Passed Ball Show

3-16-2022 Passed Ball Show. John opens up this program by stating that Draymond Green should not be eligible for defensive player of the year in the NBA because he is/ will not play enough games. He compares that to those who think Mike Trout should have won the MVP this season for the American League in baseball in spite of playing just 36 games. John then talks about the fallacies of the salary cap, particularly in the National Football League and why it may be time to get rid of it. And why it makes sense for both the players and the owners. He makes an example out of Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams to prove players can’t both be the highest player at their position and honestly say their priority is to win the Super Bowl. John then gives reasons why the biggest winners of the MLB Lockout resolution are the teams that want to tank. Finally, John takes another shot at the City of New York, this time over its insistence that unvaccinated players are not allowed to play professional sports.

3-9-2022 Passed Ball Show. John opens this program by putting on the record the possibility that Major League Baseball could postpone the start of the MINOR LEAGUE baseball just out of spite. John is convinced that MLB does not want to please its fans in any way. John then speaks of his love/ hate (mostly hate) relationship with the media and their propaganda. However, very often, the media is set to either believe well-spoken answers to questions or be sinical, the latter could be used to describe how the NFL Media continued to believe Russell Wilson would be traded even though the team and Wilson stated otherwise. John admits he fell for it, believing Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks were a marriage worth continuing. John slides over to speak about Green Bay's decision to offer Aaron Rodgers the record setting deal he agreed to and what it says about Jordan Love. It was not a "wasted pick" to select Love, John cites that Love did not prove he was worth Green Bay committing its future to. John then rebuts the testimony one could give when it comes to the fact that Love never got a chance to play by talking about the "it" factor that many highly drafted NFL quarterbacks fail to show. Love's opportunity to show that could have been in practice, during the pre-season, and during meetings and such. John brings up the high amount of first round quarterbacks that end up out of the league in just a couple of seasons. Finally, John talks about the transition, at least when it comes to a single game, of the National Basketball Association from two or three big time stars to a single player winning the game on its own. John cites some of the games of the past weekend.

3-7-2022 Passed Ball Show. John spends this program talking about two of the greatest dynasties in the history of professional sports. While it is worthy to talk about the dominance of the earlier NHL Montreal Canadiens and maybe a little bit about the contemporary New England Patriots, there were no other teams that dominated the world of pro sports like the 1947-1964 New York Yankees and the 1957-1976 Boston Celtics. John spends some time talking about what it takes to dominate a sport for so long and then debates which one of the two was superior. He closes the discussion by mentioning that the Yankees won the World Series in 1977 and 1978, closing a run from 1947-1978 (42 years) that the entire world of professional sports was dominated by two teams. John then talks a little bit about the NFL Combine, which due to extensive sports talk and coverage, he believes it is overrated. John talks about some useful elements of this and then questions why other pro sports do not have variations of this. He finishes off by talking a little NBA Basketball and the drastic change in the NBA Finals he was rooting for as opposed to what he is now rooting for.

3-2-2022 Passed Ball Show. John opens up this program by talking about why the MLBPA and Baseball's Owners failed to get an agreement in place, causing the start of the MLB season to be delayed. John cites the sanctity of marriage and the failures of those who divorce as the correct analogy to describe what no baseball means to the fans. The fans are the children of divorced parents, parents who failed to fulfill their obligation to their spouse within their agreement. Fans should not care who is at fault for this split, just like it should not be important who is at fault for a child and which one of their parents are at fault for the divorce. John continues to rant about the fact that it does not matter who is at fault over Opening Day being delayed. He then spends a little bit of time talking about the "other options" to watch a baseball game. He explains that those that say, "Watch minor league baseball" or "Watch college baseball" are doing a verbal form of self medicating. Say it is better, but you know that it is not.

2-26-2022 Passed Ball Show. John starts off the show by blaming both the players and the owners (playners) for their apparent lack of interest of starting the 2022 baseball season on time. John cites the amount of time BOTH sides have had (information describing the odds the players association and owners dated more than TWO years before the expiration of the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement) and neither sides interest in addressing any of the core economical issues before the expiration of the CBA as reasons he has any sympathy for each side. John takes a shot of the Symantec’s when fans say “don’t go to the games, etc,” knowing damn well die hards will be back when baseball is back, whenever that is. John speaks about the most important issues destroying the sport he loves and why they will not even be addressed during this lockout. John doubles down on his lost bet from a couple weeks ago when he declares that MLB and its playners (once again, owners and players) will not come to an agreement my Monday, February 28ths deadline to not lose any of the 162 scheduled games of the 2022 baseball season. If there is, he owes you twice to a penalty of YOUR choice. Finally, John discusses some of the issues that have led to players like Russell Westbrook and James Harden not winning NBA Championships and why Harden will be judged by whether he either wins a Championship or gets to an NBA Finals. He also makes a case that Harden tries to hard in his first game with a new team to impress his teammates.

2-21-2022 Passed Ball Show. John opens up this program by welcoming his new green carpet in his studio, hoping that it will soon be representing the green grass that Major League Baseball brings to the spring. John talks about the NBA’s job of honoring the 75 greatest players and how it probably could not be done with any other major sport. He then advocates for the firing of University of Michigan Head Basketball Coach Juwan Howard while comparing the events of yesterday’s game to the demise of Woody Hayes. John explains why the decision to fire Howard will determine the serious that the University takes its Athletics. John trusts that those in power will make the right decision and shuns anybody that wants to make race a factor. John then talks about LeBron James statement that spoke about him and his son Bronny becoming a package deal. John loves that from a marketing and business sense and explains why any parent would want the best for their child. John adds that everybody is against nepotism until it involves their own child. He also believes it may help the younger James get drafted when it is not a guarantee at this point. John finishes the show by suggesting a penalty for consistently bad baseball teams and explains why it could cause teams to change their speed on the self induced rebuilds.

2-19-2022 Passed Ball Show. John starts out by stating that catcher's framing in baseball is cheating. It is an acceptable form of cheating and there is nothing forbidden with the game's rules. Framing is the deception of a catcher by moving his glove to fool the umpire into believing a pitch that should be called a ball should be called a strike. John compares the acceptance of framing to the acceptance of steroids before baseball banned them and the use of spider-tack until baseball outlawed it. John reminds the viewer that framing will become obsolete once the automatic strike zone is implemented. John concludes this segment by encouraging catchers to continue to manipulate the strike zone as long as they can. John then talks about the forgotten Super Bowl runner ups, mentioning the likes of the Minnesota Vikings and Buffalo Bills as the only Super Bowl losers to be on the tip of the tongue of the non-die-hard football fan. John sends respect to teams such as the 1972 Redskins, 1977 Broncos, 1979 Rams, 1980 Eagles, 1995 Chargers, 1996 Steelers, 1998 Falcons, 1999 Titans, 2003 Panthers, 2005 Seahawks, 2007 Bears, 2009 Cardinals, and others whose Super Bowl loss has been forgotten by many. John ties that into the most recent Super Bowl runner up, the Cincinnati Bengals. John wonders if Joe Burrow will get to another Super Bowl, as top quarterbacks and NFL MVP's Dan Marino and Cam Newton never made it back to the Super Bowl after getting there at a young age. John gives his respect to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2022- LeRoy Butler, Richard Seymour, Sam Mills, Cliff Branch, Tony Boselli, and Bryant Young before ranking their dominance on the football field. Finally, John compares it to the Baseball Hall of Fame, the Baseball Hall of Fame's exclusion of its top players, and whether football and basketball now have Hall of Fames that are watered down.

2-16-2022 Passed Ball Show. John spends this program talking about the NBA's latest list of the Top 15 Coaches in the history of the sport. John cannot believe John Kundla is not on this list. He adds four more deserving coaches in the place of five that were selected and gives credit to the other ten who he considers more than worthy. John then talks about baseball's problem with drug abuse and how the tragedy of Tyler Skaggs is just another example of how prevalent drugs are in the sport. Matt Harvey is not another Doc Gooden or Darryl Strawberry, just because he used cocaine too. John explains how Harvey was never on either of the other two stars levels, but wishes him all the best with the hopes he gets through any addictions he is battling. John makes the case that Thoracic Outlet Syndrome and the operation itself is what has curtailed his career and not the use of drugs. Finally, John touches on the Super Bowl LVI Halftime show, taking several white football fans to task for their anger over the choice of Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, and Kendrick Lamar. John respects the view of the football fan that is simply not into rap music, but he thinks it is disgraceful for those who use racial undertones to try to put them down. Dr. Dre had just as much a right to host a half time show as anybody else, and the performance was not insulting. It did not have a message, did not disrespect police officers. John explains why many were trying to put down the performance and wishes those would simply admit the real reason they had a problem with it.

2-11-2022 Passed Ball Show. John opens up the program by throwing a couple of ideas out there of penalties he should suffer for being wrong over the James Harden/ Ben Simmons trade. He then talks about the Baseball Hall of Fame and how it is supposed to be a museum that tells the history of baseball. While baseball wants to forget and intentionally not tell the story of the steroid's era, it does not seem to have an issue in highlighting its refusal to integrate the sport any sooner than it did. It celebrates Hall of Famers such as Cap Anson and Kenesaw Landis, who did all they could to keep MLB white. John states that the steroids era was more worthy of celebrating that segregation. Baseball, its writers, and those who work for its Hall of Fame, seem to think that segregated baseball is better for the game to celebrate than the steroids era. John talks about the constant struggle that exists between Baseball's owners and players and how that might impact the future of minor league baseball. John brings up the possibility that MLB (led by the Commissioner and the owners) may actually be looking to eliminate minor league baseball. John spends the next half of the show talking about how it seems NBA players are not very bound to the very contracts they sign and have agreed to. John believes healthy players should not be paid to NOT play, citing John Wall in Houston (even though John knows this is not John Wall's fault) and of course, the displeasure expressed by Ben Simmons and James Harden leadind to the trade for each other. What other sport allows for its top players to decide whether or not they want to play for their team, the same team that is paying them to play. John talks about Kyler Murray and the Arizona Football Cardinals and whether he has earned a big time contract extension yet. John cites Dak Prescott and to this point, believes Kyler is not close to being on Dak's level.

2-9-2022 Passed Ball Show. John opens up this discussion by questioning exactly what it is there is to talk about in the world of sports. The NBA trade deadline has John happy with some of the direction (one way or the other) that teams such as the Indiana Pacers, Portland Trail Blazers, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Sacramento Kings are headed. He questions the Lakers deadline approach and whether they can make a significant enough move to thrust themselves into contention as a NBA Championship contender. John would be shocked (and will pay a price for being wrong) if 1. Russell Westbrook is traded. 2. Ben Simmons is traded to the Brooklyn Nets for James Harden. He once again questions why a playoff caliber team would have any interest in Simmons, a proven quitter who does not want the ball when the game is on the line AND subsequently has not proven that he even wants to play basketball. John brings up the upcoming Super Bowl and how the "hot" offensive coordinator (as a head coach) has not won a Super Bowl outside of the Eagles/ Doug Pederson/ Frank Reich. While one will win this week by default, John discusses why this hiring trend has not produced enough results so far. Should teams hire more experienced HC's? Finally, a little bit of gas is thrown on the race discussion when it comes to teams hiring an NFL Head Coach.