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Chris. God bless football, Mikey A. God bless football, Stu Goss. Chris Cody is in for Billy Gill. Billy Gill is on vacation. Billy Gill goes to, listen, he goes to Orlando a lot. He goes to Disney World a lot. Chris, you're from down here.
Who the hell goes to Disney World? It's 117 degrees out. Who does that when you live down here? You're three hours away. Who does that in the middle of July? It's a rookie move for sure. I mean, I...
I don't know when you're supposed to go. It's bad to go during the summer. It's bad to go at the holiday times. Like, when are we supposed to go to Disney? It's always crowded. It's always annoying. Yeah, January. Yeah, January. Mikey is right. When everyone flies home for the holidays, they go back home because school starts again. You go January. That's what you got to do. I'm going to defend Billy, though, though, because I'm a Disney guy. I love Disney. I would call myself a Disney guy. So I'm going to defend Billy and say, even though it's hot, I bet him and his family, his two adorable kids, they're having a great time.
Yeah. Well, the kids are. I'm going to bring back. I want to bring back a segment from last week, a game we played called. Can I ask you guys a question?
Yes, you can. Can I ask you guys a question? Yeah, but just hold on a second before you do that so I can set this thing up, okay? Because we have made it past July. It's a very crucial month to make it past here on God Bless Football. We are in August now. There was a football game last night, the Hall of Fame game. Football is here, fellas. We are four weekends away from a midnight home game.
I mean, this is very exciting. So we have to start taking this thing seriously. Okay. And Chris Felica, the bear, who was part of the noon kickoff show on Fox is going to join us coming up here in about 10 minutes. And now Mike, you can ask me a question. Well,
Well, you just kind of ruined everything I was going to do by making it serious and about football because I was going to ask you guys a question. Is Billy the most important person on God Bless Football? Because he's the only one we work to replace. When you were out, we're just like, all right, we'll do it. When I'm out, you're just, all right, we'll do it. We bring in Chris Cody. I was told, well, I love Chris Cody, but I was told there was a cast of thousands when I was out. Charlie Kravitz. One of the times. One of the times. Ha, ha, ha.
And yes, Billy is the most valuable person here at God Bless Football. I mean, well, no, I take it back. Chris Sims, Mike Golick, the most valuable people here at God Bless Football because their credibility gives us credibility and it allows us to get guests and it allows us to act like complete jackasses because they're so knowledgeable and credible. So those two are the most important.
I was going to get back on this show this week, whether Billy was here or not. I told you guys this week football's back. I'm going on GBF. Good. Right. Where does K-Funk rank on the importance rankings? Without K-Funk, that segment died two years ago. You're right. I wish it did. It's still dragging itself across the desert. Do you have any further questions?
No, that's if I got another one later, I'll I'll ask you guys a question. All right, Chris, it was I was looking at two of his stats and I have to tell you because this game, what was that dangerous game?
It is a dangerous game. He is the most polarizing quarterback in the NFL. Like Trevor Lawrence gets his money. No one says a peep except for Billy. Jordan Love gets his money and not a peep. Tua gets his money and like national sports radio explodes into a conversation as to whether or not he deserves his money.
Tua, over the last two seasons, has started 30 of the 34 available games to start. He started all 17 last year, yet people still question his health because we saw him stumble around the field against Buffalo in a game in which he probably should have come out of. But Tua, over the last two years, Chris, 54 touchdowns, 22 interceptions. He has a QB rating of like 103, and his head coach,
who is a genius, who is smart, who is a good head coach, in my opinion, thinks Tua is the perfect quarterback for his offense, and who are we to argue with him? How are those stats in cold weather, huh? How about when he's out of the pocket? Ha ha!
I mean, it gets winning teams. How about late in the season? I mean, I'm with you when everything's perfect too. I'm with you. The numbers look nice, but it's just some things here. We got to see. And I'm not sitting here saying that to a can't be good in cold weather and can't win playoff games and can't win late in the year against good teams, but we haven't seen it yet. So until we see it, we're going to question it. And I I'm kind of like, you don't, you don't agree with the people. Like I think Trevor Lawrence and Jordan love are,
Like, they look better than Tua. Am I wrong on this? Trevor Lawrence, debatable. Jordan Love, the big difference here. Sorry, Mikey. The big difference here between Jordan Love and Tua and why no one is criticizing Jordan Love is, A, the Packers have had a run at quarterback that no team in the history of the NFL has had. I mean, they're now going on a third decade with an elite quarterback. And so people trust in that system, whatever they're doing there,
It's going to work out far to Rodgers, now to Jordan Love. The other big difference is Jordan Love, while he lost at San Francisco through an interception final drive of that game, a game they could have won, the one thing you remember last year, the one thing he's done that Tua hasn't done is he's won a playoff game, and he did it on the road against a really good Dallas Cowboys team. Exactly.
What's interesting about Trevor Lawrence and Tua is I feel like there's a fine line of people who believe in Trevor Lawrence. They're like the tape studiers, like the Sims. It seems like I studied the tape and Trevor Lawrence is really good. Tua maybe not so much. Whereas like with Tua, you can have people on all sides of every aisle that think he's great or think he's terrible.
Look, Jordan Love. I just don't know how. If you see Jordan Love outside of the pocket, he's making throws accurately. Like, guys, I wish I had clips now that I could play. I wish I was like a film guy. I wish I was like Jaws where I could just be like, let's go to the film here. You'd love Trevor Lawrence. Tua is not accurate out of the pocket. Like, maybe he can get better at it, but...
Everything has to be perfect for Tua. That's the difference. I mean, I haven't seen a ton of Trevor Lawrence outside of the pocket. Like, we'll see whether he's good in that realm. But that's the problem with Tua is that it has to run perfectly. Whereas Mahomes, Josh Allen, these plays break down. I am terrified when Josh Allen is out of the pocket. When Tua is out of the pocket. No, when I say that, I'm terrified as a defender. Whereas when Tua is out of the pocket, I'm terrified for the Dolphins.
Yes. No, that is so well said because if the play breaks down, the Dolphins got nothing. Right.
When the play breaks down in Buffalo and Kansas City, you're more nervous than you were if the play just ran exactly the way they wanted to run it. I would rather have Josh Allen drop back three steps and make a throw than break down in the pocket, roll out. I'm like, oh my God, he's going to throw a 40-yard pass. That is the difference between Tua and a lot of these other quarterbacks. C.J. Stroud, you trust these guys out of the pocket, and Tua is just...
Thank God we kept him on time. I do love the idea of playing the Chiefs and playing the Bills. Chris is right. And you just rush three and play prevent defense. Seriously. Just contain with Josh Allen. Like, I wouldn't even rush him. I would just, like, have all my defensive guys just kind of, like, hover around the line. Like, you can't come here. Try to throw it. Just throw it. Right. Right. Force him to throw. Yes.
Hit those three-yard hitches. That is so good. Josh Allen is going to have so much pressure on him this year. He really is.
He wins that battle with Stefan Diggs. Diggs is now playing with CJ Stroud. Houston's going to be trouble. Oh, my God. They're going to be good. But Josh Allen now has no wide receivers, Chris. We'll see. We'll see just how good Josh Allen is. Like Patrick Mahomes, what he did with Tariq Hill was super impressive. What he's done without Tariq Hill has been even more impressive. And so we're going to see what Josh Allen can do without a number one wide receiver and a number two in Gabe Davis. Yep.
yeah that went too far yeah i did i did sure i'm okay just we won't have a thursday without football till february boys you're so excited all right yeah it's so exciting listen july is a benchmark you got to make it through july once you get through the dog the dog days of summer really aren't july
In terms of football, once you get to August, you've arrived. I mean, you've arrived. There's college football coming up in a couple of weeks. I can't wait. This is amazing. Oh, now the Bears here. I see the Bear. Let's talk to the Bear. Oh, I'm so excited. All right, let's take a quick timeout. We'll come back with Chris Felica, the Bear, our buddy. He's with Noon Kickoff on Fox. Bears, Bats, he's got all kinds of stuff. We have a great list, and I'm going to ask him for his three best bets, both in college football and the NFL for the upcoming season. The Bear, next.
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There he is. The bear. Old school Jets, we love it. There he is. There he is. I got the oldest school Jets right here. See that? That's Tecmo Bowl Jets. Exactly.
Roger Vick. Raymond McNeil. That's what sucked me in. Those teams were just good enough to suck me in and make me believe this team could be good. I did not come out of my room after Don Shula cheated and beat the NL.
You're right. In the NFC Championship game. Please tell me we're rolling right now. We are. This is good. This is live. Yes. No, please explain to Chris Cody how Don Shula cheated against the Jets. They had 90 inches of rain down there. Yeah. Instead of covering the field and keeping the field in a playable position, they opted not to cover the field because they knew Freeman McNeil was going to run all over them, and they kept the Jets' offense without their best weapon. Great coaching by Shula.
He's a cheater. A competition and rules committee in his pocket his entire career. Oh, my God. Put it on the scroll. Someone credible. I mean, perhaps one of the most credible guys in our industry. That's my take I will take to my grave. Don Shula is a cheater. Put it on the scroll. The bear said Don Shula is a cheater. Yes.
Great stakes, but he's a cheater. He wanted a slow track that day, a sloppy game. And he got it. And he got a win. Yes. In essence, it ruined the franchise for years. Yeah, but now that I'm thinking about it, Bear, Chris Cody might be right. I mean, is he a cheater or a great coach? If you're not cheating, you're not trying. I guess he has home field advantage. He took advantage of it, but, yeah, it was –
he had the league in his pocket. God damn it. What are you watching? You have a bet on something. The Olympics are on. He's always got a bet on something. I had FAA against Rude, and FAA was up low 40 at 4-4, pissed away four break points, had the match on his racket in the second set tie break and double faulted. Now he just missed an easy forehand to get the break in the third. Is there a minute of any day in which you don't have some sort of wager?
Yeah. Yeah. It doesn't happen. Oxygen for you. I feel like exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Got it. Got to have something. What are the saddest bets? Not saddest, but like during the off season of sports when there's nothing to bet on, like, what are you betting on this one?
Well, this like right now, the Olympics, there's a lot. But like, let's say like three weeks ago, like when it'll be like a random like championship division or like League One soccer match. Yes. Something like that. Or just a random. Oh, Aqueduct is running like in the seventh. Yeah. Put me in. Put me inside your head when I tell you this.
We are four Saturdays away from Hawaii hosting a home game at midnight Eastern. Against UCLA, right? I think it's Delaware State, no? They have Delaware State and then UCLA is following you. I'm a degenerate. Delaware State has actually been part of a college game day site.
Really? Delaware State was an opponent of North Dakota State. I think the first time game day went to Fargo, Delaware State was the opponent. Interesting. You're excited, though, aren't you? We're here. We're here. We are here. Are you concerned at all? Well, let's start here. What are your feelings headed into what is a – well, it is. It's a new college football. So what are your feelings headed into what is a new college football setup here?
Yeah, it's interesting because I think a lot of people don't know what to expect with the expanded playoff and even really how the seating necessarily works. I think people who are like kind of figuring this out still, and I guess the
macro big picture, everyone always asks is like, who can win the national title in Ohio State and Georgia, the obvious two teams, and then Texas and Oregon are like the two teams that people will say after that. And I'm not sure if people quite grasp that only one to only the conference champs are going to get good buys in the playoff.
So like if Oregon finishes second to Ohio state or Ohio state finished second to Oregon, one of those teams is going to have to play that out bracket game. Even if we know that they are better than one of those, the big 12 champ or the ACC champ or whomever, same goes in the SEC, where if Texas were to finish second to Georgia or vice versa, that team's going to have to play the out bracket game and play that extra round. So I think that's one thing that is a,
of interest to me that ultimately how is, how are we going to see these teams? We'll, we'll, I've always been an advocate of like, it's possible for a team that's 10 and two to be better than 11 and one and deserve to go over that team. Like one loss record is like not the best indicator at all of how good a team is. So I think,
Will we see that? How many SEC and Big Ten teams will we see in the playoff, and how will the committee rank these teams? Say you've got a 9-3 whomever. Okay, here we go. Let's say Georgia happens to have a terrible year and lose those three losable games and the Bulldogs finish 9-3. They're probably still one of the best teams in the country, but where will the committee rank them? So I think just the unbalanced schedules, which are really going to make win-loss records,
kind of, I don't want to say irrelevant, but less important. And just the overall seating and ultimately who will wind up finishing second in those big two leagues and having to play that extra conference playoff game. If I have a concern, Bear, it would be this.
I thought college football already had it right. The regular season felt like the playoffs to me, right? Every game meant so much. That's why you and I get along. Yes. It's not like let's include everybody and have one big – it should have been hard to get in. They knew what they were signing up for when they made it four teams. It should be hard to get in. And I think that's – I'm sorry to cut you off. I feel bad. No, it's okay. But.
But that I think is the biggest thing about the playoff. It's about more fan bases having a playoff game when in actuality, they're really not expanding the field of teams that can win the title. They're just giving us more games, which of course is great because we can bet and lose more money on them. My concern though, as a, you know,
It's like Ohio State and Michigan, a game that everyone loves to see every single year. If both those teams feel like they're going to get into the playoff, why would you play your starters? Why would you not save them for the games that are coming up that are far more important than Ohio State and Michigan? Yeah, I agree. We're never going to have a situation like we did last year where it was in Ohio State, Michigan, winner goes to the Big Ten championship game and potentially the playoff and the loser is out. I
I guess the only rationale behind that would be is if you're in a position to either be in the Big Ten championship game or not. Like I said, if you finish second and you don't make the conference title game, you're going to have to play that extra game. And maybe you find yourself in a 6-11 game with...
Whomever Ole Miss or Penn State, and that's obviously a much difficult, much more difficult game to have to play that extra game as opposed to being a top four seed and in there. So I think in that regard, the committee and the playoff committee did get it right in a sense to kind of.
OK, we have this in mind. So let's make sure that teams don't do this, because obviously we see that in the NFL all the time in week 17, where you've got teams that absolutely punt on the game, knowing that their playoff situation isn't going to be affected one bit. Is the problem expansion or is the problem expansion to 12, do you think?
I think expansion in general. Yes. I just – It's supposed to be hard. It is supposed to be hard. I agree. What do you – do you think like six or eight would have been a much better solution or resolution? I like six. I like the idea of two with a bye, two hosting a game, and two just happy to get in. That's what I liked. See, I'm not opposed to that, and I think –
if you went to six, I think one of the bigger obstacles that we've had so far in why this didn't happen sooner was because of the Bulls and including the Bulls. I
I love the fact we're going to have home playoff games. That does make the regular season matter. And if you had it at six and you had those like out bracket game, if you had like that first round game and then the next round, and then you had like the championship in a bowl game, that would have been great. But you had to find a way to include the bowls and they're still trying to figure out with the Rose Bowl. The Rose Bowl wants their January 1st, 5 p.m. Eastern kick.
And we'll see if they get it. But again, we all love the sport. We all love games. We're all going to watch. We're all going to bet. I just think that the messaging, I think, has been wrong. We're not really making it more open to teams that can win because ultimately I still think the number of teams that can win is probably no greater than three or four.
All right, I'm going to ask you a question here, and I want you to give me – I'm going to pin you down. You need to give me one team for each of these, all right, because there's probably a handful of teams for each of these you could say. Give me the team that is the happiest with the new playoff situation because they're like, we never had a chance before, and now we're going to be in there every year. And then give me the team that is – the team that is angriest. Oh, state. State.
Penn State. So Penn State's the happiest. To give you this more than a one-word answer, like Stu said, they were in a position where
You're going to have to play Ohio State and Michigan basically every year. And now their schedule got much easier. They were going to be 10-2, and in that division with Ohio State, never had a chance to get in the Big Ten championship game if they were to lose those games. Now you can be 10-2, and you're going to be in. And I think Penn State is the absolute winner in terms of
getting into the playoff and having a chance because even the year that they won a beating Penn State and they finished 10-2, they should have been in the playoff that year, but they weren't. But the Lions, I think, are the big winners. Is it Georgia and Alabama that are the angriest about this? They're like, hey, we liked this setup. This worked out pretty well for us. I don't want 16th. I think, yeah, they might be, but at the same time, I think Greg Sankey is like, hey,
we're going to get four teams in the, in, in the damn thing every year. And I, because we are the, the best league is I don't necessarily think, I think Alabama is more upset that they lost Nick Saban. I don't think that's a massive story. And I think that that's a big question going into this year, because I mean, DeBoer is a great coach. He's won games as an underdog and with some teams that have been, uh,
haven't necessarily been as good as others. And I think that's a great story. Like, was the Alabama dynasty just simply Nick Saban? Or does it indeed have staying power now with Caelan DeBoer? Who is the coach that has the most amount of pressure on him this year? Is it Ryan Day? That's the...
Easy, obvious answer. Yeah. Right. Is there someone beyond that? People were calling for him last year. He brought in his buddy Chip to be the offensive coordinator now. No one spent more money in the transfer portal than Ohio State. You've got a great recruiting class. They're loaded offensively.
on, on defense as well. He's the obvious entry. You know, I'm going to say, I'm going to, I'm going to say Deion Sanders. Wow. I think at Colorado with everything that happened last year on the roster overall, and you go, what were they before? And eight last year and a little bit of mismanagement of some games, uh, kind of overhauled his staff again, uh,
Kind of doubled down on his roster building strategy. Didn't necessarily have a great recruiting class. Now you're in a different league. You've got probably the two best players in that league with his son Shadur and Travis Hunter.
If they go out again this year and go 4-8 again, I think all the momentum and all the buzz and all the hype around Coach Prime and Colorado and this is great and the new way of doing things, that kind of has muted a little bit. So I think there's a good bit of pressure on Colorado this year to make that next step and get at least to a bowl game, if not seven or eight wins. Chris, you had something or not?
My bad. I did not. No, it's okay. Will Mike Ryan tell us for the 15th consecutive season, and he's been wrong every single time, but will we hear again two or three weeks in that the U is back?
Well, are you a Canes Connection member? No, no, I'm not. I mean, Mike is trying to rope me in. Why should I? I didn't go to school there. I mean, I went to Clark University, man. We don't have a football team. I have a hat. I should have worn the hat for the interview. He's probably going to be mad at me that I didn't wear the hat and give him the advertising. He'd be mad at you if you wore the hat. It doesn't matter. He's just angry, that kid. We like Mike.
Mike, he's angry. I love Mike. He's like a son to me. But he should, but he should be angry. And I, and I'm angry. Like, and I'm, it's funny. I'm in a group chat with Mike and all the, all the guys down there. And we, we have a lot of fun and the hype and the Kool-Aid is being drunk.
but I'm trying to be a little bit of a voice of reason, maybe playing the role of pessimistic alum somewhat that you're right, we've heard this before.
We, oh, they, they, Greg Ward's come in to play quarterback. Brock Berlin's come in to play quarterback. Oh, new coaching staff, new coordinators. Look at the schedule, how easy it is. And what they've won one game once in what? 17, 18 years. You want 10 games once in 17, 18 years. And that was smoke and mirrors in 2017. Uh,
They are in a terrible spot in that week one opener against Florida. You've been the buzz hype team all of offseason. They're a trendy pick to win the ACC. And look, they could. They could win the ACC or they could go 9-3. But week one, you're going to Gainesville. Billy Napier and that program has been sh**.
it on for a year now in the off season they're terrible that's a coach with pressure by the way yeah yeah it's like now you're going to be a home underdog against miami who's going to expected to to go in there and win that game that's a terrible spot for miami to open the season now maybe we'll get a situation where like 2001 they went to penn state and people are like oh that's a difficult opener and they kicked it out of penn state week one and that proved
to show how good they were the rest of the year. Maybe it'll go that way. Maybe they will come together with Cam Ward and Brown and the transfers on defense, and they'll come together and play a great game in the opener, and they'll go up and open a lot of eyebrows and people say, you know what, okay, they are as good as we thought they might be, and it can turn around, but
I don't worry about the Florida State game or the Louisville game. I worry about week four when they go to USF and there's going to be a four-and-a-half or a five-point favorite with a team that's got a good quarterback and Alex Golish.
just lets them hang and is an aggressive, confident head coach. That's the type of game that scares me. So, like, it was funny. I texted those guys before. I said they could win the ACC and go to the playoff. They could finish 9-3. Neither would surprise me. I'm hoping –
Nine to three might get them in that. We'll see. Uh, anyway, new kickoff. Uh, you can check them out right there on Fox. Also, uh, bears, uh, bear bets is his podcast. Check it out, uh, as well. I'm going to ask you here. Okay. It's, it's Olympic time. I'm going to ask you for the metal stand, your top three picks. Uh,
into the college football season for the audience here. Okay. So give us bronze, silver and gold. We have a sound to accompany each. Okay. So give me a little room. Why don't you give us your, your pick here. So let's start with your bronze medal, college football. I'm assuming, I'm assuming this will be a,
Win total or something like that, or team to make it to the playoff or something like that. Exactly. So, Bear, go ahead. Give me your bronze medal college football pick headed into this season. On the podium for the bronze in college football, UCF to win the Big 12. That's around 8-1 or so. KJ Jefferson going to play and Gus Malzahn offense is a big problem. I think their schedule works out.
Pretty well for them. You bring in Ted Roof on defense, and I think they brought in like six or seven power five transfers on defense as well. New league. The schedule, I think, is very manageable for them. UCF to win the Big 12 at like eight to one would be the bronze medal bet.
That's the bronze medal. You get a cat's meow. Cat's meow. Meow. I got you guys. I got my guy up here right now. He's grilling me out for you. We're building up here, Bear. You know that. We're building up. Chris, Cody, are you writing all these down, by the way? Because I am not and I need these. I'm literally placing the bet right now. Everyone has written it down. Mikey just showed it to me. Anyway, let's get to the silver medal. Go ahead.
Runner-up, silver medalist, Arizona under eight wins, which at last check was under eight, minus 140 at DraftKings. I worry about Arizona this year. New league in the Big 12 now. New coaching staff is crazy.
Jed Fish has gone on to Washington, taking a step with them. Lawson players, they did keep Noah Fafita and wide receiver T-Mac around. But I wonder, like, the defensive line rotation is gone. There's no wide receiver depth after McMillan. So I worry, too, about these breakthrough teams. Like last year, they broke through 110 games, pulled some upsets. What happens the year after when they're super hyped and they're expected to take another step forward?
The road schedule is probably about as tough as you could get in the Big 12. You got to go to Utah. You go to UCF. You go to TCU. Who knows what Colorado and Texas Tech will be like? It just doesn't feel like there are many layups like there were last year in the Pac-12. If you got to win nine games to beat me, fine. I'll take my chance. But Arizona under eight for the Silver.
Second sound was the wolf howl. A big jump from the cat to the wolf. Wolf howl. We're building up to his big sound. Chris, did you write that down? I already placed it. I'm also going to parlay them. Everything. There we go. Wait, I still have his NFL picks to get to. I'm going to parlay all of it. That too. Let's get to your gold medal here. Brown Robin, Birdcage, all of them.
Gold medal, according to Chris Felica, the bear. What did Dan call him that one time, Chris Cody? Do you remember? Falico? Oh, yeah. I only knew him back in the Miami days when he was covering the Canes and being in the F&B office every day. Not a big deal at all. It's fine. Clearly, I made an impression. That's why I call you the bear. It's easier. Let's get to your gold medal pick here. Gold medal pick, college football, football.
Georgia or Ohio State to win the national title. There's a prom out in Vegas at the South Point Casino where you can get the two of them together to win the national title. You could also do it another way and just simply play Georgia and play Ohio State, two teams to win the national title at DraftKings or wherever you make your bets. I just think that they are head and shoulders above everybody else in college football. And I think the number of teams that
that would have to beat Georgia or Ohio State in the semifinal and then beat Ohio State or Georgia again in the championship game. There aren't a great number of teams with the amount of depth and quality depth to be able to do that. So I think it's Georgia and Ohio State, head and shoulders above everybody else, but both to win the national title, I think you'll be in good shape. Really going out on a limb on that gold pick, huh, Bear?
Minus 110. It pays just as good, right? Minus 110 on a side or a total or minus 110 on one of the two best teams in college football to win the title. And the great thing about that is if you're in a position where someone, if they are on opposite sides and you do get an upset in one of the semifinals, you're in a position to take a really nice plus price on the underdog to lock in a profit.
So you may not like minus 110 on it. It might even be a little better number. It's Ralph Kingsley who gets to take Ohio State to win the title and Georgia to win the title. See, I can't get that number for you right now because I'm in Connecticut, which is an awful state.
And in that state, like college football futures, like they aren't all readily available. So I can't get the most updated numbers for you. I'm seeing three to one for Georgia and four to one for Ohio State right now. So you're probably going to get around plus 130 on that maybe. You might even get a better number than laying the 110 with the two for the price of one. Don't tell Falica how to bet. He knows what he's doing. What's the matter with you, Chris? No, I don't know how to.
I don't know how to think. That's the problem. Two of the biggest things about being a successful, A, being able to handicap is good, but actually knowing how to make a good bet, that's really important. And money management, that's also really, really important. I'm probably good at one of those three. I can make a good bet.
But I don't always do the right things. But what you are is informed. You don't see Dolphins minus nine against a bad team and lay the nine points like me and Chris do every single week. Laying north of a touchdown in the NFL? What could possibly go wrong with that? Me and Chris like a big spread. I know. We do. Love it. All right, let's get to your NFL bronze battle here.
Ravens to miss the playoffs is my bronze medal bet. Now that's a limb. Now that's a limb. Exactly. You're giving me sh** before about, oh, Georgia or Ohio State to win the national title. What do you do? But...
Look at the Ravens. Are we sure Derrick Henry is like a 17-game running back and is a massive improvement over what they had last year? The non-division schedule for the Ravens, Eagles, Cowboys, Bills, Chiefs,
But like, it's hard. Like they, historical year, last year, you lose three-fifths of your offensive line. Morgan Moses is gone. Simpson is gone. Like, it's a big deal. Kevin Zeitler is gone too. Like,
Patrick Queen went to Pittsburgh. I'm not sold that it's an automatic shoo-in for Baltimore to win 10 games this year. And if you go 9-8, you're going to be relying on a lot of tiebreakers. That division's the best division in football. So, you know, plus money. We'll see if Lamar and that offense can do it again this year. I'm going to take the Ravens to miss the playoffs at plus 240. All right.
I like that one. A little meow there. All right, let's get to your show. Did you write it down? Did you bet it already? Oh, he bet it already. Chris has it. Mikey is writing him down because he wants to figure out how to parlay all this. Chris is just putting him in as you tell him. Just directly in. Directly in. I'm going to draft King State.
I'm in a DraftKings state. To NFL, I'm good. I'm in Connecticut. I shouldn't say. It's not DraftKings' fault, by the way. It's like the Connecticut Department of whatever who oversees this crap, and they have no idea what they're doing. But what Chris Cody is doing is having Mikey A put the bets in for him in Connecticut on DraftKings because we only bet on DraftKings. That's it. Teamwork. I'm writing down the bets to place them when I'm in the right state.
Excellent. I have to do with a lot of my college football stuff is I'll drive up to Massachusetts. I literally like just go. It's like 35 minutes or so. But I'll go. I'll just go across the board in Massachusetts and I'll be able to get all the college football win total head to heads that they have up odds to win, make the playoff, all this stuff. So that's stuff DraftKings has.
Yeah, it has it all there, but unfortunately, Connecticut, I can't do it, so I got to take the drive up to Massachusetts and just go across the border. It's actually a nice little spot along one of the side streets. You park on the side of the road. It's like a little dirt road area, a little body of water there, trees. It's actually kind of nice and peaceful to sit there and just
Fire in thousands and thousands of dollars. Fair, fair. Billion dollar idea. Me and you will bring these guys in. Nice little parking lots just over the border with bathrooms and stuff. You pull your car in. Just perfect little bet spots. Little betting rest stops.
Here's another one. Like a service station with a McDonald's and a gas station. I love this. Great Wi-Fi. Great Wi-Fi. Exactly. When I was out in Vegas in between, I was in LA for five weeks working the soccer. Then I had a couple of days off. Then I had to go back to LA for our football meetings at Fox. I spent a couple of days, went to Vegas and
rented a car because I had a bunch of bonus bets that I needed to use from DraftKings and other sites. Literally,
Went to White Castle, picked up some bacon double cheeseburgers and sweet pea, some mozzarella sticks and some onion rings. Hopped in the car, 45 minutes across the Arizona border. Got off at the Kingman Access Road, parked on the side of the road, pitch black, dark, and just sat there for two hours. Had my White Castle, fired in some bets, and
And no one around, I mean, I could have been abducted. It costed, anything could have happened. Like literally nothing around but me on the side of the road firing in my bets. Won't happen at the Bayer Best Bet rest stops. Won't happen there. Mikey, I am telling you, I love this idea. It's the DraftKings rest stop, right? You can place a bet. And I love the idea of their...
sign as you're getting off or as you're approaching it. It says next chance to gamble 32 miles from now. You get the Stugatz God bless football $25 bonus bet for making a bet at that. They can track the signal where you're making the bet and give you a little boost. How about that? Legit good idea. Chris, we need to pitch this to Tramp. I love it.
but I'm writing this down too. You're pitching. I thought you were going to tell me you already pitched it. See, the other one that you guys have power. I got no juice. I'm just a schlep. I'm a nobody. We need to figure out a way to like cross sport parlay with horse racing. People always ask me like, how are we going to improve horse racing? I'm like, if we can get like the horse racing, like who wouldn't want to parlay the winner of the,
the, the, the Whitney stakes with the Carlos Alcaraz to win the U S open or the Dolphins to win the Superbowl. Like we need to get like the horse racing feature, big race. I want to parlay whomever to win the Breeders' Cup classic with, with the jets to win the Superbowl and throw money. Well, I mean, yeah,
Just light your money on fire. Now, I wouldn't drive 35 minutes to go to another state, but you love gambling, to place a bet. I would do it to buy a bag of weed, though. And I have. And I will again. All right, where were we? Silver, metal, NFL. Okay. Silver bet, NFL. Seahawks over seven and a half wins this year.
I love the McDonald coaching hire. I think they're going to find themselves in a little bit of a better situation on the coaching staff. As much as we all love Pete, he wasn't necessarily at times the best decision maker, in-game manager. Some of the challenges he made were terrible. I'm not a Geno guy, but you could do a hell of a lot worse. I think Byron Murphy is going to be a force on that defense.
And this is something you're going to want to get on early because you get Denver and New England to start. I mean, Denver obviously will be starting up
Bo Nix, New England, who knows if they're going to start Brissette or Drake May. So you're probably looking at a Seattle team that's opening 2-0. So if you're looking at going over on the Seahawks, you want to get on that preseason. Whereas maybe if you want to go under, you wait a bit, they're 2-0, the number comes up a little bit, and maybe you can buy some back. So Seattle over 7.5. I think the Seahawks are a sneaky team this year in the NFC. Bet placed.
All written down. I like it. All right, let's get to your gold medal. This major has been sent to a trader for approval. Let's get to your gold. How's your bet going, by the way? Whatever you're watching right now. How's it going?
Felix O'Giorelli is seen serving 5-3 in the third for the match. 15 all. We need FAA, and I'd be shocked if he won because he pissed away four break points in the second set when it was 4-4.
Rude won the game. They got to a tiebreak. He had the match on his racket. In the tiebreak, it double faulted. And usually when you do that, you don't win. So I apologize for me every now and then looking over my shoulder. You don't need to apologize. You're giving us gold right now. You're giving our audience your best bets here. Let's get to your gold medal pick here for the NFL. Gold medal bet, NFL, it's a bit of a contrarian play.
You're probably not going to like it, but I'm going to go with Chargers under eight and a half wins. I do like this. I thought you were going to go Chiefs to make the playoffs. Yeah, Chiefs minus like 1,100 to make the playoffs. That's my gold medal bet. What could possibly go wrong with playing like 1,100, right?
That happened to me the other day in the Canada-France women's soccer match where they added like 16 minutes of stoppage time. I had the Canada team total under. It did not go well as Canada scored the second goal. 14th minute of stoppage time. It was bad.
Oh, that's... It hurts. It hurts thinking about it. Yes. But Chargers under, like, I think the fact that they're perceived to be much better this year because you get the Harbaugh bump that were perceived easy schedule. This is like a total roster overhaul. Yeah, you've got Herbert and you've got some pieces, but, like,
It just feels like no matter who the coach is there and no matter who the quarterback is there, the Chargers just feel like this snake-bitten team. They were in cap hell, so they had to let a bunch of people go. The secondary might be really bad. I know the schedule appears to be easy again, just like it was last year, but I think that's being –
put to the forefront more and what's being overlooked is that this is a team with a lot of gaping holes and a talent deficiency. So under eight and a half for the Los Angeles Chargers. Jim Harbaugh, long-term fix. This year, I think we're going to take some lumps. All right.
All right. Check him out on noon kickoff on Fox coming up in a few weeks. Also, Bear Betts is the podcast. Anything else we should be promoting? I know we have a list to get to. I'm going to make an announcement to you in just a second here. Do you have anything else you'd like to promote? No, we're good. Bear Betts podcast, College Football Preview 1 is out. NFL Preview 1 should be out as well. We'll have some columns on FoxSports.com. Big Noon Kickoff returning tomorrow.
Week one will be in Morgantown week one for Penn State at West Virginia. Should be should be a great scene. But that's all I got to promote right now, my man. All right. So you and I have been having a funny text conversation and I'm going to tease this, which means you're going to have to come back on the show. OK, because we're not going to do it right here. No, let me just explain it because we took too much time with the bats and just I don't know. So so it's OK with you. We're ready to go.
All right, so my list, just so you know, I asked Bear to come on. He responded, yes. I said, you're one of the great guys in sports media. You're on my top five list of good guys in the sports media. Here's the problem.
I'm stuck on four. I can't find five. I can't get to five. I just, I can't. You're on the list, just so you know. And my list is the Chris Mortensen Good People and Sports Award, Sports Media Award. But I can't get to five. So I need another week. So we can perhaps do this next week or the following week and have you back on. I have a top 10 ready to go, all alphabetical. Do you really? I didn't want to offend. You didn't want to rank them.
I want to rank them. You got to 10 and I can't even get to five. I mean, you're, you're, you're a tough grader. We have one. Yeah. Wow. Look at him. Perfect. Take everything you just told you to take.
I'm not going to win a bet the rest of the day. All right. Bear, we love you. We'll figure out next week or the following week. We'll come on and do the much anticipated. We won't offend a whole lot of people that I used to work with. No, I want to offend them. I've already offended everyone because I can't figure out who the fifth good person in the sports media is. We don't have any. Full of holes.
Put that on the scroll, okay? Don Shula is a cheater and sports media is filled with assholes. Thank you, Bear. I am just a content provider, my friend. Yes, you are. Hopefully you'll provide us with money as well. Thank you, buddy. We appreciate it. You got it. Anytime, buddy.
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Mikey A. Chris, there are certain people, when you see them, you think football. You think gambling, and you think football. Chris Felica, the bear, is one of those people, right? Just a delight.
It's amazing that you're right, that you think football, considering he's probably made so much money on things like cornhole and ping pong and stuff like that. He's just a gambling fool. I bet his unit has gone up since he went to FS1. You think? He got a big payday. Oh, he got a big payday. He did.
They pried him away from college game day and took him over to Fox. I mean, I'm sure he was doing well at ESPN too, but I just like to get him to go from there to there. I bet they gave him a good, I'm just imagining like in his mind, like did his unit take a big leap? You think? I don't know. Like I feel bad. Now we're in his wallet. I feel like. No, it's okay. We, we, we had this discussion with him last year. Um,
You know, people said that about us when we left ESPN. Who the hell would leave ESPN? My own father said that to me. Who would leave ESPN? And people probably said that to Felica. Who would leave College Game Day? Who would leave ESPN? Well, Felica would. And why? Because Fox offered him a pile of money. That's why. I mean...
And he took it. Good for him. I'm happy for him. He deserves it. And I would say that big. I mean, I still think college game day is the cream of the crop when it comes to pre-football. But the big noon Saturday has like he's brought that up. Like I feel like more people watch that than they ever have before.
Well, no, he said he told us last year he went there. So they had already built that thing and it was doing pretty well. And Felica felt like he was jumping on at the exact right time. And he was that shows. Yeah. The noon show on Fox noon kickoff is a pretty good show. And they usually have really good games at noon right after the game, right after the pregame is over. So.
Who else do you see? Do you think about football? Like for me, it's, uh, you know, like Chris Berman and Ron Jaworski. Yeah. Joe. Basically the NFL film show, like Merrill Hodge. That whole crew. Hodge. Sims. Yeah. Edward. Yeah. Yep. Oh, Edward is a good one. Yeah. What do you think Merrill? Yeah. We're not going to, what's Merrill doing right now? I have no idea. Break it down. Film somewhere. Yeah. Brought to you by state farm. Oh,
With Jaws. And Sal Pal. Sal Pal is one of those people where you think, yeah, you see him, you think football, Herb Streets, another one, Brian Baldinger.
I remember seeing Brian Baldinger in Vegas when we were at the Super Bowl, like just on what's the old thing we stayed near? It's like whatever, Fremont Street. And he's just walking around with his Brian Baldinger hands. I watched him for like 10 minutes. I just like kind of followed 100 feet behind him. I'm like, I'm walking behind Brian Baldinger right now.
With a crooked finger. Did you check it out? You see those hands from a mile away. There are some people in life. Troy Aikman's got these hands. You see the hands from a mile away. Yeah. The pinky's doing its own thing. Have you seen Anthony Munoz's pinky, by the way? No. He shakes your hand and he's pointing in seven directions. How's Mike Golik Sr.'s hand? Does he have offensive line mangled hands? No, he's fine. I got to tell you, Golik Sr.,
uh who is on my list by the way spoiler alert for good guys in sports media again i couldn't figure out a fit i mean i was thinking uh listen i don't want to give too much away here okay perhaps your dad he might be on the list
But not you. Mike Golik somehow, I'm not certain how long Golik played. Was it 10, 11 years? Mike Golik made it through fairly unscathed. He's had some surgeries, but he looks good. He walks correctly. His body parts are intact. His mind is sharp. Mike made it through. You agree, Mikey, right? Yeah.
Sure. I mean, I think he'd tell you otherwise with those surgeries. Right. I'm saying comparing to others, though. Looks good to me. Yeah, comparing to others. Yeah.
DJ Moore getting $110 million. That seems it's a lot of money for a wide receiver. He deserves it. The only thing with the Bears, it's weird. The Bears are a tricky team where that team is so loaded. The quarterback coming in is supposed to be a generational quarterback. By the way, I put a flyer Bears to win the NFC. I did that on DraftKings, of course.
I think the Bears have a chance to be like a really special team. They have built this entire team around Caleb Williams. And if Caleb Williams is good, doesn't have to be great. Just has to be good. The Bears are going to do big things this year in the NFL. I don't know why I felt the need to end the show on that note, but I wanted to sing the praises of the Chicago Bears and Matt Eberfleet.
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