Episode 71 - The Kahn Artist

The new nickname for the Steelers GM seems fitting, since they had some steals in the NFL Draft. Corey and Chris break down the draft class for the Black and Gold, the sneaky good draft Cleveland had, and other picks that stood out to them. Plus, the top seeds topple in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Pirates rough patch, and more!

Episode Transcript

(00:02):
Top notch sports talk you'll love fromtwo guys you know I love. Welcome
to the chop Talk Podcast. Well, as if you haven't heard this enough

(00:23):
all day today, because it's probablybeen beaten like a dead horse. May
the Fourth be with you today?How many times just a setting over under
here? How many times do youthink you were gonna hear that today?
Chris? It's definitely been a bit. But in the fourth be with you
as well, Corey. Yeah,I guess so. If if I was

(00:45):
more of a Star Wars fan,I would be all over it. I
mean, it's not that I don'tit's not that I it's not that I
don't like it. It's just saidI'm just not that big into it.
Well, I mean I got somethingelse for you too. It's also National
Firefighter Appreciation Day. That that itis, Thank you all firefighters out there.
Yeah, so there you go,Corey. We could go on that
one today and at least tomorrow,Sinco Tomiro. That means I'm getting all

(01:07):
kinds of tacos and whatever I can. So Welcome to Chalk Talk Podcast in
conjunction with Fox Sports Wheeling. CoreyClue Chris Thoburn here with you. As
we have now made it into May. Finally gonna and start feeling like May
this weekend, and not a momenttoo soon because I'm going golfing Saturday,
so that's going to be clutched.So definitely going to be enjoyable next couple
of days, especially in the sportsworld because Stanley Cup Playoffs. They're into

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round two now. Lots of thrillingstuff towards the end of round one though,
so we'll definitely get into that.Also recap the draft a little bit,
some of the surprises that caught hereye and how the Steelers did and
all that kind of stuff, andthen the Pirates. Yes, a good
weekend, but maybe starting to hita rough patch here, So we'll definitely
get into that a little bit lateron. But we'll start here with Stanley

(01:49):
Cup playoffs and the big thing fromround one. Both number one seats getting
out at here. Boston out Eastand Colorado out West both no longer in
the chase for the Stanley Cup here, So naturally we got to start with
Boston here because of the record settingregular season that they had this season.
It's not that we didn't think Floridawould show fight in this series. I

(02:13):
mean, I had them getting swept, but it was going to be the
scrappiest sweep ever because we saw ittowards the end of the regular season.
Florida showed some scrap throughout trying toget into the playoffs. Here, we
just didn't think that they would winI playoff. But Brovsky, that is
all I could say there. Well, I mean not all I can say,
but I tell you what, Bbrovskyshowed some flashes of his old self.

(02:36):
He had great defense in front ofhim. How many block shots do
they have in that series? Imean there's a ton. I mean,
we talked about a record setting seasonfor Boston. I would love to see
how close Florida was to block shotsin that game. Sacrifice in their bodies,
the young players really stepping up here, Corey, And I mean,
it's just that President's Trophy curse,I guess. And the thing is,

(02:58):
it just seems like Florida lives inthat Cardiac Kids type of scenario because they
won Game five and overtime, wonthe game, the series clinching Game seven
and overtime as well, But justthat Game seven, the work that they
did behind Boston's net most of thetime. That's what stood out to me
because that's what led the two nothinggoal and then what ultimately led to the
goal that sent Boston packing. Itreally has two and that's one area that

(03:22):
I think really gets overlooked in hockey, and that's the play in the corners
and the play behind the net.It's a lot tighter area than what it
was in previous years because of thenew rule changes and everything. But if
you can play one hundred foot game, that's what you have to do to
beat a team like Boston, andthat's what's going to get Florida through the
rest of this If they want tomake a run for the Cup and be

(03:42):
another eight seed to win it all, that's what they're gonna have to do.
They're gonna have to play that onehundred foot game. So carterver Heggie
ends up being the hero. Judgingby the reaction video of our friend John
Hill, if he ever decides tohave kids, the first kid's gonna be
named Carter some way, someholp justjudging by the reaction that he had.
But it was pretty cool to watchright there if you're listening. So definitely
got to kick out of it.But Boston, they become the latest blew

(04:04):
a three one lead meme their withtheir performance in this series and what could
be Patrice Bergeron's last season because hehinted that retirement, came back this season
and now his future is kind ofin limbo again. If you're somebody like
Burgeron or anyone who has had asomewhat solid career in any sport and you

(04:26):
go out like that, that hasgot to be eating at you for the
rest of your life. If youdo decide that this is the end,
it really is Corey. And Imean if I'm somebody like Burgeron and knowing
the competitor that he is, Ihave a good feeling he's gonna be back
for another season because that's definitely notthe way you want to go out.
It is hard to go out ontop, especially in professional sports, but
to go out like that, that'sgot to leave a sour taste in your

(04:49):
mouth. I have a feeling youmight see him in a Killer Bees uniform
one more time. And the thingis, I know Jannisana Dakumpo in the
NBA recently had the rant of thereis no failure in sports, and I
mean, I see where he's comingfrom. Right, and it is,
and it is a good speech toshow kids and everything like that, But
there is such things as failure insports to some degree. You set records

(05:15):
like that in the regular season andend up bowing out in the first round
as tough of a as tough ofa sports town as Boston is, that's
going to be considered a failure intheir eyes. It really is, Corey,
and I think it. You nailedit right on the head there.
It's either what type of town you'rein because the expectation, let's go back
to the Pittsburgh Penguins real quick,the expectation is to win and is to

(05:38):
win the Cup. But that's kindof all these the mentality I had.
If you don't win the very lastgame of the season, going back to
our moneyball quote here, I don'tconsider it as a successful season. Like
I don't want to be handed arunner up trophy. I don't want to
be in third place. I wantto be first, and if I'm not,
I consider that a failure. Imean, it's just it's really depends
on the person, really depends onthe team and the city. So definitely

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a rough way to go out ifyou're Boston I mean, it's still a
pretty darn good season, just notthe way that you want to end it.
I mean, I mean to tipthe cap where it's due, because
they just ran through everybody before theplayoffs. Here, it's just got to
get it done once postseason comes around. So over on the other side here,
Colorado, they were the top seedout West, but they get eliminated

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by Seattle. And it's just acommon theme right here. Colorado just struggling
on the power play all series long, two for eighteen if I remember correctly,
and Seattle just seemed more opportunistic throughoutthe series. But Game seven just
seemed like a whole lot of badpuck luck for Colorado because that first goal
that deflected, that deflected off aglove, and then you just gotta wonder,

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if that doesn't happen, we're probablygoing into overtime and maybe the Apps
still have a chance. I reallythink so as well. But the Apps
they felt the pressure of having thattarget on their back, and I think
that's what it was. Seattle's like, Okay, yeah, you know,
first time here, let's go boys. Hey, we're nice and relax,
nobody expects us to do anything.I thought I felt that that was the
entire mentality through the series from bothsides. I felt that Kraken were relaxed

(07:06):
and just played their game, ButI felt like Colorado, especially in Game
seven, they were trying to forceeverything. Even in the wins, they
did not look comfortable out there.Yeah, it's definitely got to be sharp
if you do want to run itback, but Seattle just continuing to impress
here. It just it goes backto the point that I made a couple

(07:29):
of weeks ago. I just feltlike it was going to be a lesson
of a new team finding out thatthe Stanley Cup Playoffs ain't sweet. But
at the same time, you seewhat Vegas was able to pull off in
their first ever playoff appearance. Imean, granted, Seattle didn't make it
in their first year of existence,but there's just something about these expansion teams
or young relatively young teams at thatthat do pretty darn well in their first

(07:50):
trip to the playoffs. I mean, look at Florida back in the late
nineties. I mean, I'm gonnasay the same thing. I believe it
really has a lot to do withnot having that target on their back yet.
But look at a team like Vegasthat was a pretty stacked team.
Seattle. Yeah, that first yearthey had some growing pains, but these
guys know how to play together now, And that's what we saw out of

(08:11):
Vegas, because look how Vegas didn't. They didn't come out of the gates
guns a blazing in their first season. I mean, they were decent,
kind of in the middle of theroad. Once those guys got to know
how to play with each other,that made for a very dangerous hockey team.
And I feel that Seattle is catchingon with that now. And Seattle
didn't necessarily go all out in buildingtheir team the way that Vegas did,
so there was definitely going to bethat season of who knows how you're gonna

(08:35):
do, right, But you candefinitely see a lot jelling now with Seattle,
and as Dallas learned earlier this week, they're gonna be pretty darn good.
They really are. And like Isaid, they're clicking at the right
time. Everybody's getting to know eachother well, they're playing extremely well.
But yeah, this is going tobe a dangerous team. And I said
that going in and yeah I hadthe Abs win in four games to two,

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but I said, it is notgoing to be an easy series.
These games are going to be decidedby one goal or two goals. But
like I said, the Avalanche justdid not look comfortable that entire series.
And it's clear that the losses thatthey had in the regular season, especially
especially dar Darcy Kemper as he madehis way over to Washington in the offseason,
that definitely played something into it.Not saying that that gorgiav wasn't a

(09:20):
good goaltender, it's just that theylooked really stiff and just couldn't handle the
pressure. As you said, Yeah, and there was a lot of things
trying to do too much, andthat's one thing that's always going to kill
you at all the sports, notjust in professional sports, not just in
hockey. But one thing's going tokill you is when you try to do
too much, and I, likeI said, that led to that loss,

(09:41):
to the series loss for Colorado.So when we recorded last week,
nobody had clinched a spot yet.But then Vegas ends up being the first
to advance and advancing on into thesecond round and looking very impressive after not
looking all that good in Game oneagainst Winnipeg. No, they really didn't
and I mean even going back totheir Game one of this series too.
I mean there was a lot ofgoals, which I think you're going to

(10:03):
expect that out of this series withthem in Edmonton, but once they really
settled in and they played hockey.Because the big question I have now is,
Okay, which team's feeling the mostpressure? Is it Vegas right now
being the higher seed or is itEdmonton with everything on their plate right now?
Like the personally, it's got tobe Edmonton because it's not necessarily what

(10:26):
Toronto went through. But you havethe best player in the league and you
haven't been able to do much withthem, so so personally, I would
think that it would be Edmonton thatfeels the most pressure. Yeah, I
can agree with that too, AndI mean you have guys like Dry Suttle,
you have the weapons around McDavid rightnow, Evander Kane stut Skinner playing
out of his mind, you know, former ECHL goaltender of the Year with

(10:48):
Wichita, so this they have alleverything. But I agree with you too,
because Vegas, once again, theywere kind of lying in the leaves
at the beginning of the season andthen it was that end of the season
run. But I'll tell you what, look out for the Golden Knights here.
They can make a deep run here. So Vegas first to advance into
the second round, then Carolina andDallas follows suit kind of sort of putting

(11:09):
Mark Andre Fleury's future in question.But Floury did say he wants to come
back, just maybe in a Minnesotauniform. So if any Penn's fans had
their hopes, probably might not wantto do that. Yeah, I'm thinking,
you know, if he is,he's kind of head back up there
in to Minneapolis. But I meanDallas right now, I think they're one
of the weirdest teams in the NHLright now. It's just there's something about

(11:31):
them. I mean, yeah,they have great players, don't get me
wrong. I mean, you haveguys like Henzi and Robertson. But I
mean, it's just there is somethingabout this team. They are so tricky
to play against. And I can'tfigure it out because they seem to be
so sound defensively, and that's whyI was kind of so high on them
in the series. And maybe that'swhat it is. Maybe it's just that
defensive pressure that they have. Theyare very aggressive, but they make super

(11:54):
smart plays on defense. Too,and I think that's what makes them tricky,
because they're not overly physical, they'renot overly laid back. They found
that happy medium there on defense.So then the other big headline in round
one, Toronto finally ends the miseryand gets their first playoff and the playoff
series win since two thousand and four. It definitely can't say that I expected

(12:16):
this. I was kind of expectingthe misery to continue here, but but
Toronto came together when they needed to. Yeah, And I mean, you
gotta hand it to Tampa Bay though. What a run they've had over these
past few years and just wasn't theiryear and this was Toronto. You could
just see it in their eyes.They're like, guys, for the love
of God, this is going tobe the year that we're going to end

(12:37):
it. And they went out anddid it. They did what they had
to do. Was it pretty absolutelynot, But they definitely got things done
when they needed to and by nomeans as Austin Matthews on the same level
as Connor McDavid. But at thesame time, you still have a generational
talent here and kind of a similarscenario, you hadn't been able to do
much with him finally you do.Yeah, and it's got to be great

(12:58):
for him, and it's got toget the monkey off his too, because
I mean he's been in the league, I mean quite a few years now.
I mean he's not you know,a sophomore, a rookie anymore.
I mean, he's definitely been around. But to be able to get that,
I think it's really going to sparkthis team. And then you have
Edmonton's offense able to outlast your Kingshere, Chris, I mean, Kings
put up a pretty good fight righthere, but Edmonton finally able to figure

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it out when I put them afterI put them in question last week.
Yeah, I think the biggest thingwas was that comeback that they had in
Game four. I mean, whenthe Kings go up for nothing and then
Edmonton comes back with five, that'sjust deflating. And unfortunately for the Kings,
they just never recovered from that.But you got to hand it to
McDavid, dry Sadle a lot ofthose younger guys too, really stepped up

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guys that kind of get lost inthe shadows there for that Edmonton team because
they are so stacked and because youare you always are talking about McDavid.
But hats off to them, andthey really capitalize when the Kings were down.
And then New Jersey wraps up Roundone with their series win over New
York over the Rangers in Game seven. So the whole Cupper Bust kind of

(14:01):
moves that the Rangers made, it'sall for not and and it's all and
it's like you said here, Chris, the pressure that that Jersey was able
to put on New York in Gameseven was just absolutely relentless. It really
was. And I mean I tellyou what, I had this one going
four to one in favor of theRangers. I mean, I thought for
sure the Rangers were not going tohave an issue. I can't remember if

(14:22):
I had them in five or six, but I know I had the Rangers.
Yeah. I mean, I justI don't know what it was with
the Devils. Maybe just too muchstar talent on the Rangers. I mean,
what are your thoughts on that?Because I was completely lost in this
series. Maybe it was too muchstar power, too much individual individualism.
So I had the Rangers winning.I had the Rangers winning that series in

(14:45):
five, but so did I.Yeah, But you just gotta wonder sometimes
if adding all that star power justdoesn't mean that it's necessarily going to mesh.
And I also got to wonder whatto make of Alex Lafergner because he's
pretty much with Ghost in this seriesand after being a number one overall pick,
you kind of don't expect him tobe that way for as long as

(15:05):
he's been in the league now andto YouTube, did it seem like he
did not bring the physical game intothe playoffs, because that is part of
his game and I mean he showedit against the Penguins last year, not
Ghost. Yeah, I because that'sthe thing. Even in the Penguin series.
I think he only had a coupleof assists in that series. I
don't even think he had a goal. But his physical presence is what made

(15:26):
him well known in that series,and it was just not there. It's
just when you get taken number oneoverall, you just gotta you're thinking more
times than not, you're gonna havea star on your hands, and if
not a star, definitely someone whocan be a supplemental piece and be super
productive. Alex SLIFERGEI has not shownme that. No, he like I

(15:46):
said, he showed, he showedflashes and there is some things that I've
seen out of him that I reallylike. But it wasn't the same one
from the playoffs last year, because, like I said, he made his
presence, felt he won some battlesin the corner. I mean, if
they hit it out third assist,I guarantee he would have had a bunch
of them and kind of the youngsung hero in that first round against the

(16:06):
Penguins last season. But like yousaid, this is non existent in this
series. So then we move onto Round two. Each series is one
game in here Florida continuing their impressiverun here right here, edging Toronto on
Tuesday, though not necessarily the cleanestgame here for Florida, but still found
a way to put the pucks backin the net. Must be something in
the water down there in Florida thatyou know these teams. It's like it

(16:29):
always seems that Tampa Bay or Floridaor somebody is in the playoffs here.
But you know, all seriousness aside. Once again, when you upset to
number one team, excuse me,the number one seed, I apologize,
Well, they were the overall numberone team, but you're going to ride
that into the next series, andobviously Florida coming off of a big series
when Toronto getting the monkey off theirback, that was just a tale of

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Okay, who is going to bemore hyped up for this game? Seattle
then goes on to edge Dallas andovertime later on that night, as the
Kraken just continue to impress against apretty pesky defensive team like Dallas. Then
you had last night Carolina crushing NewJersey, and you gotta imagine here that
Carolina could very well be the favoritehere as amongst most people, because this

(17:18):
is their best opportunity to get aCup ever since this revival that we saw
out of them back in twenty eighteenwhen they went on that impressive run.
They pretty much embraced the bunch ofjerks, Moniker and everything. And but
you gotta imagine that this is thebest opportunity for the Hurricanes here to win
the Cup ever since going through thatrenaissance here, and if they don't get

(17:40):
it, you just got to wonderwhat the next opportunity is going to be.
I agree with you one hundred percent, and that's something that you and
I talked about on a previous episode, is just this could be the year
for them. It really seemed likethe East was down and the West teams
were just beating the living crap outof each other. So that's another thing
about the Hurricanes two Corey, Comparedto the season that you mentioned, even
the season that you mentioned, theyhad some injuries going into that year,

(18:03):
which you know, don't get mewrong, they had some injuries this year.
But this is a very healthy teamand a very dangerous team right now.
And then Vegas able to outlast Edmontonand just an absolute offensive showcase of
a game one right here. Butit's but some dirty work done by Vegas
as well. Just seemed like,just like Florida in their series with Boston,
blocking whole kinds of shots, allkinds of shots. They really did.
Indeed. But I'll tell you what, the one thing that I love

(18:25):
to see, and that's why Imentioned the old time hockey is how many
cross crease passes one timers did wehave in that game from both sides,
not just Vegas but from Edmonton.In my account, yeah, I mean,
it was definitely old time hockey.Those two teams were just taking every
chance that they could. Here needsdefense to score goals, and that's was
the mentality in that game. Soif you guys, remember I had Colorado

(18:48):
and Boston in my Stanley Cup finaland that has of course gone by the
wayside here. So I'm gonna goahead and roll with Carolina the rest of
the way, just because, likeI said, it's just this just seems
like the perfect opportunity for them tofinally get over the hump here and finally
at least get into the final andmaybe end up winning. I don't think
I ever got your predictions at thebeginning of the playoffs here, Chris,

(19:11):
So is your favor? Is yourpick still alive? First of all,
yeah, I do. I doactually still have a pick alive in this
one. So so who says?So who did you end up winning at
all? I had Vegas and I'mstill holding true to that. I did
not have them playing Carolina, thoughI had. I had them playing Boston.
I didn't think the President's Trophy wasgonna I didn't think the curse was

(19:32):
gonna happen this year, except forwhen they got to the finals. I
thought Vegas was going to beat them. But you know, I could definitely
jump on board with that with Carolina, but man, I don't know,
I'm not fully confident now with thatVegas pick to be able to if Vegas
runs the West. I don't know. I think they're just a little bit
too beat up. The Hurricanes arehealthy right now. I think the Hurricanes

(19:53):
could potentially trip. Just kind ofwonder what shape Florida is going to be
in after just playing like their hairson toward the end of the regular season,
expending all that energy with Boston.Who knows how the rest of this
series, what Toronto is going togo. But you just gotta wonder how
it's all going to shake out.And that's the thing too, I mean
you look at different series too.I mean you mentioned Florida, who's already
played seven games. I mean that'sthe thing. I mean, you play

(20:15):
the max amount of games your guysare gonna be Gas because you already played
an eighty two game regular season.I mean, because what is it you
could end up playing twenty eight gamesin the postseason two. Yep, yeah,
if my math is correct, Imean you're playing over one hundred hockey
games in one season. I meanthat's brutal. So we'll see how it
all goes in round two. LikeI said, still pretty much in its
infancy. All series with just onegame in the books here, but definitely

(20:37):
a lot to enjoy right here inthese early stages of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
So this is chocks Off Podcast inconjunction with Fox Sports, Wheeland,
Corey Clue christ Over and here withyou. And if you want to catch
up on past episodes, we're onthe iHeartRadio app, Spreaker, Apple Podcasts,
wherever you get your podcasts. Anddon't forget about the top back Mike
if you listen on the iHeart app, because you can tap that top back

(20:57):
Mike give your opinion on we talkabout and we will feature it on a
future episodes, So make sure touse that if you're listening that way.
So last week the NFL Draft anda lot going on here. To say
the least, we'll go ahead andstart right here with the Steelers, and
I definitely see where people are comingfrom where they say the Steelers had the

(21:19):
best draft. I mean, Idon't think I wouldn't necessarily trade up for
an offensive lineman in the first roundif you ask me. But at the
very least you got the guy thata lot of people expected you to get.
And Roderick Jones considering where the Steelerswere picking in the first round.
This would have been the best possiblescenario because Paris Johnson, Peter Scronski,

(21:41):
they were both going to be gone. Not that I would have minded having
Darnel right, but Roderick Jones definitelyseemed like the pick that made the most
sense. Like I said, personally, I wouldn't have traded it up,
but at least you got your guy. Yeah, absolutely, I mean you
fill that offensive tackle position, huge, huge guy down there at six foot
five, three hundred and fifteen pounds, and I mean just a phenomenal player

(22:04):
down there at Georgia and just veryrightfully so finally getting protection there for Kenny
Pickett. Huge pick up there bythe Steelers. And then the second round
I felt just worked absolutely beautifully.Joey Porter Junior falling to you in the
first pick of the second round.I'm going into Friday, like, how
do they not pick him? Oh? Yeah, I think it was the

(22:26):
worst cap secret, absolutely that everybodyknew that Joey Porter is like you might
as well just should have did likewe did in our draft predictions and just
pick the thirty two thirty second pickright there. But I mean Joey Porter.
What an opportunity because not only areyou getting Pittsburgh Steelers royalty here,
but you're filling another huge knee thatyou need. You get your offensive lineman,

(22:49):
you get your defensive back here.You can't ask for anything better in
those first two rounds. And thenyou get some get some more stability on
the defensive line. With Keanu Benton, who might have been regarded as the
best defensive tackle in this class.I really thought that he was severely underrated.
I mean I didn't have him inthe first round, just more because
of draft analysis and everything. ButI'm like, this is going to be

(23:11):
a first round guy that could potentiallybe in the second, third round.
And yeah, I mean he doesstay in the second round, which was
awesome for him, but another hugepickup for the Steelers. Now the third
round, here's new Steelers trading backa little bit and they end up getting
Darnel getting Darnell Washington out of Georgia. It's not that I don't like the
pick. It provides some better depththan what they have behind Friar Muth.

(23:36):
You just gotta wonder what friar Muthis thinking, because Washington is good enough
to be a starter. Great,So you gotta wonder if Pat, if
Pat fry Muth is feeling a littlebit of pressure, or maybe the twin
towers here on the line good work. I mean, he stands at was
six seven, what's friar muse sixsix. I just hope that they don't
limit Washington to just run, blockingand everything, and I hope that they're

(24:00):
able to utilize in to his fullpotential some way, somehow in his rookie
season. I mean, I knowyou're not going to get everything out of
him, but at least showcase whathe's able to contribute to this team.
But then at the same time,I got to remind myself that Matt Canada
is still the offensive coordinator, soI gotta take it with a grand assault.
And that's the thing. Only fortyfive catches for seven hundred and seventy

(24:22):
four yards in college, so yeah, I mean, he's not going to
be a huge reception type of guy. Now, Okay, granted, he
played for the University of Georgia,which you know had all five stars at
receivers and tight ends. But hecould be a great end zone guy.
But I agree with you two.I really hope that they used these twin
towers here because honestly, one ofthe guys that's in the NFL right now
that I think he only had maybethirty some catches when he was in college

(24:45):
is Mark Andrews. So you know, he could be another Mark Andrews in
the making here. He has thatgood size, was used as a pass
blocker, but could surprise some peoplein the passing. You just see what
he was able to do at timesin Georgia, just showing his strength to
its full potential, and then whathe was able to do in the combine,
just thrashing dummies around, and justyou just hope that you just hope

(25:08):
that the Steelers don't limit that.And that's and I'm not saying that they
will. It's just that again,Mac Cannons the offense coordinator. And that's
the thing. I mean, Yeah, he's six foot seven, two sixty
five. I mean, you lookat somebody like that. I mean,
you look at somebody that's five footten, you know, two hundred pounds.
I mean that's pretty solid. Sotwo hundred and sixty five is a
lot of weight. But I meanhe's just he's a brick out there.

(25:29):
And I think He's going to beused a lot more than just pass blocking.
Nick Herbig, who was Menton's tightend into teammate, I should say
over and over in Wisconsin, greatpickup in the fourth round. Love that
one. I love him in theearly third. So yeah, I think
that was a huge pickup. AndI think you and I might have touched
on him a little bit too.I mean, he is a hybrid six
foot two, two hundred and fortypounds, so they can kind of line

(25:52):
him up on the outside too asan outside pass rusher from that linebacker position.
He did that a lot at Wisconsin, so did Watt. So I
mean, yeah, I love thispickup. I thought this was amazing.
And then Trice and Anderson, bothof the picks late in the seventh round,
just more so adding depth than anythingelse. But it just goes back

(26:14):
to what I said. If youwere to tell me that Steelers had the
best draft in twenty for the twentytwenty three draft, I would definitely agree
with that because a lot was ableto go right for them, and you
do end up picking picking up somegood value in some certain positions, So
I would definitely not argue with that. I mean, I think the Giants
are kind of nipping at their heels, especially with the picks that they with

(26:34):
the first couple of picks that theymade. But I would definitely not argue
with you that the Steelers had thebest draft in this draft here and the
other thing. You know, Iwanted to touch on Trice real quick.
I mean, yeah, he's alarge corner at six foot three, two
hundred and five pounds, But yougot to think too, he played a
majority of his college career as asafety. Yeah, if maybe he would

(26:56):
have been a full time quarterback cornercorner, excuse me, I think he
could have gone a little bit earlier, but I think there was some concerns
with his speed and then also adjustingthat corner position. But why not,
he's there in the seventh round.Let's give him a chance. You add
some depth on the O line.Another guy six foot five tipping the scales
at three twenty. Why not?Yeah, Corey, I agree one hundred

(27:18):
percent. I thought this was aphenomenal draft for the Steelers. But you
just gotta love the nicknames that werethrown around for the GM con just to
just Tomlin calling him the con artist, and I guess Kenny Pickett like the
draft so much he joined Luke Combson stage Saturday night to shotgun a beer
with him. All kinds of thingsto be happy about it if you're the
Steelers. Oh yeah, absolutely indeed. But yeah, I mean I yeah,

(27:40):
Corey. I thought this was afantastic draft for the Steelers. And
I mean yeah, you literally addressedalmost every single position. Now. I
think the her big pick I goback to that one too, because they
were saying, ah, you knowwe might need that outside another you know,
defensive end. We could possibly useanother linebacker. I don't go with

(28:00):
a hybrid and see what he coulddo. Because here's the other thing,
Corey, even a two hundred andforty pounds, you could balk him up
to a solid two fifty two sixtyto where he could play that hybrid even
more. And on a completely unrelatednote, to some of the people on
Twitter that weren't fans of Kenny pickAt shotgunning a beer with Luke Combs,
shut up. You spent all thistime complaining and momenting when Tom Brady was

(28:25):
a patriot about Hall, how he'sall two goody two shoes and you just
hate his guts and everything Our quarterbackshotguns a beer and you're like, oh,
that's not a good example. That'sshut up. At least he's not
Travis Kelce. He's spiking the Lombardi. You went there like seriously, Yeah,

(28:45):
just just let the kid have alittle bit of fun. Okay,
Yeah, that that that It's it'snot like he was he was pounding beers
all night. It's not like it'snot like any of that. Just let
him have his time. He gotthe way to Pittsburgh on his back.
Folks, He's got to have onebeer to call you if you don't jump
on the bandwagon of Kenny Pickett afterthat, because that was because that was

(29:08):
that was a total Yin's explosion there, as they say it was, yeah,
and that's exactly exactly what I thoughttoo. I was just like,
as a total Yins removed right there, and I mean I thought it solidified
himself now in Steeler Nation. Againtotally unrelated, but I just saw so
many people ragging on Kenny. It'sjust like, shut up, and at
least you're not the only with thegoody two shoes and Tom Brady, so

(29:30):
might as well talk about the Brownshere a little bit. I know,
they didn't have a first round pickor anything, but might as well talk
about them here. So they endup getting Cedric Tillman and third round,
and then Siaki Ika in the thirdround as well. Dwan Jones, who
I did not expect to drop asfar as he did, might end up
being a steel right there. Yeah, I mean, I understand he's a
big guy. I mean he's tippingthe scale to what like three forty three

(29:51):
fifty. I understand that, sothere's some questions about his mobility. But
to get a guy down that far, but even Tillman. Tillman was another
one that I kind of had himflirting in that early second round. There
even a Luke Wipler in the secondin the sixth round, how did he
fall that far back? Yeah,he was another one. Well, because
you know, unfortunately I don't thinkthere was a ton of teams that actually
needed to steal or excuse me,a center. I thought the Steelers were

(30:15):
pretty high on him, and Iyou know, because obviously that's been a
little bit of a question mark isa backup right now. But yeah,
I mean they really addressed some keypositions there. They get to Wan Jones,
Isaiah McGuire I thought was a greatpickup. Another one that I like
to talk about with that hybrid,they add Thompson Robinson in that quarterback position.
I very solid draft for the Browns, which at the very least gives

(30:37):
you a backup quarterback that fits yourscheme. But to Shaun Watson gets hurt
again, Yeah, absolutely, Imean because he is a scrambling QB,
and I mean a lot of histimes there at UCLA he was handing the
ball off to one of the guysthat did get drafted the Michigan transfer,
Zach Charbonnet, So not a lotof throwing for him. But I just
I feel a pretty good system forhim to be in. Exactly. I

(31:00):
don't think Cleveland had the best draftby any means, but considering where they
were picking to begin with and justsome of the value picks they were able
to make, Yeah, like Isaid, definitely not the best draft,
but definitely top five. I honestlythink that, you know, if you
take away the first two rounds,then they potentially could have won these later
rounds with some of these pickups,especially like you mentioned went Dwan Jones.

(31:25):
I mean, I don't know aboutthe Maguire pickup. But I mean white
player too. I mean that wasshocking. So moving on here to some
of the other things that caught oureye here in the draft, I mean,
oh Holme at number one. BryceYoung ended up going number one overall.
But thank god I didn't walk backon my CJ. Stroud number two
to the Texans pick, because itseemed like in the last couple of days

(31:47):
leading up to this draft, somany people who were predicting the first round
just backed away from that second,from that second overall pick being Deshaun Watson.
So so thank god I didn't walkaway from that. But then immediately
afterwards, you see Houston trading upto get the third overall pick to get
Will Anderson. By no means didHouston have the best overall draft. But

(32:10):
that was the move of the draft. That was a boss move right there.
And that was the first thing Isaid when I saw that. You
see, I was watching it live, and I see Texas or Arizona had
traded their pick to the Texans.I'm looking like, what the heck did
they have to give up for that? But great move there. You get
your boy Wonder at defensive end,you get your quarterback of the future.

(32:31):
Well done. And that's the thingthat so many people saying that you've addressed
the two most important positions in footballthese days. So tip of the cap
to that draft day kind of scenariothat pretty much has got brought to real
life instead of the movie. Itreally has, and I mean that,
Yeah, it was a great moveand we're going to see how it pans

(32:52):
out for him. So moving ondown here, Anthony Richardson does end up
in n D and Will Levice doesend up slipping into the second round.
So that the big tip of thecap to you there, Chris, because
not that I was thinking that youwere crazy. I just didn't see Will
Levis slipping out of the first round, but it happened the only so that
was the only thing that I wasthinking. I was like, Okay,
if somebody trades back in that needsa quarterback, then Will Levis is going

(33:15):
to go in the first round.But the way that I looked at it,
I said, if nobody trades backin to get a quarterback, there's
only three quarterback positions available in thefirst round. So I just kind of
went with my gut on that.Bryce Young. I knew there was no
way that CJ. Stroud was goingto be taken after Will Levis, and
the cults were just so high onRichardson. So I'm like, that's the

(33:37):
only reason that I feel that he'sgoing to slip to the second round.
So, like I said, itwasn't a shocker for me, but I'm
not gonna lie. When I sawsome of those trades, I'm like,
Okay, maybe he potentially could go, but that's the way that I felt
with that Quarry, I felt therewas only three starting quarterback positions available there
in the first round. That's whyLevis fell. So the stellar combined performance

(33:59):
does pay off for Anthony Richardson becausehe ends up being a top five pick,
and at the very least, theirnew head coach who came from Philly,
gets not necessarily a Jalen Hurtz typeplayer, but definitely someone up that
skill set who can help run theoffense here. But it's just a matter
of how early do you start himand how well is he going to do
because it's the big thing that Imentioned. No doubt that he's a freak

(34:22):
athlete, it's just that his statsin the SEC were pretty much mid Yeah,
they were, and that's something thatthey even harped on in the draft
there Corey, they said he hasn'thad the most impressive stats, but didn't
get to play real long too,was only a one year starter, so
that could be another thing. Butyeah, I really feel that you let

(34:42):
him kind of you kind of easehim in, getting him a lot of
snaps in the preseason, get himused to it. But yeah, definitely
not going to be a week I'dsay week one through five starter. Maybe
evaluate after week five, but yeah, definitely not a starter right away.
And then for Levis going to Tennesseein what could very well be not necessarily
the most dramatic quarterback room of alltime. But there's definitely a good bit

(35:06):
of that to go around because RyanTannehill, who knows how long he's going
to be over there, and maliquWillis of course taken last year, and
that's why I kind of thought theyweren't going to go quarterback because you just
had maliqu Willis, but you justgot to wonder what his prospects are going
to be. Yeah, and that'sthe big thing too. I Mean,
obviously they got Treyler on Burke's lastyear at the receiver position, so I
still felt there was a lot ofareas that they could have addressed because I

(35:30):
still really don't have much a receiver. No, they don't have much a
receiver. They don't have much onthe defensive line. I really thought that,
But then again, he was thebest player on the board at that
time. So that's the only thingI can think of is maybe they're like,
you know what, he's there,We're going to take a gamble.
So moving on down here to someof the other things that definitely raised my

(35:50):
eyebrow, Detroit had one of theweirdest drafts that you're ever going to come
across. Right here. It's notthat Jamir Gibbs wasn't worthy of a first
round pick. I mean I hadhim late first to the Cowboys, but
not that early, and especially sinceyou have DeAndre Swift and then Jack Campbell.
I sang his praises, but justdepending on needs and draft analysis,
I didn't have him in the firstround. You end up taking him with

(36:13):
your second pick in the first round. It's not that you didn't get a
good player. That was just itwas just it was a big time reach
and I was starting to go backto, Yeah, the running back thing
threw me completely off. I don'tknow if they were just looking like,
oh, okay, here's the bestplayers on the board, because I at
that time I still didn't feel jackHambill was the best player on the board,

(36:34):
but maybe in their eyes he was. But I said the same thing.
I was like, uh, theyplanned a trade here, because that
was the first thing I said whenthey drafted Gibbs. I'm like, uh,
DeAndre Swift, start packing your bags. I didn't think he was gonna
end up with, you know,the Georgia Eagles here. Yeah, because
that's literally what it turned into,is the University of Georgia Eagles. But
yeah, it was just kind ofa crazy draft. Maybe they just wanted

(36:55):
to shake things up. I reallydon't know. There's no explanation that I
have for that one. So thenin the second round they get a steal
and Brian Branch, but then youtake Hendon Hooker in the third round after
what seemed like a vote of confidencefor Jared Goff. Yeah, I'm having
a hard time making that makes sense. That's the only thing I can think
of is they were going with thebest players on the board, so to

(37:17):
say, I mean probably now BrianBranch. Oh, yeah, one hundred
percent steel. I mean I hadhim what it like the seventeen should have
been a first round pick. Yeah, so yeah, pick him up,
no matter. And they didn't needsome help in the secondary, not necessarily
in the safety position. They neededmore of a corner. But Branch is
another one that I maybe not inthe NFL, but you give him some
time, I bet he could adjust. But I just think they were like,

(37:40):
all right, he's the best playeron the board, let's go.
And then the Atlanta pick that withwith Bejean Robinson going to the Falcons,
It's just that Taylor Algear definitely cameon toward the end of the last season,
so kind of took me by surprisethere. But no doubt be Jean
Robinson could end up being a Weekone starter there. Yeah, I think
so. And I mean the Falconwere never a team that really liked to

(38:00):
run the ball a ton. Ithink they're going to have to now,
so maybe that's why they're trying toget somebody else that can compliment Algier.
That's the only explanation I came upwith that one. I'm actually really glad
you brought that up, because ifyou did, and I was actually going
to talk about that, but youknow, within an experienced quarterback, not
the greatest receiving corp right now,they're probably gonna have to run the ball

(38:21):
a little more. So that's theonly thing I could think of is maybe
they wanted to go with a onetwo punch there. And then you also
wonder where Jalen Carter would have endedup somewhere in the first round. Does
end up going to the Eagles.The Eagles do have to trade up in
order to get him, but doesend up going to the Eagles, and
maybe the air apparent to Fletcher Cox, maybe he absolutely could be. And
once again, it's just another taleof just a fantastic player just keep falling

(38:45):
down. I mean, obviously hehad the discipline issues and that's going to
take a toll in this draft,Cory, especially in the first round.
I mean, yeah, you geta freak talent like that, but if
he can't handle himself off the field, ye that that's just going to cause
more issues for your program. Now, a couple other surprises here, Darnell
Right and Will McDonald getting taken asearly as they were. But McDonald was

(39:07):
definitely the bigger reach of the twobecause he was more so projected toward the
late first round at the highest,and then the Jets end up taking him
in fifteen. So maybe a bitof a head scratcher there, but by
no means did they get a badplayer. No, absolutely not. I
mean this the fantastic player there.But I mean, you know, Corey,
the one thing that really stood outfor me in this draft. If

(39:27):
I'm hopefully I'm not stealing your firehere, but two players from the state
of West Virginia going in the drafthere, Oh yeah, darn Darnell,
right, But who was the otherone? Breton Strange? Oh yeah,
yeah, yeah. I had actuallyfour his games with Parkersburg High School when
they play William Parks. So BretonStrange going to the Jaguars, I like
said, I had him in theseventh round. He goes in the third.
The Jaguars saw something in him.So a huge congratulations to Breton.

(39:51):
Fantastic guy. I've had many interactionswith him, and gonna need I'd like
said, I don't have an NFLteam, but definitely gonna be needing me
a Jaguars jersey with that Strange onthe back. But but the thing is,
speaking of Strange and it's in itsliteral sense here you said, this
might be one of the stranger draftson recent history. Maybe not so much
in the first round, but definitelyin the later rounds because people who you

(40:15):
would have thought maybe would have takenat the latest day two get taken in
day three. Some people that youwould have expected taken a day three and
I'm maybe going in day two.Yeah, absolutely, I mean, you
know there was because I don't evenknow where Dugan got taken the from TCU,
but you know, he was onethat I thought was going to go
a little earlier and he fell alittle bit further. But there were some

(40:37):
quarterbacks. There were some defensive backstoo that I had kind of early that
didn't even go. But I mean, yeah, Corey, it was definitely
one of those stranger drafts. Ithought it was going to be a little
bit more crazy in the first round, like you mentioned, but those later
rounds there was definitely some shocking picks. To answer your question, Dugan got
taken in the seventh round by theChargers. I think that's a steel.

(41:00):
I mean, he is going tobe a fantastic backup, and I was
shocked that he fell that far.I thought for sure. He was a
grade fourth round, fifth round,but maybe I'm just seeing something in him
that nobody else did. I don'tknow. I thought this guy was on
fire in college. Just shocks methat Sean Clifford got taken as early as
he did. I was not expectinghim fifth round. I was not expecting

(41:20):
him at all. And I'm aPenn State fan. What's that telling.
I wasn't expecting him to get draftedeither. Yeah, but I mean,
hey, good for him, andit's great to see another Nitney Lion out
there. Right now, I'm JayreBrown, another one that got taken out
him. You know, I kindof figured he would, but yeah,
I mean it was just a crazydraft. And even in free agencies too.
You know, there was some goodguys taken there. Ken State getting
a couple of guys. It's goodto see those smaller schools. And Tyson

(41:44):
Bagnet another Oh yeah, I forgotabout Bagnet. You know, it was
another one that got signed to acontract here. I can't remember where he's
actually going, but the Martinsburg QBthat he went Division two and he proved
himself and you know, he didn'tget drafted, but he found himself on
an NFL roster now. And youknow, it's great Corey to see those
Division two, Division three players becauseyou look at guys like Pierre Garson,

(42:08):
Cecil Shorts, you know, theseguys that came from D three and D
two. But yeah, great forTyson and hope to see him in an
NFL uniform. So three players,Corey from the state of West Virginia.
And by the looks of things,I'm trying to look it up as quick
as I can here, Tyson lookslike he signed a signed a drafted deal

(42:28):
with Chicago, So there we go. I mean, you know, so
he could be a potential maybe notbackup, but third stringer, you know,
for justin fields. But yeah,it's it's gonna be huge. And
uh yeah, I really like thisfor them. And I gotta say something
about Seattle here, and I meanit definitely hited out of the park with
their two first round picks because youget somebody in Devin Witherspoon who will provide

(42:50):
you some form of star power inyour secondary and then Jackson Smith and Jigma
that this wide receiver core has loadedfor the Seahawks. Now, yeah,
it really is. I mean,yeah, I think that's huge. You
know, you're complimenting Geno Smith.Now they think, ya, this is
going to be our guy. Youget him some receiving corps excuse me,
get him some help there in thereceiving corps. Got a little bit too
far ahead of myself there, Butyeah, this is just in a great

(43:14):
draft for a high estate players ingeneral. I mean, my goodness,
there were so many of them thatwent. But when you're a top four
program like that, and Georgia too, I mean we kind of figured that
with Georgia. But yeah, justamazing. So we'll see how it all
plays out right here with this twentytwenty three class, especially for the Steelers,
because, like I said, alot of people thinking that the Steelers
had the best draft of the year. So see how it all plays out

(43:36):
in these next few years. Soclosing out here with some baseball talk,
now, the Pirates. They endup winning the serie the weekend series in
Washington, sweeping the doubleheader on Saturday. The first game ended up getting rained
down on Friday, but that's sixteento one win in game two. It
just seems like all the offense hasbeen spent at the moment on that game.

(43:58):
It really has. I mean,and you see that a lots corey,
especially in hockey. It's like yougo out, you get a seven
eighth run, you know for baseball, seven eighth goal game in hockey,
and then the next game you mightpitch a goose egg. You just never
know. But yeah, I mean, the bats really came alive and it
was batting practice there in our nation'scapital, and especially for Drue Maggie able
to able to come through with twohits before going down, going down to

(44:22):
Altuna that he was originally supposed togo down but stayed on as a twenty
seventh player because of that doubleheader.Able to make the most of his opportunity
in that second game. That's whatyou love to see too. And I
mean, you know the Pirates gettinganother debut from a pitcher, and I
mean you just the train just keepsrolling up there for Pittsburgh. So then
you move on to Sunday and notnecessarily the best outing here, not necessarily

(44:45):
the best stuff from Johannovieto, whileJosiah Gray was just just solid pitching for
Washington. Pirates just not able tocapitalize on opportunities. So bummer of a
way to end that weekend series,but a lot to love from S Day
and at least and at least forthe month of April, you had some
good momentum going. Yeah. Absolutely, and I mean you're coming into May

(45:07):
here, you're gonna start off ornot start off, but you're gonna have
an Inner League series coming up herewith Toronto, So I mean, yeah,
definitely some good things to look forwardto here for the Pirates. So
that's the thing. This first reallybig test. I mean, the Dodgers
were definitely a test, but youdidn't necessarily have them at their at their

(45:28):
full strength here because because Muncy wason the paternity list and they were still
working in some of their young players. So this was the first big test
here, this series with Tampa Bay, and it's kind of been dug so
far. I think it's just aTampa will never really wow you, per
se. I know, they gota future star in Wonder Franco, but

(45:49):
they won't necessarily wow you, butthey'll but they'll definitely outpitch you more times
than not. Yeah, I mean, I knew this is gonna be a
tough series for the Buckos. Imean, you're going up against the hottest
team in baseball right now. Butthat well, actually both of them were
really the hottest series in baseball goinginto this series, and that's what a
lot of the talk was about.And yeah, but and I mentioned that
too. I mean, it's alwaystough too when you're going from playing outdoor

(46:12):
and then you have to go intothe dome too. I mean, I
definitely feel that's an advantage for therace. And maybe you do put a
little bit more stock in the Dodgersseries now since they're on a little bit
of a hot streak right now,But definitely not a whole lot has gone
the Pirates way down at Tropicana Fieldat the moment, and especially last night
because there was so much sloppy playdefensively, there really was, yeah,
I mean it just kind of unfortunately. It was a little bit of flashes

(46:35):
of the Pirates of old that youdid not want to see. And then
the other big highlight in this seriesso far Derek Shelton getting a little bit
spicy here with the umps and Imean Wednesday, the stuff that happened last
night. Maybe you have an argumenthere, but at the same time,
you just you just have the notionof baseball wants to pick things up here.

(46:59):
So maybe the time I'll call,maybe might have had an argument,
but it might not have gone yourway. Tuesday, though, that should
have gone your way because that wasa bulk. I don't care what you
say. Yeah, I mean,and that's the thing. You got to
stand up for your players. Yougotta try to fire up your team.
And maybe in that situation, shouthim was like, Okay, you know,
this is just an opportunity for meto fire the boys up. I

(47:20):
mean, Hurdle, Hurdle did itall the time. I mean there was
a game I was at, guywas clearly out and Hurdle came out to
argue it, but the team wasdown seven to two. He's like,
I got nothing to lose. Well, regardless of a situation as to whether
or not it's warranted, whenever thereis a blatant, there's a blatant something
like that, like like on Tuesdaynight with the baalk, you gotta go

(47:42):
argue that because if you don't,then then then what's to make of you?
Right? Absolutely, And that's whyI said. You know, as
as a coach, even if you'renot fully sure that you are correct,
you stand up for your players.And I mean like you said, it
was pretty blatant, but stand upfor your players, get out there and
fire the boys up. So atthe moment, it looks like it could
be a sweep here as as oftwo fifty eighth this afternoon, the Rays

(48:07):
leading to to nothing and as they'reabout to begin in the top of the
eighth, no outs so far.So Pirates definitely needs something to go right
here. But it just seems likemore of the same right here, because
the Pirates have been blanked thus farat the moment, just three hits.
Oh wow, I mean yeah,wal Corey, it goes back to your
point. I mean, this team, they're not gonna while you excuse me,

(48:29):
that's Tampa, that is, They'renot They through fe Flyn, through
seven innings of work today, threehits ten case yeah, So I mean
once again they are going to outpitchyou. That's what's insane. So then
so then, like you said,you gotta move on to this weekend series
at home with Toronto and definitely goingto be another good test right here.

(48:50):
I know Toronto's kind of middle ofthe road at the moment in the Al
East, but this is a popularpick again to make the playoffs. And
maybe even make a dark horse runinto the World Series. Yeah, I
mean, this is a very goodteam. All that youth has finally come
up through that system. They're playingreally good ball now, they're very experienced.
But once again, Korea a teamthat can definitely outpitch you. But
then even if you lose that serieswith Toronto, maybe a get right series

(49:15):
with Colorado afterwards at the beginning ofnext week. So I wouldn't necessarily say
that this is the Pirates plateauing andgetting back to their old ways. You
just don't like. You just don'tlike the way things have worked out in
Tampa. No, definitely not.I mean you want to try to You
knew it was gonna be hard togo down there and with that series,

(49:37):
absolutely, but you definitely don't wantto go somewhere and get swept. So
we'll see how it goes with Toronto. And like I said, the Very
Reast could just be a get rightseries with Colorado because they just look absolutely
terrible when the Pirates were over inthe Rocky Mountains. But still a lot
to like right here about the Pirates. I'm not necessary I'm not saying that

(49:57):
things aren't going to crap just right. No, I absolutely agree with you.
I think this is a fantastic team. You knew it was going to
be so hard to go down thereand beat them, So with that,
we will put an end right hereto the Chalk Talk podcast. Again,
we thank you for tuning in heretoday and just don't forget about catching up
on past episodes. Don't forget aboutthe talk back Mike if you're listening on
the iHeartRadio app, because we wantto put your opinions in future episodes.

(50:22):
It's just that we don't have anyopinions from you just yet, So if
you listen that way, use thetalk back Mike, give us your opinion.
That way, you can hear yourvoice on a future episode. Maybe
we get into a debate about it, who knows, but send us your
thoughts because we left hearing from youguys. So for Chris Stover, I'm
Corey Clue. Thanks so much fortuning into the chop Talk podcasts. Have

(50:44):
yourself a good weekend, good weekDefinitely enjoy the nice weather this weekend because
it's finally going to feel like sprayingat the moment. And until next time,
keep calling Chock on