Tag: 106.7 the Fan DC

DC Radio host declares ‘Howell won’t start in 2024’

A premature declaration after two NFL starts.

Wednesday, I found myself hoping a DC radio host was going to be dead wrong.

“The Sports Junkies” of 106.7 The Fan were disagreeing (rather strongly) regarding Washington Commanders starting quarterback Sam Howell. They couldn’t agree on how well or how badly Howell played in the Week 1 opener against the Cardinals.

Then John-Paul Flaim launched his bold declaration, “I am not changing my opinion at all. He will not be the starting quarterback next year.”

Eric Bickel strongly disagreed, supporting Howell. While “Cakes” simply declared that it is much too early to make such a declaration either way. Jason Bishop felt both positions by Flaim and Bickel were in error and time to play out.

Some of the criticism of Howell from Flaim was that Howell took too many sacks and seemed flat-footed in the pocket. He suggested some sacks were about Howell not pulling the trigger and that his sack rate was high at North Carolina.

Flaim compared Howell to Rex Grossman., expressing that Grossman was a mediocre quarterback who, at times, could make some really nice throws but other times, had acute ups and downs.

Those criticizing Howell similarly point to the context of that first game was against a team like the Cardinals, who are pretty much near or at the bottom of most current NFL power rankings.

It seems Howell showed promise during preseason games that are much slower and less intense. Thus, many were left disappointed in Howell’s Week 1 performance.

But in Week 1 in the NFL, if you had a good week, your fan base most often will exaggerate your accomplishments. If you did not have a good week, your fan base most often will bury you, making you to be much worse than you actually are.

Whatever, the declaration, “Sam Howell will not be the starter next year” is clearly premature. Howell has plenty of time to prove his unbelievers wrong. This Sunday in Denver would be a good time to start.

Michael Lombardi not a big fan of pending Commanders owner Josh Harris

Lombardi also famously once said Doug Pederson “might be less qualified to coach a team than anyone I’ve ever seen.” How’d that one turn out?

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It’s no secret to 106.7 The Fan listeners that Michael Lombardi was no fan of Dan Snyder or Bruce Allen.

Thursday Lombardi, a guest on the “Sports Junkies” morning show on 106.7 The Fan, offered some open opinions on current Philadelphia 76ers owner and pending Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris.

Lombardi has worked for the 49ers, Eagles, Browns, Raiders and Patriots. He has never shied away from presenting his opinion.

Thursday, Lombardi warned Commanders fans that he feels Harris is too interested in making sure his players are happy.

“As a Washington fan, I’d be concerned he is too player-friendly and wants too much for the players to be happy,” Lombardi said. “I’ve never been part of a program that worked if you’re not driving the players to be the best that can be. A former Canadiens (NHL Montreal franchise) player once told me they hated Scotty Bowman 363 days a year, but the day they got the Stanley Cup, they loved him.”

Lombardi was direct in saying Harris listened to those who were into analytics, resulting in the 76ers trading away Mikal Bridges for Zhaire Smith and Smith is not even in the G League, while Bridges is an All-Star.

“After 35 years studying players, I can tell you there are no two players who are exactly the same – so there’s no question Josh Harris will spend money and has the will to win, but what makes this tough with new ownership is, do they know how to make moves and build a culture within the building? The Commanders haven’t had a culture in the building since Dan Snyder bought the team, so this will take a lot of work.”

Lombardi doesn’t buy into the narrative that Ron Rivera has built a winning culture for the Commanders or the Panthers.

“What you hear is that he’s a player-friendly coach, but somebody has to drive the bus and run the program – if you’re player-friendly and not demanding? I’m not saying that you have to have a hard edge, but you have to be demanding and put the burden on the players to be the best they can be,” Lombardi said. “The Commanders are talented, but talent alone isn’t going to win anything. Ultimately, you have to be able to put the players in a situation to succeed.”

Lombardi does not take too kindly to Harris’s in-game involvement either.

“He sits right next to Doc Rivers on the bench, and to me, you shouldn’t be sitting there because that’s an awful message,” Lombardi said. “You need to have a global view of it. One of the reasons the 76ers don’t achieve is because they spoil all their best players. That comes from ownership; teams that win in the NFL, the owner drives the culture by saying the kind of team they want. If you want to be player-friendly, that’s great, but you’re never going to win a championship.”

There was more, but space does not permit it here. Check out the link I’ve provided above. The discussion was well worth the listen.

Fellow Duke alum questions Brian Davis’ bid on the Commanders

One former Duke alum says he had about as much of a chance to buy the Commanders as Brian Davis.

Brian Davis says he is a potential buyer of the Washington Commanders, but another former Duke graduate is not buying it.

Davis (age 52) was a significant member of the Duke national championship basketball teams of 1991 and 1992. He was a very good defensive player and a real competitor. No one should question his contribution to Duke basketball.

John Feinstein (age 66) who closely followed Davis and those champion Blue Devils teams is not convinced Davis is a potential owner of the Commanders.

Feinstein during his weekly Friday segment with “The Sports Junkies,” did not permit his being a Duke alumnus to remove his objectivity on the question of Brian Davis’ legitimacy as a candidate to purchase the Commanders. Feinstein was candid, straightforward, and impartial.

Here are some excerpts from the broadcast segment.

“Yes, I am not sure Brian could buy a car, much less a team.

“I haven’t been in touch with him (Davis) in I don’t know how many years. But Brian always had a little bit of con artist in him.”

“He was a very charming guy. I liked him, very bright. But a little bit of a con artist I think. And I think the stuff with Laettner, he (Davis) was probably the leader, in terms of whatever decisions they made.”

“He had as much a chance to buy this team (Commanders) as I did. Maybe less. I’ve got a couple of bucks in my wallet.”

“Because I haven’t spoken with Brian in years it is hard for me to speculate (as to Davis’ motivation to attempt to convince the public he can purchase the Commanders). But ego is usually a part of it.”

“People like to see their name; remember he is local. I’m guessing he enjoyed seeing his name in the mix of this in what is the biggest story in Washington.”

“What? An athlete is a narcissist?”

“His reputation can only be improved at this point.”

“Somebody at the Post (Washington) wanted to get in touch with him when this first came up. I said, ‘Look, if you talk to him be careful because he has no chance to buy this team.'”

 

Radio reactions to Commanders bidder, Brian Davis’ interview

There were lots of reactions to Brian Davis’ bid on the Commanders after his Wednesday appearance on The Sports Junkies.

Former Duke basketball two-time national champion Brian Davis was certainly the most talked about person Wednesday, regarding him being a potential owner of the Washington Commanders.

Davis dialogued with The Sports Junkies (106.7 The Fan) for two segments Wednesday morning. Here are some of the responses from the Junkies and then also other sports personalities in the DMV.

“Whose intellectual property is worth $50 billion? Nobody I have ever heard of…The bottom line is does the guy have legitimate money? I know he is not a billionaire and the guy said he was a billionaire.” — Eric Bickel, 106.7 The Fan

“I am calling shenanigans on that. .. Wait until the headline at Pro Football Talk is ‘Brian Davis can’t wait to sink white people’s money’.”  — John Cakes Auville, 106.7 The Fan

“Nobody believes he has the money. Nobody in this room believes he has the money.” — John-Paul Flaim, 106.7 The Fan

“He reminded me of a relative at either Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner; they are just talking in circles. At some point, you wish they would stop talking, but they just won’t. They keep going and going.“ — John Cakes Auville, 106.7 The Fan

“I don’t know if we learned a lot, but he said a lot…You know what you can’t run from or hide from if you are going to try to make a major business play? Your past… There is a reason we have never discussed this on our show. That is because we never did really think it was real.” — JP Finlay, 106.7 The Fan

“I don’t feel comfortable supporting what I just heard. Just because you change the name doesn’t mean your history is gone.” — Brian Mitchell, 106.7 The Fan

“Supposedly he is able to get billionaires to agree to give him billions of dollars for his intellectual property. Again, forgive my skepticism. Who gave you the money? That was the one question that never really came up…When it did come up in passing he said it came from white people, which was an odd phrase, I thought.” — Grant Paulsen, 106.7 The Fan

“This sounds like the most fraudulent bit of nonsense I can remember hearing about. I don’t have a nicer way of saying it than that. This does not sound realistic.” — Danny Roullier, 106.7 The Fan

“Are you really going to buy something from somebody or allow that somebody to buy something from you, where you don’t understand who it is and where it is coming from, in terms of the money in the deal? …I don’t know man, it didn’t sound real to me. None of this has sounded real at any point.“ — Kevin Sheehan, 980 The Team

“To be quite honest, and to be quite blunt, there wasn’t much that I could handle. I am not trying to be a jerk here. I’m not trying to be mean. If this morning was a true representation of what Brian Davis is trying to sell to the National Football League, Dan and Tanya Snyder and Bank of America Securities, there is no way anybody with half a peanut in their brain that could walk away saying, ‘Oh yes, that sounds good. That sounds real. That sounds legit.’ ” — Chris Russell, 980 The Team.

“More sleight of hand from Davis, it seems, and the proof of that kills his credibility even more…The idea that Brian Davis is doing all these things, and this could be a means to justify an end, falls through immediately. He’s mentioned this elaborate plan, but no one in PG County has seen it. You can’t just submit a bid to the NFL and say you’re going to do things if you don’t have the approval to do any of it.” — Craig Hoffman, 980 The Team

Grant Paulsen illustrated the elation of Commanders fans Thursday

Thursday was fun for many on the Washington D.C. sports radio airwaves.

Thursday night, I determined to go back and listen to Grant and Danny on 106.7 The Fan. I felt their opening monologue/dialog might be entertaining, seeing the two have been so outspoken for some time regarding their desire for Snyder to no longer own the Washington NFL football franchise.
I expected some happiness, enjoyment, perhaps even delight. What I just heard moments ago in listening to the first segment of Thursday’s show was, to my surprise, even more than I had anticipated.
Grant Paulsen was literally elated, exhilarated, almost giddy. No, he was giddy. It was a different Grant in some way. He was so full of joy and enthusiasm I suddenly found myself realizing I was happy for him.
I’ve followed the Washington NFL team since the 1969 season. I recall many good seasons, great seasons,  six NFC championship games, and five Super Bowls and three Super Bowl victories!
Paulsen was born in 1989. Therefore, he doesn’t remember nor did he experience any of the Super Bowl seasons of Joe Gibbs and Bobby Beathard. He never experienced the George  Allen teams ALWAYS achieving winning seasons in 1971-77.
Paulsen hasn’t had any of that to fall back upon and reflect on from time to time. He has simply grown tired of all he knows about Washington football… dysfunction, black clouds, and losing seasons.
Commanders Commemorative T-Shirts (BreakingT)
Commanders Commemorative T-Shirts (BreakingT)
Paulsen began Thursday’s show:
“Nobody threw for 300 yards; nobody won a football game today.
It’s better than that, though, isn’t it?
(Raising his voice) “Hey, everybody! It’s your pals, Grant and Danny!
Ready to talk about sportin’ stuff.
Anybody have anything they want to hear us talk about today?
Who wants to listen to the radio today?
Who wants to listen to the radio today?”
“Daniel, a big smile on your face today.”

“We have been doing shows together since 2009 in some capacity, and Grant & Danny has existed since 2010, and I’m not sure any of those shows we’ve done were as big as today’s or have been bigger or meant more to our audience, than today’s.”

“This is special and different because maybe, just maybe, there is a gleam! Twenty-four years of turmoil and ineptitude, 24 years of people being treated badly, of irrelevance and losses and being the butt of jokes…it could all be coming to an end because Daniel Snyder’s reign of terror is over.”

When Paulsen referenced “the gleam,” I burst out in laughter, knowing he was referencing the late Marty Schottenheimer, who was caught on film telling his huddled-up team of a “gleam” for certain players who love to be there in big moments.

This, for Paulsen, was a big moment, and he so loved conveying to his audience Thursday that Daniel Snyder had reached an agreement in principle to sell the franchise. I couldn’t help but wonder if Paulsen’s “gleam” was illustrious of thousands more who have longed for the Burgundy and Gold to return to greatness.

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Sports Junkies on Chase Young: A ‘huge bust so far’

The Commanders have a big decision to make on Chase Young — and soon.

It certainly was not a dull offseason Monday, when the “Sports Junkies” of 106.7 The Fan began discussing Chase Young and the Commanders.

NFL teams have until May 1 to pick up the fifth-year option on first-round picks selected in the 2020 NFL draft. The Commanders selected defensive end Chase Young No. 2 overall in 2020.

Three of the four were present Monday, and here are some quotes from John Auville, Eric Bickel,  Jason Bishop and producer “Valdez” as they raised their concerns.

JA: “Personally, I  would not be comfortable guaranteeing him (Chase Young) $17 Million for the 5th-year option.

JB: “If he has a bomb year, but can you picture that?

EB: “I think it is worth the gamble not to pay him. Motivate him, have him have a ball-out year, and then you reward him.”

JB: “I don’t know that I am tagging him after an 11-sack season. If he has 15,17,19? Then that is different. But as I said earlier, ‘I can’t picture him having that type of year’ .”

EB: “If he comes out there this year and has four sacks. They should cut him.”

JA: “If he only has four sacks and plays 17 games? Then he would be one of the biggest top-five draft busts of all time.”

EB: “The guy is a huge bust so far… Maybe he should go to WWE. He would probably be a great wrestler.”

Valdez: “It sounds like Ron (Rivera) is using the ownership change to not reward Chase. If Ron doesn’t want to reward Chase, then why do I want to?”

EB: “If you just look at this from a production standpoint, he hasn’t earned it.

Valdez: “If you are Ron and the organization, you had success doing this with Daron Payne. You have a formula to do this.”

Valdez: “If I am running an organization and I have challenged a player for a good season, and they don’t want that, that is not the kind of player I want on my team, right?”

Valdez: “If you are going to be pouty because we are trying to challenge you and motivate you?”

JA: “Maybe part of this is he is 23, and maybe he is immature. I don’t know him personally, but maybe he has some growing up to do.”

EB: “What do you think is the likelihood of him having a 15-sack season?”

JB: “Zero, zero percent.”

JA: “Eight to ten percent.”

EB: “Ten percent, one in ten.”

Here is the link for the full audio segment.

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Former Washington RB Brian Mitchell: ‘Sometimes Coach (Rivera) just talks too much’

Mitchell was discussing Rivera and his messaging on quarterback Sam Howell.

Brian Mitchell still speaks as he played… directly and aggressively.

JP Finlay and Mitchell were in a conversation with Washington Post Commanders reporter Sam Fortier Wednesday on 106.7 The Fan when Finlay lobbed that Rivera had thus far, since the season finale, spoke of the team moving forward with Sam Howell as the quarterback. Finlay noted the distinction Rivera had made Wednesday between Howell not being the starter but he is QB1.

Fortier was even bolder, saying that Rivera was “hedging, and it was double speak”. “It is trying to have it both ways,” said Fortier. He expressed he thinks Coach Ron is not yet committed to going with Howell, citing “it has been inconsistent messaging” by Rivera.

Fortier also proclaimed that Rivera needs to win this year, and “will do whatever is necessary to maximize the number of wins this year.”

Mitchell suggested the possibility that one Rivera statement saying Howell was the starter was pre-Eric Bieniemy being hired as assistant head coach/offensive coordinator, and the latest statement is after having dialogue with Bieniemy regarding Howell as the QB1 this upcoming season.

Mitchell then stated, “It is March 1. Why do we have to say who the starter is today?” “I made the comment last year, and I am going to make it again. Sometimes, Coach just talks too much. If he says less, then he doesn’t have all of these questions coming at him.”

Mitchell has been direct with his opinion of what Rivera should do or say previously. In June of 2022, Mitchell called for Rivera to hold Jack Del Rio accountable for his statements questioning the media’s treatment of the events of January 6 in contrast to the many burnings and destruction of properties in what were called peaceful protests summer of 2020.

Mitchell also made a passionate declaration for what he felt was a “trash” performance in the Commanders’ Week 17 loss to the Browns at FedEx Field.

 

Ron Rivera reminds everyone he has the right to change his mind

Ron Rivera joined “The Junkies” for his scheduled weekly appearance. He discussed several topics and insisted his team did not quit.

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Washington Football Team head coach Ron Rivera appeared Tuesday for his weekly appearance on the “Sports Junkies” (106.7 The Fan). Hosting Tuesday were John-Paul Flaim and John “Cakes”Auville.

Here are the questions asked by Flaim and Auville:

“What did you get your wife for Christmas?”

“What did you see from Taylor (Heinicke) on the field, Sunday?”

“What were the coaches’ thoughts throwing at Trevon Diggs on the first play who leads the NFL in interceptions?”

“Why is Terry McLaurin is not being targeted as much as earlier in the season?”

“Will we see more of Dyami Brown the final two weeks?”

“How are Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne coexisting at this point after the sideline skirmish Sunday night?”

Rivera was quick to insist his team did not quit Sunday and that he intentionally tries not to “lose my mind” because the players feed off of him and “need to try to keep their heads and wits about them”.

Regarding the defense, “What has been happening that you haven’t been able to stop the run?”

“Why were there times players were late coming onto the field?”

“How do you go about stopping Jalen Hurts?”

“Can you explain how it is that Heinicke and Allen are both going to play?”

“What is the latest injury update on Antonio Gibson?”

For how Rivera responded to all the questions, here is the link to their conversation.