Episode 319
Irving Walker on Billy Donovan; A.J. Rovener analyzes the Giants
Hosts Mike Guidone and Chris Caputo welcome Irving Walker to talk about his basketball journey, from the playgrounds of Brooklyn to the University of Florida and a professional career overseas. He shares why he committed to Florida early, what drew him to Billy Donovan, and how he learned that earning his coach’s trust started with defense and being mentally prepared. He also talks about getting the green light on offense once that trust was there.
Walker opens up about the challenges shorter guards face in the pros and the disappointment of falling short in two Elite Eight appearances. He explains what it was like trying to move on from those losses, knowing his own college career had a different clock than the program itself.
The conversation also covers summer league, his decision to build a career overseas, and life playing in countries such as Italy and Turkey. From adjusting to different styles of basketball to having teams provide an apartment and car, he gives listeners a feel for life as an American player abroad.
Now focused on coaching and training, Walker shares how he’s passing those lessons on to young players, including through his work as a JV coach at Eagle Academy. It’s a relaxed, thoughtful conversation about the opportunities, setbacks, and everyday experiences that have shaped his life in basketball.
Later, AJ Rovener talks Giants football and the overtime tie with Washington. The conversation also touches on lessons from Christ the King basketball, while Artie Johnson discusses the Mets’ spending and the lifelong connections built through sports.
Takeaways:
- Mike and Chris discuss Billy Donovan’s coaching style, which emphasized defense and mental preparation over sideline shouting.
- Irving Walker shares why he chose Florida early and how smaller guards have to work harder to stand out.
- Irving talks about playing overseas, adjusting to team-first basketball, and having housing and transportation included in his contracts.
- He also discusses coaching young players at Eagle Academy and his interest in possibly coaching at the college level.
- AJ Rovener breaks down the Giants under Harbaugh, Jameis Winston’s heavy passing workload, and areas where the offense can improve.
- The conversation covers how missed kicks, punting, and field position shaped the overtime tie with Washington.
- They look back at Christ the King basketball, where toughness and confidence in taking shots were key lessons.
- Artie Johnson weighs in on the Mets’ spending, favoring a more balanced roster, and shares how playing sports keeps people connected throughout life.
Transcript
The views expressed in the following program do not necessarily represent those of the.
Speaker B:Staff, management or owners of wgbb.
Speaker B:Live from the WGBB studios in Merrick, New York, this is Sports Talk New York.
Speaker A: FM: Speaker A: we call Cappy, Chris Caputo,: Speaker A:1240 Is the number.
Speaker A:If you'd like to join us tonight, talk a little football, talk a little baseball, even some hockey.
Speaker A:We'll be talking a little bit of basketball though, Long island, connection with Irving Walker, former star from University of Florida and Christ the King.
Speaker A:But before we do any of that, I'd like to welcome in once again Cappy Cris Caputo.
Speaker A:Cap, how you doing tonight, buddy?
Speaker C:Great.
Speaker C:Of course, we're here on a Sunday night and it's raining again.
Speaker C:Every Sunday in the fall has to rain.
Speaker A:We have some remnant of another tropical storm, but it's nice to be inside, be warm, talk a little sports.
Speaker A:We had an interesting football day here in New York, which we'll get to a little later on in the program.
Speaker A:But tonight we're going to bring in a special guest right off the bat.
Speaker A:He played at Christ the King, you know, just a legendary program there, then went on to play at Florida for Billy Donovan.
Speaker A:And he joins us tonight.
Speaker A:And it's Irving Walker, Irving, Mike and Chris here on Long Island.
Speaker A:How are you doing tonight?
Speaker D:I'm good.
Speaker D:How are you guys doing?
Speaker A:We're doing fantastic.
Speaker A:We thank you for joining.
Speaker A:You know, and certainly your resume is vast and we'll go through your background, but obviously one of the main issues we talk about tonight is you're playing for Coach Billy Donovan.
Speaker A:And you know, I even have some connections with that.
Speaker A:It'll be a very interesting conversation, but we're very excited to have you on.
Speaker A:And I guess, you know, the first thing just to start with, you went to Christ the King, you know, you were A smaller guard, 5 8, had a fantastic career.
Speaker A:How was it at that point when you were in high school in terms of recruiting and were, were big time schools after you was, was Coach Donovan, you know, on top of you at the beginning.
Speaker A:How did that all play out?
Speaker D:Well for me, I actually committed kind of early, I committed early in my junior year to Florida.
Speaker D:So I didn't, I would say I didn't give my recruitment a full chance, but I had, I had a couple of schools.
Speaker D:I Was very interested in Villanova, but they had got two guards, the gray before my New York guards, actually, and Corey Fisher and Malcolm Grant.
Speaker D:So I decided to pivot.
Speaker D:I took a visit down to Florida, and I loved it, and it just seemed like a good fit for me with Coach Donovan, you know, not being afraid to play small guards.
Speaker D:So that's where I kind of went with it.
Speaker D:But I would say I didn't give my recruitment a full.
Speaker D:Like a full thing.
Speaker D:As I said, I committed early.
Speaker A:Gotcha, Irving.
Speaker C:When you were in high school, what were some of the stars that you were going up against playing, you know, for Christ the King.
Speaker D:Catholic League?
Speaker D:We had a lot of good ones in the main one, Kimball Walker.
Speaker D:We all know him and his resume.
Speaker D:Dilvin Landisburg.
Speaker D:Guys.
Speaker D:Edgar Sosa.
Speaker D:Truck Bryant.
Speaker D:Daron Lamb.
Speaker D:National champion at Kentucky, Jwon Pinkston.
Speaker D:Another McDonald's All American, Russell Smith.
Speaker D:So every night was a tough, tough game.
Speaker D:Vincent Council, we played against Lincoln, Lance Stevenson.
Speaker D:So a bunch of guys in that era.
Speaker A:So, you know, obviously being a smaller point guard, but in that city system, being a Division 1 player, you know, I can tell you, like, I mean, I'm nowhere near the level of your play, but I'm five' eight myself.
Speaker A:I played a little division, too, but it was always like.
Speaker A:Like I was trying to kind of prove my point that I could hang on a certain level.
Speaker A:For you as a smaller guard, was that part of your game or was it just like, hey, I'm going out there, I'm not even concerned about, you know, my physical stats, and I'm just going to work.
Speaker D:For me, it was more.
Speaker D:More about, I'm just going to work.
Speaker D:I was born.
Speaker D:I was always the shortest player, so I never knew what it felt like to be taller.
Speaker D:That's all I knew.
Speaker E:Right.
Speaker D:You know what I mean?
Speaker D:And.
Speaker D:But I know as when I was young, I was very successful, rated number one in the country in fifth and sixth grade.
Speaker D:And it was always when he gets to the next level, like, the height is going to hinder him and he won't be as good.
Speaker D:So always in my mind, I did want to prove people wrong, but I was also, like I said, just focused on myself and what I could do.
Speaker C:Talking with Brooklyn native Irving Walker, when you decided to go to Florida, was some of that because of Billy Donovan having the New York connection, or was it just the school?
Speaker D:I would say it was mainly the school and a small part of him being from New York.
Speaker D:I just knew he would understand my background a little bit.
Speaker D:Being From New York, but it was mostly the school.
Speaker C:And when you got there was a culture shock being in Florida versus New York?
Speaker D:No, I wouldn't say.
Speaker D:I wouldn't say it was a culture shot.
Speaker D:Florida was definitely different.
Speaker D:But being that it was the college life in college, I wouldn't say I was culture shocked.
Speaker D:If I was just living there, maybe I think it would be a little bit different.
Speaker D:But like I said, being that it's college, I think I was good with that.
Speaker A:So Coach Donovan in high school, he played for a guy named Frank Morris, who I actually was an assistant for.
Speaker A:When he moved up to the college level, went to Providence, played for Rick Pitino, you know, so obviously played a little bit for the Knicks, obviously.
Speaker A:Big time player, big time coach.
Speaker A:When you first got to Florida, was it a type of development where he was looking at your game and gave you goals?
Speaker A:Because I know, you know, we're going to talk about a little bit that he challenged you later on to be more of an assist guy, but you were obviously a big time scorer.
Speaker A:Like, what kind of role did he talk about with you and what was he looking to kind of develop in your game once you got there?
Speaker D:Well, for starters, nothing was promised to me, so I had no idea what I was stepping into.
Speaker D:But, you know, he wanted me to just, you know, be a nag on defense my freshman year.
Speaker D:And it kind of just played itself into.
Speaker D:That's how I actually got on the court.
Speaker D:And I'm not known for defense, but I was pressuring the ball, making plays defensively, and I was able to, you know, steal some minutes and get on the court like that.
Speaker D:And we had a great guard and Nick Collatis.
Speaker D:Once Nick left my freshman year, it was up to me, you know, that was now my starting role.
Speaker D:And he kind of just gave me the freedom.
Speaker D:It wasn't, you know, a lecture, nothing.
Speaker D:Just, you know, play hard, give me what you got.
Speaker D:And you got the freedom to do what you want.
Speaker D:On offense especially, I mean, it was definitely inside of the system.
Speaker D:Not just, you know, you could throw up any shot, but he definitely gave us freedom.
Speaker C: rth all time in scoring, over: Speaker C:So you were the guy that was on the court, but you were also known a lot as a big shot maker throughout your career.
Speaker C:How did you balance the point guard role of being the guy who's the distributor and the guy who's got to come up clutch in the big moments?
Speaker D:Well, I get labeled as sometimes, you know, more of a scorer.
Speaker D:And shooting guard.
Speaker D:But I think I've always been, you know, a point guard.
Speaker D:So that was always in my blood, but it's just been times I need to score, so.
Speaker D:And I also think if I was scoring, it made it easier for me to make plays for others.
Speaker D:But I think that was just the Brooklyn in me not being afraid to fail.
Speaker D:My dad always taught me, don't be afraid to fail in a moment.
Speaker D:So I was never.
Speaker D:And I played with teammates coming up young where, you know, when the game is tight, clutch moments where they're a little bit nervous and they would look to me for the.
Speaker D:For those type of shots.
Speaker D:So it's kind of always been in me.
Speaker D:And I guess I was raised like that.
Speaker A:So, you know, you obviously had a very successful career there.
Speaker A:Team did very well.
Speaker A:You had two, if I'm correct, yet two tough Elite Eight losses, one to Butler and then one to Louisville.
Speaker A:So, you know, when you get down to that part of the season, you're obviously a title contender.
Speaker A:What was it like trying to bounce back from those losses or, you know, what do you come back stronger?
Speaker A:Is it something where, you know, in the locker room, when you have a guy like Billy Donovan, who's been through it before, are you immediately talking about, you know, going forward, or is it something where, you know, it's got to sink in a little bit?
Speaker A:I'm just curious to find out what it was like, you know, getting ready for those next seasons.
Speaker D:Well, for me.
Speaker D:So my junior year, we lost.
Speaker D:Like you said, we lost the Butler and Elite 8.
Speaker D:And that was definitely one of the toughest moments of my college career.
Speaker D:Like, I was very, very, very hurt by that.
Speaker D:I didn't come outside for about two weeks because it's especially a game that I think we should.
Speaker D:We was up 11 with eight minutes.
Speaker D:But from the coaching standpoint, Billy Donovan definitely, he moved on immediately, of course, to the seniors.
Speaker D:At that time, you know, the goodbyes was sad.
Speaker D:But immediately the next day, we might have had a meeting, maybe a day or two when we get back.
Speaker D:And he was on to the next year, on to the next.
Speaker D:For me, I wasn't on to the next out.
Speaker D:Like I said, I was depressed for about two weeks and hurt.
Speaker D:In my senior year, we lost same scenario of 12 with about eight minutes to Louisville, and we kind of gave it away.
Speaker D:I handled that one a little bit better than the first.
Speaker D:The first loss, and maybe even because, I don't know, it was the last game of my career.
Speaker D:I don't know.
Speaker D:But my junior year I was definitely more hurt.
Speaker D:I think we could have cut the nets down that year.
Speaker C:Can you talk a little bit about Coach Donovan?
Speaker C:And, you know, I think that he probably had trust in you, but I think, you know, you probably got to a point where you had trust in him to give you the leadership of that team.
Speaker C:Can you talk about your relationship with him and the leadership back and forth?
Speaker D:Yeah, I had a great relationship with Coach.
Speaker D:He's definitely a people person.
Speaker D:He's not a big yeller.
Speaker D:Like, I don't like people yelling at me.
Speaker D:So he was more of a talker and try to get into your mental.
Speaker D:And I could give you one story with him.
Speaker D:Like, I wasn't in trouble often, but one time I was in a little bit of a shooting slump, and I was open and I pump fake and I passed the ball instead of shooting, and he subbed me out and he said if I don't shoot that shot again, I wouldn't play no more.
Speaker D:So if that's not giving a player confidence, I don't know what is.
Speaker D:He gave me all the confidence in the world, maybe, and I know I made my mistakes, but he definitely believed in me.
Speaker D:So when a coach believes in you at that level, I want to make him feel proud and make him feel confident that he's making the right decisions.
Speaker D:So I want to thank him also for always, you know, believing in me and giving me the confidence, even when at times I didn't believe myself.
Speaker A:We're joined by Irving Walker, once again from Christ the King and University of Florida, Brownsville, Brooklyn native.
Speaker A:And Irving, once your career ended at Florida, you know, I'm sure you had aspirations to perhaps, you know, test the NBA, if possible.
Speaker A:Was there.
Speaker A:Was there any interest or thoughts about that, or was it immediately that you were looking to go overseas?
Speaker A:What was the thought process at that point in your career?
Speaker D:I definitely.
Speaker D:I wanted to go to the NBA.
Speaker D:And, you know, as we all know, that's a very difficult thing to do.
Speaker D:And so many great players and with my height also makes it a little bit harder.
Speaker D:But I played summer league with the Phoenix Suns, and there was a lot of great players on that team.
Speaker D:Kendall Marshall was drafted number 12, I can't remember, but in the lottery.
Speaker D:So he was on a team.
Speaker D:Deontay Garrett was on a team.
Speaker D:Two guys that were actually in the NBA.
Speaker D:So minutes were difficult, but I did pretty good when I got my opportunities there.
Speaker D:But as that was going on, you kind of understand the things that come with it.
Speaker D:So I kind of knew that overseas was the next step for me.
Speaker D:So as soon as I left summer league, I signed with an Italian team there and began my pro career.
Speaker C:So you played in Italy, Poland, France, Turkey.
Speaker C:What's it like for a young New York guard to play in some of these places?
Speaker D:That took culture shock, Some of those places.
Speaker D:Like for example, for me in my first year, I wasn't in the main city in like Rome or Milan or something like that.
Speaker D:I was in a little village.
Speaker D:Everything shut down at from 12 to 2.
Speaker D:The language barrier is different in the smaller cities.
Speaker D:And then the European game is definitely more structured, more team orientated.
Speaker D:So it's just being able.
Speaker D:For me, I just say be able to adapt and play basketball.
Speaker D:If you play good basketball and a good teammate and a good person, that doesn't automatically make you successful there, but it definitely gives you a head start rather than being cocky or, you know, making it about yourself.
Speaker D:It's definitely about the team over there.
Speaker D:Wins and losses matter more than stats.
Speaker C:So you played for a while overseas.
Speaker C:Can you give us an idea if somebody was, you know, to graduate from college and, you know, was a pretty decent star but wasn't going to make it in the NBA financially?
Speaker C:What's it like over there?
Speaker C:Is everything taken care of?
Speaker C:Do you make decent money?
Speaker C:You know, when you come back to the United States after that, are you kind of set or are you in a tough spot?
Speaker D:It depends on a person.
Speaker D:There's so many different levels.
Speaker D:So it could be overseas making $300 a month, and some months you could be making 100,000amonth.
Speaker D:So it kind of depends.
Speaker D:But coming fresh out, if you was a good player, I would say you would make you get from.
Speaker D:It could be 8,000amonth to 12,000amonth for your first year.
Speaker D:And like any job is a building, it's building blocks.
Speaker D:Now you going over there and assert yourself and you have to build yourself up.
Speaker D:And it could grow or it could be.
Speaker D:You could fall off.
Speaker D:It could go either way.
Speaker D:And they take care of most teams, take care of your apartment, your car while you're living there and everything like that.
Speaker D:So you pretty much set there with those type of expenses, you don't have to worry about that.
Speaker A:So, Irving, I got a question for you.
Speaker A:I'm a middle school teacher in Westbury, New York.
Speaker A:I had a young man a ways back who eventually wound up at Christ the King, a little smaller guard, Tyson Walker.
Speaker A:Do you know Tyson at all?
Speaker D:Yeah, I know Tyson.
Speaker D:I actually, I played with Tyson in a tournament.
Speaker A:Oh, that's right.
Speaker D:Yes, Called Balling up in Harlem this summer.
Speaker D:So I knew Tyson coming up and like I said, we playing a tournament, I actually hung out with him in a little spot, you know, after a game one day this summer.
Speaker D:So Tyson, I wouldn't say is my.
Speaker A:Best friend, but yeah, you know, it's.
Speaker D:Like a little brother to me.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Because you know what, your story kind of sounded parallel because Tyson, you know, Tyson's a dynamic guard, can do everything.
Speaker A:You know, he's smallish, 661-62-6 to me, he always kind of possessed the game and the skills to translate to an NBA player.
Speaker A:But as you mentioned before, it's so difficult to make that jump.
Speaker A:Is it, Is there, You know, I don't want to harp on the height thing, but is there a bias against the players where it's really just that much harder for you to get noticed, to get looked at?
Speaker D:Yeah, it's just reality.
Speaker D:If I could have somebody that's 6, 5 doing the exact same thing as somebody that's 5, 11, 6 foot, why wouldn't I take the 6, 4 person?
Speaker D:You know, basketball now is so dynamic and athletic and things like that.
Speaker D:Where I, me personally, if I'm, if I, if, if I have to choose between a 6, 4 person and a 5, 10 person and they have equal talent or, you know, merit, I'm going to go with the 64 person as well.
Speaker D:I think that's just the smart decision.
Speaker D:So for the little guys, you have to do something dynamic and separate yourself to give yourself an opportunity, which is still be slim.
Speaker D:It's not impossible.
Speaker D:We've seen guys like Isaiah Thomas be first team all NBA at 5, 9, so it's possible, but just the laws of nature is a, you know, a big man's game.
Speaker C:So now that your playing career is over, what have you been up to recently and what's kind of on your agenda looking forward to?
Speaker D:Well, right now at the moment I'm working at Eagle Academy, so I assist with a guy named Eugene Lawrence who graduated from St. John's we coached the JV team at Eagle Academy and I'm training some people in basketball as well on the side.
Speaker A:Are you looking to kind of spread your wings coaching wise, you know, to either get your own program or go into the college ranks?
Speaker A:Or are you just happy where you are right now with training?
Speaker D:At the moment, I'm just, I'm happy where I'm at with training.
Speaker D:And if, you know, something comes along with the coaching, maybe in college or something like that, I would be interested, but not so much having my own program at the high school level or something like that.
Speaker D:So right now, I'm just focused on the training and helping the kids.
Speaker D:And if something comes with college or professional, I will look into that.
Speaker C:So your coach, Billy Donovan, did make it to the hall of Fame, and that was one of the reasons why we wanted to have you on.
Speaker C:Do you still talk with him and kind of, what's the best thing that you got from being one of his players?
Speaker D:I definitely.
Speaker D:I do talk to him.
Speaker D:Not as much, but we definitely been in contact.
Speaker D:And even while he's with Chicago, possibly working with him and things like that.
Speaker D:And what was your other question?
Speaker C:You know, what's kind of.
Speaker C:What was the best thing about being one of his players?
Speaker D:Just putting on that Gator uniform.
Speaker D:The pride is so strong and the love and his family orientated there.
Speaker D:And I learned a lot from him, going from basically being a young boy to never being on my own, you know, living in college, away from my parents and stuff.
Speaker D:And he was a major part.
Speaker D:And like I said, he's very, like.
Speaker D:He's not a screamer.
Speaker D:He's more educational and mental.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:And just beyond basketball, he's always there for us as a coach.
Speaker D:If I needed something from him, I'm pretty sure I could call and get in contact and he would help me to the best of his ability.
Speaker D:So I'm always appreciative of that.
Speaker C:Great.
Speaker C:We're talking with Irving Walker, who did play at Christ the King in Florida.
Speaker C:We're going to do a little quick lightning round with you.
Speaker C:So first thing that comes to your head, favorite teammate you had, high school or college or probably.
Speaker E:K boy.
Speaker D:And K boy for college.
Speaker D:High school.
Speaker D:High school.
Speaker D:Ryan Pierson.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker A:Who would be.
Speaker A:Who was the toughest defender that you had to go against?
Speaker D:The toughest defender?
Speaker D:My high school teammate, Malik Booth.
Speaker C:Oh, that's a good one.
Speaker A:I was gonna say.
Speaker A:Maybe you were gonna say nobody, because no one could.
Speaker A:Could handle you.
Speaker D:Now, Malibu was a tough.
Speaker D:Every day in practice, that was difficult.
Speaker C:Okay, Go to Brooklyn food spot.
Speaker D:Go to Brooklyn food spot.
Speaker D:Well, it's not a food spot, but I'm gonna give it to Room Hundred.
Speaker D:It's a hookah.
Speaker D:Hookah lounge.
Speaker D:I'm in there pretty often.
Speaker D:They have good food.
Speaker D:They have good food.
Speaker D:I wouldn't say it's just a restaurant.
Speaker D:Restaurant lounge.
Speaker D:I'll give it to room 100.
Speaker C:All right.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:And what would you say was the biggest or the most memorable shot that you hit in your career?
Speaker D:The most Memorable shot in my career.
Speaker D:I'll give you the one I missed versus Butler.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker D:But let me see.
Speaker D:Most of them will shout, my career.
Speaker D:I say versus Georgia.
Speaker D:We play at Georgia.
Speaker D:We were down three.
Speaker D:I hit a buzzer beater, send it in overtime.
Speaker A:That's big.
Speaker A:You know, that kind of leads to one last question.
Speaker A:What was your.
Speaker A:Besides, you know, playing in Gainesville, what was your favorite arena, college wise, that you played in?
Speaker D:My favorite arena.
Speaker D:My favorite arena, for me, personally, I would say Arkansas, because I had a lot of success there and some big games, so that was my favorite.
Speaker D:But playing at Tennessee was the crazy.
Speaker D:The fans, yeah, was very, very, very not nice to us.
Speaker A:You're being very kind.
Speaker A:That's nice.
Speaker A:It's a nice way to put it.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker D:So Tennessee was definitely a, you know, environment that everybody would love to play in.
Speaker D:And, you know, we didn't have too much success there.
Speaker D:But I would say, Tennessee, you got.
Speaker C:To play at MSG definitely in high school.
Speaker C:Did you play in there in college as well?
Speaker D:No, I didn't get to in college.
Speaker D:The closest I came, we played at Rutgers and we played in Atlantic City at the Boardwalk.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And you guys, I think you lost an NIT game your freshman year in the quarterfinals.
Speaker C:Otherwise you would have gone to msg, right?
Speaker D:Correct.
Speaker D:Yep.
Speaker C:Well, you had a great career and, you know, it's nice going down memory lane a little bit.
Speaker C:So we appreciate some time and glad you were able to.
Speaker C:To give us some of your insights.
Speaker D:No problem.
Speaker D:Thanks for having me.
Speaker D:It was good talking to you guys.
Speaker A:It was an absolute pleasure and good luck with your coaching and your workouts and hopefully we can talk to you again sometime in the future.
Speaker D:Sounds good.
Speaker D:Have a good night, guys.
Speaker A:You as well.
Speaker A:So Irving Walker, formerly of Christ the King University of Florida, gave us some great insights on Coach Donovan, but also about his career and going overseas.
Speaker A:It's tough.
Speaker A:Here's a guy who scored so many points, such a.
Speaker A:Such a prolific ball handler, distributor, and couldn't get a sniff in the NBA because of his size.
Speaker C:Yeah, it's sad and it's interesting to hear kind of what you could do overseas.
Speaker C:You always wonder the top guys versus just the guy that's trying to get by.
Speaker C:And he's saying you can make eight $12,000 a month and they're paying for everything.
Speaker C:So hopefully you find somebody that helps you be a financial guy and you save that.
Speaker C:That later on when you need the money, you have it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, the guards out of Christ the King and you'll Remember this because when I first started coaching college and then you came to a bunch of the games and we had a guy, Shannon Holmes, and he was the Division 2 leader in steals and he was a Christ the King kid, but again, smaller guard.
Speaker A:Yeah, it seems like Christ the King was never afraid to take the smaller guys.
Speaker C:Yeah, we didn't go over it with him too much.
Speaker C:But Bob Oliva was a big time high school coach and he would search Long island, he would search New York City to try and find some of these, you know, scruff kids diamonds in a row to see where they would fit in.
Speaker C:And you know, they don't really, they don't play freshmen.
Speaker C:You know, when I was there, like Tina Charles played on the freshman team, she didn't play on the, on the varsity until she was a sophomore.
Speaker C:And you know, I watched her in the gym and I was like, oh my God, this girl must be huge.
Speaker C:Like, yeah, she's on the freshman team.
Speaker C:I said, oh my gosh.
Speaker C:But, you know, they just have a way of finding these diamonds in the rough kids that are just tough kids.
Speaker C:And Irving Walker is a tough kid.
Speaker C:I saw him play in high school.
Speaker C:Again, he mentioned Sylvan Landesberg was a student of mine at Holy Cross.
Speaker C:And some of These guys are 6, 7, 6, 8.
Speaker C:You're going to go to Virginia, you're going to, you know, be a good time player.
Speaker C:You might get a call to go to a combine and maybe make the NBA, but at 5, 8, it's really tough.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And he also mentioned that he signed pretty early with the University of Florida.
Speaker A:I almost, not that I wanted to ask him, but I almost kind of sensed a little twinge of maybe regret that he didn't kind of, you know, take.
Speaker A:Take more trips and kind of get into it.
Speaker A:Although his career ended up pretty good,.
Speaker C:He did say Villanova, Illinois, like those schools.
Speaker C:But you know, some of the guys he's talking about, like Malik Booth was a Villanova, like these guys, they play at the high level and that's New York City basketball right there.
Speaker C:You know, Catholic League, New York City, you know, Rice, Christ the King, Holy Cross, like those are the big time schools.
Speaker A:As a coach through the one thing that he mentioned that really made me smile was when he got to Florida, we asked him like, what was the first thing that Billy Donovan said to him about, you know, playing on that level?
Speaker A:And he said, play defense.
Speaker A:That's it.
Speaker C:Yeah, that was his role.
Speaker A:It's it.
Speaker A:We tell kids that all the time.
Speaker A:You know, when you come if you can defend, you'll play.
Speaker A:You'll find a way to go.
Speaker A:And I think that that gets really lost in the shuffle.
Speaker A:And anybody who's a basketball coach now on any level, but especially in the youth level or, you know, JV varsity, and you have kids who come in and they think they should play or they want to play, or maybe they're not even as skilled, you always tell them, play defense.
Speaker A:If you play defense, you will find your way onto the court.
Speaker A:If you play offense and you can't defend anybody, well, that's kind of a, you know, for lack of a better phrase, it's kind of a sexy way of playing now.
Speaker A:Like, everybody does their thing, but you got to defend, or else you're just not going to see the court.
Speaker C:And he played for Billy Donovan.
Speaker C:And, you know, the interesting story he did tell was he got taken out of a game for not taking a shot.
Speaker C:And that was basically what Billy Donovan's coach did to him.
Speaker C:Frank Morris wanted you to shoot the ball.
Speaker C:If not, you were coming out of the game.
Speaker A:Well, I can attest to that because having worked for Coach Morris for two years, his whole thing was, get the ball seven, eight seconds and you're going to shoot it.
Speaker A:And if not, yeah, come sit down.
Speaker A:It was.
Speaker A:People don't understand the offense that we ran under Coach Morris.
Speaker A:There was no playbook, freedom.
Speaker A:There was nothing.
Speaker A:It was just get it and jack it up, man.
Speaker A:Just go.
Speaker A:And if you could hit it, you stayed on the court.
Speaker A:If you couldn't or you turned it off, you sat next to me on the bench.
Speaker A:It was really amazing because people would come and watch our practices with notepads and all sorts of stuff, and.
Speaker A:And they would sit there and.
Speaker A:Not that they were disappointed, but they just.
Speaker A:They'd have nothing to write down.
Speaker A:Just shoot it.
Speaker A:That's it.
Speaker D:Just.
Speaker A:Just gun it.
Speaker A:You know, be a gunner.
Speaker A:But yeah, great, great segment with Irving Walker.
Speaker A:And coming up in the second half, we're going to do a little bit of a fan spotlight.
Speaker A:We have one of my former teammates from college.
Speaker A:His name's Artie Johnson.
Speaker A:He's going to join us, talk a little bit about.
Speaker A:He's an adult baseball player and just his.
Speaker A:His interest in the world of sports.
Speaker A:And then we're going to talk a little Giants football after that.
Speaker A:But that'll be in the second half when we come back from our break here on Long island.
Speaker A:Wgbb, Sports Talk New York.
Speaker B:You're listening to Sports Talk New York.
Speaker B: FM and: Speaker B:You're listening to Sports Talk New York on Long Island's wgb.
Speaker B:And now back to the show live from the WGPB studios in Merrick, New York.
Speaker A:And yes, we are live back with the second half hour here on WGBB Sports Talk New York.
Speaker A:Mike Cordone here, joined by Chris Caputo, Cappy, my co host.
Speaker A:And we're going to switch gears here a little bit, talk of some local New York sports with a former teammate of mine.
Speaker A:This is kind of what we call this, our segment here, our fan fest.
Speaker A:And one of the better knowledgeable fans you'll ever meet and just a great guy.
Speaker A:His name is Artie Johnson.
Speaker A:Artie, Mike and Chris here, welcome to the program.
Speaker A:How are you doing tonight, my friend?
Speaker E:Great as always, Mike.
Speaker E:How are you and Chris tonight?
Speaker D:All right.
Speaker A:Yeah, we're doing great, you know, and I'm very excited to chat with you here.
Speaker A:You know, we've known each other a long time, go back lots of memories from playing college basketball together.
Speaker A:We definitely kind of share a lot of the same teams, minus one, which I'll get to kind of towards the end of our segment, which we talked about the last time I saw you.
Speaker A:But I know you're a big Met fan, Islander fan.
Speaker A:So I see you chiming in a lot on social media with some opinions.
Speaker A:Tell me a little bit about the Mets.
Speaker A:You know, where you'd like to see them go Coming up this year, if you were the general manager, what are you doing first?
Speaker E:Well, the situation with the Mets, I believe, is that they put a lot of money into one or two many play and one or two players.
Speaker E:And I believe with that type of money that they spent last year on Soto or two years ago on Soto when they signed him, that they should have maybe just went a different direction and spend it instead of spending $50 million on a year on one player, you can get maybe three or four players for that amount and it could serve some better purposes with different positions.
Speaker E:I just think it's very tough to win when you put all your eggs in one basket on one player, to be honest with you, Mike.
Speaker A:No, you know, and I certainly don't disagree with you.
Speaker A:I think, you know, Chris and I talked about it when it happened, it was almost like, you know, Certainly you wanted to get a guy like Soto, but I think the Mets were looking to make just such a splash to bring in a name.
Speaker A:And I think you bring up a great point.
Speaker A:You know, at the time maybe that was, you know, what they thought they needed to do, but it was a little foolish to, to put all the eggs in the one basket for sure.
Speaker A:You know, do you, would you think, you know, starting pitching this year with the Mets, you know, was disappointed with Sanga and different things.
Speaker A:Would you go out and spend big time money on a guy like Tarek Scrubbel or are you again, do you want to kind of spread it out a little bit more and go, you know, just for numbers rather than one big number?
Speaker E:Well, you know, in regards with the Mets with their pitch, I believe they got a lot of young rising stars between stock between, you know, Gordon Thornton's all right.
Speaker E:I think he's the bottom back of the line.
Speaker E:You got McLane, of course, who I think is a very big time starter in the league and he's only going to get better, of course, you know, with the Mets, with Tarek, yeah, you know, you could definitely give him a.
Speaker F:Contract, but it can't end there.
Speaker E:That's the problem with the Mets.
Speaker E:They will get that one big splash like you're always talking about, but then they don't continue and then what happens is they go cheap other ways because now you can't sign Alonzo, who everybody wanted back and who should have been back.
Speaker E:I'm sorry, it's hard to, you know, get rid of players like that.
Speaker E:And I'll say Nimo as well, you know, I know they did that for the contract.
Speaker E:But again, that's what happens when you sign big with time stars with one contract.
Speaker E:Now you got to get rid of some other contracts and to me that's not, it's not worth it in a loss.
Speaker E:So unless you sign somebody else.
Speaker F:But screwable, don't do it.
Speaker E:Get, get, get more, you know, quantity sometimes than quantity with one.
Speaker E:I just think it's just better, you know, especially with all the injuries that they have in the pitching.
Speaker E:And you know what with Sanger, I think you leave him in a role that he finished the season off of last year, you know, with him and Williams in the back end, you know, he'll be new Luke Weaver maybe and you know, $15 million on a guy like that, which is his last year of the contract coming up this year.
Speaker E:I think he'd be serviceable in that 8th inning role and or 9th of Williams fails And defend them well.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I think, you know, with Brandon Nimmo, you kind of mentioned, like, you know, and Alonzo certainly performers, but team chemistry is so important.
Speaker A:Like, I know when you guys were playing in Malloy and I came in as, you know, as a hotshot sophomore transfer, you know, it took a little time for me to kind of adjust to the play.
Speaker A:And you guys, you know, team chemistry wasn't the easiest when you had someone as dynamic as me coming in.
Speaker A:Right, Artie?
Speaker E:Oh, well, listen, I mean, you were the staples and the glue.
Speaker E:We should have called you glues and staples, you know, to the organization after you came.
Speaker E:I mean, after that, it became just a love fest, you know, and everything like that.
Speaker E:The don't ever started, you know, it was all over after that.
Speaker E:I got the bomb.
Speaker E:It got pushed to the side.
Speaker E:It was all over after that, you know.
Speaker A:Well, that's what I was hoping.
Speaker A:But I think you guys would probably admit that the water that I gave you on the bench never tasted so good and that the cheerleading was never as solid as it was.
Speaker A:You're being very kind, so.
Speaker E:Yeah, well, that'll be determined 30 years later, Mike.
Speaker E:That'll still be determined.
Speaker A:Well, I hope our buddy Mike Robert is listening and getting a chuckle out of that as well.
Speaker A:But it's great to have you on once again.
Speaker A:This is Artie Johnson, one of my teammates from Malloy College, back in the 90s.
Speaker A:Division 2 basketball player, has his own DJ business as well, DJ Artie, which we're going to plug that at the end.
Speaker A:Artie, I wanted to ask you the other thing, too.
Speaker A:We were talking about this the last time we got together with being a fan.
Speaker A:So obviously, you know, I told you, I'm a big New York Giants fan.
Speaker A:You know, you're a Mets fan, Islander fan.
Speaker A:We can get to the Islanders before you get off.
Speaker A:But you're a huge Dallas Cowboys guy.
Speaker A:And I know, you know, in the 70s, the Giants and Jets were pretty bad, and the Cowboys, you know, were kind of the standard bearer.
Speaker A:But was there ever time, like, for you, as a fan that you were kind of tempted to switch?
Speaker A:Or was it always like, hey, you know, you grew up loving the Cowboys and you were never switching off of them?
Speaker E:Nah, never switching, Mike.
Speaker E:Never switched.
Speaker E:You know, my dad wasn't a football fan.
Speaker E:He was, believe it or not, he was a Yankee fan, and I'm a Met fan, so, you know, so be that.
Speaker E:But, you know, I mean, when I was.
Speaker E:I was growing up, which I'm a couple of years Older than you.
Speaker E:I think at this point, not much.
Speaker F:You know, it's, it's, it's.
Speaker E:It was just a Dallas.
Speaker E:It was either Dallas or Pittsburgh when you were growing up.
Speaker E:Unless you were a die hard jet giant guy, then your dad usually was that type of a guy too.
Speaker E:And you just followed in the footsteps.
Speaker E:But I didn't have a team growing up.
Speaker E:And then Dallas was a thing back in the 70s and with the doomsday with the shift on the old line and the Landry, you know, profile you saw on TV and it was just a star and a helmet and you're like, all right, they're good, let me follow them.
Speaker E:The stadium was top notch back then, just as it is now.
Speaker E:And it was just the right way.
Speaker F:It was just the way to go.
Speaker E:For a person that wasn't in any.
Speaker E:Didn't have any type of direction for football, so.
Speaker E:And they were good.
Speaker E:And listen.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker E:Do they, Are they problematic now?
Speaker E:Yeah, because of the owner.
Speaker E:No doubt.
Speaker E:Another guy that messes things up.
Speaker E:He doesn't know a good thing when he has it because he wants to be in the spotlight a thousand percent and he wants all the glory.
Speaker E:But you know what, he's got a. I think it's time for him to get rid of that team now too because definitely the, you know, everything has run its course in Dallas and they just can't do nothing right.
Speaker E:And you can see by last week's loss that, you know, it's just not trending in the right direction.
Speaker E:It's just not down there.
Speaker E:You know, things need to be changed, you know, and it's got to be.
Speaker E:You've got to get the, you got to get the spotlight off of him and just go to the background and let people do what they need to do and put the right people in.
Speaker D:The right spots there.
Speaker C:A lot of teams, a lot of people picked Dallas this week and probably out in their survivor pools because that was a huge upset.
Speaker C:So Artie, you do play competitive baseball at your time now you talk a little bit about playing with some of the guys that are a little bit older instead of playing against 15 and 20 year olds all the time.
Speaker E:Oh, well, those 15, 20 year olds went out the window many, many years ago.
Speaker E:I'm 60 now.
Speaker A:But you still, you still play in like some 45 year old leagues, right?
Speaker E:I mean, you're playing.
Speaker E:Yeah, I play, I play 30 in a 35 and older division, as a matter of fact.
Speaker E:Yeah, so I'm playing 35.
Speaker E:I play, believe it or not, at 50 years old.
Speaker E:I play 200 games a year now still.
Speaker E:And you know, between here and Florida, because I go down to Florida for six months out of the year, but I'm playing about 200 games a year between tournaments, between league ball, between playoffs.
Speaker E:I Also umpire like 400, at least 400 games a year between both places and everything like that.
Speaker E:And believe it or not, I'm still, I, I, I'm doing high school basketball and basketball.
Speaker E:I'm on fire and down there as well.
Speaker C:Wow.
Speaker E:I'm sorry.
Speaker E:Refereeing down there.
Speaker E:I'm sorry.
Speaker E:I'm refereeing down there.
Speaker E:So, I mean, even though I am retired, I'm not.
Speaker E:And how I did all this stuff back in the day when I worked a 9 to 5, I'll never know.
Speaker E:But listen, when you have passion, when you love it, you find a way and a will to do it.
Speaker E:As you know, you know guys as being in sports, you know that for sure.
Speaker A:Did, did you do a Mets fantasy camp?
Speaker E:I did not.
Speaker A:But you, you have come across some guys, right?
Speaker E:Yeah, no, I definitely know people that done that.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker E:I played in a tournament that was down in Nashville, Tennessee, as a matter of fact.
Speaker E:It wasn't, it wasn't a Mets camp, but a lot of people that have done Mets camps know that tournament.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker E:And yeah, they, yeah, yeah, that's what it was.
Speaker E:That's what it was.
Speaker E:And that's how they get.
Speaker E:A lot of guys know me and they say, oh, you want to play in this tournament?
Speaker E:I said, yeah, sure, not a problem.
Speaker E:And I went down there and I ended up pitching in the eight set,.
Speaker F:Six games we had.
Speaker E:I think I pitched 37 out of the 44 innings that, believe it or not, in the five games and the five days, and they gave me the quote, unquote, Cy Young Award winner, even though we were 501.
Speaker E:I pitched that just about every game.
Speaker E:But we lost.
Speaker E:The only game we lost was a championship game, as a matter of fact.
Speaker E:And I, the guys still get, they all the team said, listen, you got to get this guy to Cy Young Award.
Speaker E:This guy pitched in, you know, 37 out of 44 games.
Speaker E:Anything, I mean, and everything like that.
Speaker E:So, so I got that on my resume.
Speaker E:So, you know, that's whatever.
Speaker E:I'm Young Award material, but I guess I deserve that.
Speaker E:That's one of me, you know.
Speaker E:Yeah, I mean, listen, I've been playing for years, guys.
Speaker E:I've been playing since 19, right out of college, as a matter of fact, and you know, mid to late twenties and not That I took that long to get out of college.
Speaker E:But I've been to late twenties and everything like that.
Speaker E:I couldn't play softball.
Speaker E:I tried playing softball one year and I just couldn't do it.
Speaker E:So I joined all sort of league on the newspaper.
Speaker E:I answered and aired.
Speaker E:And I've been running, I run three teams up here during the summer, the 35 and 245 teams weekends, midweek.
Speaker E:And I've been doing that for 30 plus years, believe it or not, in.
Speaker F:The Long Island League.
Speaker E:And I also run a team in Florida.
Speaker E:When I'm up here in New York for the summer, I'm running my Florida team down there.
Speaker E:And I'm not even down there.
Speaker E:And you know, I just thought of that too.
Speaker E:So I'm very busy with that too, believe it or not.
Speaker A:So seriously, legitimate question, to be able to, to pitch that many innings already, what do you, what do you have to do?
Speaker A:Like what, what do you do to keep your arm fresh?
Speaker E:It's called not throwing hard, throwing finesse, hitting corners.
Speaker E:And hopefully your defense is better than you, better than the pitches you're throwing and everything like that, you know, and that's what it was because we did go five and one that so we, I mean something was working obviously, you know, I got a rubber arm, you know, so I can, I could throw all day, every day in tournaments.
Speaker E:I've gone back to back nine inning games and everything like that.
Speaker E:And I never was a pitcher, you know, I never was a pitcher through high school, college and whatever else.
Speaker E:I never was a pitcher.
Speaker E:But the older I got, you know, I can't just watch people walk people all day.
Speaker E:Guys, to be honest with you, as a manager and a player, you know what the worst thing is that as a pitcher out there and I can't throw a strike and I just can't do.
Speaker E:I saw when I said, you know what, I'm going to do it, I'm going to start doing it.
Speaker E:I just started a few years ago and you know, my goal is to get guys to pop up ground out.
Speaker E:You know, guys are going to hit a couple of shots off of me.
Speaker E:But you know what, the bottom line is my defense is good, I'm good usually, you know, if not, well then take me out and try to get somebody in there can strike some guys out.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker E:You know, that's the key, that's the key to baseball, you know.
Speaker F:Right.
Speaker A:For sure.
Speaker A:So last thing before we wrap it up, Artie.
Speaker A:So in all the places you played in your adult baseball leagues, I know you've been to Cooperstown.
Speaker A:You mentioned Nashville.
Speaker A:You live part time in Florida.
Speaker A:Is there one spot that you love more than any in terms of playing that you kind of got some nostalgia from or just was a great atmosphere?
Speaker E:Well, Cooperstown is always great.
Speaker E:I've been going up there every year for the last 30 years, at least once a year playing in the major league field.
Speaker E:I mean, I played at Citi Field when it opened up one night.
Speaker E:I did play at that.
Speaker E:That was.
Speaker E:That was great.
Speaker E:And it was there and Alfonso was there.
Speaker E:We had a great time there.
Speaker E:But, you know, listen, everywhere I go, I cherish every moment.
Speaker E:We don't know how much longer we're going to do it.
Speaker E:And, you know, you just got to cherish every moment in life, fellas, whether it be on the field, off the field, family and friends.
Speaker E:And you just got to cherish every single moment because you don't know when it's going to be your last pitch, your last at bat or anything else, fellas.
Speaker E:So just cherish everything, especially your families, and everything else will fall into place, to be honest with you.
Speaker C:Great words.
Speaker A:Very true.
Speaker A:And Artie, it was great having you on.
Speaker A:I've known you close.
Speaker A:I don't want to even say 30 plus years, but you've always been the same great guy.
Speaker A:Your opinions on sports, I take very seriously because you know the games and you've played most of them.
Speaker A:It's great having you on.
Speaker A:I'm not, like I said, I'm not a Cowboy fan.
Speaker A:Neither is Chris.
Speaker A:But as long as they come, I'm smart.
Speaker E:I'm not.
Speaker E:We're smart.
Speaker E:I'm not.
Speaker A:As long as they come in, you know, behind the Giants, we'll be happy.
Speaker A:But great having you on.
Speaker A:You're always welcome.
Speaker A:Hopefully we can have you on, talk a little bit more hockey and even some, you know, some early season NBA stuff.
Speaker A:You're always welcome and enjoy the rest of the night and we'll talk soon.
Speaker E:I love it.
Speaker E:I love to be on anytime you guys would like to have me.
Speaker E:I would love to be it.
Speaker E:And I love listening to you guys all the time, and you guys are great.
Speaker A:Well, much appreciated, pal.
Speaker A:You have a great night and we'll talk soon.
Speaker E:All right, guys, have a great night.
Speaker E:Thank you for having me.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker A:Our pleasure.
Speaker A:Hardy Johnson, former Malloy sharpshooter.
Speaker A:I'll tell you, he joked, but his nickname was Bomber.
Speaker A:That guy could hit, could hit threes and come off the bench.
Speaker A:I got stories.
Speaker A:We'll go another time, but I Know, we, we have another guest waiting in the wings cap, right?
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker C:We're going to bring in A.J.
Speaker C:Rovener.
Speaker C:He was in a couple of weeks ago.
Speaker C:The Giants were making a nice run to start the season out.
Speaker C:He was out at the start stadium.
Speaker C:Giants are three and oh.
Speaker C:At home and now they are three, one and one.
Speaker C:So aj welcome to the show.
Speaker F:Thanks for having me on.
Speaker F:Really appreciate.
Speaker F:It was a crazy day in Washington, D.C. yeah.
Speaker C:So these are the types of games I would say that the Giants used to find a way to lose.
Speaker C:And today was a day they almost found a way to win.
Speaker C:Can you kind of sum up your thoughts of how the game went ebb and flow, up and down and how it eventually finished?
Speaker F:Strangely, it was certainly one of the most hectic games I've seen.
Speaker F:I mean it just fast forwarding to overtime and Zavato who's been automatic missing that field goal and then being able to get the stop just to get back down there and scatter.
Speaker F:Boo fumbling and then, I mean just a boneheaded play by Jaden Daniels.
Speaker F:But just the weather and how bad Winston looked in the first half and how great he looked in the second half.
Speaker F:Just so many things that change this game.
Speaker F:The likely touchdown where he reaches over.
Speaker E:Was it a fumble?
Speaker E:Just.
Speaker F:There's so many twists and turns.
Speaker F:But that's really what the NFL is.
Speaker F:And this has been with the Giant season like and just coming down to the wire and finding ways to win or ultimately tie.
Speaker F:And as I continue to say to people that are in my circle that I talk Giants with, under this coaching regime, of course there was luck involved today, but under this regime we're turning wins or ties, as in today and in the past, I feel like would have been losses.
Speaker F:And the Giants now a game and a half up in the NFC east through five.
Speaker F:And I think any fans happy about that?
Speaker C:So the Giants today, using Jameis Winston as their quarterback, he goes 33 for 54 and three touchdowns.
Speaker C:And he was only sacked twice, did fumble the ball once.
Speaker C:Do the Giants really need Jameis Winston to be throwing the ball 54 times a game?
Speaker C:I know it went to overtime.
Speaker F:It's all, it's all game script.
Speaker F:And I think that was really the reason why Jameis threw 54 times.
Speaker F:And I mean there was a stat that I read after the game which is pretty nuts.
Speaker F: since: Speaker F:Now they're 0, 230 and 1 that's a stat.
Speaker F:That is a stat.
Speaker F:So certainly that was part of the reason why Winston was throwing so much and he was great.
Speaker F:I mean, besides, there was one pass that he had nearly intercepted late in the game.
Speaker F:It was on a curl route backed up in our own end.
Speaker F:So I believe it was an overtime.
Speaker F:But besides that, I thought he really got things together, is moving in the pocket more comfortably.
Speaker F:I think the offensive line, which I watched very closely, I thought Marcus Mabel did a really good job at replacing Jermaine Illuminar and Brian Hudson, who's now our starting center over John Michael Schmidt, I think that's certainly helping.
Speaker F:So, I mean, he's doing enough to win and eventually, yes, we tied today, but two oh and one is 2,01.
Speaker F:I don't understand the packages they ran for JJ McCarthy today.
Speaker F:I think it was just not the time or the place to really integrate that.
Speaker F:He hasn't been here very long, so I didn't.
Speaker F:That didn't really sit right with me.
Speaker F:But ultimately I thought Seamus did enough for us to win and he did.
Speaker F:And just unfortunately Scat fumbled there and thankfully, you know, the boneheaded play by Daniels and their coaching staff helped us, you know, at least escape there with a tie.
Speaker C:We've talked a lot about special teams, tough conditions today.
Speaker C:Zavata misses three longer field goals.
Speaker C:Obviously any of those would have given them the win.
Speaker C:Plus if the Giants would have kicked a field goal in overtime.
Speaker C:Games like today, they're all about field position, especially when it's, you know, really bad weather.
Speaker C:But beyond that, I feel like the Giants did a nice job coming back down 14 early fourth quarter.
Speaker C:They just didn't quit.
Speaker F:And that's the resiliency and the work ethic that I think Harbaugh brings to this team and not to sit back and just call it and throw in the towel.
Speaker F:I mean, I still stand by the statement even after Sabada today.
Speaker F:I think the Giants are the best kicking unit in football.
Speaker F:Jordan Stout's an absolute weapon.
Speaker F:He changes field position.
Speaker F:I went to Penn State, I watched him very closely.
Speaker F:I mean, he used to do kickoffs for us at Penn State.
Speaker F:When I was a student, I used to be in the first couple rows.
Speaker F:He would kick it into the student section.
Speaker F:I mean, the guy's got a leg.
Speaker F:I think 260 yard punts today completely changes field.
Speaker F:And I'm going to give Savada past really tough conditions.
Speaker F:The 40 yarder at the end.
Speaker F:It looks like the conditions were a little bit better rain wise, but the field's definitely wet.
Speaker F:So the Washington extra point as well really helped the Giants ultimately early in the game when they scored that first touchdown with Croxley Merritt.
Speaker F:But just the resiliency and that is really what propelled the Giants to come back and find a way to.
Speaker F:Once again I'm repeating myself but I mean it ties better than a loss, especially how those last few match transpired.
Speaker C:So this is more from Mike, but you can chime in because you are a sports historian.
Speaker C:But today's tie brought me back to the giants.
Speaker C: years ago,: Speaker C:Giants tied the Washington Redskins at the time 7 7.
Speaker C:Now there was a quarterback for the Redskins who took his head and slammed it into a concrete wall by headbutting it and he suffered a cervical sprain.
Speaker A:It was that game.
Speaker C:Yes, I remember it in college.
Speaker C:Does anybod who that quarterback was?
Speaker C:He was a journeyman.
Speaker A:I think I know who it was.
Speaker A:A Gus Farat.
Speaker C:It was Gus farat in a 77 game.
Speaker C:He scores the touchdown to tie it, goes over to the wall and bangs his head up against the wall.
Speaker C:And today's tie just made me think of that again.
Speaker C:I'm like, man, you can have a tie in NFL football, which, you know, it's crazy.
Speaker C:They've changed the rules because it used to be, you know, you each team had to touch the ball because we didn't like the first team scoring and then it turned into touchdowns and now it's a full quarter and you got to find a way to win these games.
Speaker C:Just you know, at the end of the season you don't want to lose it.
Speaker C:But at the same time you don't want to be there in January going somebody's a half game up on us for sure.
Speaker F: le of things I want to add in: Speaker F:And ultimately I had this conversation with my dad when this game went to overtime.
Speaker F:First off, my grandfather, my dad's dad was very adamant about there just being ties and no, no overtime until the playoffs.
Speaker F:And to make it a lot more special, and it's really grown on me over the years how hockey is decided by a shootout or.
Speaker F:Or three on three.
Speaker F:Right, three on three.
Speaker F:Or football is decided by now a ten minute quarter with only two timeouts or baseball at the stupid runner on second base like just.
Speaker F:It doesn't really sit right with me.
Speaker F:And everybody likes to defer when they win the toss overtime.
Speaker F:But I would always receive because if you score and then the other team scores, you get the last drive and all you have to do is kick a field goal.
Speaker F:So I never really understand why teams would defer.
Speaker F:If you receive, you score a touchdown and then they score, you still get that final drive unless that team ultimately decides to go for two.
Speaker F:But you're kind of giving yourself two drives if you score a touchdown in that sense.
Speaker F:So I would always take the ball first and especially the clock manager.
Speaker F:That hardball is if you could take the ball first and milk some time, it puts a lot of pressure on the other team.
Speaker F:So that's just something I always thought about going to be overtime.
Speaker F:I would always take the ball first.
Speaker A:So AJ great sign.
Speaker A:You know, obviously Malik neighbors today 20 targets, had a buck, 21 a touchdown.
Speaker A:Isaiah likely he's become a real, you know, favorite of Jameis also.
Speaker A:13 Targets, 11 catches, 94 yards, two touchdowns.
Speaker A:So you know, the weapons on that side are certainly numerous and comfortable.
Speaker A:The rushing, you know, scatter boo.
Speaker A:13 Attempts.
Speaker A:I'm looking at it right now, you know, 59 yards.
Speaker A:He had him long in 19.
Speaker A:But I think it kind of lends to what you were saying about grinding it out and trying to take some time off the clock.
Speaker A:The rushing game's got to be a little bit of a concern perhaps here or you know, was it just a game plan thing?
Speaker A:What do you think?
Speaker F:Well, scattered did have some key carries in overtime to get down the field.
Speaker F:The fumbling has certainly been an issue.
Speaker F:Devin Singletary has been a healthy scratch now for a few weeks in an inactive and that you have Tyrone Tracy.
Speaker F:I think a lot of people forget that this guy in two really bad years as a team he had a thousand all purpose yards back to back years his rookie year and his sophomore year.
Speaker F:And I remember watching him after doing this was a guy that was primarily a wide receiver that changed to being a running back when he got to New York and he just hasn't gone as much work now.
Speaker F:I know he really struggled in the preseason with the fumbling and then that first driver Dark got popped because he missed the block.
Speaker F:But I don't think he's getting enough work and I love Scatterboo but he's not an every down back to me, this was a fourth round pick who I think is just being overworked.
Speaker D:You walk.
Speaker F:Look at guys like Jeremiah Love on the Cardinals, he's in a committee or Jadarian Price when he was healthy in Seattle, he's part of a committee.
Speaker F:Even Christian McCaffrey needs carries the Kaylin Black, the rookie.
Speaker F:So I definitely think that between I don't love Najee Harris, he had a couple good runs today.
Speaker F:But I'd like to See Tyrone Tracy Jr get more involved just a little bit and take the load off of Scatter.
Speaker F:But I also wouldn't mind seeing Patrick Ricard get the ball in short yard situations, who's just a phenomenal blocking fullback that I know hardball utilized in Baltimore.
Speaker F:So maybe mix him in as well.
Speaker C:It'll be nice to see what the Giants do in the next couple of weeks.
Speaker C:Hopefully they can get themselves a couple more wins and stay above that one game above everybody else.
Speaker C:And you know, obviously in the division you want to win and you know, keep those, those wins and ties at a premium and then push yourself later on.
Speaker C:So I think everything kind of lines up for them.
Speaker C:I think the jets stay above float, you know, by, by getting a win today.
Speaker C:But the weather conditions just on the east coast on every Sunday just seem to be horrible.
Speaker F:And it's think and personally I think it's helping the Giants.
Speaker F:I do.
Speaker F:I there's no doubt about it with having Jameis who, who hasn't looked great at times and you know, that's part of Jameis Winston experience.
Speaker F:But today was a little bit different.
Speaker F:I don't think anybody expected that to be, you know, both teams nearing 30 points.
Speaker F:But overall the game in Tennessee was really sloppy.
Speaker F:The Giants found a way or the game against Arizona, the Giants found a way.
Speaker F:Another low scoring battle.
Speaker F:So I certainly think at least those two weeks it really helped.
Speaker F:And today was just another example of grinding it out and finding, finding a way to not leave a loser.
Speaker F:And whether or not they're just, they're finding ways, they're being tough.
Speaker F:Reminding me of the Conklin days.
Speaker C:All right, we got one minute each three of us has to make our predictions.
Speaker C:World Series, who's it going to be?
Speaker C:Dodgers are playing against the Brewers.
Speaker C:Rays playing against the Guardians.
Speaker C:Who's your World Series and Who's your winner?
Speaker C:A.J.
Speaker F:I'm going to go with Dodgers, Rays and I'm going to take the Dodgers.
Speaker F:I'm not going to bet against the Dodgers until I see someone beat the Dodgers.
Speaker C:I'm going to take the brewers over the Rays in the championship and I.
Speaker A:Am doing the exact same thing.
Speaker A:I'm going brewers raise.
Speaker A:I hope it's not my, my Dodger bias because boy would I like to see somebody take them out.
Speaker A:But I think the Brewers.
Speaker A:I think it's their year for sure.
Speaker A:But, hey, A.J.
Speaker A:Thanks so much.
Speaker A:You know, it's always good to have you on.
Speaker A:Definitely good to have you.
Speaker A:After a win or tie, we'll take it.
Speaker A:You know, and hopefully the next time we speak in a couple of weeks, it'll be yet another victory Sunday.
Speaker A:Looking into Monday.
Speaker F:Anytime, fellas.
Speaker F:Appreciate you having me on.
Speaker E:Be well.
Speaker F:Have a good night.
Speaker C:You, too.
Speaker C:Keep shooting the rock.
Speaker F:All right.
Speaker E:Well, Bill.
Speaker E:All right.
Speaker A:So, hey, great stuff, basketball.
Speaker A:We, you know, we had great talk in that.
Speaker A:We had my former teammate Artie Johnson on again, talking a little football with AJ that's what Sundays are for.
Speaker A:Maybe we'll get some better weather, but, you know, maybe in two weeks it'll be snowing.
Speaker A:Who knows?
Speaker C:But thank you, Brian.
Speaker A:Yeah, thanks.
Speaker A:Brian Graves behind the glass.
Speaker A:Thanks, everybody, for calling in, tuning in, and, you know, keep the faith, and we'll see in a couple of weeks.
Speaker C:Sounds good.
Speaker A:The views expressed in the previous program did not necessarily represent those of the.
Speaker B:Staff, management, or owners of wgb.
