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CNN Live At Daybreak

'Talking Sports' with Chris Cotter

Aired October 04, 2002 - 06:43   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: OK, we want to lighten the mood considerably.
CHRIS COTTER, 790 THE ZONE: Yes.

COSTELLO: Chris Cotter from 790 The Zone here in Atlanta is joining us to talk sports and specifically, baseball.

COTTER: Finally got to the playoffs.

COSTELLO: Yes, finally.

COTTER: October baseball is here. We didn't think we were going to get here maybe at times in July and August, but we've gotten here and it's exciting so far. We've had some good games.

COSTELLO: Yes, let's talk about the Braves and the Giants, first off. The Braves managed to win. It's 1-1 now, the series.

COTTER: They did. The Braves managed to get a win yesterday. And you know what, we keep talking about some of these pitching staffs around baseball, and the Braves prove once again that they are -- have the best pitching staff in baseball. They've got timely hitting, but Kevin Millwood comes in and Greg Maddux has a blister on his finger. We'll just put in another guy, Kevin Millwood, and he'll get the job done. Brilliant pitching performance from him last night. They have three, you know, of the top 10 starters in the National League, probably in baseball, on that one team.

COSTELLO: Which brings up this question, because this has been in the news media here in Atlanta, that the stands aren't filling up to watch these playoff games in Atlanta, why?

COTTER: Well you know what, Atlanta's taking a really, really -- a bad wrap about this. It's the same in Oakland, it's the same in other cities, they aren't filling up for the divisional series. The league championship series coming up, they'll fill up for those and the World Series, of course; but Atlanta's no different from several other of these cities that are hosting these events. There are some empty seats. And when you have a one o'clock game on a Wednesday afternoon, you're going to have a hard time filling up the seats. That's just the way it is.

COSTELLO: But they were giving tickets away free here at CNN.

COTTER: It's the same in every city. But I tell you what, Atlanta got fired up yesterday in that game. And yes, oftentimes Atlanta has a quiet, reserved crowd, but not yesterday. They were really fired up in Inglewood.

COSTELLO: Oh good, I'm glad to hear that.

Talking about great pitching, I guess well the Diamondbacks have great pitching, but the pitchers haven't been pitching great.

COTTER: They're not getting it.

COSTELLO: No.

COTTER: I'll tell you, somebody asked me a couple of weeks ago, if I could have three players for a post season run who would they be? And one, it would be Derek Jeter for the Yankees, because he's the most clutch hitter in all of baseball. But the second and third guys would be two pitchers from the Diamondbacks...

COSTELLO: Schilling.

COTTER: ... and Randy Johnson and Schilling...

COSTELLO: Yes.

COTTER: ... Kurt Schilling. They're 0 and 2. I mean those are their stalwarts. But here's the thing, if they can somehow manage to get a win in game three, it's the best of five series, then they have Johnson and Schilling again in games four and five and all bets are off. You beat those guys once, that's hard enough. It's not going to be -- it's going to be very difficult to beat them twice in the -- in the same series.

COSTELLO: Well they went to the World Series last year though. I mean how often do teams repeat?

COTTER: Some new blood. Let's get some new blood.

COSTELLO: That's right.

COTTER: Like maybe the A's and Twins in the American League.

COSTELLO: Oh wouldn't that be great.

COTTER: It would be nice. And the Twins, especially with all the talk of contraction earlier in the year and we're going to take away your baseball team. Well they're going to come out in force on Saturday at the Metrodome. I mean if you remember in '91 when they played the Braves in the World Series, that place goes crazy.

COSTELLO: Oh yes.

COTTER: And they're going to fill that place up and they're going to be waving their white hankies and that's a good story and that's a fun series to watch, Oakland and Minnesota. Young teams, they get after it, they hustle. That should be, in my opinion, that's my favorite series of all the sports.

COSTELLO: Yes, OK. Well we have to talk about the Yankees because do you think the Anaheim Angels have a prayer?

COTTER: They do have a prayer, but they had to win game two and they did in the Bronx to get a split to go home now. Now you talk about reserved fans, the Anaheim Angels fans, you know out in Orange County, they tend to be very reserved. This is a good challenge for them to see if they can step up and come out and really -- and support their team and they will.

COSTELLO: Oh yes, they'll get killed by those Yankee fans if they're like reserved.

COTTER: Yes, I know. They've got to -- they've got to step up to the plate, no pun intended.

COSTELLO: So to speak.

COTTER: Right. But they will and I think that's -- they certainly made that a series by winning the second game in the Bronx. They had to.

COSTELLO: OK, Chris Cotter, thank you very much. You're not going to be with us on Monday.

COTTER: I am not.

COSTELLO: You're dissing us.

COTTER: I've got other -- I've got other responsibilities on the air on the radio, early in the morning, too,...

COSTELLO: Oh darn.

COTTER: ... at that.

COSTELLO: But you'll be back...

COTTER: Why can't I sleep in one Monday?

COSTELLO: No, we refuse to let you do that.

COTTER: They can't help me (ph).

COSTELLO: So next Friday you'll be back with us.

COTTER: Next Friday I will be back and we'll talk more football and we'll have more baseball, obviously.

COSTELLO: OK, great. Thank you.

COTTER: And hockey maybe.

COSTELLO: Oh yes.

COTTER: Hockey's starting, yes.

COSTELLO: Hockey. COTTER: Get ready.

COSTELLO: The sport with the longest season in the history of man. Oh no, that's basketball.

COTTER: No, that's baseball, trust me.

COSTELLO: True.

COTTER: It keeps going and going and going.

COSTELLO: Yes, thank you, Christ Cotter.

COTTER: You're welcome.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired October 4, 2002 - 06:43   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: OK, we want to lighten the mood considerably.
CHRIS COTTER, 790 THE ZONE: Yes.

COSTELLO: Chris Cotter from 790 The Zone here in Atlanta is joining us to talk sports and specifically, baseball.

COTTER: Finally got to the playoffs.

COSTELLO: Yes, finally.

COTTER: October baseball is here. We didn't think we were going to get here maybe at times in July and August, but we've gotten here and it's exciting so far. We've had some good games.

COSTELLO: Yes, let's talk about the Braves and the Giants, first off. The Braves managed to win. It's 1-1 now, the series.

COTTER: They did. The Braves managed to get a win yesterday. And you know what, we keep talking about some of these pitching staffs around baseball, and the Braves prove once again that they are -- have the best pitching staff in baseball. They've got timely hitting, but Kevin Millwood comes in and Greg Maddux has a blister on his finger. We'll just put in another guy, Kevin Millwood, and he'll get the job done. Brilliant pitching performance from him last night. They have three, you know, of the top 10 starters in the National League, probably in baseball, on that one team.

COSTELLO: Which brings up this question, because this has been in the news media here in Atlanta, that the stands aren't filling up to watch these playoff games in Atlanta, why?

COTTER: Well you know what, Atlanta's taking a really, really -- a bad wrap about this. It's the same in Oakland, it's the same in other cities, they aren't filling up for the divisional series. The league championship series coming up, they'll fill up for those and the World Series, of course; but Atlanta's no different from several other of these cities that are hosting these events. There are some empty seats. And when you have a one o'clock game on a Wednesday afternoon, you're going to have a hard time filling up the seats. That's just the way it is.

COSTELLO: But they were giving tickets away free here at CNN.

COTTER: It's the same in every city. But I tell you what, Atlanta got fired up yesterday in that game. And yes, oftentimes Atlanta has a quiet, reserved crowd, but not yesterday. They were really fired up in Inglewood.

COSTELLO: Oh good, I'm glad to hear that.

Talking about great pitching, I guess well the Diamondbacks have great pitching, but the pitchers haven't been pitching great.

COTTER: They're not getting it.

COSTELLO: No.

COTTER: I'll tell you, somebody asked me a couple of weeks ago, if I could have three players for a post season run who would they be? And one, it would be Derek Jeter for the Yankees, because he's the most clutch hitter in all of baseball. But the second and third guys would be two pitchers from the Diamondbacks...

COSTELLO: Schilling.

COTTER: ... and Randy Johnson and Schilling...

COSTELLO: Yes.

COTTER: ... Kurt Schilling. They're 0 and 2. I mean those are their stalwarts. But here's the thing, if they can somehow manage to get a win in game three, it's the best of five series, then they have Johnson and Schilling again in games four and five and all bets are off. You beat those guys once, that's hard enough. It's not going to be -- it's going to be very difficult to beat them twice in the -- in the same series.

COSTELLO: Well they went to the World Series last year though. I mean how often do teams repeat?

COTTER: Some new blood. Let's get some new blood.

COSTELLO: That's right.

COTTER: Like maybe the A's and Twins in the American League.

COSTELLO: Oh wouldn't that be great.

COTTER: It would be nice. And the Twins, especially with all the talk of contraction earlier in the year and we're going to take away your baseball team. Well they're going to come out in force on Saturday at the Metrodome. I mean if you remember in '91 when they played the Braves in the World Series, that place goes crazy.

COSTELLO: Oh yes.

COTTER: And they're going to fill that place up and they're going to be waving their white hankies and that's a good story and that's a fun series to watch, Oakland and Minnesota. Young teams, they get after it, they hustle. That should be, in my opinion, that's my favorite series of all the sports.

COSTELLO: Yes, OK. Well we have to talk about the Yankees because do you think the Anaheim Angels have a prayer?

COTTER: They do have a prayer, but they had to win game two and they did in the Bronx to get a split to go home now. Now you talk about reserved fans, the Anaheim Angels fans, you know out in Orange County, they tend to be very reserved. This is a good challenge for them to see if they can step up and come out and really -- and support their team and they will.

COSTELLO: Oh yes, they'll get killed by those Yankee fans if they're like reserved.

COTTER: Yes, I know. They've got to -- they've got to step up to the plate, no pun intended.

COSTELLO: So to speak.

COTTER: Right. But they will and I think that's -- they certainly made that a series by winning the second game in the Bronx. They had to.

COSTELLO: OK, Chris Cotter, thank you very much. You're not going to be with us on Monday.

COTTER: I am not.

COSTELLO: You're dissing us.

COTTER: I've got other -- I've got other responsibilities on the air on the radio, early in the morning, too,...

COSTELLO: Oh darn.

COTTER: ... at that.

COSTELLO: But you'll be back...

COTTER: Why can't I sleep in one Monday?

COSTELLO: No, we refuse to let you do that.

COTTER: They can't help me (ph).

COSTELLO: So next Friday you'll be back with us.

COTTER: Next Friday I will be back and we'll talk more football and we'll have more baseball, obviously.

COSTELLO: OK, great. Thank you.

COTTER: And hockey maybe.

COSTELLO: Oh yes.

COTTER: Hockey's starting, yes.

COSTELLO: Hockey. COTTER: Get ready.

COSTELLO: The sport with the longest season in the history of man. Oh no, that's basketball.

COTTER: No, that's baseball, trust me.

COSTELLO: True.

COTTER: It keeps going and going and going.

COSTELLO: Yes, thank you, Christ Cotter.

COTTER: You're welcome.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com