Hey, welcome everybody, it’s Fred and the Fantastics on BLEAV and on PodClips across America and around the world. We’ll discuss anything and everything in the wonderful and wacky world of sports with Art Sorce, 128 years of age, with Mark Mancini, the world’s worst sports handicapper, and with Matthew DiBiase, our sports historian. Laura’s off this afternoon with stomach pains after eating a hot dog at Dodger Stadium. Let’s keep it local to start. How bad Art. You played football at USC, but you’re a UCLA fan. How bad would you say the UCLA football program is right now, and again, we’re taping this, folks, on Friday afternoon. My prediction is Penn State beats them by 50 on Saturday. How bad, Art, would be the UCLA Bruin football program right now?

What if I told you that there’s going to be 70,000 people in the Rose Bowl, and there’s going to be 50,000 rooting for the Penn State Nittany Lions? That’s how bad things are, I swear to God, Fred. And they’re 24-point underdogs. And you got to remember the tradition of UCLA football, while they may not have been there with USC. They had some great, great teams over the last 35, 40 years, with Vermeil and Toledo, and Donahue and Neuheisel.

And to see this go through this whole situation, all I have to say is it’s time to call 1-800-Gruden.

Yeah, and Tommy Prothro, too. Don’t forget Tommy Prothro.

And you know, it’s always hard, it’s like Kentucky. It was. Basketball was their primary sport, so the football team was always secondary and all that. You got to get personnel, and if they’re going to certain places there and they’re not coming to UCLA, you’re not. You’re never going to get the talent, you’re never going to be the team, and all that. You’re always,

Last year, they went to Penn State, and they played Penn State in Beaver Stadium, Nip and tuck. And you can’t tell me with 35 guys that they went out and handpicked. There aren’t some football players on that football team. It comes down to old time. Hey, let’s look in the mirror, let’s find out what we can do to get better. And that’s what they need, they need to get the ship together. And I mean, I’ll be honest with you. Penn State makes a lot of mistakes, and they played the Sisters of the Blind their first three games this year. And then all of a sudden, they come out and bada bing, bada boom, they get handed it to them by Oregon.

Yeah, but then Franklin always chokes it. In the big ones, he can’t win the big ones

Four and 21 against top 10 teams, that’s right. You know, hey, you know, that’s his bugaboo.

All right, Mark is a Pittsburgh University fan, so he doesn’t care about UCLA. But do you have any comments about my Bruins?

Well, the first thing, there’s a slogan I always remember. It says good people don’t quit jobs because of hard work. They quit jobs because of upper management, and the upper management there at UCLA needs to be really changed. You’re right, they haven’t had a winner in quite a few years. And they’re more noted, more for the basketball than the football thing, so they’ll always play second fiddle to USC.

All right. Narduzzi is given six and a half points to BC. And, you know, Boston College’s coach used to coach at Penn State. So what do you think about that game?

Yeah, I like, I’ve always liked Narduzzi. No problem,

You’re saying Pitt’s going to cover,

Yeah, I think I think they will.

I want to go back to the Bruins for a minute.

You get a new coach in, Tim Skipper, and he fires two assistants, you’re a player on that team. Now you cut the ties with Foster, who they shouldn’t have hired in the first place. And now the new coach fires two assistants, who you might have liked one of them or not like one of them. I think the whole thing is so confusing. I don’t know how many kids are going to leave. I think they have a five day window, I think, to leave, when another coach is fired, but, Art,

And so far, none of them have left, which I think is a good thing.

But, but,

Are they going to stay there for next year?

Well, I think the problem with coaches, Fred, is kind of like quarterbacks; they don’t let these guys develop.

They won’t let them, you know, get their system in place. In Pittsburgh, they’re up in arms that Ben Cherington’s still there, but they’ve kept the system in place. Their pitching is there; you’re seeing if they get some bats, they let go of some coaches. My buddy escaped it, Tarek Brock, so he’s still there another year.

Hey, did you see Jameson Taillon pitch a great game for the Cubs the other day? You know, an ex-Pittsburgh pitcher,

It looks, Art, it looks like from afar, that I could hit him, and I have a broken hip. But he gets some out in the last part of the season. He did very well.

Mel Stottlemeyer-like, you know, with the sneakers,

There’s teams that don’t. There’s rumors in Philadelphia that Rob Thomson, if he doesn’t win, he could be out.

What a great series that’s projected to be, a five-game series.

No, I haven’t heard anything like that. No, I think that’s an exaggeration, Mark,

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, I’ve heard if he doesn’t win, Aaron Boone doesn’t win, they’re going to evaluate Schilt and San Diego.

What about the ninth inning of that game yesterday? Talk about robot umpires.

That umpire call was lousy,

That was terrible. And if you just play it out the way it happened, that would have been a 3-3 tie going into the bottom of the ninth inning.

Yeah, yeah, that was a lousy call.

If you check the Pittsburgh papers, Matt, the North Shore, and stuff like that, there’s rumors that Rob Thomson pretty much has to win this year or they’re going to start looking at him. Didn’t say he was going to get canned, but they’re going to start looking at him. Because he’s had a productive team now for two years and he hasn’t done nothing with it.

Well, I think if he wins the pennant, I don’t think he gets canned and all that. No, no, I have not heard any indication.

Let’s go around. Let’s go around. Let’s go around and find out who you guys like in a five-game series. The NLDS – start with you, Matthew.

Phillies must hold serve.

If the Dodgers break serve in either one of the two, then the Dodgers take it in four.

If they win the first two games, they’re going to win the series, is what you’re saying.

Yeah, if they hold serve, if they hold serve, I think Phillies take it in four, but if the Dodgers split the one and the two, they’ll take it in four.

Well, you’ve got no confidence.

But what’s going to happen?

I’ll tell you.

Hang on, hang on, Matthew, you can’t be on both sides.

Yeah, you can’t be on both sides.

What I’m saying is that’s the way it’s going to go down. If the Dodgers win, they’ve got to split the one and the two.

Listen. He’s doing the Joe Pesci in Casino. What do you mean, I was late? I was taken.

Yeah, I’m rooting for the Phillies, but I think the Dodgers are really woke up. I was impressed with their performance against the Reds. It’s like they wanted to get,

Oh, come on.

Dodgers are going to win in four games with their new closer, Roki Sasaki.

And here’s why I tell you about that five-day layoff. It’s going to be tough for those bats to compete against the Dodgers.

Artie, come on, man,

Watch and see.

Yeah, I’m not underestimating the Dodgers. I think if the Dodgers beat the Phillies, I say, Dodgers take it all, they’ll take it all.

What are you smoking out there, man? Come on, man,

Don’t go by the regular season. I think now they’re ready, now they’ve got their confidence. They know what they’re doing. They were executing against the Reds. I thought the Reds would do a smoother battle.

First of all, let me lay some facts, like I laid it on Rob Thomson, I’m going to lay some facts. With the last four teams standing in the National League, the Dodgers this year are five and 14 against those three teams. Okay,

Now that you’re saying this, Mark, I’m going to really load up on the Dodgers.

Well, here’s the other thing. Matt, if you really want to look at the Phillies and Dodgers, the last 15, the Dodgers have lost 11 of 15 of these guys. The Phillies, meanwhile, got a better pitching staff right now. They got a closer in that pen, and they know their window’s closing, too.

After Luzardo and Sanchez, are you going to count on Aaron Nola?

Yeah, I’m going to count on the Phillies. Because, first of all, that place is a house of horrors to play baseball in. You’ve been there, he’s been there. Wait a minute, wait a minute. Matt, you’re talking about the good against the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds beat them one out of eight games this year.

You know what the sad part is? The Milwaukee-Chicago Cubs series doesn’t even matter because the winner of this series right here is going to play somebody, possibly the Mariners, for the whole thing.

But the thing is, when you bring it up, and the Philly fan is kind of like the L.A. fan. They don’t have much confidence until a team does something, but you’ve got to understand something, here. The Phillies are rolling, they rolled that division, they got bats, and you know what, I got two teams standing in this thing, so I’m feeling pretty good. The Phillies are good,

They haven’t, they haven’t faced live major league pitching in six days.

Wait a minute, but Wednesday, wait a minute. What I liked about what they did Wednesday, if you saw that, they had an inter-squad game. They sold tickets. A lot of teams sit on their rear and maybe play a little practice. These guys had an inter-squad game. I get it, but you know what the thing is? You might be right in some aspects, Matt, because I think baseball’s in bed with the Yankees and Dodgers. They want them in the World Series.

That could be the key,

They’ve always wanted that.

Mark, Mark,

They’ve always wanted that, since 1997, they wanted that.

1997, the Marlins were in it.

Let Fred say something here,

Mark, Mark, Mark, you said the Phillies’ starting staff is better than the Dodgers, right? Okay, I’m going to say these four names, and you tell me that the Phillies’ two starters without Wheeler are better than the Dodgers’ four starters. Glasnow, Snell, Yamamoto, and Ohtani.

Hey, Kershaw’s also back on the roster for this year.

Tell me a starting staff better than that, Mark. Go ahead.

Well, let me break down those guys. First of all, Snell’s a second-half pitcher more so than a first-half. His last two starts have been brilliant. But you don’t know what you’re getting with Glasnow. They’re going to figure out Ohtani. And as far as Yamamoto, you know, we’re starting to get into these pressure games. We’re going to find out what he’s all about.

How did he do in Game Two?

Against the Reds?

Look at Snell. Snell was devastating. And Snell was great,

Against the Reds.

We’re talking the Reds now.

He threw a no-hitter against the Reds last year when he was a member of the Giants.

Oh yeah.

Mark is the world’s worst sports handicapper.

Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, Fred, if they get. You saw when the Phillies came out here, it was pretty close until they got in that bullpen, and then they started driving home run shots off of them.

They didn’t have all, A) they didn’t have all four starters, and B) they didn’t have Sasaki in the bullpen.

The Phillies didn’t have Turner.

It’s totally different, totally different. And Wheeler’s gone.

Mike Schilt is now officially a member of the Heartbreak Managers Club with his fifth playoff defeat.

Thanks to the home plate umpire.

Matt, you’re going to dress up as a Yankee fan in a couple weeks at Halloween.

All right, I got to ask you a question, you guys. Now we’ve talked about the National League. All right now, what do you guys think about the American League? Did the Detroit Tigers get off the mat and do what nobody thought they could do, which is beat the Guardians, who were red hot?

I was, I thought Cleveland was going to take it. But I’m glad for Detroit, because emotionally, I’d like to see Detroit win the pennant. Emotionally, emotionally. Not practically or pragmatically, but emotionally.

In the Games of ’84,

You know,

Well, okay now, with the immersion of this new Schindler pitcher for the Yankees,

Who?

It was like Schindler’s List.

Schindler’s List? Whittler? Yeah, something like that.

It’s a tough one. The New York Post had a good time with it. I’ll show you what their headline was,

Just call him Cam.

Hey, let’s take a break and come back with more. We’ll talk some football straight away on Fred and the Fantastics, on BLEAV, and on PodClips, back with more.

Hey everybody, back on PodClips across America and around the world, with Art Sorce at 128 years of age, with Mark Mancini, the world’s worst sports handicapper, and one of the world’s great sports historians, the one and only Matthew DiBiase. And you’re not going to believe this, folks, but Matthew is on furlough because of what’s happening in Mar-a-Lago.

Oh, wow.

Matthew, I’d like to hear your comments about this.

Well, you know, I am furloughed right now, but I mean, technically, I’m still alive. OK, they haven’t killed me yet, but who knows what’s going to happen, man?

Can I ask you a question? Is this really all about Schumer being afraid of Ocasio-Cortez in the senatorial campaign?

Yeah, you can say that, you can say that,

I mean, just come on,

But it’s a pox on all their houses, man. I mean, they’re not even going to do a vote on the weekend, man, they’re just going to.

I heard they were going to have a vote today. Yeah,.

But if it doesn’t go through today, then they’re going to wait till Monday to do it again. They ain’t going to work on the weekend, the lazy bastards.

You know what my theory on that is? If you cut their checks off in the House of Representatives and the Senate, you might see this thing happen a lot faster.

Of course!

All right, let’s talk NFL, let’s talk about the Giants and Mr. Jaxson Dart, who played well, but he only threw for 111 yards.

Did I make that call, Fred?

Giants, 1 and 3; Saints, 0 and 4, the Saints a slight favorite. Art, who do you like?

I love Jaxson Dart going home because it’s right across the border from the University of Mississippi. He’s going to have a lot of fans there because there’s going to be a lot of people in Saints’ bags. If you remember what they used to wear in the old days.

What the hell did you eat in that Denver omelet this morning?

Take the Giants, I’m telling you, Skattebo’s for real. The only thing I’m worried about is who’s Jaxson going to throw it to now that Malik Nabers is on the mend?

You get excited with five-minute car chases, I see.

No, I’m a Jaxson Dart fan since he came in off the bench as a freshman at USC at Washington State and threw it about 60 yards in the air for a touchdown. And I’m saying, How do they let this kid go? I’m telling you, ask New York Giant fans what they think of Jaxson Dart. They’ll say, Russell who?

Mark, Mark, Rattler for New Orleans is 0 and 10 as the starting quarterback. I think the Saints right now might be the worst team in the league, not the 31st-best team in the league.

Well,

I don’t like the Giants either, but I think you got to go with the enthusiasm the Giants must have with the new quarterback.

And the Giants’ defense is stepping up.

I’ll throw some more facts. The game’s in New Orleans. There’s no Malik Nabers. Jaxson, you know, I was always high on and I like this kid, and I’m glad he’s getting a second chance where he is now. But Jaxson Dart is not going to be better than Matt Jones. I’m telling you that right now,

Really? Really?

But he’s better than Rattler?

Might be better than Rattler, but he’ll never be better than Matt Jones.

When are they going to put this Shough guy in the game? Shough.

Here’s the thing I’ve seen. A lot of these guys come out and fool the league once. The league starts to catch up on you. Artie, you’ve been in this game. They’ll figure out ways. New Orleans will pull one, and I think that’s the key fight.

The only thing that concerns me is when Jaxson Dart pulls it down and runs, okay, because he’s going to get hurt. I don’t care how big and strong you are,

I love Matt Jones as much as I like Jaylen Hurts. I’ve always been a Jaylen Hurts guy.

Matt Jones played his heart out last night. Are you kidding me?

Yeah,

That was one of the great performances of all time.

They showed him the door in New England.

Did you see how happy Martinez was when he didn’t have to go in the game?

Mark. Yeah. Mark, with Kansas State, where did he go, Nebraska, after that? Backup quarterback.

Yeah. Martinez.

Okay, yeah, the backup quarterback. Okay, Mark, you just said you want some facts. You know what you sound like? The 79-year-old jerk in D.C. Matthew, who do you like?

But there’s a lot of 79-year-old jerks in D.C., Freddie!

Here’s the thing, Fred. I think when you put out information, you’ve got to have facts behind it, and that’s what I like to throw, is facts behind the things. Like a lot of people say, the Dodgers this, the Dodgers that. But you know, when you look at it, they’ve got one title in 36 years. I don’t count the,

No, they don’t. They have three titles in 36 years

’88.

Yeah.

’88.

2020 and last year.

How do you put that in the math, Artie? ’88.

Yeah, that was last year.

Okay.

We don’t count 2020.

We don’t count that? What do you mean, we don’t count that? You should see that ring. That’s a gorgeous ring I saw the other day.

I mean, look at ’81 with a strike, they counted that man, they gave it to Tommy in ’81. You don’t see an asterisk for Tommy, right? You didn’t see that, you know, you don’t.

Hey, come on.

Felipe Alou should have got a world title that year.

Matthew, you don’t think purists out there, there’s people that say, we don’t count that, it’s an asterisk, that season?

Oh, come on, and you know what? There should be an asterisk next to Barry Bonds, too. He had 73 home runs.

Yeah, and Maguire, and Sosa,

Barry Bonds saved baseball.

Yeah, they saved the game of baseball, but we’re going to put asterisks in there.

Well, Fred, I’m going with the Giants.

Okay, so Matthew breaks the tie.

He likes the Chargers.

Okay, let me ask you guys this one. Now, Monday Night Football, they weren’t planning on this being a huge game, but it is. Kansas City at Jacksonville; Jacksonville, if you can believe this, which I find it hard to believe, is actually getting three-and-a-half points at home, and they’re a good football team. What are your thoughts on that particular Monday Night Football game?

I think Worthy’s back, that makes all the difference. And Mahomes is not going to lose three games in the first five, so I’m going with Kansas City to win the game. End of story.

I’m with KC because they’re going to get back into it. They suffered those two losses; they’ve got to get back.

Of course, Matthew, Taylor Swift dropped her number 12 album, so Kelce’s going to be ready to go. You watch it.

Yeah, there’s not a lot of good things in Kansas City except the barbecue food. And I’ve always loved Trevor Lawrence. Trevor Lawrence is taking center stage Monday. Kelce’s, you know, this is the problem. When you get engaged to a superstar, you can’t progress in the regular season. He’s kind of full out,

Fred. Get the bookie on the phone. Mark loves Jacksonville.

I love Jacksonville.

Mark, let me say this, and folks, if you’re listening for the first time, here on Fred and the Fantastics, let me explain. Mark is the world’s worst sports handicapper. He usually hits about 33 to 40 percent. I think on today’s show, he’s 0 for whatever he said. I don’t know if you’re doing this on purpose or you really believe it.

The Golden Sombrero!

Hey, I see Matt, a la Dan Aykroyd, took off the shades to really laugh at this thing. But I’m telling you, when the World Series comes up in late October, the Phillies and Jays, you guys are going to say, Hey, he called it,

Jays are gone.

Phillies and Jays?

I said that in April.

Let me ask you a question: Is Bichette going to play in this series?

I like Bichette a lot. Even if he doesn’t play, they’ll still figure out a way.

Jays are gone, you can count that.

Yeah, I think Yankees beating the Jays. I can see that, I can see that.

Yankees in Seattle, and I also think it’ll be the Dodgers and Milwaukee in the National.

Okay, if it is, Dodgers win.

Everybody gets 30 seconds to reprieve. Mark, you start, try to reprieve yourself, go ahead.

Well, I like the Washington, well, the Redskins to beat the Chargers Sunday.

Redskins?

Well, Daniels has got a big homecoming.

Who are the Redskins? Where do they play now?

They were around since 1930-something, but I still call them in my heart.

The Commanders-skins,

I’m on the big pages with those guys, Redskins forever, so I like those guys. The Steelers get a bye. Pirates are going to line up some guys. Other than that, you know, I’m looking good. You know, I like the Phillies to take the Dodgers out in four. There’s no way. This is not a prediction. The Dodgers aren’t winning a game in Philadelphia.

Okay, Matthew, Sports Historian, any thoughts about the sports world in 30 seconds in 2025?

Well, I’m monitoring the baseball playoffs because I am putting the finishing touches to my baseball book. I mean, Brian Snitker. His stock is going to go down. I’m keeping my eyes on A.J. Hinge to see if he progresses and his stock goes up. I’m watching Dave Roberts, Terry Francona, you know, I finished up the chapter on him because of the results last night and all of that, so I’m watching that because I’m going to have to factor in this present season into my calculations for my upcoming baseball book, which will come out first week April, God willing.

All right, Art, complete the show in 30 seconds, the sports world in 2025.

Well, you know, college football now has four vacancies open. I’m going to be excited to see what they do in Arkansas because I think that would be a great spot for John Gruden as well. But here’s the key component of that. Sam Pittman gets fired with $9.8 million in severance pay.

Yep.

Wow.

He’s going to get $376,923 per month through December of 2027. That ain’t a bad deal to say bye-bye.

What about at UCLA? Foster only made $7 million in the buyout?

He’s going to be looking good, too. So I’m wondering, and I heard this, Fred, I want to know if you guys heard about this. Supposedly. A private venture capital firm is going to give the Big Ten $2 billion to be broken down into 20 different places, 18 teams, the Big Ten conference, and, of course, the private venture capital firm. Everybody’s going to get, basically, $100 million.

Wow!

Would that help UCLA’s athletic program, Fred?

Not if Martin Jarmond is still in charge. But other than that,

I rest my case.

For Art, for Matthew, for Mark, who’s always wrong, I am Fred. And, Mario, thank you for the show together. Back with more soon on Fred and the Fantastics. Bye, everybody.