Brian Baldinger & Brad Gilbert: NFL & U.S. Open

All right, we are here. We have some technical difficulties getting this all together, but what a lineup we have today. P Mac here, Patrick McElroy, Rich Big Daddy Selgado coming to you live from Nashville, Tennessee, where my New York Jets, please tell me you're gonna actually get a win, Big Daddy. You can tell me in a second. We got BG here, Brad Gilbert, my main man, my tennis guru, the coach Extraordinaire. We miss you big time at ESPN BG. Love seeing you on tennis channel doing your thing. Brian Baldinger here as well. No one knows more about football. I mean, we got the two guys here that can break down tape better than anyone in the history of their sports, with BG and with BB right here. And we got our man Lauren, of course, holding down the fort in New York City. We are sponsored by Volition. We got the fire department coffee. We got Dos Hombres, which went down very smooth last night. As I got home after the first women's match, I watched the second women's match with Coco Goff going out of the U.S. Open. So let's let's just start with the U.S. Open because we got the monster match coming tonight. Tiafo, Shelton, the two Americans. No one knows them better than my man Brad Gilbert. BG, what say we'll get to the Raiders in a minute. Okay, we're gonna find out when Mendoza is gonna be in the lineup. When do you think that's gonna happen? But who do you think gets it done tonight in the All-American matchup? And welcome to you all, and thank you all for being here.

Uh good morning. I don't think I got any coffee like you do, but I got good old like Dunkin' Donuts this morning. The first surprise, Patrick, that they kind of flip the script a little bit. Normally, if you play Tuesday, you play the first match Friday, but obviously ESPN had some influence. I circled about nine days ago that I saw the winner of Shelton versus Alcaraz. The winner of that match winning this tournament. I will still stay with that. I believe it is Shelton's tournament to lose. Granted, Tiafo has got house money the way that match ended up unfolding against Mickelson two sets, and he served for the match. Mickelson should have broken him to go up double break early in the third set. And then Francis, who is finally at 28, learned to put in the hard yards. Physically, he's in a better place. So if this was a football game right now, I'd have Shelton about a six and a half point favorite coming into the game tonight on a I would say this is a neutral field since they're both Americans.

All right. So let me go to Coach Double B over there, Brian, because what the hell happened last night to my, I'm not going to say my Rams because I'm a Jet fan, but I picked the Rams to go to the Super Bowl, lose to the Bills, by the way. Not that anyone cares about what I say about football. But I know this, you know, one of the stories going in because we go to Australia every year, cover, right? So we know the deal with the jet lag. The 49ers got there a week ago. The Rams got there just like 24 hours before the game to stay on Pacific time. Was that a mistake? And thank you for joining us, by the way.

Yeah, good morning, Patrick, Brad, Rich, Lauren, everybody. It was a mistake. And I thought it would be, Patrick. I I've I've taken the trips east to go to London and to go to Europe. I've taken the trips west to go to Australia, Japan, the Far East. It's totally different going west. My worst jet lag I ever had was going to Australia back in 1987 for the Americas Cup races. I thought getting off the plane and going to the locker room and getting ready to play was a mistake. And they I thought Stafford was off last night. I thought Miles Garrett was invisible. Now the 49ers played very, very well. But I thought getting there in advanced time to let your bodies just sort of adjust, I thought that was really important. And I thought it was a big factor. And I thought it would be, and that's how it looked like it played out last night. The 49ers, all the guys that people had questions about, the injuries to Nick Bosa, to Mike Evans, to George Kittle, they all, Fred Warner, all the guys that were banged up in the offseason, that were banged up in preseason, they all came and played very, very well. And so you're just looking at Brock Purdy played great last night, uh, outside of the one error, one mistake, uh, one interception. But uh just studying it this morning, the 49ers were a better team all over the field, start to finish.

Hey Coach, how could how could a team make such an egregious mistake of okay, you'd think three days maybe isn't even enough, and one team goes a week early? You you'd actually think the league would have sent both teams at the same time.

Yeah, you know, I said it's interesting because that's what a lot of people said. But the Rams, this is what they did. They sent four or five workers over to Australia, and they just they they they gave them a feedback on what it was like, how they felt, like could they play right away? And that was their test. But these guys aren't playing the game, they're not Matt Stafford, they're not. They should have called us, coach.

They they should have called us tennis guys.

We've been going to Australia for 40 years, and and and to that, and then to that city of Melbourne, which is their sports capital of Australia. So I thought they they it all backfired on them. I'm sure that they're gonna try to mitigate it today and saying, like, we thought we did the right thing, but I I thought the 49ers would win this game in large part because of just that.

Very interesting. So it's only one game. There's 16 more to go. Who's got the dogs, by the way? Because I got my little Yorkie who's uh upstairs.

Um Neil's got two big German shepherds.

So tell us all right, tell us where you are, big daddy. You want to leave? All right, you can leave. Go ahead.

He's in Neil O'Donnell's man cave. And I also like how Brian Brian just casually casually mentioned being an America's cop.

Like, yeah, I was over with Melbourne for the what's up with that? Because I go to Newport for my job with the tennis hall of fame, and that's like the you know, Brian. What is the deal with I didn't think of I didn't think of you, Brian, as a sailor, but I mean, and fill me out.

No, I wasn't. We were just looking at a party, honestly. Me and my brother some friends. We went to Perth, Australia, America's Cup races in 1987, Dennis O'Connor with his skipper. Like, you know, they they basically they they destroyed everybody in the competition out there that year. But the parties, the Australians, they got a beat, but they they threw the best party. Jimmy Buffett was there performing. That was a lot of fun. I'm talking about 40 years ago. So I'm dating.

We know about that, right, BG? We know about those Aussies down under.

Oh, totally, man. They they are very receptive, and I was glad you know that we played a game there because they actually really like the NFL, and that's a great stadium.

Okay, so legit, Patrick. Brian likes tequila and margaritaville. Brad needs some coffee, so we could take care of both these guys for that.

Take care of both. We got fire department coffee. By the way, we should also mention it is a it is uh 9-11, okay? So that 25 years ago. I remember exactly where I was, guys. I was I actually was living downtown in uh Noho, very, very close to what ended up being the line of where you couldn't go. And it and incredibly, my wife is a singer and she's a bit like I've been on Broadway a bunch. So she's a late, usually goes to bed late and is up early, and sleeps in. I usually get up early with our girls. It just so happened that that day, we didn't have kids at the time, it just so happened that that day she had gone early to Brooklyn. Okay, she so I got up in the morning and I turned on the whatever it was that, you know, I don't know if it's a TV or the my phone or whatever, and I saw, you know, kind of something was going on, and I went down to my front door, which is right on the corner of Houston Street and Lafayette Street, and there were hundreds of people walking up Broadway, Lafayette Street, covered in soup. And and my wife couldn't reach me because the phones were out, right? And she finally called the doorman at my building and told me, told them her location in Brooklyn. I got on my bicycle. I biked from my apartment to over the and I and I just and I literally remember thinking to myself, going down the FDR drive, and it was fucking surreal, right? And everybody was walking, all the people from the Wall Street area, from the World Trade Center area, were walking over the Brooklyn Bridge, you know, covered like in a suit and soot. And I decided to go take the Williamsburg Bridge on my bike because I'm like, oh, that could be next, like the Brooklyn Bridge. So I I literally biked, found my wife in Brooklyn, and the fighter jets were coming over the city, right? As and there was like, I think Lauren, you'll remember this. I think there was one station, I think it was maybe Channel 11, was like on TV. Like they for a while, like there was no New York One probably, right? Yeah. And anyway, we ended up getting on the subway at the end of the day, like at four o'clock, go to go back to our apartment. And there was actually subway, there's like one or two subway lines running. And and the smell in our apartment, you know, I see all this stuff now about the you know, the lawsuits and the cancer and the all the horrible stuff that happened post, you know, to all the people down there. And we smelled it in our apartment for for months. I mean, I remember walking down to Chinatown a month after. I mean, it was just completely desolate, dead. But New York has recovered. We we we we send our obviously all our thoughts and prayers to everybody affected, but I just thought we'd at least needed to mention that day because it was yeah, exactly. And and Big Daddy, you've done so much with your tunnel to towers and and the events that you do and all the people that you support. So I know they appreciate all that you do for them. So so props to you, my friend.

Thank you, thank you. Well, it comes with all the help from you guys too and support. And you know, I you know, you talk about 9-11. I remember where I was. I was actually at that Monday night game, Denver Giants. And you know, Paul, you know, Mike Newsom. So Mike and I were sitting, uh, we were both uh, he had to go back to work at the NFL, so he caught like a 6 a.m. flight or tried to, and I stayed in the hotel we were at, and he calls the room and he says, do not check out. And I'm like, Well, I'm going back. He goes, Turn on the TV, and then boom, there it was. And you know, I was stuck in Denver until uh Thursday. I was able to finally get back. So that and September 12th is my birthday. So very uh if I'm emotional. That's emotional.

We understand, Big Daddy. We hear it. We get it.

It brings back a lot of things.

Yeah, well, we we we hear you, we feel for you. I I I knew people that lost their lives in the in those towers. So we we we we get it and we we we know how meaningful it is to you and to the people that are close to you. All right, football-wise, uh uh Brian, do you like my prediction of even though the Rams sucked it up last night of the Bills? Because I'm a huge Josh Allen guy. I love Josh Allen. I've it's kind of like a little bit with Jessica Pagula. I know she's got the connection to the Bills because of her family, but she lost in her semifinals. And I feel like I'd love to see her win a major. I'm not sure it's ever gonna happen for her just because you know she got outplayed by Sabalanka, who was red hot last night. But you know, Josh Allen to me is the best quarterback in the game, and I I feel like he deserves to win one. That doesn't mean he's gonna win one, right? But what say you about the Bills' chances this year?

Well, they made a coaching change, you know. I mean, Sean McDermott was there for nine years, and they were in the playoffs almost every year, especially with when Josh came on board. And they made a big change. You know, the Pagula family decided to, you know, elevate Joe Brady from offense coordinator to head coach. Uh they brought in Jim Leonard, who Big Daddy knows real well, uh former jet player, but brought him in to be the defense coordinator, which I really applaud. The defense, it's gonna look a lot different. I think this defense is gonna look a lot different than it has. They were never able in the playoffs, Patrick, to really affect Mahomes, to affect some of the quarterbacks you got to affect. They just were too, they played too much zone, they were too vanilla, and they couldn't get over that hump in the playoffs. Maybe this defense will be a little bit more aggressive. And if that's the case, I expect them to get to the playoffs and the way the Patriots played on Wednesday night, uh, they might very well be able to take them down and win the division, get a home playoff game in the new stadium. You know, so I I think they have a chance. You get to the postseason in this league, you win your division, you're gonna have a chance. And, you know, as long as Josh Allen is out there, we still have that, we still have that visual of him in Kansas City in that overtime loss where he never got a chance to get the ball back after Mahomes went down there. And so they changed the rules that after that game, where everybody gets you know a chance with the ball in overtime. So I think they have a good chance, but you know, it's uh it's all about how you're playing, how healthy you are when you get to January football right now.

All right, Lauren, our producer, could you please ask Brad Gilbert the question you asked him just before we came on live? Because I want to hear, I want everyone to hear his answer about who is who he what his football team is. Go ahead, Lauren. Get up.

Well, can I rephrase it? Because now I know whatever you want.

Yeah.

Okay. Well, I already I know he's I know that he sees that I'm a Niners fan. I now figured out he's a Raiders fan. I already know he can kick my ass at tennis. I think he could probably kick my ass physically. So we're never gonna go to a 49ers Raiders game together. Uh, sadly.

Well, I am I'm a diehard Raider fan from the East Bay. We don't like the Niners, but actually Ronnie Lott was a really good friend of mine.

Ronnie's a very close friend of mine, Brad. He's uh Ronnie was a mentor to me.

Yeah, I wish he would have been a you know a Raider younger in his career. You know, we always say about the Raiders, it can't be as bad next year. I mean, but yeah, we've been pitiful for 20-something years. Yeah. I went to the opening Monday night game last year, saw Geno Smith throw three picks in the first quarter and go, uh oh, uh, now we got him, now we got him back in the check.

I was gonna get it.

They should get off to a one-and-o start. They get the dolphins on Sunday, and I think the Dolphins are the least talented team in the league.

Don't don't underestimate the stupidity of the of the greatness of the Raiders. Do not underestimate that. Right. And being one and oh is like, yeah, if we win five games this year, it'll be a win.

Yeah, well, I feel the same way about the Jets, and I'll let Big Daddy touch on that. But what about Mendoza? How fired up are you, BG, about Mendoza? And when do you think he will be the starter for the Raiders?

Okay, coach BG, general manager BG in the history of the world. I wouldn't have given my cousin Vinny 50 cents. He wouldn't be on my team. I would have, if they're if they weren't gonna start Mendoza, I would have started the other kid they got that's like 27. He's been there for a few and a few Donald. No, but I would have started him. I wouldn't have wasted the money on having a stopgap guy that's 38 years old that's been stealing money for from the league for years. So I and then personally, I would have started Mendoza in day one. He didn't look good in the preseason, but preseason it, you know, isn't a sport. You know, that's a gimmick. They should have, you know, he needs normal reps to see if he's gonna be any good. But I would start him day one, and I would have never signed uh cousins. And then now our biggest issue, our best player, was nicked up all last year, and he's starting the year nicked up. So that is a little concerning and and Bowers. Yeah, that's a bit concerning. So I'm hopeful that by game five that Mendoza will be starting, because if he's not, we got a problem.

Are you what do you say about the quarterback? The nerdest, nerdiest quarterback pair in history. Coach, what do you say about that?

Do you agree with PG? I actually do, yeah. And because I felt like even if Fernando Mendoza struggles or the team isn't very good around him, and they got to make these improvements, because the receiving core is very average to below average. They're not giving, especially with Brock Bowers down right now. But if he's the right guy, if he's Troy Aikman, if he's wired that way, then I'm not worried about that guy having long-term effects from a poor season. Let him play through it. Let him take his lumps the way Aikman did going 1-15 that first year. And if he's the right guy, he's gonna rebound. He's gonna be okay. I I I don't see a lot of benefit right now of playing Kirk Cousins and just putting him out there around a team that's not very good on offense. Let the let the young kid take his lumps and grow and learn. And if he's the right guy, he's gonna get better and he'll bounce back long term for the Raiders.

I guess, I guess, Big Daddy, the only reason they're doing is could they be worried that Mendoza is going to get hurt? I mean, I guess that's that you've got to be worried about that anyway. I mean, what's what's what's the what's the point?

Well, look, he came from a winning, you know, atmosphere, and you know, obviously college is much different than the NFL. But uh you you can look at it two ways. It's and and I agree with Brian that if he's the real deal, you should start him right away and then let him go through the whole progression, go through lumps, go through ups and downs. And again, if he's the real deal, he'll get through all that, and then the next year he'll be much better. So, as far as injury, look, he his contract, his number is what, 50 million, it's guaranteed, and there's nothing there to worry about for either party because he's getting it, and the team has to give it to him. So, regardless.

What what what's your take, Coach, Brian, on our New York teams? Because you know, Big Daddy is tight with the Giants, he's a big blue guy, he's there for the Nashville, the Jets game in Tennessee. So I feel like, you know, he's always, you know, yeah, the Giants are gonna be pretty good. Like he's full of shit, basically, because he's got a protective sky, which I understand, right? But I'm like, coming, can can you give it to me straight? Like, I'm like BG with my Jets, you know. Like, I'm like, well, we're gonna win like four games, or like, can we sneak out six or seven? A lot of people are saying the Giants might win eight or nine games. You're an expert. What say you? Please, please give it to me straight.

Well, I'm uh look, I I think the Giants are gonna beat the Cowboys outright Sunday night. Okay. Wow, okay. You know, hardball, like they haven't had a good coach there in New York. No offense to all the other guys since Tom Coughlin left. And they've got a real coach in there right now. They're bigger and tougher and stronger than they've ever been. You know, they got you you look at the offense with Patrick Ricard and Cece Maranoa and Malik Neighbors coming back, they're big. And then on defense, they got bigger. We have a bigger linebacker with Arvell Reese is going to be a star in this league. Like, just book it right now. 52 inside linebacker for the Giants is gonna be a star in this business. They picked the right guy. And now they're coaching them hard. Coaching them. I was out in West Virginia. They went six straight days, full pass. If you're allowed to be on the field for three hours, Harbaugh had him out there for two hours and 59 minutes. He maximized it. I I think this is gonna be a pretty good football team. They got a couple holes at defensive tackle that might show up a little bit on Sunday night, but I believe in what they're doing. And for the Jets, this is the most talented roster that they've had in a while. They've got actual depth on the offensive line and the defensive lines. And so we'll see. We'll see what Geno Smith, you know, looks like. But I expect him to go to Tennessee and win this game and at least get off to that first start. And we'll see. We'll see how it unfolds. But the offensive line returns intact, and you know, Garrett Wilson's back healthy, and Brees Hall's good. They they should be a talented team, and then we'll see how Aaron Glenn puts it all together right now.

I I I take back everything I said, Big Daddy. I'm sorry. Now that I heard from Coach.

No, no, that look, look, look, look. That's okay. I mean, you know, when you have a team, you support them and you you go through the ups and downs. And and think about this. I I shared this with somebody on the plane ride down. In my now 61 years, I've been fortunate enough to see the Giants in five Super Bowls, win four, lose one to Baltimore. And Jet fans, unless you were around in 69, when's the last time you've seen one? A Super Bowl.

Do you know do you know who my junior doubles partner was, Big Daddy? No, I know you don't know this, but you know who played who was a center.

John Schmidt. John Schmidt's son. You told me. John Schmidt's son. Okay, he was my double partner.

Yep. Yeah. And he used to call we call him Schmidtie, BG. He played in University of Arizona, college tennis. And his dad, BG, was a center when the Jets won the Super Bowl. So all the pictures of Joe Willie. You see, when number 12, he's taking the ball from my guy, the center, the big, we call him the big turkey, number 52, Schmidt.

Well, listen, Schmidty, I remember being a kid, he would come to practice, and he would he wasn't on the team, but he would come by and here's this guy pulling in with a royal voice. And I'm like, wow, who is that? Like, what player is that? Is that like you know, who, what, where? And I I got a lot of inspiration from Schmitte because being an offensive lineman, one, and two, he was one of the pioneers in the insurance business, which I am. So I remember a bit of advice he gave me when I told him that I was going into the business, and he said to me, Come back to me in five years and let me know how you're doing. And I kind of was like, Okay, well, I went back in five years and I said, Hey, uh, John, I'm still in the business, now launching my own operation, da da da. And he was so happy and proud because in this business there's such high turnover because you either, you know, you eat what you kill, so you gotta work, there's no, you know, there's no rewards there, or you're getting a weekly paycheck or anything like that. You gotta hustle, grind, move. And you know, that's how Baldy and I, I mean, I would run it into Baldy, I think everywhere. I I think we've been on every field. We've crossed a lot of paths, Daddy. Yeah, we've been doing it for a long, long time. And you know, how funny, yesterday we uh interviewed actor uh Seth Gilliam, and Baldi, he was so up on you, meaning, yeah, oh my god, I watched all these breakdowns, and he was like, Yeah, he goes, Yeah, the finger. He goes, Daddy, the finger. And and then he's like, and Brian, you gotta show everybody the finger. There is going in the opposite direction.

Yeah, yeah.

Unbelievable. So he was so Seth's like, if I was starting a team and I'd be bringing Baldy in because his breakdowns and everything, he's got everything going on. He's the he's like a man professor. So it was you're getting uh some love from a Hollywood man.

Uh a presentation. Man professor, sounds like Brad Gilbert, Patrick.

A question for you guys on the football. How come? Well, as obviously the Jets and my Raiders have not got this memo, but I'm not sure we have any other sport that I can think about that you can go from so bad one year to all of a sudden the next year being in the Super Bowl. Or you can be great and then a couple injuries and you can be four. So it doesn't happen like in any other sport that I can think of. But for some reason, my Raiders, we haven't even won a playoff game in 23 years. So you have to consistently have bad people around you, same like the Jets. But it's amazing how many teams look at New England from the year before. Yep, uh, or we've seen Carolina go from Jacksonville. Jacksonville or Carolina go from 115 to the Super Bowl. Why does this consistently happen in football?

Because the draft is set up that way. We're the worst teams draft at the top of the draft. And if you're good at drafting, you're gonna get the right quarterback. The way Buffalo got Josh Allen, or you know, the way Carolina brought in a great coaching staff with Liam Cohen and you know, a Jersey guy in Campanilly. Like they they really took a group of players that had never won anything over the last five or six years, like Trevor Lawrence. And you know, the coaching and the way the draft is set up, a lot and and the teams that typically are not very good have a lot of money to spend. That's what Jacksville did. They spent the money wisely, they drafted well, and they got the right coach, and there they turned it around. And this can happen to the Giants this year. They got two top ten picks this year in Marinoa and Arvell Reese, and they got a real coach in there. Like this thing could turn around quickly for the Giants.

You you talk a lot about they got my boy Edmunds there too. He just came over from the bear. And yeah, and actually, I played at his his dad and I played together in Maryland. His father was uh stud. I did.

Um, if you screw up on the QB, it's over. The QB, like if you draft a QB high and then he doesn't come cut give you what you need, it's amazing how it can drag the entire franchise down.

Oh, everybody gets fired. Everybody gets fired, BG. The Jets have done it so many times. Oh god. Sam Darnold, Jack Wilson, like they just keep making a mistake at that position.

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All right, tell me when you're rolling. All right, everyone, P-Mac here. I am so pumped up because we got Dos Ombres as our new sponsor. And you may not know this, but I'm a huge tequila fan. I'm waiting for the uh viejos to come open this puppy up. Don't tell anyone that I'm actually calling a US Open match later tonight, okay? I'm just gonna have a sip. Holy sh. That is next level. Ooh, I actually feel like a slight, just the slightest of little buzzes already. It's lunchtime, by the way. And I'm working tonight. Hola.

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Let me let me just switch it to tennis for one second. I just got a trivia question for you, Patrick, and you, Brad. Okay? Okay. Tell me the best NFL player, a Hall of Fame player who was a championship level tennis player.

Well, Drew Brees played a lot of junior tennis. Is that who you talk about?

Well, he was a state champion. He was a champion champion at Austin. Western no no Austin Westlake in Austin, Texas. Oh, in Texas, okay. Is there someone else I'm missing? No, that was that was my coach.

Rumor has it, he was good until about 12. 1213. Like, like David Lee in basketball won a gold ball at about 12-13, switched over. But like somebody like John Lucas actually played like college basketball and tennis, you know, became a pro. Has anybody ever like you know played NFL and been a pro tennis player?

I don't think so. I don't think so.

They're not exactly, you know, you know, a sport like tennis, like you're playing football. You you you need your body to be, you know, moving around the court pretty good. That I I can't quite see that. Our buddy, our buddy, Daddy.

Yeah.

I was asked to uh pass along a hello by Paul Theophanis. You uh you worked with two of his guys back in the day.

Did I help him?

Yeah, you did. Yeah, yeah. I forgot two Russian guys. BG's worked with him.

BG's worked with a lot of guys, okay?

I mean, he's like, I can imagine, I can imagine. I I just it came up in conversation yesterday, and shame on me for not remembering the names, but he was very uh wouldn't remember them either, okay?

Don't worry about it.

BG wouldn't remember them. Coach knows this. Players can make you look like a genius. You know, it obviously helps when you have talent, and then that it, you know, you make a little small changes, it can make a huge difference.

Yeah. Patrick, he's being pretty humble, don't you think?

So the guys guys coach Agassiz, Roddick. I mean, you go down the list. I mean, you're the last American coach to have won a major, right? And then we I mean, I'm so sick and tired, BJ, as I know you are. When's an American gonna win a major? And that's why I actually picked Shelton to win it before the tournament. So hopeful, but here's the reality. Okay, I think he's gonna beat Francis tonight. I'm actually calling the first match at 3 p.m. with Andy Roddick, your old old pupil, who's done an excellent job at ESPN, the hatching off Zrerev match, which I think will be won by Zrerev, the top seed. And here's the reality I'm getting to, and you know this better than anyone, BG. Zrerev will be the favorite going into the final. I mean, he's gonna be the favorite. Maybe maybe you, I mean, I we both hope and think Shelton can win, but the odds makers are gonna say Zrerev is the favorite, going, I believe, into the final. What do you think?

Okay, I can tell you this is concrete. If Sinner was here, neither one of these guys got a shot. I mean, I mean, none. I mean, that's and so the fact that he's not here changes everything Zverev. I mean, literally, he hasn't broke a guy serving like 90 90 times, and Shelton's never, he's lost 25 sets in a row to him. So both guys, you know, have a completely different attitude, especially Zverev. Zvere's not gonna drop a set against Hatchinoff, he's gonna win that in straits, and he's never lost to Shelton. But I feel like that he's played five night matches in a row. First time any player in the history of this term has played five night matches in a row, it's probably better for him to go on a day. But I feel like the same for Shelton. I mean, center not here. He got Alcaraz for the first time, who hadn't played in four and a half months. The stars are aligning. I think it's, you know, it's his time. I feel like if Tiafo wins, then then I think it's a great opportunity for Zavera. But right now, I got Shelton about a five and a half to six and a half point favorite tonight. And if going into the final, I will have Shelton, you know, if neither one is like a grueling five setter, I I got Shelton winning on Sunday. I hope you know that I'm right. And obviously, you still got to play the game, and there's a lot of mental things, there's all sorts of things, but what I've seen so far, I'm not changing from my pick of who won that match, Shelton Alcaraz is winning the tournament. I'm staying with that.

So brilliant. If you hey Brett, Brett, Brett, well, one just to finish the BG uh Kafelnikov and Medvedev or the two guys that you coached.

I did not coach either one of them. Both of them are great wise. I mean, if you want to give, if you want to give you failed worse than me on this one. Yeah, I did not coach either one of them. Andre beat Medvedev in the French Open Final in '99 from two sets to none down. I lost a cafel in the gap for you. I mean, Big Daddy, I mean, if you want, you know, sometimes people want to pad their resume, you know, or or they could say I'm ranked higher. I got more yards than I did, but I didn't coach either one of them.

Okay.

By the way, by the way, I'm just I'm just a messenger. He's just a messenger.

By the way, I said alone. Lauren, you you you want to give props to BG for his coaching. Let's also remember this guy was top five in the world as a player, okay? He had that beautiful and what what what what did you call that? Yo, these guys are football guys will like this, BG. We used to practice together at the old SFTC, the San Francisco Tennis Club, right? It was a beautiful club. And I used to come down from Stanford when I was at Stanford, and you and I used to hit. And then what was the game we played? Remember the the the approach game? What did you call that? Yeah, approach and passing shot game. Yeah, what was that? What was that forehand approach? What did you call it?

I only had one really good shot. I call it my my equity forehand inside out approach shot. That that that puts some that put some P uh some PCs into the bank.

Well, you know, it's funny. I dug myself a hole with you, Brad, but my mom did grow up in Berkeley. So basically, I always knew who you were growing up. I taught the kids at Montclair at that rec center and everything. So you're you to me was like you're the Jason Kid of tennis from that area, and that's like it's epic. Like your name is is is massive in my in my you know from I went into the Bay Area Hall of Fame with Jason Kidd.

Yeah, I saw him play in the ninth grade. My parents went to Berkeley. My grandmother was in it was like one of the first female classes, I think, at Berkeley. My son went to Berkeley, they didn't take me. I had to go to Foothill Junior College.

I went to Santa Cruz. I I don't but you know I'm I'm truly honored. You're amazing. And Brian Chase.

Is your dad is your dad still walking an hour a day, twice, three times a day, PJ?

Knock on wood, my pop is 92. Wow, no cane, no nothing. And oh my god, Patrick, you would probably lose it. He's still like he's got Fox on all day long. He's got you know all the crazy Republican stuff going on. That's all he calls me about. 92. He's one of the only Jewish guys in the history of the world from San Francisco that that thinks the Democrats are like some sort of communist. He was he was he was MAGA before there was MAGA. Oh my god.

Yeah, you were telling me the stories like 15, 20 years ago.

No, no. When I was a little kid, I'd go to the tournament and let's say Medesco or or Stockton or whatever. And if I won, we get to listen to Sports Talk Radio. If I lost, we had to listen to that National Republican radio.

Hey, BG, BG. Ronnie Lott is the one who introduced me to Brandy Chastain. So we had Brandy on our show, and you know, it's kind of funny how that circle you're you're you're mentioning where you're from in that area. Uh and Jay Kidd, I met Jay Kidd when he was playing, and then we still talk, and he'll eventually be on our show too. You know, he's had a very incredible career, both professionally as a player and as a coach, and one of the greatest guys that I've been fortunate enough to call a friend.

Yeah, he's a great player.

Brian, if you could if you could take one tennis player that you've seen over the years, I know you're you sort of follow tennis, and put him on your football team. Who would you take? I'd probably tape your brother.

I'd probably take your brother, you know, just because of the fire, just because of the fire, you know, and just the intensity that he brought to the court every single game.

He's too skinny. This one you would love. Rafa would be Rafa would be like a better version of Troy Palomano. Yeah, because he was a superior athlete to Troy, bigger, stronger, faster. He he I feel like he'd have been an absolute load, like as a as a safety.

Why is no one saying P Mac? I mean, the guy is a great quarterback.

I mean, come on. I mean, I'll be I mean, yeah, uh not exactly the athletic skills, but I I I'm gonna tell my bro, you said that, Brian, because he's gonna love that. He's gonna all right, BG. If you if you could take one tennis player, BG, and put him on your Raiders, who would it be? Other than Rafa, because I know you love Rafa. You've always been a huge Rafa guy. Like somebody now.

Yeah, you know who would probably have the most moxie to be a really good football player? Because he grew up being a football player, and coach would look at him and say, Oh, this guy can easily put on 40 to 50 pounds. It's a no-brainer, would be Ben Shelton. Yeah, you know, he's 6'4 with big legs, he can wing the ball. I've seen him, he could throw the ball 60 yards without even like like flinching.

Yeah.

He was a quarter, he was a quarterback when he until like 12 or 13, coach, Ben Shelton, when he was a kid. And he, you know, loved football, but he f you know decided, you know, this tennis thing might be a little better for me. And I think it worked out pretty well. Went to college, played at Florida with his dad, who was a coach there. You know, his dad's the only coach in NCAA history to have won a national championship in women's sports and women's tennis at Georgia Tech. And then he went to Florida, became the men's coach, and won it as a coach there. Let me ask you this, because I I'm I'm all hot on this college sports thing. I'm actually going to DC next week to appear before a congressional committee to talk about this influx of international athletes. But it's a little separate story for college, you know, football and basketball at the money. What say you about what's going on in the wild, wild west of college sports right now, coach?

Well, there is no there's no guardrails and there's no rules. That's one of the reasons why you're probably attending the conference. And there, you know, the NCAA used to be in charge of what you can and cannot do, and they would put down all the punishment and all those kind of things. They they're they're they're out there in left field. You don't need to hear from them right now. And so, really, what you're getting is you're getting an influx of corporate money right now at Texas Tech. They competed very well last year, had a lot of great players. They played their defensive line, a total of seven million dollars to play last year between four players. But that's you know, an oil tycoon, former Texas Tech football player out there loving. It's it's really who has the funds? Like, even like a team like Ohio State, which is perennially great and they play in Austin this weekend against the Longhorns, they lost $30 million last year from the football program. And so everybody's just trying to figure out because if you don't have the resources, you simply can't compete. You can't go get these quarterbacks. But we have the best quarterback class that we've ever seen in college right now. There's eight guys that could literally be first-round draft picks next year that are playing, but it really doesn't behoove them to come out. They're making more money playing college right now than if they came to the NFL. So we're gonna see some really great players throughout the year. Dante Moore, and you know, you just go through the list of all the you know, RT and all the guys that are out there right now. It's it's gonna be good for college football.

Patrick, they got, I mean, they're for tennis, the biggest now you're seeing 22 and 23-year-old one and done freshmen. This can't happen. The transfer portal every year, there needs to be some sort of a structure, and there needs to actually be a cap. You know, if you have caps in football, there probably should be caps in college, and there needs to be some bonus programs, and none of this six and seven years, they need a lot more to figure out, but you just can't hit the transfer portal every year. It used to be in our day, you had to you transfer it, you have to sit out a year.

Yep.

And yeah, yeah. But you uh it's funny is I I just talked to Chris Mullen last night, and he is now part of an Italian basketball team. And because Donnie Nelson Jr., he owns the team. He's telling me they can only have two foreigners per team. Right, yeah, exactly. Right.

So that's been a rule.

Yeah, so I don't know if maybe that's too few, and we have so many in college that have no Americans, but they they need to figure out like some real rules, and they can't have like Cal and Stanford in the ACC having to travel across country, which for minor sports is a catastrophe opposed to you know football where it's once a week. But they need probably a commissioner, they need some rules, and they need and they need salary caps.

That's true. That was well said. Uh very well said, Brian, let's get a look. Give us a controversial hill you'll die on in the NFL this year. Like a take from you that you're you're you're just you're gonna stick your neck out on it.

When Micah Parsons returns to the Green Bay Packers, they will, he's the best defensive player in the league. Uh he's coming off a torn ACL. He said his target date is week six when the Cowboys play on Sunday night at Green Bay. When he returns to the Packers, the Packers will become contenders. They won't they won't contend. They'll they'll try to uh basically you know hold serve right now until he gets back. When he gets back, when he got hurt last year, the Packers were the team to beat. They were 9-2-1. He got hurt in Denver, and they collapsed after that. When he comes back, I'll say Micah Parsons is the biggest difference maker in this business on defense, and they'll become contenders when he returns.

Interesting. And a lot of people like the Cowboys this year. I'm not sure about that. What about the Pats in the other night with Drake May? I mean, uh, I love what he did last year, coach uh Drake May. I thought this guy's, you know, gonna be a it maybe he already is a top quarterback. Where do you, I mean, how what how much of a bonehead throw was that at the end of the game, number one. Number two, how good do you think he can be?

Well, I you know, he was the top-rated quarterback in the league last year, the highest completion percentage, rated number one, quarterback rating, all that stuff. They also played the weakest schedule of anybody in football in a long, long time. Uh, the the throw at the end was it's more than a boneheaded play, Patrick. I mean, you you're 26 seconds to go in the game. You got to play underneath to to hit Hunter Henry for the first time. Down if you want to try to win the game outright. But you can't throw the ball into the end zone like that to be intercepted. I mean, at the very least, that game should have gone to overtime. And so that's he knows it's on him. But you know, the fact that he pulled that trigger and made that throw makes you wonder just the the level of mistakes that might happen week in, week out, because these guys can go to tailspin real quick. And that might that might be one of those throws that really uh plays itself into another week or another situation where you're just holding your breath, make hoping that he doesn't make that type of error again.

Okay, Patrick, I'll give you mine. I like to be commissioner of football for for and change one's world that drives me nuts. Okay. Okay. Maybe the three best teams, you know, three of the four best teams are all in one division. It's a freaking joke that like you could be 14 and 3 and be a five C. In the NBA, you have the second best record, you're the number two C. They need to switch this thing. Like, you can't be eight and nine and win your division and be a number three four C and then you get home field advantage in the play in the first round of play. That's ridiculous. So you have you know, Seattle and the 49ers and Rams are all great teams potentially. They need to fix this and stop protecting bad teams that win divisions. They they really need to like have a look at this much more clear in my mind. One to seven or whatever should be based upon your record and throw out the divisions. Find you want to call them division. If you win a division and you're seven and ten or eight and nine, you're you you get in, but you have the worst record. I mean your worst seed. They need to fix that. It it's comical, they haven't fixed that, and I can't honestly take it serious until they fix that. I'm gonna I'm gonna go to my hey guys.

Uh I just I want to say one thing, Patrick. Just go ahead. Waldy's got to jump because he's gotta do uh another. I was just gonna be talking.

I got I gotta do this thing with the Jets right now, Patrick. And Biggie. We'll figure them out for that.

So appreciate you joining us, Brian. All the best, and uh, hope we get you back on. Okay, have a great weekend.

Have a great call today, Patrick. Have a great call, man.

Enjoy. Thank you. Big daddy, big daddy. Let me ask you this. Let me ask you this, Big Daddy. What time is the Jet game against the Titans?

12 o'clock here, Nashville time.

Are you gonna make it back? Are you gonna make it back for the Giant game?

No, I'm not. I'm gonna I'll see them next week in LA when they play the Rams.

So you're not gonna be at MetLife for the Giants Cowboys Sunday night?

No, I'm not because I just connection problems, and you know, hey, I'm here in Nashville, so let me stay here and I'll make it just comfortably on Monday.

All right, you're gonna chill out there. See, I I don't know. I was thinking maybe you you know get come from the game, take the little flight to to Newark or Teterborough and you know come and get on the sideline for the Giants. I mean, that would be that would be a BG move right there. BG would I've done that.

Listen, uh you know what? I've done that in the past, trust me. I've done it, I've done it, and it's just like you're getting too old for that. Yeah, yeah, you know, I've been there, done that. I'll see them in LA, and obviously I'll see them more down the road. So uh, you know, I'm just taking it day by day, moment by moment, and uh counting the blessings that I'm able to do what I do.

Smart move. You know, when we get older, you don't sprint down the hill, you walk down the hill.

Absolutely. So, so so when BG and I were at uh Bristol, Connecticut, the home of the uh beautiful ESPN when uh COVID hit, and we were calling the Australian Open from Connecticut. So we were our hours were like up all night. So I would go walk around, you know, outside the uh hotel, like in the snow. Not no BG, but BG would walk around the hotel all through every floor for like hours at a time. I couldn't get you to come outside with me in the cold.

I mean, what was up with that? Okay, honestly, my knowledge of the cold, and I felt like coming out at eight in the morning after calling a five-setter, it felt like you were in a casino all night. And you know what I did? I I did one of the all-time bonehead moves without not knowing it, because that first year literally was never above 30 degrees the entire time. So didn't have gloves, and all of a sudden I come out and it's like five degrees, and my windshield is frozen. I had no idea that if you poured hot water on your windshield, that could that that catastrophe could strike. That just shows you it's like, yeah, I better go get some gloves and I better do my walking inside because my knowledge of like that kind of weather and wanting to be in that kind of weather, I'll take Cali 24-7 twice on Sundays.

Yeah, all right. What do you what do you what are you saying about the women's uh final coming up, BJ? Because I called the first match last night. Uh Sabalenka was on fire, played probably the best match I've seen her play all year, beating Pagula. Rabakina wins in three over Coco Gop. By the way, what a terrible job by the crowd last night. I mean, shows show a little bit of respect for Rabacina. I mean, they just emptied the stadium, BG, when she was doing the on court interview. Uh, that was a bad look from that uh from the New York crowd. I didn't like that at all.

Yeah, that was really surprising. You know, it wasn't like 3 a.m. It was only 11 o'clock, and it was like, man, that was like nobody staying for the credits in the movie anymore. This is a huge match for me, Patrick, for Zabulanka. Because I feel like the last three, four years, she's been the best player, but she's left a lot of hardware on the table, maybe as much as anybody, considering how consistent she's been in the semis. And I I feel like that match in Australia, too, she was up 3-0 in the third. Uh, and the final on Rabakina, you know, she, you know, she lost a cocoa here uh on a match that she probably you know had a good chance to win. And and this year she's been the number one player the entire year and got no slams. So I think this is an important match for her. Remember, they played a great match in Indian Wells tiebreaker in the third. I'm gonna say true. If I'm set in the line, she's not very flexible and backing off. I'm gonna I'll give her a half a point favorite. Wow, and I will say this is a tough one for the crowd. I mean, you know, maybe they, you know, this is like when they're just kind of sitting on their hands. I don't know if the crowd will be a factor, maybe they just root for who's ever down. But I feel like this is a much more important match for Sabalenka.

Yeah, no, I agree. I I think the crowd will be slightly in her favor just because she's been there, done that, and they and Rubakina is so quiet, you know, so mild mannered. She doesn't express herself that much. But I think you're right. I think I think I had a stat for last night that set all the matches Sabalenka's lost in the majors have been like three setters in the last couple years. You know, she started out slow, but since then she's been like, I think seven or eight and one in semifinals. But in finals, she's I think you're I think that's a great way to put it. She's left a few on the table. She's got four majors. She could have six or seven at the moment already. But these are the two best, these are the two best players, certainly the two best hardcourt players going toe-to-toe in this match. And I think you're right. I think this is almost a I think the odds makers will say this is almost a pick-em match.

And you know what? It's very simple in that but both incredibly offensive-minded. Neither likes to play any defense, neither is any good at defense. Maybe Zabalenka is slightly better, but who controls the middle? And I I think that the second serve is going to be a big factor if either player can make big inroads on the player's second serve, especially if they're missing the first serve a little bit. But I think who controls the center of the court, I think is going to win this match. I certainly, you know, if I was betting it, I certainly wouldn't push a pile in either way.

Yeah. I told you, Lauren, that we we get BG on. I mean, we can talk obviously tennis till we're blue in the face, but football too. So we're gonna have to get BG back you know during the middle of the foot uh football season because he is the man when it comes to uh breaking it down. And Coach Brian, I mean, he's phenomenal, Big Daddy. I mean, he's up. I mean, we got two guys that break it down like nobody's business. We what's up with that finger?

What was up with that finger?

Yeah, it got stuck in his jersey, and then they were like, Well, there's nothing really you could do unless we chop it off. So he's uh no, good, keep it, and that's why it's that way.

That's that's that's that's guy, man. We don't Patrick, we don't got that in tennis, but that's stuff.

Who's the uh who's the other hey who ready? Who's the other famous finger?

Right.

Ronnie Ladd cut his finger off the tip of it. Yeah, Ronnie. Let me tell you, that guy was that guy was a hell of a football player. I keep seeing these lists of like all side hey, big daddy. I keep seeing these lists of top 10, you know, football players, defensive players. Young people have no idea. There is no list that doesn't even start with Lawrence Taylor.

Yeah, here it is, Brad. He's got a trophy named after him. So right there and then, when it's caught the education process, when it comes to telling these young players or sharing who he is, that right there alone says it all.

He's the best football player, he's the best non-quarterback football player I've seen in my lifetime. If you put him in today, you know, he's like, oh my god, he'd be suspended. Yeah, he was on performance dehancing drugs and no sleep, and he dominated the league. The guy was like big and fast before they had big and fast guys. And literally, if you didn't just game plan for him, good luck. That guy was awesome.

Yeah, well, you're awesome. You're awesome, VG. We love you.

Have a wonderful day, fellas. Have a great day.

Thank you. We are MacDaddy. We are presented by Volition. Big Daddy, bring us home a win for our New York Jets. We thank Volition for being our presenting sponsor. We thank Dos Homebrews. I killed it last night. We thank Fire Department.

Send it my way, please. Send it my way.

We will, we will.

Okay, I gotta get the heck out of here.

See you later, big man. We dropped our Brian Cranston episode this week. We got Shefty next week. That's the one and only Adam Scheffter from ESPN, the NFL Insider. So he will be our episode. And that's a fascinating discussion with our man, which we did out at Louis in beautiful Port Washington, right on the water. They took good care of us out there. So we are MacDaddy. We love it. Lauren, tremendous job out of you. Big Daddy, bring us home a W for my J-E-T-S Jets, Jets, Jets.

You got it, coach.

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