Hey everybody, it’s time for Fred and the Fantastics on BLEAV and on PodClips around the world.
Good friend and attorney Laura Snoke with us, Art Sorce from Galaxy Sports, former kicker for the Rams and the Trojans with us.
Laura, let me ask you a question seriously.
Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Ego as I call him, got four plays last year in with the Jets, over or under?
How many plays did he get this year?
How many games do you think he really played?
I think he’ll, I think he’ll play, I think he’ll play more games than he did last season.
Really? I think so. It’s hard to come back, that’s a tough injury to come back from.
Especially in football. it’s a tough injury.
And especially on that field, that field has ruined more careers in the Meadowlands for whatever reason,
that AstroTurf scares me.
You know, I still find it very confusing, and maybe you can shed some light on this
Art, as a former player. Why the Players Association doesn’t insist that the teams have grass,
because they all uniformly hate playing on turf, and it’s obvious it does cause more injuries, and
they have the power to stop playing if the owners don’t agree to install grass.
And this is coming up for a for a huge just, you know, huge agreement in the next couple years,
because the World Cup is going to be playing here in the United States. And they are adamant
about bringing in grass. And the football players are all saying, Can we leave the grass?
Exactly. I know. I thought I would be so insulted if I were a player. And some play a place like
SoFi Stadium in LA where I live. It’s in Southern California and they have artificial grass and they
don’t have artificial grass at Allegiant which is a complete dome. They play on real grass.
Actually the Raiders play on grass that they bring in but when you watch LSU play against USC
next week they’re going to be playing on the AstroTurf. They actually bring in the field on
Thursday, you know, in 20-yard increments and lay it in there and then they squeeze it
all together and get it formed and they play on the actual natural grass for the Raider
games, but they take it out for the college games. It’s really bizarre.
That is bizarre.
And I would, as I said, I would be so insulted if I were a player and playing at SoFi,
for example, like a Ram player, Chargers player, and they switch out the turf for grass
for the World Cup and then make them play on turf.
I mean a couple of three years ago Laura,
the 49ers opened the season really an anomaly in the schedule they played the Jets and the Giants
in East Rutherford on that field. After those two games that they stayed back East for the
week they had 11 different guys that went on the DL, the IL, the injured list because of playing
back-to-back games at that stadium and they actually went to the NFL and it was
a real big fiasco because you know there’s really nothing you can do to
change the agreement that they made with the Players Association, but in the
next agreement coming up in two years that’s a big, big sticking point.
I hope they prevail on that because it’s just it’s not right.
All right let’s stick to football let’s stick to the National Football League and let’s stick
to quarterbacks. USA Today this week Sports Weekly rated if you’re going to play fantasy football
the quarterbacks. Justin Herbert ,Artie, where do you think they listed Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles
Chargers?
Well I would put him at fifth or sixth. I mean the way I look at it I would go with Mahomes, Allen from
Buffalo. I think Hertz is a really good quarterback. You know, you’ve got Burrow in there. I would
think fifth or sixth, you know, for Justin Herbert myself.
And Laura, do you think that Justin Herbert was fifth or sixth or better or worse? What
do you think? This is now if we’re talking fantasy now.
I still can’t stomach hearing Los Angeles Chargers. I’m sorry. It just doesn’t make
any sense to me as a long time Raider fan.
Yeah, he’s pretty good.
I mean, he’s getting up there in years, isn’t he? And I think he’s had some injured problems.
So I don’t see the Chargers going too far. I mean, they’re like the ugly stepsister, right?
Okay, so you’re both sitting down.
Now, if you’re listening across America and around the world, I hope you’re sitting down.
If you’re driving, get off the freeway. They list him 19th.
Wow. Really?
The reason, the reason they list him 19th, Keenan Allen is now playing the Chicago Bears.
Mike Williams is not playing for him. Basically what, what the USA Today Sports Weekly is.
They got no receivers. They got no, they have, they have no receivers.
And plus, you know, the other thing, fantasy-wise, it makes sense because
Jim Harbaugh is going to run the ball. His offensive coordinator is Greg Roman and Greg
Roman, I believe is, is 20% higher than any other coaches in terms of whether he
was in Baltimore running the ball.
So, so I can, I can understand that for, yeah, that’s good question, Fred.
I liked the way he snuck that in there.
You know where they have Stafford?
Probably 15th or…
22nd.
Wow. Now that, that’s,
I think they’re thinking injuries. Remember now I used to play fantasy.
Yeah, I know.
You know, I used to play, I play every day, but I used to play season long fantasy.
I quit because there’s a three, it takes three hours to draft.
And if you’re in three different leagues that’s nine hours of my life.
So I just play now, I just play
With McVay calling plays, I’d have to give Stafford a little more credit than that,
especially with Nacua and, and, you know, and Kupp back and that offense.
I’m thinking the Rams have a sneaky chance of playing good football this year.
Well, we’ll see. We’ll take a one-minute break here and come back with more on Fred and the Fantastics.
Three, two, and one. Hey, everybody. We are back on Fred and the Fantastic. Laura Snoke, a longtime friend and
longtime attorney with us and Art Sorce from Galaxy Sports with us. Let’s talk some MLB and
Let’s talk injuries, injuries, injuries.
In Friday’s USA Today Friday’s column,
they talk about the number of injuries in baseball.
Laura, you’re a Dodger fan,
so you think the Dodgers have had the most injuries,
most important injuries.
Which team do you think that USA Today
thinks had the most injuries so far this year,
five weeks to go in Major League Baseball, Laura?
or which team do you think?
It seems to me that there’s so many teams
that have had so many injuries, particularly to pitchers.
I would have, before you asked the question, I would have said the Dodgers,
but you’re saying that there’s another team ahead of the Dodgers.
There’s two other teams.
One in each league.
I don’t know.
How about, would you believe the Atlanta Braves,
Atlanta Braves and the Baltimore Orioles?
They got the Atlanta Braves as number one, the most injury they can remember, they lost
the best pitcher in baseball, Spencer Strider, the second week of the season.
And you know, off and on, they’ve lost an MVP candidate, Acuña is MVP, and now they lost their third
baseman, Austin Riley, Albies coming back, who knows.
So the Braves are number one.
And your center fielder who you love, who’s back now, yeah, after a
long thing. Baltimore is number two has Artie has indicated that
the Dodgers are number five. And you know, there’s a reason
that Tyler Glasnow, doesn’t get any awards. Because is
there such a thing already you played the national
football? Is there such a thing as being injury-prone?
Or is it just on luck? Or what is it there were one guy
seems to get injured every two weeks.
I’m gonna call my buddy Mike Trout and ask him that question
because I mean it just seems to happen and you know I mean and sometimes it’s freakish
weird things you know they would never even think of happening but yeah there’s, there’s
something to be said for that um I don’t know, I. I think it’s a combination of both but
I will say this, that people, you know, they underrate the fact that 162 games season in
Major League Baseball, when you couple it with a team like the Dodgers that have been
to the playoffs, the last nine or 10 years in a row, there’s an accrual of time, like
I also feel like teams that, you know, that dominate in basketball, I noticed it
with a little bit with LeBron James, once you play, you know, that hundred game
season, eight or nine years in a row, or in baseball, a 200 game season.
I think it might take a toll on you with it.
A lot of people don’t even think about.
Laura, what do you think? Is there such a thing as an injury prone player, just unlucky or what do you think?
Well, I think there are some players that just don’t have the physical, the
physical, they have some like, like I was thinking about Bill Walton and
his ankle problems and, um, there, I think there are like Glasnow is, is kind
of an example because he’s never played, he’s never pitched an entire season, I don’t think.
You’re right.
Yeah I think i think there is something to that. Um with pitching I think more of the pitchers are
kind of saying it could be a result of the pitch clock which I think is too short,
um I think it should be longer.
How about the fact that they’re only pitching five or six innings
and going full speed like the old pitchers of, like guys like Claude Osteen and Tommy John
you know they would throw you know in and out, up and down changing speeds and trying to get a guy
to hit a you know a one-pitch ground ball to short to shorten up the game, you know.
I mean, now these guys are such power pitchers and they try to go so hard for such a short time
that I’m wondering if that doesn’t have a little bit of an effect as well as the pitching clock.
All right, Artie, let me ask you a question. Dodgers drop Jason Heyward and they
pick up Chris Taylor. Good move, bad move? What do you think?
Always been a big Chris Taylor fan. Always have been. The guy plays hard. He could play anywhere on the field basically.
I could imagine he could even play catcher if he needed to play catcher. So from that
perspective, I’m a Chris Taylor guy. Heyward for a lot of years, good power hitting right
fielder, but he’s just got, you know, he’s a .214 to .225 hitter. You know, he might
be good against certain right-handers. You know, you might need a left-handed bat, but
I think they still have Outman on the team, right? Who played really great last
year. So I mean that I’d rather go with the young guy and give him a chance and
maybe not have to pay that huge exorbitant salary.
Laura, Chris Taylor, are you?
I’m a big Chris Taylor fan, too.
And Hayward, once Mookie went back to right field,
which is, in my view, the right where he should be playing.
And I am still angry about how the Dodgers have treated him.
I don’t think you treat your best player the way they have treated him.
And I don’t care how many home runs Shohei hits,
Mookie Betts is the best player.
And my question is this, you guys.
Arizona’s playing great ball, Padres are playing great ball, the Dodgers are
starting to play good again. Is this going to be a great division
series in September, or I mean it’s coming down in the Wild, Wild NL West?
I don’t know it’s making me nervous.
It doesn’t help them in the playoffs, they’re down to the last couple games this season, but let me go back to the Chris Taylor
thing. I think a reason they did that, and again I think you could make the case that
Chris Taylor’s more valuable, but you can also make the case
that they owe $9 million this year to Hayward and they’re without
Chris Taylor, about 35 million if they let him go.
So, uh, it’s a $25 million differential.
I think knowing the Dodgers, as we all know the Dodgers,
that had to play a role in the old word, the Jack Benny used to use, pernicious.
All right. We’re going to take a break and come back with more on Fred and the Fantastics.
Hey, let’s talk about the two college games tomorrow.
No. Okay in a second. Yeah, we can but, but we have to take a break…
I like that. No right away though.
No, no because we gotta take a break – three, two, and one.
Hey everybody back on Fred and the Fantastics, Art Sorce and Laura Snoke
Heard around the world on PodClips and of course, and BLEAV.
At the Democratic Convention and Steve Kerr and Steph Curry both made speeches.
Artie, what do you think about athletes getting involved?
Should they just shut up and dribble?
No, not at all.
They should have just as much right
as any other American to express themselves any way they wanna express themselves.
That’s what makes this country the greatest country of all time.
Laura, what do you think about Steph Curry and Steve Kerr making the speeches
at the Democratic Convention?
I thought it was great. I agree with Art. I think anybody in this country has a right
to express their opinion. I didn’t quite understand Kerr’s stop, shut up, and whistle. I don’t
really think the coaches use the whistles unless they want a career as a referee. But yeah, no, I thought it was great.
But what he did do, what he did do tongue-in-cheek at the Olympics though, was
when he, when he told the media that it was all about his coaching that allowed
them to win the gold medal. And I mean, Steph’s out there,
unconsciously shooting, looking one way shooting 40-footers and burying them.
Love Steve Kerr. He is, I mean, I’m a Laker fan, but I love Steve Kerr.
And you like Popovich too, though right?
Oh sure, yeah, of course.
And anybody that doesn’t know the story, of course. Yeah. His dad was
killed in an invasion of in Lebanon when they were living there a long time ago.
And I interviewed him when he was playing at the, when Steve was playing at the University of Arizona.
And obviously that’s going to affect anybody.
You almost were a point guard at the University of Arizona, Fred.
Yeah. I don’t know if I could have beaten him out,
but, uh, he’s a pretty good shooter,
but I could out jump him.
Okay. He’s just, by the way, he just got a new contract two years at 15 million as
he decided never to coach the Olympics again.
Isn’t that funny how that works?
And they signed Buddy Heald.
Yeah.
Which I really thought the Lakers were going to get Buddy Heald, but…
Oklahoma Sharpshooter. Yeah, that’s, that was a big move.
All right Artie, you want to talk about the college football?
Well, you know, we finally got a college football.
I feel like I’ve been waiting seven months and tomorrow in Dublin,
Ireland, you’ve got the Florida State Seminoles lay in 10 and a half
points to the Georgia Tech Ramblin’ Wreck. Then you got a real interesting game. The
new big, excuse me, the new ACC team, SMU, goes all the way out to Nevada to play the
Wolf Pack and they’re laying 24.5 points. And I was told by a real good friend of
ours in Las Vegas, who we both know very well, and he says that he likes FSU and SMU
and I’m gonna have to agree with him.
SMU in Florida State or what?
Yeah, in other words, the first game is Florida State
lay in 10, 10 and a half against Georgia Tech.
And then SMU is at Nevada, the Wolf Pack lay in 24.5.
And he says SMU is a real, real high-scoring ball club.
And the Wolf Pack, I’ve done some research.
They gave up more than 50 points five times last year.
Eric Dickerson playing tailback for SMU.
Hey, Craig James, the pony, yeah, Pony Express.
Laura, you have any comments about Florida State or SMU or college football in general?
I’m excited for football to start.
Just got my Sunday ticket for the pros, and yeah, it’s exciting. I’m looking forward to it.
I’m going to be next week…I’m going to be in Las Vegas covering the LSU USC game at Allegiant Stadium
and then I got to go visit my mom and I just want to let everybody know to say some prayers because my mom’s in her
90s and she has pancreatic cancer and we’re all praying for her.
Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.
Laura you got 30 seconds to close here on Fred and the Fantastics. Anything on your mind?
Well, it’s an exciting time in sports with football starting soon and the baseball post-season
coming up and the election coming up.
And so I think I’m going to urge everybody out there, whatever your preference is,
go out and vote. It’s a cherished right.
People have died for it and we all should get out there and make our vote count.
You don’t have a favorite, right?
I definitely have a favorite. I’ll talk about that if you want, but, either way.
Just weighing in.
Artie, 30 seconds. Hey, just real excited about football season. I’m also excited about
the fact that, you know, like, like, like Laura said, you know, it’s, it’s, it’s
our inalienable right, the most important thing we do. So, so definitely get out
there and make your choices, do your thing, and be a great American because like she
a lot of people died for the rights that we have and the freedoms we have. And I just want everybody
to really be thinking about it. We got Labor Day coming up and be safe, do the right thing,
and enjoy the end of a great baseball season and the beginning of a football season.
Mario, thank you very much. Artie, thank you very much. Laura, thank you very much.
Thank you guys and gals for listening to Fred and the Fantastics on BLEAV and on PodClips…
And Fred, you were fantastic!
…and we were fantastic and we’ll be back soon.
Bye everybody.