All right, folks, time for Fred and the Fantastics on BLEAV and on PodClips across America and around the world. Anything and everything in the wonderful and wacky world of sports, and a little bit more with Art, with Laura, with Mark, and with you. You can email us, [email protected], [email protected]. And, of course, the franchise tag period opened in the National Football League this week, and I guess I was a little bit surprised that Kenneth Walker from Seattle did not get the $14 million tag. He’ll probably have to settle for 10 or 11. But Art, were you surprised at all that he did not get the tag at 14 million? Or as a running back nowadays, it’s not worth the team giving him that kind of dough?

You know, what they’re going to do is they’re going to, you know, put him in that situation where they can equal or better the offers that come out, which is another way of doing it. What will be interesting to see what if Dallas does anything with their wide receiver Pickens. He’s another one in that position. But I’m noticing that a lot of things have to happen, and the way they set this up, the only time in the NFL calendar where everybody can get together, and kind of informally talk about things, is at the Combine, which is coming up. And they were talking about it today on a bunch of different sports talk shows. About how a lot of these players and owners and agents, and they all get together, and they have their little times together. That’s when you’re going to see a lot of big movements. But what really was amazing to me was, in the NFL, of the ten new hires in the head coaching department, not one was a Black man.

Yeah.

Yeah, the Rooney Rule. All you have to do is talk to somebody. It doesn’t mean you have to hire somebody. Laura, were you surprised about Kenneth Walker? You, of course, had Seattle winning it from the start. Were you surprised that he did not get the franchise tag?

I was kinda surprised. But I don’t know, do you guys love watching the Combine? I love watching the Combine. My husband thinks I’m crazy.

Oh, when the Kansas City receiver ran a 4-2, Jack got out of the chair.

I love watching. It’s so much fun to watch it.

The only drill that bothers me is when they catch passes and they throw them down, you know, that drill where they run across the field and catch passes. That’s not teaching the guys the right thing to do.

Well, I think, why they didn’t offer him the money, to me, it’s not a knock, but it’s a foregone conclusion on this. Running backs and wide receivers are a dime a dozen, you know. And the Seahawks are now up for sale. But the real question I got is,

So you don’t have one.

Well, no, here’s the real question I got: they’re gonna really have to do their homework to keep him there, and I like him, but I think he’s checked out of there. He’s just so tired of it and Maxx Crosby in Las Vegas.

Hey, he’s gonna stay.

That’s why they hired a defensive coordinator.

He’s had a sit-down with them; they had a really good conversation. Unless they waive six really good draft picks and a couple of good players,

He’s going to be hightailin’ it.

All right, so let me just throw you a question, and we’ll go back to this subject in a moment, because Mark brought up something. The sale of Seattle. How much do you think they’re up for sale? How much money do you think they’re up for sale? Mark?

$8 billion, $8 billion.

I would say $10 billion.

Laura, he says, $8 billion. Do you think that’s close?

I think it is close.

Mark, What do you think?

I say, $10 billion.

All right, $10 billion, it’s $8 billion. But let me just throw you this, you know what the Allens bought the team for?

It’s $176 million from Ken Baring.

They doubled their money,

They more than doubled it. As Art said, it’s between $176 million and $200 million. So they 40-timed their money. That’s not a bad deal, that’s not a bad deal.

Would you take that right now, knowing that 20 years from now you’d be able to cash that one in? I might not make it at my age.

Well, they’re smart, they just won the title, everything’s hot on the burner.

All right, let’s go back to the franchise thing. And I think Mark mentioned George, or both of you mentioned Pickens, George Pickens from Dallas. All right, as talented as any wide receiver in the league, I don’t think there’s any question; however, there were a couple of games there, Art, you probably listened to this and watched this. The Cowboys didn’t think he was playing hard. How much is that going to cost him?

Well, the disappearing wide receivers, because I call them divas, which they are. They’ll come out and get nine balls for 150 yards and three touchdowns. And then for the next two weeks, you’re looking around, where are they? What happened? That’s just the way it is, if they have a mood. Or it goes back to Antonio Bryant when he had those great years.

The problem is,

Money corrupts these wide receivers more than any of them.

We grew up with the Paul Warfields, the Lynn Swans, the John Stallworths, the Mark Dupers, Jerry Rices, these guys today. I think what changed it is the guy that was stepping on the star in Dallas has changed the whole,

Terrell Owens. When he did that, you might be right.

Yeah, I think he changed the whole complexion of all these guys.

I think the franchise number is somewhere like $30 million, though, for a wide receiver. That’s a lot of money.

The Dolphins have $54 million tied up in Tua, and they don’t know what to do. $54 million. Okay, Cousins has got another $40 million tied up. There are some quarterbacks out there that are like huge cap-killers. And I mean, does somebody, who wants Tua? Is there anybody out there that’ll take Tua Tagovailoa?

Well, how about Tyreek Hill?

I’d take him. I’d throw a spot. I would take him on a flyer. The only thing,

Don’t you think he’s a problem child?

Yeah.

Yeah, but he’s a problem child that can go deep and get there fast.

He’s so talented, yeah.

All right, what about Patrick Mahomes? Who, they restructured his contract, and so that means that,

And his fee. LDL and ACL. So they’re wondering whether he’ll be back before the start of the season.

I think Tyreek Hill is going to end up with the Chargers and reunite with Mike McDaniel. I think the Chargers are going to bring in Tyreek.

Kansas City.

And, by the way, Mike Evans, from Tampa, might be leaving.

Yeah,

And one of the most talented receivers in the league. I think I’d jump at him if he actually,

If I was the Raiders, that would be my guy, and then draft some young guys and use him as, like, a coach and a template to help build the young guys.

Yes, hope they end up with him.

All right, we’re back with more on Fred and the Fantastics.

Hi everybody, back on Fred and the Fantastics. You can email us at [email protected] with Laura, with Art, with Mark. Again, [email protected]. We’re taping this Friday afternoon; so much to talk about. I want to talk about Mick Cronin, who I cannot stand, have never, could stand him. But I got to say this. I think the athletic director, Martin Jarmond, who gave him the extension in May of this, of last year. If Cronin goes, I think Jarmond goes. Anybody who watched the game on Tuesday night, the 23-point loss to Michigan State, might agree. Art. Do you agree?

Yeah, neither one of them has done anything. I’ll tell you one thing, though: whoever’s in charge of women’s athletics at UCLA, they get a gold star. That softball team’s incredible, that basketball team’s incredible, the women at UCLA are dominant, the men not so much. And Mick Cronin is a bully and I didn’t like what he did with Steve Jamerson II in that game at Michigan State. It just proves again that he takes no responsibility for anything. And Laura, I’m going to leave it to you.

Oh yeah, it’s absolutely right. He’s a bully; he deflects his own inadequacies onto the players; he doesn’t really coach, he just criticizes, and I like Fred’s comment about they should switch coaches between the women’s and the men’s teams because the women’s are talented enough to be able to win despite Cronin. But I got a beef with the women’s basketball team, the women’s basketball games not being televised except on Big Ten Plus, which is absolutely insane. I mean, it’s enough to have them on Big Ten Network, which not everybody gets, but then there’s another, Big Ten Plus?

You know what it is, Laura?

I mean, they’re ranked second in the country, I think.

You know what it is? If they win 96-48, it’s not going to be something that people are gonna watch. They’re winning so easily,

UCLA fans will watch.

I think the problem with some of these, and I don’t want to take a shot at UCLA or some of these other ones, but it’s big footsteps to follow when you’re following a legend like John Wooden.

That was 50 years ago, Mark. He retired in ’75.

Yeah, it’s been a long time. They’ve got to be better. That ship has sailed.

But here’s the thing. UCLA, over the years, has had chances to get a guy like Tarkanian in there; they didn’t want no part of that. They’ve had chances to get Krzyzewski in there, or, you know, I don’t know why they didn’t try to get this guy out of Alabama, who’s turned that whole program around. I can’t think of his name, now, wears the checkered sport jackets; he’s very successful. But they get these middle-of-the-pack type of guys and they try to mold them to their,

The mid-America conference guys. I agree with you 100%. Hey Fred, have you seen the kid for UCLA who plays shortstop, Cholowsky?

You’re not gonna believe this, but I go to rehab twice a week, and one of the rehab ladies, her boyfriend is the backup catcher, so she sees him all the time. He’s supposed to be the nicest guy, one of the nicest guys she’s ever met, and he’s a tremendous ball player, rated number one in all of collegiate baseball.

Yeah, they say this kid’s got it all, I mean, he’s the next superstar. I just thought I’d throw it out there for you UCLA fans.

Try to pronounce his, try to pronounce his name.

Cholowsky. Roch Cholowsky.

I won’t even try.

So, Fred, we’ve got this World Baseball Classic here. I’m totally against this. I mean, we saw Sidney Crosby get injured with Team Canada.

You mean the in-season,

Yeah, I’m not a big fan of this, and now we’ve got Skenes going, and I mean, if this guy gets injured or something, it’ll just ruin the whole season. I mean, put the amateurs in this thing, and we don’t have to prove nothing. I mean, we know who’s going to be there at the end, it’s going to be the United States and Japan again, and that’s basically it. But why do we keep sending these guys and taking time away? It just doesn’t make sense to me.

And bet on Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic?

Laura, what do you think, the World Baseball? Should we send our best players or not?

Isn’t it up to the players if they decide they want to play or not? I mean, I think it’s up to the,

It should be up to the teams,

And Piazza’s going to manage the Italian team again.

Yeah, I like that.

I think it’s great that Otani’s not pitching. I mean that, I think, I think that, you know, I don’t know. I think it seems to be a really big event worldwide.

Although that bet between him and Mike Trout whenever it was at the end of the, that was a heck of a heck of a moment in sports.

Yeah,

Before we go, the Winter Olympics. Art, what has been your, again, we’re taping this Friday afternoon, folks. Art. What has been your favorite moment of the Winter Olympics?

So far? I watched, I liked the guy with the thighs, the figure skater. He’s incredible. When he did, when he spun around five times, that was just, I mean, it took my air away. And then yesterday we watched the women figure skating, and that was incredible as well. So I’m going to say that, but I’m looking forward. I don’t know what happened between Finland and Canada today, but I want to see Canada-USA in that men’s hockey game coming up this weekend.

Laura, what has been your favorite part of the Winter Olympics?

You know, what my favorite moment has been is when that, I think she’s a speed skater, when she was getting her medal with her little baby, with her two-year-old. I mean, I love that, because that’s such a statement for women that women can compete at the highest level after they’ve had children, because formerly women weren’t, like, once you were at,

Mark, I know you want to talk about this, but I’m upset because it’s so hard to find the right events to watch, with all the different channels they’re all on. It’s just it’s driving me crazy, you guys. And I love the Winter Olympics.

Well, I’ve been watching the hockey, and then I gotta look if my wife’s around, I like the outfits of the figure skater. I think it was Liu?

I gotta look around. How about the curlers? The Norwegian curling team is new, too.

I had to look around and see if my wife was around.

You know, I was watching the giant slalom, and a tenth of a second can make a difference between winning it or finishing in fourth place. It was like, unbelievable, it is unbelievable, and I was happy for Shiffrin, who came back to finally win one. There were some great stories at the Olympic Games. Laura, you have any comments about politics and the Olympics? Laura, you have any thoughts?

She’s pleading the fifth. Fred, give her a chance.

I noticed that the United States is behind in the medal count, which seems to be what everyone cares about.

Norway, surprisingly enough, is out ahead.

I think it was, last time I looked, it was nine and Norway is still leading, so,

I think it was Norway, Italy, and the United States.

Yeah,

Those Italians are getting tough because they’re at home.

Do you think it was fixed? Do you think it was fake news?

No, I don’t think it was fake news. No.

No, I’ll tell you what, I’m going to say something. Mike Tirico deserves an award, you guys.

Yes.

To fly from the West Coast all the way to Switzerland and pop on there with the energy he has. That little area where they do the broadcast from, with the wood and everything, it looks like such a fun chalet. I mean, it’s just. I just wish that NBC Prime Time 9 o’clock to 10 o’clock would just have a show where they show what happened today in the Olympics because they’re four hours ahead. They could tape it up, bring it in. Here’s what happened here, here’s what happened there, here’s what happened there. Just to recap everything that you might have missed while you were dialing around on your TV trying to find where it is.

Let me tell you something crazy. I can get to New York NBC, and I get L.A. NBC. So sometimes I’m totally confused, first of all, from L.A.; is it nine hours from L.A. or something like that? And so I am totally discombobulated, whatever the word is, I am totally confused sometimes with what’s going on. But again, I agree with you about Tirico. Anybody that can do that is unbelievable. They once asked me to do play-by-play, and I didn’t like flying, but this isn’t even flying. This is like Superman. And it’s beyond belief. And congratulations to Tirico. He ought to win some medal himself for that, to tell you the truth. Hey, before we go, Seahawks and Dodgers. Apparently, the Dodgers are going to go to the White House. I’m not sure about the Seahawks at this point. Art. You think the Seahawks will go or not go to the White House?

You know, that depends on, you know, their coach is a pretty conservative guy, and they love their coach. I don’t know, that’s a tough call. I actually, I think it’s, to be celebrated at the White House is a special thing. It doesn’t matter who the President is, in my opinion, and that’s how I look at it. I would look forward to it because you know, you’re being celebrated as a champion, and you know, that’s how I see it.

Laura. Do you think the Seahawks will go to the White House?

Do I think they will go, or do I think they should go?

Both.

Well, I don’t think they should go because this is not a normal administration. I’ve been around a long time, I’ve opposed Republicans, I’ve opposed Democrats. Donald Trump is not a Republican; Donald Trump is a fascist. And I’ll say it, and I don’t care who hears it, because it’s true. If you look at all the criteria. I’m not saying we’re in a fascist country, because there are still so many guardrails, but they’re slipping away.

It’s going to happen today. The Supreme Court,

I don’t think it’s appropriate to normalize this administration. I don’t think it’s appropriate. And I hope they don’t go, and I’m upset that the Dodgers are going if they go.

Art. You talk about the tariffs. Is that what you’re going to talk about?

Yeah, I mean, you know, everybody thinks that the Supreme Court is so far left, and they’re just a bunch of pansies for Trump. Six to three, they voted against the tariffs. I mean, that shows you,

That’s good.

That shows you that, you know, there is still a semblance of balance in this government.

I agree.

You know, there is no balance in the administration.

Right.

That’s the problem,

But there is not a lot of balance in Hakeem Jeffries.

And we’re going to be at war with Iran in about five minutes,

Forty-five minutes.

Maybe five minutes, for what? Has anybody in the administration explained why we’re there?

Oh, what they’ve done in that area for the last three decades.

Has he even talked to Congress about what the objective is for this huge military buildup in the Middle East?

Leverage, like he always uses, Laura. Leverage.

And the magic word, not greed, deflection.

OK, but here’s the thing. I understand, you know, everybody’s point of view on things. But if you’re working in a company and they basically tell you, Hey, we’re going here, or are you going to do this or something? Yeah, you might not want to do it, but you know, you know, you’re just going to go along with it to do it. I mean, this thing almost reminds me of the Colin Kaepernick thing with the whole sitting down. I mean, you’re disrespecting all these guys that serve the country to a certain extent. I would think, I mean, I don’t know,

So wait a minute. So if you’re in Germany and Hitler said, Go, you’re going to go?

I thought we got rid of the only following orders defense.

If you’re on a job,

I thought we got rid of that defense, Mark, after World War II, the I’m only following orders,

The ignorance defense. Is that what you’re talking about?

Oh, only following orders defense.

No, no, no. But I’m just saying, like, on a job or something, we might not agree with something, but I mean, I would fall in line on it.

Hey, happy birthday, Charles Barkley. It’s his 63rd birthday today. And the Round Mound of Sound looks a lot thinner than he did before. He started getting on the good stuff.

Before we go, before we go, we have a handicapper, maybe as poor as Mark.

What?

His name is Charles Barkley.

Oh yeah.

As soon as he said Arizona was going to win the NCAA Championship world title, they lost two in a row.

Yeah.

The minute he said they’re going to win it, they lost two consecutive games. Art. You want to comment before we go?

Let me tell you something, you guys. I became a fan of college basketball again. The other night I fell asleep. We watched the Netflix, I turned on the TV, Iowa State and Arizona in Ames, Iowa. People are going crazy. I mean, it was like basketball that I remember in the old days, court-to-court defense guys playing as hard as you can see. One guy was so tired that he just he raised his hand out and the next guy came in. And the coach was like, giving him love. I mean, it was so incredible, you guys, was, it was phenomenal. I missed that, and I was, I was happy to see it happen.

All right, that’s it for Fred, the Fantastics. For Laura, for Mario, who produced the show and engineered the show, for Art, for Mark. Thank you guys very much and we’ll see you around the corner on Fred and the Fantastics.