Hey everybody, it’s that time again, that’s right. It’s on BLEAV and PodClips, Fred and the Fantastics with Matthew DiBiase, Mark Mancini, and the one, the only Art Sorce from Galaxy Sports. We’ll talk about this, that, and anything in sports, and we’d love your thoughts. sportsfred@aol.com. sportsfred@aol.com. And I must say this because I’m a UCLA fanatic since the age of five, because my mom went to UCLA, again. On Tuesday night, UCLA wins a game by 45 points versus Southern Utah. There might’ve been 2000 fans there. Art, help me out here. Is it, is it the Big Ten, is it the NIL? What’s the reason for nobody showing up at? Or is it Cronin for not showing up at Pauley Pavilion?

Well, you know, college basketball, we saw it all kind of happen last year when the women’s championship ratings were double that of the men’s. And this, this like slide for from you know one and done to where you really follow a team for four years and you get behind the guys, and the transfer portal has something to do with this as well. I just think it’s really hard to put your allegiances behind a group of guys that are constantly changing. And I mean, USC’s football team, the tight end Ford played for UCLA, went back to SC, back to UCLA, or vice versa. I mean, you need to have a chance to develop a following, and I think this is really critical in, in college men’s basketball right now.

You know, Cronin is like rotating, like, 11 or 12 guys. There is no way to keep up with it from one game to the next. You don’t know who’s going to start and who’s going to play the 20 minutes and who’s going to lead you in scoring. I think that’s going to hurt them once the Big Ten season starts, which is next week against Washington.

So Fred, let me ask you a question. We got the big rivalry weekend, we got Ohio State and Michigan coming up on Saturday, we got USC and Notre Dame, the greatest intersectional rivalry of all time. And now it’s like, you know, well, thank God that Notre Dame is ranked fifth, or nobody would watch that. You got the Iron Bowl, Auburn and Alabama, Texas A&M and Texas at Texas A&M. You got some great games coming up in college football, just wanted to touch base with the guys, what their thoughts are on some of these big games.

Well, I think the thing basically is, when you look at, to answer your question on Mick Cronin, our good friend is Bill McDonnell, Fred and guys. But when I look at Bill McDonnell, he reminds me of Austin Powers. Mick Cronin reminds me of Mini Me. Remember Mini Me? He’s got that look, but I’m excited, man. College football right now is great. I’m so glad because each week it changes, one week it’s Alabama playing Notre Dame. To see who moves up in the thing, it’s another way

All right. Who’s the quarterback for Texas?

Who’s what?

Who’s the quarterback for Texas?

Which one d’you want, Manny or yours?

No, no, no. Mark says he loves college football. I want to know who the quarterback is.

I, I don’t know, but I mean, it’s

But you did before, but you did five years ago, I guarantee you.

Well, but here’s the, here’s the thing. How exciting is it going to be to see when these things unfold? To see the two best teams fighting for the championship rather than play a conference that really nobody watched you, you, you know, you even said

Do you think Clemson would beat Boise State? Is that one of those two teams, one of the, one of those big schools like Alabama, are going to be left out of the playoffs?

You don’t think, you don’t think it’s, Artie, you don’t think it’s Texas or Alabama, or somebody can take out an Oregon, who knows?

I mean, Oregon beat Ohio State by one point. They were very fortunate to do so.

I think you said a couple of slip-ups along the way.

What about in Indiana?

Yeah, I think what he’s done is something.

Let me say something about Indiana, I’m watching that game Saturday morning, last Saturday morning and it ended up 38-15, Ohio State. But it wasn’t that bad of a game. I mean, Indiana was close to

The punter dropped that snap. When he dropped that snap, that was basically, turn out the lights, the party’s over.

As Artie indicated, the punter dropped the ball, touchdown. And that was it. But no, the, the bottom line is, that Texas quarterback, Ewers is his last name, and he’s going to transfer now. He’s, he’s already the game, the season is still going on.

What about Penn State? Wait a minute, just wait a minute.

They might win the national title, but they won’t. He already has said he’s transferring and of course, uh, Archie Manning, will take over as quarterback next year. What’s going on?

Uh, he’s got a bad ankle this week, he might not even play this week, Fred.

Folks, we’re taping this on Wednesday, so you know, just so you understand. Matthew DiBiase, sports historian Is the game the same today as it was five years ago, before the transfer portal and before the NIL came into existence?

No, it isn’t. I mean, with this expansion of the playoffs, I mean, I don’t like the, I don’t know. It’s like they want to keep the big guys within the top 12. You notice they punished BYU. They pushed them right outside the Big 12 there, they really punished them. They always like to punish the weak fry. I mean, if they, you have a team in that 12-team playoff with three losses, I’m going to be very disappointed with that.

And the SEC, they will too, Matthew, you watch and see how it all comes out.

I mean. If you could do eight, I would have gone to eight, but 12. I think you’re really pushing that envelope there. I, I just, I really am bothered by it, but I’m kind of glad. Like Texas and Texas A&M and the restoration of that rivalry.

But let me ask you a question, if Ohio State played SMU in a, in a, in a, you know, an independent place, what do you think Ohio State would beat SMU by? Honestly, guys.

A lot.

Yeah, that’s my whole point. You have the two great conferences, which both have 18 teams and then you have two other conferences, which I think the Big Eight, you know, which is another, I think 18 team conference. I mean, how does Central Florida work into the Big Eight?

I mean, let me ask you guys, Matt doesn’t want to go back, he basically seems like you want to keep everything. How fair was that? Years ago? In another sport? In baseball, when the Giants won 101 games, lost to the Braves that won the division with 102? And another division wins 70-something games, that’s not fair.

Well, you have to have divisions, though. If you have to have something to play for, you’ve got to go in their regular season. In my book, but let me let me throw something out here. Or I don’t know if either if any of you watched the BYU – Arizona State game on Saturday. Did anybody watch it?

Yeah, I think it was ridiculous.

Okay? So Dillingham, the coach at Arizona State, they’re up by five, they have the ball on BYU’s three-yard line. So, and there was less than two minutes to go. So instead of trying to score or just falling on it four times and letting the clock run off, there’ll be about 40 seconds left to go for Arizona State, after they used their timeout, he started going backwards. Okay, so now there’s seven seconds to go and Arizona State has the ball. They’re on their own 49-yard line, they’ve gone back 46 yards. Wait a minute, wait a minute, so there’s a timeout and they go, they wanna waste the last seven seconds in the game. They’re up by five, right? Quarterback goes back and he throws it down, throws it up and it hits the ground. And then the kids from the student section run on the field.

Yeah.

One problem. There was one second to go. Yeah, so 15 minutes later

And you put him in a position where a Hail Mary could beat you from midfield.

So wait a minute, so 15 minutes later they clear the field. So, uh, quarterback Jake Retzlaff for BYU goes back and throws a Hail Mary, and he completes the Hail Mary. One problem – on the three-yard line. Then he gets tackled.

And now, when it went back a couple more yards, BYU would have won a game. They should have no reason to win.

You know what? Guys. So the way the system is set up now, how is this going to play out? It’s going to be a tougher draw for the top teams now because they’re going to have to play more games to actually win the title. Correct?

Yeah, yeah, well, yeah, well. The five through 12 have to play three games, whereas the one through four only have to play two, right?

So, I remember driving with my parents, like in the early 1960s. And they announced on the radio that they’re allowing the schools to play 10 games, and now we’re playing 16.

That was huge in those days. Because, you know, I mean,

That must have been the Pac-Eight.

Hey, we played eight games in high school before the playoffs.

Hey Fred, you know, tomorrow is the 60th anniversary of when USC beat Notre Dame that cost Notre Dame the ’64 national championship, Any of you guys,

Was it really? Wow, yeah.

Yeah. That was Ara Parseghian’s first year at Notre Dame. Any of you guys saw that? Remember that as a kid?

I do remember that, and I also remember the 50th-anniversary game where Notre Dame I was on the sidelines, Notre Dame was leading 24 to 6. And that’s the joke that Ara Parseghian said. He thought after they came out and scored 38 consecutive points, they were gonna kill that poor white horse, right? All right, in his entire career, right?

Artie played against Notre Dame, but Notre Dame in football reminds me of that arrogant type. But, you know, mistake that Duke has in college basketball, like they think they’re better than everybody.

They used to be. Okay, let’s take a quick break.

The Northern Illinois Huskies say they’ve got their number.

Let’s take a quick break right here on Fred and the Fantastics.

All right back on Fred and the Fantastics, Art Sorce, Matthew DiBiase, and Mark Mancini. Art. I’ve got to ask you a key question. I threw this out during our last show, I have to throw this out to you this time around. Were you able to stay up till 2:30 in the morning last Saturday night as USC bested UCLA?

Fred, I was okay the first half, and I fell asleep in the third quarter. I woke up just in time for the fourth quarter and UCLA had scored 10 unanswered points. We were in big trouble and I looked at myself, I said, I hope, I should have probably just stayed asleep. And then, for some reason, they got lucky and they threw that pass where the guy bobbled it, got it, had one foot in, but yeah, that’s just ridiculous to have a game like that. And now, like, like Matthew said before the break. The 60th anniversary of the ’64 game, unbelievable game, 50th anniversary for Ara’s Last game, which, you know, SC and Notre Dame. And I was in the locker room with, with McKay. And I swear to God, guys, this is the truth. McKay said, we got them right where we want them, and I’m thinking of myself, what is he talking about? He goes, we’re gonna get the kickoff, we’re gonna score on the kickoff. Because they had returned the kickoff right before the half for a touchdown with Anthony Davis. And he said, We’re gonna score, we’re gonna score, we’re gonna score, score, score and score. And that’s exactly what happened. 24-6 at halftime, final score 55-24. And I swore to God, nobody, 90,000 people in the Coliseum, nobody sat down the entire second half. I switched from Notre Dame, Joe Ianto and Ara to John McKay that game because I just had never seen anything like it.

Does McKay have the all-time record in the NFL or did the Lions beat that? Because I think he went 0-14,

Oh, he had a real rough start.

0-26, with Tampa Bay.

Yeah, a lot of my teammates like Danny Reese and David Lewis, they were on those teams.

The Yuccaneers.

Folks, we’re taping this on Wednesday afternoon, the day before Thanksgiving – everybody out there have a great Thanksgiving. But in the National Football League on Thursday, Lions and the Bears, and I’ve made the case before that Jared Goff’s got to be in the running for MVP. He had that one bad game, the five interceptions, but he’s had every other game where he’s led the Lions. Well, they won, even when he threw the five interceptions, but outside of that, he’s been almost perfect. And, uh, Lions and Bears, do the Bears have any shot in this one?

Uh, well, ten and a half points is a lot of points. As you well know, friend, in the NFL, um, I, I actually think the Lions are going to roll it up on the Bears. Um, I kind of like that game. I also think, you know, the next game, which is another schnoozer, Tommy DeVito, Tommy Cutlets, is not going to play in that one. The Giants are getting 3.5 in Dallas. Cooper Rush looked decent last week, but I do like the over in that game. It’s 37 and a half. And if Tommy Cutlets doesn’t play quarterback, we get to see Drew Locke, who I’ve always thought has a lot of potential. The guy’s got a gun on him, you know? And then, of course, you got the frozen fish going to Lambeau Field. Yeah, that could be very interesting, too.

You can’t win.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And then Friday, of course, we got the game on Prime. And of course, folks, you might not have Prime, so you won’t be able to watch it. But then, of course, when you get to Christmas, all the games will be on Netflix. Matthew DiBiase, do you have any comments about what they’re doing to the fans?

It sucks, it sucks, It’s literally, it sucks. I hate that. And pretty soon they’re going to do the Super Bowl, they will do the Super Bowl,

A pay-per-view Super Bowl, that’s where they’re going.

Yeah, that’s where they’re going, you know, they’re going to build up to it.

And it’s going to be. Every big game in sports is going to cost you. Yeah, that’s exactly right.

Yeah, yeah. And I, I know a friend of mine, AP, who works for the UPS, you know, lives out in my area. Same way, he said. It’s just it’s just sucks.

Hey, hey, you guys, can we get together and have a Friday special? Well, Thanksgiving sale and buy MSNBC for half the price.

I don’t know Fred, you know? When you look at this, the Jake, the Paul-Tyson fight went to, like, Netflix,

A couple of lawsuits now.

Okay, but. But see how far it’s come down now/ People got options whether they want to see these things or not. Years ago, you had to buy Select or on pay $59 to see a fight. Those days are over. People got options and that’s why this thing was on a free Netflix thing, where it costs you probably $10 a month, WWE has gone over there where they’re trying to

Mark, it’s not $10 a month. Last time I checked, it was either $15.99 or $23.99.

Well, it’s a far cry from $75 when we sit there and get everybody together and it’d be over in two rounds.

Multiply 12 months.

And you watch this stuff on YouTube, you’ll watch it later.

Yeah, you watch it on YouTube,

It’s like spending more money than you spend it on.

Yeah, yeah, I’m a Salvation Army guy.

For Mario for putting this show together, for Mark, for Matthew DiBiase, our sports historian, and, of course, for 127-year-old Art Sorce. Thank you very much for listening to Fred and the Fantastics on PodClips and, of course, on BLEAV. Bye, everybody.