We start out with Brandon Walker pointing out how absurd it is for Smitty’s life to revolve around what Ben Simmons says at 76ers practice this afternoon. Smitty says the only acceptable answer is for Simmons to say he will fight and die for the city of Philadelphia, but he’s not expecting that answer. Brandon says that Smitty sets a high bar, but Smitty counters that Allen Iverson has already set the bar. Brandon pisses off Smitty and Ev by talking about how overrated Iverson was. Brandon says that Iverson never won anything and was a selfish player. He didn’t fight and die for Philadelphia; he was only about himself. Smitty doesn’t care because Iverson left everything on the floor every night. Iverson was also a better quarterback than Donovan McNabb. Check his high school highlights.
Yolk’s Take: Saying that Iverson was better than McNabb is a little disrespectful to what McNabb accomplished with the Eagles, but there’s no denying Iverson’s toughness and passion. Plus, it’s easy to say that he’s a ball hog when the closest thing he had to a superstar teammate was Aaron McKie. Even if he didn’t bring home an NBA title, Iverson set the standard for fearlessness and leadership that Philadelphia point guards are expected to emulate. It’s safe to say that Ben Simmons doesn’t fit that mold right now.
Brandon moves the show along and everyone gives their top five NFL teams right now. First, though, Brandon calls out Marty Mush for being on the wrong side of the Bills vs. Titans Monday Night Football game. Brandon says that the Titans were the obvious play. Ev backs up Mush by saying that Mush knew the Bills were a square play, but sometimes you have to be square to win. The guys agree with the Bills going for it on fourth down when they were down by three in the final minute, but Smitty says that the quarterback sneak was the wrong play call. The Bills should have rolled out Josh Allen instead to give him options.
Yolk’s Take: Yeah, I was on the Bills last night. Buffalo had been blowing everyone out and I didn’t think the Titans were a good team. I was right about the defensive side of the ball as Buffalo didn’t have much trouble scoring when they needed to (until the last series). On offense, however, the Titans proved they can be very hard to stop when Derrick Henry and A.J. Brown are playing well. I was fine with Buffalo’s decision to go for the first down at the end, but I would have preferred that the Bills drop Allen back and let him improvise, especially since the sneak had failed earlier in the game. Of course, I was rooting for the field goal, since Buffalo still could have covered with a touchdown in overtime.
Mintzy talks about Henry being underrated as an MVP candidate. Brandon isn’t sure that a running back can win the MVP in today’s NFL. Everyone is amazed that a man Henry’s size can move so fast. Smitty makes a good point about the Titans needing to get Henry more involved in the passing game.
NFL MVP Odds
- Kyler Murray +300
- Josh Allen +500
- Dak Prescott +500
- Tom Brady +700
- Aaron Rodgers +1000
- Matthew Stafford +1100
- Lamar Jackson +1200
- Justin Herbert +1300
- Patrick Mahomes +1600
- Derrick Henry +2000
Brandon thinks that Murray’s odds will drop once the Cardinals lose a game. Smitty boldly puts Arizona on upset alert if Tyrod Taylor is healthy enough to play against them this weekend. Smitty reacts live to the 76ers suspending Ben Simmons for one game. Smitty believes that the suspension will end up lasting longer than one game, but he wants to know what Simmons’s “conduct detrimental to the team” actually is.
The guys finally get to their top five NFL teams.
Mintzy
- Rams
- Cardinals
- Bills
- Buccaneers
- Cowboys
Ev
- Rams
- Buccaneers
- Cardinals
- Bills
- Cowboys
Smitty
- Rams
- Ravens
- Buccaneers
- Bills
- Cardinals
Brandon
- Cardinals
- Bills
- Packers
- Rams
- Cowboys
Yolk’s Take
- Cardinals
- Rams
- Bills
- Cowboys
- Buccaneers
I agree with Brandon on the Cardinals. At what point are we going to start believing in them? They’ve already won big at the Rams and at Cleveland. They also blew out Tennessee in Week 1. If there was an arrowhead or a pirate flag on their helmet instead of a bird, we’d be saying that Arizona is the top team without a doubt. It’s not as though Arizona doesn’t have a superstar quarterback either, as Kyler Murray has proven to be a dynamic playmaker. I thought it was interesting that Brandon was the only one with Green Bay on his list. I’m over the Week 1 blowout loss to New Orleans, but the teams on my list have stronger showings against better competition than Green Bay does.
Smitty updates the guys with the news that Doc Rivers has thrown Ben Simmons out of practice, and that reminds Brandon of his take that Uncle Phil from The Fresh Prince of Bel Air is the best TV dad of all time. However, Brandon’s hottest take turns out to be about Danny Tanner from Full House. Danny had dark hair and his late wife, Jesse Katsopolis’s (John Stamos’s) sister presumably had dark hair, so how did they give birth to three blonde daughters? Brandon proposes that something fishy was going on with Uncle Joey and Danny’s wife. What a bombshell!
Brandon gets into some NBA talk. He thinks that the Bucks are being disrespected as the defending champion. They could very well repeat as champs, but the odds in the sportsbooks don’t reflect that. The guys agree that the Bucks are a good value pick to win the 2021-22 NBA title.
NBA Championship Odds
- Nets +230
- Lakers +400
- Bucks +850
- Warriors +1200
- Jazz +1400
The guys are low on the Lakers because they are old and Russell Westbrook doesn’t seem to fit in. Smitty says that if the Lakers are healthy, they’ll make The Finals. Ev likes the Lakers laying 3.5 points against the Warriors tonight, but he doesn’t like the Lakers to win the title. Smitty keeps following the Ben Simmons news and announces that Trysta Krick was right about Ben Simmons. Brandon likes the Suns at +1600 to win the title because they have a young core besides Chris Paul and they can make another run.
Brandon goes after Smitty for saying that the Braves had no chance to beat the Dodgers in the NLCS. With the Braves leading the series 2-0, Smitty doubles down on the Dodgers, saying that they will advance to the World Series even if Atlanta takes Game 3. Smitty admits that the Braves surprised him by winning Game 2, but a two-game lead is far from insurmountable. Ev is happy to ride the Red Sox in the ALCS because they are red hot throughout the lineup. Boston keeps hitting grand slams, and Ev likes Boston and the over tonight. What’s crazy is that the Red Sox hit three grand slams in the entire regular season and now they have three grand slams in the ALCS.
Ev says that Aaron Boone’s pennant-clinching home run from 2003 is haunting the Yankees because now they won’t fire him as manager. Ev says there is a loser mentality throughout the Yankees’ front office and that Boone is the puppet at the bottom. Ev says it will be a nightmare scenario if Boston wins the World Series, but at least he’s making money off of the Red Sox. It’s blood money, but he is still happy to put it in his pocket. Smitty says that the best feeling in the world is betting on your own team when they are doing well. Brandon says he doesn’t know what that feels like. Smitty jokes that Brandon should know because he was alive to watch the 1972 Dolphins. The guys laugh at Brandon for being born in 1979.
The guys get into how age is just a number when suddenly BAH GAWD THAT’S MJF’S MUSIC!
The AEW star made it clear he is done waiting for Brandon Walker to interview him and entered the studio ready to cause chaos. As a fan of great Jewish athletes, I came in on Team MJF, but I was very impressed by Ev’s ability to fire back at him. Fortunately Brandon was able to calm his wrestling buddy down before steel chairs got involved.
After Brandon leaves with MJF, the guys react to Joel Embiid saying he doesn’t care about Ben Simmons anymore. That statement could mean the end for Simmons in Philadelphia. It’s hard to imagine the 76ers getting a great package for Simmons now that he has proven to be a cancer in the locker room. Ev thinks that the 76ers should move Simmons as soon as possible because sometimes less is more in basketball even if the “more” is as talented as Simmons. Smitty says that Simmons’s huge contract makes him hard to move after this recent drama. The NBA might have to get involved since it’s bad for business if star players try to get out of their contracts after one year.
The guys make their picks and sign off.
Inside Yolk 