ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips. Papa Joe on Major League Baseball

a [Music] [Music] and a welcome here to wake up call with Dan toror where Sports truly meets that thing called life hope you're having yourselves a tremendous morning this morning here on wake up call with Dan tortor around the world here for you on youtube.com as well as facebook.com both back wakeup call DT and of course on wakeup call dt. podast bean.com so however you're connecting with the show we thank you so much for tuning in up and down the East Coast the Midwest the west coast and all around the globe once The Show Goes live you'll find us in our archives we'll have a bunch of stuff being added here as well and that is Amazon music audible iHeart Radio iTunes and apple podcasts as well as playerfm podbean pod chaser.com pod Vine Spotify TuneIn and YouTube all you have to do is search wake up call with Dan tortor or one word wake up call D so again thank you for your support and for all that you do to be a part of the show as always here on wake up call with Dan toror I can't thank you enough for the support and the love that we get every single Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. eastern time and beyond that so much love to each and every single one of you and thank you so much for that support we have an awesome show set up here for you today inside ofon popcorn.com what's popping we're going to start the show off in just a few minutes with the commissioner of the ACC and that is Jim Phillips Jim Phillips going to be joining me live here to speak on a bunch of different topics this morning in the 20242 world of Collegiate Athletics so very excited to have AC commissioner Jim Phillips on the broadcast here at 9:15 a.m. eastern time worldwide and then we'll jump into our conversation with Papa Joe which will start in the first hour here a little bit after 9:30 a.m. eastern time and carry us all the way through 11: as PJ is going to be with me for the majority of Thursdays once again as major league baseball college football and the NFL are all crossing paths and so we're going to be speaking about them Major League Baseball we'll talk about first then we'll jump in to college football we'll make our picks for week one there are a ton of games going on tonight so college football which started in week zero mind you which was last week when Florida State played Georgia Tech over in Ireland and there was a few other games going on around the country here for college football division 1 afbs we got to see that week zero and then we're going to be jumping into the first full week of football and that is going to be happening tonight Believe It or Not folks that's when the Slate starts is tonight there's games well yeah there's games today so today is got a massive schedule for a Thursday so there's Thursday there's games on Friday of course there's games on Saturday there's games on there's there's M Sunday and Monday so you're going to have college football from now through Monday and Florida state is going to be in prime time once again they were Prime Time over with Georgia Tech in Dublin and they'll be prime time again this week so this is what the schedule looks like for college football as we get set to speak with Jim Phillips the commissioner of the ACC in just a few minutes and Papa Joe and I are also going to go over the 53 man roster for the Jaguars and see how our predictions did up against what actually happened so today Thursday August 29th there's a ton of games going on they start at 6:00 pm. eastern time with Howard at Ruckers and that is going to be on the Big 10 Network the ACC network is going to have West Carolina at NC State who's ranked 24th in the nation right now North Carolina &t at Wake Forest will be on ESPN plus and ACC extra and there's a bunch of games are going to be on ESPN plus Arkansas Pine Pine Bluff at Arkansas will be on ESPNU at 7 :30 p.m. eastern time on Fox tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern time North Carolina at Minnesota North North Dakota State at Colorado is going to be on ESPN so first game of the season for Deion Sanders in his second season as head coach of the Colorado Buffalo and their first season back in the Big 12 and then Coastal Carolina at Jacksonville State will be on CBS Sports Network that's going to be at 8:00 p.m. eastern time and then we'll see e Eastern Illinois at Illinois on the Big 10 Network tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern time at Sacramento State at San Jose State we'll be on True TV and Max at 10 p.m. eastern time this Friday we have Lehi at Army on the CBS Sports Network at 6 PM Eastern Time Temple at number 16 ranked Oklahoma at 700 p.m. eastern time on ESPN FAU at Michigan State again the American willing to play whoever they're going to be playing the Big 10 here with FAU that's Friday August 30th 7:00 p.m. eastern time on the Big 10 Network Elon at Duke will be on the ACC Network at 7:30 p.m. Western Michigan at Wisconsin will be at 900 p.m. on Fox Sports 1 and TCU at Stanford at 10:30 p.m. eastern time on ESPN Saturday's schedule is crazy I'm I'm like how can Saturday schedule be this big with all of these games that are on Thursday and of course Syracuse Fran Brown will have his first game as the head coach of the Syracuse Orange and first game is a head coach in general in college football and that's going to be Ohio at Syracuse at the Dome 3:30 p.m. eastern time on the ACC Network there's games all throughout the day to 11:00 p.m. eastern time which is Weaver State at Washington on the Big 10 Network and then the game on Sunday 23rd ranked USC at 13th ranked LSU 7:30 p.m. on ABC and on Monday night Boston College at number 10 rank Florida State at 7:30 p.m. so crazy schedule for college football coming up here PJ and I are going to make some picks I'm excited about the opportunity to do that with you here this morning and before that happens we're going to be speaking with the commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference that is Mr Jim Phillips he is going to be joining us via phone and that's going to be coming up in just a few minutes here on wakeup call with Dan tortor where Sports meets life so again grateful to have you here this morning and every Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. eastern time we're going to take a quick step aside for a fast break and when we spin back around on this thing we're going to be here with the commissioner of the ACC Jim Phillips joining us here so make sure you are here with us tell your family friends co-workers and colleagues to get their tail over to wake up call here this morning as we will be going live with Jim Phillips the commissioner of the ACC right after this fast break on wake up call with Dan toror where Sports meets life hi this is Amy from Mother's cupboard home of the whole fortata we are open daily 6:00 a.m. to 130 p.m. for takeout orders call 315 432 942 and tune in to wakeup call with Dan tortor for our monthly food challenge and try our wakeup call Signature menu item available 7 days a week here at Mother's cupboard we are Central New York and it's our honor to serve [Music] you Ma and P's kettle corn and popcorn factory remind us that every day is worth celebrating at 2011 7th North Street in Liverpool New York open Monday through Saturday in store and always online at my andpa popcorn.com serving our Central New York community and Beyond order anywhere anytime at Ma andpa popcorn.com stop in to get a 10 at Ma andw on 2017th North Street in Liverpool New York to get your half price refills for the rest of your life come to Ma and PAW for your holiday gift giving for family friends employees and clients and remember for fundraising and events to call 31545 6272 that's 31545 6272 my and P kettle corn and popcorn factory how corny are you this is Jimmer Sakowski owner operator of Chick-fil-A Cicero 7916 Brewerton Road in Cicero right in front of the Home Depot I had a deep feeling that God wanted me to do something bigger with my life and to help people help others I kept putting Chick-fil-A in my life and I realized as I was going through the franchise selection process that uh positively impacted the lives of others was really core to what we do here at Chick-fil-A first of all it starts with the food the food is brought in fresh daily you we bring in local produce we prepare to order in the kitchen we handb our chicken we hand spin our milkshakes it's it's great food it doesn't taste like fast food I I think the second thing is is the way people feel when they come in a Chick-fil-A restaurant it's different we we try to treat people with intentional kindness here which is very different and deeper than good C custom service and so I think it feels remarkable for most people to come in a Chick-fil-A restaurant and then lastly the impact that we try to have in the community is very different it's a big part of the expectation of every operator of a Chick-fil-A restaurant is that they're actively engaged in their Community they're a leader in the community and they're they're making a difference when they realize that what we're striving to do is to shine a little light in their life that's a very very different experience uh than you will have at any other quick service restaurant and it's that remarkable experience that I think people will emotionally connect with welcome back here to wake up call with Dan tortor where Sports truly meets that thing called life we appreciate you being here with us Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. eastern time and I am honored and privileged to have the commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference here with us on the phone this morning on wake up call and that is commissioner Jim Phillips Jim how you doing great Dan good morning and Jim I mean looking at this we started off the season with a bang here a lot of great things going on in Florida State and Georgia Tech out in Dublin just what you could say about that experience being out there and and seeing such an incredible game with an incredible finish to start off ACC play thanks Dan I think you said it I think you said it right it it was incredible um for us to play in week zero our first conference game of the 2024 season between two really good teams um that literally um played to the to the final second and the last play of the game was the deciding field goal that you know that one for George attack was was just uh tremendous Not only was the game great but the week leading up to it all the chance to talk about ACC football uh college game day um their first trip outside of the continental US um to come on over to a great country like Ireland it just kind of the Stars aligned well and uh again it was a a great moment for the ACC and I think that that's what people are going to see as they you know we get into week one and and the the kickoff of uh the entire season but um again just a a really memorable trip to a place where uh they they're learning more about American football and enjoying it it was a soldout stadium and a in a rocket crowd so fun a fun event yeah you know we look at the ACC we talk about accomplished greatness and and what that means when we look at the portfolio Jim of the ACCC with the inclusion now of Kell Berkeley Stanford and SMU what can you say about the the portfolio that is the ACC how would you pitch this out to the world with the additions that you've made well I would just say a few things um and then I'll talk about um our three new schools but the portfolio is strong when when you think about some of the metrics that I think are important in college athletics the ACC is as good of a league as there is so let's just talk about athletically we won seven national titles last year we've won 23 titles in the last three years it leads all conferences in League sponsored Sports we're second in cfp championships we're second in winning percentage in the cfp you know in the 10e history of it so obviously sport of football that drives uh college sports um strongly is is healthy we're coming off in Olympics where the ACC won 102 um medals uh most of any uh conference in the country and I think it was I think maybe second or third overall of any country um you know as you think about just in totality but the league itself nobody won more gold medals than the ACC it's the feeder program college sports is uh to you know the Olympics um so you just look at any of the metrics athletically academically it's it's the best cohort of schools to in the country you know the schools US News enroll report names the best colleges it's the best conference in the country uh there may be some you know some some beef from the ivys I get it um but I I also think that you know the the the overall competition when you look at FBS there's no question it's the best college conference in the country as it relates to academics our graduation success rates um support that academic performance rates support that Etc financially we we cleared over 700 million do last year in total revenue it's it's it's a a league record it's a 14% increase in distribut distributable revenue from the prior year um it's you know it's in one of the top three markers as far as overall Revenue Innovation um and then I'll get on to the schools because I I just think it's important for your listeners to know the portfolio yeah uh we generated $600 million in new incremental Revenue uh with the addition of these three new schools we we created something called a success Initiative Program then where if schools perform at a high level and football and basketball because that's where the majority um if not all the revenue is generated from substantial amount uh they are going to to to Garner a larger distribution from the ACC office so if you have a run in the cfp and you have run an N basketball tournament you are going to get more than those that maybe don't have a good year and that are four and eight and football and don't make the postseason Etc that's I think how it should be and it's a really Innovative way to distribute money first time I've heard of it in college sports and certainly at the power uh four level as it relates to the three new schools I I couldn't be more thrilled with SMU K and Stanford again three really good schools that have a terrific athletic pass terrific academic pass they create two new markets for us in the Dallas Fort Worth area the state of Texas and out in the Bay Area Northern California um in the state of California that's going to be really good for our Network we're now in the five most populated states in the country and four of the top 10 TV markets it's the best footprint I think um you know going and uh and I'm really excited about SMU Cal Stanford coming into the league so the league is healthy the league is strong it's been overshadowed at times with some of the legal issues that are going on um but I'm very very bullish about where the league is now and where it's going yeah and you mentioned about the overshadowing but do you feel like the membership has a plan moving forward do you feel like there is that workable room together and and that this is a team of schools once again I do I do um and you know we we are going to um do whatever we have to do from a legal standpoint but you know I really want to push that to the side because we're starting to play games again the focus should be on student athletes the focus should be on teams and some of the legal pieces that they'll work themselves out but but it is a it's very collaborative I mean uh you can't have a game in Dublin um without you know two schools collaborating working together yeah uh the way that Florida State and Georgia teched and I commend both of them for doing that you know Jim for you you and I talk about this we talked about it a lot off the air but it's who you are is is your faith uh your belief in God and with everything that you know you've had to gone go through as a leader this conference has gone through we talk about the house settlement and nil and figuring out all these different pieces and realignment in the transfer portal how do you you know have your faith guide you and really focus on the big things you're you're big on education you're big on taking care of these kids there they're things that I think you know people don't always Spotlight that they should and so I'd love to hear you talk about your faith and your positivity and and why you care so much the way that you do that goes beyond Football goes beyond Sports well I would I would just say this Dan I I appreciate um you saying those things I love these kids we have 12,200 student athletes in the ACC I I love them I do um I I I just feel strongly as a parent of five children and and two of my um children student athletes um have been and and you know one is currently and I think there's another one on the way that uh has a chance to play college sports but this is about supporting young people a really important time in their life 99% of them are not going to play professional sports and so to care for them to educate them to Mentor them uh to support them um trying to do that each and every day and I really commend our schools for what they've done in that space stand um and want them to have a really good experience so that when they leave College they're ready to engage in an everchanging world as it relates to my faith it's in my core it's in my soul and I'm one of 10 children um the greatest thing in my life growing up was my faith and my family um just I don't I don't think you needed much more than that you just didn't and uh every day I truly wake up on my knees um and I finish every day on my knees and God is an important part of my life he's important part part of Laura's life my wife and our five children um and so life can be turbulent as you mentioned some of the things going on in college athletics and and I think when we just look at the even more important picture where things are going on in our country in our world um our Our Place remains close to God and through him all things are possible um and I think during those most turbulent times you ask for guidance and you ask for you know um support which you know the Lord um provides for us and and so I uh I I just I'm so thankful that that I was raised in that way and that that was put forward faith and religion put forward in my life in such a meaningful um Manner and uh and to do that with my children as well is really you know the greatest gift that we have is our faith in God and um and all of the blessings that he's provided so I appreciate you letting me say a few words um certainly about my faith and and how much God means to myself and my family well Jim you know you've you've had a lot to handle in a short amount of time as a commissioner of the ACC and you've handled it with class and you've always treated me with the utmost respect so I know we only had a few minutes today but I want to say thank thank you for reaching out to a bunch of different topics thank you for your leadership and above all things thank you for unapologetically speaking about God and sharing your faith in a world that deeply needs it so I appreciate you my friend and I look forward to talking with you soon thanks Dan God bless you and God bless your audience as well God bless have a great day take care Jim thanks see you that coming from Jim Phillips here on wake up call with Dan tortor where Sports truly meets that thing called life only had a few minutes with Jim but wanted to make the most of of that time and try to get into a bunch of these things that are going on I mean the the ACCC has had a lot happening and we've talked about it we've we've spoken about the Atlanta Coast Conference and we've spoken about realignment and trying to figure out how things are going to work out and you know realignment has has been so interesting to kind of break down over these last years I've made predictions that are probably almost 3 years old at this point if not 3 years old at this point I think more they're probably more than three years old because I talked about you know we nil came out during covid around the you know 2020 time and now it's 2024 so going through this whole period of like what is this and what does it mean and what's going to happen and how are you know how are these these conferences going to move forward nobody thought the Pack 12 wouldn't be here I shouldn't say nobody thought maybe somebody did have their ear to the ground I mean there's things where people say nobody thought this and I was thinking it so I want to respect those people that you know may have been thinking hey this could happen but it's it's such an interesting world right the two pack 12 teams are in the ACC right now with K and Stanford I had a phenomenal conversation with both of those coaches and I implore you to go and check it out on youtube.com wakeupcall DT click subscribe hit the notification Bell and you'll find our conversation with Justin Wilcox the head coach of the Cal Golden Bears for kale Berkeley and you'll also hear from Stanford head football coach of the Cardinal and that is Troy Taylor wonderful conversations with both of those gentlemen and of course SMU you talk about the other Edition coming from the American Athletic Conference I have spent a lot of time with SMU over many years it started with Chad Morris as the head coach and then it went to let me think here it was it was Chad Morris then it went to Sunny dkes and now Rhett Lashley I believe is that was the run here and Rhett and I have gotten to spend a bunch of time together he's been incredible with me so giving of his time and always making time for me so I want to thank Rhett out in Dallas Texas they do a heck of a job and I know they they had some adversity in week zero against Nevada but you know this this is a team that'll figure things out and get right they got a good coach and uh they got a great City I've been down in the Dallas Fort Worth Arlington area a few times now I feel very privileged and honored to be down there and grateful to be down there for the events that I've been able to be there for I've I've been there for the goodye cotton ball class classic shout out to the VP of communications Scotty Rogers so was down there at the goodye Cotton bow classic with two lane of the American and USC of the pack at the time and and now they are inside of the Big 10 for the first time this year so we got to have that discussion right of all those moves and different things going on I got to be down there for the game USC and and two lane and keep in mind two lane one and who was the quarterback of USC at the time Caleb Williams who ended up becoming the 2024 NFL Draft number one overall pick who's now the quarterback of the Chicago Bears heading into their week one God bless to him and their team and to Michael Pratt the quarterback of the two-lane Green Wave in that game he was a seventh round pick by the Green Bay Packers who waved him and my hope is that he finds a good fit I would love for him to have an opportunity to start somewhere and I think there's some teams where that could be an open there could be something there for him so I'm hoping good things for that also went down to the Dallas Fort Worth Arlington area for back-to-back years of the American Athletic kickoff so it was called the American Athletic media days last year for football and now it's the AAC kickoff which I love that they call it the AAC kickoff because in my head it was always that to me so seeing it rebranded as the AAC kickoff was really cool and really excited about what they're doing happy that that Tim pernetti is the new commissioner we've been able to have a lot of quality time together him and Jim Phillips the commissioner of the ACC know each other so actually told Jim that Tim said hello when I got to see when I went to Dallas Fort Worth Arlington area for the AAC kickoff and then hopped on a plane and went to Charlotte North Carolina for the ACC kickoff I got to speak to Jim Phillips and let him know that that Tim says hello Mike oresco tremendous job with the American so you know a lot of great a lot of great opportunity and by the grace of God I've met a lot of great people along the way I know that people are sitting here wondering what's going to happen with the ACC and wondering what the future is going to hold and is Florida State good and is Clemson good and is Miami good and are you know what's what's going to come to be but you know in the world of the Atlanta Coast Conference they're trying to do what they can to stay afloat stay strong stay powerful and they do have a lot of successes and you know to have a commissioner that speaks about God it was really important to me to allow Jim the opportunity and the platform to share that because everybody and their mother is asking them a lot of the same questions and you know we have the opportunity to go beyond that here at wakeup call because we care about things that are Beyond you know that that clickbait so happy to have him on here we talked about a lot of stuff though I mean he brought up the lawsuits and he brought up you know going through that so uh you know that's that's obviously something that is happening it's it's real but at the same time you know the ACC is doing what they can they've put out statements where they have felt the need to and we'll continue to see where this grows and goes and I'll continue to monitor it as always on wake up call with Dan toror but you know having Jim on the show means a lot to me and Jim from the beginning has been really really great and I'll never forget the first time we got to sit down which was in Charlotte and talk with each other in that little restaurant area and to speak on a lot of different things so I appreciate Jim Phillips I appreciate Amy Yola and the entire team at the ACCC and thank them for treating me the way that they've treated me for over a decade now I can't believe it's been over a decade but it has been it's been at least 11 years so thank you to the ACC we're going to take a step aside Papa Joe is going to be up next him and I got a lot of work to do in the next hour and a half on major league baseball starting with that then college football jumping into our picks there is a massive massive schedule as I told you earlier on in the show before Jim Phillips joined that there are a ton of games tonight here on Thursday I hope you have nothing to do at 7 o'cl and 900 televisions in your house so if you don't head to the Wildcat on 3680 Milton Avenue in Camis head to Pizza Man on 50 iGo Street in Baldwinsville and check out these games at college football will make our picks for week one it's going to be our first picks of the college football season which is always great so we get to make a little history here for this year we only have that first day once each year where you make your first picks of the season so we're going to do that and then we're going to talk about our picks with Jag with the Jaguars did we know what we were talking about when we put our 53 man roster together we'll discuss that and all that's coming up after this fast break on wake up call with Dan tortor where Sports Mees life thank thank you for hanging out with us thank you to Jim Phillips ACC commissioner once again and we'll be back after this here's a message from Renee from Brian's Landing located on 6523 East senica Turnpike in Jamesville New York open Tuesdays and Wednesdays for dinner Thursday through Saturday for lunch and dinner and Sundays for brunch it's a lot like the way that my Mom and Dad ran their restaurant we have put in place a lot of people that are family to us very similar to how my dad hired people that were family to him and then the tradition I'm carrying on is is a lot of the items that are on our menu are my dad's and he taught our chefs how to recreate his dishes so I think that Tommy McNerney who our executive chef is to him it is an art and I think that when he does create a dish it's not just about making the food taste delicious which is definitely our priority but it's an art to him and it's it's almost like his canvas on a plate where he just just wants the colors to look great and people love it because he and he takes pride in that and Brian and I appreciate that we want it to obviously look good and taste good I will tell you when we opened up it was 6 weeks before Co and what was amazing was the community our friends and family stepped up and everybody did takeout everybody supported us our hearts were just so filled so to Brian and I obviously our friends come all the time and we just have repeat customers and and Jamesville and I think people going to our previous restaurant in Green Lakes are making the trip to come to Brian's Landing to support us and I mean I think we have great food and a great atmosphere so it's very very important to [Music] us head to Brian's Landing located on 6523 East senica Turnpike in Jamesville New York where memories have become recipes that are now meals to share with you Tuesdays and Wednesdays for dinner Thursday through Saturday for lunch and dinner and on Sundays for brunch and be sure to come out for live music Friday Saturday and [Music] Sunday here is a special message from Brian Bruno owner of servomation Refreshments Incorporated I grew up in the family business you know had the experience of working for a national food service company with thousands of employees and as much as I enjoyed the experience I had there was something about you know owning my own company and be able to change the things I saw wrong with the industry firsthand which is why I moved back to my hometown in canista New York to launch servation it was back in 2007 when we first started the business in ' 07 really you didn't find any machines with credit card readers there's a lack of variety in machines you got stuck with basically whatever the vending company wanted to sell that day there's a lot of inefficiency in the business and those were all things that we saw as opportunities both from a customer level to improve and from a operating level to be more efficient we've really been at the Forefront of introducing retail technology into our space we were doing self checkout back in 2009 uh before it really became a national phenomenon the whole point of it isn't to just improve the customer experience it's to make it feel more like a retail environment where people don't have to be afraid of what they're buying behind glass they don't have to be afraid of not being able to see the ingredients of the packages it was an easy transaction from that standpoint if we were to reinvent something we wanted to make sure what we were making looked and felt more like a deli and not like something that you would traditionally see in a vending machine I was tired of of hearing for years as the customer say the wheel of death because the vending machine would circle around with the same tuna salad in it what we wanted to do was it really change the perception of that food so allowing customers to touch it allowing customers to feel the weight of it allow customers see the freshness of it and also the variety of it really helps them change the perception and ultimately the value of what we bring to them the point of differentiation you have to make is either in value or or the quality and I think on both of those fronts servation has really in large part changed that value system for employees so they no longer have to worry about bringing their food from home or having to leave their desk during the day and and rush out to get back and time for their break to end we're bringing something that they can count on in their break room every day and they know it's going to be there they know it's going to be fresh and they don't have to worry about it being sold out or something that they don't enjoy we've also heavily invested in flavored water machines so you can get a glass of water with a fresh piece of fruit in it along with Bean to cup coffee machine so there's not a day that goes by we're not surprised when we get customers that call us and say we didn't know you could do all this we're really lucky to have a strong group of dedicated employees most of our employees have been with us since Inception they family to us and people like doing business with people they like and trust and I think the same thing goes for employees in a day and an age where there's a lot of corporations that just look at an employee as a number and don't get to know them that's just not the way I was raised or or how I like to do business so we're a little oldfashioned we like getting close to our employees we like knowing how we can help them we like KN how we can improve their lives adjust their schedules you know whatever it may be to help improve their quality of life and we think in the end that makes for a happier employee we're fortunate enough to have really grown over the last several years and from Pennsylvania to Massachusetts to Connecticut we really do have a strong connection even though we're we're not in in the rooms every day with these employees there's not one single employee that we feel like we don't know and certainly we know they can call us at any time and they're definitely treated as family to us I wake up every single day really excited to you know surprise our customers in a good way the one thing I can tell you is I I think that everyone of our employees and every one of our customers will continue to be the Forefront of every decision we make find out how servomation can help you and your business by going to servomation tocom welcome back here two wake up call with Dan tortor where Sports truly meets that thing called life hope you're having yourselves a wonderful wonderful morning this morning we are having a great time here on wake up call with Dan toror I just got off a call with the commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference the ACC and that being Mr Jim Phillips and had a great time speaking with him here today and I hope that you all enjoyed hearing from Jim Phillips appreciate him as always and happy have a few minutes with the commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference like I said that we've covered for so many years it has been at least 11 years that we've covered the ACC closely so appreciate the ACC for all that they do thanks to Amy aola and the entire team at the ACC and everyone that's working not only in front of the scenes but behind the scenes a lot of great people in the ACC and as you learn over time and I've continued to learn it it's about the people it's about the people that that make up an organization and the acc's had some really good helpful people who listen who care and who value good people so I want to say thank you to the ACC for that and of course John Swafford the commissioner that I spoke with for so many years and and now Jim Phillips that I've gotten to speak with over these last few years as the commissioner of the ACC so with that being said Papa Joe is here with me we got a big old slate we got for the grand old smooth one we got a grand old slate of topics to talk about we have major league baseball which is getting closer and closer to the end of the season believe it or not we have the Yankees at this point we're looking at how many games these teams have played played 134 games the Yankees have played at this point there's 162 so we are for some of these teams less than 30 Games away to the end of the season and a regular season and then going into the playoffs I can't believe how quickly this happens but as we take a look at where things are at right now right now Baltimore Kansas City as we said Kansas City doing a great job and and just what they've what they've been able to do in the successes that Kansas City has had they continue to work hard at that PJ and I are going to talk about the standings we're going to be getting into all different things in Major League Baseball but we can see that the Royals are fighting the Yankees the Orioles the Guardians the Astros a lot of teams we've talked about here the Twins and the American and on the other side the national league the Dodgers and the Phillies and the Brewers and the Diamondbacks and the Padres and the Braves a lot of things have have stayed you know similar to what we've seen in the last couple weeks the Mets are still fighting to try and get into this thing so there the conversation that we have had we continue to have with Major League Baseball we'll get into college football and the massive slate of games that starts tonight that goes into Friday Saturday with all day games Sunday night Monday night and taking you know college football literally taking anything and everything before the NFL gets started here they have Fox Sports 1 CBS Sports Network ACC ACC Network extra ESPN plus the Big 10 Network and ESPN and ABC so so they're trying to get out there for you and show you their games from now all the way through Monday we'll make some of our picks the first pick of the season and how did Papa Joe and I do in our picks for the Jacksonville Jaguars 53 man roster that's all coming up here on wake up call with Dan tortor it's a mouthful PJ how we doing how are you this morning okay fine everything's fine so PJ I am more than happy to unleash you here this morning on the worlds in baseball let us know what's going on who's where and how are these divisions shaping up as we get closer and closer like I said for some teams less than 30 games to the end of the regular season which to me is crazy I feel like I feel like we should be like 70 or 80 games in it's like the season starts and then it's over a 100 games now it's over 130 and we're well on our way to the postseason of the divisional leaders as well as the three Wild Card teams so let us what's happening in each division okay well we'll start with American League like I usually do American League East Yankees are 7856 uh Baltimore's one game behind Boston's eight and a half behind they're just about out of it Boston has 24% chance of getting into the playoffs which is not very good uh the Yankees uh as a team are hitting 251 their ER is 3.75 Baltimore hitting 251 also their team ER is 3.92 hence the way the standings are the Yankees aree of Baltimore so if that stays that way the Yankees have made a big rally U the last month here with their pitching with Garett Cole coming back and nasty Nester Cortez doing this thing uh been been fun to watch Central Division we got Cleveland at 7658 Kansas City one back Minnesota three and a half back as I've said all three of these teams are going to make the playoffs Cleveland is hitting a poultry 237 as a team the team ra is 3.84 which isn't bad Kansas City is hitting 258 with a team areaa 3.88 Minnesota is hitting 253 uh with a team area of 4.12 if you read into that you understand why Kansas City is going to overtake Cleveland very very quickly uh Cleveland just has not had any pitching this year of any substance they hit the ball pretty well uh uh not that well but it's a it's a difficult situation for Cleveland uh I I thought maybe last month maybe they were one of the best teams playing in baseball Kansas City is really close to the Gap led by Bobby Wht and his crew so I look for Kansas City to overtake Cleveland very shortly Wast division we got Houston at 7162 Houston is hitting 261 as a team and her ER is 3 77 Seattle and Texas are out of the Seattle's three and a half behind Texas is nine be Seattle's got 18% chance of getting into the playoff which isn't going to happen Houston's 261 averages leading the American League they when they started that which I predicted they would when they started hitting as a team together they really put it they really put the the pedal to the metal and just started drawing away and their team ra from pitching is is also very good all right for uh the averages we got Bobby Whit but Kansas City's hitting 346 it's it's it's it's difficult to understand why such a young man is carrying this team uh he's just he's only a second year player a third year player I mean he's he's not even in his mid 20s yet got a huge contract but you know he's just a sensational player generational player as a term I like to use Aon judge hitting 333 uh judge is leading the league in home runs at 51 also lead the league in RB at 123 now judge has a shot to be the uh the Triple Crown winner where you have to lead the league at headache home runs and RBIs the only way the judge is going to do that is if Bobby Whit slips a little bit and judge uh steps it up a little bit 13 points at this time of the season is a lot to make up yeah don't know they can do but you know Whit is uh will be leading Kansas City into the playoffs anyway rep pitching we got Terk scal of Detroit got 15 wins he's also leads the league in ER at 2.58 don't know why this guy is still pitching for Detroit and not pitching for one of the contenders when the the um training the three agent deal went through and they were able to sign some players they overlooked this man a lot of teams overlook this man well he's probably going to get a good buck in Detroit probably won't be probably won't be pitching for Detroit too much longer Detroit just not not competitive Manuel classic Cleveland has 39 uh saves he's been leading the league for quite a while and he's one of the reasons why Cleveland is still hanging in there yeah actually we got Philly at 78 and 55 they written 258 as a team and our ER is 3.70 Atlanta games behind hitting 242 as a team the 3.63 pretty well leading the league uh New York Mets nine behind they got 133% chance of making the playoffs not going to happen folks have to get with Alonzo and his boys next year C division Milwaukee 76 and 56 B 255 as a team and EB is 3.70 they are the real deal and I didn't see this coming I thought that Craig Council left to go to Chicago uh I I thought that they wouldn't fall apart I just didn't think there'd be the consistency well they they have it and uh they have their pitching to go with it in the west we got La at 79 and 54 hting 251 as a team at with their three 3.72 er which leads to League Arizona's three back hitting 261 as a team and this is embarrassing unfortunately the ER is 4.44 San Diego's fullback 266 as a team and uh is 3.97 when you look at these numbers La at 3.72 er San San Diego 3.97 and Arizona 4.44 I don't understand how Arizona is still hanging in there why because they're hitting starting to hit as as your man Corin claro hit two home runs he drove in five runs last night he's still only hitting 225 but that doesn't make that doesn't mean they're out of anything they're going to make playoffs they're certainly going to make the playoffs but they gotta pitch better they gota they got to do better uh they just don't have anyone on my radar this pitching rning very well at all uh the averages for the national league we got Aris is hitting 310 for San Diego Ozuna is hitting 309 Otani is 295 home runs otani's got 42 ozen's got 37 RBI otani's got 95 ozuna's got 98 now there's two very two very good players here are both of them trying to get the Triple Crown where you have to lead the lead to head in the RBI I've said before both of these guys can do that otani's got to pick up his batting a little bit I mean he's he's probably going to hit 300 in the year but I don't know if Ozuna is going to back it up Ozuna hitting three you know 37 home runs and oona's got 42 these guys go back and forth they're excellent players and uh it it's both of them we're going to see in the in the playoffs so I'm happy for that um Chris S Atlanta's got 15 wins he's also got highest low ER at 2.58 when he was pitching for Boston you know he was floundering there last last year and uh I didn't know knew was didn't know it was a matter with him because he's a nasty left-handed pitcher comes to the side a little bit got a big sweeping curve and slider and he's uh I tell you he he we woke up in Atlanta and it's uh frankly Atlanta's in the playoffs of course right now uh and it's they 3.63 er has a lot to do with what Mr Chris sa is doing he's a super super pitcher ran Hesley St Louis has 40 saves and he's been leading the league for quite a while so without me getting into individual that's about it Daniel well but it'll take a while yeah you know I I I looking at something that's that's on my mind right now PJ as we take a look at this season and the state of the Season we know that the Phillies had such a commanding lead on the NL East in the first part of this season we know that they were up by 12 games 15 games on the Braves and now that has obviously dwindled and we've we've seen a closer closer race at this point and that closer race that we have seen has put us in a situation where things can get very interesting down the stretch here for the Phillies and for the Braves so my question to you PJ as we take a look at Major League Baseball and the state of Major League Baseball currently is in your opinion do you believe like what are your thoughts on the on the NL East because here's the scenario as you mentioned the Atlanta Braves are five games behind the Phillies five games but let's talk about where we are this season where we're at currently right now with the Philadelphia Phillies having a five-game lead on the Atlanta Braves the Atlanta Braves and the Phillies will start a Series tonight the Atlanta Braves will be in Philadelphia for a 4 game series starting tonight August 29th at 6:40 p.m. eastern time they will play Friday night Saturday night and Sunday night the last two games will be on National Television the Sunday night game at 7:15 p.m. eastern time Atlanta at Philadelphia will be on Fox and or pardon me the Saturday night August 31st will be on Fox 7:15 p.m. and on Sunday September 1st the final game of the 4 game series at 7 p.m. eastern time will be on ESPN with a five-game lead that Philadelphia has had which has dwindled to a third of what they did have a 15 game lead and it was a 12 and it was 11 now it's only five games if the Atlanta Braves take this series for argument sake the Phillies would only have a one game lead with 20 plus games to go in the season what are your thoughts on the fact that the Atlanta Braves can shorten the distance to first place in the NL East in their series that literally starts tonight head-to-head the Atlanta Braves due to the faltering of the Phillies and the work of the Braves the Braves could put themselves in a situation to still win this Division and it all starts tonight in a 4 game series well I don't um I don't look for that to to happen I I I just think Philadelphia's is too good their their team B average as I said is 258 Atlanta's only hitting 242 as a team now you're going to go up against I'm sure what they're going to go up against uh is they're going to go up against Um Zack Wheeler um Aon Nola and Ranger Suarez for three games those guys Suarez was leading the league in AR for the longest time but they he's been hit pretty hard but wheeler is uh you know wheeler is real wheeler I mean he he's area at 2.74 and Nola's the area is 3.30 Philadelphia's got too much hitting they you know Alex B Trey Turner Bryce Harper Nick Alanis uh Kyle scharber I me these guys pound the hell out of the ball I don't look for Atlanta to to do any damage here I could be wrong I mean as a team I know that Philly is a better team they just have to prove it and in a short series like this if you put if you start for three Aces the chances are you're probably going to win two out of three in order for this to be a constant conversation every week Atlanta has to either sweep or they have to take two out of three so in any event they're in for a tough series and simply their hitting just hasn't been there uh that you know that's that's the way I feel about it and I I just think Philly is just too strong in the team overall well the poll is out there you could feel free to vote in it I just put put it up on X the former Twitter you know that we put up polls typically with Papa Joe every single week on wake up call with Dan toror and it says who will win the NL East the Philadelphia Phillies or the Atlanta Braves you can vote in that right now and you could vote in it throughout the series that is happening starting tonight with the Atlanta Braves at the Philadelphia Phillies the poll will be up for five days this series is a four game series and that Series starts tonight August 29th so feel free to vote in our poll and let us know who you think is going to win this can Atlanta finally close the gap that they've been trailing or is this thing already done do you think that Philadelphia despite the fact that their lead has dwindled down to five games that they're still going to take care of business coming off of this PJ my question to you you've mentioned the divisions you've mentioned who's leading we know that the Yankees and the Orioles have been tied a half a game behind each other a game behind each other they're neck and neck they've stayed neck and neck they're probably going to be neck and neck they're playing at the end of the regular season against each other the Guardians are only a game ahead of the Kansas City Royals who we both predicted are going to win this division you said it first so I'll give you credit for hitting the buzzer first but we both picked Kansas City Houston as you said is going to lead the division and they're up three and a half games on Seattle is five ahead of Atlanta like we spoke about Milwaukee has the largest lead they're nine ahead of the Chicago Cubs the St Louis Cardinals were in second place they've now fallen the third 10 and a half games back behind the Brewers and the Dodgers are ahead of the Diamondbacks by three games which is where they were last week when we spoke who is the best team in your opinion right now who is the best team in major league baseball of all 30 franchises oh that's a good question uh the team that's playing the best ball right now is Houston and have been for the last month probably the best team I think is it's difficult for me to say uh between New York Philly and Los Angeles uh that that's a good question one one other point I got to make about the Atlanta series uh Atlanta Chris SE pitched last night and won uh so you know Phil is not going to face Chris Sail when they when they they play him uh he just won't have enough time to rest probably he may pitch the fourth game depending on his rest cycle sometimes these pitchers go every five days or every six days whichever it is SES just got a Rubber Arm he's always had a good Rubber Arm and and get a lot of a lot of innings our question is New York is 7856 Philly at 7855 and La is 7954 all these teams are pretty similar the only thing I've had to say uh on Baltimore's behalf is that they're not pitching as well as they have been in beginning of the year ER is the team ER is only 392 Yankees is 375 Garrick Cole starting to pitch a little bit better now since he come off the aisle um and Philadelphia has those three great pitchers that I talk about all the time uh and La is is just got some good players also i' have to give the I'd have to give the uh I think it's I think La is my choice here the reason I say that is because two of their perennial all stars and one Hall of Famers Clayton kersha Walker berer are now starting to pitch back try to get into rotation they need them both to to take to hold off Arizona and San Diego San Diego just mashes the hell out of the ball they're leading the league and and hitting and of course Arizona is certainly not pitching that's for sure uh but I I look for uh I look for LA to to hold the momentum I think with Kershaw and buer coming back maybe getting some better innings in giving his chance to win the game uh entering their rotations they already have I think La is is the choice here yeah you know we'll see I mean they they've had they've had a lead they've kept their lead at the same time we have seen how close the Padres have come we've seen how close the Diamondbacks have come but again it's it's yet another team like we talk about the philli that no matter who gets closer to them they will not allow anyone to close the gap they're doing enough to keep whoever is by them at Bay so it's important to really look at this right now and you know see who is that best team in baseball I mean the Dodgers have spent the money they've obviously spent the money to be the best team in baseball but are they truly the best team in baseball right now and that's the question that we've asked you and I'd love to get your answers I'm also putting up here because there's going to be so many answers if we say the entire Major League Baseball as a league I split it up into the American League and the national league who's the best team right now in your opinion in the American League for the 2024 major league b baseball season I can only give you four choices so if you have a choice other than these four the poll says Reply with that team so your choices are Baltimore New York Cleveland and Houston who is the best team in the American League in your opinion right now this season for 2024 and I'm putting up one for the national league as well Papa Joe is saying that the best team in baseball overall at this moment in his opinion are the Los Angeles Dodgers so a lot of great stuff here in the conversation about Major League Baseball PJ we're going to be hopping into hour number two here in just a few moments but do you have anything else you want to add about Major League Baseball before we shift gears to football yes I do I I I sort of I sort of slammed Arizona uh because of their pitching and uh I I you know I keep a lot of details and I I do a lot of writing and I do a lot of research and things and I like to stay a breast of thanks uh what I was doing my research on Arizona uh I know that they hitting is very well you got Marte gel like Corp Carol now starting to hit a little bit Christian Walker Suarez Josh Bell coming over and hitting what bothers me is their pitching in all of my research for their starting pitching the only one that I could find that's doing anything is fet Brandon F yeah Brandon F Brandon F yeah yeah he is the he's their pitcher that is leading uh their team his ER is 4.31 everyone else is far higher than that including the guy that I really was pumped up about with Jordan Montgomery this is terrible I mean in a short series uh Arizona is going to get killed but they hit so well that that they could overcome that that's that's the problem I see with Arizona if they're going to try to keep Pace with uh Los Angeles San Diego they're going to have to pitch a lot better Daniel yeah no I mean it's something that they've had to figure out they needed pitching last year they realized that that's why they went out and they made moves and they brought in guys Jordan Montgomery hasn't really panned out for them unfortunately but the Diamondbacks did try to make moves to bring in pitching Brandon fought who was a rookie last year did a tremendous job coming up and uh he had a great series against the Dodgers great series against the Phillies struggled in the World Series against the Rangers but again this is a young kid who's in his first season in Major League Baseball and playing in the postseason you know pitching in the postseason so AJ Puck came in and gave them some help Josh Bell has obviously given them some assistance as well in the hitting world so I mean the Arizona Diamondbacks do have help and they do have guys that are out here doing some good things but at the same time you know it's it's it's something that needs to come together and you got to have both we know that you have to have both if you don't have both you're not going to win anything we've we've already seen that that's made itself very clear to us when we've looked historically at these teams that are trying to win championships is that your pitching has to be there and your hitting has to be there and the Texas Rangers had both going on which is why they beat the Diamondbacks in the World Series last season and I was there for game three to to see that with my dad you know we were out in Arizona and we we saw that in game three we saw that their pitching finally got the bats to to quiet down for the Diamondbacks it was something that the Dodgers couldn't do the Brewers couldn't do the Phillies couldn't do but the Rangers figured out a way to do and they ended up winning so you know looking at where we go from here yeah these I mean Arizona hottest team in baseball and they've done a lot of things they won eight straight series coming out of the All-Star break I think nine overall when you go back to the right before the end of the first half of the season nine straight series and they lost a series and they won a series again they've done some good things and we'll see where they go from here but Arizona trying to close the gap on the on the Dodgers still and working toward that they're almost to 80 wins this season so that's another high note for the Arizona Diamondbacks now the Diamondbacks most recently here they lost to the Mets and then they defeated the Mets they have the opportunity to win the series against the Mets today at 3:40 p.m. eastern time a midday game Ryan Nelson will be pitching for the Diamond Backs he's done a tremendous job and good to see him in rotation he's he's a guy who's stepped up and tried to help them here now the Diamondbacks won every game against the mar on the road every game against the Red Sox they won six straight dropped one to the Mets W again last night and then they'll have a chance to go head-to-head with the Dodgers now they're only three games behind the Dodgers and they're going to have a chance to face off against the Dodgers in a Four game series so if they take care of business against the Mets they have a chance directly against the Dodgers to control their own destiny in the NL West in a 4 game series that will happen in Arizona starting this Friday August 30th and running through Monday September 2nd Labor Day so that's coming up here on the schedule folks if you want to be the best you got to beat the best and if you want to run your division here and have the opportunity to lead it well it's right in front of you in a head-to-head series that will absolutely affect everything so big time shout out to Jerry hope everything goes well with the endocrinologist and and hope you have a great rest of your day Jerry we appreciate you very much and the poll is up now for the national league on X as well so you can feel free to vote in this uh who is the best team right now in the National League in the 2024 Major League Baseball season the Phillies the Brewers the Dodgers the Diamondbacks and of course if you have a different answer you can reply with that answer if you want to say the Braves if you want to say the Padres or whoever you can vote we have early voting in the American League and the only teams that have gotten votes so far is are the New York Yankees and the Houston Astros as the best teams in the American League so who is the best team the top team in the American League you have voted for the Yankees you have voted for the Astros you have yet to vote for the guardians or The Orioles PJ and I will take a step aside for a fast break here on wake up call with Dan tortor where Sports truly meets that thing called life when we come back we will shift gears to college football for the first time this season PJ and I will talk about the college football world with games there's 34 division 1A FBS teams but if you look at this schedule which obviously includes teams that are outside of the FBS it looks like there's 700 college football teams so we'll talk about what's going on here and we'll make our picks and you can follow our picks all throughout the season on wake up call with Dan tororo we'll be back right after this where Sports meets [Music] life in these unique times there are those in our community that give us a sense of normaly and positivity Pizza Man on 50 asigo Street in Baldwinsville has been here for you for over 35 years and is here now call 315 6381 1234 or order online at PizzaMan bill.com to bring those familiar tastes into your home and remember to come see our monthly on-site broadcast centered around the community and our bald Ville bees Pizza Man in Baldwinsville any way you slice it they are always here for [Music] you looking for your next ride look no further than Great Lakes Honda City located on 7140 Henry Clay Boulevard in Liverpool New York serving our 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