Desu uzi iii niha kii. Ni hwia wu kutatioi nilinu 1,255 na matsu mo Kutatioi nilinu 1,255 na matsu mo reporting mahi kwa, Hwia kwa, terima, 2,122 2,162 1,262 3,262 3,262 4,265 4,262 4,264 4,262 4,274 4,255 3,255 4,255 4,255 4,255 4,262 4,255 4,255 4,255 4,255 4,255 4,255 4,255 4,25 Wufo man integral part as far as rugby is concerned. They have been quite involved in trying to make sure that rugby gets to another level in terms of its progress, growth and development. Malim Kombo is been here before Chair Kombo as rugby football club. Malim, good to have you on board. Apinu, have you been? Apinu, I have been good. I am back now to the rugby scene now again. Good to see you. It's a new year for 2019 and I know the rugby board is going to be in place. One man who has been also doing exceptionally well with this podcast. Ngarwa Kamuia Sports Bandit at three quarters podcast. How you doing bro and what's up man? Thank you very much for having me. I am very well looking forward to 2019. Great. And straight into the latest information from Kenya Rugby Union, Sylvia Kamawa has been confirmed the CEO of Kenya Rugby Union after serving in acting capacity. What do you make of that particular development? Good for the game? Yeah, you know Sylvia has been in rugby. She was at Stratmo and if I know Stratmo did so well under the tutelage of Michio Chola. And she was actually the one behind the selection, the recruitment of the players and also got involved and also made the university to accept the game at Stratmo. And so coming into KRU, something was also elected by the delegates, the affiliates. The delegate team was one of the delegates, a board member of Kenya Rugby Union. So being now confirmed, that's something positive and we hope things will be able to change. And it was unfortunate that Bokusi just left. He is a great man also being the CEO for Kenya Rugby for some time. And when he resigned now, they had now to ask Sylvia to step in and to find that he was able to complete the season last year, to complete the year and now being confirmed at the beginning of 2019. I think it's something positive looking forward for something good for Kenya Rugby. Ngarwa, Sylvia Kamawa coming on board during this particular time when Rugby is not doing very well in the country replacing Ronald Bokusi who resigned without citing a proper reason. What do you make of her appointment? Do you think she will take Rugby to another level considering these turbulent times at Kenya Rugby Union? There's no dispute that the work that Sylvia did at Stratmo was above par. But the questions as to what she did when she came into the union. Yes, she did come in as a director and she replaced Ronald Bokusi as the acting CEO. I saw a quote talking about her confirmation as a CEO and they were saying that she has had a successful stint as the interim CEO and they were talking about the fact that she led a successful Safari 7s tournament and the rep recharge qualification for the 15th team. I don't know if the definition of success has changed in the dictionary because we both know those two campaigns were disasters. So I don't know exactly on what basis she's been confirmed but the problem is at the CEO level at the union there's too much politics right now. There's too much that and you can be coming in with the cleanest intentions. You can be coming in with the best intentions for the game but there's too much politics happening at the Kenya Rugby Union for me to be confident as to whether Sylvia Kamau is going to be able to perform to the best as at her position as CEO. Do you think being given free hand at Kenya Rugby Union has been the main undoing of these people who've been in leadership positions at Kenya Rugby Union probably even in terms of 7s leadership. Paul Murunga is now the coach after replacing Inos and Simu. He's not started on a good note of course this small show for the national 7s team during the last leg of HSBC World 7 series. What has been the main problem at the Ngongrod Best Federation? There are two things if you ask me. Number one we have a crop of guys there who are visionless. They don't know exactly what they want for the game and it leads me to my next point. The other thing is that people are there for their selfish interests. Not too many people are there looking to the future of the game. Not too many people have a vision to take the game to the next level because the truth from the fact of the matter is that for a country that attracted the likes of Mike Friday and Paul Tru to come coach the 7s team Inos and Simu has done a brilliant job. He did a brilliant job in the two years that he was a 7s coach. And then to get rid of him for baseless reasons granted you might have some feeling as to how he handled the issue in Paris. But the truth in the fact of the matter is that Inos and Simu was delivering on the pitch. So you get rid of him for no reason whatsoever or you use whatever films you want to get rid of him. And then it's just a lot of selfish interests in the union if you ask me currently. This is a lot of selfish interests and people are there for their own good if you ask me. Malimu, I know you form an integral part as far as rugby in the country is concerned. They are looming elections at the Kenya Rugby Union. Of course the current chairperson or rather president of Kenya Rugby Union his term is almost coming to an end and elections are slated for I think one month from now as you speak. Maybe in terms of who comes on board what do you think the quality is and the leadership attributes he or she needs to have if rugby has to get to another level and we have to restore the lost glory of the sport. So I think it's what's happening at the union now it's quite unfortunate because we've seen the sevens team the way it is now it's grandaled. We having the senior players failing to travel to IRB series in Hamilton and Sydney and we only got four points that's in Dubai. So the guy who by four points three points in Dubai and one point in Cape Town so one point in Dubai and three points in Cape Town so unfortunate. So the guy who comes up must now come and restore the dignity of the union that's the first thing and also be able now to also pull back the sponsors because the bond of condition within the players and the chairman has been the issue of finance. This half the way Umela said okay we don't have sponsors at the current of the union who can be able to give the union money and they also can be able to pay the players they use the they are fighting for. They have not signed the contract it's very unfortunate we're going to the second part of the series and the players have not signed the contract it's when the other countries now the players have so they sorted last year that they have squad and the issue of the payment but unfortunately that our country we want to use this opportunity for qualification the top four will qualify for Olympics in Tokyo next year. We saw what happens in Ripachaji here we were lucky to qualify for you unless it was lucky for Umbachi to run 60 meters to go and make a drive for us to qualify so it's hard we lost to Zimbabwe so the guys should be able to be able to come up and be able to pull people together that's the first thing and also to be able to uplift the game pull back the good game of the game they'll be able to improve the infrastructure be able to get the equipment for the clubs and also be able to involve them especially in courses because it can be able to come up and guys be able to put the right structures in place and have a very nice development structure for the young guys to come up and then we have a smooth path and then just having few guys at the top surviving but we don't have a good development structure so we need a guy a complete guy who will be able to bring people together have the same structures be able to also to be able to put the national team in place look under 20 team we are hosting the under 20 African car here in Kenya rugby union in April but see now the players are written out in the camp we have around 12 weeks now but the players now they are doing selection tomorrow so we need someone who will be able also to be able to do things on time so that guys can be able to play and also be able to play good rugby and also the country be able to win because these guys are trained in the country don't expect who are putting on the national colors and then they are losing so unfortunately in your own view how do you rate the delivery of the current president of Kenya rugby union Richard Umuela who is coming to an end and I don't think he would be standing for re-election yeah no you talk of Umuela you talk of Umuela 1 and Umuela 2 Umuela um yeah you know Umuela yeah Umuela was there in 2003 if you forget it between 2003 and 2011 he was replaced by Mwangi Mwangi and then he came back yeah and then again now he came back so it's Umuela 1 Umuela 2 again he came back actually during the 2003 he did a great job but the second phase well he has tried because the sponsors now ran away because of the lost confidence and he also had guys who came up and resigned and the union was at the union was at Lockheids and there was a lot of quarrelling among the officials of the union which was bad for the game of rugby but all in all I think he has tried as he go out when we see the national team the way it performed it was number five previous years we hit 100 points we also had the team for the first time the Simba qualifying for the Ripejaj which was unheard for the previous years the qualify for France and they were lucky the way it so played the gamers are really improved we saw the the the girls team the ladies team winning card for the first time in Kaburen I think the girls tried also when you look at the under 20 team going up to the final probably we can say as much as he was unlucky not probably to Kenya to qualify for WorldGap but it's something that people can copy and also improve on it in coming chairman now let's talk about the scores that have been called by Paul Murunga head of the next legs that is Hamilton and Sidney Sevens of course heavyweights big guns missing in action the likes of William Barka Collins in Gerand Romonde Jeff Oroch Nelson Yo Sami Olih you know plenty of big names missing in action and there has been outcry especially on social media platforms from rugby lovers in the country saying that you know the performance might be awful ahead of these two assignments what do you think yourself you see I first I must say that I actually do stand with the players in the decision that they've taken we need to realize one thing the sport is professional yes and I really detest this argument anomaly here in clubs especially from the older generation talking about in our days we were not paid I don't like that argument in my own opinion it's pathetic because the truth and the fact of the matter is that in your days your competitors were also not professional in your days your competitors also had other jobs right they were doubling up as rugby players yes they had a bit of money because of the developed nature of the game in their countries and the developed stage of their countries but they also had other jobs they were not full time pros now these guys are competing with full time pros that guy does nothing but play rugby and you expect these guys to put up a challenge with the money that you're playing them honestly I mean Maxwell even in a kawaiida job wali mu even in a kawaiida job if you get a pay cut you're going to leave if you get a pay cut you're going to leave so why are we making noise about the fact that these guys have decided not sign contracts because of the fact that they're getting a pay cut from 170,000 shillings to 45,000 shillings come on I mean that's more than half let's be honest with and what upsets me about this particular situation is that we divert from what the actual issue is the actual issue we should be asking is why don't we have sponsors the reason why corporate Kenya is not investing in Kenya rugby union is because our house is not in order it's not anything else it's not because they don't see the value of the game they do see the value of the game it's a fact that the house is not in order number one number two in 2018 for union to solely depend on sponsorship is absurd if you look world over there are other ways to generate income there's broadcasting rights there's merchandising how come this union has not focused on that how is it that when a sponsor pulls out all of a sudden you don't have money all of a sudden you're going to the government towards the government to plug in into where you guys have not performed so it's it's tough but on the other hand I also like the fact that there are young tux coming into the squad so these guys get the exposure the international exposure that's needed we increase our pool of sevens players in the event that we are able to rectify these issues and our stalwarts comebacks the likes of Colin Sinjera, William Barker all those guys get back into the team then you have a large pool of sevens players because now the likes of Daniel Tabu Mark Wendeto all these guys now getting the international exposure they're going to play in Hamilton they're going to play in Sydney they're going to play against top athletes so it comes also it helps the experience so it's a mixed situation yes we feel bad because our stalwarts cannot go for this game or cannot attend these legs primarily because of what I think is the union's fault but at the same time it also helps in the fact that we are expanding our pool of players so in as much as you agree that the absence of the heavyweights will give a platform to this budding athletes sportsmen to you know showcase what they are capable of doing most on an international platform against you know prestigious teams that are well known for rugby what do you make of what do you assess of their capability to you know perform better and probably surpass the performance during the last two legs you know for you to build a form in the whole team you have to fuse you have to fuse experience and young talent now who's the experience on that team as we speak granted Tsiprian Kuto has been there a couple of legs Mike Wanjala was there during the Mike Friday days but you have two or three guys Jacob Oje I don't think he's actually gone for sevens like he's been more of the 15th player so you need to fuse experience and young blood so the question I ask myself is you lose the top guys and the injeras the ambakas they're not there to pass over the knowledge to the young guys this guys it's baptism by fire if you ask me and in the last when when Kenya has been successful in sevens it's never happened that guys have just been thrown in right when the Victor Pongs the Innocence Muse were leaving I mean Bikua Dema had been there for a while but then you know you brought in Eden Agero you brought in Agastin Lugonzo you brought in Oscar Iodi you know you brought in all those guys now those guys are not even there to pass over the baton to the new guys to the Markuandetos to the Daniel Tabu so it's baptism by fire sometimes it's the best way to learn but my fear is that we perform so we end up performing so badly that Kenya loses its cost status on the seven circuit then it becomes a problem for Kenya your thoughts umalimu yeah I think it's unfortunate because the official head called the players and they told them about the situation at hand as per now and they were told if things improve we'll be able to come back but I feel the players could have understood because they understand the situation and how can we be correct the sponsor is not there the money is not there even Omuela said where is the money you guys go and play for the country and if we could have been players because Omuela has been there Injera has been there during the reign of Omuela William Buck has been there during the reign of Omuela and Omuela had done a great job they could have said let us go and play for this guy and give him a good send off by again making to to the cup quarters in in Hamilton for the second time in Arab because last time they made it to the cup quarters after beating Canada Samoa then drawing with USA then they made then they lost to Scotland at the quarters so I think they could have accepted and gone to play but it's unfortunate that they didn't go these guys who are coming up with William Reeve Mark Wandafore making for the first time a trip to Hamilton it won't be easy it won't be tough then when you look at that particular pool South Africa it might go to 60 to be a disaster when you look at France Scotland also with a bit physical and the way you see Scotland playing the Kenyan team the players William on back head marched and were playing well against them and they know how they play the mode of play so with the physicality this guy will not be probably with the defense might be a problem and when I looked at the young guys playing it to buy in South Africa the major problem was on the defense and if the experienced players who are coming in to assist at a particular time like Aden Agenro Aden Agenro will be assisting so where are they now it will be quite difficult for them to march that particular pool so if we get another one point again in Hamilton Sydney we get another one point to be a disaster for two legs six to go and below 10 points I think it won't be good for for our team and the young guys want to see to keep on maintaining our status like what Marwa had said so that Arak be so that it motivates the other also guys and we improve on our Arakbe game at the international level this crisis has been witnessed before in other sporting disciplines even football people talking how patriotism should come fast but you know reciprocation in terms of putting a meal on the table do you think these players are supposed just to don the jersey of the national team representing the country during international assignments for the sake of patriotism yet they also have responsibilities and duties to play the same way Ngarwa said yeah okay but you know look at the at it at all there's some hidden information that guys we are not being when we are not saying it when you appear when that team appear at the national maybe pressure would bear fruit because last time I remember when they were playing I think in Paris sevens without they allowing the salaries and use having not been paid and you know some of them even refuse to put on brand Kenya they blacked out their brand Kenya yes they blacked it out and you know let run ultimately we saw the concerns grievances being addressed so maybe this pressure can bear fruit yeah okay but at the end of the day the way the Kenya rugby there's nothing forthcoming as per now from the government no but the issue is okay when you look at the issue this appearance fee 30,000 this players will never come back free there's 30,000 that we get in Hamilton 30,000 so a player will be able to come back probably with 100,000 for the two legs so but they want apart from that allowance the what is appearing also on the contract you see look that's where I disagree because guys are talking about patriotism we especially in the last two three years in the post Richard actually in the Richard Omoela era the Omoela 2 these players have really suffered and we talk about the 7s the 7s guys are even at least the 15s guys have really suffered and these guys continue donning that jazzy as they saying these guys are patriotic these guys do not especially the 7s guys they don't do anything else other than play rugby for their country at the very least we should be supplementing that we should be paying them and look guys let's not run away from the issue the reason why corporate Kenya is not sponsoring rugby is because of the problems in rugby is because of the Kenya rugby union is no corporate confidence exactly the reason why sport Pesta left is because of the problems in the union the reason why safari come left is because of the problems in the union the reason why the government is not really backing rugby despite rugby having had a very good relationship with the government I might add that I don't know if he is now but at some point the president was the patron of Kenya rugby was because of the confidence they had in the management of rugby then now they are not confident they are stories I don't know it's alleged stories and it's not confirmed but it's alleged stories at last year the government actually contributed 138 million shillings to the union where did we see it because sport Pesta had pulled out where did we see it and look Maxwell we need to move from this thing of government plugging in every time in England do you hear the government intervening when guys don't have money government just comes in for bonus and it's a billion dollar industry in England if you go to the US sports is a billion dollar industry do you hear Trump intervening on issues to do with allowances and such things government's work is to set policy and legislation very many corporates by the way don't know the fact that if you sponsor sports you get it's a deduction that's law if I give you 100 million shillings I'm not going to get taxed on that 100 million shillings is the union using that to get corporates so let's not move away from the issue here yes granted this players are not being paid and I think that had the chairman handled it better Benjamin Noimbara is actually on TV saying had the chairman handled it better these players would actually have done it because the truth in the fact of the matter is that this is not the first time that the salaries have been cut it's actually happened before the chairman should have handled it better when the chairman goes ahead and says you are never going to get selected for these teams who are you who are you are you actually the technical bench is your work to intervene is your work to interfere in house courts have been selected so there are some outside forces in terms of who should get selected in the national sevens team I think it's not I can't say categorically but I always get the feeling and it's the saddest thing in Kenya very many people are self-centered the clubs are self-centered so if it's queens queens wants their person there if it's impala impala wants your person there because of marketing for lack of a better word I mean the exposure when you go abroad but it's very unfortunate because if you go to for example New Zealand if you go to New Zealand everything from club level is focused on the all blacks and that's what Kenya should be getting to everything in the clubs should be focused on the Kenya symbols should be focused on the Kenya shuja not thinking about my player should be there not thinking about selfish interests and sometimes you get the feeling that there's a hint of that in the selection process Palim yeah sure maybe away from that it's something that we can discuss later on and brings the cold as of rugby including even the honchos of the sport to see what can be done to change the dynamics of the sport but let's now talk about the Kenya cup run I think seven legs sofa have been played several fixtures lined up this particular weekend I think Wanyore Nakura Refs will be playing homeboys this particular afternoon but what do you make of the run sofa how is the competition and in your own assessment do you think it's a two horse race kcb kabras yeah as we go anything can happen but so far so good for kabras and Philip Jalango he went there and he seems to have changed things he got a coach from South Africa foreign player three from South Africa also the Ugandans and he's integrating with the Kenyan players and they are playing good rugby and what Jalango has tried is try to profile his players we're having the right players for the forwards and also the backs and integrating with the new skills from the South African coach so we find that they are slightly a bit ahead but kcb have also been trained in South Africa during the prezison ready for Kenya cup so them play and they are a bit tricky so them play against the homeboys they are a bit tricky and they'll give homeboys a run but so far so good homeboy stands the top team sorry kabras stands the top team sofa the Kenya cup and also sponsors coming up bamboo sport funded at least clubs are playing and people also be able to watch and players coming up and then we also see the sevens players who haven't travelled they are also going to join their teams Shrinolyech within Pala Injera with kwaomba billi o tiyano billi billi the bill the kid is also with kwaomba so probably the game is going to be tough but so far the level of rugby has gone up especially when you look at the top eight teams they are equally playing nice rugby but the relegation zone also for the others it's unfortunate that Sylvia came from Stratham and not doing well Leo is not doing good ah she is not good Stratham is not doing good so machine you are finding it tough I saw them play machine play with kabras and when you look at the fours of kabras they are just on their own class yes what has been the problem of these institutional clubs Stratham and Leo Stratham University and Main Machine they got promoted last season to top tier for representing University of Nairobi Black blood either of Kenyatta University not doing very well what has been the problem do you think it's high time now this university start offering scholarships to deserving you know players those guys who are passionate about rugby the talents outside there so that you know they can compete you know effectively against other you know it's good it's good you say that we've always had this discussion in the rugby circles and we say that when we think about the guys who we saw in high school playing rugby about 60% of them did not convert into club the best players that is did not convert into club rugby so number one I think that scholarship should be introduced that scholarship thing should be introduced where the clubs actually come and say you know what we'll give you sport scholarship and not Stratham was doing that at some point but I think they should be doing that because the truth in the fact of the matter is that once these guys finish university they're going to be poached by the top clubs Elkins Musone has just left Strathamu he was poached he was poached by he was just bought or by Impala I think about Bilmo of Yambo is at Strathamu Sipri and Kuto is at Strathamu Alex Oalaba was at Strathamu he left last year and went to Hale Queens so you end up losing your best players especially Strathamu they always raided their best players I mean last year they raided Jintuna Don't Go Tony O'War they've lost a hell lot of players so it's a catch 22 because one thing I can give you for a fact Maxwell is that these players are going to live once they finish university but what is Strathamu doing to make sure that when Sipri and Kuto lives when Alex Oalaba lives when Elkins Musone lives there's an able enough player exactly continuity what are they doing for that and for me by the way let me tell you everything boils down to money sports is money nowadays and you need money to develop these structures that's why I think our clubs should start looking at things from a commercial aspect guys should start thinking about running these clubs like a business because if you give people incentives then definitely they're going to be staying with you or even if it's not that there are very many players in the top teams in the hale queens in the cabras in impala who are actually university going students top players who are university going students so why don't you make it attractive enough for them not to say hey I don't play for queens now I don't play for impala now let me stay at Strathmo as I read I'm actually playing rugby and I'm being rewarded for that wow there was hope in these private institutions when black blood and main machine of Kenyatta University and University of Nairobi respectively were not performing very well in top tier that is Kenya Cup there was hope in the institution such as Strathmo and probably USIU to you know reinvent the wheel in terms of giving you know deserving people outside there a chance to showcase what they are capable of doing most frag visitors especially coming from high schools what has happened the challenge has been the institution I killed the management of the institution the way Maro has put it like USIU I had a very good player from my school and I wanted to send him to USIU but see now what was told that the insurance the cover see rugby is a contract game it's only it's only covers the students if you are not a register student it won't be able to cover so that's something some of the closes they are supposed to remove from the universities so that I can be able to attract other guys to come and make it a club but maybe their priorities are a little different and they are paying much attention to academics rather than co-curricular yeah because they don't have a separate budget for manager of a club but they all the games department you know once they follow the budget follow the budget for the sport and the sport is within the to manage the students that's that's I think that's the biggest challenge but we've seen them they have tried some of money to go to Kenyakap and just within one season they are back again to the nationwide or the championship for them if you ask me there's a unfortunately in Kenya there's a skewed perception that sports is a past time that sports is co-curricular is a co-curricular past time and there's again a skewed perception that if somebody is playing sports then you're not going to make anything of your life like to go on record and say that's actually wrong because if you look at other countries if you look at the most successful business men and women in the western countries a large number of them actually sports people right I like the fact that in the US especially in things like basketball back in the days they don't do it you had to be in college what they call college university you know to get the degrees so I think our universities should change the way of looking at things they should actually first promote that issue of sports scholarships because there are very many guys who are excellent sports people but they don't have the capacity to be in these universities so give them that chance when they do that degree what does that help them it helps them form a basis for their next life when they are done playing sports because the truth in the fact of the matter is that the shelf life of a sportsman is between 18 and 35 years at 35 you're still pretty young so you have a hell lot to do with your life it's what you do in that university that's going to help you post those are the programs I wish the Kenya rugby union would be introducing to train these players for life after rugby right to show them that okay fine there's university there's that we're talking about the scholarship there's university then you go into club the club if you look at professional clubs in the in New Zealand in in England you know they only they have one day focused on life after rugby you chat out your path whether you're going to go into marketing whether you're going to go into business whether you're going to construction they chat out your path for life after rugby so that the money you earn in your career playing days then helps you for your life after rugby so I think the biggest issue here is the fact that in Kenya we still look at sports as a pastime we need to start looking at sports as a business we need to start looking at sports as a platform for people from nowhere to actually get a chance to be something Afios MS is coming in Felix Akaranga watching from high rise is saying that he agrees with Ngarwa because at Kenya Rugby Union there seems to be a leadership vacuum and those are those at the helm are not doing good for the sport and it's about selfish interest then Felix Okura is asking asking Malimu when are we seeing Comra's RFC into limelight as far as as far as participation in Kenyakap is concerned when are we seeing Comra's in Kenyakap Ya, as soon as we currently we are in Nationwide and we are and I've been told Nationwide is quite tough Ya, it's tough coming out of Nationwide there are 75 teams playing Nationwide in Kenya now and they cleared the second tire that's the championship so after the champions we have one more tire to go then we climb up now to Kenyakap so it might take probably 2 years now to make it to Kenyakap but it's not easy also going to Kenyakap we need to prepare we need to profile the players we need to have the right set up special training for the players you don't just go to Kenyakap then you come back so going to Kenyakap I must be ready for Kenyakap you see now like a homeboy is when they were making to Kenyakap they decided to stay here in ESS because they felt it's not our time to go to Kenyakap but when they made now to Kenyakap they stay there up to now they have maintained their Kenyakap slot so we need to prepare well but as the issue of scholarship also start from the high school but we've seen some few schools have given scholarship to players and they have done well we've seen the likes of playing now like Johnson or Lindy going to scholarship Patapahil went on to laser because of the scholarship but see now the biggest challenger with the Kenyan universities most of them are private public universities and where is the budget government keeps to these are public universities where will they get that extra cash when the lecturers want to strike this issue with the salary Malimu the money the money is there the money is there it's just this notion that like we are saying people don't look at I was being told a story about in the 90s and the 2000s early 2000s it used to be so bad for the guys used to play for main machine the lecturers used to fail them because of them playing for main machine to the point fail them delivery yes they used to tell the guy used to write a nation called the panter they used to tell him don't include our names yes don't include our names in the articles because if the lecturers see we are going to be failed and there are very many lecturers who have that parochial vision to date they look at you just because you are a sports person they think you are little just because you are a rugby player just because you are a football player just because you are a basketball player you are little that you should be focusing granted yes you should be focusing on school but very many of these guys can actually make a living of these sports how many guys have had sports open up the doors for them if you look at football Tengisuliyachu Victor Anyama McDonald Murray yes if you look at rugby Colin Zinjera William Barka you know Chisanga how many guys have had sports open up the doors for them we need to start looking at it like that and you know he talks about he just said in nationwide there are 75 teams nationwide alone we come on this thing is big we need to start we need to start focusing on making sports more than the way we look at it whether it's drilling in our parents that you can actually be something and by the way if you look at the most successful athletes in this country their parents actually let them if you look at their stories yeah their parents actually let them have contributed yeah they've contributed to their success they support it so you know we talk to the parents we talk to the government we talk to the universities we need to put a bit more focus on sports sports can actually make quality persons in life Fred Rikusinio is watching from Bungomai he's saying ngarwa calling it a sped a sped no sugar coating then he disagrees with Malimu saying that you can't be proud of your country I can't be patriotic yet I will sleep hungry at home no no plenty of dynamics as far as blame for the country and patriotism is concerned but different angles the guys don't understand that these guys are not going home empty handed there's a parents fee that I had to be give the what rugby gives for the players when they appear in a circuit but what they are putting on is what the contract now and more so when you look at most of these players they have played when the money was there and so of the way you say it we need some kind of seminars for them to invest to invest granted but but also but also at the same time look and Benjamin O'imba and Lavina Sego were actually on air saying yes that and and by the way I do agree with them remember Benja and Lavina have played in the days when there was no money and they've played in the days when there was money and these guys have actually sacrificed Lavina Sego gave a story of how there's a time the union didn't have money and a director went and sat them down and told them look guys we don't have money this is the scenario and the players said you know what fine in fact this man you want to add for us move it to the bonus we are going to play so the issue is how the management is handling it that is the problem and look Benjamin O'imba said and by the way I do agree with him he said these guys have done already a patriotic duty playing the game putting their bodies on the line how many people are not going to have better good lives because rugby is a contact spot as I've said they put their bodies on the line they're patriotic they are doing it I feel that the country actually should be looking at them as these guys are doing a service for the country they should be compensated for that as we wind up plenty of opinions after the appointment of Paul Murunga to replace Inos and Simeo do you think he's got what it takes to steer sevens to another level and in terms of performance of course a lot has been said that you know these chords that have been named during the last legs that now the national team has been converted into homeboys rugby football club because he came from there not my opinion but going by what has been written on media blogs and even social media what do you make of that yourself no we have guys from KCB we have OG from KCB we have Eliam Kichoy yeah from KCB I've got from Queens he's a Queens boy it's William Reeves no but it's true I mean guys are actually saying that do you think do you think their home teams are justified no you see now at the end of the day what Nani has done he's taken the best players and we've seen these guys play the seven circuit and actually who won the seven circuit so he's given those guys a chance to go and play because if you are winning they won the local seven circuit which is actually tough to win the local seven circuit and most of these guys participated so he felt that these are the right guys that can use us for now as we wait the Kenya rugby union to sort out the issue with the most experienced players but all in all players we had new players who played like Samuel Gede who went to Hamilton and Dakeda Escort and also we had Ato Oiro in 2017 season and they made to the quarter final so we hope with the right mental setup the way Pao was going to prepare these young guys we can be able still to win probably even against South Africa against France and Scotland and make you to the cup quarters and that will be a big achievement for our team because at the end of the day we finished number five in last year's Hamilton series so it's about how Pao will be able to prepare players and Kenya is a Barak B7 playing nation so we hope the guys will go up but they'll be able to stand and say fine guys let us play for a coach and let us play for the nation let's also play for our chairman he tries to prepare to exit No, I don't agree with playing for the chairman I don't think I can tell you for part but I have my reservations about Pao as coach primarily because you see innocence in me you those are best at Impala 2015 2016 and he was largely behind it granted Pao has coached his team to the semifinals twice thrice homeboys but I always ask the question with the kind of talent that he has Pao should actually be converting into titles I have my issues from the technical standpoint but you've given them a chance I mean the same thing was being said about innocence in me when he was appointed not too many guys are confident in him we see what is done we've got we've backed our most points under innocence in me so let's give the man a chance he's been given a chance I only wish he could be given the proper structures and the proper support to actually help him deliver on those results I don't agree with Mollim on that issue of playing for the chairman as he's exiting because the truth in the fact of the matter is in the last two three years nothing has been done let's call us paid as paid nothing has been done we're in this situation because of lack of leadership for lack of a better word we're in this situation as sponsors are not there because of lack of confidence in the union so I don't agree with that fact for no no no come on you're what I was saying sometime back Kenyaragi was in a bad limelight we hope we also and it was not good for the game there was a lot of quarrel and you guys really focused on the Kenyaragi but every day you're saying the good spot with the bad manners there you see now what used to happen but coming into Gangla and that and that and Omoela you see now they changed the perception and they just need to iron out a few things and improve but on that still on Inosensimi Inosensimi was eligible to apply for the seventh coach but he said no it's enough and the question she be asking is why did he submit that's why we should be let's be honest about it Inosensimi did not submit his application because of the conditions that he was put through because of you know we sit down and okay fine granted we talk about of course his biggest issue was the brand Kenyaragi the taping of the sponsors you can say it was a bit overboard but why don't we ask ourselves why did the players do that the money that was sent by brand Kenyaragi for the allowances why wasn't it paid to them why was it used to offset an overdraft so the playing unit was sort of short changed I feel for them to get to that point there is something that happened and that's what we should be questioning for Inosensimi to make the decisions he made they were put in that light they were put in that position by someone in this case the union so come on guys let's address the issues okay maybe maybe Kenyaragi just to put his house in order and they have been issues with the players and the management I think at times the players overrule the management and you've seen that it's a time they shift any medium and the players share the money you see now because because the truth from the fact of putting it in Kenyaragi so they can be able to improve the structure and the players get their share but they just share the money and they don't like that but the truth in the fact of the matter is that the biggest take holders in the game of rugby is number one the players number two the funds it's not the union the union is there to facilitate the game let's be honest so the players are also supposed to get there that news we have to wind up and before I let you guys go you are parting short submissions what do you see rugby in the next two years Kenyan rugby both 15s and 7s the way I see I see the bright future for the Kenyan rugby but the bright day it lies where when you see more young guys are playing rugby and I've seen young guys who've gone through the HK rugby like I've seen Kevin Aguambo who is finished high school the MVP Amon Omalua from East Africa and who playing for Muori Mishiri they have now joined clubs so you see now these are young players who will be able to take over the mantle in the next level and I'm happy that the coaches have identified them likes of Simon Gaddy best scrammer edge grids scrammer in the country so far good coaches now the big clubs are rushing for the signature of these young guys so that tells us what that the Kenyan rugby is bright and with the good leadership the way Ngarwa has said the Kenyan rugby union things will be able to run smoothly Sponsors, I know it come back we need it come back how much no team will do well 15 and 17 my parting short is one thing Kenya needs to change the focus to 15s rugby we need to move from this cute perception that 7s is the main sport because our rankings are determined by how the 15s team performs nowhere in this world is the 7s team higher than the 15s team only in Kenya by the way that's we need to change our focus to 15s rugby 15s needs 7s needs to be a feeder to 15s 7s is only used as an exhibition according to all rugby it's a marketing platform for the game but the real rugby is 15s only when we invest invest in 15s because 7s is cosmetic it's cosmetic exactly only when you invest in 15s rugby is the stature of the game going to grow in this country is it going to attract sponsors is it going to attract the right kind of talent and coaching technical because I can tell you know like for example if you break into the top 25 rankings you are entitled to 200,000 dollars 200,000 euros from world rugby if you break into top 20 which by the way I think Kenya can if we invest rightly you are entitled to a million euros a year from world rugby we don't get any money really from 7s for 7s you see so my parting shot is like we need to get to the point actually we are the point where we need to focus on 15s rugby that is the only way rugby in this country is going to grow fantastic discussion quality conversation with two guys who form an integral part as far as Kenyan rugby is concerned Malim Kombo, Chia Kombras RFC then Ngarwakamu we have sports bandit at three quotas podcast by the way what inspired you to come up with that and us being the that so far number one was because like I've said we wanted to change the perception of rugby in Kenya we wanted to invest we want to tell guys 15s is the game number one number two we want to preach the issue of commercialization of sports we want people to start looking at sports as a business we want people to we've been seeing people making noise about playing Kenyan music I want to actually challenge people to go watch Kenyan sports it is very embarrassing for somebody to be able to name the whole Arsenal team and they can't name Gorma here I think and they can't name Arambestaz it is very embarrassing if you ask me for somebody to know the All Blacks team from 1 to 30 not even 23 1 to 30 and you don't know the Kenyan simbas you remind me of a complaint by Nicholas Muswanya secretary general of Secafa some time back saying that you know the Secafa is getting staged at Nyaya national stadium but you know Kenyan fans are watching European football at the nearby joints at the expense of going to the field at the expense of going to the field to cheer Kenya take on you know exactly so that's that's what we are trying to do we are trying to get guys focused on you know going to these games on the weekend whether it's rugby whether it's football go to these games ticket sales is one of the ways to commercialize sports go to these games support your team it is very embarrassing when you get out there and somebody asks you about your team and you don't know anything it is very embarrassing I also think that you can go to England you can go to London and sit there in Highbury and talk about Arsenal then when you asked about your local league you don't know it is very embarrassing thanks guys for coming through it's been a fantastic conversation and you look doing this in our subsequent programs thanks for coming through and have a good afternoon thank you very much for having us of course this is the touch line on Y254 my name is Max Oluwasiq we've been talking about the state of rugby in the country and we've addressed a lot of aspects of the game you know the 7s 15s Ngarwa says that the future is 15s and you know proper rugby is 15s 7s is cosmetics but Malim still believes that you know Richard Oumela has played his role and he needs to be given a sort of a good send off something that they don't read from the same script with Ngarwa but how about you double two and six just starting with the word touch keep talking to us at Y254 channel at Tosike Maxwell hashtag touch line Y254 don't go away stay tuned of course the fan favorite segment the fan zone is up next I can see where Tamangi alongside Ronaldo Koth is also getting involved in terms of you know trying to push for the welfare of players player agents showing them matters media engagements and even teaching them on matters you know legal aspects I don't know Talk to me Talk to me Talk to me Ronaldo Koth now you need to link up your Ngarwa Kamuya for discussion on how you need to do that better but don't go away of course Peter Chuck announced this retirement from a Chelsea and Arsenal goalkeeper let's take a look at his heroic saves and times at Chelsea and Arsenal as well


What's going on and welcome to the solo shot. We have a 10 game MLB Slate tonight. It locks at 7 0 5. My name is Tom Vecchio. I am here to bring you a breakdown of tonight's MLB Slate. I will be back here at 4 p.m. for the MLB Q&A live on the Faneville YouTube, Twitch, and Facebook page. As always, this is one of the many shows on the Faneville Podcast Network. You can find that anywhere whether it's iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, Google Play, make sure to give it a like, follow or subscribe. That is greatly appreciated. And you can follow me on Twitter at DFS underscore Tom. Before we hop into things, listen up soccer fans. This season, Faneville and Captain Morgan are teaming up to give you a one-of-a-kind soccer contest. Introducing the Captain Morgan Soccer pick on a weekly fancy contest that's entirely free to play. The contest is simple. All you have to do is make quick predictions for Saturday's games this soccer season. And you'll earn points for each correct pick and compete for a chance to win up to $3,000 in cash prizes every single week. So head over to Faneville to enter the Captain Morgan Soccer pick up today. Must be 21 plus two participate for more details. Visit Faneville.com or download the Faneville Fancy app, eligibility restrictions apply. And don't forget to make your game day more delicious and sub in the captain. All right, a 10 game slate that locks at 7 0 5. Again, another day where we are potentially dealing with some weather issues. St. Louis at Pittsburgh and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Philly. Both of those games should have rain gone before first pitch, which is good to see Detroit at Baltimore. We saw them get delayed last night. They started late, but we saw plenty of runs in that game. They are dealing with more rain tonight. We will update this of course at 4 p.m. Tampa Bay at Boston, Oakland at Cleveland and Washington at New York. All should be free of rain. They all have a bit of wind blowing out a slight bump to the hitters there. Cincinnati and Atlanta, we've been updated on this because there could be a delay in game. And then Milwaukee at Chicago, more storms headed to Chicago as we saw a couple of days ago. It should be later in the game. It will be good hitting weather, but this is important because there's a pitcher here we want to discuss. So this is another key game to follow for tonight. Speaking of pitching and that pitcher we want to discuss, that will be Corbin Burns for the Milwaukee Brewers. He comes in obviously with fantastic numbers this season, arguably the best pitcher on tonight's slate. He comes in with a 35% strikeout rate coming with a 2.35, X-Bip a 2.59, Sierra. He's only allowing 0.40 home runs per nine. Absolutely phenomenal numbers from him this season. He's also mainly a ground ball and medium contact pitcher. A 50.4% ground ball rates and a 54.9% medium contact rate. This is what we have seen from him throughout the season, obviously reaching towards a 50, 60, even 70 fantasy point ceiling in a lot of these great games with the high strikeout upside. Now the matchup for him against the Chicago Cubs is obviously fantastic because right now the Cubs come in with a 25.8% strikeout rate versus right-handed pitching that is the worst in the league. We also see the Cubs coming in with a 145 team ISO that is 25th in the league. And we also see them carrying an 84 WRC plus which is also 25th in the league. So there's no doubt the combination of a strikeout potential that Corbin Burns brings by himself with the super, super favorable matchup going up against the Cubs. This is absolutely a spot that we want to be targeting but the weather presents a big, big issue on tonight's league because if this game is going to be delayed and or rained out, you don't want to be spending $11,000 on a pitcher that won't be playing. So this potentially leads us to Kevin Gosman for the San Francisco Giants. He comes in at $10,300 and you can make the case that he's the second ace on tonight's slate. Obviously a pitcher who's also having a great season with a 30.2% strikeout rate. 0.82 home runs per nine allowed, only 7.5% walk rate this season. Of course, great to see. He comes in the 41.6% ground ball rate, a 50.6% median contact rate, a 3.44 Sierra and a 3.38 exit. All great numbers from Gosman. His strikeout rate is obviously still strong sitting up at 30.2% but it is just a half step behind Corbin Burns. So we do want to be looking at Burns first again if that game does play. The matchup for Kevin Gosman of course is very solid at home which is a slight pitchers park in San Francisco or more than a slight pitchers park, a solid pitchers park. He's going up against the Arizona Diamondbacks. They come in with a 20.5% strikeout rate versus righties, which is the fifth worst on the league. Arizona comes in with a 125 iso versus righties which is dead last in the league and they come in with an 80 WRC plus which is 28th in the league. So the Diamondbacks don't strike out as much as the Cubs but their offense is just a little bit weaker. Gosman is $700 cheaper compared to Corbin Burns and Gosman isn't in the game that it could be impacted by rain. Now ultimately, if the Milwaukee X Chicago game does play and we know that we're going to be free of potential weather issues in that game, I'm going to be siding with Corbin Burns. Yes, it's a 10 game slate. We have no course fields. I will be willing to pay up all of that 11,000 of his salary to get that consistency, that strikeout upside, that 60, 70 fantasy point potential in my lineup. So Corbin Burns is my number one pitcher on tonight's slate if that game does play due to the rain but even if that game is rained out we have a very, very viable alternative with Kevin Gosman, again, just $700 cheaper. So leading off, we have two great pitchers we can be targeting for absolutely all formats tonight. Now, some of the options below them in terms of their salary, Adam Wainwright, Alec Manoa, Frankie Montas, all of these pitchers are good, Kyle Gibson. We're dealing with a bunch of good pitchers on tonight's slate. Adam Wainwright I personally think is a little bit too expensive, especially having a lower strikeout rate at 22.8%. I don't want to be paying up $9,600 for a pitch with that low of a strikeout rate not saying that he's not in a good spot going up against the Pittsburgh Pirates. I'm not worried about the Pirates, it's more about his salary and him reaching value. I will be interested in Frankie Montas for the Oakland Athletics coming of the 26.3% strikeout rate, only allowing 6.2% walk rate this season, of course, good to see. Also another picture that's mainly ground balls, mainly medium contact, which is good to see 41.6% ground ball rates, 54.2% medium contact rate with a 3.70 here and a 3.67 exit, of course, solid numbers from Frankie Montas. He's on the road going up against Cleveland. Now, Cleveland's right at the league average in terms of their strikeout rate versus right-handed pitching, sitting at 23.8%. So they don't strike out nearly as much as Arizona or the Chicago Cubs do, given their match-ups, but we're also not overly worried about the Cleveland offense. They do have a little bit of pop in their offense with a 169 team iso versus righties. That's 12th in league, but they do come in with a below league average 92 WRC plus, which is 17th. So yes, it's a slightly tougher match-up for Frankie Montas, but he is a little bit cheaper and we can make the case that Montas could be the second best pitching option on the slate only if the Milwaukee and Chicago Cubs game gets rained out because of course, Corbin Burns is gonna be number one, then Gospin number two, and then it's whoever else you may want to be siding. I think it's very viable to take a shot, some shots tonight with Alec Minoa and his 28.2% strikeout rate, but I would lean towards Montas and his strikeout rate also going a little bit deeper into the games only if, again, Corbin Burns does not play tonight. So we'll get an update on this, of course, all this weather coming from Kevin Roth on Twitter, great meteorologist for the DFS industry, the best meteorologist for the DFS industry. So we'll update that at 4 p.m. for the MLB Q&A. Burns, Gospin, Montas are my top three tonight. Now there are plenty of other viable options. Like I said, you couldn't be going to Alec Minoa. I wouldn't hate taking some tournament shots with Tarek Skubal for the Detroit Tigers. Yes, we will be looking at the Baltimore Orioles potentially as a stack tonight, but we do see the Orioles coming with a high strikeout potential. I also wouldn't hate taking a shot with Nathan Nevaldi for the Boston Red Sox. So pitching tonight is good. I think that the mid-tier is a bit jumbled. If you're dropping below Burns and Gospin, it can get a little bit dicey. That's where I would turn to Montas first, but if you're really looking for some savings, this is where things get a bit interesting. I can rank some of these pitchers, especially at the 4 p.m. show, if everyone has questions about where would I be targeting in the mid-tier, we can certainly look into that because there are a number of good options, but no one's overwhelmingly great. Now, when it comes to stacking on tonight's sleigh, I think we want to be starting off with the Toronto Blue Jays.  They're on the road. They are visiting the Los Angeles Angels and they are taking on Dylan Bundy. Dylan Bundy is not a good pitcher. He's allowing way too many home runs this season, sitting at 1.90. He only comes in with a 21.5% strikeout rate and an 8.2% walk rate right on that edge of becoming very, very bad. He has, overall, he has a 37.9% fly ball rate and 18.7% home run to fly ball ratio. He's actually only allowing a 35.4% hard contact rate overall, but we still can be looking to attack him due to the volume of home runs that he is allowing. Also not striking out hitters and allowing too many walks, specifically to lefties up at 9.9%. He has a 4.94 exit against lefties and a 4.28 exit against righties. So we want to be looking to the power that the Toronto Blue Jays have in their lineup. And hopefully we'll see that shine through tonight, especially given the fact that Dylan Bundy is allowing a 10.3% barrel rate this season, way too many home runs from him. And if we're gonna see a pitcher that's allowing too many home runs and they happen to be lined up against the Toronto Blue Jays, we know we are in for a night that can spell plenty of home runs for a Toronto stack. Of course, led off by Vladimir Guerrero with a 350 ISO in this split versus right handed pitching. This is absolutely a spot that we want to be going looking for some home run upside. Also with a 350 ISO versus righties this season, that is George Springer for the Toronto Blue Jays. Now, of course, he has a much smaller sample size, about half as many played appearances as Vlad Guerrero does, but we do know that Springer historically is a very strong hitter. We can of course be looking there as well. Marcus Simeon, not too far behind with a 258 ISO, very much in play as well. Corey Davidson, since joining the Toronto Blue Jays, he's carrying a 190 ISO versus righties. Obviously a smaller sample size, specifically when he's on Toronto Blue, of course, batting lower in the lineup, offering a bit of salary relief is something you can always use when looking to stack Toronto, a team that can be very, very expensive, adding in Boba Shed at 186 ISO, Randall Bridgic at 184, the list goes on and on for Toronto. And this is where we want to be starting off a lot of our stacks, because the home run upside for Toronto time is absolutely enormous. Yes, we're dealing with some expensive salaries, especially looking up at the top with Vlad Guerrero, sitting at $4,400, George Springer at 41, Boba Shed at 4,000, Marcus Simeon at 39, even Teosgar Hernandez is $3,400. Now, these salaries can be tough to roster when you're paying up for a pitcher like Gossman at 10.3, like Corbin Burns at $11,000. So we'll certainly need to find some value in some secondary stacks, but this is where potentially dropping down to Frankie Montas, if the Milwaukee at Chicago Cubs game gets rained out, can be beneficial to roster construction because we still have a strong strikeout rate with Montas and we get that needed salary relief. So ultimately, it's actually not the worst thing if this Milwaukee Chicago game does get rained out because it can make line of construction that much easier. But starting off your stacks today with the Toronto Blue Jigs should be one of the best options on tonight's slate. Now, and we have the Dodgers on the slate. They are in a great spot going up against Kyle Gibson. We see them leaving the way right now with a 5.29 implied run total. The Red Sox are at home going up against Josh Fleming for the Tampa Bay Rays. They have a 5.12 implied run total. I think those teams are both in great spots. I don't wanna talk about them specifically. I think that they are pretty much given on tonight's slate. I wanna flip to the St. Louis Cardinals who are at a 5.00 implied run total on the road visiting the Pittsburgh Pirates who will have Will Crow on the mound. We saw him allow simply way, way too many homeruns in his most recent start. I think we can be looking back to him yet again. He's allowing 2.14 homeruns per nine this season. He only has a 75.2 any sample size this season, but he is the prototypical pitcher of who we wanna be targeting. He has a 20.9% strikeout rate, which is of course very low. He has a 10.9% walk rate. This combination of not striking out hitters or not striking out a high volume of hitters also with allowing too many walks and a lot of those walks leaving runners on base and allowing too many homeruns. Obviously it presents plenty of upside for the Cardinals. So yes, going to St. Louis is also a very, very solid stack on tonight's slate. You can look to some of the power that they have with Tyler O'Neill coming in with a 236 ISO versus righties Nolan Aeronado, the 221 ISO, Paul Goltzman with a 196 ISO and even Harrison Bader with a 190 ISO in this split. That is the core stack that I would be going to. Of course, we will look to filter in some of their options depending on what their final lineup actually looks like. And more importantly, they're just slightly cheaper compared to Toronto. And I think that they have similar homerun upside. Nolan Aeronado comes in as the most expensive option sitting at $3,700. So immediately we can be looking at St. Louis as yes, they're not overly expensive. They're not super, super cheap, but they're a nice mid-range stack that are in a great spot going up against a pitch that's allowing over 2.1 homeruns per nine. So going to Aeronado, going to Goltzman, going to whoever else it might be can provide a very, very high volume of homeruns tonight, especially if we saw what Crowe did or didn't do in his most recent start. So St. Louis is absolutely a team I wanna be targeting tonight. Yes, they're on the road in Pittsburgh, which isn't the greatest hitters park in the world, but I'll still be looking here for that homerun potential. Now, I did say I have a little bit of interest in going to screwball the pitcher for the Detroit Tigers because the strikeout upside for the Baltimore Orioles is always high. We always know that they can go out there and just not look good as a team, strikeout too much. Screwball does have a 25.5% strikeout rate. So it is slightly above the league average. I'll be looking at him in tournament specifically, but I also do wanna be looking to some more real stacks tonight. So let's just get that clear. I'm very interested in Baltimore as a stack tonight, but I also see the other side of the coin where we can be looking at Baltimore, a team that does strikeout a lot and looking to use the pitcher that's going against it. So a bit of both tonight, a bit of the Orioles stacks because we do see screwball allowing too many homeruns, specifically to righties and really only to righties because he's allowing 2.39 homeruns per nine to right handed hitters and only 0.45 homeruns per nine to lefties. So I do like the righties specifically for Baltimore, but we also know that they strikeout a lot. So I will still be looking to them for some strikeout potential. Again, going to screwball and tournaments only. Looking to some of the righties on the Baltimore Orioles, of course, let off by Trey Mancini with his very solid 2.79 ISO. Ryan Mountcastle is still on the IL for Baltimore. So he's not an option. You can be looking to Austin Hayes with his 2.43 ISO, Freddie Galvis even with a 2.18 ISO. Cedric Mullins having a very solid here, 2.14 ISO, all firmly in play tonight. And then ultimately, if the Baltimore stack does go crazy tonight and put a whole lot of runs as they did last night, we can be getting to that weaker Detroit bullpen. So the Orioles are a team that I'm going to be very, very interested in tonight. And more importantly, they can be shaping up to be a solid secondary stack because the salaries on their hitters are very affordable when Cedric Mullins is only $3,300 and he's their most expensive hitter. We look to Trey Mancini at 32 and then immediately dropping down to under $3,000 for Mikhail Franco at 2,800 or even Anthony Santander at 2,700. So the Baltimore Orioles, the righties specifically from Baltimore are in a fantastic spot tonight going up against Scoobal. So we will circle back on Baltimore at the 4pm Q&A show depending on what their lineup looks like it should be righty dominant which should put them in a good spot. Also the salary relief is exactly what we need when we're looking to pair them potentially with a higher price stack like Toronto and pay up for pitching whether it be Kevin Gosman whether it be Frankie Montas or Corbin Burns if that game in Chicago does play. So Toronto is absolutely one of my favorite stacks on tonight's slate. This isn't to say, as I mentioned, the Dodgers and the Red Sox are both in great spots and I absolutely want some exposure to them but I will still be leaning towards the Toronto Blue Jays just slightly ahead of the Dodgers and the Red Sox. I will then be looking to a few shares of Baltimore because I do like their home run upside. I think that is very, very firmly in play. And then St. Louis, the stack that could potentially get lost in the middle because they're not super cheap, they're not super expensive but they are still in a very, very good spot with plenty of home run upside. Now when it comes to the final three things on tonight's slate, as I said, this mid tier of pitching is a bit jumble where we're looking at a number of different pitchers that are good, but they're not great. Lower strikeout rates, they have good matchups. Where are we gonna be looking for some potential options? I wouldn't hate taking a shot with Tyler Anderson tonight at $7,400. He's now at home in Seattle after the trade deadline with his new team. He's going up against the Texas Rangers. I am certainly fine with attacking the Texas Rangers. I don't think we need to be too worried about their offense overall. We look to Tyler Anderson, yes, he has a 19.6% strikeout rate which of course not very high, but overall the Texas Rangers don't scare me too much as an offense despite them scoring a few runs last night. I'm not overly worried about what they can be doing. So yes, Tyler Anderson is another pitcher. I'll circle back on him at the 4 p.m. show. Just given the salary relief that he has, it's a good park factor for him being home in Seattle and overall this Rangers lineup is not something I'm overly worried about. Are we gonna see a massive strikeout ceiling from Tyler Anderson tonight? No, but can we see him go out there, give us six innings, only give up two or three runs, hopefully pick up the quality start and the win? Yes, and he's $7,400 opening up plenty of salary when it comes to roster construction in order to pay up for those expensive stacks like Toronto, like Boston, like the Los Angeles Dodgers. So Anderson is a pitcher I have a bit of interest in as well. And then for another stack you can be looking at tonight, I wouldn't hate going to the Oakland Athletics Night or the Tampa Bay Rays. Obviously a good park shift for the Rays. We saw what they did last night and this Boston bullpen has certainly been struggling as of late, so we can be looking to some of the Rays. I think that they are in a good spot overall. And then Oakland going up against Cal Contrell for the Cleveland Indians. I think that we can be looking for some, hopefully home run upside that we didn't get from the athletics last night. They are a potential team to target tonight. Then the first home run call on tonight's slate is going to be Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the Toronto Blue Jays. The home run upside for the Blue Jays tonight, going up against Dylan Bundy is something I absolutely want in basically every one of my lineups or everywhere I could possibly afford them. Again, the volume of home runs that we see Dylan Bundy giving up, especially two right-handed hitters this year, combined with the 350 plus ISO we see from Vladimir Guerrero should have them at the top of my list and of course should be a popular option overall today. Allowing 1.90 home runs per nine. That's what Dylan Bundy is allowing versus righties this season. Combined with the 19.6 home run to fly ball ratio, we're in a good spot for some home runs from the righties from Toronto and my pick for tonight would be Vladimir Guerrero Jr. So we have a good slate overall. We're waiting on the weather for another spot, mainly Milwaukee at Chicago because that impacts Corbin Burns. What should be the top pitching option on tonight's slate? Again, the mid-tier I can dig down a little bit deeper during the Q&A, rank some of those pitchers because I do have some interest in a few of them. Again, like screwball, taking some shots with him against Baltimore and then Tyler Anderson. I think that those are both viable tournament options only because they don't present a whole lot of safety. It should be a good slate. We have 10 games. We have a bit of weather to worry about. We'll get updates on that a bit later on the 4 p.m. show and we are in a good spot. As always, this is one of the many shows on the Fandal Podcast Network. You can find that anywhere where there's iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, Google Play, make sure to give it a like, follow or subscribe. You can follow me on Twitter at dfs.com until next time, good luck in your contests.