PMT DB
PMT DB
Theo Epstein on Breaking Curses, Romo’s Legacy, and the Mount Rushmore of Two Playoff Wins
Tony Romo has officially "retired" to the CBS broadcast booth, and Big Cat and PFT Commenter are already dissecting the legacy of the man who wore a backwards hat better than anyone else in Dallas history. While Cowboys fans are mourning a decade of what-ifs, PFT is more interested in the entertainment value of Romo’s frequent collapses.
PFT CommenterTony Romo is the most fun quarterback to watch fail in NFL history
And I'll give you right now Tony Romo's legacy. You don't have to read anything else. He is the most fun quarterback to hate of all time. That's his legacy. ... But for everybody else, so if you're not a Duke, Yankees, Lakers fan, I'm not talking to you, but everyone else, he was the most fun quarterback to watch fail.
Big Cat isn't buying the retirement act for a second, suspecting that once a contender loses a quarterback in October, the siren song of the field will pull Romo away from Jim Nantz.
Big CatTony Romo will return to the NFL and play another snap despite retiring to the broadcast booth
Tony Romo retiring, I'm using air quotes right now, retiring to go into the broadcast booth is kind of the biggest news story this week. I think he's going to play another snap.
Even if he stays in the booth, the expectations are low. Big Cat is leaning into the idea that the media's obsession with Romo’s personality won't actually translate to a quality broadcast.
Big CatTony Romo will not be a good broadcaster
Tony... he's not going to be – I don't think he's going to be very good in the broadcast booth. Hot take, Tony Romo is not – this is the classic media loving the guy who smiled a lot, who had his backwards hat... who answered questions, and was generally likable.
To celebrate Romo’s career, the guys conducted an emergency Mount Rushmore of quarterbacks with exactly two playoff wins. It’s a prestigious list featuring legends like Mike Vick, Joe Namath, and Jake Plummer. PFT eventually landed on the perfect historical comparison for number 9.
PFT CommenterTony Romo is the Gerald Ford of quarterbacks
I think the best analogy I can make to Tony Romo is he is the Gerald Ford of quarterbacks. He's a nice enough guy, and you love to watch him just run his crotch into things.
The National Championship Whistle-Fest
Turning to the college hardwood, North Carolina took down Gonzaga in a game that was mostly a whistle-blowing exhibition. The refs effectively neutralized the flow of the game, making it nearly impossible for anyone to enjoy the product. Big Cat was particularly incensed by how the officiating took over the biggest stage in the sport.
Big CatCollege basketball referees ruined the 2017 National Championship game
The refs ruined it so much. ... The refs ruined the game, and I can't stand when they do that, especially college basketball is the worst of all the sports. Everyone who watched that game was like, that sucked.
Looking ahead to 2019 because 2018 is already old news, PFT and Hank are already placing their flags in the ground for future champions.
PFT CommenterKansas will win the 2019 National Championship
I'm going to go with Kansas [for 2019 champion].
HankSan Diego State will win the 2019 National Championship
I like San Diego State. They got a decent class this year, great class in two years.
Theo Epstein: The Mastermind
Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein joined the guys in Arizona to discuss the aftermath of the 2016 World Series. Theo, the ultimate curse-breaker, opened up about how the game has changed since the *Moneyball* era. He argues that while everyone has the same data now, the real edge comes from the human element.
Theo EpsteinThe biggest competitive advantage in baseball today is understanding players as human beings rather than just data
The ironic thing about that is it's kind of swung the pendulum back where I think the biggest competitive advantage now is actually understanding players as human beings, what makes them tick, getting the right kind of guys, building the right kind of chemistry, and then treating them the right way so that the team can take off.
Theo explained the Cubs' strategy of building through position players, noting that pitchers are simply too volatile to rely on in the first round.
Theo EpsteinPosition players are significantly better first-round draft bets than pitchers
The best bets in the first round are position players. They return, on average, about twice as much value as pitchers. If we were going to put our resources... we wanted to do it with position players.
He also touched on the "clutch gene," a concept that many spreadsheet-obsessed front offices dismiss as a myth. For Theo, it’s something you can see with your own eyes, even if you can’t fit it into an equation.
Theo EpsteinThe 'clutch gene' exists, even if it can't be proven with numbers
You can't prove that it exists by the numbers because guys have tried, but I know intuitively there are guys I want up in the big spots, and it's not just the best hitters. There are guys who just keep their heartbeat low and kind of thrive in those moments instead of backing away. ... You can kind of tell who's scared and wants that big moment over with and who actually wants the ball.
Perhaps most importantly for Cubs fans, Theo confirmed the legend of the Game 7 rain delay. He admitted that the team was reeling after Rajai Davis's home run and that the brief weather break might have been the only thing that saved the title.
Theo EpsteinThe Cubs would not have won the 2016 World Series without the Game 7 rain delay
I buy it. I don't think we win the World Series without that [rain delay], but you can't prove it. ... If you blow a lead late in any game, it's hard to then come back and win... our players were shell-shocked... and that rain delay... they rallied each other.
Segments
Radio Wars focused on Frank Kaminsky and Dan Dakich getting into it on Twitter over paying players. Big Cat took a middle-ground approach, suggesting that even if a full free-agent system is too chaotic, the current restrictions on player likeness are absurd.
Big CatCollege athletes should be allowed to profit off their own likeness
I do think that a player should be able to profit off their own likeness in some form or fashion. ... Put the money in a blind trust? ... Pay them after they get out of college?
In a wild Stay Woke, PFT speculated that Phil Mickelson might be the one who snitched on Lexi Thompson’s rules violation to clear his own search results and put the tour on notice.
PFT CommenterPhil Mickelson intentionally reported Lexi Thompson's rules violation to ensure the PGA Tour was on notice
I think Phil Mickelson called in this rules violation ahead of the Masters to make sure everybody was on their game. ... Also stay woke. Maybe he was just making this quote to get the headlines that he paid $2 million to his bookie last year, pushed down a little bit on the Google search results.
Finally, Stay Classy went to Jim Nantz for *not* giving away his tie after the National Championship game, claiming he didn't want to make the moment about himself—by making sure everyone knew he was being humble.
If you see Tony Romo in a Pizza Hut hat at a Denver high school field this fall, just know the guys called it first.
