Hey everybody, it’s that time again. Fred and the Fantastics on BLEAV and on PodClips. anything and much more. As far as sports and business, and anything else that is concerned with Art, with Laura, and with you. You can email us at [email protected], [email protected]. All right, Oklahoma City and San Antonio, knotted in one game apiece. Folks, we’re taping this on Thursday night, about Thursday afternoon, about one o’clock. They’re knotted in one game apiece. And obviously, Wemby comes from a foreign universe or foreign planet. But he walks on, he doesn’t fly on, because he, look, he’s a great player. But if they let him take three-and-a-half or four-and-a-half steps every time he dribbles the ball, he’s going to be pretty dynamite and dominant. Art, how many steps did we play with? One and a half? What are we going on here as far as Wemby?

You know, the NBA, we always joked about the Euro Step, and I call it the Galaxy Step now. Because these guys basically don’t even put the ball on the floor, they just run and put it in the basket. But, you know, I’m concerned about both the Western Conference teams right now, because it seems like injuries and that long NBA season is starting to cause a few problems for both San Antonio and Oklahoma City. And the MVP, Gilgeous, doesn’t look like the same player he was the last couple of years, in my opinion.

Laura, who’s going to win that series, not even one game apiece, in your opinion?

You know, I thought Oklahoma City was going to win the series before it started. Now I’m not so sure.

I think they’re five and one. Oklahoma City’s lost five games, and San Antonio’s beaten them five and six.

Yeah, I think the Spurs just might; they’re so deep. I mean, they just have so much depth.

Exactly.

And Wemby, although he does, I’ve never seen him go to the basket where he didn’t travel. It’s like traveling, you know, they just, it’s hard to find him.

What did Chick used to say? He had his suitcase packed, and he was on the move?

You know, but barring an injury, I mean, just if he stays healthy, he’s got to go down as one of the great players in history, no?

Yeah, well, I mean, the three-point shot. I mean, when did you ever think you’d see a seven-foot-six guy hitting three-pointers? And, of course, the ad that they run on ESPN with the handprint on the board, and Shaq comes over, and they’re all looking up at the board, Now who could have put that handprint up there? And Shaq goes, Hmm, might have to be, might have, how tall is that young kid from San Antonio? I love that ad.

All right, let’s go on to the second game. Of course, Cleveland and the Knicks, and interesting game, and I’ll tell you why. The Knicks were down by 22 points, with like seven minutes to go, and they came back to win it. I only watched about 10 minutes of that game. I think one of the problems, in my opinion, anyways, near the end of that game. James Harden, who’s a Hall of Famer, can’t take that away from him, but he dribbles and dribbles and dribbles. The Knicks know he’s not going to pass the ball; they don’t have to move. Art, you played the game growing up. What do you think about that?

It amazes me, because when a guy does that, the motion in the offense, guys start standing around, and once they start standing around, you know, it makes it a lot easier to guard people. And you can see the momentum. Momentum in sports is still a huge thing. And once you start seeing things, especially when you’re at home, and that Madison Square Garden crowd gets, that was a great comeback. But I will tell you, I still think Cleveland’s going to take this game to seven games, and that series to seven games, and we’ll see what happens in the end. But I know one thing: the people in power at the networks are hoping it’s going to be New York and San Antonio, just between me, you, and the gatepost.

Laura, I know you watched that, even over the Dodgers. Who might win between Cleveland and the Knicks?

You know, I thought the Knicks were going to run away with it, but you know, Cleveland, they’ve got so much heart. I don’t know, maybe they will. I still think the Knicks are going to win. I think they’re a more talented team. I mean, the fact that they came back, it was, Jalen Brunson was just unbelievable in that game. But the other thing about Harden is, he doesn’t play defense.

Right.

There was a statistic, he moves on defense, the least amount of any player in the NBA. So, you know, I mean, he just doesn’t play defense, and he never did play defense, but he especially doesn’t now, in his later years.

So he plays statue defense. He plays statue defense.

Let me ask you guys a question. Laura, first, I’ll go to you. Russell Westbrook and Harden came up about the same time. Westbrook, of course, UCLA, Harden at Arizona State. In your opinion, who’s had a better NBA career, James Harden or Russell Westbrook? Laura?

Oh, that’s a tough question. I mean, overall, I would probably say Harden, but I don’t know, Harden’s, I mean, he’s got,

Westbrook could do a heck of a lot more on the court.

Westbrook, I think, is a better, a more rounded player.

For sure.

Yeah, no question. I mean, they’re both Hall of Famers.

Well, if you can take Harden’s shooting ability and give it to Westbrook, you’ve got one of the great guards of all time.

Right?

You know, Westbrook, of course, is actually left-handed, and that’s one of the problems.

He should have shot that way, too, Fred.

Yeah, he should have stuck to left-handed shooting. That’s his one negative in his career. But I always thought, I wish he had played; he played two years at UCLA. I wish he had played more from that aspect.

Oh, yeah.

Folks, who do you think’s going to win? You can email us, [email protected], [email protected]. I’m going to put Laura on the spot now. Dodger game, same time as the NBA playoff. I’m watching the Dodgers over anything, and going back and off once in a while to the NBA. Laura, are you sticking to the NBA, or are you going to stick to your team, the Dodgers, at the same time?

Right. I pretty much watch the playoffs, and I’ve got the Dodger game on my phone. And I toggle between them, assuming one of them is not streaming. Because that’s the biggest downside of streaming, is you can’t toggle. I mean, you can, but it’s cumbersome. Yeah, it’s the playoffs, you know? Come on, the Dodgers, I mean, it’s a long season.

I’ve always thought that the conference finals, sometimes, you know, there’s a letdown when you get to the NBA finals, the conference finals. I’ve got to tell you, the last few years, that’s where you really see guys going out there, playing 100%. And I love watching that.

Same thing in football.

You can feel the difference. Things ramp up. Just the intensity level. 100% agree.

Love the conference finals.

We’re going to take a break and come back with more. Fred and the Fantastics on BLEAV and PodClips, right after this.

Hey, we’re back on Fred and the Fantastics, with Art, and with Laura, and with you. Mario is the producer of the show, engineer of the show. And you can email us at [email protected], [email protected]. All right, Art. Aaron Rodgers finally signs with Pittsburgh, $22 to $25 million. He said He’s going to retire after the season. I don’t believe he’s going to retire. Art, your comments.

Boy, it seems like we’ve been talking about this for seven years now. I will say this. I think the Steelers got a good deal, if he’s healthy; they seem to indicate it. But I hope that he gets a chance to work with Drew Aller and Howard, the two other quarterbacks. And I’m pretty sure the Steelers are probably going to keep the other two quarterbacks. Rodgers reminds me, excuse me, Aller reminds me of a young Rodgers. And I think if they can get together, it’s going to be really interesting to see just how good Drew Aller is. Because coming out of college, out of high school in Ohio, he was ranked really, really high right there, with Manning, as the top kids. And he didn’t quite live up to that. But now they’re starting to say that that was because Coach Franklin didn’t do a very good job coaching him at Penn State. Well, the jury’s out. We’re going to see what happens. But it’ll be very interesting to see. Did you hear what Joe Burrow said the other day? He basically guaranteed that the Bengals are going to the Super Bowl this year. I don’t know what he sees in that team that I don’t see. But I love Joe Burrow, but I’m a little questionable on that call.

Laura, talk about quarterback Joe Burrow saying what he said. And is Aaron Rodgers going to quit, or is he going to become the second host on Jeopardy?

You know, I think the worst thing that you can watch is an aging athlete playing too long. And I didn’t see that last year with Rodgers. I think he played pretty well. I mean, he didn’t play up to his peak years, but he played pretty well. So I think it’ll depend on how well he plays. And the problem with getting on in years is you get more injury-prone. And not only do you get more injury-prone, but the recovery from injuries is much harder and much longer. So, I mean, if he can last a season, we’ll see. But I think he’ll retire this year. He’s already kind of passed his sell-by date in a way. Don’t you think?

The born on date? Yeah, I kind of agree with you there. By buying that milk, it’s already got a date on it.

Art, Last week they made a big deal about the NFL schedule. When you look at that, can you really make a lot out of it? Because, like Kansas City, well, they didn’t have you-know-who, Mahomes, for the last few games. Can you really make a lot out of it?

Well, here’s the one thing I noticed about the Rams’ schedule. And the Rams are one of the favorites to win it all next year. They go from Australia to New York. Now, I got to tell you, I took a flight once from the East Coast to Australia. And from LA, it’s 13 hours. From New York, it’s like 17 hours. Now, to play a game in Australia, and then nine days later, you’re going across the country to play the Giants. And then you come all the way back to the West Coast and play another game, and then have to go back to the East Coast. I hope they got travel, you know, they’re getting their miles on their credit cards. Because that’s just a crazy, crazy move.

Laura, which Raider game are you going to go to this year in Las Vegas, Nevada?

I’m thinking about going to the Bills game. They’re playing the Bills in October. I mean, that’s going to be a prime ticket. But that will be so much fun. And I don’t know. I mean, I’ll root for the Raiders, but I love the Bills. They’re my second-favorite team. So it’s going to be a little bit just divided loyalty there.

You know, that’s something that’s very interesting when you go to Raider Games, Laura. It’s such a destination place where each team gets to go there like every four years. Unless they’re division, you know, in their same division. But those people are going to have a great time, from Buffalo. Are you kidding me? Getting to go to Las Vegas? I mean, that’s going to be so much fun. I hope they bring their table to jump on and everything.

Art, in 30 seconds, tell us about what legal medicinal product you take to answer these questions, discuss the world of sports?

Well, this is one of a few I take. But they’re all, you know, they’re all legal. But this is Prevagen. And this is the professional formula. It’s just marvelous, you guys. It really is. It’s got four times the level of the normal Prevagen. Yes, it’s expensive. But it does what it says it does. I’ve used it for five years, and I believe in it.

Laura, do you believe in Prevagen? Are you a believer, Laura?

Well, I think I really need to start taking it to do better at Sports Trivia.

It’s on its way. It’s coming. Barron Sports Trivia Edition.

Laura, give us 30 seconds of what’s happening in your life in the world of sports.

Well, I’m looking forward to continuing the NBA playoffs. Dodgers have a tough series against the Cubs.

Are you guys going to watch the Indy 500 on Sunday?

My husband probably will.

Because I was thinking the other day. like heavyweight boxing, boxing, horse racing, and motor car racing, other than Formula 1, it seems like they’re not quite getting the ratings they once did.

You know, Alex Palou, there’s articles about him on USA Today and other newspapers, The Post, and whatever. He’s getting booed now because he wins all the time. It’s his fault he wins?

Yeah, really. I don’t know. Is he a Penske guy?

Yeah, he’s a Penske guy.

They seem to win a whole lot. That’s like Baffert in horse racing.

In 1985, I think I told you this story, and it’s something I’ve never forgotten. Mario Andretti was on our radio show on KEX in Portland. And I drove his car. And again, I told you, I only drove it 80 miles an hour. It wasn’t his number one.

Was it cool getting in one of those?

Yes. But it wasn’t his number one car because they wouldn’t have let me be there.

How fun.

But it was like the number two car. I didn’t get into an accident, so I was happy with that. All right. For Laura, for Mario, for Art, and all kinds of things straight away, right here on Fred and the Fantastics. Bye, everybody!