it just didn’t go anywhere close to the hole so that sort of stuff snowballs in your in your brain and can really lead to some some interesting shots I’ve been down that road before so yeah I I

Love I love that fact I think I mean I love that catch guys I think morawa is the guy to to to uh watch and see see what he comes back with all right Jay who do you have on the show on Sunday morning you and Danny Mack we’ve got uh

The the CEO of sniper Golf and um believe it or not well Randy we didn’t really talk much about this golf ball rollback but we talk a lot about the golf ball R back with his name is Quint Peterson we also get Nathan KS on the show and Nathan besides being a great

Guy and he has a great family he is the first uh person from The Gateway section in the history of our section to hold a national office he is going to be the 45th president of the PGA of America and right now he’s a national secretary and

So he’s involved this LIF stuff guys just has tentacles that reach into all parts of golf so he talks a lot about that as well I’m going to stock up by the way on golf balls that are going to be be illegal in a few

Years I know you got to get the ones that go farther I mean when are they going to make one that go straighter that’s a great question wait that’s a good that’s a good idea nobody talks about that and and this whole roll back thing is only 10 or 12

Yards for the Tour player is that GNA make a difference guys for the Tour player no all of a sudden Rory will be 12 feet from the hole on the 380 yard power four right yeah yeah rather than 12 in yeah crazy yeah hey good great to

Have you with us and have a great weekend and we’ll talk to you again next week look forward to it guys thank you thanks JJ delsing on 101 ESPN coming up you need to get your text in to the Air Comfort Service text line that line

Number by the way is 314 399 9646 314 399 Yoo take it or leave it is coming your way on 101 ESPN want to say something put it out there if you like it you can take it if you don’t set it right back get your text

Into 314 399 9646 and give us your take it or leave it brought to you by Gloria l realy visit Gloria hasthe buyers.com and start packing that’s my final author take it or leave It the text line is open 314 399 9646 314 399 yo Brooke Matthew Randy and Brooke I think we can safely say and correct me if I’m wrong or if you think there’s someone else here but to me the three National fan bases in the NFL are

The Cowboys Packers and Steelers I guess we could throw the Raiders in there but to a different level right yeah but I I’ll go with those three okay take it or leave it the Cowboys who are already in Packers and Steelers all make the playoffs ooh oo the playoff Packers are against the

Bears they’re winning in and the Steelers going against the Ravens who aren’t trying they aren’t playing Lamar or anybody uh Steelers are essentially winning in okay yeah I’ll take it for that aspect now how far they go will be a whole different conversation if the Cowboys get bounced early doesn’t that

Change the whole perspective of the Season yeah it does it makes my season great I know it’s something that you’re looking for Randy but doesn’t that always feel like that’s what you’re expecting with the Cowboys right that you can’t give them full credit for their season no matter what they do

Until you see what happens in the postseason right you can’t and that’s they’re kind of like the Cardinals in that regard that’s their and it’s Jerry Jones expectation they make the playoffs all the time and they they get bounced they’re they’re kind of like the Cardinals since 2013 I don’t like that

Although they’ve been that way since 1995 I will continue until the stat changes I will continue to give you the stat that St Louis has played in more Super Bowls and NFC championship games since 1995 than Dallas has yeah take it or leave it Justin Fields should be the

Bears quarterback moving forward because you know what’s coming up yep that draft Caleb Williams yep I’m going to take it I am going to say that they get a receiver they get an offensive lineman and maybe even trade down from the top pick to to get the third or fourth pick

So that they can still get Marvin Harrison Jr but yeah I’m going to take that that they keep Fields Fields is three in one in his last four and he’s performed at a really high level yeah it seems like he’s continuing to steadily improve yeah so I wouldn’t be upset

About that it’s just it’s a very interesting position because the whole National conversation is that Caleb Williams is possibly a once in a generational type Talent now of course you never know because Randy how how many of these top picks actually pan out oh it’s 50% with the quarterbacks

Especially with the quarterbacks yeah and they’re they’re pretty close here with Fields the other thing is and it depends upon how good they are at evaluation in Chicago but if they’re if they evaluate Fields properly they don’t have to start over with a rookie quarterback because a bad year with a

Rookie quarterback next year can get Eber Flo fired uhhuh 100% yeah all right Matthew what do we got on the text line oh that’s not oh and by the way Pittsburgh needs either a buffalo loss just to make it easy a buffalo loss or a Jacksonville loss uh and Jacksonville

Plays Tennessee right mhm uh and the or a win and uh Houston Indianapolis thae oh okay Tor leave it the uncertainty of the Bal Sports situation is making an impact on this year’s baseball offseason there’s no doubt I’m taking that 100% taking it that’s one of the reasons

Apparently that the Rangers haven’t been more proactive with Jordan Montgomery is because they’re concerned about their deal I believe there’s another hearing coming up in 5 days on the 10th of January because the folks at Bal the financial Folks at Bal have to declare that they’re in financially for the whole

Year baseball wants certainty that they’re going to get their money for the whole year and if Valley can’t do that if they can’t provide the money then all hell breaks loose 100% I think that that’s greatly fting a lot of things that we’re seeing in baseball this off

Seon because that does you you have no idea what’s going to happen and we’re seeing television and streaming services change at such a rapid Pace I wonder now what is the majority you think of Baseball fans how they still consumed do you think that there’s still more cable

Viewers with baseball or do you think you’re starting to see more of that equaling out with streaming I think that’s an interesting question but I think because the baseball demographic is so much older I believe the the average MLB fan is 57 years old I would

Say that they’re still on cable or dish but eventually it’s going to all be streaming with within 5 years we just aren’t going to have cable TV sports I don’t think no taking your leave of the Cardinals got Lance Lin a pamphlet for Christmas called The Art of the change

Up I’ll take that yeah uh written by uh Blake Lively by Blake life I’m just going to say this I don’t I’m going to leave this one before I even read it my Lord it or leave it French toast is better than waffles and pancakes frankly it’s not even close did

You leave this you just I’m leaving this so far in the back I can’t even see were you concerned that rock would take it no here’s the thing there were used to did you ever travel around and see a corner bakery remember those little breakfast

Place kind of PES I don’t even you still have those yeah I don’t they’re not in Chicago anymore I think they’re in like Dallas and DC and stuff they had a bake French toast that was unbelievable but it wasn’t typical French toast if you’re making one of the

Three at home my power rankings waffle number one pancake number two and then a huge drop off to French why people go to the store to buy bread milk and eggs come snow time is beyond me yeah I don’t get what what is about snow and french

Toast you never understood it when when the pandemic hit the last day of civilization really before the pandemic yes I’m at Costco and there are lines to the back of the store and I get instructions at home hey just go get a bunch of stuff that so that we’re good

For the pandemic I didn’t know what the pandemic was going to be first of all there’s 10,000 people in Costco the one that didn’t have toilet paper in his cart was Randy carer okay but I had ribe eyes and I had one of the things I had

Guys was a 10B bag of crusty waffle and pancake mix and it lasted for a year and it was delicious you didn’t get any toilet paper no where you idea you had no idea I didn’t think of that but when you consume all that food eventually it

Does have to but I had no idea that we would have I don’t know how people got it in their minds that we well here’s the thing people had it in their minds that we would never have toilet paper again I was thinking okay well the toilet paper industry is going to be

Fine there were people that bought toilet paper and completely filled up their living rooms with toilet paper oh yeah and then tried it people were hoing it and then on E you remember this doesn’t even feel real I feel like my mind has blocked out

A lot of that but you’re right that was a weird time huh yep and then people tried to return it and they had to say at the stores well yeah we really don’t take toilet paper Back Bay sales everybody invested a bay so we don’t have to go through that again right the

One thing we should steal from Europe I’m just saying take just take it or leave it I would quit my job I would just sit there all day Randy no somebody said ry’s classy and uses a day I think I think it’s because you’re you’re so well dressed today that’s

That’s why that comment came that coming take it or leave it Billy Joel should Inspire the Cardinals to not let Dylan CE have a New York State of Mind make him the big shot here cuz we’ love him just the way he is take it totally take

It Well Done yes I love that that was beautiful a lot of people upset about the announcement yesterday Randy well they told us it was going to be a concert announcement should and I think Matthew made this point should people in business not prom OT what they’re

Selling well I think again the thing that you you talked to it uh you know somebody who works on the business side there are there’s a hallway let’s just imagine a hallway a long hallway in and around around Bush Stadium and and let’s you know under Bush Stadium and let’s

Let’s say that there’s a lot of offices in this hallway and some of the people in those offices do baseball things and some of the people in the office do business things and some of the people just do Stadium things that’s crazy it is telling me you’re telling me

That Paul goldshmid didn’t book sting and Billy Joel I’m not telling you just not didn’t I B Paul Goldman not do it I don’t think Michael gers was involved wow okay I have a devastating piece of news okay go ahead Michael gers was during the warm months spring summer

Fall in St Louis uhhuh there’s like at least a half dozen weddings every single day at Bush Stadium no way there is weekend days like Friday Saturday Sunday they have top of dugouts they have them at home plate they have them at Ballpark Village yes the Cardinals do other

Things other than baseball and rookies are actually rookies are congrat trally obligated to be ring Bears so like they’re not they’re not out there working out they’re not getting massages they’re being ring Bears so that the Cardinals can charge a little bit extra quick Google search how do I change my wedding

Venue I know people Brooke I can help you out there we go that sounds beautiful yeah it’s it is it’s a great thing and yeah so the Cardinals in addition to just having baseball they have other things going on at their facility trivia nights if we’re doing rankings baseball wedding venue then

Concerts yeah yeah probably what else I want to know how many weddings they have now uh maybe somebody will will send a Text uh but I think we can uh we can Google this so on the Google machine yeah hold on here and I know we got to

Get to our next thing which is going to be more Dylan CE talk think about theal for for baseball games the Cardinals have to get have to give you a bobblehead so you buy a ticket you’ll just buy a ticket to come see Billy Joel that’s all profit baby that is yes and

That’s that’s that’s that’s that’s what they care about business yeah no some but sometimes it’s Sports some just sometimes though but we like to pick and choose I will find out during the break uh how many weddings they do but you can do a wedding at the Red Bird Club for up

To 400 guests package Fe is $900 400 yep uh yeah you can do the UMB Champions club for up to 250 guests you can do the community America Cardinals club for up to 150 uh and the Cunningham corner for up to 150 as well somebody says fortunately Dusty

Springfield is an ordained minister oh my gosh that is a great idea but you really don’t want you really don’t want him teaching you how to do the bouquet toss no stop no you can’t say that now we won’t do my way you put it in the F like Jordan he’s multi-talented that’s

What somebody said by the way there are some beautiful photos of weddings at the Ballpark if you could just go to uh mlb.com Cardinals ballpark events weddings you’ll get to it but or you could just Google weding yeah I think that might be a little bit easier okay

But yeah it’s so they do that too which is kind of disappointing I’m sure to some that why aren’t we concentrating more on baseball why are these people that are setting up wedding not involved in getting us a free agent from Korea why aren’t you using the wedding money

That you’re getting from Bush Stadium to get said pitcher that’s my question Randy there’s there’s Talent on that North Side tunnel under and get it out of there think about it they’re playing golf over there if they could have put the whole wedding fund the profits they

Get from wedding at Bush Stadium into a Yamamoto pot basically what they could have used yep that would have been huge we would have had well we would have had Otani oh my God yes yeah we would have given Otani a billion mhm because that’s what they get from weddings coming up we

We got some interesting response from our Dylan C conversation Ken Rosenthal reporting this morning at the athletic that the Cardinals are still at the very least on the periphery of discussions to acquire Dillan ceas we’re going to talk more about that and get your input next time 101 ESPN

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Do that means you need to call my friends or get in touch with my friends at gutter pros.com g t t r gutter pros.com they do great work in replacing gutters in the St Louis metro area anywhere within 50 Mi of downtown if you get in touch with gutter Pros you can

Set up an appointment and when they come out they’re going to tell you about what they do they’re high quality people they aren’t going to pressure you into buying gutters that day they’re going to say well if you buy today I’ve got this deal for you that’s not what they do at

Gutter pros.com and that’s why they have an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau that’s why they have 4.9 out of five stars in their reviews and Dave Sylvester their their sales manager is a great guy he’s a St Louis guy you’ll absolutely love meeting with him and he

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Perspective on the day’s top stories it’s the opening dri’s fresh take 808 in St Louis time check brought to you by Clarkson Jewelers an officially licensed Rolex Jeweler getting ready for the the weekend Brook Grimsley Matthew Rocko Randy carer on 101 ESPN uh for those of you that are

Tuned in on the air Alliance team Studio cam you see that I’m wearing a a jacket with a button-down shirt which is kind of unusual well it’s extremely unusual for this show and this individual somebody asked if I have jury duty today they did we’ve gotten a lot of questions

About your outfit today because R you are pretty stylish but this is definitely overly stylish uh this is definitely a step above the usual I would say golf attire that I see you wear yeah it is and here’s the thing I like jury duty I never get picked no no

You purposely do that no I the last time I had jury duty it was a murder case and I wanted to be on it in the worst way you would kill for it you were dying to get on it yeah you know what happens because these lawyers

Are good yeah and here’s what they do they say uh so Mr carer you’re a broadcaster in town because they all know you know they they do all their due diligence which is great I say yeah I listen to you all the time and I think what happens is they’re worried that

That you’ll Spill the Beans well no that know that I’m I’m a forceful personality because I’m on the air and I don’t think yeah they they leader some don’t most lawyers when they’re in V which is jury selection do not want a leader in the room there like

They don’t want somebody who’s going to be too demonstrable they want somebody who’s who’s maybe a little bit more passive passive yes and for all the attorneys that are out there because I I have wanted to do a murder case and I would if you ever have a

Murder case I would like to be on it but full full disclosure here uh Wesley Bell listens to the show and I love Wesley Bell the County prosecutor he’s my guy so uh I don’t know if that will allow me to be on I don’t think that helps your case by

Saying that no but I’m just saying I I don’t know how I voted in every election I could have mhm I still haven’t ever been called for J I haven’t I haven’t here’s the thing ien I lived in the city for cuz now I live in Aton so I’m

Technically in the county so but I lived in the city for 18 to O that’s really amazing I’m saying 18 to 28 so like that was 10 I was in the city for 10 years two full election cycles never once got called and I don’t know if it’s maybe

May I don’t know like my dad my dad works for the state maybe that’s it I’m not sure that could be now here’s one other thing by the way if I did have jury duty today I would almost automatically be disqualified because of what of what I’m wearing

I think if you walk in I I I don’t this is just my impression yeah of the juries that I have seen put together generally people that walk in that are well-dressed and appear to have a reasonable level of intelligence don’t get picked is that how that works wouldn’t

You want people who are intelligent to be on your jury duty because that’s kind of a big deal right especially if it is a murder trial you’re deciding a lot isn’t intelligence or at least looking intelligent kind of important I think what you tell here’s what I would want

If I were a lawyer I would want my my guy or gal as the leader and then a bunch of followers wow and people that say oh yeah he’s right or oh yeah he she’s right don’t you want that I yeah I would guess so there’s got to be an art

To putting a jury together MH there has to be okay uh today uh at the athletic Matthew anything to add there yeah there is an entire art like there’s like certain lawyers that are like that’s that’s their specialist is jury selection just Google Vader and you’ll

Dive into this weird whole thing of like it’s an entire specialty for some lawyers and they’re really good at some lawyers like no I’m not really good at that part or just watch one of the most underrated movies of all time Runaway Jury it’s great it’s the only time that

Dustin Hoffman and de genene Hackman ever work together okay here we go uh the Yankees and the Orioles according to Ken Rosenthal are teams that have expressed sincere interest in white sock right-hander and cease uh and Ken Rosenthal notes the Yankees and and Orioles are pursuing trade possibilities

For the best starter available Dylan CE the white socks are weighing offers for CE and the Yankees and Orioles are among those to express sincere interest according to his major league sources other teams also are serious and while the exact list of suitors is not known the Dodgers Cardinals and Red Sox are

Among the teams possibly in the mix okay so you You’ got people in baseball saying that Dylan CE is the best starter available in trade you’ve got uh teams like the Dodgers who are pretty good at evaluating talent the Yankees who are okay at evaluating talent and the

Orioles who are really good at evaluating talent expressing interest I would be disappointed if the Cardinals were not expressing interest in Dylan CE when you watch him pitch when you look at his stuff he’s got number one starter stuff he does and with Dylan CE I do think it’s really interesting that there

Is some hesitation do you think that hesitation comes from and I’m talking about fans cuz we had people text in where somebody texted in earlier for the 618 what makes Dylan CE a definitive number one widay starter and number one widay starter and sunny gray a guy who

Is a good topof the rotation guy but not a number one I think this is a really interesting question and to me it comes down to what the team does when you’re on the mound last year this is a snapshot but last year Sunny Gray’s team

Won 87 games they won their divion the Minnesota Twins on the days that Sunny gay started for the twins they were 14 and 18 Dylan ce’s team went 61 and 101 they lost 101 games on the days Dylan CE started for the white socks they were 16

And 17 for a team that was 40 games under he made 33 starts and the team was under 500 by one game in the games he started so I would hope that and this is what teams are looking at for a good good team with a better culture that

Dylan CE for a team that wins 95 on the days that he starts If he if he starts 33 they win 2122 of those starts yeah and somebody said I’m interested from the 314 I’m interested until they say Gorman’s name that’s what it is right that’s the big holdup is that we assume

There’s going to have to be a big chip in this trade and that that chip could be Nolan Gorman because every team if you’re making a trade for especially a potential Ace starting pitcher then they’re going to be asking for a player like Nolan Gorman in return so do you

Think the Cardinals will have to move past that and do you think that will be the asking price not only will it be Nolan Gorman though but it sounds like the white socks just from previous reports are wanting quite a bit they want a couple of your top 100 top prospects

Too and I don’t know if I would give a couple of top 100 prospects but I would be willing to go with Gorman and a pitcher and here’s the thing you’ve got left-handed bats on the way in uh Chase Davis their number one pick he’ll be

Available in 2025 you hope that a guy like Donovan stays healthy and Donovan could be a 15 home run guy you you hate to give up a Kyle schwarber which is probably what Gorman is going to be is a guy that hits 40 home runs has a good

Ops he might not walk as much as scharber but he’s going to strike out a ton he’s a good hitter I’m not dismissing the abilities of Nolan Gorman and that you’ll hate to watch him play for another team for many years my thought process here is that you don’t

Win without you don’t win a World Series without a number one starter and I would ask and I know there’s people that believe Sunny gray is that number one I don’t I think he’s a really solid number two I think the Cardinals to win need to get another starting pitcher and that’s

What Xavier Scruggs told us that’s what Benji Molina told us that’s what Greg aminger says that his former MLB player and manager cohorts at MLB Network are saying and in my eyes told me right off the bat they need a number one starter 100% And he’s 28 years old that’s still

Young that is somebody that has yet to we were talking about it starting pitchers that’s their Peak age range right there is that 28 I would even say to 32 possibly being that cut off and not saying that you can’t just even go further past that but that’s a sweet

Spot for starting pitchers and let me give you one other note about Dylan CE this is a guy as the Cardinals look for a pitcher that has strikeout stuff his career average is 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings he led the American League in 21 at 12.3 strikeouts per nine 11.1

And then 10.9 this past year he is still a strikeout pitcher and that’s one of the things that the Cardinals need by the way his his strikeouts to walk is still pretty good too uh generally essentially about a 3 to1 or or better strikeout to walk ratio and just not as

Just for clarification here you’re you’re not saying that with Nolan Gorman I think we all understand the potential and also the upside of Nolan Gorman but you would say that your biggest hang up is your concerns about his back issues that yeah if if I’m going to keep him

For the long term I would be concerned about that I I would hope that he can slug for me but my biggest concern is that I I know especially with the rules and I hope the Cardinals are this way I’ve got Victor Scott on the way I’ve

Got Tommy edman on my team I’ve got Donovan on my team I’ve got win on my team I’ve got Walker on my team if I managed correctly and my Approach is correct I can manufacture a run you can’t manufacture pitching MH and that’s my my big thing home runs are uh the

Best and easiest way to score right now but if I’m in a one-1 game in the ninth inning I want to be able to manufacture a run and I want to be able to get to that one-1 game in the ninth inning and I don’t think I can do it on a regular

Basis but I think I can with Dylan CE who set the Major League record two years ago with 14 consecutive starts with zero or one run allowed and even look at the Cardinals this past season what was the biggest issue one I know that situational hitting was an issue

But it all came back to the starting pitching did it not it it does and I I want to reinforce this again I am a fan of Nolan Gorman I think he’s going to be great but I just think the Cardinals needs right now especially with what

They have on their roster are greater than I I I I would say that the starting pitching number one starter need is greater than the need to have that Slugger without a number one starter that’s Brooke I’m Randy and that is today’s fresh take on 101 ESPN coming up

We’re going to talk to our Buddy Joe Vitali about what’s going on with the blues and what’s going on in life in general that’s next on 101 ESPN Brook and Randy on the opening drive on on ESPN it’s 30° in St Louis it was 27 when I left home today and the first thing I did when I came into the building was got myself some hot chocolate and I want to know if Joe Vali

Is a hot chocolate guy yeah the hot chocolate’s working here at the station Joey ve good morning how you doing you know Randy I’m doing great good morning to you does does hot Co does hot cocoa have a caffeine in it it does not sir then

No not a hot cocoa fan then my friend but you are and I understand because you are a coffee guy through and through when did you become a coffee guy obviously hockey is a coffee sport were you like a peeeee were you was it at CBC

When did you become like a daily coffee guy I would say it was probably College yeah it was probably College when I really started to kicking into gear when I had to manage school at Northeastern in Boston manage school practice games and I kind of got into a routine of

Drinking it before class uh in the morning and you know Dunkin Donuts is huge up in Boston there’s one in every corner pretty much and so I would start doing that and and then it became kind of a routine where I would start doing a little bit and you know before practice

And then before games and by the end of my career I was having a you know half a cup or quarter cup of coffee not only before the games but between periods so I’ve become kind of a fiend and you know how it is US hockey players Randy as as

We’ve talked about plenty in the past we’re kind of creatures of habit and routine and once it became a routine even when I was done and retired and I had all these kids uh caffeine and coffee certainly is still in my we are going to get to routine in just a second

Because we teased this last Friday but I want to go back to Donuts because you are everybody who knows Joe vital you’re you’re in great shape you you you you treat your body as your temple but you mentioned Dunkin Donuts so whether it’s Dunkin Donuts or another doughnut what

Is Joe’s doughnut of choice when you do eat one if I had to have one donut I don’t know why um if anyone’s been to Tim Horton and Canada they have this uh whether you call it a crer or crawler I call it a crawler a French crawler I’m

I’m going crawler as well you’re going crawler okay you had one of these before Randy I have fantastic Airy pillowy light just amount of right amount of sweetness and then what they do now is up in Dun Up in Tim Horton’s up there they they’ve started about a year ago

They added like a frosting and a sprinkle on top too which listen sprinkles about with Donuts to me people think they’re for like the appearance or for the flash it’s actually it’s a textural it’s part of the Integrity of a doughnut you have to have some crunch

You have to have some balance think of it think of it like a nice piece of you know barbecue crispy chicken like that that crunch on the outside and that just like moist soft inside that’s what we’re getting with with the doughnut people you need the sprinkle is super important

Not just for the color and for the eye but but for the mouth and the feel of having a little bit of texture so I would go with the French crawler with the frosting and sprinkles from Tim Horton up North so that that Dunkin Donuts cream filled is not up your alley

Get the cream save it for the birds I don’t like cream my donut I like may like I want to taste the yeast I want to taste the fermentation you know I’m kind of a fermentation nut as you know Randy oh yeah yeah that’s your favorite the

Jelly don’t get me started on the jelly the jelly and the donut is not doesn’t belong there get out of here what okay I get out of here bro no no no no no no no Joey now everyone I do agree with you I like sprinkles on my Donuts but a jelly

Donut that is delicious too much sweet on sweet we have to have some variety people you look at your tongue right you look at your tongue the the tip of the tongue is where the sweet the Sweet Sensations are at right and then you move back to the

Savory and then the very back is where the sour notes are and you look this up in the diagram of the tongue it’s all it’s all choreographed this way for a reason now when you go to eat a donut the key is you gota you got to get the

Full palette we call it that Umami bite you know and then and then you look at you look at uh which is why people love sourdough and and everything you know put sour waffles but sour a choc chip cookie you put sour waffles in English muffin people are like this isn’t a

Thompson’s muffin what’s going on with this English muffin well the reality is we put some souro starter in there and your mouth and your back of your jws there where all the sensors are for sour on the back of your tongue those start to light up as well and then of course

You add some sea salt on the top there why we add sea salt of course it’s not for flavor people get this wrong all the time too people are so nut and think about salt Salt’s there to Simply open up the these sensory capsules on the top of your the roof of

Your mouth so you’re just receiving flavor a lot better and I think that’s what Tim Horton does as well they throw a little a Sprinkle of sea salt up there too uh but that’s where you need that sour not Brook and that’s where you’re a little cuckoo because you got the sweet

Of the vanilla the sweet of the sugar and now the sweet of the jelly it’s just too much sweet H do you know what here’s the thing though there is nothing that is ever too sweet I feel like that’s that’s too it’s it’s a good thing sweet

Is always a good thing Joey Brook we have a lot a lot a lot Randy and I have a lot to teach you he will tell you about his his world famous carrot cake oh yes it’s not it’s not one sweet note no no no no no there’s a smoke note to

It there’s a Savory note to it and then there’s a sweet there’s plenty of notes to go around it is not if if if ry’s carrot cake was all sweet I’d have one piece and say oh boy I’m done that is Rich but no I’m I’m done with half the

Cake on the way home from the Blues game and I gota leave my kids with the other half in the morning I love that all right the blues played in Pittsburgh last weekend and they got to take on Sydney Crosby and Joe played with Sydney Crosby in the first part of his career

In the National Hockey League and last week we talked about superstitions and routines and we just mentioned them them at the at the top of this interview Brooke I don’t think has heard the the Sydney Crosby Superstition story so you have time the floor is yours Joe if you

Can share that story with us please oh my gosh of course it’s one of my one of my favorite stories and you know it goes to you know look at all the the Kobe Bryant and the Michael Jordans and the and the Sydney Crosby way gr they’ve all

Found this routine and it’s gotten a little crazy to the point where some people would call it a Superstition but it really is the routine and it helps him kind of get locked in when I was a rookie in Pittsburgh I didn’t know too much about Sydney and

I was kind of new and I was appointed to become the team DJ usually they gave it to a younger player and listen this is a tough job because you’re playing the music in the locker room and you gotta you gotta appease the the Europeans with techno you gotta appease the older guys

Like the Brooks orpic with the alternative and the and the you know the t jam and then you got the you know the rap guys the younger players who just want to listen to Rap and R&B so you had to find this good mix of music and that

Was always the biggest challenge for me my rookie season I didn’t even think about hockey I was more focused on making sure everyone’s happy with the music in the locker room so I’m about two months into my rookie season I’m getting to know Sid a little bit more

I’m starting to realize he’s a little quirky on game days he kind of does the same thing over and over for fans out there who watch him in his warm-ups on Ice he always does Tow drags around the McDonald’s M and on home sheets and he always follows the M it’s just little

Things like that I just started to pick up more and more and it’s about November two months into the season and I’m playing this the playlist for the the pregame and there’s really only one rule when you’re a team DJ for a hockey team in in the National Hockey League and

That is if the team wins with the playlist you presented that playlist stays the exact same and then when you lose you can switch out a song or two you kind of keep the nuts and bolts the same but you can lose a song add a song

After a loss but if you win you keep it the same so I’m getting ready with the conso energy center there in Pittsburgh and I’m taping my stick and all of a sudden you know this is back in 2011 I guess 2012 uh the Dog Days Are Over by

Florence And machine comes on and this was right when this song kind of came out it’s a great song and so I play this song and I’m taping my stick and it’s going on in the locker room and in the weit room and all our facilities and all

This stuff and and FID comes up to me and he says Hey Joe V this is a great song and I said yeah this is a good song huh he’s like this song came out a few months ago and I went to Italy with a couple buddies Nathan McKinnon Braden

Shen of all people was with them he’s like yeah I went to Italy with my buddies and our girlfriends and wives and we kind of were traveling through thei coast and this song just came out and I don’t know why but we just kept playing the song on the boat and it kind

Of became our theme song so every time I hear this song I think about our our Italian trip so it tells me this whole story about how this Florence and machine song reminds him of Italy so anyway it’s five minutes on never get back again but whatever I’m moving on

Like get ready for the game we go out there we win the game and I think gets like a goal and an assist and you know so you know as I mentioned before the Only Rule for a t DJ is that you keep the playlist exact same two days later

We’re in Philadelphia so we’re getting ready and all of a sudden the songs are playing and guys are warming up and and it’s that time of the of the pregame again and forence machine comes on again I’m over there I’m tying my skates or changeing my laces and sits next to me

And goes chov v I go what’s up he goes this is a really great song I go yeah I know he goes there time went to Italy and we played this song and it kind of became our theme song and I’m listening at I’m like I’m looking around I was

Like is he is he pranking me is this guy freaking nuts and he goes yes we went to him off the coast I was with Bren Shen and Nathan mckin our wise win you know we having some past this song kept coming back and I I literally don’t know

What to say I’m like oh my God is he having post concussion syndrome this right after all his concussion stuff like I think I see the team doctor so this happens we go out we win that game I think the next night we’re playing in Buffalo back Tob back same thing we’re

Getting ready for machine comes on what do you think comes to me goes Joe B this is a good song I go yeah I know go time with ity oh my God no tell me more about it so he tell this whole story again and

Then back game four Brook I’m like oh my God I I understand what’s going on this guy’s a complete psychopath and I have now been eded in his routine his cre routine and now he needs me Brook and Randy go back to 2012 from like October

Mid October we went on a 17 game stretch we didn’t lose we did not lose a game I endured this for about five and a half complet I am not kidding you when I say this I’m not kidding you when I say this I was mentally like fried and it was

Like disturbing me and it was affecting my play on the ice and I I stopped playing well and I was like losing my mind I kept blaming that it was like Sid kept about the stupid story so at the end I mean by Game 12 and 13 right I I

Kid you not I am hiding when I know the song is about to come on there was one time I was in the bathroom stall and I’m sitting there on the pot I’ve just got the doors closed and I hear Lawrence machine through the walls and it’s faint

And all of a sudden Boom the door opens like face yeah he’s like that’s a great song I go I know time with h listen to song I’m like ywe you I swear to God I did this happened for 17 straight games I was losing my complete mind finally bro

Finally we lost the game and Sid comes up to me literally right after the game was over with a big smile on his face and he goes hey that was a pretty good run was like oh yeah oh yeah buddy I’ll be down the miners tomorrow um yeah

That’s that’s one of multiple of Sydney Crosby routine stories and when you play with him you learn very quickly as a teammate of his that it’s not just about your preparation it’s also about how do I facilitate Sydney’s preparation and I don’t say that like to be like oh this

This guy’s an arrogant leader it’s not about that it’s about this guy is so good and he helps you win games and he will help you with your contract one day if that good you want to make sure you could do anything you just want to serve

Him and make sure you’re taking care of him the best as you can so I learned very early to get in figure out as R be a part of it or uh you’ll probably end up being traded sent down to the miners pretty quickly oh my gosh Joey by the

End of it were you just like in a corner like shaking rocking back and forth like oh my God please let this be done oh my gosh you know I people seen the scene from a Heartbreak Kid with Ben Stiller you know he’s in the bedroom with his

New wife and she’s all crazy in the bedroom he’s like at one point he’s like on a rocking chair sucking his dumb in the corner that was me I I swear that that was me or like the the scene you know what it really sounds good is from

Uh Jim carre’s uh character from Dumb and Dumber when when Cass bust open the bathroom door he like sucking his th in the corner or whatever that that was me I was I was a mental [ __ ] at that point but at the end of the day we won

17 games we made the playoffs that year we went to the Eastern Conference Finals so it all worked out in the end but you know any player who plays with s will really tell you it’s you have to figure out a way to be available to him and

Make sure that you’re kind of catering to him him because what what what he says kind of goes there I’ll give you one other quick thing about this about what he says goes the Penguins jerseys right now you know how they reverted back Randy and Brook to the 80s style

Three or four years ago they brought batak style as like a third Jersey I think Sid had a hattrick that night a few weeks later he had like a two-goal one assist night and they won again what do you think happened the following year those didn’t become the third jerseys

Anymore those were the jerseys so and they have been the jerseys since then so uh you can see you can see the influence he certainly has not only on that team but certainly that City and the sport of hockey and and at the end of the day

Just such a wonderful human being and one one of my great friends to this day so it’s always great to uh reminisce and tell these stories again oh and by the way the Blues won last night a great win maybe the best win of the year maybe the

Best win of the year two to one against a very good hockey team they had nothing Brock besser silent JT Miller silent Elias Pon silent Blues have done a great job of shutting down other teams top opponents especially over these last three games absolutely Joey V we love

You man thank you that was great we appreciate it have have a great weekend are you making the trk to uh to Raleigh oh yeah I’ll be I’ll be coming to you live tomorrow night 7 7 PM is our pregame on 101 ESPN that’s on the SM

Dial so make sure you’re tuning in people for you Joey oh Joey for you thank you uh that is the spectacular Joe vali1 ESP and you can hear if you didn’t get to hear the whole story you had the opportunity toar again on 101 espn.com

Or on the app brought to you by do S Auto CER or please go to YouTube and watch our reactions to the story cuz Randy you literally turned into a tomato during that story bright red that was incredible I do feel bad that maybe he got some ptsc Florence a machine is

Fantastic so I hate that he can’t enjoy them as much anymore but what a story that plus the other Sydney Crosby story that he told what was that where he basically has what the the jock strap that’s like he was little he has a lot

Of thing hey if it it works for Sydney it works yeah pretty amazing hey coming up here on 101 ESP we’re going to talk to Robert Thomas at 8:45 and we went long obviously with Joey so we’re going to do the fight at 9 and if you’d like

To participate in the fight all you need to do is text in your name and the word fight to 314 399 9646 that’s 314 399 yo coming up before we get to you know what we’ll do is uh we’ll just we’ll get to Robert next on because we’re already

Behind so what we’ll do is we’ll take this break and get to Robert next on 101 ESPN e e this is Rocky with your sports center update brought to you by salga Heating and Cooling the Blues last night with a big win 2-1 over the Vancouver Canucks

Robert Thomas with a goal and an assist in the game after he was announced as the St Louis Blues Allstar blues will be back in Action coming up on Saturday it’s a 700 p.m. puck drop facing off against the Carolina Hurricanes you can catch the pregame show right here on

Your home for the St Louis Blues starting at 6 p.m. and if you want to hear more Blues talk coming up right now at St Louis blue Center Robert Thomas right here on the opening drive that is your sports center update brought to you by SGA Heating and Cooling and independent

Mar here heating airing dealer Thomas SC getting you inside the blues locker room to go by Robert Thomas it’s time now for blues forward Robert Thomas on the opening drive driven by Pure Performance the only stop for all your aftermarket vehicle Needs Hey Now You’re an allar on go play we’re doing it three times Thomas the the allstar joins us I’m sure he thrilled to hear that this morning as he does his radio hit on 101 ESPN uh Robert good morning how you doing sorry we were going to play you

The song Robert and then we realized because of Licensing we couldn’t so then we were trying to practice singing did you at least like it a little bit couldn’t tell the difference we we tried so hard well congratulations as we just mentioned there your first time being named an

Allstar how excited are you yeah pretty pumped um you know obviously something you look at in your career that you want to accomplish and a pretty special moment especially doing it in uh in your hometown uh will make it all that more special for for friends and family it’s

Going to be awesome to have your family there I have to believe though that the guys that you grew up with you’re going to get a lot of ticket requests if you haven’t already yeah it’s already started blowing up so um you know obviously Toronto’s pretty

Expensive so uh we’ll see we’ll see how that one goes how did you find out the news that you were an Allstar uh Doug called me a couple days ago and broke the news and um immediately called my family and um I almost so so excited so uh pretty

Special that’s pretty cool and then you celebrate last night on the night of the announcement with an assists and the game-winning goal and uh Robert I that your team’s best win of the year if if it’s not the best it’s got to be top two what did you think of that

Win yeah um you know obviously a huge win um you know they lost our last two and uh Vancouver coming into a great team and um it was a it was a big challenge for us and especially getting down one in the first and uh just being

Patient and battling back uh I think that’s been something that uh We’ve lacked lately and um just just keeping ourselves in games uh obviously B made some huge saves in the first period to keep it at one nothing and we just kind of slowly clawed back and um yeah a huge

Team win and I believe that was your third come from behind win this season for you guys what is the difference that you guys are able to find a way to come back in these games yeah I think just not getting down um you know it seemed

Like earlier in the year um you know you get down one you get down two and next you know you’re down four it’s impossible to come back uh so I think we’re doing a really good job of keeping games close and giving ourselves a chance of the third and um yeah the last

Three games we’ve you know kept the games real close and you know one bounce goes the other way and you lose by one or they an empty net and you lose by two but you know you’re in every game and you’re fighting and uh I think last

Night’s uh prime example of that and um you know we gave up one early in the first and I could have snowballed from there but we stayed in the game and ended up getting a win Robert you’re in a grueling stretch here in terms of the the quality of opponents that you’re

Playing do you look at that do do you look at the the stretch or are you a one game at a time kind of guy uh no we all know what’s coming up here so um we know how important each and every game is and um yeah it’s a it’s a great challenge

For our team to really show where where we’re at as a team and um these are these are very important points and um obviously a huge test and I think we got 10 12 games until the break uh none of them easy games and um you know this is

This is the big point in the season where we we need to get some points and I didn’t realize this until Jeremy Rutherford mentioned it when we had him on yesterday but you worked with Adam OES this off season how much did that help you going into this

Season yeah a lot I think uh a lot of different little skill things that uh we worked on and it kind of just helps you you slow the game down and different thought process offes um whether it’s off the rush in zone defensively um there’s been a lot of things that that

He’s really helped me on and um yeah I think it’s been been huge for my development and one of the things Drew banister said last night and had you worked with Drew much at all before he became your head coach um not too much um obvious I I

Remember playing against him in junior a lot um and then we kind of graduated from Junior at the same time but um haven’t worked too much with them uh more so just against okay but what one thing coach said is that you are u a dominant defensive player now what’s it

When your head coach has watched you play now for a few weeks what do you think of what what how does it make you feel when he says he’s a dominant defensive player now yeah I think uh something I’ve worked on a lot um being in the right

Position having a better stick and uh just being able to break pucks out off turnovers um that’s something that uh spent a lot of time on watching video and and stuff in the summer and um yeah it’s it’s nice to see it kind of paying off a little bit um still think there’s

A long way to go but um just just steps in the right direction okay uh we have asked you before about being superstitious and you aren’t we we know that Joe Vali just told us a story about how Sydney Crosby tormented him for about five weeks during a 17 game

Winning streak coming in and telling the same story every single day have you ever had whether it was in your Junior days or here in the in the NHL have you ever had a teammate that was kind of a psychopath in with the the way they were

Superstitious yeah Jordan kyre he is um you know he there was couple games ago he said something before we were walking out and uh we we’ve been playing well the last stretch of games and ever since that I think it was like six seven games

Ago um ever since that he says the same thing walking out every single game and he laughs about it because he knows I’m going to chirp on about it is is what he says radio appropriate uh probably not but okay um it’s it’s funny just he’s pretty super

Sistent yeah do you get a kick out of it it’s got to be kind of in some ways kind of funny yeah oh yeah I know it’s coming and he knows I’m going to laugh of them so uh it’s it’s pretty good and it was Star Wars theme last night what did you

Think of Jordan kyu’s Bobble his Star Wars bobblehead pretty cool I haven’t seen a bobblehead where like there’s like a helmet on it that comes on and off so I thought that was pretty neat and um yeah I don’t know if he’s the biggest Star Wars guy but I’m a huge

Star Wars nerd so uh I thought it was pretty cool so do you have one of the bobbleheads is it going to be Decor uh is it going to be displayed in your home not yet I will I will get one of them um hopefully he gives me one but um I will

Definitely have it somewhere yet very cool hey congratulations again again on making the allstar team we’re proud of you we’re excited that you’re a member of our 101 ESPN family and go get them tomorrow in Carolina awesome thanks guys appreciate it thank you that is Robert Thomas hey

Now he’s an Allstar get his game on go we didn’t decide how many times we were going to do it so I kind of screwed that up it’s okay he he did he did chuckle I think he liked it I think we have beautiful voices honestly he said you

Can’t tell the difference I couldn’t tell the difference honestly you could play him side by side now do you think that he knows it because Robert is a little bit younger he knows it from Smashmouth or from the Shrek movies Shrek absolutely yeah no doubt about did

It come out at the same time I can’t remember no I think the the song was pretty well after or was it before no before the before the movie yeah the movie came out pretty well after the the song yeah uh coming up we’ve got a quick

Rush Hour reset for you and then the fight on 101 ESPN on the opening drive with a rush hour reset Good win for the Blues last night at home against the Vancouver Canucks 2-1 I would argue the best win of the year for your St Louis Blues who are back in Action tomorrow night taking on Carolina 5:00 pregame 6:00 faceof here on 101 ESPN and the blues have 39 points after

Last night’s Victory and they’re two points out of the final wild card spot which at the moment is held by Seattle four points out of first place in the wild Wild Card race and a ways to go to catch up to Dallas for third in the Central Division but a great win Robert

Thomas the new All-Star with an assist and the game winning goal Robbie tommmy enjoyed our singing it was great to be able to sing to him and congratulating him for being an allar because he deserves it hey now he’s an All-Star hey now he is an Allstar now go

Play there you go coach mentioned that he’s maturing and really maturing is when the media does something that you can’t react to one way you want to and you give them the correct reaction that’s and that’s exactly what we saw this he handled our immaturity very well

Which makes him very mature so Props to Robert Thomas for that but um no that was to me that was the Robert Thomas game he gets announced prior to the game that he’s goingon to be an All-Star and then his performance during that game was huge we’ve seen that progression for

Him I like that detail that Jeremy Rutherford told us yesterday about him working with Adam Oats you’ve seen that that Robert Thomas when we’re talking about those big contracts and getting the most out of it out of him and Jordan kyou Robert Thomas has t taken steps forward every single season and that’s

What you want you feel really encouraged by that yeah and it’s great to have him be around these players too he he he’s always like working with Adam Oats uh he loved watching jonath Jonathan Taves yes as a kid as J Jeremy Rutherford mentions in his piece uh he’s been compared to

Patrice berser he grew up around the kachuck I mean he’s been able to see a lot of great players it’ll be great to see him in this environment with other great players even we didn’t ask him we will next week about playing three on three in in the allstar game because

That’ll be fun too the Cardinals announced yesterday John Denton of mlb.com reporting that Tommy Edmund underwent October wrist surgery should be ready for spring training and my hope is that that wrist injury was a contributor to his offense kind of falling off towards the end of the

Season that would make a lot of sense wouldn’t it I if that was a factor in it now it always is concerning because we’re hearing about it now right and there were some indications that that maybe it was discussed just to John didn’t but Randy this is what we’re

Talking about if you have an end of season press conference those things can be addressed then of the injuries the surgeries were’re expecting we knew that Dylan Carlson would be getting surgery on his ankles so he underwent that during was that towards the end of the

Season or yeah it was towards the end of the season Dylan Carlson has surgery so he should be recovered and ready to go and hopefully everything has worked out well with Tommy Edmund in his recovery and he should be ready to go by the start of the season but Randy with what

We saw last year and we’ve seen before Health in the Outfield that is also a big factor into the Cardinal success because it felt like last year the only reason you had infielders in the Outfield is because there was just so many injuries that we saw in the

Outfield over and over again so when you hear wrist you start to get the alarm Bells kind of go off a little bit and if Edmund can’t do it in center field for whatever reason hopefully Dylan Carlson gets healthy and can do what he did in his rookie year maybe improve upon what

He did in his rookie year and then you need to have new bar Walker healthy on the corners yes then Alec burles I guess who’s another left-handed power hitter the Cardinals think he’s going to be a power hitter that’s another guy that hopefully uh will be able to perform at

A reasonably high level also this morning Ken Rosenthal reporting that he’s hearing that the Cardinals are one of the teams that has shown an interest in Dylan CE of the white socks he lists the Yankees and the Orioles as the main suitors and he writes Ken Rosenthal does

The white sock trying to inject additional Talent seem virtually certain to move CE their most valuable trade commodity they’re staying open-minded on the composition of the return and are not necessarily inclined to favor a team that could include Major League ready pitching yeah I I like that the

Cardinals are at least in this conversation because that’d be crazy if they weren’t Randy right you should be doing your due diligence and checking in because what have we said over and over again we we’re fine with the starting rotation it just feels like that number

One is still missing if you had that you would feel absolutely great about this op season you said earlier no one ronado would be skipping around probably going into spring training if you were able to require dilles via trade but the biggest question mark is is what in the world

Will the white socks be asking because there’s a reason why some teams have been hes hesitant is because the white socks are asking it seems like quite a bit they want quantity and quality in return for Dillan sees which is what you give up for a premier Talent that’s when

You get a premier Talent you’ve got to give up a lot to get it and unless the guy is demanding to come to your team which I don’t think he is so hopefully that’ll be the case that’s today’s Rush Hour reset on 101 ESPN coming up we’ve

Got a late edition of the fight stick around oh welcome to the fight in the Red Corner Average Joe listner and in the blue Corner the Undisputed king of morning drive please welcome Randy [Applause] carer good morning and welcome back to the opening drive Brook Grimsley here

Alongside R carer and Matthew Rocko and it is now time for the and our fighter today is Kyle Kyle how are you doing today I’m doing great Brooke how are you this morning oh I’m doing great you ready to take on Randy in the fight I

Sure am as long as there are no references to the Lars n Bar fan club oh there we go yeah no no Lars references today uh yeah that’s cringeworthy oh no Kyle I was I was liking you this morning you don’t like the yeah she’s on

She’s on Randy’s side now oh man I was rooting for you she’s on Randy side hey I’m sorry I that’s painful man well one day one day we’ll get you to convert over to the fan club Kyle okay uh no okay I won’t I won’t hold my breath how about that we’ll get

Started with question number one you ready Kyle yes I am all right who is the last non- power five Notre Dame uh non five non power five Notre Dame school to finish number one in the final AP poll and claim the NCAA football national championship excuse me is it BYU TCU or Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh who is the only Cardinal to ever have five extra base hits in one game is that Mark Whitten Albert phols or Matt Carpenter that might I’m gonna go out on a limb and say it’s Matt Carpenter Matt Carpenter what year was Lars Newar born no I’m just

Kidding there you go you go I was trying to get you Kyle just kidding okay question number three after two even strength points last night Robert Thomas has has moved into a three-way tie at second for the league lead in even strength points which Western Conference

Skater leads the league with 38 is it Conor McDavid JT Miller or Nathan McKinnon Nathan McKinnon and which NHL Hall of Famer is the only player in league history to have a game with double digigit points is that Anton Statz Maurice rocket Rashard or Daryl sitler the

Rocket all right Kyle we will double check our score we will bring in Randy carer all right Kyle how are you feeling I try to sneak in a large new bar question for you but how are you feeling other than that we try to shake you up a

Little bit oh I always shook up because they’re all hockey I am not a hockey offici offici no okay all right well you feel pretty good other than that about your guesses oh yeah so so not Randy walked in dressed very dapper today might I say Randy say hi to

Kyle Kyle good morning how you doing I am fantastic look forward to seeing you with TJ’s game uh one day next week oh absolutely yeah nice looking forward to that Kyle does not like any Lars Newar questions I try to sneak one in there but he doesn’t like the Lars Newar fan

Club Randy I was rooting for him until that well not anymore not anymore that quickly deipa Kyle does that mean we have a Lars Nar I should have just turned it I should have just made it Lars Nar trivia if I would have known I would have added one all

Right ready ready to take out Kyle on the fight I’m ready question number one who is the last non-power five Notre Dame school to finish number one in the final AP poll and claim the NCAA football national championship okay hold on here who n power five and Notre D and

Not sorry and Notre D because they’re essentially a power five just it’s just a weird a dend to I had to WR in I believe and this is just right off the top of my head I’m going to go with the 1984 BYU uh BYU whatever they are cougars

Cougars uh here’s an amazing F fact for you 1984 BYU wins the national championship and 1984 we didn’t have all sports radio ESPN was in its infancy uh and I was producing the morning show for that week at at KX and had BYU’s head coach on the air the

Night after they had won the National Championship lvll Edwards got him on the air to do an interview with with Bill Wilkerson that’s insane in that wild I think it I’m going to go with BYU all right uh who is the only Cardinal to ever hit five extra base hits in one

Game marp Cubs 2018 I’m going to go with Matt Carpenter maybe three homers and two doubles Mark after his two even strength points last night Robert Thomas has moved into a three-way tie clap clap clap at second for the league lead in even strength points which Western Conference skater leads the league with

38 Western Conference leader I will uh do the the lifeline here Brooke Conor McD Avid JT Miller or Nathan McKinnon Conor McDavid has a ridiculous amount of points this season I’m just going to go with him because he’s got way more points than anybody else all right Randy

Which NHL Hall of Famer is the only player in league history to have a game with double digigit points Hall of Famer double digit points okay uh so I I don’t know if he’s a Hall of Famer I thought Daryl sitler had uh I don’t know if he’s Hall of

Famer but Daryl sitler had a seven goal game somebody way back in uh old timey days I think had more uh double digit points I I think sitler had seven goals but I don’t know if he had the assists and I don’t know if he’s a Hall of Famer but I already

Used my lifeline so I will go with uh Daryl sitler who I think is the only person to have more goals in a game than the redhead Red Baron all right an extremely close fight today Randy car trying to keep his winning streak and

Move it on to I believe this would be 17 fight straight did he do it or did Kyle the Newar hater come in and take it away ring that Bell the winner and still champion of the fight Randy carer I’m I’m sorry Kyle Randy carer he

Just got you with that last question he beat you three to2 today wow y yeah you you did a good job there let’s go through those questions and answers Randy carer had it right on the first one it was BYU in 1984 the last non power five plus Notre Dame because that

Whole thing to finish number one in the final AP poll last Cardinal to ever to hit five extra base hits in one game was in fact the newly salsa kinged Matt Carpenter who went off for three home runs and two doubles against the Cubs after his two even strength points last

Night Robert Thomas Trails uh Nathan McKinnon for the league lead in even strength points Conor McDavid has like 25 Power Play points it’s ridiculous um and which NHL Hall of Famer is the only player in League his to have a game with double digit points Daryl Sidler is a

Hall of Famer and is the only one to do it seven goals three assists for the only 10-point game in NHL history thank you Kyle so much for joining the fight and joining the show today oh not a problem thank you all so much for having

Me still still love you Kyle I’m GNA slowly convert you to the cult okay I’m working on it have a great weekend and a happy New Year uh coming up we’re going to visit with our friend Derek gold he’s a beat writer for the Cardinals for the

St Louis Post Dispatch and the baseball writers dinner is coming up one week from Sunday we’re going to talk a little bit about that coming up on 101 ESPN The trickle of baseball news continues to come in day by day yesterday the Braves awarding a contract extension to their new left-hander Chris S and a week from tomorrow or a week from Sunday is the annual baseball writers dinner at the mac and Derek Gould who covers the

Cardinals for the St Louis Post Dispatch and stltoday.com joins Brook and Randy on the opening drive on ESPN Derrick it’s always good to have you with us thanks for the time how you doing you bet good guys Happy New Year thanks for thanks for having me we’re glad to and

We had a meeting the other day and it’ll be a fun baseball writers dinner as we celebrate uh certainly not least the the 2004 uh National League champions and I was telling people the other day it’s amazing to me that that team which is the best Cardinal team I’ve ever seen

Was 20 years ago H yeah uh that was the first team I covered so here we go 20 years I guess uh um yeah it was it was quite a ride that group I mean you think back to that summer um you know was the summer that

Yer Molina debuted it was the August that they added Larry Walker who uh is now a Hall of Famer um has his plaque up there and Cooper St and everything um it was what the gosh the best year of Scott Roland career now he’s a Hall of Famer

With a plaque up there in Cooperstown I mean you know that group when you think about just just it’s Cooper down accolades in a few years if well it’s not if it’s when Elbert phol is there Molina’s there Tony’s already there I mean you just start adding them up and

What a remarkable team this I think that that two-year span Randy the 0405 just that group that team it’s got to stand up there with um the 40s team and maybe even above it as one of the best as the best team in Cardinal’s history yeah

Half half of your starting eight in the Hall of Fame with right and then you could have make made an argument a real solid argument I thought for Jim Edmonds too and and the other guys I mean you didn’t have chopped liver with whether

It was Edgar Ria at Short uh who was who was a great player you had Reggie Sanders in left who had his probably best years with the Cardinals and then the pitching staff was amazing and we’ll get an opportunity to hear from people like Jason Marquee and Steve kle and Ray

King how can people get tickets for the writers dinner they go to STL bbwa aa.com or I’m sorry I said that wrong sorry sorry sorry St Louis spelled out St Lewis bbwaa sorry um.com and uh or you can Google uh St leou baseball writers chapter or go to uh if your

Preference is to go to the the site formerly known as Twitter um it’s St Louis St Lewis bbwaa and all the information is there it’s it’s at the ma see um there are tickets available there are a few tickets available for the VIP event which is a Q&A session with uh the

Cardinals young rising stars and Jordan walkeron wi obviously two close friends um they’re going to have a conversation part of the the VIP ticket there um but only a few seats are remaining for that then of course there’s the dinner which uh as you said we’ll we’ll celebrate the 04 team um but

Culminate with with the honors um and celebr of Adam Way’s career and then the the presentation of our highest honor to uh to Tony larusa the Hall of Famer who we already mentioned wow I mean that is something that you have to go to because

That is just a treat to see everybody in the room together but Derek I wanted to ask you about the big news that everybody was talking about yesterday and we were discussing it too is Tommy Edmond recovering from an offseason wrist surgery what is your concern level

About that and his recovery going into the season uh it’s an interesting thing yeah I mean he had talked about toward the end of the season know that that kind of rigidity I guess as a way to describe it um just kind of limits in his wrist um

The idea is to free it up somewhat similar to what Dylan Carlson had with his ankle in the sense that it was uh surgery to then improve um you know range of motion I know that John Denton with mlb.com reported yesterday the details of uh of Edmund’s surgery um it’s it’s one that

Had been asked about in fact a few different surgeries have been asked about and um you know as a group we had been told nothing had been done so that’s kind of that’s the bigger concern from my from my perspective is if you ask directly about something and they

They say it didn’t happen and then it did happen that’s that’s a larger concern um just from a reporter’s perspective um but uh but as far as like his recovery and what it means I think you know always with the risk you’re always concerned right any anything like

When you talk about a hitter the wrist and feet right so you know that the base and the the wrist those are the areas where you kind of go okay what’s what when does the grip strength come back when does the strength of the base come

Back these are the two elements um but you know there’s a track record of recovery there’s a timetable of recovery with these two things both in Dylan’s case and in Tommy edon’s case that they can rely on that puts them um you know at least like on track to be ready for

Games and spring um you know if they ease into it then that’s that’s kind of what Spring’s for as long you know they’ll come in physically fit and strong and with no limitations and then they’ll kind of ramp things up so I don’t I don’t think the level of concern

For his Readiness is there for the team um and and you know if anything there’s there’s the hope that like okay well how that was limiting him and then again like with Dylan how it was limiting him very much limiting him how that could help them um you know perform better

Offensively Derek gold with us he covers the Cardinals for stltoday.com in the St Louis Post Dispatch and Derek as you know throughout the course of this offseason the Cardinals have been connected to trade talks for Dylan CE the latest reporting of that from Ken Rosenthal from the athletic this morning

What are you hearing the Cardinals already have three starting pitchers in regards to their interest in another starting pitcher whether it’s CE or somebody else yeah not much has changed um you know I I read the the report I know what that know was said there that

The the Cardinals are possibly one in the mix I mean the Cardinals have been you know have been interested in sticking in those conversations um they made that clear uh you know talking with mosak and others around him and kind of know folks in the know of what the

Cardinals are trying to do they the phrase was that they don’t didn’t expect to be in the free agent starting Market but they wanted to at least be aware or be ready to engage if there’s a trade to be had for somebody who would perceptively change or substantively

Change is probably better way the rotation so Dylan CE would qualify as that you know Tyler GL now was one um that fit that description um you know haven’t really and maybe this is a failing on my end um but it’s not for lack of trying really connected them to

Shane Bieber who is also out there as available um there have been a few other things like you know what could they do to to what other starters are out there that maybe aren’t being talked about as much um but SE continues to come up um es especially because the white socks

Are trying to figure out how bad to um get the biggest return from him and the timing of that uh General sense was it would be after Yamamoto um if say the Yankees didn’t get Yamamoto which they did not then does that make them more urgent to make a deal um if the

Dodgers did not get Yamamoto then certainly that Mak do that make them more urgent to get a deal and they have the better um farm system to deal from you saw what the the Red Sox were able to get from Atlanta and for chisale and certainly the White Sox want to do

Better than that um for for CE and so it’s a matter of getting the demand higher than the supply now does that take Snell signing next that’s kind of what the that’s where the white socks are right now and the Cardinals want you know the Cardinals are they I don’t know

I don’t know how aggressive they are um but I know that they’ve been drawn in because they have some of the young pieces that teams want um you know left-handed bats are in demand uh versus players are in demand high on base percentage or you know metric Darlings

Are in demand the Cardinals are not eager or looking or interested in trading large n bar but they have some depths there at second base um they have some depth elsewhere in the Outfield that they’ll talk and that’s going to draw them into these conversations too what about with relievers that are

Available right now in free agency as you kind of mentioned there it’s very a very fluid situation of what the Cardinals could be looking at do you think that there’s any relievers that are out there and free agency that would be a good fit for the Cardinals yeah I

Wrote about that today there um today’s post dispatch there I mean there there’s still a handful out there um you know one is um um recognizable name Jordan Hicks is still a free agent and he’s at 27 he’s remarkably young compared to some of these other start or I’m sorry

Relievers who are available um is is a reunion something that he wants they Cardinals say they’ve been open to that um you know they want to add some strikeout rates to their group and you know there are guys who do that too I mean there there are three members of

The Houston Astros Bullpen that are free agents um this Bullpen that has been a big part of October over the last few years um their rules have kind of varied with their performances but overall they all have October per experience they all have October success and that group is

Ryan stanik Phil maton and um Hector nerys and they’re all free agents still now they speak also to the volatility of relievers are you are are the past few years that they’ve had which have been good for the Astros are those Trends or are those the best years they’re had and

Now they’re going into a volatile area um the Cardinals have been bit by that before um by committing to relievers and get and saying okay well this is the right Trend and then having it all kind of come apart just because of the nature of the rule um you know there’s a guy

Like Ron braer who the Cardinals have you know had interest in he had a great second half with the Dodgers um started throwing a cutter which he did not throw with the Red Sox when he had a and he just completely flipped his ER went from

Having a s ra and at and Boston to an 07 0.7 ER with the Dodgers a remarkable turnaround but um you know he’s not too far removed too from being a part a big part of a playoff Bullpen so is that the trend line um that’s certainly the kind

Of deal that the Cardinals would be looking for sort of that mid-range um especially because they’ve had two of the guys that they were interested the the pitchers coming over from Asia sign with the Padres here recently so still options out there um still options to improve that strikeout rate that the

Cardinals want still options to kind of bring some seasoning in to that it’s all about the price point um and in some cases like in braer it’s about the competition too they’re they’re not the only team interested hey Dereck one last thing from me in regards to the

Cardinals and I’ve been all over the pitching and all over the defense but I I tend to overlook the fact that they were 19th in Major League Baseball and 10th in the National League and run scor granted there were a lot of injuries and you had some drop offs uh from from

Various players but I I want to know what you feel about the trajectory you pay attention to trajectories what do you feel about the trajectory of this offense should they be substantially better than 19th and Major League Baseball and runs scored yeah I I think I got I I mean push back

If you disagree with this I think I think they are um you know when August first hit they had a top seven offense in the league and then they weren’t the same team for two months um big part of that was Brendan Donovan was not there um you know his injury pretty

Substantial hit to them um you know Paul goldshmid talked about how he just didn’t feel like himself there towards the end was really searching for his swing obviously he’s a pillar of that um the lineup Nolan arado spent most of the year really struggling and so without the support around him that

Probably was more magnified but you know the team that they are the team that they want to be the team that they have coming back is that team that they were before August 1st and they spent 2third plus of last season as a top 10 maybe even sometimes top six lineup um and

They they have Randy they have the ingredients of what a successful current lineup needs I cannot stress enough the need for left-handed presence in today’s game it’s just you you can go I mean one of the things I looked at last year Andy that was so fascinating to me was when

You go from the regular season to the playoffs um you know the the the type of relievers that teams throw at you in October just absolutely neutralize your right-handed bats like the average Ops during a season compared to the average Ops for right-handed bats in in um in October it it’s drops

Significantly but left-handed bats stay the same and that to me stands out and you can go anecdotal too look who’s changing games it’s Ryan’s I’m sorry it’s Ry it’s Cory Seager it’s Bryce Harper it’s Kyle schwarber with his 190 batting average but he’s fearsome presence in the postseason left-handed bats just over

And over again you see that value and the Cardinals have that sprinkled into their lineup it’s not going to be like the Thunder of schwarber um it’s more going to be the OB VP of Donovan and the Ops of um Newar and the slug of Gorman

But they got it and that’s gonna be so valuable to them if they can keep those three guys healthy and in the lineup and consistently performing Derek gold always great to get your terrific information both at stltoday.com and in the post dispatch and looking forward to the baseball writers dinner again

January 14th and all people need to do is Google St Louis bbwaa yeah thank you Randy for uh being a part of it for helping us organize it and it’s all for a good cause we use it to uh fund scholarships um for young students interested in journalism and of

Course it helps us pay for the uh Rick hmel internship which has been just such a signature and really a unique thing it’s unlike anything any baseball writer chapter does in the country and uh that’s all made possible by the dinner it’s really important thank you sir have

A great weekend yeah you bet guys have a great weekend see take care Derrick G our friend from the post dispatch and stltoday.com that was a lot of very interesting information even going back to the beginning of what he was saying about Tommy Edmond because I was kind of

Confused about the timeline of when we were all finding this out right because from what I could gathered just based off social media yesterday is John didn’t had it in his story but then also some people had noticed that Tommy and Edmund had something on his wrist and

Some recent photos and that’s what really sparked this conversation going on so it is interesting to hear G say that it was something that was new for a lot of people to find out especially even on the beat writer side yeah and hopefully he will Tommy Edmond will be

Ready for spring training coming up we’ll preview the weekend in the NFL we’re going to head down the stretch with a little rock and roll here for you but NFL news and previews for you next time 101 ESPN this is Rock here with your sports center update driven by Johnny La

Chevrolet and Johnny LOL autolex the Blues last night with a big 2-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks Robert Thomas announced as an All-Star and then goes out and adds to his now second in the league even strength points he’s up to 34 this season he Trails only Nathan

McKinnon who leads the league with 38 even strength points this season Blues back in Action tomorrow they face off against the Hurricanes it’s an away game it’s a 7 PM puck drop here on Central time which means you can catch the pregame show right here on your home for

The St Louis Blues 101 ESPN and 101 espn.com starting at 6 that is your sports center update driven by Johnny laof find your roads and Shop 247 at la.com and laof autoplex.com are you kidding me Joe Buck has the ESPN call for the Colts tomorrow night as they take on who

Are they playing I don’t know does anybody pay attention to the Colts no I’m just kidding I I I do have a you talking about like Titan scouts at this point or what no if Indianapolis wins tomorrow Indianapolis uh would clinch a playoff birth if they can win and uh no

They’re winning in against the Texas if they tie and Pittsburgh loses her ties then the Colts are in mhm Buffalo is winning in Miami has already clinched uh playoff birth is this true yes so uh but Buffalo can win the division MH if uh if they win Miami already has a playoff

Birth but there are several win and in Buffalo is the most obvious in the AFC in the NFC if the Green Bay Packers win their game they’re in who would have thought that the Green Bay Packers could be win and in in week 18 no I I don’t

Think anybody was really expecting it but then that’s a lot of credit to Jordan love and the way that he’s been able to really lead this young team I mean my expectations weren’t that high when you’re ushering in that new era but it seems like they have taken the right

Steps of preparing their Young quarterback and Building Things around him and he’s taken some leadership in that right the Jags are also winning in by the way uh they need either a win or a tie and a Pittsburgh loss or tie and another team that I am surprised by is

Pittsburgh if they win and buffalo loses Pittsburgh is in if Pittsburgh wins and Jacksonville loses Pittsburgh is in and if the Steelers win and Houston and Indianapolis tie then Pittsburgh is in I wouldn’t count on the tie if I were them but Pittsburgh I think has a pretty good

Chance Trevor Lawrence questionable for the game hasn’t practiced all week so Jacksonville certainly is capable of losing I would think that Miami would still want to win their division and if they do they can knock Buffalo out of the playoffs theoretically mhm yeah that’s that’s a huge thing for

Miami and buffalo this Miami team though feels a little bit different here down the stretch doesn’t it feel like that and especially losing Bradley chub that’s her big pass rusher and they won’t have zaven Howard their number one corner even though Jaylen Ramsey has performed at a pretty high level since

Coming back for them the Dolphins still have their offense but their defense has taken some major hits over the course of the last couple of weeks especially last weekend that lost to Baltimore with the losses of chubba and Howard and if Miami so if Miami loses to Buffalo then

They’ll have to face the Chiefs which would be really an interesting Game Wouldn’t it Tyreek Hill would make his return to Kansas City and I would think that that’ be a game that Miami would have a chance to go on the road and win even though it’ll

Be cold hard to imagine the it depends on the weather if it’s ridiculously cold in KC that day and you’ve got a rested Chiefs team and I think Travis Kelce man he looks slow he needs some rest I think Mahomes they just need to kind of reset

They need to hit the reset button if there’s a team in the playoffs that needs to I think it’s KC 100% they they need that reset right now just to it feels like to mentally get themselves back into where they need to be offensively because that’s what you’re

Waiting on right I think that that’s why we’ve still been waiting on the Chiefs or we’ve been at least having them still in the conversations because you’re like okay Chiefs defense is doing what they need to do we’re just waiting for Patrick Mahomes and Andy re to figure it

Out and it feels like they still need time to do that offensively and Tampa is at Carolina the ha Panthers okay so here’s what we have Brooke in terms of win and in when we come in Monday only one team that was win and in got the win and in okay so

It’s either Tampa Bay MH or it’s Green Bay and they play the Bears Minnesota needs a Green Bay loss Tampa Bay Green Bay uh Atlanta needs help Tampa Bay Green Bay Buffalo or Jacksonville who do you got only one of those four wins and is

In it might be I I either want to go I was going to either go Packers or Buffalo because Buffalo they have now won four games right four consecutive games but still feels like there’s something shaky there with the bills I I might go with Buffalo though I

Think okay I I think Jacksonville against Tennessee is a tossup okay so I don’t think that that’s a lock and by the way I didn’t include Indianapolis Indianapolis has uh that uh their game against Houston yes I don’t think that’s a lck I think that’s that’s a tossup game 100% anything with

The AFC yeah so that leaves me Buffalo Green Bay against the Bears or Tampa Bay against Carolina you know I’m going to take the team that’s playing the worst team I’m going to take Tampa Bay okay if only one makes it I could see Justin field stepping up and beating

The Packers I could see the dolphins finding a way to beat Buffalo I can obviously see Jacksonville losing their game or Indianapolis losing their game I’m going to go with Tampa Bay as my one win and in if there is one on Monday morning that has done it I can see that

I think that that’s a good pick with that what about this season for the bucks how do you feel about it overall they could be the first team in the history of the NFL to make the playoffs in back-to-back years while going 500 in their in their games they would

They they can go 17 and 17 and they would need a Green Bay loss and a Seattle loss if they lost their game but if they do they could go 17 and 17 over the course of two years and make the playoffs both years I don’t think that

That’s very good I think 500 is pretty average actually I think it’s very I think it’s ultimately average it’s very middling especially for for what you’re looking at or expecting but I mean how much stake do you put into the story of Baker Mayfield being able to somewhat at

Least start his campaign or I guess you could say his reincarnation in some way yeah he’s got a rib injury too he might not be able to go so that’ be bad but I still think the the Panthers are so bad that I think Tampa will be will be able

To win the game I’m kind of rooting for the Packers though to be the one the win and in I I am too that’s an exciting young team and that should be a good game as well young being the operative word here since the NFL went to a 16

Game schedule in 1978 if the Packers win and make the playoffs they’ll be the youngest team since the Advent of the 16 game schedule in 1978 to make the playoffs wow Jordan love does not have a Target that has more than two years of experience that’s incredible it’s amazing that is

And they’re going to get rid of David bakari and so they’ll get even younger coming up next we’re going to head down the stretch with rock and roll here on 101 ESPN let’s rock today you can always watch us on the YouTube all you need to do is go to

Youtube.com and type in 101 ESPN STL we’d love to have you subscribe to the 101 ESPN YouTube channel but you can always watch us on the air Alliance team Studio Cam and if you missed any part of our show today Derek G talking about the Cardinals Jay Delson talking about Rory

Mroy the great Joe vital story about Sydney Crosby you can hear it on our podcast brought to you by dos Tire and Auto Centers at 101 espn.com or on the 101 ESPN app all right Matthew Rocko what do you got for us we don’t talk a

Lot about the NBA on this show and that’s a travesty but I uh I I play the game I have to play and I understand that but when you have a game like last night um I I’m not I’m not playing yall’s game and I’m going to talk about

The NBA because you had the Bucks and the Spurs last night and it was an unbel un believable battle between Giannis admo and his fellow unicorn uh Victor Wana Giannis had what was it 40 444 7 and2 wanana not as atomic but still 279 and five the five by the way is blocks

Including one where he where Giannis was lined up directly on him in the post and you think I’m seven feet tall I’m Yannis out of Koo I am the Unicorn well friend that’s a 7 foot4 one that’s that’s on your back and he blocked The Living Daylights out of of that shot there’s

Nothing I love more than watching two freak athletes go at each other like they did last night that was incredible to watch it was unbelievable and I was watching when that block occurred and it was ridiculous okay point of parliamentary procedure 100% if you have two unicorns do does that make them Duo

Corns tou sh sir tou Duo corns you’re right yes yeah you’re you’re not wrong yeah that makes so there we go but man the NBA last night your nuggets man and that’s 27 to4 down the stretch against Golden State yeah the the the biggest um

Thing I saw was 724 left in the game the Nuggets were down 121 103 so 724 they’re down by 18 they would need then score um 27 points 21 of them were from Aaron Gordon and jic combined Aaron Gordon had 12 points across that seven-minute stretch across five buckets and two free

Throws joic had nine points including including the final shot of the game and here’s how it sounded on the broadcast yic has it clock tick got to put one up yic for the win it’s gone yit got it off in time and the Nuggets win it ESPN clocks it as a

40-footer for the win for Nicola yic in the Nuggets walk away 13127 an incredible comeback and your reigning MVP puts a the the dot on the eye guys I am I I would be the worst NBA fan because I I’m a sports fan I can’t tell you how

Many times I go to bed and there’s seven and a half minutes left in an NBA game and I say this is over I’m going to bed then I get up the next morning and there’s a massive comeback happens to me all the time yeah you just have to stick

Around till the very end okay so is he also in unicorn category or should we give him another nickname or yes do we put him what category do we put I think that he’s different and as was mentioned during the broadcast last night he is is

A 7t 390 lb he looks like it at least uh point guard he’s ridiculous I I just can’t believe it 314 for uh text it’s crazy how boring the NBA is oh man I mean like not usually do people send texts to us that I could directly translate into I’m ignorant but every

Once in a while we get a couple and that’s it you we’re literally talking about how you had Giants on this like giants who walk this Earth R rumbling arenas for an for two different games last I mean I mean literally it’s you and the ancient Greeks who get a chance

To watch giants walk this Earth and do wild stuff and you’re complaining about it you’re not taking advantage of watching it turn on the TV my friends get involved watch just watch a game and these are the best athletes in the world these are 7even footer 7 foot ballet

Dancers it’s unbelievable how graceful they are and what athletic ability they have yeah even with wimy with his size for him to be able to do that it’s very interesting to watch when you sent that photo of when you were able to see was that you or is that Carrie they got to

See him oh when when cidi showed us that photo it’s insane looking you know just the way that his his body and the way that he’s able to move he shouldn’t be able to do that at his size compared to what it used to be it’s so boring yeah

You know back when n back when wit and Russell and Nate Thurman were going at each other just a bad time in the NBA or you know in the 90s when Patrick Hing and aim aajan and Tim Duncan and Shaquille O’Neal I I’ve really never had fun watching seven-footers just break my

Brain with how athletic they are somebody said yic is a Serbian horse he rides a lot of Serbian horses you might get you might you might get confused there he’s actually a Serbian God there you go little little little different little different all right uh that’ll do

It for our our little show today we appreciate you little show our little show yeah great job by our producer and audio and video engineer the one the only Matthew Rocko pleasure Brooke was this fun yes how about that you’re an aw how about that get your game on Play Hey

You’re an all rockar oh yeah yeah yeah we need to go to some karaoke and work on this I think so but Robert Thomas loved it he said we he couldn’t tell the difference between us and Smashmouth which he totally meant that yeah he totally meant that he wasn’t

Joking hey we thank you for tuning in texting in and being a part of the show for all of us until Monday morning at 7 have a great weekend St Louis

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