Hey everybody, welcome to Fred and the Fantastics with Laura, and with Art, and I am Fred. You can email us at sportsfred@aol.com, sportsfred@aol.com, heard on BLEAV and PodClips, anything and everything in sports. I’m looking at USA Today Sports Weekly, the 22nd-rated team, according to USA Today Sports Weekly, the Atlanta Braves. Now, let’s think about this now. They have had all kinds of injuries now. They lose Schwellenbach, probably for the rest of the season if they don’t get back into the realm of things. And of course, they say the same thing. He’s gone until late August, which means he might miss the rest of the season. Art, I mean, they, and, and Michael Harris isn’t hitting a lick. They get Profar back, they got Profar back now, you know, hit a home run in his first game. But would you say that they’re probably the team that has not played up to what you thought going into the season?

Well, you know, they did start the year with Acuna on, on the pine because of his knee injury. They’ve had their share of in injuries. Stripling went down, not Stripling, but the, the right-handed pitcher that’s incredible. He got hurt, so they had their,

Strider.

Yeah, Strider. They’ve had their share of injuries and you know, depth in Major League Baseball is underrated. I mean, let’s, we were just talking about the Dodgers on Sports Overnight America. The one thing the Dodgers have is they’ve got guys that can come in and fill in. I mean the, the centerfielder Pages, what, what a great year he’s had. I mean, nobody really saw him on the horizon, you know? The catcher came up from the minor leagues, and it did a great job for a while.

Rushing,

Dalton Rushing, there you go. So, I mean, it shows to me how important that farm system is, important to scouting is, and the Dodgers have always had a great farm system. And that’s the reason I think Atlanta and Matenopoulos. He does a great job. But I don’t think they were prepared to deal with the injuries quite as much as some other teams might. In terms of having that, that real debt, that depth.

You mentioned Pages. Do you think that the ICE, ICE might pick him up? He’s from Cuba, What do you think?

The way he’s playing at centerfield, you’re not allowed, ICE isn’t allowed at Dodger Stadium. That was proven two weeks ago.

They’ll pick him up on the way. Laura, do you think they’ll pick up Pages because he’s Cuban? What do you think?

They, they’ve arrived, they’ve now, they’ve now arrested two, or two Democratic pol, three Democratic politicians, the mayor of, the mayor of Newark, I think, and a representative in Congress and a U.S. senator, so anything’s possible with this crew.

If Hakeem would’ve kept talking, I would have arrested him, too. I was getting a little tired after eight hours and thirty minutes. He kept repeating himself over and over and over, and I’m like, ahhhhh!

I’ll be honest with you, I’ve done three and four-hour talk shows, but you get breaks. To have these guys up there and talk for hours with no breaks. It’s like, unbelievable, I mean, it’s like, telling you,

What was the great movie? The great movie with Jimmy Stewart? Didn’t he play, did he play Lincoln or something like that? And he had to, he had to filibuster for hours. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

All right. Well, you can email us at sportsfred@aol.com, sportsfred@aol.com.

Fred, I got to ask you a question, what’s going on with all these athletes and women? The latest one is the first-round draft pick of the Buffalo Bills, Maxwell Hairston, a cornerback out of Kentucky. They said that he was completely cleared prior to the draft. He was drafted in the first round. Now he’s been been, you know, called out for something he did for, to a woman. And now you have Retzlaff at BYU, which is a bizarre situation. I mean, this is a Jewish kid that goes to, you know, a Latter-Day Saints University, BYU. And he signs an agreement that, you know, you can’t have, you know, any sex before marriage. And, and then she drops the charges after he says that, you know, they did have consensual sex. It’s ridiculous what’s going on in the world out there.

Laura, you’re a lawyer, what do you think? I mean, how many times somebody might be attacked and the allegations come out, and then perhaps the, the woman in this case changes their mind. Laura. What’s going on?

You know, for, for about 25 years, I volunteered at a domestic violence legal clinic when I was practicing law, and I heard a lot of stories. I didn’t, I wasn’t involved in, with the women I was involved with, there was, I was advising them with their legal rights, so they were already out of not, you know, they were done with their relationships. But I did a lot of training on domestic violence and sexual violence, and for the most part, you know this, the fact that women lie about it is really a myth. Because up until very recently, women were not believed, I mean, and women were also blamed. Oh, you know, it’s because you wore a short skirt, or you wore too much makeup, or your heels were too high. When do we know that none of that is true, that sexual assault is nothing, really, nothing to do with sex. It has to do with power and aggression, and it’s not, I mean, it’s not a sexual act, and, so when we had, when MeToo came out, you know, it was like, believe the women, and I still subscribe to that. I mean, there, like every rule, there are exceptions, and so I think you have to let the legal process play out. And you know, with the jury

For a lot of years, you know, with the Bauer situation, you know, we really felt like. And let’s be honest, that wasn’t the first time he got in trouble with his teammates and some of the things he has done. But Trevor Bauer, you know, they basically said that he was guilty, and then she recanted everything. And I mean to follow up what you say, I wonder how much of that was true, or did she get paid off?

Well? I think there is a little wrinkle when you’re talking about a big celebrity because there’s a financial issue there.

So that’s happening in college now, because these kids are making so much money.

Yeah, yeah, so there’s, there’s, you know, like we talked up on the air about greed and power and being, you know, the to, the twin dragon. So there is there, you know, we’re talking about regular people in a college situation where there isn’t a financial incentive, it really does, it really is on behalf of all of us, to believe the women. But there is, when there’s a financial incentive involved, it does muddy the waters, and I think we just need to let the system, let the court system play out, and see. Recanting is a feature of domestic violence, for sure, which is very complicated.

Because they’re afraid of what could happen down the line.

Yeah, I mean, part of domestic violence is control, forgetting about the violence part, I mean, if part of it is the control part. So women are typically, it’s typically women, and they don’t have any financial control. So if they leave, they really don’t have any financial control. And one of the things we used to talk about in the clinic is, why does the victim have to leave? I mean, why doesn’t the abuser leave? I mean, it’s just it’s a very complicated issue.

I’ve been reading a lot of the transcripts of the, the Puffy Combs trial that just recently ended. That’s some bizarre stuff going on there.

They overcharged, though.

Oh definitely.

I think they overcharged.

Definitely, definitely.

I think Jury was really smart, because I don’t, I don’t think it was a RICO, RICO case.

RICO, I mean, come on.

It wasn’t a RICO case. Yeah, it was overcharged.

All right, let’s talk. Before the break. Trevor Bauer in Japan just got dropped to the minors – two or three bad starts in a row. Thanks, Fred’s going hoarse here. Art. What do you think about Trevor Bauer?

Well, you know, he’s at that age, Fred, where, you know, a lot of pitchers, unless they, unless they learn how to pitch, instead of depending on that great stuff, I mean, I’ve watched some great pitchers over the year. Actually, over the years, you know, make that, that, that transition from a power pitcher into a real, you know, heady kind of guy that knows that the perfect getting is three quick ground balls to short. And, and I wonder if he’s, you know, depending on, you know, that fastball. And once you go from 97 down to about 93, now guys could start hitting you. And you know you, you need to learn how to get the ball inside, outside, up, down, change speeds, keep the guys off balance. And I’m wondering if, if that’s not his, his cup of tea.

And 89 miles per hour in Kershaw’s case, we’ll take a break and come back on more of Fred and the Fantastic with Laura, Art, and Fred, sportsfred@aol.com, sportsfred@aol.com. Back after this.

Everybody back on Fred in the Fantastics, Art, Laura, and Fred. You can email us at sportsfred@aol.com, sportsfred@aol.com, right here on BLEAV and PodClips.

So, what’s going on with the Lakers, Fred?

Yeah, you know, it’s interesting. They picked up Deandre Ayton, the talented kid from Arizona, but he got kicked out of 30 games for drugs at one point. Apparently, he’s horrible in the locker room. What the blank are they doing, Art? What do you think?

That was my, that was my whole question. And, and now I’m hearing they want to get rid of Reaves, you know? Now they’re thinking that, look that maybe, maybe LeBron is gonna be going. I mean, right now, the way I look at him, you know, are centers that important in the NBA anymore? The game seems to have transitioned away from, as Al McGuire called them, the old aircraft carrier in the middle. And, and I’m wondering if, you know, Deandre Ayton, he could be one of those bad guys in the clubhouse.

Laura. What do you think? You’re a big, big-time Laker fan. I’m listening to WFAN and they think LeBron’s going to the Knicks and I don’t care. They don’t want him in New York.

Mike Brown wants him, Mike Brown wants him, the new coach.

I’m not buying it, LeBron’s not going anywhere, and he’ll straighten out Ayton, or Ayton will be gone. He doesn’t put up with shenanigans, so I, I think it’s a good move. I mean, you know, we’ll see, I mean, we’ll see, but there’s, there’s, you know, he’s got some character issues, obviously, and we’ll see. He might just, you know, a lot of guys turn around when they’re with a contender. Assuming the Lakers,

Okay, let me ask you, do you think LeBron and Austin Reaves like playing with Dončić, and do you think Dončić likes playing with LeBron?

I didn’t, you know, I didn’t, I read that article, but I don’t buy that either. I think they, there wasn’t any indication last year that they had any problems. I think LeBron was a little upset with Dončić’s lack of conditioning, which came through in the playoffs.

And that’s the reason why he eventually was, was basically jettisoned out of Dallas. Because they said that around his birthday, which is in the middle of the season of February, he took like 10 days off and really had a great time. And you know, I, I know a lot of Aussies, I played a lot of golf all over the world, and they like to drink a few, few drinks, you know? And I’m wondering if he’s ever been in great shape, because the guy’s multi-talented, I mean,

He looks pretty good now. Have you seen pictures of him lately? He looks like he’s in really good,

I’m wondering if, wonder if he got a personal trainer, is my old question?

I think he got a little personal talking to by Mr. James.

It’s a messy situation here in Los Angeles with the Lakers and the fact the team was sold to Walter and company for ten billion dollars. Oh, I got, I got to throw this out. Three new teams in the WNBA, they had to pay $280 million dollars to join the WNBA, okay, $280 million. Are you ready for that?

Mark Davis paid eight million for the, for the Las Vegas Aces.

Okay, but what I’m gonna say was, let’s say, was $250 million. That means that the ten billion dollars that the Lakers were sold for 40 times over. What a new WNBA team. Art, what do you think?

I think I’d get me in a WNBA team before I get me an NBA team? I mean, I gotta tell you, I, I’d never thought I’d say this, Fred. You’d probably disagree with me, but I enjoy watching a really good at WNBA game. They play the game like the, like to me, going back to when I first watched, you know, high school basketball in the 70s and 80s, it’s a completely different game. Now. These girls are really, really talented. These women can play the game of basketball. I think fundamentally, it might even be more sound in terms of the fundamentals than men are in a lot of situations.

You know, I interviewed Casey Jones at one point years ago, and I asked him that question because he was coaching a WNBA team. Or a girls’ team. I don’t know what the league was at that point. But he hung up the phone when I asked him that question. I swear to God, Casey Jones of the Celtics. Laura. You think the WNBA plays maybe tougher defense and harder than the folks in the NBA?

I don’t know if they played tougher defense, and they, they played, I think they played basic, fundamental basketball because they’re not, you know, depending on this huge brute strength, or I don’t know. I enjoy watching the women’s game, the women’s college games last year.

Women are feisty, though. Man, they don’t, they, they don’t back down from each other. I mean, the way they have, the way they roll Caitlin Clark around that court, push her around. I’m like, Oh, my God. This is crazy.

She needs to get into the weight room.

Yeah,

Laura, 30 seconds, wrap-up. I’m looking forward to the 4th of July. And we, in my community, we have a rubber ducky race through the canals, so that’s always really fun for the kids. And, looking forward to watching, continuing to watch Wimbledon. They’re just, seeds are just dropping off like, you know, I haven’t seen anything like it.

How about the heat in Europe, you guys?

Yeah, part of it, because it’s got to be like a hundred degrees. I don’t know how you can play tennis in 100-degree weather, really. But, so yes, it should be a good sports weekend.

Art, give us your final thoughts.

I’m gonna echo what Laura said. I want to wish everybody in the United States a happy 249th birthday, and you know, I want everybody to be safe out there. Remember those fireworks? A lot of great people have hurt themselves over the years. Be careful if you’re around those things. And more, more than anything else, it is something to reflect on. And I think all of us as American citizens and people who love the country, we need to, like, look inside ourselves and see what the forefathers would want us to think right now and get back to, to taking care of each other and doing things the right way.

And final thought for me, MAGA, make America gag again, that’s it for BLEAV, BLEAV and PodClips. Fred the Fantastics. Art, Mario, Laura. Thank you guys and gals. Back with more later on BLEAV, PodClips, and Fred in the Fantastics. Bye, everybody.