Shohei Ohtani Makes History With 4th Unanimous MVP

All right, and now for your sports news. We're joined by entities Dave Martin. Dave, plenty going on right now, but let's start in baseball as Show Otani won his fourth MVP award yesterday, putting him in rare company. What' you make of it? >> Yeah, very rare company. I mean, only Barry Bonds has won more MVPs. He had seven amazingly, but Otani's four MVPs have all been unanimous. No one has nobody else has more than one unanimous MVP. And you can even say this was probably maybe the weakest of his four MVP years and he was still the best in the National League. Now remember, he won those first two MVPs as a member of the LA Angels in 2021 and 2023, but both times there he was a full-time starting pitcher as well as a designated hitter. Now, last year he won exclusively as a designated hitter. He were the first ever to do so. He had that amazing 50/50 season, first ever to do that. 54 home runs, 59 stolen bases. This season he still had 55 home runs. He only had 20 steals. He did pitch a little bit. It was actually probably the subpar almost season compared to the last two. Still, it was good enough for a unanimous MVP. Next year though, he projects to be back to being a starting pitcher as well as a full-time DH. So, I would think he's an overwhelming choice to be MVP again. So, Kevin, I would say he's starting to earn that $700 million contract. If if anybody is worth 700 million, he probably is at this point. >> Oh, man. That is awesome. And Dave, fun fact, he's the first one in Dodgers franchise history to win multiple MVPs on the team. >> You know, I would not have guessed that. That's pretty amazing. >> I know. It really is awesome. But now, okay, NFL news. The league has filed a grievance against the players association asking the union to stop its annual report cards. That's according to documents obtained by ESPN. What's this all about? Yeah, those report cards were this was this annual list of, you know, players collectively grading each franchise on a number of different categories as well as an overall grade. I mean, you know, grades were A through F there. Now, these were released publicly though and were very interesting to look at, especially for us in media, cuz he gave me some insight into what it was like, you know, behind the scenes. Like one category was treatment of families as in you know does the team provide daycare during home games or even a family room and whether they they offer pregame sideline passes for family members too. And there would be comments really on each of the 11 categories for all 32 teams based on player input. Now other categories include food dining area, how good their team dietitionian is, the condition of the locker rooms, the training room, the coaching staff, even the team owner. So, for the teams that graded well, of course, it was very good publicity, not so much for the teams that didn't. Now, just an FYI, the Miami Dolphins were number one each the last two years. But according to ESPN's report, the league says the report cards violate a clause in the collective bargaining agreement related to public criticism. Now, neither the NFL nor the players association had any comment. So, as a member of the media though, I'm looking forward to seeing them again. >> Well, yeah, that's really interesting report, Dave. I mean, you just think that touchdown pass, that sweet one or the tackle from the linebacker, but actually families, there's a lot more that goes into it. >> I know. I I never would have guessed that this was an issue on game day that they needed to babysit or something like that. But, uh, I guess so. If if you have it, the players are more likely to do it. I don't know if this impacts free agency or not at all, but it's something anyway. >> Super interesting. All right. Elsewhere in the league though, New York Jets coach Aaron Glenn seemed to be open to a quarterback change today after the team's loss last night. Yeah, Glenn said, quote, "I'm evaluating everything to be honest with you when asked about the quarterback situation." Now, that is a much different tune than he's had in previous weeks when asked. Usually, he sound much more opposed to a change, almost even offended if it's a question. Now, his quarterback, Justin Fields, threw for just 116 yards last night. That's below the team's average of 140, which is the lowest in the NFL. Now, it's worth noting though that there were a few drops by his receivers, plus uh he was without number one receiver Garrett Wilson, who's on injured reserve with a knee sprain. But as for the Jets, I mean, even if they make a change now, they're 2 and eight right now. They would have to win the rest of their games just to even have a chance at the playoffs. As a a Jets fan, Kevin, I would love to see that happen. I'm definitely not betting on it. >> Oh, I I feel for you, Dan, as a Jets fan right now. All right, switching gears to college football. We have another full slate of games tomorrow. Which matchups stand out to you? >> Yeah, there's a number number of good ones here. I'm going to highlight four of them, though. First one, ninth ranked Notre Dame at number 22 Pittsburgh. Now, the Irish, they're just one and two against ranked opponents this year, albeit those two losses were very close. Pit, meanwhile, has won five straight games. And that game is at starts at noon Eastern time tomorrow. Then at 3:30, in the SEC, 11th ranked Oklahoma is at number four, Alabama. Now, the Sooners right now are just outside the projected playoff picture. A win here would certainly change that though. Meanwhile, the Crimson Tide have won eight straight games since that season opening loss to Florida State. Also at 3:30 in the Big 10, number 21 Iowa is at number 17 USC. Both of these teams are a little bit outside the projected playoff picture. Trojans though are at least close to making the Big 10 title game. They're right now in third place behind Indiana and Ohio State, but they would need at least one of those teams to actually lose though. Now then the probably the best games at night. 7:30 is the big one. Number 10 Texas is at number five Georgia. Battle of top 10 teams. Texas definitely needs this one worse. Right now they are the last team into the projected playoffs. Now they do have wins over Oklahoma and Vanderbilt, but this would be their biggest yet if they won at Georgia. Good luck doing that though. Georgia very tough at home. So that'll be on 7:30 Eastern time. So all good games tomorrow, Kevin. >> Yeah, these are some tough guys and hey, they got to get their stats up. The draft's coming. >> For sure. The draft is coming. They got to get their stats up. That's right, >> Dave. Thanks for the update. >> All right.