02-06-25 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST Hour 3
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All right, everybody, it's here. The march to spring training and opening day is officially upon us. Hey, I'm Rob Bradford from Baseball Isn't Boring, and we'll have you covered every single day with instant reactions to late-breaking signings, determining which players are, yes, truly in the best shape of their lives, and behind-the-scenes stories from all the excitement and intrigue that spring training brings. Follow Baseball Isn't Boring in the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.

We are getting closer to Super Bowl weekend, but still some miles to go. How, not Miles Garrett, but actual Miles, how...

much of the Super Bowl pregame coverage will you watch? Apparently Fox has 67 hours planned. That's such an odd number. Why not 70 or 65? 67 hours of pregame coverage planned across their various networks and entities. We've got a poll up on Twix at Amy After Hours. How much will you watch? I'll get that up on our Facebook page as well. Once we get closer, maybe we'll talk more about the actual game at this point.

I would say that a lot of these stories, the angles are regurgitated. And yet still, there's a lot of fascination because of the history on the line for the Chiefs. And obviously for Patrick Mahomes, who is the only quarterback within sight right now who has any shot of reeling in Tom Brady as the greatest of all time. And it's neat to hear more about him from Andy Reid, the deeper the two of them get in his career.

Patrick's a real sharp guy, very smart, spends a lot of time at the game and making sure that all these crazy formations that we have that he can digest them first and then be able to spit them out in a short period of time.

You see the opportunities that you get and you never know what's going to be your last one. And to be able to be in the Super Bowl again is always special. And so for me, just being hungry to be as great as I possibly can be, not only for myself but for my teammates and knowing how blessed I am.

We'll have to be on our game. We'll have to tackle well. We'll have to get off blocks well. We'll have to rush well. We'll have to be on the same page. He obviously presents a lot of challenges. He's a phenomenal football player and presents a lot of challenges, so we'll have to be at the top of our game. Oh, it is so about Mahomes, but

he makes everybody around him better. And of course, we'll look at the Eagles perspective too, because the Chiefs will have their hands full with Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley and some of the great wide receivers on that Eagles roster. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence.

at ALawRadio and then 855-212-4227. Pleased to talk to Matt Derrick of ChiefsDigest.com, also a contributor of Sports Radio 810 in KC and an author of a couple of books, Patrick Mahomes' Showtime and At Last, which tells the story of the 2019 Super Bowl I. Matt, you're getting to be a veteran of the Super Bowl trips, but what's different about this one in New Orleans?

Obviously, the one thing that's different is the piece of history that they're chasing, trying to win three in a row. And they've got a couple of draft classes that have just done nothing but win Super Bowls. I was talking with Dave Merritt, the defensive backs coach. Back in 2022, they drafted five defensive backs, and he called them the Fab Five.

And he said he told them when they drafted them and got them all together. He said, you guys are going to make NFL history. And they got a chance to do that on Sunday. And so that's really the biggest difference. I mean, there's still, you know, some of the questions. I mean, obviously things about officiating that get asked. And, and,

And certainly the Chiefs, if they're not the villain, they feel like the villain. They're trying to portray themselves that way. So I don't know. I remember, you know, first Super Bowl, it seemed like everybody was rooting for the Chiefs. Right. I don't know if there's a whole lot of people outside Chiefs kingdom rooting for Kansas City right now. How have you, as someone who covers the team extensively, handled this idea, conspiracy theory, that the officials slash league favor the Chiefs in their big games?

Long before I covered the team, I was a fan back in the day when I was a kid. So I see the long 50-year view of the NFL and Chiefs. And there were plenty of times that the Chiefs fans probably thought that the NFL world was absolutely rigged against them. They had a lot of struggle. They had 50 years of a drought. The players certainly, they're great.

they don't think and believe anything. And it is not. I mean, let's face it. We know the NFL is not rigged. Do the Chiefs get some calls? Maybe. Did Tom Brady get some calls? Probably. But at the same time, I've also seen this team have a lot of bad luck.

You know, last year, they probably lost three games last season just because receivers dropped passes and they turned into interceptions. So I feel like luck, in a way, finds a way to sometimes balance itself out. But I also, you know, from watching this team and, frankly, watching what the Patriots did and watching what other teams do, I mean, at the end of the day, talent and execution overcomes, I think, bad luck. And if you don't have those two things...

You can have all the good luck in the world. I don't think it's going to help you. Yeah, not a big believer in luck myself. It seems like the Chiefs know exactly how to win. And regardless of what it looks like, they don't really care. We're spending a few minutes with Matt Derrick, who's there in New Orleans on Radio Row, covers the Chiefs, is a writer for ChiefsDigest.com. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. What's different about this team that's notable in 25?

It continues to be more experienced. I mean, even though they have new faces and there's younger players that come in, the experience is there. I mean, there's nobody that's – well, I'm not going to say nobody. There's fewer people who are wide-eyed about this whole experience because they've been here before. What is different about this team maybe compared to the last year and the last couple of years is that you've got some guys like DeAndre Hopkins and Hollywood Brown and Kareem Hunt.

Charles and Minahew, even though he was around last year, he didn't get to play in the game because of an injury. You know, for those four guys, this is a chance to, you know, really cement their NFL careers. I mean, that's the one thing missing on their resumes is a Super Bowl. They're getting the chance to go through this playoff run. I mean, you can see

I mean, these are all older guys, you know, around 30, 30 plus. And they seem like little kids going through this whole experience because it's to them. It's the one thing that they've been chasing their entire careers to get to do. And to see a future Hall of Famer like DeAndre Hopkins embrace that and just be one of the guys that,

I mean, he walked into this locker room and just seemed like he just fit in on day one and was just another player. You know, he doesn't ask for special treatment or anything of that nature. He's just been all about the ring, and that's how all those guys have been. I mean, this has been maybe the first season where you've really seen maybe the Chiefs' effect of their success drawing in veterans who want to come and try and get a ring. And those four in particular, I mean, have really fit in with this team and have really helped out.

Matt, how much does the experience of the core group help them manage what is now a circus around the Chiefs? Pretty much everywhere they go, everything they do. Yeah, I thought it was very telling Wednesday morning with Mahomes talking about what moment, you know, the worst moment might be the bottom moment that stands out the most. And he immediately said, just short answer, it was, you know, losing the Super Bowl to Tampa Bay. And that has been a constant reminder. I mean, you know, Patrick Mahomes is...

17-3 in playoff games for a reason. And one of those reasons was that loss to Tampa Bay. He reminds this team and new players coming to this team every single year and throughout the entire season, you do not want to know what it feels like to be on the losing end of a Super Bowl or an AFC championship game. So that's the one thing the players learn immediately. I mean, even beyond sometimes the high expectations that this organization has for players, it's

You have Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelsey and Chris Jones who are telling these young guys, yeah, it's great here. We win a lot of games. But the one thing that you do not want to do is you do not want to be the ones to mess it up. You don't want to know what it feels like to lose a big game. And I think that message is absolutely permeated throughout this organization. And when the new guys come in, that's the first thing that they learn.

Matt Derrick is with us from New Orleans. In addition to covering the Chiefs, you also have a couple books out. One of them is Patrick Mahomes' Showtime. What do fans not know about Patrick Mahomes? I feel like you probably know just about everything you need to know about Patrick at this point that you should. But I think that probably the thing that, you know, maybe he just doesn't get enough attention for is just...

his sense of humor and how down to earth that he is. You know, I know a lot of people may want to hate him because he's so good and he wins a lot and he beat your favorite team and all those things. He's an incredibly down to earth person for, you know, given that he's one of the most recognizable people on the planet.

It's really amazing. I mean, he always has time for you, always has time for fans. You know, he can't – you know, Kansas City is a pretty, you know, down-to-earth kind of place, and most superstars can get around in Kansas City without any problems. Patrick, Travis, Taylor, those are probably the only three that, you know, get bothered at the grocery stores and get questions for autographs. But, you know, Patrick handles it amazingly. And like I said, I mean, he's one of us. I mean, he's –

At his heart, he's a goofy kid who likes to play video games and probably eat junk food, too. That's probably what contributes to the dad bod. But, I mean, to me, he is just one of the most normal, goofy, down-to-earth superstars you're ever going to meet.

And yet we tend to see something new from him or unique from him almost every time the Chiefs are in a big game. I've heard him try to explain that. But from your perspective, watching this team grow more, get more experience, how uncanny is it when they continually snatch victory from the jaws of defeat?

He's really embraced one of the concepts that Andy Reid has for practices and training camp, OTAs, you name it, which is to test your boundaries. Find out what you can do. And that philosophy was born for Patrick. I mean, if you sometimes attend a training camp practice and you watch a team and you see the quarterbacks and you see a quarterback checking down,

Patrick Holmes is not going to check down during a practice. I mean, he's going to see what he can get away with. And, you know, and that was a big story. His rookie year was just, you know, how many interceptions that he seemed to throw. Andy Reid all along was, hey, he needs to test his windows. He needs to figure out what he can and can't get away with. And,

Almost to a T. I mean, usually whenever he's done something particularly amazing in a game, you ask his teammates about it, and they'll say, yeah, he did that in practice once. So, I mean, he practiced like he plays, and I think that's a big part of it is if there's any situation that he sees on the field, he's not particularly phased by it. And two, he's tested it out. He's done it before. He's experimented with what he can get away with and what he can do.

Maybe I missed something, Matt, but why all of the questions about Andy Reid and retirement? Did he hint at it at some point and I just didn't hear it? Okay, here's the kind of inside scoop on it. Because one of the things you have to know about it is that Andy Reid has a dry sense of humor.

So a couple of years ago at the Super Bowl, he was asked about possibly retiring, and he made what he thought was an offhand joke, but it was just a dry joke that...

wasn't understood. And so they just ran with it that, hey, you know what? And Reed's thinking about if he wins this game, he might retire. And there's been a couple of maybe, I don't know, people who enjoy clicks and like getting attention that continue to speculate that he's going to retire. But the man just in April signed a new contract extension that makes him the highest paid coach in the NFL, and it runs through 2029.

he's not going anywhere. And every time that we talk about this with him, you know, he says he's talked to friends and colleagues and, you know, guys who retired and asked him, you know, when do you know it's time? And, and everything they always say is that they say, well, you'll know when it's time, but the time is not when you got the quarterback that you got right

now. So if you're talking about Andy Reid riding off into the sunset, I mean, I think it's a lot more likely he rides off into the sunset when Patrick Mahomes does than anything on his own terms. That makes sense to me, considering how prolific they've been as a team. How would you describe or characterize the relationship between those two? Because it's central to their success.

Yeah, I don't know if they would exactly describe it as father and son. They kind of get close to describing it that way sometimes, and I think they're two

too in touch with their male emotions to say that out loud but it seems like it is kind of that i mean i think the the age difference is too much for it to be brotherly and there's too much boss employee for it to be that way but andy reed clearly you know cares about my homes my homes respects and you know really loves andy reed they get along incredibly well i mean they've

talked about the fact that they will be looking at plays and they'll come up with the exact same ideas and see things the exact same way. And I think that's a big reason why this has worked. I mean, it's kind of been that way since day one. These two are kindred spirits, especially when it comes to playing football. I just feel like if Patrick Mahomes had landed with any other organization, he'd probably be a good quarterback. I don't think he'd be what he is. And Andy Reid's the same way. If he didn't end up with Patrick Mahomes as his quarterback,

Don't think he'd ever be on the brink of trying to win three Super Bowls in a row. You mentioned the members of the Chiefs who can get recognized in the grocery store, and I love that you throw Taylor Swift in there as well. Andy Reid, certainly recognizable. But another star on that coaching staff is Steve Spagnuolo and the way that he has been transformational with the defense. What do people need to know about the mad scientist of the Blitz?

Yeah, I think one thing there is that he has the same type of attitude on defense that Andy Reid has on offense. Nothing too crazy to try. There's nothing too aggressive to try and pull off. What you have to do with it is that you have to have the experience and the trust to do it. And, you know, that's what you've seen with Spagnuolo since he arrived in 2019 is

His defenses have just gotten better and better every year. It's just been an upward trend. And look at that situation against the Buffalo back in the NFC Championship game on that blitz on fourth and five against Josh Allen. There was not a single guy on that defense that did not know what blitz that Steve Spagnuolo was going to call.

George Karloff just told me, he's like, hey, you spend every day, six months of the year with a guy, you learn how he thinks. And so they've got so many veterans on that defense now that have been a part of the process for a while. That allows Spagnuolo to be more aggressive. He was not as aggressive back in 2019. And he'll admit that and tell you that, yeah, I mean, until you get the players that have the experience and understand what you're doing and they all trust each other and know each other,

you know, you can't get away with some of the things that they get away with now. So that continuity has been a big part of it, but he's such a great teacher. That's what the players really love about him too.

Definitely not a coincidence that this incredible run began in 2019. As you point out, you've got a core group that's been together that includes the man affectionately known as Spags. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. All right, as they head into this game, how do they match up with the Eagles?

The way the Eagles are constituted right now with some of the injuries that they've got along the offensive line and at the linebacker position, I mean, I think the Chiefs are matching up really, really well. And I certainly sense a quiet confidence among the offense this week that they feel like they've got some things in their bag that can really work. And this kind of even goes back a little bit to the complaint about the Chiefs maybe winning too many close games and that being a sign of weakness.

To a degree, and I think the playoffs have started to bear this out a little bit, the Chiefs have a lot of tricks in their bag, but they only pull them out when they need them. And they just didn't need them very often during the regular season. Now you see, getting into the postseason, and you see the tricks that they do have. And that's why I think the Eagles are going to see a lot of unscouted looks, both offensively and defensively on Sunday. And I think that's going to be a big part of how they respond to that

how they handle that. I think this game is going to be one in the trenches though. And, you know, with the Eagles offensive line banged up, especially the interior dealing with Chris Jones, I think is going to be a difficulty. The chiefs offensive line on the other side has had its own problems, but they play well as a unit. And Joe Tooney has brought a lot of stability to that left, the tackle position. He may not be the perfect body for it. Just,

Those 32-and-a-quarter-inch T-Rex arms. Oh, my gosh. I joke about the fact that I don't know what happened at the Skynet factory. They built Joe Tooney and turned him into a Terminator and didn't give him 36-inch arms. If they had, he'd probably be the all-pro left tackle over the last 10 years. It has brought a lot of stability to that offensive line. And as long as they protect Mahomes and the Eagles have –

I mean, they have a great, a very good defense, but like I said, the middle of the field at the linebacker level, they've got some injuries and Oren Burks was with the 49ers and was tasked with guarding Travis Kelsey last year in the second half of that Superbowl game after Drake Greenlaw. There you go. Finally, finally filtered into my head. Um,

If there's an opportunity, the Chiefs, I think, do have an opportunity over the middle of the field to attack this defense. And if they can find some ways to get Travis Kelsey and Xavier Worthy the ball over the middle of the field, I think there's an opportunity for some mismatches there. Matt, before I let you go, I feel like now you could turn into a Super Bowl food critic considering the number of cities that you followed the Chiefs to. How does the food in New Orleans compare?

It's moving into a number one with a bullet. I mean, you know, Vegas is a conglomeration. I mean, it's great food, but, you know, it's just everywhere. You know, it's taken from everywhere. Is there a Las Vegas cuisine other than the buffet? I don't think so. I don't think so. No, I think just really expensive steakhouses maybe. Yeah.

Yeah, it was good and expensive, but there's not anything that stands out. Oh, you've got to have this. Miami was pretty good, too. Hey, anytime you get Twin Coast and get seafood, you're good there. Phoenix.

Bless their hearts. I mean, they're kind of the same way. I mean, I don't really feel like there's a Phoenix Cuisine, except I had obviously fantastic Mexican food there the entire week. So that was nice. I'm more of a chicken guy than anything else. I've already had some pretty good chicken here in New Orleans a couple of times. So I'm going to try more chicken throughout the week, too. Nice. Matt Derrick covers the Chiefs for ChiefsDigest.com, also a contributor on Sports Radio 810, and a couple of books.

as part of this incredible Chiefs run, Patrick Mahomes Showtime, and also At Last, which is the story of their very first, the 2019 championship. Actually, I should say their first in a half century, which is why it's such a perfect title. You can find them online at Matt Derrick, D-E-R-R-I-C-K. It's great to connect with you. I know you're busy, so thank you for a few minutes. Absolutely. Always a pleasure talking to you, Amy. Take care.

See, we are actually talking football this week. Been a lot of NBA trade talk, a lot of Miles Garrett trade talk, some goofy elements to the Super Bowl pregame coverage and the two weeks leading up where it feels like people have to dig down deep. I generally don't even talk about the game until we get...

48 hours. So I'm throwing in some bonus football talk for free, but always have to talk about food when it comes to the host city. I enjoy...

I enjoy the New Orleans atmosphere. I don't think I would be enjoying it this week with gobs of people there. So remember the one time most recently that I was in the Crescent City when I did a game at Tulane. So I was calling a basketball game on TV. I think it was for CBS Sports Network. This goes back to the beginning of my tenure here. But I was there on the tail end of Mardi Gras. So I did my game on what was the last night of Mardi Gras after we had the game.

I was staying in the French Quarter. My flight was about, I think it was 6 o'clock in the morning, so I had to get to the airport by 4.30 or be in my car by 4.30. So after the game, me and my play-by-play announcer, I was actually serving as the color analyst, we took a walk on Bourbon Street and got a hurricane at Pat O'Brien's because that's the thing. It smelled.

smelled so bad because it did because it was the end of Mardi Gras. And as you can imagine, a lot of alcohol being consumed, stale beer is not a great smell. So the next morning after I have my hurricane, I get back to my room, pack up, get a couple hours of sleep.

I come out at 430 to get my rental car. People are still stumbling around, as you can imagine. A lot of them still dressed up to the nines because it was the end of Mardi Gras. They had parties. They went to clubs, whatever it was. Again, not a great smell. People who have not showered and a lot of stale alcohol, but

But I really loved the Garden District. I liked the area around Tulane. And yes, I walked Bourbon Street, had oysters on the half shell. That was my painful horseradish moment when I nearly died. If I've not ever told you that story or if you've not ever heard it, it's a funny one. You could laugh at my expense. Anyway, that was my most recent New Orleans experience. I can imagine with all of the mass influx of people.

for Super Bowl week. It's why some hotel rooms, like the basic hotel rooms cost $1,800 a night because it's a pretty compact area. There's a lot of people coming in and prices are jacked up, no doubt. But it's the last big game. It's history on the line. And so for some people, it's worth the investment. How much of the preseason

the pregame coverage will you watch on Fox Sports and its family of networks? At Amy, after hours to take the poll. I'll get that up on Facebook here, I promise. Thanks for hanging out with us. We're morphing into a Thursday morning, February 6th. Wowzers. It's after hours on the Infinity Sports Network. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. After Hours

Yeah, I mean, when you get to this stage and get to the playoffs, you know, it's win or go home. So that's kind of the mindset right there. And you just try to stay locked in and get into your flow and your flow state. And that's been the challenge for me in this playoffs and what I'm going to try to continue to do in my career is how often can I get in flow and how I'm able to stay in that flow mindset.

and to be able to take over games. All this media stuff is cool, you know, but none of it doesn't matter. None of this stuff matters. It's solely about the game. You know, I'm grateful for this opportunity and I'm going to join it with my teammates, but...

Ultimately, it just comes down to getting the job done at the end. The Chiefs and Eagles, and we have you covered on After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Saquon Barkley locked in. Did you know the Chiefs are the only team he has not faced in his seven-year career in the NFL, which it's random, but I love that kind of nerdy stuff. Nerd.

Nerd alert. And then A.J. Brown, which I think maybe not quite so sincere about this media stuff is all fun. It was not that long ago, a couple weeks ago, that he was kind of pushing back on this idea that he was lying about bringing a book to the sidelines and that inner excellence was his way of

being a distraction or calming himself down because he wasn't getting the ball enough and all this kind of stuff. So yeah, the media has been fun at all, maybe a little disingenuous, but Saquon Barkley, AJ Brown, two of the big keys for Jalen Hurts and that offense to succeed. Obviously the offensive line needs to be a winner and in winning shape on Sunday as well. A

Really love some of the nuances, the matchups along the interior, right? So Chris Jones and what he's been able to do with the Chiefs the last two years. We've talked about Steve Spagnuolo, the mad scientist of the bullets and what he can dial up.

I like the chess match component of a game like this where these two teams have a couple of weeks to get ready and where you do have some familiarity. Not a lot, of course. There's a bunch of guys that didn't play, but there at least is some understanding of what these two coaches do.

I think I read this. Andy Reid's never lost to the Eagles. So as a member of the Chiefs, he's never lost to the Eagles. He's the all-time winningest coach for Philadelphia as well. It's pretty interesting. I mean...

I like the history. I'm good with either way this game goes. I hope we get a finish like what we got a couple years ago because that's so dramatic and gives us all heart palpitations. But either way, there's going to be some really cool storylines to unfold on Sunday. 855-212-4227. Daniel is listening in Athens. Is that Athens, Georgia, Daniel? Daniel. Daniel muted us. That's what happens. He just called, too. He's not...

He's not been on the phone that long. All right. He's going to feel bad when he listens to the radio and realizes as he's listening, we're about 30 second delay. I'll give him like 40 seconds before he dials in again, producer Ryan. So coming up, you guys ready for this? I've got an update on the neighbor's obnoxious garage light. Finally, after weeks of waiting, we got an update from the town on Wednesday, uh,

So I woke up, as I've been doing every day this week, I woke up early in the afternoon and tried to shake the cobwebs out, grab some coffee, prepare for my first conversation from Radio Row. My husband doesn't even say, hey, how you feeling? Good morning. So I talked to Joe. That was what he said.

He'd been waiting for hours because I know Joe, the town inspector, only works in the office in the early morning, so 8 to 10 a.m. Eastern. So he had to get right over there. And I'd been sleeping for four hours was all I got. But I'd been sleeping for a few hours and he had to wait until I got downstairs. He didn't even wait until I had coffee. So I talked to Joe.

So I'll give you that update. Also, we've got, you're going to want to mark this, we've got a major show announcement coming on next show. So next edition of After Hours. It's the last one of the week. I don't know about saving the best for last, but I do have something to share with you. Big programming announcement. So that's coming on our next edition of After Hours. And then, yes, we will be here on Super Bowl Sunday night for the big postgame show, regardless of how much pregame.

Pre-game coverage you watch. Don't miss our post-game show here on After Hours.

This portion of the show is brought to you by Ethos Life, the easy way to get life insurance in 10 minutes. Up to $2 million in coverage with no medical exam, just a few health questions. Get your free quote at checkethos.com. Not available in all states. Glad to have you on board with us if you're waking up on a Thursday. Oh, you need to shake the cobwebs out too. Here's our latest sports update. You crazy people who work out at this hour.

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Get 20% off your first order at American-Giant.com with code RIGHTHERE24. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence.

Coming up, a little pushback from the NFL Players Association about expanding the regular season to 18 games. I think that's fairly accurate. Now, we're in the middle of labor peace, which means unless both sides agree to reopen negotiations or agree to examine this portion of their labor agreement, nothing's changing right now.

However, the league definitely, and by the league, I mean the owners who are represented by Roger Goodell. The league definitely does have designs on adding another game. And Roger, along with others from the league offices, will tell you health and safety has improved so much that,

it's not an issue to add another regular season game. Well, that's not the perspective of the union. So we'll, we'll hear from Lloyd Howell. He's the executive director of the NFL PA and he held his own state of the state press conference in new Orleans on Wednesday. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence. Glad to hear from you at a law radio. And then also on our Facebook page. Again, thank you for your responses to my latest blog post. I actually feeling like I'm out from underneath football. Oh,

with just one game to go, though this week is really a doozy. I've actually got a series of posts that I'll be sharing. Another big one coming out early next week, kind of as a part two with some news to share. Along the same lines of the news I'll be sharing on the show here next time we convene, so I want to make sure I let as many people know as possible.

So make sure you check out my blog. You've got the link up pinned to the top of our Facebook page, After Hours with Amy Lawrence, and it's also on my personal Twix account, 855-212-4227. By far, since last fall, and I am telling you now,

that there's no contest by far. The number one question that I am asked these days has zero as in nada, nothing to do with sports. You all keep asking me from calls to social media posts, even people that I know personally, friends of mine, not family members cause they know, but friends of mine who will catch the show or listen to the podcast will

My colleagues have asked me, because they have heard it on the show, what's going on with the obnoxious light that is, what is it? It's mounted on the side of our neighbor's garage, but the fact that it is a floodlight, it doesn't have a cover on it, it lights up not only our entire backyard, where we kind of like

and private, and we'd like to see the stars. It's so bright that it lights up the entire back half of our house inside. I don't mean outside. That's obvious. But inside, it lights up every room on the two floors on the back of our house. And I've told you all before, we have two sets of curtains and blinds in our bedroom, and the light is still coming through. And as much as I appreciate that you all think I should change

the kind of blinds I have on my window. No, the fact is his light violates town laws and town ordinances. So if you're just catching up, it's been shining now for probably four months, I think four, getting close to five. And it's still so frustrating for us.

I feel so badly for my husband because he sleeps at night and the room is not dark. We tried moving to the spare bedroom. That didn't help. The light comes in the skylight in our bathroom. It's obnoxious and it's disturbing and it's infuriating.

So the town got involved and we filed a formal complaint, if you will, with our town inspector, our building department. And his name is Joe and he's a by the book guy. So no emotion needed by the book guy. He doesn't need to empathize. He, he certainly, uh,

told us right away that the light violates their town ordinance and that people shouldn't have these kind of lights. Also, it's crazy. I drive home in the morning. I'll pull into the neighborhood, at least our block,

Every other house on the block has maybe muted inside light if people are starting to wake up. This is the only bleeping house that I can see that's got these obnoxious lights. You can see it from a satellite in space. It's not just the one that's on the side of his garage that shines right into our house and our yard. He's got two others on the garage too. It's just...

It's over-the-top ridiculous. Anyway, Joe had worked with us on the formal complaint. They put it on the town planning board agenda. One letter was sent in November. Remember, I was talking about this with producer Pete, and he broke my heart when he said it's probably going to take a month before there's any follow-up. So the neighbor apparently got the initial light, marched down to the town offices and told him, oh, I changed the bulb. It's not nearly as bright, which is total bullshits.

bleeping BS. Sorry, I get really angry about this. Just as long as I don't say anything. I think Ryan's got to have his finger on the dump button. Just kidding. I won't say anything that can't go over the airwaves. It's BS. The light has not been changed. It's the same bulb he put in there. And then he threatened us by telling us that he wasn't going to change a thing because he didn't like our attitudes. Our attitudes. Anyway.

So the letter produced no results, no changes, except that he went to the town office and complained that he'd already done what he needed to do. The guy told him, you have to change that light or put a cover on it. It's not allowed. Nothing has changed from the neighbor's perspective. So then before Christmas, before we left for Houston, Joe, town inspector, by the book guy, started knocking on his door because I guess the next step in the process is to actually make face-to-face contact with

We had not heard from Joe for over a month. My husband had reached out, phone, left messages, email. Around the holidays, we understand that. Went to see Joe in his office on Wednesday morning, and Joe said to him right away, recognized him, of course. Joe said to him right away, I've tried. I've stopped by their house multiple times. No one will answer the door, which his wife does not work. She's always...

always home. I have no doubt because I've not seen her outside since this whole thing happened. We used to be friendly. She used to come out and say hello to the dog. No, I've not seen her since this happened other than one time. They're always home, at least one of them. So I know they're just on purpose not answering the door because they know who it is.

I'm telling you, Ryan, they're devious over there. Over a light? Over a light. He doesn't want to change it. He's belligerent and rude and just, ugh. He's probably told her she can't answer the door. Anyway, Joe said he's knocked on their door multiple times. They haven't answered. There's three cars parked in their driveway at all times, so I know that they're home. And what he told my husband on Wednesday morning is the next step is another letter because they've not been able to make face-to-face contact. I'm like, are you kidding?

me another letter and so my husband pressed him and said how long how long until we get a response how long until something else happens the guy promised him and he's not an emotional dude he was like I promise it's no more than 10 days we're like oh this is insane so 10 more days and then what happens my husband said we fine him two dollars right I don't know what the fine is or you guys could

Take a baseball bat to it. That's what I was saying. Maybe a rock somehow falls out of the sky and directly hits the light. You and my husband are on the same wavelength because he has come up with all kinds of things. A baseball bat, a golf club, a pellet gun from our window. He is very proficient with a bow and arrow because he's a hunter. I'm like, ah, that would leave a mark. That would leave residue. That leave evidence. I don't want you to go to jail.

We may hire someone to just accidentally throw a rock at it. I don't know. Just we're so frustrated and it's so obnoxious, but at this point the guy doesn't care. So I don't know how much the fine is, but knowing what's happened to this point, I,

I think we'll probably move before that dude cares about paying a fine for his light. You could hire a kid. Just give him a couple pieces of bubble gum and be like, hey, you could toss this baseball directly at this light six times. So there's no even chance that it's working. And he could hide behind our fence while he's doing it. Yeah. Oh, it slipped. Sorry, mister. Whoopsie.

So the thing is, they're an older couple, and the guy was not real steady on a ladder. And he told us how hard it was to get up there on the ladder and fix the light. That was the initial excuse he gave for not changing the light. And my husband offered to do it. I offered to go up there too. The guy's just a stubborn ass. He's just a stubborn ass. Doesn't care how the light's affecting other people. So it's unfortunate, but we're still dealing with it. Thank you all for caring so much.

All right, that was fun. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence at ALawRadio. I'm serious, not a day goes by that I don't get questions from somewhere about the light. Hey, what about 18 games in the regular season? Lloyd Howell Jr. is the NFL Players Association Executive Director.

He says, I don't know what Roger Goodell is talking about, but we're not on board with moving to 18 games. Right now, when I have talked to the players over the last two seasons, no one wants to play an 18th game. No one. 17 games is already, for many of the guys, too long. 17 games is also so lengthy that you're still dealing with injuries going into the next season.

So there are a variety of issues that hang off of the length of season before any form of negotiation. So what are those? Some of which I spoke to in my opening comments. You've got health and safety issues, recovery. What does that mean in terms of number of bi-weeks? What does that mean in terms of the off-season? What does that mean in terms of the complexion of the 18?

Yeah, there are a lot of questions there. Here's the thing. The NFL is motivated to add an 18th game because of the bottom line and because of money. They would have to add another bye week, which means now your regular season is 20 weeks. It means we could soon have a conflict between the Super Bowl and March Madness. I laugh because it's so ridiculous, but it's happening. It'll happen at some point if the owners get their way,

It always comes back to the negotiating table. What are the owners willing to give up? A lot of times, if it's extra money for the players, a greater piece of the pie, the revenue pie, the players will cave. We'll see. But I don't know that it's that far down the road. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence.