SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
And now it's time for sports.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
SIMON: The Dodgers leave no doubt. An NFL mid-season review. Howard Bryant of Meadowlark Media joins us. Howard, thanks for being with us.
HOWARD BRYANT: Good morning, Scott Simon. How are you?
SIMON: I'm fine, thanks. But can't beat the Los Angeles Dodgers when it comes to being fine - 4 games to 1 of the World Series. Most of us expected an epic series, but in the end, was a little like watching Brazil versus Iceland in the World Cup.
BRYANT: I don't think you're being kind, Scott Simon. I don't know why you're - why are you being so mean? This was a great series. This might be the best five-game blowout series we've ever seen. The World Series begins with a walk-off grand slam by Freddie Freeman in...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...Game 1. And you've got a 23-year-old shortstop with the Yankees. Anthony Volpe, who hits a grand slam in Game 4 when they're down 3-0 facing elimination. And then you've got this great tease in Game 5. You've got the Dodgers up 3-0, and now the Dodgers are up 3-1, and now the Yankees are up 5-nothing in Game 5. And you're kind of thinking, are we going back to Los Angeles? Is this the 2004 Red Sox all over again?
SIMON: All right.
BRYANT: And then...
SIMON: I take it all back. But let me ask about the fifth inning of the fifth and final game.
BRYANT: Yeah. And there we go. And then suddenly, the meltdown. Are we going back to Los Angeles? Is this an epic comeback? And then the fifth inning.
SIMON: Drop ball - Bob Sirott.
BRYANT: I've never seen anything like this.
SIMON: Yep. Go ahead. Yeah.
BRYANT: You know, Aaron Judge, who hadn't made an error all season, drops a routine fly ball. Gerrit Cole doesn't cover first base. Volpe makes an error. It was just unbelievable - someone sent out a message to me saying, when did this turn into a Little League game? It's the World Series. And the lordly Yankees just collapsed, and it cost them their season. I've never seen anything like that in such a big game.
SIMON: Let me ask about - because we're coming up, obviously - free agency period. Last year, the big free agent of all time was Shohei Ohtani. What big names available this time around?
BRYANT: Well, it's Shohei Ohtani round two because the one name above all names is Juan Soto.
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: Juan Soto, New York Yankees, and the right fielder is going to come in. He wants Shohei money. He wants $700 million, and he doesn't want to defer that money. He wants...
SIMON: Show me the Shohei money, if you please.
BRYANT: Show me the Shohei money. Absolutely. And so the real question is going to be, who's going to pay that? What kind of market is out there for a player who could command that kind of money? Are the San Francisco Giants going to break the bank? Is it the Yankees? The one thing that was the most telling about the end of the World Series and all of its glory - congratulations to the Dodgers - was almost immediately, Juan Soto says, I'm a free agent, and there will be no discounts. There will be no deferred money. Pay me. So we are back to business.
SIMON: Let me ask about the NFL season. We're near the halfway point. Everybody is chasing the 7-0 Kansas City Chiefs. But I want to speak up in behalf of the Detroit Lions.
BRYANT: The 6 and 1 Detroit Lions?
SIMON: Yeah, those are the ones.
BRYANT: As well you should, Scott. I mean, when we think about the Lions - when I think about the Lions, I think about a laughingstock. I think about a team you make fun of, and you've been making fun of since...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...1930. But let's not forget the Lions were a Yankee-like collapse away from going to the Super Bowl last year. They're a very, very good team, and they are backing last year up with a 6 and 1 record this year. And they're really dangerous, and I think that they're one of those teams that we sort of forget about because we're all talking about Patrick Mahomes, and we're talking about the Chiefs and a three-peat. But the bottom line is that the Lions are a complete team. They're a solid team. They're a hungry team. They were really, really close last year. And don't be surprised if we see them again in January.
SIMON: OK. Howard Bryant of Meadowlark Media, thanks so much for being with us.
BRYANT: Thank you, Scott. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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