Fan Stories and Personal Reflections

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No, the big news of the day, of course was the Miles Garrett trade. And uh man, there's a lot to unpack here. What why don't we start with that and uh I know you just put a column up talking about how you are okay with this, right? Why don't why don't we talk about this? Maybe I'll frame the trade real quick and before I I turn it over to you. So the Browns today on Monday, the first of June, traded Miles Garrett to the Rams for Jared Verse . Edge rusher, a very good one. And they're also getting a first round pick in 2027, a second round pick in 2028, and a third round pick in twenty twenty-nine. And it's interesting. I've been seeing fans, some of them are like, what are the Browns doing? And others are like, This is really good. Yeah. Uh so yeah, take it away, Terry. How how do you feel about all this? Well, I think Browns fans are fixated in getting seventeen first round picks for Miles Garrett. That was kind of it. Uh when I heard it was the Rams at that point and not heard the deals, I was thinking, oh great, this getting first round picks , you won only have one chance to trade Miles Garrett. I mean, sort of sounds obvious, but you it's not like you have one chance, you know, to trade Dylan Gabriel. I mean, this is a big deal. If you mess up a Dylan Gabriel deal or even a guy just for uh who's just a so so starter, you've got to nail this. And the thing about first round picks, you're kind of stuck on where do those picks end up being in the draft ? Do you get the picks right? And everything else. So when I heard the Browns got Verse in it and I looked up Verse and saw a two time pro role player, he's only gonna be going into his third season. The contract's good. They have this stat called quarterback pressures over the last two years. It's a combination of quarterback hurries, quarterback sacks, quarterback hits. Um in the last two years, the only guy with more of those than Verse is Miles Garrett . And so then I saw okay, here's they got a young guy in this, they did get a first round pick and a second round pick in that. And if you're gonna trade Garrett, that's probably about as good as you're going to get because if you were to put Verse on the open market, he was cooley would probably bring you a first and a second uh from another team if you just want to trade him for picks. Because he's he's an established player two years in and he's got basically three years of team control, two meter two more on his contract plus an option a team could pick up. And then there's Miles. And when you look at this for Miles, this has gone on for more than a year. Will he stay? Will he go? He wants to be traded, etc. And you get to the point, he's thirty . If you can get draft assets and then also a player that you just put it's a plug in and play and he's gonna be there for quite a while, I'm okay with it . I think your point, Terry, about the like draft picks are only good if they turn into good players. Yeah. Right. As you were just saying, and I don't think we can overstate that. Like, this is a good player. Like Jared Verse is defensive rookie of the year and I think this was in your column. The Browns don't have the last couple of uh defensive rookies of the year on their team with Carson Schlesinger and now verse. But like you can get all the f all the picks you want, but if the guys this is like a guarantee that you have a good that you have a guy a guy that you can rely on. I I mean he was drafted low a couple of years ago, but I bet if you go back and redraft it, he's probably in a top five or ten of what that year's draft of twenty four. Um and I guess the other part I was gonna bring up is like Jared versus time frame with the contract as you were just talking about it and his age, like that fits the where the Browns are right now, much better than Mileses G Gararrrettett. And the Mil thing always felt like, geez, he's thirty. It's like a race, you know, and Browns fans talk about all the time, oh, we don't want him to be the defensive version of Joe Thomas where he's a Hall of Fame player but he never won anything. Like we have to hurry and win for Miles and this kind of erases all that pressure right now. It just kind of just all went to LA with miles. And I I feel like it's kind of like when the Guardians get a bunch of good pitchers who are all around the same age and they just kind of let gro 'wem together. This had a little bit of that to it for me, that it was kind of like, Hey, let's let's drop the age of our premier pass rusher from thirty to twenty six and just do it in one fell swoop. I think that was a good byproduct of this trade. Yeah, David, and a tip off was at the um introduction to Todd Munkins press conference, in passing, Andrew Barry goes, Well, we're expecting to be the youngest team in the NFL this year. I remember hearing that thinking , well , you know, does that mean they're gonna move Miles or what? But then we didn't hear much on Miles for quite a while. And my column from my sources said the Browns set up um parameters on this trade. They weren't just gonna trade in for a bunch of draft picks. They've been turning down those deals for more than a year. And they wanted a young player with contract, almost like whether the guardians talk about team control for several years, but at a premium position. In other words, not an offensive guard. You know, they wanted a guy that frankly could step in and not be Miles Garrett, but could take that position. You know, there are people not only in the analytics world, but also in just the general football world, the consensus is your number one position But the a lot of people feel the second most important thing you could add to your team is a guy who pressures the quarterback because the quarterback is the most important position . And so they were targeting that. And they the the Rams have been calling them for quite a while. You know, the Rams, they treat draft picks like parsley on a steak, you know, plate with a steak and a baked potato. They don't care. You know, yeah. Yeah, who cares? So they kept telling them we ain't we ain't taking just your parsley or whatever. You know, this is what we want. And I think the the uh Rams decided um So one of the things and we talk about this a lot with the Guardians, Terry, is the team control and you kind of mentioned this, but yes, like the Browns basically, have Jared Verse under team control to use a baseball term for the next three seasons. I think he's under contract for two more, and then it's a clu it's club uh option for the twenty twenty eight season. And then he would be an unrestricted free agent in 2029. So again, this is a guy who's young, who's proven, and he's trying to get that big second contract. His motivation is going to be very high coming in here, aside from the production that he's got, he's got many, many reasons to come in here and excel. Furthermore, they cannot they cannot extend him until next summer. And so that gives them a year to have him on the team and then they can decide you know how big of a deal do you want to make in terms financially . If he's not what they expected or whatever, you know, unless he has a cataclysmic injury or you know gets arrested on some horrendous charge, um you could probably trade him for something else too. So that's the thing. Meanwhile you do have the first, the second, and the third coming. And um you're out from under the 'cause you know if the Browns started pull it prolier this year, what would you have heard about Miles Garrett ? That he was gonna get traded. Yeah. When's he gonna get traded ? What's he gonna get traded for and all that? Meanwhile, he'd have been halfway through, you know, the contract. Now he's just moving into that four year deal that he signed last summer. I'm told you know remember you had a no trade clause. I'm told that y you will hear s uh from the Rams that they will have moved up some money in that contract and that, but basically it's cosmetic changes. Um it's not a big deal like when the Browns traded for uh Deshaun Watson because that's one of the things I wanted to track down right away. Are the Brown the are the Rams required to like just do like the Browns did for Watson, you know, re tear up the contract and give them all this. No, uh uh Miles was um uh you know he was set up to go there. He was fine with it. Yeah, and he'll keep that no trade clause uh as when he moves. Yes he will. That'll that'll still go with him. So then if he's still a good player a couple years from now and the and they do want to move him, um he could try to parlay that into something else. Those new trade clauses are very, very valuable. Not simply because it allows the player to dictate where he wants to get traded. Usually it brings monetary Yeah, and you've talked about that a lot, Terry, especially in the NBA with guys waiving it unless they get a new deal and and and all that. So it is an important part of this. I mean, just like with James Harden, I've been writing almost from the moment he got traded that I heard, which I still heard, that they did something to guarantee next year's contract and that there's possibly two years involved. Now lately you've been hearing people saying it's going to be new to your deal on that. Um I'm not yelling me first, me first, me first, but frankly I was, because it just was common sense. James Harden is in it for the money. Now you could argue other part, but when you've asked to be traded four times in six years, you in it and then when he the Clippers gave him the no trade, that was exactly what he wanted. That's why he took the contract that is only like a third guaranteed for next year 'cause he got the no trade in exchange. Uh you know and this is always tough for fans 'cause uh they always say, you know, when when a trade is made or whatever , well what's behind the curtain? And I always say often behind the curtain is another curtain. What's behind the curtain is why did the team trade 'em, right? Why did the team trade 'em? But the the other curtain is what's going on financially with the agent, with the player, etcetera So in other words, for this trade to be made with Miles, they had to clear it with Miles, make sure about the no trade, probably talk a little bit about what they will do with the contract um and make it go from there and then the Browns just kept beating him over the head for verse that's who they wanted and so I mean they much rather would have verse than like two first rounds and a second. I can tell you that. They much rather take do it this way. For sure. So I I I guess I need to ask you, Terry, were you surprised by this trade? Yeah. I was, because just you know you kind of heard the same chatter and the fact that teams were calling the Browns wasn't a surprise. The fact the Browns are turning them down was kind of like thought it was business as usual. Um Um and I just didn't see them being able to pull off a trade like this. You know, one person with the Browns said they're not gonna go as far as this, he said, but if you look at when he was telling me when um OKC traded Paul George for a whole bunch of draft picks, there's like three or four first rounders. And a guy that at that point was considered a pretty good player, but not great, named Shane Gildas Alexander. And he goes, you look at it now, the best player in that deal was SGA , because as you said, there's always some risk with draft picks. I mean, some of those guys be pretty good, but the star of the deal was actually the guy who came in young uh an ascending player with talent who then got to a new situation and took off . So I I think we all kind of saw yesterday like there's when you're on social media sometimes you see things you know it's like oh that there's nothing to that but like yesterday there were people people talk, right? When something like this is going down and there was a lot of like, Oh, tomorrow's gonna be a big day for the Browns and you know, don't be surprised by four if it's four four o'clock tomorrow, then this, that and the other's gonna happen. And there was a lot of that yesterday Right. And again you it doesn't seem like so Todd Monk and and Miles Garrett have never met in person . There's that. There's that. And also, remember the second curtain, the agent involved and that. So the agent probably knew . So first of all, if you're the Rams, you gotta make sure after you talk to the Browns and say, you know that l let me talk to Miles, Miles' agent. So what happens there? Think about this is that the agents then, and then when it gets close, what the agents they owe favors to different people in the media. In fact, especially a lot of the guys with ESPN, you got two things going on there. You got number one, you know, how ESPN pays the NFL. Again, here's the third curtain. Pays the NFL, you know, for their rights. So you'll get stuff from NFL.com or ESPN , why as it being leaked to them? Because frankly they're paying for it. The other thing that happens sometimes is agents owe favors to different people in the media and some are even represented in people in the media by the same agency where the agent works. He may not be directly representing the people on the broadcast wing, but he's repe he works at the like creative arts agency, CAA's a big one. They have they have everything. I have you know, they have broadcasters, they have athletes, they got some coaches, all that stuff. Uh so it's uh it's a fascinating uh world and that's why I think it started to leak out yesterday. Uh a second or third curtain was the leak. Yeah, the the your your point about the curtains is really important, Terry, and it's like just yeah you lift one curtain and there's another one, but I I just found it really weird in Well, two things. I found it very strange the way Todd Munkin was talking about Miles Garrett today at the Golf So basically j for people who might not know what was happening today, the Browns have their annual golf tournament for the Browns Foundation, and that was being held at Firestone. And so Todd Munkin was interviewed early today at the golf tournament and was asked about Miles Garrett before this thing broke. And he basically was asked, did the Browns tell you that Miles Garrett was going to did they give you assurances that Miles Garrett was going to be on your team this season? And he said, I mean, I've ne I'm I'm never told he's gonna be on the team who who's not gonna be on the team. If that's a question, every day we evaluate the roster. Andrew evaluates the roster, management evaluates the roster, and like I said, he's no different than the other players we've got. I don't know how to respond to that based on because it's really no different today than it's been for the last however many months I've been the head coach. And it's like you don't say that about your s your best star player, your best and star player, if you're really, really, really wanting him to come back and you want his people to read that. So did that strike you at all in the way in the t did the Todd Munkin Miles relationship hit you as something that might factor into why this went down? Maybe but I don't think so. I I think it's just I think the Browns set up this is how we're gonna do it. And they don't care that Miles I mean, think of all the coaches Miles has pet played for . Starting go back to Hugh Jackson, Freddie Kitchens . Um who else helped me with that? Uh well then Kevin. And now um it would have been Munkin. But early on, that you know, going through all those, I mean Miles wasn't asking to be traded because of Kevin Stafansky a year ago . And I just think that I really thought that maybe Todd spoke out of school uh there that he made a rookie mistake forgetting that what what the trade deadline was four like four o'clock is when they finally announced all this stuff. Um but really I think Todd just knew it was coming down, doesn't matter what I say, so I'll just say it. Right. And that's what you're gonna get with him. Instead I because I I was joking with another person from the Browns about Munkin earlier and this is not today, but uh not long after he took over and and we were talking about how you know basically Todd's no Kevin Stefanski you're gonna get stuff and I said you're gonna be like my friend that used to work at Walmart and all of a sudden she hear clean up an aisle four c,lean up an aisle six, because Todd will be knocking some stuff off the shelf that they really probably want to keep up on the shelf. And I thought this was one of those, but in the end, um he knew it didn't matter. Yeah. Um I this did surprise me a little bit and I I I don't want to like go on a rant here, Terry, but like it was so Andrew Barry was at the NFL meetings in March, right? And this was the quote . Miles is a career brown. He's one of the faces of our organization. I think we've been very clear, both past and present, in terms of our goals. I understand all the questions. I'll be honest. I don't really want to waste a ton more breath on the topic. So I bet he does. I bet he didn't. There's a whole lot of breath being wasted today on this thing, I'll tell you that. So so here's this is where I'm coming from on this. Like Terry, you and I have been in sports journalism for a long time and we see this over and over and over. I think it just happened with the Mike Vrabel situation where something goes down and the then people involved are like you media people are always stirring it up and it's you why are you asking me that and this, that, and the other? And this was a situation where he was at the NFL meetings. Andrew Berry's being asked about whether he's going to trade Miles Garrett and he flat out says Miles is a career brown. Right. Why are we wasting I don't the media's wasting breath on the topic. And like two months later, two and a half months later , he's gone. I it just it makes me crazy when people pushed back at the media for asking legitimate questions. And as it turns out, the reporters covering the team, we're on the right trail and we're asking the right questions. And it is a story. It happened, and there sure is a lot of breath being expended today on this thing. So don't act like the reporters are out of line asking questions. And I'm not I'm not like mad at Andrew Berry, I'm just saying this happens in sports all the time, right? Where the re the beat reporters get called out for asking X, Y, and Z, and then we find out later that hey, you know what, it that was the deal. Um it it makes me a little cra zy sometimes. I really do believe that this thing really really heated up the last couple weeks from what I've been told. But there was a lot of chatter going around. There was illegitimate reasons to ask. This reminds me rarely will you ever hear me quote Mike Holmgrim because he said other than stuff about I really like umbrella drinks. Remember that? You talked about that. Right. And it was a private conversation he and I had and we were talking about handling the media and quarterbacks. And he said what I've learned early on, and generally I say with it almost every player, it's like whether if the guy's starting, even if I'm thinking of benching him or maybe even get rid of him, I'm gonna say he's my guy. And and I said, Well then it goes, here's how it works in my mind. He's my guy until he's not. That's it. Right, but that was that wasn't this, Terry. This he yeah, he's our guy until we get the trade that we want . No, but like when you say he's he is a career brown Miles is a career brown. I and to I'll be honest, I don't want to waste a ton more breath on the topic. That that statement should end the discussion. Yeah. In an idea like but it he could have said we want Miles to be a career brown. Yeah. Right? But he didn't say that. He should have said that. Yeah. And I totally get it . It's just like, oh, you beat writers are so out of line and this happens on every beat in the country. So I'm not like it died. Um it died. But like it just it just kinda rankles me when it's like you you beat reporters are crazy. Why do you keep asking about that? And then it happens and there's no point that out now to be uh fair for the Browns in another way, you know first of all Miles had the no trade. So unless he would green light these talks so in other words, it's not like they traded a guy who wanted to be here forever. You know, that would have and in other words the guy wants to be here forever, you're saying you want to keep him forever, and then you trade them. Um and I mean remember like I it's a different thing, but like Damar DeRozan signed an extension with the Toronto Raptors. Much like Miles situation. A year. A year later, and he loved Toronto. And they were good teams with him. And a year later they traded him the the Bulls or somewhere. I forgot where he went. And he had no Yeah, the quibble yeah, it was hard to move 'cause he moved around a lot. But the point being he was shattered by this because and a lot of people in Toronto were I mean he 'cause most of those guys don't like playing in Canada for be it the weather or the this ch exchange,, but you know he wanted to stay there. And uh they trade that's that's crappy to me. And they were of course saying they're gonna keep him forever, you know. And a year later they trade him. Miles's thing has always been a bit tenuous because going back to his trying to get out of here and you know all that. Oh well. Yeah. Uh so um I I've been kind of wrestling with this and I know you wrote like why you're okay with the trade was your column today that posted a little while ago, but this just felt like the right time, right? Like I I don't know that Miles the right deal at the right time. But I mean I don't think Miles is M Miles maybe hasn't been the leader that the Browns have wanted him to be and I and he hasn't shown up yet. Which is totally his right, you know, in terms of the monk and the monk and results. Absolutely. The Rams had to be talking to him and his agent. Yeah, so right yeah, you're right. So that's another that's the flip side of it is why should he be here if if he's not going to be part of the team. So that's a great point. He probably did know all that. Yeah. So anyway, I'm sure he did. Yeah. I'm just telling you, that's how business if you do it right, that's how it's done. And I think from that other, than Andrew, you know, giving Miles to be here forever, till he's not, I guess, uh, but the rest, they did it the right way because Miles was made very aware of this. That's the again, the advantage of having the no trade. They have to tell you what's going on. Right. So when you put it like that, I mean it all makes sense like that. I but going back to like how fans might feel about it. The Browns are on a different timeline than the Rams. Miles might win a Super Bowl this year with the Rams. The Browns might are on a longer timeline and like we might look back at this in a couple of years and be like, you know what? That was the right move at the right time. As you just said. And I think that's kind of where they said it. Yeah, I mean my mind because now maybe this verse guy comes here and he stinks. I I don't know. I mean there's no reason to think that. But maybe he does or he blows a knee or whatever. But it's the same thing kind of like when you draft a guy out of Alabama or whatnot, you don't know what you're getting for sure. At least here you could look at two years of NFL film played at a high level in important games, big time games with the Rams . Yeah, make him and uh and you know what you're getting. Yeah , do you think um uh I guess I'd ask you think anything else is coming ? In terms of other moves? Denzel Ward, right? Yeah. Um being sent to a contending team that needs defensive back help. I mean, he's a proven guy. He's he wants to win. I mean, I c I don't that's not maybe gonna happen soon, but it could happen by the trade deadline. Mm-hmm. Who do you see as a possible next? I don't. That's how I was trying to go in my mind on roster. For example, Batonio decided to play. I'm assuming he's not playing. He would have been one. But the rest , I don't know. I mean, they're re they've got they're again they're want to be one of the youngest, if not the youngest team in the league, and they're certainly working hard to be that . Indeed. And they're building up some draft capital here that will help them make a move for a quarterback. All right, I wanna I wanna switch topics. I know you're super host, but I wanna do that. Not we would be spending more time on this . Shadur Sanders getting seventeen million dollars in endorsement money, like it's what an all time one year NFL record. Is that what it is ? Yeah, so the uh NFL Players Association puts out a report every year on who which in you know individual players make money when their stuff is sold. And yes, Shidur Sanders 17.7 million. And I guess that was the most ever, and it shattered Tom Brady's record of 9.5 million during his time in State Bank. Yeah. I'm going to ask Superhost to explain this to me because I I can't handle it. It's nothing personal against Shadur. He's a fifth round pick. He played on one of the worst teams in the league. And he did I will give him an okay grade, you know, for a first ye Oh no, I mean I'm not telling anything you don't know, Terry. Sanders has a huge following and he's a brand and his he and his dad are a brand. Yep. And I think I saw he's gonna make more he he made more on that seventeen point seven million than uh and I think his dad is gonna make coaching Colorado. Oh sure. Oh yeah. Um so it's uh it's a lot of money, but he's just gonna be away Travis uh Trav what's his name, Travis Hunter? He was like third on the list or something like that . Wow. Yeah, so I mean that that's the Colorado brand Brands brands matter and Shador Sanders is a huge brand and that number kind of shows it. So seventeen point . I wanna know and this is a serious question and the everybody will nobody would be if you come in and this and send an email, nobody's gonna be made fun of or whatever. Did you buy a Shadow Sanders jersey or something? And why? That's all. Because this will help me. Email us at sports at Cleveland dot com and uh put Shadur Jersey or whatever you want in the subject line and we will uh we'll love to we'd love to read those. So Yeah, well and because because there's something going on here that the old guys, at least me, is having a hard time handling. But I really do want to know. Now, by the way, I may say Shadur when he deals with the media and that he Well and he's his own media too. He's got pe people running his social media accounts and they have a big following. So that all Who needs to be drafted first when who could get more money than the first round pick in the first year of your contract ? Yeah, it's crazy. Think about the the number one pick, I don't even think got seventeen million for the first year of his contract. Yeah, I'd have to check that out, but I think you're right. So anything else on the Browns, Terry? That was a lot. Um that we went through there. All right. Well maybe we'll take a break here and when we come back, um let's get into this question how good are the Guardians? Okay they're in first place again, and I I've seen some quotes from AJ Hinch in Detroit saying we all know the division goes through Cleveland. So why don't we take inventory of the Guardians? We'll get into that and more when we return on Terry's Talking. Whether you're watching your favorite NBA team at the arena , the bar , more hang ing at home. Grab an ice cold Michelobe Ultra and enjoy every moment of the NBA season. Stock up today and watch your team drop buckets with a bucket full of ice cold ultra. Micelobe Ultra. Superior Light Beer. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2026. Anheuser Busch. Micelobe Ultra. Registered Light Beer. St. Louis, Missouri. Must be 21 plus to order alcohol. Alcohol available only in select markets. You don't need a match ticket to be a part of the big tournament energy. 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Uh I think only the Rays and the Yankees have a better record than the Guardians at this point. And I I I kind of was talking before the break about how good are the Guardians. Sorry, why don't you talk about how good are they? And and what are you seeing right now well when you look at the standings basically the standings are that he is excuse me that they are the second best team in the American League. Now you could say they don't look like it, I don't like it, it won't stay that way. But they're on pace, as I wrote the other day, to win um ninety -two games, and so maybe it dropped on to ninety-one after they lost the last two. But regardless, furthermore, if you go all the way back to uh the all-star game of last year, they're playing they're winning about sixty three percent of their games. And that w that covers a span of about a hundred and thirty games. So you see that and you say, okay . Um , you know, what what do we make of that? And what you make of that is as you said, what A.J. Hinch said, is that you know, the central division runs through Cleveland and it's run through Cleveland for quite a while. And um it's uh it's just a fact uh that this uh you know this guy uh is uh I'm excuse me, that they are, you know, legitimate team. Okay. The guy's name. Yeah, Munat Munataka Murakami. They call him Mooney. Okay. Well Mooney is tied for the home run lead in the American League with twenty. He's second with forty one RBIs. His OPS is nine thirty seven. And what I want to see is how many times he struck out because he he's a strikeout walk guy. As I said, he's you know the the the the guys that the analytics people new the new age analytics people just love. Have you seen him play it all? 'Cause I have not. Justin highlights, yep. And what do you see ? Uh a lot of strikeouts and like you said, it's a it's like uh it's like a guy who d who dunks or shoots threes like he hits home on he strikes out. Yeah, but he's I think he's got forty forty one ribies already, right? Yeah. He signed a two-year thirty-four million dollar deal. Um he did break Sodaro O's historic single season record. He selected six homers in two thousand and twenty two . And um so when you look at that uh the strikeouts actually did scare off some people because you know it's like, well, is this guy just gonna come here and strike out all the time or what? But it certainly worked for the White Sox. I mean dropped twenty home runs in the middle of the lineup, that's twenty home runs in the middle of the lineup. And June first . That's right. And you're on June first. And maybe breaking Soda Hado 's record was uh you know more than we thought. All right, so he's got two hundred at bats and he is struck out eighty times. So that's basically every two and a half times up. You don't want him stealing bases. He's one out of three. Alright. So basically, he's basically got 250 point appearances and he's got 80 strikeouts. So it's a little it's a little bit over one over three. And he's walked forty four times. So um there we go. I'm sure they're glad they signed him because um 20 home runs is 20 home runs. We'll see if he keeps it up. But it's very interesting to watch how they evaluate these players from you know sometimes I get some of these guys from the KBO the Korean league and and Japan you know how some come through and some don't but a lot of these guys from Japan are who good players. They look at the Dodgers. They come over here and they're um it's like what Steven Voth said about the Bazana and the Lauder. They walk through the door and they act like they're big Wiggers and they know they're big Uyghurs. Well these guys are the same way. So um getting back looking at the Guardians Terry, they're different. You know, the division champions last year with that incredible comeback, they're different this year. Do you like this different what you're seeing in terms of the way the roster's built? And w w They're winning it in a little bit of a different way this year, but maybe you can compare this year to last year just a little bit in terms of strengths and weaknesses and what you like about this year's team that maybe wasn't on last year's team. Yeah, I just I mean last year were there 27th and run scored or some crazy thing like that. And I think now they're at least in the middle of the pack. Uh I like the fact that they have young hitters. Uh the la we just mentioned Bazano Delater, but you'll also have Rocchio coming into his own. Ongel Martinez has cooled off some, but I mean he looks like a guy that could hit twenty to twenty five home runs. So two of the guys that they've been waiting on for a while, the young hitters they put in Rocky and Martinez are coming around, they have two guys who you know might end up being a discussion for rookie of the year. That is But besides, what about that slugger Austin Hedges hitting all a two hundred forty, but he's knocked into some runs? There you go. Anything can be a little bit we haven't gotten an email in a while from fans complaining about Austin Hedges' offense in his 200 batting efforts, those have kind of gone away. I was watching the game. Probably one of the stories of the year. I forgot who was pitching. It wasn't Smith, but it was one of the relievers, and it was a close game. Might have been Friday night or one Thursday, I don't remember, but Hedges is catching. And this guy is running on dirt and he's bouncing these breaking balls into the dirt like he'd bounced like three and six pitches. And Hedges is just tackling that ball to make sure it doesn't get by him. And those are runs saved . And when you that's part of the reason they did the Patrick Bailey th ing uh is they count all that internally. You know, how many runs are we saving by these thing? And I'm sure there's some other stats that show from other teams. Um and that's that's how they view it. You know, the uh Antonetti always says there's two parts of the equation, the runs you score and the runs you prevent . I'll tell you one thing that um I didn't see coming really from this year's team was this the this stolen base thing. Yep. It's like it's like Jose has got everybody running this point. And I uh I was looking at the stats say the Guardians are tied for fifth in the major leagues in stolen bases with fifty-five. Mm-hmm. And I just was doing some quick math, but that that comes out to be like a hundred and forty-five, a hundred and forty-six steals on the season. They had a hundred and twenty-nine last year. And you've got you mentioned the young hitters, Terry, but like we're seeing this on the base paths too, where they're taking bases on pitchers and uh that's been one of the fun things. I think it's kind of everybody talks about guards ball all the time, but the the stolen base has really become an important weapon for them to push runs across. What I was told is that the as they keep looking deep into how to win games since the rule changes. I remember when they said they're making the bases bigger, I thought oh well whatever, fine. If they think it 'cause at that point it was the idea to kind of try to stop the injuries, remember that those big bags sticking up and guys that hurt their ankles on it or whatever. I thought okay fine. But no the bigger bags set you up easier to steal stolen bases. It's hard to believe it's like a tenth of a second extra. But it's there and but and so then it's led to teams saying, oh wait a minute , we don't hit a ton of extra base hits, but if we draw a walk and hit a single steal second, that's a double . So why don't we do this? Especially if we're good eighty to more percent of the time. And when you look at uh catchers throwing out guys, if a catcher throws out one out of every four runners, that's considered very good. You know, the best are over thirty percent. Thirty percent is like over the best. So you got a really good chance of being successful. Uh now it's you know there's all these negative stats attached to when you get a runner thrown out. But if I could get a guy in first and steal second and try instead of trying to butt him over, what have you done, David ? Yeah, that's a good play, right? Yeah, you saved an out. Yep. Remember they say the the the money ball people and that and just kind of common sense you have twenty twenty seven ounce they don't give you any more they're precious so why do you want to use them just give up an out just to move the guy over unless it's late in the game or something. But if I could steal that base , it negates that and then maybe the guy pops up anyway, but at least I just didn't give him an out. Right. And you you can kind of time your jump 'cause you know the pitcher's got to start moving toward home plate. And so I think the basis is a great point, which I haven't thought about in a long time. But uh you watch a game, it's like they're trying to time the pitch clock and they're trying to take advantage of the the limited throws. So it it's it's an interesting formula for sure. Yeah, and and this has gone more into it. And then top of it, you know, Sandy Alamar is considered one of the best at reading pictures and and and equipping the base runners. 'Cause that's one of the w a tr Guardians person told me that one of the reasons Travis 'cause I talk about what's with Bazanna, all these stolen bases and that. Well, you know, he's a he's a data freak. So this is a marriage of you know two obsessive guys. Sandy being obsessive about giving his runners stuff that they can do just like he's obsessive about teaching block balls uh how to block balls for catchers and then Bazana obsessive about any detail to make him better at anything . That's how we got to the majors, that obsession, right? Yeah, it really is. Go ahead. Yeah. No, I was going to say um this is something we've been looking at kind of often on it. I know you've been writing about it, Terry, but you mentioned Bazanna and you know how it is when you're the number one pick in a draft, like 10 years from now, people are going to be going back and looking oh the guardians get it right with Travis Bazanna. I I guess we can look at that right now and kind of see I know you've been tracking JJ Weatherholt Holt and uh Keglianone from the Royals and so how you feeling about where Bazanna fits into the do you want me to run through the picks real quick with that help? Yeah, go ahead. I could do the top ten picks in the twenty twenty four draft. 'Cause I don't know much about because they're not the majors, but go a Yeah, okay. So the Guardians took Travis Bizano number one out of Oregon State. The Cincinnati Reds, Chase Burns, pitcher out of Wake Forest. Yeah, no, he's got a chance to be really good pitcher. When I did my an analysis, I didn't get too much on the pictures because they were still coming, but go ahead. All right. Yeah, exactly. All right. Colorado Rockies. It was your guy, Charlie Condon, out of Georgia, outfielder. The A's took Nick Kurtz. Yeah, he's in tri he's in triple A. He's in triple A with um um Kyle Raddle. He's still maybe good. I was talking to one of the uh a scout I know. But he said, you know, to your point, that twenty-four draft became such a microscope on it because of the guy who was drafted fourth. Go ahead. Okay, so Nick Kurtz fourth. Uh white sox Hagen's. Kurtz I was told there was some medical on him about some shoulder stuff that scared a few teams off. I don't know if the Guardians were involved with that. I never heard the Guardians being involved in Kurtz at all. But I heard that's why he fell to fourth. Uh and that white some other teams were then surprised he went fourth. Go ahead. Who's next? All right. Hagen Smith from the White Sox out of Arkansas, pitcher. Um I think he's still in the minors. The Royals took Caglionone at number six, the Cardinals. He was considered the great athlete in the draft. He was pitching in Florida part time is it there. It's by the way, just like uh Chase De Water would come in relief when he's at James Madison. Uh some they did that with um Keglion. I mean he just looks like he should hit a ton of home runs in this but, he's striking out a lot. He's struggling, and they brought they rushed him up. And they probably rushed him up too soon. But uh I mean he still may not be good, but it's it's like he's really had a rough time. Yeah, last year was I remember when they brought him up and he's he kind of got off to a decent start and then he struggled. So J.J. Weatherholdt at seventh. I I heard the guard I was actually uh a little worried the the Guardians would take him because uh he's had a history of of um hamstring injuries as a middle infielder from West Virginia where Chase DeWater wanted to go, I may , but they never offered him. Um and but the he's I think he's got nine or ten home runs for the uh Cardinals. They opened the season with him at second base. He's got a chance to be really good. And again, again, it's just like by the way, I'd have tank this whole draft if I were uh handicapping it um uh for the Guardians because I would have written off Weather Holt . Uh I would have taken Conlin. I think I had uh forgot who I had second, but it wasn't Kurtz, and I had uh Bazanna third. And so uh I think oh win the pitchers. I think the kid from Arkansas is who I had second, but go ahead. Oh, Hegan Hagen Smith. Okay. Well last three at the the Angels took Christian Moore out of Tennessee at number eight. He's a s he was a second baseman. Uh pi the Pittsburgh Pirates took Connor Griffin out of high school. Jackson Prep High School in um Florence, Mississippi, I think. Yeah. And they brought him, they just brought him up uh not too long ago and I think he's basically opened a season with him uh or came call early. They are so enamored with him. They gave a nine-year full $1 40 million contract to this kid. Now it's pretty amazing. His minor league exposure is limited. His minor league stats are eye popping as a shortstop. So it'll be interesting to see how that plays out with him. But he may end up some people have told me he could end up being the biggest star in the whole draft. Yeah, the hype is certainly there and behind his ability and uh man. We'll see. All right, and then number ten with the nationals was Seaver King, short stuff out of Wake Forest. I think he's still in the minors. Yeah. So the guys who are in the majors or have been in the majors, Terry, are Bazanna, uh Burns with the Reds, Condon a little bit. Has he been up? Kurtz. No, Condon Kurtz. No Condon. Kurtz has Caglianone, Weatherholt. Um anyway, how you and and Griffin. Yeah, yeah. Kurtz is obviously number one with the home runs. Number two for right at the moment would be Bazanna. Uh, you know, now people would say I'll take Griffin over Bazanna because he's a high school kid now But the point is if you get a guy uh you got the darn, you get the top three or four picks in the dra yeah, he would rank somewhere in there. You did it right . You just did. 'Cause it's hard. I I don't have the list in front of me but the maybe neck next time we do the podcast I will have the list of the number one picks the last ten years. It is not an impressive list. There are a lot of misses on that one . Oh yeah, just like in any sport practically. Yeah, but really bad in baseball. He didn't I think he may he went oh and three last year, but yeah this year like his stuff . Yeah. He's got a one point nine six ERA. He's seven and one. He's got you know seventy two strikeouts and twenty walks. So I I mean I think you can make a case to put him in that group with Kurtz. Yeah, that'd be in that yeah with Kurtz weatherhalled him, yeah. And I haven't paid as much attention to him as this year this year as last year. Uh but you're right. But like the Guardians needs were different in that draft, right? And if they have a chance to take a a player who can be a really good offensive player for them for years to come, like that was what they decided to do, and you you can't really fault them for that logic I really believe they they wanted to we don't want to mess this pickup. We don't want to gamble . You take a pitcher, you know, Paul Skeens or whatever, you m you might get a great pitcher and you might get a guy with a Tommy John . Remember, the last number I saw was 38% of all pitchers in the big week. You've had a Tommy John. That was the middle of last year. And those who were tracking the data said, don't worry, it'll be over 40 soon. It's just going up and up and up. And there's all the also obviously other um arm injuries. And so that's why I was more interested too in the hitters. See, I fell in love with Condon. He played at Georgia. He's a right handed power hitter. You know, I'm thinking drop that guy in the middle of this lineup. He can play third, he could play the outfield, he could play first. Um and he still may end up being good 'cause we we're not even two full years 'cause these guys got drafted in the middle of twenty four and we're not even in the middle of twenty six . Yeah, a lot of uh lot of games to be played for all these guys. And remember I and I tend to think Terry Francone is correct that these guys need a thousand to twelve hundred professional at bats uh in most cases. He says sometimes they come up early and so they're getting that last four to five hundred at bats in the big leagues before you really see who they are. And maybe that's Brian Rocchio and maybe that's on hell or whatever. It's a little difficult with the um Latino kids who who come through the international draft because they're signing a seventeen and you know they should be playing like in high school and they're starting to pro careers, but they're still not physically developed in that . All right. I don't know. Is there anything else on the guardians you want to get into, Terry? I'm a little concerned about the Middle Relief. Um Holderman and Festa and those guys, because that's always been the big part of their success is lining up the rel ievers before you know you went to your closer because it makes your closer more valuable. So there I mean you can always say offense, all right, that's always a given with this team. You always want more hitting. But I I do think they''rere to you I loved how you brought the stolen bases. That's been one of my theories. And uh but the good thing uh they should bring Frank Franco Allman up. I haven't looked at his stats over the last couple of days, but the last time I did he'll have one earned run and had like twenty eight strikeouts and fifteen innings. I mean, so it's like bring 'em back . Well, how many times have we seen where you suggest they make a move on our podcast and then it happens a few days later? So to be fair is I work at this too on that that part. And see teens are they'll talk to me they don't want to tell you, you know, we're gonna trade for this guy from the White Sox, but they'll really give me a pretty good assessment of their own players. Good and bad. I mean sometimes they tell me, look this you may like this guy, but we we're concerned he's got to do this and this. Uh and that's just a benefit of one showing a lot of interest in the farm system. And second ly just being around, you know. So Franco Alman, I predict he's coming next. There you go. I gotta mention this this Tanner Bibe thing, Terry. You don't see things like this in baseball. I feel so bad for him. Like he's the first pitcher in Cleveland history to not get a win in his first thirteen starts of the season. Like in the history of Cleveland baseball . I I mean he's th there's times when you don't pitch well and there's times where things just don't fall your way and I think he's like yet yesterday like he pitched he pitched really well and he's getting the like among the maybe if not the lowest, among the lowest, maybe two or three guys in all of major league baseball in terms of run support. Like when he pitches, they just have not scored for him. And I it's just to go thirteen starts without Yeah, without a win. It's um it's incredible. I here's what they would say, you like this, David, I hope. They would say all right, if you started thirteen times and didn't get a win, you're still in the rotation. Y teouram must really stink. Or if you started thirteen times and didn't get a win, you are really unlucky. Will you stay away from walking under any ladders, stay away from black cats or whatever el se is cursed, or change your underwear, or don't change your underwear, or shave, or don't shave, because this makes no sense. Nobody stays in rotation on a first place team for thirteen starts without getting the win, even in modern baseball where guys are pulled early and they don't get as many wins as they used to. Um but he the last time I heard it was like one point five runs per start. It was the lowest in baseball. Yeah, yeah, it's rough for anybody, man. Yeah. And it also mentally is rough on the pitcher 'cause it's just like especially guys like Bible. Most of these guys are so driven and they are uh it's a combination. Yeah, you want it for yourself, but you want it for your team. You know, you don't want your team going out there thinking, man, this guy, we never win when this guy pitches . Yeah, it's I mean luckily you were mentioning like back in the old days if you didn't in thirteen games you wouldn't pitch anymore. Luckily there's a lot of other metrics that the Guardians will be looking at to see how he is pitching. Right. And they do have like yeah, the runs, hits and and walks per innings pitched and you know runners per all that stuff. And just the velocity and the way his pitches are shaping and and all that stuff. It was weird 'cause I was at the five home run game 'cause I was over there that was the day before or the day of the Cavs playing one of the playoff g ames. And that game was starting way, so I went over there and I'm watching that. And I saw the five home runs and three innings, and I'm like , is he not throwing hard? But baseball Savon had him between ninety-four and ninety five, that's what he throws. And then is he tipping his pitches, and I did do some follow up work on that later, they said no . Basically he just threw everything right down the middle and they hammered it. So there you go. There was that was a simplistic explanation. And then when he started the game Sunday, the first guy hit the ball out of the park and Duran . And I'm like, oh no. And then he pulled himself together. Yeah, well it's one of those things maybe number 13 and be lucky for him in the next one he'll it'll that it'll end there and we'll see. So change your number to change your number to number 13. How about that? There you go. Yeah. Good on the uh Omar Viscal uh jersey number for the for that guy. Yep. Um okay, I we'll talk some basketball here, Terry. The NBA finals are starting on Wednesday. We've got the Spurs. Man, that was some series at Spurs Thunder and they're be they'll be taking on the Knicks. And I know you've been writing about Mike Brown uh since the Cavs were just playing the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals, but it's uh it's kind of a nice story that that Mike Brown has found his way to the finals here with New York, which is just going crazy head over heels for this team and and Mike Brown's kind of guided them there. I mean if Mike Brown couldn't coach, nobody would care if he's a classy guy or not, except those who know him. But he is a classy guy. And so then when Mike Brown was hired here the first time, first of all, there aren't too many guys in the N NBA say when he was fired hired here the first time, but when he was hired here the first time he was brought in to uh take they had missed the playoffs the first two years with LeBron and they and this is one I think the third year LeBron could sign a extension. So they the m the marching orders were you gotta get us to the playoffs. And at the press conference, this is in Dan Gilbert's young and rambunctious days , he shows up with a clock, like this big clock. He told me that. And he says to Mike Brown, you're on the clock being Brown. He's like thirty five years old. He finally gets a head coaching position. You know, he's been a career coach. He had worked for Popovich in San Antonio and Rick Carlisle that was his last album before he came to Cleveland with um uh with Indiana and he's on the clock. So anyway, he had to get him to the playoffs the first year. Not only that, they got him to the playoffs, they won their first round. In fact, uh Mike Brown and his whole tenure in Cleveland that uh from oh five through ten uh never made the playoffs every year and never got knocked out. They always made at least the second round. So that's uh you know the second in two thousand and seven, so uh in his uh you know, I think second or third year, they go to the NBA Finals. Now they're swept out by San Antonio, frankly, much like the Cavs were swept out by New York. But there's analytics people who look at this and I tend to agree, I haven't done all the work, but say that is among the three worst teams ever to make the finals. Um to just to refresh, yeah, like uh Drew Gooden and you had uh uh Sasha Pavlovich, Booby Gibson , uh Z was on the team. I mean there were no real stars on that team and they got there. And then uh he's then there at towards the end. He w his last two years I believe they won sixty six and sixty one games. The year they won sixty six games they lost in the Eastern Conference Finals to Orlando. And then the following year, uh they won sixty one games. They were knocked out in the second round. He was fired. LeBron was leaving. So that was it for Mike Brown number one. Then he goes to the Lakers. Uh first year there they had a winning record, not real great, but the Lakers are kind of in uh sort of in no man's land. A couple of games, I th I thought I forgot whether it was four or eight. I think it was eight games into a second seas on for the Lakers. He's fired. Uh Magic Johnson was one of the uh people with influence with the Lakers back down. He didn't like Mike's offense and all that. So now he's fired . So then what h appens is uh he comes home and he's a volunteer coach for the St. Edwards football team while he's being paid by the Cavs. I remember the point viewer at the story about him, it's one of those I wish I had written but uh was somebody else and he's holding all these bottles, uh water bottles that he's like giving the junior varsity defensive players or something. But that was that was the classic Mike Brown. Mike Brown was like ultimate servant or whatever. Then he had a stop uh at uh Golden State , where he was uh a ten uh assistant with Steve Kerr and then he uh went to uh Sacramento . No, excuse me. Yeah, he came back to Cleveland in two thousand thirteen. That's right. Then the next he could play that's one year. He and Kyrie Irving. Kurt Kyrie hated him because he Mike wanted to play defense and stuff like that. So then he has it for one year and they decide to fire Mike because they're they're trying to get LeBron to come back. It just shows you whether Mike Brown was there or not wouldn't matter since they since LeBron came back for David Blatt. He wasn't worried about the coach. So Mike gets fired again and then he um uh he floats over to Golden State, works with Steve Kerr for a while, uh during those years when LeBron's taking the cast to the finals. In fact, one of those years is Kerr hit was had major VAC problems in that and about a third of the playoff games in the championship run for uh the Warriors, uh Mike was the head coach. And then he's hired to go coach the Sacramento Kings. He takes him in his first year to the playoffs for the first time in like 17 years. Second year they have a winning record. They fire him in the middle of the third year. It's just cra zy. You know. And then uh he's out for a little while. And then the Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau, who takes them to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 25 years. They're looking for a a ki coach and they go, Mike Brown's won sixty percent of his games in the NBA. And they look at this record and they go , you know, let's just bring him in here. And of course he takes the Knicks now to the finals. And what he's done where he's where he's improved is his offensive acum en, picking up not only stuff I believe from uh from Steve Kerr, but also from some other coaches. He really studies the game. Little trivia on Mike Brown. I don't know if he still does it, but when Mike Brown was here, because I used to joke with him about it, he ironed his own shirts and he owned like forty pairs of glasses with different frames . Yeah. Now that iron is a little bit wearing their their sweatshirt sweatsuits, you know, maybe he's not ironing the shirts anymore. Um so I'm you know, it's like I'm kinda torn because I hate New York to win anything, but I really like Mike Brown. And he was uh the the other thing about Mike Brown is he's been in these kind of um media hot hot media situations with coaching LeBron here , coaching with the Lakers, um , now coaching the Knicks and he's unflappable. He totally just it doesn't run off as bad. I remember I called him and there was like he benched uh there was something with Ogaskis. He broke some kind of streak for Ogoskis, either benched him in the second half of a game where Z had had a you know a zillion year games in a row of double figures, or he just didn't play 'em. I think he didn't and it broke his streak. And I called Mike at home that night the next day and I said, Mike, you know, what what happened there? I'm gonna write a column. I can't believe you just didn't put him in the game for a little while and he said well go ahead and do it I said Mike I said well there's something wrong with he goes no Z a great guy that's not it it's on me it was my decision and that's all I'm gonna say. He said, you know do, what you have to do. I'm fine with it. And he meant it. Yeah. I like wasn't it interesting after the first game where um one of the games where they wore out Harden, I can't remember if the first game or the second game, he brought up their stats from Golden State. I don't know, Harden dribbled the ball like twice as much as anybody else or something in the league. Yeah. A thousand times. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's like it sure looks like it. And that it helped them the way they shaped their defense. I was shocked that Mike actually revealed that much, but uh he has something behind it. So anyway, good for Mike Brown. I you know I'm not happy the Cavs lost, but if they're gonna lose to somebody, I'm I'm glad that uh Mike is in there and we'll see what he does Um are the Knicks gonna win the NBA Finals? Yes. I think so too. Yes. Yes. Uh my prediction. Yeah. More seasoned. Yep. Yes. Yes. Even before the playoffs, the last six to eight weeks, when he put um Anthony Towns at the top of the this is where you know he's studying things. He puts him at the top of the key and he starts running like an offense from nineteen sixty four where they would have high post centers with guys doing cuts off the center and you know, cuts away from the ball and he's feeding them with that. The difference being back in 1964, you know, they didn't shoot three-pointers or whatever, and that guy wasn't necessarily a great outside shooter. Um but counts with the three-pointers from on top and his passing skills and is taking the pressure off of Jalen Brunson. So then when they are in trouble, like they were in that um first game against the Cavs, they go, All right, Jalen, six to eight minutes. Put your Superman 's cape on. Let's have at it. And he hasn't been carrying the burden the whole time. Yeah, very smart. I I just think um I mean, you know, the Thunder pushed it all the way to game seven, but they didn't have Jalen Williams. I just think the Knicks have more than the the price you pay for going to the finals two years in a row really hard. Now one of the things I want to ask you about, David, I was surprised when I looked at this. So I just looked at the Eastern Conference Finals the last four years. The team that's lost in the Eastern Conference Finals the last four years not only went back to the Eastern Conference Finals the next year, they won it . Yeah, that's right. That's a good stat. Yeah, you only in the East, though, right? Only half the East. West there's nothing close to it. But it's like last year New York lost to Indiana. The year before, Indiana lost to Boston. The year before Boston lost to Miami, and there was somebody else the year before that. Um but then they came back and won the following year. So it's um it's really interesting to me. I don't necessarily say that that in guarantees or anything about the calves, but I'm just saying it's most of the time you're making incremental steps. Now if you have Wembby in that it's a it's a other situation . Well, and that's what the Cavs have been banking on when we saw Kobe Altman and everybody speaking last week. Like we're making progress toward the goal and we're on track. So that's just what the stats you just threw out were another indication But none of those teams I will say to be fair were swept out uh in the Eastern Conference Finals. But so we'll see. But I found that interesting. All right. Um I guess that's it on the MBA. Anything else you wanted to mention real quick? And I've got we've got some nice emails here to wrap up of some autograph stories. All right. This first one is from Rich Bolster and Rich lives in Tallahassee, Florida, and he writes in and says, David and Terry, I grew up in Euclid during the nineteen seventies, rooting for some mediocre Indians and Browns teams, but still fondly remember my first autograph. Browns tight end Milk Morin brought a season highlights film and visited the students at St. Felicitas School. After the presentation Shows up at your school with a yeah. Yeah. So Rich says after the presentation he made sure everyone got his autograph on a football shaped card and instantly became my favorite Brown for the rest of his career. Years later, I decided it was time for my very young son to begin following in my footsteps. I took him to Yuma to see an Indian spring training game against the Padres, and we waited in line for I look forward to your podcast each week. Thanks for that, Rich. Um I have a humor memory. Oh, let's hear it. So I'm covering the tribe. This is in the early eighties. Jerry Dob zinski is playing shortstop. They're playing the Padres in Yuma. A roadrunner flies and lands in the middle of the infield. I'm not making this up. Who would make up a story with a roadrunner and Jerry Dobzinski? Was he tearing an ACME suitcase? No, we just was like looking around kind,a stunned by the whole thing. Maybe he you know, he doesn't know that I guess when whenever he visited before there was nothing going on at this field. Well Divers looks around and they're like, We gotta get the Roadrunner off the field and he took it upon himself, Colin Wizone, Jerry Dzinski, chased the Roadrunner off the field, who then moved very quickly and took off . Wow. All right. Okay. Something. Yeah, that's good. I think there's a new Roadrunner and Coyote movie coming out soon. Or did it already come out? Maybe too, makes a never know. All right, and here's our last one from Scott Emerson. And Scott says, Hey Terry and Dave, when I was 10 years old, I was at Red Raider Summer Camp in Novelty, Ohio. One afternoon they took us over to Hiram College to watch the Cleveland Browns practice. After practice ended, all the kids rushed over trying to get Jim Brown t work I'. To this day to this day I'm still not over it. And that's from Scott Emerson. That's a great story. So Jim didn't go somebody else give me a pen, it's like you got one shot at it, kid, you better be ready. 10 better work or it's over. Yeah. So um yeah, so we've been getting some really fun emails from fans and listeners about their um m their memorable baseball games they've been at and also autographs they've received. I think that you threw out this idea a few weeks ago, too. We've gotten some really fun ones. So if you want to continue to send those in, the address is the same one as always, sports at Cleveland dot com, and we will try to get it on an upcoming podcast. So I was gonna mention uh Hiram College, Homer of Roberta on the first women's basketball team at Hiram. Yes she was. And that's actually where we met. 'Cause I went to Hiram for a year after Benedictin and I met her in German class. She was the older woman. She was a junior. And that was that. And you were a freshman. And she was better at language than I. And so um, you know, I'm kinda like, hey, let's share this, let's do this, but I had an ulterior motive in mind. And uh I retired from Hiram with a five hundred batting average. I was on the baseball team, went one for two with a sacrifice time and a stolen base . And the rest is history. And the rest is history. At the end of that year, I ran out of money. My father was laid off from FaZio's. And I transferred to Cleveland State, which actually turned out to be a great thing because uh I still had Roberta in the back pocket, as they say. And uh we're able to uh theirs where I made a bunch of media connections and all this other stuff. So it worked out well. Roberta and I always say kind of God's hand was on all that because um it was it was just something else. At that point Roberta knew almost nothing about sports other than she liked to play basketball. Yeah and that's the old saying like you said Terry the uh what a door closes and a window opens or a window closes and a door opens is always somet something else. So um Yeah. All right. I guess we're done for today, right? That'll do it. All right. Hey so we are gonna be off for the next couple weeks on a a short summer break Judgment judgment free zone. Um, because this is an interesting social phenomenon and I really do want to know about it. All right. We'll see you in a couple weeks. We'll see you then on Terry's talking . Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile with a message for everyone paying big wireless way too much. Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop. With Mint, you can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course if you enjoyy overpaing, no judgments, but that's weird. Okay, one judgment