Hi everybody, welcome to Fred and the Fantastics on BLEAV and on PodClips across America and around the world. With Art, with Laura, with Mark. And you can email us at [email protected], [email protected]. We are taping this Friday afternoon, about one o’clock Pacific time. We’ve got some women’s final for today and, of course, the men’s take over on Saturday. Art, Connecticut, 12 national titles on the women’s side. Are they going to do it again?

Well, I think Illinois is going to play against Arizona in the finals, so I’m going to probably go with Illinois. Lay the two points in the first game, and then Michigan’s impressed me, but Arizona’s just too tough this year. Every time I’ve gone against them, they’ve slapped me around, so I’m going with Arizona to defeat Illinois in the finals.

So, you’re a sexist because I asked you about the women’s tournament.

Yeah, I was going to say that,

Oh well, UCLA over UConn.

Wrong bracket.

Okay, so my friend Randy Rosenblum used to do UCLA women’s basketball on the radio. He would drag me to the game. I beg him, I don’t want to go, I don’t want to go, I don’t want to go. So one time I put two tickets on the windshield, I come back after the game’s over, and there are four tickets there. However, the women’s game has changed; there’s no question about that. Now, Art, you get a second chance here. Who wins the women’s tournament?

Well, you know, if you go against Audi, I don’t know if anybody’s going to beat her in basketball, but I will tell you this: I like the UCLA Bruins, the way they’re playing right now; they remind me of a team from like the ’60s, I think Johnny Wooden was their coach. They play great team basketball, their coach has done a great job, had them all year long. Maybe she can coach, you know, coach the men, that’d be fantastic. I guess there is a coach that was coaching both the men and the women’s teams. But yeah, I like UCLA to upset UConn in this one, but how about UConn getting to both ends of the Final Four?

Oh, okay, great story. You ready for this? A furniture store in Connecticut offered free furniture if you buy it from January through February something, if both teams make the final game.

Hey’re in trouble.

They don’t have to win the game. What I’m saying, if they make the final two and each side, the women’s side and the men’s side, all the furniture that you bought is free. We are talking,

You’d better be loading up on the other two teams because he’s going to cost them a lot of money.

We’re talking $50 million if they both make the final two. So if they both get to the final, they don’t have to win it. Now.

Marketing guy that came up with that one’s in deep trouble, Fred.

Howard’s.

Another wager I heard somebody put a hundred dollars on a couple of teams, and he makes $10,000 if Arizona wins. Now, here’s the question: Do you wager against Arizona?

Yeah, you amortize that bet, put 50 grand on the other team.

So seriously, do you put $5,000 on Michigan? What do you do, Art?

Whenever I put together my four or five-team parlays, the last game, I always try to separate it at the end. Because, should I get lucky enough to win the first three or four, that way, I can amortize, and at least I know I’m going to make something rather than nothing.

Laura. Who’s going to win the women’s? Who’s going to win the men’s?

I think UCLA is going to beat UConn in the final. But I was wrong about Duke, so that was an epic failure last week. And, I like, my parents met at Illinois, so I’m going to go with the Fighting Illini beating Michigan in the final.

I like their coach, their coach is really a cool chap.

They’re kind of a crazy team.

They are.

Doesn’t it hit you in the head, though, that UCLA beat Illinois with a last-second layup by Dent, and UCLA was beating Arizona with two minutes to go?

Well, they have the talent; you know, it just comes down to they make crucial mistakes at the wrong time, and they’re going to be okay, Fred. I really wish they could find another basketball coach because I think Cronin is set for a Midwest-type of kid. He isn’t a West Coast kind of coach. There is a difference; there’s a laissez-faire with the West Coast kids, and I think they need positive reinforcement. I don’t think they like to get yelled at. I think that’s the difference between now and my era.

The big guy for Michigan played two years at UCLA. Cronin didn’t think he’d be dominant. The kid leaves to Michigan. He’s averaging, like, 10 points and eight or nine rebounds per game. Michigan could win the whole thing, who knows? But your point’s well taken. I could not play for Mick Cronin. And, as you indicated, Art, a lot of kids cannot. You think about how many kids lasted more than two or three years under him, and it’s not always a question of, he says, we don’t make enough NIL money, NIL money. It’s not that, believe me, UCLA, one way or the other, is getting money to these kids.

Did you see how much money LSU is forking out for their football team this year?

What?

$200 million. They paid off Brian Kelly’s $54 million. They signed Lane Kiffin for $120 million. Their NIL for football alone is $40 million. So would that not be the best team money can buy?

Pretty good. How about Lane Kiffin and a 19-year-old?

Let’s not go there, Fred.

Why not?

I think I like it the other way around. I like the 19-year-old.

Didn’t Ed Orgeron get in trouble for the same thing at LSU?

You got Bill Belichick and a 23-year-old or 24-year-old?

Yeah, what’s the, I never understood that with men like that. I mean, I like it the other way.

I’m 137 years old, you guys, and I like 45-year-olds.

Yeah. Women get better after 35.

Laura, what do you think about that?

The lure of youth and the lure of money are the two reasons for that.

You hit it right on the head, darling.

I think women get better after 35. I had a friend that’s 28, she says, Do I look good-looking? I go, you got another seven years.

You said the right thing, Mark. You definitely did.

Especially being married.

Folks, you can email us right here on Fred and the Fantastics on BLEAV and PodClips: [email protected], [email protected]. So much to talk about. Now we’ll take a break and come back with a whole lot more on Fred and the Fantastics on BLEAV and Podclips, back right after this.

Hey, welcome back, everybody. It is Fred and the Fantastics on BLEAV and PodClips with Laura, with Art, with Mark. And of course, you can email us at [email protected], [email protected]. We’re like two weeks away from the NFL draft. On Friday, of course, Ty is the Alabama quarterback, is meeting with the Jets. It looks like, probably, they’re going to go in that direction.

Don’t go there.

Gino Smith will start. What do you think, Art?

I got to tell you, I feel bad if Ty Simpson goes to New York. That place has ruined so many great quarterbacks since Joe Namath; I don’t know where to start. But I look at it, I hope to heck he doesn’t get saddled. Look what they did with Sammy Darnold, you go down the line. Sanchez, some great, talented quarterbacks. Sanchez did get them to a couple of finals, AFC Championship games, but no, I don’t see it happening. I don’t see a lot of quarterbacks in this class. I’m excited that Kurt Cousins decides to go to Las Vegas and really step it up, because I watched his last four games with the Falcons last year. He looked like he was over his Achilles tendon problems.

He’s good.

I think it will be very, very incumbent on Brady and Cousins and the coach to get this kid in there and teach him reading defenses. I’m one of the proponents that believes a player needs to have time to develop and assimilate into the NFL. They throw these guys in there, like throwing them in the pool, and if it doesn’t work out, it sometimes takes four or five years if they ever make it back. That’s just my theory on that.

Especially a quarterback, I think that, that adage applies too. I love it, I think it’s fabulous, I love Kurt Cousins. He’s such a great football player; he’s overcome all these injuries, and he’s going to be, it’s a perfect situation for him, I think.

Laura, do you know his record on Monday night football?

One in 13?

One in 13, or something like that.

I’m thinking he’s a GQ of the NFL, man.

I don’t think the Raiders are going to be on Monday Night Football much next year.

Wherever that guy’s gone,

Raider Nation. They still have a huge fan base. Don’t underestimate Raider Nation.

Artie, if you guys check his stats wherever he’s gone, he put the Redskins on the map, the Vikings, the Falcons,

Mark, but they don’t win.

They don’t win big games,

Well,

They get behind, and then he gets a lot of yardage, but that doesn’t make him a great quarterback.

He may not necessarily be the starter the whole season.

Do you know who loves him, though? Really loved him and always wanted him? Kyle Shanahan. And they call him a whisperer of quarterbacks. You know, I mean, I just think in this particular situation, a veteran quarterback teaming with a part-owner of the franchise, Brady, and Kubiak, who knows quarterbacks. His dad, he’s been around quarterbacks with Shanahan and his dad. I think this is a great learning opportunity for Mr. Fernando Mendoza. And I think it’s incumbent that the Raiders not turn this into a one-year deal like they did with Pete Carroll. But let’s take a three-year process, look at it, let’s build this team, which they’re doing, I think. Hey, you know, the luckiest move of all might’ve been Baltimore going ahead and sending Max Crosby back to the Raiders. Because that’s going to really help them.

Can you call Mark Davis and give him all your insights, because they’re all perfect?

Yeah.

You know, his dad liked me. Al Davis, I worked for him for a couple of years, and we talked a lot of football. The guy that didn’t like me in that organization was one of Fred’s buddies, Al LoCasale.

Oh, Al LoCasale,

You know that story. I can’t go over that.

Al LoCasale.

Art, we’re taping this Friday, and it’s got to be tough for you to answer these questions that you do correctly all the time. What do you take, legally, medicinally, to answer these questions and talk sports with us?

The professional formula of Prevagen. I also take a couple other things, like Asian ginseng, because we’re up late at night, usually doing the Sports Overnight Show. But for Fred and the Fantastics, this is the key stuff. It helps keep the nootropics rolling through your brain. You can remember things you don’t want to remember sometimes, but, you know that’s part of the whole gig.

Talking about not remembering things, Mark, you think the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to have Aaron Rodgers or not have Aaron Rodgers?

We were talking about that the other day, and I said to myself, you want $32 million to come back for another year? I mean, come on.

Didn’t he just play for 12?

Come on.

He was worth 8.

I know you want to represent yourself, but really, I mean, they want you back. Why, I mean, it’s just gouging. And when I think of what he’s doing there, I think about the new Dodger uniform. They said, This is the new thing coming out, they’re donning it today. And I’m going, What are these guys? Don’t you have enough uniforms and hats?

It’s all merchandising and marketing.

It’s over-saturation merchandising marketing. It’s over-saturation in your product.

Talking about the Dodgers today, they are playing in Washington.

Oh my gosh,

They were going to meet the Mar-a-Lago guy. But they changed their mind.

They changed their mind?

Laura. Good news or bad news? I know your answer, but let me hear it.

Oh, you know I’m not a big fan of the Mar-a-Lago guy, as you all know. And I don’t think they should go to the White House because I don’t think we should keep normalizing this presidency. But the Dodgers did win 13 to 6, new uniforms or not. So,

Two missed extra points. It sounds like,

Let me ask you a question.

I want to ask you guys something. Let’s say you were a great tennis player, OK, Laura, and you win the women’s Wimbledon or the women’s U.S. Open. And you’re invited to the White House. Whether your politics are liberal, conservative, whatever. Don’t you think that’s kind of a special thing to be able to see, you know, to go to the White House?

If that were true, in my dreams, that I would win Wimbledon, I would have gone if George W. Bush was president. I would have gone if H.W. Bush was president. I don’t think, Donald Trump is not a regular president.

There’s no doubt about that.

So no, I would not go to see, I would not, I personally would not do anything to normalize this presidency, because it’s not a normal presidency. It’s beyond politics, it really is. It’s not even,

I’m glad to hear that. I’m glad to hear that because you know, I think, you know, personally, it doesn’t matter how you feel about the person. I think it’s a great honor to be recognized as a champion, and that’s how I kind of look at it. I try not to bring, there’s so much politics in real life, you guys.

Like, for instance, the kid in Chicago,

It’s beyond politics, though, at this point. It doesn’t have anything to do with policy; it has to do with how he’s structuring the government and having his own private police force. That we’re now used to having military in our cities, which we have never done before. It’s how he’s putting his name on everything and his banner on everything, like Kim Jong-un in North Korea. It’s not about politics, it’s not about, I support Democrats and Republicans, and people that believe in the Constitution. He does not believe in the Constitution. It’s beyond politics.

Here’s the thing: the thing that happened in Chicago with Ivey, it was the religion thing. A lot of people within the organization said he was too preachy. I mean, where do you divide the line of people wanting to hear that and other people saying, Let’s get rid of this kid? I mean, I thought,

Bottom line, and we’re talking about folks, is that Ivey, the Chicago Bulls guard, went after Catholics and went after gays on social media, and the Bulls, paying him his $10 million, but they released him. It’s a business. You know, there’s two sides to this argument.

Yeah.

Number one, a business should have the right to do what they want. A guy in charge can either keep you or not keep you. But side two is the NBA, like all the major leagues, professional leagues have antitrust exemptions, so a lot of people say, Since you have the antitrust exemptions, you are basically part of the government, in which case, you cannot let go of somebody like that because you’re supposed to have free speech in this country. So I don’t know, all I know is that he went after gays, he went after Catholics. Clayton Kershaw, a couple of years ago, if you guys remember, when they were going to have the Pride Night at Dodger Stadium,

Yeah, yeah.

He screamed about it, and they didn’t bring the women in. The trans women, or whatever it was.

Yeah.

They didn’t do it; they backed off. But his name is Clayton Kershaw. This guy’s name is not as important.

I thought they eventually did have Pride Night, though.

But they didn’t have the,

But Fred, how does it look if you have a divided clubhouse? Because I know Freddie Freeman was a big advocate of not going when they won the year before. But how about a guy like Treinen or somebody like that? Do you have a divided clubhouse, or do you look at people different if they want to go or they don’t want to go?

Does it matter if you get some guys out?

You know, what I found to be the biggest insult that Trump did to athletes was having them in the White House and serving them McDonald’s hamburgers.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

I mean, it’s like an insult, you know?

Well, he could have given them a Carl’s.

He could have had the White House chef cook them a meal, perhaps.

Let me ask you guys a question. What do you think of Marco Rubio?

Sell out.

I think he sold his soul. I mean, I sort of admired him in the past. I thought he was a pretty thoughtful guy. I mean, I’d always agree with him. But like I said, I’m happy to talk politics, I’m happy to talk policy, I’m happy to talk philosophy with anybody and be civil about it.

How do we get these Straits of Hormuz open? Shouldn’t the other countries come, if the oil is going to them, and help us do that, honestly?

It was open before Israel and the United States started bombing,

And 40,000 people got whacked, too. Nobody wants to talk about that.

We’re talking politics here on Fred and the Fantastics, but,

This is not the forum to discuss such a weighty topic.

You’re right, you’re right, you’re right, you’re right.

It’s way too complicated. We’re throwing out sound bites.

Hey, great weekend in sports. We’ve got the Masters coming up; let’s go around the table and see who we like for the Masters. I’m throwing my pick out right now: I’m going to go with Bryson DeChambeau.

Laura. Who do you like?

I like DeChambeau, too.

Well, despite that I don’t like his character, I’m going to go with Rory McIlroy because I like his golf.

I like DeChambeau, I like him, that’s probably one of my favorites right now.

Now, you are the world’s worst sports handicapper,

I know. I just changed my bet.

Hey, let me tell you something. Watch out for my Pittsburgh Pirates, guys.

Oh, wait a minute. Fred’s got to make his Master’s choice.

They’ve scored more runs than the Dodgers this year,

As of right now,

They haven’t won more games, though.

You know what Skenes’s ERA is right now?

Four, isn’t it?

9.5.

Oh, boy.

They had that really bad game.

How about Max Freed’s ERA?

Yeah, not bad,

Or Sandy Alcantara?

All right. For Mario,

How about Shohei’s ERA? Zero.

For Laura, for Art, for Mark, thank you for much more of Fred and the Fantastics on BLEAV and on PodClips. Bye everybody.