00:00Let's get to your phone calls. We go to Will and Troy on 97.1. Hello, Will.
00:05Hey, how are you doing today, guys?
00:07We're good. What's up?
00:08I was calling because I just wanted to say when I saw that the Lions kept Dex and Meeks,
00:15the first thing that came to my mind is I wonder if they're going to shop Sam Laporta around
00:21and try to upgrade another position.
00:24Because I know there's rumors of Christian Gonzalez out there in New England.
00:28He got Laporta on the last year of his contract.
00:32When I saw that, that's the first thing I thought of because Laporta's going to get a big contract.
00:37And the question is, with all the contracts the Lions need to sign,
00:41is his of such importance that you want to give him that type of money?
00:46Very interesting. That hadn't crossed my mind.
00:49Interesting observation.
00:52They have to keep affordability in mind long term.
00:58You know, I don't think that's the case, Will, but he would certainly be a huge savings on the cap.
01:10Yeah, that's just what crossed my mind.
01:12I'm not saying they're necessarily going to do it, but I think they have that option now
01:16if the opportunity presents itself.
01:19Gator, what do you make of this take?
01:20I think it's interesting.
01:22They did this with TJ Hawkinson when they traded him at the deadline,
01:29whatever it was, early in that season, several years ago.
01:32Yeah.
01:33Because they knew they weren't going to re-sign him,
01:34so might as well get something for him.
01:36But the situation was different because that was a rebuilding team.
01:39This is a Super Bowl contending team.
01:42And one of the reasons they're contending is because they have a guy like Sam Laporta.
01:46So I would tend to think that's not going to be the case.
01:49But I like where his head's at.
01:51He's just trying to think of ways to, okay, but are you dealing with a position of strength?
01:57I think the answer is no.
01:58I think he might be looking at the wrong spot.
02:00I don't deny that they could be looking to make a trade.
02:03But I don't think they'd look at Laporta as part of it.
02:06I think maybe the defensive line because they are so deep there that that could be the spot that they're
02:11looking to trade from.
02:13Maybe a linebacker if that's a possibility, too.
02:16They're pretty strong at linebacker.
02:19And if you're looking to get something back, I would hope it's a defensive back.
02:23248-539-9797.
02:25Steve in West Bloomfield.
02:26Hello, Steve.
02:28How are you doing, Doug Gator?
02:30What's up?
02:32I just wanted to chime in on the young player that I think is going to have the biggest impact
02:38for the Lions this year.
02:39And my take is, although I like your guys' take because I think all of them will at some point,
02:47because of injury and so forth, I think are probably going to have some impact.
02:51But I think it's Keith Abney Jr.
02:53And my reason is that I think that he made so many plays during the preseason and in camp, I
03:01think he's going to start in the nickel.
03:03You know, it's really interesting, Steve.
03:05He may.
03:07Did you watch, by chance, the Lions inside the den from the draft that they put out on YouTube, that
03:13story about the draft?
03:16Yeah, I think I did, at least part of it.
03:18My favorite Keith Abney story is when he was drafted, there was a camera on him, and he kept saying
03:24to – I don't remember if it was Brad Holmes or Dan Campbell.
03:27He kept saying over and over, you got the best one, coach.
03:31You got the best one.
03:32And so I guess it was Campbell if it was coach.
03:34But he was saying, I'm the best in the draft.
03:37And he's a six-round pick.
03:41I like it.
03:41Well, he's their type of player, a defensive player that comes up and makes plays in the running game.
03:46They love those guys.
03:48Yep.
03:49He's fast.
03:50Now, keep in mind, I don't want to – like the way the club presented it, Blake Miller's the guy,
03:55right?
03:55He's the guy that he's going to start.
03:57He's going to play.
03:57But we're talking about some young players that are depth guys that all made plays in the preseason.
04:03Who's most likely to carry it over to the regular season?
04:06And Jacob Saylors, Tay Martin, Jackson Meeks, Skylar Gill-Howard, Derek Moore, Ahmed Hassanin, or Keith Abney.
04:132-4-8-5-3-9-97-97.
04:15Scott Anderson, are you ready for champ and chump of the weekend?
04:19I am.
04:20Okay.
04:20I will go first.
04:21My champ of the weekend is Josh Dobbs for taking the backup quarterback reigns 15 of 19, two touchdown passes.
04:30The two-minute drill was awesome.
04:32Now, to be fair, it was also against second and third stringers, but he is a second stringer, and that's
04:39what he should do.
04:40But to go eight plays, 76 yards, resulting in a touchdown, it was a concern whether or not they had
04:45the backup quarterback on the roster.
04:47And I think Dobbs seized the moment, and they needed him, too.
04:51Good for him.
04:51My champ of the weekend.
04:52He really looked like he had a command of the offense, threw the ball downfield beautifully, and then had the
04:58couple touchdown passes.
04:59There's a lot of candidates from the game on Saturday.
05:01He could go with.
05:02They could have gone with the offensive line, but I chose to go with the guy who ran behind that
05:05offensive line, and that was Jacob Saylors.
05:07Carried the ball 17 times for 100 yards on the ground.
05:10Had a couple receptions in the game as well.
05:12He secured his spot in the 53 for sure, but perhaps he may start the season as the number two
05:18running back behind Jameer Gibbs.
05:19He looked great.
05:20My champ of the weekend, watching college football, TCU.
05:25They had the nightmare opener.
05:27They committed 11 penalties, including the game ceiling, fourth and short, jumping into the neutral zone.
05:36These are the kind of games that you hope your team doesn't have in an opener.
05:41Michigan to Michigan State, crossing their fingers.
05:43Self-implosion and self-inflicted wounds.
05:46TCU, my champ, at a weekend.
05:48Who'd they lose to?
05:49They lose to North Carolina and Bill Belichick.
05:51Oh, the Fighting Belichick's one that game.
05:53Yep.
05:53In Ireland.
05:54It was nice.
05:55My champ is going to be Tarek Skubal.
05:58The story doesn't stop with Tarek Skubal, even though he's finally left town, came in, pitched Friday night, got plenty
06:05of people standing up and cheering for him, and deservedly so.
06:08There were plenty of people there to boo him, and deservedly so.
06:12But this whole nonsense with the espresso machine seems just a little ridiculous.
06:17It's bad enough that he's, you know, he had this espresso machine in the Tigers' clubhouse.
06:21He gets traded.
06:22And now he comes back, and he's able to pick it up and take it with him now, rather than
06:27just leave it.
06:28Why not leave it?
06:29The guys love it.
06:30You're supposed to be really good friends of the boys in the clubhouse.
06:32Just leave it.
06:33Instead, he says, oh, my wife said I should take it back because it's so expensive.
06:37I'm sorry, what's that?
06:39You threw your wife under the bus, and then she was talking about penny-pinching moves for a guy that
06:44just made $32 million this season in arbitration,
06:48ready to sign a money-cannon contract in the offseason?
06:53Okay.
06:53All right.
06:54Good for you.
06:56Champ and Chump.
06:57Get your votes in for Champ and Chump on the weekend, brought to you by Sarah Chevrolet, Sterling Heights.
07:01Let's go to Matt, who's next on 97.1.
07:03Hello, Matt.
07:05Hey, good morning.
07:06What's up?
07:07So my champ is going to be the L.A. Rams.
07:12I'm not a fan of them, but they have made significant moves to bolster their team.
07:18Congrats to them.
07:21Chump, just like Gator, yeah, it makes me sick, you know.
07:29Chump, Scooble, for the exact reasons that Gator gave, their espresso machine.
07:35Dude, you're stupid, Rich.
07:37You could buy a espresso machine every day and wouldn't feel a debt in your wallet.
07:43Well, that's a punk move.
07:45Oh, my best friends are in the clubhouse.
07:48Okay.
07:48Then why'd you take the machine?
07:50Cheap.
07:51Teddy.
07:53You know, how much do you think an espresso machine costs?
07:58High-end espresso.
07:59Because you know he didn't get a cheap one.
08:00Okay.
08:01Let's just say high-end.
08:02Like a high-end.
08:02Yeah, I have no idea.
08:04I have no idea.
08:05I have no idea.
08:05Hold on.
08:06Just don't get defensive.
08:07I just, I want to know how much an espresso machine.
08:09I'm excited about that.
08:09Gator, were you in the freaking clubhouse?
08:11Did you use this thing?
08:12I'm not defensive.
08:12I'm excited about this.
08:13Because I'm just, let's put a high price tag on it.
08:15Let's say five grand.
08:16Is that, is that accurate?
08:18Do you think, Kang, do you have any idea how much it is?
08:20Yeah, I'd say at least, I mean, for one, five grand for like a, I don't know how many
08:24espressos it could make, 20 grand.
08:26You know what I mean?
08:26Like, I doubt it was 20 grand, but let's just say five to seven grand.
08:30Okay.
08:30Would you say?
08:31Okay.
08:32I think I might be on the high end with that, but sure.
08:33It might be.
08:34I have no idea.
08:35An espresso that, you know, that's advertised on TV.
08:39All right, I'm looking at one right now.
08:40Williams, Sonoma.
08:42Okay.
08:43$5,500 for this automatic espresso machine.
08:46Let's say, let's say 10 grand.
08:47Okay.
08:48Let's say 10.
08:48Yeah.
08:48This is just making one cup.
08:50I don't know how many cups they'll, I don't know if you make a carafe.
08:53I think they're all single serving.
08:54Or whatever.
08:55Lande, bande, what are the sizes?
08:57Does it make macchiatos?
08:58Yeah.
09:00Um, yeah, I, I, this is like something that's never going to be on my radar that I'm ever going
09:06to purchase.
09:07Do you build a relationship with the machine?
09:10Are some better than others?
09:11Like, I finally got a good one.
09:13Uh, is it?
09:15Well, I would think that they're mass produced.
09:17So you just buy the same model and you expect the same results.
09:20I would think so.
09:21But is there anything, is there any defensive?
09:24This is basically what I'm getting at.
09:26I will say this in a, in an era where we mock athletes that go broke.
09:30Eventually, this is not a move of someone who's planning on going broke at any time.
09:35This is someone who is, uh, accounting for every penny.
09:40And, and, and, and, you know, maybe he wants to do his, his new teammates a salad here for
09:43the remainder of the season.
09:45But when he, let's say he signs a deal in the off season with the Cubs, he's going to
09:50take the espresso machine with them to Chicago.
09:52I, I am curious since this has become a topic.
09:57It's a ridiculous story.
10:00Do any commoners out there have an espresso machine, your own espresso machine?
10:08Any commoners?
10:09Is this the kind of thing that any normal person buys?
10:15Cause I, I, I have no, I've never, I don't think I've ever seen one of these things in
10:20somebody's house.
10:21They have the simple ones, the Nespresso that George Clooney advertises for.
10:26And those are count.
10:27That's obviously not a high end one.
10:28It's not a high end one, but they're, they're quality.
10:31Everybody I knows that everybody I know that has one loves them.
10:37Is there any way it was customized?
10:40Like it has his picture on it or.
10:42Oh, good God.
10:43I don't know, dude.
10:44I, I, I'm like.
10:46No, I did.
10:47I just, I just, I just, I just had flashes of Pudge Rodriguez and his own statue in front
10:52of my eyes.
10:53Sure.
10:54Yeah.
10:54I don't know what kind of espresso machine it was, but they, they're up to 50 K.
10:58You can get one.
10:59$50,000.
11:00Yep.
11:00There's a $20,000 espresso machine, a machine I'm looking at right now.
11:05Yeah.
11:05These things can get expensive, but I have no idea what his cause I'm guessing his was five
11:09to seven grand.
11:09I'm just guessing.
11:10It's a good thing.
11:11He makes $32 million.
11:12If it were 50 grand, would it be more understandable?
11:17If he went all in, I don't care if it was a slushy machine and I bought it.
11:21I'm taking it with me.
11:22It's like, if the headline, yeah.
11:24If the headline read man takes back what he bought, would anyone care?
11:28You don't know.
11:29I bought it.
11:30It's mine.
11:31Man keeps something.
11:31Yeah, exactly.
11:32Man keeps something he bought.
11:34Oh no.
11:36And people talk about how he makes so much money, which he does.
11:39Illich makes a lot more money.
11:40He could buy one for the team if he wanted one.
11:42If the team really wants one.
11:43Well, this is true.
11:44This is true.
11:45Two, four, eight, five, three, nine, 97, 97.
11:47Hmm.
11:48Well, maybe people can learn us.
11:50We need to be learned on this one.
11:52Not in our wheelhouse.
