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From Governor's Comedy Club in Levittown, this is Sports Bash presented by ticketbash.com. Ticketbash.com, where memories are made affordable and where you'll never pay a service fee. Sports Bash is also presented by Ryan Anthony's Heating and Air Conditioning Service, keeping Long Island warm for over 18 years, serving their customers in Nassau and Suffolk with pride, honesty, and integrity. For more information, visit www.liboilers.com.
Sports Bash is brought to you by the Embassy Diner located at 4280 Hempstead Turnpike in Bethpage. Every customer is considered family at the Embassy Diner. Mention Sports Bash and get a free dessert with your meal. By Coaches Collectibles, your number one source for 100% authentic sports memorabilia and live public autograph events. Check them out online at coachescollectiblesny.com. And stay tuned later in the show, we're going to tell you about the Coaches Collectibles item of the day.
And by the Marty Lyons Foundation, the official charity of Sports Bash Media. Coming up this Friday is the Marty Lyons—actually, that's an old copy and that's not coming up this Friday, but the official charity of Sports Bash Media, the gala is coming up in November. I'll tell you about that later in the show, but for more information, go to martylyonsfoundation.org.
I'm always good for one mistake right off the bat, the beginning of the show. It happens. It's live TV, radio, podcasting, whatever you want to call it. Hi everyone, Peter Schwartz with you. Happy Tuesday here on the show. Make sure you're subscribing to Govs Comedy Club podcast channel on YouTube and follow Sports Bash Media on X, Instagram, and Facebook.
Coming up in just a little bit here on the show, I'm going to be joined by one of the most legendary players in the history of the New York Football Giants, Carl Banks, who is also their color analyst, a longtime color analyst now on the Giant radio broadcast on WFAN. So he's going to join us in a little bit later on in the show. We're going to have the Sports Bash Media poll question of the day, and we're going to have, as I mentioned on the open, the Coaches Collectibles item of the week. That is all coming up in a little bit.
A lot to talk about, a lot to digest here on the show on this Tuesday, and there were a number of different ways to start. We were supposed to have Carl on later in the show, but he's actually going to be joining us in just a couple of minutes. But I did want to start by, as you can see, I'm wearing my New York Knights hat from *The Natural*, which is my favorite movie of all time. Absolute favorite movie.
And that's why I'm wearing it, because Robert Redford passed away earlier today, and we're going to get to that in a little bit. But I just wanted to address why I'm wearing the New York Knights hat.
But as I just mentioned, we have a very special guest here on the show today. And I feel like we've been trying to put this together for a long time and we finally were able to connect. And I had a chance to know this guy for a bunch of years. I used to cover the Giants for a number of different outlets and got to know him, and he's just a really good guy, and a great player in the history of the Giants, and has done a great job as their radio color analyst for a number of years on WFAN. We want to welcome to the show Giants Ring of Honor member Carl Banks. Carl, it's Peter. How are you, sir?
I'm great, Peter. How are you?
I'm doing great. Thanks so much for joining us here on the show. I know you've got a lot of things going on and we're so happy that you are able to spend a few minutes with us. Start right here with the game on Sunday in Dallas. And what a wild back-and-forth affair. The Giants losing 40-37 in overtime. And we were wondering if that Giants offense was ever going to break out. It did break out in a big way on Sunday. It just wasn't enough as they lost in overtime.
Oh, Carl, can you hear me now?
No, so what I was saying was we were waiting for that Giants offense to break out. We didn't know if that was going to happen under the current situation until maybe they put Jaxson Dart in, but the offense did break out in that game on Sunday. Unfortunately for the Giants, it just wasn't enough. They lost in overtime. What was your overall thoughts on that game on Sunday?
Well, you kind of got the sense, Peter, that even with everything that went on on that first drive with all the penalties, you kind of got the feeling that if they could clean up their self-inflicted penalty situation, they were going to be able to get what they wanted. And, you know, they cleaned it up. They benched Hudson, put the rookie in, and away they went. I mean, what we saw in the preseason, you know, I was super excited about. And, you know, I talked about all preseason how what Daboll desires in his offense is, you know, good quarterback play. And that's not, you know, any disrespect to Daniel Jones, who I'm still very fond of to this day. But, you know, Russell's a different level quarterback, and also the offensive line plays a major role in the success of any offense. And so this offensive line, they blocked very well in Dallas, and the Giants have receivers that are tough to deal with. Like when you've got speed at two or three positions, it's hard to cover them all. I mean, they're trying to double Malik Nabers; he runs through a double team, which is just next level. And then they turned Wan'Dale Robinson loose, and then they turned Darius Slayton loose for big plays. So if they could block it up, I believe that Mike Kafka and Coach Daboll can scheme some guys and put some points on the board. They had 500 yards of offense.
And you know, their plan was to go at, you know, DaRon Bland's replacement. They did it to perfection.
When we look at this offense and obviously Russell Wilson, I think it was a personal career high of passing yards in a game for him. But we also did get a little glimpse of Jaxson Dart. He came in for a couple of plays, and I was actually in my car listening to you and Bob Papa, and you can sense a little excitement in Bob's voice when he said that Jaxson Dart was jogging on the field and coming into the game. What were your thoughts on the way that Brian Daboll got him in for a couple of plays, and could that package expand a little bit where perhaps he might put the ball in the air at some point here?
Well, I do think it's going to expand. I think you just saw a different type of offense even on the touchdown run or the big run by Skattebo and then ended up in a touchdown. You know, he offers a different dynamic, and so teams have got to account for that. I think at some point, you know, they're going to incorporate him in, but I think as long as Russell is playing at the level he's playing, there's no rush to give Jaxson Dart the full package. And I don't think anybody should be in a hurry to see him. If Russell Wilson is playing at this level and the Giants are winning games—now if they're not winning games and they just don't get it turned around, then yeah, I think it's time you just got to, you know, put the kid in. But I think when you look at the offensive output from Sunday, you've got to feel pretty good about, you know, Russell and what this offense can do.
And you know, it's just a matter of how to get the defense to stabilize themselves. I mean, the defensive coordinator Shane Bowen is under siege right now, but you know,
what you saw on Sunday—and I'm going to take out the second and 10 with 15 seconds left in the game, right? If you look at every defensive series with the exception of the first two drives in the game, first series in the third quarter, the defense had a penalty on every single series.
So as good as they could play, you would never know it. You would never know it because if Dallas got 10 yards, they'd get tacked on 15, right? That's a quarter of the field in one play. So I think this is a defense that could survive if, you know, teams are—you know, if it's third and five and they get 10 yards, okay, you line up to play another series. But if it's, you know, third and five and they get 10 and then you get another penalty and then it's a 25-yard play, and you have those every single series, it's just hard to play defense. And that's not a coaching issue.
Right. That's a player issue. And I hope, you know, the fans out there don't think I'm being smug when I say this, but it's—no, no, no, Peter, it's professional football.
Like, you know, I see some of the comments on my social media.
Yeah.
"Well, the coach this, the coach—" No, no, folks, these guys make millions and millions of dollars. There's no handholding in professional sports. You teach it, you practice it, they got to go execute it. You don't blame coaches for players who miss tackles because they take bad angles. You don't blame coaches for players when 10 guys do it right and one guy does it wrong.
Right. Well, you know what, Carl? The interesting thing is because we're seeing it with both teams, because the Jets have their issues with bad penalties, too. And the same players—you keep changing the coaches, the same players are committing the same stupid penalties over and over again. At some point, the fans have to back off the coaches a little bit because they're doing their job teaching this all week in practice and the players aren't executing on Sundays.
Right. And I think, you know, it's fair for fans to question coaching, but understand what you're questioning, right? If a player misses a tackle, don't say that's the coach's problem. Don't say that the team is undisciplined because a guy misses a tackle. No, folks, he makes three, four million dollars a year. This is responsibility, right? "Well, the coaches aren't teaching them how to tackle." He's been playing tackle football since he was 12, right? There's only so much you can teach. And I'm not being smug for all of you guys out there watching this,
but this is a grown-up goddamn conversation we're having, right? You show up, you get that check—that check hits your bank.
You take the field. You're not taking the field to be mediocre. And it's not fair. And again, questioning coaching is fine with me, right? If people got questions,
but don't blame everything on coaching. Not when players are making the amount of money that they're making. And I never begrudge a player for making his money, but I say, give me my money's worth.
Don't be out here taking bad angles, missing when 10 guys get it right and you get it wrong, and you got the fans to coddle you because they want to blame the coach or blame somebody that they don't like. That's not how it works in real life.
Like if you're making two, three, four million dollars or a million dollars, when you get to this level, it ain't about whether the coaches are teaching you how to tackle. You've been taught how to tackle since you were in grade school.
So that ain't a coaching issue. I can tell you right now, that is not a coaching issue.
Some big words there from legendary Giant and current radio analyst Carl Banks. And he speaks the truth on that. I know fans might disagree, but he speaks the truth on that. I mean, at some point the players have to take some accountability.
So let's move on for the Giants now. They have their home opener on Sunday night against the Chiefs, and they're a desperate football team, too, at 0 and 2. And I'm guessing Taylor Swift will be in the house to see Travis Kelce. And I don't know if you and Bob will get a chance to meet the icon beforehand, but I'm sure there's going to be a lot of excitement around MetLife Stadium on Sunday night.
Yeah. Listen, the only excitement the Giants should be concerned with is getting their fan base excited about positive plays. You know, the thing that the Giants will have to avoid is the Kansas City Chiefs aura, you know, the aura that precedes them because they are a well-established winning
organization and they're kind of a standard bearer.
But right now that ain't it, right? So if there's ever a time for you not to give too much respect to a team that hasn't quite got on track yet, this is the week.
Right. Don't be the get-right game for them.
You got to get yourself right. And we know when Kansas City has got it rolling, they're tough to deal with. But right now, this ain't it. And I don't think you want to give them—and I'm not saying this in a disrespectful way, but you don't want to respect that aura while they're struggling,
right? You want to try to put as much pressure on them as possible to keep them in the space that they are, right? Because you got some things that you're doing well that you don't want to back off of thinking, "Well, you know, Spags can blitz the daylights out of you." Well, let him. You got guys out there that can beat single coverage, they can beat man coverage. Just get them blocked up. Don't be afraid to play this Kansas City Chiefs team because they're not quite there where they want to be yet.
No question about it. Talking to Carl Banks here on Sports Bash as the Giants get set to take on the Chiefs. What do you think is the mindset right now for Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll? Because they were under so much scrutiny after last year. They get to pick their guy in a quarterback in Jaxson Dart, and now off to an 0 and 2 start in two different kinds of games. What do you think is going through their minds right now? And I would think you might agree with a lot of people that the Giants are probably playing for their jobs. But are Schoen and Daboll coaching and running this team for their jobs this year?
Well, yes and no. Obviously it's a results-oriented business. Now, I said in the preseason that their jobs may not depend on the win-loss record. It's going to be how the players they have are showing improvement. What direction is the football team going in?
If you look at the offense, you probably feel pretty good about what you saw Sunday, right?
You feel pretty good about the guy they drafted to play tackle, and they put him in there and he held his own. He did a really good job, actually. You look at some of the young players that they had the draft before that, right? Dru Phillips is really playing well, right? So you start to look at that. You look at, okay, you've invested money in Brian Burns, right? You invested money in Dexter Lawrence. Are those investments paying off? Jevon Holland and Paulson Adebo, still a little—jury still a bit out.
But it's the feeling that you get around the team, and I think ownership will look at this and say, "Okay, well, this is the beginning of the real rebuild. We got a quarterback, we got a running back, we got an offensive lineman. All of these guys are panning out, right? We've got Malik Nabers. He's already vaulted to kind of elite status."
So you look at that and you say, "Okay, is it going in the right direction?" But if it feels stuck, if everything feels hard, right? Like the offense last year just looked hard.
Right. The offense against Washington kind of looked the same way, and that was kind of the triggering thing for a lot of people in the fan base to see that. And it felt like last year that was—if you get those types of performances, then it's going to be a lot easier decision for ownership because they just don't think the team will be moving in the right direction.
But if you're moving the way they played Sunday and you start to see more and more of that offensively—and that's the type of coach that they hired Brian Daboll to be—and now all of a sudden if you're seeing that, then they're probably going to feel a lot better about the direction of the team and the improvements, even though it may not show up in the win-loss record. But if you're losing a heartbreaker to Dallas and your offense did everything they were supposed to do, it's pretty hard to look at that coach and say, "You know what, this offense just can't put up the points needed." And the defense had its own self-inflicted issues. So I think if they are moving in the right direction, Pete, I think they will have a better evaluation process. It won't be as easy to say we're not going in the right direction.
Carl, in addition to being a Giants great on the field and being a longtime member of their broadcast team, obviously so many of us know you now as being involved in the sports apparel business, whether it was with G-III and you were able to take over Starter and bring it back. Just your thoughts on being involved on that side of sports, how much fun it has been for you to be kind of an entrepreneur, so to speak, in that sense and providing so many great things for sports fans when it comes to apparel.
It feels great. It gives me a chance to really have an influence on fandom, you know? And fandom is—I say fandom is a fashionable experience. Fandom is a wearable experience. And I learned that from when I played and I wore Starter, right? And David Beckerman,
that was the reason Starter existed. He wanted the sidelines to look different. They wanted the fans to wear their fandom,
right? And so when I got into this business, I was still playing,
and I started my leather business with that thought in mind. And then as my business expanded, it was all about being sports fashion. And then I was able to grab the Starter license. It's been about 10, 12 years now. And now we get to really tap into the heritage and legacy of the brand and what it meant in sport. And just want to keep putting quality product out there and thank our fans of all teams and all sports for their support.
And also the cost of fandom is pretty high sometimes, Peter. So
I have an entire collection that I sell on Home Shopping Network.
And it's quality, but just you give fans an option, right? Big families or whatever that just can't afford to buy some of the other stuff I do, we try to stay sensitive to every income level of the fan base.
Now, one key word you brought up there was "big." When you talk about big family—and the only time you and I over the years ever had a disagreement was when I was in Modell's one time and there was a Starter Islanders jacket and I reached out to you and I said, "Look, you know, I need this Islander jacket in a 4XL." And you wrote back to me—I don't remember if we talked on the phone or whatever, but you said, "Peter, there's no way you're a 4XL." Now look at me. I mean, I know it's been a few years since I've seen you, but I am definitely a 4XL and I need an Islander jacket in a 4XL.
Peter, I got great news for you.
My Home Shopping Network collection goes up to 6X.
Oh, there you go. Outstanding.
Goes up to 6X. So you guys out there, if you are big fans in both personality and stature, we can accommodate that.
There you go. See, that's why—in the Jewish religion we call people like you a mensch, and that is why I wanted to have you on.
One last thing before I let you go. I know you have another appointment to get to, but in your time here in New York, you have not just been all about the Giants, but you have become a fan of some of the other teams in the New York area. I know you're a huge Knicks fan and a huge St. John's fan. And with basketball right around the corner, how excited are you for another season of Knicks and St. John's basketball?
Listen, I kind of grew up as a Knicks fan because my older brother and I used to be Earl the Pearl and—I mean Clyde Frazier and Earl Monroe. And so he was Clyde and I was Earl. So when I got to New York, my first mission in life was to get a chance to meet both of those guys and tell them that, and I did.
And then my affinity for St. John's was still based in the '80s also when I first came here to play for the Giants. So it's a real affinity for St. John's and the Big East. And, you know, I'm not, as the fans say, I'm not a Johnny-come-lately. I'm a day one Johnny, and proud of them. I'm Michigan State first and foremost,
but, you know, I live here
and I'm a New Yorker. So I'm rooting for St. John's and the Knicks unless they play Michigan State, then I'm going to have to sit and be neutral and look at—
You got Michigan State Starter jacket on.
Carl, I can't thank you enough for coming on the show. It's an absolute honor and privilege, and I'm going to be ordering that Islander jacket in a 4XL. And I can't wait to have you back on the show at some point in the future.
I appreciate you having me, man. I'm glad we were able to work it out.
Awesome. Carl Banks, Giants legend, joining us here on Sports Bash. And make sure you check out his apparel online, whether it's Home Shopping or his Starter brand, G-III, all that stuff. Look for it online and check it out on Home Shopping.
Still plenty more to come here on the program when we come back. I got a couple of things to talk about. I kind of touched on the passing of Robert Redford. I have some thoughts on that. When we come back, I have some thoughts on ticket prices because something came up in the news the other day and I want to talk about it and I want to speak about it as a sports fan, as a parent. We're a family of four. Tickets are not cheap to go to games anymore, but something came up the other day and I want to address it. And we got so much more to do: the poll question, the item of the day, we're going to tell you about upcoming shows. All coming up when we come back right after this.
Hi, I'm Peter Schwartz.
