Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey Browns fans.
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[00:00:55] Speaker B: Media.
It's time. Time for the Burning River sportscast. Consistency. Never heard of her? Nope, not in Cleveland. One day we play well. One day we play like dog shit. One day Nick Chubb is a small MCL tear away from coming back to the Browns, and the next he's got a meniscus tear and an ACL that needs repaired as well. All week long we heard confidence around Deshaun's availability. Nearly a peep that he was even injured. Game time Sunday. All $230,000,000 was unavailable. Apparently at his own request. The 4 July was in July. It's now October and David and Joku is melting body parts off like a Superman villain. Does anyone know what's going on in Cleveland? No, seriously, does anyone know what the is going on? And who is to blame for the circus that came to town Sunday? One thing we do know after this unmitigated disaster is that DTR is nowhere near ready to take over the reins and we can finally put that to bed, but the rest will have to break down for you. Next on the Burning River Sportscast.
[00:02:17] Speaker C: Is.
[00:02:17] Speaker B: Going to Dawn Holiday festivus sexivus for the rest of us. She's already added Velma Dinkley to the list.
It says that these are only going to be available on her only page fan page thing. It's like only fans for only page, but not that I subscribe.
[00:02:35] Speaker C: So that'll take us to special teams. Dustin Hopkins is perfect again. I bet you're excited, bone man.
Oh, he's not here anymore.
[00:02:46] Speaker B: He disappeared.
[00:02:47] Speaker C: He's out for the rest of this episode. He's on the injury reserve. Yeah.
Basically if the Browns play like this much ass, corey Bajorquist has specialist a good shot of winning dog of the week.
[00:02:59] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:03:00] Speaker D: Northeast Ohio is like, what, the most moved from area in the country. So there's a lot of people that don't live here that probably want a little taste of something from back home.
[00:03:10] Speaker B: The only thing that came out of that game that was good was the fact that we can put to rest the fact that should DTR be starting over like that's.
[00:03:17] Speaker C: The only answer is no, we can.
[00:03:18] Speaker B: Put that argument to bed. Finally.
[00:03:20] Speaker C: Yeah. I'm Henry VI.
VI next door. She's been married seven times before. Second verse, same as the first. That's. That Henry VI.
[00:03:36] Speaker B: Welcome into the Burning River sportscast presented by Tapping Media and brought to you by the Cleveland Browns fan Cruise. I'm your host, Tenny Thunder, joined by my co host, my co host, my co host, I Can't Talk, the man who catches and skins Burmese pythons just for fun. He is red hot. Ronnie jams. And salutations to our trusty board op, who has recently returned from a migrant FEMA camp where he was reiterating the importance of milk as a healthy part of a balanced diet. Bone man. How dense are your bones after another week of nonstop D? Vitamin D, that is.
[00:04:06] Speaker C: They're dense, they're thick, and I'm a little down, guys.
[00:04:10] Speaker B: Yeah, a little down. Back to red out. Two questions. Can you put your right and your left hands in the air?
And can you wave them around like you just don't care? Nice. Now. You're like the Browns. I like that. Go ahead and keep doing that while you tell our friends where they can find that sticky icky. Tricky, tricky.
[00:04:24] Speaker C: Burning River Guru going rogue stuff. You can find our podcast wherever you get your podcast. I'm talking Apple Podcasts, spotify Stitcher. Google Podcasts. Amazon Music. Pandora iHeartRadio Podcast castro good pods and so many more. It's really hard to read when you're waving your hands in the air. Nobody else can see, know, and don't forget to subscribe on YouTube, the only place that you can find our video podcast. And check us out on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Our handle for all of those socials as well as YouTube is at Burning River Sportscast. And we are on X, the artist formerly known as Twitter, as well with the handle at Pod pod.
Thank you. And while you're at it, check out our Merch WW Dot Thetappinmedia.com shop. We've got shoes, hats, mugs, mouse pads, shirts, shorts, flags, phone cases, and so much more. The cruise lines out there get ready for the cruise. Make sure you check that out along with everything else in the store. We will constantly be adding to it as time goes on. You get these Thunder Jams shirts that we have on today.
[00:05:23] Speaker B: It's debate season, folks.
[00:05:24] Speaker C: Yeah, Thunder Jams 24.
But yeah, we've got a little bit of a lighter show than usual today.
The plan was to do a sponsor highlight this week and interview all of our sponsors. However, we did run into some scheduling issues. The fan crews had flight plans change and they're unable to make it tonight. And all Cleveland Coffee had an event that they had to be at, so we will catch up with them later in the season, so stay tuned for that. But you know who was available? Topath Distillery. So, we'll have an interview with Anthony Piscasi, the owner of Topath Distillery. We will also get into the week four recap of whatever the hell that was on Sunday. And in the second half of the show, we're gonna no, I'm not gonna do that. We're just gonna have our interview. I was gonna talk about some stuff, but we're not going to do that.
But before we get started, let's get into the Burning River news story of the week.
Sporanic has announced that she is doing 31 Halloween costumes this month. That's one Halloween costume for every day of the month. And I know Kenny is a huge page head.
And so, Kenny, will you be tuning in?
[00:06:39] Speaker B: Look, golf's it, girl. Page Spirinak is going to don holiday festivus sexivus for the rest of us. She's already added Velma Dinkley to the list.
It says that these are only going to be available on her Only Page Fan page thing. It's like only fans for only page. But not that I subscribe, but it was easy enough to find just on Twitter. And Dang, she makes a good Velma look. This is fun.
[00:07:09] Speaker C: Look, two days in. What else did she make?
[00:07:11] Speaker B: I think she was from Street Fighter or something. Okay, I don't know. I don't follow. Only Page, but yeah, 31 outfits, 31 days. This is pretty exciting for periods. Paid spirit neck fans, for sure. Again, not like me that I don't subscribe.
[00:07:27] Speaker C: She's like the second highest paid or first highest paid golfer in the world.
[00:07:31] Speaker B: Yeah, she doesn't even really play, so I don't know how.
[00:07:37] Speaker C: To say that Kenny is a Page Spearneck fan is an understatement.
[00:07:41] Speaker B: Look, I just think she's good for know she's good for golf.
[00:07:45] Speaker C: So I'll say, is that what you think?
[00:07:47] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:07:48] Speaker C: So I guess we'll leave that one alone and we'll get into the week Four recap.
Yeah, my thoughts exactly. It continues to be hot and cold for the Cleveland Browns as they were embarrassed by the Baltimore Ravens at home on Sunday. And I think even that is an understatement. The final score of the game was 28 to three. The Baltimore Ravens. Let's start with them. On offense, Lamar Jackson, 15 of 19 for 186 yards and two touchdowns. But wait, there's more. Nine rushes for 27 yards and two more touchdowns. Gus Edwards, 15 carries for 48 yards. And Mark Andrews, Kenny's player to watch because he always torches the Browns. Five receptions for 80 yards and two touchdowns. Rounding it out with Zay Flowers. On offense, three receptions for 56 yards. Basically, Lamar Jackson killed us by himself.
[00:08:39] Speaker B: Look, I'll say this, too. Lamar played well. I'm not going to take anything away from him. He didn't play bad, but this wasn't a great game. I guess he had four touchdowns in total, but he only threw for 186 yards, and he only rushed for 27 yards. So it's not like he just had his way with our defense. He earned every yard he got, and he threw a couple of great balls. But the thing is, nothing they did on offense was overwhelmingly overwhelming to the point where we couldn't have stopped them. I mean, the issue was our defense was on the field all game long.
[00:09:13] Speaker C: Yeah, no, it's almost like we should have been in the game because we held them to 186 yards and 27 rush yards, but here we are.
But, yeah, the defense for Baltimore, four sacks and three interceptions, they completely and utterly feasted on the rookie quarterback that is as you were in Thompson Robinson. And I know we talked about this off air. I mean, what else were they going to do? It was a Ravens defense that is notorious for getting after the quarterback anyways. And you got a rookie quarterback back there that's not just like it's not like it's a rookie quarterback that's like CJ. Stroud or something like that. It's a rookie quarterback that was a fifth rounder that has been openly referred to as basically a project by the Browns.
[00:09:59] Speaker B: And I would say that there was unknown in that game for exactly one snap, the beginning of the game, before you took one snap, you were kind of like, all right, let's see what's going to happen here.
[00:10:10] Speaker C: What's DTR I did see before the game, there was still all those DTR lovers that were talking about, is this the Tom Brady moment? Like, where Drew Bledsoe lost his job to an injury? Is this going to be another Tom Brady moment? Yeah, don't worry, it wasn't.
[00:10:24] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I was excited to see him play just because I think he's an interesting player.
But yeah, put that all to bed now, right? I mean, he's got a ways to go before he's a competent NFL starter.
[00:10:35] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. Getting back to the Baltimore defense and DTR, he was just destroyed throughout this game.
[00:10:43] Speaker D: It's leveled.
[00:10:44] Speaker C: I mean, he kept getting back up, so kudos to him, but they had his number. I will say if there was one thing and we'll get into DTR here in a minute, but if there was one thing that he showed that was.
[00:10:54] Speaker B: A huge positive was that he's tougher than Watson.
[00:10:57] Speaker C: Yeah, we'll get into that too.
[00:11:00] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:11:00] Speaker C: Younger Spryer but to round everything out on the Baltimore Ravens side, justin Tucker, four or four extra points. So Justin Tucker outscored us by himself, only kicking extra points.
[00:11:11] Speaker B: Good job, Justin.
[00:11:12] Speaker C: So that's good. So let's go over to Cleveland side. I mean, on offense here. Watson, as Kenny mentioned, did not play, which we'll get into this further here shortly.
But let's talk about the people who did play. Dorian Thompson. Robinson.
It's surprise start. He wasn't really going into the game. You thought, everybody thought Deshaun Watson was going to play. So it was a surprise start. So he went 19 of 36 for 121 yards, no touchdowns, three interceptions, four carries, 24 yards, a fumble. And he looked yeah, look really bad.
[00:11:48] Speaker B: It was a bad stat line, but he didn't really get a lot of practice with the ones during camp at all.
And he really got his first snaps with the first team on Friday. So I think he took all but I think seven snaps with the first team on Friday. So with that being his first work, I mean, look, what else do you expect from this kid? I think there's a lot of people we can blame and point fingers at after this loss. He's, to me, not one of them. Even though he played not great, oh.
[00:12:15] Speaker C: He played like ass, but what are you going to do? Like I said, they didn't know until literally right before the game started that Deshaun wasn't going to mean even though he took reps with the first team all week long, he wasn't taking those reps.
And regardless of what people say, they'll be like, well, you need to prepare every game like you're going to start, okay? But in the back of your head, you're like, I'm not going to play, so whatever until it gets to Sunday morning. And they're like, oh, I guess I'm playing. Now, I will say this.
[00:12:44] Speaker B: I think DTR knew that he was going to play.
I don't know exactly when during the week, but based on his drip, when he showed up Sunday before the rest of us knew he was going to play, he came in some nice threads.
[00:13:00] Speaker C: So you think that him and Deshaun talked because Deshaun informed the team literally the morning of yeah, I mean, it.
[00:13:06] Speaker B: Was almost 11:00 a.m. On Sunday when they made the call game time decision for not to play. But did you see what DTR showed up in? I mean, it was like a sequiny black and red.
[00:13:16] Speaker C: Like, maybe he's just a flashy guy.
[00:13:20] Speaker B: I mean, I guess I haven't seen what he's worn to the other games, but I can't imagine he wears that every week.
[00:13:25] Speaker C: Well, the cameras haven't been on him because he hasn't played.
[00:13:27] Speaker B: True, but do you think he wears it every week to be backup quarterback?
[00:13:30] Speaker C: I don't know. You might be onto something here. But anyways, let's move on here. So the running backs, we'll start with team rushing before we do the running back. Specifically the team rushing. 25 carries, 93 yards, 3.7 yards per carry. Another terrible rushing day. But the running backs actually didn't do too bad.
And I know that sounds weird, but the running backs themselves had 19 carries for 87 yards and averaged 4.6 yards per carry. Much better this week.
They weren't given a chance to actually get anything going by our head coach. And so it begs a question.
Why are we doing reverses and all these other trick plays, like when we could just be running the ball and playing fundamental football and trying to score points for a rookie quarterback that has a surprise start that's playing poorly?
[00:14:17] Speaker B: Well, that's the thing, right, is you look at it and you go, the first one that was really frustrating was when they had the big pi call that went their way, and you end up close to the red zone for the first time in the game.
[00:14:28] Speaker C: Terrible.
[00:14:29] Speaker B: And you go, okay, we got a rookie quarterback. It's not playing well. What should we do?
[00:14:34] Speaker C: Oh, you're talking about our Pi call. That was a good call. The other side is what I was talking about. The one I've done.
[00:14:39] Speaker B: Yeah. So they went big reverse to, I think, Elijah Moore oh, yeah. Who then decided he was going to run backwards, which that's a coaching thing, right?
[00:14:47] Speaker C: He had one rush in this for negative 20 yards, in case anyone's wondering. So on the day he averaged negative 20 yards for carry, he was just.
[00:14:53] Speaker B: Getting out of there. I don't know where he thought he was going, but not a good choice at all. And those are the moments that you go back to and you're like, Why did you even risk that?
[00:15:06] Speaker C: Does Kevin Stefanik know that if you do a reverse every single game and sometimes twice a game, if you do.
[00:15:13] Speaker B: Three or four of a game, like, it just becomes a tendency. It's not a surprise, it's a tendency.
[00:15:18] Speaker C: Yeah. So, I mean, it's just a play that they react to and snuff out every single time because they're like, well, we know that this is going to get run a couple of times.
[00:15:26] Speaker B: I mean, look, we played football at the high school level, and we watched enough film to know whether our opponents had a reverse in their playbook. And you would shout before we play, oh, hey, 22 is on this side of the field. Everybody watch out for reverse.
[00:15:40] Speaker C: Well, that takes me back to it feels like it's high school football with Stefanik at times, because that's literally something the high schools do. Like, we rely on the reverse. That's one of our main plays. We got to run that.
[00:15:52] Speaker B: It's a staple of the Cleveland Browns, though.
[00:15:54] Speaker C: Yeah.
Listen, before Kevin Stefanski took over the Browns, I can't tell you, like, I maybe saw a couple a handful of reverses across the NFL every single year.
I literally see them at least once a week, sometimes twice now.
[00:16:13] Speaker B: Well, that's because you watch the Browns. We do it three times.
[00:16:16] Speaker C: It's insane decision.
[00:16:19] Speaker B: Have you made your decision for Christ?
[00:16:24] Speaker C: Yeah. So that'll take us to our wide receivers here, which I've got no notes on wide receivers, just the tight end. David and Joku, six receptions for 46 yards. Nobody else did anything worth mentioning. But, I mean, that's mostly because the QB played poorly, and that wasn't all his fault. We talked about all the different reasons why he can't fully be blamed for this, and one we haven't even mentioned yet is the old line was trashed. They were turnstiles out there it wasn't just Jed Wills this week. It was everybody. And he was constantly running for his life.
[00:16:58] Speaker B: Yeah, the Baltimore rush was all over him all game long. Ethan Pochick got injured twice in this game, couldn't stand the field, so he had some backup in at center. I think they put Nicaris in, who was okay, but just the unit themselves did not play that well. I don't care whether it was deshaun back there or not.
It was going to be a difficult yeah, absolutely.
[00:17:22] Speaker C: And here's the thing is, like we said, it's that's what they do. That's what Baltimore does, is they get after the quarterback, just not that's their identity. And when they smell blood in the water with a rookie quarterback, a fifth round rookie quarterback making his first just there was nothing we could do against it.
[00:17:43] Speaker B: It took him all of one play to realize, like, this guy wasn't the next Dan Marino. This guy was going to be in trouble.
[00:17:49] Speaker C: So that'll take us to the defense for the Cleveland Browns, though, they looked good again in this one. I don't care what anybody says. I know we gave up 28 points, but several of those scores were not because the defense was bad. It was because we gave them excellent field position to start. I mean, hell, the one drive start on like the seven yard line. So that doesn't bode well for the defense. So I would say the defense is four for four this season.
[00:18:11] Speaker B: And the game was close for the first half, and it was even in the second half. It was 20 to three for most of the second half. So it wasn't like the game.
[00:18:19] Speaker C: One score and you're back in it.
[00:18:20] Speaker B: Yeah, it wasn't like the game was they were out of hand. It was just the natural progression of the game. Know, at the end of the day, box didn't look great, but this defense was on the field a lot.
[00:18:30] Speaker C: Yeah. It doesn't matter if you're the best defense of all time. If you're on the field as much as they were in this one, you're going to get Browns fans are Browns fans, and we love our team, but we also love to hate our team when they lose like this. And I saw a lot of talk about how the defense is supposed to be good. Where was the defense? Where was the defense? Listen, the defense played, in my opinion, pretty darn well in this game. They just didn't get any help whatsoever from the offense to help keep them off the agreed. Um, but we'll go through the guys on defense. Miles Garrett got another stack in this one. That was when we were still kind of in it, and it was kind of cool. It was like, oh, yeah, our defense might be able to pull us through this one. But he disappeared after bad things started happening. Miles Garrett was Mia for the whole second half of the game.
[00:19:22] Speaker B: Well, and he was dinged up, too. He rolled his ankle.
[00:19:26] Speaker C: Everybody got hurt in this one. Agbo got another sack. Jordan Elliott and Dalvin Thomason had half sack each. The entire secondary was solid again. I mean, once again, they didn't stuff the stat sheet. We haven't had a lot of interceptions this year, but they held Lamar to 186 passing yards and Lamar put the.
[00:19:45] Speaker B: Ball in here 19 times. So your opportunities are not a lot for batted passes and interceptions. Right? Look, they just played the Baltimore offense, just played a game that was very simple and fundamental and let the game come to them. They didn't try to do anything crazy like we did.
[00:20:02] Speaker C: Yeah, we should probably take notes so that'll take us to special teams. Dustin Hopkins is perfect again. I bet you're excited, bone man.
Oh, he's not here anymore.
[00:20:17] Speaker B: He disappeared.
[00:20:18] Speaker C: He's out for the rest of this episode.
[00:20:19] Speaker B: He's on the injured reserve.
[00:20:21] Speaker C: Yeah, no, but Dustin Hopkins was perfect again. One for one field goals, 53 yards on that field goal and our only points in this game.
[00:20:29] Speaker B: Look, I will say this for the front office, the Dustin Hopkins move has paid off for the most part. I mean, outside of the one kick.
[00:20:36] Speaker C: He has always missed so far, he's.
[00:20:38] Speaker B: Been a solid veteran pickup and a good piece so far to this team.
Regardless of what he does, I think from this point forward, I think he's somebody that you can trust, which is good.
[00:20:49] Speaker C: Yeah. And then Corey Bajorquez bahorquez, or however you want to pronounce it, did work in this one. And we will talk about him again soon. That's right, we will talk about the punter again later in the episode.
[00:21:01] Speaker B: Love our specialists here.
[00:21:03] Speaker C: So let's move on to coaching Kevin Stefanski, or Stefanik as we call him, because we don't respect this man. Where do I even start in this one? I just don't know. I mean, he was bad again and his seat has to be hot, right?
[00:21:18] Speaker B: Look, I just think that look, there's a bunch of different things here, right? Because they didn't know whether or not Sean was going to play. So you have to know going into this weekend, you have to at least have two game plans ready. One for Deshaun and one for your rookie fifth round draft pick.
And it didn't seem like they even had that plans.
No plans.
And when the announcement came down that Deshaun wasn't going to play, then very quickly you needed to change course on whatever you were thinking you were going to do and think about how you're going to put a young quarterback in the best position to be successful. How do you get him some early, easy timing completions? Can you eliminate half the field? Can you get him on boots and rolls, things that he does well because he's an athlete? Get him in space, get him some time to throw the ball and look down the field. A lot of the things that we said, hey, these are the things we want to see Baker do and that Baker did at a high level for a while. Can you run the Baker Mayfield offense or the Jacobi Brissette offense that is this vanilla learning game and have him only put the ball in the air 1215 times in his first game as a pro?
How many times did he throw the ball?
[00:22:32] Speaker C: He threw the ball.
[00:22:36] Speaker B: 36 times.
[00:22:37] Speaker C: 36 times.
[00:22:38] Speaker B: 36.
[00:22:39] Speaker C: 1St ever start fifth round rookie.
[00:22:41] Speaker B: This kid should not have thrown the ball more than 15 times, period. If you had to throw the ball.
[00:22:45] Speaker C: More than 15, lamar Jackson, who is a league MVP, former league MVP, threw it 19 times and we've got DTR out there throwing it 36 times.
[00:22:54] Speaker B: I know your run game isn't great because you're missing chubb, but I would die on that hill. I'd die at least on my running backs, that this isn't their first game. You got Kareem Hunt back there. Why was Kareem Hunt not on the field? More you have a young quarterback.
The one thing they really could have benefited him was to have a guy back there that is a solid veteran.
[00:23:13] Speaker C: That knows what he's doing, that knows the offense and it could protect his.
[00:23:15] Speaker B: Ass while he's throwing the ball 36 times.
[00:23:17] Speaker C: I don't really get it either. Not that I think Jerome Ford is a bum or is not going to pan out for us. I just think that I don't understand this whole let's ease Kareem back into everything. He's one of the few in the backfield right now. He's probably the only guy that legitimately knows the offense real well.
[00:23:37] Speaker B: And maybe he doesn't know it a bit because it's almost been changed. But it can't take him that long to catch up because he knows the things that they were doing. He knows the nomenclature. So he's got to be a quick study. He's got to know more than DTR knew coming into this. I just I can't understand why he wasn't on the field with your rookie quarterback. More even if you weren't going to focus or showcase him, that's fine. Put him out there to help the young kid. Put him out there to help the kid understand where people are lined up and put him out there so he has somebody that's viable blocking for him.
[00:24:07] Speaker C: And you know, one other thing is Peter Strong actually had a hot hand in this one. He averaged like 9.8 yards of carry. Like, why didn't you ride that?
[00:24:15] Speaker B: More again? Right? I would die on that hill of if we're going to get beat, at least let us get beat on this running game. Let's slow the game down. Let's chew up clock and let's keep this young kid from putting the ball in the air so much. Let him make the decisions that are going to come to him.
[00:24:30] Speaker C: No, we're going to have him throw the ball 36 times.
Half of those throws are going to be just bombs.
[00:24:37] Speaker B: It was like Kevin Stefan woke up and thought Bret Farr was back there.
[00:24:40] Speaker C: He wasn't just slinging around. He wasn't. Next up, though, jim Schwartz. Like I said, the defense was solid again. So I don't really have a lot to say in this one other than you're going to give up points when your defense can't get a you know, I don't put that on Jim Schwartz. I don't put that on the defense. I think while we were still in the game, the defense played very well.
[00:25:01] Speaker B: Sure, yeah. I don't have a lot to say there. I think the defense got gassed in this one and that's no one's fault outside of the offense being unable to execute and whatever Stefanik was calling. So you can't convert drives. You can't keep the defense off the field.
It's a bad recipe.
It's hard to come back from.
[00:25:23] Speaker C: Yeah. And then we have Bubba Ventrone, obviously. I just have a question. Why did we have to hurdle the guy fair catching the ball almost took him out. Like, why does this happen every week?
We're literally like Mendoza from the Mighty Ducks. Like, we just I can't stop.
I just don't understand. It's not hard. Don't hit the guy that's fair catching the ball.
[00:25:44] Speaker B: Look, at least our kicker made his only kick.
[00:25:47] Speaker C: I guess so.
[00:25:49] Speaker B: You're right over there.
[00:25:51] Speaker C: I got a cold.
All right. So overall total yards cleveland Browns 166, baltimore Ravens 296. 1st downs Cleveland 13, Baltimore 16. Time of possession Cleveland 30 ten. Baltimore 29 50. We actually won time of possession.
[00:26:10] Speaker B: You had that backwards.
[00:26:11] Speaker C: No, I read it backwards on purpose because I know that the Browns had the better time of possession.
[00:26:16] Speaker B: But I think a lot of that came towards the end of the game, too. I think there was some garbage time where we had the game was just kind of out of reach and they knew it. So I just think that early on, if you would have looked at that statistic, baltimore had the ball, the defense was on the field more than our.
[00:26:40] Speaker C: And then as far as penalties, cleveland, seven for 42, baltimore, eight for 92, which is surprising.
And then finally the turnovers, the one that kills us every single time. Cleveland had three turnovers while Baltimore only had.
[00:26:59] Speaker B: Look feels bad. This was an ugly one. This one probably hurts more than the Steelers game, as bad as that one was, because that one hurt because you lost Nick Chubb.
That one didn't hurt because you were just completely out coached. This was a fundamental failure from the top down of the entire Browns organization. This is Andrew Berry for not having a competent veteran quarterback on this roster. You have a team that's talking know, the best team on paper again, and it probably is a team that's talking about making a run in the playoffs, being a. Contender for the AFC North and the only insurance policy you have is a fifth rounder from UCLA. Seems smart. It just doesn't make any sense. There's plenty of guys out there that have played in big games and in big moments that are available that could be on this roster to help out Deshaun when he's healthy.
[00:27:55] Speaker C: You name a few off the.
[00:27:59] Speaker B: Mean. There's look names that aren't going to get you all excited in the shorts, but they're names that are guys that have won in the NFL before.
So there's no reason why one of those guys couldn't be here. Hell, you had Josh Dobbs on this roster. Josh Dobbs not doing too bad in Arizona. So if you had somebody like that on a team that, hey, you might have to play a game or two this year, then you feel a lot better about it. Because if you go into this by week three and one, this town is on fire right now. But instead you have this hellride roller coaster ride where it's up and down every week and you can't figure out what your identity is because you don't know what to expect from week to week.
[00:28:38] Speaker C: I have no idea what to expect from the Browns at any point. I'm not confident.
Most likely what's going to happen is going to think we're playing the 49 Ers after the buy, so we're probably going to come out and lose because we're all up and nobody knows what's going on right now. But what's going to happen? They're probably going to come out and dominate the 49 Ers because every once in a while they're world beaters. I don't really understand it.
[00:28:58] Speaker B: Yeah, look, I don't even think it's going to happen. I think this is an inflection point for this team. This is why I picked them to win seven games. And I know we got excited early because we saw them win games and you see how capable the talent on this roster is. And I don't disagree with you on paper. This is a very talented roster. There's a lot of good young guys out there, a lot of strong position players. There's no reason why this team shouldn't compete for a deep run in the playoffs. The reason why they won't is because they play for the Cleveland Browns. And for whatever reason, we can't get our front office on the same page as our coaching staff.
And things like this weekend really started to show that. And I'm concerned because you had first off, you had the misinformation about the Nick Chubb injury that got released and then all of a sudden that's worse than everybody thought. And then you have Deshaun saying all week long, well, first off, we didn't even know Deshaun was hurt. And then all of a sudden he's hurt to the point where he can't and but all along the confidence from the front office and from the coaching staff was Deshaun will be fine. He's day to day, but he'll be all right. He'll play Sunday. We expect him to play Sunday, and then it comes out as game time on Sunday that he's not going to play.
And then today, Coach Stefanski says that he was cleared medically to play. Deshaun was cleared medically to play, but he decided not to give it a go.
There's some very obvious posturing going on here in this front office, in this locker room, and it's detrimental to the overall effort of the Browns to win. I don't know whether Stefanski knows he's a on the hot seat, and he's burned about all the bridges he can to this point, so maybe he's just got that fire reaching up his back. But there's some definite posturing between him from AB to figure out who Jimmy's going to point the finger at. You know that Deshaun is leveraged because he's got $230,000,000 sitting waiting in the bank for him, so they can't really walk away from him.
And so that really kind of leaves Stefanski. But this posturing of like, who did it, who should have done it, is not helping the Browns. What needs to help the Browns is everybody needs to play their damn role, starting with Stefanski being the goddamn head coach and quit calling plays every week and worry about the whole damn team get his quarterback in order. Jesus Christ. The effort from DTR wasn't good, but what have we heard about Stefanski from the beginning of time?
[00:31:24] Speaker C: Quarterback Whisperer.
[00:31:25] Speaker B: Quarterback Whisperer got the most out of Kurt Cousins, got the most out of Baker Mayfield, got the most out of Jacobi Brissette. This guy can teach anybody to play quarterback well, apparently, except for DTR. So good work there.
[00:31:36] Speaker C: I think you whispered to him.
[00:31:40] Speaker D: You'Re.
[00:31:40] Speaker C: Going to be terrible in this one. The line's going to let everybody through. I think you whispered to him, run for your line.
[00:31:46] Speaker B: Just close your eyes and throw it. That's not good advice, Kevin.
No, look, I think it's really easy to point the finger at Kevin and his play calling because it was piss poor. Again, they didn't do anything to help out their young quarterback. But, man, shame on that front office for not having a viable backup on this roster. Shame on that front office for letting things deteriorate like this mean.
In what world do we have a quarterback that is cleared medically to play the leader of your franchise, the guy that you've invested everything in, all your draft picks, all of your cap space. In what world do doctors medically clear him to play? And he says, not feeling it today, guys.
That's a problem. That's a huge problem.
[00:32:32] Speaker C: What was the question you asked me off air?
[00:32:34] Speaker B: Well, my question is, pick anybody that would love that has played football.
What would it take for you if your trainer comes to you and says, hey, you're good this week, good to go up to you. What are you saying?
[00:32:45] Speaker C: I'm playing?
[00:32:46] Speaker B: I'm playing because you're playing for your team.
[00:32:48] Speaker C: No question yourself.
[00:32:49] Speaker B: You're playing for your fans and you're out there. No question. And I'll say this. Look, I hate to go back didn't play the Baker card every week, but Baker played a whole season on a torn labrum. At least he was there. Whether or not he was detrimental to the team, that was probably a coaching decision that should have been made. At least baker wanted to be out there with his guys. He wanted to do what was best for his team. And you can't tell me that a 60, 70, 80% Deshaun Watson was worse off than DTR in that game.
[00:33:14] Speaker C: No. And to that point, this would be one game where, as you said, Baker was Cost s games. Baker was a detriment to the team, but Deshaun wouldn't have been. We would have been better off with Deshaun playing in this game than we were with him on the sideline.
[00:33:31] Speaker B: But when you get to the point where you're a detriment to the team, the decision shouldn't be, Ronnie, hey, are you good to go this week anymore?
[00:33:36] Speaker C: True.
[00:33:36] Speaker B: That's coaching at that point, it's, hey, we can't win with you the way you are right now. And Kevin's not saying that about Deshaun.
[00:33:43] Speaker C: He did the opposite.
[00:33:44] Speaker B: Doctors cleared him to play. We were good. We thought we were fine.
[00:33:46] Speaker C: Do you think that a little bit of that is, like, I saw this play out last year, and I'm going to go the opposite route this time?
[00:33:51] Speaker B: I don't know what like I said.
[00:33:53] Speaker C: People weren't happy with all there's some.
[00:33:54] Speaker B: Serious posturing going on to try and save jobs and to keep nice in the locker room, but it's just not good. And then you throw in the Tom Foolery with and Joku burning his face off this weekend. Like, what the hell is even going on here? This is the same shit we talked about last year where look, I don't know what all the details are around. It sounds like it's some kind of grill or warm heat.
[00:34:16] Speaker C: He was starting a bonfire, and so my thought is he probably poured a whole bunch of gasoline on it and lit it, and it blew up in his face.
[00:34:25] Speaker B: And again, that's all speculation. So regardless of what happened, what are we doing here? What are we doing here?
[00:34:31] Speaker C: Does anybody in this franchise know that we have football games?
[00:34:34] Speaker B: Just like Miles Garrett last year, taking his Porsche out and driving 110 miles an hour with his girlfriend in the car when it's raining out. What are we doing here? Is this not important to you? Because we all felt like it's important to us, and we thought it was important to you, but it's not even important enough to Deshaun to get on the field.
[00:34:50] Speaker C: Well, and we talked about it last season, actually, part of Kevin Stefanski coming in here was to change the culture and to change the way things are done around here. But it just seems like things like this, where it's distractions from the actual game, keep coming up left and right.
Did he change the culture? Maybe. But did he change it for the better? I don't know. I'll say this because the shenanigans off the field just continue to happen.
[00:35:22] Speaker B: David and Joku burned half his face off, and he came out and played. What's? Deshaun's excuse? The doctor said you were good and.
[00:35:29] Speaker C: You what, didn't want to.
[00:35:31] Speaker B: Didn't want to.
[00:35:32] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:35:33] Speaker B: And shame on Kevin Stefanci for throwing him under the bus, because that's not what good.
[00:35:39] Speaker C: Coach Bill Belichick would never do that in this situation. He would have said he would have been fuming behind the scenes, but to reporters, he would have know we made a mutual decision and we thought that a week of rest would do Deshaun good, and that's where we landed on this thing. Yeah.
[00:35:55] Speaker B: I mean, it's not mean you do this every fucking week, Stefancy. We come out and you say absolutely nothing to reporters. Your whole face just says nothing. You say, oh, yep, this is on me. I got to call better plays. I got to be more in tune with the game management. This is on me, and I got to fix it. Instead, for the first time ever, you put the blame squarely on somebody else's shoulders and said, our franchise quarterback, the guy we put everything into, he decided this wasn't his week.
[00:36:24] Speaker C: Way to go, Stefanik.
[00:36:25] Speaker B: What?
[00:36:26] Speaker C: Yeah, I don't think you which is.
[00:36:29] Speaker B: Why this is not just a bad incident. This is not just a, hey, we had a bad week. This is fundamentally broken, which is why this team will not reach its full potential this year, period.
[00:36:42] Speaker C: Yeah. And it's hard because I want to stay optimistic, and I'm a much more optimistic Browns fan than you are. Typically, I'm a realistic one, but I think a lot of these things do speak to things coming unraveled a little bit. And behind the scenes, there's a lot more turbulence than we think there is.
[00:37:04] Speaker B: At the very least, there has to be turbulence now, even if there was none going back to last week, there has to be some kind of ill will and ill feelings between Deshaun Watson and Kevin Safanci now because your head coach just threw you under the damn bus.
[00:37:17] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:37:18] Speaker B: So if there wasn't something before, there's something there that wasn't there before. If I got, quote, the late, great beauty and the beast. Beast.
[00:37:29] Speaker C: Way to go.
No. So, just real quick, though, one other note in this game, the refs continue to hate the Browns. Not saying that they lost us this game at all, because obviously they didn't.
I'm just saying there was several bad calls that I saw, and none of them seemed to go against the Ravens. They all seemed to go against the Browns. It's just frustrating every watching such egregious calls happen.
[00:37:53] Speaker B: It is terrible. Look, and I have a hard time with this because I see it, because I watch the Browns religiously. But I watched that jets game this weekend and they battled hard to get back in that game and they lost because of an absolute BS defensive holding call in the final minutes of that game where if they had a chance to get the ball back, they probably would have tied it up or scored and won.
So I just think bad refereeing is a rampant symptom of something in the NFL that needs fixed.
[00:38:25] Speaker C: And I don't know, probably the fact that all these guys are part time employees. Just pay your refs well and have them full time employees well.
[00:38:31] Speaker B: They are paid well, though. They paid like $160,000 a year to ref eight games.
They're paid pretty well for part time employees.
[00:38:41] Speaker C: You don't think they'd do better if they were full time employees and they spent more time doing this?
[00:38:46] Speaker B: If you can't get your ass out of bed for 160 grand, I don't know what to tell you because I would say go to any main street in America and look at the household incomes of 47 and $54,000 and people struggling to get by, but fucking doing it because they're adults. And you want to complain about your part time $160,000 gig side gig.
[00:39:06] Speaker C: I mean, that's fair. I'm just saying, any ref that told.
[00:39:09] Speaker B: Me that, I would tell them, fuck you.
[00:39:10] Speaker C: I was just talking more on the time aspect of it.
[00:39:13] Speaker B: Yeah, well, the time aspect of it is you should be full time invested in your part time hobby at 160 grand fair.
Get real.
[00:39:23] Speaker C: And then another Browns news.
Adding insult to injury for DTR, mary Kay asked him straight to his face after the game if he thinks he deserves to be number two quarterback.
Pretty low blow, Mary Kay, right after this rookie was thrown to the wolves and destroyed by the Ravens. You want to go and ask him something stupid again?
[00:39:44] Speaker B: I'll say there's a thousand reasons why this team lost this game. DTR was lowest on that list. Yeah, he threw the picks. He didn't play well, but he wasn't put in position to play well, and nothing around him went well.
[00:39:58] Speaker C: And one more thing for the Browns here. The Browns have been booed in all three home games this year, and we're only just now starting October.
[00:40:05] Speaker B: And here's the thing. This is going to get worse, friends, because you had three home games out.
[00:40:10] Speaker C: Of your first four.
[00:40:11] Speaker B: That means you're on the road coming back, my friends. And it's not going to get any easier out there when you're having all this infighting and hand fighting on your sideline. You guys can't figure out how to get your shit together.
Throw in some hostile crowds, too, because that didn't work so well in Pittsburgh.
[00:40:25] Speaker C: Did no, but that'll take us to the Bernard Sportscast Dog of the Week.
[00:40:34] Speaker D: Doesn't matter, man. You gotta play tough people in the National Football League. You gotta be ready, and we gotta be the dogs that we are every time we step on there on Sunday and be ready to attack. And don't stop until we're in that locker room.
[00:40:50] Speaker B: I'm so mad about the Browns.
[00:40:53] Speaker C: All right, so obviously, the Browns were ass this week. So the Birdie River Sports Creative Dog of the Week is Corey Bajorquez. He had eight punts for 373 yards, 46.6 yard average along of 67, had one inside the 20. And when it's a bad day and the punter gets this much work, he wins Dog of the Week.
[00:41:18] Speaker B: He did have that nice long one that landed inside the 20, and he celebrated his way off the field in that one.
[00:41:25] Speaker C: He put his hands in the air and waved him like he just doesn't care.
[00:41:28] Speaker B: He was pretty excited about it.
[00:41:30] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:41:30] Speaker B: So Corey Bajorquez the burgers second time winning Dog of the week.
[00:41:35] Speaker C: Actually, he won it in another ass game last year.
Basically, if the Browns play like this much ass, corey Bajorquez has specialist has to get a good shot of winning Dog of the Week.
[00:41:46] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:41:47] Speaker C: So once again, Corey Bajoraquez the producer sports cast Dog of the Week, and that'll take us to the division roundup.
All right, so starting off the division roundup, we got to add the Cincinnati versus Rams game from Monday Night Football last week, which the Rams won. So we all got it wrong because we all picked the Bengals wrong.
And that takes us to this week's game for the Bengals against the Tennessee Titans. We all once again picked the Bengals, and the Bengals lost badly. Let me tell you this.
[00:42:25] Speaker B: The Bengals are in trouble. We're in trouble. We're in trouble because we're a shit franchise. They're in trouble if Joe Burrow doesn't get it right.
[00:42:32] Speaker C: Yeah. I don't know what is going on over there.
If his injury mean, it's his calf. So what I can say is he probably can't plant and drive the ball like he's used.
[00:42:45] Speaker B: Well, yeah, he just can't throw the so it looks like Tim Tebow out there.
[00:42:49] Speaker C: It's bad. It's real bad. But yeah, they lost again. We all picked the Bengals in that one, so we were all wrong.
Next up, pittsburgh gets manhandled by the Houston Texans. Kenny gets to shine in this one because I picked that wrong. Bone man picked that wrong. But Kenny picked the Texans to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers.
[00:43:08] Speaker B: CJ. Straddle looks good, my friend.
[00:43:10] Speaker C: He does look good, I will give you that.
[00:43:13] Speaker B: He could be the sneaky steel of the draft. Not he was a sneaky steel, but sneaky steel. He could have been the first pick and he wasn't.
[00:43:19] Speaker C: That's true. That's true. And then finally, obviously, Cleveland gets pounded by the Ravens, and we were all wrong. Kenny thought that that was going to be a blowout in favor of Cleveland. Okay.
[00:43:28] Speaker B: To be fair, I thought Deshaun was playing at that point.
[00:43:30] Speaker C: That's true. We all did. We all thought Deshaun, if I could.
[00:43:33] Speaker B: Do it over again and Deshaun was.
[00:43:35] Speaker C: Playing, I'd probably pick the same pick.
[00:43:36] Speaker B: Of the same, because our team was the better team on the field again in this game. They just was a poorly called game. And Deshaun just in the butt there, man.
[00:43:45] Speaker C: Yeah. So that takes our records to mine.
I'm at five and seven, Kenny's at four and eight, and Bone Man's at five and seven. So Kenny is still losing. Collectively, we picked one out of twelve games right this week. So in sports there are good weeks and bad weeks. And Burning River Sportscast had themselves a bad week. What's time for now that'll take us to around. The NFL lost this week 38 to three, which before I even get into this fact that I'm going to throw out after this, has it been weird that there's been so many blowouts in the NFL this year? Like, usually you see a couple, but most games are close. But I feel like almost every game across the NFL this year has been a blowout.
Have you noticed that? Like 70 to 28 to I've never seen 28 to 327 to three. Like just this week in the AFC North, 27 to 328 three. There's blowouts left and right. Last week we beat the Titans 27 to three or 28 three or whatever.
[00:44:57] Speaker B: It was, just like we did last week. I think it's the parody of this league, is the strength of this whole product. And it's true, man. On any given Sunday on this team, we fight for that inch, whoever shows up. That's why I love football so much, because in basketball, you can kind of get away with having the best player. The best three players in the league kind of dominate.
[00:45:21] Speaker C: The Cavs was asked without LeBron, but when we had LeBron, we were much better.
[00:45:25] Speaker B: And even baseball, to an extent, with the best pitchers, the records tend to follow kind of your best players.
There's good players all over the NFL, even if they're on bad teams, and sometimes those good players can show up and just upend a team that's better than them by themselves.
[00:45:41] Speaker C: Yeah. So anyways, the Patriots lost 38 to three. The 35 point loss was the biggest loss of Bill Belichick's career. And I'm willing to bet Tom Brady is sitting on a beach somewhere saying, I told you it was me and not Bill.
[00:45:54] Speaker B: Tom Brady is sitting on a beach somewhere saying, where's my phone? Call Robert Salah. I'm ready. That's true.
[00:46:00] Speaker C: He probably is ready, too. He's probably been working out harder than ever.
[00:46:03] Speaker B: I'm ready.
[00:46:05] Speaker C: But next up here, Patrick Mahomes threw his 200th passing touchdown this week and he becomes the fastest player in NFL history to throw 200 passing touchdowns.
[00:46:15] Speaker B: They've got quite a circus going on there in Casey. You're telling me with Taylor Swift showing up to these games this week, they had Robert Downey or not Robert Downey?
[00:46:25] Speaker C: Robert Downey might have had him too.
[00:46:27] Speaker B: Who knows? Hugh Jackman.
What's? The Blake Lively.
[00:46:32] Speaker C: Ryan Reynolds.
[00:46:33] Speaker B: Ryan Reynolds, yeah, I mean, just the.
[00:46:34] Speaker C: Whole what's her name? The Phoenix from X Men and Salsa.
[00:46:40] Speaker B: Stark from Sophia Turner.
[00:46:43] Speaker C: Sophie Turner.
[00:46:44] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:46:44] Speaker B: I mean, this is a Hollywood A list event now, going to a Chiefs game.
[00:46:48] Speaker C: Did you see in that game? So it was obviously Taylor Swift was there too, for Travis Kelsey, which I don't even know if you mentioned, but obviously Taylor Swift was there. The dude that plays Kendall Roy from what the hell's the show, HBO show succession, he was there. And the jets tweeted out, the eldest son is in the building, and somebody tweeted back to him and said, it's just such a Kendall move, thinking that he could be more popular than Taylor Swift at the event.
[00:47:23] Speaker B: Yeah, I just don't know what's going on there. I mean, I think it's only a matter of time before Andy Reid tries to rein this thing in, because I think it was a huge distraction for that team last night. Every time there was a playmate on the field, it was like all the attention went up to see what Taylor was doing in the box.
[00:47:41] Speaker C: It's so annoying watching the Chiefs play right now, and I just don't understand.
[00:47:44] Speaker B: Because, look, I like Taylor Swift. I don't have a problem with Taylor Swift, and she is a big star in her own right, but is she the biggest star on the planet all of a sudden? Is she the biggest star? Apparently, because they'd carry Underwood on last week forbe and they were kind of running her around through the back and showing her how the sausage is made, and it was kind of like no one really cared. She was there. She was up in the box and hanging out, but they panned her once or twice, and that was it. Taylor Swift's in the box. And all of a sudden I'm watching just the Taylor Swift cast.
[00:48:14] Speaker C: Yeah, like I said, it's really annoying watching Chiefs games right now because you just want to watch the game. And I feel like they spend more time with the camera on Taylor Swift than they do on the actual football game.
[00:48:28] Speaker B: To your point last week about was this is a ruse? I don't know that it was a ruse, but the numbers coming back on, people are fired up about this followers and stuff. On Travis Kelsey's podcast, up 400% sales, I'm seeing a bunch of 87 jerseys purchased with Swifties on the back.
He's like the leading jersey sealer in the NFL all of a sudden.
Yeah, I mean, it's something there's definitely a Taylor Swift effect here.
[00:48:52] Speaker C: I try to tell you, it might be a ruse. But anyways, next up here, CJ. Stroud continues to dominate. He has now thrown for 1212 yards through his first four games. That's the second most by a rookie in his first four games in NFL history. Andrew Luck is third. That's who he passed. And only Cam Newton has more in his first four games.
[00:49:14] Speaker B: Looks, he looks really good. And I've said all year about this Houston Texans team, I think they're going to do better than people anticipated. I think they have a lot of good young talent there. And if CJ Stroud continues to play like this, they're going to win a number of games. This mean they weren't a shit conference, so who knows, anything's possible, I guess.
But yeah, he looked really good. Which again, we knew that coming out. We both expected and picked him to be the first pick in the draft. And we're surprised when he wasn't. He seemed like the most NFL ready. He had the best body, had the best skill set.
[00:49:43] Speaker C: He's just got the best mind, too. He just studies and studies and studies. The dude knows.
[00:49:49] Speaker B: Smart kid, and I just think good on him. We'll continue to watch and be impressed. And sometimes it's like, man, if we just had CJ. Stroud.
[00:50:00] Speaker C: Yeah, to that point I was going to say I think CJ stroud, I know it's only been four games, but I would legitimately put him as a top ten quarterback in the NFL right now.
[00:50:14] Speaker B: Sure, right now the NFL is like you said, it's been so weird this year with the blowouts and then the blow ins. I don't know what you call that.
[00:50:22] Speaker C: If you're blow in.
[00:50:23] Speaker B: What's the opposite of the blowout? If you got blown out? If you were the blowouters, there's so much blowing blowing right now. But yeah, I just think it's been weird. I mean, you watch the Dolphins go from 70 points the week before to getting just their asses sniffed by Buffalo.
[00:50:39] Speaker C: It was 70 to 20 in favor of the Dolphins last week, and this week they lost 38 to 20 or 48 20.
[00:50:47] Speaker B: I mean, it got hard 48 to 20. So, yeah, it's just a bizarre year for quarterbacks in general and for the league in general. But yeah, I don't have a problem seeing CJ. Strat. I would say he's probably top twelve because there's probably somebody we're not thinking about that's playing better than we think.
[00:51:00] Speaker C: I'm putting him top ten, but yeah.
[00:51:02] Speaker B: Top 1012 does not stretch right now. I mean, hell, it's over 1200 yards already.
[00:51:06] Speaker C: Yeah. Next up, though, Khalil Mac had a career day with six sacks against the Raiders. Yeah, you heard that, six sacks. So I bet the raiders are wishing they still had Khalil Mac.
[00:51:16] Speaker B: I about shit a duck when they said six sacks last night. I was like, Jesus Christo.
[00:51:23] Speaker C: That's the game you want to be in a fantasy league that has IDP. Yeah, that's the only time, you're like, oh, my gosh, he gave me so many points.
[00:51:32] Speaker B: Yeah, impressive. Impressive.
It was weird. He's bounced around quite a bit, can't seem to find a home.
[00:51:38] Speaker C: And he's still I think it's because he's expensive.
[00:51:41] Speaker B: Still one of the premier pass rushers in the um.
[00:51:44] Speaker C: And then Derek Henry threw for a passing touchdown in their game against the Bengals this week.
[00:51:51] Speaker B: I'm glad he did that because he's not a very good running back anymore. He had actually a good game running the ball this week. But I think he's I don't I.
[00:51:57] Speaker C: Don'T think he's what he once was, but we'll see as this season goes on. He's one of the few lead backs that's still actually playing right now.
But anyway, so he threw a touchdown pass in this game right on his career passing. He is seven of eight with four touchdowns.
[00:52:16] Speaker B: Maybe the Browns just shine him to be their backup.
[00:52:18] Speaker C: So, I mean, is he QB one? I don't know.
And then finally, in around the League, the Broncos. I know I like to shit on Russell Wilson, but the Broncos come back from a 28 to seven deficit after Sean Payton cut his sleeves off and they beat the Bears 31 28.
[00:52:36] Speaker B: Nice.
[00:52:37] Speaker C: Did you see this at all?
He literally grabbed a pair of scissors on the sideline and there was, like, elastic around the arms of his shirt, and he just cut it off and threw them on the ground. And from that point forward, they dominated.
[00:52:49] Speaker B: I did not see him cut his sleeves off, but I did see him come back in incredible deficit.
[00:52:54] Speaker C: Yeah, it was wild, but that'll do it for around the League. And that'll take us to the burning of a sports guest.
[00:52:59] Speaker B: Hot take hotline.
[00:53:04] Speaker C: Don't forget to call and leave your hot takes on the hot take hotline. Remember, these are hot takes. We want hot takes. We want hot takes. We want hot takes. We want hot takes. 3302-2780-8033-0227-8080-3302-278 operators are not standing by because just answering machine, but we want to put you on the air. And so it's that time again, Kenny. You know what time it is?
[00:53:35] Speaker B: Time for an obscene profit break.
[00:53:36] Speaker C: Hell yes. Let's take a quick revenue break and then get back here and talk with Anthony Piscazi from Topath Distillery.
[00:53:43] Speaker B: Dope.
[00:53:53] Speaker C: Topath distillery. Topath Distillery. An award winning craft distillery located in Akron, Ohio, topath Distillery focuses on high quality spirits carefully made in small batches. Topaz lineup includes an ultra smooth, award winning premium vodka, a small batch silver rum made from the highest grade molasses, an American craft gin made with nine botanicals, and a blended straight bourbon made from corn and rye. Topath Distillery. Now available locally and in 46 states. Visit Topathdistillery.com to place your order online or find an Ohlq retailer near you. Topath Distillery handcrafted award winning, small batch, local and family owned all Cleveland Coffee. All Cleveland Coffee is a coffee company that launched. Earlier this year in Cleveland, as the name would suggest. Founded by Browns legend and hall of Famer Joe Thomas and six time Heavyweight Champion of the World in the UFC, steve Miocic, along with a team of several other brilliant Clevelanders All Cleveland Coffee, is on a mission to give 1 million meals back to the community through an official partnership with the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. How will they do this, you ask? With every bag purchased, three meals get donated to the food bank. It's such an awesome idea. A bunch of great individuals are involved, and the result is the best coffee in Cleveland, bar none. It comes in three roasts light, medium, and dark. And the dark is what Joe Thomas drinks every morning. And that's what I drink as well. Kenny, what do you like?
[00:55:21] Speaker B: I'm a medium roast guy, my friend.
[00:55:23] Speaker C: He's a medium roast guy. All cleveland coffee. Visit All Cleveland.com today to order your coffee and donate a few meals in the process. All Cleveland Coffee ethically sourced, premium roasted, and three meals donated for every bag purchased.
[00:55:39] Speaker B: Nice.
[00:55:41] Speaker C: Okay, since the Browns are on their bye week this week, we wanted to take a moment to highlight one of our sponsors and talk with them about what they do and obviously about what their thoughts are on the Browns so far this season and how they'll fare after the bye.
[00:55:56] Speaker B: It was just a great time for a bisexual joke, but it's fine.
[00:55:59] Speaker C: Bye bye. Bye. Bye. Bye bye. I went NSYNC. I don't know.
[00:56:04] Speaker B: Okay.
Bisexuals powered by Riverside FM.
[00:56:36] Speaker C: All right, so our next guest is the owner of Topath Distillery, located inside the Merchant Tavern in Merriman Valley, Akron, Ohio. Let's welcome Anthony Piscazi. Anthony, how are you?
[00:56:47] Speaker D: I'm great, guys. Great to be here. Thanks for having yeah, yeah.
[00:56:52] Speaker C: Thanks for joining us. Really appreciate it. We know time is money, so we appreciate you taking some time out of your busy schedule to chat with us a little bit here. So I guess first things first. Tell us a little bit about Topath Distillery.
[00:57:06] Speaker D: Okay. Yeah. So we are a very small distillery, still pretty new to the game. We're only about a couple of years old, but we really focus on handcrafted small batch spirits, trying to really put out a very high quality product with our own unique signature on. So just in the two short years, we've done four core products and some one offs, so we've had a lot of fun with it. And a lot of.
[00:57:42] Speaker C: I know it seems like all distilleries all across the United States and really the world have kind of their family history tied into the story of the distillery. Is there some sort of family history that you guys have that helped create what is Topath Distillery?
[00:57:59] Speaker D: Yeah, we have a lot of family history and dating back to the early 19 hundreds. My great grandfather on my father's side was an Italian immigrant from Southern Italy, and he was so poor, he had to stow away on the boat to get here. So he was just looking for opportunity, looking for a way to start his life and make something for the next generations. And when he got through Ellis Island, he took whatever job he could, and the dad job ended up in Akron. That was on the railroad, and the job was over. And that's kind of how he got there.
He did whatever he had to.
He was scraping pennies together so much that he wouldn't even walk in his nice shoes because he didn't want to scuff them up for interviews. That's how poor this guy was. So when Prohibition hit a few years after he got to the United States and got to Akron, a buddy of his back from Italy was in town and lived here, and they started bootlegging. And I heard these stories my entire mean, you know, here's a guy that's got to provide, and what better opportunity than the government just gave you than to provide to fill a need, right? The demand is there. There was no supply, so let's supply it.
I heard these stories growing up my entire life.
Most of them, I think, are true, but it's been almost do you have.
[00:59:36] Speaker C: A favorite one that you could give us real quick?
[00:59:40] Speaker D: There's some good ones, actually. If you go to our Instagram, my grandfather's on there, and he does kind of little short clips telling some of these stories. But one of the ones that I.
[00:59:51] Speaker C: Always thought, what's the Instagram handle? Throw that out there.
[00:59:54] Speaker D: Topath Distillery.
At Topath distillery. He tells a lot of good ones, but one of so when you're bootlegging, your competitors are probably organized criminals, and that was not what my grandfather was. His partner was actually a bail bondsman, and so they were rivals to the organized crime families. And the only reason that those crime families didn't take out my great grandfather and his buddy is because Whiskey Dick, the bail bondsman, had all the ties to keep those guys out of jail, too, so they kind of needed them. So the one story my grandfather likes to tell is they had a still out in Orville. And back then, you were using sugar to ferment and distill, and sugar was one cents cheaper per pound on the open market. And back then, that was a lot of money than if you bought it from the crime syndicates. Well, trying to save some money, make some more profit, whiskey Dick bought the sugar from the open market for a penny less per pound. My grandfather goes out to Orville to light up the still, and the entire barn explodes. They had filled the still with gasoline and obliterated the entire building. Luckily, he survived. He was unconscious for a few hours, made his way to a phone, calls Whiskey Dick, and tells him what happened. And all Whiskey Dick could say is, damn, I guess I bought the sugar from the wrong guys and that was it.
[01:01:30] Speaker C: There's not much you could do, right? What, do you guys are all just bootlegging alcohol out in the back woods somewhere? I mean, what can you do?
[01:01:38] Speaker D: There's no cell phones. There's none of that. Yeah, you just lay in the grass till you wake up and happy you're alive. And then you buy your sugar from the crime guys, from the crime syndicates from now on.
[01:01:48] Speaker C: Yeah. It kind of makes you appreciate how easy we have it these days. We're not there having a bootleg to make a living and worrying about our entire barn blowing up with us in it.
[01:02:00] Speaker D: Yeah.
[01:02:01] Speaker B: So what about the name Topath itself? Because I know, obviously that through Maryland Valley, like, the Topath runs was that a big part of the distribution network?
[01:02:09] Speaker D: So Topath the name itself comes I think it touches on a lot of things. Our pride in where we're from, the Topath was integral to industry in Northeast Ohio, especially the Akron area. And without know, the rubber factories probably wouldn't have been able to get their workers to and from and move their goods.
It's not just our community, but a lot of Industrial Revolution communities throughout the Great Lakes area. So we felt like it was local, but not hyper local. But yes, that tow path was part of their distribution network back in the day. They did use the canals. I mean, you used whatever you could anywhere you could hide the booze. And it also runs directly across the street from our distillery, so you can see it out of the front window and it actually leads down into what would be known as, I guess, Elizabeth Park in Akron. But that's where my great grandfather, after Prohibition, he opened up a bar there and it was right on the topaz. So you could walk from our distillery or I guess hike or bike from our distillery to his bar, which I thought was a pretty cool tie into.
[01:03:23] Speaker C: Nice.
[01:03:23] Speaker B: Very much so.
[01:03:24] Speaker C: Yeah. And so I heard you mention earlier in the interview the core four of your products. Can you tell us about the core four?
[01:03:33] Speaker D: Yeah, so we started with vodka. Vodka is obviously the most well, actually vodka and bourbon. Vodka and bourbon are the two most popular spirits in this country. Tequila is right behind it. But we started with vodka being in the Midwest.
Well, okay, let me back up. Vodka can be made from anything as long as it's distilled at 190 proof or 95% alcohol or higher.
So anything you can ferment, grapes, potatoes, grain, corn. And being in the Midwest, corn is abundant. I mean, if you get like half a mile outside the city and that's all, you know, we use corn and we use some Ohio fruit as the beginnings of part of our plan to work with Ohio farmers down the road. We want to build those relationships to get into our whiskey program again, using corn as a base, but some other grains. Something really cool in the industry is the use of native grains or ancient grains. So you've got distillers out there actually researching and finding old grains that were grown, say in Kentucky 2300 years ago when bootlegging was happening in the backwoods or moonshine was being made in the backwoods, and they're literally using whatever's around them.
So it's some really cool stuff. There's some other distilleries in Ohio that have experimented with Ohio grains and with something we want to do down the road.
But starting with the Vodkuts corn, a little bit of Ohio fruit, it's distilled a minimum of six times. Our goal here is to make the cleanest, smoothest vodka that you will ever see. And we've done a pretty good job with, if I have to say so.
[01:05:24] Speaker C: We I will say I don't like vodka, typically, but I have had your vodka and it is one of the only vodkas that I can drink straight. And I don't make a funny face when I do it. That's good.
[01:05:36] Speaker D: That's what we like. It makes a great martini, so we're very proud of that one. It's approachable. It's for somebody who isn't really into craft spirits and doesn't really understand or care about the nuances of the different styles of other spirits, this is a great one to give them. If you want to offer something local as a gift or bring it to a party, the vodka is a winner. We also do going on to the bourbon. So our bourbons, this particular one that we have got a good amount of rye, but it's mostly corn.
It's the first in a series of different styles and different mash bills that we're going to be working with and experimenting with.
But it's pretty solid. It's a little bit higher proof at 94. Without being getting into cask strength or anything like that. It stays and drinks very smooth. It's one of my favorites.
Maybe a little biased mine, but we're proud of it.
[01:06:36] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:06:38] Speaker D: And then we do a lot of experimenting with rum. We bring in the highest grade molasses we can. We produce a pot still silver rum, which is not something you see too often in the craft spirits world.
It takes a good amount of skill to get that right. Usually your silver rums are distilled at such a high proof that they're borderline vodka and they leave a little bit of residual character. We do not allow our rum to come out of the still at more than like 85%, so we keep a lot of character there. We love it. It's not your rum and coke type of rum. This is made for your good Caribbean cocktails and Mai tais and Mojitos and whatever. So we like that. And then our distiller, David, he's a winemaker, he was in Napa for a long time. So we kind of took a winemaker's approach to the gin, where we micro distilled each different botanical and then started blending like you would a wine until we built a flavor profile that we really enjoyed. And this one's got kind of an American style to it, meaning it's juniper medium, good citrus, backbone. And then we've got layers of spice that just kind of go through. So that's our core four and all are unique. The one I think characteristic throughout them all that is kind of our signature is they're all clean, they're all very smooth, and they're all balanced. When you drink them, you can tell they're well crafted. Maybe it's not your personal choice when it comes to style. Whether you don't like a lot of rye in your bourbon or you like a more herbaceous gin, you will appreciate the craftsmanship there. Yeah, that's our yeah.
[01:08:24] Speaker C: And I will say with the gin, that's another one. Again, not a big gin fan. I usually taste like pine needles. Don't like that. That's that juniper forward that I'm sure you're talking about. But this one is very well balanced and very approachable, like you mentioned.
[01:08:40] Speaker D: Yeah, thanks. We worked hard on can you talk.
[01:08:44] Speaker B: A little bit about just the challenges of being a small business owner and a small craft distillery in terms of distribution? It's not quite as simple as if I was an artisan making backpacks and I can just sell them on Amazon. Can you talk about just how your product gets where it gets?
[01:09:01] Speaker D: Yeah. So one of the big challenges goes back to Prohibition.
When Prohibition was repealed, states, it was left up to the states to make their individual regulations, laws, rules, whatever you want to call it. And quite a few of them, I can't remember how many originally, but still, I think 17 of them are what are called liquor control states, meaning they control everything we're allowed to manufacture. We get a license to manufacture. We can manufacture in Ohio, a license to sell it in Ohio separate. So we go through the state of Ohio for our distribution in this state, meaning it's our responsibility to get it out into the marketplace to bars and restaurants. They then purchase it from the state of Ohio through their agency. So when you walk into your local Chine Eagle and they have a high proof spirit section where you're buying your vodkas and your gins, you're actually buying it from the state of Ohio, which we've already sold it to. So there's pros and cons to that. And again, every state's a little different. But if you are in Ohio and you are outside, you don't want to come to the distillery, you can go to our website. You can go to the state of Ohio's. OHLQ.com, you can find an agency that's close to you or closest to you that carries those spirits.
Unfortunately, and this is something we're working on and a lot of other distilleries in Ohio are working on. We cannot ship in Ohio, but I do think that'll change here in the next year or two. But if you are outside of Ohio, you can go directly to our website as well.
As long as you're in one of 44 states, you can buy directly from us and we can get it to you. So if you haven't done that, please do, because we got some great stuff.
[01:10:50] Speaker C: And I know that was a big deal was that earlier this year that you guys signed on with? What's the company that does that for you?
[01:10:57] Speaker D: So going back to I mentioned about Amazon, these guys actually came from Amazon. They started a company called Tipsy Tipxy and they do have a site where they retail through that site or e tail through that site. But what they really like to do is integrate and do order fulfillment for the small distilleries like us. We actually got in contact with them or they reached out to us because we had won every single one of our spirits won gold, silver or bronze or best in category earlier this year at a big international spirits competition. So it was a great opportunity and we had to jump on it because it allows us I mean, northeast Ohio is like what the most moved from area in the country. So there's a lot of people that don't live here that probably want a little taste of something from back lot.
[01:11:48] Speaker C: A lot of transplants coming out of Akron, Ohio.
No, but speaking, I know you talked about your core four and how you can get those. Do you guys also do any sort of seasonal releases or specialty type spirits?
[01:12:06] Speaker D: Yeah, so we are just at the beginning of that and last year we had a lot of success with a couple of products.
The biggest one I think that was most well widely received was a spice drum that was spiced with the spices of the holiday season, meaning it smells and tastes like Christmas cookies. It's the base of a cocktail, like an eggnog that gives it all that flavor without having to buy an artificially flavored one off the shelf.
But it is a spiced rum. So you can do all the things you want to do with a regular spiced rum. But it's great for the holiday season. We had to bring that back that was so well received. So that will be at the distillery and I think three or four stores. Again, check our website or check OHLQ.com for that.
That will be the first holiday release. We also have a bringing back again, batch number two. We took a single barrel bourbon, finished it in a red wine barrel, kind of blending some family traditions. My grandfather has been making wine for, well, probably before I was born. And I've been working with him learning and just really just enjoying spending time with my grandfather and also drinking a lot of wine for like, the last 15 years. So it's been fun. So I thought this would be really cool. You see bourbon out in the marketplace, finished in all kinds of things, sherry cask, Madeira cask.
Some are really great and we thought we'd kind of give it a shot. So we took last year, we took wine barrel, finished a bourbon in that there was about 282 bottles, I think went to market.
We are doing that again, we tried something a little bit different.
We again used a wine barrel, a French oak wine barrel, but we are using a 30 gallon cask. And the experiment there was to see kind of how to change in ratio from volume to oak contact would impact that final product overall. And I'll tell you what, this is phenomenal. Last year's was great. This one's really good, but there's probably only going to be about 130 bottles, so it should go fast. But I'm excited to see the difference. So that'll also be available this holiday season and then something that is really cool. Again, going back to kind of a winemaker's technique, we're releasing a winter gin. And that winter gin is stylistically night and day from our core, four gin.
Some people think winter gin and they think pine trees and real heavy juniper, which you would hate.
That's not where we went with this.
We decided to kind of make it feel like more of a warm not warm as in alcohol burn, but warm as in comforting style. And we used cooking techniques to do that, meaning we researched botanicals that you would use in winter recipes like rosemary nutmeg, like bergamot, which is an Earl Grey tea. And the end result is like this really well balanced, round kind of winter walk in the park. It's really cool. So for gin lovers, it'll be a deviation, but if they're open minded, I think they're going to love it. It's going to be awesome. So those are the three we're doing.
[01:15:43] Speaker C: You guys are basically like, go ahead.
[01:15:49] Speaker D: No, those are the three we're doing right now. Our plan long term to go back to your original question is yeah, I mean, what's one of the cool things about the great microbreweries out there is they've got a seasonal release all year round in the spirits industry. The wine industry, you can't really do that. The beer industry, you absolutely can. The spirits industry, you absolutely can do that as well. And I think it's going to be something that you're going to see more of and we're going to really embrace where we can do some fun stuff year round. So this is just kind of the beginning of that.
[01:16:23] Speaker C: So you guys are mad scientists. You guys are just like, you're talking about all the stuff you're doing and it's way over my head. I have no idea what the hell you're saying, but am I getting too nerdy?
No, you're good. This is all fantastic. It goes to show our listeners it's more than just throwing some stuff together and here's a new spirit for you. It's a lot more to it and there's a lot of research and a lot of technique and whatever else that goes into this that sets you guys apart from a lot of other distilleries.
[01:17:00] Speaker B: I think that's small batch piece, right?
[01:17:03] Speaker D: Yeah, you see it on a lot of big brands out there, handcrafted small batches. Not to say they aren't, but I mean, this is really each batch is we pay very close attention to everything and we're right there smelling, tasting to make sure that the quality is there. And it's one of the cool things I think was going to come out of this kind of small craft distillery movement that you're going to see more and more people like Topath or other more of our peers in. Ohio making some really great stuff that's all unique and fun, and you'll be able to tell when you taste it that, hey, this is thought out. This is incredible. And you're not going to get it anywhere else.
[01:17:43] Speaker C: Nice.
[01:17:43] Speaker B: I will say the Red Wine Barrel was a favorite of mine last year. I bought that for my boss for Christmas and I'm still employed, so that's good.
He seemed to like that. But with something like that, there's a limited release that came out so well. How do you just keep from getting high on your own supply? Just take 20 of those bottles in a limited release and smuggle them for yourselves.
[01:18:04] Speaker D: I told you there was 302 made and 282 released.
[01:18:10] Speaker C: The answer there.
With that, with all these the three releases that are coming up here soon, is there any sort of event or anything like that that you guys are doing in order to promote that funny you should ask.
[01:18:24] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:18:25] Speaker D: The second annual sip. The season event is on November 5 at the Merchant Tavern. Tickets are available on our website or through the Merchant Taverns reservation site.
But yeah, so the Sip the Season event is the we first offer the tickets to people on our mailing list, which if you're not on our mailing list, I would suggest going to Topathdistillery.com and signing up. We will not harass you. We just want to give you information and more importantly, first access to the cool stuff that we do. But we're going to offer tickets to those people first, which we did last week, and I believe now they're open to the public. It's $40. It's a great event. $40 gets you drink tickets or D'oeuvres throughout the three or 4 hours of the event. There'll be some music, but it's just a fun time. It's a great way. Halloween is over at that point. It's like, let's ease into the holiday season.
We've got some signature cocktails that we gear around the stuff we're releasing. Then you'll have the first chance to grab it and last year. I think we sold about half of the wine barrel bourbon that day and since we're making half of what we made last year, there's a good chance it goes away that day. So whether you are a craft spirit aficionado or not, it's still a fun event. So I definitely would recommend checking it out. And that type of event is something we want to, as we build up our seasonal offerings, do at least two or three times a year, maybe even quarterly as time goes on because they're fun.
All that hard work and research and science that goes into it should result in a kick ass party.
[01:20:05] Speaker C: Right.
It sounds like just with everything you guys are doing, everything is well thought out. Sounds like you're on the right track.
I know every spirit of yours that I've tried so far has been pretty fantastic.
So congratulations there. As far as the first steps in your distillery, I know you said you're only a couple of years old, so continue growing, continue doing good things and obviously we love having you as an official sponsor of the Burning River Sportscast. So we really appreciate it. And I guess being the Burning River sportscast, we are a Browns podcast. So before we end this interview, I want to ask you how do you feel about the Browns so far this season? It's been kind of up and down. You got any thoughts?
[01:20:53] Speaker D: I'm a huge roller coaster fan so it's been good. So know Cedar point I go to a lot. This is great. No, I'm still very optimistic the defense, we had three outstanding games on defense. You're not going to do that every week in the NFL.
It's early in the season.
With the preseason the way it is now, it takes teams offenses a few weeks to get going and we're hitting that period right now.
I think we got all the talent in the world on that side of the ball. I think the coaches, the change in defensive coordinator was absolutely the right move and I think they got the right mean. You know, nick Chubb, come on, man. Like he just lost.
[01:21:41] Speaker C: Most devastating thing that's ever happened to the Cleveland Browns, I think. Yeah, maybe it's up there with maybe.
[01:21:46] Speaker D: Even them moving to I.
Dude, that was a bad man. I it was funny. My son, I picked him up to go to flag football and he's like, dad, I scraped my knee on the playground. Then the kids are saying it's as bad as Nick Chubbs. And I'm like, no, bud, you're still mean. That's a huge blow. I love that they brought Kareem back.
Whether that translates into a talent know, I don't know. But I think it was a nice shot in the arm for the team at the time because here's a guy that they know that knows the system.
He was right there. He's ready. So I think for a morale point, or morale position. It was a great move. I hope he kicks ass this year because he's a beast when he's on top of it. But yeah, I guess what I'm getting at is I don't know about that offense. I think we have, again, all the talent in the world, but not to know. I think they're going to have a great season. I think Stefanski might be in his own way sometimes the fact that he.
[01:22:57] Speaker C: Did not huge proponents of that on the show. We actually call him Stefanik because we.
[01:23:01] Speaker D: Don'T respect well, you know, he didn't respect the Ravens enough to change the game plan and look how that turned out.
[01:23:10] Speaker C: Yeah, exactly.
[01:23:11] Speaker D: I mean, you got a fifth round kid who's very talented in DTR, but come on, man, it's his first start against the Ravens defense. So you couldn't change anything.
[01:23:25] Speaker C: Out there.
[01:23:25] Speaker D: Throwing just, you know, forgot which color jersey you, uh I don't know, man. I don't think he adjusts.
Know, going back to that Kansas City game years ago in the playoffs, he did not adjust well in the second half, and I don't think he ever has since then. It's always been my fear with him, and the fact that he's still calling plays just blows my mind.
I think the Browns, talent wise, they're good enough to finish 500.
Even with Stefancy getting away. If he can even just begin to get his head around how to coach this team, they should make the playoffs this year. But I don't know, I think he's their biggest problem.
[01:24:09] Speaker C: Yeah, we're probably right there with you, Kevin. Stefanik pisses us off week in and week.
Just it's like you're, uh, he gets in his own way because he tries to be the smartest guy in the room and the only person he outsmarts is himself.
[01:24:26] Speaker D: Yeah. Too often.
[01:24:28] Speaker C: Pretty frustrating to watch, I don't know, at least two or three times a game.
[01:24:35] Speaker D: Yeah.
I actually am rooting for him, though, because the last thing I want to see is a coaching change.
Then everything changes, right? You got a new offensive coordinator, new defensive coordinator, new scheme, new this. I didn't draft that guy, so this guy's got to go. The whole thing.
I'm really pulling for him, but we'll see. I don't know.
We've been building for this team for what, five years now? Well, it's here. We got to make the playoffs and we got to make a run.
[01:25:07] Speaker C: Our window is small.
[01:25:09] Speaker D: Yeah, for sure. But I'm still optimistic.
We lost last week, so that means the roller coaster should be going back up, right?
[01:25:18] Speaker B: Right.
[01:25:19] Speaker C: Well, except it's a by week this week. So does that mean that we skip our win and we lose again coming.
[01:25:23] Speaker B: Out of the scorch?
[01:25:27] Speaker D: It is the 49 ers, so you never know.
[01:25:31] Speaker C: Yeah, no, but hey, Anthony, it's been really great talking with you. We really appreciate you coming on, giving our listeners an inside look at. What Topath Distillery is, what you guys are all about and everything that you're doing over there. We'd love to have you again in the just we just really appreciate your time.
[01:25:50] Speaker B: More than an inside look, that was a whole education on spirits.
[01:25:53] Speaker C: Now I know how it's all made. I'm going to go make my own.
[01:25:58] Speaker B: Having you.
[01:26:00] Speaker D: Yeah, I appreciate it. Thanks for having me. It's been great. If you guys ever do a show from the distillery, we'll give you the educational tour after because you have to drink.
I'm sorry. Sample.
[01:26:13] Speaker C: Yeah.
[01:26:14] Speaker B: Love it.
[01:26:15] Speaker C: Awesome. Well, Anthony, thank you so much.
[01:26:17] Speaker D: Awesome. Thank you.
I'm Anthony Piscazzi with Topass Distillery and you're listening to Burning River Sportscast.
[01:26:48] Speaker C: Wow. It was great speaking with huh?
[01:26:51] Speaker B: Anthony's my dude.
[01:26:53] Speaker C: He is.
[01:26:54] Speaker B: Yeah, we just get all hopped up on the red wine barrel together.
[01:26:57] Speaker C: Hell yes. It is pretty crazy how complex spirit production is.
[01:27:02] Speaker B: Um, when he was talking, it reminded me of like having the chemical, the chemistry set, like as a child, the one you could eat, what was it, like Dr. Dredd or something that you could make brains and it was all.
[01:27:13] Speaker C: Like gummies and stuff that you made to eat?
[01:27:14] Speaker B: Yeah, he's just like in a kitchen with some maestro of botanicals and they're just like cooking like fruit and maestro of botanicals.
[01:27:24] Speaker C: Get in the kitchen. We need to cook something up.
[01:27:27] Speaker B: They're like, what does this taste like? That's not good. This one's good. Let's write that down.
[01:27:32] Speaker C: Write that down.
No. And I can't wait to do a show from the distillery.
[01:27:36] Speaker B: Yeah, that'll be very cool.
[01:27:37] Speaker C: Yeah, we're going to do that.
[01:27:39] Speaker B: Especially because we can try all the spirits.
[01:27:42] Speaker C: That's the best.
And there is no week five game for the Browns. So that'll take us to King of the north again. In case anyone doesn't know by now, this is our year long AFC North pick'em competition. At the end of the season, whoever comes in last place gets punished in the offseason this year, Kenny had a gross of eggs thrown at him by fans in the muni lot before a preseason.
[01:28:14] Speaker B: Whole gross.
[01:28:15] Speaker C: How did it feel?
[01:28:16] Speaker B: Felt like 144 eggs hitting me.
[01:28:19] Speaker C: Did it hurt?
[01:28:20] Speaker B: Quite a bit, yeah.
[01:28:21] Speaker C: How many days before you can move again?
[01:28:22] Speaker B: More than I thought it would. And it took me basically a whole weekend to recover.
[01:28:26] Speaker C: Nice.
[01:28:27] Speaker B: And most of the people that threw were kids.
[01:28:30] Speaker C: And so we haven't figured out what the punishment for this year is yet, but we are quickly narrowing that down and we'll let you guys know as.
[01:28:37] Speaker B: Soon as and we'll take suggestions.
[01:28:39] Speaker C: Yes. So here we go. As we mentioned earlier in the show, we all did awful this past week. Let's remind everyone of the records before we make our picks for the upcoming week. I am five and seven. Kenny is four and eight and Bone Man is also at five and seven. So Kenny you suck.
[01:28:56] Speaker B: Thank you.
[01:28:58] Speaker C: But what I gather from all this, from our record so far, is that we aren't very good at this.
Everybody's under 500.
[01:29:05] Speaker B: We are on the struggle bus.
[01:29:06] Speaker C: Yeah. So let's get into this week's games. Baltimore heads into Pittsburgh to play the Steelers this week. I will go ahead and start. I've got the Ravens this week.
I think that the Steelers are ass.
I think it's going to happen. I think this is legitimately. The first season Mike Tomlin finishes under 500. Not that the Ravens the Ravens didn't blow me away this past week even though they blew us out, but I.
[01:29:30] Speaker B: Just a lot of blowing.
[01:29:32] Speaker C: Yeah, so much blowing. But I think the Ravens are a better team than the Steelers.
[01:29:36] Speaker B: Pittsburgh is ass for sure. And this Ravens team apparently is the class of the north. So how can you pick against Baltimore this week?
[01:29:46] Speaker C: It's weird. We're usually in one of the toughest divisions, but I think this year we're actually in one of the weaker divisions.
[01:29:50] Speaker B: Well, this year with Joe Burrows injury, it screwed everything up. And then Kenny Pickett being hot and cold. He hasn't really been hot and cold. He's just cold but lucky.
And with the Browns just not being able to get their shit together, it's like I guess we'll pick the Ravens every week.
[01:30:08] Speaker C: Yeah. And I'm going to go ahead and say Bone Man got caught into work. He had to go climb some poles. Is he a stripper?
[01:30:14] Speaker B: Might be.
[01:30:15] Speaker C: You guys won't know him and Paige.
[01:30:17] Speaker B: Spear nick on only Page, but we're.
[01:30:19] Speaker C: Going to give him the Ravens. I will confirm if that's who his pick actually was, but I'm assuming he was going with the Ravens in this one.
[01:30:26] Speaker B: Can we get Page on the show?
[01:30:28] Speaker C: Maybe?
[01:30:29] Speaker B: All right.
[01:30:30] Speaker C: Next up cincinnati, Arizona. The battle of the one in three teams. Just the trash bowl.
The trash bag.
[01:30:38] Speaker B: Trash Bag.
[01:30:40] Speaker C: And so I don't have any real reason why I'm going with this team. I'm just going with the Bengals. Just because I don't know.
[01:30:46] Speaker B: Look, I think until Joe Burrow is totally healthy, I think they are in trouble.
Arizona is not great, but they are at home. So I think this will be a tight game. But I think it's one that Arizona.
[01:30:58] Speaker C: Squeaks out and that one I'm not even going to attempt to pick for the Bone Man. So we'll wait till I'll get his pick before the games start this weekend and we'll update that for him next week.
[01:31:08] Speaker B: Excellent.
[01:31:10] Speaker C: Do you know what that takes us to?
[01:31:11] Speaker B: Who wins the Browns game this week?
[01:31:13] Speaker C: The Browns don't play this week.
[01:31:15] Speaker B: They're going to lose then for sure.
[01:31:16] Speaker C: It's the only way we don't lose.
But once again, call the burning of sports, guys.
Don't forget to call. Leave your hot takes. Remember, these are hot takes.
[01:31:27] Speaker B: We want to know who's to blame for the Browns. Up and down. Start who's to blame for not having DTR ready? Who's to blame for not having a quarterback that is of any substance as a backup?
Call and give us your hot takes.
[01:31:41] Speaker C: Do you think Deshaun Watson should have played?
[01:31:44] Speaker B: Do you think Deshaun Watson should still be our quarterback?
[01:31:48] Speaker C: Hot takes. Hot takes only 3302-2780-8033-0227-8080-3302-278.
Call now and be sure to check out our gear www.thetapinmedmedia.com shop. And that'll do it for us. So, Kenny, what can we expect next week?
[01:32:08] Speaker B: Next week we will get back to a deeper dive into football as we preview the week six game against the 49 Ers and probably lament a whole week of football without the Browns. We will get back to our regularly scheduled interviews with a Brownsbackers chapter.
[01:32:26] Speaker C: Who's that Brownsbackers chapter that we'll be talking to?
[01:32:29] Speaker B: We'll be talking to the Bay Area Brownsbackers in area.
You know, there's still some other cool things out in San Francisco, like crime and crime.
[01:32:41] Speaker C: Crime is up.
[01:32:42] Speaker B: And the Rock not like Dwayne Johnson, the Rocketres, but anyway, back to this. And then we'll also finish out another episode with our Cleveland Browns Fan Cruise alumni interviews with the one and only Kevin Mack.
[01:32:59] Speaker C: Kevin Mack. You know what I'm looking forward to for next week's?
[01:33:02] Speaker B: Kevin Mack.
[01:33:03] Speaker C: Well, yeah, but kevin Mack but more energy. I could feel it. I could feel it.
[01:33:09] Speaker B: Today hurts, man.
[01:33:09] Speaker C: Listeners, if you could feel it, we're sorry. It's really hard to get just excited after a Browns game like that. And we want to be excited for you. We want to have our normal energy. But that was tough.
[01:33:22] Speaker B: Today hurts.
[01:33:23] Speaker C: That was tough. There was literally not even really one good thing coming out of that game that we could be like, yeah, but we did this.
[01:33:30] Speaker B: The only thing that came out of that game that was good was the fact that we can put to rest the fact that should DTR be starting over like that's.
[01:33:37] Speaker C: The only answer is no.
[01:33:38] Speaker B: We can put that argument to bed. Finally.
[01:33:39] Speaker C: Yeah. We promise to bring more energy next week, though, because we won't have a loss that we're talking about. True. But check us out on social media. Tapin'media is on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at the Tapin'media and Burning River Sportscast. That's this podcast is on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube at Burning River Sportscast and on X at Burning River Pod. And don't forget to find our podcast wherever you get your podcast. I'm talking Apple Podcasts, spotify google Podcasts, amazon Music, stitcher pandora Heart Radio podcast, castro Good Pods and so many more. You know what it takes to kenny.
[01:34:11] Speaker B: Let'S just do some facts.
[01:34:12] Speaker C: For days. For days.
Number one, armadillos hop straight up in the air. When they're scared are bulletproof.
[01:34:41] Speaker B: Oh, it's not an invitation, it's just a fact.
[01:34:44] Speaker C: I'll give you bonus facts. When they get scared, they hop directly up into the air. Straight up in the air. About two and a half feet. That's why there's so many armadillos that get hit on the roads down south.
[01:34:54] Speaker B: Because the roads, they get scared.
[01:34:56] Speaker C: They hop straight up into your bumper.
[01:34:57] Speaker B: Oh, okay. Well, it's a good thing they're bulletproof.
[01:35:00] Speaker C: They are bulletproof.
Go on. What do you got for me next?
[01:35:04] Speaker B: My dog does that when she gets scared. Well, she doesn't roll into a ball, but she that would be neat. Jumps straight up in the air. Number two.
[01:35:11] Speaker C: Who does number two work for?
[01:35:14] Speaker B: I haven't found that sounder yet.
Scientists say that tears tell you the reason why someone was crying. So be advised the next time you're around someone that starts to tear up, if you're perceptive enough to know if the first drop comes from their right eye, it signals tears of joy. Otherwise, it's because of pain. Pain, loss of pain, loss of pain, physical, emotional, or otherwise, I will fong you.
And then this is maybe my favorite fact ever.
[01:35:51] Speaker C: Oh, boy.
[01:35:53] Speaker B: Number three. I've always said that if I was rich, my one guilty pleasure in life is when I get a new pack of socks.
[01:36:01] Speaker C: Big booty Latina woman.
[01:36:03] Speaker B: When I get a new pack of socks oh, God, the feeling of new.
[01:36:07] Speaker C: Socks on my you have always told me that if you got super rich, you would never wear a pair of socks twice.
[01:36:12] Speaker B: Never wear a pair of twice. Every time, my drawers would just be full of brand new socks, and I would never wear a pair twice if I had fu do money where I was just like, I don't care about money anymore. That's what I would do. But tonight, I may have found a new ambition.
[01:36:28] Speaker C: Okay, what is it?
[01:36:30] Speaker B: King Henry VI of England.
[01:36:33] Speaker C: I'm Henry VI. I am Henry VI next door. She's been married seven times before. Second verse, same as the first. That Henry VI.
[01:36:47] Speaker B: I literally wrote Pause for Ronnie the Singh because I knew that was going to happen.
King Henry VI of England had servants called grooms of stool.
[01:36:59] Speaker C: What does that mean?
[01:37:00] Speaker B: Those were grooms of stool. Those were people who wiped him clean after toilet time.
[01:37:06] Speaker C: Hell, yes.
That is the way I want to live.
[01:37:10] Speaker B: If you just hit somebody that you paid hourly to sit and wait for.
[01:37:13] Speaker C: You to poo yeah.
[01:37:14] Speaker B: And then they came in and just wiped you all up like a baby.
[01:37:17] Speaker C: Yeah. I don't wipe my own ass.
That would be the life.
[01:37:21] Speaker B: Yeah, that would be good. So that's my new ambition, is to make enough money.
[01:37:25] Speaker C: Somebody wipe my own nice goals, hashtag goals.
[01:37:33] Speaker B: And don't just be a part of the problem. Be the whole damn problem.
[01:37:35] Speaker C: And only you can prevent river fires.
[01:37:40] Speaker B: Burning river sports gas burning river burning river burning river burning burning river someone else wipe my ass burning river sportscast someone else wipe my ass and burning river sportscast kind of rhyme. I'm in the mimic.
[01:37:57] Speaker C: I got a gun I'm burning river sportscast. Someone else wipe my ass.
[01:38:03] Speaker B: It's time to wipe my and know that you are the grooms of Stool.
[01:38:10] Speaker C: You're the grooms of night.
[01:38:12] Speaker B: Cleveland.
[01:38:15] Speaker D: Browns fan cruise and the burning river sports cast. What better combination could you possibly think of that?
[01:38:21] Speaker C: Sounds hot. And soggy motorboat.
[01:38:24] Speaker D: You play the motorboat.
[01:38:27] Speaker B: You motorboat son of a bitch. You old sailor. You sure? Right now I don't I mean, the NFL is like you said, it's been so weird this year with the blowouts and then the blow ins. I don't know what you call that.
[01:38:39] Speaker C: If you're a blow in.
[01:38:40] Speaker B: What's the opposite of blowout? If you got blown out, if you were the blowouters, it rubs the lotion.
[01:38:46] Speaker D: On its skin or else it gets the hose again.
[01:38:53] Speaker B: River, you don't always have to.
In fact, sometimes it's not right to do.
Sometimes you got to make some love.
Can give us some smooches too. Sometimes you got to squeeze.
[01:39:11] Speaker C: Sometimes you got to say please.
[01:39:14] Speaker B: Sometimes you got to say hey, I want a cue.
Sweetly, river, we're going to believe so much that's been on YouTube.
Burning river. Burning, burning river.
[01:39:33] Speaker C: Cut us out. By the way, I want my foreskin back.
[01:39:37] Speaker D: The weather outside is weather.
[01:39:40] Speaker B: I have seen the top of the mountain and it is good.
[01:39:43] Speaker C: Big booty latina woman.
[01:39:44] Speaker B: Yeah, I love people touching me. Just touch me.
Listen, you can touch me all the time.
[01:39:54] Speaker D: Horror picture show that she said touch me.
[01:39:57] Speaker B: Touch me. What do you mean funny? Funny how? How am I funny?
[01:40:00] Speaker C: Erroneous.
[01:40:01] Speaker B: Erroneous on both counts. Wow.
[01:40:04] Speaker C: But damn.
[01:40:04] Speaker D: You know why, Mr? Because you drove a Hyundai to get here tonight.
[01:40:08] Speaker B: I drove an $80,000 BMW.
[01:40:11] Speaker A: That's my name.
[01:40:14] Speaker B: Where's logo girl when you need her?
[01:40:15] Speaker D: I desperately want to make love to a schoolboy.
[01:40:18] Speaker B: Down Joe Sanderson. Down goes Anderson.
[01:40:22] Speaker C: No way. You just straight just finger banged her salad.
[01:40:28] Speaker B: You first get shocked and then you get a shocker.
[01:40:50] Speaker C: Today's episode was brought to you by Topath Vodka. Topath Vodka. An award winning, ultra premium, extremely smooth, high quality vodka six times distilled and made from midwest corn and Ohio fruit. Clean and crisp. A truly high quality spirit. Made right here in northeast Ohio. Available locally in northeast Ohio and online in 44 states. Topath vodka.
[01:41:14] Speaker A: Hey, Browns fans.
This is your chance to join the company of some of the Browns all time greats on the first ever Browns fan cruise. Picture this for five unforgettable days, you're sailing across the beautiful Caribbean sea, reliving the Browns'greatest moments, getting autographs, snapping photos, and celebrating on the beach with your favorite Browns alumni like Josh Cribs, Webster Slaughter, Eric Metcalf, and a dozen others. Book now and take advantage of our easy budget friendly payment plans on this once in a lifetime time all inclusive cruise adventure. The clock's ticking, Browns fans. To book your cabin and for more information, visit brownsfancruise.com or call 216-284-6472.
[01:41:56] Speaker C: Today.
[01:41:57] Speaker A: Browns fan.
[01:41:58] Speaker B: Cruise.
[01:41:58] Speaker C: Where Diehard?
[01:41:59] Speaker A: Fans and Browns alumni come together for the trip of a lifetime. Don't wait. Secure your spot today and go Browns.
