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The Daily Gazette Company presents the parting Shots Podcast. Now here's your host, Daily Gazette Sports Editor Ken Shots. Thank you Scott Geezy, and welcome to the Parting Shots Podcast, available wherever you get your podcast. Subscribe today. Thanks for joining me from the Parting Shots Podcast Studio in Schenectady, New York. Back after a week off I went down to visit my mom in Philadelphia over the Easter weekend. Took a few days down there and she's recovering from some back surgery and helping her out a little bit around the house, cleaning a few things up. Did not take in any Phillies games while I was down there. They were hosting the Miami Marlins over Easter weekend but did not partake in any games. I'm going to go down in June with a couple of my college buddies to go see the Phillies play the Cubs. So I got back last Tuesday. Really didn't have any time to line guests up, so I just decided to take last week off with the podcast. So this is our first podcast of May. May 1st. Can you believe it's May 1st already? My goodness.
Of course we know what that means. It's Kentucky Derby time and our Gazette horse racing rider Mike McAdam was going to cover the Kentucky Derby for us. He's down in Louisville. We talk on Tuesday as he was getting ready to go make his trip. We'll talk to him about the Derby and his thoughts on what's going to happen on Saturday at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. And then an old friend of ours, Tim Leonard, who covered RPI hockey for the Troy Record for many years and was the fashion plate of ECA hockey media. He was the sharp dressed man of ECA hockey media. Well, he's hosting a talk show once a week down in New York City and he was following the NFL draft involving the Giants and Jets and we're going to talk to him about that and get his opinions on how they did. Really I think for both teams they needed to get this draft right to try to get themselves back to some relevancy in the New York area. I know fans are frustrated with the way things have been going the last few years with both teams. So we'll get Tim's thoughts on that. Maybe talk about his days at the Troy Record and what that was like back in the day covering RPI when RPI hockey was pretty good back then. So following some tough times, of course Eric Lang, the new coach, is going to help hopefully for the fans in the program, turn things around there and make RPI hockey get it back to where it was in the, of course, the 80s, 90s and the early 2000s. So we'll talk football, we'll talk horse racing here. Coming up, my interview with Gazette sports writer Mike McAdamy. We have the at the Track with Max segment. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
[00:03:04] Speaker D: How can you measure the value of education based athletics? Well, the value is in what makes it invaluable. That's because school sports aren't just about winning. They're about learning and growing. School sports aren't just about gaining trophies and accolades. They're about learning life lessons, bringing a whole community together, developing character and integrity, having coaches who mentor you and teammates who become lifelong friends. And you can't put a price on any of that. That's what makes education based athletics invaluable.
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[00:03:55] Speaker C: This message presented by NSFA and the New York State Athletic Administrators Association.
[00:04:04] Speaker A: Hi, this is Sienna women's basketball head coach Terry Prim. You're listening to the Party Shots podcast.
[00:04:10] Speaker B: With Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Shots.
[00:04:15] Speaker C: Welcome back to the podcast. It's the first Saturday of May. You know what that means. It's time for the Kentucky Derby and our great horse racing rider, Mike McAdam with another segment of at the Track with Mack. He's on his way to Louisville and was taping this on Tuesday. Mike, how's it going?
[00:04:30] Speaker A: Pretty good, Ken. It's real hot out here. I'm at the Mohawk Valley welcome center on the New York State Thruway. So I still got a few hours drive left to get to Buffalo, and then my friend Gene Kirchner and I are driving first thing in the morning, 6 o'clock on Wednesday for Louisville.
So the journey has just begun.
[00:04:51] Speaker C: Yeah, by the time I put the podcast up, you'll be there.
[00:04:53] Speaker B: So I will be there.
[00:04:55] Speaker C: Well, let's talk a little about the Derby. And hey, look who's back in town. It's Bob Baffert, the Hall of Fame trainer who has won six Kentucky derbies, but has been banned from the grounds of Churchill Downs the last three years in the wake of the Medina Spirit Drug positive out of the 2021 Derby. He has two live shots in 2024, champion Citizen Bull and Memorial winner Rodriguez.
[00:05:23] Speaker A: Yeah, he is back.
By all accounts, I'VE seen some video and stuff. He's happy to be there, he's thrilled, back in his element.
You know, three years is a long time for somebody who shows up for the Derby with a pretty, you know, strong hand every year. And he has another one this year.
You know, it's. It's like it never happened. But really, you know, it was three years of them waiting for him to basically apologize and admit that he screwed up and he finally did it, you know, it was about time to get back into his favorite place, which is with leading contenders in the Derby.
And he's got two really solid ones. Citizen Bull, he was the two year old Eclipse Award winning two year old male last year.
And Rodriguez is coming off a nice win in the Wood Memorial.
The problem with Citizen Bull, who by all accounts has been, it looks like a million bucks. After he arrived in Churchill a few days ago, he drew the number one post, which is kind of, you know, not a good thing.
And it's represented by the fact that no horses won out of the number one gate since 1986, Ferdinand. And between that and his, you know, kind of long layoff, Citizen bowl is 20 to 1 on the morning line, which if you told people that last year after he won the Eclipse Award, they say, they'd say, I'll take 20 to 1 any day of the week. He is coming off a fourth to journalism in the Santa Anita Derby too. So, you know, he didn't look like his championship self that day. So he brings that into the Derby. And then Rodriguez, I mean, he really ran well in the Wood Memorial. Two strikes against him for me are he kind of had a perfect setup in the Wood. And also the Wood Memorial has not traditionally been a real key race for Derby success. So Baffert's back, he's got two really good horses, but they are kind of up against it a little bit, I would say.
[00:07:37] Speaker C: Do you think there was some, maybe not shown publicly, but some joy that Citizen Bull drew the one pole?
[00:07:46] Speaker A: There was probably some schadenfreude going on there, I would think.
But meanwhile he's like, I still does have another good one in Rodriguez, and who knows? And Citizen Bull showed up and looked like a monster on the track a couple days ago. So, yeah, I'm sure there was some like juvenile petty snickers about him drawing the one. And. And they showed Bafford in the crowd when they announced it during the draw on Saturday night. And he just was sort of like stone faced, you know, looking straight forward, you know, behind his his traditional tinted glasses that he always wears. So he was very stoic. There was no reaction. And, you know, everybody knows what the one hole means. And so that's kind of a knock against Citizen Bull is just drawing that. And the problem with that one is there's 20 horses in the field. And when the gates open, everyone's trying to save ground. So the field gets really compressed going into the first turn. And if you're in the one hole, you just got this avalanche wall of horses coming over to you from the right. I will say that I think the one hole, they alleviated the problem there a little bit when they built the new 20 gate starting gate a couple years ago. Because the one gate is actually kind of recessed away from the rail a little bit. There's a little space there, so you do get a little bit of wiggle room. You're not right pinned up against the rail coming out of the gate. So that'll help a little bit. But in the meantime, history says it's not a good place to be.
[00:09:19] Speaker C: Do you think even though he's apologized, do you think there is remorse from Baffert?
[00:09:24] Speaker A: Well, maybe we're going to find out because I'm going to try to get into one of the Baffert scrums either Thursday and Friday and see, you know, I know the couple quotes that I have seen from him. He said, ah, we're just moving forward. We're not looking back.
I'm sure there's some regret based on the fact that he had good horses the last three years that could have potentially won it. A bunch of them were sent to other trainers well in advance of the Derby so they could run in it, and none of those won. But, you know, he probably feels worse for his clients than himself personally because they were kind of deprived of, you know, what they thought was going to be a good shot at the Derby the last few years. So if there is any regret or remorse on his part, I think it would be more because of his clients not having that opportunity.
[00:10:16] Speaker C: Well, Mac, on the Saratoga racecourse front, although the results of Last year's Saratoga 2 year old graded stakes have not translated to much influence on the Kentucky Derby or Oaks fields, there is proof that you need to pay attention to all the baby races at Saratoga, whether it's a stake race or not.
[00:10:33] Speaker A: Yeah, I went back and looked at the results of the Hopeful and the Sanford and the Saratoga Special for the males and the Schuylerville Adirondack and Spin Away for the Phillies. There just isn't a lot of names jumping out of those fields that are running in the Derby or the Oaks. The Oaks actually has some Saratoga influence in it, but the Derby really doesn't from a stake stamp, from a graded stake standpoint. Those are the traditional graded dirt stakes that are supposed to produce horses that are going to be really good 3 year olds and and you know, point toward races like the Derby and the Oaks. That isn't the case this year. However, you know, the baby race scene at Saratoga is always one of the funnest things to watch because this is like Stars of the Future and there's a kind of an interesting hook. And again, by the time the POD is posted, I probably will have had this interview Thursday morning. I'm planning on talking to Mark Cassie because he has two real live shots in both races, La Carra in the Oaks and Sandman in the Derby. And a kind of a cool twist there for their from their background is they actually broke their maiden on back to back days at Saratoga last year, which is kind of cool. So what I want to ask Mark is when that happened on that weekend, what did you think you had with those two? I mean, did you have visions of Derby and Oaks? And so it was kind of and those were just maiden races, you know, horses who had not won a race yet in their career. You know, babies that are just starting out. And so maybe they weren't good enough or ready enough to run in the graded stakes. They were good enough to win, you know, good tight purse maiden races at Saratoga on back to back days. And now here we are in fact, La Cara in the in the oaks. She's the second choice on the morning line among the 14 horses at 6 to 1. And Sandman is like the third or fourth choice in the Derby. So he's got two good cracks to I don't know if he's going to duplicate what Kenny McPeek did last year when he won the Oaks in the Derby on back to back days with Torpedo Anna and Mystic Dan, which hadn't happened in like a gazillion years. I don't know if Cassie's going to be able to pull that off, but at least he's got two good shots in both of those races.
[00:12:49] Speaker C: Mike McAdam joining us here on the Parting Shots podcast, our Gazette horse racing rider on the at the Track segment as he gets ready to cover Kentucky Derby down in Louisville this weekend. Well, Mac, she's back among the 2024 stars on the national stage who are racing at Churchill this weekend and Also gave Saratoga fans a huge thrill or Horse of the Year, Torpedo Anna and Travers winner Fierceness.
[00:13:14] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm really looking forward to seeing Torpedo Anna again. The last time we saw her was at the Oklahoma. I'm sorry, across the street across Fifth Avenue from the Oklahoma at Kenny McPeak's barn. This is back in October right before she got on the plane to go win the Breeders Cup Distaff. And she basically spent May through October in Saratoga. You know, it was her home away from home. Now she's running in the.
What the heck is she in. She's in the Latroy Inn. Sorry, she's in the Latroy Inn on, on Friday, which is Oak Day. And she's done nothing wrong since winning the Breeders cup. This staff which earned her Horse of the Year. She's won two races at Oak Lawn this year, Zeri and Apple Blossom. Apple Blossom to kick off her 2025 season. And she's going to be a big favorite in the La Troy end on Friday.
And then you mentioned Fierceness. He won the Travers last year and Torpedo Anna came in a very close charge, hard charging second in that race. McPeek decided, you know what, I'm going to try her against the males and threw her into the, into the Travers instead of running in the Alabama. And it was one of the most memorable Travers I've ever seen, not just because of the Philly aspect of it, but because the finish, no matter who it was, was just really spectacular and dramatic and amazing.
But Fierceness has not raced since finishing second to third Sierra Leone in the Breeders Cup Classic. So he's had quite a bit of a layoff. And I'm not sure what we're going to see out of him in the Ali Sheba, which is the, the traditional, you know, root of ground dirt race on Derby weekend for older horses four and up. And so we'll see what it'll be interesting to see what Fierceness does just because of the layoff, but it's always interesting to see what Torpedo Anna does no matter what she's doing. And she won her first two races this year convincingly and we'll see if she can take another step toward perhaps back to back Horse of the Year championships. Still got a long way to go though.
[00:15:18] Speaker C: So who do you like in the Oaks and who do you like in the Kentucky Derby?
[00:15:22] Speaker A: Well, you're going to have to read my column later, my Thursday for Friday column.
Well, wait a second. Let's see. I'm doing Cassie Thursday for Friday. So Friday For Saturday. I love my Oaks or my Derby picks and I'll probably throw in some Oaks picks at the bottom of the Friday column.
As far as the Oaks, it's in a way it's less, way less interesting than the Derby because there's a huge favorite, Good cheer, who's undefeated 6 for 6 including 3 for 3 at Churchill Downs. So 6 to 5 in the Oaks is like sounds like a ridiculously low morning line odds, but not really because she just has such an incredible resume right now undefeated. You know, that'll be less of a betting race I think for me than just an interest viewing race of seeing how, you know, if Good Cheer can, can push a record to seven for seven, that might be just one to spectate a couple. I mean I already mentioned La Cara. Kind of interested in her a little bit. 5G is a new York bread that's in there who I think has a pretty good shot and quiet side. It's another one that everybody seems to like as far as the Derby right now. As of now, this could change. I'm leaning toward Burnham Square, who was he won the grade one Bluegrass by a nose over East Avenue. They call him Mighty Mouse. The favorite three to one is Journalism. They call him King Kong. So you get a little taste of the contrast between them physically there and Journal. Hey, for anybody to prove that print is not dead. Anybody looking for a newspaper related X acto Box in the Derby we've got Journalism is the favorite and Publisher is another horse in the field who's pretty good. So box those two together if, you know, if you're a fan of newspapers.
[00:17:19] Speaker C: I guess making newspapers great again.
[00:17:21] Speaker A: We are. But Journalism is the logical favorite. He's coming off a very impressive win in the Santa Anita Derby. He's done nothing wrong. He and they call him King Kong. He showed up, he got off the van and he just looks like a million bucks. He's just this muscled out kind of monstrous, you know, just really defined a horse who kind of does things easily, quickly, which is a kind of combination you need.
So Journalism will probably be in my mix. Like I said, I'm already kind of leaning toward Burnham Square. Other ones that I have in my mix that I'm interested in are Luxor Cafe at 15 to 1 is one of two Japan based horses in the Derby field. And if you remember last year, Forever Young came over from Japan and almost won the thing and probably, you know, got interfered with by Sierra Leone in Deep Stretch as the two of them were just like trading paint in the middle of the track while Mystic Dan was kind of slipping up the rail.
And the Japanese people and their horses have been really making a big influence on the Breeders cup the last few years. So I'm kind of like, if I get 15 to 1 on him, I'm going to use them somehow, I think, you know, between the two Bafferts, I prefer Rodriguez, despite the fact that, as I already mentioned, the Wood Memorial isn't really historically a key race for the Derby. But he looks good, he's working great.
So I'm kind of leaning more toward him than Citizen Bull. Between the two Bafferts, things may change. We'll see. I will say, I looked at the weather forecast today, and it looks like it's going to rain all day, every day for the entire week at Churchill Bounds. So take that into consideration. I mean, that's really going to wreak havoc on these nice turf stakes that they have there. Hopefully that'll change to some degree. But really, I looked at it, I kept looking across the National Weather Service. You know, they got those blocks for each day, and I kept waiting for one to. You had a hint of blue sky and I did not find one. So hopefully that. Hopefully that doesn't, like, have too much of an impact, but I think it's going to.
And one last note. On the Derby, there is one also eligible, Baeza, who ran very well to finish second behind Journalism in the Santa Anita Derby. And everybody, nobody is wishing bad fortune on anybody in the field, but everybody is sort of like hoping that maybe somebody scratches out by 9am on Friday, which is the deadline so Baeza can draw into the field to give you an indication of how highly regarded he is. Flavian Pratt, the Eclipse Award winning jockey last year, he's named on. Let's see, where is he?
He's named on a long shot named Neoquis, who's in the field, but he is. He's notified Churchill Downs that his first preference is to ride Baeza if he draws into the field. So that kind of gives you an indication of, you know, how highly regarded Baeza is and, you know, just to make the race better, it'd be great if he got in, you know, as long as it wasn't like journalism scratching out to open that spot for him or, you know, one of the big shots. So that's kind of one of the things we're going to be waiting to see what happens on Friday morning if Baeza gets in somehow.
But other than that, it looks like a, you know, unlike the Oaks, which has A clearly defined favorite. The derby looks pretty wide open and should be a really good betting race.
[00:20:55] Speaker C: We can follow Mike's coverage on DailyGazette.com and of course in the print edition. Mike, enjoy your time and I know you'll be doing a fantastic job for us.
[00:21:04] Speaker A: Thank you. I did not bring an umbrella, but I did bring some hats. So if you, if I show up on one of the feeds or something like that and I'm soaking wet.
You were all forewarned.
[00:21:16] Speaker C: All right, we'll see. We'll try to spot you on the NBC coverage.
[00:21:20] Speaker A: Thanks, guys.
[00:21:21] Speaker C: Thanks, Mike. That's Mike be Adam. Coming up, we're going to talk about the draft, the NFL draft with the Giants and Jets with Tim Leonard, host a sports talk show in New York area and of course, former reporters for the Troy Record. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
[00:21:45] Speaker E: If you really want to know what's going on in your community, you have to read the Daily Gazette. We don't take a side. We're right down the middle and we're gonna get to the truth. Our reporters and folks photographers are out in the field bringing you updates every minute with trust, accuracy and integrity. From the first page to the last page. Independent, probing journalism. We're finding out what's going on in community where nobody else is covering. It's who we are. It's what we do.
[00:22:15] Speaker B: What's up, everybody? This is Freddy Coleman from ESPN Radio's Freddie and Harry Show. 3pm to 7pm Eastern Time, Monday through Friday. You're listening to the Party Shots podcast with my man Kenshot, the Daily Gazette sports editor.
[00:22:29] Speaker C: Welcome back to the podcast. Let's talk last weekend's NFL draft. My next guest is the host of from the Press Box every Monday from 9 to 10am on WHPC 90.3 FM in Garden City, New York and online at nccradio.com and old time Capital region sports fans will remember him as the RPI beat writer for the Troy Record. And he was without a doubt the most the sharpest dressed man in ECAC hockey media. Please welcome Tim Leonard to the podcast. Tim, how's it going? Long time friend.
[00:23:02] Speaker B: Good, Ken, how you been?
[00:23:03] Speaker C: Not too bad. You were the fashion plate of ECAC hockey media, I'll give you that, man.
[00:23:09] Speaker B: I did try to dress the part, you know, tried to class it up a little bit.
[00:23:13] Speaker C: Well, you did outclass myself, Tom Bodgia, our former college hockey writer and Bob Croce over at the Times Union. So you did a great job doing that great Job covering RPI back in its heyday, just before we get into the NFL draft.
You've been a while away from RPI for a while, but I bet you've been observing things, Gar. I mean, are you sad the way the program's really fallen off since you were there?
[00:23:38] Speaker B: I mean, sad? Yeah, for sure. Because, you know, I remember the people who were working behind the scenes who have dealt with several bad seasons, but it was almost inevitable, you know, with the way the college hockey scene is going and how things have changed and, you know, I don't, I don't see it getting better. I don't see RPI investing a ton of money in the nil situation or doing anything like that. So I'm more concerned about them, you know, just even staying in as a Division 1 program based on the success that they had, you know, even before I got there.
[00:24:16] Speaker C: Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see with of course, the new coach and Eric Lang coming over from aic. We'll see how, if he can turn things around there. So let's talk about the NFL draft. You know, obviously you're down in New York with the Giants and the jets, and both teams have been struggling for trying to find winning seasons. It's been a while for these teams. And the Giants did not clean house. Joe Shanes remains general manager, Brian Dabel remains the coach. But the jets did clean house.
Joe Douglas house the GM and Robert Solid house, the head coach. Darren Moogie is the GM and Aaron Glenn is the new head coach there. How important was it for these teams that get the draft right and did they get the draft right?
[00:24:56] Speaker B: I think for sure the Giants got the draft right. The Jets, I'm not as sure I like the jets first round pick. I like that they went offensive line. That was something that Joe Douglas had started before he was, he was let go. And I think, I think he just, he just started it too late for me. And I know you as an Eagles fan are very well aware, I think success in the NFL starts with your offensive and defensive lines. And if you don't have those, those right, then you're not going to win. And, you know, the Giants certainly have proven that over the last couple of years. And the jets, you know, I mean, the jets weren't good last year, but their offensive line has a lot of good young talent in place now. So they're, they're in a place where the line should be better this year. And Armand Membo, who they drafted in the first round, it should Just add to that, they're going to have a really good and a really young line so these guys can develop together over the next three or four years.
[00:25:59] Speaker C: Yeah. You mentioned Abdul Carter for defensive end out of Penn State with the number three overall selection by the Giants. Why do you think that was the right selection?
[00:26:09] Speaker B: So many people regarded him as the best player in the draft. And it goes back to me when the jets drafted Quinn and Williams, what was it, four years ago, he was regarded as the best player in that draft. And you know, he has become a star in the league and it took a little while. His first year was, was, wasn't quite what people expected. But I don't, I don't think there's any doubt that he is, is regarded as one of the best defensive linemen in football these days.
You know, when you get somebody like an Abdul Carter who, you know, yeah, he played for Penn State and there are obvious comparisons to Micah Parsons. When you get some, when you're able to get somebody like that, I don't care how good you're, you're, you are, you already are at that position. You take the player and, and you worry about filling holes down, you know, down on your draft list in the other rounds. He is a, the kind of player who can be a difference maker. And Caitlin Thibodeau has, has been good, but he hasn't been great. So you know, if you can form some, some kind of rotation with, with Thibodeau and Brian Burns and, and you know, obviously, you know, the Giants defensive front seven is certainly above average if they can get any kind of production from their secondary. Now the Giants at least have a defense that looks like it can, it can play well.
Obviously they need a whole lot of help on offense, but you know, these things do take time.
[00:27:37] Speaker C: They could have had a running back and Saquon Barkley decided to pay him.
[00:27:41] Speaker B: Well, you know, that was that. That goes back to the Daniel Jones decision. And you know, we've talked about that on, on my show a bunch of times and I was down on them drafting Daniel Jones from day one. And you can go back in the archives and, and fact check me if you want because I was, I was not happy with that pick and I said so many times over the years. Now, that being said, I said, I said at the time they had to pay Daniel Jones when they did. He had just had a breakout kind of a season. He led the Giants to, to a victory in the playoffs and it looked like he was ascending at that point. So yes, you Give him the money that they gave him. I thought they did a great job, really kind of a brilliant job in the way they structured the contract because they were able to get out of it and not completely destroy their cap. But you had to pay Daniel Jones at that moment. Otherwise you have to start over with a quarterback.
[00:28:37] Speaker C: What do you think happened? Sorry, go ahead.
I was going to say, what do you think happened to Jones?
[00:28:44] Speaker B: I don't, I mean, he wasn't, he wasn't that good to begin with. And you can talk all you, I mean, first of all, I think you also have to look at that year's draft and I think it kind of compares to this year's draft in that it wasn't a good draft for quarterbacks. There wasn't a game changer quarterback, there wasn't a franchise quarterback in that draft. But teams are desperate for quarterbacks. So, you know, the Giants said, all right, you know, Dan. And that was a problem with Dave Gettleman that the GM at the time, he based a lot of his draft strategy on what he saw in a Senior Bowl. And Daniel Jones had a phenomenal Senior Bowl. In fact, I think he was the MVP of the Senior Bowl. So Dave Gettleman said, all right, that's, he performed well in this game that I put a lot of weight on and he had a good career at Duke and we're gonna, we're gonna pick him at six now, you know, ignore the fact that the Giants probably could have picked him at 20 but, and traded down and gotten more assets. But he, he, he, he overreached. He took this guy and you know, basically the Giants struggled for, you know, except for that one playoff year, they basically struggled for the entire time Jones was there. And now they're back in the same place that they were, except the team is even worse now. So, you know, Jackson Dart is hopefully going to be that guy. But I said this last week on the show, what happens if Arch Manning has a great year at Texas and decides he's going to come out this year? I mean, and where the Giants are in a situation, I still don't expect them to win more than four or five games. So I expect them to be in the top five next year in the draft.
Are they going to go after Arch Manning after, you know, you know, nephew of Eli? Why, why wouldn't, why wouldn't you make that, that, you know, take that chance or may try to make that move? So, you know, Jackson Dart's career with the Giants could be very short lived.
[00:30:35] Speaker C: Yeah, I Mean, were you surprised they traded back into the first round to pick Dart?
[00:30:40] Speaker A: No, I wasn't.
[00:30:41] Speaker B: Only because they really didn't give up all that much for it.
There was a lot made about how the Falcons traded back into the first round, that pick after the Giants, and they, and they had to give up a first rounder for next year. Well, the Giants gave up their second round pick and a third rounder next year. It really wasn't that much to get back into the first round. So I like that move from Joe Shane. I thought it was. And I kind of wonder that if they would have made their trade after the Falcons, how much more would they have had to give up? Because I'm sure, you know, I'm sure teams that were at the end of the first round, you know, the, the, the Chiefs and the Eagles, maybe they were looking to trade out of the first round and see what they could get for next year. But once, once that new price had been set, they probably were like, oh, well, we can get a first rounder next year. Let's see if we can get that. And that would, that would turn off teams to, to the possibility of, of making a deal to get back in the first round. But you know, like I said, I'm, I was, I was happy with it. I wasn't sure who they were going to pick because I thought at that point they might, they might go back in to pick Shador Sanders. But then I heard about what a disaster his interview was with the Giants, and it doesn't surprise me. They went with Dart. Brian Dable, or. I forget if it was his words exactly, but somebody compared him to Josh Allen. He said he's got that kind of mindset. I mean, obviously he doesn't have that kind of body, but the mindset is the same. And anytime you get a comparison to Josh Allen, I, you know, I can't, I can't, I can't find fault with that.
[00:32:11] Speaker C: Of course, the Giants acquired Russell, Russell Wilson. So he's just more of a stopgap at this point. Maybe one or two years.
[00:32:17] Speaker B: Yeah, Russell Wilson is, he's a bridge guy. I don't think he has that much left. I mean, that's why I don't think the Giants are going to win more than four or five games.
You know, they brought in Jameis Winston. You know, my brother is upset because my brother is a big Tommy DeVito guy. But, you know, Tommy DeVito's not going to win you games in the NFL on any kind of consistent level anyway. But it Looks like, it looks like with Darton being drafted now, that DeVito is probably, probably on his way out. So, you know, my brother was upset about that. But, you know, you have Russell Wilson who might have a tiny bit left in the tank, but I don't really think he does. Jameis Winston, who had had some good years, but those were five, six years ago, and I don't see him repeating those anytime soon. So, yeah, those, those, those are bridge guys. I would think as much as people are talking about Jackson, Dart not playing this year or just learning, I would think at some point they're going to have to throw him out there, you know, be a game, you know, 13, 14 or whatever. This kid's going to have to see the field at some point so they, so they can find out what they have, because you have to be able to evaluate him against real competition.
[00:33:27] Speaker C: Who else in that giant draft sticks out to you?
[00:33:32] Speaker B: Well, I mean, besides the first two picks.
The Darius Alexander, I thought from Toledo. I was very surprised that they got him when they did in the third round. If he was the first pick of the third round, I thought that kid would be a second rounder for sure. You know, small school, but he's a very solid defensive lineman.
You know, they expect him to pair, I guess, with Dexter Lawrence in the middle and, you know, what else can you say about Dexter Lawrence? He's certainly one of the best players in the league, especially at his position. But he's an athletic kid. He's got a motor to him, which is something I really like in my defensive players.
I think he's going to bring something to the table and certainly will get a lot of playing time.
But I liked what the giants did, especially 3, 4 and 5, because this kid, Cam Scatterbo, he's, he's certainly not a prototypical running back in any way. I mean, he's too short. He's. You know, the kid looks like a bowling ball, but he gets yards and he doesn't mind contact. So, you know, the Giants already have Tyrone Tracy. He's, he's that more, you know, like Walter Payton type of back. I mean, I'm certainly not comparing him to Walter Payton, but, you know, he says speed, he's going to glide, he's going to find a hole, he's going to burst through it and get those kinds of yards. Cam Scatter Boo is going to be the guy who is in the, in the game on third and one and you're going to give him the ball and he's going to Lower his head and he's going to get you two and a half yards to get you a first down.
[00:35:10] Speaker C: Yeah.
How much pressure is on Shane and Dable?
[00:35:16] Speaker B: I think there's a good amount of pressure and I think, I think, I don't want to say that it's automatic that they get fired if the Giants, let's say, finish below.500. I think it's going to depend on. Because I think, like I said, I don't think they're going to win more than five games. I think this is a 5 and 12 team, but I think that with those two, I think if the team looks better because last year there were just, there were too many games where they were just destroyed and there was no chance that they were going to, you know, like they were down 20 at the end of the first half and it was just, it was too easy, especially for at home, for fans to just say, forget I'm leaving at halftime. There's no point in me staying for the rest of this game. And I think if, if there's, if the games are closer, if you can see that the, that the team is making progress and especially offensively, but I guess also defensively because they're going to be able to put pressure on quarterbacks and there's going to be some level of excite there, you know, for, for quote, unquote, traditional Giants football. This team is going to run the ball a lot. They're going to hopefully play, you know, good, better than average defense. So I think if you're seeing that sort of progress, I think that Dable and Shane could get another year. I'm, I like Shane. I really don't have a lot of complaints about what Shane has done. And I think you have to look at both of these guys and say, you know, what have, what have they, what have they gotten at the quarterback position? It's supposed, supposedly the most important position in all of sports. And they have had Daniel Jones for their entire, you know, their entire stay with the Giants. So, you know, does, does the Mara family give, give them an extra year to see what Jackson Dart is and what he can do or do they just look at the bottom line and say, hey, you know what? You guys only won five games and we can't have this.
[00:37:13] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:37:14] Speaker B: So I don't, you know, that, that to me is going to be the question of the season. If, if the Giants play close games and it looks like progress is being made, I think those two guys will get an extra year. I would like to see that Happen. But, you know, you know how sports is.
[00:37:28] Speaker C: Yes. I'll tell you how bad things for the Giants. Bad things were Giants for the Giants last year. The final week, final Sunday of the regular season. Last year, CBS 6 had the option of showing the Giants game. They chose the Bills instead.
[00:37:41] Speaker B: Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. I mean, my, my show, I mean, we, we. During football season, we would, we would do the Giants and Jets just as a routine. And at one point we had a caller and he made the point. And we had been talking about it before this, but he said, you know, hey, you guys always talk about the Giants and the jets, but it's depressing. He goes, why aren't you guys talking more about the Bills? It's a New York team. I'm like, well, yeah, it's a New York team, but it's six hours away. I mean, we might as well be talking about the Washington Commanders. And he says, yeah, but it's a New York team, and it's the only thing that we have right now to get excited about. And for the last, I guess, maybe five weeks of the season, we included a bill segment with, you know, with what was going on in the NFL and shortened what we were doing with the Giants and the jets because it was basically the same stuff every week. Okay. The Giants, Giants got their butts kicked. And hey, look, Aaron Rodgers failed again with the jets. And, you know, how many times can you, can you say the same thing over and over again?
[00:38:42] Speaker C: Yeah, well, as you mentioned, the jets new regime in there, and you said you liked the pick of Membo.
[00:38:50] Speaker B: I do. Obviously, they could have taken the tight end whose name I'm blanking on right now, not Mason Taylor, who they picked in the second round.
But I liked that they continued to build on the offensive line, and Justin Fields is certainly going to need to help. I mean, he's on his third team in his NFL career already, and, you know, the jets didn't. Didn't commit huge money to him. But two years, $40 million is a pretty significant amount. I mean, obviously they're expecting him to be here for the next two years.
I don't know if you know what happens next year, because if Justin Fields doesn't play well, then the jets, like the Giants, will be looking to next year's draft, which is supposed to be pretty quarterback rich, but, you know, they didn't want to. They didn't want to trade up. And, you know, after. After Cam Ward this year, it was obviously with Shador Sanders and his precipitous drop, you know, they weren't going to be the team to trade to that number two spot or even, even the three spot to try to get Shador. But I think, I think a lot of teams maybe that needed quarterbacks kind of were content to say, all right, well, let's wait until next year and let's, let's figure out what else we can fix this year. And then there's supposed to be probably about a half a dozen quarterbacks who are going to be available next year. So I think the jets just kind of put that on hold for now.
[00:40:19] Speaker C: Who else did you like in that, in that draft?
[00:40:22] Speaker B: I mean, you know, Mason Taylor obviously has pedigree being the son of former Dolphins lineman Jason Taylor.
He's supposedly. I mean, this is, this is. None of the jets picks were sexy, for lack of a better word. You know, like Abdul Carter is a sexy pick and even Jackson Dart, because how they went around about getting him, that's a sexy pick. The jets, none of these guys stand out in terms of, oh, man, it's like, I'm so glad they got him. You know, like Membo is, you know, he's a very solid offensive lineman. He should contribute to the protection of Fields and, you know, that should be the jets best unit as far as I'm concerned this season is the offensive line. Mason Taylor supposedly is supposed to be a good blocker. Good, good catch pass catcher doesn't really contribute that much with catching passes, but, you know, it remains to be seen how the jets will utilize him. But, you know, again, solid pick, but not sexy.
You know, the third round pick, Azariah Thomas, cornerback, that was supposedly a guy that Aaron Glenn really wanted. And to me, I'm going to put my faith in the coach who was a cornerback for the New York jets, telling the team, hey, this is the cornerback I want for my team.
Now, Thomas doesn't have a lot of speed. It was, I think he was a four or five, eight or whatever at the combine. But Aaron Glenn says the kids got game speed and he covers well, you know, so he. In fact, the quote that he used that I thought was kind of funny was he said he didn't care about what guys ran in their underwear, which is basically was referring to the combine, you know, so he has faith in this kid. I'm going to trust the guy who was an all pro for the jets to, to tell me what he likes in a cornerback. So, you know that, that was another pick that I said, all right, you know what? I don't know I don't know a whole lot about this guy, but if Aaron Glenn gives. Gives that sort of seal of approval, then I'm going to go with Aaron Glenn and trust his opinion on that.
[00:42:31] Speaker C: How important was it for the jets to hire Aaron Glenn?
[00:42:36] Speaker B: We talked about this on our show for a couple weeks because this was all going on and they were bringing guy after guy after guy into the complex for interviews, and there was a lot of talk about different people and who was it going to be. And I said it a couple weeks before, you know, and not knowing a whole lot about what their process was or what they were looking for, but I was like, look, how many people actually want to be the coach of the Jets. It's a pretty dysfunctional franchise. And to me, I don't. I don't necessarily just want a guy who wants to be a coach, but I want a guy who wants to be a coach here. And for me, that screamed Aaron Glenn, because Aaron Glenn is a guy who had. He played I don't even know how many years for the jets, but like I said, he was an old pro for the Jets. He has a lot of roots to the, to the franchise. He was a guy who I could see was. Was going to be committed to the project and somebody who really wants to turn the jets into a successful program. Now, you have to remember this is. This, you know, this is. You know, Woody Johnson is.
There's a lot of people down here who really wish he would sell the team.
That's how bad it's gotten.
The jets are not.
They're not an enviable franchise.
So I'm hoping Aaron Glenn knows he has to change the culture as well as changing the players and trying, you know, as far as building something, because that's where the jets are right now. The fan base is. Is.
I don't even want to say they're. They're angry because I. That would require emotion. I think. I think the jets fan base is defeated than anything else. And he needs. He needs to be the guy to get them excited and to build something that is going to. To cause that excitement. It's going to take at least two or three years. There's not going to be any kind of quick fix for this team. But, you know, it's almost that. That might be the one good thing about, About Donald Trump winning is that Woody Johnson gets out of the way, you know, because what do you. Woody's back to being whatever, ambassador to what, England or wherever. Get him out of the way. It's almost like when. When George Steinburn got suspended from the Yankees, you know, back in the day. And Jean Michael said, all right, I'm running things now, and let's. Let's build. Let's build a dynasty. And it happened because George couldn't get in the way.
[00:45:12] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:45:13] Speaker B: And so now, you know, I mean, hey, Woody did this already, and we already have a track record that shows it didn't necessarily work. I'm hoping that Darren Mujee and Aaron Glenn can be the guys who actually get it done this time.
[00:45:24] Speaker C: Let me ask you about Shadir Sanders.
Obviously, he was expected to go in the first round. He drops to the fifth round, taken by Cleveland.
You mentioned he had bad interviews with the Giants. It sounds like he had bad interviews with a lot of teams. And I think, you know, plus the fact that this father, Dion, is not one who doesn't shy away from microphones and, you know, he's talking all. So do you think maybe this is a wake up call for him if he was not interviewing? Well, and maybe. I'll be honest, I don't think he's that great of a quarterback.
[00:45:59] Speaker B: I mean, I think he's a good quarterback. I don't know about the wake up call, because, look, this. This kid has been. He's been pampered his whole life. He's Dion's son. He's always. There's always been money in his life. The kid drives a Bentley. All right? You know, a college football player who drives a Bentley. I don't even know how much Those cars cost. $400,000. I don't.
[00:46:22] Speaker C: @ least. Yeah. Before tariffs.
[00:46:24] Speaker B: So.
So he's already had. He's already made millions through the nil.
And he was. He was taking the attitude like he could dictate to teams because his father had that ability. The ability he had. Well, he's not as good as his father. Yeah, he put up great numbers at Colorado. There's no arguing that. But how much of that was on shorter passes to Travis Hunter? And then Travis Hunter turned it into something, you know, that that's what you need to look for. I mean, from everything that I've heard, Store Sanders can. Can play the role. He can be an effective quarterback. But he went into meetings telling the NFL teams what he needed from them as opposed to telling. Telling them what he could provide for them. Now, if you look at it just strictly from a job interview status, how many of us would go into a job interview and tell your potential future employee, all right, this is what I need from you.
[00:47:26] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:47:28] Speaker B: Why do you want to hire somebody like that?
[00:47:29] Speaker C: Yeah, we'd be done in 10 seconds.
[00:47:31] Speaker B: Exactly. So, you know, apparently from, from what has been coming out and we haven't heard it from, from Brian Dable himself, or at least I haven't.
He, he went into, to the Giants meeting and they, they, they had given him different, different scenarios. And when he came into the meeting, he questioned the Giant because they, they had something called an install. I'm not even sure what that is, but basically it involves showing plays and having him tell them how he would do things differently or what caused the play to fail. And apparently he hadn't prepared like he didn't watch this stuff. And then when, when Dable called him on it and, and you know, I can only assume he, he said something to the effect of, hey, why are you wasting our time if you didn't even read, you know, if you didn't even look at this stuff and then Shador back talked him.
Well, he's, he's going to be your coach. He's going to be, he's going to be the guy who decides if you play. And already you're starting this relationship off with, with, you know, hey, coach, why are you giving me grief?
Well, no, we don't want you on the team. So no matter what pick it would have been, apparently it was decided earlier, maybe, probably right after that meeting, hey, we don't want this kid. I don't care what round it is. And if he did that to a few teams because there really weren't that many teams that needed a quarterback.
And I'm still not 100% sure why Cleveland picked Sanders in the fifth round when they already picked the kid from Oregon in the third round.
[00:49:02] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:49:03] Speaker B: They now have five quarterbacks on their roster. At least one of those guys is going to be cut in training camp.
[00:49:09] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:49:10] Speaker B: You know, because, because DeShawn Sanders is. It probably won't play this year. He's got the Achilles thing. He's going to be out for most of this.
[00:49:18] Speaker C: Sean Watson. That's it. Sanders.
[00:49:21] Speaker B: Oh, my bad.
[00:49:22] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:49:22] Speaker B: Deshaun Watson. I mean, he's going to be out for most of the season and it wouldn't surprise me if they just don't take the whole season off because I don't know that they want to play him anyway. So now you're talking about Joe Flacco and who's the other guy they have.
I had all these names in my head.
Oh, Pickett. Kenny Pickett.
[00:49:42] Speaker C: I'm sorry. Super Bowl. Super bowl champion. Kenny Pickett.
[00:49:48] Speaker B: There you go.
But let's face it, neither one of those guys is the future for the Browns. So if Shador can come in and actually show them that he's willing to work and that he can be the player that he was in Colorado, it's certainly possible that he could be the starter in 2026. I don't, I don't think that'll happen this year. Maybe at the end of the season, but he's got to show them, you know, hey, I'm here to work. I'm not here to do TikTok videos. I'm not here to off my car. He's got to go in there and tell, you know, and show them that. All right. The guy I was, the guy you saw in the interview, that's not really who I am. But who knows? I mean, if he screws around at training camp and, or rookie camp and, you know, just decides to be this, this, you know, screw up or some guy who just doesn't want to take life seriously because, hey, my dad is Deion Sanders. I could see him also being cut two weeks into this thing.
[00:50:51] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:50:51] Speaker B: And Burns saying, you know what? We gave it a shot. He was a jerk. And, yeah, fine, go play in the cfl.
[00:50:58] Speaker C: Yeah. So it's going to be interesting to hear what happens there with him in Cleveland. So, Tim, I appreciate a few minutes chatting with you. Great to catch up with you. Of course. Tim. Host from the press box every Monday, 9 to 10am on WHPC, 90.3 FM in Garden City, New York, and online at NC nccradio.com Tim, appreciate it. We'll have you.orgoh.com I'm sorry.org that's, that's my bad. Yes, I, I think I copied off the website. Maybe that was.
[00:51:26] Speaker B: I, I could, I might, I might have sent it to you wrong. I don't even know. That's okay. NCCradio.org yeah, Monday, every Monday, 9 to.
[00:51:33] Speaker C: 10Am all right, Tim, appreciate it. We'll have you on again soon. Thanks again, my friend.
[00:51:37] Speaker B: All right, thanks.
[00:51:38] Speaker C: That's Tim Leonard. We're back to wrap up the podcast and have the latest winner in the Daily Gazette's auto raising contest in just a moment.
Hi, I'm Stan.
[00:51:57] Speaker B: And I'm Shen.
[00:51:58] Speaker C: And each week we bring you the Stan and Shen Show. And each week we talk about fun things through our travels throughout the capital region. We touch on food, we touch on news, try to touch heavily on good news. And Shen's always available with hot takes. Yeah.
[00:52:15] Speaker B: So if you could follow along and listen to us every week on DailyGazette.com or on all major streaming platforms, we'd love to have you join us.
[00:52:24] Speaker C: The Daily Gazette has some great subscription deals happening. Sign up today at www.dailygazette.com and as always, when credibility matters, trust the Daily Gazette. Hi, this is Union College head football coach John Drock. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast with the Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Schott.
Back to wrap up the podcast, the Week 10 winner in the Deadly Gazette's auto racing contest was Pamela LaBrake of Schenectady. With 35 points, Pamela wins a $50 gift card. Congratulations, Pamela. The VIP winners were Nick Platel, Grand Premier Tires and me. We each had 10 points. Not a good effort by both of us, but still we were shared first place. Looking at the standings, Scott Lucher of CapitaLand GMC still leads with 185 points. Yours Truly is second with 150 points. Jerry Peel of Frankenson's is next at 145, followed by Nick Platel with 125, Dwayne Leach of All Seasons Equipment with 105 points, and Matt Margiotta of S and G Roofing with 55 points. I'll announce the auto racing contest winner's name and that winner's name will appear in Saturday's Daily Gazette. To play, go to dailygazette.com and click on the auto racing contest banner.
Just because COVID 19 mandates are easing, that does not mean you should relax. Be vigilant. If you have not gotten vaccinated or received a booster shot, please do so. Do it for yourself. Do it. Do it for your family and do it for your friends. And a friendly reminder, vaccines do not cause autism.
Don't forget to download the Daily Gazette app and sign up for our E Edition so you never miss a headline. Subscribe today at www.dailygazette.com. we have a lot of great specials going on. When credibility matters, trust the Daily Gazette on the latest edition of the Stan and Shen Show. Daily Gazette reporter and comic book enthusiast Chad Arnold joins Stan and Shen talking about National Comic Book Day. And friends of the podcast weigh in with their own superheroes. I gave him my own superhero, El Cabong. If you old timers remember the quick draw McGraw, that was his alter ego. I thought it was a good one. They also talked about this Sunday's New York Phoenix game, a special 3pm start for daily Gazette night, and an appearance by mascot newsy the San and Shen show is available wherever you get your podcast.
That wraps up another edition of the Parting Shots Podcast. I want to thank Mike McAdam and Tim Leonard for coming on the show.
If you have questions or comments about the podcast, email them to me at shot. That's s c h o t
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The views expressed on the Parting Shots podcast are not necessarily those of the Daily Gazette Company. The Parting Shots podcast is a production of the Daily Gazette Company. I'm Daily Gazette Sports Editor Ken Schott. Thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time from the Parting Shots Podcast studio in Schenectady, New York. Good day, good sports.
