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Chapter 1: What is discussed at the start of this section?
Well, not really the way that we thought we would be starting the show. Because you are hearing my voice instead of Joe Starkey's voice. You will hear Austin Bechtold's voice momentarily. He is here behind the glass. Donnie Football with you from 10 until 2. We don't know if Joe will... be coming in today.
If you are following along on our YouTube or Twitter pages, you can see that Joe's head cut out is in his seat. Hopefully at some point his functioning body is over there too. And we also hope, jokes aside, that everything is okay with Joe. I don't know if he's Okay with us telling the people he had to make a little stop to Met Express this morning.
And we got that text around 940 that that would be happening. So we're going to roll right along. You guys know how Fridays normally go. We have Ray Fittipaldi coming up in an hour. And then at 1 o'clock we will have Kevin Gorman. Covers the Pittsburgh Pirates for the Trib. He will join us. He is live in Bradenton as the first full team workout will take place on Monday.
Pitchers and catchers reported a couple of days ago. The Pirates who have made some offseason moves that have people thinking the postseason is a possibility. What are they going to do with Connor Griffin? Will they sign Connor Griffin before the season begins? Will he start the season on the big league roster? I think that's all things that we can discuss as the show goes on.
Some good football topics to get into as there always are. some international NFL news that was reported a little bit earlier this morning or late last night with the game that's going to be in Australia next season. But I do want to start with some Olympic hockey. We saw Team USA play for the first time yesterday. We also saw Team Canada for the first time yesterday.
Canada will play later on today. They play Switzerland at 3-10. The United States not back to action until tomorrow. At 3-10, they take on Denmark. But both teams yesterday, five goals. Canada shutting out Czechia 5-0. The United States beating Latvia 5-1. And it's become a discussion point. And the guys and I started yesterday's show with this discussion point.
And you can weigh in at 412-928-9370. You can also hit us at that same number on the fan text line, which is brought to you. by Edgar Snyder and Associates, a personal injury law firm where they always say there's never a fee unless we get money for you.
We had the discussion yesterday, Austin, about people's rooting interest when it comes to the Olympics and I would say more specifically Olympic hockey because I think we would agree that is like the 1A sport at the Winter Games, because we know a lot of the athletes that are taking part.
Not that we don't know anybody else that is taking part in the Olympics, but when it comes to hockey, you know a lot of the guys because they play in the National Hockey League.
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Chapter 2: Why are fans divided on rooting for Team USA or Canada in Olympic hockey?
Not a sports movie. I don't want to watch Miracle. I'm going to watch Michael J. Fox. It's one of those, Donnie, when it's on TV, you can't change the channel. You should watch Teen Wolf. You ever see the original Teen Wolf? That's Michael J. Fox. He's playing high school hoops.
If there's an NCIS episode on, you know I'm parked on the couch to view it. Or Big Brother. Oh, Big Brother, yeah. Donnie, do you think I'll ever get on Big Brother? I think you should try. Applications are out right now. Do you think I should apply? Yes. Wrong, I already have. Didn't hear anything back.
I applied this week, Monday. Kabali once applied for the Real World. Yeah. This was like late 90s. I just cannot picture that at all. What, Kabali being on Real World? Yes. Or me being on Big Brother? No, I could picture you being on Big Brother. I cannot picture Kaboom.
I think I could make it. On a reality TV show. I think I could get to the jury on Big Brother. I think I would be very naive to say I would win or I could win.
Is that kind of like the jury on Survivor where it's like if you make it like halfway through the show? Final seven.
It used to be final nine, but now it's final seven. I think I could get to that spot. I don't know if I would win it. I think you'd be very overconfident to say you'd win it.
If you would actually hear back and they gave you a real shot, Craig would have to let you go do that. Imagine the content creation there.
I said that to Craig last year. I was like, Craig, would you let me go? He was like, absolutely.
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Chapter 3: What are the key points about Sidney Crosby's impact on hockey fandom?
412-928-9370. You can join the fan hotline that's presented by Sullivan Super Service, providing trusted plumbing and HVAC service for over 50 years. Dylan is in Cranberry. What's up, Dylan?
Hey, Donnie. Hey, Austin. I think the both of you have a very bright future in sports broadcasting. I love listening to the both of you. Thank you. Little tidbit here on Eldrick Tiger Woods. He turned pro in 1997. Won the Masters in 97 by a record margin. Every PGA Tour event, guys have a practice round on Monday. Guys have a practice round on Tuesday.
And then on Wednesday is the pro-am where all the big donors in the area decide who they're going to play with. Tiger Woods historically did not play a single practice round with another competitor on that Monday or Tuesday until he had that major fallout with his wife and the prescription drugs in his vehicle. And my reason for saying that is,
Ben Roethlisberger's core job was to win football games. It wasn't necessarily to be a great teammate. Now, we have Sidney Crosby, who just gave up his first class seat to a U.S. veteran, and Sid is the anomaly. But I struggle to really understand the point where every athlete in this city needs to be an awesome teammate and an awesome guy in the locker room.
We also forget that Ben was 21 or 22 years old when he entered. So my point in saying this is, you know, Scottie Pippen never had dinner with Jordan. Tiger Woods never played practice rounds. with Ernie Els or Vijay Singh because he didn't want to give away his hand. He didn't want to show his cards. So is he the happy-go-lucky guy that Sidney Crosby is? He is not.
but he won two Super Bowls, and he was a damn good quarterback.
Dylan, that's a great call. I don't mean to cut you off at the end there, but that's a great call. That's a little bit of a point that I've brought up throughout the week in this discussion. Earlier, I'm just going back and forth on the guys that are defending the two sides, but it really doesn't matter. When it comes down to what the guy does between the lines, it really doesn't matter.
Hey, man, is this guy Mother Teresa off the field? No. Is this guy my best friend off the field? No. That should not matter. I know that may rub some people the wrong way, but if you have played sports at any level, outside of recreation when you're a little kid, at least this is how I felt, I don't care if every single guy on the team is a buddy of mine.
I don't care if the guy next to me is my best friend or not. I want the guy on the field that gives my team the best chance to win. So there could be a debate over, well, what's better, a bad teammate but a great player or a great teammate but a bad player? I think that voting would go 100% in favor of bad teammate but great player.
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Chapter 4: What insights are shared about the Steelers' recent performance and future strategies?
So, you know, You got to decide by May. I think it's May 1st or May 2nd. Do you pick up the rookie option there? That's the big unknown. We just talked about her big. And then the last one would be Dwayne Washington. Darnell Washington. Yeah, the old Steelers corner versus the current tight end.
Dwayne Washington.
But yeah, I think Darnell is worth keeping. I don't think he's going to be used in the same way by Mike McCarthy that Arthur Smith used him. So the value might be a little bit different now, unfortunately, for Darnell. But yeah, I think he's worth keeping if you can come to terms on the right contract.
You didn't say Keanu Benton there, Ray. Yeah, I noticed that.
I forgot, yeah. What a good draft class. I don't know, Donnie, like you, you pay attention to the trenches like I do. Like, I just wonder, are there issues in run defense? And I think they were like, what, 13th or 14th in the league. But there were games where they absolutely got gouged with the run. And I just wonder, is it Keanu Benton? Is it not being stout at the line of scrimmage?
Or is it actually like the linebacker play? And I'm sure it's a little bit of both. But Keanu Benton's a really good rotational player too. You could bump him out to three or five. He's fine out there. Maybe the thing is you just draft a nose tackle and you pay Keanu Benton to be Cam Hayward's replacement. You could do that, but I wouldn't give him a huge contract.
I would be willing to go like $8 or $10 million a year, I think, because I think he's a good player, but I'm not going nuts there and giving him a lot of money.
Ray Fittipaldo of the Post-Gazette covers the Steelers, also a noted philanthropist. Fan Twitter brought to you by South Hills Kia, Peter's Township. Visit them at SouthHillsKia.net. You didn't know that about Ray, did you, Don? I did not. Noted philanthropist, a spiritual guru, a mentor to many.
Fan text line brought to you by Edgar Snyder & Associates, a personal injury law firm where they always say there's never a fee unless we get money for you. And right now it's 1119. Make the smart call. Buell Insurance, 724-443-5610. All right, Ray. Your first mock draft is out. And I found this absolutely fascinating, as did Donnie. You have them trading up.
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Chapter 5: How would Skadaboo and Dart perform in this town?
But this town, if Skadaboo and Dart had played here... People would have fallen in love with both of them and they'd be pumped. Do you agree with that?
I do. I do.
Chapter 6: What are the implications of having a franchise quarterback?
I think the jerseys would be flying off the shelves if those two. But I do think you brought up the caveat of how long does New York really have them? How long are those guys for the NFL? Fair.
That's fair.
Chapter 7: What are the prospects for Ty Simpson in the draft?
And I get being reckless. I mean, these guys only have one opportunity to play in the league. But when you think about a franchise quarterback, you want somebody that's around for a decade or around there.
He's going to have to calm it down. Hopefully the new coach, John Harbaugh, will get him to calm down.
Chapter 8: How does the audience perceive the Steelers' draft choices?
He's got to play it a little bit safer, a little bit smarter, I would say.
Having Malik neighbors, I think, will help him because in that case, you just throw it up. You know what I mean? If you're in dire straits, give that dude a 50-50 ball, you know, instead of going and trying to plow into people again.
Are you going to bet on them to win the NFC East?
I'm getting there. I think they have a pretty good defense. Lots of pieces. Another high draft pick and a quarterback and a coach. Those are good pieces to have. Listen to this show on demand on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts. Join Coach Dave Gregg for a Next Point Wins book signing played against sports in Cranberry, February 21st, 1 to 4 p.m. Support U Sports.
10% of sales will support Assisted Goals Foundation, an organization that provides scholarships, to help keep kids in the game of hockey, shop, meet Coach Dave, and help give back. Details at 93.7thefan.com. I saw me getting ripped on the YouTube comments. Glad Starkey's not the GM. Well, you should be, probably.
But the current GM has gone 10-8, 10-8, and 10-8 with two blowout losses in the first round of the playoffs, if not three. Now I can't remember. So he's not doing too well either. Sunny and a high of Jerome Bettis, 36, a low of 18. Neil Walker, Fan Weather brought to you by Secure Money Advisors, helping you get your retirement on the right track.
Limits, why don't we take one quick call, you do your endorsement, and we'll set the table here. Is this town booing or cheering if the Steelers did what a lot of mock drafters think they'll do and took Ty Simpson in the first round?
Well, let's start with Riley in Cannonsburg. Hello, Riley.
Hey, how you guys doing?
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