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Episode 2
58 Plays3 years ago
First episode with new title! Logo cred goes to Colton! Week 3 of College Football, a look at High School football, Week 2 of the NFL, Braves talk and Presidents Cup as well! Thanks for listening!
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Rebranding
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome in to episode two of the newly renamed Ross Sports Report. So after I recorded the first episode and titled it Robbo's World, I was quickly, I'm not gonna say attacked, because attack's not the right word, by my family, my wife, Kelly,
00:00:28
Speaker
Thought that Robbo's world sounded like a YouTube channel where I was going to be opening toys, uh, like kids do on YouTube. So change the name. My daughter, Jenna, my son Ray and stepson Colton all, we kind of came up and tried to figure out a new title and we settled on the raw sports report.
Social Media Launch
00:00:53
Speaker
We created a Twitter handle, at Ross, sbrtsreport at twitter.com. And Colton, as talented as he is with computers and Apple products, but all computers really, but mainly Apple products is his thing. If there's something you want to know about an Apple product, or if you're about to buy an Apple product,
00:01:18
Speaker
iPhone, iPad, MacBook, AirPods, Apple Pencil, you name it, Colton is the one to come to. So if you're looking to buy a new Apple product, get in touch with me, I'll get you in touch with Colton and he will break it down for you to make sure you're getting the best deal on the best piece of Apple machinery you need. So credit the new logo of the Ross Sports Report to Colton.
00:01:46
Speaker
who created it from scratch. And he's very talented in doing that on the computer and everywhere else.
Upcoming Sports Events Overview
00:01:54
Speaker
So big week of sports since we've last been here. High school football was exciting on Friday. I'm going to talk about that. I was at the Richmond Hill game and saw a finish on which any I've ever seen over the span of my career behind a microphone.
00:02:16
Speaker
Um, college football Saturday was crazy and wild on a couple of games, not that many great games involved, um, but still held some, some excitement and some intrigue. Of course, any day watching college football is a great day. Uh, and I got to watch a good majority of it with Georgia Southern on the road in Birmingham.
00:02:40
Speaker
Looking forward to being back in Paulson this coming Saturday against Ball State. We'll talk about that. NFL Sunday and Monday was fun. Things starting to shake out a little bit. Some teams really starting to rise to the top, even though it's just two weeks in.
00:02:57
Speaker
Uh, there are some really, really good teams and of course, uh, some, some teams that are struggling. We'll talk about that. The Braves had a good week looking at that as well as we are 100% immersed in the stretch run. And, uh, it is going to be a battle to, I think the final, uh, final weekend, final two series of the year.
00:03:18
Speaker
Uh, trying to figure out who's going to win the division and the president's cup is this week up at Quail Hollow and Charlotte. Uh, the first international versus the United States competition on a golf course since live tour has come into, uh, being has been created.
High School Football Highlights
00:03:39
Speaker
So lots to get to first off want to start with, with Richmond Hill, um, Friday night, um, at, uh, against Richmond Hill, uh, or against New Hampstead, I should say. And I'm looking something up real quick. The, the number of games that I've done previous, uh, before I saw a finish like this.
00:04:00
Speaker
It's a lot. It's in the 400 range since I started doing high school football with Gainesville High back in 1995 and 96 and, uh, Furman and Madison County, Washington, Wilkes on down the line. Now Georgia Southern and Richmond Hill, uh, going to throw a Frederica game in there this week as well. But, um, I think for close to 450 games that I've done, um,
00:04:25
Speaker
in PA or radio one way or the other. And I've never seen a finish like I saw Friday night, Richmond Hill down 20 to 10. Got the ball back with just under two minutes to go. Scores a touchdown with 18 seconds to go. Took them a while to score that touchdown. They had to use all their timeouts. They got bogged down at the five yard line. Finally got it in third and goal with 18 seconds left. Cut it 20 to 17.
00:04:52
Speaker
And, uh, and then had to get the onside kick, kicked a perfectly executed onside kick, recovered it, but New Hampshire said it called timeout prior to the kick redo.
00:05:03
Speaker
Kick it again, get the on-site kick. Two plays later with three seconds to go. Blake Williams kicks a 45-yard field goal to tie it, to go to overtime at 27. And then New Hampstead scores first to go up 27 to 20. Richmond Hill then scores on their first play of overtime, 27-26. And without hesitation, head coach Matt Lazott
00:05:33
Speaker
just puts those two fingers in the air and goes for two and wins at 28, 27. So they scored 10 points in 18 seconds to win the game at overtime. And you can hear more and in-depth version of that on my podcast with coach Matt Lazott, the Richmond Hill Wildcat podcast we do every week over at 912sports.net.
00:05:54
Speaker
Also, if you're interested, Brantley County, they were off. I do their podcast as well with Coach Jeff Cannon. You can listen to that one at 912sports.net. They got a tough one this weekend as they open region schedule against Pierce County and also the Frederica Academy Night podcast on 912sports.net with Coach Brandon Derrick. You can give a listen to that as well. Frederica hosting Clinch County this past week or this coming week, and I'll be there
00:06:22
Speaker
to do PA for that one, looking forward to being under the Oaks, as they say in St. Simon's Island. Some other noticeable scores in high school football, Brunswick took care of islands. Brunswick now undefeated on the year and they are getting set for the big one around these parts.
00:06:42
Speaker
Each year, the city championship at Glen County Stadium against Glen Academy. There will be a full house at Glen County Stadium capacity crowd as Coach Rocky at Algo and his Glen Academy Terrors try to win back the city championship belt. They have a belt, a championship belt that they pass back and forth. I think Brunswick's won it two years in a row. So that will be interesting to keep an eye on.
00:07:08
Speaker
other places. The Red Elephants of Gainesville, my alma mater, now at number five in the state in 6A this week. Good things going on, Coach. Niblet up there really has things going. They're messing with some uniforms a little bit. Black uniforms two weeks ago. I'm not a fan.
00:07:25
Speaker
I'll go on record and say that I'm not a fan of black uniforms. The best looking uniform in my opinion ever in all of high school or college football are the red elephants, all white road uniforms with a white helmet. This past week on the road, they beat Apalachee 55 to 6.
00:07:44
Speaker
They debuted red helmets, which I'm not so upset about. Those were pretty cool. If you want to look and take a look, go to Gainesville football on Twitter. They had a picture of the red helmet, which I wasn't mad about. Although I'm more of a purist when it comes to my red elephant football in the uniforms, that white helmet with that G and the red and black stripes looks pretty good. But if you're going to alter it a little bit, I'm okay with that. I'm okay with the red helmet.
00:08:10
Speaker
Some other scores around the state that caught my eye, Elbert County and Washington Wilkes. Of course, I was at Washington Wilkes for four years doing radio for the Tigers and always a big rival. One county to the north is Elbert County. Washington Wilkes had them at home and fell to Elbert County in a close one. I think it was like 20, 32 to 20. Elbert County, I've done one game there.
00:08:40
Speaker
Back when we did Washington Wilkes, I can't remember what year that was, maybe 2011, 2012, did one game up there in the Granite Bowl. And if you have never been to Elbert County to watch a high school football game in the Granite Bowl, you need to find the time to do that. It is one of the most unique settings for any athletic event anywhere in the country, especially in the state of Georgia.
00:09:10
Speaker
The bottom level bowl all the way around is, or at least the visitor's side and the, and the, and the home side made completely out of granite because as everyone knows, Elbert County is the granite capital of the world. And so the granite bowl is very unique. They have an old scoreboard from Sanford Stadium that used to be red. Now it's blue with blue devils on there.
00:09:34
Speaker
I think from the 80s, they moved it from Athens to Elberton in one of the end zones of the Granite Bowl there at Elbert County. So pretty unique place there. I really enjoyed my time at Washington Wilkes in Northeast Georgia.
00:09:53
Speaker
uh, traveling around there with, with the current and, uh, voice of the Tigers at the time. Also Tom Duggan, who does a fantastic job. You can listen to him on Friday nights, wlobradio.com. Uh, just a, just a great, uh, broadcast that he puts on.
00:10:10
Speaker
And it was a lot of fun being up in Washington Wilt. So some good football coming up this week. We'll talk about that. We talked about the city championship, Frederica hosting Clinch, Richmond Hill on the road at Coffey, Brantley and Pierce County starting their region schedules as the region is starting to pick up. I mean, all of a sudden teams have played five games. We're into week six of high school football and it's not even fall yet officially. I think fall starts later on this week.
00:10:38
Speaker
the official fall, but we are already into week six, which is absolutely crazy that we are halfway through the regular season of high school football.
College Football Focus
00:10:50
Speaker
So Saturday we had a college football, spectacular as every Saturday in the fall is. Georgia took care.
00:11:00
Speaker
of business against South Carolina in a big way over in Columbia. Stetson Bennett was sick, had his flu game a la Michael Jordan in game six of the NBA finals in 98 against the Jazz. Didn't miss a beat. Wasn't feeling great, didn't need to feel great to beat the Gamecocks. Gamecocks were looking to be improved, I think in year two of Beamer.
00:11:26
Speaker
But they're not, they got a long way to go, at least to catch the Georgia Bulldogs, which a lot of people do. A lot of people have a long way to go to catch the Georgia Bulldogs. But you had high hopes with Spencer Rattler if you were a Gamecock fan coming in from Oklahoma, but they just have so many problems there defensively, I think more than anything else. And up on the offensive line, they can't really run the football.
00:11:51
Speaker
and can't protect Spencer Rattler, but South Carolina may be in for a long season. A lot of people on Twitter, I saw comparing Beamer to Brad Scott, which if you're a longtime Gamecock fan, you know that's not a very good comparison. Brad Scott and then moved on hardly enough to be on the staff at Clemson with his son, Jeff Scott, who's now at South Florida, who gave Florida
00:12:16
Speaker
one heck of a battle. So if you want to keep an eye on a Florida team that's not a power five in the next couple of years, keep your eye on South Florida. Jeff Scott does a fantastic job and will do a great job. Billy Napier post game had nothing but great things to say about Jeff Scott. They coached together too at Clemson, so they have a relationship. From the Paladins,
00:12:39
Speaker
My time at Furman, I still keep up with the Paladins and they took on East Tennessee State. And I mentioned in the podcast last week that Clay Hendricks and George Quarles facing off in their first matchup against each other since George moved on from the offensive coordinator spot at Furman to the head coach at East Tennessee State.
00:13:01
Speaker
Uh, the Paladins got a win there on the road in Johnson city, which is something that back when I was, uh, with the Paladins didn't come around very often. I think in my tenure, um, wins when East Tennessee state was in the league, I think that there was only one time I left Johnson city with a win, uh, in that mini dome that they had up there, which was, uh, an interesting place to play, to say the least, uh, an interesting place to broadcast the game. They did not have an elevator.
00:13:29
Speaker
And it was a long walk up the stairs carrying radio equipment, but, um, anyway, um, congratulations to coach Hendricks. I know that, that he and, and George, um, it was tough. I mean, it's tough when you're coaching against, uh, great friends and, uh, good for the paladins. Paladins looking pretty good. Of course, they're only lost to Clemson so far. East Tennessee State has dropped two, but, uh, George crawls will get that moving in the right direction.
00:13:55
Speaker
I joked and talked to Bobby Lamb earlier this week. He had a bucket of golf balls that he sent a picture to George and Clay and said the winner gets that and I joked and sent a picture of a Sea Island head cover and said the winner of that gets the Sea Island head cover because George and Clay come down and play golf.
00:14:15
Speaker
once a year with me and we always have a great time with that. So I said I got a head cover for the winner. Bobby Lamb has a bucket of beat up golf balls for the winner as Bobby was in one of those matchups with clay for a couple of years too. So interesting.
00:14:31
Speaker
the ties that bind all these coaches and it even goes as far as to Virginia with Tony Elliott, Taylor Lamb, Des Kitchings, part of the Virginia coaching staff that all fall under the Bobby Lamb coaching tree. Of course, Taylor was Bobby's son or is Bobby's son. Tony Elliott and Des Kitchings coached under Bobby when he was at Furman. Des played under Bobby Johnson and Bobby Lamb as well.
00:15:00
Speaker
at Furman very well back in the day. But the coaching tree of the Lamb family extends well across the Southeast and all across the country. Game day at Appalachian State. I have cousins that were there to cut my cousin Melissa. Her husband met at Appalachian. Their four children now have either gone to or are going to Appalachian.
00:15:28
Speaker
And all my feelings aside about the Mountaineers now that I'm an Eagle and a former Paladin. One thing in common between the Georgia Southern Eagles and the Furman Paladins is they do not like Appalachian State. And I have never been really fond of Appalachian State for various reasons. One being I've never went to, never left Boone with a win when I was a radio guy for Furman. Never left Boone with a win.
00:15:57
Speaker
and they were always weird and wacky finishes. And this past week, another weird and wacky finish in front of the national crowd as the game day had a huge crowd. And then they won the game in interesting fashion, to say the least, with a Hail Mary. They were calling it Miracle on the Mountain 2. And I had the displeasure of being on hand for Miracle on the Mountain 1.
00:16:26
Speaker
20 years ago in 2002. And if you haven't seen highlights or know anything about Miracle on the Mountain 1, go to YouTube. It's there. Don't worry. And also Appalachian State's Twitter, Appalachian State Football Twitter, put up a montage of Miracle on the Mountain 1 and Miracle on the Mountain 2. Basically Miracle on the Mountain 1, Furman was trailing the entire game, goes down, scores a touchdown, goes up 18-17, I think.
00:16:56
Speaker
And this was Bobby Dime's first year, decided to go for two. Billy Napier was the quarterback, decided to go for two. The play got misconstrued and was called in incorrectly from the sidelines. Billy ran it through an interception to Josh Jeffries, a defensive lineman on the goal line. And Josh Jeffries then pitched it back to Derek Black, who took it all the way back for a two point conversion.
00:17:25
Speaker
and Furman then trailed by one. And I'm standing in the press box. I was at the time of that in O2, I was a spotter, a host of pregame, halftime, postgame shows. So I was just standing there and I said, okay, okay, we get the ball. We still have time, 10, 15 seconds left. But then halfway down the field is Derek Black's running back to return the two-point conversion. I'm like, no, no, no.
00:17:51
Speaker
Furman has to kick back off. So there's no chance. I mean, there's no chance. That was Miracle on the Mountain 1. Everybody saw Miracle on the Mountain 2 this past weekend.
Appalachian State Memories
00:18:00
Speaker
Every time I went to boom, crazy things happened.
00:18:04
Speaker
In 2000, driving for a go-ahead score or to increase the lead through an interception in the end zone. When Justin Hill was trying to throw it out of the back of the end zone, app goes down, scores, wins the game. 04, back and forth it went, Furman had to lead and then another late interception return for a touchdown.
00:18:30
Speaker
Uh, to lose an 0 4 0 5. Um, it was in the semi-finals of the playoffs. Furman leading by, I want to say three going in for score to go up nine with our two minutes to go in the third quarter, been dominating the game all day. Uh, app started quarterback, Richie Williams was on the sideline.
00:18:50
Speaker
Being injured and they had Trey Elder the backup in and hadn't really been doing anything. It was cold. It was December. There was snow Engel Martin fakes the bootleg could have crawled literally crawled into the end zone from the three yard line slips on the ice Then fourth and goal everybody knew is going to go to Jerome Felton who was a big run a fullback Got stopped app goes down scores wins goes on to win three straight national championships 0 5 0 6 0 7
00:19:17
Speaker
And then I think my last time there in 12.
00:19:23
Speaker
something quirky happened, but lost there too. So, just a great place to watch a football game. Don't get me wrong. The fans, their energy is off the charts, but a place that I don't really hold fondly in my mind, just based on the fact that I've never won there. And also leaving a couple of times, the fans decided to verbally attack and whatnot, the radio crew also,
00:19:51
Speaker
the one time I went to Marshall in 96. But we'll talk about that closer to Georgia Southern Marshall game. But, um, speaking of Georgia Southern
00:20:00
Speaker
Georgia Southern went on the road to UAB and did not get the W. Came up short against the Blazers, really couldn't get things going. But it's so hard to come off a big win and then go on the road and continue that. UAB is pretty good defensively. Kyle Vantreese just a little bit off on Saturday, still had a chance to steal it at the end. But the Eagles back at home at Paulson Stadium.
00:20:27
Speaker
this weekend against Ball State kick off at six. So if you want to hear me do some work.
00:20:36
Speaker
at Paulson Stadium, going out to Statesboro and buy a ticket and you can hear the voice of Paulson Stadium do his thing. That's me. Uh, we'll do it, um, against ball state and then another couple of weeks and off and then October 15th back with James Madison, another couple of weeks and then off until, uh, the first week in November. So November is very home game heavy for the Eagles, three home games in November, just two in September, one in October.
00:21:03
Speaker
So some time in between home games at Paulson Stadium, but the Eagles in the right direction under Clay Helton doing some great things and really, really got the thing moving in the right direction after the last couple of years with Chad Lunsford and I think Coach Helton probably going to light a fire under those Eagles and really put it to Ball State this Saturday. Another a couple of games in the
00:21:32
Speaker
in the Sunbelt that are interesting coming up this weekend. Thursday night, we have Georgia State and Georgia and Coastal Carolina opening the conference season in Atlanta.
00:21:49
Speaker
which will be interesting. Georgia state has, is probably the, the best own three team in the country. Um, almost having the opportunity to beat South Carolina and week one, uh, hanging right there with North Carolina and week two, and then getting upset late by a Charlotte team. It was a 20 point underdog going into Atlanta, uh, coastal Carolina. Oh, and three under Georgia state. Oh, and three coastal Carolina is three and Oh,
00:22:14
Speaker
And they've had a, they had a close call with Gardner Webb two weeks ago and beat Buffalo last week. So it'll be interesting to see how that shapes up. Also one that is interesting in Boone on Saturday.
00:22:30
Speaker
at 330, James Madison, new to FBS, new to the Sunbelt, going on the road to take on Appalachian State in a big game in the Sunbelt East. So two big match ups in the Sunbelt East this weekend, Thursday in Atlanta and Saturday in Boone, before Georgia State opens Sunbelt to play against South Alabama in two weeks, which will be interesting as well.
00:22:56
Speaker
Some some other games, of course back now, it looks like Florida and Tennessee are back on the radar as meaning something as the Gators will head up to Rocky Top and take on the Tennessee Volunteers. Let's see. What time is that game? As I'm scrolling, you know, you think I'd be a little more prepared, but
00:23:22
Speaker
The 330 CBS game, 11th ranked Tennessee hosting 20th ranked Florida. Do either of these teams have what it takes to overcome Georgia? I don't know. I mean, or is it just who's playing between Florida, Tennessee, and Kentucky? Who's playing for second place in the SEC East?
00:23:44
Speaker
That is what we are determining, I think, but you never know. Tennessee can score a lot of points. They're a 10.5-point favorite against the Gators who have struggled to score points since that first week upset against Utah. So that will be interesting to see. 330 in Rocky Top, North Carolina, and Notre Dame.
00:24:05
Speaker
North Carolina's three and 0 a one and a half point favorite against Notre Dame at one and two Notre Dame still trying to find themselves after that 0 and two start after they were ranked in the top 10 to start the year early game 12 o'clock noon Wake Forest and Clemson in Winston Salem does Wake Forest have what it takes to upset Clemson or is it a second place in the Atlantic Division type situation as well between Wake and NC State to see if they can overcome the Tigers
00:24:35
Speaker
Wake Forest, of course, won the division last year in Clemson's down year. Wake had to survive, and I mean survive in overtime to defeat Liberty. Liberty went for two in overtime, didn't get it or else Wake would be.
00:24:53
Speaker
Uh, with, uh, one loss, but wake did drop from 19th to 21st, um, with that close win over, over Liberty, who is coached by Hugh Freese. Uh, Liberty is a fine program. They're joining, I think the conference USA, maybe next week, um, or next year, one of those, uh, not the Sunbelt, I know, but, um, uh, also on the docket Saturday, Georgia tech.
00:25:21
Speaker
on the road at central Florida. Will this be a Jeff Collins swan song? We kind of wondering, wondering about it after they got just absolutely manhandled by Ole Miss in Atlanta over the weekend. Uh, but they go to central Florida in a game that I would have to think that Jeff Collins has to win, has to win their 20 and a half point underdog. So they're not favored to win by any stretch, but I do think that they're going to have to find a way to, to win that game.
00:25:51
Speaker
in order for Jeff Collins to maintain his position. Arkansas and Texas A&M, another situation where are they just playing for second place in the SEC West? Arkansas had to survive and battle back in the second half to beat Missouri State, coached by Bobby Petrino on Saturday. Arkansas, the 10th-rate team in the country, Texas A&M, at 2-1 already with that loss to Appalachian State, they have no wiggle room.
00:26:19
Speaker
in terms of making an at-large bid to the playoffs, they would have to win the conference in order to do that. But Texas A&M did look a little bit better this past week.
00:26:32
Speaker
Still, this will be a tough test for the Razorbacks to go into Kyle Field. Does Texas A&M play the road games? I don't know. They've been at home now three weeks in a row, but I will say Miami didn't look great, but Texas A&M didn't look great either. Miami's play calling was kind of suspect there in the red zone. Miami dominated that game between the 20s, but getting in the red zone, they were
00:26:54
Speaker
pretty much awful in the red zone and texting him one that when Marshall and Troy another Sunbelt game on the NFL network. Oddly enough, seven o'clock Saturday night. Bama has Vanderbilt. No problem there for the tide. Ohio State and Wisconsin going to be a blackout in Columbus. I saw an ad for that over the weekend coming up. I think I saw it during my night football blackout in Columbus as Ohio State hosts Wisconsin.
00:27:25
Speaker
Other games of interest, not really anything. USC seemed to have it rolling under Lincoln Riley. There go to Oregon State, who is 3-0. USC, a six and a half point favorite there. So that is the college football slate for this weekend. NFL this week, week two was just as exciting as week one, if not more so. Started off on Thursday night with the Chiefs and the Chargers.
00:27:52
Speaker
Chiefs did what they needed to do to win that game. The Falcons are the Falcons, as we said last week, are the Falcons, are the Falcons. The Rams had them blown out, the Falcons battled back, but then couldn't get the job done at the end. The Jets, Joe Flacco came out of nowhere in the fourth quarter to beat the Browns in surprising fashion.
00:28:16
Speaker
The Bucks took care of the Saints. Jamis Winston threw, I think, three interceptions and three straight possessions during that game before they kind of mounted a little bit of a comeback. But when the game was still, you know, undecided, Jamis Winston threw three picks and three straight possessions, which is not good if you're a Saints fan. Tom Brady did just enough to get done what he needed to to take a 2-0 record now into week three. The Giants, they're 2-0.
00:28:46
Speaker
I saw a stat where it's been 3,790 something days since the giants, the Jags and the jets all won on the same day, 3,794 days. And then also going back to college football, I saw another stat that I think for the first time ever, ever in the history of college football, first time ever, North Carolina, Wake Forest,
00:29:16
Speaker
NC State and Duke are all 3-0 for the first time in the history of college football.
Unexpected College Team Successes
00:29:22
Speaker
All 4-0, or 3-0, all four of them. Interesting enough. Kansas up there, too, and Syracuse and, well, it was another basketball school that you consider to be a basketball school that was there as well. The Jags, I said, gotta win. They beat the Colts 24-0. The Matt Ryan experiment.
00:29:44
Speaker
For the Matt Ryan era in Indianapolis, not going as planned so far. The Dolphins, what a game by Tua. Tua had a fantastic game through for almost 500 yards, a number of touchdowns, and they came back from
00:30:01
Speaker
The dead almost to beat the Ravens 42 to 38 in Baltimore. Great game there. 49ers took care of the Seahawks. Cowboys shockingly took care of the Bengals. I don't know what the deal is with the Bengals. Of course, everyone knows they played in the Superbowl last year and just did not look good at all against the Cowboys and their backup quarterback. So the Cowboys moved to one and one at 20 and 17 win over the Bengals, the Broncos.
00:30:28
Speaker
Not as exciting as you would like if you were a Bronco fan with Russell Wilson as your new quarterback. Didn't look as great as you would hoped in the first two weeks. They got a win over the Texans. 16 to 9, very underwhelming fashion. The Cardinals in the game of the day came back from 20 to nothing to beat the Raiders on the road in overtime. Kyler Murray.
00:30:53
Speaker
with the play of the year so far, scrambled around for about 45 yards, finally made it into the end zone. And they win that one in overtime, 29-23. The Packers demolished the Bears. Bears are terrible. Bears are terrible. Packers, I don't think are very good, but the Bears are worse. Absolutely awful. The Bears are going to struggle. And then last night, we're recording this on Tuesday, last night two, which I still have not found any really explanation,
00:31:21
Speaker
to why there have been two NFL, why there were two Monday Night Football games last night at the same time, practically, on the same family and networks. ESPN game started at seven and ABC's game started at 8.30.
00:31:37
Speaker
Uh, so I really didn't get an explanation, but the bills look like the Superbowl favorite that they are. Josh Allen, Stefan Diggs, my goodness. They are a good football team. The bills are right now. I'm gonna go say it. I'm gonna say it. The bills are my pick right now in week two to win the Superbowl. Haven't quite figured out, although I'm pretty close on who's going to be the NFC representative, but I think the bills.
NFL Predictions: Super Bowl Contenders
00:32:02
Speaker
are my pick to win the Super Bowl. And my NFC representative played last night, too. And they looked that gum good, too. Jalen Hurts, my quarterback in fantasy. AJ Brown is my wide receiver. And Godare is my tight end. So I was pulling for the Eagles. They dominated the Vikings, who I thought the Vikings, after their performance against the Packers last week, I thought the Vikings would give the Eagles fits. They did not. 24-7, the final score there. Jalen Hurts.
00:32:30
Speaker
ran for three touchdowns in the style of offense that we have not really seen in the NFL running the quarterback option, quarterback read, however you want to call it, but he pulls it a lot more than any other NFL quarterback ever has. And he rushed for three touchdowns and the Eagles are my pick in the NFC to win the division, the conference, the league.
00:32:59
Speaker
Go to the Super Bowl, whatever it means. So Eagles, Bills, Super Bowl. You heard it here first. I'll let you know who's going to win that Super Bowl as we get, as we get closer. The Bravo's, as we mentioned, Braves and Mets. I tell you, it's going to go down to the wire. Uh, the Braves host the Mets the first weekend of October or last, last day of September.
00:33:29
Speaker
and the first weekend of October. So the Braves host the Mets September 30th, October 1st, which I will be at that game with the kids in September 2nd before the Braves go on the road to finish the third, fourth, and fifth October in Miami. Braves are right now in the midst of a series, two more games with the Nationals. Braves sweat the Phillies over the weekend.
00:33:54
Speaker
Nationals are just counting their days till they can go on vacation. Hopefully the Braves can finish that up. Then four in Philly this weekend, which will be interesting because Philly is battling for a wildcard spot and still very much in it. So that's a four big games in Philadelphia this weekend for the Braves before they go to Washington next Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.
00:34:20
Speaker
And then come home for the Phillies or for the Mets in what may very well may determine the division. The Braves right now find themselves one game back of the Mets. The Mets are in Milwaukee tonight and tomorrow and then Thursday. Let's see the Mets take a day off. Before this weekend, they seems like they gotta go on the road. I mean, they've been on at home forever. Yeah, the Mets go to Oakland.
00:34:50
Speaker
for the weekend and then on a week from this time next week, the Mets will be in Florida against the Marlins. So the schedule makers not doing the Braves any favors. Except they are with the Brewers right now, which is tough, but they got the A's and the Marlins before the Braves and Mets get together. In Atlanta in a couple of weeks and let's see who the who the Mets finish up with.
00:35:20
Speaker
that last bit in October would be the Nationals. So the schedule maker's not doing the Braves any favors. The A's, the Marlins, and the Nationals are who the Mets finish up with along with the Braves, where the Braves have the Phillies twice right now and then again, and then the Nationals twice. But it'll be interesting to see, of course, the big news
00:35:42
Speaker
The big news is that Ozzie Albee's second game back on Saturday, sliding into second base, breaks or fractures his finger.
00:35:53
Speaker
And so he's out for the remainder of the regular season. Um, just, and not just the fact that Ozzy, what Ozzy does on the field and at the plate, it's just what Ozzy brings to the clubhouse and the dugout that I think you miss more than anything else because, um, you saw Ronald Acuna playing looser.
00:36:13
Speaker
Playing better when Ozzy was in there Friday and Saturday, and you just miss having Ozzy around, I think more than anything. But he may be able to make a comeback at the playoffs. Yet to be determined, the good news is the Braves are in a much better spot now when Ozzy got hurt than previously. Arcea did a fine job before he got hurt, though, at second base. But Grissom, you can pop him right in there.
00:36:42
Speaker
Not really lose too much offensively anyway. Defensively, you still miss a little bit in Ozzy, but it's really what Ozzy brings to the dugout in the clubhouse, I think is what you miss more than anything else. But Grissom's doing a fine job there as a rookie. Michael Harris continues his great play. Spencer Strider struck out 200 over the weekend, reached 200 strikeouts over the weekend.
00:37:05
Speaker
Um, doing a great job as a rookie, Robbie Grossman, I think is this year's jock Peterson, maybe even a little bit better offensively. Um, but a very good surprise there, Matt Olson.
00:37:20
Speaker
A lot of naysayers on Twitter here lately where Matt Olson is in a slump, but hopefully he finds a way to snap back out of it and think about it. You know, Matt Olson hasn't played that many meaningful games in September and October in his career. So he has to be able to condition himself to stay at that high level.
00:37:41
Speaker
September on in October, whereas he hasn't had to do that before as a member of the Oakland A's that many times. I think maybe one time they made the playoffs. So he's got to find a way to get it back in that four spot to continue on Austin Riley still having an MVP type season.
00:38:02
Speaker
But it's going to come out of the wire. This time last year, you know, the Braves clinched or at least 2019, the Braves clinched this time three years ago. 2020 was a whole different ball game. But last year, Braves haven't won as many games but had a bigger lead going down the stretch. But
Atlanta Braves Playoff Race
00:38:20
Speaker
it's going to be exciting. Every game is going to matter from here on out. Tonight against Philly in Washington or tonight against Washington and then the four games, Thursday through Sunday in Philadelphia.
00:38:31
Speaker
are gonna be pretty big. Lastly, on the itinerary for today is President's Cup. And this is going to be the first United States versus the world event since the creation of the live tour.
00:38:59
Speaker
Uh, some notable names that are missing from the, um, us team is, uh, D Shambo, Patrick Reed, Dustin Johnson, maybe Phil Muckelson could have made that team as a captain's pick. Um, but those are the, those are the notables that are missing from the, from the team, um, internationally, um,
00:39:29
Speaker
There's some more that are missing. Cameron Smith would no doubt be on that team. Some others that may have been there as well because of the live tour. But Cameron Smith is the notable one off the international team. Of course, it wouldn't affect the Ryder Cup because he is not from Europe or from the United Kingdom, I guess. That's who they pull that from.
00:39:58
Speaker
The international team at Ecumatsuyama, Sungjae M, Tom Kim, Corey Connors, Mido Piera, Adam Scott, Taylor Pindrith, Sebastian Munoz, Seawoo Kim, Cam Davis, Christian Bedanzut, and K.H. Lee. None of that, nobody there scares you. If you're an American, Adam Scott, maybe, but he's on the tail end of his career.
00:40:24
Speaker
That doesn't scare you. This, this American team looks pretty good. Even without the people that I mentioned a moment ago, Patrick Cantlay, Sam Burns, Justin Thomas, Scotty Scheffler, the number one player of the world, Sandra Shoffley, Tony Finau, Cameron Young, Billy Horschel, Colin Morikawa, Kevin Kisner, Jordan Spieth, Max Homa. This could be an absolute boat race this weekend at Quill Hollow.
00:40:49
Speaker
If the United States does not win and close it out by Saturday morning or Saturday afternoon at the very earliest, there's something wrong. Davis Love the third, the captain, Zach Johnson, assistant captain, co-captain, however you want to say it, up there as well. Zach, of course, is the captain of the 2023 Ryder Cup team that will play in
00:41:21
Speaker
Rome, Italy next September. You ask, where's Roy? Well, you know, he's a Ryder Cup guy. These are, these are non, how do you put it? Non United Kingdom players that make up the president's cup team for the national squad. So you don't have Rory. You don't have beef. Oh, what's his name? The big guy beef. I've lost it. I've lost it. Shane Lowry. That's it.
00:41:48
Speaker
You don't have some of the upper tier players from Ireland or England or Scotland. So you're asking where's Rory, Rory doesn't qualify for this. So the United States team, and this is a team that you'll probably, it'll be pretty close to a carbon copy of the team they take to Rome next year, unless something crazy happens with the lib and it disbands and they welcome them back.
00:42:12
Speaker
which I don't really see that happening. I don't really foresee that being a thing where all of a sudden the lib disbands and the PGA tour says, okay, yeah, come on back. This is probably a carbon copy of the team you're going to see in Rome in 2023 to win the Ryder cup. Hopefully, hopefully. So president's cup should be a walk in the park, which will be good for everybody that loves golf in the United States, except for NBC, because nobody's going to watch it.
00:42:41
Speaker
Nobody's going to watch it. Um, because it's just going to be so one sided or it should be, should be one sided this weekend at Quill Hollow. We'll
Conclusion and Future Teasers
00:42:53
Speaker
see though. You never know, but that'll do it for episode two of the Ross sports report. Thanks for coming by. I appreciate it. Thanks for the listen. Give me a like on Apple podcasts. Uh, give me a retweet on Twitter. Let's build this thing.
00:43:11
Speaker
And again, we're going to add guests along the way. I'm still taking nominations or request to be the first guest. I got a couple. I got a couple standing by.
00:43:24
Speaker
But we got to figure out who's going to be that first guest. Uh, but it's going to be a lot of fun. And if anything else, it gives me a opportunity to sit and talk sports to you, whoever might be listening. And, uh, please give me feedback on Twitter or wherever you may be listening to this podcast. We'll be back again next week for another installment of the Ross sports report. Thanks for listening.