Rice on the Mics

From Philly's Lightning Delay to Mets' Youth Movement: This Week in Sports

• Ian • Season 1 • Episode 29

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Thursday Night Football kicked off with chaos as Jalen Carter was ejected six seconds into the Eagles-Cowboys game for spitting, followed by a lightning delay that completely changed the game's momentum after a 40-point first half.

• Jets prepare for Steelers without Alijah Vera-Tucker (torn triceps), forcing an offensive line shuffle that will test protection for Aaron Rodgers
• Giants facing potential trouble with Andrew Thomas doubtful, putting pressure on Russell Wilson and possibly opening the door for rookie Jackson Dart
• Micah Parsons trade to Green Bay reshapes NFC North race after Cowboys refused Philadelphia's trade inquiry
• Mets youth movement in full swing with Jonah Tong, Nolan McLean, and Brandon Sproat forming a homegrown rotation
• Yankees take crucial series in Houston as Carlos Rodon ties for MLB lead with 16 wins
• US Open finals set with Sinner vs. Alcaraz and Sabalenka vs. New Jersey's own Anisimova
• College football AP poll gets dramatic shake-up with Ohio State at #1 and Alabama dropping to #21
• Potential NBA controversy brewing over reported $28 million Kawhi Leonard endorsement deal connected to Clippers owner

Join me Saturday morning on Instagram Live with @WolvesOfWisdomSports for NFL picks, props, and fantasy advice before kickoff.


Speaker 1:

I guess there's only one way to find out. Let's do it to it right. Five, four, three, two, one, zero, all engines running, liftoff. We have a liftoff. Well, the NFL wasted no time getting weird Banner night in Philly, lightning in the third and Jalen Carter gets tossed six seconds into the season for spitting on Dak.

Speaker 1:

This is episode 29 of Rice on the Mics. I am your host, ian Rice. We'll sort out the Magic Loogie angle, why the game got flipped after the delay and how the over died after a 40-point first half. Locally, I'm taking Mama Rice yes, the woman who birthed me into this miserable franchise. Jet Stealer's home opener, and I'm trying to end my personal 0-17 curse. Butt fumble, cruz 99, you name it, I've worn it. Don't sell your tickets. Opening day, though, folks. This is the fresh start of what we've been waiting for. Don't sell your tickets. Opening day, though, folks. This is the fresh start of what we've been waiting for.

Speaker 1:

Rodgers is in its week one mode, but the real story is the line shuffle after AVT's injury and how that protection is going to hold up for the rest of the year. Across the way, giant fans, you know the deal. Andrew Thomas has been the linchpin and he's doubtful. That's the hinge of the offensive line. If he can't go, giants are basically asking the football gods for a favor. Russ at 36 is going to need the quick game and a bailout plan, and that plan might just end up being Jackson Dart. Malik Nervis is expected to play, so at least the alpha is available. But can they block long enough to find him In Queens? It's the kids Tong, sprote, mclean. They get leaned on while Sanger resets down in AAA. See what I did there. Red series is going on and it's either bury them or you'll end up breathing life into it. And the bats are looking like they're swinging at beach balls. Just get to the bullpen without some heartburn, please.

Speaker 1:

In the Bronx, the Yankees took a series in Houston and almost a sweep, if it wasn't for some terrible umpiring. Rodon keeps stacking wins while the gauntlet schedule keeps rolling on. Still got the Tigers, the Jays and the Sox and a quick Queens detour. Alcaraz just sent Djokovic home in straight sets and the women's final is set between Sabalenka and Anissi. Mova. League wide Micah Parsons to Green Bay changed numbers and narratives. Betting markets told you First hand and we've got our picks with the receipts on IG.

Speaker 1:

And speaking of picks, 10.30 Saturday morning I'll be doing a guest spot with your favorite Handicapper and my buddy At Wolves of Wisdom Sports. You're going to want to tap into that for sure. But all right, let's get this thing going. Eagles and Cowboys were chaos. We're going to start there. Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed Super Bowl banner night in Philly, which apparently Sirianni was too cool to attend to, and the NFL said let's get chaotic.

Speaker 1:

Six seconds in as a player is getting carted off, jalen Carter, no pun intended, gets tossed for spitting on Dak. And look, we're not going to Zapruder film the saliva spit here. Spitting on Dak, and look, we're not gonna Zapruder film the saliva spit here. But Dak was shown spitting and he says he spits forward all the time to avoid his lineman. Carter thought it was at him and in the NFL it's always the second guy that gets caught. So the ref calls a non-football act, 15 yards quick ejection and the Cowboys quickly punch in a two touchdowns, with javante williams who saw that coming. They also didn't give up a sack the whole game either, and the whole night pretty much kept the same energy.

Speaker 1:

Now philly still controlled enough of the big moments to get it done. They went down right away and scored. Jalen hurts ran in two, saquon punched in one, but then we got the 65 minute lightning delay, with five minutes left in the third, which they claimed was only going to be about six minutes or so, and it basically turned the game into cement. First half he had 40 points scored and after halftime three, a 58 yarder by Jake Elliott. If you had the over, I am sorry for your loss. And Dallas had chances. Miles Sanders caught one up in the red zone. That would have put it over. Dak actually made the tackle too. So if you're in a fantasy league where your QB makes a tackle, congrats on 100 points. And CeeDee Lamb oh boy, ceedee Lamb, did you have a rough night late, early early.

Speaker 1:

He seemed to prove exactly why you took him in the first round of your fantasy drafts. But three drops, one of which would have put them inside the 20, with under three to play, he left an 11 extra points on the deck in fantasy and if you go back and watch it, it looked like either he or the other slot receiver ran the wrong route because two of the players were on top of each other when cd bottled it. But you're that guy. You got to make that catch regardless and I'm not going to beat him up too much for the fourth and three lob. It was a shot outside of the numbers. He beat the guy looked like he maybe got held a little bit on the hip, but he had to dive for it in and out of the hands. That's. That's a tough catch. I'm not going to count for it. He owned it though. He owned it afterwards. I he said, quote I need to catch the damn ball. Facts, that's it. That's what you want, though. That's what you want from a team leader, not a quarterback accountability.

Speaker 1:

Philly ends up not covering the seven and a half. But the more important thing is they bank the win on a weird night, with a weirder ejection and a weather pause, against a division opponent that actually looks stronger than most people thought they were. We'll see if the league looks to dissuade Carter at all. Sirianni said that any dissuade between them would be kept in house, and Hertz was on the same page. So we got the W and we move on.

Speaker 1:

Now time for the locals. I'm taking my mom to the jets steeler's game on sunday. I'm trying to break my personal curse of 0 and 17 at jets games. That's not exaggeration, that's not hyperbole for the show. The butt fumble, the Cruz 99-yard touchdown on Christmas Eve. Randy Moss 183 receiving yards. I have seen the worst of it and I'm here to say I am due. I feel it in my bones.

Speaker 1:

A win is coming on opening day and a little sidebar to the season ticket holders. Don't be that guy selling the home opener tickets just to make a quick buck on the season. This is the one day every year where hope is fresh, the tailgates are perfect, the slate is clean, everyone is in good spirits. Show up, be loud, boo Rodgers, if you want, I don't care and just scream J-E-T-S. Jets, jets, jets. That's the whole point. The storyline for the game all week has been played up as the Rodgers revenge game and he's doing his best Bill Belichick impression saying it's week one. I'm in week one mode. I get it. Honestly, I'm kind of with him. It's getting blown out of proportion a little bit.

Speaker 1:

The real game for the Jets is going to be up front. Stop me if you've heard this before. Elijah Vera Tucker is out for the season. Stop, he tore his triceps. Stop Again, but this time it's in the other arm. So he got a second opinion, but this time it's in the other arm, so he got a second opinion. He's done, though he's done, which is quietly a huge loss for the Jets. He was the fifth best rated run blocker in the NFL for a team that basically told you all year long they plan on running the hell out of the ball.

Speaker 1:

So what does that mean? That probably means Tippman's going to slide, the right guard Myers will go to center and John Simpson will be in there trying to play through a back thing. I don't know. It's not ideal against a Pittsburgh front that can wreck your day real quick. These young rookie tacklers are going to be tested early, but if the Jets can keep the pocket reasonable, justin Fields doesn't have to be the superhero, right. He just needs to be the Mark Sanchez, he just needs to get it done. A heavy dose of Brees Hall and Braylon Allen that's going to draw the defense in, and then Fields and Wilson will hopefully be able to get theirs because of it, and Garrett looks ready to set the tone.

Speaker 1:

Man, it's a different room. Different man it's a different room. Different leaders it's a different vibe in Gotham. I'm looking forward to it Now. Same stadium, same problems, different team, the Giants' entire offensive plan kind of starts and ends with Andrew Thomas and he's doubtful this week. They're 3 and 15 without him in the last two years.

Speaker 1:

If he can't go, that is a massive blindside hole. For a 36 year old Russell Wilson that means you're probably calling more quick game, more chips with the tight end, maybe some dump offs to trace your scatter bow, which could be cool to watch. But more importantly that means keeping Jackson Dart hot. He jumped Jameis to QB2 in the depth chart for a reason, but this could be the Giants brass quietly putting their eggs in the hands of a 22-year-old. They can't straight up make him the starter, even if they loved everything they saw from him in the preseason against backups. But by elevating him to number two if protection leaks or Wilson plays some hero ball and doesn't get down fast enough, there's a good chance we could get a shot of him on the sideline warming up. And that's everything playing out exactly how Dave O'Meara drawn it up. Problem with that is you're now throwing the kid fresh out of the frying pan and into the fire of a tough schedule and monster defensive lines to face. Look, maybe he can succeed, maybe he can turn into the next stud in New York. But as a Jets fan and just as an overall football observer, I've read that book before and most of the time it doesn't exactly go how the author planned it. The good news is that Malik Nabors is expected to play His back tightened up a little bit on Friday, but no designation. So the alpha is up and ready. Can they block long enough to use them? Hopefully so.

Speaker 1:

Also, quick business note on the Giants. I mentioned earlier in the offseason that the NFL has okayed teams to sell 10% maximum of their team to outside contributors, as long as it's approved by the other owners and whatnot. And the first domino has fallen. The coke family is buying a full 10 percent at a 10 billion dollar valuation of the giants. The meritish group is still going to run it, but that is a huge number for a minority slice and I expected this from teams like Tennessee or Arizona with some owners just looking to make a quick buck. But the Giants come in and drop the hammer and set the precedent 10 billion dollars for 10 percent. Just a frame of reference here the Celtics, who are basketball royalty, their entire franchise just sold this offseason for $6.1 billion. Okay, that's the entire franchise. The Koch family just paid 10%—excuse me $10 billion for 10%. Jesus Christ, who's got this money? And they're throwing around like that. Anyway, the moral of the story with these two teams Jets line trouble they need to protect. That's the show. Take the under in both games.

Speaker 1:

Now let's talk about a player the Giants won't have to worry about too much anymore. Let's talk Micah. The agent says Micah always planned to play and he wanted to stay a cowboy. And the handshake with Jerry was a power dynamic chat, not a contract. Dallas offered a huge deal with huge guarantees, top AAV, but the bridge was burned already. It was a five-year structure which he he didn't want anyway, which Micah didn't want, and it doesn't help that Jerry Jones has never seen a microphone he didn't want to talk into.

Speaker 1:

So what happens? Green Bay steps in, makes the trade, secures a four-year 188 million dollar, 120 guaranteed contract, highest paid non-quarterback. Oh and, by the way, the eagles tried to prime. Cowboys said absolutely not in the division. You can always tell how big of a deal a trade is based upon how the gambling markets react and the traders told you pretty much everything you needed to know. The packers super Bowl price jumped up and they immediately became favorites in the north and Micah's defensive player of the year price shot up to the favorite, and it's not hype either. That's a deep dive in team fit.

Speaker 1:

So let's just break it down, right. Jeff Haley, the DC for the Packers, his defense last year lived on simulated pressure and some turnovers, but down to down against straight drop back. They were the worst success rate defense in the league. So in layman's terms, for the non-football educated, what does that mean, right? Well, it basically means they had some guys who were decent enough to attack the quarterback, but never without some kind of scheme or some bullshit. And when they didn't scheme they got torched.

Speaker 1:

Well, micah solves that problem. First and 10 beat your guy. Now you set up second and long without sending any bodies. So that lets haley play a better coverage, force the quarterback to panic a little bit and still be able to pick his moments to get creative. You'll still see the spinner looks and the stunts up front. But the main thing is you don't have to scheme a miracle every single snap. Now.

Speaker 1:

And yes, by the way, cowboys-eagles is always spicy, but just knowing that Philly actually called Jerry Jones and asked him what the price was for Micah makes it a little bit spicier. I mean Dallas. Shipping him to the Eagles would have broken football. All right, let's play devil's advocate. Let's say he was even more of a mammon than he already is. And he actually did pull the trigger on Micah. To the Eagles, good god, the interdivision tax that they would have had to paid. What would that deal even have looked like? That would have been insane. They made the right move. They got shorthanded because they did it so late in the season, but the Cowboys did the only thing they could do.

Speaker 1:

Anyway, time to dive into the spicy part of football Our picks and our receipts. A friendly and important reminder bet with your head not above it. Don't be that asshole that can't pay rent because you swore you had a lock. Now, with that being said, this whole season I'll be making three picks for you each week and we'll be checking out receipts from the week before being. As it's week one, nothing from last week, but I will be the first one to call myself out if I bomb this week, trust me, I promise.

Speaker 1:

So let's get started. First on the list Panthers plus 3.5 at Jacksonville. Look, I don't really think that. Carolina's good, but I think they're noisy, if that makes sense. And week one in the NFL is always noise week. Both teams are 1-4 in their last five openers. Three of Jacksonville's four wins last year were at home and I know they're at home, but I don't know.

Speaker 1:

I like, I like carolina enough to run it with chuba and maybe a big play here from tetratoa. Take the points they lose by field goal. Fine, you got the hook to cover next play. Falcons money line. I know everybody, you, everybody. You know Tampa, baker, Mayfield. What is Tampa? Week one I love home dogs. I love home dogs.

Speaker 1:

In September it's now been four straight drafts of premium weapons Pitts, london, bijon and now finally Pennix. To take you over the top, you can take the plus one and a half if you feel you want a cushion, but I'd rather pay the price for the money line Falcons at home Dogs. Lock that in. Last but not least, third pick 49ers money line at Seattle. You can lay the minus one and a half at 110 if you want, but I'll pay the extra dime. San Francisco should run through the West, especially if CMC is healthy. Seattle's line took big hits. Early division leverage matters. They get the job done. So those are my three. If you trust me enough and you want to bundle all three of them.

Speaker 1:

It's going to be 6-1 plus 634 on a parlay, so I'll post the results on Instagram. Same as always, and a quick PSA after Thursday night's game. Totals can swing on weather and weirdness. If the sky starts flashing or a backup quarterback has to make an appearance, maybe don't chase live overs. Ask me how I know about that. And last but certainly not least, saturday morning I am doing my first crossover event.

Speaker 1:

I'm jumping on with my buddy nick on his instagram live. His instagram handle is at wolves of wisdom sports w-o-l-v-e-s-o-f-w-i-s-d-o-m-s-p-o-r-t-s. Just how it's spelled wolves of wisdom sports. He is a great handicapper. He is a good friend of mine and we're going to run through some side props, some actual lines that we really like, that are actually sharp, and not just the ones that are getting thrown at you constantly on your timeline. So you're going to make sure you want to hop in that chat and bring your questions. If you got any fantasy start sits, drop the format so we can give you a real answer. It's just going to be two guys that get it, that get sports, chatting about the teams that you love, the teams that you hate and the teams that you love to hate, definitely something that you don't want to miss and hopefully goes well. So I become a recurring guest.

Speaker 1:

Now some poll results from this week that were pretty spicy and pretty telling too. A little pulse of the people action, if you will. The first one I had up was Giants should they start Jackson Dart right away? And it was actually a 60-40 split on they should throw him in there. So that's interesting. Jets fans selling opening day tickets and the poll results were 80-20. Yes, they should sell them, but you know what? I saw a bunch of you non-Jet fans in there voting against it. So I'm going to say that one was skewed. The one that was the most overwhelming majority was the Yankees temperature check and the question was fool's gold or the real deal, and 90% of you was fool's gold or the real deal, and 90 of you voted fool's gold.

Speaker 1:

Jeez, listen, we keep the receipts here at rice on the mics, good and bad, and yes, we will read the bad ones, just to keep everybody, not just me, accountable. So make sure you guys keep tapping in. I'd love to hear you know the pulse. The people See where everybody else is feeling, not just me, with the hot takes. Alright, now we're on to some baseball. How the Mets are paving the way for the Giants relying on kids to carry them in the future. How the Yankees might have slayed a small dragon in Houston but still have a mountain to climb with the upcoming schedule. This is Rice on the Mics. Stay tuned.

Speaker 1:

Well, with only about 25 games left in the MLB season, it's time to hit the MLB segment Feels. Like just yesterday I was yelling at you guys about summer coming and hot dogs on a nice hot day. Now here we are, it's September and we'll be looking at cold playoff baseball before you know it. Anyway, we'll start with Queens first and then we'll go into the Bronx and then a little bit of Golden Boy news to just touch on. So the story with the Mets.

Speaker 1:

Well, the kids, the cushion and the cardiac bullpen, the cushion and the cardiac bullpen. The Mets have finally done what every fan has been begging for all year. They brought up the kids and honestly it's giving me flashbacks to Harvey DeGrom and Wheeler Jonah Tong. His debut felt like a moment Gets a standing 0, 97 pitches, 6 strikeouts, no walks, and the Mets' bat showed up for the kid, dropping a 19 spot on the Marlins, a franchise record for runs at home, by the way Six homers. The ball looked like a beach ball up there and Tong's over-the-top delivery is all that people can talk about. He looks like Lincecum, not to mention that he just has these like aloof, happy-to-be-here, life-is-great attitude about him. If he continues to be strong on the Hill which I think he will he is going to be an instant fan favorite. Now he did give up a crooked inning after a couple errors, but the stuff was there and the poise was there. That's what matters. His next start is Saturday I. If he goes out and dominates, it's going to be great. Now, unfortunately, that was the only bright spot coming out of that Miami series. So we're going to fast forward to the Detroit series, where game one was the Juan Soto show Grand slam, then a go-ahead triple, had six ribbies on the day For a supposed down year. He's on pace for 42 home runs and 35 stolen bases.

Speaker 1:

All that talk about he's unhappy here and he wished he stayed with the yankees. That that was, and always will be bullshit and yankee rhetoric. Little brother got your guy. It is what it is. I'm sorry. And yes, look at points. He might have looked disheveled during the season, but you know what that was. That was because he wasn't hitting and the team was still winning. That's not something that he's used to. He's used to being the guy and the reason that they win. And then, when he started hitting and started dominating, the team was losing, so that weighed on him too. But now that he's hot and everybody's hot and the kids are up and the bats are hot and the boys are ready to play and they're getting hot at the right time time, I can't say hot enough. The one true thing I know in this world is death taxes.

Speaker 1:

And Juan Soto comes up in huge moments. Okay, you can see it in every O2 count that he's in. You can see it in every single playoff game that he's ever played in. When the lights are the brightest and the moment calls for a steady heartbeat, he slows down to a snail's pace. Soto is the guy. Soto's the guy I want on my. He's the guy that I wanted to play. He's my. I hate to say this, he's my Jeter and I can't stand Jeter. But goddammit, was he clutch? Soto is clutch, and guess what I get him for the next 15 years? Clutch. And guess what I get him for the next 15 years. Hell, I would have paid him more money. I don't even care. Anyway. They took that game 10-8 because the bullpen bullpenned, even with all the hits.

Speaker 1:

So then game two of the Detroit series. Here comes another young stud, nolan McLean, and he turned a shaky first into a cruise control outing. He goes six innings, two earned. And he turned a shaky first into a cruise control outing. He goes six innings, two earned, and he retired his final 14 batters Showed insane poise for a rookie, realizing early that he didn't have a sweeper and he didn't have his curve. So he goes. Okay, fuck it. I got my fastball and I got my changeup, then finds his rhythm, went back to it later and crushes's now four and owned his first four starts. That's the first met to ever do it, which is crazy that I even say that out loud, considering that the pitchers that this organization has had pitch for them. And he's got 28 strikeouts through his four starts. The only person he's chasing with that is Nolan Ryan's 29. Yeah, that's some elite company. I'll take that and even more.

Speaker 1:

The offense continues to pile on. Alonzo hits two home runs. One was a monster moonshot, so do a home run again. And Terence hits a three-run shot to add another 17 hits in the book. You know the Yankees are home run or bust. This is just beautiful to see. I kind of get it why they love it right.

Speaker 1:

Here's the problem, though. Game three was the reminder they were down 2-3. They had bases loaded one out. Starling Marte, who's been great all year at the plate I'm not taking anything away from him swings at the first pitch when the pitcher had been wild all day and pretty much walked the bases loaded, rolls it into a double play. Then the next half inning the vaunted and elite bullpen serves up a three-run dagger home run. That was the momentum flip. That was the hill that they just couldn't climb. They had it in the palm of their hands and they let it slip, but regardless, they came out with a series win against one of the best teams in baseball and they finished a 16-game in 16-days slog going 9-7. They've got a five-game cushion on the last wild card spot against the Reds, and the Giants are actually chasing the Reds now, but they have a series with the Reds coming up this weekend. So this is the fork in the road you either bury Cincinnati or you breathe life back into them, and rotation-wise.

Speaker 1:

It is a youth movement and I am so on board with it. I'm so happy they finally called these kids up. Now to call people up, you've got to send people down, and Kodai Seng unfortunately gets the chop there, gets sent down to Syracuse to reset, which is good, because everybody that seems to get sent down to Syracuse figures it out. He hasn't had an outing past six innings since early June Because everybody that seems to get sent down to Syracuse figures it out. He hasn't had an outing past six innings since early June and he's posted a 6-5-6 ERA over his last eight starts. That's not good. But now in his place this weekend we get a full homegrown four-day roster David Peterson on Friday, jonah Tong on Saturday, brandon Sproat getting called up for his debut on Sunday and Noah McLean on Monday. And Sproat's year turned around after May. He had a little bit of a rough start and then he posted a 3-1-9 ERA over his last 17 starts and honestly, if you toss out one ugly bullpen relief thing where they were trying to test him out if he could come out of the bullpen, his ERA is really a 278. Oh and, by the way, his last outing was seven scoreless with nine strikeouts.

Speaker 1:

The pitching is in good hands with these young studs. Man Catching gets a lift too. Our boy, francisco Alvarez, is back. My man slid into second tore his UCL in his thumb which I didn't even know you could do and he's going to grind through it. Then, as he's sent down, he gets hit in the hand, breaks his pinky, gets called right back up, picks up where he left off and just slams doubles. This man has a torn ligament in one hand and a fractured pinky in his catching hand and still will do anything to be back with this team to try and win a ship. I don't know if they have better pain meds or he is just cut from a different cloth when it comes to pain tolerance, but the heart that this young man is showing to be with this team has to light a fire in these guys's belly.

Speaker 1:

The big picture stays the same. Early in the year they couldn't hit and the pitching carried them. Now they can hit anything and the pitching has got some training wheels. Look, if the kids can give you 15 to 18 clean outs, you can trust this lineup to handle the rest of it. Just so much as the bullpen doesn't turn into a fucking therapy session every night. And oh, by the way, on top of it too, nothing changes with Miami or the Nationals that 9-7 record over the last 16, two losses are to the Nats and three losses are to the Marlins. So realistically they could be. You know, they sweep those guys which they should have. They could have been 14-2. Now we're talking division. If that happens, whatever, some things are eternal the Marlins just will always be a thorn in the Mets' ribs.

Speaker 1:

Now on to the Yankees. The gauntlet begins with a grown-up series win in Houston, which is rare. The Yankees did what good teams do they beat the bad teams when they had to. They went 8-9 against the Nats and the White Sox, which is huge for their division, considering they were down so much. And then they went to Houston and they buckled up for some adult big boy baseball. And game one Trent Grisham hits his second grand slam in five days. Jazz leaves the yard twice and Max Freed continues to be worth every single penny spent on. It Gives you seven innings of one run ball and Fried continues to be worth every single penny spent on. It gives you seven innings of one run ball and just continues to be the man either after a Yankee loss or to continue the streak.

Speaker 1:

There was a weird little moment here too, with Frambois, valdez and, uh, cesar Salazar. The catcher seemed to like wave Valdez off, like step off and recollect himself, and he didn't. And then his next pitch literally turned into the grand slam. So then the next batter, his pitch nailed Salazar in the chest at 92 when it looked like he was ready for a curveball. Now, after the game, everyone swears it wasn't intentional. His agent swears that was stupid. Why would you guys say that? And they hug it out. But look, body language is body language. As soon as Valdez threw that pitch and they hit him in the chest, he just walked off, looked like he didn't care and Salazar looked back at him like what the fuck was that? But anyway, on to game two. Game two was the real oof, real stomach punch for the Yankees. The real yeah, houston still kind of owns you and it was based on your offseason acquisition.

Speaker 1:

And Devin Williams, tied going into the eighth, comes in. He walks three, including the go-ahead run, then gets a balk because I think some guy in the stands yelled it and the umpire sure called it and then a wild pitch for two more runs. Boone continues to stick up for his guys, right or wrong, and gets tossed, and I think he wasn't the right for this one. So now you go to the top of the ninth. Cody Bellinger makes it a game. He walked uh, I forget who was pitching, but he walked one, walked two. Belly comes in, works the at-bat and hits a nuke in the ninth to make it 7-8. But unfortunately the night ends on a 3-2 brutal strike call to Jazz After a game that the umpire I'll put it nicely, the umpire behind the plate had a tough day. And then game three also made a terrible call too, so that one stings for the Yankees. You might have had some momentum, you might have been able to sweep, but whatever, regardless.

Speaker 1:

So game three, carlos Rodon. Listen for all the smack that people talked about him and that he's not composed and he doesn't know what he's doing, myself included. He continues to just stack. Big boy, grown-up man wins Six innings, two runs, only one of them earned, because the Yankees always make an error, and now he's tied for the MLB lead with 16 victories. Mcmahon homers again and then flips a go-ahead RBI in the eighth to. You know, give him a little oomph and Grisham slams the door shut with his 30th home run of the year, also his 100th on the career. He's going to get some money in this offseason coming up.

Speaker 1:

Anyway, jordan Alvarez was once again a menace to the Yankees four hits for the second night in a row. God bless the bullpen if they have to face him in the playoffs. But game three Bendar punched out Correa and Walker with the bases loaded to end it. And this is the first series win against a winning team since mid-July in Seattle. That's crazy. It's wild that it's taking that long. But for a team that's been trending upwards, this is a big series win against a team that has owned you in the past decade. You know the rivalry is always with the Red Sox. Really, for younger fans the rivalry is with Houston. So the headline is the resume win. But now for the Yankees comes the gauntlet schedule. You still got three more with the Blue Jays, followed by three more with Detroit and then three more with the Red Sox. Now the schedule softens up later at the end of the year, but this nine-game stretch here, this is the big dog and we're about to learn if this last 10 day run that they've been on is either substance or just a sugar high.

Speaker 1:

Lastly, just quick credit where credit is due. Shohei Otani hits his 100th home run as a Dodger in just 294 games. That is the fastest in franchise history. And it wasn't just a home run. It left at 120 miles per hour, the hardest hit of his career. And I know you watch baseball, you've seen some of these home runs he's hit. This thing was a shot.

Speaker 1:

Best part is Dodgers still lost in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh couldn't hit water if they fell out of a boat and the Dodgers have been in a skid as of late. They better watch out. The Padres are coming for that ass for the division, but Otani is just doing Tom Brady level. I hate it, but I respect it things. So I'm going to file that under alien. I guess just monster. But all right, that's the, that's the diamond the kids are dealing in queens. Uh, grown-up series. Win in houston for the yanks and otani is otani the golden boy. I can't stand him, but damn it, is he good? Next we're going to hit a lightning round of stories, some things that you might have scrolled past this week, but actually kind of matter. So stay tuned, keep it right here Got plenty more to talk about. We are almost wrapped up here. So let's just take a quick lap through Queens and no, not baseball, because we just covered that.

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It is US Open season and the men's final is the one that we all low-key expected Yannick Center number one versus Carlos Alcaraz, number two, for the third straight slam final in a row. We're watching history here, people. That has never happened within one season, ever. Look, tennis is a sport that people scoff at and poo-poo and you know it's bougie and this any other but I'm telling you, if you give it a shot, it is one of the most entertaining one-on-one games that you can't look away from. Sinner is a slight favorite on the books, but here's the juice. Alcaraz hasn't dropped a set all tournament and looks like a new animal since he shaved his head. He's 44-2 since April. It's September. Forget tennis. Do you know how incredible of a stat that is to be 44-2 in whatever sport you play Head-to-head this year has been a little bit of a ping-pong match between the two of them, but overall, alcraz leads 9-5 and 4-1 in finals against Center. On the other side of the net net, though, yannick is chasing the first back-to-back US Open men's title since Federer in 08 and has now hit five straight major titles. That is another stat. That's incredibly impressive. This is literally Federer versus Nadal energy, just with two different passports, one's Italian and one's from Spain.

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The adult in the room, novak Djokovic, said the quiet part out loud, unfortunately, after well, not unfortunately, I mean I root for Alcaraz, I root for Djokovic just because he's a god in the sport. But after Alcaraz bullied him in straight sets, he said best of five versus these two different mountains at 38. It's just a tough hill to climb. He went on to say that, like I quote, ran out of gas after two sets and said he thinks he's more alive in best of three going forward, which obviously he says that tongue-in-cheek because he has nothing left to prove and will go down as one of, if not the greatest, tennis player of all time. But I think he also recognizes that father time takes no prisoners and eventually Djokovic's time will come too. He said he still wants to play a full slam season next year.

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So translation the old lion is still hunting and looking to add to his trophy case, but he's no fool and he respects the new hands that the game's in. I guess I wonder if he has a sense of pride seeing all this new, young, amazing talent and feels like he had a hand in kind of shaping them, because I'm sure they grew up watching him. He's been in the game for so long. Tennis is one of the rare sports that you start at 16 and you dominate until you're 25 and then you're kind of out of it. So for the fact that he's 38 and still doing it is insane. But yeah, I wonder, I wonder if he's like, he feels like he has a hand in shaping them or he has maybe this tinge of uh, I don't know, not vitriol Vitriol is not the right word, cause that's anger but I don't know something that he is no longer the best at a sport that he absolutely dominated for about 10 years and he was ranked either 1, 2, or 3 for almost 20 years.

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For people that don't understand tennis, his closest comparison in another sport would be Tiger, for example. So Tiger exploded on the scene, came up young, he played against the greats of like Jack Nicklaus and Ernie Els, but they were kind of on the way out. And then, once he figured out he, he dominated against like Mickelson and Singh and Sergio Garcia, but they were never really truly at his level. And then by the time he got older he kind of phased out against guys like Dustin Johnson or Rory or Spieth or Koepka. So the same story is kind of true for Novak. I mean, novak competed and he kind of made his names against guys like Agassi and Pete Sampras and Roderick while they were on the way out, but then he mostly dominated. I mean, it was good back and forth against Federer and Nadal, but he dominated Murray, he dominated Stan Wawrinka, and now in his old age he is kind of quote-unquote, passing the torch to guys like Alcaraz and Sinner and Mussetti, tiafoe, shit Fritz, but also while still being ultra-competitive. So I don't know.

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Look, sorry to go on the rant about Djokovic here, but he needs to be given his flowers. If you don't like tennis, you're missing out on some history here. We're going to see history going forward with Alcaraz and Center and these young guys and especially the women's game too. But Djokovic is the last. Djokovic is the Tom Brady. He is the all-time winner in majors, in weeks number one in every category. He's Gretzky, you know. So enjoy it while you can. Anyway. On to the women's side. We got a Savalinka versus Anissimova finals set Ready to go.

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I'm a big Pagoula fan, but she is notorious for choking in the quarters or the semis. And she won the first set against Ariana, but the bully came back hard and just bullied her on the hard court. And same thing with Anissa Mova too. Osaka is no pushover, but she lost that first set and came back and won the next two is no pushover, but she lost that first set and came back and won the next two. Not to mention, too, she just took out swiatek in the same week. She took out swiatek and osaka back to back. And on top of it let's not forget, she's a jersey girl coming out of freehold. So look, americans are already rowdy and a lot of them are not a big fan of Sabalenka, and she's a local kid. In the finals it's going to be loud for Ariana. Let's see if she can handle it.

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Now, from Queens to the campuses College football I don't do much on college football on here. I mean I know enough, but not enough. To the campuses College football I don't do much on college football on here. I mean I know enough, but not enough. You know what I mean. I'll make sure we keep up on it.

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But week one was a hype meeting reality and the AP poll got real spicy. So Ohio State beats Texas. They shoot up to number one, first in-season number one since 2015,. By the way, I was surprised when I looked up that stat. We got Penn State at two, lsu at three, georgia at four, miami at five. Texas drops down to seven. After that loss to fucking Ohio State, they went from 1 to 7. Jesus Clemson to 8. Notre Dame to 9. South Carolina sneaks into the 10 spot, which I love their quarterback, by the way, love him for the Heisman play. Florida State falls down to 14. And Alabama, alabama, forrest Gump style, all the way down to 21. The lowest they've been in 17 years. Nick Saban is sitting on that broadcast shaking his head right now. That's the headline On the field. Well, two hype trains kind of hit the concrete right.

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So the big game of the week was arch manning going into ohio state and listen. He ran into a buckeye defense shout out matt patricia. And he lost 14 to 7. He looked like a talented sophomore, but not a finished product. He'll be fine. People are losing their minds about. Oh he's, he's not good. He's not a tank for our the next month or so. Softens up and let the kid breathe. He just went into the defending champion's house and he lost by a touchdown. Even jesus might have a tough time playing in the horseshoe. Okay, arch Manning will be all right.

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Now Bill Belichick at UNC maybe a little bit of a different story, because TCU put the whooping on him 48-14 in the debut and it looked great. I mean, belichick got the ball first. Gorgeous first drive, puts up seven right away, no problem, and it just it spiraled from there, turned into missed tackles, couple pick sixes, and he allowed 542 yards in the. Oh boy, would I hate to be those players in the film session this week. To be fair, though, he flipped the program and there are 70, 7-0, new players Newcomers, not transfers, not this. 70 new players, not transfers, not this 70 new players. So look, unc had Drake May and were good, but not great.

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They hired Belichick, the athletic director in the program, kind of knows what it's signed up for, knows what it's doing here. They signed up for the long haul with an aging coach and this is kind of like a multi-year build with a contingency plan. Later they're gonna let belly cheat, excuse me. Belichick build the roster, build the culture, set the roster up for, like you know, next five years or so he's gonna going to do some recruiting, do some sponsorship and transfer portal shit, and then eventually he'll just pass the team on to his son, which he'll take over, hopefully do well, and then his son will get a coaching job in the NFL in probably five, six years. And now I've got to live with another era of Belichick. Hopefully it's not in AFC East. Now I got to live with another era of Belichick. Hopefully it's not an AFC East. Anyway, the near term for UNC is pick a quarterback or find a quarterback, some transfer portal, some whatever that wants to learn under Belichick Learn how to tackle, learn how to line up right and maybe this year get to a bowl game at 7-6. And then next year just progress and progress right.

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A little bit of bonus pettiness here too, because I let my flags fly on this podcast. I'll tell you who I root for and who I don't root for. I'm an LSU fan when it comes to college football. Can't stand Brian Kelly, but he's done great. Unfortunately, fortunately, unfortunately. I was always an Ed Ogeron Gold Tagus fan and wasn't really too happy with the Brian Kelly hiring. But LSU always attracts players and Jaden Daniels did all right. Hopefully he can turn some of these kids into some good players. We got a win week one for the first time in four years. So whatever, anyway, point I'm trying to say is Brian Kelly gave it to Dabo Sweeney, basically told him to re-watch the second half after LSU's 17-10 victory over them. When Dabo said we missed some plays in this and the other A plus spice in the SEC in week one, you'll love to see it.

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Now one more topic that is potentially huge or potentially nothing, before we land this plane and surprise, surprise, it's some NBA news in September. Pablo Torre, his podcast, has been making some noise lately. Pablo Torre finds out whatever. He drops an absolute bombshell in the NBA this week and his report has Kawhi Leonard tied to a 28 million dollar quote-unquote no-show endorsement through a company called Aspiration, which is a company that Steve Ballmer, owner of the Clippers, helped bankroll right around the time that the Clippers did a large sponsorship with them and a reported clause in said bankroll was linked to. They would only get their money depending on Kawhi staying a Clipper. So basically, if you put two and two together, steve had a little shell company that he bought and he had Kawhi Leonard be an endorsement for $28 million that he never had to show up for, so he didn't have to pay him as much to be on his team, but he would still give him the money.

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The team is flatly denying any cap games, any bullshit, and they say that Aspiration defaulted and the relationship ended and they cooperate with investigators as much as wanted and whatever they need. Blah, blah, blah, blah. Here's why all this matters. There is no harder cap situation than the NBA's From aprons to super max eligibility, yada, yada. If the league sees any cap circumvention, the penalties get nuclear, like huge fines, loss of picks, even contracts voided completely to unrestricted free agencies.

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Steve Ballmer was able to take over the team because the old owner was just a racist disaster. He said alright, look, I might not be racist, but I might know how to do some white collar crimes. So look, maybe this fizzles out. Maybe it's a month long headache for an older core that's already juggling health, but it is a story worth paying attention to, especially because Torrey goes on to say that maybe Jalen Brunson and the Knicks could have possibly had something similar in place and that's why he took such a huge pay cut to stay with the Knicks. I mean, he left a hundred million dollars on the table.

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Pablo, you'll never hear this, but listen to me. I have been a fan of yours since around the horn with stat boy Tony Reale and I know you have your journalistic integrities and I respect that. But please, please, don't be coming after my knicks. We don't have much in this world and we're finally good. Please don't do this to us. That's all I ask. All right, sinner and alcheras three is set. The ap poll has gotten spicy and there's some smoke in Clipper Land. Maybe even with the Knickerbockers too.

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We have covered a lot this week. Take a breath. Let's land this with a weekend plan and some housekeeping and that is a wrap. We started with the Thursday night football circus Carter's ejection, a 40-point first half that nuked the over-better's souls and some CD-lay drops. Then we hit the locals Jets and Steelers' protection plan without AVT Rodgers saying he's in week one mode and Garrett and Fields back together. Giants hinging on, andrew Thomas with Malik neighbors ready and Jackson Dart on deck Mike at the Green Bay in the market ripple. I've got my week one NFL picks. Let's try to beat the books. Boys On the diamond. The Mets Well, the kids are up Tong, sprote and McLean going this weekend while Senga resets in AAA, yankees taking a grown-up series in Houston as Rodon grabs win number 16. And a quick little tip of the cap to Otani's 100th dinger as a Dodger. Then we close with the final set in Queens Center, outgrass three on deck With Sabalinga and Anissimova, jersey girl herself, a spicy college AP poll and a little Kawhi Clippers smoke. That's worth monitoring.

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Look, if you're riding with the show and you like what you hear, rate and review. Wherever you listen Spotify, apple, odyssey, whatever it is it helps more than you think. We want more people listening. It's Uncle Rice giving you the takes. Make sure you follow the socials too. I'll leave the links in the notes, but every Wednesday the IG has the polls. We got Fantasy Mailbag and I'll have all the receipts for my picks that I give out. Saturday morning I'm going live on IG with at Wolves of Wisdom Sports. That's my boy. Nicky, great handicapper. Make sure you jump in with your props, your star and sits, and we'll cook through the board. I appreciate you guys hanging with me. As always, spread good energy in this world and make sure you tell someone you love them. I'm Ian Rice. This has been episode 29 of Rice on the Mics and I'll be in your ears next week, hopefully. Until then, take care.