It’s that time again. Fred and the Fantastics, on BLEAV and on PodClips, anything and everything in sports, and sometimes a whole lot more. With Art Sorce for Laura Snoke, I am Fred. You can email us at [email protected], [email protected]. All right, Art, you played for the L.A. Rams, you played for the Trojans of USC, you saw the first round of the draft. Folks, we’re taping this about 1 o’clock on Friday, so in three hours we’ll have the second and third round of the NFL Draft. Your comments about the telecasting of the NFL Draft, and who did well, who didn’t do well? Art Sorce, take it away.

I tried to watch all three of them, the ABC Telecast, the ESPN Telecast, and the NFL Network, which they’re all together now. Obviously, they were bought out. But I was impressed by the fact that Ohio State had four of the first seven picks. I mean, what a football program. That’s incredible if you think about it. That goes back to, like, Miami in the ’90s, USC in the ’70s. I mean, you just don’t see that kind of domination, yet they didn’t win the national title, Fred. You know what I mean?

They lost the one game. That was it.

That’s how, yeah, they lost the one game to Indiana.

Speaking about that, I’ve got to throw this out to you. Speaking about that, the Super Bowl is one game, the College football finals, one game. The NBA playoffs, four out of seven. It used to be two out of three, then three out of five, and then four out of seven. I’m waiting for Adam Silver to say, let’s move to seven out of 13. Where in the blank does it end? How many games must be won?

Well, if they could sell the tickets, Fred, they would do that. Honest to goodness, you know that, right? Am I right, Laura?

Well, I was just counting. If every series went seven games, it would be just about as long as the regular season.

Yeah.

Well, it’s going to take two weeks for the Rockets, and the Rockets might get swept. But it’s going to take two weeks for the Rockets-Lakers series if they go five or six games.

All right. So what about Ty Simpson, number 13, first round to the draft? And you find out Les Snead’s a longtime childhood friend of Ty Simpson’s dad.

Nepotism in the NFL, Fred? You’re kidding me.

But this is beyond that, isn’t it? Because he’s not even a first-round pick, honestly, in my opinion.

You know, there’s a few people in the world that could do to quarterbacks what Sean McVay could do. So I think Sean McVay went to the staff, you know, Les Snead, and said, I like this kid. I want him. I want him to be able to learn under Stafford and me. And he’s probably two years away because he only played 16 games, Fred, at Alabama.

Yeah.

And, you know, so I agree with you. I think it may be a little early at 13 to pull that trigger. You probably get him tonight, you know, with one of your second-round picks or something of that nature. But what really blows my mind is only two quarterbacks. It seemed like a night for defense. All the edge rushers, the Banes, the other kid from, Mesidor, from Miami. It seems to be like the corners. And, of course, Caleb Downs going to Dallas. That was huge. But you saw the positions start to dominate. Other than Jeremiah Love, who’s a running back, that went third. It was really set up for defense.

Laura, what do you think about the first round of the draft? Which of the TV networks did you view? Or did you move around from one to the other?

I watched NFL Network. But just as a Raider fan, I’m just absolutely ecstatic that they had the number one pick. And I think it potentially heralds a new era for the Raiders. I hope with getting Mendoza, with Kirk Cousins and Tom Brady being able to mentor him. I think he definitely has a chance to be the quarterback of the future for the team. And they’re going in the right direction. They’re looking at football as opposed to opportunities in Vegas to make money. So, let’s keep our fingers crossed. Raider Nation, keep your fingers crossed.

Are you going to watch the second and third round?

Yeah, maybe I’ll tune in.

I check in on it every once in a while.

Yeah.

Fred, here’s what I was told by a lot of the insiders. Your Schecters and those kind of NFL insiders; your Jeremiahs. Once you get through the top 15, 20 guys, the next 100, it’s who can coach them up. So this is when you really win championships. Because I have a theory, and Hank Stram agreed with this. Seven great players and you win a Super Bowl. Six, you get to get to the playoffs, deep in the playoffs. Five, you’re a potential playoff team. You have to have seven or eight guys that are elite to win it all. And you can find some of those guys in the second, third, and fourth round. If you know how to coach them up. And that’s why the great coaches in the NFL, your Andy Reeds, you look at even McVay. Even though he makes a lot of mistakes. Fred, I agree with you. But even in spite of himself, he gets to big games. He should have two titles.

I’m listening to San Francisco Radio. And they were happy with the fact that 49ers had moved back into the second and third rounds.

Because of what I just said.

Yeah, I think it’s well taken that the 27th pick versus the 33rd pick is not a whole lot different.

No. I’m going to tell you something. The 20th pick of the first round and a guy in the early third round. If the guy in the early third round has a real motor and a heart, he could probably be better. Matter of fact, he might not even be a problem playing special teams. The guy in the first round, he might not want to play special teams because he’s too good for that.

Laura, you’re a lawyer. How do you feel about Tom Brady running part of, 5% of the Raiders, doing TV? If the Raiders are ever on national TV, which I doubt. But how do you feel about that?

That’s a good dig, Fred.

They will be on national TV. The Raiders actually are on national TV because Raider fans are all over the country. Despite all the losing seasons. It seems like conflicts of interest have just gone by the wayside. We have Jared Kushner and Steve Whitcock as negotiators, neither of whom are part of the government, by the way.

No, no. Independent entities, thank you.

Making side deals. And now we have a premier, an insider reporter having an affair with an NFL coach. And we’ve got Tom Brady doing broadcasting in addition to coaching a team. None of those things would pass muster in the legal field, for sure.

So the word is conflict of interest, right?

Hey, Art. Does anything happen to Vrabel?

I think the NFL actually did sanction him. But I noticed that he was at work last night at the draft. I think he’s going to get a 30-day stay. He might join Tiger in Switzerland.

He said he’s going to get something like counseling or rehab.

Rehab, whatever.

Yeah, hello.

As long as the NFL pays for it.

I do believe addiction is a disease.

Can he bring Ron Kraft with him?

I don’t believe there’s any such thing as sex addiction. It’s ridiculous. I don’t.

When I was 19, I thought about it.

Well, maybe when you’re in your first throes of puberty.

Exactly. Whoo.

So when they had the pictures in Arizona, then they said it just happened. We were there together. Then they find pictures from six years before. People are always looking. You never know nowadays, do you?

It’s an ongoing situation. If you check in tonight at 11, we’ll have a story on that.

All right. We’ll take a break and come back with more. Fred and the Fantastics, on BLEAV and PodClips. We’ll be back right after this.

Hey, welcome back, everybody. Fred and the Fantastics. Art and Laura. I am Fred. You can email us [email protected]. We’re talking the NFL draft. Eleven, 12 years ago, a movie came out called Draft Day, where the general manager, Kevin, of course, was the GM. And Dennis Lurie was the coach. They didn’t get along. Interesting movie. It had to do with the Cleveland Browns. I think that’s very close to what’s going on now with the Rams. Art, do you think that McVay is okay with the pick-up of the quarterback in the 13th pick in the first round? I’m not sure. Did you watch that media conference on Thursday night?

Here’s what I’m saying, okay? Demoff, who’s the president of the team, whose dad was one of the great sports agents of all time, okay? He’s in there. Then you got Kroenke. And Kroenke’s battling really bad cancer right now, you guys. So I don’t think he’s in the room with a lot of the decisions. So I think you have three different people making three different decisions. And I think when it all comes down to the end, I think Les Snead and McVay kind of gang up and get what they want. But you said in that press conference, it didn’t look like they were on the same page. So, I mean, you really don’t know. But it’s a pretty, it was a pretty bizarre pick, honest to God. I mean, unless you just don’t have any confidence in Garoppolo, or who’s the other quarterback they got, that was,

Bennett Stetson.

Yeah, Bennett Stetson, from Georgia. So I don’t get it, Fred. I mean, I don’t think Matthew Stafford’s going to go anywhere until he wins the second world title, which might take a year or two. So, I mean, unless they’re planning on this kid actually waiting and playing. I mean, he played 16 games in college. That’s not enough. You’ve got quarterbacks coming on now that have played 60 games in collegiate football.

Laura, any comments about what I just said concerning maybe a disagreement between McVay and Sneed? Maybe not. I don’t know. But the media conference, I watched it; it didn’t seem like McVay was too happy with the pick of Simpson as the 13th pick in the first round.

I agree with Artie and you that it was a curious pick. I mean, I think Stafford hasn’t said he’s only going to play one more year, I don’t think. I mean, he’s coming back next year, but he hasn’t foreclosed coming back after that. He certainly looked like he was in pretty good form last year. He didn’t look like he was ready to retire. So, yeah, it was kind of a curious pick. And maybe McVay just didn’t have the, maybe they didn’t consult him, and he was upset about that. Let me say this.

If you saw Stetson play at Georgia, just off of what I saw, and this was three, four years ago, because he was out for a year, because he was on alcohol.

Very Pat Hayden kind of quarterback.

Yeah, he was a very smart quarterback. I’m not sure he’s as good, not as good as Simpson right now. So, the bottom line is, I don’t know what the Rams are thinking.

I don’t see the talent that they’re talking about in Simpson’s arm. I watched him play in big games last year for Alabama. And when he got pressure – and this is how I view quarterbacks. If there’s pressure on you and you can’t step, do you have the arm to be able to zing it in there, 15-18 yards? And in that little, because the NFL, the windows get closed real tight. College, you’ve got a little room. Pro football, you’ve got to put it there with the right trajectory.

You tell me if I’m wrong about this, Art, because you were a player. It seems to me that the biggest difference between college and the pros is on the defensive side.

Agreed. The speed of the game defensively,

It’s so much better in the pros on defense.

When I used to talk to Vince Ferragamo and Pat Hayden when I played for the Rams, they all talked about how it took two to three years to understand that you had 2.9 seconds, not 3.5 seconds, to get rid of the ball. Because somebody’s coming around that corner, like, in the old days, it was Deacon Jones or Cedric Hartman, or Claude Humphrey.

Howie Long.

Yeah, Howie Long coming around. Yes, yes. Even before that, Ben Davidson coming around the corner. Where’s Lenny Dawson? He’s hiding. No, it’s amazing when they talk about the speed of the game.

Let’s talk about another movie. Jerry West’s documentary; I don’t know if you guys have seen it on Prime – called Logo. Because, of course, Jerry West is the logo. The thing about that – look, a lot of inside information and this and that. They didn’t basically talk about Elgin Baylor at all. And I’m astounded at that. I really am. I mean, even though maybe they weren’t best friends, it was Elgin and Jerry, not Jerry and somebody else. For a lot of those years in the ’60s with the Lakers, Elgin had to do everything, number 22. West did a lot. He was a great shooter, not taking anything away from him. But Elgin had to be the rebounder, the defensive guy, and the scorer for the Lakers. And again, if you watch that documentary, just for like 30 seconds, they mention Elgin Baylor. Art, I don’t think you saw it, but take a look at it because it’s interesting, I think, from that perspective.

You know, I have my signed picture of Elgin Baylor. Because we always talk about his head fake. We all ran around with cricks in our necks because of him. But he was awesome. But here’s the deal, Fred. He did win a title in his last year when he hurt his knee. He won the title with the Lakers that year. But had they won three or four titles, Elgin Baylor might, which he was really close to doing, might be in the pantheon with Michael Jordan and LeBron, even though that’s a self-created Pantheon by LeBron. I love LeBron. He’s one of the five best players ever. But he likes himself, like Donald Trump, likes himself, too. According to what experts say, I’m the greatest of all time.

Laura, what do you think about Elgin Baylor and Jerry West, the documentary logo?

I’m getting controversial here, Laura.

I don’t think LeBron would be real happy being compared to Donald Trump, but I’ll just say that. Now, Elgin Baylor,

But aren’t they both a little narcissistic?

I just don’t think he’d be happy being compared to him.

OK. I agree with you.

I think LeBron’s narcissism is a little more justifiable, but I don’t want to get into that.

I’ll agree with you on that.

Elgin Baylor is one of my favorite players of all time. And I think that’s kind of weird that he was omitted from the documentary. I haven’t seen the documentary.

And he was kind of dissed for years in L.A. because of the Clippers. He was the general manager of the Clippers. And they finally put up the statue, which I think was long overdue. That was a beautiful thing. But yeah, I mean, the guy was an incredible basketball player, and he was a great guy, too. I interviewed him many times, and he is a class act and was a class act.

All right. Before we go, let’s discuss, what can we discuss? We can discuss the National Basketball — no, Major League Baseball. Laura, we’ve got to discuss your Dodgers. What do you think the rest of the way? Obviously, this week, all three pitchers pitched very well. Their best three pitchers. They win one of three versus the Giants. Giants now throwing at the Dodgers and at Dalton Rushing. Laura, any comments about that?

Well, I saw that play. I think it seemed to me to be intentional.

Obviously.

I mean, it didn’t look like he was trying to brush him back. It looked like he was just throwing right at him. And I saw the slide that Rushing did, and I thought that was a little quasi-dirty play. But, you know, it’s baseball.

And it’s Dodgers-Giants baseball.

Dodgers-Giants. You know, the Dodgers — I don’t care how good San Diego is. The Dodgers-Giants is the rivalry.

Yeah, because back East, they’re talking about the Red Sox and the Yankees. I’m like, you guys have no idea. I mean, you know, who got hit on the head with a bat in a series game?

Right, right. And, you know, but let’s just say Otani has pitched, what, he’s got one run in something like 30 innings or something? One run against him as a pitcher. So that’s exciting. I don’t think his bat is livened up yet.

Laura, are you surprised that the Padres have played as well as they have so far this year?

I am surprised. I am too. I didn’t see this coming. I mean, I love their, I love their closure in the bullpen. He’s for real. I just, I saw Tatis and I saw Machado. And I said, Well, what else is there?

Mason Miller is totally overpowering. That’s who you’re talking about in the bullpen.

Yeah, Mason Miller.

Totally came from the A’s.

I’m looking forward to the series this weekend with the Cubs. That should be a really good series.

Cubs are playing good baseball, right?

Playing really well.

Laura, here’s a test. Dodgers versus Cubs. It’s Friday night. Where are you going to watch it?

Where am I going to watch it?

What channel?

Is it on Apple? Is it on the Apple Friday Night Baseball?

Apple TV.

That’s now going from,

Of course, my new source for sports. It’s going to be Laura.

Now going from one to two games every Friday. ESPN’s got baseball on Wednesday. No longer Sunday. Now, Sunday is supposed to be NBC, but NBC is going to have the NBA. Folks, I can’t do this anymore. I cannot figure this out.

So it’s going to be on Peacock?

I don’t know. I don’t think so. I know that was a joke, but I think the NBA game is going to be on Peacock and on NBC. And I don’t know where the late game in baseball is going to be.

Probably the Golf Channel.

Maybe the Golf Channel, which makes sense. Art, do you have anything to say before we sign off?

I was going to say it’s kind of a fun weekend in sports because you still have some spring football games, if you like football, you’ve got the UFL and that other league. I don’t know what it’s called. But we do have the NBA playoffs, which, like Laura said, it’s been great watching them. I mean, these kids are playing real hard. It’s a whole different season. You’ve got the LIV. You’ve got golf. You’ve got everything. It’s a great week for sports. So get out there and enjoy yourself. And, hey, I’m happy we’re in spring.

All right. Laura, it’s almost May. I know you’re going to be somewhere in May, as far as the Workers’ Union of America. But what are you doing this weekend?

Well, I’m going to watch the Laker game tonight. I mean, I’m going to watch the Dodger game tonight. Lakers are on tomorrow night. And that’s kind of my plans for the weekend so far.

That sounds boring. OK, for Laura, for Art, and for Mario for putting the show together, thank you very much for listening. Fred and the Fantastics. BLEAV and PodClips. We’ll see you around the corner, folks. Bye.