Should they STAY or should they GO

TD:
Oh, yeah, welcome to the sports porch black and gold. That's right We are here live with you all over the world as we are every monday night at 7 30 p.m. Eastern time on facebook youtube x instagram And of course i'm dropping the comment right now. We are live on our internet radio station radio pgh That comment in your stream right there is our stream to listen to us live on radio pgh And i'm going to drop the podcast right after the show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, Spotify.

SPEAKER_04: Or anywhere you get your frigging podcast. You got a frog in your throat there?

TD: I got a funny story to tell you in a second here. And we would love for you to jump on over to YouTube if you're not watching on YouTube already or you haven't followed us on YouTube. Smash that subscribe button at the Sports Porch podcast. We are so close to 100 followers, 100 subscribers. We're trying to get to a thousand as quickly as possible.

TD: Chris promised to do a show with the shirt off if we get to 100.

Grand Schwalbini: Yes, I will do it. I will do a show.

Grand Schwalbini: Oh, you're gonna see some chest hair. We're gonna be up to like a thousand subscribers in 10 minutes It can't be more hair than it's already on your face.

TD: You can always you can always follow this on x at no I don't want to look at it at the sports porch one And on Instagram, of course. It looks bad even from this angle. I'm never going to get through. I am never going to get through this intro. So what are we going to do? Well, first of all, in the studio with me across here is the Grand Schwabini. To my right this week in the studio, he has changed chairs because he likes it over there, is Hockey Jesus. I am your technical director. Let's get right down to it. What are we going to talk about tonight? Well, we're going to talk about something very important.

: Should I stay or should I go?

TD: Who should stay and who should go? We've got a list of the Steelers free agents. We're going to speculate on that. Where some NFL news we're going to get to. We are going to talk a little Buccos baseball because we just have to. H.J. is. We have to. Yes, yes. Hasn't decided whether or not he is mourning the penguin season or rooting them on to have the worst season ever so they can get those draft picks.

Grand Schwalbini: Does this look like a phase that's in mourning?

TD: Uh, no, no, uh, uh, no.

Grand Schwalbini: You have your answer. I have that one on here too. We're going to get, except for the people on the podcast. Sorry, people on the podcast.

TD: We of course have a, uh, Trader Joe's snack time coming. And then a little bit of what we're watching. And I'm going to have to pull that in here because hockey Jesus was running a little late with that. My bad. Uh, but I do have it right here right now. You got skills TD. I will pull it in there.

Grand Schwalbini: So just do it during my segment where I do all the talking.

TD: So here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna, I am going to add to the stage and I want to apologize to you if you're watching on Instagram, you drop a comment, I will try to get you into the show. I can't always see the comments on Instagram, but just share it out there, let everybody know what you're watching and enjoy. I am going to pull up here a roster of the Steelers impending free agents and we are going to talk about them and every single one of them is going to have this option. So let's start with TJ Watt. Is he under contract for one more year? You don't want to start with TJ Watt?

Grand Schwalbini: You've got the wrong list.

TD: Oh, okay.

Grand Schwalbini: Oh, I need to do… You need to go to the free agency and then click on the Stillers.

TD: Oh, free agency and click on the Steelers. Oh, what is my problem?

Grand Schwalbini: There you go.

TD: Now all you got to do is pick the Steelers. Where? Where am I picking? Oh, free agent. Well, you got it like zoomed in like a billion. I know. I can't remember how.

Grand Schwalbini: Try and click on teams. I did. OK. OK.

TD: Here we go. There you go. OK. So I have to go to teams. Yeah. Oh, free agency. Yep. Free agency. Free agency tracker. No. Free agency. release track, learning grades, spending.

Grand Schwalbini: Just click on free agency.

TD: Free agency. Okay. I did that. See? It's like we need a producer.

Grand Schwalbini: It's not doing anything. Oh my God. There you go. Now click on the Steelers.

TD: Yeah. Click on the Steelers. What is that? There to the right.

HJ: Keep one over. One more. There you go. Click on the Steelers. If you would like to be a producer for our show, please apply. Then I have to go to, uh,

TD: Contracts table, free agency.

Grand Schwalbini: No, I don't even know where you are.

TD: Well, you're the one that told me to go.

Grand Schwalbini: You didn't go to free agency.

HJ: You've got the list. I got it. Let's let Steve read it. Yeah.

Grand Schwalbini: First person on the list is Preston Smith.

TD: Okay.

Grand Schwalbini: He's an edge rusher. Current APY is $12,500,000. Should I stay or should I go? Okay. Go. What do you think Schwaber? Edge rusher? They got him in a pinch.

HJ: They got him in a pinch. He may have been useful if they had played better at the end of the year, but kind of turned out that they didn't really need what he provided.

Grand Schwalbini: Well, he did when, when, you know, when TJ was hurt and Highsmith got hurt, he kind of played okay.

HJ: I mean, he's kind of like, I think at this point in his career, he's an average player. I would say 33, 33 years of age.

Grand Schwalbini: He's old. 12.5 is too much.

HJ: I think he goes.

Grand Schwalbini: I agree. I think Preston Smith did okay for us. It was a good nab at the time, but we can do better with that 12 and a half million. Put that towards a wide receiver, maybe towards the quarterback contract. Yeah. He's got to go.

TD: I'm a hundred percent with you on that. Nothing else, nothing else to say. They brought him in to shore up the defense and add some depth to the line. He contributed very little. They had a shitty season at the end of the year. No need to keep him on the roster.

HJ: Is your head still spinning from your technical director work? Yes.

TD: You guys get to sit here and do nothing, okay?

Grand Schwalbini: That's okay. This is like the talent shows up. We did put this on you at the last minute moment. Next person on the list. But we're going down the list in terms of the highest contracts and eventually we'll just stop talking about it because people worth $1 million aren't worth talking about. Okay, next. Mike Williams, wide receiver, makes $10 million, 31 years of age, played in 43% of the snaps.

TD: All right, they need wide receivers, yeah badly go Yeah, we want to hear what you say.

HJ: We want to know what you have to think so you put stay or go What I'm gonna say, you know Look, it's a little confusing because um, it is confused the guy obviously has some talent but He wasn't used very much and the reports that we got from the people supposedly inside the Steelers is that he just wasn't getting open. I don't know that to be true or not. Right. But I'm just going to say with the production that he put up, I would say go. Yeah.

Grand Schwalbini: How much do they save under the cap? $10 million. That's how much they'll get back into their cap. Go. Yeah, I think for, it's a really difficult, actually, this is more difficult than it seems because they need wide receivers. I'm going to use the premise they're going to go get another wide receiver to replace him, and they'll replace him with that Wilson guy that they got last year. But they're still going to need a deep threat guy. I mean, Hardman's out there. I mean, there are a lot of wide receivers out there, and we'll talk about guys out there in the free agency. But yeah, it's got to go. I agree. I think we both agree there. Next up on the list, right guard, James Daniels. He got injured, so he didn't play much this year. $8.3 million under the cap, only 28, and only played an 18% on the snaps this year because he got hurt.

: Should I stay or should I go?

HJ: Schwaber, Grant Schwabini, Daniels. I say go. I thought Mason McCormick played well. We don't need him. Let's take the eight million.

TD: I think this line has issues and unless they plan on drafting another offensive lineman, which They don't have a whole lot of draft picks this year. Yeah, I doubt they're going to draft somebody.

HJ: Would you say coming back from injury is an issue?

TD: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, this is a tough one. This is not an easy one. I think he stays. Just for depth. Yeah, that's where I go. Stay.

Grand Schwalbini: Yeah, I don't. Clearly, they haven't signed him, so they're not making him priority. But I guess we'll see who wants it. Guys, offensive linemen are like gold. More tackles and centers than guards. Right. But. I think they should keep him. I think that's a guy they should keep, honestly. I think they have offensive line problems. They're probably going to get rid of the other guy on the left end, Dan Moore Jr. they're not going to re-sign him. That's what it comes down to. Do you re-sign Dan Moore Jr. for the $8 million and give it to him? Or do you just keep Daniels at the $8 to $10 million range? I'd keep him. All right, next up on the list, Daunte Jackson, cornerback. He played 71% of the snaps, 30 years old, makes $6 million.

: Should I stay or should I go?

TD: I don't know if I'm going to get this guy's name spelled right. Dante, D-O-N-T-E. Oh, well. That's close. That's how I'm spelling it. Deontay. Deontay, okay. Should he stay or should he go? What was the cap number?

Grand Schwalbini: Six million, 30 years old, played in 71% of the defensive snaps.

HJ: I would keep them. I don't think they will, though. I don't think they will. I wouldn't be surprised if they draft a corner pretty high, and I think that they do like What's what's the guys played a little bit towards the end of the year? I'm just drawing a blank.

Grand Schwalbini: Yeah, the other guy, you know, I'm talking about.

HJ: They like him. I'm going to say that they don't keep him, but I think they should. Corey Trice. Yes, Corey Trice. Yeah, but I think that they won't keep him, but I think they should. I mean, didn't he have six interceptions last year or something close to that? You're talking about Deshaun Elliott.

Grand Schwalbini: Yeah, you're thinking Deshaun Elliott. He's the other guy.

HJ: Marvin Hamilton's in the house. Good evening. He did have interceptions last year, look it up.

Grand Schwalbini: He did, he had some, no doubt about that.

HJ: Yeah, I mean look, as the season went along, he didn't play as well towards the end of the year, but so did a lot of the team. I would keep him.

TD: I think you have… He can never have too many corners. Yeah, I would say you keep him, just because he played 71% of the snaps. He's familiar with the defense. Uh, you've got some bigger holes to fill along the defensive line, I think. Uh, and also at linebacker. Um, Marvin said he had four picks. There you go. That's pretty solid. Marvin says four picks. Yeah. Uh, four picks. So I say, uh, yeah, I say you keep him.

Grand Schwalbini: Yeah, I mean, for $6 million, if you could sign him for that again, I think he's a keeper. Just because I'm looking at the others on this list, you guys don't have the ability to do this, but they also have, and we won't talk about all these guys, but Cam Sutton's also a UFA, and so is James Pierre. So I think they'll probably get rid of those guys, and that's a total of a couple million, and you keep on to Jackson. I do agree with you, though. I think they're going to be looking at cornerback in the first and second round.

TD: I'd like to see second round, not first or even third.

Grand Schwalbini: I mean, who knows what the sealers are going to do? Yeah, but I have a feeling that first and second round picks are going to be a cornerback and a wide receiver, depending on what talent's there.

TD: OK, who's next on the list?

Grand Schwalbini: Next on the list, so I'm saying keep Donta Jackson.

TD: OK, so I think that's three of all three of us say keep. OK, no, Mark said he's going to go.

HJ: Well, no, I said he would. I would keep him, but I think the Steelers will let him go. That's right.

Grand Schwalbini: Next up on the list, quarterback Justin Fields. He made only four point seven million last year, played 36 percent of the snaps, is 26 years old.

: Should I stay or should I go?

TD: All right, Grant Schwabini, Justin Fields.

Grand Schwalbini: By the way, I agree with Marvin. Cam was trashy. Yeah, he was. Yeah, I don't think he's going to be back, Marvin.

TD: Yeah, that was ridiculous what they did with him.

HJ: Anyway, go ahead, Grant Schwabini. Well, you know, when I'm watching a lot of the NFL programs, a lot of them have Justin Fields go into the Raiders. Because apparently, you know, like you got Chip Kelly with a mobile quarterback type of thing. I don't know. I don't know. I mean, if I'm the Steelers, I keep him. I think I make him my quarterback next year. I maybe try to get like a Jackson Dart, like in the late second round. You've been listening to Joe Starkey. No, no, I watched. I watched the comment. He can really throw it. Yeah, he can really throw it. Yeah. I mean, I think they should take a flyer on like a quarterback, like within the first three or four rounds. Um, and maybe that's kind of like your backup plan. I would keep fields. I think Tomlin does like the idea of the quarterback that can run. Yeah. He says that all the time. He absolutely said he's got to have a mobile quarterback. So I'm going to, I'm going to think that they're going to keep him. They just have to basically tell him you're our guy and, and Russell won't be back. And I think if they do that, they can get them at a reasonable price.

TD: I see the thing about this is that he's not. He this is get it out. This is such a mess that it is a mess. It's such a mess.

Grand Schwalbini: They haven't signed him yet.

TD: They didn't make any effort to do it. He's not signed. Well, that's that's the behind the scenes stuff that we don't really know. I mean, to think that and we hear a lot about this, but. As a tangent, come on, we've seen enough football.

Grand Schwalbini: We know what they're doing behind the scenes.

TD: Well, right. To think that either Wilson or Fields, the Steelers aren't having a conversation with them all the time is they are is ridiculous. Of course they are. But they're also having conversations with other teams. So this whole Raiders thing to me, if I'm Justin Fields, I want to go to the Raiders. Because first of all, they're going to spend. Well, hear me out on this. They're going to spend money. Nobody ever says they want to go. But that's not true. A lot of people do. It's the mystique. It's kind of like a Steelers mystique. Not as much. Don't get offended, Steelers fans. I'm with you.

Grand Schwalbini: Ask Devante Adams how well that works.

TD: I know, but just hear me out here. If I'm Justin Fields, I'm going to, if I go to the Raiders, I'm going to an organization that Tom Brady is involved in, Pete Carroll is the coach, like you said, Chip Kelly, it's a mobile quarterback thing, it's time to start over, and he will be the number one quarterback there, hands down. and they will pay him. It's Las Vegas. Okay. So, and as a younger player, sorry, am I going to, do I want to hang out in Pittsburgh or do I want to hang out in Vegas? Look, I'm 54. I would rather hang out in Pittsburgh. Vegas is nuts to me. But if I'm a 26 year old Justin Fields, I'm hanging out in Vegas. That's where, that's where I'm planting my flag. And I, so The question is, should the Steelers keep him or let him go? I think the Steelers should keep him, but I don't think he's going to stay. I don't he doesn't care if the if he leaves the Steelers, if they're left in a lurch, he's going to go where the opportunity is best for him, not just as a football player, but but as a as as a person. And I think that's probably where he's going to end

Grand Schwalbini: I think the only negative that the Steelers have for them is going with Russell Wilson at the end or the rest of the year after Justin played. Yeah, he's probably I mean, I would be like this in the back of my mind. I Russell Wilson's one of these two are not going to be around. Okay. Let's assume Russell Wilson goes. then Justin Fields can feel secure that he's going to be the guy. The question is, does he want to sign with the Steelers now for $25 million, or does he want to see what he can get on the open market? I think that's probably why he hasn't signed yet, because his number's too big for the Steelers. And, um, he can probably get it on the open market. So, um, that will be a problem for the Steelers because if he gets to the open market, he's gone because I'm pretty sure there's going to be another team like the Raiders, like the giants, maybe the jets going to have the cap space to be able to give him 35 or 40 million for three years. And they will. And that's not something the Steelers will do, although they need to start putting money into this quarterback position soon or they're not going to have one.

TD: That's true. Now, Mark's wife, Amy May, agrees with me. So. I don't know what that, uh, well, she, she means she likes that.

Grand Schwalbini: That means set aside the good, the Justin food at Trader Joe's.

TD: No, the Raiders thing. Uh, Marvin says, he said he didn't want to learn another playbook.

Grand Schwalbini: I know that, but yeah, that may be true, Marvin. I don't think that when, when you're making 40 million versus 25 million. Yeah. I think you'll learn another. I think he'll be happy trying to learn another playbook. I don't know.

TD: OC on Instagram says, don't you guys think it's starting to feel like it's getting too late to decide on a quarterback?

Grand Schwalbini: Yes, OC. Yeah. We've been talking about this for weeks. I've gone on rants about it, how I think it's ridiculous that the Steelers don't pay attention to the quarterback position. Don't care, don't put any money into it, and seemingly think it's just a spot they could put anybody in.

HJ: Well, and think about it like this, right? They didn't they probably didn't even have a chance at Debo Samuel because they couldn't tell Debo Samuel who the quarterback was.

Grand Schwalbini: Right. I mean, why would you come to a team that doesn't have a quarterback?

HJ: Right. Yeah.

Grand Schwalbini: Yeah. Agreed. And not that I think Debo Samuel would have been the end all be all. But it's only one year contract. Right. Seventeen million. Right.

TD: OK. So we are we are better than Mike Williams. Yes. We all think they should try to keep Justin Fields.

Grand Schwalbini: Um, but we're, I will know what is it? March 12th when, when free agency hits. It's a 50 50 I think. Yeah.

HJ: We really don't know.

Grand Schwalbini: Yeah. We don't. Yeah. Okay. Next guy on the list. You ready to move on? Yep. Next guy on the list is Nate her big right guard for the Steelers. He didn't play at all last year because he got injured in the preseason $4 million under the calf, 27, uh, 27 years old.

: I stay or should I go?

TD: All right, Nate, her big, should he stay? Should he go? Um, how much, how much is the cast? 4 million, 4 million.

Grand Schwalbini: We're getting down there. So we're, we're running out of players soon.

HJ: I mean, I guess for an offensive lineman, that's a backup 4 million. It's not bad. I guess the problem is not good. Yeah. That's the problem is that He's not good, but we also didn't see him last year, so we couldn't even see if he improved. That's true. That's a good point. They probably have a better sense if they like him or not. Therefore, I don't know what the decision will be, but I'm going to say if he's on the team for $4 million, It's probably going to stay on the team for four million.

Grand Schwalbini: Yeah, he'd be good backup, Chris.

TD: Yeah, I go back to my previous comment about the offensive line and depth and how are you going to handle this? So I say he stays.

Grand Schwalbini: Yeah, I, I think, well, I already said keep Daniel. So if we keep Daniels, he's got to go, but between the two of them, they got to keep one of those guys to keep some, um, to keep some depth on that offensive line. Um, next on the list linebacker Landon Roberts played in only 43.8% of the snaps 31 years old, 3.5 million.

: Should I stay or should I go?

TD: Schwaber, the Grand Schwabini, Landon Roberts. He's getting up there in age.

Grand Schwalbini: Yeah. Yeah.

HJ: I mean, they got him from the Commandments, right?

TD: I guess somewhere else.

HJ: I'll keep him. I mean, I think it's it's not a lot of money. And he made some plays last year and he only played about half the snap. So I'll keep him.

TD: Yeah, I think he was kind of like The, the plays that he did make were some big plays. It's like, I'm not doing cartwheels, but I'll keep them. Yeah. Yeah. I think he's kind of like a core guy, uh, presence in the locker room that, um, they have issues there. Now, a lot of people have talked about the fact that Patrick Queen didn't show up this year. You got to remember, you know, if you're not an absolute superstar, Uh, and, and, and queen is good in any can be great. But if you're not an absolute superstar, you walk into a new locker room, a new team, new egos, new playbook, new defensive coordinator, new coach. It could take you a year to catch up to whatever's going on plus whatever you have around you. So I'd like to see him stay because I think Patrick queen. could have a better year next year than he has this year. Not saying he's going to be a pro bowler, but I just think that you always, when you're talking about positions like this, sometimes you got to give these guys a year to settle into the system.

Grand Schwalbini: Well, they got Peyton Wilson coming up too. He played some last year as a rookie. I think if you get rid of him, that means he's going to be your full-time linebacker and you just got to go get somebody else for a million or two to back him up. I wouldn't keep him. I'd let him go. I'd let him go.

TD: Marvin says keep. He's a big hitter.

Grand Schwalbini: He is a big hitter. You're right about that. No doubt. Next on the list, Chris's favorite player on the team, Najee Harris, running back. I think you remember him. He played in 50% of the snaps for the offense. He's 27 years old and made $3.2 million.

: Should I stay or should I go?

HJ: Grant Schwabini? I would let him go, but my inside sources say Tomlin wants to keep him. Wants to keep him, yeah. So I think if Tomlin wants to keep him, he's going to be back, but I would say go. Yep. You guys know how I feel.

TD: He's got to go. You disrespect him. He's not. No, I actually respect him. I think as a person, from what you know, you only see part of the picture.

HJ: What about him as a person do you like?

TD: Well, just the fact that, you're funny.

HJ: About this much.

TD: Let's just say that I don't know him as a person. From what I've seen, when they declined to pick up his option, he performed like a professional. He's never missed a game. These are all the things that everybody who appraise him say. It's true.

Grand Schwalbini: I mean, he does have good character.

TD: The Tomlin-ism, you know, that your best ability is your availability, which is going to go down as one of the all-time greats. Yeah, that's definitely sure. Because if that was the case, then I'm available to play Ryan Beck. Yes. Well, at least for the first play.

SPEAKER_05: Yeah, right.

TD: Well, half of it, because I'll be running the other way. But everybody knows where I'm going to fall on this. It's simple. He's got to go start over. I said this three years ago. He was not the answer. We know he's not the answer. Definitely not keeping him.

HJ: You do realize when you say the answer, it's as if you're saying like, he has to be the guy to lead you to the Superbowl.

TD: No, this is coming from an Eagles fan who, where I correctly predicted that Saquon would lead them to a Superbowl victory. What I'm saying is you're making it about you know what I'm saying. What I'm saying is he's not your answer at running back. There's a lot of other pieces, but we know he's not the answer at running back. He is never a threat to take it to the house. Never. Okay. Willie Parker was a threat to take it to the house. I would rather have Willie Parker. I think most of Steelers Nation would rather have a guy who could run like Willie Parker. And he didn't set any real records. Except for Super Bowl rushing. Thank you. 80 yard touchdown. Exactly. Which you will never see from Najee Harris in his entire career. He's got to go. The Steelers are far from getting into the Super Bowl, so I don't think that's a problem. I know. Marvin says keep him fixed the line. You know what, Marvin? Let me just let me just jump in here with Marvin real quick. Be nice to Marvin. No, no, no. Of course I'm going to be nice to Marvin. But Marvin, tell me. Actually, we don't have to have this discussion. I'm just going to ask you this question. When, yes, the offensive line has had problems, but when there is a hole and it is a clear-cut hole, have you ever seen Najee take a quick first step towards that hole and accelerate through it? I think you know the answer. He can't do it. And he has.

Grand Schwalbini: I've seen it. But the problem is when he gets three yards down, he's running as fast as he is with that first burst. He's got another gear. There is no another gear with him. That's right. It's what he is. He likes the contact. He would rather run into people than run into a hole like that.

TD: But Marvin, you're right. I mean, you fix the line, fix the line. So can I get on in on this thing?

Grand Schwalbini: Go for it. Here's why I think you should let him go. One, you didn't sign him to the fifth year, so you already told him he's a piece of shit.

TD: I don't know if you went that far, but you told him he's not worth it.

Grand Schwalbini: Basically, you said, we don't want you next year. Right.

TD: Disrespect.

Grand Schwalbini: So, I mean, if I'm nausea, I already got a chip on my shoulder about that. Right. The other thing, too, is if you look at the free agents, You got Aaron Jones, Raheem Mozart, Jeff Wilson, he's garbage. A.J. Dillon's over the hill. Chubb, but you could pick up Javante Williams. He only made 2.2 million last year. The problem with Javante Williams is he's not always available because he gets hurt, but he's got the speed. He would definitely fit that scat back much better than Najee. So I think for that reason, I think you let him go, but I think Mark's right. If the head coach likes him, if Tomlin likes him, he'll be back.

TD: That hurts. That really hurts. Yeah, he'll be back. Okay, who's next?

Grand Schwalbini: Who is next? We're getting pretty low on the list, but we can talk about Demonte Kazee, K-A-Z-E-E, safety. He only played in 26% of the snaps. He's 32. He made three million.

: Should I stay or should I go?

HJ: Casey. I say go. There's a million Casey's out there. Yeah.

Grand Schwalbini: Yeah.

TD: I agree with you. I'm a hundred percent with you on that, too.

Grand Schwalbini: All right. Other wide receivers that are on the list. Scotty Miller, Van Jefferson and Scott's favorite Bennett Skowronik.

HJ: Probably keep I Probably keep skironic Skironic 28 years old 1 million. Yeah, I definitely keep skironic, you know, and I might even keep Van Jefferson I mean now I know that's not gonna sit well with a lot of people I mean Van Jefferson played in almost 64% of the snaps 1.3 million I mean, look, you know, Van Jefferson did make some plays, and… He's not a bad fourth receiver. Yeah, like, that's exactly it. Like, if he's your fourth receiver, that's pretty good. Yeah. I just don't think he's a No. 2, which is what he had to play this year.

Grand Schwalbini: Yeah, he's definitely not. Right. He's barely a number three. Right. What do you think, Chris?

TD: I think there's so many problems with that receiver core, starting with George Pickens, which we can fight about in later.

Grand Schwalbini: Well, he's not a restrict. He's not.

TD: I know. I know. Maybe next year we'll talk next year. Next week we can talk about his option. But I, I, you know, Scronix a good special teams player. I mean, you have to consider some of these guys.

Grand Schwalbini: I'd keep him for special teams.

TD: I'd keep him for special teams.

Grand Schwalbini: You can pay him a million.

TD: Van Jefferson. I could live without he, he, there's a million Van Jeffersons out there. I'm sorry. Just like you said about, about Casey. I don't think there's a million Van Jeffersons. Well, maybe, maybe 600,000, you know,

HJ: No, I would say, you know, what's, what's four times, uh, 32.

null: 128.

HJ: There's at best 128 Van Jefferson's. Okay. Well, that's a lot.

TD: That's a lot to choose from.

Grand Schwalbini: That's quite, quite a variety you've got out there.

TD: Yeah. So I, I'm, I'm just, you know, I, I think other than Skaronik, um, you know, the, the only reason Scotty Miller is popular is because people in this town love the name Scotty. Scottie Miller's going to be Scottie Miller's going to score at touchdown.

Grand Schwalbini: Scottie Miller only played an 18% of the state. He was a non-factor. If he goes, he won't even miss.

TD: Look, I know they're going to keep at least one of these guys and I'm thinking it's going to be scurronic, but I think that I can live without all of them because other than Pickens having the real talent in that room, which is a shame because he's such a jerk off, uh, Jag off. Sorry. Uh, I, I think they can get rid of the whole room to be honest with you. I mean, I don't even remember maybe Mike Williams. I said, keep him. But I, I, I think I said, let him go to, they got to read that whole room, but first they got to get a quarterback. Okay. I digress.

Grand Schwalbini: They do.

TD: They got to get a quarterback to lead the wide receivers. All right. Tool or rebuild. Re both. Re all re up redo. Are we done with this or are we still going on?

Grand Schwalbini: There are a couple of guys that I think are worth talking about. Isaiah Loudermilk, he's on the defensive line. He makes less than a million. He's 28 years old. He's been garbage for the Steelers.

: Should I stay or should I go?

TD: The button's a little touchy. But just as you were saying, he's been garbage for the Steelers. I'm going to just jump in and say, let him go. They need to draft an entire defense line. That's what they need to do.

HJ: Go. This is the draft to do that. It's supposed to be a very deep defensive line draft.

TD: I think first pick, second pick should be D-line all the way. That's me. We already spend too much money on the defense.

HJ: We'll do the draft. Well, you're not a GM. No, you don't know. Yeah, but I was right about a lot of things.

Grand Schwalbini: What do you think? Loudermilk, keep him? No. Let him go. I agree. Let him go. The last one, he's a restricted free agent, but he's worth talking about because he'll be high on the list of things to talk about once the Steelers figure out their quarterback and their wide receivers is Jalen Warren. He's a restricted free agent. So definitely come back.

: Should I stay or should I go?

Grand Schwalbini: The question isn't, should he come back? Should they give him an extension? Should they give him a couple more years, sign him for maybe two or three million for the next two or three years and just say, we got our back up while running back.

TD: Absolutely. I think he brings energy. I think he brings more energy. He's got a better burst. The only the problem is he's a little undersized and he and he can fumble the ball.

HJ: So as can every NFL running.

TD: Well, but I mean, he seems to have he's a little loosey goosey with these little goosey little loosey goosey with the pigskin loosey goosey with the pigskin. Yes.

Grand Schwalbini: Yes. And that's pretty good. There are some there are some jabronis on here. Calvin Anderson's a guard. Max Sharping. I don't even didn't even know he was on the Steelers. We talked about Dan Moore Jr. You know, he's you're going to have to resign him for eight or nine million. He's making a million now. That's not worth it.

HJ: Although Tomlin likes him.

Grand Schwalbini: Jeremiah Moon, yeah, he liked him because he played almost all the snaps and he only made a million dollars. Of course he likes him. Right. Ryan McCollum, he's the center, he's garbage. And Zion Gilbert, didn't even know he was a cornerback for the Steelers until… Neither did I. All them will go.

TD: All right. Listen, you guys can catch the sports porch podcast right after the show. We drop it on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, Spotify or anywhere you get your frigging podcast. And of course, you can subscribe to us if you're not watching on YouTube after the show. Head on over to YouTube at the sports porch podcast. Become a follower and a subscriber. We're trying to build that to a thousand followers as quickly as we can. And you can also listen to us on Radio PGH at Radio PGH dot com. That's our Internet radio station. Uh, we drop shorts all week long. We drop shorts on X. We drop shorts on our videos on X. We drop shorts on Instagram. We drop, uh, reels on Instagram and we drop, uh, shorts on Tik TOK. So follow us on any of those places. We would love that. If you listen to the podcast, leave us a review, a comment. Anytime we love to get you guys involved in the show. This is what it's about. We are, you know, three lifelong fans. We don't pretend to be insiders, but we feel like we have a pretty good handle on a lot that goes on in the game. And the best part about this is when you participate with us and we get to have arguments with you, because then I'm not arguing with the Grand Schwabini or Hockey Jesus about how bad the special effects were. And we can concentrate on the real issues.

HJ: Amy, you might be excited about this. Amy says she loves the shorts.

TD: Of course she does. Of course, Amy loves everything I do, Mark. which is why she follows me down to Trader Joe's every week and seeks me out and says, hi, Chris. That's what she does. I'm at the register. Hi, Chris. It's very nice of her to do that. It probably brightens your day.

HJ: I love seeing her.

TD: You could probably give us some more free food. I love it. I love seeing her down there. I really do. I think it's great. I love seeing all my, I see the counselor down there all the time. He comes in and says, well, he doesn't have a job. Well, he does have a job.

Grand Schwalbini: He does have a job.

TD: It's yeah. He thinks he has a job. Well, you know, it's a consulting, consulting. I think you think you have a job too. I do. I actually do have a job. Right. Yeah. For the first time in a long time. Okay.

Grand Schwalbini: I've been fully employed my whole entire life. There you go.

TD: Congratulations. Congratulations. And we're proud of you. We're very, very proud. Thank you.

HJ: Have you been at the same place like the whole time?

Grand Schwalbini: No, no.

HJ: I've been in like three or four different places. Oh, you did? Yeah. But you've been at this one for like 20, haven't you?

Grand Schwalbini: Yeah, yeah. I've been at my current job for like on and off for about 25 years. Yeah.

HJ: Okay.

TD: All right. And that being said, it looks to me like It's time to pass that biscuit. It is that. It is. It is that. It is that. Do you like my.

: Taste the biscuit. Taste the goodness of the biscuit.

HJ: It's a prank.

TD: All right, that song means it's Trader Joe's Snack Time. Yes, indeed. Trader Joe's Snack Time, sponsored by my lovely wife, the Pittsburgh Property Diva. You can find her at pittsburghpropertydiva.com. And of course, Trader Joe's. And Trader Joe's is not an official sponsor. They don't pay us for this, but they did give me permission. What does that mean? Well, that means that every week I work at Trader Joe's down in East Liberty. Stop down any day, usually from 1 to 9 p.m. Say hello. And I bring a product home, we try it, we give you our honest opinion, we tell you if we like it, if we don't like it, and then we move on with the ridiculousness of this show.

Grand Schwalbini: Now, this week… Wait, if I come down to Trader Joe's, if I say…

TD: Where's the cranky old man with the bad beard? They'll find me. Yep. You'll be the only one? Yep. How do we know? No, I won't be the only cranky old man with a bad beard.

HJ: I don't know who you're talking about. Maybe you'll be locked up in the freezer in the back. I might be. Or I might be dead in the freezer in the back too.

TD: All you got to do, though, is look, I have a yellow highlighter colored beanie cap on. So just look for the human highlighter. That's what they call me. Okay. Human highlighter.

Grand Schwalbini: Okay. I like it.

TD: The human highlighter. Jeff Paulos is in the house from sunny Florida. What's up, Jeff? Jeff, send some of that sun up here to the Pittsburgh. Okay. So here is our Trader Joe's product of the week. This is one that it's new and a lot of people are buying it. I've heard good things about it. I have not had it. Um, but it's, uh, it's intriguing. It is a French onion Mac and cheese. So, okay.

Grand Schwalbini: Oh, okay. So it doesn't have chicken in it.

TD: I know we're not a whole bunch of mac and cheese fans here, but I know the butternut squash mac and cheese did not go over well.

HJ: I didn't like it either. I do like French onion soup very much. Yeah, I'm intrigued by it. But I'm not a big mac and cheese fan, so this one, kaboom.

TD: I'm ready to be blown away. All right, so she didn't give us extra plates.

HJ: That's okay, just pass it around.

TD: Did she bring spoons? Forks. Here you go. You want to try it first? Sure. And, uh, there's nothing for me to put it on. No, no, just, uh, you know, have a few, have a few bites. Of course. Here's the napkin you never use.

Grand Schwalbini: Yeah. I'll take one of those unused napkins. There's your fork.

TD: Yep. How is it? Oh, he's going in for a second. It must be pretty good. Must be. It must be okay. Sassy go lay down. Our mascot is down here as always. All right. There you go. All right. Got her.

Grand Schwalbini: Let's see what we got. Fork me. Oh, sorry. There you go.

SPEAKER_02: All right. I'm going to go for it. Let's see what we got.

TD: Yeah. Shaking your head. I have not had it. I have actually not had any of our mac and cheese except the hatch chili mac and cheese, which I think is really good. And then we tried that butternut squash, which I thought was horrible. All right.

Grand Schwalbini: Let's give it a whirl. Full disclosure. I do like mac and cheese. I'm a big fan of mac and cheese, all types. The creamy, the craft, the, you know, the kind with the small noodles that got the powdered sauce. I love it all.

HJ: I'm not a mac and cheese guy, but I thought for this, I thought it was pretty good.

Grand Schwalbini: It does. It definitely has a French onion taste to it. Yeah, it does. No doubt about that. It's not just like we're going to throw some French onion salt on it.

HJ: Yeah.

Grand Schwalbini: I mean, I would eat it.

HJ: I would eat it.

Grand Schwalbini: With the croutons on top. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's definitely got a different flavor to it.

HJ: It's definitely good. I'm just not, you know, I'm probably not buying it is what I'm saying, but if it's offered to me, if it's a side dish at your, somebody's house, would you take a big scoop or a small scoop?

Grand Schwalbini: Small scoop, small scoop. See, I'd go for the big scoop. I think this is a, this is pretty good. Yeah. I give it a, I gotta have like a 40 grams of fat in.

TD: Yeah. I have the box upstairs. I could look it up, but it definitely has to have I got to tell you, I get the, Amy May says you're spreading your germs to each other. Amy May, we lived together for quite a while in college.

Grand Schwalbini: That happened a long time ago.

TD: We're actually now related via DNA, I'm sure. That was probably too much information. No, it's probably true. I give it a thumbs up from the standpoint of as Mac and cheese goes frozen Mac and cheese. It's got a lot of cheese. It's got a lot of Mac. Yep. Better than some of the frozen Mac and cheeses I've seen. The croutons to add the French onion part. I'm not sure I'm a hundred percent on that. I like the croutons. Well, I like the croutons, but it's almost like they're croutons.

HJ: It's like they tried a little too hard instead of. It's not like a piece of bread. They didn't actually like, no, I'm okay. They didn't actually like make French onion soup and mix it together. They just said, ah, we throw some croutons in, they might buy it. Needs a little more French onion. Yeah. A little bit more French onion.

Grand Schwalbini: Good mac and cheese got a crispy top. Sometimes you put the panko on top, you know, sometimes it's just cheese. So I think, I think they tried in the right direction.

TD: Now, I will say that my wife made some of the best mac and cheese I've ever had. Two nights ago, I came home from work and she made homemade mac and cheese. Everything she makes is really good, but this blew my mind. I'm kind of comparing this to that since I get it.

Grand Schwalbini: I feel so terrible. I forgot to bring the cookies. Well, that's between you and her. I know. I'm in the doghouse now. I'm just glad that I passed along the message. You did. You gave me ample time to get them done, too. It wasn't like you called me on Sunday and say, hey, by the way, Lauren wants these cookies. It was like on Tuesday. You had special cookies. Well, you didn't come to our Super Bowl. That's right. That's true. But I made Mama Kelsey's cookies. Oh, did you? I did, yeah. Really? They were really good. Were they?

TD: Yeah. Lauren, Lauren blessed me with the opportunity to have one. You should see this. Was it chocolate chip?

Grand Schwalbini: Yeah, it's like a chocolate chip, but it It's like a little bit of cinnamon in it. Yeah, there's a little bit of cinnamon in it and they're, they're kind of thick and they're, you know, the way you make them, they're kind of creamy in the middle.

HJ: So yeah. Okay.

Grand Schwalbini: So it's not like a, like a hot chocolate in the middle. If you put them back in the oven, but these weren't like that, but they were soft, but crunchy on the outside. But yeah.

TD: They were, I was not allowed to have one until there was like two.

Grand Schwalbini: I think Lauren kept like, we probably bought, brought 40. She kept 30 of them.

TD: Yeah. I mean, it was like, yeah. And she ate, she ate them every night. And if I got, if I got close to them, I was, she was like, I'm down to six. I was taking my life into my own hands.

SPEAKER_05: Um, oh yeah. I got, I, I gotta make it up to the property dealer.

TD: All right, so how do you guys feel? Trader Joe's snack time. I give it a thumbs up. French onion, mac and cheese. Giving it a thumbs up. Schwaber? Mark's even on this one.

HJ: Thumbs up. I'd say even towards… Well, there you go.

TD: Trader Joe's snack time. Taste the biscuit. I only play this song so I can eat.

HJ: Taste the goodness of the biscuit. Well played. Okay. It's that honey sauce. Taste the goodness of the biscuit with that honey sauce. Don't get that honey, shuffle me. I don't like the way it tastes with my chicken wings.

Grand Schwalbini: Almost forgot the chicken wings.

TD: Yeah, maybe we'll have the chicken wings again. Okay, so as I finish this mouthful of French onion mac and cheese from Trader Joe's, I want to thank you. If you're watching this live on Facebook, YouTube, thank you. And link, I'm not LinkedIn. Damn it. Instagram. I just remind you that we're dropping the podcast right after the show and the I heart radio app, Apple podcast, Spotify, or anywhere you get your frigging podcasts. You can catch the sports sports podcasts on YouTube. at the sports porch podcast. Do me a favor. We got a lot of people right now watching on X hop on over to YouTube, subscribe to the channel, watch our shorts on YouTube, watch our shorts on Tik TOK, watch our short, our reels on Instagram. We drop a bunch of them every single week. Um, and thanks for being here guys. We really appreciate it. Drop comments, leave a review. We love it all. We're trying to grow the show. We got a big draft coming up here in Pittsburgh in a year. Yeah. and we want to be there. We're going to get a booth. We want to be there. That's what we want to do. Okay. So I have a question.

Grand Schwalbini: We should just go down there now and stake our place. Yeah.

TD: And just like stay, bring sleeping bags. Um, I have a question. They don't kick people out for sleeping down there. I can tell you that. Should the, uh, should the, should the pirates be renamed the Pittsburgh schemes? because that's pretty much all we have to look forward to. I mean. Well, they got Bubba Chandler fever now too. Well, look. Is he pitching well in the preseas?

SPEAKER_02: No.

TD: Oh.

SPEAKER_02: No, it's just because he's up.

TD: Oh. Here's the thing, guys. We know that there's a lot of Buccos fans out there. And truth be told. Sorry, Buccos fans. Truth be told, Steve and I are both Buccos fans. However, it is very hard to be a Buccos fan right now. No, it's impossible. And I, there you go. And I think it's not hard. It's impossible. That's right. That's what she said. So how are we going to do this this year? We want to provide, we want to provide something for everybody regarding the Buccos. We want to talk about them. We want to get you involved. We, we, we, we would love to be positive. And I was thinking about this this week, you know, cause I'm listening to, we would love to be positive. That's true. I'm listening to sports. Maybe we can about the team. I'm reading, I'm, I'm reading the, the, the, you know, the blog posts on, on, on the post Gazette and on the, and the athletic. And I'm thinking to myself, everything, everything, everybody is saying who, who has any sort of media presence is this constant, You know, rehash of ownership is terrible. GM makes it makes bad decisions there. It's a complete minor league team. We got nobody this and that, you know, the O'Neill Cruz fever is starting to wear off because we're maybe we're seen. Oh, yeah, it really is. It has. You know, we have no first baseman. We have no shortstop. Our second baseman is a minor leaguer still. Hank Davis is a bust. You know, it just goes on. Key, Brian Hayes should retire because his back is horrible, which is probably true. It's probably true. Four years in, you've got to retire.

Grand Schwalbini: Right. Right.

TD: Right. And but then in the same breath, in the same breath, they say, oh, we're going to have a really good pitching staff this year. Yeah.

Grand Schwalbini: Look, did you see what Jason Kendall said?

TD: Uh, I heard about what he said, but you're going to have to remind me.

Grand Schwalbini: He basically said there's no way this team can't, can't, they should absolutely be in a playoffs. I mean, what a load of shit he said they should actually, he must because either that or he's delusional. He's been on these retreats with Aaron Rogers, uh, you know, smoking the Hiawatha or whatever it is. But yeah, I heard that and I was like, I don't even, I don't even understand how you can get there. Like, should we be competing for a pennant? Like this team, the team that did nothing in the off season to better themselves, even though they probably have maybe a top five pitching staff, they could have a top five pitching staff.

TD: That's where I disagree.

Grand Schwalbini: No, I think they can. If everybody plays to the best of their ability, they're a top five pitching staff. They have that talent right now.

TD: I disagree. I think they have potentially the best pitcher in Major League Baseball, definitely the National League. I think Jared Jones, it remains to be seen. OK, he had a great first part in last year. Then he got injured. He wasn't that good. Mitch Keller did what Mitch Keller always does. He got off to a fast start, which he never did until three years ago. He got off to a fast start and then he fell apart the rest of the year. Bailey Falter is exactly what Schwaber said he was going to be last. Right. He also tends to get off to a good start. And then basically, I think these guys get tired, which I think is ridiculous considering the way pitchers used to pitch. But anyway, and this Haney guy, who the hell knows?

Grand Schwalbini: I think. But look, you just named five pitchers. You can't name five other players for the for the Pirates. I'm telling you, what I'm telling you is, is you know, these guys, so their names are major. They can play the, they're, they're, they're made to be pitchers, starting pitchers. And you know, our, our reliever didn't have a very good season last year. So you think he's going to rebound this year. So I think their pitching staff has an absolute chance But when you have a pitching staff like this and you make zero effort to go out and get better by hitting the ball or actually getting players who play the position to fill them, what the hell are you doing? As an organization, you just have to say like, they have no clue what they're doing. Absolutely no clue what they're doing. And that's, for me, that's where I say it's very easy to just forget about them because they forget about us, the fans.

TD: Yeah, it's, you know, I want to know what you guys out there think. How do you, how do you want us to cover the pirates? Do you want us to be critical and cynical? Or do you want us to try to find a silver lining? I mean, it's really hard. I mean, now sometimes silver linings create themselves. you know, who, what happens if Brian Reynolds gets off to a hot start, which he's, he's not known for doing, but what happens if O'Neal Cruz gets off to a hot start, you know, and, and, and he's got 10 home runs in the first three weeks, you know, those silver linings will highlight. But if, if I'm looking at this pirates team, what I'm saying, and I agree with you to a certain extent, Steve, they have five major leaguers on the roster that are starting pitchers, right? One of them happens to be a guy who I still reserve final judgment on because he only pitched most of the year last year, but he's definitely, I mean, if he, if he pitches to his potential, top three pitchers in the league, no question about it, if not the best. After that, though, everything else really is a question mark. I don't care.

Grand Schwalbini: You know, well, I look at the Pittsburgh Pirates and I say, if you cut these guys, would somebody pick them up?

TD: OK, and the answer is yes.

Grand Schwalbini: All those pitchers. Absolutely. We get picked up right away. They would never they would never go down to any minor league team. The rest of the team. Eh, probably all don't get picked up, or if they do, they're going on the farm team somewhere because they're just garbage as far as the rest of the team is concerned. So that's what I say when I say they're major leaguers and they can do something. The rest of the team, I mean, maybe somebody would give O'Neal Cruz a chance just because he's got the pedigree, but that's about it. That's about it.

TD: Oh see on Instagram is asking if Charrington is still the GM. Yeah, of course he is He thinks he's a clown and he says he saw an interview. He did he used every stupid platitude known to mankind Oh, yeah, he has he always does that's what he gets paid to do. Unfortunately I'm just mentioning the pirates and all your faces got red and you could feel and hear the action Well, I'm glad it comes across the boob tube that way. And he says, I'd say be honest like you guys are. I mean, I hear you on that. I mean, it's kind of like, you know, I don't know.

Grand Schwalbini: Mark was quiet during the segment. He's really our baseball guy because he's been watching real baseball the last, you know, five to six years. The Phillies.

HJ: What do you think, Mark? Well, look, I mean, it's exactly as you said it. I mean, the pitching staff is decent. You know, you got one headliner, and then you've got, in my mind, you've got two guys who are really solid. The last two guys, I don't know, but they're, you know, they're starting major leaguers. So look, I mean, I wouldn't say it's a top five staff, but I would say it could be a top 10 staff, okay? So the pitching is good, and the bullpen always seems to be pretty decent. But the problem is they just can't hit. They can't hit. I mean, when Brian Reynolds is your best player, I mean, you know, that guy on like the Dodgers, you know, bats eight, seven or eight, you know what I mean? Like, you know, that's that's the problem. And yeah, I mean, look, sure. I mean, something good might happen this year, you know, maybe. O'Neal Cruz figures it out and becomes, you know, an all-star quality player. But even if he does, then you just have one. Yeah, really? I mean, because then he'll make it instead of, instead of Reynolds. And actually Reynolds won't even make it now because Skeens will make it for sure. Right. So, you know, there's just not enough. They really haven't put enough into the lineup. When the payroll's as low as it is, you just have no chance in baseball.

TD: Mike Lawrence is back in the house. Hey Mike, I don't know who the hitting coach is. Could a good hitting coach make a difference with this team? No.

Grand Schwalbini: I just don't think so. I mean, it might make a difference, but not to the point where we would recognize it.

TD: It could make a difference with a guy like O'Neal Cruz, who's young and needs a hitting coach. Yeah. But a guy like Spencer Horowitz? No. You know, um, Keiner Falefa? No, I don't think so. Key Brian Hayes? No. Brian Reynolds already knows how to hit the ball. Yeah. I mean, so, no. I mean, I think the answer is just no. And, okay, fine. We'll cover the pirates, we'll be honest. Look, I'm praying for a miracle. Because when I was doing the Bucko's Report a couple years ago and they were winning, even though we all knew what the end was going to end up being, when they were winning it was fun. And when they were winning, they weren't winning every game, but they were winning two out of three. They always start off well.

Grand Schwalbini: Right. They do seem to. Yeah. Yeah. I'm hoping that it's the opposite this year. Like they start off really bad. Yeah. And then they start to figure things out throughout the year.

TD: Well, they do play the Yankees in the first three series. They start in Miami. They go to Tampa. They start at Miami. They go to Tampa Bay. Then they come home for the Yankees.

Grand Schwalbini: Well, who are the Yankees? They lost their best guy.

TD: Yeah. Well, I mean, they're still a little better than the Pirates. I'm just trying to add some levity to the situation.

Grand Schwalbini: Here's what I'm going to do with the Pirates. I'm going to give them 20 games at a time. And I'm just going to reassess after 20 games. It seems fair. That way they get eight sections throughout the year for me to say, yep, I'm still in this or I'm out.

HJ: By the way, a little funny note. I know this is something that could get Klein riled up. But you know that they're doing this in spring training now. And it's possible that they could do it in the regular season with the box to determine strikes and balls. So it would be that you get two shots at a game if you're successful. You keep that shot. So, Trey Turner used to be teammates with Max Scherzer when they were on the Washington Nationals, won a World Series together. And the guys on the team were basically putting up money, saying, we want you to challenge Scherzer on the first pitch no matter what. And he's like, and he's like, I'll do it. And people were like, no, you're not going to do it. He was like, oh, I'm going to do it. So he did. He Scherzer threw a pitch right down the middle on the first pitch and challenged it. And they were both, they were both laughing about it.

Grand Schwalbini: Yeah.

TD: That's because he promised, uh, he promised Scherzer some of that money. Yeah, probably.

Grand Schwalbini: I didn't know this, but there's like a percentage, the strike zone is bigger for bigger guys. Did you know that?

HJ: I didn't know that, but it makes sense.

Grand Schwalbini: It said something about like, it's something about 17%. And I don't know if that's above or below. And then 50%, I think 50% above of, you know, your, your height and then 17% below, like up to your knees. And then that's the, that's the size of the strike zone. So if you're a six foot two guy, it's a bigger strike zone. That's how that, that's how they do it.

HJ: I don't mind. It looks just like when you ever see the box on TV. It just looks exactly like that. It looks the same, but it's actually a little bit bigger, yeah.

TD: Thanks for the Buccos update in spring training. Yes, spring training means nothing, but I don't mind having the ability to challenge the way they challenge in the NFL. I'm not a huge fan of it because I think it takes away from, I'm a traditionalist for some things in baseball and I think it takes away a little bit from the game, from the flow of the game. If it's like, you know, strike and then, and then he taps his helmet.

Grand Schwalbini: But it's like instantaneous. The reviews should like take five seconds.

TD: I get it. I get it. And, and, and that's a good part about it.

Grand Schwalbini: Yeah.

TD: What I hope is that they don't go to complete robo-umps, because I think… I don't think they will.

Grand Schwalbini: No, I don't think they'll ever do that.

TD: If you do that, you ruin the integrity of the game. And by the integrity of the game, I'm not talking about the integrity of the strike zone. I'm talking about the fact that it's a humanized sport.

Grand Schwalbini: You know what they might do, though? They may have the umps with the little earpiece in, being told if it's a ball or a strike. That would suck. Then you would take everything out of it. So basically you're using it. You just don't know they're using it. That's a conspiracy. I hate to do that sometimes, but they could do it. I could see that happening.

HJ: I like with only having two in the game, you obviously have to save it for an important time in the game. So it's like two out spaces loaded. you know, batter doesn't swing and he thinks it's a ball. That's obviously, you know, a challenge, right?

Grand Schwalbini: I think what'll happen is you'll see the ones that are challenged that the batter wins, let's say, it'll like barely be in the strike zone. So it'll be like so close. It's like, what are we doing here, you know?

TD: Okay. Let's move on to, uh, I love it though. Let's move on here on the sports, sports, black and gold edition all over the world on Facebook, YouTube X, Instagram. And of course, head on over to YouTube, subscribe to our channel there at the sports porch podcast. We really love that. And also you can catch up with us on the I heart radio app, Apple podcast, Spotify, or anywhere you get your frigging podcasts. I drop it right after the show. So you can subscribe there, follow us, leave a review. We would love that. Um, We're going to go to H.J. real quick. This is Hockey Jesus to my right in the studio. Hockey Jesus preaches after almost every single Penguins game now. You can follow Hockey Jesus on YouTube at the Sports Sports Podcast, where he does a quick podcast after every Pens game, tells you what you need to know, what you don't need to know. What, you know, what's going on here? We know they're… Well, the season's over. We know they're falling fast. Yeah. You know, maybe I should ask you, does Alex Ovechkin scoring, perhaps, you know, breaking Gretzky's all-time goal record? I hope he does at the last game of the season, the one that I'm at. So, I know you bought tickets. So, How does that make you feel?

Grand Schwalbini: I love it as a hockey person. I love it. I think it's great for the game. I think all records were made to fall. Um, this one, especially because Gretzky played a lot of seasons and you know, he was the favorite son forever played it in a different era than, than, um, Ovi did he did and honestly Ovi's got a good shot at getting to a thousand I'll be honest because what does he do? Well, he plays the power play. What what do you have to not do on the power play? You don't really have to skate All he's got to do is set up on the dot or a little bit above the dot That's his office and you just feed a bit feed it to him and he still can boom that thing He's still got a great. He's got a great shot. He's always been able to place it perfectly and And I think it's great for the game. I love it. I wish that the NHL were touting it more than they are, but I think it's because he's Russian, not Canadian. The Canadians still rule the NHL. even though, you know, the United States is coming along with their programs. But there's just so much volume of hockey being played in Canada. You'll never get that out of the game. I just hope that at some point, maybe five or 10 years from now, they realize how ridiculous and what an opportunity they missed to take a great record like Gretzky's record. And Gretzky's great about it. I'm sure he's going to be going to every game once he gets within one goal to beat there when it happens.

TD: He's a true champion. Yeah, he's a true champion.

Grand Schwalbini: Yeah, absolutely. So I think that's, I think it's great for the game. I'm happy it's happening this year, the year that the Pittsburgh Penguins are finally completely out of it, like, you know, with 20 games left. The last two years, they really haven't had a shot, but they've played well enough that they end up in what I call the pretender status, which is, we're six points away from a playoff spot, so we're gonna make it, but those teams that are in the six, say six points away, they still have to play at like a 750 win percentage to be able to get the 93 points. And that's the mark. You get the 93, 95 points, you're gonna make the playoffs. If you get to 90, you might have to win a tiebreaker, which means you need to have a lot of wins in regular time to be able to, that's the first tiebreaker. So that's what's going on in hockey right now. The Penguins, they're not really in free fall. They actually are playing pretty well. Happened to be at that Flyers game on Thursday night, the one that they did win. That was just an incredible game to be at. Just the atmosphere. Despite having such a terrible season, the fans are still showing up. And I think that's very impressive. I'm surprised. Like overall, I think the the sellout rate is still in the 90 percent for a team that is basically out of it and hasn't been in or relevant for three years to have a 90 percent attendance rate. I think it's I think it's a testament to the franchise and what they're doing to kind of keep fans in the seats. And I think that could be good moving forward once they do get younger talent up here next year. I don't believe they will bring up the younger talent this year, just because they're so far out of it. I don't think they feel like they can, if they bring up Koivunen or McGroarty and those guys, they're gonna get anything out of these guys right now. I'd like to see them bring like three younger guys, put them on a line and just see how they could play together. They just sent Bloomquist back down. Bloomquist can't play up on this team. The defense is so horrible when you have P. O. J. And Ryan Graves playing with Carlson and Ryan Shea. There's no hope for the goalie. I don't care who's in there. And that's why they brought Jari back up. Jari might as well play. Jerry might as well play the rest of the games because it doesn't matter if we win or lose at this point. So might as well let those other guys develop down in Wilkes-Barre and you know, hopefully do something for the AHL.

HJ: Would you say that Iceberg is having a good season?

Grand Schwalbini: Iceberg is always rock solid. Hits that drum really hard. Boom, boom, boom. Slides down that banister like a beast. And hey, when they do occasionally win, he's out there with the flag on the center ice. He's just flying it around.

TD: Can penguins get avian flu? Can penguins get avian flu? Does anybody know that? They're birds. I hope not. No. I hope not. They're birds. They are birds. Yes. I think you have to fly to get avian flu. flightless foul. O.C. says, H.J., can you recommend a good beginner whiskey for watching Penn's games? Maybe he's just trying to forget about the season.

Grand Schwalbini: Super easy, O.C. There's a couple of them. I suggest Elijah Craig.

TD: That's a whiskey?

HJ: Sounds like a Mormon.

Grand Schwalbini: Yeah.

TD: It says from the guys who know nothing about whiskey.

Grand Schwalbini: It's a good affordable whiskey. If you can get it, Buffalo Trace is probably just as good. If you want a little bit smoother and a little bit higher price, Angel's Envy.

TD: Did you see that documentary on the Buffalo Trace, how they sold it?

Grand Schwalbini: I did, yeah. That's a great one. They have so much whiskey and they have more whiskey than people. and whiskey barrels and then people in Kentucky. I believe it. It's true. I believe. So that's what's going on with hockey. I'm looking forward to watching the technically the Penguins could go 18 and no, they would have to go nine. I'm sorry, 17 and two in order to make the playoffs. So you're saying there's a chance there's still a chance.

HJ: So according to you, they got to two losses, two losses to go.

Grand Schwalbini: That's right. That's my assessment. There it is. Once you have more than two losses, you're going below 93 points.

TD: There you go. Mike Lawrence says, I second Elijah Craig and Buffalo Chase. Right on, Mike. Good stuff. Okay, let's move on here to the last segment of the evening and the Grant Schwabini is going to tell us what this is and what it's all about. Grant Schwabini, take it away.

HJ: Well, as you know, this is the portion of our show where we give back to you. our fans, our audience, our watchers, our listeners. We know how hard it is when you are in front of the TV trying to figure out what to watch. There are so many channels, right? There's so many options. HBO Max. Apple TV Plus, Hulu, Netflix, Freebie, Tubi, Bebe, Ubi, and it just goes on and on and on, and you don't know what to watch. Scooby-Dooby. So, good news, you don't have to watch anything except this right here, right now. We will tell you what to watch if it's good. We will tell you what to skip if it's not good. We're here for you. We are your extension.

TD: All right, and the only qualification for what we are watching is that you have to have finished the season you're in. Scooby Sassafras. Scooby Sassafras. There you go. Yoho Sun's back. Thanks for being here. You have to finish the season. The season you're watching, you have to have finished it. You don't have to finish the whole series or the documentary or the movie. You have to finish, complete the entire thing so you can give a review. We're going to start with The Grand Schwabini. The Grand Schwabini you are watching.

HJ: Season 2 of The Recruit. It is on Netflix and I finished off season 2. Season 2 was a quick one. I think season 1 was like 8 or 10. Season 2 was only 6. But I enjoyed it thoroughly. It's one of those where my best comparison to it would be The Night Agent. I feel like if you like The Night Agent, you'll like The Recruit. It's just fun, you know, it's just like this guy, he goes to law school and he becomes a lawyer for the CIA and you kind of, essentially what kind of happens to him is he slowly begins to realize that like, when you're a lawyer in the CIA, you're not just a lawyer. You've got to get your hands dirty quite a bit. And it's kind of like a mix of there's some humor in it, and it's a lot of good action, and it's just plain fun. I mean, it's not like award-winning or incredible or anything, but it's just, you know, you put it on, you know, 50 minutes goes by, and you haven't looked at your watch once.

TD: Wow, that's pretty good. The Grand Schwabini, The Recruit Season 2 on Netflix. H.J., you are watching something we've highlighted here before. I think it was The Grand Schwabinis. Yep. There it is.

Grand Schwalbini: This is called Dark. I actually watched it on Netflix. It is on Netflix. I watched the first two seasons and I finally got through the last season, season three. And, um, like I said before, it's a tough watch. Like it's, it's, it's, it's a, it's a story about time travel. Okay. And how time travel actually gets created. And then there are all these different timelines. So you have all, you have all these germ and it's in German. So you, you know, you gotta, gotta read the subtitles. That's what I like to do. And they're figuring out basically what timeline the person that's going back in time. works for their timeline so that they can survive and like other people die so they're also trying to save other people in the same instance but they're finding like there's like a cyclical thing every 33 years it happens somebody dies sometimes it's their friend sometimes it's the other friend and they're all in this one neighborhood and I was like I have to see this to the end because the end will either say i say watch it or don't watch it and i have to say the end is good the end ties everything up it does take it to the very last episode that's interesting you have to watch it the whole way to the end but Between that, it's a lot like there's a lot like you feel like I've seen this before. I don't need to see this because they go in and out of different timelines. But they do wrap it up really well. And I think you'll like the ending. So if you like that kind of sci-fi, you know, time travel, you know, different parallel universes, I say stick with it. But it is a difficult watch. It will take you some time to get through it, but it's worth it when you make it to the end.

HJ: And I heard you were going to make some comments on Cobra Kai this evening.

Grand Schwalbini: I did watch Cobra Kai and I second Mark's remarks that he did last week. Absolutely. First, you have to suspend that this is real, right? OK, this is this is stupid, like all these kids fighting and the things that happen and the adults fighting karate, the big ball. It's absolutely ridiculous. Okay, if you accept that and you like nostalgia This movie is that this episode the episode the final episodes. I think I watched nine straight. Yeah to the end and It's absolutely worth it 100%

TD: You watched nine straight? I did. Over the weekend?

Grand Schwalbini: Yeah. Well, I took, I took Friday off and I had a lot of time on my hands and I couldn't, I couldn't stop watching it. And I was like, why stop watching it? I'm not doing anything else. I just want to finish it. And I agree. It's absolutely worth it. And I did shed a tear.

HJ: Yeah. Right. You have to admit that brawl was the most ridiculous thing. So ridiculous.

TD: was so stupid and i'm not going to give away anything right but what they did with crease right silver fantastic that was that was so that was so great hj hj is watching dark on netflix and he also gives a thumbs up to cobra kai uh i have returned to my roots actually though i i i want to say that that today i did look at dark on Netflix and almost started it, but didn't have time to click the button. I had to finish watching something else. But I will probably watch that. I am watching, or I have completed watching a documentary. Of course. Surviving Black Hawk Down.

Grand Schwalbini: Oh, okay. I saw this Netflix. Did you see it? Yeah.

HJ: No, no.

Grand Schwalbini: I, I, I saw the episode. I was interested.

HJ: I watched one episode and stopped. I don't think it was that good. Interesting. But you can share your thoughts.

TD: Uh, I, I think it is, um, well for me, I, I'm a pacifist when it comes to war. I, I, I think that war is also, you know, I think I did.

HJ: You know what? Yes. I think I did finish it. That was a Johnny Lawrence. I think I did finish it. Thank you. I did finish it. Yeah. Yeah, I did. It wasn't memorable at all. Well, I will say this. There was one thing that I really liked about it, but why don't you give your review? This is your time. Thank you. Thank you. Time's yours. Thank you.

TD: Mr. Pacifist. Back in 93 in Mogadishu, those of you old enough to remember will remember that a couple of, Black Hawk Army, Black Hawk helicopters went down. They were supporting a UN peacekeeping mission and humanitarian mission to try to get food. There were a civil war going on, which by the way, is going on to this very day. Mark, we watched all of it and liked it. See, you liked it. I think Amy fell asleep for a lot of it. Well, she said you'd like it. So, what it basically is, it is interviews with the survivors, the Rangers, Delta Force, Army pilot, chopper pilot from the United States, as well as the interesting side of this is the Somali war fighters.

HJ: That's what I thought was interesting. Yeah, you don't see that often.

TD: Oh, yeah, that's true. You wouldn't know. And some of the citizens. I think I for me, it was a very interesting take on something that happened many years ago in our lives when we were much younger, probably had much stronger opinions. which I don't even remember back then. And it exemplifies the dedication that our military servicemen have for the people that they fight with. It's unrivaled. I mean, for me to say like Steve, Mark, we're best friends here, the three of us. For me to say I would take a bullet for you, I'd like to believe that was true. Like, I would like to believe that was like, you know, you wouldn't know when the bulls start flying.

SPEAKER_05: He's out. I mean, you are a pacifist, but you know what I'm saying? Yeah. I know what I'm saying. I mean, that's a different level, but we have never been in any.

TD: So we've, we've had a lot of fun times in our lives that, that could have led to injury. Okay. But we never were in the middle of like, 2000 people with machine guns firing straight at us and blowing off our friend's arms and been like, uh, you mean you're sending us home? I want to go back. Right.

SPEAKER_05: Right.

TD: You know, I mean, so, so, you know, from that perspective, I got to tell you that, and I believe that this is the way it is for most people in any sort of armed service service around the world. If you, if you fight for your country, you know, that's how you're trained. But again, it just, every time you see this, I'm watching another one on Vietnam right now, which I'll probably review in a couple of weeks. Same kind of thing. These guys are now in their sixties and seventies and the same thing. So God bless you if you're in the military. I mean, you can't find more dedication than that. That being said. I completely disagree with any, any, with any of our guys being in any other country fighting for like this whole humanitarian mission in Somalia was a cluster fuck to begin with. We should have never been there. It's like, what were they even there for? They, they, they, they, they, this is, this is trying to drop off some food.

Grand Schwalbini: Right.

TD: And maybe we can have a show about in Somalia sometime with warlords. Right. Right.

Grand Schwalbini: Did you think it was going to go well?

TD: But here's the thing that I noticed. There were there were people there. They were interviewing the war fighters. The guys had fought for the warlord and they hate Americans and they hate Americans because one of the women summed it up. She said, first, they showed up to give us food. And then they showed up and they shot all of us. And like, that's the perception, right? So going back to the documentary, I thought it was an excellent documentary. I got to see the real life story right out of the mouths of everybody involved. Yeah. Those are cool. I like, and it's only, I, it's, it's only, I think three episodes.

SPEAKER_05: Those are many episodes. Yeah.

TD: Yeah, so it's an excellent watch. I would suggest that everybody, if you like that kind of stuff, I would suggest you watch it.

HJ: And the Grand Swabini apparently loved it, even though… No, I just, to be honest, I mean, like, I guess the thing for me was, there was not much different from the first episode to the last episode. Right. I mean, it was the same thing over and over and over again. They could have done it in an hour. Well, it's because they kept getting shot at. You know, but I don't know. And I also kind of like something was there was like a movie called Black Hawk Down. Yeah, there was. And I really liked the movie. Right. And I don't know, I just sort of felt like I felt like it could have been better. That's all I thought.

Grand Schwalbini: Yeah. Normally, the real life stuff isn't as good as the movie. Usually. So that's what that's what it is. They're giving you what really happened. Like the movie.

HJ: That was great. Was Mark Wahlberg in the movie? Yeah. OK. He was in the movie. I found him to be slightly more heroic. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05: Jesus. Jesus Christ.

TD: That's sad.

SPEAKER_05: All right.

TD: That's it for today. Thanks for watching. This is your first time in all of this. Drop the podcast right after the show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, Spotify, or anywhere you get your friggin' podcasts.

SPEAKER_04: Anywhere.

TD: And of course, you can subscribe to the YouTube channel at the Sports Sports Podcast. For the Grand Swabini, the technical director is me, Hockey Jesus. I am out.

: Jablonsky.

TD: Jablonsky. Jablonsky. Jablonsky. Jablonsky.