Transcript of Cowboys, Cups, and Banning the Wave

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All right, my fellow football Americans, I'm sure you've heard the news. Christian Pulisic's leg is broken, so it's time we break away from the World Cup. Well, kind of, sort of. We're going to give you some picks on that, but more importantly, we're going to be talking about football, NFL style. I mean, NFC East specifically. Is Jalen Hurts definitely, absolutely, positively the answer? I know he's a Super Bowl MVP, but I mean for 2026 and beyond. Also, does anybody remember Jayden Daniels? Who Jalen Hurts and company beat in the title game about 20 or so months ago. Is America's team a little bit overlooked? It seems like they might be. Is Jon Harbaugh the answer for the New York Football Giants? Also, pee troughs versus urinals— what's the right way to go there? I have a giant stuffed sloth over my shoulder. It's all happening. Let's start the show. Yes, hi and hello, my Hello, fellow Football Americans. Welcome to Football America presented by DraftKings SportsNow. And not one, not two, not three— I don't have enough fingers to do it— all 50 states. That's good news for everybody. Um, DraftKings Sports, subscribe, comment in the YouTube section.

The Football America page awaits your remarks, questions, or otherwise. So too do the podcast spaces. Wherever you find your podcast, that's where you'll find Football America. We appreciate you subscribing. And like I say, leaving a comment there for us. We're getting closer and closer to NFL kickoff, World Cup, all the rest of it to talk about. Episode 72 is here. Let's start it off like we usually do. Gino Fuentes, hello to you as well. Buddy Budowski, Gino, which NFL player or athlete at large wore that jersey number 72 best?

All right, before we get to the jersey number, I want to, I want to get my soapbox about the number 72, what it means for the history of football. 1972.

Thank you. Look at the list.

Undefeated, where is it? 17.

Thank you.

305, man.

You know, talking to Miami dorks apparently. Oh yeah, like the 11th or 12th best Super Bowl winning team.

It doesn't matter, it's the only one that never lost. That's all I know. That's all, it's all we have. Let us have it.

Okay.

And okay, let's get into this.

Well, I mean, I wasn't around to see the '72 undefeated team, but I have gone back and watched some of it. You guys, this isn't really a satisfying conversation to take shots at the Dolphins fans. I wonder if there are very many Dolphins fans who actually witnessed that undefeated season. For the people, the historians who did get to watch— really?

Yeah.

Oh my God, it's 5 years old. Yep.

Oh, that's grim. Um, but the, the interesting detail now that you've brought that up though, from the Pittsburgh Steelers POV, is that the Steelers play the Dolphins in the title game the week after. That's the undefeated Dolphins. Um, That's the week after the immaculate reception by Franco Harris against the Raiders.

Easy to tell all that.

Well, the bizarre quirk now in modern day to look back at is that the Dolphins played that game in Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. They were undefeated. You can think, why didn't the Dolphins have home field advantage? It just was the way they did it back in the day was that they rotated it among division winners. So weirdly, the Dolphins were up there, But it was weirdly not frigid out in Pittsburgh in January during that game. So it kind of took away what might have been an advantage, you know, for the Florida boys playing up there in steely Pittsburgh. And I can make a pretty— and I have made this case previously— that if they had played on the AstroTurf as it was back down in the Orange Bowl and it was warm and sunny as it was, it would have been a home field disadvantage for the Dolphins against the Oakland Raiders, who would have had to play down there because the Dolphins would have had home field over the Raiders. And then Snake Stabler and company, who wanted to sling the ball deep, probably would have had a better day than the ground-and-pound Dolphins.

So you might have completely had a different result. That might have been the end of the trail for those Dolphins if the Immaculate Reception hadn't happened. Either way, back to number 72.

You know what I love about Dave is that he just mentioned that he didn't actually witness any of these things and then came up with an entire scenario.

If you know Dave, he's watched everything.

It could have been different. No, I'm sure he's seen it. I'm just saying it's, it's, it's— his brain is incredible. Yes, it's an incredible brain.

It's a beautiful—

I agree, I agree, I agree.

Continue. Okay, all right, numbers. Uh, Ed 'Too Tall' Jones wore 19— uh, wore 1972, wore number 72.

We got Matt Light, uh, former Super Bowl champion with Ed 'Too Tall' Jones, by the way, in the middle of his career just retires. He's like a high-end defensive end for the mighty Dallas Cowboys. He retires because he wanted to be a boxer, and he tried his hand at heavyweight, uh, prize fighting.

That's crazy.

And then he realized like, that's not a good idea, and then he went back to playing football. Very weird. Continue.

So we got Matt Light already. We, uh, the fun one, the refrigerator, William Perry wore number 72, uh, defensive tackle/fullback. Not a lot of those. Uh, and, uh, Terron Armstead, uh, Saints and Dolphins offensive tackle as well.

And then Fridge Perry has a weird stink on him because of Ditka not giving the ball to Walter Payton in Super Bowl XX and instead giving it to Fridge Perry. I don't know that Fridge deserves that, but Ditka, I know, feels bad now for not having given the, the ball to the late Walter Payton. And I, and I agree with that. I would have been mad too. But, but it is sad that if you realize, if you're aware of that whole story, that Sweetness— this is the pinnacle of his professional career after toiling on some bum Bears teams— that they win Lombardi finally, and he didn't get a touchdown. And so basically he was mopey in the fourth quarter and in the locker room. I kind of don't even really know what to make of that because Jerry Rice, I've given the business to that. You were mad that you didn't get to say, I'm going to Disneyland, and instead they gave that honor to Joe Montana. I was like, all right, man, you just won the Super Bowl and you're— I know, unquestionably the greatest receiver of all time. I know for you, but I hate mopey champions.

Yeah, he posted like— I, I do want to say one thing about Fridge Perry though that's funny is he is such a legend as like you said defensive tackle, fullback. Career stats: 8 carries, 5 yards, 2 touchdowns.

Yeah, well, but you know, but, but like you say, Gino, the mopey champion thing, um, you know, we talked about like, uh, a few weeks ago that I don't think Mike Tomlin would like to see the Steelers win the Super Bowl this year. It would be weird to be like, oh yeah, they're As it turns out, I was the problem all along and they're better off without me. And I think the best example of that is, again, getting the Wayback Machine here. But 1980, you know, Magic Johnson famously has to fill in at center at the pivot against the Sixers in Game 6 in Philly. And Kareem, they leave him in LA in anticipation of Game 7 because Kareem was a little banged up. And then, you know, Magic has his signature game and, you know, drops 40 on the Sixers and the Lakers win the title. And by all accounts, Kareem was thrilled by and celebrated with the guys and all that. I bet he's a little down in the mouth.

Oh, for sure.

Right?

Like, oh, oh. For sure. Gotta be.

I guess they didn't need me to do it, did they? Right? I'm— I get that from a human, from a human level. Still, I'm with Geno. I don't like mopey, mopey champs. Okay. I interrupted you, Geno, again. 72. Any more there? You got one big one.

I got through all of them. I got Dan Dierdorf. Did I get him there at the end? I got Dierdorf, Too Tall Jones, Matt Light, William Perry, and Teron Armstead was the one I had.

Getting back into the good numbers now.

I thought you were in Miami.

Aren't you in Miami?

Don't you have to mention Bob?

Bob Kuchenberg, right? Yeah.

No, Bobrovsky.

Oh, oh, I was getting there, Dave. That's my job. That's my job. Yes, actually, 72, loaded NHL number right now. Sergei Bobrovsky, obviously the most famous, 2-time Stanley Cup champion. That 72 will hang in the ban— in the rafters at Amerant Bank Arena, no matter how ugly things got this offseason. You've also got Artemi Panarin who rocks 72. Oh yeah, Dave, he was the— he was the Cup champion. He was the goalie on both Cup champions. They do not get to any of those finals without him. They do not win either of those titles without him. Artemi Panarin also rocks 72. And then Tage Thompson, gold medalist with Team USA. All right, on the— uh, I think he's the assistant captain up in Buffalo, uh, for the Sabers. One of the best goal scorers in the league. He rocks the 72. So good hockey number as well, number 72. And Bob, Toronto Yep, Dahlien wears C up there. Bob going up to Toronto took it from Gavin McKenna, who would have wore 72, the number 1 pick in this year's draft who is supposed to be the next big thing in the NHL. So yeah, good hockey number, 72.

Okay, by the way, I failed to mention this, and if you're— if you're just listening to us, you may not detect the difference, but I am coming at you from the banks of the Three Rivers. I'm investigating the Pittsburgh Steelers and the AFC North in general. I do want to talk some NFC East. I'm getting right, you know, like as I've said before, I'm like Neo and Neo's girlfriend. Maybe I'm not ready to roll and give you what I think is going to happen, what I know is going to happen once the NFL season gets rolling here. I am in the state that I can't remember what her name was. What was Neo's girlfriend's name? Remember her name?

The Matrix.

I haven't seen The Matrix. No. Gina, what do you make of— what do you make of somebody like that hasn't seen The Matrix? That's our future, man. That's a documentary of what awaits us all. Anyway, she's up there on the roof and she's like, I don't know how to fly a helicopter. Trinity, by the way. Trinity. Trinity calls home base and she's like, I don't know how to fly a helicopter. And they're like, doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo. And she's like, I'm ready to fly the helicopter now. And she takes off in the helicopter. That's me. That's where I am right now. Like, I don't know who's going to win the NFC East, but I'll be able to tell you in about a month or so. I'm going over some of my notes here and some of the things that have occurred to me. So far, I think bizarrely that America's alleged team that everybody loves to talk about— if you watch the Worldwide Leader, even in June they are trying to cultivate questions that are relevant about the Dallas Cowboys and all of that— somehow things have added up to them being under the radar.

Do you agree with that? I think, you know, that the offense is good, and the big question there was, as they overhauled the offensive line, then CeeDee Lamb, and, and now they needed a number 2 to really And that's not diminishing Jake Ferguson, a high-end tight end. But George Pickens had a really good year, as I told you he would before the season started. And then all the, the contractual stuff with Pickens, which is just about unavoidable— he's a little bit of a head case, but he is a dominant performer when he's out there. I think the offense is, is going to be real good. And then the question was going into last year, because of the Micah Parsons deal, which was already a thin defense, you give away this, uh, this high-end piece. Boy, they're going to be garbage. And so they were. All of a sudden, though, in exchange for Micah Parsons, Quinnen Williams— I mean, do people forget who Quinnen Williams was when the Jets drafted him and how good he was for bum Jets team? So you don't really— he's not in the news or he's not relevant to your conversation, but Quinnen Williams is great.

And Rashawn Gary and DeMarvian—

oh, I mean, they, they, um, they did about as good as they could, right, Dave? Like, like considering the circumstances, obviously you're going to come out worse, I would say, when you trade a guy like Michael Parsons, although he did tear his ACL. Doesn't appear that he's going to be back until like November are the early indications, right? But they did about as good as they could and they put together a 7-9 season last year. But you're right, Dave, it's been— it's like eerily quiet in Dallas right now. Like there's nothing about Dak Prescott. His contract situation. They haven't made any huge roster changes this offseason. Maybe that's just what they need to kind of finally get them back into, all right, things are a little stable now, now we can just focus on, you know, trying to overthrow the Eagles in that division.

Well, but then also, but I mean, keep in mind, I think that they have, not unlike the Ravens a couple of years ago, Caleb Downs is going to be a steal. You know it, everybody knows it. Why so many teams passed on Caleb Downs is crazy. He's gonna splash immediately. And, and, uh, Overshaun a dynamic guy who's, you know, maybe the most coveted piece of all, the Swiss Army knife. You can put him in different places. That also describes Caleb Downs. So I think the defense is potentially a virtue there. And then that sets them up to maybe take down the Mighty Eagles. And the other thing that reflecting something we've seen this century is the Pete Carroll effect. Schottenheimer was sort of felt like their third or sixth choice, much like Pete Carroll was with the Seahawks way back when. And they go— they win 7 games in his first year, and then they, uh, they take off from there. I could see that happening with the Cowboys. If the, the big question is, this deep into his career, is Dak going to continue to perform at that level? If he does, I think they have a real chance to hang with the Eagles.

And the Giants are intriguing, and the— with, with Jon Harbaugh, I don't know that that's a net win. He's a splashy name.

I don't know if the results, um, marry up with that in And, uh, but you like what you saw from Dart last year, didn't you, as a rookie?

I did. I, yeah, I, I think they, they've had a good offseason too. And then you combine that and the, the slept-on Commies, who I didn't— I haven't loved their offseason, but you know, just the, the, the, um, the Jayden Daniels element of it. I mean, how good he was as a rookie, and last year is just lost. And so I think people just sort of have a weird amnesia about him and that team in general. So I'm not sure exactly where they're headed, but the Eagles are the real tough read. Think about this. It's Halloween. What is the conversation in Philadelphia among Eagles fans around Jalen Hurts? AJ Brown, of course, in case you missed it, no longer there. And that whole soap opera around everything a year ago is now out of the building, and now it's all on Jalen Hurts. And he's a Super Bowl champ, and, and he's, you know, but the conversation rolls on about whether or not they need to move on from him. Do you think by Halloween, Thanksgiving, or beyond, do you think Jalen Hurts has established himself of, okay, well, we were wringing our hands unnecessarily, everybody, this is the, this is the answer for another half decade?

Or do you think that there, that the, um, radio shows around Philadelphia are blowing up the phone lines, we got to get rid of this guy and find a new guy at the most important position?

I think Philly— oh well, Philly fans, not just Philadelphia fans, are just, you know, perpetually upset.

Yes.

I mean, I mean, how could you at this point? I mean, I guess last year, everything— your most recent memory is the thing that sticks out in your head, but the guy's been to 2 Super Bowls. He won one. He outdueled, um, Mahomes in both of them. Um, he played better than Mahomes in the first one as well. Um, so I don't understand how you can be upset with him. I could see how— I mean, it's, it's hard to say it's hard to predict that an offense would be good without AJ Brown. But I mean, I guess a lot of it really depends on DeVonta Smith. Yeah, if he can be the true number one, then they might not miss a beat. They might just put in Mekhi Lemon where the old DeVonta Smith role was and they just might keep going.

I think they have to get back to what worked for them too, Dave. Like, this is an offense that is built around getting Saquon Barkley the football and throwing the ball down the field. And they didn't do a lot of that last year. Like, Saquon, like, by his standards, did not have a great year. And they were not going down the field, pushing the ball down the field to Smith, to Smitty and AJ Brown last year. It just didn't feel like that. And yeah, that's my guy. But, you know, like, I just think maybe the AJ Brown thing, like, it did weigh on them and they just kind of had to, you know, it could be addition by subtraction. Obviously, your offense is not going to be naturally better when you just— same way with the Cowboys where lose— you're always going to lose when you move a guy like Micah Parsons. You're always going to lose when you when you move a guy like AJ Brown. But I do believe that, like, this could be good for them in the long term, and they just need a guy that's going to go in there and do something different.

Because last year things kind of ran stale. It felt like the last couple years for the Eagles. I mean, they did win a Super Bowl— they just won the Super Bowl 2 years.

I think what happened—

I know this is such a Philly thing, dude. It's such an exclusively Philly thing where they, like, winning a Super Bowl should buy you so much grace for at least—

let's see, let's see how exclusively Philly it is if the Knickerbockers are 500.

No, that's a great point. But I think that's a great point. But I'm just saying that like they won a Super Bowl 2 years ago. This is still a team that has been built by Howie Roseman, has talent all over the field, right?

That's the—

this roster is still loaded. They're still going to be one of the better teams.

We saw last year was when their offensive line got hurt, particularly Lane Johnson. That's when things started to dip and fall apart.

No, that's going to be a big thing for them is keeping the offensive line intact. And like I said, they got to get back to what works for them because they got away from it last year and it was ugly.

Lane Johnson's return is big. And it's funny, I was talking to a Dodgers fan last last week who was— we were talking about Shohei Ohtani and Dalton Rushing, the second catcher on the Dodgers, don't get along. And is this going to be a problem? And what's this mean? What does this mean for the Dodgers as Ohtani is a pitcher? And I'm like, listen, you're a Dodgers fan, you're just in midseason creating trouble. If this is the biggest problem confronting your baseball team, you're in great shape. And I think that's kind of what's happening with the— we're creating stuff. But to your point about Howie Roseman, Look at that roster. It's hard to find a ton of holes unless the question is then about Jalen Hurts. Is he still in the year of the Lord, year of the Lord 2026, their best option, not just for this season but for the next couple of seasons? I could see that dust-up happening. But if you look at the defense, I mean, it's not just up front. Look at the corners. They're locked up, man. They're, they're, they're in great shape. And so, so it's hard to— you, we can try and talk ourselves into like the Eagles could really fall back a little bit.

I think the Cowboys are going to rise up, but I don't think the those are gonna suddenly become some 9-8 team. I, I, you know, despite the, the lack— in fact, they might be better off without AJ Brown going forward.

And like you mentioned, Dave, there are two bounce-back candidates in this division, and there's a third team that is like— I think a lot of people assume is on the rise. They just had a great draft. They got Arvell Reese, they got Francis Malanoa. This is the Giant— this being the Giants, like, this is a team that's up and coming. They have a young quarterback in Jaxson Dart that I think a lot of people believe in. Yeah, it's all going to be about what he does in year two. Does he sophomore slump, or does he kind of take that next step.

Well, his neighbor's ready to go because— right, and neighbors are in that position.

Huge deal. Yep, it's going to be a huge deal whether he's back. But yes, what are we going to get from Jayden Daniels? Like, this was very much a lost season, but we've like— because of it, we forgot he was so freaking good. And I think another reason we forgot how good he was his rookie year is because Caleb Williams played really great last season, took the Bears within an inch of the NFC Championship Game, you know. So I, I just think that this is such a loaded division. You have two teams that should be better than they were last year that be, you know, 9, 10, maybe even 11-win teams. You have the Eagles who are still going to be one of the best teams in the NFL. And then you've got a really exciting young Giants team that I think can be a lot better than they've been in years past. So super competitive, competitive division up here in the NFC East, as it always is, right? These are one of the great division rivalries in all of sports.

And now, see, you did that only because we're in the vacuum of talking NFC, so you can get away with saying stuff like that. That's all I said.

One of this division I said one of—

no, the reason I brought this whole thing up was to see if, if I could get you, and I got you both with this. Here's, here's where we are. It's not just me who's Trinity slash Neo right now. In fact, we are all predisposed, I think, to a sense of optimism, which is weird at this time. In summertime, it's real easy.

Yeah.

To talk yourself into almost any NFL team because of parity. Right. That— what's way easier to do, and we're going to get into it next month, we will start doing the infamous no playoffs for you list because it's very hard to identify properly which teams are definitely not going to make the playoffs in the NFL in the 21st century. It's way easier to put a list together of like, I could see that team, I could see that team playing in the championship game or in the divisional round versus like, oh, that team has no chance going before the season kicks off. Who's on that list? List right now. It's definitely— the Dolphins cannot make the playoffs.

Cardinals, the Titans.

Well, I mean, if Malik Willis is great, what if he's a phenom? I still don't think it, it adds up to them getting a wild card. No, I think the Cardinals have no shot. And who else did you say?

The Titans.

I mean, I don't buy that. I think that's a loaded division. And I can talk myself into the Colts if Daniel Jones is ready to go because I do like all that roster.

I mean, the Jets.

Okay, that's as well.

Browns. The Jets have some interesting pieces, but right, they're not going to probably make the playoffs. I— listen, it's a short list. Okay, let's—

no, you're right, you're right about that, you're right about that. It is a short list.

Um, but yes, I mean, that I, I can really— you know, you look at the NFC East and you think like, Giants are interesting at minimum, and the Cowboys, look at that, though, that defense should be actually pretty good this year. And the Commies, boy, they were in the title game just, uh, just 2 years ago. It's very easy game to play. We have to figure out between now and kickoff which ones are the fraudulent. In the meantime, let's move on here. Let's talk some World Cup, fellas. Actually, before we talk World Cup, let's, let's talk Stanley Cup. I'm curious about your thoughts, buddy, on the Canes owner. I don't know if you saw this. Yes, I did. His progeny's son into the cup. Well, what in the hell? What are we doing? I mean, I thought you couldn't do any worse than etching into this glorious item, this, this all-time time trophy, perhaps the greatest trophy in the history of people, featuring the names Orr and Lemieux being sullied by the word Devils. It all went downhill from there, and then Lightning made it even worse. But this made hurricanes— both of those hurricanes ridiculous.

But, but I, I think you can't do much worse than this, right?

Yeah. So here's what I'll say. So obviously Panther fan here, The Panthers did etch some Viola names into the Stanley Cup. There are 5 of them. They only take up one row, and then one more name, and then it gets into some of the ownership. Now here's what I'll say: I'm pretty sure that all of the Violas that were on the cup have some kind of interaction or some kind of position, something to do within the Florida Panthers organization, whether it be like community outreach and that kind stuff. The Carolina Hurricanes etched a kindergartner's name into the Stanley Cup. That is bananas. And it's just typical of this Carolina Hurricanes organization. It's typical of Tom Dundon. Like you said, Dave, it's an insult that the Devils were at the face— the Lightning. And, and it's not so much the Hurricanes, it's specifically the 2025-26 Hurricanes who had the easiest path to the Stanley Cup you will ever see in the history.

All right, all right.

They didn't have to play the Florida Panthers. They didn't have to play. Nobody gives a shit about the Carolina Hurricanes winning the cup this year. When they lose in 5 games to the Panthers next year, we'll etch a little asterisk right next to their name to go along with the kindergartner's name that's on the cup. There's my rant.

All right, Gino, Gino, that was a mistake for me to bring this up, but he wanted to get in with his Florida Panthers agenda. All right, let's, uh, let's talk some, uh, some World Cup here. And Gino Well, you're steeped in all things soccer, so I'll defer to you and we'll get some picks for you looking ahead here as we winnow down the teams that can win it. Update, if you missed it, the U.S. is not one of them. I do think it's kind of funny that Christian Pulisic, after many days of getting bashed up and down by everybody who watches soccer, that now it turns out he has a fractured leg. But you've got some cynicism to sprinkle on that even.

Uh, I think it's just the PR department, his PR crew, just jumping in and trying to get some sympathy out of the whole thing. I mean, they're not lying. I mean, we saw him go off, we saw him get injured and go off the field. Uh, he came into the World Cup, uh, a bit banged up. He got banged up during the World Cup. I mean, so it's not a surprise that he has some injury. Um, but you know, he just, he didn't play well. He didn't represent himself.

He played well in the first game, um, and in the first half of the first half of the first game.

Uh, he looked good when he came back, but, um, I mean, he got completely wiped out of the game along with Serginio Dest in that last encounter with Belgium.

Yeah, pretty inspiring— by the uninspiring effort by the whole team in the big spot against Belgium. I think that's the big takeaway. The other big takeaway for me is, um, maybe my number one takeaway from this World Cup is after watching, as Mike Ryan on this show one week ago said, it's going to be the biggest greatest game in the history of sport. Okay, maybe that was a little bit too much, but the ratings were pretty monstrous. And if you watch the game, the atmosphere was dynamite. It all adds up to this: the NFL needs to put a team in Mexico City, or Mexico City—

I kind of agree with Dave here.

Yeah, right? I mean, I thought— well, they've tried it. They, they— the, the iconic game, the Chiefs and Rams, that shootout game that they played ultimately at the Coliseum, was supposed to be in Mexico City. But the field was a mess. But if they can get that right, I mean, I think this seems more plausible in the short term versus a team in London or otherwise. I know that they would like a team ultimately somewhere in Europe. They want it to be a global sport, not unlike soccer is emerging as being. Although I do wonder what the ratings are going to look like over the next fortnight now that the US is out of it. I wonder if people get— start to tune out a little bit. I guess there's a dearth of other sports options that maybe hold people's attention.

Yeah, I don't know, Dave, because first of all, like you mentioned, like it's a wasteland right now, right? Like last night there were— on Wednesday night there were no games on and I had to watch baseball. I had to watch the Cubs and Marlins, you know what I mean? But now, like, not only is this— is everybody so involved with this tournament, but they've built, I would say, allegiances in some way to some of these teams. Like they love the storylines. Erling Haaland, the Norwegian fans with the row. You know, I think a lot of people have gotten really hooked on watching France and how great they are. So you have France, you have, of course, you have Messi in Argentina. Can they win?

Shout out to the—

go ahead.

Shout out to the collared shirts on France too. When we did the kit draft, jersey draft, the white collared shirt is smart.

Yeah, I'm, I'm very happy with, uh, how this one turned out for me. But you know, you've got a lot of teams— Spain and Belgium— you've got big brands, you've got big names, you've got big players. I still think the World Cup is going to do great over these next, you know, however many games are left. 7 games are left. 8 games are left.

So I think a big part of it is the US went out when they did, because if they had gone out in the group stage, then I could see interest dropping because you've got the round of 32. Yeah, but now you're in like the thick of it. You've got the 8 best teams in the world and— right.

You're not going to turn it off now. Like you're— it's like, it's like you're watching— it's almost like you're watching a show that kind of gets bad at the end. But you've made it this far, like how I did with Euphoria, where I made it through 2 seasons and I'm like, I've got to just struggle through this last season. I'm here. I might as well finish the last 2 episodes of this terrible show. Like, I feel like that's kind of how people might feel about the World Cup. Like, I've made it this far. We're at the quarterfinal. Let me just watch the rest of it, see how it all goes.

Kind of like me with Lost a little bit. I felt like, yeah, and I was— it was starting to creep in more and more in the last season or so. Like, is this going to pay off or not?

The lead—

there was a chance, there was a chance that the writers didn't really calculate that the series would succeed and last as long as it, as it did. And then they're like, oh, we better come up with anything. Same thing happened with Game of Thrones, I think, too. Like, oh, we got to wrap this up. What should we do here? They hadn't— you, you assume as a viewer they know the conclusion, but they didn't know the conclusion.

Well, they didn't because the books had been— had not been written.

The thing with Game of Thrones—

well, that's true with Game of Thrones.

They had no roadmap at the end. They got to the point where he had written all the books, and all those seasons were great. And then once they had to make up the story themselves, it all fell apart.

They had nothing, right?

But Lost, it's like, well, did they know? Because if they knew, that's more embarrassing that that's what they came up with. If they knew when they first started that this is the conclusion, then shame on them. And shame on them especially for wasting my time the way they did. I'll never be the same after sitting through that series. For as long as I did. And that was the big payoff either way.

What was the big payoff? They were in a parallel universe or something, right?

I don't even remember. That's how—

statute of limitations is up on Lost. If you're, if you're going to claim spoiler alert on me, like, get over it. It's the statute of limitations is up.

I don't think anyone is that undignified. Here's the other thing I've realized about the World Cup is a couple of things. One is, guys, I did legitimately— I didn't know that this was true about professional soccer players. Are so good at the headers. I, I had no idea.

It's crazy. I didn't know.

I, I mean, I would say half the goals come on headers. Is that fair? I mean, but, but also how they can direct the ball. I thought, you know, I, I thought like, well, they hit it with their forehead and it's got to go straight ahead. They, they do like sideways shots.

That last Haaland goal, uh, again, or the— was it the first Haaland goal? Sorry, against Brazil, where he's got a defender on him and he just moves, finds some space, heads it in. Like, yeah, it's unbelievable the amount of power. And then you have like— it's not just on the offensive side. Yeah, yeah, go ahead.

Well, I can't do it. I just— I like— I'm fascinated by— I mean, I can't run fast either, but I also really, really— no matter what, like, if it's like your life depends on you being able to bonk the ball sideways, make it go 90 degrees, like, I'd be like, well, then I guess you may as well kill me because I don't think my neck moves that I don't think I can hit a ball that way.

It's a styles thing. I think the big European, like, like Norway type teams that have got a bunch of big guys on it, those are the teams that are going to use that to their advantage. If you notice, not a lot of Argentinians doing that, not a lot of Spaniards doing that. They're, they're lower to the ground. They want to play with around with their feet.

You know, the other thing I was going to say is, Dave, is that it's not just an offensive thing either, because if you watch that England game, Dan Burn is this big giant and we call it a brick shithouse in soccer for England. And he like headed a ball that defensively was a clearance that landed like— it literally went to the other side of the field. It hit off his big-ass head so hard. So it's also like widely used, like they clear the ball out with their head so much because the ball can, you know, is in the air so often. So it really is a crazy skill. Like, I'm with you, that is something from watching more and more soccer that I'm amazed by.

And it leads me to my second big takeaway, which was before this thing started. And as I've said for many moons now, just shoot the ball at the goal a lot more. They should just be kicking the ball from a distance because when it, when it float— well, listen, when it, when the ball goes up in the air like that, you don't know where it's at. Like, you can see, like, there's a chance a teammate might bonk it with his head into the goal. Like, they should be doing that way more than they do. And as we have mentioned also on this show, the all-time leading goal scorer for the U.S. men's soccer team is own goal, ahead of Landon Convinced, legitimately true. And I think that the beautiful game advocates are embarrassed by this more so than, than their hockey brethren are. There's a, there's an appreciation among NHL enthusiasts for the dirty goals, for the grinder's delight, for the fourth line mucker scratching one in when it bonks in off of 3 different guys on its way into the goal. Soccer fans don't want to concede that that's the case, but I would say a third of the goals don't go in clean, about at the same rate.

No, that's true.

Goals don't go in clean in the NHL. Right? It's just an embarrassing thing to acknowledge because it's supposed to be so pure and based on talent, but very often it's because it skips off a defender's leg, right?

No, that's definitely true. And also you have a lot of, um, like in hockey— it's weird because in hockey it's so much tighter, whereas soccer, right, like it's such a smaller space. Soccer is kind of more spread out. But I do think that lends itself to like, like the international game kind of lends itself to that because the international game is a little more disorganized, I would say. You have obviously less time to create a lot of structure, really like institute tactics. So a lot of it is like just kind of go out there and have fun. And you see a lot more like ping-ponging because a lot of teams sit back more, kind of play that like defensive counter-attack style. And, and I do agree with you that like shooting the ball more is kind of like hockey in that like pucks on net is such a thing in hockey, right? Because you never know, right? You can't go catch it, you know, you can't catch it.

Right, it falls 100% into the goal.

The thing with hockey though is that, like, in, in soccer there, if you're playing against a certain team, you might never get the ball back. Like, like, if you're playing against— that's true— Argentina or Spain or any of the teams that possess the ball well, there's a— if you do that and you miss and it goes over the net, you might not see the ball again for 15 minutes.

All right, you don't have to hear from Dave the ugly American on soccer. I obviously am not going to figure it out, so you tell me quickly, the two of you Velas. Give me a best bet for the coming games here in the World Cup, what's left of it.

Okay, I'm gonna go, um, let me see. So let's, let's go to Saturday since that gives, uh, the, the show some time to be out before people have to listen to our, our expertise on this kind of stuff, if you want to call it expertise. Uh, so I'm gonna do Argentina-Switzerland. That's going to be the, the late game on Saturday night. Um, Argentina have had maybe the two of the best games in the World Cup to this point. Um, the last two games, uh, Cape Verde gave them a run for their money, Egypt gave them a run for their money. But you see, see, the thing is, is that Switzerland kind of has the same profile. Um, I don't think— I think Argentina at some point has got to wake up. Um, you saw in the last World Cup they lost their first game to Saudi Arabia and they played gangbusters the rest of the tournament, uh, at that point. So I think you're going to get Argentina to win, uh, in that late game. Um, I can't— if they make another mess out of this, I don't think they recover from it. So I'm going to get Argentina to win.

Make a mess out of it. You almost said messy, so I'm going to give you points for that. I also give the soccer conversation points for doing something for, for just tackling this thing that has been vexing for several decades now in American sports, which is, like I've said, you know, Miami Heat are— is it the Miami Heat is or the Miami Heat are? Like you just said, you know, Argentina are are, you know, like they just pluralize it. I think we need to take a page from our big brothers across the Atlantic Ocean and just pluralize these teams, even if it is the OKC Thunder is— no, no, they are. They're 12 of them on the team after all. Go ahead, buddy, give us a pick.

Yeah, I'm gonna go with the other game from Saturday. Um, I think this one's fun. Yeah, England-Norway is going to be an incredible game. It's gonna be right here in Miami. If anybody has any hookups and wants to send your boy, let me know.

What do you do?

What do you do?

Uh, anyway, point being— let's just ignore that. Uh, England, I think Dave had what is the most impressive result of the entire tournament so far. Going into Azteca and winning in that environment on that weather night with that game, going down to 10 men for 50 minutes, it felt like they were playing a man down basically. They did. They played more than half the game with the man— with a man down. I love what they did, and I think that'll be huge for an English team that is so— they're so self-deprecating. They need confidence in such a big way. That'll be such a huge confidence boost for them. I love the Norwegian story. Erling Haaland is incredible. I'm sure he'll score at some point in this game, but I'm gonna ride the English because I just think that is such a confidence boost that they will think, we can do this, this is the year we can actually do this. Like England always has that 'it's coming home' thing, 'it's coming home' thing. I don't ever think they actually believe it. Now I can see them after going into Azteca and beating Mexico in that game, getting that kind of result.

I think they truly believe they can win this tournament. You believe they can win? They— I do.

I think they can.

Not only do I think they think they can win, I believe they can win. Because after going in—

any—

I would have said that about any team that went into Mexico in that environment. When I heard before the tournament, that England would have to go into Azteca. I'm like, that is the ultimate trap game. They can absolutely get got there. But if they win, they can do anything. And I do believe that if by winning that game, they proved they can win the tournament 100%.

Well, I'll refer to him again. Mike Ryan said the exact same thing. He said if they, if they survive the Mexico game— I'm not sure if he's updated his pick at this point, but he did say if they survive the Mexico game, they're going to win the whole thing. So We'll hold him to that, at least here. All right. Good picks there, I guess. I'll take your word for it. The thing that has emerged for me really around the soccer conversation and what it's— I mean, we've talked about a lot here on the show that it's about the reason that you're a sports fan, spectator sport, is for the community it provides and the moments it provides with you and your friends and your family and going to the games and all of that sort of but it, it really, um, has sharpened my perspective on this, is that I don't think it's not just me. I think most people watching these games couldn't tell you if you watch 20 minutes of it, like, oh yeah, the, the, the team in the light blue with the white stripes, Argentina, well, that team's better than the other team they're playing.

I don't think your eye necessarily tells you that if there aren't goals going in either direction. I don't think we perceive believe that guy's good. It's what I always have said about— people love to swoon if you have an All-Pro center on your NFL team. You talk about like, he's the best center in the game. You wouldn't really be able to divine that by watching it with your own eyes. You just hear enough experts say it and it gives you this weird sense of pride, like, that guy's on our team, but you don't really understand it. And I think that it really has, in a weird way, that sort of— I know you could describe that as pretentious, as pretending to know something that you don't really know about. But I think what it really speaks to is that it doesn't matter if you're expert as a football fan or a soccer fan or anything else. What you are vibing to are the vibes. It was a good time while the US was around, and it continues to be. The stuff that was going on in those stadiums all over North America was special stuff, and everybody just wanted and continues to, to some degree, to want to be a part of that.

I just thought it was striking stuff because, you know, you can get pretty snobby, or at least I can get snobby, like, I don't think that guy really knows anything about football. And my big takeaway is, who cares if you do? Are you enjoying it? Are you a part of it? Are you rooting along with it? That's, that's what we all want. We want to be a part of a community like that. And I think the, the sport of soccer, which I really do not understand fundamentally, the strategies and otherwise, Otherwise, I still found myself, you know, emotionally tied into it and rooting in certain directions and all of that. And so, so anyway, football season's almost here. So jump on, just make sure you're committed on a bandwagon and get ready for the ride here. In the meantime, you mentioned going to baseball games to try and fill the bill until football kicks off. I went on Wednesday night with the aforementioned family. We went out on the banks of the Three Rivers to PNC Park, one of the most glorious environments, not just in baseball, but in sports. And, and Buddy, you went to the friendly confines.

Cathedral last weekend.

Yes.

I don't know if I'd call it the cathedral.

It's a cathedral of baseball. Yes.

But you did. You did take away. I'm glad to hear you're not— you've— you're not such a glass half full soul. You also took some time to discover some hay batter batter. Hey batter, batters! Take it away.

I got some good hey batter, batters for you, Dave. All right, so Wrigley Field, obviously the bleachers are a sacred place, and the bleachers are not a place where the wave is allowed at all. So I was in the bleachers and there was a guy that tried to start the wave and he was vehemently denied, and there was even somebody yelling from back, hey buddy, no wave in the bleachers. It's your first time at Wrigley Field. And I love that guy. That guy was awesome. So all right, here's a—

here's my wave.

I'm, I'm very anti-wave, Dave. I used to get so mad at UF. People used to start the wave while the Gators were on offense, and I'd be screaming, looking around and screaming at people, we're on offense, what are you doing? We're not supposed to be making noise.

It's crazy.

So here's my first. Hey, Batter, Batter, guy who starts the wave or baseball glove adult?

Oh, oh, good one. Good one. Another one that we could throw in there because on Wednesday night with the family, Jean-Claude Van Damme-esque, 17 years old, saw a bunch of shirtless kids up in one corner of the state, the tarps off thing, this phenomenon that has swept through all of Major League Baseball, young guys go up. So, I mean, I guess you could make a case if, uh, you know, women could get— you know, young ladies could get in on it too, but I don't want to be a creep. So, so rescind that remark. Let's pretend like the last 11 seconds didn't just happen. Um, that's what she said. But also, um, he, he, he was, uh, attracted to it. It was like a magnet. And, uh, he texted me and he's like, uh, hey, look up. And, uh, and sure enough, he, he had left us and was up there with, uh, with a bunch of rando guys who he did not know, shirtless, waving around, cheering for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Um, I'm gonna say, so we could add that one too, I'm with you on the wave, and here's why. I feel bad if— because I think the guy who starts the wave— I'm trying to keep my voice down because I don't want it to feel like I'm taking a shot at him.

I don't want to make him feel sad about himself. But I feel like The guy who starts the wave, it's the greatest achievement of his life. Like, I think he brags about it for the next, like, 6 weeks.

Yes, dude.

I was at the game the other— I, dude, I was there on Sunday and the Steelers is down and I was like, let's, let's all start that. I started the whole wave. Like, you know, it starts slow. I did like 3, 4 tries, but then finally, like, the 5th one, all of a sudden it went the whole way around, went the whole way around the stadium.

Steelers come back in that game, that guy's taking it.

That guy's taking it forever.

Yeah.

My wave got it going. Exactly.

Yeah, I don't like that. Also, I was reminded around the July 4th holiday once out in the Wrigley bleachers when you texted that you were out there.

Yes.

My friends and I used to go there throughout my 20s. Saturdays were a standard appointment for us in Wrigley. And on July 4th, I think it was 1994 to be specific, the Colorado Rockies were on the north side and my friends were, were in our usual spot in the right field bleachers. And we were in a patriotic mood and Dante Bichette was in right field and we sang, "You're a Yankee Doodle Dandy" to him and everything with the help of the beers that were running through us. And he, during, this is a Major League Baseball game that counts. He was making, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars, millions or whatever. And during the game, in between pitches, he was conducting our singing behind his back. He's a live pitcher, man. And then my friend Vandy had these purple plastic sunglasses and he threw them down on the field to Dante Bichette. He said, here you go, man, let's trade sunglasses. And Dante had his flip shades and he pretended like he was gonna throw 'em up to the stands, but he didn't. But he did pick up these purple shades and he put them on.

Again, this is a live game going. This is a regular field day. He put the purple shades on. Yeah, he puts the shades on and he starts walking around like he's blind and/or drunk, like out there. And he's doing that out there and everybody's like, ah, Ah, that's so funny. And I was like, it is very funny. But also, I mean, you're getting paid, man. I don't think— when you get back into the dugout, the skip might have a word or two for you. So anyway.

But let me tell you, Dave, that is so the Wrigley Field bleachers, because even to this day, like, surely it's certainly not as rowdy as it used to be, you know, in the '90s. Although I will say Saturday night was July 4th. It was Saturday night. So that got really rowdy because people had been in Wrigleyville drinking all day. There was a rain delay. There was a fog delay.

Play.

It was crazy, a lot going on in the bleachers. But it's still that way, like people still interact. Pete Crow-Armstrong, you know, instead of when you like signal like two outs or whatever, he doesn't signal it to his teammates, he signals it to the crowd. Like there's just something about the Wrigley Field bleachers. Obviously there's something about Wrigley Field. And Dave, I want to get your opinion on this as a frequent visitor of Wrigley Field back in the day. Wrigley Field, one of the only places still using the trough. The trough is still in use at Wrigley Field. How do you feel about the guy— like, if you're going to Wrigley Field, you have to use the trough, right? Unless it's full, unless it's filled up. That's the only time that you then pivot to a urinal. Otherwise, you're using the trough, right?

Well, I mean, I think I covered this already 5 minutes ago with my comments on the sense of community that sports provide. So too does a trough urinal. I mean, you're, you know, physically be touching people, you know. So it's everything is possible.

What are you doing at the trough?

I can, I can get it. I can squeeze in between the two of you, like, you know, shoulder to shoulder. There's room for everybody. The urinals only have enough room for one person at a time. I'm with you on the trough. Just be careful, though, because you don't want to take a wrong step. If you do that, the day is ruined. You can't have a urine-soaked sock and enjoy the rest of the day. So that notwithstanding, I think that's the way to go. Gino, how safe is it?

You? Uh, see, my, my last experience with the trough would probably have been the old Orange Bowl.

What's your standard? Like, I'm a— I'm a find a spot on the wall and just stare daggers into it.

I'm just making sure that I'm not peeing on myself, and I'm just—

yeah, and then when I'm done, no looking right, no looking left, no looking up, just stare straight ahead.

Trough etiquette.

By the way, back to the trough thing real fast. I do think that, uh, the, the danger is, you know how you can hear the crowd react, and sometimes you hear the play-by-play guy while you're, while you're making your water, and he'll go like, a home run! And then if the people around you get excited and jump around, you can also get a, get a rain delay on YouTube, or not delay. No, no, that's when you want a rain delay. You don't want that either. So, so be mindful of the issues. Real quick, Buddy, before you continue with your, uh, Hey Batter batters, um, July 4th again, And the people, you know, people go red, white, and blue and they paint their face. And you see at the World Cup, the grown-up men who show up and they have their faces painted like the American flag and all of that. Batter batter, the guy who overdoes it on the holidays, you know, could be St. Patrick's Day too, green face paint and all that. Or the guy who's too cool to acknowledge it's a holiday and people go, where's your green? The worst guy is the one who, when you get into the elevator and he gets in the elevator and there are 4 people wearing blue in the elevator, he's like, I guess I didn't get the memo about wearing blue today.

But that guy's the worst. But he's not a factor in this one. The guy who's too cool to acknowledge it's a holiday. Batter, batter, Gino.

Go ahead.

Batter is the guy who doesn't acknowledge the holiday. I mean, that guy's a part of it. Camper. He just is.

Well, the guy, the guy who overdoes it is also a pain in the ass.

Yeah, yeah, Dave. I had— so at least he's festive. In our section at Wrigley on— this wasn't even July 4th, this was July 5th, so I went to all 3 games last weekend. On July 5th, there was a guy who was dressed like Uncle, Uncle Sam, and this guy had like— he had like teenage children. Like, I'm pretty sure his like daughter was like a, um, like in college maybe, or like a senior in high school. His son was probably like 13 or 14 years old. Like, he's a grown-ass man, and here he is in an Uncle Sam costume. And he, he said— I just like thought about— I'm just like, so they were getting ready this morning for the Cubs game, like their family in the suburbs, you know, probably like in Evanston or something. They're up there, and, and, and Dad comes downstairs and he's got the Uncle Sam outfit on. Like, what do the kids think.

This is the protector of our home and life. Yeah, right, right.

Somebody tries to fight for— like, goes after me in the bleachers today, like, right?

Like, here's the thing, you guys are acting as if he does— he's doing this for the first time in his life.

That's a good point.

If—

that's a good point.

Kids are definitely used to it because I'm sure that's not the first time.

That's a great point. You could tell that the kids were like, this is my dad, like, this is what my dad does, you know what I mean? Like, he's the guy that gets dressed up. And, and I'm not going to say whether whether he was or was not the guy that also tried to start the wave in our section. I'll leave that guy— that up for your guys' interpretation.

You're telling me Uncle Sam was trying to start the—

I'm not gonna confirm or deny.

The overlap on the Venn diagram is strong. You're exactly right.

Diagramming right now. All right, I have one more batter batter.

I also like— but I do, I like the guy who's willing to put on the Santa suit for the whole neighborhood.

Yeah, no, that's a good guy. That's a good guy.

That's a good— but also Yeah, it must be exhausting for your father to be that guy. You know, like, it's one thing for, like, one of the kids, like, oh, they're the performer in the family. But if it's the father of the family— and I know that might sound ironic coming from me, but life is not a bit, everybody. You know, you can't do it 24/7. Anyway, go ahead there, buddy.

All right. So one more batter, batter. The guy who hates mascots or the guy who wants everybody to know that he knew knew that fly ball wasn't gonna be a home run. So let me explain this to you, okay? You're at a baseball game, deep fly ball, right? Everybody kind of stands up, gets excited. There's the guy that's just sitting there, out.

Never. No, I didn't.

I knew that wasn't out. I knew that wasn't out. Warning, warning, TrackPower. Like, who?

That guy.

It's not, it's not that— it's not so much that he didn't get excited and stand up. Like, that's fine. Like, you don't need to— I, I really don't like to stand up on every fly ball all, because it is like, that's an annoying guy as well, right? But the guy who needs you to know that he knew it wasn't getting out—

personally, the guy who hates mascots has— is, is despicable. Like, how can you have a mascot?

Yeah, I, I hated— I was afraid of mascots when I was a kid, Dave. I, I—

well, that's a different matter. Yeah, Pittsburgh, at a certain age, you know, the Pirate Parrot was dealing coke, so like, that would be a reason to be like, I don't know if trust what's underneath there. Literally, that was the case when I was growing up. So that sort of skepticism would be fine, I guess. But yeah, the guy who announces continually that he's a curmudgeon with things like that, like, in my day, you didn't know, you know, when I go to a game, I'm there to see who wins and who loses. And I don't need all that other crap going on. Like, yeah, please. I hate enjoyment. I hate pleasure.

I hate fun. Right, exactly.

Cheer the people. Like, what do we need cheerleaders for? Actually, the Steelers don't have cheerleaders famously, so maybe I shouldn't disparage that particularly. But yes, yeah, I think the mascot hater guy is the worst. Yeah, yeah, he's badder.

That was a better batter.

That, that does it for this, uh, special edition of Hey Batter Batter. I enjoy the game. All right, good times, fellas. And you know what, after this past hour, we're an hour closer to NFL kickoff, regular season. Can't wait for that. Don't miss next Tuesday. As usual, we've been trying to give some fantasy tips. It is time to be considering your fantasy lineup and the calculations, what will make you a winner come fantasy football season. Gino Fuentes, the Fantasy Fountain, has been giving us tips throughout, so make sure you're checking that on the YouTube page. And in general, make sure you're subscribed and commenting on the YouTube page and/or wherever you find your podcast in the comment section there. We appreciate you doing that, and we'll be back next week, like I just said, but, uh, at this regularly appointed time to deep dive on pro football as we get closer and closer to training camp and then kickoff. Until then, thanks so much, my fellow football Americans. It's been a thin slice of heaven.