It’s time for Fred and the Fantastics folks, with Laura, with Mark, with Art and with you. You can email us at sportsfred@aol.com. Heard on PodClips heard on BLEAV, heard on many places around the world. Anything and everything in the wonderful and wacky world of sports. Giants at home. Not the New York Giants. Well, yeah, the New York Giants. The New York football Giants are at home on Sunday versus the Philadelphia Eagles. Saquon Barkley needs 101 yards. He is not gonna play. Mark, should he play? Should he not play? He’s maybe setting the all-time rushing record, although it really doesn’t mean anything in the National Football League. Mark, What do you think?

Well, I think it’s time to respect Eric Dickerson, because I think Eric Dickerson was a much better running back. But I think it’s a class act by the Eagles to sit him. He’s 101 yards short of breaking the all-time record.

You think they’re doing it?

The only good thing with the Giants is,

I don’t think that has anything to do with it, Mark. You think Seriata gives a rat’s you-know-what?

I think the only good thing I like about the New York Giants, is I like them red jerseys that kind of look like the old Steelers with the 100 patch on it.

It’s a team sport.

See, here’s the deal. They want to rest their offensive lineman, Laura, and their offensive lineman. If this was a meaningful game and they have their quarterback. He’s out with a concussion, Jalen Hurts. They want to rest their offensive lineman. It’ll be like them having their bye week, and we all know that. Saquon Barkley, really. And running backs probably don’t win the MVP in the modern generation of football, but he’s had an MVP-type season. And he was upset in the very beginning, but now he looked at it from a different perspective. He knows the key guys on that team need some rest and he could use some rest. Plus that field is a nightmare. He played on it for six years, he knows. I’ve seen more career-ending injuries on that New York Giants Meadowlands Stadium than any stadium there is. So, I mean, that has to factor in somebody’s mind, too.

I think it’s the right decision, I mean, it’s the right decision for the team and they want to go to the Super Bowl.

Does it really make a difference? The birds are so dysfunctional, anybody’s going to go in there and give them a run for their money. If Washington has to go in there, you don’t think Washington go in Philadelphia and beat them.

Well, Washington seems to have their number. I agree with you there, but you know, other than that, I mean that defense, if that defense plays the way it’s capable of playing. The Eagles have a good ball club. I mean, the NFC is pretty much stacked.

Philadelphia Ducks.

Well, I think they’re doing the right thing based on the fact that the object here is to win the Super Bowl.

But I don’t think they give a hoot about Eric Dickerson.

And folks. And one more time, in 1960, Major League baseball went from 154 games to 162. I remember, in grammar school, I’m debating if the Roger Maris 61 should count, versus Babe Ruth, 60.

And baseball has stuck to the 162 since 1960. The National Football League has gone from 12 to 14 to 16. Now 17, and maybe next year, the year after, they’re going to go to 18. So records don’t mean as much per season in the NFL, in my humble opinion.

So does that mean they’re only going to be two preseason games when they go to 18? Is that what they’re going to do?

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, now are they going to make the rosters bigger and maybe throw in a couple of byes in the season? Is that part of the well?

You should be an attorney for the Players’ Association.

Hey Fred,

I mean, if I was, I mean. And plus, all the contracts are based on 17-game seasons. I’d have to say, Hey, my guys should get paid for an extra game, Fred.

I was going to throw two cents in on a team that nobody’s really talking about. And you know, I’m not a big L.A. guy, but I like this team, I like the way they’re structured. They can play,

You say the Chargers,

No, no, no, no, no, no. They can play both sides of the ball. They can get high scoring on you, they can go low scoring. Keep your eyes on the Rams, man, the Rams are healthy.

Oh yeah, I agree with you there. Well, Sean McVay is a football coach. Yeah, there’s no doubt about that, and I’m going to tell you, can I tell you who? I think they’re going to get really? Probably in a second or third round? Jackson Dart. He reminds me so much of their current quarterback, Matt Stafford. I’m just telling you, blonde hair flowing out of the back of the helmet in L.A.

The Rams are going nowhere in the playoffs.

Laura!

There you have it.

They could beat a Buffalo team, they can load it, I mean, watch out this team. They might get Washington in the first round, but if they could beat, they could beat Detroit in the first round at home, I would think.

Laura, Laura, Why do you think? Why do you think that?

No? Come on, Fred, throw two cents on this fire.

No, I mean, I’d like to hear Laura why she says that, I want to hear.

I just don’t think they’re as good as the other NFC teams that are like that. I don’t think they’re as good as the Lions, I don’t think they’re as good as Minnesota. I don’t think they’re as good as Washington,

I think they’ve, they’ve played very well this season though, compared to what you thought.

Well, they played better second half of the season. For sure, they got some great talent,

It’s a hot team.

Yeah, they’re hot. But I think that’s

I got something I want to talk about, you guys, you know, with the college football playoffs and the seeding process, and you know, Quinn Evers, you were the quarterback for Texas. You know, he’s going to give, give his job up for Arch Banning. And, you know, be relegated to making six or eight million dollars from a new team next year. What do you guys think of the seeding process, the playoffs, the fact that the Blue Bloods, you know, teams like Texas, teams like, you know, Ohio State, teams like Penn State, they seem to be rolling right along. I mean, do you think it’s been a great first year for the 12 per 12 team playoff?

Can’t be worse, can’t be worse than it has been. And as I said on the Sports Overnight America Show, I think the ought to go to 16 and have one versus 16, two versus 15. They have the home team, the team with the

And the corollary effect, Fred, is the other Bowl Games. As Chick Hearn used to say everybody’s dressed like seats, nobody’s going to the Games.

The only thing that needs changing, I think, is, I think you leave the Heisman vote till the end. Because that ASU running back should have been, should have been in the mix here, that that should be saved to the end.

And somebody explain to me what it means when you get targeting.

Well, you know, obviously, ASU would have a good shot of winning against Texas if the officials make the correct decision, and there’s, what, eight referees?

Did they want ASU moving on, Fred?

But I was surprised that they didn’t make, they didn’t raise more of a fuss when they didn’t get the call.

Well, it shows you how much class the coach has, 34-year-old Kenny Dillingham. And matter of fact, there’s something else he did after the game that showed a lot of class. He made sure those kids who were heartbroken congratulated the other team. Sportsmanship. And I was talking about it to a friend of mine. If you look at his staff, he has his old high school football coach who taught him football. He’s 34 years old. He’s on that staff,

Yeah,

He’s got a guy named Heinz Ward on that staff. And I watched the wide receivers for Arizona State blocking down the field. George Pickens, are you listening? OK? And I mean, these guys were fundamentally as sound as any running team I have seen. And this Skatteboo. Skattebo? What a ballplayer. And I mean, wow, I was impressed with

Well, the wow,

What he did in one year was just amazing. I think Fred.

I think the wow factor is, I had to do a double take to see Jake Plummer like three, four times. Is that really Jake? Boy, has he aged!

Let me just say this, I’m so sorry for Arizona State because they were robbed, that had to be targeting

That were robbed. I agree.

It’s almost like, not that I would be negative about this. But some of the officials were, maybe, wagering?

I don’t know. I gotta agree with you there.

If you, if you bet Texas straight up, you end up winning. And that made that happen because Arizona State at least should have had a shot at the last minute to win.

Arizona State, I believe, was plus 550 on the money line?

Yeah,

Well, if you lost that game on that one, you had, you had a lot to be upset about.

Where was Matthew McConaughey in all this?

OK, now what about Jon Gruden? Black Monday is coming up, you guys,

Yeah, all right, let’s talk about that, let’s take a break and we’ll come back with more on Fred and the Fantastics, with Art, with Laura, with Mark, and more on Fred and the Fantastics.

Hey, welcome back to Fred and the Fantastics, with Art, with Mark, with Laura. And we’re just about to talk about one Jon Gruden. Bottom line. And I agree with Mike Freeman in this week’s USA today. I wouldn’t hire John Gruden if you paid me a million dollars. Art You disagree, probably right?

You know? But that’s a tough one. I probably wouldn’t if I was a general manager. I really don’t think he’s that great a coach, but he does provide the faces. OK, you know? He took Tony Dungy’s team and won a Super Bowl. Let’s be honest here. OK, he did, he really hasn’t built a Super Bowl team on his own. I mean, he told Al Davis on the flight back from, from Foxborough the night that, you know, the Brady play, you know, he basically told Al Davis off. Which I’m sure a lot of people would love to have done in their day. But bottom line is, from what he said and what he did, he basically got dunked pretty good, but you know what I think in this world. After you, you know, serve a few years in penance, you get your second crack. You always talk about it. Mark

Yeah. Yeah, so I mean, well, we’re built on second, third chances.

Yeah,

I’ve seen that and let me tell you something. He had the Raiders on the rise there when he was there and they could have done something. Ever since he’s left, that organization has completely fallen over a cliff and they can’t find the cars.

Mark, Let me ask you something, if you’re a Black player and you read what Jon Gruden wrote, you’d want to play for him?

You hit it right on the head.

There’s no way he should be coaching. Yeah, sorry, I’m sorry, there’s no way. He is absolutely flat out racist. And I think the NFL is probably what 40 percent Black, 50 percent.

How about 70?

Is it 70? He should, he should just be relegated to, you know, being on the

Well, I totally understand, you know, where we’re all coming from on this. But then I’ve seen the NFL have a guy like Watson that’s been accused of like 80 women, and he just gets transformed.

Brian Flores sued the NFL,

For $150 million. And so don’t people that pay season ticket prices have a choice? Like, Do we really want this guy in our town?

Yeah, but let’s just let’s. Just how would you like to shake the hand of somebody, basically, who would make fun of Black people? How would you like to shake that guy’s hand ever? It’s got to be in his head.

Yeah, yeah, but my idol, you know, was, was a Black guy in Willie Stargell. But when you flip that thing and say, how would you like it to have somebody that’s abused women all over the place in your city and you’re giving them $250 million,

I’m not sure. I’m following the correlation, you shouldn’t be, maybe you shouldn’t be playing either. I mean, what are you saying?

I don’t know, Artie.

What do you think Deshaun Watson should play, that they should let Jon Gruden coach? I mean, I’m not sure that any correlation there.

I’ll tell you one thing if he comes out and expresses the fact that he has been rehabilitated. And he was wrong, and he says it was wrong. Like a man, like a man, listen to me. I mean, hey, you know, you won’t have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore. Remember that great quote before he said after he got beat as governor of California. You know, the world keeps spinning around you guys, and you know, I kind of agree with what you were saying, Laura.

How about?

But, but, he never expressed any remorse.

I really do? And with coaches in the NFL?

But on a political standpoint, I don’t want to get, I don’t want to get political with it. But what about Joe Biden on that whole thing years ago wasn’t the busing thing.

Yeah, Joe, that’s why I’ve not liked him since 1977, what Mark’s talking about is the busing issue. In ’77, his first term as senator from Delaware. Yeah, he writes a speech, and in the middle of that speech, he says the following “I don’t want my kids anywhere near the jungle.” That’s why.

That’s why I remember, that’s why.

Would you have ever thought that that guy would be President of the United States? No, I have.

No, I have no idea, I have no idea.

Hey, listen to this. Do you think they should have played the game last night in New Orleans? And should ESPN, should ESPN played the National Anthem and the moment of silence and the people chanting USA, USA from both sides of the aisle.

OK, So I think the problem there is that the time changed, and because the time changed and everything is electronically done now, they were out of a show that had to run commercials at that moment, that they were running the National Anthem on the field of play.

Well, I hope Jimmy Pitaro agrees with you.

Let me, let me, let me ask you guys, Fred, you come from a family of lawyers, Laura’s a lawyer. How the heck do you have a New Year’s Eve celebration? And you put up these little rinky-dink metal detectors up, or these metal frames?

Did you see the caissons they put up? And they put the cement caissons they put in front of the stadium, all overnight?

Well, it should have been concrete. And then they come up with a lame excuse that if we put up concrete, the ambulances couldn’t get in there, what kind of excuse is that, really?

That was a real, a real, I don’t want to use the word, but that was a real blank show. That, that whole, that whole press conference, it was sad, so sad.

I got, I got to be honest, and I don’t go to many games nowadays, but I don’t think I would. I really don’t. It’s going to happen again and again and again.

In this climate, I kind of agree with you, Fred.

And you know, it’s going to get more than 15 people. You know, one of these times, an explosion is going to be in the stands.

What was the movie that we watched years ago about the Super Bowl in Miami? With the blimp?

I was an extra.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

You were an extra in that?

Black, Black Sunday.

I was, I was, I was an extra in that movie.

I love it.

And what was the name of it?

Black, Black Sunday, Black Sunday, I believe. I had lunch all the time with Milton Berle’s brother, and we talked about things in life and actually did nothing except sit in the stands. But yeah, I was an extra in that movie. Was it ’77 or something like that?

Something like ’76, ’77. I thought it was fascinating.

One, one final comment, one final thought before we go. I listen to San Francisco Radio all the time. I know we got a lot of listeners up there. Brock Purdy is a restricted free agent this year. Art, is he going to get his 40, 50, 60 million? Because the bottom line here is the 49ers, you know, they got three running backs, now the other two behind McCaffrey are pretty good. They’re going to have to pay those guys. What happens to Deebo and Aiyuk? They just signed a contract to before the season began.

Three years. Hundred million, Fred. He’s not worth, he’s not worth the big money. He’s a great little quarterback, but he’s a he’s a system quarterback and a system quarterback. And that’s a great contract for him, based on being Mr. Irrelevant, the last guy picked in the draft. If, if they offer him 100 million, he should sign three years, he’s not a 40, 50, 60 million dollar quarterback. There’s only seven of those, and they’re all getting their money.

Laura. Do you think he’s worth more than 100 million over three years?

You know, he doesn’t seem like he played that well this year, right? And he played great last year, I thought, um, and I mean, who knows, with all of what the

Is that such a bad thing making, thirty three million dollars a year?

Well, I will tell you this, when I look at guys like this, if I’m a GM, I look at the talent. He has talent, he’s got, that team, he’s, he’s, he’s not only got character and that’s very, very important, so he’s not going to get a big head.

What he did for his linemen was awesome.

Yeah, he bought them all trucks. So I would, I would give him the money because the 49ers got a lot more problems than trying to figure out what they’re going to do with him.

Now, he also hurt that right elbow again in the last game. And I mean, I don’t see the zip on the passes that I saw prior to the injury in the NFC Championship game.

I’ve never been a Shanahan guy, I’ve never been a big Shanahan guy.

On, I think their window is definitely closed, closed, I honestly, I’m just telling you, Yeah, I think they have their five, six-year window.

You got to give him the money, I mean, he’s done wonders for that team, and, and I’d give him the money. I mean, he’s better than a lot of quarterbacks around the league. I mean, look at it, look at some of these quarterback. You don’t think you look at Aaron Rodgers stealing money in New York?

I’d have to.

I think the 49ers are in a mess again. I’m going to say something.

Escape from New York.

I don’t know what they’re going to do. As far as Christian McCaffrey is concerned, the two guys behind him at this point in McCaffrey’s career may be as good as him in some aspect. Whether or not as good as is blocking for a passer, as far as running or catching a pass out of the backfield. Guerendo’s good and Mason’s good, and they both played well when they had the opportunity.

And Fred, you know what else they could get? They could pick up, like, like the Steelers did with Wilson and Fields, they could pick up Kirk Cousins, based on what Michael Penix is doing in Atlanta, who’s always been one of Shanahan’s favorite guys, they can pick him up for a song and a dance.

And let Purdy, and let Purdy go. All right folks.

I think Kirk Cousins’ career is over, don’t you? I mean, I think he’s gone, I think he’s beyond his sell-by date.

No, he has to eat.

Who, Christian McCaffrey?

No, Cousins.

What about Deebo Samuel? He’s another one that’s

oh no, I like Deebo.

I do too.

The women, the women like Kirk Cousins and Jimmy Garoppolo,

All right, well.

He’s playing quarterback for the Rams this week.

In 15, in 15 seconds. Who lasts longer? Cousins or Stafford for the Rams? Who plays longer?

I think Cousins will hang around because he’s got a long-term contract.

I think Cousins is a little more durable.

Yeah, I think so, too, yeah,

I’d go with Stafford.

But Stafford does better commercials,

Especially for those wills and trusts.

And his wife and his wife is not bad either. All right,

She’s not a bad blogger. I heard,

All right, you know, he was dating the lily of AT&T. No, I’m just kidding. All right for Art, for Mark, for Laura, for Mario. Thank you guys and gals for listening

Fantastic!

To Fred and the Fantastics.

Say it again Art,

Have a great day everybody.

Fantastic.