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“AZTECS-LOST SEASON”
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He doesn’t have much to look back on this disappointing San Diego State football season.

He does have a vote of confidence from his Athletic Director, though his job is not in jeopardy.

He doesn’t have very many fans in the stands this late in the season.

The winning seasons are a blurred memory.  There will be no Bowl game this year.

And just ahead the opening of the Transfer Portal, the need for more NIL money from whatever alumni are left and the need to reconfigure ticket pricing, where fans feel they are being gauged for seats, parking, concessions.

Welcome to Sean Lewis’ first year as head coach at San Diego State, where they are (3-7) and have more problems in terms of credibility, fan support, and wins.

The Rocky Long-Brady Hoke era doesn’t seem that long ago, but the state of this team compared to those Aztecs teams seems light years ago.

Stunning the last home game they played drew just over 12,770 fans.  The years I broadcast Aztecs football, the Marshall Faulk era, you do remember crowds of 48-to-51,000-fans.  You do remember games with USC-UCLA-BYU-Miami.

Alot of work to be done to fix this situation.  Saturday they play at Utah State.

Lewis’ press briefing on Monday was different as the first year coach sounded off on the NCAA..the state of college football..and what he would like to see change if ‘he were king’.  It was refreshing.

Coach Sean Lewis comments:
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Still have things to play for at (3-7)
These players have a good mindset and dedicated to win

The right thing to do is play to win with these current players

Danny O’Neil-grown from learning the amount of work required to be good
Importance of decision making, learning the quickness of the game
He has done a great job first time on campus
There is no benchmark to compare him and his journey

Young wide receivers, we give them tools-rules
It’s their problem to solve
When you see kids process info..presnap…great to see these moments

Biggest progression on offense is run game
Not playing behind the chains
We are getting more explosive plays

All the older guys in this locker room give the young team the chance to learn
They show the young guys, resilience, fortitude, urgency
The competitive nature of this level means you need a commitment
It is a testament to these kids they have stayed the course.

Injury situation…speaks volumes kids battling
10-different starting offensive lineman have given what we needed
The fight of this team makes us go to the very end

Our most consistent playmakers have been on special teams
Gabe Placensia gets us points as our kicker
Our punter has been amazing..punt time..mechanics
He flips the field ..had a 1.6-punt get it out and off his foot

You have to have high character that will be tested
Easy life won’t make you better
We faced alot of adversity..unbelievable character
Great young me in the locker room..with leaders.

Utah State..they generate turnovers
Score 55-points on the road at Hawaii
Spencer Petras is dynamic big arm playmaker
They found balance to offense
Have a thousand yard rusher who can explode

Their defense takes away spaces, gets after QB, generated 5-turnovers

Commit  from our guys…to both good and bad….just improve
Part of being elite player, regardless of what is going on around team, be the best
We sell that to these kids
Let the fans see the work you have done

Mountain West Conference..had the opportunity to coach against them before
I knew the influx of new coaches would change the league
The new players in the league-made it a very good league

Kent State-where I was-a very challenging job
We flipped it with our process
Same process we will flip this too

Flipping programs bigger challenge because of NIL-Transfer Portal
We develop talent we inherited
We will recruit more talent
Grow this with our style

All across the country, everyone dealing with same thing
Landscape in college athletics, nothing changed from 1970 to 2020
Everything  changed sincd then
No one has figured it out-constantly changing

Need our rate of growth and learning be ahead of the next change

We need stability with rules
Tampering behind the scenes goes on
Signing day then free agency
Need to retain roster..and recruit

Like to find a way..when you work really hard to identify…
Want structure in place to retain your kids
Want finders fee compensate us in Group of 5 if Power 4-takes your top players
Give us fee-we go find next group of players
Living in world where teams take our players.

Transfer Portal…like 1-window time frame…change the models
Pro Sports has 1-major free agency period..we need just one too
All trying to survive
Group of 5-schools become feeder schools to Power Four

Our staff does due diligence and develops players..we should be compensated
We spend time-energy-resources…we get nothing in return if they leave
We invest in players and they leave..we should be compensated.

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Hacksaw’s Monday Bonus Podcast-1pm
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“THAT WAS A GREAT SPORTS WEEKEND”
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I told you it would happen.
Fireworks everywhere..big games that changed the NFL playoff race
The stars do what the stars do-make the difference.

I watched so much football, my eyes fell out of my head.  From what happened in Pittsburgh, to the beat you up win in Buffalo, to the QB-throwing contest in Boltville.

What a weekend:

CHARGERS-BENGALS…The opening half brought back memories of Air Coryell-Dan Fouts.  Words like laser shots..rockets..sizzle..crunch plays were all part of the first half…In the second half all I could think of was ‘Chargering’-you know-the same old-same old…What a finish the Justin Herbert heroics…Ladd McConkey’s key catches…and the TD burst from JK Dobbins.  The beaten down Bolts defense let Joe Burrow put up (356Y) passing.  He engineered 5-scoring drives in the second half alone.  But Cincinnati dug itself a big hole,unable to get TDs when they got as close as the 3-and-8 yard line and then lost because Evan McPherson pulled 48-and-53 yard field goals-wide left.  The Bolts won but the Bengals scared them.  Important win, now next week they have to repeat the fireworks when they face Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens.  The Bolts look dangerous down the stretch, sometimes it’s against the enemy, other times, dangerous to themselves.  They finally beat a good QB.

 

STEELERS-RAVENS…Hard to fathom how that could happen, but Mike Tomlin is in John Harbaugh’s head and Pittsburgh defense was all over Lamar Jackson, as the Steelers took over first place in the AFC-North.  Yes, those Steelers, who started the season with 2-veteran QBs on 1-year contracts trying to stay in the league.  And now Russell Wilson is making plays like a vintage Russell Wilson.  And the Steel Curtain defense drops the hammer on you.  And think about this, John Harbaugh is (1-8) vs Mike Tomlin, and Lamar Jackson has a (1-4) record against the Black & Gold.

BILLS-CHIEFS…It’s not that Kansas City was living on borrowed time, and yes they earned the 8-come from behind wins they got in going (9-0).  But this was Josh Allen, who is equal to most everything Patrick Mahomes can do, and he did, passing and running his team to victory, their 6th in a row, that put them in prime position to have home field advantage in the postseason.  The Chiefs could not come back against the Bills sledgehammer defense, and the Chiefs defense held their own against a very belligerent Bills offense.  We will see them in the playoff again for sure, but Sunday belonged to Buffalo.

DENVER-ATLANTA.,..You think Bo Nix has arrived as a QB?  You think Sean Paytion is coaching him up?  Compare this Broncos team, at QB, at WR, and on defense, to the Sean Payton team that gave up 70-points in a game early last year in Miami.  Nix is rock solid.  Makes plays, does not make mistakes and is almost equal in rookie status to Jayden Daniels first year in Washington.  The Falcons, well they ambush people in Atlanta, but they don’t play the same on the road, thus Kirk Cousins turnovers are magnified on the road.  Denver, may or may not be a playoff team, but the progress they have made in 1-year is really special.

On we go with 5-weeks left in the regular season.  We now know who the really good teams are.  And there are still big games left on the schedule.  What a weekend, a great NFL sports weekend.

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Hacksaw’s Great Sports Weekend Podcast
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“EAGLES FLY-EAGLES SOAR”
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It was not an artistic success.
It was more of a slugfest.
It wasn’t any 500-yard offensive day
It was take what I can get till I wear you out

But the whole nation saw the Philadelphia Eagles arrive as a srue NFC-power, washing away an ugly start to the season.

The Eagles owned the second half against a young Washington QB-Jayden Daniels in grinding out a (26-16) win, impressive because they owned the last two quarters despite being sidetracked for an entire half.

The guys wearing Green survived 3-missed kicks, 2-missed field goals.  The Eagles got stronger and stronger as the night wore on then Saquon Barkey wore out the Commanders defense with 2-huge TD runs, 23-and-39 yards.

But the game was alot closer than the scoreboard showed.  Daniels did not get rattled till late, making one errant throw for a pick.  Washington spread the field, threw to running back Austin Eckler alot, and hung in their till the final 10-minutes.

But the Eagles legacy players, led by it’s defensive front, took over the game in the second half, and Barkey did the rest enroute to an impressive (146Y) rushing night.

Dan Quinn’s Washington defense stood in here and slugged into the 4th quarter, making life hard for Philly QB-Jalen Hurts, but in the end, just too much experience, too much toughness, too much Mean Green defense for Washington to overcome.

It was not pretty, but it was a Philly win.  And a salute to Washington for playing really hard but wilting at the end.

Philadelphia looks like the Beast in the NFC-East and with the Lions established their rep for Motown Mayhem, you suddenly have two very strong looking teams in the NFC heading down the playoff stretch.

It was like old time NFL football.  Toughness-grit-big hits-big tackles-big time field position game too.

Eagles fly-Eagles soar-Eagles slugged it out in a Thursday win.
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Hacksaw’s Thursday Podcast…1pm
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“NFL–BIG WEEKEND”
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Don’t know what you are doing Sunday.
But most of the nation will be watching NFL football.
And are there important NFL games on the Menu

EAGLES-WASHINGTON…Been waiting for Philadelphia to come together and they are on the brink of dominance.  Yes Jalen Hurts-Saquon Barkley-and the WR group are explosive but the big story is the emergence of a young defensive that is is dominating games.  Been waiting to see if NFL defenses would catchup to Commanders QB-Jayden Daniels.  They have not slowed him down, he is still making players, still not turning it over.  But this is some kind of Eagles defense he will face.

CHARGERS-BENGALS..The records are really misleading.  Yes the Bolts are (6-3) but they have not played quality quarterbacks or good teams.  The Bengals may be (4-6) but that includes two 1-point losses to the Ravens and a 5-point loss to Kansas City.  Can you say throwing contest-Joe Burrow-vs-Justin Herbert?  Can you say #1 ranked Chargers defense, with injured linebackers, now must contain an explosive offense for the first time this season.  And this is the beginning of a ‘prove yourself month’ because after the Bengals, they play the Ravens-Falcons-Chiefs-Tampa in the next four games

CHIEFS-BILLS…This is a most unimpressive (9-0) Kansas City team.  It is a tight end driven offense right now because of injuries to the Chiefs receivers.  But the defense is getting tougher and tougher to score on.  But this is explosive Josh Allen.  This is a vastly improved Buffalo defense.  And this game is on the Niagara Frontier.  The Bills have 8-come from behind wins this year.  Might fall from the ranks of the unbeaten this weekend.

RAIDERS-MIAMI…Antonio Pierce is trying to save his job.  Off they are going back to mistake prone QB-Gardner Minshew again.  Tua Tagovailoa is trying to save the season, but the explosiveness of the passing game that includes Tyreek Hill-Jaylen Waddle and Odell Beckham has dealt with its own set of injuries.  So nothing seems right in South Florida, but at least its better than what is going on in Sin City.

ATLANTA-DENVER…Big game for both.  Kirk Cousins-Falcons have hit a wall.  Is the league catching up to Bo Nix?  Atlanta needs a road win to stop a slide.  Nix needs a win to keep the (5-5) Broncos in a wildcard chase.  Denver’s defense is storming.  Home field should help them.  The Falcons may be on the brink of a big time skid.

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“THE PADRES–QUESTIONS WORTH ASKING-BASEBALL”
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PADRES & MONEY…They have set records for revenue intake over the last two summers.  Does that mean a bump back up in the Padres budget, that was (169M) last season, or are they banking money to wipe out all the debt AJ Preller incurred in his early years of mistakes.  By the way, the Padres heading into the 2025 season, have raised ticket prices a combined (50%).  What will be the real payroll.

PADRES ROSTER…Big weeks of decisions coming on players they have to sign:
..Dylan Cease..due about (13.8M) in arbitration-they will have to pay it
..Michael King..likely a pay bump up to (8.5M) based on strong season
..Tanner Scott..could demand (8-to-10M) to be a closer somewhere else
..Kyle Higashioka..pay bump up to (8M) after 17HR season
..Jurickson Profar..now repped by Scott Boras-are you going to pay him (10M)?
..Jackson Merrill..Rookie of the Year season-earned 800,000..likely to get (4M)
..Luis Arraez could get (14.8M) in arbitration-but he is a singles hitter-with no position

TRADE RUMORS..White Sox starting pitcher Garrett Crochet is out there, but the Padres may not have the right combo of players to make a deal work.  Chicago sources say the White Sox don’t want Jake Cronenworth’s (10M) per year deal and the Friars may not have the right mix of top minor leaguers, aside from C-Luis Campusano,  to make a deal work.  The Mets and Red Sox seem to have the mix to do a White Sox deal.

PADRES NEEDS…A starter to replace Joe Musgrove for a full year.  The list likely starts with Randy Vasquez if you believe you can get quality starts from him without bad innings included.  AJ Preller knows pitching and how to rent it.  Names like Matt Boyd, Charley Morton, Shane Bieber and the return of Martin Perez are names to keep an eye on.

BENCH BUNCH…Rock solid seasons from Donovan Solano and David Peralta-could be revisited with a slight pay bump.  Maybe (2.5M) each to be super utilityman will lure them back here.  Other names to watch, Harrison Bader, Tyler O’Neill, Michael Taylor.

CATCHING..If Higashioka defects back to the Yankees, it might be a scramble to replace him.  Travis D’Arnaud is already gone to the Angels, Jacob Stallings, Elias Diaz, and Dan Jansen are out there.  Have to see whether or not Luis Campusano can make himself a complete receiver.

Interesting November-into-December ahead of us for the Friars.

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