The Greg and Mark Show

The Wayne Gretzky Episode

2011-03-18T16:01:00.000-07:00

Before we wrap back around and head into the zeroes, it’s the Wayne Gretzky Episode!

We don’t talk much puck in the episode though, mostly a discussion of great players becoming coaches/general managers, followed by some bracket talk.

Our song of the week goes out not to Gretzky, but another very famous No. 99 in sports.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode99/Episode99.mp3

The Home Run Chase Episode

2011-03-09T23:44:00.000-08:00

It's the Home Run Chase Episode.

1998 was a big year for baseball, and 98 is a big show for the Greg and Mark Show baseball preview, as we wrap up our division previews with the NL West.

We look east, to the Big East, for our Song of the Week.

http://www.archive.org/download/Gregandmarkshow-Episode98/episode98.mp3

The Jeremy Roenick Episode

2011-02-23T22:38:00.000-08:00

It's the Jeremy Roenick Episode!

We picked him over another Phoenix-based 97, former Cardinals defensive end Simeon Rice. We talk about the playoff-bound Coyotes in the opening segment, then we bring you a whole lot of NL Central talk in the rest of the show. Listener Noah joins us in studio for our first-ever three-man pod.

Our Song of the Week goes out to Carmelo Anthony and, to some degree, Deron Williams in regard to the trades that sent them to the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area.

http://www.archive.org/download/Gregandmarkshow-Episode97/Episode97.mp3

Here's a look at the three dirty NHL hits we referenced:

And a look at Matt Garza & the eagle muppet:

The 72-Win Bulls Episode

2011-02-18T07:59:00.000-08:00

With a lack of great 96 candidates, we turn to a year once again, to honor the best regular-season win total in NBA history -- the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, who were 72-10 en route to beating the Seattle SuperSonics in the NBA Finals.

We talk '96 Bulls, NBA All-Star weekend and trade deadline, and break down the NL East before bringing you a Seinfeld-themed song of the week.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMark-Episode96/Episode96a.mp3

The Richard Dent Episode

2011-02-10T08:39:00.000-08:00

It's the Richard Dent episode!

We discuss Richard Dent, the 2011 Hall of Fame class and the woeful Cleveland Cavaliers.

We catch up with Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com to talk red birds. Our division-by-division baseball preview continues with the American League West.

Our song of the week goes out to a great band that broke up this week, in regard to the Super Bowl ticket mess.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode92_815/Episode95.mp3

The Charles Haley Episode

2011-02-02T23:47:00.000-08:00

It's the Charles Haley Episode!

But 94 actually reminds us of baseball more than football. We talk '94 baseball strike and Super Bowl, and we continue our division-by-division baseball preview with the AL Central. We've got a colorful, Super Bowl themed song of the week.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode94/Episode94.mp3

The John Randle Episode

2011-01-27T13:33:00.001-08:00

It's a streak of great defensive linemen -- the John Randle Episode!

We talk about the menacing Vikings defensive tackle, discuss the AFC & NFC Championships and start our division-by-division baseball preview witht he AL East.

Our song of the week is an all-time great song dedicated to Jets coach Rex Ryan.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode93/Episode93.mp3

The Reggie White Episode

2011-01-19T23:41:00.000-08:00

It's the Reggie White Episode!

We discuss the Minister of Defense, wonder what the Suns should do next, talk some Championship Games and ask Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic and AZCentral.com about all of it.

Our song of the week goes out to the four remaining football teams who are under an enormous amount of pressure, along with the guys on the couch who have to pick the games.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode92/Episode92.mp3

The World Champion Twins Episode

2010-11-30T23:13:00.000-08:00

We've got Doug Haller from The Arizona Republic and AZCentral.com (again!) to talk Sun Devils and the Territorial Cup. We'll also check in on the struggling' Suns and the wheezing Cardinals.

We'll also take a little time to eulogize the late, great Leslie Nielsen in our first segment and the Song of the Week.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode91/Episode91.mp3

The Buffalo Bills Die-nasty Episode

2010-11-23T23:54:00.000-08:00

We weren't thrilled with the options at 90, so we looked at 1990, the start of the almost-dynasty of the Buffalo Bills. That season, they'd advance to the Super Bowl, where they lost for the first of four consecutive trips.

We've got Doug Haller from The Arizona Republic and AZCentral.com to talk Sun Devils football and basketball, and we talk about potential 2011 quarterback options for the Cardinals.

And because we're jive turkeys and its Thanksgiving, we've got a Turkey Day Song of the Week.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode90/Episode90.mp3

The Iron Mike Ditka Episode

2010-11-12T08:58:00.000-08:00

It's the Mike Ditka Episode!

We've got Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com in to discuss the Cardinals/Seahawks tilt this week, and we'll touch on the SUns and Greg's re-embrace of the NHL. Our Song of the Week goes out to how we feel the Stanford/ASU game is gonna go down this weekend.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode89/Episode89.mp3

The Tony Gonzalez Episode

2010-10-28T23:59:00.000-07:00

Tony Gonzalez edged out a bunch of other qualified 88s for this episode of the Greg and Mark Show. We talk Cardinals, World Series and have a Giants & Cody Ross themed Song of the Week.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMark-Episode88/Episode88.mp3

The Sid the Kid Crosby Episode

2010-10-21T22:40:00.000-07:00

It's the Sid the Kid Crosby Episode, so we talk our requisite once-a-year puck.

We're double-dipping on guests again this week, with Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com and Doug Haller of The Arizona Republic & AZCentral.com.

We'll talk some baseball postseason, and throw you a Song of the Week that matches the odd thing that will happen when somebody wins the World Series.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode87/Episode87.mp3

The Hines Ward Episode

2010-10-07T18:41:00.000-07:00

It's the Hines Ward Episode!

We'll discuss the Cardinals' QB and defense woes with AZCentral.com/Arizona Republic reporter Kent Somers, and break down the baseball playoffs with a little help from a listener (who joins us to discuss Roy Halladay's no-hitter).

Our Song of the Week is dedicated to Randy Moss, who is headed to Minneapolis via New England via Oakland via Minneapolis.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode86/Episode86.mp3

The Youngblood Episode

2010-09-30T09:49:00.000-07:00

It's the Jack Youngblood Episode!

We look at the mysteries taht are the 2-1 Cardinals and the 1-2 Chargers, figure out whether ASU can make a run at a bowl this year, and break down the awards in the AL and NL.

Our song of the week, "Don't Call Them Twinkies" by the Baseball Project, give a shout out to the club both of us are rooting for this October.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode85/Episode85.mp3

The Randy Moss Episode

2010-09-23T11:57:00.001-07:00

Catch the beat runnin' like Randy Moss on this week's Greg and Mark Show!

We give a nice summary of the life & times of this Vikings & Patriots great, Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com talking Cardinals football, some ASU/Oregon discussion and a look at the MLB pennant races.

Song of the week? We go back to the Moss well for that one.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMark-Episode84/Episode84.mp3

The Andre Reed Episode

2010-09-15T23:58:00.000-07:00

It's the Andre Reed episode.

It's been so long since the Buffal Bills were good, that it's easy to forget that they were. Well, it's been a long, long time since we've done a Greg and Mark Show. But we're back!

We've got Arizona Cardinals thoughts and concerns, NFL picks, ASU travelling to Madison and an appropriate song of the week.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode83/Episode83.mp3

An Update on the Greg and Mark Show

2010-09-02T23:44:00.001-07:00

Hang in there! We're almost back. Here's a quick glimpse at the status of the Greg and Mark Show:

The John Taylor Episode

2010-07-08T11:48:00.001-07:00

Apologies to the greater, Hall of Fame-caliber receivers who wore 82 (but were never in Tecmo Bowl), it's the John Taylor Episode.

World Cup, NBA free agency, LeBron, MLB All-STar Game and Song of the Week.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkEpisode82/Episode82.mp3

The Tim Brown Episode

2010-06-25T09:33:00.000-07:00

It's the Tim Brown Episode!

We eschew the other worthy No. 81 wide receivers for the best one of the Tecmo Bowl Generation. There's a little NBA Draft talk -- how did Minnesota screw up this time? -- and a whole lot of bat & ball talk as the trade deadline approaches. Who's going where and when, and who shot who in the what now?

Our song of the week goes out to one of the show's dedicated listeners, and the person that we demand be the show's newest, smallest dedicated listener.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkEpisode81/Episode81.mp3

The Jerry Rice Episode

2010-06-16T23:45:00.000-07:00

It's the Jerry Rice Episode!

A Hall of Fame receiver from a loaded show. We've got a Finals Game 7 in the NBA, a new GM for the Suns, ASU heading to the College World Series and a trade for the D-backs.

One of these stories inspired our song of the week here on the Greg and Mark Show.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkEpisode71_54/Episode80.mp3

The Bird vs. Magic Show

2010-06-12T00:54:00.000-07:00

In march of 1979, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson competed for the NCAA Championship (Magic won) and the Rookie of the Year Award in the NBA (Bird won).

On this week's show, we discuss the NBA Finals, the World Cup, the MLB Draft, the current play of the D-backs and Pac-10 expansion.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkEpisode79/Episode79.mp3

The Bruce Smith Episode

2010-06-02T09:29:00.000-07:00

Move over Bruce Amrstrong for the guy who moved Bruce Armstrong over a few times, Hall of Fame defensive end Bruce Smith.

We talk the passing of Dennis Hopper & Gary Coleman (with an Easy Rider-themed Song of the Week), wrap up the Suns season, take a look at the NBA Finals and wrap our minds around the Dontrelle Willis trade.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMark-Episode78/Episode78.mp3

Dennis Hopper's Nike commercial about Bruce Smith:

The Ray Bourque Episode

2010-05-28T15:23:00.000-07:00

It's Episode 77 of the Greg and Mark Show, so it had to go to one of the greatest defensemen of all time.

We don't talk much hockey though, just NBA West and East, with an NFL-themed song of the week.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkEpisode77/Episode77.mp3

The Toe Show

2010-05-18T23:34:00.000-07:00

Checking in at No. 76, it's the Lou "The Toe" Groza Episode!

We've got our rundown of the Suns & Lakers Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, and a look at the Celtics & Magic games.

Our song of the week goes out to the Washington Wizards, who just got themselves some John Wall.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkEpisode76/Episode76.mp3

The Mean Joe Greene Episode

2010-05-14T09:23:00.000-07:00

We're waiting... waiting... waiting to get Episode 75 out, so here you go.

It's the Mean Joe Greene episode but, wow, there were some awfully good 75 choices.

We'll discuss the Suns/Lakers matchup and the Celtics/Magic matchup (and our predictions are split in both series), the NBA Eastern playoffs and the D-backs bullpen woes.

See if you can guess the song of the week... you'll get plenty of hints.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkEpisode75/Episode75.mp3

The Hank Goes for 715 Show

2010-05-06T10:16:00.000-07:00

We're dipping back into the Hammerin' Hank well, but who cares. This is one of the five greatest players of all time, he can have two numbers.

We'll discuss Greg's weird depth of completely random knowledge surrounding Aaron's 715th home run, talk about the Suns (somewhat) surprising 2-0 lead on San Antonio, the D-backs having the No. 1 scoring offense in the National League, take a look at the other series going in the NBA. We're also bringing in the most heartfelt Song of the Week we've ever had.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkEpisode74/Episode74.mp3

*edit* - It originally said 755 on this post, but of course, it was the record-setting home run that Aaron hit in 1974, not the final, 755th homer.

The John Hannah Episode

2010-04-25T19:12:00.001-07:00

In the show where we talk NFL Draft, we named it after the greatest guard who ever lived.

We'll discuss D-backs with Arizona Republic writer Nick Piecoro, and give our thoughts on how the western conference NBA playoffs are unfolding.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkEpisode73/Episode73.mp3

The Fridge Episode

2010-04-15T07:42:00.000-07:00

Playoffs?!?! Plaaaaayoffs?!?!

We're talking NBA playoffs and trying not to embarrass ourselves to terribly by talking puck playoffs, too. We'll mix in some D-backs and a baseball-themed song of the Week in the William "Refrigerator" Perry episode of The Greg and Mark Show.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkEpisode72/Episode72.mp3

The 'Is It Alex Karras in Webster?' Episode

2010-04-08T07:06:00.000-07:00

Long time, no show... it's the Alex Karras Episode! We talk about the former Detroit Lion, pro wrestler and star of TV's Webster on our 71st show.

The D-backs look decent out of the gate, and the Suns blew away our expectations this year. Hear about it all, as well as our baseball predictions and NBA playoff picks in this week's Greg and Mark Show.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkEpisode71/Episode71.mp3

The Jim Marshall Episode

2010-03-17T00:26:00.001-07:00

We're back, finally, and it's the Jim Marshall episode!

Too bad this wasn't show 64 or 65, because we're talking a LOT of tournament. We'll break down each part of the bracket, and dip into the mailbag. Mark will give us a March Madness themed song of the week.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode70/Episode70.mp3

The Jared Allen Show

2010-02-26T06:34:00.000-08:00

It's the Jared Allen Show!

We're in two different cities, but that's not going to stop us from delivering a Greg and Mark Show. After technical difficulties kept us from posting yesterday, we're here.

We discuss ASU's run toward a regular season Pac-10 Championship, the Olympics, and the dominance of Jared Allen. We've got a baseball-free-agency themed song of the week.

http://www.archive.org/download/GreganMarkEp68/Episode69.mp3

The Will Shields Episode

2010-02-16T22:27:00.000-08:00

It's back to the Chiefs well again. We had Derrick Thomas at No. 58, and now a guy who should soon be joining him in the Hall of Fame, former Chiefs lineman Will Shields.

Since it will be another 200 shows or so until we have another Winter Olympics, a couple of cold-weather goons like us are not going to be missing a chance to talk winter games.

We discuss Amare trade options, ASU's tight hold on second place in the pac-10, and Mark brings you an Olympics-themed Song of the Week.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode68/Episode68.mp3

The Super Bowl I Episode

2010-02-10T07:57:00.001-08:00

In 1967, the two primary professional American football leagues merged to play the first-ever AFL/NFL Championship Game. In the same form, it would soon be called the Super Bowl, and would eventually become the most significant sporting event of the year every year.

We were lucky to have a fantastic game for the third consecutive year, and we'll discuss it on the Greg and Mark Show. We'll also talk up Russ Grimm's Hall of Fame induction and both ASU hoops programs.

One correction from the show: I (Greg) confused two different Colts possessions, thinking the Porter interception happened on the same drive the Colts got stopped at their 10-yard line on the kickoff. That kickoff preceded the missed 51-yard field goal, not the interception. Two different possessions. My bad.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMark-Episode67/Episode67.mp3

We mentioned this on the air, so here you go. This is a screen grab from the Saints' interception of Peyton Manning in the fourth quarter. Tracy Porter, the interceptor, is the farthest right of the three Saints in the middle of the photo. No. 91 is delivering an unflagged block to Peyton Manning's back.

The Mario Lemieux Episode

2010-02-04T22:06:00.000-08:00

Apologies to Ray Nitschke, but in our generation, there is only one No. 66.

We spend the Mario Lemieux episode discussing his greatness in conjunction with the greatness of early 90s video gaming, as well as the upcoming Super Bowl and ASU basketball. And of course, a song of the week befitting the man of honor this week.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode66/Episode66.mp3

We also talked about awesome Super Bowl commercials, and can only hope we get something this fantastic again:

The Ali-Liston in Lewiston Episode

2010-01-27T22:52:00.000-08:00

In 1965, Muhammad Ali knocked out Sonny Liston in Lewiston, Maine to retain the WBC Championship. It was his first fight under the name Muhammad Ali, and gave us one of the most iconic sporting images of all time.

We discuss last week's championship games, Kurt Warner's possible retirement, the current status of the ASU hoops squad, and what might happen with Amare Stoudemire? Our song of the week gives a nod to Warner's and Stoudemire's statuses.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode65/Episode65.mp3

The Randall McDaniel Episode

2010-01-20T08:10:00.000-08:00

It's the Randall McDaniel show. So expect silence, not much in the way of banter, and a funny stance. But this'll be a Hall of Fame-caliber show anyway.

We discuss the Cardinals' season coming to a pretty rough end, and try to figure out what's next for them. We give our thoughts on both championship games, including the insight of a Jets fan. And we mix in a little hoops, with the first-place Sun Devils and the scuffling Suns. We'll give you a little bit of the greatest band of all time in Song of the Week.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode64/Episode64.mp3

NBA All-Star Ballot

2010-01-14T10:22:00.000-08:00

For what it’s worth, my All-Star ballot:

Toughest choices:

Duncan/Durant over Anthony: Anthony deserves to start this game, and it speaks to the crazy depth of forwards in the West over the last decade that Carmelo has had so much difficulty just getting into All-Star games, nonetheless starting them. But I want to go with a true 1-2-3-4-5 in my All-Star lineup. Duncan locks in pretty easily at the four. But Durant and Anthony are both threes, so something’s got to give. Even though they’re both having great years, and I was tempted to give the older guy some love here, Durant’s having an incredible season (and frankly, the NBA should want to publicize Durant as much as possible). If I didn’t care about starting two small forwards, I’d just pick Anthony and Durant and be done with it.

Rondo over Rose/Williams: Again, this is a matter of wanting to stay true to the positions as much as possible. Derrick Rose and Mo Williams are more hybrid points than Rondo, who is more of a facilitator point. Point guard is a pretty terrible position in the East, and there’s a considerable drop-off from the top group. All three likely wind up going to Dallas.

Al Jefferson over Kaman/Stoudemire/Marc Gasol: You could even make a case for Nene here. A guy who would be a great choice is Chris Kaman, but he isn’t on the ballot at all (because, it seems, the Clippers wanted to have Blake Griffin on the ballot at forward… whoops). There are a lot of good big guys in the West, but many play either at the four spot or as a hybrid four/five (Duncan, Pao Gasol, etc.). Marc Gasol is having a very nice year and Stoudemire is having, well, pretty much the exact same year he has every year.

The West lineup doesn’t look as dynamic as it could be, in part because guys like Anthony and Deron Williams would be coming off the bench. But that really just speaks to how good the West is, because if these fives played, even without those two guys playing, I’d still bet on the west (good scoring/rebounding balance, even if the overall defensive edge probably swings a bit for the east).

~Greg

The Jordan-Garden Playoff Explosion Episode

2010-01-12T22:26:00.000-08:00

On April 20, 1986, Michael Jordon dropped 63 in a playoff game against the Boston Celtics that featured more than 260 combined points. The Celtics won the game and kept their dynasty alive with a finals win, but we were on the cusp of the start of the Bulls dynasty.

The Cardinals are in their second consecutive playoff run and as hard as it is to believe it could get more exciting than last year, it certainly was this week. We run down the Cards huge win over Green Bay, and break down the upcoming match-up with New Orleans with Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com.

We give a little rundown of ASU's sweep of the Washington schools and give you a song of the week, Cardinals-style.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode63/Episode63.mp3

The Charley Trippi Show

2010-01-08T06:38:00.000-08:00

We're turning back the Cardinals' clock this week, with show No. 62 in honor of former Chicago Cardinal Charley Trippi.

We break down the Cards' game against Green Bay, the other three games this weekend and ASU Hoops. Song of the week goes out to Randy Johnson, the best we've ever seen in Phoenix.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode62/Episode62.mp3

The Roger Maris Episode

2009-12-22T21:56:00.000-08:00

OK, so we're cheating a bit with this one. We dare you to find a good 61. Bronson Arroyo? Yeeech. He's not quite Otto Graham.

We may muddle our way through the 60s with some things like this, Roger Maris' iconic home run total in 1961.

Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic and AZCentral.com joins us to discuss the D-backs' offseason. We also talk Suns -- might we be willing to trade away a star player in a playoff year? -- along with some Cardinals and a holiday-themed Song of the Week.

Happy Holidays to all of our Greg and Mark Show listeners, and thank you for your support.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode61/Episode61.mp3

The Otto Graham Episode

2009-12-17T23:00:00.000-08:00

Before he wore 14, Otto Graham wore 60. And, well, there weren't a whole lot of others. So Otto it is.

We brought in Kent Somers to discuss Cardinals football and their pursuit of the NFC West title. We also broke down the rest of the MLB offseason, and mixed in a little Suns talk.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-episode60/Episode60.mp3

The Jack Ham Episode

2009-12-08T23:29:00.000-08:00

Menacing 1970s Steelers linebacker Jack Ham is our subject this week. While 59 isn't a common NFL number, we lucked out with an all-time great.

Friend of the show Kent Somers of Arizona Republic and AZCentral.com fame joined us to talk about the Cardinals big win over Minnesota and the upcoming Monday Night tilt in San Francisco. We gave our thoughts on the pending D-backs trade, and bring you our BCS-themed song of the week.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregandMarkShowEpisode59/Episode59.mp3

The Derrick Thomas Episode

2009-12-01T23:10:00.000-08:00

We dip back into the Tecmo Bowl well with Show 58, this time featuring Super Tecmo Bowl star Derrick Thomas of the Kansas City Chiefs.

We get friend of the show Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com on the phone, check out the basketball teams at ASU, and give a look-see at what the Suns are up to. Mark's Song of the Week selection gives us a little insight on ASU football plans.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode58/Episode58.mp3

The Johan Episode

2009-11-25T08:01:00.000-08:00

Despite what one would think would be a bevy of linebackers, 57 is actually a slouchy number. Luckily for us, the best left-handed pitcher of the last 10 years (and a Minnesota Twin, which never hurts on this show) dons it.

We discuss MLB's awards season, the Cardinals upcoming game against the Titans, ASU football's tilt with UA and the start of the ASU basketball season.

Song of the week goes out to our favorite outgoing college baseball coach, Pat Murphy.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode57/Episode57.mp3

The L.T. Episode

2009-11-04T22:56:00.000-08:00

No. 56 is a one-man show. The one -- and only -- LT... Giants linebacking great Lawrence Taylor.

We talk about the top of the BCS rankings, the Suns and the NBA, and Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com joins us to talk about the Cardinals upcoming game in Chicago.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode56/Episode56.mp3

Happy Anniversary, D-backs!

2009-11-04T12:09:00.000-08:00

D-blog Launches

2009-10-15T15:07:00.001-07:00

In an effort to blanket the Phoenix market with as much D-backs information as possible, we give you the launch of D-blog.

For the next six weeks, D-blog will be your inside source for Arizona Fall League information, followed by league meetings, offseason activity and, before you know it, Spring Training.

http://dblog.mlblogs.com/

The Junior Seau Episode

2009-10-15T00:08:00.000-07:00

It's show 55, and you knew it had to be a linebacker.

We gave some thought to Willie McGinest and Derrick Brooks, but we settled on a guy who outlasted them both. And it just so happens he's back in the league, signing a deal with the Patriots this week. It's perfect timing for the 55th episode of the Greg and Mark Show.

We talk about the Cardinals' trip to Seattle, the Sun Devils hosting Washington the MLB playoffs and the Arizona Fall League.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode55/Episode55.mp3

The Horace Grant Episode

2009-10-07T23:28:00.001-07:00

We break down the MLB Postseason league by league here on Episode 54 -- the Horace Grant Episode -- of the Greg and Mark Show.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode54/Episode54.mp3

No G&M Show This Week...

2009-10-01T17:08:00.000-07:00

... due to sickness.

But one of the Greg and Mark Show's friends made it into Thursday's USA Today:

We can assume they meant Jerheme Urban, though having seen Darren shred guys on a basketball court, it's not crazy to think he could run a deep pattern in an NFL game.

The Harry Carson Episode

2009-09-23T22:53:00.000-07:00

It's the Harry Carson Episode of the Greg and Mark Show. And in the 50s, we're right in the heart of the great linebackers, as we've already had Butkus and Lewis (and contemplated Singeltary at 50, as well).

We've got two great guests this week, the East Valley Tribune's Scott Bordow discussing ASU's trip to Georgia, and the Arizona Republic's Kent Somers talking about the Cardinals' upcoming game with Indianapolis.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode53/Episode53.mp3

The Ray Lewis Show

2009-09-16T23:15:00.000-07:00

52 is an OK number... CC Sabathia... Mike Webster.

But this is the Ray Lewis Show. Nobody symbolizes 52 more.

We talk ASU football with their upcoming match-up with Louisiana-Monroe, and we talk Cardinals and their trip to Jacksonville to take on the Jaguars.

To do it all, we brought in friend of the show, East Valley Tribune columnist Scott Bordow.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode52/Episode52.mp3

The Randy/Butkus Show

2009-09-11T00:38:00.000-07:00

So No. 51 is easy in Phoenix, right?

But this is an all-football show, and one of the most dominating linebackers of all time was No. 51, too. So we're splitting it. It's the Randy/Butkus Show.

We're breaking down the Cardinals with AZCentral.com's Kent Somers, giving our AFC and NFC predictions, and our Song of the Week goes out to Greg's surprise NFC Champion pick.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode51/Episode51.mp3

The David Robinson Show

2009-09-03T00:48:00.001-07:00

This is the David Robinson Show, but it's all college football this week.

It's our golden anniversary, listen for gold throughout. We've got ASU talk (of course), and a gold-themed song of the week.

We're also checking in to see which of the big games we'll be watching and weigh in on the Michigan problems.

http://ia311010.us.archive.org/3/items/GregAndMarkShow-Episode50/Episode50.mp3

The Knuckleballers Show

2009-08-26T22:52:00.000-07:00

It's show 49, so it's got to be the knuckleballers show. For whatever reason, the fraternity of knuckleball pitchers has an obsession with the number 49, so we'll honor that.

We've got Darren Urban on to talk about the Cardinals, as well as talk about the Arizona Fall League, ASU football, a mailbag and a song of the week (dedicated to one former Cardinals running back).

Darren mentioned the Cardinals' Facebook page... you can find it here:

http://www.facebook.com/arizonacardinals?ref=search&sid=1060003613.3358497713..1

And while you're there, become a fan of the Greg and Mark Show (if you haven't already).

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=58267483688&ref=search&sid=1060003613.1094826638..1

http://ia311024.us.archive.org/3/items/GregAndMarkShow-Episode49/Episode49.mp3

The Torii Hunter Show

2009-08-19T23:26:00.000-07:00

We're back on the couch! After a few-week-long hiatus, the Greg and Mark Show is back with the Torii Hunter episode.

Really, we dug around for 48s but yeah, it's a lousy number.

We've got ASU Football, Cardinals news, D-backs, MLB Draft signings, Mailbag and Song of the Week.

As always, hit us with an email at gregandmark@gmail.com

http://ia301534.us.archive.org/2/items/GregAndMarkShow-Episode48/Episode48.mp3

Fun with Irony

2009-08-04T16:16:00.000-07:00

Listening to the Pirates' radio broadcast, one thing was striking -- US Steel is a sponsor of the team.

Now, that's not surprising. The 'Burgh is, after all, the Steel City. But the irony that struck me was that I immediately thought of this quote from Godfather Part II:

Hyman Roth: Here we are, protected, free to make our profits without Kefauver, the goddamn Justice Department and the F.B.I. ninety miles away, in partnership with a friendly government. Ninety miles! It's nothing! Just one small step, looking for a man who wants to be President of the United States, and having the cash to make it possible. Michael, we're bigger than U.S. Steel.

See, US Steel was once so big that the writers of one of the most famous movies of all time used it as their simile to describe just how big the Corleone crime operation was. US Steel had mind-blowing profits.

All of which made me think this: Is there any team in baseball that's less like US Steel than the perpetually terrible Pirates?

The Tom Glavine Episode

2009-07-31T09:04:00.000-07:00

The number 47 gave us a lot of possibilities, including Jack Morris (who we nearly picked only because of his mustache) and Andrei Kirilenko (who we nearly picked because he actually has the number in his nickname, AK47).

But we came down to John Lynch and Tom Glavine, and despite Greg's argument that it should go to Lynch, if only to then feature the old creamiscle-colored Tampa Bay uniforms, Mark's opinion that Glavine is a surefire Hall of Famer, and therefore would be identified most with the number, carried the day.

We talked about the Cardinals opening up training camp, brought in Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com to discuss it, and broke down the Major League Baseball trading deadline -- as of Wednesday evening, it appeared that nobody told the American League contenders that it was coming up.

As a note, due to some technical snafus, if you usually stream the show from the link in the right-hand bar, you won't be able to this week. That said, the MP3 player should suffice in that regard, if downloading the file is a problem.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregandMarkShow47/Episode47.mp3

The 2009 All-Star Diary

2009-07-14T20:50:00.000-07:00

Pregame notes:

We’ll be doing this by inning marker rather than by time because I’m watching it DVR style. When/if I catch up to live, maybe we’ll switch to time codes, if only because it makes predictions that much more exciting.

I’m not a believer in this whole “St. Louis fans are the best in sports” business. With that out of the way, I will give them credit for nice ovations for former Cardinals like Joe Torre, Dan Haren and Jason Marquis, and for St. Louis native Ryan Howard. That said, they should have booed NL Manager Charlie Manuel for picking Marquis and Howard, but that’s neither here nor there.

Ryan Franklin gets a big ovation from the home crowd. It’s expected, and I’m absolutely not the first person to bring this up, but where is all the anger over the fact that this known steroids user is in the All-Star Game? It seems like there are some steroids users who get absolutely slayed, and others, like Franklin, who just seem to get a pass. Just not sure I understand the double standard, but it seems to just be star-driven. Like how everybody gets all upset when Manny Ramirez plays minor league games while on suspension. But where was everybody when JC Romero was doing the exact same thing? Oh, he’s not a big star, that’s right.

Said it in last year’s blog and I’ll say it again: I really love watching Roy Halladay pitch. He’s fun. And while I might have picked Zack Grienke to start the All-Star Game, I’m fine with Halladay as a starter.

Sheryl Crow gets a big thumbs up for not stylizing the national anthem. Come on, we don’t need you to give it pop rhythm or play your mandolin with it. Just sing it like its written folks.

What’s not to love about Stan Musial? Nothin’. That’s what.

President Obama gets a huge thumbs up from this blog for wearing the logo of his favorite team (the White Sox) rather than some random MLB jacket which, let’s face it, most politicians would have done.

Prediction time – The AL wins it. Maybe not in a runaway, but they pull away after Lincecum and Haren leave the game. I’ll say AL 7-4 and the MVP goes to Adam Jones, who hits a homer late.

With respect to Bill Simmons, from whom I’m absolutely taking this fabulous idea, we’re off. As mentioned in last year’s diary, every word was written in real time, so predictions that come true are real and predictions that don’t are, unfortunately, also real.

Top of the first:

Tim Linceum is on the mound. As noted with Halladay, he’s awesome to watch. And while I’d have picked Haren, I may be biased and I’m cool with Lincecum. I said this last year at a D-backs game and I’ll say it again: the next half-dozen years of watching Lincecum vs. Justin Upton every year is going to be awesome.

First McCarver gripe of the night: contrary to what McCarver tells you, Lincecum does not have a “frail frame.” The guy is pretty damn muscular. They described him in Sports Illustrated last year as having a body like a gymnast. He’s not heavy, but come on, he ain’t frail either.

You know it’s an All-Star Game if Ichiro leads it off by stepping in the box. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but it’s a thing. Ooooh, he didn’t miss a home run by much on the first pitch, roping it almost homer distance down the line but foul.

Does Ichiro really adjust to a two-strike pitch better than Albert Pujols? I disagree with the broadcast team here. Pujols almost never strikes out and hits for power and crushes the ball with two strikes.

Derek Jeter gets hit on what looks like the elbow. You’ll get no complaint here. But seriously, Lincecum is already buzzing the tower quite a bit. I think that’s four pitches to Ichiro and Jeter than went very high and very tight, at least one of them a curveball that didn’t break. Perhaps he’s nervous?

Another very high non-breaking breaking ball, this time to Joe Mauer. I’m going to go all main-stream-media columnist here and just assume he’s nervous and run with it. So there you have it.

Hell of a play/throw by Yadier Molina to nail a very fast runner at third base. A better throw from David Wright would have completed a very tough double play.

Wow, Pujols boots one at first. Most scouts, I think, would tell you he’s the best defensive first baseman in the game. Everybody makes mistake, I guess (maybe he was nervous because the game is in St. Louis).

It won’t get brought up while they discuss how awesome Jason Bay has been in Boston, but he’s been downright awful the last month or six weeks. Then again, everybody but Pujols goes through those pretty much every year, if anything else he’s probably just regressing from that impossibly hot start As I say that, he rips a liner to center field. But still.

Bottom of the first:

Roy Halladay serves as perfect notice for why fans should be patient with their teams’ prospects. His first three years in the big leagues, Halladay posted a 5.77 ERA with 13-14 record in 231 innings. Since then, he’s practically been a god — 128-55 with a 3.16 ERA in 1699 2/3 innings.

Nothing eventful here. Pujols hits a rocket to third, but Michael Young is in the right spot. Like so many Halladay innings, it’s a pretty smooth cruise.

Top of the second:

I almost picked Aaron Hill for MVP of the game. Probably the right choice to avoid him as he grounds out in his first at bat.

Halladay is wearing an unmarked, blue helmet. This is pretty clearly not a Blue Jays helmet. And the broadcasters note the same thing. Good call by Buck, actually. That looks like a Tampa Bay Rays helmet.

By the way, why doesn’t the All-Star Game feature the DH at all times, regardless of park? Even the most staunch NL supporter can’t defend pitchers batting in an All-Star Game, right?

Bottom of the second:

Lincecum and Ichiro is actually one of the coolest pitcher/batter matchups in the game. As people who know me know, I love unique pitching motions. Big fan. So to see a unique pitching motion facing a unique batting motion, well that’s really cool.

Even the President makes jokes about the Nationals! Really Washington, that’s how bad your franchise is. Barack Obama says there’s parity and every team has a chance to win (apparently he hasn’t watched a Pittsburgh or Kansas City game lately) and then says, “except maybe the Nationals.” Even a politician refuses to give them a chance.

Tim McCarver thinks the American League is ahead of the National League because of the designated hitter, despite the fact that they had the DH in the 1980s when the NL was the better league. Jesus. Leave it to Joe Buck (of all people!) to be the voice of reason to point out that the American League has just been the better league for the last few years.

Bloop single, bloop single, bloop single, throwing error and two runs score. My god, I feel like I’m watching a Pumpkin Porters softball game.

Finally there’s a hard-hit ball for the Senior Circuit. Prince Fielder smokes one down the line. Neither Lincecum nor Halladay has been shelled by any means. Five runs have scored with three (Ichiro, Bay and Fielder) hard-hit balls.

Top of the third:

“Ryan Franklin has been a (pretty lucky) revelation in the first half (which will almost certainly turn into a career-numbers regression in the second half).” Quote was that of the broadcast, parentheses are mine.

Well, I had predicted (offline) that this game would get out of hand when Franklin and Marquis checked in. Well, my Franklin prediction didn’t come through, but I still have Marquis!

Bottom of the third:

Many people insist that nobody will ever win 300 games again. I am not one of those people. The first two pitchers for the AL, Halladay and Mark Buehrle, as well as another AL pitcher who is not on the team this year (C.C. Sabathia) will all get there if they stay healthy. Maybe I’ll play it safe, assume some injury, and say one of those three guys gets there.

This game might go by fast. A quick 1-2-3 inning and we continue to sail along. A lot of ground balls tonight.

I will not see G Force. I will also not watch Brothers, the comedy starring Michael Strahan (?!?!?) on Fox. As Steve noted, “It’s supposed to be a comedy and the commercials aren’t even funny!”

Top of the fourth:

Here we go! Danny Haren is in now. I assumed we’d see him tonight, not just because he deserves it, but because Wednesday would have been his day to pitch, so he’s pretty rested. Pitchers I bet we don’t see: Josh Beckett, Justin Verlander and Josh Johnson. They all pitched Sunday, but then again, we saw Buehrle and he pitched Sunday. So what do I know.

Tim McCarver is going on about the strategic importance of Dan Haren’s pause in his wind up and I can’t kill McCarver here. I had Doom write a story about that very thing last year, but at least we beat them to the punch by a few months.

Nice easy inning by Haren. Nice to see.

Bottom of the fourth:

Intro to the inning with “Rollin’ On the River” by Tina Turner. Turner is from St. Louis, so it wouldn’t have been a bad choice to invite her to do something at the game, maybe “God Bless America” or something.

Wow, Zack Grienke gets David Wright on some kind of a filthy curveball. They called it a slider on the broadcast, but that looked like a curve to me. Whatever it was, it was pretty awesome.

Who are the only two MLB legends to win the triple crown twice? That’s the trivia question. I’m pretty sure about Frank Robinson doing it twice and the other one has to be a Cardinal, right? I don’t think Musial ever did it, but I’m pretty sure Joe “Ducky” Medwick did it at least once. So I’ll go with Ducky and Robinson.

Top of the fifth:

Brad Hawpe is in the game in right, and Ryan Braun has switched to left. I think (and hope) that after Braun’s next at bat, we see Justin Upton for at least one plate appearance.

Carl Crawford lines a single into center. I’m glad to see him here. At the 2007 All-Star Game on Media Day, Crawford told me (because I specifically asked about it) that it was pretty lonely being a solo All-Star rep, which he had done, I believe, twice to that point. So lonely, in fact, that I was the only writer at his table. He said he looked forward to the day that he’d have teammates there with him, and insisted it would be soon. Well, lo and behold, in 2008 the Rays sent multiple reps to the game for only the second time in their history, yet Crawford didn’t make the team. This time he’s got teammates and a manager (Joe Maddon), so that’s good.

Chase Utley makes a strange choice on a ball to his left, throwing out Crawford at second rather than the easy out at first. I say this because, to me, Utley is the least of the story. First, if Crawford had slid directly into the base rather than off to the right, I bet he’s safe. Second, Hanley Ramirez makes a nice play that makes it look like he could be a nice first baseman if he ever outgrows the left side of the infield, like former teammate Miguel Cabrera has done.

And THAT is why Pujols is considered the best first baseman in the game. He makes an awesome diving snare on a hard Derek Jeter grounder, nailing Ichiro at second after Pujols was holding Ichiro on the bag. Very nice.

Hey, another extra-base hit! Joe Mauer pops a double down the left-field line to tie this baby up. Looked a lot like Fielder’s double, actually. Steve suggested Mauer as MVP before I went with Jones. My guy hasn’t played yet, but so far, Steve’s looking good here.

Another awesome diving play by Pujols. He’s good.

Bottom of the Fifth:

My boy Adam Jones checks in, hoowah!

Edwin Jackson is a fun story. He was, like, the best pitching prospect in baseball about seven years ago. Then he was awful, just awful. He went to Tampa and couldn’t even crack their rotation when they stunk. He was lef tout in the playoffs last year in favor of Andy Sonnanstine, which should tell you a lot. And he gets traded in the offseason and here he is. How often does a guy who is a great pitching prospect absolutely bottom out, and then totally live up to expectations many years later?

McCarver goes and says, “In his first year back in the American League…” about Edwin Jackson, as if Tampa, who he played for before, isn’t in the American League.

Top of the sixth:

I am shocked — SHOCKED — at the year Trevor Hoffman is having. I thought that would be the worst free agent signing of the offseason, but he’s been damn good (so far) for the Brewers.

Adam Jones crushed one, but caught. Damn. Thought my MVP pick was coming through there.

Double play ends the inning and the most briskly paced All-Star Game I can remember moves on. This pace is eerie in an All-Star Game.

Bottom of the sixth:

Worst TV ad of the night, and there is NO competition here, is the Taco Bell “All About the Roosevelts, Baby” commercial. I’ve said this about bad movies and TV shows before — I would love to have been a fly on the wall in the pitch meeting in which they actually green-lighted this thing. Ugh. And it’s extra-long, too!

King Felix checks in. He’s been getting better and better every year, and he’s been in the big leagues for parts of five seasons now, so it’s easy to forget that he just turned 23 (!!!). Man, he’s going to be an absolute force if he stays healthy. And he’s going to be an extremely expensive free agent in 2011.

Speaking of very young superforces, we’re going even younger as Justin Upton stpes in. Woo hoo! He grounds out. Oh well. He should still have another at bat, I figure.

Top of the seventh:

Is this the first inning Justin Upton has ever played in left field in his life? Or at least his professional career? It’s the kind of thing that comes up in an All-Star Game, but it’s interesting. He was a center fielder in the minors and a right fielder in the Majors.

Coco Cordero cruises through a super fast seventh. Man, this is a strange game. It’s so bland I’m having a hard time writing pithy comments.

I have never heard of Sara Evans, the “God Bless America” singer tonight. Must be a country singer, judging by the voice. I still would have picked Tina Turner, if they wanted to go with a St. Louis native. Eh, definitely not the best GBA I’ve ever heard. Not the worst. Much like St. Louis itself, she’s right in the middle.

Did Dunkin’ Donuts have to pay to be included in that Palm Pre commercial? They had to have, right? Because that would be all kinds of crazy free advertising, to have their name and logo in Palm’s commercial like that.

Bottom of the seventh:

Movies/Shows Advertised Tonight That I Will See:
Funny People, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Movies/Shows Advertised Tonight That I Will Not See:
Brothers, G.I. Joe, G-Force

Jon Papelbon checks in. I suppose this means they’re saving Mariano Rivera for the ninth? Uh oh. Brad Hawpe crushes one to left… and Crawford saves it. Looks like it might have been a homer otherwise. On further review, yep, would have been a homer.

There’s some Spanish-language music playing as Miguel Tejada checks in. Do they play each batter’s at-bat music in the All-Star Game? It would appear so. If so, that’s cool. Uh oh, Tejada gets a hold of one… out at the warning track.

Papelbon has given up about 750 feet of flyball outs to the first two batters. Yikes. I just traded a really good keeper (David Price) for him in a fantasy league. Let’s hope this isn’t a sign of anything.

He blows away Jayson Werth to tend the inning. At least there’s some vintage Papelbon.

Top of the eighth:

Gotta say. I absolutely agree with Jason Bartlett being here, because he’s having an awesome year. But man, if you’d have told me a year or two ago that Bartlett would go to an All-Star Game, I’d have guessed that he’d be some team’s lone rep, not that he’d be spending the first half crushing the ball.

Eeeehhhh, a Granderson ball gets over Upton that he didn’t seem to track well. This might be the problem with never having played left field before. Triple for Granderson and he’s in the mix for MVP.

If I’m an Indians fan I’m a little upset. Their rep, Victor Martinez, is getting intentionally walked to set up a double play possibility. This will probably be V-Mart’s only at bat unless this game goes into extra innings.

Here we go: Adam Jones. Here is my shot at the MVP pick!

Damn, Adam Jones does drive in the go-ahead run with a sac fly, but I don’t think that will be enough for an MVP. We’ll see. That’s the second pretty damn hard hit ball he’s had to right field tonight.

Kevin Youkilis with a rope to center field. Heath Bell better put this away quickly, because we’re in danger of the AL making a little run here.

By FAR the most unlikely deserving All-Star, Ben Zobrist, is at the plate. He’s having one hell of a year. I say ‘deserving’ because Zach Duke is here as an injury replacement, but come on, really. Speaking of which, I should have included Duke among the pitchers who would not get into this game. Oh well, still looking good on all of the other three guesses.

Tough slider (or something like it, maybe a changeup) gets Zobrist and we move on, with the AL up by one and Rivera soon to get up in the ‘pen. Might want to get those bats going right now, NL.

Bottom of the eighth:

With Adrian Gonzalez on first, Orlando Hudson hits a single first off the mound and then off Bartlett’s glove. I bet if that gets over the mound cleanly, Barlett fields it and Gonzalez is gone at second. Instead, he’s on third, Hudson is on first and Howard is at the plate. NOW this game is getting interesting!

On a side note: It’s nice to see the O-Dog here. I will always like that guy. He’s good people.

Nathan busts him high with hard fastballs to get up 0-2, and I hate to say it, but McCarver and Buck are right. This is exactly how you attack Howard. Now, after a foul pop, if Nathan is confident in his breaking ball, here’s a good time to us it… ooooh, Hudson steals second, and the go-ahead run is a single away.

Nice. Nathan goes to the breaking ball (see, I should be a pitching coach) and fans Howard on a check swing. We’re going to the ninth!

Top of the ninth:

Werth makes a nice catch to take away a double from Justin Morneau to end an otherwise uneventful inning with Francisco Rodriguez on the hill. I like Morneau’s swing. It’s sort of a bail-and-wail thing, yet it’s balanced at the same time. Interesting.

Bottom of the ninth:

Upton is leading off against Mariano Rivera. Just throwing this out there: If he goes deep here, I’m gonna go crazy. In fact, Upton might not be the worst match-up here. He has a lot of power to the opposite field, so he might be able to take one of those cutters to right. Come on, J-up!

Oh well, ground out to short. If this game ends after this inning, at least we can feel good about the fact that Upton might have another 12 or 13 of these things ahead of him.

Fun note here: We’re on four consecutive All-Star Games that came down to (at least) the bottom of the ninth inning. The AL won it in the ninth in Pittsburgh in 2006, held off an NL rally in the ninth in San Francisco in 2007 and went to extra innings in New York last year. Pretty good run of All-Star Games we’re on, now if only the NL could win one here and there, it’d be even better. I mean, really, they haven’t won since Bill Clinton’s FIRST term as president. We were still weeks away from the Atlanta Olympics. Independence Day was the biggest movie at the box office. My goodness, what a run.

Zobrist catches the final out, and its just another ho-hum save for Rivera. Not sure who gets the MVP here, nobody really stands out. Steve’s pick of Mauer and my pick of Jones still very much alive, though.

At least my hunch was right: shortest All-Star Game in history, 2:31.

Crawford wins the MVP and this is a nice pick. His catch was fantastic, probably the highlight play of a relatively boring game. Nice to see Fox’s broadcaster bring up exactly what I mentioned earlier — it’s pretty cool for Crawford to be here with fellow Rays after being a Scott Cooper Honorary All-Star twice before.

Maybe I’m wrong here, but did we ever see the answer to that trivia question? I don’t think we did. Well, I just looked it up and I was wrong on both guys. Frank Robinson (1966) and Joe Medwick (1937) did win it, but only once each. Ted Williams did it twice in ‘42 and ’47 and I obviously picked the wrong Cardinal. ‘Twas Rogers Hornsby in ‘22 and ‘25.

Anyway we’re out. That’s almost 4,000 words and enough for the night. There’s plenty of writing that I actually get paid to do in the morning.

The Ten Most Exciting Athletes in Phoenix History

2009-07-10T13:09:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of Sports Illustrated discussing the 10 most exciting athletes of all time in every sport (come on, Mike Tyson at No. 9….. really? There were eight more exciting boxers than Mike Tyson?!?) The Greg and Mark Show discussed the 10 most exciting athletes in Phoenix sports history.

Now that we’re done, it seems a little hard to believe that Luis Gonzalez and Amare Stoudemire didn’t make either of our lists, but what are you gonna do when there are only 10 spots?

Mark’s 10:

1. Randy Johnson
2. Steve Nash
3. Charles Barkley
4. Larry Fitzgerald
5. Connie Hawkins
6. Jake Plummer
7. Dan Majerle
8. Curt Schilling
9. James Harden
10. Pat Tillman

Greg’s 10:

1. Randy Johnson
2. Charles Barkley
3. Kevin Johnson
4. Steve Nash
5. Jake Plummer
6. Larry Fitzgerald
7. Connie Hawkins
8. Anquan Boldin
9. Tom Chambers
10. Justin Upton

Regretfully omitted from both:

Luis Gonzalez
Steve Finley
Amare Stoudemire
Brandon Webb
Ike Diogu
Adrian Wilson

Here's the sound:

Part 1 (7-8-9 and also-rans):

http://www.mypodcast.com/fsaudio/gregandmark_20090710_0127-460665.mp3

Part 2 (1-6):

http://www.mypodcast.com/fsaudio/gregandmark_20090710_0135-460668.mp3

The Lee Smith Episode

2009-07-09T23:37:00.000-07:00

Well, 46 wasn't the strongest number in the bunch. Still, we wound up with a pretty good one, the once-all-time saves leader Lee Smith.

We discussed the most exciting athletes in Phoenix sports history, talked about what we think the Suns should do, and broke down the Tour de France with friend of the show, Mike McNally.

We even brought you our first-ever Tour de France themed Song of the Week!

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode46/Episode46.mp3

Where's the 24?

2009-07-08T06:49:00.000-07:00

Fun fact:

There is not a single player on either the NL or AL All-Star teams that wears the number 24. None.

The National League team has two 55s, a 57 a 58 and a 75. I bring this up only because this is a really common number. I'd wager that every team in baseball has a 24. Part of it is because Miguel Cabrera didn't make the team, and Manny Ramirez switched to 99 (and didn't make it anyway). But still...

Note: It's also, of course, my softball number. That's why I'm so peeved. Mark wears a blank jersey. He's too cheap to spring for the number, but I think he'd wear 72 if he did. So I say, "Hey, nice catch, seven-two" and he never seems to object.)

We'll use this as a segue to say that unless something comes up to change it, we'll be having a running diary of the All-Star Game here on the Greg and Mark Show. Here's the link to last year's diary.

The '09 MLB All-Stars

2009-06-29T17:01:00.000-07:00

Pablo Sandoval needs to be in the All-Star Game, in part because he deserves it, in part because he could catch if it became necessary, but mostly because of his unique awesomeness.

Well, I’m done putting up All-Star ballots. By this point, most of the starting positions in both leagues are settled, and with the ones that aren’t, most will have both players in the game anyway (see AL, Youkilis vs. Teixeira).

So instead of just a ballot, here are my two All-Star teams. Every player with an asterisk (*) is a starter according to the ballots already turned in. I picked the two starting pitchers. Every team is represented by at least one player. There are 31 players for each All-Star team, with five players listed in the Final Vote Ballot section. One of these guys would be the 32nd player for each team.

I even made sure to pick Pablo Sandoval and Brandon Inge, who could both play catcher in a pinch if this game goes extras like last year.

So here goes. Let me know in the comments section if you think I’ve badly snubbed anybody.

National League:

C – Yadier Molina, St. Louis*
C – Brian McCann, Atlanta

1B – Albert Pujols, St. Louis*
1B – Adrian Gonzalez, San Diego
1B – Prince Fielder, Milwaukee

2B – Chase Utley, Philadelphia*
2B – Freddy Sanchez, Pittsburgh

3B – David Wright, New York*
3B – Pablo Sandoval, San Francisco

SS – Hanley Ramirez, Florida*
SS – Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado

OF – Raul Ibanez, Philadelphia*
OF – Ryan Braun, Milwaukee*
OF – Carlos Beltran, New York # *
OF – Justin Upton, Arizona*
OF – Adam Dunn, Washington
OF – Brad Hawpe, Colorado
OF # – Matt Kemp, Los Angeles

SP – Tim Lincecum, San Francisco*
SP – Dan Haren, Arizona
SP – Wandy Rodriguez, Houston
SP – Johnny Cueto, Cincinnati
SP – Chad Billingsley, Los Angeles
SP – Ted Lilly, Chicago
SP – Josh Johnson, Florida
SP – Matt Cain, San Francisco
SP – Johan Santana, New York

RP – Jonathan Broxton, Los Angeles
RP – Heath Bell, San Diego
RP – Francisco Rodriguez, New York
RP – Ryan Franklin, St. Louis
RP – Mike Gonzalez, Atlanta

# - If he’s still on the DL, replace with Matt Kemp and replace in starting lineup with Upton

Final Vote Ballot:
Hunter Pence, Houston
Mark Reynolds, Arizona
Ryan Howard, Philadelphia
Brandon Phillips, Cincinnati
Ryan Zimmerman, Washington

American League

C – Joe Mauer, Minnesota*
C – Victor Martinez, Cleveland

1B – Mark Teixeira, New York*
1B – Kevin Youkilis, Boston
1B – Carlos Pena, Tampa Bay

2B – Ian Kinsler, Texas*
2B – Aaron Hill, Toronto

3B – Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay*
3B – Brandon Inge, Detroit

SS – Derek Jeter, New York*
SS – Jason Bartlett, Tampa Bay

OF – Jason Bay, Boston*
OF – Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle*
OF – Josh Hamilton, Texas#*
OF – Torii Hunter, Los Angeles*
OF – Nick Markakis, Baltimore
OF – Jermaine Dye, Chicago
OF # – Ben Zobrist (2B/OF) Tampa Bay

SP – Zack Grienke, Kansas City *
SP – Roy Halladay, Toronto
SP – Edwin Jackson, Detroit
SP – Justin Verlander, Detroit
SP – Felix Hernandez, Seattle
SP – Jered Weaver, Los Angeles
SP – Cliff Lee, Cleveland
SP – Josh Beckett, Boston
SP – Dallas Braden, Oakland

RP – Jon Papelbon, Boston
RP – Mariano Rivera, New York
RP – Joe Nathan, Minnesota
RP – George Sherrill, Baltimore
RP – Bobby Jenks, Chicago

# - If still on the DL, replace with Ben Zobrist, replace in starting lineup with Hunter

Final Vote Ballot:
Adam Jones, Baltimore
Justin Morneau, Minnesota
Adam Lind, Toronto
Miguel Cabrera, Detroit
Russell Branyan, Seattle

The Pedro Show

2009-06-27T00:04:00.001-07:00

Was there any doubt? Mark wanted Bob Gibson, but come on! So self respecting son of New England was going to allow anybody but Petey to get that title. Sorry, Mark.

We talked almost exclusively NBA Draft this week, discussing the Suns' many moves and the future of the Sun Devils and Wildcats in the draft.

The news of the week dictated the song of the week... sort of. But neither of us was a Jacko fan.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode45/Episode45.mp3

The Hammerin' Hank Episode

2009-06-17T23:42:00.000-07:00

This one was obvious. As great as any number of 44s have been, nobody hangs with Hammerin' Hank.

We talked about ASU playing in Omaha, and the NBA Draft outlook for the Suns, Sun Devils and Wildcats. We wondered who is the best team of the decade in the NBA, Los Angeles or San Antonio? We cracked open a mailbag and dedicated the song of the week to ASU Baseball.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode44/FInalEpisode44.mp3

B.P. Idol

2009-06-17T16:36:00.000-07:00

So a couple of months ago, I entered the BP Idol competition at Baseball Prospectus. You can see how things are going with that here. My entry was deemed not good enough to make it to the final 10 and after actually reading the final 10, I saw precisely why.

That said, I might as well publish it somewhere, so here goes. This was my BP Idol entry. All stats are as of late April.

Taking BP Idol As Literally As Possible

By Greg Salvatore

When I first saw “BP Idol” my mind didn’t immediately go to a gig at Baseball Prospectus. It jogged up memories of running in the left-field bleacher area at Chase Field (nee Bank One Ballpark) in the fall of my sophomore year at Arizona State, trying to catch some of Alex Cabrera’s batting practice bombs and marveling at the unthinkable trajectory of the ones too deep to track down.

Never has a player who only had a handful of games in the Major Leagues left such an impression on me. Years later, I was glad to see he was able to at least turn his prodigious batting practice power into a Japanese home run record.

So as Carl Spackler might say, he has that going for him, which is nice.

Alex Cabrera is definitely my BP Idol. He is The Hives of baseball. I bet sometime around September 2000, I was standing in those left-field bleachers thinking, “Man, Alex Cabrera is going to be a monster,” and “‘I Hate To Say I Told You So’ is going to be the new rock superanthem.” I wasn’t batting for a very high average in 2000, as my weak grades and sparse dating record could confirm, and while I’m paraphrasing the quotes, I certainly did swing and miss on both of those topics.

Oh, but to compare them to each other? Cabrera flamed out quickly in America, as 28-year-old positionless career minor leaguers are wont to do, and The Hives had Veni Vidi Vicious, but never quite got worldwide fame and fortune, and, well, I think the comparison holds up. So it got me wondering what some other baseball players might be if they were rock bands. And then I thought this comparison stuff was a hackneyed idea. And then I didn’t care and wrote it anyway.

Carlos Beltran — Radiohead

1999 R.O.Y., four All-Star Games, never led the league in any offensive stat in a single season
Beltran not only does everything on a baseball field, he does everything well. He is probably the smoothest, most technically sound all-around player in baseball. He’ll make the All-Star team, he’ll go early in your fantasy draft and he’s generally accepted as terrific. Years from now, we’ll all look back on Beltran as an outstanding baseball player. But if you ask 100 layman baseball fans about Beltran, you’re guaranteed to get more than a few who just do not understand what all of the hullabaloo is about. They wouldn’t put him in their top 10, and don’t quite understand why others do.

Radiohead — as brilliant as fans and critics will argue they are — has never had a No. 1 song on any Billboard chart, topping out at No. 2 on the Modern Rock Tracks list with “Creep.” Only one other tune, Kid A’s “Optimistic” cracked the Top 10, reaching No. 10 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart in 2000.

Manny Ramirez — The Black Crowes

Nine top-10 MVP finishes, 510 career home runs, many crazy (even if apocryphal) stories
His curious, dysfunctional ways could make him Oasis, but as good as Oasis is or was, there’s nothing revolutionary about their sound. And Manny is really unlike any other player (or person) we’ve ever seen. So even though Oasis has sold considerably more records worldwide, we’ll go with the Brits’ “Tour of Brotherly Love” mates, who have the two distinctions of being quite successful and coolly unique. They made a soulful rock harmonica hip even before Blues Traveler and they pulled out a gospel choir on both “Remedy” and “Soul Singing.”

The Black Crowes have had six songs reach No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and 17 in the top 10. Southern Harmony And The Musical Companion hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 1992, and Shake Your Money Maker hit No. 4 in 1991. They’ve been a consistent and controversial force for almost 20 years.

Alex Rodriguez — Coldplay

11th best slugging percentage all-time, 12th most home runs all time, richest player in history
Rodriguez is undeniably amazing. He’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer and almost certainly the best player many of us have ever seen. A-Rod has led the league in home runs five times, slugging four times, OPS and adjusted OPS twice. He’s been to 12 All-Star Games, collected three MVPs and a pair of gold gloves. And while few people may claim to be A-Rod fans, they’re still voting him into the All-Star Game every year.

Coldplay plays to sold-out arenas all around the world. They’ve had seven top-10 tracks. Two of their albums have hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and another cracked the top 5. Frontman Chris Martin even made a very funny appearance on the HBO show Extras. They’re undeniably great at what they do, yet have an ability to be eminently dislikable at the same time. I’d venture to say the reason you’d meet more fans of Coldplay than A-Rod is because Coldplay doesn’t play for the Yankees.

Travis Hafner — The Shins

2004-2007 – 127 home runs, 155 OPS +, twice led MLB in OPS+
Hafner was a fairly old rookie when he made his big-league debut two months after turning 25 in 2002. When he finally got a chance to play every day in 2004, he exploded, leading the league with a 162 adjusted OPS. By 2006, Hafner was possibly the best hitter in the American League, leading the circuit in slugging, OPS and adjusted OPS, and had a second-consecutive top-10 MVP finish (yet, somewhat amazingly, has never been to an All-Star Game).

The Shins dropped Oh, Inverted World in June of 2001, and followed it up with the slightly more successful Chutes Too Narrow in 2003. But the band never blew up until the Oh, Inverted World songs “Caring is Creepy” and “New Slang” appeared in the 2004 film Garden State (and Natalie Portman name-dropped the band, telling us that “Caring is Creepy” would, “change your life, I swear”). By 2007, the album Wincing the Night Away peaked at the No. 2 spot on the Billboard 200, the single “Phantom Limb” reached No. 16 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart.

Chris Carpenter — The Killers

2005: 21-5, 2.83 ERA, won N.L. Cy Young Award, started the All-Star Game
Though Carpenter isn’t going to end up in Cooperstown, he was fantastic from 2004-06, with a 51-18 record, a 3.10 ERA, two All-Star Games and a Cy Young Award. The year after injury kept the New Hampshire native from pitching in his hometown World Series against Boston in 2004, he was a machine, winning the Cy Young and picking up his only top-10 MVP finish.

The Killers were equally huge at the time, as 2004’s Hot Fuss went multi-platinum with five Grammy nominations over the same three-year span that Carpenter dominated, and three top-10 songs on the 2005 Modern Rock Tracks charts. The Killers may wind up being a very successful but otherwise forgettable act in the history of rock, but you’ll never be able to deny that 2005 was the year of The Killers, and Carpenter.

Carlos Quentin — Kings of Leon

2007: .298 OBP, .647 OPS, 63 OPS +2008: .394 OBP, .965 OPS, 148 OPS+
Quentin’s name was one that baseball fans had heard for quite some time, even before his breakout season in 2008. He had a very successful college career at Stanford, was a first-round pick, was Baseball America’s No. 1 ranked D-backs prospect in 2005 and No. 3 in 2006, and homered in his first big league game. But then he had a false start in his first full season in Arizona. He hurt his shoulder in spring training, posted a .647 OPS in 229 at-bats in 2007 and was traded in the offseason. The next year, he hit 36 home runs, appeared in the All-Star Game, and finished fifth in MVP voting. The hype was warranted, it’s just that this flower bloomed a little slower than people expected.

Kings of Leon has been well known in the industry for years. They’ve played the Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits festivals, yet five years after their debut album they still didn’t have even a single hit song. The British magazine NME spent most of their review of the 2007 album Because of the Times wondering where all the band’s would-be success was, closing with “As it stands, ‘Because Of The Times’ cements Kings Of Leon as one of the great American bands of our times.” But the album didn’t sell and none of its songs charted. But then they dropped Only By The Night in 2008. Out since September, it’s already gone platinum many times over and they’ve had two songs, “Use Somebody” and “Sex On Fire” reach No. 1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. It turns out all that Kings of Leon hype was legit after all.

The Eck Show

2009-06-10T11:53:00.001-07:00

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode43/FinalEpisode43a.mp3

The mustache. The mullet. The charisma. The funky pitching motion. The greatest single relief season in Major League history (1990), and it wasn’t even the year he won the CY Young or MVP.

It’s the Dennis Eckersley Show and this one wasn’t so tough.

Do yourself a favor and check out Eckersley’s 1990 stats. He had 48 saves, opponents’ on-base percentage of .172 and slugging .226, a sick 0.61 ERA and an even sicker 606 ERA+. That’s the best adjusted ERA in baseball history for pitchers throwing at least 50 innings in a season.

Anyway, we’ve got a solid show here for No. 43. The Sun Devils are headed to Omaha, and we discuss their first-round matchup with the Tar Heels of North Carolina, and possible second-round tilt with top-seed Texas. The D-backs reloaded their farm system with seven first- and second-round draft picks, the Cardinals made a significant contract move and we’ve got ourselves a mailbag. Mark gives us a Mike Leake-themed Song of the Week.

It’s a power packed Greg and Mark Show.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode43/FinalEpisode43a.mp3

Mark My Words

2009-06-05T23:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of show this week, as the esteemed Slobatore (I mean, uhhh, Salvatore. How silly of me) is away from the 4-8-0.

So you'll get blogs and like it.

--Yes, I'd vote for Justin Upton in the All-Star game (see previous post). Yes, Greg probably does believe you hate baseball if you don't vote for him.

Pitcher Dan Haren is a lock.

Mark Reynolds has a chance at third base but I think the strikeout total (78 entering the weekend) might count against him, as will playing half his games at first base. Defense isn't a criteria so I'm counting on David Wright (NY), Ryan Zimmerman (Washington), and perhaps the banged up Chipper Jones (Atlanta), or (gulp) Casey Blake (L.A. Dodgers) getting in.

--The All-Star babble -- not to mention wondering how former Pittsburgh shortstop and 2004 interim Diamondbacks manager Al Pedrique (.301, 1 HR, 23 runs, 28 RBI in 88 games) made the 1987 NL All-Star squad in Nintendo's "RBI Baseball" -- helped me stumble across this......

http://www.realclearsports.com/lists/top_10_mlb_allstars/

--The Cardinals signed Pro Bowl safety Adrian Wilson to a contract extension worth $39 million including $18.5 million guaranteed). It's well-deserved for a two-time All-Pro, longest-tenured Cardinal and a face of the franchise who (unlike Anquan Boldin) kept his mouth shut.
However, it's nearly $10 million against the salary cap for this season, and impending free agent linebacker Karlos Dansby is the team's next priority. Dansby was front and center during Wilson's press conference, but a new Dansby deal remains iffy compared to the juicy free-agent market.
A deal for Dansby and cap "creativity" only NFL teams can concoct, could allow a deal to still get done, but both Dansby and Boldin deals fitting under the salary cap is far-fetched, even though the latter moves up a rung on the priority level.

--I've sat on my Casper-white duff with a Netflix subscription that has gone to waste for most of the past year, it's time to pay the piper.
First up: Weeds, season 1.
I know very little of the show, but the grapevine says it's good.

One Guy's Ballot II

2009-06-02T07:55:00.000-07:00

American League

First Base – Youkilis passes Miguel Cabrera… The Youkah is now pretty significantly ahead in OPS, is second in the AL in batting average and Cabrera’s power has really dried up lately. Youk it is.

Second Base – Continues to be a coin flip between Ian Kinsler and Aaron Hill (with Dustin Pedroia hard chargin’). Hill’s in a bit of a funk, so don’t be shocked if you see Kinsler’s or Pedroia’s name in here next week.

Shortstop – Just one note… I suppose we should all accept that Derek Jeter is going to start the ASG because he’s out to a gigantic lead, but my goodness, Jason Bartlett is really having a hell of a year.

Outfield – One quick aside before we get going here. Every year, fans seem to make a big stink about big market players flooding the ASG, while more deserving small-market guys get relegated to reserve status (and, following the chain, even more, ones who should have been reserves, get left out completely). But what about “small market” players who don’t deserve to be in the game? Josh Hamilton is currently in the top three in the A.L., but by no means deserves to be an All-Star this year. I have “small market” in quotes here, because Dallas is actually a huge-market team that acts like a small-market team but either way, they aren’t Boston and New York. Anyway, where’s the stink over Josh Hamilton?

Anyway, Johnny Damon’s current cold streak opens the door for Torii Hunter on my ballot this week.

National League

Third Base – Not a lot of changes on the N.L. ballot. Pretty stagnant these days, except for third base. There are five guys within 40 OPS points of each other at the hot corner, so you can roll some sort of pentagonal dice for this one. We’ll go with hometown guy – and the position’s home run leader - Mark Reynolds, who would also be a treat to have in the Home Run Derby, as friend of the show Nick Piecoro wrote recently.

Catcher – Last time through, we went with Bengie Molina on a best-of-a-bad-lot pick, but ignored Brian McCann, who in addition to having a good year, is quite certainly the best player at the position.

Remember when we used to debate McCann vs. Martin for NL catching superiority? Ain’t nobody discussing that anymore.

If You Don’t Vote for Justin Upton, Then You Don't Like Baseball

2009-05-29T07:37:00.000-07:00

VOTE: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/all_star/y2009/ballot_reg.html

Mark didn’t sign off on this. This is all Greg. So it may not represent the opinion of the whole Greg and Mark Show.

But here’s the deal. You can vote 25 times for the All-Star game (per email address, if you have multiple email addies, then have at it. You can vote 50, 75, 100 times). You can fill out a whole ballot, you can just vote for one guy, whatever you want. And there’s this.

If you don’t vote for Justin Upton, then you hate baseball.

Period.

Feel free to vote Raul Ibanez or Carlos Beltran or whomever else you want to see there. But if you fancy yourself a baseball fan, you’ll take 5 minutes of your day and try to put baseball’s next great player in the All-Star Game.

You’ll thank me after he puts on a Josh Hamiltonesque show in the Home Run Derby.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/all_star/y2009/ballot_reg.html

The Jack Roosevelt Robinson Episode

2009-05-26T23:44:00.000-07:00

Well here we have the easiest numbered episode in the bunch. It's the iconic image of baseball, and one of the top 5 second basemen to boot. How about that.

On this Greg and Mark Show, we talked Cardinals camp with AZCardinals.com's Darren Urban, D-backs back home off a long road trip and ASU baseball starting play toward Omaha (with the surprising help of one of their stars).

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode42/Episode42.mp3

Maybe We're Crazy, But Not Necessarily With This

2009-05-21T09:35:00.001-07:00

(check out Episode 41 in the post below and in the sidebar to the right)

On this week's show, we guessed where Mike Leake would go in the draft. I suggested that perhaps the Diamondbacks should take him with their mid-first pick. He'd be quick to the Majors, presumably, and could slide into the back of rotation behind Dan Haren, Brandon Webb and Max Scherzer (and, probably, Jarrod Parker). Well, I'm not alone. Here's what Kevin Goldstein had to say at Baseball Prospectus today:

16. Arizona Diamondbacks

With back-to-back picks, the Diamondbacks could have an obvious
selection in local product Mike Leake. He's a little undersized, but he makes up
for it with impressive athleticism and outstanding command and control of a
solid three-pitch mix. Other than Strasburg, no college pitcher has been
consistently as good every Friday as Leake, who goes into the postseason with a
1.35 ERA in 106 2/3 innings while allowing just 62 hits, 18 walks, and striking
out 116.

Selection: Mike Leake, RHP, Arizona State University

The Tom Seaver Episode

2009-05-21T00:08:00.001-07:00

Mark had to work and missed the NIN/JA Tour on Friday night, but Greg didn't and he's happy to tell Mark just how awesome it was.

We break down what the D-backs have been up to lately, talked some ASU baseball and discussed some of the Suns draft options.

It's all in Episode 41, The Tom Seaver Episode

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode41/Episode41Final64.mp3

The Tillman Episode

2009-05-06T23:54:00.000-07:00

One D-back has his bat going, and the Coyotes may be going themselves. We tackle it all, and hand Show No. 40 to the late Pat Tillman on this epsidode of the Greg and Mark Show.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode40/Episode40.mp3

The Csonka Episode

2009-04-29T22:34:00.000-07:00

Larry Csonka edged out Roy Campanella and Dominik Hasek more because of the work he did after wearing 39 than while wearing it. American Gladiators - a staple of Greg's and Mark's youths - was Csonka's second-best career turn.

We caught up with Darren Urban on the Cardinals' draft class, talked about the D-backs starting to get going on offense and wrapped up the Simpsons Tournament. Mark pokes a little fun at himself in Song of the Week.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode39/Episode39.mp3

Cardinals Going to the Wells?

2009-04-25T15:55:00.000-07:00

Might the Cardinals wind up with Beanie Wells at 31?

Kent Somers told us they would like a running back, and I’d think none of the teams in front of them (Indianapolis, Buffalo, NY Giants and Tennessee) will take a running back.

We’ll see. I think they get him.

~Greg

The Curt Schilling Episode

2009-04-22T23:56:00.000-07:00

http://www.archive.org/download/Episode38_586/Episode38.mp3

It’s episode 38 of the Greg and Mark Show.

The NFL Draft is coming up, so we break it all down with the Arizona Republic’s Kent Somers. We also talked about the D-backs’ first two weeks, unveiled the championship game of the Simpsons Bracket and gave you our song of the week.

In the championship game—voting on the right—you can choose between No. 4 seed Ralph Wiggum and No. 3 seed Comic Book Guy.

Ralph:

Comic Book Guy:

Calling In Sick

2009-04-15T17:06:00.000-07:00

The photo to the right is what I looked like when I woke up on Wednesday morning. Some kind of cold is going around, and it crept up on me like fastball creeping up on Bobby Abreu. Except it actually hit me, as opposed to missing me by a decent margin, and I didn’t start a fight about it.

And while I felt better by Wednesday afternoon, Mark and I collectively decided that him sharing a confined space may not be a good idea.
So for only the second or third time in the history of the Greg and Mark Show, we’re taking a week off.

Peace, homies.

The Rodney Harrison Episode

2009-04-08T23:28:00.000-07:00

It's the Rodney Harrison/Shaun Alexander/Kenny Rogers Show. So/so pickings for No. 37.

We broke down how the University of Arizona's coaching hire will affect the ASU/UA rivalry, discussed the D-backs starting up the season, opened up the mailbag and gave a great song of the week.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode37/Episode37.mp3

Closing Time

2009-04-03T07:26:00.000-07:00

Joe Nathan, Kevin Tapani, Lawyer Milloy. Pickins were kind of slim on 36—though our mailbag suggests we missed a big one. We’ll pick that up in Show 37.

In the meantime, in our only show this week, we went with Nathan, the most underratedly awesome closer in baseball today.

We talked ASU women’s hoops, the U of A coaching search and the D-backs Opening Day coming up. Of course, we busted open the mailbag and gave you a song of the week, too.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode36/Episode36.mp3

The Kevin Durant Episode

2009-04-03T07:19:00.000-07:00

It was mostly Simpsons bracket talk on Episode 35 of the Greg and Mark Show. And while there were a number of great athletes donning the ol’ treinte y cinco — including Mike Mussina and Frank Thomas — we decided to err on the side of the future and give it to K.D.

Sweetness, Baby

2009-03-26T00:26:00.001-07:00

Sweetness!

The Greg and Mark Show have hit the big No. 34.

It's all ASU today, as we discuss:

ASU Men - Hey, at least we know we're between the 17th- and 32nd-best team in the country, right?

ASU Phoenix Regional - At least there's basketball in the Valley this weekend. We break it down.

ASU W-Hoops - Upon further review, we do still have a team alive in the postseason!

ASU Baseball - They're on fire, and about to face the No. 1 team in the country.

Get back to us tomorrow for the first-round winners in the Greg and Mark Show Simpsons bracket.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode34/FinalShow34.mp3

Show 33 - Greg and Mark Show Introduce Simpsons Tournament

2009-03-20T07:38:00.000-07:00

The second show this week is all about the tournament -- the Simpsons Tournament.

The Greg and Mark Show is proud to introduce the 65-team Simpsons Side Character bracket. Click on the bracket at the top of the right column and follow instructions to download an Excel file. When you're done filling out your bracket, simply email it to GregandMark@gmail.com.

All characters outside the Simpsons nuclear family (Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie) were eligible. Celebrity guests who appeared as themselves were not.

We'll be breaking down the Simpsons bracket in one segment every week until this thing is over. Enjoy.

http://www.archive.org/download/Episode33_834/Episode33.mp3

Episode 32

2009-03-19T00:30:00.000-07:00

http://www.archive.org/download/Episode32_438/Episode32.mp3

Clearing Off My Plate

2009-03-13T16:46:00.000-07:00

-- Japan’s Yu Darvish is the biggest reason I’m watching the World Baseball Classic. Just like the Dice-K sensation in 2006, I want to see what the hubbub is all about. We caught a glimpse of Darvish at this past summer’s Olympics, but the W.B.C. is much closer to elite baseball competition than the Olympics.

On Thursday, Darvish pitched in the United States for the first time (unless I’m missing something… it had to be his first time…), tossing two innings against the Cubs in Mesa. If I wasn’t working at another Cactus League game at the same time, I surely would have taken a vacation day if only to catch those two innings.

Here is what ESPN.com’s Keith Law had to say about Darvish’s stuff:

His primary pitches were a four-seam fastball from 91-94 mph, a two-seamer from 87-91 with great downward tailing action, and a hard slider from 84-87 with a sharp, long break and good tilt. To a right-handed hitter, the slider would look like it might hit him on the hands and end up in the other batter's box; at 87 mph, that's hard to hit. He also showed a slow curveball at around 72 mph, an in-between slurve around 80-81 mph (I called it a soft slider; another scout called it a hard curve), a so-so splitter with some tumble, and I believe one shuuto for good measure. He could probably go through a batting order twice with just the two fastballs and the hard slider, especially if his command is as good as or better than it was Thursday.

Worth noting again, I think — he showed all of that in two innings.

The total package is that of a No. 1 starter in the U.S., especially when you consider his success in Japan, particularly in missing bats.

Darvish is entering his fifth year in NPB. He won't be a free agent until at least after the 2014 season and has indicated that he has no interest in coming to pitch in
the United States.

Dice-K is probably a No. 2/3 starter, especially in Boston where Josh Beckett and Jon Lester get the top two spots. But to think that there’s a future ace out there in the world that isn’t yet claimed by a big league team just seems crazy to me.

Call me an ugly American, but I want to see Darvish here… and soon (but not with the Yankees).

-- Who is Johnny Antonelli?

He was a one-time bonus baby, who was wanted (and subsequently signed) by the Milwaukee Braves ownership, not so much by the players, who as a whole often resented bonus babies (eg: Sandy Koufax in Brooklyn).

He enjoyed a fairly brief but very successful Major League career. After losing two key development years (ages 21 and 22) to the Korean War, Antonelli made five All-Star games, won at least 19 games three times, won a World Series with the Giants and led the National League in ERA in 1954. He probably would have won the Cy Young in ’54 if it existed then.

By 31, he had a 6.75 ERA was out of baseball. They didn’t keep great injury records then, but common sense dictates that SOMETHING happened to Antonelli.

So why does he matter?

Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA system tracks comparable players to every big leaguer in their projections. It’s a way to help put the player in the proper scope and perspective, and it can be kind of fun to see the career arch a player could have. Two of Pat Neshek’s comps are Kerry Ligtenberg and Trevor Hoffman. Translation: Neshek’s career could go a few very different ways.

There are 971 pitchers listed, with four comps per name. That’s 3,884 comp names, and Antonelli is listed twice. His comps?

Johan Santana and Tim Lincecum.

One of the great things about PECOTA is that it reminds us of some great players who time has otherwise forgotten.

Chances are, before this blog entry, you’d never heard of Johnny Antonelli. But he was a damn good pitcher, even if only briefly. And you need only to look at Santana and Lincecum to imagine how good.

Move Over, Maddux

2009-03-12T07:35:00.000-07:00

So on Wednesday's show, we decided to pair our show number with athletes' jersey numbers. For 31, we've got Greg Maddux, Mike Piazza, Shawn Marion and Reggie Miller. Solid list, I say.

In episode 31, we talked the fading Suns, the Cardinals' free agent pickup, the D-backs hopefully getting a key outfielder back from injury, mailbag and Song of the Week. Enjoy it.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode31_221/Episode31.mp3

G&M

Episode 30

2009-03-11T00:16:00.000-07:00

The Sun Devils are headed to the Pac-10 tournament -- both of them.

We discussed the ASU men's and women's basketball teams, as both are headed to California this week to try to win Pac-10 titles and secure the best possible seed.

But because of one huge injury, one of these teams is in better shape than the other. Find out on Episode 30 of the Greg and Mark Show.

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode30/Episode30.mp3

Episodes 28 and 29

2009-03-05T06:18:00.000-08:00

They're up, and you can find them in all the regular places.

In episode 28, we discussed the looming Kurt Warner contract issues (before he signed.... glad we posted that early). We broke that down with good friend of the show, Darren Urban.

We talked ASU Hoops -- should James Harden's jersey be retired? -- and the D-backs in Episode 29.

Enjoy.

Episode 28:

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode28/Episode28.mp3

Episode 29:
http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode29/Episode29.mp3

Mark My Words

2009-02-15T11:54:00.000-08:00

Now that he's been caught with his own proverbial pants down, MLB commissioner Bud Selig better come back swinging, or his reign in charge will be remembered as being artificial.

The list of names keeps creeping up. All-Stars and middle relievers alike are being prefaced by thoughts of “Yeah, he’s (good, bad or mediocre), but maybe he used…”

Who's a Hall-of-Famer? Nobody really knows anymore.

Alex Rodriguez was supposed to be Mr. Clean, the guy who would break records with only natural talent and workouts to sustain a Cooperstown career.

Barry Bonds blew it. Mark McGwire blew it. Roger Clemens blew it. Miguel Tejada blew it. Rafael Palmeiro. All the way down to minor leaguers.

And now A-Rod blew it (so did ESPN in its "interview" with A-Rod, but who really thought the Mouse Network wasn't going to lob softball questions?). The 2004 list includes 104 players, and whether those tests - which were supposed to be anonymous - should be made public reveals compelling arguments on both sides.

Either way, this is baseball’s latest reality. Or fans’ perception of reality. Either of which is incriminating by itself.

Damaging, too, is the one in charge of this all: Bud Selig.

He turned a seven-month trainwreck of a baseball strike in 1994 into profits and revenue sharing in subsequent years. He enacted inter-league play (which I’m a proponent). Attendance is up. Money sources are up.

None of this will matter, because, similar to the way Union head Donald Fehr is soiling himself, “Bud Selig” and “steroids” are on their way to being forever synonymous. Any other parallels or adjectives to describe Selig’s ongoing tenure are a distant second place.

The easiest thing our $16.5 million-dollar man can do is offer a sincere, stoic apology. “I’m sorry. As the person in charge of our National Pastime’s operation, this has all happened under my watch. I blew it, and the following punishments will become permanent regulation.”

Then he can keep the guilty out of Cooperstown and asterisk the record books.
But he better do something fast, because if there’s anything baseball and its followers can’t handle more of, it’s disingenuousness by those involved.

On that front, Bud will take a public relations beating forever.

Episode 24

2009-02-06T01:18:00.000-08:00

We've now got more shows under our belt than Julio Franco had years in the Majors. Take that, Franco.

We jump right into the show with our pal Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic. Kent was involved with all of the Super Bowl hullabaloo and he joined us to break it all down.

We also caught up with what the Suns have been up to -- or down to -- lately.

(joesportsfan.com photo)

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode24/Episode24.mp3

Sheets to the Wind

2009-02-05T17:30:00.000-08:00

And thaaaaaat’s why he doesn’t have a contract yet:

Free-agent pitcher Ben Sheets is leaning toward elbow surgery that would probably keep him out for most, if not all, of the 2009 season, according to a major league source familiar with Sheets' medical prognosis.

The surgery would repair the torn flexor tendon in his pitching elbow that kept Sheets from pitching for the Brewers in the NLDS and limited him to just two abbreviated starts over the final 2½ weeks of the regular season. The normal recovery time from the procedure, according to the source, is nine to 10 months.

Milwaukee assistant GM Gord Ash told MLB.com that the Brewers have been in discussions with Sheets' agent, Casey Close, and representatives from Major League Baseball about who would pay for Sheets' surgery.

I was on-board with the Jon Garland signing from the beginning. I think he makes for a good No. 3 or 4 starter, and he may benefit from a switch to the National League. Plus he's healthy. His fellow right-handed free agent Ben Sheets..... not so much.

And while Sheets was a great name to be had — the guy started the All-Star Game this year — he’s just saddled with too much injury baggage. Which is sad.

Furthermore, there’s this:

And in fact, some teams that had pursued Sheets this winter seemed to be more concerned about his shoulder than his elbow.

But it's believed the actual nature of the injury was uncovered after he failed a physical given by the Rangers' physicians, after tentatively agreeing to a two-year contract with Texas.

Yikes.

That, folks, is a sad case. It’s just another in a long line of stellar big-league pitchers who’ve had their careers thrown off the tracks by arm injuries. If he’s sporting a bum shoulder to go with the bum elbow, he’s in trouble.

(espn.com photo)

Episode 23

2009-02-04T22:47:00.000-08:00

Michael Jordan... LeBron James... David Beckham... the Greg and Mark Show.

They're all 23, baby.

In our 23rd show, we talked about ASU landing big-time recruit Vontaze Burfict, the men's hoops team heading to Oregon after stinking it up against the Washington Schools, we also ripped open the mailbag.

We also found out why Mark's got a huge swelling bruise above his eye.

It's all here in show two-three.

(Rivals.com photo)

http://www.archive.org/download/GregAndMarkShow-Episode23/Episode23.mp3

This Is Offensive

2009-02-04T07:03:00.000-08:00

The first chink in the armor might be hitting the Cardinals today.

Three weeks after hiring Scott Pioli as general manager, and almost two after firing Herm Edwards, the Chiefs are still looking for a head coach.

That fact indicates Pioli was waiting to speak with a particular candidate — and, evidently, he is Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator Todd Haley. With Arizona’s season concluding with last weekend’s Super Bowl, the Chiefs received permission from the Cardinals to interview Haley for their head coaching vacancy, sources said.

The interview could happen as soon as today.

Haley, who turns 42 on Feb. 28, gained prominence this year as the Cardinals’ offensive coordinator. In his second season with Arizona, the Cardinals won the NFC West championship for the first time.

They did it on the strength of one of the league’s most dangerous offenses. Arizona finished tied for third in the NFL in scoring, fourth in total offense and second in passing yardage. The Cardinals set a franchise record by scoring 427 points.

The funny thing here is that the Chiefs’ new general manager Scott Pioli probably, like many of us, didn’t expect the Cardinals to make the Super Bowl. By waiting so long, he seemed to have shown his hand with this coaching hire. If Haley wasn’t his man, Pioli — who worked with Haley on the New York Jets’ staff in the late 90s — could have moved on and made a hire by now. At the best for the Cardinals, we can assume Haley is a very serious candidate, if not the most serious. At the worst, he’s as good as gone.

We’ll surely talk about this on Thursday’s Greg and Mark Show.

KC Star photo

We Just Got More Legitimate… Or Less Legitimate… Or Perhaps Our Legitimacy Is Unchanged

2009-02-03T17:38:00.000-08:00

There’s yet another place you’ll be able to find the Greg and Mark Show, now that we’re associated with Fanster.com.

You can see them here: http://phoenix.fanster.com/

And you’ll find our Fanster material here: http://phoenix.fanster.com/category/podcasts/

In fact, you’ll probably find this column there, which will be weird. Kind of like when Stewie meets his future self in Family Guy, but he wasn’t really in the future, he was just in San Francisco.

Anyway, Fanster is “is dedicated to bringing you the news and views on everything Arizona sports.” And that’s good. Arizona needs this, a central stop for sports fans. We’re all part of this same boiling pot of sports chili; might as well mix up the meat and beans.

(We’re the beans).

(tv.com photo)

Episode 21

2009-01-28T23:44:00.000-08:00

I don't know how we made it to 21, but we did, so we might as well keep this thing going. It's the Greg and Mark Show!

The first show of the week is all Cardinals, all the time. We talk Super Bowl with Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com.

We also give our score predictions at the end of the show. Listen up and find out how we think this thing's going down.

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Clearing Off My Plate

2009-01-23T15:51:00.000-08:00

-- The ASU baseball team is ranked, in various preseason polls, anywhere from No. 6 to No. 22. That tells you two things. One, this kind of varying projection will happen with a very young team such as the Sun Devils’. A bunch of different things could happen this season, and nothing would surprise anyone (except for, I suppose, a really bad year… they are pretty talented, after all). And two, the baseball polls are not nearly as homogenous as the football and basketball polls, which seem to copy each other. Those polls are always so similar; it’s as if this happens: “So UCLA is ranked No. 10 in the coaches’ poll,” sayeth random A.P. voter. “Makes sense. I guess I’ll rank them No. 10.”

-- Interesting story in Basketball Prospectus Wednesday (from the guys who brought you Baseball Prospectus). The Pac-10 is now the slowest-playing major conference in college basketball, slower even than the Big Ten. This is in large part due to Herb Sendek, Ben Howland (UCLA), Craig Robinson (Oregon State) and Dick & Tony Bennett (Washington State) bringing a slow, heavy defensive approach with recruits that fit the style.

Tight defense and clock-killing offenses are la mode du jour for the Pac-10 these days. (AP Photo)

My question is this: If you’re an athletic director in the Pac-10 and you need a new coach, specifically if you are at a university that can’t attract the best recruits, might it not be of interest to be the black sheep in the conference? It might be high time for someone in the Pac-10 to hire a Mike D’Antoni style coach, to try to run the better teams into a high scoring game.

-- Kansas City Chiefs coach Herm Edwards was fired Friday. I hope he latches on somewhere else, if only for the entertaining/interesting/candid press conferences.

-- Some Cardinals coverage from around the intertubes:

Darren Urban has a cool story. Two Cardinals fans who suffered heart attacks during playoff games had a chance to tour the Cardinals facility on Monday.

Peter King had a nice feature on Sean Morey.

Third-string QB Brian St. Pierre was on the Dennis and Callahan show on WEEI in Boston (Pierre is a Boston College grad, with a nice northeastern accent (he says “yestahday”)

ESPN ranks the 106 players in the Super Bowl. Larry Fitzgerald is No. 1, and the Cards have six of the top 10.

Jeffri Chadiha says Anquan Boldin deserves the benefit of the doubt from fans and media. I agree.

Pete Prisco has the five reasons why the Cardinals are in the Super Bowl.

-- I love All-Star Games. Mark does not. So we differ here. He says they’re a popularity contest, to which I say, “What’s so wrong with a popularity contest?” I like popular things. The iPod is popular. Lost is a popular show. Pizza is popular. I unabashedly like all of those things. But Thursday I came so perilously close to agreeing with Mark that maybe popularity contests can be lousy. Fans did a very good job in the West for NBA All-Star voting. Four of the starters should be starters. And while Dirk Nowitzki should perhaps be starting, Amare Stoudemire will be playing on his home court, so you’d make a strong case to say he should be as well. No problems with the Duncan/Yao/Amare/Kobe/Paul group.

But in the East? Well, first of all, Allen Iverson is going to start ahead of Devin Harris, Jameer Nelson and other more deserving guards. But that’s not even the issue. Look at the voting at forward. LeBron James starts in a runaway, no problem there. But Kevin Garnett edged Yi Jianlian — let that sink in for a second — by only 253,004 votes. That’s not much. It would be about 12 percent of Garnett’s vote total. Look, Yi might have a nice career in the NBA. He’s not having a bad year, he starts for the Nets, he should play for the sophomore team in the Rookie Challenge and he’s only 21, so he might legitimately improve as a player. But wow, he got dangerously close to starting in the All-Star Game. And yeah, that kind of popularity contest would have been a bad thing.

What I’m Watching This Weekend:

No sports, probably. Erica and I are going see Chris Titus at the Tempe Improv this weekend.

What I’m Listening to This Weekend:

The Greg and Mark Show on iTunes, of course!

Episode 20

2009-01-23T06:51:00.000-08:00

Episode 20 is up.

We took a break, for the most part, from Cardinals talk for the week. We caught up with Matt Simpson at Echo From the Buttes to discuss ASU basketball recruits, including Phoenix St. Mary's Demetrius Walker.

We also discussed that sloppy ASU/UA game on Wednesday night, and opened up the mailbag.

And we think you'll love our song of the week.

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Just When You Thought This Show Couldn't Get Any Bigger...

2009-01-21T23:48:00.000-08:00

... now we're on iTunes!

Following this link (also pasted below, and you can click on the headline above) will take you to our page at iTunes.

Click on "Subscribe" and you're good to go. Then you can download the show as it posts.

You can also go searching for Greg and Mark Show at the iTunes store. Find the artist "Greg and Mark" click the arrow next to the episode name and that will take you to the same page as that link.

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=303105800

On iTunes, we'll be posting the show in segments, rather than in the whole-show form you see here. If you prefer to listen to the whole show at a time, fret not, we'll still be posting them here.

We want to thank everybody that has been helping to spread the word about our show. We really do appreciate it. And we think the inclusion at iTunes is only going to make us bigger (and better).

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Episode 19

2009-01-21T23:42:00.000-08:00

Episode 19 is up.

We checked in with new friend of the show, Kent Somers, who talked about the Arizona Cardinals' improbable Super Bowl run.