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[Assistant] Same as Ryan. Oh, Ernest Gibbons. Alright, so who you pickin'? Who's your guy?


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[Assistant] I think, I think it's very close. So if you're starting a team with all the second best receivers in the NFL, you're taking Jaylen Watt.


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[Assistant] See, I'm taking T Higgins and here's why. You're a homer. First of all, I mean statistically over the last, I'll just do the last two years because Higgins has been in the league one year longer. If you look at the last two years combined,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, Jalen Waddell has a few more yards than Higgins, but not significantly. I think it's like a hundred more yards over two years.


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[Assistant] They have, I think, basically the same amount of touchdowns. They both play, obviously, with an elite number one wide receiver. Now, in fairness, the Bengals do have a better quarterback. Significantly better.


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[Assistant] Uhm, Dolphins have no running game. Bengals don't run the ball that much. But ultimately, the tiebreaker for me, because they're both great. I mean, it's one, you know, they're both fantastic. T. Higgins is 6-4.


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[Assistant] Yeah. Jalen Waddell's 5'10". I just feel like T. Higgins is gonna hold up better over the long term. If I'm starting a team, I want, I'd rep. Now, Waddell's, Waddell's faster than T. Higgins, but Higgins is fast enough. Yeah. Higgins can run any route. He's got amazing hands. He is a massive body. I'm massive.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I love having those big receivers. So ultimately that would break the tie for me. 18.1 a catch. What is Higgins per catch? He was like 14. Higgins missed a couple of games this year. How many games did Higgins play this year? I'm talking about durable, but he missed a couple of games. How many games did he miss? Just one?


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[Assistant] Wada was injured, but I don't think he missed. Well, Higgins, it's, it's, that's misleading. Because there was a game.


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[Assistant] But he didn't really, cause there was what, the game against the Browns. He didn't play. Or he played one play, I think. They're very close. I would say they're like- So that's two less games cause they didn't play in that, they didn't play that Bills game.


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[Assistant] So I think we'd all agree those guys in the top two. Yes. So who's the third choice?


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[Assistant] So you got, you mentioned Lockett, you mentioned Mike Williams, Chris Godwin. I would take Devontae Smith as the third guy because he's the youngest of those guys. I would say that maybe Chris Godwin is the best of those players, but he's come, he's had a couple of injuries. He's, I think he tore, what did he tear two years ago, his knee?


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[Assistant] Devontae, well that's even better numbers than I thought he was. That's crazy. That's, that's 1200 and 100. I would take Devontae Smith third.


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[Assistant] Yeah, yeah, they are, you know, and a lot of it was Jalen Hurts.


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[Assistant] But, uh, yeaah, they're a running team.


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[Assistant] Well. So which pair are you taking? Are you taking AJ Brown and Devonte Smith, Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddle, or Jamar Chase and T. Higgins?


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[Assistant] Hey listen, you can't go wrong. I would take, I think in the end you take Jason Higgins because the three duos are pretty close and those guys are the youngest combo.


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[Assistant] Uh, but, I mean, it's hard to pick against Tariq Gillis and Waddle. He is 29, I didn't realize that. As good as he is, not too much longer before he goes off the cliff. It happens for almost every guy. Who are you talking about, Tariq? Tariq, 29. Yeaah. I didn't realize that. Yeaah. I mean, Jamar Chase is what, 24? I would, man.


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[Assistant] Would you, would you even take Amari Cooper over any of those number two receivers? No. No.


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[Assistant] No. Right. And I like Amari Cooper. Yeah, I'm not. I'm taking Higgins, Devontae, especially if you factor in age. Okay, so Higgins, Devontae, Smith and Jalen Waddle taking them all over Amari Cooper. I would take them over Tyler Lockett.


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[Assistant] But if you factor in age, you're just- If it's age, then it's- Yea, without age, I'd still take all three. Even if I don't factor in age, I'd still take all three over Cooper. Probably.


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[Assistant] But it's close. I mean, he's right in that group. You know, Mark Cooper's somewhere between the 13th and 24th best wide receiver.


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[Assistant] Yeah, I mean, if you want to say, well, are there 32 number one wide receivers? No, there are not. I think Amari Cooper, in the grand scheme of things, is a number one, is a mid-tier number one wide receiver. That's what I think he is.


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[Assistant] But so are those three guys who are number twos on their team.


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[Assistant] No, I'm saying he's a mid-tier number one wide receiver. Oh, yeaah. Cause he's also, he's probably, he's higher than Cooper. Well, I mean, Higgins and Waddle are probably somewhere between 8 and 14.


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[Assistant] Well, let's not base it just, you don't want to base it just on last year's stats. Yeaah. But let's, let's think of guys we think are top 10 wide receivers.


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[Assistant] So, Jefferson, Chase, Cooper Kupp, even though he got hurt last year, Stephon Diggs, Devonte Adams.


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[Assistant] Well, Tyreke Hill, I don't even think we should say that. Tyreke Hill. We're not doing that in order, it's just 8.


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[Assistant] So that's eight right there. So then you still have Waddle, Hill, Devontae, Smith at best nine, ten, and eleven.


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[Assistant] Let's look at the A's. Texans, no. Patriots don't have anybody. No. Jets. Who's their best receiver? Garrett Wilson. Garrett Wilson's in that next group. Right, he's in that. He's got to, he's got to do it more than one year. He's in that 12 to 20 group also. He's moving up. Uh, Chris Olave is...


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[Assistant] In the back end of the 12th to 20th, but he's not in the top 12 yet. C.D. Lamb. Terry McLaurin. We tripped. Terry McLaurin, C.D., C.D. Lamb. I think McLaurin, I don't know that McLaurin is better than...


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[Assistant] Higgins and Waddle. He's right there. They're right there in the same group. C.D. Lamb's better though. C.D. Lamb goes top ten.


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[Assistant] I think. He's number nine in our definite top ten. And, we forgetting anybody, Mike? Why are you laughing over there?


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[Assistant] Uh, uh, 49ers. Nah, nobody top 10. Deebo is really good, but he's not top 10.


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[Assistant] I'm on Ross Saint Brown, not yet. He's 15 to 25.


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[Assistant] Uhm, I, I, I would say Jalen Waddle and T Higgins are 10 and 11. I think.


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[Assistant] And then probably Davanti Smith, Amari Cooper, Terry McLaurin right there in your top 15.


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[Assistant] Well, who's the best receiver on the Jaguars? I mean, Calvin Ridley hasn't played in two years.


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[Assistant] I mean, Kirk's in that, he had a good year. He's probably around 20, you know, early 20s, late teens.


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[Assistant] Is he a, is he a number? Yeah, I mean, he's, he's that, he's around, I'd say 15 to 20 probably. By the way, uh. He's in the conversation with McLaurin and Cooper and all those guys.


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[Assistant] Deebo Samuel's not top ten. Slow your roll out there, people.


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[Assistant] First of all, I'm never drunk. I haven't been drunk once ever in Cleveland.


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[Assistant] Not one time. That's dope. Last time I was drunk was my bachelor party. Wow. Uh, I, you know what? Dustin and I went to an Ohio State game once. I might have been borderline drunk. Well, then you were drunk.


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[Assistant] Alright, let's, let's talk, uh, some NBA, uh, first team, second team, third team, maybe the twelfth team, you never know. And we'll see who's the biggest homer in the room. Uh, Anthony, wanna set us up here?


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[Assistant] I can't even remember who, I think I was Luca and, uh, who?


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[Assistant] Listen, I love Donovan Mitchell, but I didn't want to be a homer about this. I, I, I looked at, you know, I had to look at the players and I understand that Donovan Mitchell's team is better. But to me, this is an individual award.


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[Assistant] Shane, why should Shane Gilchrist Alexander be penalized because he doesn't have better teeth, talent around him. The numbers across the board are, including the advanced analytics, are better for Shane Gilchrist Alexander.


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[Assistant] They made the play, or if they win tonight, they make the playoffs, they made the play-in, and he's their best player. I mean, he's been great. Donovan Mitchell's got all-star caliber players around him. I love Donovan Mitchell, but I had to go, Luca's the best guard. There's not even a debate there. I don't know what we're talking about here. But, uh, and honestly, if I was being a little picky about it, I can argue


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[Assistant] I know, but gee, in the end, outside of their standing in the division, there's really no other argument for Donovan Mitchell over SGA. Who, who, which team, which team had more of an increase in wins this year?


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[Assistant] Uh, Oklahoma City by a lot. I mean, the Cavs won seven more games than they did last year. Oklahoma City won 14 more. But they play in a trash Western Conference. Well,


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[Assistant] I mean, he's the sole reason they're a 500, they were a 500 team. The sole reason.


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[Assistant] I have, I'm really down on Harden. That's the thing, but everybody's down on Harden because he's never, he's been a choker in the playoffs.


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[Assistant] But are you basing that just based on how they played against them in the regular season? Nah, I'm basing- In fairness though, Jason, I do- between the two, I do think the Celtics are a better matchup only because-


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[Assistant] I mean, that's a decent favorite. The Cavs should win this series, but it's not a massive upset at the name.


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[Assistant] They do. Right now, they do. Right. Now, they don't have a lot of play, uh, play, neither team has a lot of playoff experience in terms of the players.


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[Assistant] Every time I see Anthony in like one of his heavy metal t-shirts, which he wears often, do we see that? Anthony's t-shirt. What does, what does that say? Uh, this is Ice9kills.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's a heavy metal band, right? I feel like I've gone back in time because when I was a teenager, in the 80s,


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[Assistant] Like, I, that was when, wasn't that the heyday of heavy metal, like the 80s?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The, uhm, what do you call it? Uh, the bridesmaids. So I was at a wedding years ago. Alright, shout out to my friend Ed, it was his wedding.


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[Assistant] This was in New Jersey, probably, I don't know, 20 years ago, give or take.


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[Assistant] And so you know how they throw the, the bride throws the bouquet and then one of the bridesmaids or somebody catches it. And then.


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[Assistant] Put that, you would have loved that. Yeaah. Put this in the chat, is that a white person thing? Only. Is that a white person thing? Yeaah. So okay, so this happens. So, so I'm at my friend's Ed's wedding.


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[Assistant] And his sister-in-law catches the bouquet. Okay. Now his sister-in-law was like absurdly smoking hot. Like it was, it was ridiculous how hot this girl was. Oh, like, like you, it's so hot that it's uncomfortable. It was uncomfortable. To talk around.


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[Assistant] You slide, you start sliding up the garter, like everybody's watching. Yep. And you keep going until she stops you. Awww. You fell above the knee. Now some, some guys, as we all know, are wimps. And they just stop at a certain point. I am not one of those people. Did you use your teeth?


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[Assistant] Listen, we'll get to Kevin Love and all the mental health stuff and that'll be really a cheery topic to pick everybody up. So, you know, let's laugh.


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[Assistant] Yeaah, I mean listen, when it comes to sports and really the military also, this is a major issue that, uhm,


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[Assistant] Guys are afraid to admit when they're hurting. Mental, mental health is a real problem.


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[Assistant] Dealing with mental health issues is a real problem and a lot of times guys in general don't want to acknowledge that there's something wrong, that you're depressed, that you have anxiety, uh, obviously PTSD for people that have been in the military, this is a huge problem.


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[Assistant] Uhm, and, and, uh, players get depressed. They have problems. Kevin Love, as much as we've, you know, I've ripped him for at times his play and said he's not all fame or whatever, I couldn't have more respect for the guy for what he did. I mean, what he did putting himself out there like that,


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[Assistant] We've seen two players in baseball right now that are on the injured list because they can't, they can't handle anxiety right now. So, and I think there's less


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[Assistant] Gee, I can't imagine being a kid, like think about being a kid right now. Like, if you got picked on in school, and I think schools generally do a better job of trying


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[Assistant] Now. You got home and you got away from it. Yeaah. Now, like, it's kids get picked on social media. It's freaking horrible. I can't imagine having to deal with that.


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[Assistant] We're not serious about it. Our state is going to do nothing to fix that problem. So that's, it's a lost cause, unfortunately. But, uh, yeaah. But, but I, I do think Kevin, if nothing else, Kevin Love talking about this has taken away a lot of the stigma.


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[Assistant] Because a lot of guys that are macho guys, athletes, and military, police, whatever, firefighters, uh, there was a stigma. And I think Kevin Love is...


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[Assistant] Has made it, made it less stigmatized. I think, I mean probably in some areas it remains.


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[Assistant] Uh, do you, have you met Yanis at all? Yea, yea. Is he as likable as he seems? Yes.


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[Assistant] I'd love to know from these Bucks beat reporters. Our Bucks writer's tight with him, I think. Yea, like, I'd like to know, cause he seems like the nicest guy. I think I told the story, like, uh, a friend of mine, his son, my son is friends with his son,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Was in Greece this summer. Did I tell this story? I can't remember.


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[Assistant] Uhm, he was in, he was, he's Greek and he took his family to Greece. They went to Greece for like six weeks over the summer.


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[Assistant] They have, they have two kids and my son is good friends with one of his sons. And one of his sons is a big Yanis fan and was wearing a Yanis jersey in Greece. And all of a sudden the kid gets a tap on the shoulder. I remember you saying that, yep.


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[Assistant] And he's like, and it was Yadis, he's like, you're wearing my jersey. Chatted with them, signed on. He went over to them! Yeah.


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[Assistant] It wasn't like they tracked him down and he was like, uh, whatever. Like Yadis walked up to this kid and said, hey, you're wearing my jersey. And he could not have been nicer.


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[Assistant] Basketball players having the toughest because of their size. It's, you know, I mean, I guess if you're a little guard, maybe not, but, but like a guy like LeBron, there's no way he's not going to be recognized. You can't hide. You know, even Mike Trout can go out.


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[Assistant] A little bit. A little bit. But not an actor. You know, honestly, maybe you guys think I'm crazy, I thought for a second, like, who is the athlete


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[Assistant] But he doesn't really like stand out looks wise, he's not that big. I feel like Jared Allen would be the most recognizable guy. He's got the big afro, he's extremely tall, like I feel like you can't, and in Cleveland,


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[Assistant] I would guarantee Cleveland has the highest percentage of people that at least have some interest in sports than almost if not any other city in America. Percentage of people, obviously not total people. Uh, I bet Jared Allen would get recognized even more than Deshaun Watson. Am I crazy?


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[Assistant] I was making a U-turn to get into the spot. He zipped right in. I didn't even think he saw me. But it was funny because we had him on, we interviewed him like a couple days later and I mentioned the story. And he's like, yeah, with his accent, I can't do his accent. But he was talking about, yeah, I had to get my juice or whatever.


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[Assistant] Well, because it's funny, because basketball is all about the stars.


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[Assistant] Zach Bell's betting about 0-50. Zach's on my side in the nailer. I know, I texted him about those things. Oh, I forgot to tell you this, he busted my balls about this. I said, when, uh...


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[Assistant] I don't like to get bogged down in one or two games yet. The, what's today, Thursday? The Tuesday game was awful. They got crushed. They blew one late yesterday, but I will say,


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[Assistant] I thought they needed another pitcher when the season started. I certainly thought they needed another pitcher, whether that's from the Miners or whatever, when McKenzie got hurt. Now we're not going to see McKenzie until June.


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[Assistant] Savalli's hurt. I don't trust police act. I'm with you. I know he pitched, you know, pretty well. Yes, he did.


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[Assistant] Uh, Quantrill hasn't been great so far. We'll see. I mean, I, you know, I'm not pushing him off, but he hasn't been great so far.


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[Assistant] They never knock. However, they've, and it's fine to be patient. Nobody's running away with the division. It's not a situation where you got a Tampa that's 12-0 in your division. So they're fine. However, it's probably going to be something they have to address in some meaningful way at some point this season.


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[Assistant] No doubt. And I don't think it's because of this reason, but at the moment, I'm not panicking. Emmanuel Clauset does not look quite right. No, he doesn't.


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[Assistant] His velocity is down. Yeaah. Now it's building up. It's actually going up. But then, yeaah. But it's not where it was and he just doesn't...


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[Assistant] He just doesn't have the same command he had either last year. I think he'll get there. I think he'll be fine. But that's what we, we always talk about this, Jason.


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[Assistant] You never know from year to year with the bullpen.


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[Assistant] Is they want them to get a little more. Yes. But it's also they don't want to start their clock.


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[Assistant] Once a guy is in your minor league system a certain amount of years, you have to protect him.


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[Assistant] Okay, well, I can't remember the exact amount of years up top, man. Do you know it? Uh, no, four or five. I think it's, it depends if you came out of high school or college. It's a different amount of years. Okay.


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[Assistant] Eventually, let's say it's four years. I can't remember exactly, but once you're in the minors for a certain amount of years, we'll say four as an example, don't hold us to that. If you're not placed on the 40-man roster,


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[Assistant] Now, the rule is, if the other team takes him from you, they have to keep that guy on their major league roster for a complete year.


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[Assistant] Many teams have at least a guy or two on their roster, if not four or five on their 40 man roster, that they can get rid of no problem. They're not that... They can create a spot. They can create a spot.


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[Assistant] The Guardians have no useless spots in their 40-man roster. Everybody on their 40-man roster is useful. If you take a guy off, if you bring Tanner Bibby, Tanner Bibby to the majors. Who gotta go? So somebody on your 40-man roster, probably somebody in the minors right now.


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[Assistant] You'd have to, you'd have to either trade them.


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[Assistant] Uh, or cut them out. And the reason Nolan Jones and Will Benson are, were gone this year is because of 40-Man roster spot. And that's unfortunate because they're both. It was good prospects. Now we don't know if either one's gonna, and the Rockies actually just called up Nolan Jones yesterday. Will Benson started the season with the Reds, hasn't done well so far.


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[Assistant] He wasn't good enough to keep a 40-man roster spot. They've, what that means is they've been great at drafting and developing.


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[Assistant] Whatever. That's why I've been screaming for Bryan Reynolds. Trade three or four. Oh yeaah. So not only if you make a move like that, it also opens up 40-man roster spots. If you traded for Bryan Reynolds, well now you have


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[Assistant] At least two 40-man roster spots that you could use because he's going to take one of them. You're trading at least three guys on the 40-man roster, probably. And now you have a spot to call up Tanner Bybee or whatever.


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[Assistant] Are you coming the same time as us? You tell me what time you're gonna be there. We're gonna be there 11 o'clock on Sunday.


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[Assistant] I appreciate that you're willing to help, but if you want to come down and help, that's fine. But I really, I'm like...


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[Assistant] Last year, I had a bunch of parents that were like, played baseball. I got two guys that are willing to help. They're not as experienced with, with baseball on their own. So it just the luck of the draw with the kids. I got a good bunch of kids, but the first two practices, the first two practices where I've done batting practice so far, I must've thrown 300 pitches.


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[Assistant] And I'm hitting the ball, you know, and my body's not used to this. I'm out of shape and my body's not used to it because my body's been killing me this week. Even with my weight, I rarely have back problems, believe it or not.


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[Assistant] I think that's why my, I think that's why my shoulder was hard to pick up. That was it. So it's really just like once we start the season in May, we only practice once a week once and that's fine. But right now we're practicing one spring break is over and spring break for Rocky River is this week.


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[Assistant] So once spring break is over, I'm doing three or four practices a week for the next three weeks. So I can't throw, I can't pitch every day.


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[Assistant] I'm getting close to having the kids that I'm going to have as pitchers. I'm in a real weird spot here. My son, okay, everybody's been Aaron, he has the strongest arm of any kid on my team. Wow. He has a cannon.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And he doesn't even really ask me to pitch.


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[Assistant] Right now I got him playing a lot of third base, cause he's like the only kid that can reach first base with a throw. I got one other kid, but he's gonna be one of my pitchers.


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[Assistant] Uhm, so, he's like overthrowing the first, like, I'm telling you, nine and ten year old, most of the third basemen can't reach first. My son is overthrowing the first baseman. He's throwing really hard, way harder than I ever threw as a kid. I played first base, I did not have a good arm.


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[Assistant] Uh, but I could throw, I could throw accurately. I was, I could throw that three, six, three double play. You're a command guy. Command guy. No, I couldn't pitch though. I pitched once, walked the bases low to give three straight doubles in my, in my little league career.


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[Assistant] And I said, and my dad was the coach and I never wanted to pitch and he was like, we need, we need somebody. He's like, I know you can throw strikes. And then I was so, I'd never pitched before. Anyway, not the point, but I don't know. Like I'm like, and I, my son's been working out at T3 out in Avon. Great coaches. Shout out to Bob out there. Shout out to Nick.


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[Assistant] But I haven't had him do any pitching yet, but I'm like, throw so hard, I think I might have to try him there.


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[Assistant] And I'm going to tell him no mercy. I haven't even, I haven't even had like, because of spring break, our first practice was, it rained, and then it was spring break. So there's one kid on my team I haven't even seen yet. I actually had this kid in Pee Wee League a few years ago. I did pretty good. And then a couple of other kids I've only seen one time, so.


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[Assistant] But I won't throw our time. How many years, like, my kids are third and fourth, yours are fifth and sixth. That's a huge difference.


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[Assistant] Kudos to the Tampa Bay Rays to be 12 and 0. Now listen, they have had the easiest of easy schedules. But 12 and 0 is 12 and 0. Boston's decent. The other games were against Oakland and the Nationals. And 9 of the 12 games they won are at home. However, to win 12 in a row,


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[Assistant] That was the greatest baseball team I've ever seen. Did they win the World Series that year? They did. They beat the Padres and I'm still bitter about that. 84? 84? 84. I'm still bitter about that because


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[Assistant] I knew the Tigers were going to win the World Series, but the Cubs had the best team in the National League that year. Alright, that was when it was still best of five in the Championship Series. And the Cubs had the better record than the Padres. The Tigers beat the Padres in the World Series.


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[Assistant] In 1984, for those who don't know, if you're young, you won't know this. The Cubs did not have lights in Wrigley Field. Yeah. Okay. I think they got the lights at 88 or 89. Hell, OSU didn't have, Oh, State didn't have lights until 1992. Yeah, but for baseball, baseball was unheard of not to have lights.


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[Assistant] The Cubs are the only team. In 84, the Cubs made the playoffs for the first time since losing the 1945 World Series. So almost 40 years since they've been in the playoffs. First time in my lifetime. I'm 13 years old. Okay, Cubs had a great team that year. They traded, remember the big trade they made with the Indians that year?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In 84? Uh, Joe Carter, Mel Hall. Who did the Cubs get that won the Siam for the Cubs? Blylevin. No. Sutcliffe. Sutcliffe. That's right, went 16-1 with the Cubs. And Hasse? Was Ron Hasse in that? Ron Hasse was in that trade. Uh, yeaah.


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[Assistant] The national, the Cubs were supposed to have home field advantage because they had the better record.


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[Assistant] The league decided to give the Padres home field advantage because they wanted more games at night and the Cubs couldn't play a night game. Oh wow. Can you imagine if that happened now something like that?


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[Assistant] All hell would have broken it. So instead of playing the first two in San Diego and then three in Chicago, it was the first two in Chicago, last three in San Diego. Cubs won the two games in Chicago. Rick Sutcliffe, in fact, hit a home run, I believe, in game one of that 80-core LCS. They won big. Of course, they lost three in a row in San Diego, including


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Two years before the ball went through Bill Buckner's legs in 86, the ball went through Leon Durham's legs, who was. Nobody ever talks about that one. Leon Durham, nicknamed the Bull. I played first base. That's where I got my nickname. Uh, I never do that. I never do that. I was a big kid. I played first base. I was a Cubs fan. Cubs first baseman was Leon Durham.


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[Assistant] And so Magic is a part of that group? Is he like the number two owner there?


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[Assistant] That's good for the league. Dan Snyder. But I wonder if secretly, now, Jason, the interesting thing about this and G,


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[Assistant] Is that now, Jimmy's gotta be pissed.


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[Assistant] You can't say Al Davis. People used to say Mike Brown. I mean, Mike Brown's got his flaws, but there's no way you can say he's a worse owner. As bad as Jerry is, he's not worse than him. No, Jerry's not. Jerry, I mean, I think the, I think Al, uh, uh, Mark Davis might be in the conversation.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think that that speech resonated with so many Americans, uh, going up against this kind of entrenched Washington behemoth. You know, they were everything the NRA is not.


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[Assistant] The Wayne that we saw in Columbine was really large and in charge of this huge dynamic organization.


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[Assistant] And so if you've got an F rating from the NRA and you are trying to get elected, good luck with that.


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[Assistant] You know, I want to do legislation. Let's do something now. I'll sign it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That Wayne LaPierre got with President Trump and knocked him upside the head a little bit.


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[Assistant] You know, before you knew it, there was no gun safety legislation and Parkland had produced nothing in Washington.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For about two decades, Democrats were running scared of the NRA. And I think Parkland changed that.


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[Assistant] She was gonna dig in and see what exactly were they doing. How were they spending their money?


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[Assistant] And the NRA is vulnerable to these investigations and to its finances that are ongoing. So it's just mired in internal.


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[Assistant] Problems and, you know, dysfunction.


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[Assistant] The NRA is the closest thing that a membership group can have to just pure patriotism.


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[Assistant] The gun is a symbol of freedom. The only thing that keeps bad government from taking over.


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[Assistant] It really has nothing to do with guns. It has to do with freedom. But things started getting more political.


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[Assistant] The safest place you could be with weighing in a gun back then was in a different state.


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[Assistant] Because he really did not know anything about guns. Politics yes, guns no.


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[Assistant] The NRA needed to go and show that it could stand up to the president, that it could stand up and it could, it could toe to toe meet him in the ring and bash his brains out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm Charlton Heston. We need your help to protect our freedom. The NRA's membership, if it had one political trait, they vote. It's that simple.


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[Assistant] You are a politician. You want to get elected. You want votes. The NRA has votes.


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[Assistant] Because the people that it resonated with gave more money. And this is what you need to do in order to keep that, that tough persona.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] ...was vilified by the NRA. It was almost like a personal vendetta. So they, you know, they shoot up one of their own.


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[Assistant] There were just more emergency vehicles and personnel helicopters than I'd ever seen in my life. I couldn't, I just, it was a surreal scene. I just couldn't believe it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No Daniel, and there was this growing group of parents that were growing in concern where, where was my child.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Daniel is a first grader at Sandy Hook Elementary School. I know that he felt.


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[Assistant] He felt a sense of responsibility to us, and to the nation, and to that 90%.


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[Assistant] of the country that, that wanted this. You know, I think he felt a strong sense of responsibility toward that and his, his, uh, disgust was palpable.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As your senator, I'll protect our second amendment rights. That's why the NRA endorsed me. I'll take on Washington and this administration.


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[Assistant] I felt this would be something that they would embrace.


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[Assistant] Huh. Huh. Huh.


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[Assistant] Huh. Huh. Huh. Huh. Huh. Huh.


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[Assistant] I said, what did I say? Take my name off the list.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What I say is what I say. And honestly, Megan, if you don't like it, I'm sorry. I've been very nice to you, although I could probably maybe not be based on the way you have treated me, but I wouldn't do that.


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[Assistant] I've never said I'm a perfect person, nor pretended to be someone that I'm not.


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[Assistant] Bill Clinton has actually abused women, and Hillary has bullied, attacked, shamed, and intimidated his victims.


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[Assistant] For America to bind the wounds of division. Have to get together.


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[Assistant] To all Republicans and Democrats and independents across this nation, I say it is time for us.


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[Assistant] For those who have chosen not to support me in the past, of which there were a few people, I'm reaching out to you for your guidance and your help.


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[Assistant] Allowed any information that turned out to be so false and fake.


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[Assistant] And that's something that Nazi Germany would have done and did do. I think it's a disgrace.


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[Assistant] That information that was false and fake and never happened got released to the public.


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[Assistant] But I will tell you, some of the media outlets that I deal with are fake news. More so than anybody. I could name them, but I won't bother. But you have few sitting right in front of us. Uh, so they're very, very dishonest people.


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[Assistant] It's all fake news. It's phony stuff. It didn't happen.


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[Assistant] Their victories have not been your victories. Their triumphs have not been your triumphs.


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[Assistant] One thing this shows is how far over they go here. Look, look how far this is. This goes all the way down here, all the way down.


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[Assistant] Nobody sees that. You don't see that in the pictures. But when you look at this tremendous sea of love, I call it a sea of love, it's really something special.


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[Assistant] We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry,


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[Assistant] Excuse me. What about the alt-left that came charging at the, as you say, the alt-right? Do they have any semblance of guilt?


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[Assistant] They all said, please Mr. President, don't mention any names.


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[Assistant] No, I will not mention any names. Very presidential, isn't it? Very presidential.


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[Assistant] We will make America great again. Thank you, Arizona. God bless you. Thank you. Thank you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's really, I guess it's very simple when you think you haven't heard this expression, but we are making America great again. You haven't heard that.


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[Assistant] It is my honor and privilege to announce that I will nominate Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court.


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[Assistant] It was extraordinary for a foreign leader to come into the United States Congress and use it as a platform to try and undermine, uh, administration policy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The history of Obama is a belief in his own ability to bring people of disparate views and cultures and backgrounds together, uh, to solve difficult problems.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Obama identifies with the Jewish community as the community that stood with the African American community in those very difficult fights back in the 60s.


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[Assistant] I regret that. I think if I were, if we were to do that all over again, I think we should have added a stop there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, I remember a, uh, time when I worked in the White House and I, uh, went to find the president and he was just staring at, especially, he was very contemplative. I said, what's on your mind? And he said, you know,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think I'm the closest thing to a Jew who's ever sat in this office.


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[Assistant] You know, I feel very close to the community and it hurts to be depicted somehow as hostile to the community. It bothers me.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That was done for political, uh, for political effect. I think he came with a mind toward inflaming, uh, inflaming the relationship.


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[Assistant] He and Dermer had placed their bet on the Republicans winning in 2012.


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[Assistant] Donald Trump running for president is a plane that crashes every day.


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[Assistant] There is news as long as he's talking. Uh, there's news even if he isn't talking, cause who knows what he might say.


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[Assistant] Stand by, you're gonna hear Donald Trump live. Because it tells you, if you wait long enough, something crazy might happen again.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What's the point to all of this? It doesn't make Donald Trump or what he was caught on tape saying any better.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But it just creates a lot of confusion and chaos.


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[Assistant] He has always been concerned with his ratings and with numeric values of winning versus losing.


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[Assistant] So the notion of having a smaller crowd than somebody else, uh, just eats at them.


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[Assistant] He gives a performance in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee that is basically a Donald Trump impression.


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[Assistant] I'm gonna go out there and get some drunk fan reaction before the game. I will not be at the game. Okay, drunk fan reaction is very good stuff. That'll be on the show Monday.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Also on the show Monday will be Bulls next, Bet Rivers Bet of the Day. Because hey Ohio, Bet Rivers Online Sportsbook is the place to be for every single game. Right now is the perfect time to join Bet Rivers because when you use deposit code SPORTS,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You receive a second chance bet up to $500. You can get in on all the action with weekly specials on your favorite sports like basketball and hockey to help you win big. Check them out at betrivers.com or download the bet rivers app today for the latest lines, odds, and boost. And today bowl, you have two bets. Tell us about them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And before we do, whenever we talk, Browns is brought to us by our good friends at Lincoln electric, Lincoln, Lincoln electric now hiring for great jobs. They're leaders in the manufacturing and welding field. Check them out at Lincoln electric.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, it's not necessarily a new game. I was just thinking of different ways. Well, it's a new title. Yeah, it's new to us. We're going to call it essentially smash your pass on free agencies where all right, if you like a guy or a girl or whatever you want, if you like a free agent for the Browns, assuming it's the right price, this is not, are there any women that we're putting


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[Assistant] No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,


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[Assistant] But uh, real quick, before we start this, Cam Newton's not on this list. Okay. We talked about Cam Newton yesterday with G and Brad. Okay. Bolt, just real quick, your thoughts on potentially bringing Cam Newton to Cleveland. He's not on this list.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We have 16 players that I came up with. These were 16 of the biggest name free agents left.


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[Assistant] If you think at the right price they would help the Browns, give me the happy face. If you think they have no ability to help the Browns this year, give me the sad face. Baby Bull, you are Bull's de facto faceperson. Are you guys ready? Free agent number one, Ezekiel Elliott.


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[Assistant] Mamadie. You said I was at a party. Wow.


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[Assistant] For the right price, would you guys welcome, Clowny. Back to you.


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[Assistant] The Browns need a linebacker, or at least we all agree that's the weakest position on this defensive unit. What about Anthony Barr?


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[Assistant] And last up on the first page, an Ohio State guy, Brad. Eli Apple for some secondary depth.


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[Assistant] A guy who's also often injured but when he is on the field has been pretty good. We talked about him in the past, Taylor Luan.


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[Assistant] No. I'm just reading chat. What the hell is that? I'm just reading stuff from chat right now.


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[Assistant] How do you not know White Man Kids Show? It's a iconic movie! I've seen that movie, I just don't remember. A veteran defensive back, Logan Ryan, way less productive than he was in 2021, but has been pretty productive over the last five years, if you look in totality.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, next up, a guy we talked about earlier in the week, Al Woods, fits the same profile as Akeem Hicks. Big guy, run stuffer, take a chance.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Ah yea, run em through. Give me, give me each one of you go. Yeaah. You start, Brad Bull you finish. Give me your thoughts on all fours.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] PCC Airfoils is a leading manufacturer in Northeast Ohio. All locations of PCC Airfoils in Eastlake, Mentor, Wycliffe, and Minerva are hiring for positions starting at $18 and up. Plus full benefit packages, paid time off.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] End of signing bonus, you can apply online at precast.com slash careers to learn more. Loco Oreo in the chat said, come on McNuggets, no one's better than we already have.


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[Assistant] And my point of doing this is when these names get brought up, we now have it on the record. You can't flip-flop.


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[Assistant] You have either said yes or no to all these guys if it gets brought up and they're like all of a sudden, yeah Jarvis Landry's not a Hall of Famer anymore, G. We got it on the record.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For asking a question about Lamar Jackson, well, you can see in the clip. Steve, you can take it and replay it.


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[Assistant] The Ravens reporter tried asking a question about Lamar. The PR person, which is why it's quiet, is off camera, off mic, says, hey, no question about Lamar. He tried asking again, they kicked him out of the press conference.


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[Assistant] Keep it going, I'm working with Jay back here, uh, he's at Progressive Field, I talked to him, he sent me a picture, he's chilling. He just can't figure out how to get in, so.


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[Assistant] Beautiful looking shot from Progressive Field is where we find our guy Jay Crawford. What's up, Jay?


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[Assistant] It is 12 20, which means it's time to remind everybody the lunch hour of the ultimate Cleveland sports show is sponsored by Collegracing. Collegracing, the official NASCAR team of Northeast Ohio.


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[Assistant] Do you remember when Jason Lloyd joined us from Arizona last week? The chat roasted him.


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[Assistant] Well, I'm not sure if he's coming back in as the issue. Alright, let's roll some. Do you want to read this anyway or should we read it for you? Yeah, yeah, yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, we got, Jay puts an Apple sticker over his HP logo on his laptop.


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[Assistant] And last but not least, from Joseph Roscoe's J Models for Community College brochures.


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[Assistant] And we'll go around the horn after. Savali Shipwrecks Mariners again. It is time to start believing. He doubled up on again.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh, you did one? Guarantee I have the best one today. Okay, we're going to yours now, we're going to G's. No, we're going to mine, uh, last, it's in order. G's up next.


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[Assistant] They're about the same age at least. I appreciate that Mrs. Dash you gave me. Bell's 30, turns 31 this year, so he's older than Jose.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is, uh, Orange Fanta Pop from Macab's Game.


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[Assistant] bring in Justin, I want to the lunch hour of the ul sponsored by calling racin


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[Assistant] Later this month, the Great Lake Collectors Convention presented by Greenie SportsCard is taking over the Fieldhouse in Independence, Ohio, April 14th through the 16th.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's where the passions of sports fans, collectors, and sports talk enthusiasts collide.


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[Assistant] Card shop live theater with interactive appearances from the region's most notable sports media members including G. Bush, Adam the Bull, Jay Crawford, and many, many more. Great cards, great location, great show. Tickets on sale now at greeniesportscards.com and you can win some free tickets.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] By heading to WKYC.com slash contest. We're giving her out, giving out four VIP passes for the weekend and 20 free admission tickets. Check it out. WKYC.com slash contest.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Thanks again, Justin. And that interview was brought to us by Collegracing, the official NASCAR team of Northeast Ohio. We bring Justin out. Let me tell you guys about the membership platform and program of the Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For just $1.99 a month, you can become a starters tier member of UCSS that gets you loyalty badges, custom emojis, and members only community posts.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For the big ballers out there, for $4.99 a month, less than $5 a month, less than $60 for the entire year, you get put in the coaches tier. That gives you all the same starter tier perks, plus,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Overtime videos, member shoutouts, discount codes for merch, and much more, including the opportunity.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To sh- uh, text with Jason Lloyd and others for select cabs, guardians games, etc. It is worth the price of admission, I promise you. For overtime today, as we do every Friday, we answer your viewer questions. We got a couple great ones so far, but we're gonna make it quick today, so we can get down to progressive feel with Justin and the rest of the, uh, guardians fans to enjoy. Well, we got 15 minutes left.


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[Assistant] You just asked Justin his favorite opening day memories. What are some of your guys favorite home opener memories?


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[Assistant] I have two more things I want to get to about The Guardians. This breaking news.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As of the last two minutes, it's silly breaking news with breaking news. Take a tag board.


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[Assistant] It's kinda like G's belt, it's just you can't see it wrapped around. I want that belt at some point.


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[Assistant] Yeah, very low odds. Uh, last one I wanna ask you guys. Paul, you put this in our chat yesterday.


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[Assistant] And I have not been here long enough to know whether it's true or not. So I'm curious what you guys take.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is progressive field, and is the clea- Cleveland...


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[Assistant] No, you are not wrong. It is also Friday and until 12 56, I had forgotten about this. What's that? And this is the thing we're missing with Earl, but I got to give you guys your college racing report for the upcoming week.


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[Assistant] The Xfinity series is off. So that takes that off my plate.


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[Assistant] The Cup Series is at the 1 NASCAR track. I know they're at Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend. For the Food City Dirt Race, AJ Almendinger has had success there in the past. I know that because I used to work in Bristol and I covered the race where Almendinger finished in the top 10.


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[Assistant] So we got some good experience there at the fastest half mile in the world. The race is Sunday, nine, uh, seven PM, excuse me, Sunday, April 9th.


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[Assistant] On Fox, check out Almond Dinger, the other colleague racer. Should be a great race. How's that?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The Amazon one is a scary one because you trust those. Oh yeaah. I didn't know that. I didn't know you


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I think we can just about say that. Now is it the 22nd, 23rd of January, 23rd of January. Yeah, so we're nearly out of, uh, New Year greetings. But, uh, well, the New Year has started with a, with a bit of news, bit of breaking news. It has, it has, with the New Year. Yes.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is, this is a bit of a change to our calendars that we've become used to, uh, potentially, uhm, with the announcement of the Madrid race.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's a big, big announcement to have a change or a new venue for Formula One, especially in the heart of Europe.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, the area it's in appears to be some sort of, uh, commercial district and, uh, there, there's some heavy, a lot of emphasis on its...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, and getting in and out would be easier. It'd be more like going to a football stadium, I should think, because it looks like the transport system is all in place and it's very near the airport. So as far as the, the,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, tracks have been, there's always been a desire to get race circuits and sporting events as close as possible to population densities for obvious reasons. Hotels, you know, accessibility and all the rest of it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, you have to say somewhere like Silverstone is a, is a long way from the capital city. I mean, it's in the center of, of Great Britain, so it's can draw in quite a lot of population centers around it. So it's very conveniently placed in the middle of the country. But uhm, you know, Barcelona is a bit of a trip outside.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, the main city of Barcelona, which is where most people stay. And so it requires a lot of traffic to come in and out, um, and park around the circuit. And it was a, uh, one year it was a bit chaotic. It was, it was a lot of people, like I said, a lot of people very angry and very hot.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I would say Barcelona without wanting to, um, you know, to exacerbate their, there must be a little bit crestfallen having seen the race go or being announced to go to.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Rival city, let's say Madrid is quite famously, uhm, not Barcelona. And they've got their rivalries between the two regions, but uhm, the circuit itself in Barcelona was, I would, I have to say was never a great race track. Uh, the problem with Barcelona


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Was that the, the corners were very constant radius and medium to high speed and it really put a limit on being able to, cars being able to race there has got a fantastically long straight, which was helpful.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And they only recently brought back in the quick corner before the last corner which helped a little bit I think with cars getting close to each other and the new regulations but the problem with Barcelona was it


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, I don't think those things are really considerations, uhm, that, that are...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, terribly important. I mean, if you're coming back to Europe and you start in Madrid, well, that's great too, but uhm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If it means that we keep a race in Europe and Madrid has stepped up to the plate there, then that's a good thing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, it's uhm, it's a factor. It was Singapore, a big one, you know, a big one. You know, he got polling once, didn't he? But uhm, but anyway, uhm, but, uh, Singapore, I mean, it's


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, it's good that we have two Spanish drivers. I can remember when I was racing, there were no Spanish drivers at all. And you could, you could holiday in Spain and no one would recognize you. And, uh, so there was no interest.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, if you were Carlos Sainzini, you would have, you probably wouldn't be able to live in Spain for, for attention. But, uhm, so now you've got two, two big names in the sport, Spanish names and of course.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The Spanish speaking community around the world is, I think it's the second most spoken language next to Chinese. I think so, um, it's, uh, there are lots of, uh, Spanish, um, you know, uh, speakers out there as well. So the, having Checo as well as, as the other two, um, Spanish drivers, it increases the interest, I think.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's extraordinary at his age, and I shouldn't say, you know, at his age, really, cause it, it doesn't sound like it being very polite and respectful to someone because he's still fit and, uh, and healthy. But, uh, you know, he's.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think he's 60, isn't he? There's something around there. Anyway, uhm, so he, he, he's, uh, he's flying the flag for us Olden's.


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[Assistant] It's, it's, it takes a lot out of you doing the power of Dakar, uh, the, not the power of Dakar, the Dakar. Uhm, so, you know, he, he's done amazing, amazingly well. I asked him when he won the last one, he did in, he finished in Saudi Arabia and, uh,


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[Assistant] So he, you know, he gets such a lot out of this and he's given so much as a megastar, so.


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[Assistant] Incredible. Congratulations to, to, uh, King Carlos there for an amazing performance yet again.


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[Assistant] Hilarious and uhm, you know, he's, he's always one step ahead. He's got this incredible sixth sense for what's going on around him. So both politically and tactically in a race and he's quick. So.


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[Assistant] Honestly, I would be amazed if she's still going by then, but...


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[Assistant] Uh, you know the difficulties they're going to have in, in extracting, uh, consistent.


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[Assistant] Performance from the cars and so the, this kind of move towards a tighter twist, twist your circuit.


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[Assistant] You know, it is, it is going in the direction of, let's say Formula E, which is, which has chosen to have its races in city centers.


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[Assistant] And also on very, it has to be say restricted circuits. So I hope that that's not an indication of, of a, uhm,


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[Assistant] With the race in Vegas, we had a very, um, annoyed Max Verstappen talking about the nature of circuits and the kind of circuits he'd like to race on. But, you know, the fact is that Formula One has to adapt to, to new, um,


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[Assistant] You know, I hope it'll be an exciting circuit. And the most important thing is the racing is exciting and the cars can race on there and then we'll, we'll be happy.


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[Assistant] Yeah, I think, I think it's a big question. I think we have to, uh, we have to really...


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[Assistant] Be sure that we are not moving entirely towards a kind of very tight, twisty, restricted kind of race track, which is, which doesn't allow Formula One cars to do what they've been famous for doing, which has been, you know, to stretch their legs on the big tracks like Silverstone and Spa and, and,


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[Assistant] Uhm, and I believe you've got 21, or 20 corners on this very shortish, it's only a 5-odd kilometer racetrack, so that sounds like it's a very tight and twisty circuit they've got laid out already, so uhm.


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[Assistant] And no apparent massively long straight, which they have in Vegas. And Baku, of course.


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[Assistant] Well, it's a mixture, isn't it? You know, you want, you want variety. Uh, and I think that on balance having a circuit that is close to a major city centre is, is a good thing.


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[Assistant] Uhm, because it does it in, improve the, you know, all of the experience that you're going to get if you go to a Grand Prix. Uhm, and I'm sure, you know, I'm sure they'll work it out and, but we do need also to keep the, the Spars and stuff. I mean, I mentioned Spar, of course, Spar was actually a street, street turkey. It was actually.


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[Assistant] That's Formula One or Motorsport started on. We're just roads, so.


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[Assistant] This is not, this is nothing new, uhm, in effect it's, it's a kind of almost, uhm,


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[Assistant] Okay, here we go. Chris Jones franchise tag, I believe, right?


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[Assistant] He said that he wasn't gonna show up unless he got a long-term deal done. He was a...


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[Assistant] Absolute monster for this Chiefs team down the stretch. That Titans game, when Derrick Henry was running all over every human on earth, Chris Jones became a disruptor to the offensive line, a disruptor to the Titans game plan, and then obviously against the San Francisco 49ers, the same damn thing. Stone cold!


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[Assistant] To remain and retain a great defensive player just like they locked up on the offensive side of the ball for years to come.


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[Assistant] Well Kelsey, everybody's thinking Kelsey is gonna be the one who has to get paid next and there's gonna be a decision between Kelsey and Tyree Kill is what everybody's thinking.


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[Assistant] If you have a couple Super Bowls and you love your team environment, maybe that's when the conversations can happen about what, what Tom Brady was doing. And like, maybe they'll want to do something or you have two Super Bowls. You've accomplished everything you could potentially accomplish any or no pro. It's like.


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[Assistant] Alright, I'm gonna go get broken off somewhere else. We did everything we could possibly do. There's two very different ways this dynasty could go. I'm assuming it's gonna be maybe a mixture of both, but they got two.


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[Assistant] Really, really pillar players on both sides of the ball now locked in for at least the next couple of years, but they're going to have cat problems somewhere. I mean, they have to, they would have to.


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[Assistant] Hello everyone, a very warm welcome to this week's episode of the Sky Sports F1 podcast. Now I'm joined this week by someone who knows exactly what it takes to perform at the very highest level of Formula One. He was Max Verstappen's performance coach and also physio from 2020 all the way through to last year. Please welcome Brad Scanes. Brad, hello, how are you? Hi Matt, thank you very much for having me on.


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[Assistant] Yeah, very good to have you. Uhm, look, you, you, I alluded to it there, you've obviously just left Formula 1, so tell me, how is life post, post Formula 1 not going to 23, 24 races per year?


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[Assistant] These guys sweat out, uh, a lot. Yeah, yeah, that's all the stuff you don't think about, blimey. So no, I wanna get your thoughts on, on, on...


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[Assistant] How did it feel to come into that set up? You mentioned there obviously the strength of that relationship with his dad and with Helmut Marko and that there seems quite a sort of small in a circle around Max that is a very strong unit. How did it feel to come into that unit? How easy did you find that?


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[Assistant] When you went to meet him in Barcelona four years ago, did you ever expect the job would entail what you've just outlined? Did you think you would essentially end up making what sounds like


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[Assistant] Friends for life, you know, become part of your extended family. There's very few jobs in sport maybe that have that closeness, that relationship with. I don't know, I don't know if you agree.


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[Assistant] How did you, how did you find then fitting into the culture of Red Bull? Because from the outside it does seem like this incredible


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[Assistant] Partly as this confidant and friend, but you're there ultimately to, to be bad copped in a sense, right, to train Max to make sure he's hitting those targets and in the best physical shape he could be. So were there ever any tensions between wanting to go out, wanting to party and then not being able to, and you having to pull the brakes on it and just kind of go, actually, no, this is why we're here.


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[Assistant] You mentioned Singapore there and as well as Singapore, there's, there's been some amazing moments for Max, of course, over the past, uh, well, the past four years that you worked with him, but also some, some tougher moments as well. And I wonder if we could go back to 2021, obviously in the end, Victorius, and you said earlier, there were obviously moments where you'd have to learn to finish second. How does your job change?


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[Assistant] In, in those, in those moments of increased pressure, I, I think back to 21, it's, it's almost one of those where you do have to just keep reminding yourself of how ridiculous that season was in it going down to the last lap of the last race. The tension built and built and built. How do you,


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[Assistant] How do you keep his mind focused? How do you do your job well in order to help him obviously, you know, end up victorious?


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[Assistant] Yeah, incredible to be a part of that. Did Max change at all during that process? When you look at him now and obviously having this domination that


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[Assistant] Did you almost feel like 21 was the making of him? Like, being able to go neck and neck with Lewis Hamilton, seven time world champion, it just, there was never any doubt that he had the talent, but it,


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[Assistant] Being able to, to, to do that and obviously come out the other side. Was there any change in his, in the way he did things or, or any little, little stories that you've got about that?


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[Assistant] Yeah, 20, 24 races this year. So he's going to get good, good, good practice at doing that. And a lot of rumours at the moment around Formula One and in relation to Max and his future and he's obviously gone on record in the past and said he, he's not going to be someone who's going to be racing into his forties in Formula One. He's, he feels like it's a more of a kind of, I want to


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[Assistant] Dominate, I want to do short term thing and then want to go race other categories, maybe race with his dad. There's all sorts of things open to him.


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[Assistant] It's being spoken about enough in the sport. Obviously you've had a bit of a removal now. You haven't been in the sport for a while. Do you think the sport is taking seriously the burnout? You know, it's not like get the tiny violin out for Max Verstappen who's on a crazy million pound contract, but


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[Assistant] The, the, the, obviously the money goes to that, but a lot of those players are citing the reasons they want to leave is because they don't want to be away for 24 weeks a year. They want to be 16 weeks a year. So yeah, what would you make of what, of what the sport is doing to combat that?


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[Assistant] Do you, do you miss it? You said, you said at the beginning that, that you found it a little bit hard to adjust to life without, without Formula One and, and just tell me what, what your life looks like now. What are you, what are you up to?


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[Assistant] Would it, would other drivers spend in the gym or is it, is it kind of a one size fits all?


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[Assistant] Who was the fittest Formula One driver on the grid, in your view?


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[Assistant] On that, what sort of foods are you recommending a driver eats during a race weekend?


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[Assistant] Yeah, that's really interesting. And I guess, yeah, from, from when you're having those conversations about water and with the engineers, you go, well, you could be the fastest car on the grid, but if the driver isn't at their peak performance to operate the car to its maximum, then what's the point? You, you, yeah, you, you're shooting yourself in the foot. Very, very interesting.


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[Assistant] Fascinating, that was such an interesting job. Final question, how often did Max play FIFA before sessions?


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[Assistant] I mean, just, this seems to be his way of switching off, right? Playing FIFA. That seems, that seems to be it. So did you, you used to play with him, did you over race weekend or in your down time?


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[Assistant] There's nothing he's not good at, is there? He's one of those annoying people who's just good at everything he turns his hand to.


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[Assistant] Uhm, but we're going to be on air from 3am for FP1 on Friday, 6.45am for FP2. And then you can enjoy the FP1 show over breakfast at 8.15. Saturday FP3 kicks off at 3.15am, before we'll build up to qualifying at 6am. Then Sunday we're on air at 5 for a race start of 6. Definitely don't miss those, do you Brad?


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[Assistant] Nice one. Brad, thanks so much for your time. Really appreciate it. I appreciate it. Amazing what it's like to work with Max. Sounds like you're doing great things as well, even after F1, which is brilliant to hear. So uhm, yeaah, we'll be back next Tuesday after the Japanese Grand Prix. Hope you can join us then. Bye for now.


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[Assistant] Yeah, I think it's been good. I think it's been a much more positive end of the season that we all feared maybe at the start of the season. Yes, some of the championship was tied up really early on, but there was so much still going on in those last few races.


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[Assistant] I think I was never fortunate enough to be in that very favourable position as a strategist to be fit to, ehm,


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[Assistant] Throw the dice with the points. I missed that quote actually after the race and it's surprising that


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[Assistant] Well, I guess they have margin to go for that. So I can see why it's important to have another record on the board.


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[Assistant] Um, but, you know, for people that often mightn't say we're not that concerned about records, we don't care how many we win in a year.


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[Assistant] But then to say, oh, we're actually running a suboptimal strategy to do it. I, I looked at it and assumed that their strategy was more, they had the margin to cover off others, so.


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[Assistant] Go for it that way, but uhm, it just goes to show how driven he still is at the end of a really strong season to be thinking of what else can he do? What is the next target out there?


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[Assistant] Well, I was going to say exactly what I think Ted was going to say at one point, and that I think when you look at the driver stand-ins, I think


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[Assistant] The driver who's outdri- I class the driver of the year as the driver who's outdriven the car.


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[Assistant] The driver has performed better in the car than I think other people could have done in that car and got better results than potentially the car deserves. And the one driver, there's maybe two drivers that stand out. Uhm, the two that stand out.


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[Assistant] Oh, okay. Leave some for us. We're gonna stick to one, which is much as tired.


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[Assistant] So I was going to say Albon, when you look at where Williams finished in the Constructors Championship and you look at


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[Assistant] You know, they- they finished piece album and then structure time, so that's massive for them. Albon scored, I think, all but one of those points? So...


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[Assistant] He has out-driven that car. He has brought that team forward in a way.


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[Assistant] That when you look at the drivers and constructors stand, stands out.


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[Assistant] And that's why I thought that he'd, he'd driven really well throughout a lot of races this year and qualifying.


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[Assistant] Yeah, well I, so my underrated is more that I think potentially in the press or


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[Assistant] Externally not viewed as having good, as good, as good results as potentially that you're seeing for whatever reason.


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[Assistant] So again, there's a few and I can totally see why an album falls into it, but probably the person that stands out the most to me as someone I think, at least going forward let's say, but Liam Lawson. To get in that car and to perform as he did, I think you cannot overestimate the pressure


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[Assistant] That is on you knowing that you have three seats to really lay a mark and you know, to score points in it, you know, in those initial races.


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[Assistant] And to seem so calm and cool as he did, this is your one shot at making this, or potentially a one shot at making this work. So, I actually, uhm, cut him down.


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[Assistant] I think externalities underneath it. Not by us, but externally.


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[Assistant] A lot more competition. So it was a lot more interesting going into it. We were a lot of discussion.


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[Assistant] Was it going to be as poor as it was going to be? Not for the out night racing because Singapore is obviously not renowned for that. But in terms of the challenge, you know, maybe


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[Assistant] Um, Vegas was another one that was quite close in that, but the challenge I thought the Singapore weekend was good.


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[Assistant] Um, mine's a very different answer because I think I'm coming on it from a very strategy point of view and not a very driver point of view. I agree with Ted's though, the wet section's good.


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[Assistant] I actually think the Vegas qualifying as a session was good because it was.


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[Assistant] One stint. You didn't know if people were gonna do one stint or two stints on the soft tyres. The track was improving so much. It was really pushing drivers.


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[Assistant] To lap one lap, try and improve and try and get it pinpoint right. And some people made big mistakes on the pit, across the pit wall on the drivers. That's where we've got some people going out.


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[Assistant] Very early, and some people got it right, and it was because it was such an unusual qualifier to what we normally have.


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[Assistant] I don't worry about stealing any of yours. I think as a competition as the F one day, I think


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[Assistant] One of the feel good moments was seeing McLaren turn around in what was a terrible season up until that point and get both cars P2, P4 and Silverstone. Like,


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[Assistant] If there's ever a sign that, you know,


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[Assistant] Somebody's not doing well, can't improve, and get right up there, that was a, it was, I sorta thought that was...


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[Assistant] We'd all gone through the test, not sure if that pace was genuine. Um, and it was great to see, you know, my whole team really having pushed forward.


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[Assistant] And to see all the tracks that people that have worked so hard for so many years and not had the results to be like.


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[Assistant] Straight in with some really good results for me as well and for me personally was that moment.


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[Assistant] Uhm, again, I'm gonna cheat and do two. Uhm, the first one, I think, it was, although the year became not surprising, the year was surprising at the start. We were shocked with how poorly


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[Assistant] Um, so I think that was a surprise. And then for me personally, it was obviously my first year with ULOT on Sky. So that's obviously a positive on a victory.


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[Assistant] I don't think they're gonna be garbage. I said last week they're gonna win at least 12 games. I mean, you partner Brady with someone like Bruce Arians. And if the Bruce Arians offense that you guys have said is all on knowing where to throw the ball before the snap, I mean, is there anyone better in NFL history, maybe Peyton Manning, that knows where they're going with the ball?


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[Assistant] September 21st? 21st is when they, uh, Clemson goes back to campus. I think 26 was the first game.


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[Assistant] Race runs are king, because you look at the one lap performance, I mean you look at Jogwaynu on the final day, you know, he was right up there. Sauber typically tend to push, uh, in, I think what, last year on day two he was quickest.


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[Assistant] And really like meaningful insights from testing, and there's all this, oh, it's a caveat, it's only testing, we don't know fuel loads, we don't know engine modes, blah, blah, blah. But race runs are the, I think the closest we can get to it.


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[Assistant] The word ominous has been chucked around a lot recently. I feel like we should find another word for ominous, because I've heard that word so often over testing. But it is, and at the end of the day, like,


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[Assistant] Qualifying, Max didn't dominate in the same way he dominated the races last year. He only qualified in pole 13 times out of 22.


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[Assistant] Just in his, like, normal ti- normal clothing, no rebel branded clothing, just under the car, just doing his thing, like, he's all- he's just about all the time. I love that, he's like, that passion's still there, clearly.


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[Assistant] Yeah, I mean, this current generation of Formula One, it feels like the cars are more reliable than ever. You could typically rely in the past.


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[Assistant] You could rely on unreliability to throw a bit of a spanner in the works a bit more often. But I mean, you look at, you look at that car, that team, it's so well drilled, how...


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[Assistant] You know, on top of it, Max particularly obviously feels in the car is quite ironic that the issues they did have was when Checo jumped in the car, when the brakes caught fire and had to come in and it was a bit...


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[Assistant] I think everyone felt pretty happy coming out of testing, but Red Bull just, again, that ATR penalty just didn't, because they could offset so early last season, you know, they've still been able to innovate loads.


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[Assistant] You have to back yourself in equal machinery, whereas with Formula One, not only is obviously you've got different teams, but also vastly different, you know, we know that Max really likes to drive it on the nose and there's certain drivers who you'd be like, well, they could theoretically extract performance from a Red Bull, but then there's other drivers who like a bit more understeer and


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[Assistant] Also, like, Max and Cheko are in very different stages of their careers, like, there's a good, what is it, six, seven years between them, I think, in terms of age and, you know, it's almost like a, if, if Cheko was the same age as Max.


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[Assistant] Uhm, and in the same stage of his career with like years ahead of him to go, maybe it would be a bit different, like to accept that you're just gonna have to be number two.


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[Assistant] It's like, it's now or never, I mean we saw Checo take that approach at Mexico last year where it was like, I'm just going for it, I'm at the front, I'm gonna go for this Hail Mary move into turn one, it'll either pay off or it will blow up.


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[Assistant] Almost that, you know, you could say that was a desperate move, but also he saw that opportunity to be at the front at his home Grand Prix, and it's like, you know, who knows when he'll get that opportunity again.


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[Assistant] Yeah, I mean, I think obviously Charles got his long-term deal. We know he's very much the future of that team. It's going to be obviously him and Lewis is going to be unreal when they're together. Uhm, Carlos, it's going to be interesting, isn't it? Like when do they start to kind of...


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[Assistant] I think Charles is going to have an incredible season. I think Ferrari are looking very good in the same way that it's funny how Haas had the same issues as Ferrari just at a different level. You know, they both qualify well and they both fall down relative in the races, but I think


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[Assistant] I think just Ferrari is such a, it's really hard to kind of throw your full weight of support behind Ferrari because they've just...


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[Assistant] So often they've come so close, you look at the Vettel era and how often, like, he was close to Hamilton but never quite got it done. But it feels like there's a second coming. For me, Ferrari, I'm quite confident they're going to be second best this year, team-wise. But, I mean,


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[Assistant] Check out when we outqualified Leclerc five times last year in 22 races. So one lap pace isn't an issue.


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[Assistant] This is, this is Ferrari, right? This is, this is Ferrari. This is the team, this is the only team I think that could maybe make that work in some way. Really? Yeah, I'm going full delusion crew.


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[Assistant] Then making those kind of mistakes, those strategic mistakes and pit stops. We didn't see anywhere near as much of that from Ferrari last year.


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[Assistant] I get, I, look, this is why I'm saying it's hard to like throw your full support behind Ferrari because there's so much historical, but I think Fred is turning that ship around, I really do. I think it's close.


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[Assistant] When Oscar got the upgrade before Silverstone, because Lando got it in Austria.


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[Assistant] And I remember Oscar saying like, the car feels the same. It's just, instead of qualifying P13, I'm qualifying P3 and like, fighting Max in the first couple of corners. So I guess as well, like, but I imagine the...


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[Assistant] The drivability, when they say drivability, does that just mean the drivers can get more consistently close? Because I know like a driver like Shull can, and has been criticized for, you know, too often making mistakes.


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[Assistant] Is that a product of, of a car that's too on, cause again Ferrari, that was a big bit of feedback the drivers gave last year, is that that car was, it was just, it was difficult. Is it on a knife edge? Yeah, that's it, exactly. That's it.


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[Assistant] Maybe Science and Checo is the perfect driver pairing at the right team, because then they can just build around that philosophy, the way then to drive.


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[Assistant] The thing with Mercedes is it's a bit of a tough sell that seat if you're not going to give it to Kimi because whoever comes in is surely going to be thinking


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[Assistant] Well, is the, am I just a stopgap? Am I, am I long-term, so science for example, if you look at Mercedes versus the long-term Audi project, you can certainly make a case that


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[Assistant] If he wants a shot at fighting for a world championship then the long term play on jumping into Audi now versus taking a Mercedes seat that, you know, you could argue that part of the reason Lewis wasn't offered a longer contract at Mercedes is because they probably


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[Assistant] Yeah, but Kim is that, he's so, he's like, he's the, you know, what is it, Red Bull put Max in the Torosso at 17, well 16 when he did that, sorry 17 when he did that first test at Japan. Because they didn't want Mercedes to get him. And it's like, there's so much hype around Kimi.


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[Assistant] If Audi nailed that, there's a huge if, right? But there's no, there's no guarantees. And, and the reg, the error regulations are going to be an evolution.


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[Assistant] Still, still ground effects, but we don't know exactly how that's gonna look. I guess there's the, always the what if. You know, if I already do.


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[Assistant] I mean, there's always Aston Martin's World Endurance, you know, entrant for next year at 25. For who? Well, Aston Martin fans.


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[Assistant] In terms of the second best team, because Red Bull were the best team over the course of the whole year last year, where it was, you know, slow speed apart from Singapore. That was like the one track where that was their Achilles' heel.


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[Assistant] You know, Aston were quickest at the second quickest at the start of the year. Then you kind of, McLaren, once they got the upgrade, middle of the season, Ferrari, particularly, Charle at the end, and then Mercedes were just kind of randomly around, they would go quickest. So the gap between those four teams,


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[Assistant] It's, it's so, the margins are so fine at the moment. I think the drivers are the ones making the difference within that battle. You're seeing how well, you know, Fernando did relative to Lance. You're seeing how well.


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[Assistant] Lando ultimately did massively outscore Oscar. And I think Oscar and George particularly, they really have to work on that race because they both, by their teammates, Lewis was


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[Assistant] Quite comfortably clear of George in terms of points because in the race he could just, even in Singapore when, you know, Lewis was right on the back of George, he closed that gap to George. If anything, if he was ahead of George, that could have maybe gone a bit differently because he seemed to have a bit more pace in the race. Lando typically has more pace.


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[Assistant] in the race than Oscar. So they both need to work on that. But I think the relative gaps, those four teams is so marginal at the moment.


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[Assistant] The one option would have obviously been Red Bull. We know Christian's been, you know, flirting with Lando a lot over the last, um, few years. Helmut is, you know, he's always very complimentary of Lando. They'd love that option on him. Maybe as a long term, who knows how long Max will stick around. Maybe he'll get bored after 28, you know.


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[Assistant] That's what his contracts do when he's talked openly about wanting to race in different disciplines. So maybe that's more of a long-term, um, aim for Red Bull. But I think, yeah, where, where he is now, I don't think he'll have any regrets.


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[Assistant] It's just, it's so frustrating, there's so many false norms, like you were saying earlier, they were false in...


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[Assistant] Doesn't even, like, they were battling with McLaren in the not too recent.


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[Assistant] The thing is that 26 is an opportunity for them, if their power unit is 10, 20 horsepower down, whatever that figure might be. Uhm, they've got a really good driver line up, I think as individual, talent wise, I think in Ocon and Gasly as well.


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[Assistant] But they're at risk of, yeah, I mean, if they're downing, I mean, Otmar got, you know, he got let go.


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[Assistant] When they were, what, around fifth, sixth, and if, if it continues to, to decay, you know, it's hard to see how they turn that around in the short term. I think it's just going to be two years of pain until 26, and they've already have to, because they're a manufacturer. I mean, Renault, the Renault group's huge, and it's like, what's the excuse?


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[Assistant] I think Ferrari, you know, Ferrari, McLaren, Aston Martin, it's two, and Red Bull, I think there's...


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[Assistant] You know, I'm sure he's got, you know, he's got his family. That's another factor. I know that with Sauber, uhm, the Himal base, that's been a bit of a, you know, I've read plenty of articles talking about how that's a bit of a limitation for that team to get the talent to go to that location.


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[Assistant] A lot of people see Lewis and he's very, wears his heart on his sleeve and he seems to be like complaining a lot on the radio. And he was talking in that segment, he was like, that's just how I am, but like Bono understands that. And I think he would be, versus a driver like Daniel Ricciardo, who on the radio, he's just ice cool, like he's just like,


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[Assistant] Quite outgoing, personally, but on the, on the radio, he's very level. He doesn't have those peaks in emotion. Lewis does, and I think having Bono with him would be super, like, almost extra helpful compared to maybe some other drivers. A little buffer between... Yeaah, but it's...


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[Assistant] I guess, which drivers are the biggest candidates to come into a team? Because again, Lawson would obviously be one. I'm talking from like outside of the 20 drives we have on the grid right now.


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[Assistant] I'm just thinking like, who would be, I know obviously, Haas are gonna do like 6 FP1s with Behrman, but that's more of a long time.


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[Assistant] All this movement with Andre and McLaren and all that is he wants to try and choreograph a way into Formula One.


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[Assistant] If Tao performs well in Super Formula and then maybe Bottas and Joe aren't quite bringing, maybe, maybe there's a way in for Tao.


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[Assistant] I think the F2 field is crazy, like the caliber. You've got Rotoma Miata in there as well, who's super formula champion and super GT champion. You've got Colapinto, who's F3 champion, and Zach O'Sullivan, who both, they're both Williams.


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[Assistant] Academy drivers, obviously Kimi and Oli Behrmann. Like, you've got Victor Marta who's beat Oli Behrmann both the last two seasons.


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[Assistant] No, he's, he's all in on Alpine reserve, uhm, because he wants to try and get himself a seat. Maybe if one of the Alpine drivers decides that it's not for them, he could slot in. It's almost like we need another team, isn't it?


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[Assistant] Hello everyone, welcome to the Sky Sports F1 podcast with me, Matt Baker. One race down, 23 to go, and a very warm welcome to our hotel here in Bahrain.


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[Assistant] Hello. How are you? I'm very well. How is, how is everyone else? Fine. Good.


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[Assistant] No, it was, it was a great moment in my golfing career, and I will clip this up and tell everyone I've ever played golf with, this is how I played, because they won't believe.


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[Assistant] Reasons to be optimistic. We're going to come onto a few more as well a little bit later, just, just for, just while we're here. You kind of nicked my what I learned, because I was going to say-


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[Assistant] Not that one, the reliability factor. All 20, uh, cars finished for the first time in history in the opening race for Formula 1 weekend, which we've never had before. And I think that just, you know, rely, this might be the most reliable season of Formula 1 cars in the history of Formula 1.


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[Assistant] So when we, when we put up a question to ask the questions about, about the race and the Bahrain Grand Prix, a lot of people on Twitter and Instagram are asking the question, how have Red Bull got a car so dominant? And I just want to unpack that a little bit. Simon, start with you. What, what, what things have happened in Formula One to allow


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[Assistant] Red Bull to be in the position and mainly Max Verstappen to be in the position that they are now. Cause a lot of fans are going, hold on a minute, this isn't...


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[Assistant] This is just domination. This isn't as exciting as it was a few years ago. Obviously we had 2021, which is perhaps the best Formula One season ever. So how have we got here?


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[Assistant] He is, he really is. Something you alluded to there was actually the comments from Lewis. He said after the race, he said, the past two years they've had all these problems. They've spent several races undoing all the problems.


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[Assistant] As opposed to now we've got a platform we can start adding to. It's a building process and we're a great team. So Crofty, do you think now teams like Mercedes have got a better, more stable platform to then start adding? And do you think we'll see a quicker acceleration of their development throughout the season?


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[Assistant] Simon, tell us about the other teams and what you think the other teams are going to be making of what's happened at Red Bull this year. Because you look around, Mercedes for example, eight time world champions, and that's all happened recently. They must be sitting there going, how have we got this?


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[Assistant] So wrong. Because again, a lot of fans are asking that question of...


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[Assistant] Obviously, Max is so far ahead, but we need a closer pack, don't we? We need other drivers closer and other teams closer to give us better spectacles, better racers.