The Porch Is Live in Pittsburgh - The Draft Behind The Pirate's Sails

00:30 Chris the sports porch Pittsburgh. I just scared the hell out of my wife. She's sitting here I am. I am your technical director Chris. That guy over there is the grand Schwabini Marc who has like three names for himself and there's hockey Jesus. There's hockey Jesus down there. So what do you guys think. I want to thank everybody you'll notice we aren't in our studio tonight. I'm on a little vacation. Steve is utilizing his wife's office and Marc is in front of some weird Andy Warhol painting. I don't know what is that. Well there you go leading into the background. Yes. And I believe in magic. So I want to thank you for listening to the sports porch on the I.R. radio app or Apple podcast or Spotify or anywhere you get your podcast. And of course you can catch the sports porch on American busker I.R. radio every Sunday at 4 p.m. Eastern time and hit us up online on our Web page at the porch is live dot com the porch is live dot com the porch is live dot com. There you go. Schwab is on it. He's on it right now. So listen we got a lot to talk about. Oh

02:10 Steve there's so much to talk about.

02:12 Chris Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The first thing that I want to do though OK because we made this promise and I say this every single time is I want to tell everybody that TV your technical director does your buckos report after every buckos game on the podcast. And I have done it faithfully since I said I would because Steve said as we like to say in Pittsburgh Steve set the standard and the standard is the standard. And yeah you got it a Tomlin ism. But I got to tell you I'm excited about this team. I've had a lot of fun doing it. I don't I want so badly to commit to all 162 games. That's basically two hockey seasons. And what hockey Jesus did was incredibly impressive that even if I did commit to it and let's say I got 84 games straight in if I stopped he would still be the king because he got every game. So it's it's like a lose lose for me you know so I'm going to keep doing it like I'm going to everything else in your life. A lose lose idea. Yes I see you. You tuned up for this one Schwab. You definitely tuned up for this one. So but listen let's let's get to Steve always rolls his eyes when we talk about the pirates. They're 20 and nine right now. They have the night off. There's some big games coming up. I'll give you my take on it when we come back to this. So we wanted to tease you with that. We're definitely going to have a pirate support this game. They deserve it. But let's get to the bigger question in hand which is the draft Steelers. And did they draft well did they fill their needs. If you watch the sports sports or you listen to any of our podcasts I think the answer to that is yes at least from my perspective I believe that they did a great job in the draft. I would rank them as I would give them an A. You know we were talking on the earlier show on the on the Philadelphia sports porch. I think the Eagles crushed this draft. So but but I would definitely give this the Steelers an A for their needs. What do you think Steve. And then we'll bring the Eagles guy in because we're going to use a catchphrase there.

04:26 Steve Well I mean it doesn't really matter what I think although I do agree I think they did well. I love the fact that they moved up. I didn't think they would do it. But moving up I think just kind of set the tone for what it is they wanted to do. You know and when they when they moved up to get Broderick Jones and you know they had to give up a fourth round pick to do it. I was like this. They're they're all in on this. They really need this guy. And they went and got the guy. Now remember Gonzalez was there too and they also needed a cornerback so they actually did have a decision to make it wasn't like a no brainer they actually did have to make a decision still. And yeah getting Broderick Jones is a total steal at that point. They moved up to get him. Awesome. And then they wait. You know they probably could have dropped down to get a lesser cornerback. And you know how you feel about Joey Porter Junior. I think he's going to be a good talent but I just don't I don't like the whole well he was a Steelers and that feel good story. A lot of people will I get it. You know I felt I kind of felt that way about Kuch too and I was wrong honestly. But so the feel good stuff does kind of matter to borderline fans and let's face it right guys like me they're not out to impress me. They want to get other people are like oh didn't Joey Porter used to play for them. Yeah he used to play for them. Oh they got his son. That's so cute. You know they're getting that type of people involved and there's nothing wrong with that I guess. But in this case there isn't because he's actually pretty good talent. So and he dropped so they didn't overpay for him. They actually underpaid for him which I'm good with. I'm good with that pick. Then they went out and they got a defensive lineman. You know Benson I think that just shores up the defense. That's not you know it's not a really class you know it's not a great pick but it was somebody they need. And then that tight end Darnell Washington from Georgia. Dude the more I think about this pick I think this is the pick of the draft. Honestly I mean Broderick Jones probably will be for the for the long term. But if you think about this guy and the difference maker he could be on the field. I mean he's like a grown type receiver. I know he doesn't have his speed. I know he doesn't have his hands but his size is going to be a total mismatch for any linebacker. And I don't know how they're how people are going to cover him in the end zone. The problem is is we still have Canada. So can Canada take advantage of a freak like this guy in the offense. And I hope they don't run him on a jet sweep. That would not be good. But I in the playbook I know it is. I know it is. But I do. I the more I think about that Darnell Washington I thought you know that's kind of a luxury pick to do that. But the more I looked at him and the more I listen to people talk about him his size in his in his talent is really unique. So I like that about that pick. And then you know they just got they got him and Eggers after that they got her big. They did need to get a linebacker but he's he's maybe not a linebacker. He could be he could be an edge rusher and they got another guy. People seemed excited about this Corey Trice Junior. I don't know anything about him but hey another cornerback can't be a bad thing if you got to cut Witherspoon and and save that four million dollars on the on the on the salary dump you know because they're going to have like floors five cornerbacks now on on the roster. They're not going to keep them all. So he could be a casualty to cut and then they got this Spencer Anderson once again another seventh rounder. He may or may not make the team. So I love that. I love their draft especially the first the first four picks I think setting the tone with that Broderick Jones picks just just was really smart. And look everybody saying Omar Khan he's the greatest. Don't forget Tomlin picks the picks. It's about Tomlin and Tomlin listen to Khan. So I think there's good things going on between the GM and I like that about this draft. I think they were listening to each other and I don't think that was necessarily happening a lot with the last GM. So so good for the Steelers. I actually give them I don't give them this but I was looking on some Web sites somebody gave the Steelers an A plus and the other just just briefly I'm not going to go over all their picks. Cleveland got an A minus but remember their first pick was 74. So get an A minus when your first pick is 74 is more like getting a D in my opinion. Baltimore got a C plus. I like the Z flowers pick but he did play in Boston College. So is he an elite wide

09:11 Chris receiver. Probably not. Yeah I saw that I thought the same

09:15 Steve thing really like that Simpson pick from Clemson but they didn't need a frickin linebacker. They needed the cornerback and the Steelers got all the cornerbacks didn't understand that. And Cincinnati so since now he takes their number one pick and gets an edge rusher. I promise you broader Jones will own this bitch for his career. You can play this back five years from now. There is no way that Miles Murphy is going to do shit against Broderick Jones. Write it down now. Hundred percent guarantee we went out and got a cornerback. The one thing Cincinnati did which which I think is hilarious. Cincinnati went and got a punter. So that's all you need to know about

09:55 Chris Cincinnati. Yeah yeah they did. Yes. So what do you what do you think Swabber. How do you see this. And given to us from the from the perspective of the cliche that we've used for the last few months the Weidel

10:10 Marc effect. You see the Weidel effect here. I do. Yeah. But I also think that I agree with Steve. I think Tomlin ultimately makes the pick but he's listening to Con and Weidel. The one pick that I think he didn't listen to Con and Weidel is the Joey Porter Junior pick. And that was like to be honest I'm just more disappointed in that pick. Nothing to do with the player but just that the pick was made. Yeah. You know but maybe he'll be a good player. So I mean I really like the Steelers draft. Believe it or not I I liked I mean the best pick was the number one pick Broderick Jones. You know Georgia Bulldog. He's he's a beast and they needed a beast on the on the offensive line. You know Porter Junior I think he's one of those. We'll have to wait and see. You know he could turn out to be anything. I mean he could turn out to be a really good solid corner or he could turn out to be a bust. You know if he really is handsy and going to get a lot of flags right. So I think he's kind of you know I wasn't thrilled with that pick. What I thought was the thing to do with that pick being that it was the first pick in the second round was you know especially the obviously the Tennessee Titans wanted to move up to get Will Levis. You could have probably gotten three picks you know and maybe even like a two next year or something like that. So I would have traded that pick. You might have been able to trade that pick and get Joey Porter a couple of picks back. So anyway I wasn't crazy about that pick. The Keanu Benton pick I wasn't really too crazy about that pick either. Again though he's like you know an interior D lineman. You know sometimes for those guys if they have 4.5 sacks which is what he had that's actually pretty good. You know. But you know I just don't really know anything about him.

12:34 Steve I know well they said they said that he's a run stopper essentially like he's not he's

12:38 Chris not he's 300 pounds. He's a big nose tackle to take up some

12:42 Steve middle. I think he's going to be I mean at his best he probably could be like a case of Hampton. You know a guy who you don't hear about very much but he allows that he allows the linebackers to make the plays because he's sucking up one or two offensive linemen. I think I think that's that's on him. You know I think actually you make a really good point about Joey Porter junior. You're probably right. He probably didn't. Tomlin didn't listen to me said no I'm taking him no matter what. I bet you're right about that. And you're probably right. Like Kaylee Ringo went. When did the Eagles get Ringo. He's like the third pick in the fourth round. Like to me. Gosh I really like ring. I think that's a great pick by the Eagles. And the other thing I think I like what the Eagles did is you know just trading for like real players you know. Right. Like I thought that's I always think that's good. I think you can get steals on draft day and the Steelers really haven't done it since you know they went out and got bettas way back in the day. But it's just not what they do. Maybe maybe next year maybe maybe Tomlin will listen a little bit more if Joey Porter junior doesn't turn out to be a starter this year. The reality is is he doesn't really have to start this year but you really hope that you know he he shows up so well at training camp that they have to play him you know in the starting in a starting role against Patrick Peterson.

14:01 Marc So I'll tell you what though my two favorite picks I mean obviously the Broderick Jones is the main pick that I really like but my two favorite picks were the next two. Darnell Washington you know Daniel Jeremiah had him as the thirty third ranked player on his board. You get him at ninety three. Yeah that's that's an unbelievable value pick there is a Georgia Bulldog. And you know the reality here is yeah this guy actually I mean he can actually catch the ball and make some moves. Now you know the tight ends don't really need to catch the ball when you're playing down in Georgia. Right. They always have these great wide receivers but I'm telling you he can catch the ball and he can make some plays now. Fryer Muth I'm sure will remain the main option as far as a pass catching tight end. But this guy is going to give you way more than Jenfreak could give you. You know yeah. And and the others the other part of it I think is just a little bit not necessarily realized is that you know this guy is an extra offensive line and he is a big time blocker and they actually at times had Roderick Jones and Darnell Washington side by side blocking. And I think that's huge. I think that's a huge factor. And I'll tell you what man I have a feeling about Nick Herbig. I have a feeling about him. Now you know his brother was he was a former eagle. Is he. Oh wait. Is he also on the Steelers. Yes. I'm up didn't they. Oh my God. Yes. Yes. Thanks for bringing that up. Thanks for bringing that up. But you know in all seriousness seriously listen to these stats man. And the last two years in college football at a lot outside linebacker position 20 sacks 30 tackles for a loss for force fumbles.

16:01 Steve I mean he's a playmaker. No he is. And that's what I like about him. You know you can bring him in on third down maybe he gets to the quarterback maybe he causes a fumble. I think that's I think I like the pick too. And you know they got him in the fourth round. So once again you know you can you can stash him this year get him to learn maybe put him in there for some splash plays maybe Marc Robinson isn't going to be the guy maybe it'll be him instead whatever you know gives them options on defense.

16:29 Marc And I also did like the query trace pick too. He plays for Purdue and I've actually watched a lot of Big Ten games I've seen him play and he's good. You know he had to pick sixes last year. You know he's 6 3 2 0 6. Yeah. They also talk about you know maybe he could move to safety as well. So I think that's a really good pick late.

16:53 Steve So yeah well the reason he went late was because he blew out his knee the year before and he sat out the whole year before that. So yeah. So he came back and he looked good but everybody's still worried about that knee. You know it's one of those injuries. Actually the second year after the knee is when it should be OK. So they should be getting him fresh. But once again he's a seventh round pick that you know they don't have to play him they could play him in the nickel or maybe he's a special teams guy. Who knows.

17:23 Marc Right. Or who knows maybe he even you know like you know you get him on you know the practice squad and you know he gets called up a couple of games makes a play you know get some time if some people get injured. But he's a guy that it wouldn't surprise me if he develops into a regular player.

17:45 Steve You know a couple of years down the road. I think that would be that'd be a big surprise especially from a seventh round pick. But let's let's hope you're right Marc. Well take your optimism. Yeah let's see.

17:56 Chris He is the grand Schwab beanie and Daniel Reuben has the draft says the draft was excellent. E.G. is in the house of course always D.G. and Pat on track wants to remind us that we grade on a curve Steve. I still don't.

18:13 Marc I I'm that doesn't make any sense.

18:18 Chris Everything he says. Mike Lawrence a Schwab. There's a rumor in Georgia that Kirby Smart may go to the Eagles any truth.

18:25 Marc Sure why not. Offensive coordinator maybe. Yeah.

18:32 SPEAKER_01 Yes.

18:33 Marc We're that we're the bird dogs the bird dogs.

18:39 Chris And Pat comes back with can someone get Schwab or that she's out of my league bird backdrop or are there copyright issues. Yeah I. Yeah that's a movie Schwab.

18:50 Marc I've seen that movie. Yeah I've seen the girl with the webbed feet. Yeah. I don't know how that has anything to do with the Steelers draft but that's Pat. It doesn't.

19:04 Chris Pat on track let's get on track. So I I'm with I'm with you guys. I'm impressed that we kind of we you know first of all I nailed last year's draft with the Kenny pick and pick. And then I said they have to go get an offensive lineman a tackle and they get Broderick Jones and they follow that up with the cornerback. And I know you know we've had this discussion over and over and over again but the guy is a guy he's a talented player was either right one to pick at that spot. I don't know but you know you know they got him. But then following that up and getting a defensive lineman a nose tackle and we all that they drafted last year and then and then coming in after that and picking up that big tight end to play right alongside his buddy from Georgia. I mean that definitely to me first of all that was the Weidel effect. OK. They're looking at the trenches just like he did with the Eagles but they're doing it in a very smart way and they're putting they're going all in for Kenny pick it. They're putting him in a position they're putting guys around him. When you when you take that say a mall signing from the Eagles OK. And you throw him in as a starter on that line and you bring Roderick Jones in and you bring Darnell Washington in. Now all of a sudden you've got the makings of and not not to take anything away from the guys that have been in the trenches the last two years trying to put something together. They've got enough experience now. I think you've got the makings of a very good offensive line. And if that's the case then this year we can grade that Kenny picket draft because last year there was nothing to grade. The guy was running for his life and play and and in my mind even though I love the guy and wanted to see him in a Steelers uniform last year was kind of like welcome to the NFL. You know this year that line doing what they did. This is the year where it's OK. Now we get to see are you going to be a quarterback. You know in my mind he's got a clean slate. So I like that draft from top to bottom for the Steelers. I think that's they're heading in the right direction. As for who makes the picks I'm totally with Steve on the homeland definitely overruled everybody on that Joey Porter pick. I knew that was coming. We all knew that was coming as soon as Porter fell and the end the first night the draft was over. It was like yeah I don't even have to watch tomorrow night. I know it's going to be Joey Porter Junior. You know I mean we knew that he's more the other people know

21:45 Marc and we'll give you next year's one and this year's two and three. You got to take PCC's kid making the pay.

21:54 Chris Yeah yeah too bad. Yeah. So I don't you know as far as the other picks go I don't think there's any one person. I think it's a collaboration completely. And and because you know you see the draft rooms you know there's there's 35 people in some of those draft rooms. And so they think they have their board up there and then yeah there's going to be somebody who makes the final call or maybe they get to a point where they're like I don't know you know it's between these two. Omar what's your pick. But I think it's more of a

22:28 Marc collaboration. What I think is just so funny is that however many picks there were let's say there were like 260 or something every single one 30 people in every room are

22:41 Steve like yeah we got our guy. Right. And you know it's not like that you know there are some other people are like now that's the wrong thing. Yeah that guy. No not that right.

22:53 SPEAKER_01 Yeah it's like I did.

22:55 Chris I did love how how the bills jumped over the Cowboys to get that tight end. Yeah that was I did love that. Yeah it was fun. Yeah I can't stand the Cowboys anytime any chance. You know what I mean. I will say that I think the commanders had a horrible draft because they needed a corner. They needed a cornerback and somebody on the offensive line. You know they pulled a center in like the third round. I the corner they got. I think he's too skinny to play the game to be honest with you.

23:26 Marc I mean he was rising on the board so I don't know.

23:30 Chris Yeah but yeah but I still I still think he was too skinny. But that's just me. And I'm too old and fat to play the game so well they're waiting.

23:42 Marc They're waiting on a you know they need a new owner.

23:47 Chris Yeah they do. Yeah. So but yeah I think you know now what what's left to be seen is when we get into camp you know what's going to happen. How are they going to piece this all together. And we will have more for you on that.

24:02 Steve But I don't want to hear any any contracts that they're going to be negotiating at this point. You know I don't know of anybody who needs to be signed like between now and in the beginning of the season because you know once the season starts the Steelers don't negotiate contracts. So this is this would be the year if if they want to keep somebody for next year. But I don't think there's anybody for next year that's like they got to get signed this year. We should check that out though. Yeah well we'll leave that up to you. Yeah I don't think there is because I had been looking and nobody's been talking about well they still have to make sure that they get you know Deontay Johnson signed. Yeah because they signed him last year. I mean maybe pick ins but I mean he's only in his second year so now now he wouldn't know guy you know. And so I know I just I can't think of anybody off the top of my head where they they just haven't kept anybody for like three or four years. Nausea maybe. But you know they're going to run him into the ground and then cut him loose. I mean that's what everybody does now with. And if they want to they can pick up the fifth year option and he's only in his third year or so. You know next year they decide on the fifth year option. So I don't see that as being a big deal. No maybe next year Naji they might want to think about it if

25:21 Chris they want to keep him. Yeah well this is also going to be you know going back to the line issue. This is going to be something that helps his game too. So we'll see. Maybe maybe maybe they can use him a little bit less if he's more effective for rush because broader drones is protecting Kenny Pickett's blindside and and say a mall is opening up holes you know and stuff like that. So I think there's good things in store. I definitely think they improved the outlook. You never know whether somebody is going to be a player or not until you get on the field. But they definitely the outlook is good. I don't think there's anything you can say about this draft right now that's bad. So all right. Moving on here first want to thank you guys and let you know that we drop the podcast after every show on the I heart radio app Apple podcast Spotify or anywhere you get your podcasts and you can always hit us up online at the porch is live dot com.

26:15 Steve The porch is live dot com the porch is live.

26:20 Chris Not all right. I thought we had I caught you guys sleep in that time and every Sunday at 4 p.m. on American busker I heart radio. Thank you for tuning in. So the question right now I have for you guys is are the pirates for real. Are they for real. No they're 20 and 9. No no you don't think so. No. See I happen to disagree. I disagree.

26:51 Steve Well define real. What does for real mean. They're going to be a contender for the World Series. They're going to be a contender for the wildcard spot. They're going to be a contender for 500. What does for real mean to you. Not a minor league team. Well then they're for real because they're not a minor league team. It's clear that they can beat the teams that suck like they can beat Cincinnati. They suck right. They can beat. Who else did they beat that sucks. The Nationals Nationals. They suck right. So they can be. They didn't take two or three from the Dodgers though. Right. In the Dodgers right now or meh their 500 team. Right. So I mean but that being said they're beating those teams so they don't suck. So I mean I mean that's that's a positive for the pirates. But here's the deal. You know we've been talking about this a lot. The pirates have only played 18 percent of their games. OK. So oh my God Brad.

27:54 Chris If I had to get that comment up there.

27:58 Steve Hundred if they win team if they win 100 games I'm shaving my head. I'm sure I'm turning I'm turning bald if they win 100 games. Well first of all they're not going to win 100 games because nothing will sell half the team off before he lets that team win 100 games. OK let's just get that out there but where I was going with my thoughts were there. They've played 18 percent of the games and to put it into a stealer perspective that means that in the in stealer language they would have played three games. So in stealer language that means the Steelers would be 3 and 0 right now and they would have beaten the Browns maybe the Chargers on the road and say maybe the Eagles at home and they're 3 and 0. Would we be saying the Steelers are going to the Super Bowl. No we would not. We would say OK this team's pretty good. That's what we would be saying about the Pittsburgh Steelers. But instead because the pirates suddenly have you know the best record in the National League now suddenly everybody loves the pirates and they're the best team in the major leagues. Well they're really not really or not. They're just they're just playing well against bad teams because they've figured out to take advantage of the pitch clock. You can run and when you can run you can get in the scoring position. They get they're getting some time. They're getting some timely hitting now granted and that's good. And they are pretty good fielding team and that's good. But I promise you they will still be in contention for the wild card in July. The question is what will Nutting do whenever they need to go out and get somebody like maybe there's an ace pitcher out there who can guarantee them another you know six or seven wins to make them in contention to take over the division against St. Louis or Milwaukee. Right. Will he do it. I promise you he will not do it. If he does that's when I'll jump on the bandwagon and say this team is for real because for me for real means getting a wild card in the playoffs not to play in game the playing game is not a play is a playoff spot. The playing game gets you into the playoffs. I'm saying you actually get a wild card spot or division contender. And I'm with you.

30:27 Chris Now let me get hold on. It's Robert. Hold on. Hold on. Sex war. I just I just want it to be known that I think everybody wants to see Steve bald. And we've also we've also been able to get Steve to talk more about the pirates just today than I think he has in grand total for the last three years. So go give us your thoughts. Go ahead.

30:50 Marc Well you know baseball is a marathon and not a sprint. And so what happens is every team in the league has a really good stretch. Every team has a horrible stretch and then there's a lot in the middle and the good teams have a few of those really good stretches. Right. And what happens is everything usually comes back down the earth. And I think what you're seeing right now is you're seeing some Pittsburgh Pirates throwing up starts to career years. OK. For example does anybody actually think that Jason delay is a 390 hitter. No. Last year he hit 213. OK. I would say he's probably closer to going to end the season at 250 than 315. I'm going to be for if he's lucky right. Right. And then what's so wet ski right so. I actually really like him. I think maybe he might turn into something. He's got power.

32:07 Steve Yes he'll turn into a New York Yankee in next year.

32:10 SPEAKER_01 However however is he a 280 hitter because last year he hit 202.

32:20 Marc So I think you know last year was his rookie year before the last couple of days he was hitting over 300. You know so the bottom line is you know he's probably going to end up hitting 250. You know like the bottom line is there's just they're getting some great performances from people. They're getting they're getting like you know one walk 10 strikeout you know pitching performances which you know look look at the guy who pitched yesterday. You know he had some real nice pitching performances and then he kind of turned back into sort of what he is yesterday. Right. So the bottom line is is that you know I think it's great that they've started well. It's great that they're not like a minor league baseball team you know. And look I think I think what I've seen so far tells me I think they got a shot to be right around 500. And I think that's really really good. But you know it if you're looking at 20 and 9 and actually having hope of you know playoffs I think you're getting your playoffs.

33:31 Chris Yeah I listen. This is something that I touch base about on the podcast last night. And with that I want to remind everybody that we get the buckles report I give you your buckles report after every game on the podcast and I heard Apple podcast Spotify anywhere you get your podcast. But it's one of those things where starting off 20 and 9 the biggest point I think we made here that Steve made is the aggressive base running. I talk about this a lot. That pitch clock has definitely turned into something that if you're if you're a smart manager and I think Shelton is actually a smart manager you know you get aggressive and when you get aggressive you create chaos and when you create chaos there's going to be a point in which the other team isn't sure what to do with you. And if you had told me this year that Santana would have three stolen bases already Carlos Santana they already has 11 stolen bases. The team has 41 stolen bases. You know that is definitely an advantage. And then turning that pitch clock around the other side these younger pitchers that they have the pitch clock forces them to focus on throwing strikes because they only have a set amount of time. So you know Ray Miller said work fast pro strikes change speed. That's the key to pitching. OK. And these kids they have to do that. There's some older pitchers having problems with that. So you know I think you know as a team they're batting to 64. They have a 343 on base percentage. You know I think that the real test of the early part of the season and Pat put up a good comment here. The rule of 54 everyone wins 54 everyone loses 54. It's what you do with the other 54 that counts. I think that might be the first thing that Pat's ever said in reference to anything we talk about that I totally understand I had everything to do with the topic at hand and it did. Congratulations Pat. Welcome to the podcast. That's on track. But I think I think the the real issue is coming up. They have three against Tampa Bay and Tampa Bay three against Toronto. OK. Tampa Bay arguably having the same kind of start to a season. And what are they going to do with these six games. OK. Tampa Bay has a great pitching staff and they're hitting the cover off the ball. Toronto they've got you know their their pitching is decent. They're hitting is outrageous. So this is the real test for the first part of the season. If they can come out of this six game set with these two teams splitting it OK. Winning three and losing three then I'm going to be on that track of OK now they're putting something together. If they come out of it and let's say that you know they win five of six you know even that to me is kind of like wow they're kind of really playing above themselves. But it's good news. So here's the that's the real test in the beginning part of the season because I think you're right. You know the chance of them reversing to the mean is it's high and every time they lose a game now even though it's only one loss you're worried as a pirate's fan like oh here we go. We lost the game. It's over. You know so that's always a possibility here. Let me get this comment in from the D.G. They look like a real team remember last year when they were a laughingstock chasing a base runner back from first all towards home plate. And that's that's the thing that I think the McCutcheon and the Santana aspect brings to the team is that you know they're you know they're they're learning to win. They're learning to play professional baseball. And again therein lies the problem. A professional baseball team shouldn't be learning to play professional baseball they should already know how to play it. But when you bring that when you bring that influence in and then these guys learn how to win they've got a formula right now. I don't think they should change anything. You're right. Oviedo looked horrible yesterday. But the important thing about yesterday's game was the bullpen came in and shut him down for the rest of the game. So now they did have a seven run lead. So there was very little chance they were going to overcome that but the bullpen came in and did their job anyway. They didn't let it blow up and they had just dropped twenty three runs on them the previous two games. So do I think they're for real. I think there's a chance they're for real. And what is for real mean to me. It means finishing 500. That's what it means to me.

38:32 Marc Yeah. I mean I think we've anybody want to say anything. I mean the bottom line is I think we've seen this kind of thing happen a lot in baseball. It kind of reminds me of past couple of years like the Giants San Francisco Giants get off to a really hot start. Right. You know and then you know they're they're kind of in the wild card race in the wild card race in the wild card race to like mid September and then they kind of fall fall like four or five games out of the wild card race. And then by the time the season is over it's like the right around five hundred and they miss the wild card by like nine games. Yeah. I mean yeah but you but you I mean one thing about baseball is that you can you can hang in it for a long time. And that's that's what I mean that's what the pirates really have to be trying to do. They've got to try to hang in it as long as they can.

39:29 Steve Yeah. They got to get the fans. They got to be good through the summertime until everybody goes back to school and then nobody cares about baseball anymore because they got to get they got to get butts in the seats so that everybody can fill Nutting's wallet with more money. I mean that's really important thing for pirates baseball.

39:46 Marc Yeah but it is I mean it is big like if you think about these next six games are pretty big because you know like if they you know if they go forward and to let's say in the next six I'm not saying that they're going to still break five hundred but it also probably means they'll be around for a while. You know now if they go like right one in five in the next six then I think you could be looking at. OK here we go.

40:15 Steve Yeah but summers right around the corner so that's all that really matters you know. And you know I was in giant I was in giant eagle the other day and what did I see. Pirates banners everywhere. Yeah. Yeah. They're trying to sell all the merch they can wherever they can put it. You know they're trying to take advantage of every aspect of this this win streak. So yeah.

40:37 Chris Well and that's why if if they get to the point where they're getting close to the trade deadline and the team is remotely in the hunt. First of all you're going to have a lot more people buying products. Why would I mean nothing wants to make money. We all know that. So why would he sell off the team and lose the fan base immediately because his revenue would go down. Well all they have to do is stay in the hunt and nothing will let them be relevant.

41:12 Steve No it's simple because he doesn't want to spend the extra 20 30 40 million dollars for that player. He would rather take your 10 15 million dollars at at as you go through the turnstile and as you buy the beer and as you you know get the Primanti sandwiches. That's all. That's all he cares about. This is my problem with the pirates. Like if if he would pony up for that extra 30 40 million and they would be at 100 million actually think that baseball may have this right with not having the salary cap. And this is a different conversation for another day because this goes a little deep. But I actually think that maybe like if you spend seventy five to 100 million you can actually be relatively competitive in this game now. I don't think you need to spend like the Phillies are doing and like the like like the Boston is doing spending 250 300 million. I don't think you need to spend that much money to get a winner. I think you can get a winner now with like 100 million and the pirates are. The problem is they're only at like 40 or 50 maybe 60 million. Right. So they need to pony up a little bit more just to get in that relevancy. I mean that's kind of where the St. Louis Cardinals live and they've lived in that that land for such a long time they're very good at it and they're very competitive. That's the only difference that I see between you know being at that high level which I'm not asking them to spend you know all their all their capital and all their profit on on on a product that will know that will get them to the playoffs and will make it exciting. I'm not asking him to do that. I'm just asking him to take you know 40 million dollars out of his pocket that he's already getting from Major League Baseball and put it on the field. That's all I'm asking. I don't think it's I don't think it's cynical. I don't think it's crazy. I think it would make more people come to the game and realize that this guy does want to put a winner but he's never done it. He's done it once and then he took that away the next year after they won their 100 games. So oh and by the way regarding the 100 games Brad said you know something about you know pay for my Steelers tickets or something like that. Brad I'll make you a deal. If the Steelers win 100 games I will go to the football game and I will buy all the beer you want for as long as you want to be there. That's my deal.

43:45 Chris And you said that if the Steelers went on games we know you meant the pirates.

43:50 Steve Oh well the Steelers will win 100 games before the pirates this year.

43:53 Chris Yeah. Well I just want to know who wants to see Steve balled. If you want to see Steve balled where you want him to buy Brad's beer which one would you. I mean I I love you Brad but I think I'd like to see Steve without.

44:07 Steve I'll do both. I'll still shave my head. You're up in the air now and I will serve Brad beer because he's the one who brought it up. So he's got to get something out of it. Right.

44:17 Chris And my buddy from York the only Expos fan alive on the planet. He says they used to compete with a 30 million a year salary cap. Ninety six. Why. Yeah.

44:28 Marc Thirty million in 1980 was like one hundred and fifty million now.

44:32 Steve I think Tim rains got like two point five million of that 30 million by the way. Yeah.

44:37 Chris And you know this is going to

44:39 Marc know what he's got and we started to slide head first because he didn't want to mess up the cocaine in his back pocket. I heard that. Yeah I heard that story the other day. Wow. Yeah.

44:51 Chris Well and he should be in the whole thing though. Right. He should be in the Hall of Fame right. Schwab. They all should be in the Hall of Fame. Right. Is it.

45:00 Marc I think he is in the Hall of Fame isn't he. That's what I'm saying. Yeah he's probably. Yeah. Even though he ran the base pass

45:05 Chris with cocaine in his back pocket. I mean you don't think that was helping him. It made him innovative on the base pass. It. It's. It's.

45:13 Steve It's.

45:14 Marc It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. Think about how hard it would have been to actually see where the base was.

45:20 Chris Yeah. Obviously you know. Why do you think he dove in. I know.

45:24 Steve Why do you think he dove into that white base nose first.

45:30 Chris All right. All right. That's enough. OK. Well listen I want to thank everybody if they're listening to us. If you're watching us on live if you're watching us live on social media thank you for that. Of course we come across all social media platforms if you're listening to us on the podcast or you miss part of this. We drop the podcast right after the show on the I heart radio app Apple podcast Spotify or anywhere you get your podcast and you can catch up with a rebroadcast of this on the I heart radio app on American Buster I heart radio every Sunday at 4 p.m. And you can always catch us on the porch is live dot com the porch is live dot com I'll say it the porch is live. Dot com. And let's move on here because I know hockey Jesus. Well actually I want to remind everybody that I do your buckos report after every pod after every buckos game on the podcast so you can catch that. And let's move on here. DG says hockey Jesus did say the Rangers devils would be tough to pick. Any last minute thoughts. What's going on. Hockey Jesus.

46:38 Steve Well it is a big game seven. In New Jersey tonight. And now. Well so I can't go away from my pick. We can't. I can't go away from my pick. You know I did say that the Rangers would win it in seven games but I did say that you know I thought that the Rangers would be tougher. So I'm surprised that they haven't played a very tough game. They've let New Jersey skate around way too much. And I still think that the Rangers win this game unfortunately but I'm rooting very hard for the devils. Look the one thing about these playoffs everybody knows that Seattle is out in Colorado is also out for the you know the 10 people that watch hockey. By the way I saw something crazy like the Stanley Cup finals only gets for four million viewers or something like that. And the NFL draft had thirty four million viewers. The draft. That's why we lead with football. I mean that's that's that's just crazy. But I mean I get it. So hockey is a niche sport but it's so much fun to watch Seattle Colorado or out. I did get those wrong. I think everybody predicting games pretty much got those wrong unless you were taking the underdogs and all the other games in that case you only got two right.

47:53 Marc So I think not many of us followed the crack in this year.

47:57 Steve Yeah. So the crack in the crack in a really interesting game. I'm going to cover the crack in in my in my preview which actually the preview of the Seattle Dallas and the the Florida Toronto series I'm going to be going live with tonight. So look for that tonight. I'll do Carolina and whoever wins tonight's game and the Vegas Edmonton tomorrow. That way I'll I'll have it before the game starts so you'll know my predictions. The thing about this playoffs is it's all about youth experience means nothing. The the the Boston Bruins won the record amount of games ever in NHL and it didn't mean anything in a game seven. Why. Because they're too old and they're too slow. They had a rookie coach. They didn't know how to coach a game seven. And that's all that matters when you play against a hot guy like

48:51 Marc why did he not play their number one goalie.

48:54 Steve So as it turns out Olin was playing the whole series injured and he said he was he said he was OK. But everybody knew he had this this injury. Nobody's disclosing the injury. But I guess it got so bad in game seven that he couldn't he couldn't play. So that's just bad coaching like a coach will say look we have two really good goalie Swamin's a good goalie. Like there's no reason why he couldn't have played game six and then played game seven. You know that way at least he would have been in there you know for a game six a game they didn't have to win a game seven you have to win and you're putting in the goalie for the first time. Just a bad idea. So I think I think that's the lesson that I'm learning that it doesn't matter age it matters speed and it matters that you have a coach that understands your players. And I think Florida's got it going on now when they won that game it was game five in overtime. That was a big deal. They stole that game from Boston Boston. Boston really should have won that game and that that's what that's what that's really turned it for Florida and Boston had to lead once again in game six in the third period. It really remind me I felt like I was watching the Penguins play you know because the Penguins lost so many games in the third period. I was like how can Boston turn into the Pittsburgh Penguins and it suddenly struck me. They're old. They got slow. These young kids are just skating circles around them and they have to win the game like in a playoff game you win or you're out. So they just they just knew how to do it. So it's good fun. It's going to be really interesting. I mean everybody's kind of predicting in Edmonton Toronto finals now. I wouldn't go so quickly as to do that. There are some really interesting matchups. And by the way everybody should have seen that Seattle had a chance against Colorado. Colorado had Landis called their their captain out the whole time. The strew skin who supposedly has some kind of problems with alcohol I think is why he got kicked off the team. And and then they ended up losing Cogley on Oh in the in this in the seventh game because of a hit from from somebody from the other team. He actually broke a vertebrae in his neck on the hit and the guy didn't even get a penalty. So once again it's the NHL not being able to take care of you know bad situations on the ice. It's just terrible. But look if New Jersey scores first tonight they're going to win. If it comes down to the first goal whoever scores the first goal wins 70 percent of these game sevens. And right now it's 0 0. So it's still anybody's game tonight. So look for the hockey Jesus tonight. I'm doing two of the games I'm going to do a West Coast and a wet East Coast game because that's the way they're going to do it tomorrow. So those will be the Tuesday games and then on the Wednesday games I'll be doing that Tuesday night. So I'm ahead of the curve.

51:53 Chris There we go. There we go. Yeah. There it is. All right. Well listen up guys. Stay tuned on the sports porch for the buck goes report and hockey Jesus. We drop it after every Bucky buck goes game and hockey Jesus is following the NHL playoffs. Anything else you guys want to throw in here before we sign off that I miss anything. I'm kind of light headed down here smoking this cigar and

52:26 Steve grand game and so. Well you had a beautiful sunset we could see so thanks for

52:31 Chris sharing that. Oh you're welcome. You're welcome. All right guys listen now. Thanks for listening to us. Thanks for watching. Catch the sports sports podcast. Please subscribe follow leave us a review on the I heart radio app. Apple spot Apple podcast Spotify anywhere you get your podcast. You can hear us on American Busker I heart radio every Sunday. I didn't even know the music was playing. Say and the song is over. I did this on the Philly sports porch earlier. We're doing it. We love this song. Here it comes here. I don't know.

53:06 Marc I don't know the technical director should really be your name.

53:09 Chris Yeah I think you're I'm not in the studio I'm not in the studio. Go let's get these last couple comments in here. D.G. Thanks. Safe travels home Chris. Thank you D.G. Jeff my boy from your. Thank you buddy. Appreciate you being here. And that is it. This sports porch. We are out of here. We will see you next week.