April 11, 2025 • 22 mins
On today's episode, Jason reacts to a recent Shedeur Sanders interview and explains why the young QB is saying too much too soon. Jason breaks down how the Lions could regress hard next season. Jason looks ahead to the NBA Playoffs and explores what the true ceiling is for the Lakers. Plus, Jason gives his picks for who he thinks is making the NBA Finals!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What is up straight firefam. It's me Jason McIntyre Straight
Fire for Friday, April the eleventh, Man. This has been
a long, fun week. I thought we had guests lined up,
but then the schedule just got crazy. Obviously, I'm out
next week due to spring break with the kids, so
we're planning for that.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
We're hosting the Herd.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
It's like there's just so much happening that I wasn't
able to lock down any guests, which stinks because things
are about to get hot in sports. You've got the
Masters this weekend, you have the NFL Draft.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
In thirteen days.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
You have the NBA play in starting Tuesday. This weekend
in the NBA is gonna be crazy because everybody's jocking
for position. Like the Warriors are starting to look worn
down because they keep playing these small lineups and you
can only do that so much. Remember the death lineup
that the Warriors used to try to out back when
they had the death lineup that would only break that
in case of emergency, you don't start the death lineup
(00:56):
because then it wears down your small team. And that
was one of the takes from Windhorst, is that that
there the Warriors are looking worn down, just kind of
getting pushed around. So they got the Blazers and then
the paper clips to close out the season. Blazers should
be a win, but they need to win two to
avoid the play in unless some other wackiness happens. So
it's a good time to be a sports fan. I'm
(01:19):
really utterly fascinated by the NFL draft and I saw
this story, so I would say cam Ward is a
lot to go one, and there's some other.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Really really good players.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
I'm Dual Carter, Ashton Genty, but by far the headliner
for this draft is Dion's kid, Shador Sanders. Now you
might be sick of hearing about him, but I've got
to just tell the story because he went on this
show called It's Something on NFL networked with Rapaport, and
essentially he told Rapaport, hey, man, I'm keeping it real
(01:51):
with these teams I meet with. And Shadour's a young guy.
He obviously has a lot to learn. He comes from
you know, his dad is super famous, a wealthy family.
You know, this is a guy who I don't want
to say grew up was born on third base, but
you know, maybe close to it. And interestingly, he's going
(02:13):
in with that attitude. Now, I didn't know this when
I've had him second in the draft all the time
to the Browns.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
This is his quote.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
When I talk to any team, I understand the work
it's going to take, and I see the dynamic of
everybody that's around, so I know how to approach different
situations differently. I'm just sitting back observing. When I go
visit these coaches, and when I go to all these
different franchise I ask them what I think and how
I feel. Truly, some get offended, some like it, some
(02:42):
don't make some people uncomfortable. Some people invite that, and
I'm like.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Whoa should do it? What are you doing?
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Are you purposely nuking yourself to land in a certain situation?
I mean, now, listen, Shadour is I'm sorry. He turned
twenty three in February, so he's he's not like a
twenty one year He's twenty three. He's got he's a
little bit more grown than your average college kid. I
graduated at twenty two, and I was still massively immature.
I cannot even begin to imagine Shador standers, who's wealthy.
(03:17):
His nild was huge. He's probably driving like a Ferrari
Lambeau whatever. He's in a different stratosphere than me. That
being said, let me tell you a quick story. Okay,
So I had started the website that I ended up
selling the big lead, right. I had started that anonymously
in it was like February two thousand and six, and
it started to not blow up but gain traction in
(03:40):
two thousand and seven. Now this is all relative. Two
thousand and seven there was no IG, no stap chat,
no TikTok. YouTube was in its infancy. All this stuff
was in the early stages. So when I say blow up,
I mean, like, let's just say, hypothetically, we had one
thousand people going to the website a day in two
thousand and six, and maybe in two thousand and seven
we had like ten thousand people going a day. I'm
(04:01):
just using easy, basic numbers. However, in two thousand and seven,
I had a roommate who was at ESPN the magazine,
his girlfriend who ended up being his wife. I think
they got the force. I don't know they were at
ESPN the magazine. I was like, I was still at
US Weekly, the celebrity magazine. I'm like doing the website anonymously,
and I was like, Yo, can you give me an
(04:24):
interview with ESPN the magazine. I mean, I've got all
these clips from freelancing for ESPN. I freelance for the magazine.
Can you give me like I would like a full
time job there? I want to get in at ESPN.
I'm like, yeah, no problem.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
So within like a.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Month, I get an interview with the CEO of ESPN
the magazine. ESPN the magazines is now defunct, right, But
at the time, I was like, Okay, I'm meeting with
this guy. I'm not going to say his name, but
you know, he had written books on tennis, and I
definitely went online and got as much info as I
could about him and the books and everything. Now it
was tougher to get there's no chat GPT at the time. Okay,
(04:58):
you know, I don't even know if linked was a
thing when this happened. That being said, I had an interview.
It was right before the Final four because I'll take
you the second leg of it in a second. And
I went in for the interview and I kind of
struggled through it because I was so on everything I
had studied about this guy and his history and I
was like, I need to nail every fact. So I
(05:19):
show him that I'm on top of him, and he
could tell that I had done the homework on him
and he was very clear. I was like, oh, yeah,
I know you've done You're clear, and then he kind
of threw me off with a question that was nonsports,
non anything related, not my resume, not his, and I
just wasn't ready. And I knew at the time I
was Okay, that did not go well. That being said,
(05:41):
I had what I thought was the ACE card in
my back pocket. Hey man, I've got this website that
I've been doing anonymously. It's called The Big Lead. I
thought about this in my head. Do I say this
to him? Break in case of emergency? Okay, I'm struggling.
He's going to know the site because I wrote about
ESPN a lot anonymous. I broke some stories about ESPN,
(06:02):
you know, Joe Smith going to ESPN, Susie Q leaving ESPN, whatever,
And I thought about it, and I'm sitting there and
I'm like, do I tell him? Because if I tell
him and it comes out, oh no, we know who
this guy is, they blow up my spot and you know,
and next thing. You know, what do I get fired
from my magazine job?
Speaker 2 (06:20):
You know?
Speaker 1 (06:21):
And I just thought it was two. I couldn't keep
it that real. I could not be one hundred thousand
percent honest and tell him about the website.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
I did not.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Okay, I didn't end up getting the job, but like
two weeks later, I was on a flight to the
Final Four because I guess there were some celebrities going,
so they were like, hey, Jake, can you go to
the Final four? I was like, yeah, I'll freaking go
to the Final four. I think it was in Was
it in Indie? I know the Florida Gators were playing?
And oh was it George Mason? Shit, man, now I'm
(06:52):
forgetting Anyways, I would get on the plane to fly
out of New York to go to the Final four,
and I'm sitting in my seat and all of a
sudden come walking down the aisle. I'm like, oh shit,
that's Mike Wilbon. Oh my gosh, dude, that is amazing.
Mike Wilbon sits right next to me, and I was like, oh, yeah, no, okay, do.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
I tell this guy about the blog? He would surely
know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
I mentioned him. I was a huge fan. I've read him,
and when we talked, I talked about meeting reading his
stuff growing up in the Washington Post, and I could
cite some of his best columns because I was such
a nerd, I clipped some of them out and I
would read them later. I was like, oh, Wilbon was
I thought Wilbon and Cornheyser were legends when I was
a young kid reading them in the Washington Post, and
they were the blueprint for me, like, Okay, you start
(07:42):
out in print and then you go to TV and
then you make real money, and like that would be amazing.
And I talked to Wilbur on the whole flight, and
you know, it was a short flight from New York
to India.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
I think it was Indianapolis. Oh, short either way.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
And of course everybody wants to talk to Wilbon, so
like random people are coming up in the eisle and
talking to him whatever. He probably felt awesome. And I
end up not telling him about the site. I didn't
want to be one hundred percent honest. Sometimes when you
are interviewing for a job or meeting someone that could
(08:16):
help you down the road or what have you, I
don't think you keep it one hundred thousand percent real.
And I tell that story because this should dore Standers.
Maintains authenticity when meeting with teams, and I think this
is a big mistake by him. Now, I don't think
you totally fake the funk and pretend to be someone
you're not. But I don't think you show them.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Everything, do you? Is that a smart move? Unload your
full the full whoever you.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Are in the interview, don't. I don't think you do that,
because let's be real, we're all weird, strange individuals with
strange proclivities and odd attitudes, and we say strange stuff
and we're all weird. I mean, I think I'm normal,
but whatever, And I think Chador is making a big
(09:06):
mistake here. Can you if he's being as authentic as
I think he is, rolling in with the chains, the swag,
acting like he's a shit and telling people I'm gonna
transform your franchise. What So when I hear now that
the Browns don't want him and the Giants went out
and I guess they met with him and they decided
(09:27):
we're gonna go grab Jamis and Russell Will, that to
me is a sign that guy's not for us, he's
about himself and he's about Hollywood and being a superstar
and being famous on social media, and we don't want that.
We want a quarterback. Okay, quarterback first, had you heard
of Patrick Mahomes on Instagram before he blew up as
a quarterback?
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Not at all?
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Tom Brady blows up, then he gets into TV twelve
and all this other stuff. You got to get the
job first, then crush it, then do whatever the hell
you want. Like, I still don't know anything about Justin Herbert.
He's a really good quarterback. He goes out and wins
the super Bowl in a year or two or three,
then I'm sure we'll start to see the real Justin Herbert.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
There's still work to do. Shed Door has got a
ton of work to do. And I'll tell you this,
cam Ward's gonna go one.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Do you guys know anything about Kim wardon other than
he was at Washington State before Miami. You know anything
about his parents, what kind of car he drives? His
social media activity? Like, it's bizarre. The contrast from cam
Ward Who's gonna go one, to Shador Sanders is so dramatic. Now,
remember last year, Caleb Williams was not quite Shador. His
(10:38):
dad didn't play in the NFL or wasn't an NFL
star like Dion, but Caleb was something of a celebrity quarterback,
whereas a guy like Michael Pennox was much more low key.
Jaden Daniels was much more low key at LSU, he
had he wins Rookie of the Year, takes his team
to the conference championship. Like, I just I don't like
(10:59):
what I'm reading about Shador Sanders and I get hey, man,
I'm just gonna keep it real.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
This is what do they call wizzywig. What you see
is what you get.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
Like, I don't know, man, think about when you met
you know, your wife or your current girlfriend. Did you
keep it one hundred percent real from the jump? Hell no,
you can't. It just doesn't work like that. And you
can be authentic, but you can't show them everything and
just act like, hey, and this is who I am.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Take it or leave it. They're gonna leave it. So
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
I'm not feeling great about Shadeur's odds right now to
go super duper high. It's just the stuff I'm reading.
I don't totally love it.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
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.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
All right, next topic, and this is random out of
left field. I did not even know this. One of
my buddies texting me. This is exactly what he wrote.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Are you ready? He said?
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Next Monday is the WNBA Draft And I was like, wow,
I didn't know that. Now. If you remember last year,
because of Caitlin Clark, Angel Rees, all these people you
knew that were in it, the WNBA draft was like
a scene. Holy cow, was it a big deal? You
(12:22):
knew it was coming days away because Caitlin Clark was
evolved this year? Did you know it was Monday? Do
you know when the WNBA season starts?
Speaker 2 (12:29):
I none of this.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
The only women's basketball thing I've seen recently. Apparently the
tournament was terrible. Juju Watkins got hurt in the rest
of the game for blowouts. The only video I've seen
on the WNBA recently is Caitlin Clark at Iowa playing
against the men's team, and she scored something like twenty
two points in two minutes. Ridiculous. You watch a video
she's just banging threes. I mean, I'm just telling you,
(12:53):
like improbable shots against the men's IOWA team, and the
first couple her teammates are just like, oh wow, oh
my gosh. And once she hits like four or five
or six, they're standing up, hooton and hollering. I mean
it was against the men's team, and Kitlin Clark was
giving him buckets. And I'm just saying, like I think
the WNBA or the Indiana Fever, Kaitlin Clark has done
(13:14):
a good job of not over exposing her. I don't
think you could say the same for Angel Reeves, who
played in that other league and has been chirping all
off season about how we're underpaid and I might hold
out and just complain.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Complain.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
Caitlin Clark is basically what been going to Indiana Pacers
basketball games and like a concert or two, Like that's
the way to get a little more low key. At
least that's how I find it, you know, I'm I'm
pro less is more when it comes to you know,
you're in that stratosphere. The Caitlin Clark at that level,
(13:50):
Shador Sanders like those are big, big time folks. I
think less is more, but again maybe that's just me.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
I do also think, as I bounce around topics here
randomly on a Friday, that the Detroit Lions have one
of the most difficult schedules in the league, And I
actually broke this down on the Herd.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Earlier this week. These are the.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Detroit Lions road opponents so in the division, Chicago Packers,
Vikings obvious. These are their other road games at Washington,
which went twelve and five last year, conference championship, Philadelphia
fourteen and three, won in the Super Bowl, Cincy nine
and eight, Joe Burrow Baltimore twelve and five, Lamar k
(14:35):
C fifteen to two, LA Rams ten and seven. They
have won two three four nine road games, one of
them had a losing record last year.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
The Bears.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
The quarterbacks they face out of the division Jaden Daniels,
Jalen Hurts, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, Matt Stafford. Guys,
that is six of the top nine quarterbacks in the league, right,
I mean, all you're missing is Josh Allen.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Essentially, those are the road games.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Detroit is gonna have to go outdoors, perhaps in inclement weather.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
To Casey, Baltimore, Cincy, Philly, and Washington.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Now, if they play them in September, great, But if
they're facing those teams in November December, it's gonna be
cald and outdoors. I'm just telling you keep an eye
on the Detroit Lions dropping significantly next year. I thought
initially they could win nine or ten games. Folks, it
does not look good at all.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Now. The division has very difficult opponents.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
So I think if you're looking for any unders, you
want to take the teams in that division, just because
they have very difficult schedules. The Bears is according to Turnoff,
it's the toughest schedule.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
In the league. The Bears. Now I looked at the Chiefs.
Are you ready for this?
Speaker 1 (15:54):
There's just kind of the opposite. So the Chiefs non
division matchups. They have to travel to Buffalo for Big One,
but they also travel Dallas, which is not going to
be good, Jacksonville, which is probably not going to be good.
The Giants are going to stink in the tight zaburookie quarterback.
So you think it, okay, Chiefs should roll on the road. Okay, fair,
this is who they have coming to Arrowhead Baltimore, Detroit, Houston, Indy, Philly,
(16:21):
and Washington. One of those teams, Indy has a losing record.
The quarterbacks non division lamar goff Stroud. I'll say Anthony Richardson,
but it might be Daniel Jones, who the hell knows hurts,
and Jaden Daniels, Folks, is there a world where the
(16:42):
Kansas City Chiefs are like a nine win team? They
have the Super Bowl hangover? Don't stop laughing. I know
you're laughing in nine wins, but remember the teams that
historically lose the Super Bowl do not come back strong
the next year that's born out. Kansas City, of course,
was able to come back strong after losing the Super Bowl,
but they were younger. Now you've got Travis Kelce a
(17:03):
little bit older, you've got the Super Bowl hangover, you've
got offensive line questions. I mean, if you wanted me
to make a strong case for the Chiefs to be
not the division winners in the AFC West and a
wildcard team at best, I think you could build that argument. Now,
a lot of it will happen, Like are the Raiders
going to be a dumpster fire again? A four win team?
(17:24):
Probably not. They seem a little more professional with Pete Carroll.
But I could see the Chiefs regressing Chiefs and Lions
coming back to the pack. The problem is Jay, Who's
stepping up for those teams. Well that's another podcast for
another day.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
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.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
The other topic I had that we can wrap up
here with is what exactly is a legitimate for the
Lakers this postseason? Lucas played twenty seven games.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
That's it. That's a third of a regular season with
the Lakers.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
He hasn't had Lebron for all those, he hasn't had
Austin Reeves for all those. Do we need to give
them a mulligin because hey, it was only a third
of a year.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Or so I'm told.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
When Michael Jordan after he quit to play baseball and
then failed at that and came back to basketball, well
that playoff postseason doesn't count. When he got ripped by
Donald Royal of the Orlando Magic, and you know the
Orlando took him out in the series, that doesn't count
because MG had he just come back in February from baseball.
(18:42):
So Luca just got traded to the Lakers in February.
Does the same thing apply? Like, I don't know how
we legitimately handicap this Lakers team. I am extremely bullish
on them, but I'm also extremely bullish on like, I
don't know the Detroit Pistons. I'm nervous for my Knicks.
I am if the Knicks, And by the way, the
(19:03):
Knicks lost to the Pistons last night. If the Knicks
have to face the Pistons, it's not a lock that
they win that series. As of today, it looks like
they will, but in a scheduling quirk, the Pistons face Detroit,
which is ahead of them, in the final two games
of the regular season. I don't know how on aren't
they landed on that, but it's a home and home.
(19:23):
If they tie, let's.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
See who will.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Uh. The season series is two nothing Bucks, So if
the Bucks win one of these, well, the Bucks would
need to win two I think to or lose two
to drop because there are two games up on the Pistons. Wow,
So it looks like the Knicks, who could get passed
by the Pacers, looks like the Knicks are locked into
(19:49):
facing the Pistons. However, I don't know that it's the
worst thing in the world. If the Knicks fall to four,
then you dodge the Celtics, you open with the Bucks
and Giannis. Now there is a they've won six in
a row, Dame. We don't know if he's gonna be
back or not. Would you sooner take your chances on
Yannis follow by the Calves or the Pistons follow by
(20:12):
the Celtics. And honestly, I would sit my guys if
I'm the Knicks. Now there's no chance t Thibodeau does this,
but I would sit my guys and say, guys, we're
just gonna We're gonna see, let their chips fall where
they may. We're gonna rest up our dudes. Remember Josh
Hart beef with Tibbs, Bridges beef with them too. They
want more rest.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
It feels to me like it might be smart for
the Knicks to just slide back a little bit tonight.
It's a huge night in the NBA for any you know.
I don't want to say losers, but if you're home
on a Friday night, Calves Knicks do the Knicks need
to say, hey, we've got to beat the Calves just once.
I don't even know if the Cavs is gonna play
their guys Houston at the Lakers.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Don't know if the Lakers are gonna play their guys.
They might not. What's the other big one? Not okay
See Hotel? Where is it? Gold Oh?
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Golden State at Portland is huge, Golden State. You know
they might end up in the plane the paper clips.
The weird part about the Clippers, They're not a great
matchup for the Lakers. Zubots is good in the middle,
and they've got the wings to defend Luca and Lebron.
So I'm a little nervous about the Clippers, But overall,
(21:22):
I just still think I can ride Lucas. So I'm
gonna go ahead and make my picks official as of now.
I will pick the Celtics blindly in the East, and
I'll pick the Lakers blindly in the West. To me
in the NBA Finals, and I'll go Celtics over the Lakers.
It's tougher to pick the conference finals not knowing the order,
but yes, obviously I think okay See will be in there,
(21:43):
and my guess is that in addition to okay, see
we see the Cleveland Calves make.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
It in the Eastern Conference.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
All right, folks, I'm out next week. Enjoy the rest
of the Masters. I will be decompressing, hopefully without my phone,
and I'm just trying to enjoy life here as we
inch closer to Spring and summer too, amazing seasons where
we don't watch a lot of sports and we just.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Have a lot of fun. Talk to you tomorrow.
What is up straight firefam. It's me Jason McIntyre Straight
Fire for Friday, April the eleventh, Man. This has been
a long, fun week. I thought we had guests lined up,
but then the schedule just got crazy. Obviously, I'm out
next week due to spring break with the kids, so
we're planning for that.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
We're hosting the Herd.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
It's like there's just so much happening that I wasn't
able to lock down any guests, which stinks because things
are about to get hot in sports. You've got the
Masters this weekend, you have the NFL Draft.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
In thirteen days.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
You have the NBA play in starting Tuesday. This weekend
in the NBA is gonna be crazy because everybody's jocking
for position. Like the Warriors are starting to look worn
down because they keep playing these small lineups and you
can only do that so much. Remember the death lineup
that the Warriors used to try to out back when
they had the death lineup that would only break that
in case of emergency, you don't start the death lineup
(00:56):
because then it wears down your small team. And that
was one of the takes from Windhorst, is that that
there the Warriors are looking worn down, just kind of
getting pushed around. So they got the Blazers and then
the paper clips to close out the season. Blazers should
be a win, but they need to win two to
avoid the play in unless some other wackiness happens. So
it's a good time to be a sports fan. I'm
(01:19):
really utterly fascinated by the NFL draft and I saw
this story, so I would say cam Ward is a
lot to go one, and there's some other.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Really really good players.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
I'm Dual Carter, Ashton Genty, but by far the headliner
for this draft is Dion's kid, Shador Sanders. Now you
might be sick of hearing about him, but I've got
to just tell the story because he went on this
show called It's Something on NFL networked with Rapaport, and
essentially he told Rapaport, hey, man, I'm keeping it real
(01:51):
with these teams I meet with. And Shadour's a young guy.
He obviously has a lot to learn. He comes from
you know, his dad is super famous, a wealthy family.
You know, this is a guy who I don't want
to say grew up was born on third base, but
you know, maybe close to it. And interestingly, he's going
(02:13):
in with that attitude. Now, I didn't know this when
I've had him second in the draft all the time
to the Browns.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
This is his quote.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
When I talk to any team, I understand the work
it's going to take, and I see the dynamic of
everybody that's around, so I know how to approach different
situations differently. I'm just sitting back observing. When I go
visit these coaches, and when I go to all these
different franchise I ask them what I think and how
I feel. Truly, some get offended, some like it, some
(02:42):
don't make some people uncomfortable. Some people invite that, and
I'm like.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Whoa should do it? What are you doing?
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Are you purposely nuking yourself to land in a certain situation?
I mean, now, listen, Shadour is I'm sorry. He turned
twenty three in February, so he's he's not like a
twenty one year He's twenty three. He's got he's a
little bit more grown than your average college kid. I
graduated at twenty two, and I was still massively immature.
I cannot even begin to imagine Shador standers, who's wealthy.
(03:17):
His nild was huge. He's probably driving like a Ferrari
Lambeau whatever. He's in a different stratosphere than me. That
being said, let me tell you a quick story. Okay,
So I had started the website that I ended up
selling the big lead, right. I had started that anonymously
in it was like February two thousand and six, and
it started to not blow up but gain traction in
(03:40):
two thousand and seven. Now this is all relative. Two
thousand and seven there was no IG, no stap chat,
no TikTok. YouTube was in its infancy. All this stuff
was in the early stages. So when I say blow up,
I mean, like, let's just say, hypothetically, we had one
thousand people going to the website a day in two
thousand and six, and maybe in two thousand and seven
we had like ten thousand people going a day. I'm
(04:01):
just using easy, basic numbers. However, in two thousand and seven,
I had a roommate who was at ESPN the magazine,
his girlfriend who ended up being his wife. I think
they got the force. I don't know they were at
ESPN the magazine. I was like, I was still at
US Weekly, the celebrity magazine. I'm like doing the website anonymously,
and I was like, Yo, can you give me an
(04:24):
interview with ESPN the magazine. I mean, I've got all
these clips from freelancing for ESPN. I freelance for the magazine.
Can you give me like I would like a full
time job there? I want to get in at ESPN.
I'm like, yeah, no problem.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
So within like a.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Month, I get an interview with the CEO of ESPN
the magazine. ESPN the magazines is now defunct, right, But
at the time, I was like, Okay, I'm meeting with
this guy. I'm not going to say his name, but
you know, he had written books on tennis, and I
definitely went online and got as much info as I
could about him and the books and everything. Now it
was tougher to get there's no chat GPT at the time. Okay,
(04:58):
you know, I don't even know if linked was a
thing when this happened. That being said, I had an interview.
It was right before the Final four because I'll take
you the second leg of it in a second. And
I went in for the interview and I kind of
struggled through it because I was so on everything I
had studied about this guy and his history and I
was like, I need to nail every fact. So I
(05:19):
show him that I'm on top of him, and he
could tell that I had done the homework on him
and he was very clear. I was like, oh, yeah,
I know you've done You're clear, and then he kind
of threw me off with a question that was nonsports,
non anything related, not my resume, not his, and I
just wasn't ready. And I knew at the time I
was Okay, that did not go well. That being said,
(05:41):
I had what I thought was the ACE card in
my back pocket. Hey man, I've got this website that
I've been doing anonymously. It's called The Big Lead. I
thought about this in my head. Do I say this
to him? Break in case of emergency? Okay, I'm struggling.
He's going to know the site because I wrote about
ESPN a lot anonymous. I broke some stories about ESPN,
(06:02):
you know, Joe Smith going to ESPN, Susie Q leaving ESPN, whatever,
And I thought about it, and I'm sitting there and
I'm like, do I tell him? Because if I tell
him and it comes out, oh no, we know who
this guy is, they blow up my spot and you know,
and next thing. You know, what do I get fired
from my magazine job?
Speaker 2 (06:20):
You know?
Speaker 1 (06:21):
And I just thought it was two. I couldn't keep
it that real. I could not be one hundred thousand
percent honest and tell him about the website.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
I did not.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Okay, I didn't end up getting the job, but like
two weeks later, I was on a flight to the
Final Four because I guess there were some celebrities going,
so they were like, hey, Jake, can you go to
the Final four? I was like, yeah, I'll freaking go
to the Final four. I think it was in Was
it in Indie? I know the Florida Gators were playing?
And oh was it George Mason? Shit, man, now I'm
(06:52):
forgetting Anyways, I would get on the plane to fly
out of New York to go to the Final four,
and I'm sitting in my seat and all of a
sudden come walking down the aisle. I'm like, oh shit,
that's Mike Wilbon. Oh my gosh, dude, that is amazing.
Mike Wilbon sits right next to me, and I was like, oh, yeah, no, okay, do.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
I tell this guy about the blog? He would surely
know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
I mentioned him. I was a huge fan. I've read him,
and when we talked, I talked about meeting reading his
stuff growing up in the Washington Post, and I could
cite some of his best columns because I was such
a nerd, I clipped some of them out and I
would read them later. I was like, oh, Wilbon was
I thought Wilbon and Cornheyser were legends when I was
a young kid reading them in the Washington Post, and
they were the blueprint for me, like, Okay, you start
(07:42):
out in print and then you go to TV and
then you make real money, and like that would be amazing.
And I talked to Wilbur on the whole flight, and
you know, it was a short flight from New York
to India.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
I think it was Indianapolis. Oh, short either way.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
And of course everybody wants to talk to Wilbon, so
like random people are coming up in the eisle and
talking to him whatever. He probably felt awesome. And I
end up not telling him about the site. I didn't
want to be one hundred percent honest. Sometimes when you
are interviewing for a job or meeting someone that could
(08:16):
help you down the road or what have you, I
don't think you keep it one hundred thousand percent real.
And I tell that story because this should dore Standers.
Maintains authenticity when meeting with teams, and I think this
is a big mistake by him. Now, I don't think
you totally fake the funk and pretend to be someone
you're not. But I don't think you show them.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Everything, do you? Is that a smart move? Unload your
full the full whoever you.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Are in the interview, don't. I don't think you do that,
because let's be real, we're all weird, strange individuals with
strange proclivities and odd attitudes, and we say strange stuff
and we're all weird. I mean, I think I'm normal,
but whatever, And I think Chador is making a big
(09:06):
mistake here. Can you if he's being as authentic as
I think he is, rolling in with the chains, the swag,
acting like he's a shit and telling people I'm gonna
transform your franchise. What So when I hear now that
the Browns don't want him and the Giants went out
and I guess they met with him and they decided
(09:27):
we're gonna go grab Jamis and Russell Will, that to
me is a sign that guy's not for us, he's
about himself and he's about Hollywood and being a superstar
and being famous on social media, and we don't want that.
We want a quarterback. Okay, quarterback first, had you heard
of Patrick Mahomes on Instagram before he blew up as
a quarterback?
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Not at all?
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Tom Brady blows up, then he gets into TV twelve
and all this other stuff. You got to get the
job first, then crush it, then do whatever the hell
you want. Like, I still don't know anything about Justin Herbert.
He's a really good quarterback. He goes out and wins
the super Bowl in a year or two or three,
then I'm sure we'll start to see the real Justin Herbert.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
There's still work to do. Shed Door has got a
ton of work to do. And I'll tell you this,
cam Ward's gonna go one.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Do you guys know anything about Kim wardon other than
he was at Washington State before Miami. You know anything
about his parents, what kind of car he drives? His
social media activity? Like, it's bizarre. The contrast from cam
Ward Who's gonna go one, to Shador Sanders is so dramatic. Now,
remember last year, Caleb Williams was not quite Shador. His
(10:38):
dad didn't play in the NFL or wasn't an NFL
star like Dion, but Caleb was something of a celebrity quarterback,
whereas a guy like Michael Pennox was much more low key.
Jaden Daniels was much more low key at LSU, he
had he wins Rookie of the Year, takes his team
to the conference championship. Like, I just I don't like
(10:59):
what I'm reading about Shador Sanders and I get hey, man,
I'm just gonna keep it real.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
This is what do they call wizzywig. What you see
is what you get.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
Like, I don't know, man, think about when you met
you know, your wife or your current girlfriend. Did you
keep it one hundred percent real from the jump? Hell no,
you can't. It just doesn't work like that. And you
can be authentic, but you can't show them everything and
just act like, hey, and this is who I am.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Take it or leave it. They're gonna leave it. So
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
I'm not feeling great about Shadeur's odds right now to
go super duper high. It's just the stuff I'm reading.
I don't totally love it.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
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.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
All right, next topic, and this is random out of
left field. I did not even know this. One of
my buddies texting me. This is exactly what he wrote.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Are you ready? He said?
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Next Monday is the WNBA Draft And I was like, wow,
I didn't know that. Now. If you remember last year,
because of Caitlin Clark, Angel Rees, all these people you
knew that were in it, the WNBA draft was like
a scene. Holy cow, was it a big deal? You
(12:22):
knew it was coming days away because Caitlin Clark was
evolved this year? Did you know it was Monday? Do
you know when the WNBA season starts?
Speaker 2 (12:29):
I none of this.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
The only women's basketball thing I've seen recently. Apparently the
tournament was terrible. Juju Watkins got hurt in the rest
of the game for blowouts. The only video I've seen
on the WNBA recently is Caitlin Clark at Iowa playing
against the men's team, and she scored something like twenty
two points in two minutes. Ridiculous. You watch a video
she's just banging threes. I mean, I'm just telling you,
(12:53):
like improbable shots against the men's IOWA team, and the
first couple her teammates are just like, oh wow, oh
my gosh. And once she hits like four or five
or six, they're standing up, hooton and hollering. I mean
it was against the men's team, and Kitlin Clark was
giving him buckets. And I'm just saying, like I think
the WNBA or the Indiana Fever, Kaitlin Clark has done
(13:14):
a good job of not over exposing her. I don't
think you could say the same for Angel Reeves, who
played in that other league and has been chirping all
off season about how we're underpaid and I might hold
out and just complain.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Complain.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
Caitlin Clark is basically what been going to Indiana Pacers
basketball games and like a concert or two, Like that's
the way to get a little more low key. At
least that's how I find it, you know, I'm I'm
pro less is more when it comes to you know,
you're in that stratosphere. The Caitlin Clark at that level,
(13:50):
Shador Sanders like those are big, big time folks. I
think less is more, but again maybe that's just me.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
I do also think, as I bounce around topics here
randomly on a Friday, that the Detroit Lions have one
of the most difficult schedules in the league, And I
actually broke this down on the Herd.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Earlier this week. These are the.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Detroit Lions road opponents so in the division, Chicago Packers,
Vikings obvious. These are their other road games at Washington,
which went twelve and five last year, conference championship, Philadelphia
fourteen and three, won in the Super Bowl, Cincy nine
and eight, Joe Burrow Baltimore twelve and five, Lamar k
(14:35):
C fifteen to two, LA Rams ten and seven. They
have won two three four nine road games, one of
them had a losing record last year.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
The Bears.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
The quarterbacks they face out of the division Jaden Daniels,
Jalen Hurts, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, Matt Stafford. Guys,
that is six of the top nine quarterbacks in the league, right,
I mean, all you're missing is Josh Allen.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Essentially, those are the road games.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Detroit is gonna have to go outdoors, perhaps in inclement weather.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
To Casey, Baltimore, Cincy, Philly, and Washington.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Now, if they play them in September, great, But if
they're facing those teams in November December, it's gonna be
cald and outdoors. I'm just telling you keep an eye
on the Detroit Lions dropping significantly next year. I thought
initially they could win nine or ten games. Folks, it
does not look good at all.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Now. The division has very difficult opponents.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
So I think if you're looking for any unders, you
want to take the teams in that division, just because
they have very difficult schedules. The Bears is according to Turnoff,
it's the toughest schedule.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
In the league. The Bears. Now I looked at the Chiefs.
Are you ready for this?
Speaker 1 (15:54):
There's just kind of the opposite. So the Chiefs non
division matchups. They have to travel to Buffalo for Big One,
but they also travel Dallas, which is not going to
be good, Jacksonville, which is probably not going to be good.
The Giants are going to stink in the tight zaburookie quarterback.
So you think it, okay, Chiefs should roll on the road. Okay, fair,
this is who they have coming to Arrowhead Baltimore, Detroit, Houston, Indy, Philly,
(16:21):
and Washington. One of those teams, Indy has a losing record.
The quarterbacks non division lamar goff Stroud. I'll say Anthony Richardson,
but it might be Daniel Jones, who the hell knows hurts,
and Jaden Daniels, Folks, is there a world where the
(16:42):
Kansas City Chiefs are like a nine win team? They
have the Super Bowl hangover? Don't stop laughing. I know
you're laughing in nine wins, but remember the teams that
historically lose the Super Bowl do not come back strong
the next year that's born out. Kansas City, of course,
was able to come back strong after losing the Super Bowl,
but they were younger. Now you've got Travis Kelce a
(17:03):
little bit older, you've got the Super Bowl hangover, you've
got offensive line questions. I mean, if you wanted me
to make a strong case for the Chiefs to be
not the division winners in the AFC West and a
wildcard team at best, I think you could build that argument. Now,
a lot of it will happen, Like are the Raiders
going to be a dumpster fire again? A four win team?
(17:24):
Probably not. They seem a little more professional with Pete Carroll.
But I could see the Chiefs regressing Chiefs and Lions
coming back to the pack. The problem is Jay, Who's
stepping up for those teams. Well that's another podcast for
another day.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
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.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
The other topic I had that we can wrap up
here with is what exactly is a legitimate for the
Lakers this postseason? Lucas played twenty seven games.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
That's it. That's a third of a regular season with
the Lakers.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
He hasn't had Lebron for all those, he hasn't had
Austin Reeves for all those. Do we need to give
them a mulligin because hey, it was only a third
of a year.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Or so I'm told.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
When Michael Jordan after he quit to play baseball and
then failed at that and came back to basketball, well
that playoff postseason doesn't count. When he got ripped by
Donald Royal of the Orlando Magic, and you know the
Orlando took him out in the series, that doesn't count
because MG had he just come back in February from baseball.
(18:42):
So Luca just got traded to the Lakers in February.
Does the same thing apply? Like, I don't know how
we legitimately handicap this Lakers team. I am extremely bullish
on them, but I'm also extremely bullish on like, I
don't know the Detroit Pistons. I'm nervous for my Knicks.
I am if the Knicks, And by the way, the
(19:03):
Knicks lost to the Pistons last night. If the Knicks
have to face the Pistons, it's not a lock that
they win that series. As of today, it looks like
they will, but in a scheduling quirk, the Pistons face Detroit,
which is ahead of them, in the final two games
of the regular season. I don't know how on aren't
they landed on that, but it's a home and home.
(19:23):
If they tie, let's.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
See who will.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Uh. The season series is two nothing Bucks, So if
the Bucks win one of these, well, the Bucks would
need to win two I think to or lose two
to drop because there are two games up on the Pistons. Wow,
So it looks like the Knicks, who could get passed
by the Pacers, looks like the Knicks are locked into
(19:49):
facing the Pistons. However, I don't know that it's the
worst thing in the world. If the Knicks fall to four,
then you dodge the Celtics, you open with the Bucks
and Giannis. Now there is a they've won six in
a row, Dame. We don't know if he's gonna be
back or not. Would you sooner take your chances on
Yannis follow by the Calves or the Pistons follow by
(20:12):
the Celtics. And honestly, I would sit my guys if
I'm the Knicks. Now there's no chance t Thibodeau does this,
but I would sit my guys and say, guys, we're
just gonna We're gonna see, let their chips fall where
they may. We're gonna rest up our dudes. Remember Josh
Hart beef with Tibbs, Bridges beef with them too. They
want more rest.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
It feels to me like it might be smart for
the Knicks to just slide back a little bit tonight.
It's a huge night in the NBA for any you know.
I don't want to say losers, but if you're home
on a Friday night, Calves Knicks do the Knicks need
to say, hey, we've got to beat the Calves just once.
I don't even know if the Cavs is gonna play
their guys Houston at the Lakers.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Don't know if the Lakers are gonna play their guys.
They might not. What's the other big one? Not okay
See Hotel? Where is it? Gold Oh?
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Golden State at Portland is huge, Golden State. You know
they might end up in the plane the paper clips.
The weird part about the Clippers, They're not a great
matchup for the Lakers. Zubots is good in the middle,
and they've got the wings to defend Luca and Lebron.
So I'm a little nervous about the Clippers, But overall,
(21:22):
I just still think I can ride Lucas. So I'm
gonna go ahead and make my picks official as of now.
I will pick the Celtics blindly in the East, and
I'll pick the Lakers blindly in the West. To me
in the NBA Finals, and I'll go Celtics over the Lakers.
It's tougher to pick the conference finals not knowing the order,
but yes, obviously I think okay See will be in there,
(21:43):
and my guess is that in addition to okay, see
we see the Cleveland Calves make.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
It in the Eastern Conference.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
All right, folks, I'm out next week. Enjoy the rest
of the Masters. I will be decompressing, hopefully without my phone,
and I'm just trying to enjoy life here as we
inch closer to Spring and summer too, amazing seasons where
we don't watch a lot of sports and we just.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Have a lot of fun. Talk to you tomorrow.
Fox Sports Radio News
Host
Jonas Knox
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