PMT DB
PMT DB
Tommy Lasorda on Dodgers, the Phillie Phanatic, and Fighting Kurt Bevacqua
Big Cat and PFT Commenter are back and they are ready to declare the NFL officially deceased. Based on approximately three highlights from the preseason where defensive players were flagged for existing in the same zip code as a quarterback, the verdict is in. Football is over, it was a good run, and we should all probably just start watching cricket or something.
Big CatThe NFL is dead because of the new preseason penalty rules
Today is Monday, August 20th, and the NFL's dead. Yeah, it's absolutely, there's no reason to watch the games this year, because everything's a flag. Yep, preseason football has shown us. We're not overreacting, guys. I saw a couple clips on Twitter. It's over.
PFT has a solution for the flag epidemic that sounds like something out of a strategic board game. He wants to give every referee a limited inventory of flags. If you waste your flags in the first quarter on some ticky-tack holding calls, you're out of luck when the game is on the line. It's basically the "use it or lose it" philosophy applied to officiating.
PFT CommenterNFL referees should have a finite amount of flags to throw per game
How about the refs get a certain amount of flags? So there's a finite amount of flags that they can throw. So they each get like five flags. And once they're out, it's just – and you know it. The players know like, okay, that ref has thrown – let's say the guy who's reffing the secondary has thrown all five of his flags in the fourth quarter. Just fucking do whatever you want because you can't throw anything.
Despite the early hysteria, Big Cat actually thinks the league will blink. Once the regular season starts and the ratings either tank or the games last five hours, the zebras will likely put the laundry away.
Big CatThe NFL will eventually call significantly fewer of these new preseason penalties once the regular season starts
I actually think the NFL is going to figure it out. I'm no longer in the hysteria camp. ... They're setting the tone. And once the season starts, they're going to probably call significantly less of these penalties. And I just can't imagine the NFL being like that one penalty that we're talking about, the Vikings sack. Like that can't be called. They won't do it.
Who's Back and Mount Rushmore
Who's Back of the Week featured some vintage football guy energy from Nick Saban. The Alabama coach is already in mid-season form, yelling at reporters about whether or not his team has depth. Big Cat and PFT have a theory on how Tuscaloosa stays so dominant year after year.
PFT CommenterNick Saban stays on top because he has a factory where he personally shits out new players
I think Nick Saban personally shits players out. Because he chews them out in practice, and then he digests them for a while, and he takes a crap, and boom, I got a linebacker. ... I'd be like, yes, Nick Saban has a factory where he shits players out.
The Mount Rushmore of fictional bars and restaurants sparked a heated debate about what constitutes a "nerd" movie. When Hank questioned the inclusion of certain classics, Big Cat had to set him straight on the pure, unadulterated masculinity of Patrick Swayze’s finest work.
Big CatRoadhouse is the most badass movie of all time and is the opposite of a nerd movie
It's literally like the most badass movie of all time. It is the opposite of a nerd movie. Hey, Hank, I fuck guys like you. I fuck guys like you in jail. That's a Roadhouse quote. Think about that. Put that in your head.
Tommy Lasorda Legend Status
Dodger legend Tommy Lasorda joined the show from his suite at Dodger Stadium to talk about his new wine label and his 70-plus years in the game. At 91 years old (or 92, depending on who you ask), Tommy still has more fire in his belly than most rookies. He's convinced the current Dodgers squad is the best in the league and destined for a return to the Fall Classic.
Tommy LasordaThe current Dodgers have the best team in baseball and should be back in the World Series
I think that our team, our team should be in the World Series again because we have the best team today. And they're going to show now that the time has come where we really have to go.
Tommy also took us through his greatest hits of hatred. Most people know about his beef with Kurt Bevacqua, but hearing Tommy talk about it decades later proves that some grudges never die. He confirmed that if Bevacqua had actually stepped out of that clubhouse, it would have been lights out.
Tommy LasordaI love to fight and I would have kicked Kurt Bevacqua's ass if he actually came out of the clubhouse
You're goddamn right I like to fight. ... Come on out, I want to talk to you. And be ready, because I'm going to kick your ass. And [Kurt Bevacqua] wouldn't come out. He would not come out because I'd have laid him out, boy.
Perhaps most importantly, Tommy reaffirmed his lifelong stance against the Phillie Phanatic. He doesn't care if it's a guy in a suit; to Tommy, that green mascot is a punk who shouldn't be allowed to sign baseballs for fans.
Tommy LasordaI never liked the Phillie Phanatic
I didn't like that mascot. I never liked the Philly [Phanatic]. ... I walked in the clubhouse and he's sitting there signing the baseballs. I got him and he said, 'what the hell are you doing here?' ... I said, 'out! Don't you sign another baseball. These guys don't want to see your name on the ball.' ... I had problems with that guy.
When he wasn't talking about throwing hands, Tommy gave us his perspective on the history of hitting. He didn't hesitate when naming Ted Williams as the greatest to ever do it, and he’s fairly certain that in the modern era, we’ve seen the last of the .400 hitters.
Tommy LasordaNo baseball player will ever hit .400 again unless they cheat
Do you think anybody's going to hit 400 again? No. No. Only way they'll hit 400 is a cheat. ... Nobody hit 400.
Quick Hits and Dumb Rules
Before letting Tommy go, he lamented the state of the modern clubhouse, noting that kids these days are more concerned with their video game stats than their actual batting averages.
Tommy LasordaModern baseball players are too distracted by video games like Fortnite
Yeah, they're playing their Fortnite and video games. ... That's what's happening to the players today. They're too much involved with the games.
Finally, Big Cat pitched a "Mike Greenberg Dumb Rule" that we actually need to see happen immediately. With the MLB playing a game in Williamsport, the guys think it's time to stop half-assing it and put the pros on the actual Little League dimensions.
Big CatMajor League Baseball should have teams play on a Little League field for one night
I don't understand why Major League Baseball, to capture the imagination of America for one night – doesn't have the MLB teams play on a Little League field. ... The infield will make regulation. The fence will be 200 feet. ... tell me that wouldn't be the greatest thing ever.
Hopefully the Phillies don't let the Phanatic anywhere near the team bus on the way back from Williamsport.
