PMT DB
PMT DB
Ian Rapoport on Breaking News, the Election, and Jeff Fisher’s Job Security
The world looks a little different today. As the smoke clears from Election Night, Big Cat and PFT are coming to terms with the fact that the sabermetric nerds might have finally met their match. While Nate Silver's hair was arguably the biggest loser of the night, the guys are busy trying to figure out how the Cubs, the Cavs, and Donald Trump all pulled off the impossible in the same calendar year. PFT has already crunched the numbers on why owners of sports teams seem to have a leg up in the political arena.
PFT CommenterOwners of sports teams have a 66% election success rate in the new millennium
66% of the time in the new millennium, we've elected owners of sports teams. People forget that George Bush owned part of the Texas Rangers.
Since we’re now living in a world where anything can happen, the guys spent some time analyzing the 'clutch gene' of our political figures. PFT found a perfect comparison for Hillary Clinton’s recent performance on the national stage.
PFT CommenterHillary Clinton is the Dan Marino of politics because she lacks the clutch gene
I think we need to start talking to Hillary Clinton in the light of does she have the clutch gene because she's big time loser she's taken a couple big l's on a national stage recently yeah um does she lack it she's the Dan Marino of politics that's a great great analogy
Big Cat also went down a rabbit hole involving a Bulgarian soothsayer named Baba Vanga, who apparently has an 85% hit rate on predictions. Forget the polls; if she's right, we have a massive announcement coming from the Oval Office before the year is out.
Big CatBarack Obama will admit that aliens exist before he leaves office in 2016
In 2016, as we switch presidents, the current president is going to admit that there are aliens out there which will probably spurn a world government because we'll all have to get together and be like, it's bigger than just us.
Ian Rapoport Breaks the News
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport joined the show to give some insight into the life of an insider. He walked the guys through his transition from covering high school sports in a red Mustang to getting death threats while covering Nick Saban at Alabama. Rapoport also addressed the elephant in the room: why is the NFL product feeling a bit stale this year? He thinks it comes down to a lack of star power under center.
Ian RapoportNFL ratings are down because the league is in a transition period for superstar quarterbacks
One is it seems to be a league a little bit in transition, right? So like Peyton Manning is no longer, obviously no longer playing Brady missed the first four weeks. There's not really, there's just not a ton of like high profile must see quarterbacks slash figures... Carson Wentz and Dak are good, but just not quite the same people that draw in, like, the average viewer.
While the ratings might be down, the drama on the field is still high, particularly when it involves certain quarterbacks chirping at the officials. Rapoport revealed that according to the refs he's spoken with, two names stand out as the biggest headaches in the league.
Ian RapoportPhilip Rivers and Jay Cutler are the two most annoying quarterbacks for NFL referees to deal with
I sat next to a referee... I just wanted to know who just like his team shows up... and you're like, crap, I got to deal with this freaking guy all game long. And the two answers of most annoying were Philip Rivers and Jay Cutler.
Big Cat brought up the Seahawks' 'Legion of Boom' strategy, which seems to involve daring the refs to throw a flag on every single play until they eventually get bored of it.
Big CatThe Seahawks' strategy is to force referees to call pass interference every single time until they stop calling it
The Seahawks do this. This is what they do. They basically make the refs call calls in big moments in the game... They basically say we're going to grab and hold and have pass interference and force the refs to call it.
The Jeff Fisher Enigma
Of course, no conversation about the NFL is complete without wondering how Jeff Fisher still has a job. Rapoport tried to explain the Rams' logic, but even he struggled to make sense of the Jared Goff situation. It seems the bar for a coaching change in Los Angeles is remarkably high.
Ian RapoportJeff Fisher only gets fired if the Rams have a real collapse this season
I would say it would take... This year, it would take a real collapse. What the hell does that mean? You know, it would have to be like... We no longer have faith in this person... to direct this team toward winning.
Ian RapoportThe Rams are either crazy/idiots or Jared Goff simply isn't good enough to play yet
There's only two ways that that makes sense. One is they're crazy. They're crazy and idiots and don't know what they're doing. The other way is He's not ready... If Bryce Petty was a better quarterback than Ryan Fitzpatrick, he would be playing.
Rapoport also shut down any hopes of a John Gruden return to the sidelines. When you’re making millions to talk about 'this guy' once a week and play golf the other six days, the stress of a 2 p.m. kickoff in Green Bay loses its luster.
Ian RapoportJohn Gruden will never coach again because his TV life is too good
I don't think John Gruden will ever coach again. He has the best life ever... He makes like $6 million a year, whatever it is... Works one day a week. Plays golf.
Hot Seat Cool Throne and Segments
For Hot Seat, PFT nominated 'Humans' because Mark Cuban is currently fighting a war against robot sports writers, while NFL officials landed on the Cool Throne because being bad at your job apparently leads to a full-time promotion.
PFT CommenterNFL officials have a sweet system where poor performance leads to more pay and training
My cool throne is NFL officials, and the reason why is because everybody's complaining about them, and the NFL officials have such a sweet system set up that the answer to poor NFL officiating is to make them full-time employees. So everyone's saying, hey, what are these guys doing out here just being part-time? Let's pay them more.
In a special edition of Connect the Dots, PFT linked the entire rise of the current political landscape back to Jay Mariotti. According to the math, the former Around the Horn regular was playing the long game all along.
PFT CommenterJay Mariotti will be the White House Press Secretary for Donald Trump
Jay Mariotti is going to be White House press secretary, and he's going to make sure that only respectable journalists get a seat in that crowd. It all makes sense to me. He was playing the long game.
Just remember, if you're planning on moving to Canada, the website is back up, but you'll have to leave your N64 and your dignity at the border.
