The Sports Porch Black and Gold Steelers Training Camp and Pirates Trades

Steve:
Not yet, not yet. And we're going live. Looks like we're live. Let's hit the music. There it is. I think we got it without the technical director.

Marc: Yes, we did.

null: Nope.

Steve: Welcome to the Sports Porch, everyone! We're back after a week off, and we're rested and ready to go. Well, at least two of us are. Looks like we lost the technical director in the shift. No, we didn't trade him to the Pirates. No, he's still on our team. We did try and make a deal for some Wiggle Whiskey, but it didn't seem to work too well, so we had to keep him.

SPEAKER_00: Right.

Marc: And that's where we are. And Klein had a, you know, a veto clause. He would only accept terms to certain teams. So, when we had teams that worked out, it just, it didn't happen.

Steve: He said he only really wanted to be traded to the Orioles or the Phillies, and they didn't have a whiskey franchise to trade us, so we just said enough of that. So, no, your technical director's on vacation, or trying to make it on vacation. He had a little trouble in the air today, but nothing that didn't allow him to land in Charlotte and just stay there overnight. Hey, TD. You enjoy your vacation. We'll see you when you get back. Mark, how you feeling tonight? You feeling good?

Marc: I'm feeling good. You know, ready to talk some Steelers training camp and maybe some Buccos as well.

Steve: That's what we're going to do. And of course, you know, we're always watching that television. Well, it's not a television anymore. It's just a streaming service. So we've got some things that we've been watching. I think you'll be interested to see what Mark and I are up to tonight. So yeah, let's jump right in. Let's jump right into that Steelers training camp. Do you think the Steelers are off to a terrible start? It's really hard to tell after only four days, no pads. How do you feel about how the Steelers have started training camp, Mark?

Marc: Well, to be completely honest, I don't think anybody can tell. You know, I mean, the only people who can maybe tell are, you know, the folks that are there actually watching it. Um, you know, and as I recall back, you know, when I went to St. Vincent's and I, and I watched some Steelers training camp in Latrobe, there were a few things that stood out to me. I actually, I went a long time ago. I actually went when, uh, Ben Roethlisberger was a rookie. Wow. And, um, I do remember saying to myself, Wow, he really throws the ball much better than Tommy Maddox. Right. I remember saying that. And I also remember seeing a little known guy at the time because he I think this was also his breakout year was James Harrison. OK, just destroyed a guy in a drill. And I was just like, oh my God, this guy is massive. This guy has something. But that's about it.

Steve: Yeah.

Steve: I mean, I think that's what happens in training camp. You can really only tell the guys who stand out. Everybody else is just kind of going through the motion. I think for the Steelers, they've got a new offense to learn. They've got new quarterbacks. I think really the key for the Steelers, uh, this, this training camp, uh, being out in Latrobe is just to get on the same page, everybody to get on the same page. So when they start that first preseason game, they don't actually look lost because that's my fear for the Steelers this year is that with having all these new, all these new people and a new offense in place, they're just not going to look like they have it together. Um, and they really have to hit the ground running in the first, first half of the season, because that's where all their easy games are. How do you, how do you think about that?

Marc: Yeah, we, yeah, we've talked about this a little bit. I mean, it seems like the schedule lines up for them favorably in the beginning of the season. So they really do need to get off to a good start. Because the latter half of the schedule is difficult. Now, of course, things can change over the course of the year. For example, last year you had two games in the back half against Cincinnati and Joe Barrow wasn't a part of either of them, right? So things can certainly happen to change that, but at least the way it looks right now is you want to take advantage of the early part of the season. You know, at the same time though, you know, yeah. Would it look good to come out in preseason games and look crisp and, you know, the first team offense look, look really good. Sure. Of course. I mean, if you have a choice between that and them not looking good, you would choose them looking good, but also remember, I mean, was it last year that like the first team offense was just like. Every single drive led to a touchdown or something, right?

Steve: Yeah, they were really lighting it up in in the preseason. Everybody is like all this offense is going to be so much better, right?

Marc: It wasn't right, so it's so it you know that's the other side of it doesn't. It doesn't really matter. I think it just matters just in terms of. You know the the the players getting a feel for one another. You know the timing with the receivers, the timing with the running backs following their blocks, you know, those types of things. You know, knowing where you're supposed to be on defense. You know, you know, being in, you know, maintaining your lane, if that's what you're supposed to be doing instead of, you know, all that kind of stuff.

Steve: Hey, look, it's a technical director. He showed up. What's up, gentlemen? Sleepy and Charlotte. TD thinks the Seelers will pull it together. Well, of course you do, because you're always the optimist there, technical director. Yes. I think his new nickname is going to be Sleepy Chris. What do you think? Sleepy Charlotte. Sleepy Charlotte. I don't think anybody would get the Charlotte reference if he was on the show. No, probably not. Here's one for you, Mark. We could call him sleepy. I like it. I think we're going to call him sleepy Chris, at least for this show. How about that? Yeah, yeah. So in the effort of trying to make the offense more crisp, I want to get your take on this. The Steelers are trying something new in training camp this year, where if you jump, it's called a pre-snap foul, right? So if you jump off sides, I don't know that they actually use the time clock, but let's say the time clock expires. What happens is the person who jumps off sides, whether on the offense or the defense, they actually have to take a lap around the field. How do you feel about having NFL players taking a lap around the field?

Marc: Well, here's what I want to know. First off, whose idea was this? Is this Arthur Smith or is this Tomlin?

Steve: No, I believe it's Arthur Smith's way of getting the offense to be more crisp. And rather than using a carrot, he's using a stick. By the way, two people have been seen to be doing the running. Broderick Jones and their new rookie, Frazier, have been seen taking laps around the field. Okay. I mean, look.

Marc: I'm sort of an old school kind of guy. I mean, I actually like that type of thing, but at the same time, it's only going to work if the players respect it. And I'm not sure if players nowadays respect that type of coaching. I mean, I, I will tell you that, you know, obviously the Steelers offensive line got better. Over the course of the year last year, but the last 2 years, they really had slow starts and a lot of penalties. And so if this is something that can get people in sync to have their timing worked out right and not, you know, hurt the team with penalties, then I mean, I'm all for it. So, I mean, I say let's roll with it. Hopefully it's not something that people really get too worked up about. I mean, I guess, you know, the other way of looking at it is there, you know, Maybe maybe Broderick Jones one day will be a pro bowler. But as of right now, I mean, there's no pro bowler on the line. Right. So, you know, it's not like, you know, you have some old man who's going to be irritated about it.

Steve: Maybe say Amalu. Maybe say Amalu. Maybe. But, you know, I'm sure he's not the guy who's going to be jumping offside. So I don't think it's a big deal. Yeah, I like it too. I have to say, you know, I feel a little funny about it because let's face it, these guys are professionals. They don't need to be punished for doing it. But there is something about taking a lap and having to stop to think about it as opposed to just going back in the huddle and calling the play. If you're not in the next play because you're taking a lap, then you're missing out on snaps. And potentially, that could hurt the team. So I think it has a bigger message, which I like. I think the other thing about having a crisp offense is you have to have your starting quarterback in there, right? So Russell Wilson suffered a calf injury, and I don't know if our fans know this or not. They probably do. We've got a good audience here, but Russell Wilson suffered a calf injury in Well, what's going on with your camera there, Mark?

Marc: I can't seem to get my face from going completely black, so now I've got a flashlight. I'm not trying to scare anybody, but I'm just trying to do something to make to make the camera work.

Steve: I think you should save the flashlight for our Halloween version. I think that'd be good. But yeah, right now it looks like you lost some power there, and your generator's not working. But no, I can see your face just fine. I don't think you need that. It's just funny because you're playing with it. I'm like, OK, he's fading in the black.

Steve: Oh, here comes the flashlight.

Marc: Oh, look, Klein's a scary schwabber.

Steve: Yeah, well, you know, that's the way he rolls. Anyway, back to my original point, which was Russell Wilson and the calf injury. He he suffered a calf injury in doing the fitness test. To me, that sets off alarms in my head. If you're a starting quarterback in the NFL and you hurt your calf by pushing a sled five yards, doesn't that sound like that could be a problem for Russell Wilson moving forward with injuries?

Marc: It certainly could. I hate to say it, but it almost makes me think about myself. Uh, no, I am not a profess have I ever been close t athlete. But what I will you get past 40, um, yo you woke up and you pulled a hammy and you just pulled it in your sleep. Right. And the point is, I think just, you know, when you're getting older, you know, things happen. Just, you know, your body tweaks.

Steve: Well, let's let's face it, a 32 year old quarterback in the NFL is the equivalent of a 54 year old man in regular life. Right.

Steve: Right.

Steve: So so I think I You know, I'm not sure how Tomlin's he's basically taken the slow path, which is we're not going to rush him back. We're not going to put him, you know, out on the field. He's out there throwing the ball before and after. And let's face it, they haven't put on the pads yet. So really, it's just like an OTA event, at least the last four days. They put on the pads tomorrow. For me, when I see the Steelers go out into that practice field in La Trobe on Tuesday, I'm hoping that Russell Wilson has his pads on. Because let's face it, quarterbacks don't get hit in training camp. They're going to be wearing the red jersey. So I would rather see him out there moving around and loosening up that calf. And who knows? Maybe he'll make a false start and he'll have to take a lap.

Marc: Right. Well, I agree. I mean, I think, you know, if you're not banged up too much, you know, you can stand back there and throw the ball, you know, without much movement of your feet.

Steve: Yeah, I think that just getting out there moving around, I think it's going to be good. So long as, you know, nothing's torn and I don't believe it's a, it's an egregious injury, but, um, I think Tomlin taking the slow road on this, uh, getting him back probably makes sense. And let's face it. He probably wants to look at Justin Fields anyways. So what does it hurt if he gets a first look at Justin Fields before he even really sees Russell Wilson out there? I think both of them could actually see some playing time this season.

Marc: Yeah, exactly. I mean, I don't think it's anything to be terribly concerned about. If it was, we probably know something more at this point.

Steve: Yeah, I agree with that. So I guess the last, uh, the last point to talk about, uh, regarding, uh, training camp would be the old wide receiver, Mr. Pickens. He's back at it again. Only this time, it looks like Coach is kind of giving him some backlash as to, you know, hey, you need to be out there. You need to be sharper. You need to be tougher. And it looks like Pickens didn't like that too much. What do you make of that situation?

Marc: Well, I think that Pickens has a very high feeling about himself. He does.

Steve: He definitely thinks he's the number one wide receiver on this team now.

Marc: Right. And I think he thinks that he should be treated like, you know, like a god of some sort. And, you know, he doesn't like the fact when people, you know, get, get, uh, you know, in his face.

Steve: So yeah, a coach called him out. He basically said, you gotta be sharper than that. You gotta be tougher than that. You gotta run a good route. You know, I think, I think, I think that's, that's gotta be good for him. Don't you think?

Marc: Well, I mean, yes and no. Well, it's certainly good for him. And I would certainly say, yes, I want my coaches doing that. I want them coaching that way. Will it have much of an effect on him? I don't know. I think that the way Pickens is, and fortunately for him at this young stage of his career, he is that good. So the bottom line is, is, you know, he's going to do his thing and he's going to put up numbers, you know, and he's probably going to put up much better numbers than last year with, you know, Russell Wilson at the helm. So you would think so. So to me, I think it's good. But, you know, at the same time, I just don't know that anything really penetrates Pickens' skull.

Steve: Yeah, I think you're definitely right there. I think Pickens has got such a big ego. I don't think he's thinking about, you know, anything else but himself. That being said, you know, this coach is new. Zach Azani, I believe is how you pronounce his last name. He's been coaching wide receivers for 23 years. He's only been doing it in the NFL since 2017. He did it for the Bears. He was with Denver for four years, and he was with the Jets last year. So, I mean, last year he was with the Jets. He saw Cedric Wilson play, so he knows good talent when he sees it, right? And so I, I don't see this as a, you know, a snot nose coach trying to make, you know, trying to make it in the NFL. I see it as a veteran coach really trying to help out, uh, a young wide receiver and making him better. And actually Tomlin did mention, um, uh, that the coach, he mentioned Zach by name, and he said he knows him, he trusts him, and he likes what he's doing. So although it wasn't Tomlin who was doing it, he didn't say, well, that's something I'm going to have to address with my coaches or anything like that. he really kind of had his back, the coach's back. So that's what I like to see. I'd like to see more of that from Coach T, rather than some of these platitudes that we keep getting, and they're gonna be dribbling out of his mouth all year again, for sure. I watched his first conference, media conference, and I'll tell you what, after about 10 minutes of it, I had enough already.

Marc: What did he say? What Tomlinisms came out?

Steve: Oh, my God, I think it was it was like, you know, there it was like for a competition and it was basically it was like, well, you know, it's two dogs and there's only one feeding bowl. And, you know, there's going to be some conflict there or something. Right, right, right.

Marc: Oh, yeah. You got two dogs and there's one bone. And when you got two dogs and one bone, that means there's going to be a fight.

Steve: So that's what you're gonna see in training camp You're gonna see some fighting and that's good because we want each of our guys to be the dog that gets the bone Yeah, it was definitely that sort of thing so there'll be plenty of those to go around all year long So that's it from Latrobe. You got anything you want to you you want to finish with you good?

Marc: No, I think I'm good. I'm good on the Steelers.

Steve: No Schwabini predicting anything for the year to come for the Steelers or anything at Dream Camp?

Marc: Is there anything… in particular that you would you'd be interested in a Steelers prediction about?

Steve: Yes, I would be interested on. It's not necessarily the over and under, but how many times are we going? I'm interested in the in the quarterback battle now that there's an injury. Okay. I'm interested in the grand Schwabini's thought into the future on how much we're going to be seeing Russell Wilson in a Steelers uniform practicing at La Trobe.

Marc: That's a good question. Let me just take one moment to see into the future. I've seen it now. Ah, the Grand Shawbini predicts. Russell Wilson is going to miss about a week of practice. And then he will be on the field the remainder of training camp and you will see not nearly as much of Justin's fields as he would like. And I feel very strongly that barring injury, Russell Wilson is going to have a long leash I believe he will be your quarterback for at least 10 games this season.

Steve: Ooh, that's a good prediction. I like it. 10 games. So the grand squad beanie is predicting that Russell Wilson will get off to a slow start, but once he gets into the captain's chair, once he takes over the pole position, as we say, he will not relinquish it at least for 10 games. I like it. That's a, that's a bold prediction. We'll use it. All right, let's move on to the Buccos report. I'm not exactly sure why we're going to be talking about the Buccos because, you know, I really don't care about the Pirates so much. But let's face it, they're still over 500. I did look at that.

Marc: How about that? And actually, they had they had quite an exciting win on Sunday. Yeah, I don't know if you caught it, but they were down to their last out. I didn't see it now. Oh, so they were. They were trailing two to one in the top of the ninth inning. Raddy Tellez can hit a pinch hit double. That was really quite a shot. I mean, they got a really high wall out there. Quite a shot to the outfield, so he wound up with a double. Then there were two outs were made and then. Bart, the up-and-coming catcher, came up and hit a laser into right center field, which basically bounced off the wall and brought in Rowdy. They tied it up 2-2, so they did that down to their last out. Um, and then they went on to win it in extra innings. So that kept them one game over 500 instead of being one game under 500. So that, that was, I mean, that's a big deal.

Steve: And, you know, I really shouldn't bad mouth the pirates that much since the all-star break. I mean, they, they won two series in a row, both against really good teams. both the Phillies and the Cardinals. I mean, teams that they basically will have to beat either to make the wild card or to play in a wild card or play in a playoff game even. So I thought that was inspiring, but then they go out to Arizona. And once again, Arizona is also in the hunt for that wild card spot. And then they dropped their first two. And I can't tell if it's because of the pitching that's letting them down. Maybe it's because Brian Reynolds didn't make the trip. I can never put my finger on the pulse of these Pirates. Just when you think that they're doing good and they're just gonna string a lot of games together, they get a letdown.

Marc: Well, I think what it is, you know, and to be honest, I will say this, I don't know how it's going to turn out in the end. We'll have to see. So maybe my initial prediction will be correct. I mean, I can't remember exactly what I think I had him winning like 76 games or something like that. Right. But, you know, look, to be this late into the season and to be a game over 500, I think that they're performing pretty well. And mainly it's been the pitching carrying them and the hitting has been suspect. Although, you know, kind of in recent times, like leading up to the All-Star break, didn't they go something like nine and four and like 13 games or something going up to the all star break or something like that.

Steve: Yeah, they were they were they were a little hot coming into the break. Yeah.

Marc: So, you know, they kind of, you know, and it was starting to work for them where they were getting one when the other was letting them down. So like, even if they're pitching, let them down, they were scoring some runs that game, you know, or vice versa. So things have been going pretty well. I guess, unfortunately, I just think that the team constructed as they are now is about a 500 team. Now, I will say this also. You know, when I made my prediction, that was before, you know, Paul's schemes. Right. And and you can see what a number one ace pitcher, what kind of a difference that makes. I mean, obviously, he's six and oh, right? Absolutely. And and there were probably two or three games that he could have won if they would have scored a run for him. You know, so so if you really think about it, I mean, that's that's an immense upgrade to your team when you basically every time he goes out, you know, there's a really good chance that you're going to win the game. Totally agree. You know, so that makes things a little bit so. So really, in the moment, I would say maybe they're even more than just a 500 team. Maybe they're like a five, seven game over type team. But unfortunately, I still think it's not. It's not enough, you know, like they just need more hitting because You know, I was I was listening to the radio this morning and the way they were talking about it. I mean, it's like you've got O'Neal Cruz and you've got Reynolds. I would consider those two guys like really solid above average, you know. potential, you know, all-star slash maybe all-star in the future type bats. Okay. Then from there, you know, you've got like McCutcheon who is, um, is average at this point. He has some power, but he doesn't hit for average. You know, Rowdy Tellez has actually come on and been hitting pretty well. Um, But, you know, outside of those four, can you really think of anybody else that is dependable?

Steve: No, you can't. And that's the problem. Like, you know, the technical directors jumping in here and saying that, you know, they need a big bat, but it doesn't look like they're going to go get one. And really, that's the problem with the pirates now. They're in that I hate to use the term mushy middle, but they're at that 500 level because of where they are with their pitching. And their batting has come through at spurts, like you said, but they can never seem to put it all together. And the reason they can't is because they don't have enough of the big bats. to come through when it's a 2-1 game or a 3-1 game and they need a three-run inning. And that's the problem. I guess they sent Swinsky down, so it looks like your prediction of under 200 is gonna come true. But hopefully that means they are going to make a move at the trade deadline to get a bat. I mean, even if it's not a big name at this point, I have to believe that they're going to do something before the trade deadline, 24 hours from now, to make them feel like they still can be in it, because that's all they really need. I mean, you know, Claire Jones is still injured, and he's going to be injured for probably another three or four starts for him, which is too bad for the Pirates, but I think they can, I think they can call together everything else so long as they get another batter too. And I just don't know where they're going to get it from the minors. It seems like they soured on Henry Davis. Um, they've got, uh, they've got this guy coming up. That's, you know, got the hit, like you said, in the ninth inning, uh, playing catcher for them. So maybe that's, maybe that's where they can get some from, from this new catcher position.

Marc: Yeah, I mean, the thing that confuses me is, you know, I've been watching the, you know, the ticker on Twitter, you know, nonstop for the past five days. And, you know, every two hours, there's another trade. And, you know, the only one that included the pirates was one worth not even mentioning.

Steve: Yeah, it was for a minor leaguer and they got rid of Priester. And honestly, I think it was good having Priester around now that Jared Jones isn't around, but they don't need him for the future. So trading for a prospect, now the prospect supposedly that they traded for is an infielder, but he doesn't have a big bat. So I don't know how that's really going to affect our lineup this year. But I think Mike brings up a good point, you know, and we were talking about this earlier off-camera What's the big social media squabble about Reynolds going on bereavement leave? actually TD kind of filled me in on this because I asked him that question before he went on vacation and I saw it first Mike as What happened was he supposedly tweaked his back when he was getting out of his car and he didn't play the last game of that of the series against the Cardinals because of it. And then the next day they put them on bereavement leave. And I'm like, what the heck is that? That doesn't make any sense. I had to look up bereavement leave because I didn't, one, know it existed, and two, didn't know what it was. But it can be anywhere from three to seven games they can be out. They actually get paid during this absence. And it's because of a serious illness or, you know, somebody close in the family has passed away or is experiencing a serious illness. Now, that could mean that could mean anything.

Marc: That could mean anything. I mean, don't you think we would know that, though? Like, wouldn't they say he's on bereavement leave? His father is, you know, just passed away.

Steve: Yeah, well, I clearly somebody didn't die. So that probably means somebody has a health issue. And if he doesn't, if he doesn't want people to talk about it, let's say, God forbid, because I've been through this, his wife, you know, was diagnosed with some cancer or something, you know, that would be horrible. And maybe he's just not wanting to bring it up yet. You know, and yeah, He asked for, you know, let's not talk about this. But, you know, it's it's three to seven games. I don't know what happens after seven games, if he can stay on bereavement leave or if they have to put him on long term, you know, whatever it would be. I'm not I have no idea because I didn't even know bereavement leave. But that would be seven games.

Marc: They would probably that they would probably then say that he getting back into his car, he pulled the other side of his back and now he's on the 10 day I.L.

Steve: Or maybe he got into the car on the other side and his back is fixed and now he can play. Maybe. Right.

Marc: I mean, who knows? Who knows?

Steve: But yeah, it is interesting, though. There's not there's not a lot of coverage of it. So I think they're probably just respecting his wishes and not wanting whatever it is he's going through to to get out there until he's ready to announce it, whatever it might be. Might even be an illness that he has, honestly. I mean, we don't know, but we do know that he's been out for four games. He can be out for three more games, which would put him out for the whole entire Houston series. And then we'll see if he's back after that. Yeah. That's right, Mike. Mike says, last I saw it was going to be three games. It can be as little as three games and as many as seven games for bereavement. So like I said, he could be out for all of the Houston series, but then something else has to happen. Some movement has to happen. after that. So let's see what works. Let's give him a little bit of space. I agree. I think I think not having him in the lineup is hurt them more than they're willing to admit, because that's their number one bat, really. And he's a spark plug for getting the offense going.

Marc: So the other the other question I have, though, is which which I'm having a hard time understanding. And you can probably tell me more so than you're going to have greater knowledge of this than me. But like, Are there untouchable minor league prospects that the pirates don't want to part ways with? And if there are, how many are there? So who are those people?

Steve: Number one, I don't know. The only name I know is Bubba Chandler. I know that Bubba Chandler is basically you. They're not getting rid of Bubba Chandler. They wouldn't even trade. They wouldn't even trade Bubba Chandler for, uh, um, I don't know, Aaron Judge. They won't do it because he's the next Paul Schemes, right? Schemes. So they don't want to get rid of him. And actually, I think Bubba Chandler could probably pitch next year, but I don't know how long they have him for a contract, et cetera, et cetera. And they said that the top four prospects, and I don't know the other three guys' names, are pretty much off the list. So basically you're trading your fifth through 10th prospects, which means you're not really going to get anybody for them. And I think that's probably why we're seeing other teams say, forget it, at least early in this trade deadline, maybe other teams will want to trade for those prospects tomorrow. I guess that's what we'll find out. But no, I don't. Does anybody really know their names? No, not really. They only know their names when they come up. I just know that Bubba Chandler was in like the I guess the All-Star has a futures All-Star game and he was he was pitching in that.

Marc: OK, so I mean, the thing that I find confusing is just that, you know, it just seems like. Every other team somehow is still making moves. And it doesn't really seem like anybody that I've seen yet has given up, you know, a grade A prospect. Yeah. So, so, you know, why is it that, you know, the, the pirates can't give up their fifth and seventh best prospect for, you know, a guy that's an above average outfield back.

Steve: Yeah, that would be the way I would think they would go, but clearly other teams aren't biting on that bid. Hey, TD has said, Sherrington has said that no one is untouchable. I think what he means by that is no one is untouchable, meaning they're willing to sell off the whole team if they have to.

Marc: I mean, see, now that's just, like garbage GM talk, you know what I mean? Like, that's like, come on. Like, obviously, there are people that are untouchable because, you know, look, I mean, like, let's say, for example, like, let's say the A's did want to trade Brent Rooker, right? You know, who's, you know, I don't know off the top of my head, but I think he's hitting like 285. He's, you know, got 25 home runs, you know, something like that. Young player, maybe just like 26 or 27. You know, you know, look, if they said we'll give them to you for Bubba Chandler, then then he's lying to us.

Steve: Yeah, I agree, because I would do that because that's the kind of bat they need. And let's say that he is signed up for the next three or four years and they like his contract. They're willing to pay it. That's what they need. They need another bat like that in the lineup. My guess is he's probably too expensive. And most of the people that that, you know, they would trade for are, you know, upwards of eight, 10, $12 million a year. And honestly, nothing just doesn't want to pay those salaries. I think that's really what it comes down to when it comes to the Pirates. We all know they're motivated by money. They're not motivated by winning. And that's what makes me sad about this team. I'm ready to close the book on the Pirates. How about you? All right, let's close that book. It's closed. No more buckos talk. which makes me happy. You know what? We're not really going to jump in any hockey today. Sidney Crosby hasn't signed yet. There really isn't much going on in the world of hockey since the free agent frenzy a few weeks back. The Penguins weren't really that active in it, to be honest with you. But they did get rid of Riley Smith, which is probably a good thing for basically a bag of doughnuts. But they got his salary and they got him off. That could open the pool for somebody like Drew O'Connor to play in the top four pair. But let's face it, everybody's still kind of basking in the Florida Panthers taking the Stanley Cup into the ocean three or four times by now. Think there was some there was something going on with kachuk in his his day with the Stanley Cup where he got reprimanded I didn't actually really yeah, I didn't actually see what happened I didn't go I didn't go deep into that because I just figured was kachuk being kachuk, you know Kind of he kind of you know dances do his own beat so So I don't really think there's anything to talk about regarding the regarding the the penguins So let's get into our final segment. Oh, by the way, you know, I probably should do the TD thing where it's like, you can get us anywhere, blah, blah, blah. Let me see if I get, he's got something written down here. Catch the SportsPorts project dropped after every show anywhere. After Mark and I are done here, I'm gonna drop it on Spotify or anywhere you get your frigging podcast. Did I do that right?

Marc: That's right. Yup. YouTube. Facebook. The gram, I think.

Steve: The gram. We got reels out there now. I hope you're enjoying the reels. Hopefully we can get a few good reels off of this one.

Marc: We got reels. We got YouTube shorts. Shorts and reels. We put this out there every which way imaginable.

Steve: We're on TikTok now, right? I don't TikTok. Yeah, we're on TikTok. We're TikToking. Hey, people. These old guys can still TikTok.

Marc: We're TikToking now. No dance routines or anything, but we're TikToking.

Steve: Not yet, but maybe something will get hot at training camp. It'll be the new hot dance routine. Maybe we can get TD shaking his little booty down there in Grand Cayman. All right, let's jump to the last thing that we do on the porch, and that's called, what are we watching? This is basically a million stream services out there. We watch half a million of them. Maybe a quarter a million of them. We don't watch them all but the ones we do watch we we really enjoy and you know We're gonna go over two of the things that mark and I have been watching I'm gonna start with the grand schwa beanie tonight and or branch Beanie, let me see if I can pull it up Oh, I got it right here. Let's see go to the brand. Oh, look here it is. Oh

Marc: I did it. Oh, there it is. You'll see Nicole Kidman in the middle there. And Melissa McCarthy in there. So this is nine perfect strangers just completed it. It's a it's an eight episode one seasoner on Hulu. Um, and I, I thought it was very good. You know, I, I think that some, something that makes a, a show good is when like you honest to God, like you have no ability at all to predict what's going to happen.

Steve: Right. Oh yeah. That rarely happens in shows anymore. Honestly.

Marc: It rarely happens. And I mean, I'd be sitting there like, My wife would say, what do you think is going to happen, Mark? I'm like, I have no idea. None. Wow. So just so just to tell you what it's about is essentially Nicole Kidman. It's sort of like this Zen master that has created this place that is a retreat where people go to who are, you know, kind of in desperate times in their lives. And she makes it, you know, and she tries to heal them and kind of bring them back. Right. And so the idea behind the work that she does is that she picks nine perfect strangers to come together because the group itself is gonna also work together to help one another. Um, and there are obviously people that have like nothing in common. Um, and you know, it's also, as you can tell, you know, as you, as you sort of watch each episode, it seems like there's shady stuff going on. Um, it also then has a supernatural component to it. Oh, there we go. So, so I know that, uh, our, you know, our technical director is now already watching the first episode as I speak.

Steve: Yeah, because you know how he feels about Nicole Kidman. He says she makes anything good. So she does.

Marc: I mean, I can't disagree with him there. And so it was it was good. It was it was definitely worth the the eight episode trip.

Steve: So there's not going to be a 10 perfect strangers. It's nine. And that's it.

Marc: That's it. That's it.

Steve: It's just a one timer, but very good. And that was on Hulu, right? Yep. Mm-hmm. I'm gonna have to get me a Hulu subscription. You've gotten two things on Hulu now that I can't watch because I don't have a subscription, and I'm gonna have to get me one. That's all there is to it. You have to. What was the last one last week that you said was really good?

Marc: Ah, forget it. Was it… That was like two weeks ago, right?

Steve: Maybe. Yeah, we'd have been two weeks ago. Get back to me on that. Send me a text. I'll get back to you on that. I'll get back to you. That's definitely the one that I want to watch. Okay. So it looks like it's my turn. And well, this is going to come as no surprise. I hate to keep doing this over and over and over and over, but I'm watching. I guess it's a documentary. I guess it's a documentary.

Marc: My wife has talked about this, wanting to watch this, but I don't know. You are what you eat. And it's on Netflix. Is it going to make you just feel worse about yourself?

Steve: Well, so here's the rub, right? Guess what? The title of the show is spot on. You are what you eat. So guess what? If you eat a lot of junk, you're gonna look like a lot of junk. And actually, so here's the premise of the show. I like the way they went about this, even though, see, Amy's got it right there. See, look, Amy watched it. It's good. She's in on it. You're in trouble, Mark. Here's the deal. With this show, they do a really good job right at the beginning that says, this is for entertainment purposes only. You should not change your diet based on watching this show. You should talk to your doctor. You should go see a nutritionist. And then they basically tell you how great a vegan diet is, right? Okay, yeah. But the one thing that they do a really nice job of, I thought, was they highlight the hard things about dieting, which is dieting is no good on its own. Dieting is only good if you turn it into a lifestyle. Right. And and they use twins in this study. Right. So identical twins. One person did an omnivore diet, which is basically it was it was a healthy diet, but it include meat, a lot of lean meats, but also some beef and things like that. And then the other one did a strictly vegan diet. And they did it really smart because for the first four weeks, they gave them all the food. And then in the second four weeks, they had to figure out how to do it for themselves. And, um, I thought that, um, I thought that they did a really good job of showing the struggles that people have when they try and change their diet and they're not really into it. The other thing, the thing that they also did was it was like a full body thing. So do you, do you know the concept of a dexagram?

Marc: No, what's that?

Steve: It's basically where you lay on a table and they take a picture of your whole body and they get the amount of body fat that you have on you from the scan. As opposed to like, you know, sometimes people like they get those things that pinch your arm and they say, oh, you have, you know, 40% body fat or you have 20% body fat. This actually shows all the fat on your person where it is. And it's a much better way of analyzing where your fat is. And the other thing they can do is if they take a before and an after picture, they know how much weight you lost in fat versus how much weight you may have lost in like muscle mass. So I thought they did a good job with that. Where I think they jumped the shark a little bit for me was, I thought they were over the top with like the way meat is produced in this country, like country farmers and like, you know, these, these, these places where they have, you know, 10,000 chickens and none of them can move. And like cows in these farms, like they did show one farmer who like did a grazing where he would move them from hillside to hillside. Right. But for the most part, they were saying, this is the exception. The rule is this. And then he would show all these cows basically just lined up in a trough, just sitting there eating because that's all they could do. All they could do is eat. And I was, I mean, I'm not offended by it because I recognize that this, these are things that happen in the United States. And the other thing that they did, which kind of made me think a little bit was they, they equated, uh, deforestation and like the Amazon, because they're saying that the people down there want to, um, They wanna have more red meat, so they need cows, and they need more space. And that's why they're burning down the rainforest, because that's their only space. Their only space is rainforest space. So it does make you think about where your food comes from, and how you get it, and what kind of quality it is when you get it. It was funny because they also did it with fish, right? I don't know if you like to eat fish, Mark?

Marc: I do love fish. I'm a big fish guy.

Steve: You like salmon? I do. Yeah, of course. Yeah. You like salmon, right? So don't watch this show. Okay.

Marc: I try to go with the wild salmon.

Steve: Well, so if you go with wild salmon, you're going to be okay. But I'm telling you, if Amy makes you watch this, and I have a feeling she's going to make you watch it, you might want to skip the section on salmon.

Marc: So farm raised salmon, no good?

Steve: Farm, you don't even wanna watch that segment, Mark. Okay, okay. By the way, this was on Netflix. It's only four episodes. I think there were somewhere between 45 minutes, less than an hour each episode. So you could easily watch it in a weekend or two nights, easily, easily pick it up. I suggest it. Okay.

Steve: Well, I think that's it, Mark. I think we made it.

Marc: That's all we got. I'll tell you what. We had a pretty steady crew. We've had, you know, about 45 people with eyeballs on us the entire night.

Steve: I think, you know, we should do this more often without the technical director. What do you think?

Marc: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think the bottom line is we were pretty flawless technically.

Steve: Well, you know, I can do it. Well, that's it from the Sports Porch. Thanks for jumping on the porch tonight. I don't know that we'll be back next weekend, but maybe we will. But it's my turn to go on vacation. And I guess that'll be up to the technical director.

Marc: The technical director's feeling a little scorned.

Marc: Good show, fellas. The show is yours. No, it's yours too, Chris. We love you.

SPEAKER_00: So don't forget, after the show, anywhere you can, drop it, send it out to your friends, give it a like on YouTube.

Steve: And until then, we'll see you on the porch.