Nothing Personal with David Samson

Today’s word of the day is ‘nightmare’ as in it all feels like a dream after you make it through spring training but then the first week of Opening Day comes and goes and your team is hurt, and losing, and bad, and it’s a nightmare. What is happening with Aaron Judge and the Yankees? Aaron Boone said he’s sore and will get the day off. It’s kind of early for this. Mookie Betts, Cody Bellinger, George Springer, Fernando Tatis, Trevor Rosenthal… more and more injuries are happening. (11:43) What can you make of first week performances? We’ve got teams that are overachieving early and teams that are underachieving right now. (16:27) Did MLB change the baseballs? Are they dead? Are they live? Where do we stand on the issue? (18:29) NPPOD. (20:11) Tiger Woods is lucky to be alive. It wasn’t drug abuse. It wasn’t alcohol. His crash was caused by his reckless driving. (27:06) The Masters started today. Fred Ridley is the chairman of the Masters and he released a statement on the Georgia voting laws. (35:48) Review: Collective. (36:57) Hubert Davis was named head coach at North Carolina. What was so significant about this? He became the 3rd head coach in program history, but the first African-American. What he said was very telling.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today’s word of the day is ‘trash’ as in take out the trash as in trash cans as in the Houston Astros are being ridiculed so bad by opposing fans that Dusty Baker had to say something. Fans brought trash cans to the game! What can the Astros do about this? (12:53) Fernando Tatis Jr may miss the rest of the season. We haven’t learned anything new from his first MRI, but GM AJ Preller said it’s a non-surgical injury. You can beat he’ll need surgery because the Padres said he wouldn’t. (23:09) Review: WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn. (27:38) It’s time for another update on the Deshaun Watson case because a woman chose to come public and hold a press conference. Watson’s team then revealed that her attorney tried to get hush money before going public. Nike has announced they are suspending Watson. Oh boy. (41:00) Wait to see. (45:23) NPPOD. #waittosee Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today’s word of the day is ‘All Star Game’ as in Atlanta as in Denver as in MLB as in Texas as in what is happening right now in Rob Manfred’s office is not pretty. What happened? Why was the game moved? How was the game moved to Coors? What happens next? (23:55) So You Wanna Talk To Samson!? Someone asked me if the Padres regret giving Fernando Tatis Jr that mega deal with his shoulder injury. Why would someone ask that? Because Tatis left with a shoulder injury and he might need surgery. This was an injury the team knew about. Uh oh. (33:25) Review: Concrete Cowboy. (35:49) Steve Cohen continues to talk and talk and talk. He got his first taste of being Mets owner and he is struggling with the NY media. (42:00) NPPOD. BRACKET WINNERS ANNOUNCED - REACH OUT TO COCA! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today’s word of the day is ‘calm’ as in everybody calm down as in take a breath as in yesterday was just one game of 162 of them. The Houston Astros played in front of fans and the Oakland fans let them hear it. Boos on boos on boos! Remember the sign-stealing dilemma? Feels like a decade ago. (7:30) Why are pitchers still batting? Why is there no Universal DH? We saw how ridiculous things were when Tyler Glasnow batted for Tampa Bay. (15:00) NPPOD. (18:30) So You Wanna Talk To Samson!? Someone asked me about the Supreme Court hearing the NCAA v. Alston case and they wanted it to be explained like they weren’t a lawyer. (31:39) Review: Operation Varsity Blues. (36:10) Red Sox owner Tom Werner says that LeBron James is good for Boston, and good for business, but there was something he said that I couldn’t believe.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today’s word of the day is ‘Opening Day’ as in April 1st as in baseball is back! Last night the New York Mets were able to come to an agreement with superstar Francisco Lindor on a major 10-yr, $341M deal. What else can we look forward to today? What matters most on Opening Day? (9:32) The Washington Nationals already have a COVID problem. It appears that four players will miss Opening Day against the Mets. Not great! (13:21) President Biden spoke to ESPN last night about vaccines, stadium capacity, and spoke about the All Star Game in Georgia. (15:40) The NL West has all the eyeballs this season. The San Diego Padres won the offseason. The Los Angeles Dodgers are looking to repeat. Trevor Bauer is getting his balls ready (his baseballs you sickos!). (25:50) NPPOD. (30:42) Review: The Father. (33:40) So You Wanna Talk To Samson!? Someone asked me about he Miami Marlins have announced that they have a new TV deal and a naming rights deal and why wasn’t I able to secure a naming rights deal when I was there Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The New York Mets and Francisco Lindor have agreed to terms on a massive 10-year, $341M deal on the eve of Opening Day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today’s word of the day is ‘17 Again’ as in Zac Efron and Matthew Perry as in the NFL has announced there will be 17 regular season games starting this year. The NFL knew they were going to get this done when those giant TV deals were signed. Is everyone happy about this? Did the NFLPA get enough for the players? (13:55) Deshaun Watson now has 19 lawsuits against him. This story is not going away anytime soon. We need to cover this. (31:00) Review: Seaspiracy. (36:40) MLB season is here! Let’s get some predictions! MVP! World Series! EVERYTHING! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today’s word of the day is ‘ravioli’ as in pasta as in a nice Italian dinner as in what Steve Cohen said he had during his meeting with Francisco Lindor. The Mets reportedly offered Lindor a 10-year, $325M and he countered with a 12-year, $385M. Where does this standoff end? (16:18) A very similar situation is happening with Anthony Rizzo and the Chicago Cubs. He wants a new deal. Kris Bryant needs a new deal. Javy Baez needs a new deal. And apparently Rizzo was offered a deal that he found laughable. Will any of the Cubs Big 3 be back in 2022? (25:34) MLB will relax COVID restrictions if 85% of Tier 1 employees get vaccinated. What does this exactly mean? (36:00) Review: Bad Trip. (40:11) NPPOD. (43:06) Mark Emmert is the president of the NCAA and he has some big issues to deal with. Athletes are taking a stand. Will he take the meeting they want? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mailbag! It’s a mailbag! March 2021 edition of the mailbag is here! Let’s get it started! Someone asked what the strangest clause I ever had to put in a contract to stop a player from doing something. (10:30) Someone asked if MLB could possibly move the 2021 All Star game from Atlanta, Georgia after everything that’s been going on in the state. A new voting rights bill was passed and people are not happy. (22:40) Someone asked how the 40-man roster works and who decides which players get DFA’d. (34:40) Someone asked for some other reasons that players would get traded at the deadline and who would influence these moves. (41:00) Someone asked for my Top 5 concerts I’ve been to… so I’ll give you a Top 8.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today’s word of the day is ‘left field’ as in not right field as in not center field as in the outfield as in Eloy Jimenez of the Chicago White Sox is out for what could be the whole season after tearing his pec making a play in a spring training game. Every White Sox fan knew this was inevitable, but management still put Eloy out there. What were the Sox trying to prove? (15:29) Kirby Yates is done for the year that hasn’t even started yet. He got $5.5M guaranteed by the Toronto Blue Jays AFTER the Atlanta Braves pulled an offer for a failed physical. Yates signs with the Jays and is now out for the season. Wow. (23:45) Review: Justice League Snyder Cut… yes I watched all four hours. (31:43) Did the Houston Astros just lowball and lose Carlos Correa? They might have. It was a six-year, $120M offer and Correa was offended. This is a MONSTER free agent offseason for shortstops. (40:50) NPPOD.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices