It’s that time again, folks. Fred and the Fantastics, on BLEAV and PodClips around the world. This, that, and anything in the wonderful and wacky world of sports. With Laura Snoke, cousin Andy Baran, and, of course, Art Sorce from Galaxy Sports. Art, I’m gonna start with you, this is, and you used to kick for USC, you didn’t get any Heisman votes, so I’m very disappointed about that. But Miller Moss, quarterback, waited three years to get his opportunity last year in the Bowl Game, six touchdown passes. This year, he did not play poorly, but they lost all the close games, and

Now, is that his fault or Lincoln Riley’s fault?

That was my question. Lincoln Riley, who makes $10 million a year, decided to make a switch. Since the last three games, I’ve seen no real difference in the quarterbacks. Doesn’t a coach owe something to a player who’s hung out as long as Miller Moss, who’s now in the transfer portal? Art, take it away.

I agree with you a thousand percent, but there’s a big difference between the 70s and 2024. I mean, these coaches now, and I will say this, he’s gonna wind up going to Auburn. I talked to a friend of mine who’s on the staff down there. And he’s gonna be able to play for a coach, Hugh Freeze, who’s a really great offensive coach. So I think Miller Moss is gonna have a great, great year at Auburn. I’m calling it right now. They were ranked sixth in recruiting, and I mean, you would never have thought in the whole nation, Auburn would be the sixth-best recruiting class. But there they are, and now they bring in a quarterback that has the talent this kid has in an offensive line.

Hey, I’ve always said, and, you know, we always talk about Aaron Rodgers, we talk about all this. You can only be as good as your offensive line could make you be. Okay, if you’re falling backwards, getting hit all the time. Especially with pressure up the middle, I remember even Tom Brady, he said. When the pressure comes up the middle, there’s nothing you can really do.

So, I mean, the bottom line is if you’re gonna have a quarterback surrounded with a great offensive line. And I watched every one of the Trojan games, and it certainly wasn’t Miller Moss’ fault for those late, late collapses.

Laura, Miller Moss loved USC went to, USC, waited for his opportunity and Lincoln Riley, trying to pass the buck on whose fault it is, made the switch at quarterback. Your comments?

I think it’s just part of turning college sports into a business. And I was reading this morning an article, that the author of the article was saying there’s no need to have the conference championships anymore.

And that they seem redundant too.

I mean, what? I’ve been looking forward all week to Saturday to watching all these conference championships because they’re just great, and to say, well, we don’t need them anymore. Because now there’s the playoff and it forces some teams that aren’t the better teams to lose and then they’re out of the play. So what, you know, that’s my view. So, it’s just, it’s too bad. But, like Art said, it’s 2024. It’s the, you know, the privatization of everything, and everything is based on money, and Lincoln Riley is worried about his own future, and, you know, he’s just, I think,

Lincoln Riley, they said, was also interested in going to North Carolina for a split minute. Until they realized that they only have $3 million a year for their football coach, so we’d have to take in $8 billion. Think about what we’re saying here. There were times when, I mean, if somebody offered me $3 million to coach a college football team, my ass would be out of my chair so fast. Yes, sir, I’m right here. What do we need? I’m ready to go, and now these guys are going. That’s just not enough money.

Andy Baran, your son plays hockey, Let’s say he played football and his name was Miller Moss. How would you feel about it?

You know what, I’d be fairly disappointed, but you know what? I don’t think I would have been surprised. These guys, they expect to win. These coaches, if they’re not winning, the pressure’s on them and they have to show that they’re making a move. And the easiest way to show you’re making a move is to make a move in the high profile player that shows you’re doing something.

And there is a reason why they brought him in from UNLV. So Miller Moss kind of saw the writing on the wall. This kid’s talented, I mean, he’s a big kid, got a great arm. So, I mean, you know, Laura, you know, it’s what have you done for me lately, right?

Right.

All right, let’s switch from USC to UCLA. Eric Bieniemy got fired as offensive coordinator.

They’re covering that one up.

Now, UCLA only finished 117th in offense, so I can see why they wouldn’t want to do it. Laura, UCLA, You’re a big UCLA fan. What do you think?

It’s just been an awful season for UCLA. I don’t know. I mean, I thought they were a lot more talented than their record shows, but it’s just, it’s at least they,

I guess they’re bringing the coordinator in from Indiana. Is that what the scuttlebutt is?

That’s what they’re saying, that’s what they’re saying. But let me ask you a question. But the coach knows what play is being called.

Mm-hmm.

So the coach is above the offensive coordinator.

Correct.

So, again, is this a case of, this case of DeShaun Foster passing the buck because

Finding a fall guy? Finding a fall guy? Yeah, I think it might be because he said he’s his best friend. I don’t think you fire your best friend, I mean if he is your best friend. But you know, I gotta tell you, there’s a lot of things going on. DeShaun Foster If you really look at that program, I like DeShaun Foster. But Eric Bieniemy deserves to be a head coach based on his coaching props. Why he would be hired as the offensive coordinator prior to DeShaun Watson being hired as the head coach, that’s another really goofy situation,

DeShaun Foster.

Yeah.

Deshaun Watson soon will be coaching, because he won’t be playing.

Yeah, he’ll be coaching too. There you go, sorry all you Foster fans.

I don’t think, hey, it’s interesting. Watson is done, I mean, obviously. And that was one of the worst trades in the history of the National Football League by way of Houston to uh,

And it opened up Pandora’s Box with guaranteed contracts.

But Winston threw for 497 yards on Monday Night Football and they lost the game. I didn’t look this up. Art, have you ever heard of a quarterback throwing for 497?

Yeah, Norm Van Brocklin, back in 1963, or something like that.

So we’re talking 60-something years, like 64 years ago.

They didn’t count all the yards he threw to the other team, though. That’s the problem.

That’s true.

Well, he does have a penchant for that. He wanted to balance things out. All right, we’re gonna take a quick break right here on Fred and the Fantastics,

That was a good one, Andy.

And come back with a whole lot more.

Hey, we’re back on Fred and the Fantastics. Laura Snoke, Art Sorce, cousin Andy Baran with us. And we’re talking about this, that, and anything in sports. On Saturday night of the conference championship games, to me, this is the one that I pay more attention to, the most attention to. Oregon against Penn State, five o’clock Pacific, eight o’clock Eastern time. The game is in Indianapolis, Indiana, Oregon’s a slight favorite. Art Who do you like?

I think it’s gonna be a dandy game. You got two programs that have trouble winning big games. Oregon’s never won a national championship. Penn State, it’s been years for them. I think top 10 teams in the last 10 years, James Franklin is four and 17 in big games. So something’s gotta give here. Here’s what’s interesting. And I know Laura loves these conference championships. If Oregon wins, obviously they’re on their way to a potential national championship, but if Penn State beats Oregon, they’re both going to the playoffs. So my point is, would you almost rather beat Ohio State, possibly, in this situation?

Interesting, Laura, who do you think might win? Dan Lanning and his Oregon Ducks or Penn State?

I like Oregon. I mean, they’ve been playing great all season. They’re a fun team, like, I wonder what kind of uniforms they’ll end up in?

They’re so fast, the speed on that football team.

They’re really fun to watch.

I mean, their defense, the corner-edge rushers are like they had 10 sacks. I think last week against Washington, it was crazy.

Yes, it’s gonna be a great game, and I think all the games are gonna be great on Saturday.

Folks, we’re taping this on Friday. Andy Baran, any comments?

Yeah, so I mean, I love Dan Lanning. What I love about him is he doesn’t care that Oregon used to choke, he doesn’t believe in that anymore. The way I look at it, I think it’s Oregon and everybody else this year. I think that this game may not even be very close.

Andy, he’s built that team in an SEC mold, too. He’s an old defensive coordinator from Georgia. I see a lot of power, a lot of strength and speed,

Everything about that team. Again, I think it may not even be a close game. And ultimately, I would be 100% sure of it if this wasn’t. Like the year when games that weren’t supposed to be close were really close, and teams that weren’t supposed to win really won some games, right? I think it would be a huge upset for Penn State to pull this one out. I think Oregon’s gonna cruise all the way to the national title.

All right, let’s go to the National Football League this weekend. And I got one game that I really like from a point point of view. The Browns, 3-8 at the Steelers, 9-3 Browns coming off that Monday night loss, even though he threw for 497 yards. Steelers with Russell Wilson playing pretty well, I think the Steelers recover. Art. Any comments about this one?

Yeah, I think, because they got beat in the snowstorm a couple Thursdays ago in Cleveland. I think you’re gonna see Mike Tomlin’s team come out and play very, very good football. I think Winston not having that ability to be elusive in the pocket could cause problems. Because Pittsburgh, really, you know, there’s somebody on Pittsburgh who’s playing great but doesn’t get a lot of recognition. Cameron Hayward. He is just a block in the middle. And I mean, he sets those guys up on the corner because you gotta have the center and the guard double-teaming Cameron Hayward. And that means one of those two end rushers has one-on-one. And you know, T.J. Watt and Herbig, you throw everybody else. I mean, Tomlin. Right now nobody wants to talk about it. But based on everybody in preseason, they were 80 to one to win it all. And right now, he’s coach of the year, phenomenally.

All right, let’s go to another game. Laura, you’re a big Raider fan. They’re two and 10 on the season, they’re at Tampa Bay, six and six. There is some question, though, as far as the health of one of my favorite quarterbacks. So who do you like in this one? Tampa Bay is a touchdown favorite, Laura, at home.

It’s just been such a horribly disappointing season for any Raider fan. I’m not even watching them anymore this season, so I haven’t really even thought about that game. I think I don’t know, I mean, the last game when they just basically threw it away at the end.

I think Raider fans are missing Derek Garr.

I do, yeah, but I mean, you’re missing a lot, I’m missing a lot of,

You know, I read something, Fred, that I’d never thought I’d ever read. Mark Davis is basically selling portions of his team, an $8 billion franchise, right? Now here’s something I never knew. As long as you’re one of the original owners or the family of the original owners, you could sell all but 1% of the franchise and still maintain controlling interest in the decisions in the franchise. Have you ever heard anything like that, you guys?

No, yeah, I mean, that’s always been the rule. It’s just he’d still be the boss.

And of course, the Steelers did it with Tepper, they did it with the guy that owns the Cleveland Browns. I mean, it’s crazy how they, in the NFL. So he’s basically using all that money that he’s gained by going to Vegas. Now, you know, it was a $3 million, $1 billion franchise. Now it’s $8 billion, so he’s amortizing it, taking all the money and still running the franchise. Pretty bizarre.

Andy Baran, Let me ask you a question. You’re a big Patriot fan. You are in Connecticut. Belichick – he’s not gonna coach North Carolina. Which NFL team do you think would be the most obvious choice for Belichick?

You know, to me, the most obvious choice is the Jets, although I don’t know if they take them back, right, after his history there.

I don’t think he gets along with those people too well.

He and Woody don’t get along?

Sorry?

He and Woody don’t get along?

Yeah, who does he get along with? Not at all, honestly. Who does he get along with?

How about the Bears? How about the Bears?

I think the Bears are a possible landing spot, I think the Cowboys are a potential landing spot.

We’ll put Jerry and him.

Yeah, that’d be interesting, right? I do, but to answer your question. I don’t know where he’s gonna land, and I don’t know if it’s gonna be this year or not. But he is dead set on breaking the record, right? He’s won 14 wins. I think to break the record, he’s gonna be doing everything he can to land somewhere.

By the way, Andy, if you watch him do TV, he’s absolutely incredible at the shows he does.

He is.

I never thought he had it in him, but, you know, because he always, when he dealt with the media as a coach, he was like, you know, struggling. Yes, no, uh.

Okay, but let me state this, he’s doing a lot of media, one of them he’s doing, Inside Football, on the CW. Let me tell you how pathetic the CW is. Here in Los Angeles, the CW is our Channel 5.

Okay,

Okay, so the show is on nine o’clock every Wednesday night on Channel 5, right? So Wednesday night, I decide Fred’s gonna watch his first NBA game all the way through. The Clipper Game is on Channel 5, 7:30. So Inside Football is never seen here in Los Angeles. So you have to stream it on CW. Laura, I don’t know about you, but I’m not great streaming. When is enough enough? I just can’t take it.

I don’t know.

And that game, let me say something about that Clipper game, it’s the first one that I was gonna watch all the way through, okay?

You didn’t make it?

Well, Leonard hasn’t played all season. Harden scored two points in the first half. They were down by 27 at halftime. Would anybody in their right mind watch the second half? You answer that question. He lost by 28. So it’s,

Well, you said, when the second half was better than the first, you should have watched that, right?

Hey, how about the Lakers? The Lakers were rolling and then they went on the road and they’ve lost six of their last eight. Here’s a great stat you guys, you’re gonna love this. When LBJ, LeBron James, is on the court, the Lakers are minus nine on average. When he’s off the court, they’re plus eight in points per game.

Well, he controls the ball, he slows everybody else down. I can see that he’s 40 years of age. I mean, he’s never gonna retire and his son doesn’t have to fly, like the other G-League players do have to fly. And for the folks that are listening to us for the first time, we discussed this the last couple of weeks on this show, Fred and the Fantastics. Bronny James is partially a G-League player and partially a Laker.

But he won’t fly on the road, he won’t. He’s got John Madden disease or something like that?

So he won’t fly on the road with his G-League teammates. And we’ve discussed this. If you’re a teammate, that doesn’t work out. I mean, I don’t know who cares about the G-League anywhere, but anyways. But there’s something unfair about because he’s got the same last name as his dad. He doesn’t have to fly and everybody else has to fly. He does fly with the Lakers when he’s on their team, so it’s not a question of his health. Of course, he had the health problem, the heart problem, but what I’m saying is that it’s just totally unfair and it’s the way of the world.

Hey Fred, one of the games tomorrow is the Army. Army is hosting Tulane.

Right.

I mean, and it’s snowing as I look out the window right now. Do you think that these teams that are in the northeast, like Penn State or Ohio State, if they get home games in this college football playoff, do you think that there’s a real big potential for having some incredible snow games? I mean,

Yeah, but most of the bowl games aren’t in that area, most of the bowl games are in the south or the west.

But I’m talking about round two, playoffs, where the home field, the home teams,

Yeah, in that round, I guess. Certainly, that would be an advantage if you’re used to the snow. We saw a game,

I mean, if Alabama had to come to Penn State, for instance, or Ohio State. I mean, that would be a little tough game for those kids, because most of those kids. Alabama does a better job of recruiting California than the University of Southern California.

You know what, Artie? I think it’s more about the cold, because the football season, cultural season ends before most of the snow games ever really happen, right?

But yeah, now you’re playing all the way through December.

Right.

You know, I mean, so it’s I’m just throwing it out there, you know? I mean,

Let me throw you something interesting. This is from USA Today, it says a Hawaii trip wasn’t a holiday paradise for defending champion UConn men. We’re talking college basketball.

Yeah.

They’ve won two years in a row, they fly to Hawaii for a tournament, they lose all three games. Now. Andy, you are in Connecticut. What are the newspapers saying?

Yeah, so my son was at UConn until this year, right? So you know, he was smart. He actually told me, look, Dad, they all left. There’s not a whole lot of talent left in this team. They sort of got, you know, that, the charity number two seeding. And I actually thought with three losses, they were going to fall right out of the top 25. And I think they still got just a little bit of, a little bit of a gift to be number 25 to stay in. Just because of the history they’ve had, they’re not a good team.

Laura, What do you think of your UCLA Bruins? They beat Oregon earlier this week, and it’s they beat Washington early this week. On Sunday, they face Oregon, the Ducks. What do you think of the Bruin basketball tiers?

Well, I think that it’s a brand new team from last year, pretty much, except for Mack and then the other guy I forget. They’re playing great, we’ll see when they start getting some real competition.

Washington was pretty good.

Yeah, that was the first, I thought, that was their first real test, and they certainly passed that. And yeah, it’s exciting. And the women are playing really great, too, so it’s kind of fun to watch them after the dismal football season.

You realize the Oregon Ducks record,

The Bruin women are number one in America.

That’s right.

We’re taping us on Friday,

And USC’s got a good women’s basketball team too.

That’s true.

With Juju, so I mean, that could be fun.

Hey, by the way, you know, just for, and Laura was upset with this a couple of weeks ago. So the Big Ten network, you’re supposed to be able to get the games, but sometimes there’s a game that isn’t considered that big. So you have to buy the Big Ten+ for $12.95 a month. And then you get, you know, like, the games that aren’t the highlight-type games. One of the Bruin basketball games, Laura, you were looking for. If you pay $12.95, you can get the Big Ten+. And there it is, another $12 down the tubes. Laura. Any comments?

I’m done paying for the pluses, I’ve got too many already, too many pluses.

Too many pluses, they become minuses. It’s like algebra.

Okay, I just can’t believe Big Ten+. I mean, how big of a market is that?

Has anybody heard from the Pac-12 network? Do they still cover Oregon State? And Washington State?

I finally got it off my iPhone, I finally got it off my iPhone. I sort of knocked it off. All right. Art, 30 seconds, this week in sports. Don’t give us. Everything is good, good, good. Let’s hear something different today right here on Fred and the Fantastics.

Well, the Golden Sombrero home plate appearance in Major League baseball has got me up in arms. You know how you always say, Fred is upset, Artie is upset. Because I don’t think you should be able to pick a guy and just insert him in the game whenever you want, you know. Bottom of the eighth, the weak-hitting shortstop’s up there with two outs and the bases loaded. And all of a sudden, here comes Ohtani.

Laura, 30 seconds, this week in sports, your comments?

I don’t think that the Golden Bat proposal is gonna pass. I think it’s the most ridiculous. It’s even worse than the Ghost Runner, which is the worst idea I’ve ever heard of. So hopefully I’m right and it won’t pass because it’s absurd.

Andy Baran, what do you think about the world of sports straight away?

So, my Boston Bruins this week had the chance to do an amazing 100-year anniversary. And I think they sort of fell flat. And I was really, still love the team, but really disappointed with the way they pulled it off. That could have been a really, really big thing.

All right, you gamblers, take Oregon and go to the bank.

I think that might happen. All right for Art, for Laura, for Andy. I’m Fred, and stay tuned all the time for more of Fred and the Fantastics. Bye, everybody.