COWBOYS CONTENDERS! Does Von Miller put Dallas over the top?

Ah yes! Shine Squad! The NFL is back! Von Miller returns to Texas. Quarterback battles in Vegas, Atlanta, and Cleveland. Jackson Dart's second home is a blue tent. Who had a worse weekend? Jaden Daniels or the L.A. Dodgers? Plus, how I'm going to remember my guy, the great Russell Westbrook. All ahead next on a Monday Shine Time. I always had a little blue on my heart since I was a little boy. I always paid attention to the Dallas Cowboys. My earliest memory of playing football included the Dallas Cowboys. I heard my daddy screaming in the back. I ran back there to see what was going on. He was screaming because the Dallas Cowboys had scored a touchdown. That's my earliest memory of playing football. To be back here, to be back home, it's a dream within a dream. It's like Inception, the movie with Leonardo DiCaprio. My dream has always been to play in the NFL. To play for the Dallas Cowboys is a dream within a dream. Von Miller is headed back home. You see it in his tweets. The DeSoto native and Texas A&M alum, now a member of the Dallas Cowboys. Honestly, this is absolutely positively incredible. I can't get enough. Let me tell you something. The Dallas Cowboys absolutely deserve so much credit here for at the end of the day signing Von Miller. Von Miller is the Sunday on top of a team that I believe is going to absolutely rock and roll. I think the Dallas Cowboys are going to be terrific this year. Tremendous this year. And I don't expect Von Miller to play like the first ballot Hall of Famer that he is. I don't expect him to play at the end of the day like the ball player that we saw win the Super Bowl MVP in Super Bowl 50. I think you can realistically expect that you're going to get the Von Miller we saw in Washington last year, where he sacked the quarterback nine times, which would have led the Dallas Cowboys. Von Miller, seed quarterback, hit quarterback. 15th season. 138 and a half sacks. Von Miller is absolutely the right guy in terms of tangibles and intangibles. What he's going to do to help Ezraku, Donovan Ezraku, who I absolutely love. Struggled last year with Matt Iberflug calling the plays on defense. Rookie out of Boston College. Big believer in Ezraku. Big believer in Malachi Lawrence. And big believer in this guy. Von Miller and this resume. And the fact that he is a Super Bowl champion a couple of times. Understands what it takes to navigate and get to the quarterback and be part of a rotation. And I think he is going to be so happy and highly motivated here when you take a look at the ability to go home and take the Dallas Cowboys to a place they haven't been in 30 years. I'm telling you right here, right now. And Von Miller to me is the cherry on top of a championship sundae. The Dallas Cowboys have not played on championship sundae in 30 years. That is going to happen this season. I love the Cowboys. I love what they've done on defense. I love what Von Miller brings to the table. I love how motivated he is. I love, and we mentioned the young cats rushing the passer. How about bringing in Rashawn Gary? How about the fact that Quinn Williams just got the bag last week, the former Jet Miller, this defense. He was phenomenal when the Cowboys traded for him in the middle of last year. And I can't stress enough how much I love these Dallas Cowboys. Let me tell you something. Take the over on wins. That is a lock. Take them to make the playoffs. And I would not be surprised if they ended up winning the conference. Seriously. Like I expect the Dallas Cowboys to play on championship sundae. And when we make our picks on shine time and officially lock it in and put everything in stone, like to me it comes down to the Cowboys and the Rams on who's going to win the NFC. I think the world of the Dallas Cowboys this year. Because the offseason has been quite. Not the normal nonsense from Jerry Jones and company. Think about last year with Micah Parsons and he's lying on the table and they had to make the trade and it derailed everything. I was high on the Cowboys last year and then poof, that goes up in smoke. So I love the Cowboys this year. I can't get enough of the Dallas Cowboys this year. I think Dak Prescott's going to have a monster season. I think that you're going to see Dak Prescott dominate. CeeDee Lamb dominate. George Pickens, Jerry Jones handled that brilliantly. When you take a look at what transpired in the offseason and how he handled the franchise tag and you keep Pickens hungry and motivated, Javante Williams running the football and Christian Parker coaching up his defense and Von Miller and Christian Parker were together during their time in Denver. I just love this. Von Miller wants to be in Dallas. Von Miller wants to deliver the Cowboys the Super Bowl. Obviously, he was in Denver with DeMarcus Ware, who's a Cowboy legend. This just feels like a perfect match. I think that Von Miller is going to be a situational rusher. He'll play on third downs. Don't need him to be the Denver Broncos version of what we saw when he was carving out his Hall of Fame career. Love every single second of this signing. I think it is absolutely Miller time and time for the Dallas Cowboys to shine in 2026. Von Miller was the big headline that capped off week one of the NFL preseason, but there's so much more to get into. It is time for my Monday Music beginning intakes. Overall, I felt that the group that I was in with, they blocked fantastic. They had great routes. The run game was good. Unfortunately, I let my teammates down a bit, but it's a growing experience. I feel like we're all growing, and it showed me that I need to grow. I mean, Fernando Mendoza thinks he let his teammates down, and honestly, I have to smile because this guy has it when it comes to how to be a franchise quarterback, and he's just a rookie, right? He knows how to talk to the press. He knows how to own and command the room, and I just absolutely love Fernando Mendoza. And Fernando Mendoza looked the part in his preseason debut. The numbers? Strong. You'll watch him? Great. Fernando Mendoza should be the starting quarterback for the Vegas Raiders in week number one of the season, and it's obviously about the bigger picture when it comes to Fernando Mendoza. Fernando Mendoza, when you take a look at his resume, we're talking about someone who won the Heisman Trophy, won a championship, one of the greatest single seasons in the history of college football, winning at Indiana. Understand the fact that Fernando Mendoza, the volume of starts that he had in college, go back to Cal, then Indiana, this is not some kind of first-round pick or number one overall pick at the quarterback position that's not ready and needs time to develop at the quarterback position. Fernando Mendoza has everything that you want when it comes to being a ready-made quarterback. He's super smart. I think Clint Kubiak is unbelievable call on the plays, and I think this should be an unbelievable match in marriage, ready for prime time the minute the season starts. There's also this. Kirk Cousins stinks. I don't think enough people are talking about this. If you've watched, and I'm not talking about the Washington Redskins. You like that. You like that version. I'm not talking about the Minnesota Vikings version. I love that version of Kirk Cousins. I'm talking about the Atlanta Falcons version. Kirk Cousins has been, by the eyeball test, by any kind of stat you want, the worst-starting quarterback in the NFL over the last couple of seasons. Who wants to fight me on that? If you start talking about a guy you don't trust with the football, who looks completely shot, shell of his former self, we're talking about Kirk Cousins. So I think when you factor in Mendoza, what he did in college, starting over 30 games, when you start thinking about Mendoza as a top pick, Mendoza being ready to rock and roll, Mendoza having Ashton Gentee, who I think is going to have a phenomenal second season, Brock Bowers, who to me, with all due respect to Trey McBride and company, Brock Bowers is the best pass-catching tight end in the NFL, and you have Clint Kubiak, who was brought in for this purpose, to play someone like Mendoza, develop someone like Mendoza. To me, it's kind of a Ben Johnson feel when you look at it. And then you take a look at the schedule. The Raiders should be able to win. The Raiders should be able to go out and rock and roll. The Raiders have Miami week number one. There's no reason why, when you see the Chargers, the Saints, I'm including Kansas City, and then New England in New England, which by the way, in a dreadful season, they won in New England last year. The Raiders, if they start the right quarterback, should be able to start the season three and two. I don't know if people have forgotten about the memory of Al Davis, just win baby, but this is weird, the fact that the Raiders are not prioritizing the best quarterback on the team, the number one overall pick, the guy who equals hope. They signed Tyler Lindenbaum, best center in the NFL. He's gonna be the ultimate protector for Mendoza. I don't even understand why they're messing around with Kirk Cousins. What are they waiting for? It makes absolutely, positively no sense. Mendoza looked the part, inspiring for all of Raider Nation. And in a related story, Kirk Cousins is awful. From Sin City to the city that never sleeps. Jackson Dart had a rollercoaster first preseason game. He led a touchdown drive with a throw to rookie Malachi Fields after returning to the field, following being checked for a concussion after being sacked for the second time in as many drives. As far as the blue tent, I really respect the rules and the thought behind NFL has of keeping players healthy and reviewing things, but at the same time, I'm still puzzled by it just feeling like every time that I get hit, you know, I just find my way in there. I don't like any parts of what Jackson Dart had to say. I think that Jackson Dart needs to take a look in the mirror here. Jackson Dart was concussed last year. Jackson Dart missed a couple of games with a concussion. The NFL brilliantly tries to protect players when it comes to concussion protocol. And if someone gets smacked like Dart did over the weekend, especially someone with concussion history, they are going to be checked into the blue tent and make sure that they are ready to play in the upcoming ensuing play and ensuing drive because if you are going to have repeated concussions and we're talking about brain damage and we're talking about headaches and anything and everything in between, that's obviously under the umbrella of not what you want for someone like Jackson Dart or any NFL player. So for me, I think Jackson Dart needs to adjust his play. I think Jackson Dart needs to realize that availability is part of the ability here when you're a franchise quarterback. And let me say this again for the record. I love Jackson Dart. I love Jackson Dart's swagger. I love his athleticism. I love his honor. He needs to be able to stay on the football team. And for him to tell the press that he's puzzled by repeated concussion checks, that bothers me. That's unacceptable. That's not what you want from your franchise quarterback. Also, I applaud John Harbaugh who didn't take the bait from his quarterback, obviously. Hey, the Giants officially have an adult in the room. And Harbaugh talked about how Jackson Dart needs to be protected. And it obviously was Tyrone Tracy, the running back, who missed the block. And in a related story, you have Najee Harris coming in for a visit today with the New York Football Giants. And listen, if you can't block, you're not going to play. You might not even be on the team. Now, I do love the fact that after Dart was out for a couple plays and Jameis Winston comes in and Winston executes a first down on third and forever, Dart comes back in and bam, touchdown to Malachi Fields. And that, to me, is as big a story as any if you're a fan of the New York Football Giants. I love Fields. I thought Malachi was terrific at Notre Dame, great in college. I thought that was a steal of a draft pick. And I think that the vibes for the Giants, if Jackson Dart can protect himself and Jackson Dart can be healthy for a season and make sure he's available and the Giants' pass protection gets better. Listen, I think the Giants have big-time weapons. You see Malik Nabors trending in the right direction. I really am impressed with what I've seen from Fields. I thought that was a huge deal. I love what I've seen from the defense. And when you check the Giants' schedule, I really think that the Giants have a golden opportunity to start the season 4-2. I firmly believe that. So I think the Giants' vibes, if they can get their quarterback to understand what ultimately the NFL is trying to do with concussion protocol and he can take care of himself and the offensive line can take care of him. Listen, I really think that the Giants are headed in the right direction. I was energized watching Dart play, energized watching him throw to Fields, not energized by anything he had to say after the game. But I thought there were a lot of positives from the Giants, a lot of things moving in the right direction. But Jackson Dart needs to both check himself and protect himself for the New York football Giants to live up to the capabilities that I think that is in front of them for this upcoming season. Speaking of quarterbacks with concussion concerns, Two series, no points, one first down, one fumble. Definitely not up to standard. Not even up to par. You know, we'll start with the first drive, the second play, being able to catch the snap, little things like that. You know, just thinking about it like what we put out there is not a reflection of the hard work that we've put in the first two weeks, you know, into training camp and it does no justice for, you know, the work that our coaches as well have implemented. So, you know, it starts with me. I got to be better with that. Tua Tonga-Vailoa leads the league in losers' lament at press conferences. His press conferences are the worst. Soul-sucking. Ask a Miami Dolphins fan. Last year, how many times did he have a terrible press conference and then have to have ensuing apology follow-up press conferences that were just absolutely the theater of the absurd? Tua Tonga-Vailoa, there's no reason why he should be in Atlanta. And the Atlanta Falcons, to me, of any team in the NFL, have the worst vibes in the month of August. And I don't say that with any joy or jubilation. I love the owner. I love Matt Ryan. I love Ian Cunningham. I love Kevin Stefanski. I love the new brass. I love B. John Robinson and Kyle Pitts and Drake London. And I want to find reasons to believe in the Atlanta Falcons. I can't find them. Tua looked atrocious in his first preseason game. Tua was terrible when he was thrown out of Miami for turning it over and having all these terrible press conferences. Tua is a medical and a health risk. Now, he's only there right now because Michael Pennix, Jr., coming off of his injury, has not been cleared. And let me tell you something. Whether it's today, tomorrow, next week, the week after, and I know it's a new offense, a new offensive coaching staff and head coach for the Atlanta Falcons and for Pennix, Jr., I don't care. If he's cleared over the next couple weeks, especially because he's not Tua and because he has rapport with the aforementioned B. John Robinson and Kyle Pitts and Drake London, Michael Pennix, Jr. has to play because I've seen what's going on with Tua Tagovailoa, and frankly, if you're a Falcons fan, it's dreadful. Speaking of bad vibes, you saw James Pierce get suspended eight games and deservedly so. He's not going to see jail time, but when you understand what transpired with domestic violence, he earned this suspension. I thought it was going to be in the camp in the range of four to six games. I'm thrilled that the NFL is dropping the hammer because the allegations are despicable and disgusting, and if the NFL wants a stronger suspension for someone like Pierce, I think that's a terrific job by Roger Goodell and company. Now Pierce, obviously, was one of two first-round picks for the Atlanta Falcons in the now-fired regime. Terry Fontenot, their GM, Raheem Morris, their head coach, and Pierce is obviously going to be suspended eight games. The other first-round pick in 2025 was Kalen Walker, who we talked about a couple weeks ago, obviously is done for the season, got hurt in practice with a torn ACL. So that is a mess. So now think about no first-round pick this past year. They had two first-round picks in Atlanta in 2025. One's going to miss half the season with a suspension. The other is going to miss the entire season with an injury. Then go back to 2024. They signed Kirk Cousins. That never made any sense with the money they paid him off of the injury. Then out of nowhere, they drafted Michael Pennix Jr. in the first round, and this has proven to be chaotic and all over the map, and right now Pennix Jr. can't even get on the field. So ridiculously problematic, and you can't rule anything out with Atlanta in terms of upside because division is not any good, but man, what a brutal start, and I mean a brutal start when you look at it, for the Atlanta Falcons in the month of August, a complete and utter mess. The vibes are low, and I love Kevin Cepansi. I'm a huge fan, love the hire, two-time coach of the year, but this is as bad as it gets for a month of August for an NFL team. The only other real quarterback competition right now in the NFL is in Cleveland, where your head coach Todd Munkin was impressed with Deshaun Watson who started against the Bears. Oh, it was awesome. I mean, it was so cool to watch him play. I mean, I get all of the frustration by fans, himself, but for him to come back and work like he did is an unbelievable credit to him, and then to go out there, he was having fun today, and that is so cool, and I thought he really functioned at a high level. Certainly, we don't want to be taking timeouts. We sure as heck can't take delay games, okay, but it was fun watching him play. So if you listen to Todd Munkin right there, it is pretty crystal clear that Deshaun Watson is going to be the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. It's over. And I am on record saying that Chadore Sanders should be the guy, and I stand by that take. Forget about it. And Deshaun Watson, for the sake of fairness, was good. I didn't think he was out of this world. I didn't think he was perfect, but that soundbite tells you that Todd Munkin's not acting alone. Todd Munkin was hired as a last candidate standing because it's not a good job when you're looking at the Cleveland Browns. Also, you have an owner who's paid Deshaun Watson a lot of money for nothing, a general manager named Andrew Berry who made the trade and obviously has nothing to show for it. Chadore Sanders, who threw a bad interception in the preseason over the weekend, is not going to be the guy. Sanders will start, according to Munkin, this week. And then, I'm telling you, by next Tuesday on Shine Time, we are going to have Todd Munkin declare Deshaun Watson's the starting quarterback. The fix is in. They've paid him all this money. They're trying to save things. Look, it's where hope goes to die. If Deshaun Watson's the answer, I'd love to know the question. I do think for Cleveland, watching Casey Concepcioni, you know I was obsessed with him in the draft process. That's inspiring. Watching Boston play, it's absolutely amazing. I thought that Cleveland cleaned up in the draft. Fannin, young tight end. Last year was fantastic. I think he'll be even better his second year. There are positives. But to listen to Todd Munkin wax poetic and rave about Watson in that kind of fashion, that's not about the game. Todd Munkin, I have way too much respect for him. Baltimore is the offensive coordinator, Georgia, and he's been a lifer, a phenomenal football guy. There is no way Todd Munkin is making those comments on Deshaun Watson from the weekend. That's an act from above. From Jimmy Haslam, from Andrew Berry. That's toeing the company line. There's no way this is even, and that sound bite tells you everything you need to know. This is not even a real quarterback competition. It was over before it started. Financially, they want Deshaun Watson to play. That's why Todd Munkin was as upbeat as he was, because he doesn't have a choice in the matter. Coming up next, Paul Feinbaum advises Jaden Daniels to never waste another second in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, because LSU fans are done with him. Did his PR disaster get any worse? Where the sun don't shine, next. EJ is in 5, and that was a situation that was promised to him in recruiting here, for him to sign here. And I've done a lot of research on that with the family and the representatives and the people. So really, I didn't have a decision to make. It was promised to the kid. It wasn't done for whatever. I'm not going to get into that. I'm not going to judge something that I wasn't here of. But when a kid's promised something to come to school, he should wear it. And so at that point, I don't really think that's my decision. You know? Good for Lane Kiffin. The sun is not shining on Jaden Daniels right now. The Commander's QB, and of course, the Heisman Trophy winner at LSU, getting all sorts of backlash over and over and over again after sending a cease-and-desist letter to his alma mater, requesting inexplicably that they stop using his name, image, and likeness after Lane Kiffin at LSU allowed current Tigers quarterback TJ Pickett to wear number 5, the number that Jaden Daniels wore at Baton Rouge. Let me tell you something. Jaden Daniels officially is the dumbest person in sports. Jaden Daniels sending this letter, having his people send this letter, if I'm a Commander's fan, I'm living. This is what he's concerned about? Getting ready for an NFL season? And why would you ruin your great name at LSU? Why would you do this? And let me tell you something. First of all, if I was a commissioner of the world for college football, no uniform number would ever be retired. Ever! Because we're talking about hundreds of years of college football. You need more numbers. So that's first and foremost. Second of all, Jaden, you won the Heisman Trophy. Great. You're not even the best LSU quarterback within the last 15 years. Have you ever heard of Joe Burrow? Joe Burrow and that LSU team, that was the greatest offense in the history of college football. Cease and desist? Basically urinating on all of the fans, all the alum, the players, the administration at LSU, ruining your good name? Why would you do that if you're Jaden Daniels? Makes absolutely, positively no sense in any way, shape, or form. This is taking a fan base that loves you and just trashing them. It's as amateur hour as it gets. I think that when you look at it from a Jaden Daniels perspective, this is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen an athlete do. And I give Lane Kiffin credit. Look, he wasn't even the coach when this promise was given to Pickett that he was gonna wear number five. He was at Ole Miss, but he's gonna honor the commitments, honor what the old regime promised DJ Pickett, and that's fine! You see it all the time in college sports. You get, you know, you're recruited or someone's trying to transfer schools, NIL, you dangle a uniform, whatever it takes, whatever the carrot is. Why Jaden Daniels, at the end of the day, would try and attack a fan base that loves him and cherishes him and respects him, I have absolutely no idea. And if I'm a fan of the Washington Commanders here, I'm livid. I'm absolutely livid. And look at this, by the way. You know you are officially at the bottom of the barrel, right? When we are talking about the Mets making fun of you. Stopped at four out of respect for Jaden Daniels. And all these baseball teams, their social media teams were cooking, especially the Mets over the weekend. You know, stopped at four because you don't want to get sued and get a cease and desist for Jaden Daniels at five. Then there's the Commanders element of this, right? If you're a Commanders fan, you're saying, why is my quarterback in year three after he was hurt last year and didn't make the playoffs, he should be trying to get a rapport with Stephon Diggs and said he's worried about a uniform number at LSU. So he has ruined his reputation at LSU. He's dead to everyone at LSU. He's ruined his reputation in terms of not keeping the eye on the ball and on the prize at Washington. This is one of the dumbest, most asinine, most ridiculous calculations I have ever seen. As clueless and as atrocious and as poor and as ill-conceived. Everyone involved, his mom who serves as his pseudo agent and he's leading the charge on all this. And I love, love relationships with sons and moms. I love my mom, talk to her every single day. I love when athletes keep their parents involved in the circle. Listen, if my mom had an idea to suggest what to lead shine time with and it wasn't the right idea, I'm not listening to my mother. Jaden Daniels should not be listening to his mom here on trying to just ruin everything in the goodwill and good name that he had at LSU. I mean, this, this is insane. Absolutely insane. And by the way, he's not coming back from this. Like sometimes you can say, oh, you know, time heals all wounds. Not from this, not now, not ever. He just destroyed everything that he had. Because by the way, you know, when you are part of a school and part of a program, you're there and you want the future to be as good or better. So you want Pickett to take on the legacy of number five. You want him to be an unbelievable player. You want Lane Kiffin to succeed. This just tells every LSU fan Jaden Daniels doesn't care about LSU. He cares about himself. He's selfish, selfish, clueless, punkish. This was as ill-conceived and grotesque. I'm doing something and a move and a stunt I've ever seen by an athlete. As dumb and as miscalculated as it gets. Bag it, Jaden Daniels. Up next, California Dreamers. Ty Simpson balls out at his Rams debut. Dodgers weekend blunder may cost him home field advantage throughout the playoffs. And South Central legend Russell Westbrook calls it a career. So where does he rank? Stay locked on Trine Time. Time for some California Dreamin', baby. Sean McVay must have thought he was dreamin' watching Ty Simpson sling it in his preseason debut. Give it up for yourself. X ends up being able to get the great punt return, great block. Offense capitalizes. Ty Simpson get a breakdown, man. Let's go get these guys here next week. Here we go. Rams on me, Rams on three. One, two, three. Rams. Look, you never want to overreact to a preseason game. But I want you to look at the stat page for Ty Simpson. And if you watched him play, and I know that you did, it felt like he knew what he was doing. 21 to 25, 190 yards, couple of touchdowns, no interceptions. And listen, I'm not going to sit here and tell you he was playing against anyone who mattered. What I am going to tell you is for Ty Simpson, who was a controversial pick, high in the first round. You know, I thought they could have drafted an offensive weapon, should have drafted an offensive weapon. Lemon would have made a lot of sense. Sadiq would have made a lot of sense. You know, they go with, obviously, Simpson, their quarterback of the future. Talked to Sean McVay about it on my Sirius XM radio show. He explained it. I get it. I still don't agree with it. But this is their future quarterback. And also, you want him to be able to be the backup quarterback for Matthew Stafford this season, not since in Venice. So watching Ty Simpson do his thing was a big deal. Because you're looking for reasons to be dreaming, if you're a Rams fan, that you're going to see a Stafford to Simpson progression whenever Matthew calls it a career, which he's got a lot of gas left in the tank. And you want to start California dreaming about Aaron Donald as well. And how about the fact that Aaron Donald, over the weekend, had his second workout with the Rams? This, to me, is noteworthy when you look at it from an L.A. perspective. Because it means Aaron Donald wanted to test himself, or he's on the verge of signing a contract. California Post, back page, try, try again. Little Seinfeld play right there. That's pretty good. I absolutely live for that back page. And I live for seeing my guy, Aaron Donald, on the football field. So, if you're a fan of the L.A. Rams, you're a California dreaming about another parade, you're a California dreaming about Ty Simpson being the guy whenever Matthew Stafford calls it a legendary, brilliant, Hall of Fame, first-bound career, this could be a season to remember. With the L.A. Super Bowl and the Rams winning it all last time you had a Super Bowl in Los Angeles. So, let me tell you something. If I'm a Rams fan, this was exactly what you needed. After that draft pick and how they made it and the shock and the awe and just how wild it was, beats the alternative here of not looking good during a preseason game. So, definitely a great sign for Ty Simpson and L.A. Meanwhile, the Dodgers lost three or four to the Brewers over the weekend in Los Angeles, resulting in losing the season serious to Milwaukee. Manager Dave Roberts knows. Back to Lou McLarge down the line. Because it could matter. But we didn't, so now we gotta move forward. But I hope it doesn't, you know, come back to bite us. Listen, the Dodgers are a mess right now. I want you to take a look at this in terms of the nuggets of futility here for Los Angeles. They lose three out of four to Milwaukee and this team is not playing good baseball. And, of course, the irony. School Bowl lost and, you know, it could have been the Brewers that should have traded for them. And look at this. Five and 11 in their last six teams. And that includes getting swept by Boston, swept by the Cubbies, losing a series to Milwaukee, losing a series to Arizona. They have been a bad baseball team since July 1st. Kyle Tucker, atrocious on offense against Milwaukee. The L.A. fans booed him. Good for them. He's been brutal. Lost another fly ball. His defense, we go back to how he fouled up a game in Chicago, has been atrocious. Kyle Tucker has been awful. Edwin Diaz, I mean, he is just imploding. Dave Roberts is always so great and so smooth talking to the press. He's had to kind of backtrack a couple times on Edwin Diaz and he snapped at the press a couple of times. This has been a disaster. And it matters here because look at the standings in the National League. The Brewers, who I don't believe will win in the playoffs if the season ended today, the Brewers are going to be the team that gets home field. The Brewers would have the one seat. Then you take a look at it and you see the Atlanta Braves just a couple of games back. Then the Dodgers right now, they would have to play in the first round against the Padres who are heating up. And I think these six teams will make the playoffs, the top six teams that you see in the National League with the Brewers and the Braves and the Dodgers and the Cubs and the Phillies and the Padres. And if you add the Dodgers and the Padres meeting in the first round of the playoffs in the wildcard round, wouldn't that be something if the Padres with their new pitchers at the top of that rotation, if they were the team, little brother against big brother, that's dethroned the champs and Shohei Otani and knocked them out of the postseason? Listen, it's possible here. Look, I'll pick the Dodgers because I still think they're the best team in the National League and I still think they'll find their footing down the stretch of the season and win another World Series. And, you know, the Braves, I give them a ton of credit. They have been absolutely remarkable. And, you know, I don't really think the Brewers are going to be a team that you trust in October. Still like the Phillies. I still love the Cubs. And I think the Cubs can actually catch Milwaukee. Felt more confident about that before the Brewers took care of business against Los Angeles this past week. But the Dodgers Blues are legit. Now we're still California dreaming here about a World Series championship for the Dodgers. They remain my pick. That is my prediction. I still think they're pitching their upside is too much. But Dave Roberts was pissed after the game yesterday. He was, he wanted to win. He did not want to lose this season series, lose the series to Milwaukee. This has been a bad baseball team for a while now, for six weeks of just Dodger Blues. It has not been pretty. And Dave Roberts is trying to recapture the energy, the focus, the magic while they get healthy simultaneously. I mean, I still think they're the best team in terms of winning the World Series. Vegas has them installed as the front runner. But if they don't get their heads out of their derrieres, they're going to be lopped off in the wild card round. And if they end up losing to the Padres, not good. Tucker's been a disaster. Diaz has been a disaster. His team needs to start playing some winning baseball. It's been a minute now. This is also why I give the Dodgers credit for making that scuba deal. Because who cares that we were ahead of the curve on this? What the haters say, what the critics say, what the media elite, what they have to say. The Dodgers needed to make this trade for scuba because frankly, they're not very good or very consistent right about now. So this was just an embarrassing weekend for Los Angeles. To lose this series, to lose to the team that should have traded for scuba and had no business not. Just a joke. Absolute joke. Still believe in the upside of this team. Still California dreaming about a championship. But what a mess. Last but not least, one of L.A.'s favorite sons announced his retirement from the NBA. Before he was a walking headline, he was from inner city L.A. Who could jump higher? Anybody had a right to. Somewhere between the dunks and the draft classes, he became something else. Not just a player. A personality. A name before we even called it. A husband. A father. A guy in a kilt at the Met. Damn, anybody would say so. Man, I have the chills watching that. Russell Westbrook called it a career. 18 glorious seasons in the NBA. Russell Westbrook, the most disrespected player in the NBA in the last 25 years. Russell Westbrook is a superstar. An MVP. An Olympic champion. You take a look at Mr. Triple Double. This guy was a legend. Phenomenal on offense. You see where he ranks historically in steals. Great on defense. Part of the NBA 75th anniversary team. Led the league in scoring. Led the league in assists. And I will always and forever believe, right, and this obviously changed history, you know, Russell Westbrook, if they would have held on with Kevin Durant in OKC, and they would have beat the Warriors in 2016 when they were up, obviously, 31 in the Western Conference Finals, and Clay Thompson went nuts in that game six, and the Warriors won. That whole series changed basketball history. I will always and forever believe that that team that year would have knocked off Cleveland and LeBron James. And Oklahoma City with Russ and KD with Billy Donovan would have won a championship in 2016 and beat the Cleveland Cavaliers. And again, they didn't. KD left, joined the Warriors. Cleveland wins a championship with LeBron. Literally history was changed, in my opinion, based upon the results. And also changed in terms of how you view Russell Westbrook. Look, there were moments where he tried to do too much in the playoffs, and he would turn it over on occasion. I know that would drive people crazy. But his effort was always the best. The energy was always the best. And then when he had to leave for Oklahoma City, some bad fits. I mean, that Laker fit was always bad. The Houston fit never really made any sense. But I just loved and appreciated his work ethic. How team-oriented he was. How he got his teammates involved. Russell Westbrook, to me, was the epitome of hard work and class and always played 100 miles per hour, which I loved and respected and cherished. One of my all-time favorite basketball players. And just disrespected in the court of public opinion. A unique career. A special career. A sensational career. Russell Westbrook, congratulations. We salute you on an unbelievable run in the NBA. That right there, that's the show. If you missed any portion of the show, just do what I do. And re-watch the show over and over and over again. Go to our new YouTube page at Shine Time. See you tomorrow on Shine Time.