The Best of The Dan Patrick Show

00:00:00
Speaker 1: You are listening to the Dan Patrick Show on Fox Sports Radio.

00:00:04
Speaker 2: Jason Garrett, former head coach Football Night and America analyst, joining us on the program. Did you care if you were coaching inside or outside?

00:00:14
Speaker 3: Oh?

00:00:14
Speaker 4: Good question.

00:00:16
Speaker 5: You know when I was coaching in Dallas for all those years at you know, at and T Stadium is a pretty good place to play. You know, I think the biggest thing I love what Matthew Stafford said the other day after the game. You know, you want to instill a mentality and everybody that hey, anytime anywhere, you know, home away, moon, parking lot is what we used to say.

00:00:36
Speaker 4: And you know, just go play.

00:00:39
Speaker 5: Certainly there's an advantage of playing that home in your place and the friendly confines.

00:00:43
Speaker 2: Though yeah, I know we get caught up in the old school the elements and the cold and you could see the breath and there's snow and rain, and it feels like the NFL was trying to move away from that to make it and it almost feels like every game might look the same, the aesthetics of it because controlled environment. Can you see the NFL trying to shift towards.

00:01:07
Speaker 5: That maybe a little bit, but I know, just being in TV the last few years. People love the images of these snow games, though, don't they When the snow's coming down and they're doing snow angels and you know they do those slow mos coming in out of commercials and you see the snowflakes. I mean, it's pretty magical, and I certainly hope we don't lose that. You know, I think so much of this stuff is about suits and money and Super Bowls and all of that. So I think that's why that's driving these decisions on the league level, on the team level, and you know, even probably in the city level. You know, you think about Chicago. It makes me sick to think that Chicago is not going to be playing at Soldier Field outside at some point. You know, that's just a magical place. But you know, these decisions are certainly going in that direction. There's no doubt it.

00:02:00
Speaker 2: Okay, but you have to you know, if you're Buffalo and you're Sean McDermott, like, you're getting guys, they have to embrace what Buffalo is all about. Chicago, you've had to embrace that certain stadium, certain environments where you're bringing in guys. But not everybody is growing up in a cold weather climate and they're going to Buffalo. You got guys who could have been in Florida or California or Texas. So how difficult is it as a coach that you have to get your players to adapt to this environment.

00:02:32
Speaker 4: I think it's a real thing. And you said it.

00:02:34
Speaker 5: I mean those states are talking about there's a lot of amazing football being played excuse me, in the South, and and guys who grow up in the South and play in Texas and Florida and then they go to school in the South. I mean, these are new experiences for them. We've had receivers through the years. They're just looking there. They look in their eye leading up to the game. It's like, oh God, this is going to be a disaster, you know. So again you're trying to train them. You certainly want guys who are mentally tough. They can play anywhere. But it can certainly be an advantage to you, you know, embracing the cold if you're one of those teams, if you can get your team to think that way, it can certainly help you.

00:03:12
Speaker 2: Worst environment conditions that you coached or played in.

00:03:17
Speaker 5: We played I think it was a Sunday night game or Monday night game in Chicago when I was in Dallas, and I just can't tell you how cold it was.

00:03:26
Speaker 4: I mean, it was ridiculous.

00:03:29
Speaker 5: And again you're trying to instill in everybody, hey we can go play anywhere. But I saw the looks on our guy's faces early on. I'm like, uh, this better go well early because you know, it just was so damn cold. You couldn't move. Nobody wants to tackle. It was freezing. I don't know what the number was, but it was pretty damn cold.

00:03:49
Speaker 2: And then you got Matt Lafloor, the Green Bay head coach. Does he not wear a hat because he wants to make sure you notice his hair or is he trying to be a tough guy? Yeah?

00:03:59
Speaker 5: Well, well you know, it's the same thing with the guys with sleeves, you know. I mean, hey, we're not wearing sleeves. I'm like, all right, that's fine, it's good. I can see your arms. You're kind of trying to make a statement here. But the goal is to play well for three hours, so you better get the right gear on. I used to tell our coaches, don't be the guy who looks like the michelin man.

00:04:19
Speaker 4: I said, No one layers up more than I do.

00:04:21
Speaker 5: I got more stuff on, but the outer shell is going to make me look like, Okay, this is kind of a normal day. There's nothing worse for a player than to see a coach who's kind of he can't even move because he's got the big jackets on and his faces round. I mean, that's instilling something in your players. So the look for the coach definitely matters.

00:04:41
Speaker 2: Talking to Jason Garrett, tune in Saturday Night, seven thirty Eastern on Peacock Jason and the Football Night in America. Crew, get ready, the Ravens and the Packers and that'll be exclusively on Peacock and then Niners and the Bears Sunday Night Football. I'm trying to figure out how the Niners did this, Jason, Like Howard they eleven and four, given everything that's happened to this team this season, Yeah.

00:05:08
Speaker 4: It's it's amazing.

00:05:09
Speaker 5: And you know the obvious thing, it's a testament to Kyle Shanahan and his staff. You know, those guys able to you know, just overcome it, you know. I think the other part for me always with injuries is how you build the team and if you're fortunate enough to have injuries where you have some depth, and guys have certainly stepped up there and emerged. But for them to be where they are and playing as well as they are, it's been amazing. And you know, I think Kyle certainly instills that mentality. One guy that can't be overlooked in this whole thing to me is just you know, the quarterback play when Mac Jones steps in and now Brock Purty comes back, you know, their quarterback play has not dipped at all.

00:05:53
Speaker 4: Brock is playing at such a high level.

00:05:56
Speaker 5: But to have Mac be a guy who could you know, kind of hold the fort there when he was out, we really really impressive. Hats off the Kyle Shanahan has done a great job.

00:06:05
Speaker 2: And I thought that Philip Rivers has played pretty well. Let's take his age out of this, because it feels like we're grading him on a curve. But if I just remove that and just say it's Philip Rivers out there, the intelligence that he has to have to be able to get away with not having an arm is pretty remarkable. You study quarterbacks, you were a quarterback. What are you seeing with Philip Rivers?

00:06:29
Speaker 5: Well? I love him on so many different levels. I mean, just his competitiveness, his love for the game. His passion for the game is off the charts and it's been that way forever. So for me, that's where it starts. But he is so smart and these guys when they've when they've taken so many snaps, they just see things happen.

00:06:46
Speaker 4: Before they do.

00:06:48
Speaker 5: And that allows him to be such quick thinkers, quick decision makers, and they seem to be right all the time. And he made so many good throws, you know, over the last couple of weeks where he just anticipates it and you know that, oh, this guy's coming, the ball's going there, it's out of my hand, and you know he's defying all the odds because he can't drive the ball obviously like he used to.

00:07:12
Speaker 4: But you know, watch that game last night.

00:07:15
Speaker 5: I mean, he made some big time throws down the field, and you know what attribute to him.

00:07:20
Speaker 4: And I just love the look of him too.

00:07:22
Speaker 5: You know, I got such a kick out of the whole press conference a couple of weeks ago when they asked him how much you wait and you know.

00:07:30
Speaker 4: Go back and look at earlier Philip Rivers and.

00:07:32
Speaker 5: Him now, but still like you said, he's driving the ball down the field, making big time throws.

00:07:37
Speaker 4: The guy's an inspiration to me. I love him.

00:07:40
Speaker 2: You did a project with NFL Films where you're evaluating quarterbacks. So you talked to Troy, Steve Young, Warren Moon, Phil Simms, Kurt Warner, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford, Josh Allen, Dak Prescott, rock Perty, Jordan Love. What was the one thing? Was there a common thread with all of these quarterbacks?

00:08:02
Speaker 5: Well, it was a project that we've been thinking about for a while, and last year we did something on the evolution of the throwing motion.

00:08:10
Speaker 4: You know, fifty years ago, Joe Namath was the best passor. I mean, it was just this beautiful motion they had.

00:08:15
Speaker 5: And I got no conversation with Aaron Rodgers a couple of years ago and I asked him. I said, hey, you're as good as pastor as there's ever been.

00:08:23
Speaker 4: Give me a thought.

00:08:23
Speaker 5: I'm throwing and he starts describing the motion and I'm like, what are you talking about? I mean, it was just from out of the blue. I used to have this name throwing sequence on my wall when I was growing up, and.

00:08:36
Speaker 2: It was like how did you not understand this having been a coach and a quarterback.

00:08:41
Speaker 5: Well, he just starts talking about stuff that's I'm like, what are you talking about. He's like, I like to jump onto my left leg and I like to get all my way to the inside of my left calf.

00:08:51
Speaker 4: I'm like, what is that?

00:08:52
Speaker 5: Nobody talks about that, and he always has a different spin on stuff. But we did a deep dive in how throwing has changed, and it was really fun project. We talked to all the guys and there's a lot of amazing coaches working with players, particularly young players now about throwing.

00:09:09
Speaker 4: But I thought it was better to go to the primary source.

00:09:12
Speaker 5: So we talked to Rogers and Akeman and Prescott and Breeze and all these guys about the motion and how it's changed. And then that evolved into the misevaluation of quarterbacks. You know, the project this year is it was a two part series with NFL Films where hey, you know, this is the most evaluated position, it's the most important position, but it's also the most misevaluated position. And why So I talked to all these guys and we came up with ten criteria for when you're when you're trying to evaluate a quarterback. These are the most important things in order, and and it was so much fun to hear these guys. I mean, you know, seven eight nine Hall of Fame quarterbacks talking about this and uh, you know, talking about Philip Rivers. The first one that we came up with was passion for the game. I mean, if you don't love football, I mean really love it, not love the idea of it. Hey I'm gonna starting quarterback in the NFL, but love it and everything that comes with it. You know, you can't have success. And we went on and on and we started we went, uh, you know, passion for football, mental and physical toughness, and then who you are, your temperament, your drive to be great, your leadership. And then it was football intelligence, football instincts. And then we got to the stuff that everybody thinks about, you know. Accuracy was the first physical trait, and then it was arm talent and playmaking ability.

00:10:34
Speaker 4: And the last one and.

00:10:36
Speaker 5: It's the one it's the reason why I think we miss a lot was the physical tools. What the guy looks like, how big his hands are, you know, all of that stuff that sometimes causes people to get enamored with the guy at the combine and so to hear these guys talk about all these things, these guys who have done it at the highest level, it was so much fun for me.

00:10:59
Speaker 4: And if you get a chance to take a peek at it, you learn a lot about football.

00:11:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, but why do we miss?

00:11:08
Speaker 5: We miss because we start with number ten. Number ten is the physical took the guy walks into the room. And it's really derived from a comment my dad made to me. I just finished playing playing and I became the quarterback coach with the Dolphins, and my dad had been a coach and a scout forever.

00:11:26
Speaker 4: And we're on the phone as I was going to.

00:11:27
Speaker 5: Indianapolis to the combine, and he said, you're going to fall in love with someone by the way he looks when he walks into the room and how he throws.

00:11:37
Speaker 4: Remember, there's a lot more to playing quarterback than just that.

00:11:40
Speaker 5: And he said, think about all the great guys you've been around, on what qualities they had, and go back to that. And I always use Troy Aikman as the example, because you know, he and I played together for eight years and he is the prototype. He walks in the room, It's like, that's what a quarterback looks like. His hands wrap around the ball. He can throw it like nobody. But I'll go to my graves saying what made Troy Aikman great was his mental toughness, his physical toughness, his passion for the game, his heart to.

00:12:11
Speaker 4: The day I die.

00:12:12
Speaker 5: And I can give you countless examples of what that was. And then you add all this great physical ability on top of it, and that's why he gets the gold jacket the day he retires.

00:12:22
Speaker 3: Yeah.

00:12:22
Speaker 2: I have said for a long long time, I want to know if you love football, like, do you want to be great?

00:12:29
Speaker 3: Like?

00:12:30
Speaker 2: I have to know that part of it. It's not Hey, I can throw the ball sixty yards. I want to know do you truly love this game? Because this game is going to rough you up. The highs are unbelievable, the lows, and then you got to get yourself back up. And this is where I think we miss that you do fall in love and you go, man, that guy looks like an NFL quarterback. I want a guy who's going to nerd out and go, hey, let's go over that defense we're going to face again, or you know, let me I don't know it all. I want to know it all, like I want to be a sponge like all of those things. That's what you're trying to find.

00:13:07
Speaker 5: And yeah, and think about all the great ones, the best ones in all sports. Was Jordan's so much better than everybody else? Physically? I mean he was incredible physically, don't get me wrong. But was he so much better? Tiger Woods so much better? Jack Nicholas so much better, Fetter so much better. You know, it's the other stuff that separates the greatest guys. And you know, the question is how do you evaluate it? And you know, I used to have my favorite combine question. I used to ask every player, particularly quarterbacks. I said, say the kid came from Ohio State. Hey, there's one hundred guys at Ohio State. We're going to rank you, guys one through one hundred based on one criteria how much you love football. One loves at the most, hundred loves oft the least. And I said, we're going to ask your teammate, your coaches, and every staff member at Ohio State to rank you one through one hundred and provide the evidence of the ranking. And invariably, Dan the guy would say.

00:14:07
Speaker 4: Oh, I'd be number one.

00:14:08
Speaker 3: I love ball.

00:14:09
Speaker 5: It's just a feeling inside of me all that I'm like, that's not the question the questions. We're asking the people around you to rank you and provide the evidence. It's not a feeling. Love is an action, right, So do you really love it? Or do you love the idea of it? And so the best ones I've been around, they love it and there's evidence all over the place in their lives.

00:14:30
Speaker 2: Great stuff. Merry Christmas to you and the family, and look forward to the NFL Films special there with all of those great quarterbacks. Also you guys with Football Night in America Ravens Packers, also Sunday Night Football Bears in the forty nine ers. Thank you again, Jason, Great stuff.

00:14:48
Speaker 3: Thanks to Dan.

00:14:49
Speaker 4: Merry Christmas, Bud there to Jason Garrett.

00:14:52
Speaker 1: Be sure to catch the live edition of The Dan Patrick Show weekdays at nine am Eastern six am Pacific on Fox Sports and the iHeartRadio app.

00:15:02
Speaker 6: Pauly Fools Go Here with Tony Foosco. Yeah, as everybody knows, we're the hosts of the award winning Paully and Toni Foosco Show. Yeah, but instead of us telling you how great we are. Here's how Dan Packrick described us when he came on our show.

00:15:14
Speaker 2: Quick, knowledgeable and funny, opinionated.

00:15:18
Speaker 1: What what are you doing interrupting our promo?

00:15:20
Speaker 4: Yeah, you wasn't talking about you. You took those clips totally of context.

00:15:25
Speaker 6: Oh yeah, well after this promo, I'm gonna take you out and beat you.

00:15:29
Speaker 1: Let me put this into context. Shut up.

00:15:31
Speaker 7: Yeah.

00:15:32
Speaker 6: Anyway, just listen to the Pauly and Tony Fosco Show on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

00:15:37
Speaker 2: Yee, voting is over, it's time. Well we're getting to that moment of the most Valuable Least Valuable Dan edt. They're already screwing things up the back room guys. Mario, whose job is to direct the show also he is the reigning most Valuable backroom Guy, and then he says, oh, why don't we wait to reveal the results? And I go, it's my show and I need you to give me those results. And then he's going to have to give his trophy most Valuable Backroom Guy to the newest winner, also most Valuable Least Valuable. Dan have that coming up eight seven to seven to three DP show email address Dpatdanpatrick dot com, Twitter handle it dp Show. Reggie Miller will stop buy in a little bit. Good morning. If you're watching on Peacock, thank you for downloading the app. We'll come up with a new poll question. Also, the most must win game of the weekend. We'll have that for you coming up. Last night, the Colts loss clinched playoff spots for the Bills, Jags and the Chargers. But this should be about the forty nine Ers because they looked great on the road, giving five and a half and rock Perdy throws for five touchdowns as they roll forty eight to twenty seven. They have now scored points in twenty three consecutive quarters, the team's longest such streak since nineteen ninety five. The stat of the Day is always brought to you by Pennini America, the official trading cards of The Dan Patrick Show. You got a double header basketball Tuesday nights on NBC in Peacock, Nuggets, mAbs, and you have the Rockets and the Clippers. Reggie Miller will talk about that NBA on NBC and streaming on Peacock's Seaton Poll question for the final hour of the final day for US this holiday.

00:17:40
Speaker 8: Season, Final Day, Final Show, Final, what let's see we got up there right now for the holidays. You prefer to host or travel right now? Sixty percent prefer to host. And then we also have who's more to blame for the USC and Notre Dame rivalry going away? Notre Dame has fifty eight percent. Oh oh, that's great. What are we gonna go with the the final hour? I got one here from Paul who is asking if Philip Rivers is helping his Hall of Fame chances or hurting his Hall of Fame chances.

00:18:20
Speaker 2: I think he's doing both because he's helping right now, but by delaying five years, like he's going to be up against Aaron Rodgers probably, Yeah, Paul, I.

00:18:31
Speaker 9: Think he's lightly helping his Hall of Fame case because he doesn't have a big hook besides numbers and longevity.

00:18:38
Speaker 10: He doesn't have a Super Bowl, a lot of moments.

00:18:41
Speaker 9: But I think this puts a pretty good spin on the end of his career and people will remember that in five years.

00:18:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, not huge, it's good story. Good story. You just you know, you wonder what quarterbacks are going to be retiring and what kind of numbers are they going to have Are they going to have an MVP and or a Super Bowl? I'm assuming Matthew Stafford the way he's played this year, is going to want to play at least another year. I don't know about Aaron Rodgers, so you've got to factor that in as well. That now you've moved the clock, you know it's five five more years. By the way, it's a meat Tuesday. We just had some biscuits and gravy. We also have steak and eggs, bacon, hash browns. Who has it better than way?

00:19:21
Speaker 10: No, nobody back in college.

00:19:24
Speaker 2: Patty in Louisville. I hate Patty dan longtime.

00:19:28
Speaker 7: First time?

00:19:29
Speaker 2: What's on your mind?

00:19:32
Speaker 7: How are you the only one that ate the biscuits and gravy? Right?

00:19:34
Speaker 3: You have to open the biscuit.

00:19:38
Speaker 2: Oh the Danetz did not open the biscuit. No, Marvin, just ate the biscuit. Oh Rvin, what's wrong with you? Uhh, well, thank you, Patty. I didn't know we were going to be educated in how to eat biscuits and gravy.

00:19:56
Speaker 9: Yes, Paul, as a person who believes in personal freedom when eat, whilst some people chop up their biscuit.

00:20:02
Speaker 10: Okay, just thrown out.

00:20:04
Speaker 2: Okay, that's fine, that's fine. Yes, Tom, I.

00:20:07
Speaker 7: Picked up the biscuit like there was a rock on the floor, and I just dipped it into gravy and just held it in my hand like I was holding a ball. Thank you to I had no interest in opening up.

00:20:14
Speaker 2: Uh, Mario, if you could please give me the results of the most valuable Least valuable dennet.

00:20:22
Speaker 8: And is there any uh possible ability that you're throwing things curveballs at Mario last minute to affect his voting.

00:20:34
Speaker 2: He was told, I tell him, don't produce a show, just direct a show. And here's Anthony, who is on the short list for Most Valuable back round. Yes, he's made the first round to cut. He has made the first round of cuts. That's Anthony, the youngest member of our staff.

00:20:54
Speaker 9: Yes, Paul, would Anthony be the first ever rookie to win it?

00:20:58
Speaker 3: Yes?

00:20:59
Speaker 2: Wow. This is his first year. And Mario has his trophy because he was the most Valuable BRG last year. And it's right there if you're watching on Peacock and Mario will bring that out. I believe when you know what Mario, Mario, why didn't you bring that out? Because I want to introduce this year's most Valuable Backroom Guy, Todd. I'm gonna let you guess who you think I'm picking for the most valuable backroom Guy.

00:21:33
Speaker 7: I am going to go with Dylan for that.

00:21:35
Speaker 2: Dylan, all right, Marvin Dylan, all right, Paulie, I'm pretty sure you're going with Rob, Rob Okay, Satan oh Man.

00:21:49
Speaker 8: You know what I'm just gonna say. I'm gonna throw it out there. I'm gonna say, Ray, Ray, you can't say it and laugh.

00:21:58
Speaker 9: You can't say it then laughing your own joke, Okay, cow cutthroat.

00:22:04
Speaker 2: All right.

00:22:04
Speaker 8: I'm sorry, Ray, that was a very nice you know, I always got to go for the joke. I'm sorry. It's a weakness that I have. I have to go for it. Ray, You're very great, important. You're my mvprg Okay every day.

00:22:18
Speaker 2: Now. Anthony, who just started with us full time, he's on the short list. Dylan has done a wonderful job as well. Rob was sneaky, great, does a lot of things. The newsletter very very underrated and very understated. Ray has done a great job. Ray with the gambling podcast. There's just so many candidates weeks. Who's our cameraman. You know, Eric, the big German, all the things that he did driving cross country. The most valuable back room guy for this year is Jay.

00:23:03
Speaker 3: Eric.

00:23:07
Speaker 9: There's like Leicester City coming. Yes, this guy, this guy's been down twenty eight three his whole life.

00:23:14
Speaker 2: Yes, so oh, let's go in the building. I know he's in the back working smoking. He might be smoking a heater, but on his behalf. If we can, if we could get in touch with him. You would have thought that Mario would be producing this where we would have Jay here to accept his award.

00:23:35
Speaker 10: Vegas didn't have Jay on the board.

00:23:36
Speaker 2: Jay was not on the board. And I did say to the big German. And by the way, Mario was so sure that it was going to be Dylan. Mario bet a pie to the face that it was going to be Dylan. So Mario not only loses the BRG Trophy, he will get a pie to the face coming up at the end of the show. So if we can locate j and it was probably outside.

00:24:05
Speaker 8: You know, it's really unfortunate is that one of the brg's had to go get Jay to bring him out here to be like here, you're the person that won, you know, in there.

00:24:13
Speaker 2: Comes See that's a guy.

00:24:17
Speaker 9: Yay.

00:24:18
Speaker 2: All right, Jay, come over here and get your trophy. Oh what a great moment. Look at that. There you go, buddy, am you're welcome Jay. There he is so many newports tonight. Yeah, well cigarettes for everybody. Thank you. J Ja did a wonderful job this year. And uh, right on, que they have to get him from back. He's out there working and uh he of course is the brother of the big German, Eric, the big german. So oh, here we go. Yes, he was.

00:24:58
Speaker 7: Busy tarring the roof. That's why it was late to accept the award. We had to get him down with the ladder and everything. Wow.

00:25:06
Speaker 2: Okay, so Mario, you're an idiot. Okay. I just opened the Least Valuable Dannette. There's nothing in here, and then I opened the most Valuable Dannette. Then there's two things in here that is classic. Okay, all right, what do.

00:25:29
Speaker 4: You what do you like?

00:25:30
Speaker 2: This is why you you're getting a pie. I can give you a pie of the face right now. I wish you could be more like Jay.

00:25:39
Speaker 8: Probably should have that m v b RG after Uh, okay.

00:25:44
Speaker 2: Do we want to do Least Valuable Danette to start, Todd, Yeah.

00:25:49
Speaker 8: You guess I thought it was that you're announcing.

00:25:52
Speaker 2: That's right to it, Todd.

00:25:55
Speaker 7: I'm gonna go myself with the least Valuable Dannette.

00:25:58
Speaker 8: Okay, uh, I'm gonna say me okay, Marvin, me.

00:26:05
Speaker 2: Paul.

00:26:05
Speaker 10: I think Todd will win the award.

00:26:08
Speaker 2: Paul finished fourth, least Valuable, Marvin third, Seaton finished second. Day I lost. It wasn't that close. Fritzy won by twenty five hundreds vote.

00:26:27
Speaker 7: Hatember. It's a good thing. I don't know what to maan.

00:26:30
Speaker 2: Now we get here, we go. The envelope for the most Valuable Danna Paulie was last. Marvin third, the winner by a mere one hundred votes. The Double Yeah wow, you did the daily double Aga and Losman.

00:27:14
Speaker 7: Which once again cancels each other out. So I'm just kind of a nomeric.

00:27:17
Speaker 2: You're a You're you're a It's all about content. You're really good and really bad.

00:27:22
Speaker 7: Give it and take it away. That's what happens.

00:27:24
Speaker 2: Yes, but Mary, take that.

00:27:26
Speaker 7: As a compliment. Maybe what the best and the most and least. I don't know what. I'm trying to figure out how to process that.

00:27:32
Speaker 2: And you do really really good things. And then you do some bad things.

00:27:37
Speaker 7: There are extremes of oppea about contribution.

00:27:40
Speaker 2: You're kind of like a home run hitter who strikes out. You're Adam Dunn or Dave Kingman a love more hate him thing with that. Yeah, you either hit a home run or you strike out. You're are Pete Alonzo.

00:27:53
Speaker 7: How's that or what be compared to pet?

00:27:57
Speaker 8: It's crazy if you take out Ethan who on back to back mvds. Somehow, Todd has won five of the last six.

00:28:07
Speaker 2: M Congratulations Todd.

00:28:09
Speaker 8: It's a pretty amazing run.

00:28:10
Speaker 7: It's like a dynasty. I'm gonna like an all of a sudden.

00:28:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, but you're making an impact.

00:28:16
Speaker 7: It matters.

00:28:16
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:28:17
Speaker 8: People also won four of the last five lvds.

00:28:20
Speaker 2: It's basically just.

00:28:21
Speaker 8: A Todd Fritz competition because he wins both of them every single year.

00:28:25
Speaker 2: It was, you know, the least valuable dan out. So you could see the voting and it went up like giving the middle finger, like Todd's votes were so much that it was like the other dan outs are here, and then it went straight up like you were giving the middle finger to all those who voted for you. Todd fantastic, Yeah, oh so much drama. I'm exhausted, but I still got forty five minutes every day. Super Bowl Professional. Yes, thank you, thank you, Todd. Reggie Miller will join us coming up. We'll get some more phone calls. We will also have Todd's holiday names. Yes, so he can get a start to next year's Least Valuable Danette. And we will have thee wait that will go to Now, anything that happens from here on goes on next year's resume.

00:29:14
Speaker 1: Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to listen live.

00:29:25
Speaker 2: Todd off to a bad start for next year least Valuable dan Att Did you do this last year?

00:29:33
Speaker 3: Did you?

00:29:33
Speaker 7: I mean, that's why when you have one foot out the door, you're counting the minister vacation.

00:29:36
Speaker 2: Come on, come on, Bobby professional, you got forty minutes.

00:29:40
Speaker 7: I was weak. I should have had that on your desk a few minutes.

00:29:42
Speaker 2: Now, Yeah, we got some notes here. You got to tell me that you know, the Rockets visit the Clippers tonight at ten thirty Eastern and Reggie Miller will be on the call. Terry Gannon and uh, you didn't give me that information. I can't do that to Red.

00:29:55
Speaker 7: I was looking at the bacon and the mistaken eggs. We got biscuits.

00:29:58
Speaker 2: I know we do have steak and eggs coming up. We do have a gravy and biscuits. Hi, Reg, how are you?

00:30:06
Speaker 3: I'm great, Theodore Todd. I'm just supporting in you, man. Come on, man. Years ago, you were always, you know, a step ahead of everyone, and I mean, oh, how the mighty have fallen?

00:30:19
Speaker 7: Come on now, I'm mailing it in. It's not good for the last hour of the year. Here.

00:30:23
Speaker 2: Were you ever late for a game?

00:30:26
Speaker 3: For a game? Never? Never for a game. I think I was late, maybe out of my whole eighteen year career to a practice once, and it was because of a snowstorm, a rare snowstorm in Indiana. I wasn't a great driver in snow and I was probably late fifteen minutes late to a practice.

00:30:44
Speaker 2: Okay, So you weren't like iverson never never?

00:30:49
Speaker 3: I was always I'm military.

00:30:53
Speaker 2: You're right, hello, But how tough was your dad on? All of you guys, you and your brother and your sister like being a military like even when you show up for this show like you're showing up early every time, early every time. But what was growing up in the household.

00:31:14
Speaker 3: Because if you're five minutes early, you're really five minutes late. I just like to be prepared. I like things to work, as everyone knows. I just things flow better with me when things are organized. So I like, I like to come to you guys and make sure the picture looks good, we sound good. Growing up in the middle of the household, it was, you know, throw the corter off the bed and make sure it bounced once or twice. He we led this kind of life just because I think it helped in sports because we were always first or second to practice. You got extra time. We always stayed late. It just now my kids now don't like it. Like, Dad, you aren't in the military. We can see Papa, but you weren't in the military. I was like, well, I'm a product.

00:32:07
Speaker 2: Sorry, yeah, but you're not making the bed now at home?

00:32:13
Speaker 3: Hello, Yes, I am really yes.

00:32:17
Speaker 2: Can you make the bed better than your wife?

00:32:20
Speaker 3: Absolutely, she's not making the bed. No, she does a great job of helping me make the bed. Courtshe we instilled in our kids that doing chores are something that kids are supposed to do.

00:32:36
Speaker 2: Lakers play the Suns tonight. How long will it take for Dylan Brooks to get into it with Lebron?

00:32:42
Speaker 3: I think it started right up about now. Look, we love we love the antics. These two have have had a history. What I just found out, which was a little surprising. How you know they both shared an agent, you know, with Rich Paula. I know they were both under the same umbrella. So these two guys, I don't know if it's if it's an actor for show or if it's real. But it's popcorn. I'm gonna tune in to see the highlights after my game. I want to see.

00:33:16
Speaker 2: But you know, you see we we had this with Dennis Rodman and Carl Malone. But I don't know how many agitators there are or you kind of like Draymond Green is a great agitator.

00:33:28
Speaker 3: Well, we thought that was on case in point last night.

00:33:30
Speaker 2: No, I know his coach.

00:33:33
Speaker 3: Look, I think he had a Latrell spree. Well and PJ Carlissimo flashback moment.

00:33:43
Speaker 2: You think he was gonna go after Steve.

00:33:45
Speaker 3: I don't think he was gonna put hands on Steve Carr. I think there's too much respect there. But I think he thought about the consequences, and I think he did the mature thing and removed himself from the situation. Everyone's going to go back and dissect everything that happened that led up to that. I think it was a turnover. Now, getting back on defense, Look, if you're the Warriors, if you would have told me after thirty games, this team would be fifteen and fifteen and in the plan, I would have looked at you crazy, only from the simple fact of how they ended the season. Last year after the trade for Jimmy Butler, they were one of the top five teams, especially defensively. Fast forward to this year. Defensively they are horrible and they can't seem to close games with one of the best closers in the game and Stephen Curry. So look, emotions are building up. I applaud Draymond for removing himself from the situation. So he's not a part of the Latrell's Free Well PJ. Carlissimo history. But where there's smoke, there's fire. A little bit that's going on with the Warriors right now.

00:34:58
Speaker 2: Thunder have lost two of their last four, and I don't know if this is where you go, Okay, we don't have to try to go for the Golden State Warriors record. Let's it's it's It's just like the Spurs mentality with Greg Popovich. I don't care what our record is until we get to the postseason. I know this is a young Oklahoma City team and you want to have your mark and leave your mark. But man, I want you ready to go in May and June. I don't care that you have seventy four seventy five wins. I want to know that you won the title.

00:35:31
Speaker 3: I hope that's some of the conversations that are being had in that locker room again. And you mentioned this, and you are one correct. This is a young team fresh off a championship, and if you want to be in the same breath as like a Chicago Bulls, well, the Chicago Bulls have that seventy two and ten record and winning the championship. Yeah. Now, remember Golden State Eclipse that but lost the championship, but was were awarded Kevin Durant in the process and then went on to win back to back championship. So if you're the thunder, do you want to be put in that Vein or if you go back to back, you're already yeah. I mean you're with the Warriors, you're with the Bulls. So I don't think winning and eclipsing that Golden State record is that important. I think again, I've always said this on the show. Playing well the end of March in April and moving on is the most important thing. As long as health, that's the number one key. If Shay continues to be healthy, he's on that unbelievable one hundred I think it's one hundred games now, scoring twenty plus points. And now they've got their their pipping back and j Dubbs. So this team again is gonna continue to roll. I just hope they don't go after it at the sake of winning a championship and tiring out some guys.

00:37:01
Speaker 2: If Golden State had won that championship instead of the Cavaliers, would Kevin you never get Durant. That's why I was saying. I was gonna say that never would have happened, right.

00:37:12
Speaker 3: Never would have happened, because remember during that OKC and Russell Westbrook and KD they were up three to one on that team and lost, and then if they went on to win the championship, he doesn't like, Oh okay, well I'll join them now. That was kind of the door was a little bit open for them to join them. Hey, you guys want seventy three games, but you didn't win the championship. He joins them. They went back to back. He's finals MVP back to back, so he has his chips. But if the Warriors won that, in my humble opinion, I don't believe KD would have joined them.

00:37:49
Speaker 2: Talking to Reggie Miller, NBC Sports, NBA lead game analysts, the Rockets at the Clippers and the Clippers, that's a bad situation.

00:37:59
Speaker 3: It is a way around. But again, I think the writing was on the wall even before they rolled the balls out for training camp with the whole Kawai aspirations and money under the table and circumventing the salary cap.

00:38:16
Speaker 2: How often do you think this happens, rech I mean, let's just look at this from a business perspective of I can pay you this, and all of these guys are billionaires. I can give you side money, I can give you something that you'll be papping.

00:38:34
Speaker 3: It absolutely happens because you have so many sponsors in house where it could be a commercial here, or an appearance, a few appearances here. But when there's a track record of you never showing up for X amount of dollars, I mean, that's a red flag. It's a red flag. It happens. But they got hot.

00:38:58
Speaker 2: Basically, Yeah, I have to believe there are some marquee players who've gotten side deals. We can pay you this under the salary cap. We're going to entice you by giving you this.

00:39:14
Speaker 3: I'm sure it happens. It never happened this way. I wish it would have in Indiana.

00:39:21
Speaker 2: Now, when you were at UCLA and you had no show jobs, what were they what were they giving you back then?

00:39:28
Speaker 3: Giving me? Well, now that we can talk about things because of the nil wow they gave me. No, I had free housing. I will say that I had a plush free housing. And I to tell you truth, I was the original fresh press fresh Prince of bel Air because I did have a nice free housing in bel Air.

00:39:48
Speaker 2: Now, so I was the original Okay, but how does that work that you got a free crib in bel Air? That was it like somebody's paying your rent?

00:39:58
Speaker 3: Well, no, it was a mansion.

00:40:03
Speaker 2: And wait, but you Kato Kaelin before Kato.

00:40:08
Speaker 3: Kalan I was the fresh prince and I was kato' kalen exactly.

00:40:15
Speaker 2: You were Kato Kaelin with a jump shot there. Okay, I like that.

00:40:21
Speaker 3: That was the real perk. That was the only perk I had because again back to my military dad, My dad didn't want other people having favors over you, you know, because he was like, hey, they're always gonna want something, so always gonna want something. So Pops was kind of he had a hand on it as well.

00:40:40
Speaker 2: I'm not sure how often you get on these courts that we had during the Cup that they're painted, and some players have talked about their slippery, like did you notice a difference in a regular game court and for the Cup when they dress him.

00:40:56
Speaker 3: Up, the gloss can be a little bit different. I wasn't on any dish, but last year when we did do games, it wasn't so much to them being slippery. It was sightlines and they were so bright for a shooter. Some of the glare from the lights because we remember now that the lights are coming down from the top, the glare would be a little bit outstanding. But look, it's a marketing thing. I get it, and in today's age of Nintendo and all these ps fives and kids liked the shiny new things. That's where we're at with this, Theodore.

00:41:29
Speaker 2: The worst court you ever played on.

00:41:33
Speaker 3: Without the shining you mean person that I played on?

00:41:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, the worst court you ever played on?

00:41:39
Speaker 3: The old Sports Arena where the Clippers used to play before they moved. Wasn't great. The old Sports Arena Downtown terrible, terrible for your knees.

00:41:48
Speaker 2: What about Boston Garden. Yeah, but there's history and oh you were okay with it. Yeah, but there's gaps in the there is, but.

00:41:57
Speaker 3: It's history in there, all right. I like to hit that at the old Chicago Stadium, the roar of the crowd for him.

00:42:05
Speaker 2: That the.

00:42:09
Speaker 3: Atmosphere was great. I like playing in places like that.

00:42:13
Speaker 2: The best shooting arena.

00:42:16
Speaker 3: I'm gonna say, MSG, no question, it is the best arena in my opinion. It the smell of the zoo and the popcorn elephants in the back, the Broadway lighting, the celebrities in the front row. You see nothing but court and the front row and you it's it is the best place to play the best by far.

00:42:44
Speaker 2: The Spurs seem to be ahead of schedule.

00:42:47
Speaker 3: Yes, Listen, they have taken a page. And this is how you know we're a copycat league. Look at the success of the Thunder. You build through the draft, you get all these guards that can pick you up full court. They have a generational type player. Thunder have SDA, the Spurs have Wimby. Yeah, both got young coaches that are innovative. They both play deep nine ten and everyone plays the same way and they play for one another. And you see more teams doing that. The young Chicago Bulls are trying to do that. The Pacers were on this path until how he got hurt, with young players all being able to play one way, and you're just seeing a trend happen and the Spurs right now. To me, the only thing is can Wimby make it to the finish line? Healthy health will be the only thing with him, But they've shown without him they continue to win. But they're a much better team defensively when he's in the lineup.

00:43:56
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm wondering who he reminds you of.

00:43:59
Speaker 3: Defensively, I think he's a mixture of Hakeem Elijah On with his instincts but being able to block shots and intimidate a lot like to Kim Bay a little bit. I think he's a hybrid of those two. And then a lot of people don't want to talk about Ralph Sampson. I think Ralph Sampson at that size was ahead of the game as well. I think he kind of his name gets lost in the shuffle in terms of describing Wimby. Ralph Samson Hall of Famer. Ralph Sampson was great at both ends of the floe, a lot like Wimby.

00:44:40
Speaker 2: Yeah, I imagine Ralp Samson Now then we wouldn't have any problem with seven four guy playing on the perimeter. But back then you're like, what are you doing? Get inside? Your coach would always say, whatever, get inside.

00:44:53
Speaker 3: See how the game has changed because when Ralph was around, it was all about the big man and being inside, Moses Malone, Patrick Ewing, I mean all the kareem. He grew up in that era where the game was played inside out. Today the game is played outside in and Wimby's in this generation. And if Ralph Stamson played today and his skill set like a former teammate of mine, would be unbelievable in today's game. Rick Smith's would be great in today's game at seven, two seven, three, could face up shoot, great passer, he would be great in today's game.

00:45:33
Speaker 2: But where is the evolution, Like, what what's the next evolution of the NBA ten doars from now?

00:45:41
Speaker 3: Dare I say there may be a four point shot?

00:45:46
Speaker 2: Would you be in favor of that?

00:45:48
Speaker 3: The game, everything evolves, life evolves. I would. I have no problem with that. Now, it's going to mess up the records. If I'm Stephen Curry, I would be upset with that. But in ten years I wouldn't be surprised if there's a four point line.

00:46:05
Speaker 2: What about removing the three point.

00:46:07
Speaker 3: Line all together?

00:46:09
Speaker 2: Yeah?

00:46:11
Speaker 3: I think that adds flair to it. That will never happen. That adds too much flair. But you mean, just have a four point line or just have two pointers?

00:46:20
Speaker 2: Have a four point line?

00:46:22
Speaker 3: Oh? I like that. Then I can do that.

00:46:24
Speaker 2: But is basketball okay? I know we go old school and get caught up in the esthetics of basketball. I'm not talking about the nineties when it wasn't, you know, statically pleasing, except for the bulls. But it's just a lot of threes? Is that good? Is that good for the game?

00:46:45
Speaker 3: I would love to see a little bit more inside play. But the game has become international universal. There's a lot of people that are progressive that want to push the game forward.

00:47:00
Speaker 2: You ever widen the court? Can you widen the courts? Can you? Would you ever consider raising the basket?

00:47:09
Speaker 3: No?

00:47:09
Speaker 2: Okay, what would you widen the court?

00:47:13
Speaker 3: Look, if you widen the court again, you're taking revenue away from these owners. No, you got to factor that in.

00:47:21
Speaker 2: I know, I know, I know. It's just these guys are getting so big and there's only so much room out there. Like there's certain guys who can't go to the corner because their shoes would probably be out of bound and be on the line.

00:47:37
Speaker 3: Look, I would be in favor of widening it a little bit. I would be okay with a four point play. Maybe they would, I mean, they would have to tell me how this would work. Or maybe bring in a four point play the last three minutes of a game. I don't know. Look, we're hitting gimmicky a little bit. I would just like to see a little bit more inside play. It was so good when you had dominant big men who could, you know, play with their back to the basket. You just don't see a lot of that anymore.

00:48:08
Speaker 2: What about a red, white and blue basketball.

00:48:11
Speaker 3: Hey, you know, have a favor of that, My ABA guys, Uncle Belle Daniels, Roger Brown, Bob Nettlicky come on.

00:48:19
Speaker 2: Now, would you be in favor of a red white, blue ball?

00:48:22
Speaker 3: I would. I like that. It was so cool.

00:48:26
Speaker 2: It was great, you know when you had when you're shooting and you had that backsman.

00:48:33
Speaker 3: That looked that was fire back in the day.

00:48:35
Speaker 2: But I know, all right, well, we'll see if we can get the commissioner on. I'll make some suggestions.

00:48:40
Speaker 3: I think it's they're going overseas first. That's their first order of business from what I've been hearing. Yeah, we're gonna have a European league. How that will work, I don't know, but I think that's first.

00:48:52
Speaker 2: And I was here in some of the price tags. I'm talking to somebody who was actually helping to negotiate in a city over there, and he was telling me numbers and I go, man, are they going to be able to raise that kind of money over here? And he said, yeah, they're playing the long game with this, and that the basketball, a European Basketball League is coming, so you're gonna have, you know, Madrid and Barcelona and you know it. Yeah, grease parents, you know all of that that's coming. It's coming. Sim all right, have fun tonight, say nice things about the Clippers.

00:49:27
Speaker 3: If you can't, I will, no, I will, I will show up.

00:49:31
Speaker 2: Is playing.

00:49:34
Speaker 3: Well today?

00:49:38
Speaker 2: You know he gets paid whether whether he shows up or not.

00:49:42
Speaker 3: That is true. They all do.

00:49:44
Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you, reg appreciate.

00:49:47
Speaker 3: Happy holidays, Theodore to you and yours and to my dad. Nets. Don't open those presents, guys, don't open up.

00:49:53
Speaker 2: That's Reggie Miller, Hall of Famer. He got the Rockets and the Clippers tonight