With football not part of our sports conscious as it was for the last 23 weeks, what will your friendly sports podcast host talk about? I'll get you through these cold winter weeks and warm your sports heart as Episode #239 delivers what you want, need and then some. On deck:
(4:36) Ladies & gentleman, the time has come. The pomp and circumstance of the NFL is in our rearview mirror, the fall/winter sports are in full effect, but we have officially entered The Sports Dead Zone, Part 1. I'll discuss what that is, and when we'll be out of it.
(7:01) Armageddon continues in the MLB as talks should ratchet up in hopes of a deal being reached between the owners and players. I discuss the three sticking points that's holding up this negotiation, Juan Soto's $350 million dollar offer by the Nationals, but I go deeper by saying what's baseball biggest problem (and what could be done to fix it) even if an agreement comes to pass as early as today. I'll also get into the sentencing of former Angels communications director, Eric Kay, who was responsible in the death of former pitcher, Tyler Skaggs. And Matt Harvey did what while he was a member of the Mets?
(28:24) The NBA All-Star Weekend has come and gone as I didn't peep a second of the festivities. I'll take a look ahead of the 'second half', rather 1/3 of the rest of the regular season. I'll get into some of the buzz coming into and out of the break. (Anthony Davis's health, the Lakers big picture for this season, LeBron James's comments on going back to Cleveland, the Lakers long term prospects post LeBron, what Chris Paul's injury means for the Suns, which teams could go deep in the playoffs and how many teams will be in the discussion for an NBA title?) I'll check in on my NBA over/under numbers to date, which isn't close to what I did in the NFL.
(45:39) Juwan Howard gets into hot water again as his late game skirmish, striking an assistant coach of Wisconsin will get him suspended a couple of games by the NCAA. Should the University of Michigan suspend him for the remainder of the season? Plus, the rest of the college basketball landscape as March Madness is three weeks away.
(51:56) Jack Eichel made his long awaited return to the ice, as he debuted with his new team, the Vegas Golden Knights last Wednesday. He scored his first goal as a Knight in a win over the weekend. Is he the final piece to a championship puzzle? In Pittsburgh, Sidney Crosby reached the lofty 500th goal milestone of his illustrious career. I'll bestow some congratulations on the future Hall of Famer and all time great Penguin.
(58:33) Former Dolphins coach, Brian Flores resurfaces back in the league as he was hired as a defensive assistant/linebackers coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Was this a good hire? What is the league thinking about him being back on an NFL sideline? As for college football, the playoff will not expand in the next year or so as many would have hoped. We'll have to wait at least four seasons before a change will be made.
(1:04:38) I'll wrap up with some thoughts about the Winter Olympics and the Daytona 500.
(1:07:41) And to close out, my Hero and Zero of the Week.
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Intro/outro music by Cyklonus.