The Porch is LIVE - What to make of the Pirates? Steelers Camp is here!

00:00 Chris throws. Welcome to the sports sports podcast. Mateys we're live on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, and anywhere you get your frigging podcast. Yes. And you can always grab us at the porch is live.com. The porch is live.com.

00:30 Chris Come aboard. All right. Maybe I sound, maybe I sound like SpongeBob. I don't know, but listen guys, thanks for being here to the sports porch. We are live on Facebook, LinkedIn. I don't know. YouTube, Twitter, all that good stuff.

00:44 Steve Wherever you get your free podcast.

00:45 Chris Yes, we are live on X. X. And, and, you can always grab us on the porch is live.com.

00:55 Marc The porch is live.com. Yep.

00:56 Chris The porch is live.com. And as you can see, as you can see hockey Jesus is, he is not, he is, he is, I think it's that one right there. There you go. I got it right. So hockey Jesus is, he is in the house on the banks, joining us remotely. Good to see you hockey Jesus. Good to see that you are alive, that the tide has not come in for you yet. And how's the weather down there?

01:30 Steve Today was absolutely gorgeous. The weather couldn't have been better. We're getting some storms coming in tonight, which is perfectly fine. I love the storms coming in at night. That's no, you're not going to be on the beach. So yeah, it's, it's, yeah. So far it's been one day of vacation bliss.

01:47 Chris Yeah. Wow. That's great. Exciting. Yeah. And, and you know, as, as fate would have it, I mean, you left Pittsburgh and I do, I do got to say though, today was like one of the most beautiful days I've ever seen.

01:57 Marc Best day we've had in years, years, maybe. Yeah. Yeah.

02:01 Chris I actually went surfing today. Outer banks or inner banks. We go to the outer banks. Is there an inner banks? If you like, if you like the golf side of the outer banks, are there, are there fringe banks? Do they have fringe banks?

02:20 Steve I think we need to get off this conversation.

02:24 Marc Are you sure you don't want to talk at all about your OBX sign on your car? Yeah. Right.

02:30 Steve Everybody has an OBX sign on their car in Pittsburgh, Mark. It's like a rite of passage. Right.

02:35 Chris And does everybody in the outer banks have a PGH sign on their car? Is it like, if you live in the outer banks, you visit Pittsburgh for a vacation?

02:43 Steve I can tell you of the five houses in the little area that I'm in, three of them have nothing but Pennsylvania license plates in them. Really? Yep. Yep. Well, we always need a vacation. How long of a drive is it down there? Well, we don't go, if you go nonstop, you can make it in about nine, nine and a half hours.

03:02 Marc That's not terrible. No, it's not terrible either.

03:06 Steve But we usually break it up on the way down and then on the way back, we just go straight through. So it's a long drive. It is.

03:14 Chris Okay. Yeah. All right. So first thing I want to do is I want to thank everybody listens to the buckos report after every pirates game on the podcast on iHeart, Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And listen, we got a new, we got a new character on the buckos report. He's the pirate. What I need to do is I need to name the pirate. So you guys are going to have to come up with a good name. If you're watching, drop us, drop us a chat. And also we are, we always have room for phone calls. If you want to give us a call into our live show, we're going to talk about, we're going to talk about that. Of course, I don't see the phone number on the ticker here. So let's, just call whatever number you like. Yeah, just, just call, just, just call a phone and we'll be good. So as far as, you know, last week, what I put up there was, you know, who are the buckos going to trade at the trade deadline? Keller, Bednar, Koch, Santana, tell us what you think. And of course they did trade, Santana and we know,

04:19 Steve we all agreed to that by the way. We all thought you should have treated him.

04:23 Chris Absolutely. So now I guess the question is, if you're out there listening, or if you're out there watching us, you can call us at 412-805-7236. And the question is, do you think they're going to make another trade? They have less than 24 hours and as you've checked and nothing is, nothing is coming. No, I don't know. I don't know if they are. Yeah. I, I, you know, I listened to the Ben Charrington show yesterday and you know, of course they all talk in code. And the thing about that is he basically said, you know, we, we, we could be good standing Pat or the phone could ring, you know, so, you know, you get no help there. Steve, I'll put this to you because I feel like you haven't had too many old fashions yet. And by the end of the show, I don't know, we might not get any answers out of you that are worth listening to. So, let's go now because once this is done, it's all over. It's over. Okay. So what you're on number like five. Is that the deal here?

05:21 Steve Well, only my second whiskey drink, but probably my sixth drink for the day. Okay. All right. Well, the talk when you get home. So, um, no, no, I always go into detox when I come home. Okay. Well, that's good. Hey, by the way, I just got to show you this. This is really, this is, this is what it's about right here. Look at all those people eating over there. Yeah. Um, what's that family? It's a fight for food. This is how I grew up. That's a, that's a horrifying situation. Do the pirates make another day? My dad just mentioned that I have never grown up yet. So yeah, seems like you have a nice family life, Steve stating the obvious. Everybody does. Yeah. Yeah. To rub it in their faces. Oh yeah. Thanks. Oh yeah. And the house we're staying at is just fantastic. All right. What do you want me to talk about?

06:13 Chris Do the pirates make a trade in the next 14 hours?

06:18 Steve Oh yeah. They're going to dump somebody else off. Yeah, I think they will. I mean, why not? I mean, that's what they do. They, they're so used to getting rid of players. Like it just comes naturally. Like when somebody calls and gives them the price that they're looking for, they're just going to do it. I mean, it's just like, it's like, it's like just a, it's an involuntary reaction in them to do that.

06:42 Chris What's the price they're looking for though? I mean, we had this, we had people arguing with us last week.

06:48 Steve Let's say somebody wants Bednar. I'm just making up a name. I don't know that it's going to be Bednar. I hope it's not Bednar, but let's just say somebody says, we'll give you our top notch prospect and we'll give you a draft pick and something else. Maybe, maybe two drafts.

07:07 Chris Maybe a new, a new pierogi uniform for one of those pierogies. They're so dirty.

07:15 Steve I just think there's no pre-program to do that. That I just don't see them saying no to somebody. You know what I mean? It's sad, but that's just the way I feel about it. Do I hope, I think at this point, I hope they don't really get rid of anybody else. I already said, you know, I don't want them getting rid of Keller even though he's not been that great

07:35 Chris lately. I definitely, Arbitration year coming up, arbitration year.

07:39 Steve I know, I know. And that would be the guy they would get rid of because they know they're going to have to give him like 15 or 20 million next year. Right? Right. So, so I mean that would definitely be a guy if they could feel like they get prospect for it would be easy to do.

07:54 Chris I got to interrupt here. Greg Ridenour. Hello from Palm beach, Florida from North Braddock. Thanks. Thank you for being here. My wife and I love Palm beach. We spend a lot of time down there. So, uh, I'm jealous buddy. So, right.

08:08 Steve I think he upgraded when he moved from North Braddock to West Palm Beach.

08:11 Marc Yeah. Are you sure? Yeah. North Braddock. Not exactly a great area. Yeah. Well, I thought Federman, I thought Federman turned it around.

08:18 Chris I'm just kidding.

08:19 Steve He did, but then he left. So now it's back to where it was. So, you know what I mean, Chris? I mean, it's just, it's the natural thing for the pirates organization to do. And, and it's, it's kind of disgusting, but eh, what are you going to do?

08:36 Chris Mark's never been to North Braddock, Greg. He's just messing around.

08:39 Steve Yeah. He has no idea where it is.

08:41 Chris He has no idea where it is. It's probably great. Yeah. I know exactly where it is. So, so, um, and I drive through it all the time. So, uh, here's the thing I read, I read, uh, Mark Madden's column in the trip today. Okay. Um, I'm not in town, so I didn't get to read it. Basically what he said in a nutshell was that this is the big con game that pirates management and ownership always puts on that the Santana trade was, uh, an obvious move. Uh, the prospect we got back who's 18 years old, isn't going to see the major leagues for probably at least two or three years. And that we will know for sure if the con game is on again, if they trade a Bednar or a Keller, uh, and he thinks that Rich Hill is probably gone. Um, I have been on that bandwagon as far as that goes too. I'm not completely convinced Rich Hill is gone only because he is a veteran presence. He's very savvy. He pitches hard. He, he, he, look, he's a, he's a good employee. He does his job. Um, uh, but I'm not sure that, um, any team in contention would, would, would really want him because the, right. And it's that he brings is stability and innings and a work ethic, but it's not like you're going to put him out there in a, in a very unique situation and he's your guy.

10:15 Marc It's he, you'd only trade for him if you want to save your bullpen, right?

10:19 Chris Have him as an enemy. Right. Right. Right. Yes. But back to Martin, uh, Madden's column, it was totally like he, and I think we all know where Mark Madden is and, and what he does, what I like about him is what he does is he says what we're all afraid to say, which is, come on, don't get your hopes up. This was never a rebuilding situation to begin with. And you know, a lot of people are saying, well, this is year four or five of the rebuild. Well, what did that mean? I mean, a rebuild means year one, two, three, four or five. You have progress. Granted, the first month of the season we saw progress, but ever since then, we saw the same old same old. So, you know, I, I have, I honestly have no idea. Nothing would surprise me. It would not surprise me if Bednar is gone by tomorrow evening. It would not surprise me if Keller was gone by tomorrow evening. It would not surprise me if anybody other than Reynolds was gone by tomorrow evening. Now, here's the thing. They're playing basically an all rookie team. I mean, that's what it is. And the great part about it was, um, that, um, you know, I watched them make the Phillies look like they were actually worse than them the last two games. And I'm sorry Schwabber, but right. Yeah. And, and, you know, I think, I think that we have a little professionalism here, Steve, let's keep those significant children out of the screen.

11:56 Steve You know, you know what I think we should do? I think we should have a studio at the outer banks that I could go to. Let's work on that for next year. Okay. Yeah. Let's do it. Hey, Mohamed, let's do that. I'll add a little professionalism.

12:12 Chris Mohamed comes in on Facebook and says, and says, I love Pittsburgh. I love people living in Pittsburgh. I was living for four years. Now I am living in California and I am still missing Pittsburgh. Well,

12:24 Steve four year guy.

12:27 Chris Yeah. And that's what we love. We're all over the world. Pittsburgh people are everywhere. And if you come to this city,

12:32 Steve there's just something magic about it. I love people living in Pittsburgh. There's nothing magical about the pirates. I mean, absolutely nothing. You're right. I mean, the pirates are garbage and I'll tell you what, I don't mind the fact that they're playing a rookie team now. I think that's, that's the future. Right. So I'm good with that. And I'm okay with them getting rid of Rich Hill because let's face it, the guy's over, he's done with his career is done after this year or next year. He doesn't fit into the pirate's plans. If they can get even a couple hundred thousand dollars for him, I'm okay with that.

13:13 Chris Like I'm okay with that. Where's my wallet? Yeah. I mean,

13:19 Steve but the reality is, you know, when you're talking about a closer and a top notch starter, you got to keep those guys. Those are the guys you got to keep, you know? And I understand what Mark Madden is trying to say. I actually agree with him, but you know, come on, pick it on Rich Hill. That's easy to pick on. Well, like if, but if they do get rid of Bednar, if they do get rid of Keller, I think those are probably the two guys left. I love to see them get rid of the catcher, you know, clearly Indy Rodriguez can play that position much, much better at it than the Gibroni that was back there before.

13:54 Chris Hedges, Hedges. Now here's the thing. Get rid of him, you know, get rid of those guys. They don't fit into the plans for the next four or three years. Some outlets have reported, now I haven't read them personally. I just heard another station talking about this, that there have been teams, go figure,

14:15 Marc who have expressed an interest in Austin Hedges. Why? You know, I heard that too, but I don't believe it.

14:22 Steve I don't believe that either. He's garbage, man. I mean, maybe he's a leader in the locker room. Good. Send him off.

14:29 Chris Well, he led them right into the gutter. Actually, I can't say that it was just him, but right, right. I mean,

14:36 Steve but I mean, he doesn't fit into the plans for the Pirates, uh, for the, for the foreseeable future. Not even really for this year. Now that Indy's, I mean, he's really good. I mean, he's good. I mean, he's, he's excellent. I don't care about what he does behind the plate. Anybody can catch them at this level. If they've been playing catcher for a while. And actually, I think it's messing with, uh, Henry Davis, to be honest with you, because I think Davis feels like he could have been that guy behind the plate. And now he's like all mixed up with his hitting because he's trying to learn a new position. And that was his, when he was drafted, number one overall, it was like, that's what he was supposed to do. He was supposed to be a great hitter and now it's messing with his hitting. And that's what the Pirates do terribly. You know what I mean?

15:23 Marc Yeah. I will say this though. I mean, I was a doubter in the beginning, but I'll tell you that Henry Davis does have a gun from the outfield. Oh yeah. Yeah. I think he's got to learn it. Yeah. Yeah. If he can learn it, it might not be a bad spot for him.

15:38 Chris Well, here's the thing about the Davis play. So Shelton said on his show before the game yesterday, they did, they, they, they're asking him this question all the time. Davis has only played one inning at catcher since he's been up three outs. You know, what are the plans for him? And Shelton said after the trade deadline, we're going to, you know, try to work him in a catcher a little bit more. My feeling is, and I know it's funny, the Pirates are a very fluid situation because of this constant rebuilding scenario they're always in. And my feeling on this is Davis is an athlete first. And he's also, his work ethic has already become something of legend in the Pirates Clubhouse. He's always full speed. He's always trying to learn. And I love watching the kid's attitude.

16:31 Marc I wouldn't say he's a legend at like four weeks in.

16:34 Chris No, no, no. His work ethic, not, not that he's a let, good Lord. Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame, Henry Davis. No, what I'm, what I'm saying is that I, I know I was down on this whole idea of him not catching when he first came up, but that was because our everyday catcher was Austin Hedges. He was your one, one pick. Now you bring up Andy Rodriguez, who is absolutely an everyday catcher all the way and also has a hell of a bat. And when he finally, when the game slows down for him.

17:04 Marc Although I will say this, he, he does look pretty good, but remember, you know, teams kind of catch on. And I was, and I was looking and his last two at bats, they didn't throw him a single fast ball and they just threw them all like curves, like down and away. And he looked bad striking out twice. Well, and that's, that's something you have to catch up to. I wouldn't just, you know, rush right into, he's going to be a great hitter. I mean, he's like hitting 240. Yeah, no, I know. I, I get you. It's not that he's going to be a great hitter.

17:37 Chris It's just that he's, he's got, you, you have hope. I have hope. Thank you. So, I mean, he's got a Swinski effect when it comes to that, because that's what they do with Swinski.

17:46 Steve I don't even know what the hell they're doing with that. He's going to figure it out. You'll figure it out. No doubt. I'm a hundred percent sure that these guys will figure it out. The question is, is when they figure it out, will they be any good? And will that be necessary? Will they be any good? And will that be next year, the year after or in year three from now? You know, and I give them a little bit of time.

18:09 Chris I can't make that prediction, obviously. But what I will say is now that we know that Endy is kind of the guy they're targeting to be their, their catcher, watching Henry Davis play out in right field, he's got an arm that is if he learns how to play the position and remains that that everyday right fielder, he's got an arm that that is probably it's it's going to end up being one of the best arms in the league. I mean, it is unbelievable how far and how accurate and how quickly he can get that ball out of his glove. And that's part of being a catcher is being able to, you know, throw to second or first or snap throws. But I like that. I like Andy at catcher. I do like Josh Palacios. I don't know where he really fits into things. And the big thing that we're not talking about, nobody is talking about. Who did you say Josh Palacios? He had a he had a two run homer to win the game last night, the bottom of the ninth. Yeah, but is he like somebody who's going to play every day for the Pirates? He could be. He could be. Yeah. He's a bench player now, right? Well, he was starting and then he went into a little bit of a slump. And he's a role five guy. He's a pretty good pinch hitter. He's in two fifty two. Yeah. A couple of good games. He can play the outfield. He can play the infield. I think there's a spot for him on this roster. I think the G1 Bay experiment is over. I can tell you I can tell you right now that Triolo was at the last game of the game before he made just an unbelievable stop.

19:44 Marc And then he then a throwing error. Yeah, but maybe a good first baseman catches it.

19:48 Chris That's what I that's what I was saying. Connor, Connor, Joe was not tall enough to catch the damn ball or it would have been a highlight real play. Right. So the point is they have the makings of a bunch of people, a bunch of kids that that look like they're going to be at the at the worst serviceable major league players. And you can have some above average, maybe, maybe all star quality guys. And you've got them at a lower price. Dan Dan Rupert chimes in the Pittsburgh prospects. I mean, pirates need to find a way to keep the prospects. So here's the one here's one point that that Madden made. And as time ticks by and no news comes in, you know, we don't know what's going to happen. But he said, you knew damn well they weren't going to trade David Bednar the day that they were going to have the Yens or Palooza bobblehead.

20:39 Steve Well, I mean, in fairness, you know, the Pittsburgh Penguins did trade, you know, their prospect when it was Dad's weekend. So, I mean, I don't think that that had anything to do with it. I think they're actually going to keep it.

20:53 Marc I think they're going to keep it. I think they are, too, to be honest with you there. They'll probably keep them.

20:57 Chris I mean, yeah. Well, you can't you can't trade Bednar and or Keller and continue saying that you are working the rebuild plan. Right. You can. Well, they can.

21:10 Steve They can. Right. And if they do, that's what they'll say. Yes. But they would they would have it. It doesn't make sense. Yeah. You have to get a haul.

21:19 Marc They'd have to get like three top 100 prospects. Yeah.

21:22 Chris Yeah. And another good point Madden made was, you know, Mitch Keller, who knows? You know, he regressed a little bit in the second half here. But if you if your plan is to get skeins up to the major leagues next year and you're hoping that he is the phenom that that he looks to be, he will. Right. But but you're going to waste him if you don't have a follow up starter. Who is good? You know, it's going to be the same situation this year. You got Mitch Keller, who generally who's going to pitch really well. And then you got nothing after that. And I honestly think, you know, you look at Quinn Priest, or he.

21:58 Steve I like him. I think he's had a couple of good starts.

22:01 Chris Well, he's had average starts. He's gotten run support is what it is.

22:05 Marc Yeah. He was pretty bad, actually, in the last Philly start. He just had good fortune. I would say he was like average in the last maybe a little bit below. You pitch five innings and give up five run. Yeah. Right. So yeah, I would say that's average.

22:19 Chris And he had five walks. Yeah. And I think, yeah. And that's a little below. That's the problem. You're right about that. Yeah. Five walks is too many. Yeah. I don't I don't think the pirates I think the if you take away this this this consistent hamster wheel of rebuilding bullshit, I think there is also a fundamental issue in the pirates coaching system because they talk about guys like Keller, guys like Quinn Priest or other guys like Roncy Contreras. He's only 23. I think they screw these guys mechanics up. I think they try to change the way they pitch because Quinn Priest before he came up, he was he was touted as a guy that had good velocity as well as different pitches. By the time he got to the major leagues, he had lost three to four miles an hour. And I heard Bob Walk even say it, you know, like that doesn't just happen. Yeah. How does that happen? That happens with like with like you're trying to instill your coaching philosophy and your philosophy on pitching on a guy instead of letting a guy be himself and adjusting to that. And they're forcing these guys to pitch outside of their selves. So they're kind of losing the groove that they have. And I think that's, you know, that's an organizational issue.

23:37 Steve So well, if that's true, then the pirates are absolutely screwed because that's only that's all the that's all they have. I mean, they've got nothing but great pitching. And if they can't develop that pitching in the in the, you know, number one picks in the great pitchers, they're they're they're in big trouble forever. Literally, literally.

24:00 Marc Well, Skeens fortunately doesn't need coaching. Yeah. Well, right. Hopefully. Yeah. Yeah. But it's not like he's in charge. Yeah, he is. Yeah. But he'll just go out and throw throw by people. Yeah, I think I. Right.

24:14 Chris That's a funny guy. He's kind of like Nolan Ryan in that sense. He'll be like, screw this. I'm just bringing the heat.

24:19 Steve Yeah. Or Garrett Cole. Right. Garrett Cole just came in and said, I'm just going to throw strikes. Nobody can hit me and you don't have to coach me. Right.

24:28 Chris Yeah. Yeah. So we shall see. The next 24 hours are going to be very telling if Bednar and Keller are still around. Is that the deadline? Yeah. Six o'clock tomorrow.

24:39 Steve Yeah. Yeah. So you're going to go. You're going to go live there.

24:44 Chris Yeah. Technical director. No, but the pirate may make an appearance. They are playing tonight. They are playing Detroit tonight, I think. Yeah. What's the score? Yeah.

24:53 Steve Let's go on. Let's let's. Actually, I was I was pulling in the Outer Banks yesterday and Detroit was beating the shit out of a team. Five. Nothing. Yeah. I forget who they played, but they they look like they could they could they could hit the ball.

25:07 Chris Well, Detroit is basically close to the same record as the Pirates right now. Yeah. And I'm actually I'm actually wrong. It's tomorrow. Yeah. It's because it's a two game set. So D backs land closer Seawald from the Mariners. The players most likely. Yeah, I don't I don't I don't know. It's so hard to predict because the Pirates have always been predictably bad.

25:34 Steve As you know, Tigers played the Marlins, that's who they were playing.

25:36 Chris Graves. Yeah. Thanks.

25:39 Steve So, you know, Marlins are pretty good, aren't they? Yeah, they're they're in the wild card. They were they were hitting the shit out of the ball against the Marlins.

25:47 Chris Yeah. Yeah. And I don't I don't know. I don't know. I'm I'm still doing the Buccos report, guys. I'm still you know, I miss one game because a little family issue. But other than that, man, I would say that I get a pass for that. So I've impressed myself. And there is very impressive. I mean, that is really hard. Many games. There's a lot of games. You're doing a great job.

26:12 Steve Yeah. I listen to probably every. Two out of three, I would say I listen to and they're incredible. I do. I like learn something every time I listen to it.

26:23 Chris You've learned you learn that I can talk like a pirate.

26:26 Steve Well, I mean, the last two. Yeah, I was like, oh, OK. He's definitely gone over the edge.

26:32 Chris Yes. Yes. When you're behind the microphone and you do what we do, people want you to go over the edge. It's how you get your it's how you get your personality out there.

26:40 Chris So with that, I'm going to say your report after every pirates game on the podcast, speaking of going over the edge. That's how much Spotify or wherever you get your frigging podcast, maybe. And thank you for listening to the Buccos report. All you swashbucklers out there. Let's go bucks. Wow.

27:01 Steve This is what I'm talking about.

27:02 Marc He needs a break. I mean, it's the best part of the pirate season. Yeah.

27:08 Chris You know, I do not agree with you. I got to give you credit for that. I do not agree with you more. OK, that's enough about the punch. Come on, boys. We've got to hurry up or we're going to lose Steve forever. OK, bring it back to the Steelers. Let's bring it back to that. I think we said something similar to that on the Philly show. I'm going to find the ticker for the Steelers. OK, so this is training camp is right around the corner, but it's not. So I'm going to change that. It's a training camp. I'm just going to hear Steelers finally. Expectations lines are open. Tell us, Steve, what you know, what are you thinking here? Joey Porter, how's he look right now?

27:51 Marc So Joey Porter looks like he got run over by a George Pickett. Yeah, which I would expect. I mean, to be fair, Pickens has done that to people in NFL games. Right. Yeah.

28:04 Steve Well, and on top of that, and everybody agreed on this point that George Pickett actually would have probably gotten called for a penalty on the play because he literally just manhandled him, just shoved him down and then ran by him and caught a touchdown pass. But I guess Tomlin was pretty pretty pretty I don't I don't know how to say this the proper way, so I don't care to say it the proper way. He basically got on Joey Porter's ass and said, you got you got pwned basically.

28:38 Marc And what does that mean? What does that mean?

28:41 Steve Pwned, pwned, p-o-n-e-d, pwned. P-o-n-e-d. Look at how all the kids are using it. Like, pwned, pwned. P-o-w-n-e-d. P-o-w-n-e-d. I know p-w-owned. There's a hyphen. Oh, yeah. Come on, Mark. P-hyphen what? I feel like I'm talking a bunch of geezers now. This is getting way too ridiculous and way too difficult. The bottom line is George Pickett basically said to the rookie, you're going to have to own your position. And that's fine. I think it's fun. Actually, the fact that they did it without pads on, the fact that they don't wear pads in the first week is just ridiculous to me. You know, it's like if you're in camp, you're going to put the pads on, you're going to go out there and you're going to knock some heads in the helmets. I mean, that's the way it works. But I guess in the NFL, you get the first week off. So so be it. The other thing I'm looking at, remember, I said, I said… Pwned in the dictionary. Well, there you go. Urban dictionary.

29:50 Marc It says poser lingo for the internet slang word pwned,

29:56 Chris as in being owned or disgraced by someone else. He definitely got pwned. I'm still worried about the P on that. What is that?

30:09 Steve What's the P? Actually, you want to know where it came from? Yeah, sure. I know the history on this. There was a Fortnite, a very famous Fortnite guy, who instead of type owned, I owned you, he typed in the P instead of owned and it said pwned. So then everybody started using it.

30:31 Marc Actually, I think it was on Twitch. By the way, there's another use of pwned and we can't say it on the air.

30:38 Chris Yeah. Yeah. It's… Well, let's just… Well, I wish I was in the studio for that, but I'll look it up later.

30:47 Marc Let's just say it involves words such as ram. And uck.

30:59 Chris And you can use it in a word like I pwned you. I think I know where you're going with that. Or you just, oh my god, you just suffered some major pwnage. You just suffered some major blank ramage. Let's bring it back to the Steelers. There you go. This is another show entirely. It is. I hope you guys are enjoying it as much as I am. Yeah. OK, now that we've established that Joey Porter has a problem, Austin, Calvin Austin III, OK, now I'm the guy last week that said, I have no idea why there should be any…

31:40 Steve Can we talk about Broderick Jones first? You want to do that? Calvin Austin III, yeah.

31:45 Chris This one bothers me the most. If we're sticking with the pwned system,

31:51 Steve we're going to talk about Broderick Jones, BJ. Go ahead. I kind of like that, BJ. Yeah. Because that's what he's getting right now. Go ahead, Calam. He's getting… Broderick Jones should be running with the first team. But yeah. Why isn't he? Why isn't he? Dan Moore Jr. is giving an… He's basically saying, hey, Dan Moore, this drives me crazy. I'm going to explode here. Because Dan Moore Jr. is nothing but a…

32:22 Marc He's a backup guy, right? He's a swing tackle.

32:26 Steve But because he came in in great shape, he came in with a good attitude, and he's a veteran, he gets to still run with the first team, and it drives me crazy. The guy is not talented. I'm sorry, but he's not as talented as a first round pick. And I don't care. I don't care at all the fact that they play Joey… Boza, he's going to play against Boza. He's going to play against… What's-his-face from the ground. All those guys. Yeah. And he's going to play against Mason Crosby, right? I don't care about that. The guy wants to learn.

33:06 Chris Isn't Mason Crosby a kicker? Isn't Mason Crosby a kicker? Max Crosby. Oh, thank you. Thank you, Mark. I mean, I feel like if Broderick Jones faced Mason Crosby, he'd probably win that matchup. Oh, sure.

33:18 Steve Yeah. Well, not according to Tomlin, clearly, because he's on the second team. And it drives me crazy. It's like you spend the first round pick on this guy. Just put him in there. Just say, we believe in you. Get in there and do it. And then when he doesn't do it, then you can put the backup in and bring him out and say, look, this is what you were doing wrong. But you've got to make the guy like the guy. You know what I mean?

33:43 Chris Yeah. Steve's been filled with a lot of good ones the last couple of weeks. What did you say last week? Something about this was the year that was supposed to be next year. But it was you. Oh, yeah.

33:52 Steve The Pirates. I thought that this year, next year would have been this year. But this year ended up being what we all thought this year,

33:59 Chris not next year. Well, that was different than what you originally said, anyway. But it was still good. It was still good. And what I like is, if this is the guy, then you've got to let this be the guy.

34:12 Steve Let him be the guy. He's a first round pick. Treat him like a first round pick. Treat him like a true talent. Put him in there and make him lose it. If he loses it, then he loses it.

34:24 Chris You know what I mean? I don't know.

34:26 Marc I don't think that that's any different than a lot of teams. I mean, I get the idea. The idea is make him work for it, make him earn it, and maybe you buy a little panache with your offensive lineman, feeling like he was given at least a fair shake. That's definitely not a pirate word, panache. Yeah, I know. I throw a little panache in there. Oh, I think I got the panache, matey. Yeah. I mean, I get the approach. But I still would probably go more along the lines of what Steve is doing here. You draft somebody that high in the first round. It should pretty much automatically be assumed they're a starter. They're at least a starter somewhere. If they're not starting it, if you want them to be the long-term answer at left tackle, but you really want your left tackle to remain there,

35:21 Steve you find somewhere else on the offensive line for him to play. Yeah, and I think with Joey Porter, he'll get into the secondary at some point. You know what I mean? You've got Levi Wallace there. You've got Patrick Peterson. You've got two veteran cornerbacks. I would hate to see Joey Porter go out there and just get abused by Calvin Ridley. I'm just making up a name. Somebody like that. And just put him in there in certain situations when it makes sense, because I think he can learn from those situations better in a selective, because you're going to play five defensive backs all the time. He's going to be the defensive back that's coming in no matter what. He's going to learn to play the position even if he doesn't start. But with an offensive lineman, you're not switching him out in situations. You've got to play him. You've got to play the guy. You don't want him on the sidelines.

36:20 Chris He's not learning anything by being on the sidelines. That's true, but I guess this is the way the Steelers have

36:29 Steve done it for a long time. I know, and that's why they haven't made the frickin' playoffs in the last six years. That's why they haven't been in Super Bowl in 16 years. Yeah. Well, fuck that way. I'm sorry. Oh, that's the whiskey talking. There's alcohol. I'm tired of it. No, I'm tired of it. I'm tired of it. I know the Steeler way is a great way. But the reality is you've got to treat your best talent with the way that makes sense.

36:57 Chris And what makes sense is get them out there and make them learn. Let the guy be the guy. Yeah, whatever. Jeff Grabs, as you said, that's a horrible nickname for anyone to have, by the way. Graves. It's Graves. Graves, yeah. It's only because you don't want to shorten the A. Right. Jeff Grabs. What is Jeff Grabs?

37:17 Chris Because then he would be Grabs. What is Jeff Grabs?

37:19 Chris Yeah, Grabs is, yeah. What are you talking about? Schwabber is always like that. Jeff Grabiak, his nickname is Graves. And I said, Grabs.

37:29 Marc How do you even know that? Because Steve knows him. Oh, he's a friend of Steve's. Yeah, catch up.

37:33 Chris Well, he actually graduated with my brother. He actually graduated with my brother. Steve made me. Yeah, Steve made me. I blame Steve. Aw, Steve.

37:42 Steve No, you went down that rabbit hole, Mark. I didn't make you go to the second definition.

37:47 Chris He texted that to me, and now I can't stop looking at it.

37:50 Marc I can't stop thinking about it. I texted it to you too, Steve. Yeah, good luck. Wait till you see some of the alternative definitions. Yeah, yeah.

37:57 Steve Oh, wait. I'm going to look at it now. Why wait?

37:59 Chris Why don't you toss that around the family dinner table right now? Yeah, it's not going to go over too well around the family. Here, have another piece of pizza and read this text from Mark. Brad Trombley is in the house, headed to Milwaukee. What's up, Brad? For a few games this weekend. Good evening. Good evening, Brad. Thank you for being here. You're watching the Sports Porch on Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter. And of course, we drop the podcast right after the show, the Sports Porch podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts. And you can always visit our website. Right. It's good. It's good. At theporcheslive.com. Theporcheslive.com. Theporcheslive.com. There you go. We are talking Steelers right now, Broderick Jones. Here's what I'll say about Broderick Jones. Just relax, Steve. If Broderick Jones is the beast of a tackle that we think he can be, I got a feeling that BJ will be starting by the second game of the season, if not the first. And then we'll just go from there.

39:08 Steve Actually, you think they're going to do the wrong thing, and they're going to wait until game four

39:12 Marc after all these superstars are passed. No, I think you're going to see BJ up right.

39:17 Chris Yeah. All right. OK. Between that and Pwned, what a night. What a night. All right. I was saying last week there shouldn't be any hype around Calvin Austin III, only because he has done nothing in the NFL whatsoever.

39:40 Steve Now it's a big deal. Well, we talked about that last week. I agree with you. I just merely point out that he dropped the pass. But actually, since then, he's looked pretty good. So I'm not worried about Calvin Austin III. But I would, and this was not on the original list,

39:55 Chris I would like to talk about Alan Robinson. Well, lay it on us. First, Brad says, wow, it's rated R tonight. Well, Brad, that's actually a step back, because usually before the show, it's rated triple X. So what do you think? I personally have not even considered Alan Robinson in my thoughts about the Steelers, because they have a history of bringing in guys like him that end up kind of being like extra pieces. So I'm not even up to date on what he's doing in camp. So fill me in.

40:29 Steve Obviously, you want to talk about him for a reason. Well, the reason I want to talk to him, you're right, by the way. They do have a history of bringing in has-beens, guys who have been good. But actually, I think Alan Robinson is probably one of the more talented guys that they have brought in. And the reason I want to talk about him is because I guess he's gotten this rapport with Pickens, where Pickens is kind of picked up on Alan Robinson's professionalism and how to be a really good wide receiver in the league. And that's good. That's really good, because once again, we don't need what happened with the last three wide receivers that we had happen with George Pickens. And it looks like Alan Robinson is willing to mentor him. And Alan Robinson, back in the day,

41:17 Marc was just a phenomenal talent. He was really good as soon as two years ago. Yeah. He really did go down your line.

41:26 Steve He was a burner. And I think, once again, I think he's going to play that slot position. So I think he's going to be just a third wide receiver. He's not going to have great stats this year. But the fact that he's doing that, Pickens and him have great rapport. I'm really interested to see what happens with Deontay Johnson, because Deontay Johnson kind of got a little injured last week. Yeah, I saw that. It's nothing major. He's not going to miss any time. But I think it'll be real interesting to see what happens if Alan Robinson starts playing that veteran presence for George Pickens and maybe becomes more of a factor than we thought it would be. And I think the Steelers always thought that, by the way, when they brought these veteran wide receivers in that have some really good talent. But this time, it looks like it might be sticking a little bit more. And maybe it's because George Pickens is a little bit better of a talent. You know what I mean? And so maybe he's willing to learn a little bit more about not making the fancy catches, but just making the everyday catches. And not running backwards like Deontay,

42:36 Chris but running forwards like Alan Robinson would. Well, and that's the thing about Pickens last year that I was going to reserve any sort of criticism on the way he played. Because the situation the Steelers were in, with Kenny Pickett being a brand new quarterback, thrust into the spotlight, and you never knew what was going on there. The acrobatic catches that he made, fantastic. But that's not every catch in the NFL. And what I would want to see this year out of Pickens, and I alluded to this last week, and we'll be talking about this as the season progresses, is what I want to see from this guy is running routes and catching the ball where the quarterback is placing the ball. It's out in front of you. You're running the route, catch and run. I got to stretch five feet over everybody else, grab it with one finger, make a circus catch, keep it in bounds, and boom. Because those are usually the plays where it's like you're saving the drive. What you want to see are more of those routine plays where you're moving the ball at a good pace and you just keep making progress. So if Alan Robinson is turning into a mentor for Pickens, or Pickets, no, Pickens, I always get those names mixed up even though I'm not sure. You got it right. Pickets to Pickens. Yeah. So to Pickens, maybe the signal there is that Pickens is more mature and he's willing to take somebody on as a mentor. And I have a feeling that Alan Robinson could end up being a security blanket for Kenny Pickett, which wouldn't be a bad thing either.

44:14 Marc Could be. Yeah. Could be, sort of like an additional tight end. Yeah.

44:18 Chris Yeah. He's the guy who understands when the coverage is broken and he's got an opportunity or when there's a space and he can sit in that space and then Kenny learns how to. Because if you look at the most successful quarterbacks, even the Patrick Mahomes in the league, that guy understands when Travis Kelsey is sitting down in space that that's his outlet. Right. Once you learn that you don't have to hit the big play every time and you just take what you can get, and then you have a guy like Alan Robinson who understands where to be when that happens. So he naturally knows that this guy is going to be looking here in the event that. I mean, I think that that could line up to be something good. As far as my predictions go, well, we'll just have to get to that in a couple weeks. Because I think we have an open book on this. You're not going to give away any secrets? No secrets tonight. OK. Well, we'll have to hang on. We're talking about enough secrets with all the words.

45:21 Steve We're looking up. Well, what you said about Alan Robinson is definitely right on because I did hear of a play where it was kind of a broken play where Pickett had to roll out. And Alan Robinson just improvised, and he ended up going deep. And he ended up getting wide open. And Pickett hit him deep for a good game. And that's what we want to see. That's exactly what a veteran does. And if Pickett can get on the same page with Alan Robinson in that situation, that would be incredible for the offense, I think, because that's what Big Ben used to do when he was young. A lot of broken plays. Somebody got open, and you just hit the open guy usually deep. And if Pickens can start doing that this year, I think that'll go a long way towards making them more playoff-worthy. I'm not sure if they're going to be playoff-worthy this year. But like you, I'll reserve my judgment when we make those judgments.

46:18 Chris Yeah. Again, we'll wait.

46:20 Steve What did you think about Joe Burrow going down? Oh, dude, you know what I thought. Yay. I was so happy. Yes. I was like, yes, he's out for the year. I texted my brother, who's an emergency room doctor. He watched a play. He was like, I don't know, man. That could be ACL. You never know. And I'm like, please, please, I want to hear all those Cincinnati pukes just crying their faces off.

46:49 Marc And then what happened because you wanted something bad to happen. It was karma.

46:58 Steve Evil came back on you. Just a calf injury.

47:01 Marc That's all it is. Did Steve get hurt? No, no, Joey Burrow is going to be OK.

47:06 Steve Oh.

47:07 Chris Yeah, he's going to be fine. That's evil coming back on Steve. Well, Steve wished somebody ill will. I know.

47:14 Steve I know. I honestly, you know the way I feel about Burrow. I think he's totally overrated. I don't think he's going to get back to the Super Bowl. I don't think he's ever going to win a Super Bowl. I think Burrow and that Bengals team is just like the Steelers talented team from eight years ago. They're going to end up playing well in the pre. They're going to play well in the regular season. They'll make the playoffs and they'll underperform in the playoffs.

47:41 Marc And then that team will totally disband. You're thinking it's Carson Palmer, Chad Ocho-Sinko,

47:48 Steve TJ Hussmanzada, round two. Yeah, that's exactly what it's going to be. Actually, I think this team is more talented, clearly, because they've already made a Super Bowl. So they've already overperformed from where I think they should be. And I think because they've made it there, they think they can make it there again. And it's really hard to make it there again. I mean, ask Dan Marino and Mark Clayton and Mark Duper if they thought they were going to make multiple Super Bowls. They would have said yes. And they never saw another Super Bowl again.

48:24 Chris I mean, that's a good point. And Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas went to four straight, and they couldn't win. Couldn't win a single one. That was for Pat on track.

48:35 Marc So if What's-His-Name makes that kick, they probably went four straight. I know.

48:42 Steve It's so true. Maybe in an alternative universe.

48:47 Chris I'm sure we'll talk about it someplace down the road. We all know there are.

48:50 Steve Oh, wait.

48:50 Chris We already talked about it in the alternative universe. Yes, the Matrix. So I completely disagree with you on the Joe Burrow situation. But you know what? I do, too. The black and gold bias is just pouring out of your veins. So I can't. It's in your veins. All right. It's in your veins. Steve's done for the night. He's out.

49:11 Steve Yeah, no. I still got this much left.

49:14 Marc Oh, oh my god. Another week and no Penguins news. No.

49:22 Steve It's the same stuff. Carlson's holding on. No, Carlson.

49:26 Chris What in the hell is going on? Could they just trade for this guy?

49:29 Marc Dude, San Jose does think that he's worth a billion dollars. Where's Shel Samuelson when you need him?

49:38 Chris Here's what's going to happen. Here's what's going to happen, Schwabber. Schwabber, you're going to get on the phone. You're going to call Dubas. OK? And we're going to offer the hockey Jesus as part of the package. And that will seal the deal.

49:50 Steve No, I'm not going to San Jose. I'm not going to San Jose.

49:54 Chris Listen, man, you're under contract. You don't have a choice. You can hold out. You can sit out.

49:58 Steve But at least we'll have Carlson. I'm not going.

50:01 Chris I'm not going. Who wants us to trade? I don't want to trade the hockey Jesus. I'm just kidding. No.

50:06 Steve But I do think it would seal the deal, don't you? My daughter did a pretty good job in the pre-show.

50:10 Chris Maybe you could put her in. Trey, why are you really baiting? That's a horrible thing. Don't, Schwabber. Don't say it. He said we could offer up his daughter as part of the trade.

50:23 Steve No, no, no. I'm saying when I get traded and I'm in San Jose, going to Sports Port in San Jose,

50:30 Marc then my daughter could fill in. I think Leah is a delightful young lady.

50:36 Steve But I will also say her performance was underwhelming. She knows nothing about sports.

50:43 Chris This much. But I will say that the issue you were having, and look, I am a man who admits my mistakes. The issue that we were having with the audio, that was the technical director's fault, not yours. I had the audio turned down on the board here.

51:02 Steve Honestly, it was muted on Spreaker too.

51:06 Chris Yeah. But that was after I was telling Leah, we can't hear you. You have an issue. And then you guys are messing around. And I looked over and I'm like, oh, it's because I had them turned off.

51:17 Marc Your daughter Leah obviously has a pretty high opinion of herself. She just came right on and was like, I am blonde. I am beautiful. Yeah.

51:25 Steve I don't know where that is. It is true.

51:26 Chris It is true. Steve is neither.

51:29 Steve Yeah. Well, right now I'm half drunk.

51:33 Marc Yeah, that's good.

51:34 Chris Could have been another father. That's good. All right. All right. Yeah, hilarious. That's not I am your father, Leah. Oh my god. Hey, where is Susan right now? What is she doing?

51:46 Steve Is she rolling her eyes at you? Who knows? She's probably in the hot tub at this point. Dinner's over. She's probably down at the hot tub listening to some 38 special. Yeah.

51:59 Chris Going out with Dan.

52:00 Marc Yeah. Is she going to pwn you? Average white person music.

52:04 Steve Is she going to pwn you? I can only hope so.

52:10 Marc Oh my god. You bring the word. Yeah.

52:13 Chris We look it up. Yep, that's right. That's dangerous. OK, well, listen, guys, I want to thank everybody for watching the SportsPorch here on Facebook, live on social media, and let you know we're going to drop the podcast right after the show so you can catch it on iHeart, Apple, Spotify, anywhere you get your podcasts. And do us a favor. If you listen to the podcast, please subscribe. We would love that. And leave us a review. We would love to hear your thoughts on the show. We really enjoy this. We're so grateful and happy that you guys have stuck with us through the years. We have some big things coming in the next two months. Huge. That we're going to be announcing. Oh my goodness.

52:46 Steve We're going to be so busy. Yeah.

52:48 Chris It's going to blow your mind. That's going to. That's going to.

52:54 Steve We're going to pwn you. Yeah. We're going to. It's going to be.

52:57 Chris There's going to be pwning everywhere. It's going to be pwning. I hope I don't get in trouble. Well, that's not a sweet word. No. It's kind of a song.

53:04 Marc The original definition was appropriate. Yeah. Which original definition? Just pwning somebody. Oh, OK. You know, just like, you know.

53:16 Chris I thought you were talking about the other definition. Yeah. OK. I hope you don't look that up. Well, if you do, you'll get a good laugh and maybe understanding and stop listening and watching. But that would be horrible. So we will be back next week. You're back in town next week, right? Yeah.

53:33 Steve When are we going to do predictions and stuff? Let's do a little tease here. Yeah.

53:38 Chris I would say that next. Do we have the first preseason game next week? It's Friday, isn't it?

53:43 Marc Yeah. Like Thursday or Friday, the Hall of Fame game. Yeah. Yeah.

53:46 Chris I discount that game completely. So OK. But wait. What about the World Cup?

53:50 Steve We didn't even talk about the World Cup. Yeah. We're not going to do that.

53:53 Marc The ladies are what? 101? Is that right? Yeah.

53:56 Steve 101? Yeah. Yeah, that sounds right. Yeah. Totally. And they play at 3 AM. Anybody setting their alarms to get up 3 AM? Not you. That's for sure.

54:06 Marc Not me. But if I was you, I would. Yeah. Go ahead. I'm going to make it an all day game.

54:10 Steve I'm going to make it an all nighter. I'm going to make it an all nighter. Oh, I can tell. Yep. I'm in all night.

54:16 Chris I'm up all night. All right.

54:19 Steve You know what? I'm going to give a Hockey Jesus World Cup update at 5 30 AM.

54:28 Chris Go Julie Ertz. I'm setting my alarm.

54:30 Chris I'm setting my alarm. I like it. And I want to remind you that you can hear the Buccos report on the Sports Ports podcast after every single Buccos game. And I'll raise the Jolly Roger as they blast their opponent into oblivion in the seas, mateys. And remember to find us on the porcheslive.com. The porcheslive.com. The porch is live.com. And if you don't come up here, we're going to make you walk the plank. I am your technical director. And I am out. Let's go Bucs. Peace. beyond vocabulary